Summary
I was in Hall H for the Star Trek Universe panel atSan Diego Comic-Con,and somethingStar Trek: Lower Deckscreator Mike McMahan said gave me hope that season 5 isn’t the end of the show. Earlier this year, Paramount+ announcedStar Trek: Lower Decksis ending, although this was something McMahan and his creative team knew was coming. Even while promotingStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4 last year,McMahan started to sound red alerts that Paramount+ was closing the blast doors onStar Trek’s first half-hour animated comedy, and sure enough, that’s what happened.
Star Trek: Lower DecksjoinsStar Trek: Discovery,which also ended with its fifth and final season in May. WithStar Trek: Picardalso over, andStar Trek: Prodigycanceled by Paramount+ - and subsequently saved by Netflix - this leavesStar Trek: Strange New Worlds(which completed season 3 production and was renewed for season 4) as the last of the original5Star Trekon Paramount+ series.Star Trekwill go on as Paramount+ is also preppingStar Trek: Starfleet Academy,announced a newStar Treklive-action workplace comedy, and has a made-for-streaming movie,Star Trek: Section 31, raring to go.But as sad as I am to seeLower Decksend, I’m optimistic that it may not be really over.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Trailer Breakdown - 10 Easter Eggs You Missed
Lower Decks unveils a teaser trailer for its final season at San Diego Comic-Con which is packed with Star Trek Easter eggs and hidden references.
Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Creator Mike McMahan Says Season 5 Is Final Season On Paramount+
Lower Decks season 5 is the end of a chapter
At San Diego Comic-Con’s Star Trek Universe Hall H panel, whenever Mike McMahan spoke aboutStar Trek: Lower Decksending, he repeated something that made my ears perk up.Mike always saidStar Trek: Lower Decksseason is the"final season on Paramount+.“To me, adding that qualifier at the end seems to be a very specific choice by a talented writer known for his witty rejoinders. Here is a quote from Mike McMahan at Comic-Con aboutStar Trek: Lower Decksending with season 5:
This is our final season on Paramount+. [Crowd boos] No no no! We’re not supposed to make the crowd boo. But because we knew it, this season is a celebration of all things Lower Decks and all things Star Trek, so we love it… You’re getting a closure that feels like the end of a chapter, but you’re not getting a closure on the Cerritos or these characters.
While answering a fan question later in the panel, Mike McMahan again repeated thatStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 is the final season on Paramount+.To me, Mike is implying - or trying to set in motion - a future forStar Trek: Lower Decksafter it ends on Paramount+. It’s clear to me that MIke McMahan and everyone behind the scenes atStar Trek: Lower Decks, as well as the voice cast led byTawny Newsome and Jack Quaid, would be thrilled to continue playing their USS Cerritos junior Lieutenants for years to come. And McMahan couldn’t be more clear he considersStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 to be merely the end of a chapter.
How More Star Trek: Lower Decks Can Happen
Fans can save Lower Decks
Answering another fan question at San Diego Comic-Con’s Star Trek Universe panel, Mike McMahan gave a"safe answer"about whyStar Trek: Lower Decks is ending that didn’t turn out so"safe"by the end.Star Trekexecutive producer Alex Kurtzman then urged the fans to take action to giveStar Trek: Lower Decksa future beyond Paramount+. Here are McMahan and Kurtzman’s quotes from Comic-Con urging fans to watchStar Trek: Lower Decksto boost season 5’s numbers and save the show:
Mike McMahan: My safe answer for [why Lower Decks is ending] is watch the hell out of this season when it airs… And after we air, I’ll think of other things to say when I don’t work with these guys so directly anymore.
Alex Kurtzman: Watch it twice because, actually, it does register. Finish it, and then watch it again… Guys, your petitions are incredible. They’re incredible. Look what you did for Prodigy. Do it again.
Mike McMahan and Alex Kurtzman’s hopeful message is clear to me:Fans need to take greater action to saveStar Trek: Lower Decksand possibly find it a new streaming home, just asStar Trek: Prodigywas rescued byStar Trek’s passionate and vocal fanbase. Maybe it’s becauseStar Trek: Lower Deckshas had 5 seasons that the audience isn’t as outraged that it is ending, butno moreStar Trek: Lower Decksis a massive loss and a tragedy.Star Trek: Lower Decks is pure and essentialStar Trek,and the USS Cerritos' creator, Mike McMahan, has put out a red alert in so many words: It’s up toStar Trekfans to pick up the fight and saveStar Trek: Lower Decks,and we can do it.
