In the Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 premiere, the U.S.S. Cerritos crew meets… themselves? “Dos Cerritos” was written by Aaron Burdette and directed by Megan Lloyd.
Somewhere in the Beta Quadrant, Palor Toff (Eric Bauza) shows off his valuables to a young Haliian woman (Noël Wells). An unapologetic exploitative capitalist, Toff brags about how rich he is. They’re interrupted by the arrival of an Orion pirate vessel. The collector brags that he can control the entire ship from the room they’re in. The young woman incapacitates him and accesses the controls, allowing the pirates to enter. After fending off several guards, she reveals she’s the Mistress of the Winter Constellations: D’Vana Tendi.
RELATED: Read our recap of the previous Star Trek: Lower Decks episode, “Old Friends, New Planets”
Three more Orion pirates arrive and take out the rest of the guards. Tendi stops them short of killing anyone. But, she does allow them to pull the weird jewelry out of the collector’s face.
Star Trek: Lower Decks’ ‘Dos Cerritos’
Aboard the Cerritos in Repair Bay Five, Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) are playing a game of Kal-toh. They’re interrupted by the arrival of an excited Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid). He’s brought Fleet Magazine’s latest issue, which includes the 30 under 30 feature, and he says he’s featured in the article. But Boimler soon discovers he was cut out of the piece.
Meanwhile, Mariner has been assigned mentorship duties to several new ensigns by Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell). A ragged-looking Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) suddenly appears. He reveals he’s been focusing on work in order to avoid thinking about Tendi’s departure. Mariner suggests they have some hang time. But Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) calls them to the bridge for more work instead.
RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks: 9 Required Rutherford Episodes
The Cerritos has arrived at a quantum fissure, the third one this month. Freeman says the spacetime potholes have to be closed to avoid dimensional leakage. But the fissure begins to lose integrity. Caught in the gravitational wave, the Cerritos dunks into the rift. Soon the Cerritos is being hailed… by the Cerritos. Putting the hail onscreen, they learn the other crew is led by Captain Becky Freeman.
Meanwhile, aboard the pirate vessel, D’Vana is hailed by D’Erika (Ariel Winter). D’Erika says D’Vana is still working off her debt to her sister. But D’Erika says retrieving a particular historical warship will finally clear D’Vana’s debt.
Double Vision
Aboard the Cerritos, the prime crew meets their alternate reality doppelgängers. The two T’Lyns note that there is only a slight variance between the two realities. The other Boimler has a beard, while the other Rutherford has had significantly more cybernetic augmentations than ours has. Captain Becky arrives and says they’ve figured out how to send the prime Cerritos back home. By working together, they can reopen the fissure and send the prime Cerritos home.
Freeman orders everyone to work with their counterparts to get the work done. But when she asks where the other Freeman went, other Ransom only says it’s nice to see her again. In the hall, Becky and Mariner discuss leadership. It seems like Becky may be able to teach Mariner a few things.
RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks: Top 11 Franchise Homage Episodes
At the downed historical warship, D’Vana and her crew are awed by the technology and scale. But they’re surprised by a pack of Blue Orions (from Star Trek: The Animated Series). They immediately begin firing disruptors at one another.
In a Cerritos shuttle bay, the two Boimlers and two Rutherfords work together. They begin to discover additional details about one another. It is revealed that the other Rutherford wiped Tendi from his memory banks after she left to become a pirate. Elsewhere on the Cerritos, Becky and Mariner laugh about their shared experiences. Becky says she doesn’t miss those days. And she reveals she keeps her crew controlled through fear.
The Other PADD
At the warship, D’Vana’s crew fights the Blue Orions. One of the Blue Orions sustains a seemingly fatal wound. But D’Vana resuscitates him. Believing it to be trickery, the Blue Orion flees.
The two Cerritos ships activate the energy transfer (in spite of the crews’ squabbles). But the rift doesn’t open. The two Kayshons (Carl Tart) begin to fight with one another. Becky declares she has had it and attempts to hit them with her riding crop. But Mariner stops her and she hits neither her friends nor her crew.
RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks: 8 Big Bradward Boimler Episodes
Meanwhile, Boimler and Rutherford discuss the other Rutherford. Rutherford is worried that he’s precariously close to becoming like the other Rutherford. But he adjusts the other Rutherford’s personality to he’s there to make friends instead of not there to make friends. The other Boimler leaves his PADD behind, and Boimler seizes it.
