‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Goes Out So High It Hurts
After five years and fifty episodes, Star Trek: Lower Decks proves it deserves to live on with a finale fit for a California class.
Beginnings are hard, but endings… endings are almost impossible. And nothing makes endings more difficult than when you don’t expect them. Star Trek: Lower Decks has strong ratings. Unlike a lot of its brethren, the show gets love from fans and critics alike.
But endings come when they come. And “The New Next Generation,” at least for now, marks the end of Star Trek: Lower Decks. But much like our plucky, often contrarian Lower Deckers, the crew behind this series sticks it to whoever makes the calls at Paramount.
“The New Next Generation” isn’t just proof that Lower Decks deserves to live on. This finale proves that, maybe more than anything else happening in the world of Star Trek, it’s this story which deserves not only to continue, but to spin off, too.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
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To Boldly Recap “The New Next Generation”
It’s Klingon space and Captain Rilga encounters the spatial distortion field we know from last episode is a reality destroyer. Her bad decisions cause her to lose a ship to the rift. Is she going to take responsibility for her errors? Nah! Instead she blames Ma’ah and his brother Malor. Who are in a tiny ship carrying blood wine. Of destroying a Klingon Bird of Prey. Kay.
Meanwhile, Boimler gets word from his transporter duplicate about the universe-ending rift. After a freak out, Boimler and Mariner take it to Captain Freeman—who believes them! Starfleet confirms the situation, and puts the Cerritos on the case. Why? Blame the Boimlers! All the have to do is do a beam thingie and close the rift. That’s easy, right?
Bad news: there’s a Schrodinger Possibility Field around the rift that changes reality around it. Good news: Starfleet gives the Cerritos info to update shields. Bad news: it only kind of works. The crew is safe-ish, but the hull will change.
Worse news, Ma’ah and Malor show up being chased by Rilga.
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A Race to Quantum-Alter Your Face
A lot starts to happen and FAST. Admiral Freeman messages to say Ma’ah and Malor are killers. They are to be handed over to Rilga. Ma’ah turns up, but Malor is missing. Rilga attacks but Captain Freeman has no time for her, so off the Cerritos warps towards the rift.
The S Field creates problems immediately with the Cerritos changing into a much weaker ship. Unfortunately, Freeman gave Rilga the shield tech and her ship seems to fare better. We see Tendi and T’Lyn fight over how to deal with the problems. Rutherford is so angry he says he’s out of love with the Cerritos. And Mariner is still looking for Malor.
Malor is being hidden, but not by Mariner as a lot of people suspect. Ransom hides Malor because he senses something doesn’t smell right. And Ransom is right. The message from Admiral Freeman is a forgery courtesy of Rilga.
With this realization, the gloves come off. Rilga tries to destroy the Cerritos. And in retaliation Captain Freeman sends Ensign Olly onto the hull of the ship to fire a giant thunder bolt that wipes out Rilga’s shields.
Then Rilga and her crew all turn into proto Klingons and die. Onto the rift!
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Star Trek: Lower Decks and All Good Things
As the Cerritos careens towards the rift, it continues to change configurations until it splits in two. The two Cerritos’ control one another which requires science besties Tendi and T’Lyn to team back up—which they do! Also Rutherford realizes his problem isn’t with the ship but with his implant. he removes it and eyeballs the whole situation until the ship is using the rift energy.
The ships become one. And now we are at the rift. But attempts to close it don’t work! Instead Malor talks about damming it. Mariner acts quickly and, rather than destroying the rift, she stabilizes. And now there’s an open interdimensional gateway — the first known one in this universe.
Due to the energy coming off the gateway, only Starbase 80 and its old parts can handle being nearby. Someone needs to handle trips to other universe’s and that job goes to both Captain and Admiral Freeman.
The new Cerritos captain: Jack Ransom. And his first act of business is to assign a new first officer. Or, in this case, co-first officers: Boimler and Mariner. They hate it! But not as much as they hate Ransom’s catchphrase for going to warp—”engage the core”.
And also Rutherford is no longer bionic! Maybe he and Tendi will fall in love? Who knows!
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Star Trek: Lower Decks Deserves a Million Seasons and a Billion Movies
Let’s start with the obvious: “The New Next Generation” ranks up there among the best Star Trek series finales. Like “All Good Things..,” “What You Leave Behind,” and “Endgame” all match the tone of the shows they represent—and they do it while also giving a definitive ending.
What sets “The New Next Generation” apart is that, while it does feel like an ending of sorts, it also very much feels like a beginning. Mariner even calls this a beginning. She should be right.
Ma’ah having a fleet gives us a new starting place for the Klingon Empire. Starbase 80 by the rift feels like an interdimensional Deep Space Nine. And Captain Ransom with his dueling first officers feels like a whole, new Cerritos.
While this does feel like an ending for Star Trek: Lower Decks, it also feels like the starting place for three entirely worthwhile shows with a host of crossover potential. Most Star Trek fans would watch all three of them. So I’m going to take a moment, as a fan, to stamp my foot a little, say “no fair” and be mad.
After 50 episodes, the one prevailing thought I have is “there’s still so much more story to tell”.
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“The New Next Generation” – An Actual Review
“The New Next Generation” does a great job reinforcing how joyful Star Trek: Lower Decks is. But it struggles in places, mostly because it’s a finale that wasn’t meant to be one.
Rutherford becoming angry at the Cerritos happens very suddenly. This story feels like it was supposed to be a season six arc. Some goes for Tendi and T’Lyn bickering as co-science officers.
This is the “Boimler and his alt. universe pad” season. And that resolves very easily. There’s a whole concept about the two Boimlers being the key to figuring out the rift which goes nowhere. You can feel the show jumping tracks here. It’s not their fault. But it is frustrating.
The being said: everything is legitimately great. Captain Freeman assumes all season that going to Starbase 80 is bad and the revelation that it’s her entering a new phase of her career is SO COOL. Ransom becoming captain feels earned after we watch his command style evolve.
Boimler dreams of being the best of the best. Mariner, despite herself dreams of the same. And they are the best. It’s funny imagining them as competing first officers, but it also feels satisfying and joyful.
Four years ago Star Trek: Lower Decks was the joke show. Some might not even have considered it canon. But five seasons and 50 episodes later, it’s definitive Trek. In the end Star Trek: Lower Decks is a show any Trek writer can look to and be inspired.
Well done.
