Alerted to the universe destroying rift that’s been isolated to their timeline, Boimler and Mariner lead the charge in convincing Captain Freeman of the threat. To their surprise, there’s no argument from her as she trusts her ‘best officers’ and informs command who then deliver the bad news. There’s no other ship in range. It’s time for Cerritos to step out of their comfort zone and save the galaxy.
Lower Decks doesn’t always hit a home run for me. But when it does, it’s in a finale.
For an animated comedy that seems to thrive and get put on a pedestal for it’s multiple callbacks and references, it’s a show that shines when it goes beyond the nudge and a wink to let it’s characters grow. Very quickly this episodes hammers how how that growth has carried the show beyond expectations. And it all hits home early with one line. “You’re my best officers.” A line from Freeman that shows the massive turnaround from Mariner and being losers and misfits into what they are now; proven and valued crewmembers.
Although the Cerritos has seen it’s share of high profile missions, this is the first time they’ve been tasked with ‘Enterprise level’ work which brings a lot of comedy but lets the series show off what it’s achieved, putting everyone in prime position to showcase that behind the comedy and emphasis on being the background workhorses of the fleet, there’s still some Starfleet in them all. Not only that, but it feels like it brings the show together for one last hurrah similar to how the Picard crew got their last big adventure.
Mixing the lower and upper decks as an ensemble, having everyone work to their strengths, kind of feels like a fitting way to close the show. It’s a race against time with some Klingon interference helping to close off a sub-story of the show, with everything thrown in. Rutherford realises his implants are holding him back, Mariner takes charge in the middle of a crisis… even Ransom, who’s often a one note joke, it elevated to a heroic level as he shows he’s smarter than the gym-bro caricature.
For everything thrown in there, it doesn’t feel too packed and it’s paced perfectly. Even preparing Cerritos with new upgrades from Starfleet, or searching the ship for missing Klingons doesn’t slow anything down. If anything it all adds to the tension that comes with the unique brand of storytelling to give both drama and comedy a chance to come to the forefront as they show the Cerritos and it’s crew to be their better selves working as one.
And as it all came to an end, they gave us a satisfying conclusion tot he series and not just a season with Starbase 80 becoming a key outpost and new home for Captain Freeman, and Jack Ransom taking command for new adventures as he mentors his new command team with Boims and Mariner now in charge of the lower decks; T’Lynn and Tendi staying as co-science officers and Rutherford falling back in love with the Cerritos as he enters life without his implant guiding him.
It’s a joyful episode that shows the best of what Lower Decks was and even if it left the door open for more adventures, the New Next Generation was a wonderful way to close the book on the series final chapter.
About the author
Some Scary Ship! The Griffin Incident; Strange New Worlds S4E02
Returning from a conference for future leaders of Starfleet, Spock and La'an (with Kirk hitching a ride) find a long-lost ship adrift. The USS Griffin's disappearance nine years prior had never been explained, becoming a bit of folklore within the fleet. Stum,bling upon it by chance, the trio board the ship hoping to find an answer to the mystery only to get more than they bargained for... Writers: Robbie Thompson Director: Axelle Carolyn I'll preface this now by pointing out I love creepy sci fi settings.. The isolation of being trapped on a derelict ship with no escape and no one to call for help has always been something I've enjoyed from the obvious Event Horizon, even to old classics like The Thing. So I was excited for this one by the trailer alone and can't say I was disappointed! […]
Mars Attacks! Valles Marineris; Strange New Worlds S4E01
Since losing Batel at the end of the last season, life for the crew of the Enterprise hasn't stopped. Mainly because Pike won'd let them. Racing from mission to mission without even a water break in between, the crew are getting a little run down after six months of back to back nonsense. And it's all because of Pike running away from the loss and burying himself in adventure to keep the grief at bay. As Admiral April pops over for a chat, and to offer Pike a promotion he doesnt seem too interested in, a break doesn't seem to be coming any time soon. Writers: Henry Alonso Myers, Alan B. McElroyDirector: Chris Fisher Sent to investigate some new weird space stuff, things go completely mental when the Enterprise gets pulled into it and thrown, Caretaker style, into an unfamiliar […]
Mark Mitchell; 1969-2026
It's with great sadness we report that our Director of Operations, Mark Mitchell, has sadly passed away suddenly earlier this week. Mark was one of our longest serving members and a huge part of what helped shape what SFCQ2 is today. Having served in leadership as a CO, throughout fleet support and originating the role of Director of Administration, Mark's unyielding dedication to the club and his multiple contributions over the decades undoubtedly make him worthy of his Legend handle. From writing the entire base for our modern Academy to being vital in the fleet restructure, to offering support and advice to countless members to support leadership and direction, Mark's efforts serve, and will likely continue to serve, as the backbone of everything that makes Q2 with his primary goal always being to offer the best of everything and push […]
