Tired of the multiverse? Well, so is William Boimler (Jack Quaid). Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Episode 9, “Fissure Quest,” was written by Lauren McGuire and directed by Brandon Williams.
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The U.S.S. Cerritos is traveling at warp. In the ship’s bar, Samathan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Bradward Boimler (Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) sit around a table. Rutherford’s implant tweaking almost kills Boimler, and Mariner points out he’s their last one. Not having been present for Lower Decks Seasons 2 or 3, T’Lyn is confused.
Tendi explains that Bradward was inadvertently cloned by the transporter (William). However, the Lower Deckers believe William was subsequently killed by a gas leak. But viewers know William survived and was recruited by Section 31. Tendi points out that characters come back to life all the time, citing Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore).
Bradward has made peace with William’s death. However, he speculates that were William alive, he’d be involved in some huge adventure.
Star Trek: Lower Decks, “Fissure Quest”
Meanwhile, in Quantum Reality 582.76-Φ, the U.S.S. Anaximander crosses the quantum threshold of an interdimensional fissure. Again. The ship is captained by William, who begins a log (stardate: confidential). The bridge crew consists of alternate timeline versions of T’Pol (Joelene), Curzon Dax, Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson) and Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig). The remainder of the crew is composed of Harry Kim variants (Garrett Wang).
T’Pol is from a timeline where she spent sixty years married to Trip Tucker. Curzon never passed the Dax symbiont on (and is prone to hurting himself). Garak is a Starfleet surgeon. And Bashir, who is Garak’s husband, is an Emergency Medical Hologram.
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William has been tasked with finding and stopping whoever threatens to destroy the multiverse by opening the subspace rifts. The Anaximander locates a Starfleet escape pod. They beam aboard another Kim, this one a lieutenant. William states that he is sick of the multiverse.
Soon, the team is repairing the dimensional rift. The crew of the Anaximander explains to Lt. Kim that someone is behind the rifts. T’Pol explains that Starfleet believes there are an infinite number of alternate realities. The ship the Anaximander is pursuing is ripping holes between the realities, which weakens all of them. William vents his frustration at the multiverse being nothing but “lazy, derivative remixes” and leaves the bridge in a huff.
All Aboard the Anaximander
As Curzon and Lt. Kim walk through the Anaximander halls, Curzon explains that the crew’s Garak and Bashir are from different realities. Lt. Kim is dropped off in quarters filled with Kim variants. They realize the new Kim is a lieutenant while the rest of them are still ensigns. In sick bay, Bashir and Garak discuss the original Bashir. They begin to argue over which reality the duo will live in once their “Fissure Quest” has ended.
The Anaximander arrives at another fissure and begins to close it. But before they can do so, a Starfleet shuttlecraft rockets through the rift. Because it was traveling at warp speed, its engines are critically damaged. An emergency transport beams the pilot aboard the Anaximander. It’s a variant of Mariner, wearing a yellow engineering uniform. William is overjoyed to see Mariner.
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In the Anaximander mess hall, William and Mariner share a meal of ramen. They discover they both have a Tendi and a Rutherford. This variant of Mariner is not a fan of “danger or away missions or anything that involves phasers.” She’d rather be working in engineering. Meanwhile, the ensign Kims are all impressed with Lt. Kim.
At another table, T’Pol sits down across from a surly Curzon. She questions the amount of sodium he’s consuming. She points out that there is no potential host for the Dax symbiont aboard the Anaximander. Over at the first table, Bradward explains to Mariner that any warp travel through a rift causes the engines to explode. But Mariner has discovered a way to track the person who is opening the rifts.
The Quantum Prime Directive
On the Anaximander bridge, Mariner explains that any time the mystery person opens a rift, another one appears somewhere else in the galaxy. This is why the Anaximander hasn’t caught up with whoever is opening the rifts: because they’ve been traveling through the second rift in another part of the galaxy. But by creating an influx of radial tachyons, it would force the culprit to open the rift at the Anaximander’s location.
The Anaximander attempts to set a trap. It works: a ship immediately comes through the newly opened rift. The Anaximander chases the ship through another rift. Within the rift, Mariner brings an injured Kim to sick bay for treatment. As Garak and Bashir administer treatment, they argue over which reality they’ll live in. Meanwhile, the Anaximander continues pursuit of the ship. Against orders, Curzon fires on the ship. It’s forced to make an emergency landing. William orders the Anaximander to follow.
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The planet is an alternate universe version of Khwopa. But on this planet, the locals are extremely hostile. They swiftly take the Anaximander hostage. In prison, our heroes meet the crew of the ship they were pursuing, led by a variant of Lily Sloane (Alfred Woodard). Aboard the Anaximander, Garak and Bashir hide from guards. Garak heads out to free the rest of the crew.
