Every season of “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” I include this hilarious animated comedy series as a “wife test.” It’s really simple. Would my wife, a fairly casual “Star Trek” fan who watched a lot of the original series and “The Next Generation,” like this show, which builds a lot of its humor based on references, jokes, and Easter eggs? Made to satisfy the lizard brains of serious, hardcore “Trek” nerds?
And every season, the answer is yes. This is the simple beauty of “Lower Decks.” The show promises to be catnip to those in the know, but it cleverly offers the full “Star Trek” experience to all kinds of fans with all kinds of knowledge levels. As a lifelong fan, when I watch “Lower Decks,” I’m translating quick references and luxuriating in how the show handles details that other series set in this universe don’t have time to explore. When she saw it, she was invested in the story of Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Mariner, the low-ranking (but increasingly rare) crew of the USS Cerritos, an anonymous and largely overlooked Starfleet ship assigned to boring missions. More important ships will be ignored.
It would have been easy if ‘Lower Decks’ had been simply a gag factory catering to the impulses of superfans. Instead, it does so while telling a story that shocks home while featuring characters that evoke our affection and loyalty as much as any other live-action series. It’s a perfect balance. It is a ‘Star Trek’ comedy series that I love ‘Star Trek’ so much that even if I make fun of ‘Star Trek’, it cannot be anything other than ‘Star Trek’. The Wife Test proves that this crew is just as important to her as Picard, and Data and Worf are important to me.
The fact that the fifth season of this show, smarter, funnier, and sweeter than ever, is its final season makes it even more bittersweet.
A Star Trek show made by Star Trek fanatics
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The five episodes of “Star Trek: Lore Dex” Season 5 provided to critics for review show a series still at the peak of its powers. Once again, each episode is a clever, fun, stand-alone adventure that takes place in a new chef or niche in the “Trek” universe, with one overarching storyline loosely tying it all together. And in this case, that overall storyline can’t help but feel appropriate for the final season. The sci-fi shenanigans leave every character questioning not only their current place in life and Starfleet, but also the paths not taken. . This has always been a show about personal and professional growth, and this season it doubles down on that. How do you choose to improve your life and avoid self-destruction?
Of course, all of this is built into the show’s typical format, where the sci-fi adventure story is not only very entertaining, but also plausible as an actual “Trek” storyline (albeit from a twisted angle). Season 5 moves freely between goofy silliness and surreal parody, never losing sight of a character or making an obvious joke. Why take things for granted when you can build an entire storyline around an obscure reference to the oft-forgotten animated “Star Trek” series from the 1970s? (This passed my wife’s test with flying colors, because she didn’t even realize it was a reference. “Lower Decks,” good job.)
Without spoiling anything, Season 5 explores the “Trek” universe, answering questions that have kept fans up at night for decades with just the right mix of generosity and curiosity. And it’s a poor economy, right?) and delivers the kind of niche story that proper nerds have long dreamed of (the season’s format-breaking fourth episode is a dream come true for “The Next Generation” fans of a certain taste, especially Ronald D Even more so for those who like the script written by Moore. Even though the jokes are very good, it is clear at every moment that “Lower Decks” is not just a joke machine. This is a bunch of “Star Trek” fans using their own “Star Trek” show to answer all your questions. I’ve heard of “Star Trek.”
If there’s any Star Trek show worth watching for seven seasons, it’s Lower Decks.
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If this review sounds ecstatic… Well, that’s because it is. After five seasons, I came to love the “Lower Decks” crew as much as I loved the “Star Trek” crew, which made the show’s early cancellation all the more shocking. If the “Trek” series deserves to be aired for seven full seasons, following in the footsteps of “The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager,” it’s what comes with it. This is a series created by people who clearly understand and appreciate history. The “Trek” series enters its 7th season. Honestly, I’m shocked that this show is ending now.
At the same time, we can appreciate that “Lower Decks” never had a chance to run out of steam, never had a bad season, and never disappointed. You’ll definitely like it because it’s gotten better as the creators have become more comfortable adding to the universe. It leaves us wanting more. Looking at social media posts from the cast and crew, it’s clear that the cancellation wasn’t planned and that everyone involved wanted more. And I wish I could have made more.
At its best, ‘Star Trek’ is comforting. We watch it in times of struggle and anxiety to feel better about the future and to imagine ourselves in a world where science, reason, and diplomacy rise above the noise. “Lower Decks” did all that while also making us laugh. It remains a gift and will be cherished forever.
/Movie rating: 8.5 out of 10
“Star Trek: Lower Decks” Season 5 will premiere on Paramount+ on October 24, 2024.
