I’m not hiding my opinion here. I honestly wonder whether or not Lower Decks is the best series, if the Cerritos is the best ship, and if the crew is the best cast of Star Trek. The first is a toss-up, as is the second to be fair, since I’m the one that likes the Olympic-class, which we’ll see in episode 5. However, that last question is definitely up for debate. We can all squeal like Bradward when he sees a picture of Captain Riker, or like some others for a silver-clad member of Voyager, but the most humanistic and natural out of the many crews are those on the lower decks of the Cerritos.

For the benefit of my editor and those more unaware than anyone else, all these sci-fi ships are staffed by crew members like a maritime ship. A good portion of the “red shirts” of the Original Series (Kirk’s snogging parade) were probably of the lower decks or rising ensigns of the ship, aka the people not sexy or interesting enough to be clad in skin-tight silver. Oh, how I’d love to paint that sexy beast Quark like one of his Ferengi women in his holo suites. The point is, who cares about lowly engineers, science officers, and aspiring commanders? Me, that’s who!

Now that I’ve proven my right to be here and my nerd card has been accepted; “Second Contact” is the initial episode in the first animated series of Trek since 1974. Unlike Roddenberry’s bible for TNG which I’ve mentioned a couple of times before, Lower Decks actively shirks off most of what the old man wanted his lifeblood to be. That is most definitely for the better and works to its benefit. Shatner can flap his gums all he likes, some of the best Star Trek going about right now actively pushes against all that is and ever was in Gene’s vision.

It is done to make the world of Star Trek more natural while retaining a large portion of what made the series so appealing in the first place. The lives of Beckett, D’Vana, Brad, and Rutherford as low-ranking officers of a so-so California-Class ship isn’t typically the story an American show would take. In fact, it is more akin to The Thick of It because we’re focusing on the little people. Yet through that, Mike McMahan and the writing team get to do what some of Discovery attempted without being so full of itself.

I’ve heard the argument that Discovery‘s first season was about that show and that crew becoming Star Trek, and I don’t care about that (I actively hate it). Yet I care significantly for the ensigns on the lower decks as they squeal and coo over the details like Gary Mitchell and specific ships, as they are becoming Star Fleet officers. While the last few years of Doctor Who have been an idiot writing out his fan fiction, Lower Decks has a professional writer getting to put his fan fiction together in the universe without being too egregious. The latter is a bit like Steven Moffat too.

Unlike Alex Kurtzman’s greyscale in Discovery, Lower Decks is colorful, effervescent, exciting, and fun. Remember when we could have sci-fi that both did the grand political statements about just being kind to each other and it was fun? “Second Contact” uses a lot of exposition to guide us in, sometimes with a joke or two that is very Rick and Morty (for obvious reasons) to the displeasure of some. Though despite being the second-class ship, quite literally a galactic spellchecker, there is always a sense of Star Fleet.

Beckett might be unruly and chaotic good, but that is what makes her such a fantastic lead in a small ensemble cast. Starring The Boys actor Jack Quaid, Tawny Newsome, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero as the ensigns we follow the most, the ensemble is well-formed. They are able to excitedly talk about older and more obscure segments of the franchise as well as maintain that blasé Star Fleet attitude. From the outset, we can see (and most importantly feel) each character’s desires.

“Second Contact” might not be the greatest first episode of Star Trek. Recency bias might be at play but “Strange New Worlds” is certainly up there. What “Second Contact” is great at is introducing us to our characters, while not being particularly good at setting out the world as a whole. Where something like “Smith and Jones” uses every tool and introduces both you and a new character to the world, here we’re focusing on setting up the main point of view and their relationship to the rest of the cast almost exclusively. Beyond that is the tone, which is something we haven’t seen done in Star Trek either at all or well.

Ultimately, Lower Decks and separately “Second Contact” is a great bit of character work while setting up something new with a comedy-bend in an established franchise. The benefit of time is of course that I know where we’re going with all that is set up thus far, and I can’t hide the fact I’m extremely happy about it. After writing about Doctor Who wavering on the scale for so long, it is good to sit in a happy place enjoying some new Star Trek that references all the good old bits, like Deanna Troi.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks "Second Contact"

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• Color, so much color!
• Spider-cow, Spider-cow, does whatever a Spider-cow does.
• Beckett is everything.

Cons

• Some slightly more Rick and Morty comedy.