Back in the prison, Mariner identifies Lily. In Lily’s reality, she and Zephram Cochrane constructed a quantum reality drive rather than a warp drive. William accuses her of being a villain. But a member of Lily’s crew explains they’re on a mission of peace. The reason they haven’t made contact and explained themselves is their quantum prime directive.
Doctor’s Obsidian Orders
Lily is surprised to learn their travels are opening a second rift (although one of her Vulcan crew members issues a “told ya so”). William realizes they aren’t villains but just a different kind of Federation. One of the guards arrives and menaces our heroes. But Garak arrives and incapacitates this guard and several others. Lily says if the Anaximander crew can help them repair their ship, the Beagle, they can help them return to their home realities. However, Lt. Kim narrows his eyes.
They arrive at the Beagle, and Lily says that if they fix the ship’s power systems, it can reach orbit. William says his crew can manage. They set to work. William expresses his surprise that Lily wants to explore quantum realities. While William enjoys exploring strange new worlds, he says what Lily and her crew do isn’t exploring. Lily, on the other hand, has a different perspective. Lt. Kim again narrows his eyes.
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Lily explains that she sees exploring the multiverse as akin to better learning to understand themselves. She compares it to exploring the potential of humanity, which she has so far found to be limitless. Lily points out that William’s friendship with Mariner transcends realities. William is won over by Lily’s perspective.
But they’re interrupted when the Beagle unexpectedly takes off. Our heroes head for the Anaximander. However it’s being dismantled by the locals. Curzon fends them off with a Bat-leth as the rest of the crew board the ship.
Kimuntiny
Once aboard the Anaximander, William contacts the Beagle. It’s been commandeered by Lt. Kim, who says he’s taking the rest of the Kims back to a reality where they can rank up. However, the other Kims have been taken against their will. Curzon reaches the bridge, limping, and William orders him to take them to orbit. Lily says that without proper repair, the Beagle crossing into another quantum reality could destroy all universes. However, the Beagle can only activate its quantum reality drive once it has left the planet’s atmosphere. William grants Mariner permission to juice the Anaximander’s engines.
The Beagle is falling apart, but it’s reached the point where it can activate the quantum drive. Lt. Kim begins creating a rift. Mariner conceives of a plan to increase the gravity around the warp drive, which will shield them from tachyons and allow them to travel fast enough to catch the Beagle. It’ll be dangerous, but Mariner will pretend to be the adventurous variant from William’s reality and risk it. Fortunately, Bashir arrives and, unaffected by the increased gravity, completes Mariner’s plan.
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Curzon is revealed to have been critically injured during his battle. T’Pol takes him to sick bay as William has the Anaximander undertake a micro warp jump to catch up with the Beagle. In engineering, Bashir returns gravity to normal. Garak is powerless to save Curzon. Bashir returns to sick bay and tells Garak he’s glad to go to any reality, so long as they’re together. Garak agrees. They’ve been arguing because Garak finds it fun.
On the Beagle, the other Kims turn against Lt. Kim. In the Anaximander’s sick bay, T’Pol tells Curzon she takes no pleasure in seeing him perish. Curzon says Dax had a good run. T’Pol can’t remove the symbiont and return it to its original reality. However, she can mind meld with it and preserve their shared memories.
We’re All Going to Die
On the Beagle, Lt. Kim has regained control. He says the other Kims don’t deserve to rank up and beams them all back to the Anaximander. William warns Lt. Kim that the Beagle can’t make it through the rift. But William ignores the warning. The Beagle explodes. The rift collapses and then explodes, turning red.
In the Anaximander sick bay, T’Pol’s mind meld with the Dax symbiont is completed. Curzon passes away. Meanwhile, the rift grows larger. Lily explains that the explosion disrupted the rift’s coherence. It will spread across all quantum realities. However, Lily has a strategy to guide the rift into a single reality. This will doom an entire universe. William concludes they must send it to a reality that can handle the threat. He suggests his home reality (i.e., the prime Lower Decks reality).
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William is confident that Bradward, Mariner, Tendi and Rutherford can figure out a solution. Mariner asks why William would do this to his friends. Lily says it’s because William trusts them. William says this “trust transcends quantum realities.” They execute the plan, and the damaged rift is redirected. William has sent a message to Bradward to inform him of the situation.
In the prime timeline Cerritos bar, Bradward receives the warning. He immediately panics.
The first nine episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 are now available for streaming on Paramount+. New episodes debut on Thursdays.
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