Let’s celebrate how Lower Decks unapologetically brings back Star Trek’s sillier side

[u/mekilat]

Lower Decks is ending. Sometimes, it is possible for a show to be perfect, and still come to an end. That is not failure. That is life.

I think we all agree the show went so far above and beyond than expected. It has been hilarious, outrageous, while remaining deeply respectful of the lore. In doing so, it reminded me how silly and hysterical these voyages can be.

Fun isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Trek. The gap between the conclusion of Enterprise until Discovery, made it that I mostly remembered and discussed the highlights. The episodes that meant something. The Measure of a Man. Darmok. Far Beyond the Stars. For a decade and a half, moments like “There are four lights“ and Shakespearean speeches on the value of freedom were what these stories are about. I brushed aside its humor, as some extra dressing.

Star Trek is deeply silly sometimes. It can be a show where a god-like entity shows up in a mariachi band to be kind of a dick to the crew. Where Chekov will ask police officers where to find nuclear weapons (in a thick Russian accent!). There is a deadly plague of plush toys called the Tribbles. Let’s not even get into the Ferengi shenanigans.

Short Treks had some funny short stories. The Tribbles are born pregnant, and they are a menace! Una and Spock sing along! It was great, but felt like a side serving of fan service. Lower Decks blew every expectation away. Every week, year after year. We got to see Cetacean ops. The dolphins are really horny, and they have a Starfleet beach ball. There’s a Tuvix episode where they make these Dragon Ball style fusions of random characters and give them names. There’s a Tamarian, and we have no idea what he says but it sounds important. Evil robot has sex with bird people.

It’s not just a comedy. It’s a comedy for us. It is so astonishingly respectful of our fandom. To be clear, we’re a few thousand fans, the hardest of hardcore, debating things like how a phaser’s power settings work, or the diplomatic nuances of the Khitomer accords. They had no business reason to make a show for us. It could have been done for a fresh new audience, and simply use the IP as a starting point. They didn’t have to go so hard. References to a single line from a TOS episode in the 60s that was never explored again. Integrating inconsistencies across all these shows, all these decades into canon. How!?

Lower decks writers love trek so much. They breathed so much life into that world, by pointing out how ridiculous it often is, and running with it. It still managed to deliver coherent, intelligent stories worth exploring and reflecting on. Like how Starbase 80 helps us understand the daily lives of Federation civilians.

The crew is on the wildest ride in the universe. They’re having fun, they’re trying their best, and they’re boldly going somewhere sillier than before. This is the most fun I’ve had with this franchise since my childhood. Lower decks! Lower decks! Lower decks!

I’d love it if everyone could share their favorite dumb, silly, or funny moments from the show :)

[u/Edymnion]

What I appreciated most about the series is how much it took the weirdo nonsensical elements that we ALL just kind of pretended like never happened, put them front and center, and just made them work.

The original Animated Series was so freaking wild that for decades it was deemed entirely non-canonical, but here we are with not just references to but actual on-screen callbacks to Giant Spock, Pandronians, the blue Orions (complete with silly M shaped space suits and weird pronunciation)? And it works?!?

Plus, the worldbuilding that animation allows! Live action or even CGI like Prodigy could never afford to do vast open wasteland farms on Kronos, but Lower Decks traditional animation could, and we got more universe building in that one episode than what entire SEASONS of other shows have done!

I swear, the creators and writers were uber-nerds like us, they fully understood the concept of "Just show us the thing, you don't have to spend 20 minutes explaining it, just show it and move on and the fans will fill in the rest!" that will have us debating things for a decade!

[u/NaiveBank3523 → u/Edymnion]

This, I also love how the finale opened up the possibility for a few spin-offs. I could totally see a Starbase 80 show, either somewhere far in the timeline after it's stationing or directly after. Would love to see the incursions they go on, even if *those* sorts of topics have been frequently explored before.

It's also the show that's actually gotten me in to Star Trek after 22 years of vehemently ignoring it over favouritism for Star Wars. Probably should have given it a chance when my mother suggested lol, but I'm glad I have now.

[u/Edymnion → u/NaiveBank3523]

Another good series to help ease you into the setting some more?

Star Trek Prodigy. First episode of that feels very Star Wars, and then it gradually introduces all the "this is what it means to be Star Trek" in over time.

Its made specifically for kids, but it doesn't talk down to anyone or dumb things down. Actually one of my favorite series.

Its on Netflix.

[u/NaiveBank3523 → u/Edymnion]

It's on my list, I've been going through the series chronologically starting with Enterprise despite the fact I technically started on Lower Decks. I briefly summarized myself with the plot of Prodigy and it's overarching importance to the story and I'm honestly sad they removed it from Paramount+ and are seeming to distance themselves from it. Always love timeline shenanigans in shows so it does seem like one for me.

Even if it is for kids, Clone Wars originally started for kids as well, and it still held some very mature topics and story arcs political, social and war wise. It's always, imo, good for shows to do that if they gear to younger audiences, ofc without overexposure, gives them the ability to learn morality in a way that they can engage with and connect with on a personal level. Also seeing some clips of it on Memory Alpha, the animation very much reminds me of Season 7 of Clone Wars and the Tales show, is it done by the same studio or animation team at all?

Thank you also for letting me know it's on Netflix, haven't touched it in awhile but still have an account thankfully lol, glad I have somewhere to watch it.