The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks, “Those Old Scientists,” is a delight for fans of both shows. Ensigns Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) are played brilliantly by their voice actors in a visit back to Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) 23rd-century USS Enterprise, where they meet their heroes Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding). But just who are Mariner and Boimler? What do they know about the future? And what’s up with the koala in Strange New Worlds’ animated opening credits?
Created by Mike McMahan, Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered in 2020 as the first Star Trek animated half-hour comedy. Set aboard the California Class USS Cerritos, a support ship that specializes Second Contact, Lower Decks‘ focus is on the Ensigns who do Starfleet’s thankless dirty work, primarily Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells). As evidenced by Boimler and Mariner’s fascination with all things Starfleet in Strange New Worlds’ crossover, Star Trek: Lower Decks is a loving ode to the vast history and characters of the Star Trek franchise, as well as being an incredibly funny comedy. If Strange New Worlds was your First Contact with the excitable Ensigns from the USS Cerritos, watch these standout Star Trek:Lower Decks episodes, presented in chronological order.
10 “Second Contact” (Lower Decks Season 1, Episode 1)
While Star Trek premiere episodes have a history of being kind of rough, “Second Contact” does a great job introducing the main characters of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Boimler is eager to please, Mariner’s breaking rules for the greater good, Orion medical intern Tendi (Noël Wells) is so excited to be here, and cyborg engineer Rutherford awkwardly navigates a date during a ship-wide zombie outbreak. They’re all new to the Cerritos, and none of them have any clue what’s happening on the bridge, which brilliantly establishes a refreshing view of Starfleet from the Lower Deckers’ point of view.
9 “Moist Vessel” (Lower Decks Season 1, Episode 4)
Tendi accidentally makes a mess of things during the ascension ceremony for new friend Lt. O’Connor (Haley Joel Osment), but when O’Connor admits his “ascension” was all a ploy for attention, he begins to actually ascend. Becoming a non-corporeal entity comes with its share of knowledge, like learning the universe is balanced on the back of a giant smiling koala, which he shouts in a panic as his astral form floats away. The koala can be seen in the stinger before all Star Trek: Lower Decks episodes, and also appeared in the animated opening credits of Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 7.
8 “Cupid’s Errant Arrow” (Lower Decks Season 1, Episode 5)
Boimler’s girlfriend, Barbara Brinson (Gillian Jacobs), joins the Lower Deckers when the Parliament Class starship Vancouver arrives for a joint project with the Cerritos. Mariner doubts anyone could actually be interested in Boimler, and the list of theories she comes up with to explain the relationship is a veritable iceberg of Trek Easter eggs, from the probable (hologram girlfriend) to the unlikely (surgically altered Cardassian spy), to the downright creepy (possessed by a mind-altering parasite). Mariner’s knowledge of historical deep cuts means it’s entirely in character for her to be at least a little starstruck when she meets Uhura in Strange New Worlds.
7 “Crisis Point” (Lower Decks Season 1, Episode 9)
On its surface, “Crisis Point” explores the tropes prevalent in the Star Trek films (including the infamous lens flares of J. J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot), but at its center is a deeper character study of Beckett Mariner. In taking over Boimler’s holodeck bridge program, Mariner casts herself as the villain against the Cerritos. What starts as fun scenery chewing in the vein of Ricardo Montalban’s Khan eventually falls apart, revealing the inner pain that Mariner has been hiding behind a flippant exterior. This episode proves that Lower Decks is more than just a silly animated comedy, and as one of the best Star Trek holodeck episodes, it’s well worth watching.
6 “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris” (Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 3)
On a mission to recover a “family heirloom” for Dr. T’Ana (Gillian Vigman), Tendi and Mariner share fun little details about their lives, like how Mariner once served on Deep Space Nine and ray of sunshine Tendi secretly possesses ties to the criminal Orion Syndicate. What Mariner learns in truly befriending Tendi ultimately proves useful when she and Boimler help out Pike’s crew with Orions in the 23rd century. Back on the Cerritos, Boimler’s admiration of well-known Starfleet officers is in full swing as he tries to get visiting USS Voyager helmsman Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) to sign his commemorative collectible plate, a nod to real-life Hamilton Collection Star Trek plates.
