Let's Check in With "Lower Decks"

Spoilers for the first season ahead.

So, I'll admit that I forgot about this show between seasons of "Star Trek: Discovery," and didn't actually finish the first season until recently.  After that, however, I quickly binged the second season and now I'm greatly anticipating the third.  "Lower Decks" has fully come into its own as a "Star Trek" series worth following, with longer character arcs, recurring villains, and its own bits of "Star Trek" mythology.  Meanwhile, it's also devoted to being the nerdiest of the "Trek" shows, showing off the writers' knowledge of obscure "Star Trek" lore.

The second season charts our four main characters progressing in their journey toward one day becoming senior Starfleet officers.  Of course, Boimler ends up back on the Cerritos after a few episodes, and Mariner has to work through her resentment towards him.  Rutherford is getting over his memory deletion, and Tendi is still struggling with confidence issues.  However, like any good sitcom, it's what we learn about these characters outside of these big arcs that is often more interesting - like Tendi's past as a vicious Orion pirate, or Mariner's extensive love life, or Boimler actually having some legitimate badass moments.  It's fun to watch them bond and to watch their relationships progress.  Mariner and Boimler are totally being pushed toward becoming a Kirk and Spock duo, Rutherford's crush on Tendi persists, and I love that there is a whole episode where Mariner and Tendi get to team up and be awesome together.   

There's also been a lot more attention given to the show's secondary characters, namely the Cerritos bridge crew officers, Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), first officer Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell), Chief of Security Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore), Chief Engineer Billups (Paul Scheer), and Chief Medical Officer, T'Ana (Gillian Vigman), who is some species of grumpy alien cat.  They don't just mirror the ensigns this season, but have their own little subplots and recurring bits.  Captain Freeman has become especially important, trying to nudge Mariner along toward maturity and serving as a central figure in the ongoing clashes with the Pakleds, who have become the show's major villains.  The Pakleds were a minor alien species that made their debut in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" decades ago, and were consigned to being background players ever since.  I love the way that "Lower Decks" has taken these dum-dums and turned them into a real threat, while fleshing out the background details for their species considerably.  They have their own planet!  Their own very confusing system of government!

It's an example of "Lower Decks" having become fully empowered to play with so many bits and pieces of the "Star Trek" universe.  One of the show's biggest advantages is being animated, and thus being able to show us things that couldn't be easily done in live action.  So, we get to see "Cetacean Ops," the ship's cetacean crew members, an idea based on a long-running "Star Trek" in-joke.  And all sorts of hologram antics.  And action sequences of ridiculous scope.  The violence and language are still kept in check, because this is a series aimed at general audiences, but the creators are willing to occasionally push at the boundaries a bit - witness a hysterical training simulation involving that contagion that removes people's inhibitions, which results in so much gratuitous nudity.  So much. 

The best part is that "Lower Decks" has proved that it is committed to fully being a "Star Trek" show.  There are multiple episodes with the characters going on classic "Trek" style adventures, and the season finale is genuinely great science-fiction, with the whole crew having to band together to avert a big crisis.  The parodies and the guest appearances are fun nerd fodder - hey, it's Tom Paris! - but "Lower Decks" is doing a very good job of being an entertaining show on its own merits.  And after some ups and downs, the characters have turned out to be pretty loveable and worth rooting for.  We're well past the point where Mariner is just the troublemaker, and Boimler is just the lame goody-goody.  They're fast becoming "Trek" icons in their own right.

  

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