Weekend Watch: Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

Back below decks with the fun 'toon Trek

Image Credit: Paramount+

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, the Cerritos gang is going up in rank (and danger). Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite

I’ve written in praise of Star Trek’s animated series Lower Decks before (and also enjoyed this year’s crossover with Strange New Worlds, the one Trek show that can even start to compete with Decks for sheer fun factor). And I’m pleased to report that Season 4 not only continues the upward trend the show has been on across previous seasons, but is also growing into something truly memorable in the canon.

Of course, the adventures of Ensigns (and low Lieutenant Junior Grades) Boimler (Jack Quaid), Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Tendi (Noël Wells) and Rutherford (Eugene Codero) still come loaded with all the references and easter eggs –– particularly to Star Trek: The Next Generation –– that anyone could hope for, including some guest voices in a later episode, which I won’t spoil, designed to bring a smile to Deep Space Nine fans.

But it’s more than just a laundry list of nods and winks –– Lower Decks’ main characters (and the associated oddballs above them in rank, not to mention all the weird aliens, robots, supercomputers etc.) –– have become people you actually want to hang out with and care about their futures.

Under show creator Mike McMahan’s careful, Trek-loving hand, this has become the most outwardly entertaining of the current batch, far beyond the seeming Rick & Morty Do Star Trek it might have appeared when it began.

In the first episode alone, there is a chance to recall some of Voyager’s weirdest moments, but in a way that warmly uses them for a story rather than just pointing and laughing. The show has a deep bench of reliably entertaining personalities, all of whom could (and sometimes do) carry their own storylines, but rarely drawing focus away from the main foursome.

And the voice performers continue to be a highlight, their chemistry apparent, even though they record separately.

If you somehow have skipped this series because you think animated Trek might just be for kids, you’re missing out on a truly entertaining experience.

The first two episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 are streaming now on Paramount+. I’ve seen the first eight.