Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 8 - “Upper Decks"Star Trek: Lower Decksjust cleverly reversed theStar Trek: The Next Generationepisode that inspired it. AsStar Trek: Lower Decks' fifth and final season on Paramount+ nears the finish line, the crew of the USS Cerritos takes a break from its current mission of closing fissures in space that lead to alternateStar Trektimelines.Star Trek: Lower Decks' episodic format allows season 5, episode 8, “Upper Decks” to be a one-off that flipsStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 7’s “Lower Decks.”
The first half-hour animatedStar Trekcomedy series,Star Trek: Lower Decksis also the heir toStar Trek: The Next Generation’s popular 24th century era.Star Trek: Lower Deckspicks up a year afterStar Trek: Nemesisends, and the USS Cerritos voyages in the wake of the events ofTNG, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, andStar Trek: Voyager. One ofLower Decks' distinctive calling cards is how lovingly the show andStar Trek: Lower Decks' charactersreference the breadth of theStar Trekfranchise that came before it. ButLower Decksis also a purposeful and ingenious reversal ofStar Trek’s classic format.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Flips TNG’s Concept That Inspired It
Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode 8, “Upper Decks” brilliantly reversed the format ofStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 7, episode 15, “Lower Decks.” Amusingly, by doing so,Star Trek: Lower Decksbecame likeStar Trek: The Next Generationfor one episode. By focusing on the bridge crew of the USS Cerritos, “Upper Decks” provedLieutenant Beckett Mariner(Tawny Newsome) wrong that nothing exciting happens to the Cerritos' senior officers.
20 Best New Star Trek Characters Of The Last 20 Years
In celebration of Screen Rant’s 20th anniversary, check out 20 of the greatest Star Trek characters to be introduced in the last 20 years.
The USS Cerritos' bridge crew certainly live exciting lives. Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) balanced her daily appointments with her crew to repel an insectoid alien takeover of the Cerritos. Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) used offbeat means to get a group of Ensigns to work together. Dr. T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) learned a lesson about her pain tolerance vs. the crew’s, Lt. Commander Andy Billups (Paul Scheer) solved a crisis in Engineering, and Lt. Shax (Fred Tatasciore) faced his own traumatic past against the Cardassians.
Star Trek: Lower Decks' senior officers have regularly faced their share of dangers.
In truth,exciting things happened to the USS Cerritos' bridge crew all the time onStar Trek: Lower Decks,but the show’s format centered on the junior officers like Mariner,Lt. Bradward Boimler(Jack Quaid), and their friends. Still,Star Trek: Lower Decks' senior officers have regularly faced their share of dangers. Captain Freeman has gone on secret missions and was even framed by the Pakleds, Lt. Shax died and was resurrected, and Commander Ransom was turned into a powerful psychic being by strange energies.
What Happened In Star Trek: TNG’s “Lower Decks”
A Starfleet Tragedy Changed Mariner’s Life
Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Lower Decks” breaking the show’s format is one of the reasons why it’s so memorable. Shifting the focus to a group of junior officers on the USS Enterprise-D was a breath of fresh air that let audiences see the bridge crew likeCaptain Jean-Luc Picard(Patrick Stewart), Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) the way their subordinates see them. “Lower Decks” was also an early proof of concept thatStar Trekis interesting even if it tells the stories of lesser known Starfleet characters.
Star Trek: Lower Deckscreator Mike McMahan cites “Lower Decks” as his favoriteStar Trek: The Next Generationepisode, and the clear inspiration for his animated comedy.
Of course,the enduring legacy ofStar Trek: The Next Generation’s “Lower Decks” is tragedy:Ensign Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) was killed in the line of duty during a secret mission involving the Cardassians. Sito’s death hit audiences hard, andStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4revealed it was a fundamental event that altered the course of Lt. Beckett Mariner’s Starfleet career. Mariner was friends with Sito in Starfleet Academy, and losing Jaxa forged Beckett’s belief that she must remain a Lower Decker so that she never sends her friends to die.
Star Trek: Discovery Made A Big Change That Predated Lower Decks
Discovery Changed Star Trek’s Paradigm First
Star Trek: Lower Decksis the firstStar Trekseriesto consistently be about the junior officers of a starship, butStar Trek: Discoveryactually broke the mold first. Series creator Bryan Fuller originally intendedStar Trek: Discoveryto be an anthology that focused on a different starship and crew each season. One of Fuller’s other innovations forDiscoverywas breakingStar Trek’s tried and true format where the Captain is the main character and leads a main cast comprised of a bridge crew.
Star Trek: Deep Space Ninealso initially brokeStar Trek’s format by setting the show on a space station instead of a starship, where the lead character was Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). Sisko became Captain three seasons later.
Star Trek: Discovery’s main character, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), was a Commander and First Officer when the series began. After committing mutiny, Burnham was an unranked Specialist for most ofStar Trek: Discoveryseason 1, and the show’s heroics were performed by Burnham and other USS Discovery Lower Deckers like Lt. Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Ensign Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman). Burnham eventually became the USS Discovery’s Captain andStar Trek: Discoveryembraced the classicStar Trekformat centering on the bridge crew in its later seasons.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Made The USS Cerritos Starfleet’s Most Exciting Ship
Upper And Lower Decks See Action On The Cerritos
Despite Lt. Beckett Mariner’s"world view,“excitement can be found on all levels of the USS Cerritos for every character inStar Trek: Lower Decks. Mariner, Boimler, Lt. D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells), Lt. Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and Lt. T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) are right that most of the action does focus on their misadventures. Yetit’s been clear since the beginning ofStar Trek: Lower Decksthat chaos spreads all across the USS Cerritos. “Upper Decks” simply cements the fact that Captain Freeman and the bridge crew don’t lack for eventful incidents.
Star Trek: Lower Decks makes being in Starfleet a thrill no matter which deck of the USS Cerritos someone serves on.
Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5effectively makes the case that the USS Cerritos is currently the most exciting ship in Starfleet.Lower Decksseason 3 already established that the Cerritos is considered"the Enterprise of the California Class.“The Cerritos has also saved Starfleet from the rogue Texas Class controlled by A.I.There is evidently never a dull moment on the Cerritos,from Ensigns accidentally losing their hands, being turned into a cavewoman, or being terrorized by a Moopsy that eats people’s bones.Star Trek: Lower Decksmakes being in Starfleet a thrill no matter which deck of the USS Cerritos someone serves on.
