Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 5 Finale - “The New Next Generation"Star Trek: Lower Decks' thrilling and resonant finale closes this chapter of the USS Cerritos' lower deckers' Starfleet careers, but not before the California Class starship savesStar Trek’s Prime timeline. Written by series creator and showrunner Mike McMahan,Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode 10, “The New Next Generation” picks up from the cliffhanger ofStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode 9, “Fissure Quest.”
Lieutenant Harry Kim(Garrett Wang) piloting theQuantum Reality-jumping starship Beagleinto a dimensional rift not only killed Kim, but it released soliton tachyon burst that could destroy the entireStar Trekmultiverse. Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid) sent the soliton beam into the Prime Universe with instructions to his Prime Universe counterpart, Lt. Brad Boimler, knowing the USS Cerritos could find a way to stop it. With the USS Enterprise-E unable to arrive in time, and given the connection between the Boimlers,it was up to the USS Cerritos to close the unstable rift.
The Cerritos' mission was complicated by Klingons led by Relga (Roxana Ortega), who wanted to kill Ma’ah (Jon Curry) and his brother Malor (Sam Witwer). Friends ofLt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), the Klingon brothers were granted asylum by Starfleet aboard the Cerritos. Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) led the Cerritos into the Schrödinger possibility field surrounding the rift as the Klingons chased and attacked them.
The USS Cerritos Saves Star Trek’s Multiverse
The Cerritos Crew Did It By Working Together
The USS Cerritos and Relga’s Klingon Bird-of-Prey had modified shields that protected the crew from the transmuting effects of the Schrödinger field, but the rest of Relga’s armada wasn’t so lucky.The Schrödinger field warped the exterior of the Cerritos, transforming it into alternate Starfleet classes found inStar Trek’s multiverse,like aMirror Universe Terran EmpireCalifornia Class, Sovereign Class, and Galaxy Class. Relga’s ship was destroyed when she and her crew were turned into mindless proto-Klingons.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Cast Guide: Who Voices Each Character In The Final Season
Meet the Lower Deckers and bridge crew of the USS Cerritos as Star Trek: Lower Decks warps into its fifth and final season on Paramount+.
Working together,the USS Cerritos' crew figured out a way to stop the Schrödinger field.Eschewing his implant and trusting his love for the California Class USS Cerritos, Lt. Sam Rutherford modified the ship’s deflector array. When the Schrödinger Field split the Cerritos in two, co-Chief Science Officers Lt. D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) and Lt. T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) recombined their starship. When the Cerritos was unable to close the rift, Malor’s Klingon farming simile gave Mariner the idea of how to alter the Cerritos' subspace gluonic beam to stop the Schrödinger Field.
This win was the biggest success of Captain Carol Freeman’s tenure as commander of the Cerritos.
Not only did the USS Cerritos crew"save the universe,“but they also managed tostabilize the quantum reality rift, turning it into a safe gateway into other timelines and alternate realities.This win was the biggest success of Captain Carol Freeman’s tenure as commander of the Cerritos, and it happened because her crew worked as one to solve the crisis.
Starbase 80 Guards A New Multiverse Wormhole
Star Trek: Lower Decks Gets Their Own Deep Space Nine Mission
Star Trek: Lower Decks’finale set upa brand-new mission for Starfleet reminiscent of the original mission ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine.Starfleet took control of the multiversal portal and assigned a permanent mission to guard the wormhole and explore the multiverse. Starbase 80, which has systems old enough not to be affected by the portal’s tachyon emissions, is now permanently docked at the portal. WhileCommander Kassia Nox(Nicole Byer) runs Starbase 80, Captain Carol Freeman was assigned as the leader of the multiverse’s exploratory mission, with her husband, Admiral Alonzo Freeman (Phil LaMarr), overseeing it for Starfleet.
Ensign Harry Kims
Anaximander Crew
Section 31’s Defiant Class starship Anaximander was reassigned as Starfleet’s multiverse exploration vessel. Under the command of Captain William Boimler, the Anaximander’s crew ofStar Treklegacy characters, including T’Pol (Jolene), Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), Dr. Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson), Captain Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), and multiple Ensign Harry Kims will permanently chart the Multiverse. With “The New Next Generation,“Star Trek: Lower Decksinherits the mantles of bothStar Trek: The Next GenerationandStar Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Has 2 New Captains
Captain Ransom & Captain Ma’ah Take The Center Seats
Captain Carol Freeman’s reassignment to Starbase 80 means her First Officer,Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell), rises up to become the new Captain of the USS Cerritos. Initially portrayed as unlikable, Ransom’s virtues and skills as First Officer became more apparent, especially inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5. Ransom’s promotion to Captain is essentiallyStar Trek: Lower Deckstelling the story thatStar Trek: The Next Generationnever did with Jack’s inspiration, Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), who never became Captain of the Enterprise.
