Hold on to your replicators, because we’re diving warp speed deep into Star Trek: Lower Decks season three, and this season packs more drama, humor and classic Trek references than a Tribble has hairs. We’ve got psychic landmines, memory altering implants and yes, even Section 31 making an appearance.
The Trial of Captain Freeman
The main drama centers around the trial of Captain Carol Freeman, who’s accused of bombing Pakled Planet. Despite her family’s confidence in the justice system, her daughter, Ensign Beckett Mariner, takes matters into her own hands to prove her mother’s innocence. Mariner ropes in fellow ensigns Brad Boimler, D’Vana Tendi and Sam Rutherford for a rogue mission to retrieve evidence from the impounded USS Cerritos. They even hijack a Zefram Cochrane themed spaceship to get there, but they come up empty-handed.
In a twist, it’s revealed that Freeman was framed by the Pakleds, who were hoping to leverage the situation for a better home planet. Despite the exoneration, Mariner’s insubordination lands her under the direct supervision of Commander Jack Ransom, who’s itching to give her the boot.
Bold Boimler and the Orbital Lift
In episode two, Boimler, typically a play it safe guy, decides he’s going to shake things up and agrees to be prey for an alien hunter, K’ranch. After being easily caught, he’s commended for his efforts and decides to adopt a more daring persona, dubbing himself Bold Boimler.
On the flip side, Mariner is sent on a mission with Ransom, Rutherford and chief engineer Andy Billups to fix a busted orbital lift. Ransom tries to catch Mariner in an act of insubordination by leaving her to do the complex repairs while sending Billups and Rutherford to handle the delicate diplomacy with the locals, hoping they’d mess it up. Mariner sees through the trap, sneaks away to save her pals from a diplomatic faux pas, then slips back into place before Ransom even notices. The episode ends with Ransom somewhat softening his stance toward Mariner, but he makes it clear she’s not off the hook yet.
The moral of the story: Boimler learns that boldness has its rewards, and Mariner proves she can follow orders, but only when she absolutely has to. Now if only they’d both get that perfect balance, Starfleet would be unstoppable.
Look a Gift Rock in the Mouth
The primary mission here involves the Cerritos and the USS Carlsbad trying to cement peace between the Federation and the Scrubble, rock-like aliens with psychic landmines that can either fulfill fantasies or turn you into a lawn ornament. Mariner, Boimler and Rutherford team up with the Carlsbad crew to deactivate these dangerous doodads.
Meanwhile, Tendi gets a subplot in senior science officer training, where she’s given the mission impossible task of catching the captain’s eye during these high-stakes negotiations. She notices something fishy about a peace offering given to the captains of both ships.
Plot twist: the landmines go haywire, showing nightmares instead of fantasies. Our heroes discover the Scrubble and Federation scientists have been working together to gather data on Starfleet. They also learn the Cerritos crew has a rep for being the wild cards of the California class ships. Tendi’s sharp eye saves the day, revealing the gift is actually spy gear, and the ensigns spill the beans on the sketchy Scrubble and Federation alliance.
So trust issues abound, along with a lesson in why you should always look a gift rock in the mouth, especially when it’s from a rock-like alien.
A Spa Day and a Room Lottery
Captain Freeman’s attempt to reward her hardworking engineering crew with a spa day at the Dove backfires spectacularly. Far from chilling out, the crew keeps working, driving Freeman’s stress to DEFCON 1. It’s like trying to calm a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
Our trio from the lower decks, Boimler, Tendi and Mariner, discover that Delta Shift is planning to hack the living quarters lottery for more spacious digs. Cue a mad dash through the ship’s most perilous nooks and crannies to beat them to the punch. The plot thickens when the trio and Delta Shift find out there’s just one primo room up for grabs. Opting for friendship over square footage, our heroes let Delta Shift have it. Then Delta Shift ends up sharing the room and throwing a party, leading the trio to kick themselves for not thinking of that in the first place.
Back at the Dove, the engineering crew concocts a machine to melt Freeman’s stress away, but the spa manager goes full supervillain and destroys it to save her business.
Sometimes the spa day is more stressful than work, and sometimes a room of one’s own is best when shared. In the Star Trek universe, the irony levels are always set to stun.
Job Fairs and Identity Crises
Ransom sends Boimler and Mariner to a job fair on Tulgana IV to recruit for Starfleet, warning Mariner to behave. Cue the eye rolls, because when has Mariner ever stayed in line? They get mocked by a bunch of fairgoers, including an ex-Starfleet turned archaeologist, Petra Aberdeen, who acts like she’s found the Holy Grail of smugness.
Rutherford’s got his own drama unfolding. His implant goes rogue, unleashing Red Rutherford, his angsty first-year recruit self, who’s more Fast and Furious than Starfleet. They duke it out in a mental race for body control, with Rutherford winning and learning some hidden backstory about his own implant: it was put in place after a near fatal accident caused by his younger self’s reckless engineering.
Boimler’s had enough of the mockery and goes full Hulk at the job fair, making a scene that actually nets them enough recruits. As for consequences, Boimler ends up in the brig for a night, but at least he gets a pat on the back from Ransom for defending Starfleet’s honor. Mariner even gets a job offer from Petra Aberdeen, which is kind of like getting a friend request from your high school bully.
The joys and perils of job fairs and identity crises, all wrapped up in Starfleet uniforms. Makes you almost grateful for your nine to five, right?
Back to Deep Space Nine
Freeman is off at Deep Space Nine dealing with the Karemma and trade negotiations, while Mariner’s on a social mission, navigating the minefield of her girlfriend Jennifer’s snooty pals. Quark is part of the action too, showing off his shiny new replicator and his booming bar franchise.
