WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 8, "I, Excretus," streaming now on Paramount+.
Ever since their debut in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Borg Collective has been one of the most terrifying and unstoppable enemies the Star Trek franchise has ever seen. Dealing Starfleet devastating battles during TNG and the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg can quickly adapt to any strategy used against them as they seek to assimilate all organic life in the universe to add for the benefit of the Collective. And while the Borg were seemingly dealt with for good in the Star Trek: Voyager series finale, Star Trek: Lower Decks reveals its own surprising secret weapon against the Borg: Brad Boimler.
In contrast to his best friend Beckett Mariner, who is so competently badass and extensively experienced that Boimler and Sam Rutherford once believed she was part of Starfleet's black ops organization Section 31, Boimler is one of the more neurotic crew members serving on the Cerritos. For all of this anxiety and neuroses, however, Boimler has admired Starfleet all his life and dreamed of becoming a senior officer on an important starship, studying the exploits of past fan-favorite characters diligently, including Voyager's adventures in the Delta Quadrant. And because of this obsessive study, Boimler discovers he is perfectly suited to confront the Borg should the occasion ever arise.
After a humiliating oversight by the senior staff causes tension to foment between them and the junior officers, Starfleet assigns an outside consultant to subject the entire crew to a performance review involving a series of holographic challenges based on classic moments from Star Trek history. While most of the crew struggles at their respective trials, Boimler finds himself trapped on a holographic Borg Cube, tasked to escape as part of his challenge. Boimler is completely unfazed being surrounded by menacing Borg drones, however, and not only passes the challenge by escaping but obsessively restarts the trial repeatedly to achieve a perfect score for his efforts.
The list of accomplishments Boimler singlehandedly pulls off against his repeated encounters with the Borg is certainly laudable. In addition to evading capture and the Borg's attempts to assimilate him, Boimler recovers the infants being assimilated within the Borg Cube's nursery as he makes his escape. Boimler's efforts against the Borg become even more outlandish as he restarts the cycle, teaching the nefarious Borg Queen the meaning of empathy over a game of chess. However, just as Boimler improves upon his strategies to defeat the Borg, the Collective quietly adapts to his tactics, with Boimler's final attempt resulting in the Borg capturing him and the Borg Queen personally assimilating him as the new Borg drone Excretus, resulting in a failing grade on the challenge.
Even Jean-Luc Picard couldn't escape being assimilated by the Borg while the entire Enterprise was nearly taken over by the Collective during First Contact. However, all by himself, Boimler has demonstrated a shocking amount of expertise in outmaneuvering and outwitting the Borg after years of studying the techno-organic enemy. And with the Borg Queen poised to make a return in Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Boimler may just get the chance to take on the Borg Collective outside of a simulation should the Collective restore itself to menace Starfleet once again.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is streaming now on Paramount+, with new episodes released on Thursdays.