TV You Might Have Missed 11 — Star Trek: Lower Decks

The main characters of Lower Decks (L-R):
D'Vana Tendi, Sam Rutherford, Beckett Mariner, and Brad Boimler.

The Star Trek franchise's first first comedy, Lower Decks focuses on one of Starfleet's least important starships, the USS Cerritos. Unlike previous Star Trek series, whose principal characters are typically starship captains and other senior officers, Lower Decks focuses on the missions and adventures of the "lower deckers", low-ranking officers with menial jobs, while the captain and other senior staff appear as supporting characters.

I first heard of this on Scott's Self-Indulgent Movie Podcast. Scott had never watched any Star Trek of any sort but had the cultural understanding of the show. He enjoyed this animated series so much that he binged the whole thing. We had to try it. By Episode 4 we were hooked. Part of the fun is the references to other Star Trek shows that the lower decks gang toss around. Part of it is the friendship between the lower decks gang. And, finally, part is the wackiness and humor. As for the rest, go read Scott's review. Here's a key part that drew me in.

Lower Decks basically handles a movie-level problem every episode as the main thrust or A plot, often with direct homages to the Star Trek movies themselves. Action scenes are quick and feature everything from hand-to-hand combat to space battles and hell they can destroy a moon or a planet if they want to without obvious green screen work. Meanwhile the secondary storylines, either the B or C storylines, are the equivalent of a sci-fi workplace comedy where one character is trying to impress a superior, deal with some interpersonal conflict, or essentially an episode-long joke.

But because it's a comedy, the life or death stakes often have a silly bent to them. For instance, the recurring villain the Pakleds are deadly serious when encountered in combat but are also...complete morons whose hierarchy is based on hats.

This captures the gist of the thing. We've caught up with all four seasons and are eagerly awaiting the final season which will begin streaming in October. Give this a try.