by Nick Ferro, Contributing Writer
It’s hard for me to believe that four years ago, Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered. Partly because I am still used to a show with four seasons having more than 40 episodes, but also because in four short years, Lower Decks has managed to become my new favorite thing! It has not only given me hours of laughter, but has managed to bring tears to my eyes and help me wake up to the idea that when you really love something, you love it for the good and the bad. I was a very strong advocate for the new Star Trek shows having completely missed the mark and being lesser, but Lower Decks does this thing where it talks to the audience directly and makes you feel silly for taking something like a TV show franchise too seriously. But don’t misunderstand, I am convinced the Lower Decks writers love Star Trek more than you or I ever could. And I am extremely happy to say that after four seasons, Lower Decks has not missed a beat in terms of comedy, character growth, storytelling, or a love of its source material.
This season focuses on our four lower deckers, Mariner (Tawny Newson), Boimler (Jack Quaid), Tendi (Noël Wells), and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) as they face their biggest challenge yet: getting promoted! All four receive promotions from ensign to lieutenant junior grade, still qualifying them as “lower decks,” but answering a question that had been long speculated by fans and critics alike: Is this show going to constantly find ways to keep our character as ensigns, or will they ever grow and move on to bigger and better things? I, for one, think it handles this question beautifully. Both the story and comedy potential continue to progress and grow with the introduction of this new rank. One element that proves for good character growth is how Boimler needs to come to grips with being put in charge of a mission. What does it mean to be in charge of others who were once peers when there is a real possibility of death (and dismemberment)? Mariner’s take on getting promoted ends up being the exact opposite of Boimler. She hates it! This kicks off a season-long story that explores an element of Mariner’s past that fans of the show, myself included, have been excited to see. Although Mariner’s arc does get touched on in several episodes, it is never a main focus which would require continuous viewing — this show is still a great example of an adventure-of-the-week style of programing. However, you are rewarded for watching every week. The bulk of the arc is saved for episodes nine and 10, yet I never found the transformation Mariner’s character goes through to be disingenuous.
This season also introduces a new character to the crew, Lt. junior grade T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), on loan from the Vulcan fleet. T’Lyn is an excellent new addition to the crew, as she adds a much needed straight man to play off of the wacky shenanigans of our main cast. But more importantly, she serves as a more experienced officer who shares their rank, making her the perfect mentor/friend to provide advice without the awkwardness of going to a superior officer. My one big negative of the season is how T’Lyn is given a backseat role in the second half. She is such a strong player in the first four episodes that when she disappears for three straight, it is almost too distracting.
We also are privy to some backstory to my new favorite character, Tendi. In Episode Five, we go on a trip to her home world, Orion, and learn a lot about the Orion people and the mysterious title Tendi has: The Mistress of the Winter Constellations. On top of the new information we are given, we also get to see her grow as a character, show off her more confident side, have ample opportunity to be a role model. The season also ends with the potential that next one will focus on Tendi’s story even more, and I couldn’t be more excited.
Speaking of role models, this season, my two daughters have been watching the show of their own free will. They even wanted to be Mariner and Tendi for Halloween this year. I promise I didn’t make them; you can ask! And they loved it. Between Mariner, Tendi, and T’Lyn, they have been given a show that not only appeals to them, but also gives them three very different examples of good female role models (for the most part). I was also excited that Lower Decks, and Star Trek as a whole, has committed to being more family friendly. My biggest complaint of recent years was that they insisted on leaning into their streamer status. Shows like Discovery, Picard, and even the first few seasons of Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds all took advantage of their ability to curse, be violent, and put the characters in overly sexual situations. I am glad to report that this season of Lower Decks, and even Picard, and Strange New Worlds, have been appropriate for their age range. This is the first time my girls were able to watch the entire season start to finish, and I am happy that I no longer have to be overly concerned with whether or not I can share modern Star Trek with them.
Season Four still has great references, jokes, and Easter eggs to other Star Trek properties to make even the biggest fan swoon. However, following in the footsteps of Season Three, Season Four continues the trend of calling back to jokes and references from previous seasons of Lower Decks also, not just preexisting Trek shows. I really appreciate that the writers are realizing they can make this show just as funny with their own content. But that doesn’t stop them from doing what they do best by calling out silly inconsistencies from previous shows, or shining a light on the franchise’s deepest cuts. And yet, they still manage, for the most part, to be completely accessible to newcomers to the franchise. Every episode works from an outsider’s perspective, and is only enhanced by prior Trek knowledge. There isn’t a single episode that a novice would watch and come away confused, or feeling like they aren’t in on the joke because they haven’t watched 800-plus episodes of TV. Are there jokes they won’t get that will go over their heads? Of course. But Lower Decks makes sure to never rely on those jokes as a crutch.
This season, however, for the first time gives the audience some homework to do, and I struggled as to whether or not this was a good thing, or one that could turn newcomers away. If you have never seen two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The First Duty” (Season Five, Episode 19) and “Lower Decks” (Season Seven, Episode 15), you might want to brush up, because doing so will reward you come the end of the season. For some, this could be a turn-off. I get it, no one likes doing 80 minutes of homework to watch a 24-minute television show. However, I did a little experiment to see how the viewing experience would be different, for science! Mainly because for the last three years, I’ve been writing about how you don’t need to have prior Star Trek knowledge to enjoy Lower Decks, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to put that theory to the test. I told my daughter to watch the two TNG episodes prior to seeing Episodes Nine and 10 of Lower Decks, and to my delight she not only enjoyed the original TNG episodes, but also ended up loving the new episode as well. I also had a friend who had never seen either, and did not tell him to watch them to see what he thought. Although he enjoyed the new episodes of Lower Decks, it was for completely different reasons. He enjoyed the episodes for the continued story of our main characters; the added details of their backstory, or the characters mentioned from TNG, had little to no effect on him. In the end, the episodes didn’t hit the same way for him that they did for me and my daughter, and rather than loving them, he only liked them. In fact, after I told him about the details he missed, due to the previous episode knowledge, he said it did make more sense overall, but he didn’t think he needed to watch those old episodes to change his opinion. I think that is the litmus test that proves Lower Decks can be for anyone.
Season Four is another fine example of this show proving its worth. I hope that the strength of this season gives the powers that be the confidence to green light many more! Otherwise, we may need to sick a moopsy on them…
Rating: Loved It
Star Trek: Lower Decks is currently streaming on Paramount+
You can read more from Nick Ferro, and follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd