Written by Brian McNamara
In launching its third new Star Trek spin-off – and its second Trek launch of 2020 – CBS is loudly declaring that Star Trek is back, and it’s here to stay. Star Trek: Lower Decks, the new animated series that aims to take a comedic look at the storied, venerated and sometimes downright hokey franchise, has launched with a good amount of hype. It also comes paired with news that Star Trek: Discovery will return after Lower Decks completes its run, for 23 uninterrupted weeks of Trek. Normally, I wouldn’t couch a new show with all this information, but I think it informs the thought process behind this show a bit. CBS is ramping up to be in a place where they will eventually be airing one new Star Trek show a week, with a pool of four shows currently being worked on and two in active development. The idea is that there will soon be a Trek for everyone, at all times.
Lower Decks tells the story of four scrappy young ensigns on the U.S.S. Cerritos, a ship that deals with the less glamorous side of the Federation’s mission to seek out new life – paperwork and infrastructure. The show takes its cues from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode of the same name, which offered a “slice of life” look into junior officers lives on the Enterprise. The idea of making a show or extended run of episodes that spotlight the day-to-day of the non-bridge crew has been mentioned or floated a few times since the franchise exited TV in 2005. It’s now manifested as an adult-oriented workplace comedy with a heavy influence from Rick & Morty.
We’re introduced to Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome, Space Force), a partying, trash talking command-line ensign who’s been on five ships in as many years and who is more capable then she lets on and Brad Boilmer (Jack Quaid, The Boys), a put-upon command-track officer who wants to be a Captain but is perhaps caught up in “trying to be the Captain.” Both characters are realized out of the gate but their voice actors, in particular Tawny Newsome, who is able to pull off being sarcastic, a know-it-all, a bit of a bully and a friend while still rattling off alien encounters at a clip. The main cast is rounded out by D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells, Master of None), an Orion medical ensign new to the Cerritos and who would appear to be our in to this world, and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), a human cyborg adjusting to his new implant and how it plays with his emotions. While both have nice spotlit moments in the first out – pumping a heart and a neat action set piece – both feel a little sidelined.
The senior officers offer us some stars (Dawn Lewis as the Captain; Jerry O’Connell as the XO) and cameos (Paul Scheer; Jess McKenna) to round out the cast, but are only given a few minutes to interact with anyone and so feel a little superfluous to the first outing, both by design and by episode structure.
The plot of the episode is a little thin. It plays on “first contact” story tropes – a misunderstanding leads to complications – and an “alien pathogen” story that turns the ship-board crew into rage zombies. I found it was a little hard to know the throughline of the episode. Even in broad comedy there’s a lesson or general message to follow, instead we get the vague idea that Beckett has been kicked off a few ships because of her bad behavior – which gets Boilmer into a pickle – but that something about their pairing makes Boilmer apt to cover for her. I think the issue may be that Boilmer and Mariner are both known to each other and already on the ship. If one or the other had been the “new character,” it might present better. A B-plot features Ens. Rutherford going on a date in the midst of the zombie attack. It actually is kind of funny and works. The resolution perhaps needed another story beat or two. Oddly, Ens. Tendi disappears for a chunk of the episode which makes her introduction seem out of place, like it could lead off the second episode.
As a comedy, there were definitely fun moments and a few chuckles. The opening credits have a few gags that actually made me laugh – the ship being pulled into a black hole and the ship encountering a larger battle and turning tail and running away. However, some of the comedy is a little flat in places or doesn’t really rise above or even satirize the Trek concept. It strikes me as asking, “Wouldn’t be funny if someone were slimed by an alien?” without any real point to it. The first episode offers up a few gags intended for longtime fans, but many feel like references for references sake and neither easter eggs or part of the story.
The show is designed to evoke Next Generation the most – from it’s almost there theme music to the bridge design, episode title and more, it’s clear it’s aiming to play with that bit of the franchise the most. Of course, that’s somewhat strange even though the show it’s making fun of went off the air a quarter century ago. It’s all updated to look new – including some beautiful looking 3D animations of Starbase 1, the Cerritos itself and the main credits. (As a nerdy aside, the Cerritos is another in a long line of Trek vessels that apes the look of the Akira-class ship designed for 1997’s First Contact, with the pontoon-esque warp nacelles underneath and to the back of the ship, that they used as the basis for both the Enterprise of Enterprise and Discovery’s Shenzou).
That said, for as good as the ships and planets look, the Rick and Morty art seems to work against it. It’s a little incongruous and at times draws you out of the show. I would have liked to have seen a little more of a “modern” look to the art that evoked a more SciFi feel rather than “cleaned up” Ricky and Morty designs. That said, I can see room to grow from it and I imagine the style will evolve over time.
I found myself enjoying the premiere episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, but recognizing the flaws. Star Trek has a history of iffy pilot episodes, and this was clearly stronger and more self-assured then many of the previous show starters. That said, I found it lacking a bit; too light, a little directionless. The potential is here and perhaps with more time with the crew, more humor and more situations for comedy, the show will grow on me. It feels almost too “safe” to really breakdown Trek as a concept but also taking it’s more aggressive shots in weird directions – a Caitian doctor who looks haggard as a nod to Dr. McCoy randomly drops bleeped curses to good effect, but feels a little one note and nothing more than “Hey, remember that curmudgeon? What if he could drop an f-bomb?” I look forward to more episodes and playing with the concepts, but I think the show will really need to become more of a character-based workplace comedy within Trek then a reference and dirty joke marathon about Trek to succeed past it’s planned two seasons.
Rating: 6/10
