REVIEW: ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ on CBS All Access
Image: Star Trek: Lower Decks features ensigns Mariner and Boimler, voiced by Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid, respectively. Image courtesy of CBS 2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved / Provided by press site with permission.
The Star Trek franchise has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years, which should be welcome news for die-hard Trekkies and Trekkers. Although, truth be told, with every new series and cinematic project, there’s a healthy dose of skepticism and hesitation. Will the new show reach the heights of previous incarnations? Is there such a thing as Star Trek drain? Can one be overwhelmed by Gene Roddenberry’s vision?
The answer is no — of course. It has been a long time coming for Star Trek to once again become a full-fledged, every-week offering, and thanks to CBS All Access, the streaming service that houses each and eery Trek show, fans can dip in and out of many series, both old and new.
The renaissance began with Star Trek: Discovery a few years ago. The flagship property, starring Sonequa Martin-Green and Doug Jones, is gearing up for its anticipated third season this fall. Then came Star Trek: Picard, a new series that premiered earlier in 2020 and finds Patrick Stewart reviving his beloved captain role.
Now, during these pandemic days, CBS All Access has given fans a new idea from an old franchise: an adult animated series called Star Trek: Lower Decks. The premiere episode, dubbed “Second Contact,” is funny and fast-moving, offering a unique perspective and original characters for fans to enjoy and grow to love. Too often the Star Trek series are top-down structured, with all drama and narrative arcs emanating from the captain (think Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer). For Lower Decks, as the name implies, the focus is finally on the people (and aliens) who make up the lower rungs of Starfleet’s occupational ladder. These are the ensigns and captains-in-training, the crew members and newbies.
This fresh perspective is so appreciated, and the audience learns of this professional world by focusing on a few pivotal characters: Ensign Beckett Mariner (voiced by Tawny Newsome), perhaps the best character on the series; Ensign Brad Boimler (voiced by Jack Quaid), a nervous and likable guy; Ensign Rutherford (voiced by Eugene Cordero), a cyborg with a faulty mechanical eye; and Ensign Tendi (voiced by Noël Wells), who works in the medical bay. The commander and captain of the ship are still part of the show, but they are held up as faraway gods, leaders that these “lower decks” personnel can only dream of.
Mariner and Boimler appear to be the protagonists of the series, and they are well-suited as a dynamic duo. They poke fun at each other and have varying aspirations for a command position one day (the audience can already tell Lower Decks will end with one of them sitting in the captain’s seat). Their personalities may be polar opposites, but they rely on each other as friends in the pilot episode (although Boimler is secretly spying on Mariner and providing intel to the captain of U.S.S. Cerritos).
The show runner of Lower Decks is Emmy Award winner Mike McMahan, an alumnus of Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites. He has crafted an effective series that brings the comedy (none of it too “adult”) and still honors the vision of Roddenberry for the Star Trek brand.
For newcomers to the franchise, the plot and characters are easy enough to follow. For dedicated fans, there are numerous Easter eggs and shoutouts to other series and beloved characters. Star Trek: Lower Decks is an easy-to-love, entertaining animated series that promises many adventures, many inside jokes and plenty of laughs.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Star Trek: Lower Decks continues with new episodes on CBS All Access. A new episode is released every Thursday. Click here for more information.