Becoming Captain Ransom also means Jerry O’Connell’sStar Trek: Lower DecksFirst Officer got promoted before his wife, Rebecca Romijn, who plays the USS Enterprise’s First Officer, Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley AKA Number One onStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Regla’s dishonorable actions motivated the Klingon High Council topromote Ma’ah to Captain of Relga’s armada, with Malor as his First Officer. Ma’ah was introduced as a lower decker inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 2 who was a victim of Klingon politics. Ma’ah befriended Mariner inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4, but he was relegated to being a farmer on the Klingon homeworld, Q’onoS. Ma’ah overcoming his enemies rewards him with the Captaincy he deserved, and it gives Starfleet and the USS Cerritos a new ally in the Klingon Empire.
The USS Cerritos’ Lower Deckers Get Promoted
The Cerritos' Lieutenants Move On Up
Star Trek: Lower Decks' title remains relevant even as the USS Cerritos' junior grade Lieutenants rise up to new assignments on the bridge crew. Against their will, Captain Ransom decided to make Lieutenants Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner his provisional co-First Officers. Ransom is pitting the best friends against each other for his own amusement and for their career advancement, to see if either Beckett or Bradward distinguishes themselves for the job of Cerritos Number One. As Ransom noted,Boimler and Mariner may be lower deckers, but they’re not also"in charge of the lower deckers.”
Lt. Kayshon
Security Officer
After competing amongst themselves sinceStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode 7, “Filly Dilated,” Lieutenants Tendi and T’Lyn are now happily in sync as Co-Chief Science Officers. Lieutenant Rutherford also realized he still loves the USS Cerritos and no longer needs his implant to be the best young engineer in Starfleet. Rutherford also learned the dopamine from his implant suppressed his romantic feelings toward Tendi. The rest of the USS Cerritos' senior staff stays in place after Captain Freeman’s departure, andCaptain Ransom’s starship continues its mission to perform Second Contacts and serve as the Enterprise of the California Class.
The USS Enterprise-E, the USS Titan, and other starships joined the Cerritos at Starbase 80, but, unfortunately, their crews weren’t seen inStar Trek: Lower Decks' finale.
Lt. Beckett Mariner’s climactic speech at the end ofStar Trek: Lower Decks' finale sums up the true purpose and mission of the USS Cerritos. The California Class starship is filled with great Starfleet Officers who would be misfits aboard other ships, but they have a home and a way to establish themselves on the Cerritos. Lower Deckers also have the opportunity to shine on the Cerritos, asStar Trek: Lower Deckscements itself as the true successor toStar Trek: The Next Generation.
Will Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 6 Happen?
The USS Cerritos Will Hopefully Return Some Day
Sadly,Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5’s finale marks the end of Mike McMahan’s beloved animated comedy on Paramount+.There are no plans forStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 6 on Paramount+.Nor is there any movement known towardsStar Trek: Lower Decksbeing picked up by another streaming service, the wayNetflix importedStar Trek: Prodigy.For now,Star Trek: Lower Decksis over, and so is the modern renaissance of animatedStar Trek.However, the USS Cerritos may return.
Tawny Newsome is developing a live-actionStar Trekcomedy set in the early 25th century that could potentially include herStar Trek: Lower Deckscast mates appearing if the show is greenlit by Paramount+. Newsome is also a writer onStar Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Star Trekfans can help potentially resurrectStar Trek: Lower Decksbyrepeat binging the 50 episodes on Paramount+ and inviting others to watch the series.Demonstrably high streaming numbers will makeStar Trek: Lower Decksmore attractive to other streaming services and, possibly, to Paramount+ for a phase II.
Mike McMahan has plenty of ideas about what could happen next to the USS Cerritos, and he has also mused about doingStar Trek: Lower Decksin live-action.Star Trek: Lower Deckshas proven itself to be endlessly innovative and essentialStar Trek, and hopefully, it’s only a matter of time until the USS Cerritos warps back onto our screens.