Tendi and Rutherford run into Mesk, an Orion DS9 officer who won’t stop talking about the Orion pirate life that Tendi’s been trying to distance herself from. The awkward conversation turns into a culture clash that’s more cringe than a high school reunion.
All hell breaks loose when the Karemma kidnap Quark and shut down DS9’s power, trapping Mariner and the socialites in a room. Mariner’s solution? Phasers set to stun. Meanwhile, Mesk confesses he’s more a product of Earth’s trashy literature than Orion culture. Tendi goes full pirate to help thwart the Karemma’s kidnapping, owning her identity in the process. And Freeman leverages Quark’s tech theft into a profitable deal for the Karemma, because in Starfleet every crisis is a negotiating opportunity.
So from stunning uptight socialites to embracing your inner pirate, it’s just another day in the Star Trek universe, where diplomacy meets phaser beams and a cultural identity crisis can actually save the day.
Peanut Hamper Plays Both Sides
Peanut Hamper, the exocomp ensign, goes on a tech savvy survival spree after peacing out from the Cerritos. She lands on a planet with the Areore, who are basically angels, if angels were fascinated by microchips and gears. They’re a species that once rocked the space travel game but decided to go all Luddite when tech led them to wars.
Love and cultural exchange happen when Peanut Hamper gets all gooey circuits for the chief’s son. She seems to soften her anti-organic life stance, but hold your horses. It’s not as Hallmark Channel as it sounds.
Cue the plot twist. Drookmani scavengers show up, and it turns out Peanut Hamper lured them in as part of a grand scheme to get Starfleet to forgive her indiscretions. Instead, she winds up in a robot jail at the Daystrom Institute, chatting about world domination plans with AGIMUS, who’s pretty much her cellmate and probably the worst influence ever.
See, folks, even in Starfleet, playing both sides can lead to a high security timeout. But hey, now Peanut Hamper’s got a partner in crime for her future misadventures.
Boimler Goes Full Christopher Nolan
Boimler goes full Christopher Nolan with his holodeck movie, Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus, where Romulans are the ultimate time traveling party poopers. But instead of channeling his inner Tarantino, he veers off into “what’s the meaning of life” rabbit holes, leaving Tendi to pick up the storytelling slack.
Mariner ditches the holodeck because Boimler’s existential crisis isn’t her kind of entertainment. But news of William’s death in a totally not suspicious gas leak brings her back to help Boimler work through his massive feelings. Meanwhile, Tendi lets slip that she wants to sit in the captain’s chair someday, and Rutherford actually starts taking the holodeck mission seriously.
Boimler gets dangerously dehydrated from too much holodeck and ends up getting life advice from the legendary Captain Sulu in a dream, because when you’re that thirsty, even a hologram becomes a guru. Oh, and by the way, William isn’t really dead. He’s just off to play James Bond in Section 31.
What we’ve learned: holodeck dramas are like Starfleet soap operas, and when you’re confused about life, it takes a dream meeting with a legendary captain to get you straight.
Journalists in Space
Freeman gets the green light from Admiral Buenamigo for Project Swing By, a kind of reunion tour for planets previously ditched by Starfleet. The Cerritos goes to Ornara, only to find the planet doing just fine post Picard intervention. They then get rerouted to Brekka, all while being stalked by journalist Victoria Nuzé.
Mariner, ever the rebel, chats with Nuzé, which leads to an article full of Freeman’s not so finest moments. Mama Freeman’s not amused, and Mariner gets shipped off to Starfleet’s equivalent of the North Pole. That’s Starbase 80.
The Cerritos gets into a pickle with the Breen, but they’re saved by Admiral Buenamigo’s shiny new toy, the USS Aledo. It turns out Mariner was singing Freeman’s praises all along, and the rest of the crew were the snitches. Freeman tries to dial back the drama and get Mariner back, but finds she’s already jumped ship to join Petra Aberdeen.
The takeaway: journalists in space can be as dangerous as any Romulan warbird. Also, never underestimate a fully automated Texas class starship when you’re in a jam.
California Class Versus Texas Class
Admiral Buenamigo proposes replacing all the California class ships with new Texas class ships, prompting a race between the two types. The Cerritos loses, but they win on moral ground, showing the limitations of automation by pausing to check for life forms on a desolate planet, a move the automated Texas class ships skip.
Mariner digs into Aberdeen’s suspicious funding but finds it’s all above board, coming from Picard. Mariner then comes clean about just wanting an excuse to get back to Starfleet. Meanwhile, Rutherford unravels that Buenamigo is the one who erased his memories, and that the Texas class ships are running on his own flawed experimental code.
A corrupted Texas class fleet starts attacking Starfleet. Mariner and Aberdeen swoop in with California class ships to save the day. In the aftermath, Mariner rejoins the Cerritos, bringing along a new recruit, T’Lyn. The episode wraps with a twist: Rutherford’s original AI implant, containing Badgey, is discovered in the Kalla system.
Automation and high-tech gadgets may be snazzy, but they can’t replace the moral and ethical judgment that comes with a human touch. Also, never underestimate the lengths people will go to cover their tracks, whether it’s erasing memories or pushing faulty tech.
On to Season Four
So there you go. Now you know, and if knowing is half the battle, you’re halfway to being a know-it-all yourself.
I hope you’re going to catch the new season. I know it starts on Thursday, and I can’t wait to start reviewing it. We’re looking forward to doing season four, and that has been your season three recap for Star Trek: Lower Decks. I’ll see you Thursday.
Tell me your favorite episode from season three and your favorite moments from the season. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