5 “An Embarrassment of Dooplers” (Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 5)
While the senior staff of the Cerritos deals with an exponentially multiplying Doopler emissary, Mariner tries using her underground connections to get herself and Boimler into a famously exclusive party on Starbase 25. They’re barred from entry even when Boimler tries to pose as his own transporter clone William Boimler, William, but they find solace in a little dive bar on the base and learn they’re not the only pair of friends to bond in that location: according to the bartender, Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock used to come here, too. Whether it’s true or not, it’s a sweet moment linking Mariner and Boimler to the legacy Enterprise before they ever set foot aboard.
4 “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie” (Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 7)
The Renaissance Faire-themed planet Hysperia, home of Cerritos Chief Engineer Andrew Billups (Paul Scheer), recalls fantasy trappings much like Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 9 “The Elysian Kingdom” does, albeit with its own Lower Decks brand of humor. The emotional center of this episode, however, is Mariner and Boimler’s friendship, which is tested when their mission to take evil sentient computer AGIMUS (Jeffrey Combs) to the Daystrom Institute is thrown off course. Stuck on a desert planet with only black licorice as rations, they’ve got to survive without succumbing to the will of AGIMUS — or their own irritation with each other.
3 “wej Duj” (Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 9)
“wej Duj” means “three ships” in Klingon, and this unconventional episode shows how life on the lower decks is not that different across cultures. On the Cerritos, Boimler tries befriending a senior officer and Mariner is stuck spending time with her mother, Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis). A glimpse into the lower decks of Klingon Bird of Prey IKS Che’Ta’ features Boimler equivalent Ma’ah (Jon Curry) dreaming of command despite his apparent weaknesses. Mariner’s counterpart T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), on the Vulcan cruiser Sh’vhal, is chastised for her “outbursts” and disregard for protocol. All three ships wind up being instrumental in a decisive battle with the Pakleds, thanks to their low-ranking officers.
2 “Mining the Mind’s Mines” (Lower Decks Season 3, Episode 3)
By Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, the Cerritos has earned a reputation. Peers from sister California Class starship Carlsbad seem none too thrilled to join Boimler, Mariner, and Rutherford on Jengus IV to disarm several psychic mines, which manifest fears as illusions. Amidst Borg snakes, Klingon clowns, and Mariner’s worst fear of all — commitment from her Andorian girlfriend, Jennifer (Lauren Lapkus) — the mission becomes a heated competition. It turns out the Carlsbad away team was actually trying to impress the Cerritos Ensigns, saying that they’re “the Enterprise of support ships.” It’s kind of like giving Mariner and Boimler a taste of their own medicine when they’re the ones being gushed over.
1 “Hear All, Trust Nothing” (Lower Decks Season 3, Episode 6)
Before the Lower Decks crew crossed into live action in Strange New Worlds’ crossover, the fan-favorite series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine crossed the other way into animation. In “Hear All, Trust Nothing,” the Cerritos visits Deep Space Nine, with DS9 regulars Nana Visitor and Armin Shimerman reprising their roles as Colonel Kira Nerys and Quark. In keeping with the setting aboard the former Cardassian space station, the story beats lean closer to those in early DS9, as Tendi and fellow Orion Mesk bond over cultural traditions (or lack thereof), Kira and Lt. Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore) reminisce about their days in the resistance, and Quark keeps pursuing maximum profits, despite franchising his bar.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is also responsible for coining the title of the Strange New Worlds crossover, thanks to a gag inLower Decks season 1’s finale when Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) refers to the 23rd century as “the TOS era,” an acronym meaning “Those Old Scientists.” With three complete seasons and a fourth on the way, there’s so much more of Mariner, Boimler, and the rest of the Cerritoscrew to enjoy.
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 premieres Thursday, September 7, on Paramount+.