Gamma Quarter 2403 Promotions & Citations
Throughout it’s entire existence SFC has grown, evolved and thrived due tot he commitment and passion of our officers and crew. Keen members can make a huge difference within their unit or the fleet as a whole, and we like to ensure members are rewarded and recognised for all they bring to the organisation. Starting this quarter, we're opening every new period within the fleet celebrating those who have made an impact and engaged in being a positive influence in their unit or in Q2 overall. The most obvious form of rewards comes from our naval-based rank structure. Utilising the same base rank structure seen on screen, SFC takes members through their journey as a Starfleet officer by giving members a chance to rise throughout the ranks from Ensign to Captain. Having had an active and exciting year, Lt Commander […]
A Fistful of ‘Spirk’
We've been spoiled with Spock in the past few years with Discovery introducing a younger iteration of the character long before he became the refined man of logic that made him famous, and continued that story through Strange New Worlds and his time under Captain Pike's command. As Strange New Worlds continues, giving more history to the original series line up and the early meetings of Spock and Kirk as it makes way for the beginning of the Kirk era, we thought we'd look back at some moments that made the partnership one of the most popular combinations in science fiction. JOURNEY TO BABEL TOS Season 2 Spock's got a bit of an issue with sharing. Secret brother who was shunned. Secret sister who's fate was classified. And despite trusting the Enterprise crew with his life, it was clearly only […]
Site & Service Updates July 2026
It's been a strange year as we adapt to then changing landscape of the Star Trek franchise with recent corporate shenanigans in the media industry, as well as adjusting to and anticipating new regulation sin our home base of the UK which has taken up more brain power than we'd expected!Still, despite distractions, we've been working away in the background with a revised Admin schedule to ensure at the very least every Sunday we can check off some items on the to do list and keep everyone updated on the changes whether minor, major or a bit pointless! On Screen Additions After being placed on the low priority list for a while, the On Screen Mission Log section has begun taking shape. Previously the On Screen section had it's own section per show since the launch of Discovery, however with […]
Related
Fissure Quest: Lower Decks S5E09 Review
Side stepping the Lower Deckers for the episode, Fissure Quest instead focuses on Boimlers not-so-dead-transporter duplicate William. Following faking his death in season three, Billy Boims is now captain of Section 31 ship the Anaximander. While Cerritos has been sent to close the subspace fissures expoising them to alternate realities, the Anaximander has been sent into that multiverse to find out who's causing them.
Upper Decks: Lower Decks S5E08 Review
This is an odd episode that see's a lot going on, but also feels like nothing of note really happens. It's basically a day in the life of the command crew that makes the job seem more chaotic than the low level tasks of the Lower Deckers while making fun of the idea that only the important command crew have all the fun.
Lower Decks: The Final Season Begins…
Mariner, Boimler and the lower deck crew are back this October as the Second Contact specialists take on a new mission to investigate the mundane for the Cerritos' final flight!
Starfleet Academy Welcomes It’s First Class!
The first batch of cast announcements for Academy focused on veteran actors Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter, the latter in the role of the new Academy Commandant, but now we're getting a full look at the shows first class of cadets as the first five are ready to enlist!
Paul Giamatti joins Holly Hunter for Starfleet Academy!
Looking ahead to the next generation of Star Trek shows, Paramount and Secret Hideout have already began announcing new cast members to lead the Starfleet Academy series coming to the streaming platform in the near future. News of the show has already turned heads with notes that the new academy campus will be the largest seen on TV so far, being filmed in Pinewood';s largest stage in Canada, though in terms of what to fully expect from the young adult drama, things are largely being kept under Red Directive secrecy. However we now at least know who will be leading the new class ahead of the shows production...
Strange New Worlds Renewed: Lower Decks Cancelled.
After an era of being spoiled for choice when it came ot Star Trek shows, Paramount+ has announced the future of two of it's most popular streamed series as Star Trek's first animated comedy comes to an end whilst Captain Pike gets another season to explore Strange New Worlds with Spock and his Number One.
