“Star Trek” has a new animated series – only the second ever for the franchise – that aired on TV 6 to take part in the award-winning collection of shows that currently includes “Star Trek: Discovery“en”Star Trek: Picard “.
“Star Trek: Lower Decks” was developed by Mike McMahan, creator of Hulu’s “Solar Opposites” and co-creator of “Rick and Morty.” It focuses on the support crew aboard an unintentional Starfleet starship, the California-class USS Cerritos, shortly after the “Next Generation” era, in 2380, after the events of “Star Trek” Nemesis. “The show is the latest in a slew of new Trek offers from the subscription streaming service CBS All Access that will include shortly”Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. “Plus, we still have one Section 31 spin-off in pre-production, with Michelle Yeoh and other animated series, “Star Trek: Prodigy,” in production for Nickelodeon.
Here’s the thing about “Lower Decks”, if we hadn’t had “Archer” in 11 seasons, this would be super fresh, so it might feel a bit like you’ve seen this before. Even to the point of excessive shouting and the fact that Ensign Mariner (Tawny Newsome) is basically Lana Kane – knowledgeable, more experienced, capable and frustrated to be underrated.
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However, that does not mean that this show is not fun. It’s somewhat refreshing to hear characters in a “Star Trek” show have a dialogue like this:
“What is it? [a giant, killer space spider chasing Ensigns Mariner and Boimler] to do? “
“It shoots butt-webbing on a tree. It looks pretty pissed off.”
The tone is set immediately and during the opening credits sequences we see the USS Cerritos almost being sucked into a black hole, cutting an iceberg with its gate warp nacelle into a “Voyagercredits-esque sequence and have hilarious second thoughts about supporting a Romulan fleet engaged in a battle with the Borg, and instead choose to throw away and flee.
It even takes a little fun to “Star Trek”, that is really refreshing to hear. “Do not worry, you will be fine, Doc will weigh a light on it,” Marina quips as Boimler finally emerges, abused and broken, from the so-called giant, killer space spider.
The show’s name is a throwback to the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “Lower Decks,” (S07, E15) which follows four junior officers involved in a top-secret mission and d there are many nods to Trek canon. From familiar aliens, like a blue-skinned Boolean, to Romulan whiskey (incidentally also blue), all the way to name-dropping characters like Kirk, Sulu, Spock and even, bizarre Gary Mitchell.
(This is actually a super-nerdy, super-layered Easter egg, as Boimler had not heard from Mitchell, as Kirk falsifies his report at the end of “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, the pilot episode of “The Original Series” where Mitchell appears, reflecting Boimler making his log report at the beginning of this first episode.)
The cast includes Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Noel Wells (Ensign Tendi), Jack Quaid (Ensign Boimler), Tawny Newsome (Ensign Mariner), Fred Tatasciore (Lieutenant Shaxs), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom) and Gillian Vigma (Dr. T’ana).
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The name of the show is more than likely a throwback to the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “Lower Decks,” (S07, E15) which follows four junior officers involved in a top secret missy.
The cast includes Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Noel Wells (Ensign Tendi), Jack Quaid (Ensign Boimler), Tawny Newsome (Ensign Mariner), Fred Tatasciore (Lieutenant Shaxs), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom) and Gillian Vigma (Dr. T’ana).
“Lower Decks” is the second cartoon incarnation of “Star Trek”, following “Star Trek: The Animated Series” set aboard the USS Enterprise during his tenure as Captain Kirk. It’s also the second official attempt to incorporate humor into “Star Trek.” The first of these was the episode “Short Trek” with the title “The problems with Edward, “that was not alone brilliant, but also happened to star H. Jon Benjamin, who voices the character Sterling Archer in the show “Archer.”
Hopefully, “Lower Decks” will find its footing and cut a unique position for itself and radiate the clichés. The humor comes thick and fast and there are many references of pop culture to keep most people happy – inclusive The Monkees pop band, a meta-musical throwback dat seems to be catching on recently.
It seems like all the ideals of “Star Trek” are here, plus there’s a nice twist at the end of this first episode. Hopefully the number of callbacks to Trek Cannon will be kept to a minimum and not just recorded for the sake of it.
You will find yourself making more noise than you originally expected and hoping that this performance will only improve – it certainly has the potential. “Lower Decks” captures a youthful energy ironically through the adoption of adult humor, thus eliminating any need for over-acting as a clichéd come-of-age story.
The second episode of “Star Trek: The Lower Decks” will air on Thursday, August 13th on CBS All Access.
While “Discovery” and “Picard” are currently available on Netflix and Amazon outside the US, there is still no word on if “Lower Decks” will stream anywhere else. New episodes of the first season of 10 episodes will be available weekly.
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