Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan says season 5 “feels like an amazing sendoff… but not the end of a series.” Fans of Star Trek‘s first animated half-hour comedy were crushed when Paramount+ announced Lower Decks season 5 would be the final season. McMahan hinted that this was a possibility while promoting Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 last year, and the upcoming end of the voyages of the USS Cerritos is a sad affair. But also a happy one, as there are still 10 more episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks to come in fall 2024.

Mike McMahan was a guest on Awards Radar’s Extended ‘Verse podcast to chat about Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ successful season 4 and upcoming fifth and final season. McMahan gave his perspective on his “miracle” show ending, and his words that Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 “feels like the end of a chapter, but not the end of a series” offers a smidge of hope that there may still be a future for the USS Cerritos. Read his quote below, and listen to the Extended ‘Verse podcast in the link above.

For me, it’s like, I’m greedy. I would have kept making this show forever, but getting five seasons is such a miracle. It’s insane that this show even existed. Every season I felt like it was a miracle. There are grand stories I’m telling for the characters in Lower Decks. So season five feels like an amazing sendoff. It feels like the end of a chapter, but not the end of a series. I had enough time to know that it had to be special.

Can Star Trek: Lower Decks Be Saved?

Or could the USS Cerritos have a different future?

There are fan movements to save Star Trek: Lower Decks even though Paramount+ has decided to end the series. A dedicated fan campaign in 2023 saved Star Trek: Prodigy after its Paramount+ cancelation, helping to secure Netflix as its new streaming home. Although the same furor hasn’t manifested to save Lower Decks, Star Trek‘s first animated comedy may not be completely over after its five-season run. There’s a possibility Lower Decks could return as a Paramount+ streaming movie like Star Trek: Section 31. Or Lower Decks characters could appear in a live-action Star Trek series in the future.

Star Trek: Lower Decks has been a boon to Star Trek by continuing the late 24th-century era of Star Trek: The Next Generation while also lovingly poking fun at every aspect of the venerable franchise. Meanwhile, Lower Decks introduced numerous loveable characters and concepts to Star Trek canon. Tawny Newsome is one of Lower Decks‘ greatest gifts to Star Trek, and she has branched out as a writer for Star Trek‘s next series, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Hopefully, Tawny can inject some of the spirit of Star Trek: Lower Decks into Star Trek: Starfleet Academy after her own show ends with season 5.

Source: Awards Radar