Star Trek Has A New Scotty (Besides Strange New Worlds’ Young Engineer)

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Finale – “Old Friends, New Scientists”

Star Trek: Lower Decks established the USS Cerritos’ Chief Engineer shares the passion for his ship that Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan) felt for the USS Enterprise on Star Trek: The Original Series. From TOS through its subsequent movies to his appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Scotty loved the Enterprise. Over the course of his time as her Chief Engineer, Scotty learned all of the little quirks and idiosyncracies of the Enterprise, and he could repair her engines better than anyone. Because of his quick thinking and creative solutions, Scotty became known as a miracle worker when it came to any engineering-related problems on the ship.

The Star Trek Lower Decks season 4 finale saw the USS Cerritos and its crew confront disgraced Starfleet cadet Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) and foil his plot to create his own armada, Nova Fleet. As part of their plan to rescue the kidnapped Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and stop Locarno, Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) and the Cerritos crew have to visit Orion and ask for a battleship. As Lt. D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) negotiates with the leader of the Orions (who also happens to be her sister), D’Erika (Ariel Winter) insults the Cerritos. Chief Engineer Andy Billups (Paul Scheer) quickly jumps to the Cerritos’ defense, establishing that he loves his ship just as much as Scotty loves the Enterprise.

Lower Decks’ Engineer Billups Just Became Star Trek’s New Scotty

Since Star Trek: Lower Decks shifts the focus from the senior staff to the lower-level officers, or Lower Deckers, Billups has not become as significant a character as many of Star Trek’s other Chief Engineers. Still, Billups is a welcome and often hilarious presence on Lower Decks, and the season 4 finale gives viewers even more reason to love him. While trying to convince Tendi to join her on Orion, D’Erika says: “Having you back at my side would mean more than some measly support ship.” Without missing a beat, Billups indignantly replies: “The Cerritos is not measly. She is the gem of the [California Class]!”

If Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) didn’t stop him, Billups looked ready to fight several armed Orions in defense of his ship. Scotty, too, was willing to throw a punch to defend the USS Enterprise. In TOS season 2, episode 15, “The Trouble With Tribbles,” Scotty dives into a fistfight with some Klingons who insult the Enterprise. The fight quickly devolves into an all-out brawl, after which Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) delivers an epic dressing down to his misbehaving officers. Billups may not have actually thrown any punches, but he looked more than willing to fight on behalf of his beloved Cerritos.

Lower Decks Has Modern Star Trek’s Best Engineer Team

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the USS Cerritos currently has Star Trek’s best engineering team. With Chief Engineer Billups, Lt. Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and the rest of the engineers, the Cerritos has a more substantial team than the USS Enterprise of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. After the death of Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horack) in Strange New Worlds season 1, Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) took over as Chief Engineer, but the rest of the Enterprise’s engineering team hasn’t been developed in the prequel show.

With the introduction of the young Lt. Scotty (Martin Quinn) in the Strange New Worlds season 2 finale, the Enterprise will hopefully have him join Engineering and Strange New Worlds can define the Enterprise’s Engineering team. But until then, the Cerritos may just have the Enterprise beat when it comes to its engineering department. Star Trek: Lower Decks has produced some pretty great Star Trek, and its engineering team remains one of the best.

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 is available to stream on Paramount+.