I have such a soft spot for Star Trek: Lower Decks. It is the first Star Trek series I’ve experienced along with the fandom from the series premiere, rather than playing catch-up later.
Granted, my experience with it is a little different now that I receive screeners for review, but it’s such an honor to be able to talk about these episodes from a critic’s perspective. That’s why I get a little tear in my eye knowing that this is the last season.
We left the USS Cerritos dealing with a new planet partially made up of Nick Lorcarno’s DNA, Mariner finally coming to terms with her trauma, and Tendi going off to be the badass Mistress of the Winter Constellations. After such an extraordinarily strong season, how can season five possibly top it, especially given that it’s the last time?
It’s done by amping up the danger and the responsibility the Cerritos faces. For four seasons, the California class has mostly been treated as an afterthought, nothing but a support for the flashier classes in the fleet. In the first five episodes given for review, we see that, after everything they’ve gone through, the Cerritos and its crew are ready for bigger adventures affecting the entire galaxy (and possibly beyond).
Our misfit junior crew members were promoted to Lieutenants (j.g.) at the beginning of season four, and it’s clear that in season five they’re still adjusting to the change in their responsibilities. Still Lower Deckers, they still clash with the senior officers, even if there is a bit more respect given to them now.
Are the first five episodes of Lower Decks as exciting to me as the beginning of season four? To be honest, no. Something I thought would play a much bigger part in the season is cut woefully short. The first two episodes feel much more like a place setting to me for the rest of the season, which given this is the last season is a bit disappointing. That is not to say they’re not still enjoyable. I’ve watched the premiere three times and continue to find it a good watch. But it failed to grab me the same way the first two episodes of last year– “Twovix” and “I Have No Bones and I Must Flee”-- did.
But once everything is set up, we’re into classic Lower Decks adventures. The cast clicks together and works so well off of each other. We even get to see the dynamics between characters who haven’t gotten much time to interact together before. Unsurprisingly, given the charm of the cast, they work amazingly well together.
It is not just our core five junior officers, but the senior officers they are getting to have more interactions with. Freeman, Ransom, Billups and even Migleemo are given a chance to mix it up and are hilarious when they do it.
Like previous seasons, Lower Decks brings wonderful callbacks to previous Trek (as a fan of TAS, I was nearly crying from laughter over one in the first two episodes). But it’s not only previous series. Lower Decks has been on long enough that it can reference itself and pick up plotlines we thought were long over. This includes consequences from last season (even outside of Tendi having to leave Starfleet) and personal relationships we thought would never be discussed again… A sentiment shared with one of the characters.
Last season was very much Mariner’s season as she dealt with her insubordination. This season, I think we should keep a close eye on Boimler. He is definitely going through a significant time in his development as both a Starfleet officer and a character. We also get the most epic of Boimler screams.
Brad Boimler, Ski Champion?
One of the running themes is the road not taken and rethinking how to go forward. It’s an appropriate character journey for our characters, given the situation they’re in and their position of having a little power, but still not as much as they would like.
While things might be a bit slow going in the first two episodes, Lower Decks season five does not disappoint. It is still hilarious, but full of heart. Our characters are continuing to grow and change, while still remaining the people we fell in love with way back in season one. The only real flaw I can find in the first five episodes as a whole is that it means that there are only five episodes left in the series.
Star Trek Lower Decks’ fifth and final season premieres this Thursday on Paramount Plus.
