During the Star Trek Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, Alex Kurtzman and Mike McMahan were asked: what could save Star Trek: Lower Decks from imminent conclusion? Both Kurtzman and McMahan responded that the best way to ensure we get more than five seasons of Lower Decks is simple. We just have to stream Lower Decks on Paramount+ until we can stream no more.
Fortunately, this is easy, because Star Trek: Lower Decks explores the funniest frontier. To that end, this week’s Trek Tuesday illuminates our top 10 funniest episodes of L0wer Decks for you to stream on Paramount+ today. Did we include your favorite?
Room For Growth
In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3’s “Room For Growth,” the USS Cerritos is recovering from a D’Arsay archive situation. After Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) is possessed by an ancient mask, the Cerritos is turned into an ancient temple. While the ship is soon restored to normal functionality, the Cerritos engineering crew burns themselves out in the process. Fortunately, they go on a mandatory spa day. This includes Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero).
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Meanwhile, Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) and D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) travel through the bowels of the Cerritos. Their goal is to rig the upcoming room lottery. In the process, they see parts of a Starfleet ship we’ve never seen before. And they also run afoul of Delta Shift, which is always comedic gold-pressed Latinum.
Temporal Edict
In Lower Decks Season 1’s “Temporal Edict,” Freeman discovers the crew’s “scheduling deceit.” Capitalizing on the ignorance of the commanding officers, the lower decks have been adding “buffer time” to their task time estimates. This leaves them time to finish things at their own pace. It also allows for margarita breaks. But when an away mission with Mariner and Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) enrages the crystal-obsessed locals, the overworked Cerritos crew begins losing control of the ship.
It’s only after a reluctant Boimler explains the benefits of “buffer time” to Freeman that the practice is restored and the Cerritos crew regains control. Against Bradward’s will, the shipwide mandate for “buffer time” is named “The Boimler Effect” and enshrined on a plaque. And a hilarious epilogue reveals that the rule is remembered into the far future (along with Miles O’Brien).
We’ll Always Have Tom Paris
In the Lower Decks Season 2 episode “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris,” the titular pilot (Robert Duncan McNeill) visits the Cerritos. Now a celebrity after his time on the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, Paris is on a handshake tour. Boimler is eager to have his Tom Paris plate collectible plate signed by the man himself. But this task proves more complicated than expected due to Boimler’s security clearance being revoked after his return from the USS Titan. This culminates in an especially hilarious interaction when the pair finally meet.
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Meanwhile, Mariner and Tendi go on a girls’ trip to Qualor II in order to fetch a package for Doctor T’Ana (Gillian Vigman). But Mariner accidentally breaks the Catian fertility statue they’ve been sent to pick up. An attempt to repair the statue leads to several more stops, including the familiar Starbase Earhart. Ultimately, it is revealed that all T’Ana ever wanted was the box the statue was stored. She is a Catian, after all! Plus: this episode introduces The Black Mountain. You do know about The Black Mountain, right?
Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus
Some people may feel that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is already funny enough as it is. But those people might be best poised to appreciate Lower Decks Season 3’s “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus.” Building off of Mariner’s older holodeck program, Boimler enlists the rest of Beta Shift for a “contractually obligated sequel” to the Lower Decks Season 1 “movie.”
This episode is filled with references to all the Star Trek movies, but especially The Final Frontier (and there’s a fair amount of Star Trek: Generations in there too). While this episode is hilarious, it also features one of the most touching scenes in all of Lower Decks. This is accomplished with a scene that guest stars George Takei. As Boimler remarks in the moment, Sulu is a “much better” option than Kirk.
I Have No Bones, Yet I Must Flee
In Lower Decks Season 4’s “I Have No Bones, Yet I Must Flee,” Mariner and Ransom go on an away mission to a “menage” (menagerie). There, they run afoul of the dreaded Moopsy. This small white creature may be adorable, but it is also deadly. That’s because it drinks bones. Don’t ask more about this than you want to know.
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Meanwhile, Boimler attempts to find a new room aboard the Cerritos after his promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade. In addition to various hilarious rejected rooms, you also get to see some of Boimler’s Easter egg-laden personal effects. Finally, Rutherford attempts to get promoted but finds himself in conflict with Livik (Nolan North), an exciting new nemesis.
