Finally the animated show that depicts the other side of life in Starfleet has arrived on UK shores - well at least in our TV's anyway. That's right, in the latest edition of our Moustache Lockdown Streaming Survival Guide we will be talking about Season 1 of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
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Have you ever wondered how Starfleet vessels run so smoothly? Wondered who takes care of the day to day stuff? Well that would be the lower deck crew of course, and it's about time they got their very own TV show. Now we can see what this colourful band of reprobates get up to as we join the crew of the USS Cerritos on some of Starfleet's less glamorous missions.
As tight ropes go, Mike McMahan has found himself a particularly tricky one with Star Trek: Lower Decks. But walk it he has - and in particular style - finding a way to both celebrate and poke fun at a beloved franchise like Star Trek. This may primarily be a show for fans, but the light-hearted approach gives 'Lower Decks' a potentially much wider appeal than the other more serious shows. I'd say it's somewhere between traditional Star Trek and Seth MacFarlane's 'The Orville'. The fantastic animation is similar in style to Rick and Morty, but this is very much Star Trek in the way it looks and feels. Set a year after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, 'Lower Decks' looks a lot like Star Trek: The Next Generation, especially when it comes to the uniforms and the ships.
But it's the characters in those uniforms (and ships) that make this show what it is. In many ways they are an odd reflection of - and a loving tribute to - the fans of this long-running franchise. You've got the fans who are too cool to admit their Star Trek fans, but secretly enjoy it, that's Mariner (Tawney Newsome). She's the tough badass who secretly loves being in Starfleet, but feels the need to rebel against pretty much all of the rules. Then there's the hardcore fans, the ones who know Star Trek inside and out, for them we have Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid). Brad's a stickler for the rules, which means he has to do everything by the book, in fact going off book usually turns him into a nervous wreck - much to Mariner's enjoyment. And finally you've got the fans who just love everything Star Trek, represented here by Tendi (Noël Wells) and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). No matter how mundane things get, these two just really love their jobs.
While these guys are usually stuck doing the boring work, there's often something bigger going on - much like you'd see in the other Trek shows - somewhere in the background, but one or all of our heroes usually find a way to get themselves in trouble, and in hilarious fashion. They may live in a better society, where people are good, but that doesn't mean they can't be idiots, or heavy drinkers, or just a little too keen. But you can guarantee the bridge crew will be the ones to take all the credit when everything gets sorted out. Which is the other interesting aspect of this show - seeing the guys who would normally be the stars from an entirely different perspective. When you're on their level - as we usually are, on the bridge - it's easy to see where they're coming from. But on the lower decks it all looks a little different, from down there all we can see is a captain who's a high-strung pain in the arse (Dawnn Lewis), a Kirk-wannabe first officer with no shame (Jerry O'Connell), a grumpy bipedal cat person for a Chief Medical Officer (Gillian Vigman), and a Security Chief who makes Worf look house-trained (Fred Tatasciore). Put all of this together - the two worlds of bridge crew and lower decks quite literally collide on a regular basis - and you've got the perfect recipe for hilarious chaos.
However, Star Trek: Lower Decks may be a comedy, but it celebrates Star Trek as much as it mocks it. Careful attention has been paid to Star Trek lore to fully integrate this into the world - or should I say galaxy? - created by Gene Roddenberry. This is a show made by fans, for fans. It's loaded with fun cameos and clever references to almost every generation of Trek, a lot of them delivered in incredibly amusing ways - like Riker referencing the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. This is as Star Trek as it gets, but the different approach puts an interesting new spin on life in Starfleet. We've seen great Captains, supported by dedicated and loyal officers, now we get to see what they have to do - and more importantly what they have to endure - in order to get there.
Star Trek: Lower Decks marks a hilarious new approach to Star Trek. I wouldn't say it boldly goes where no one has gone before, but it does provide an interesting new perspective on the going. This is the story of the little guys in Starfleet, and their view of the galaxy from the bowels of a starship. I for one, can't wait for season 2!
8/10
Season 1 of Star Trek: Lower Decks is available on Amazon Prime now.
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