Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Review: The Animated Trek Series Is Still Great
This post contains some minor plot details from the premiere episodes of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" season 4. Those hoping to watch the show with a complete blank slate should read this review after they've watched them.
In the first episode of the fourth season of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" — called "Twovix" — the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos has to transport the now-decommissioned U.S.S. Voyager to a museum site. The Voyager, it seems, has been transformed into a museum, complete with bizarre on-board exhibits, including one devoted to the time Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) and Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) surpassed Warp 10 and evolved into salamanders. On the bridge of the Voyager, there are mannequins of the ship's original crew, each wearing their actual duty uniforms.
Ensign Boimler (Jack Quaid), while setting up the diorama, nearly drops a mannequin of Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), the Voyager character who notoriously stayed an ensign for seven straight years without a promotion. On a show where Boimler geeks out about legendary "Star Trek" characters, it's notable that he says nothing of Harry Kim. Harry Kim is but a forgotten ensign, a lower-decker himself who never got respect.
That, naturally, feeds into the central theme — and the funniest joke — of "Lower Decks." These characters will spend years remaining unacknowledged and are not destined to become inducted into the pantheon of Starfleet history. Even slight career shifts won't assure them immortality. Their adventures are exhilarating but shall remain forever obscure, overshadowed by their more recognized live-action counterparts.
Boimler, Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Tendi (Noël Wells), and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) have, as of this season, been promoted to lieutenants (junior grade). They may have finally surpassed Ensign Kim in rank, but their lives are still mercifully pathetic. "Lower Decks" lets the characters remain professionally beleaguered, while they work on the fabric and nature of their friendship.
This is a long way of saying that "Lower Decks" is still great.
Reopening the reference warehouse
"Lower Decks" has remained savvy about its obscure Trek references, making frequent jokes and visual puns about the franchise's vast history. There is a scene wherein the four lead characters enter a warehouse, historically a handy place to find multiple callbacks and references. The warehouse contains ... well, there's an original series episode reference in a box right next to a notable first-season "Deep Space Nine" reference. Sharp-eyed Trekkies will be able to spot any number of other little nods to various piece of Trek tech and the second appearance of multiple one-time-use alien species from the franchise's history. It's a true treat for die-hard fans.
Only occasionally do the references seem oblique and self-indulgent. "Twovix," for instance, essentially only exists to poke fun at many elements of "Voyager"; its very title is a reference to "Tuvix," the infamous amalgam of Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Neelix (Ethan Phillips) who was created by a transporter accident. Tuvix (Tim Wright) pleads to remain alive, but not to give away any plot details, but Tuvix's origin will play an important part in the "Lower Decks" episode.
But apart from "Twovix" and one other notable episode, the references have stayed graceful and incidental. One needn't know Trek lore to appreciate the gags.
This show is for nerds
Being a nerd with deep-cut sci-fi knowledge can indeed help. Redditors have already pointed out that one of the new "Lower Decks" episodes is titled "Parth Ferengi's Heart Place," and some might see the title as a Joycean reference to the short-lived horror spoof "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace" from 2004. It's obvious that the makers of "Lower Decks" are nerds, and this show is for nerds. Nerds like me. Trekkies will definitely note that one of the later episode titles is a spiritual titular sequel to an infamous "Next Generation" episode.
The broad thematic arc of the fourth "Lower Decks" season has kept the characters on track with their interpersonal relationships. At its core, "Lower Decks" is about work friendships, and how the people you work your shifts with can be the best friends of all. After each of the four main characters has been promoted, and their sleeping arrangements have changed — they no longer sleep in a hallway! — their relationships are tested. Each of the characters openly fears that they may not be friends if they're not ten feet apart at any given moment. It has the vibe of kids transferring to new elementary school classrooms.
Familiar faces
I personally hope that the four characters remain friends and that the show continues to lean into that friendship. Retaining friendships is a trickier type of story to write, and a more interesting one to watch. That essential fabric, the very pulp of "Lower Decks," should never be rent asunder.
There are multiple returning characters in season 4, completing some of the story arcs begun in the previous season. Without revealing who returns or what happens, I can say that the arcs conclude satisfyingly. And the show does this all while staying true to the spirit of "Star Trek."
One will also see development for a returning minor character named T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), a Vulcan sent to the Cerritos as punishment. That character was previously seen in "Wej Duj" and, some may be pleased to hear, serves as a new regular. Her stern, logical, Vulcan demeanor provides a vital balance to the goofball tendencies and lackadaisical attitudes of the four lead characters. She's a welcome addition.
It's all a bit silly
"Lower Decks" is at its weakest when it's being a bit too silly. In the second episode, "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee" (a reference to Harlan Ellison's short story "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"), Mariner and Commander Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) have to face off against a creature feels like a calculated marketing decision. It's about as amusing as Goose the Flerkin from "Captain Marvel," which is to say: not at all amusing.
But those moments are leavened by the above-mentioned themes of workplace friendship, the persistent theme of remaining kind of pathetic, and clever expansions of "Star Trek" lore. To that last point, there will be an episode that takes audiences to an alien world that is frequently referred to in dialogue but that was never dramatized. Little details like that are being noted incessantly by deep-cut Trekkies who need to know it all. Four seasons in, "Lower Decks" has remained surprisingly strong.
If the main characters remain good friends and professional underdogs, all will be well.
/Film Rating: 9 out of 10
"Star Trek: Lower Decks" season 4 premieres September 7, 2023, on Paramount+.