One of TV's best comedies is coming to a close
Star Trek: Lower Decks is ending, and I'm not ready.
Created by Rick & Morty writer/producer Mike McMahan, Lower Decks giddily shook up the one-hour sci-fi drama format of the long-running Star Trek franchise. Its focus shifted away from noble captains and their courageous bridge crew going on universe-saving missions. Instead, this workplace comedy embedded audiences in the cramped bunk beds and chaotic inner lives of a band of eccentric ensigns, who barely make it out of their daily tasks alive.
Impulsive and enchanting, Mariner (Tawny Newsome) is the feisty leader of her motley band of friends; she relishes margaritas and role-playing games about Klingon warfare. Her right-hand man is by-the-book brown-noser Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), who dreams of earning his own captain's chair someday. Meanwhile, Orion badass/unapologetic nerd Tendi (Noël Wells) gave up a life of plundering and piracy to study science aboard the starship Cerritos. Her best bud, engineering cyborg Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), shares her enthusiasm for all things science, as well as a mutual crush that's been achingly unspoken for four seasons and counting. Their energy — which often involves much squealing — is countered by the ever-stoic Vulcan transfer T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), who has become the series master of deadpan delivery.
Together, they've tackled extraterrestrial beasts, personal catastrophes, the horrors of a holodeck gone wrong, and much, much more. But with their latest season, they set forth on their fifth and final frontier. And it's going to be hard to say goodbye.
Lower Decks kicks off with what could have been for every major character.
Season 5 launches with "Dos Cerritos," an ambitious episode in which the Cerritos crew runs into their parallel dimension doubles. Swiftly, audiences are invited to marvel at what might have happened if Billups (Paul Scheer) had risen to his royal destiny or if Mariner ever got promoted to captain. It's a conceit that allows for visual gags through cheeky variant designs, but also shows how far these ensigns have come — and how far they may still have to go.
While Mariner and her captain/mom face a reality in which their roles are reversed, Boimler is caught up in how confident his double is. Maybe it's the beard? To be more like his briefly glimpsed parallel self, Boimler decides to grow facial hair. And props to McMahan, because the evolution from clean-shaven to bold bushiness is charted across the five episodes given to critics through a mounting array of awkward looks. A few stray hairs become a sketchy mustache, with a scraggly goatee on the way. It's funny every time Boimler pops up with truly awful facial hair and unmatched moxie as he goes on a dangerous undercover mission, engages with an ancient alien ritual, and touches down on Starbase 80. Oh, yeah.
Lower Decks Season 5 tackles new terrain.
In past seasons, Starbase 80 was established as a punishment station, where Mariner was punted when it was thought she'd betrayed the Cerritos. In episode 5, "Starbase 80?!," we'll finally witness what all the fuss is about — and with a Nicole Byer appearance to boot! Elsewhere this season, Lower Decks will dive deeper into non-Starfleet stories, following up with compelling characters like the Klingon who helped Mariner escape the clutches of the crazed traitor Nick Locarno in Season 4. But best of all, we get to see Tendi doing more pirate action!
Yes, yes, Lower Decks has been rewriting the history of the Orions, giving them a complexity beyond being merciless plunderers. Still, it's a thrill to watch the Mistress of the Winter Constellation kick butt, but in her own uniquely non-lethal, brainy way! While Season 5 displays how Tendi has grown through Starfleet, it also shows how Rutherford is struggling to cope without her. Unexpectedly, it's his Vulcan buddy who makes a grand emotional gesture to ease his aching heart. And true to this show's form, it's in a way that is delightfully unhinged.
In all these little ways, McMahan's team of writers and animators charts new terrain for their lovable losers, who are getting promotions, life lessons, and hilarious hijinks to an almost overwhelming degree. The series has moved away from focusing on kooky misadventures, carving out an arc of what it means to be a young adult figuring out your path among the stars. And so even amid cartoon violence, much Boimler yelping, and pitch-perfect callbacks, there's an emotional tug to every episode as we draw near to not only the Season 5 finale, but also the series finale.
Lower Decks brought together Trekkies and newbs.
I've written before about how Lower Decks became my gateway into really understanding Star Trek. The show's short-and-sweet comedy setup didn't demand I know decades' worth of lore to enjoy the ride. But the more I watched and rewatched, the more I began to venture into other Star Trek series. Partially, this was so I could better enjoy the bevy of Easter eggs nestled in the show's dialogue and background designs by a team who clearly loves this sci-fi franchise deeply (but not too seriously). But a bigger part is that I became as enchanted with Starfleet as Boimler and his friends.
I binge-watched Star Trek: Strange New Worlds because I heard they were doing a crossover episode with Lower Decks. How does a live-action drama series cross over with an animated sitcom? The Strange New Worlds episode "Those Old Scientists" answered that with aplomb, then doubled down on its smoldering, sexy approach to Star Trek by offering up a musical episode with "Subspace Rhapsody." From there, I've been trekking all across the franchise's riches on Paramount+.
Lower Decks didn't just amuse me with its spirited screw-ups and clever turns on sci-fi cliches and Star Trek tropes. It drew me into the world of these characters so intensely that I wanted more, more, more. And while Season 5 will only offer 10 episodes, it's nice to know there are plenty of stories beyond in their sister series.
What does the rest of Season 5 have in store? Will Tendi and Rutherford end up together? Will Mariner find the confidence to be the kind of captain she'd like to see in Starfleet? Will Boimler's beard ever come in? And where will the Cerritos leave us? I both can't wait to find out and never want this show to end. Much like Evil, another critically heralded Paramount+ show that recently drew to a close, Lower Decks is a series that is sharply funny, joyously subversive, and rousingly poignant. It's not enough to watch it. You'll want to revisit it. You'll want to explore beyond it. And you'll likely wish there was more Mariner and Boimler mayhem to come.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 debuts with two episodes Oct. 24, with new episodes weekly.