STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS
STARFLEET DECOMMISSION
LOWER DECKS CREATOR MIKE MCMAHAN EXPLAINS HOW HE WENT ABOUT CHARTING A LAST SERIES OF ADVENTURES FOR THE USS CERRITOS
WORDS: TARA BENNETT
Eugene Cordero as Rutherford and Tawny Newsome as Mariner.
LET’S BE REAL: STAR TREK FANS raised on The Original Series, or Star Trek: The Next Generation, have had no qualms, over the last decade, about talking trash about the latest Trek streaming shows.
But there's been one show mostly spared, and that’s Star Trek: Lower Decks which, after a slightly bumpy first season, has become one of the best reviewed and cross-generationally appreciated Trek shows because of its unabashed adoration for every iteration of the universe’s canon.
Created by Mike McMahan and launched in 2020, Lower Decks is only the second animated Trek show, taking the very dusty baton from 1973’s The Animated Series.
Featuring an original crew on an original ship, the USS Cerritos, it’s most interested in shining a light on the ensign crew members working their way up the ranks of Starfleet by doing all the menial jobs every other show and film ignored.
After four seasons of bizarre and hilarious adventures across the universe, the core team have proved themselves worthy, with recent promotions to Lieutenants Junior Grade for Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Boimler (Jack Quaid), Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) and Tendi (Noël Wells).
The show has found its lane, mixing audacious contemporary comedy stylings with Trek references so deep that even the most knowledgeable fans sometimes need to double-check their official universe encyclopedias. That hardcore geekiness quickly earned McMahan and his writers respect and appreciation for their ability to poke fun at Trek as insiders.