In 1994, when Star Trek: The Next Generation aired the off-beat episode titled “Lower Decks,” nobody could have known the result of that legacy. Thirty years later, the notion of a Star Trek series focusing on background officers and other less overtly pivotal characters seemed like a detour, rather than the primary mission. But with “Lower Decks,” the seed was planted for something simultaneously innovative and nostalgic. Launching in August 2020, the animated comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks took Trekkies by surprise. Now, four years and five seasons later, this joyful romp in the final frontier is coming to an end that almost seems too abrupt.
“I will play Boimler until I’m dead,” Lower Decks star Jack Quaid tells Inverse. “I love playing that dude. This is the best timeline.”
Although fans are heartbroken that Lower Decks Season 5 will chronicle the final voyages for the USS Cerritos, the cast is trying to just look at it as the latest season and not necessarily the end.
Lower Decks Season 5 is where their characters have evolved the most. Crucially, they’ve also been promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
“Their promotions change a lot of the dynamic,” Tawny Newsome says. “Maybe Mariner has to figure out how to deal with some charming insubordination. In the same way, she was once the charming insubordinate.”
“Everyone’s in their own lane this season,” Noël Wells adds. “We’re getting to see the characters handle things, independently.”
For Wells’ character, Tendi, this is especially true. In a sideways tribute to the 1991 TNG Season 4 cliffhanger and subsequent Season 5 premiere, “Redemption,” some of the early Lower Deck action is focused on Tendi having resigned from Starfleet and engaging in Orion pirate activity with her sister. But as the trailers have revealed, she’ll end up back with her Starfleet BFFs, eventually.
“In a way, they grow up this season,” Eugene Cordero says. “So we get to see a little bit more of them trying to control the high jinks the best that they can. And will it work out? It doesn’t matter. It’s just fun to watch the process.”
For Quaid, this means all the characters — and Boimler in particular — are dealing with “impostor syndrome.”
“Boimler’s journey is just forever trying to gain that confidence,” he says. “He got to be the acting captain last season at the end, and he’s just trying to figure out what that meant for him.”
In other words, for this gang, Lower Decks Season 5 is different from the previous four seasons, but also a little bit the same. The truth is although Lower Decks seems like it’s ending prematurely, the cast is very aware that Tendi, Rutherford, Mariner, and Boimler have arguably gotten a staggering amount of character development in a relatively short period of time — especially when compared to other Star Trek series of the past.
“They touched bodies at my birthday party, and no, it wasn’t weird.”
If the goal of Lower Decks was to lionize the underdogs, the show has more than succeeded. Although the cast is bittersweet about this moment (Newsome admits to “crying” about the ending of the series), at this moment, the cast has nothing but gratitude to the Trek franchise and the fans who love them.
“It’s inconceivable to imagine my life without this,” Newsome says. “I would have no career. This show has gone through two huge Hollywood crashes. The fans that have been keeping me afloat. I could not be more grateful.”
Ironically, because of the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns — combined with the nature of how animated TV shows are made — the four principal actors of Lower Decks are only just now, at the end of their run on the show, performing joint interviews all together, in the same physical space.
“Our entire lives have just been over Zoom until now,” Cordero says. “But [Jack Quaid and I] touched bodies three months ago.”
Newsome, the voice of Mariner, jumps in. “They touched bodies at my birthday party, and no, it wasn’t weird,” she says.
“It was life-changing,” Quaid says.
Just like in the charming series, these four finish each other’s sentences, laugh together, and generally feel eerily similar to their animated Starfleet counterparts. Last year, Newsome and Quaid even played live-action versions of Mariner and Boimler in a crossover Strange New Worlds episode, but now, that moment feels like a million years ago.
“There has to be more,” Cordero says. “I’ll play Rutherford in live action. Or my voice again or...”
“You’ll play him as a stuffed animal, even, right?” Newsome cuts in.
The answer is yes. The cast knows their journey in the Star Trek fandom, and the expansive canon, is far from over. Even if this particular show is ending, the memories will last a lifetime.
“When I auditioned for the show, I did not know it was a Star Trek show,” Wells reveals. “So every step of the way feels like an unfolding gift that I did not anticipate. And, I’m still understanding how cool it is. So, yes, it is kind of a bummer. Like we’re at the fifth season, I’m like, ‘Nooo, I get it now!’”