Crisis Point
Next, it’s hard to top the original “holodeck movie,” Lower Decks Season 1’s “Crisis Point.” After Mariner is disciplined by Freeman for disobeying protocol, she is forced to attend therapy with Dr. Migleemo (Paul F. Tompkins). But this serves as a catalyst for the creation of “Crisis Point,” a holodeck movie that Mariner hopes to use for therapy. This allows for a sort-of out-of-continuity, extra-funny story about the Cerritos crew.
But, on another level, “Crisis Point” is an extended commentary on the differences between Star Trek on TV and Star Trek in movie theaters. This includes a super-long, laugh-until-you-cry re-introduction for the Cerritos that pays homage to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The best part about this scene is that after you get totally taken in by Lower Decks, your reaction to the Cerritos won’t be that far off from the command crew’s overboard emotion in this scene.
Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place
When even the title is this funny, you know it’s going to be a good episode. In Lower Decks Season 4’s “Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place,” our heroes are sent to Ferenginar for “guidebook duty.” This means enjoying the planets’ attractions and recording that information for future visiting Starfleet officers. For Tendi and Rutherford, this culminates in a visit to the Starfleet Experience, based on the defunct Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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But as funny as all that is, the most hilarious subplot in this episode belongs to Boimler. The overachiever finds himself ensnared by Ferengi television. This includes exploitative programming like Cop Landlords, starring the most morally repugnant protagonists outside of real world right-wing “news” channels. But could the framed image behind Boimler as he watches be some kind of commentary? Watch this episode twice to be sure.
Where Pleasant Fountains Lie
In the Lower Decks Season 2 episode “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie,” we learn the shocking truth about Andy Billups (Paul Scheer). Not only is he from a society that was established by “Renn Faire types” eager to capitalize on his homeworld’s indigenous wildlife, but he’s also a virgin. This is because on his planet, a Prince who copulates ascends immediately to become the King. To make matters even weirder, Billups’ mother is played by Scheer’s wife, June Diane Raphael.
Meanwhile, Mariner and Boimler must deal with a megalomaniacal sentient computer named AGIMUS (Jeffrey Combs). This grows even more complicated when a gravometric shear causes their shuttlecraft to crash en route to the Daystrom Institute. After the crash, the replicator will only make black liquorice. For an extra dirty bonus joke, figure out the context for the Shakespeare allusion that was used for this episode’s title.
Moist Vessel
In Lower Decks Season 1’s “Moist Vessel,” the Cerritos must work in tandem with another California class vessel, the USS Merced. But complicating the mission is the fact that Mariner and Freeman are engaged in a mother-daughter cold war. First Freeman assigns Mariner the worst jobs on the ship, creating an entertaining (and sometimes disgusting) sequence. But then Mariner is promoted to Lieutenant, causing very funny conflicts with the rest of the command crew.
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However the funniest subplot in “Moist Vessel” might have changed the course of Star Trek itself. After Tendi accidentally prevents the ascension of Lieutenant O’Conner (Haley Joel Osment), she takes it upon herself to ensure he ascends one way or another. She first fails at this task, which is funny in and of itself. But the subplot gets really hilarious when O’Conner does ascend. This reveals the Cosmic Koala, who subsequently appeared in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds opening sequence in the Season 2 episode “Those Old Scientists.” Why is he smiling? What does he know?!
Twovix
Choosing the funniest Lower Decks episode is no small task. However, today we’re declaring it to be “Twovix.” The Lower Decks Season 4 premiere saw the Cerritos escorting a refurbished Voyager to Earth, where it will make its debut as a museum. But before that happens, one of Star Trek‘s most infamous episodes gets the spotlight: Star Trek: Voyager Season 2 episode “Tuvix.”
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Just like in “Tuvix,” in “Twovix,” an orchid from the Delta Quadrant causes two crewmembers to be merged into one. But unlike in “Tuvix,” the merging madness doesn’t end there. First T’Illups (Nolan North) makes more “Tuvix’d” crew. But when Tendi and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) try to fix the situation, they accidentally turn everyone into one big “Tuvix-y meatball.” In live action, this would be a horrifying image. But in animation, it earns this episode our top honor as Lower Decks‘ funniest episode.
Star Trek: Lower Decks on Paramount+
Have you streamed all 10 of these Lower Decks episodes on Paramount+ (again)? Which Lower Decks episode do you personally find to be the most funny? And what will be the most hilarious episode of Lower Decks Season 5? Be sure and let us know what you think in the comment section.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is currently available for streaming on Paramount+.
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