As mentioned by Alex Kurtzman and Mike McMahan during the San Diego Comic-Con 2024 Star Trek Universe panel, Trekkies can take action to ensure Star Trek: Lower Decks gets much-deserved additional episodes. That action is to stream the show on Paramount+. Once you’ve streamed every episode, stream them some more.
To help you accomplish this imperative duty roster task, we’ve compiled another list of Lower Decks episodes. Today, we’re counting down the top 11 Franchise homage episodes. Did we include your favorite? Be sure to share your thoughts with us in the comment section.
Cupid’s Errant Arrow
In Lower Decks Season 1’s “Cupid’s Errant Arrow,” Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) suspects that Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) is dating a shapeshifter. It seems that Barbara Brinson (Gillian Jacobs) is just too good for Boimler to be true.
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Trekkies will immediately understand why Mariner harbors these suspicions. Throughout many Star Trek episodes, characters enter into romances that seem perfect but are eventually proven somewhat less than ideal. However, in “Cupid’s Errant Arrow,” the twist to Barb and Brad’s romance may be closer to home than Mariner suspects.
Strange Energies
In the Lower Decks Season 2 opener, “Strange Energies,” First Officer Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) receives an overdose of the titular phenomena. This endows him with godlike powers, which he uses to construct his own “Jack-utopia.”
As pointed out by Doctor T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) several times throughout the episode, this situation is far from unprecedented. Essentially, the same thing happened to the USS Enterprise with Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood). Fortunately, the USS Cerritos crew can devise a less final solution to their “crewman deity” situation. Instead of “squishing [Ransom] with a boulder,” Mariner simply has “to apply concentrated force to [his] neutral zone.”
Veritas
Did someone say “trial episode”? This well-worn Star Trek episode archetype gets its time to shine in Lower Decks Season 1’s “Veritas.” In the cold opening of this episode, Beta Shift finds themselves in a situation they interpret as an alien trial.
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As the trial continues, our four heroes are forced to recount their experiences. But without any context, they aren’t really sure what they’re testifying towards. In a final twist, Beta Shift discovers they weren’t on trial but were actually guests of a celebratory party in the Cerritos crew’s honor. As Clar (Kurtwood Smith) states, “This didn’t have to end in eels!”
I, Excretus
In the Lower Decks Season 2 episode “I, Excretus,” we get multiple layers of Franchise homage. The first is the visiting drill instructor, Shari yn Yem (Lennon Parham), who visits the Starfleet ship to administer drills that test their competency. This pays homage to the Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 2 episode “Bem,” in which the titular Pandroian visits the Enterprise and tests the crew’s competency.
However, the Franchise homages in the episode continue to come fast and furious throughout “I, Excretus.” This is because the drills to which Yem subjects the crew are based on previous Starfleet missions. From the Borg Queen to the Mirror Universe, this episode is overflowing with Franchise homage.
Grounded
Almost every archetypical Franchise story gets its time on Lower Decks, and the “Earth-based episode” is no exception. In the Season 3 premiere, “Grounded,” we follow the crew of the Cerritos during their involuntary time on Earth during Freeman’s trial.
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This means a chance to visit many of the Franchise’s favorite Earth-based locations. We see scenes in a vineyard, near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and at Sisko’s in New Orleans. The characters wear costumes that pay homage to Earth-based characters. And it all culminates in a big salute to one of the best Star Trek movies of all, Star Trek: First Contact.
Mugato, Gumato
While some Lower Decks episodes pay homage to nonspecific Star Trek archetypes, others are very precise about their references. Such is the case with Season 2’s “Mugato, Gumato.” The Mugato previously appeared in only one Star Trek: The Original Series episode, Season 2’s “A Private Little War.”
However, the memorable Mugato’s reputation only grew over the intervening years. In fact, the villain from 2001’s Zoolander takes his name from the white-furred extraterrestrial. Given the huge shadow cast by the Gumato, it makes sense that they’d get a special spotlight episode on Lower Decks. And it’s much more sexually graphic than you might expect.
Mining the Mind’s Mines
The next Franchise archetype to be embraced by Lower Decks is that of the “outpost scientist” episode. In these episodes, a Starfleet ship visits a planet where non-Starfleet scientists have been conducting experiments. Frequently, said experiments are of dubious morality.
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In Lower Decks Season 2’s “Mining the Mind’s Mines,” the Cerritos visits a planet where just such an experiment is taking place. As uncovered by D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and Freeman, it turns out the outpost scientists were working with the indigenous silicate life to sell Starfleet secrets. The events of this episode probably gave Ransom lots of additional material for his tight five.
wej Duj
The first Star Trek episode to have a title in Klingon, Lower Decks Season 2’s “wej Duj” (“Three Ships”) makes you think it will be a low-stakes episode about the Cerritos crew’s recreational activities during a long-haul warp trip. However, the perspective soon shifts to give us an idea of what the Lower Decks on the Klingon ship IKS Che’Ta’ and the Vulcan ship VCF Sh’vhal are like. We also see a little bit aboard the Pakled Clumpship Pakled.
This shifting perspective allows the episode to pay homage to many Star Trek stories. We previously saw Klingon crews on DS9 and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Meanwhile, Vulcan ships have mostly been previously seen on Star Trek: Enterprise. And to top it off, Boimler’s excursion to visit T’Ana and Tendi on the holodeck pays homage to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Hear All, Trust Nothing
Lower Decks Season 3’s “Hear All, Trust Nothing” is one of two homage episodes to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In this episode, Quark (Armin Shimerman) and Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) each have the chance to play a significant supporting role as the Cerritos visits DS9 itself.
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In addition to returning us to beloved locations like the Promenade and the Bajoran Wormhole, this episode pays homage to the deep thematic concerns of the show by giving Tendi a chance to reflect on her complicated relationship with her heritage. It also follows up with an alien species previously introduced on DS9, the Krenim.
An Embarrassment of Dooplers
In the Lower Decks season 2 episode “An Embarrassment of Dooplers,” the Cerritos crew must endure a visit from the Doopler ambassador. However, similar to the Tribbles from TOS Season 2’s “The Trouble with Tribbles,” the Dooplers are prone to “Dooplercation,” which can threaten the very survival of an entire Starfleet vessel crew.
In addition to the direct homage through the Doopler storyline, this episode is otherwise filled with Franchise homage, too. We get to see lots of Starfleet Easter eggs at the Upper Decker party Boimler visits. When our heroes end up drinking together at a bar instead of at the party, the establishment they choose is filled with recognizable Franchise paraphernalia. As a bonus, you also get a Blues Brothers homage. What else do you want?
Caves
Finally, Lower Decks Season 4’s “Caves” echoes Season 1’s “Veritas.” But this time, it’s about “cave episodes” rather than “trial episodes.” Many, many Star Trek episodes have been set in caves. This is for various reasons, many of them practical. After all, if you can reuse those same “cave stairs” again, nobody has to build a new set this week.
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Throughout the stories in the pseudo-anthology episode, additional Trek tropes like “man getting pregnant” and “weird aging and de-aging effects” also get time to shine. And at the end of the day, we learn it was about friendship and acceptance all along. There’s nothing more Star Trek than that.
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