At the warship, D’Vana and her team are almost to the bridge. But the Blue Orion steal their map and access the bridge instead. One of D’Vana’s crew accuses her of being a traitor and prepares to attack.
A Tale of Two T’Lyns
On the other Cerritos, Mariner mistakes other T’Lyn for their T’Lyn and accidentally attempts to trash talk with her. Becky arrives and hails Freeman, telling her they’ve resolved the issue and are ready to send them back. She orders the other crew off her bridge and emphasizes the urgency in getting them out of “her” dimension. But first, Becky calls Mariner into her office for a word. Inside, Becky stuns Mariner.
Mariner comes to and realizes Becky is planning to replace Mariner in the prime universe. Becky says she’s remembered how good she used to be, and is taking Mariner’s place to return to those days. As she leaves, Becky gives Mariner the sarcastic Vulcan salute.
RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks: 5 Merchandising Ideas for Paramount’s Profit
On the warship, D’Vana defends her decision. She says she has her own code, that pirating is possible without murder. The rest of her crew wonder how they can ever leave pirating and follow their dreams. D’Vana explains that she didn’t get to leave because she was a good pirate, she left on her own. They wish they could do that. D’Vana promises to help them achieve their dreams, so long as they stop killing. The crew agrees. Soon they discover it isn’t a warship but a medical frigate, used to cure the great plague.
Rutherford says goodbye to other Rutherford. Other Rutherford reveals he’s saving the memory of Rutherford, having been inspired to begin making friends again. Before our heroes can beam back over to the prime Cerritos, the disguised Becky arrives and joins them. Boimler notes her odd word choice. Once they’ve returned, the pulse is fired and the rift is reopened. But before they go, other Ransom reveals their Freeman ended up at Starbase 80.
Becky’s Gambit
On the other Cerritos, Mariner uses Becky’s authorization to release her bonds. On the bridge, she attempts to hail the Cerritos and fails. Becky orders Shax (Fred Tatasciore) to fire on the other ship and incapacitate it.
On the medical frigate, D’Vana’s crew releases gas through the ship’s impressive ventilation systems, causing the Blue Orions to become intoxicated. This makes them easy prey for D’Vana’s team. They love not killing people. But the breathers worn by D’Vana’s team are not effective at keeping the gas = from intoxicating them, too.
RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks: 9 Essential D’Vana Tendi Episodes
Meanwhile, Becky argues with the other Cerritos crew, who are skeptical of her orders and behavior. They realize she’s Mariner. Other Boimler says nobody deserves to be swapped out against their will and says they must stop the Cerritos.
On the Cerritos, Freeman realizes Becky isn’t Mariner. Freeman contacts the other Cerritos and then swaps the two Becketts. Back on the other Cerritos, other Ransom takes Becky to the brig. Other Boimler is assigned acting captain, impressing our Boimler before the Cerritos travels back through the rift. Elsewhere the medical frigate takes off, both sets of Orions laughing deliriously as it does so.
The Two Orion Houses
In the Cerritos bar, Freeman wonders how the other Freeman got sent to Starbase 80. Boimler clandestinely reads other Boimler’s PADD. Mariner and T’Lyn join Boimler, and Rutherford arrives with a plate full of sushi, saying he could use some downtime. Mariner’s ensigns arrive, and says she won’t cover her insecurity by being a jerk. T’Lyn briefly fools them into thinking she’s the other T’Lyn.
In D’Erika’s throne room, she and D’Vana celebrate the victory. D’Vana is preparing to return to Starfleet. But first, she tells D’Erika there’s more to her crew than just pillaging. However, they’re interrupted by the arrival of a messenger. He says the Blue Orion have declared war, citing “un-Orion-like tactics.” But D’Vana argues the laughing gas was Orion technology.
RELATED: Read all our Star Trek: Lower Decks recaps here!
D’Erika says D’Vana’s debt is paid, and she’s free to go. But D’Vana says this is her mess and she’s staying to clean it up. D’Erika declares that if it’s a war they want, they can have it.
The first two episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 are now available for streaming on Paramount+. New episodes debut on Thursdays.
