The Lower Decks And Strange New Worlds Crossover Led To A Star Trek Bromance For Spock And Boimler
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" recently wrapped its first — and to briefly editorialize, very good — season, while "Star Trek: Lower Decks" will premiere its third on August 25. The two shows have quickly emerged from the busy "Star Trek" marketplace as "the two good ones," with Trekkies giving both effusive praise. Perhaps in response, Paramount announced on July 23, out of San Diego Comic-Con 2022, that "Strange New Worlds" and "Lower Decks" will have an unlikely crossover episode.
Crossovers are, of course, nothing new to "Star Trek." Because "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and "Star Trek: Voyager" all took place on the same timeline, the three shows would frequently visit one another (Dr. Bashir visited the Enterprise; Worf got a job on DS9; Lt. Barclay communicated with the Voyager; these names all make sense to Trekkies). What is unusual about the "SNW"/"LD" crossover is the former show takes place in the late 2250s and the latter takes place in the mid 2380s. Oh yes, and one is a live-action show and the other is animated. Many fans, and the cast, wait with baited breath to see how the cross-medium encounter will work.
In a video interview with EW, Jack Quaid, who plays the anxious Ens. Boimler on "Lower Decks," was particularly effusive about the experience, going so far as to claim a special kinship between his character and Spock on "SNW," played by Ethan Peck.
Boilmer heart Spock
This seems an unlikely claim, as Brad Boimler and Spock couldn't be more different. One is nervous and career-obsessed. The other is collected and scientific. Boimler is inexperienced and exasperated and nervous. Spock is cultured, clear-thinking, and always has his wits about him. Putting Boimler and Spock in the same room might produce tension similar to that of ... well, probably Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Neelix (Ethan Phillips) from "Voyager." The writers of "Voyager" attempted, with only very occasional success, to wring comedic tension out of the jolly Neelix getting on the nerves of the stern Vulcan Tuvok, clearly working hard not to express any annoyance. How kooky would it have been if a transporter accident combined them into a single character?
It seems like something could potentially be at play with Boimler and Spock. Quaid, however, finds that their relationship was actually warmer than one might expect:
"It was great. That cast was awesome. Ethan Peck and I have a bromance for the ages. We call it Spoimler: Spock and Boimler. It's amazing, but that whole cast is so friendly and welcoming and cool. We just had a ball, and we got to be directed by Jonathan Frakes. So what could be better?"
Worth noting: No person other than Jack Quaid has ever used the word "Spoimler."
Frakes, incidentally, not only played Cmdr. William Riker in various "Star Trek" shows and movies, but he has also directed two "Star Trek" movies and, as of the upcoming crossover, 26 "Star Trek" episodes from all eras of the franchise, 28 if you count his two episodes of "The Orville."
Acting in live-action
Incidentally, the solution to having a live-action series host characters from an animated one was to simply have the voice actors appear in live-action, complete with uniforms and makeup. The voice cast of "Lower Decks" more or less looks like the way they do in the animated series (some green skin, purple hair, and occasional ocular implant notwithstanding), so Quaid will be appearing in person on "Strange New Worlds." A new acting wrinkle would be his learning to move physically like a character that had previously only been animated. Quaid address both his movements and his uncomfortable uniform, saying:
"I figured it would be sweaty 'cause I tend to sweat a lot, but my God, that thing is not breathable. It looked really good, but there were those first few fittings where I had the purple hair, I had the uniform on, it just blew my mind. The coolest part was I was able to study the show and look at how the artist animated Boimler and how he moved, and I was able to put a little bit of that in there."
Also appearing on the crossover show will be Ens. Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Ens. Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and Ens. Tendi (Noël Wells). The episode will be available on Paramount+ in 2023. There is no word yet as to how the crossover will handle the time differential, but time travel is a common enough occurrence on "Star Trek," so few Trekkies are concerned. It's more than likely the temporal nexus from "Star Trek: Generations" will make an appearance.