Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 has arrived with the season finale!
After last week's reveal of the brand-new Texas-class starship, we knew this would be the episode's focus.
Also, we’ve got to deal with Ensign Mariner no longer being a part of the crew.
Both of these plot points are explored in the season finale of the hit animated show. So, how does the episode hold up and where does it leave us for the future?
Here is our full review oh and we’re talking about the END CREDIT scene, therefore, SPOILER WARNING!
We’re discussing this episode in full detail like always, so be warned, there may be spoilers here for you!
Welcome to Trek Central! I’m your host, Captain Jack, and let’s get into it!
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Okay, engage!
I should technically say "Warp Me", it's more appropriate!
The cold opening of this episode is all about how superior the Texas class is to the California class. Especially when it comes to completing missions on time.
However, as revealed in the episode, the automated ship is incapable of the human factor or taking in things such as the Prime Directive.
The Texas-class starship was one of the best things to come of the last episode, and getting a focus on it with the season finale was fantastic.
. Personally, I wish we had spent more time understanding and seeing it maybe be a rival over more episodes than just two.
Had it been around since episode 6 or something like that, the justification for shutting down the California-class ship lines would have been more impactful to the viewer.
Now Lower Decks does try and tell self-contained stories.
But it’s evident from this episode that a lot of what has happened in the third season has been deliberately set up by Admiral Bunamigo. Such as the crew’s visit to Deep Space Nine.
I’ve got to commend the end of this episode. Seeing all the California-class starships come together to save the day was fantastic.
Especially when you realise we’ve seen some of these crews in various Lower Decks episodes over the past three seasons.
Such as the USS Carlsbad. And we also get the ending of T’yln transferring to the USS Cerritos.
Some of you may remember this character from season two.
Looking at our crew in this episode, part of me feels like they did not have much to do or a certain task for them was added to involve them. T
Take Ensign Tendi. This is a frequent issue with Lower Decks, where it sometimes feels like it isn’t enough for her to do, and therefore her storyline is left to the side with no progression.
In this episode, her meaningful element slows down the mission to check for alien life.
It’s a very Starfleet thing to do and does eventually prove valuable in Freeman’s defence.
However, Ensign Rutherford discovered the Teaxs-class was using the stolen code he had designed.
Therefore Tendi’s mission component is put to the side again and was just a way to slow things down. Rutherford would have still discovered the code, regardless of whether they were slowed down.
The season finale certainly moves to setup elements of the upcoming fourth season.
Weather that be introducing Tendi’s study buddy, Ty’lyn, which might mean the character gets more depth.
Let’s talk specifics about Episode 10!
Mariner eventually returned to the Cerritos in this episode. Personally, i don’t see the whole story point of her leaving. Yes, it makes sense, but for her to return and rejoin the crew makes the whole plot element useless.
Though you see her coming to terms with wanting to still be in Starfleet. Wanting to still have that purpose in her life that she so desperately craves.
While hunting artefacts with Petra is cool, It’s not her life's mission.
She does eventually return to Starfleet and the Cerritos in this episode. However, an element I liked well was her trying to find out who was funding the archaeology digs.
It turns out it's none other than Admiral Picard himself. A neat little reference.
One of many Picard name drops and callouts in this season, but the whole series of Lower Decks. Let’s not forget Season 3 started with Ensign Boimler being on a grape plantation.
The episode and season end with Mariner in the same place where she began ten weeks ago.
This might be the issue with Star Trek: Lower decks, character progression and growth. Our characters are essentially confined to the Lower Decks because that is the show's name.
They can’t go on to become captains right now as it would change the dynamic and setting of the series we find ourselves in. There is character growth, but not the physical sense of where they are going.
Lower Decks does fail to address Mariner and Jennifer’s relationship in this episode.
Much like last week, where i felt it was tossed to the side in favour of getting Mariner off of the ship.
The whole episode does not touch on this week with her returning. We get one glance from Jennifer, but it’s hardly much to write about.
. I get this show isn’t about relationships, and we don’t want there's being the whole storyline, but still, you think some acknowledgements of it would go well.
It’s finally revealed that Admiral Bunamigo is the person who erased Ensign Rutherford’s memory and fitted him with the implant.
Additionally, he’s programmed the Texas class with the same AI code that Badgey was coded with.
However, the defining moment of this episode for me had to be when The Admiral tried to force the ship to attack the USS Cerritos, which backfired and got him killed.
Seeing Douglas-station getting carved up by three of the Texas-class starships featured some great action sequences for the episode.
Seeing space stations and defences pop up and try and attack the other ships was cool. It also gives us an idea of how these stations defend themselves in the Star Trek universe.
The USS Van Citters coming to the rescue is an excuse to see another Sovereign-class starship.
However, some might not know that the ship is named after a Paramount Global employee named John Van Citters, whose role at the company is Vice President of Star Trek Brand Development. He’s been in this role, similar or many years.
Finally, I think the destruction of the Teaxs-class proves that Starfleet should not do automated ships anytime soon.
. However, we all know that this does not end here. Starfleet will again attempt automated ships in the future years, which are close to Lower Decks.
I’m talking about the events in Star Trek: Picard Season One and the destruction of the Utopia Planitia shipyards.
Well done Starfleet!
Lower Decks included a post-credit sequence for this episode. It shows an unknown alien starship with a green tractor beam recovering Ensign Rutherfords' original implant device.
This, of course, still contains the original code and framework for badgey. The evil AI that was shown in Season One of Lower Decks.
Therefore i think we should expect this manic of an AI to appear in the upcoming season four eventually.
If I had to guess and make speculation, I wonder if he’ll do something with the AIs locked up by Starfleet.
That's my speculation for Season 4, we'll see if I am wrong in a years time...
Overall, this episode was enjoyable as a season finale for Lower Decks. It moved rather fast and jumped itself on a few points, but overall, it flowed nicely.
Especially seeing multiple elements of Starfleet missions through the mission race between ships. I appreciated the references to the “Starfleet Badmirals” vibe with Admiral Bunagmigo.
Also, we could compare him to the whole USS Pegasus incident situation. Our writer Dom compared that last week, and it turned out true.
However, I still have some of my original issues with the third season. It still feels like Lower Decks is currently playing it rather safe in the story-telling department.
We’ve previously had episodes that have pushed the boat far in their actions and words. However, with episodes of season 3, they feel kinda normal and just not reaching that far for Star Trek.
I’m sure some of you understand what I mean by this. Especially as we’ve touched on it a few times over the course of the third season so far, I will say that Lower Decks has increased in graphic quality so much.
. If you compare where this animated show started in 2020 to where we are now in 2022, it’s beautiful.
Building onto this, the music of Lower Decks continues to excel the show. Chris Westlake has done a fantastic job in making the soundtrack call back to The Next Generation but it stands on its own simultaneously.
I think overall, Lower Decks does a great job of remaining delightful and fun. It’s always a fun part of our week to watch this episode.
I’m looking forward to what is coming up in the fourth season of Lower Decks, likely landing sometime in 2023!
Don’t forget that this week also sees the return of the other Star Trek animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy.
It returns with the next 10 episodes, which is the second half of season one. You can find new episodes on Paramount+, but do check over on Trek Central.net as we’ve got a recap article if you need a refresher on what is coming up.
If you want to keep up to date on all the latest Star Trek news, lore and more, then make sure to hit that subscribe button to never miss a video from the team here at Trek Central!
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For now, I’ve been Captain Jack, thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time! Live Long and prosper my friends!