Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Review: The Incredible Animated Series Ends On A High Note

With every season of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," I have found myself putting this delightful animated comedy series through the "wife test." It's simple enough, really. Will my wife — a fairly casual "Star Trek" fan who has seen plenty of the original series and a lot of "The Next Generation" — enjoy this show, which builds so much of its humor on references and in-jokes and Easter eggs built to cater to the lizard brains of serious, hardcore "Trek" dorks? 

And every season, the answer is a resounding yes. That's the low-key beauty of "Lower Decks," a show that promises to be catnip for nerds-in-the-know but slyly offers the full "Star Trek" experience to any kind of fan with any kind of knowledge level. When I, the lifelong fan, watch "Lower Decks," I'm translating the quick references and luxuriating in how the show addresses the minutiae that another series set in this universe wouldn't have the time to explore. When she watches it, she's simply invested in the stories of Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Mariner, the low-ranking (but increasingly less so) crew members of the USS Cerritos, an anonymous and largely overlooked Starfleet vessel assigned to the tedious missions the more important ships get to ignore. 

It would've been easy for "Lower Decks" to be a simple gag factory catering to the impulses of super-fans. Instead, it does that while also telling stories that hit home, starring characters who invite our affections and our loyalty as much as any live-action series. It's a perfect balance: a "Star Trek" comedy series that loves "Star Trek" so much that it can't help but be "Star Trek" even when it's poking fun at "Star Trek." The wife test proves that this crew matters to her like Picard and Data and Worf matter to me.

Which makes it all the more bittersweet that the show's fifth season, where it remains as smart and funny and sweet as ever, is its last. 

The five episodes of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" season 5 provided to critics for review showcase a series still operating at the height of its powers. Once again, each episode is a smart, funny standalone adventure in a new cook or cranny of the "Trek" universe, with one overarching storyline loosely tying the whole thing together. And in this case, that overarching storyline can't help but feel appropriate for a final season: due to sci-fi shenanigans, every character finds themselves questioning not only their current station in life, and in Starfleet, but also the path not taken. This has always been a show about growth, personal and professional, and this season doubles down on it: How do you choose to improve your life, and how do you avoid self-sabotage? 

Of course, all of this is built into the show's typical format, where the science fiction adventure stories are not only very funny, but plausible as actual "Trek" storylines (albeit from a skewed angle). Season 5 bounces between goofball headiness and surreal parody as it pleases, never losing sight of its characters and never going for the obvious joke. Because why go obvious when you can build entire storylines around obscure references to the oft-forgotten animated "Star Trek" series from the 1970s? (This passed the wife test admirably, because she didn't even realize it was a reference. Good job, "Lower Decks.")

Without spoiling anything, season 5 is the right mixture of indulgent and curious with its explorations of the "Trek" universe, answering the questions that have kept fans awake at night for decades (What, exactly, happens to a planet when it joins the Federation and properly becomes a post-scarcity economy?) and delivering the kind of niche story that proper nerds have been dreaming about for ages (the season's format-breaking fourth episode is a dream come true for a certain flavor of "Next Generation" fan, especially those fond of scripts written by Ronald D. Moore). It's clear in every moment that "Lower Decks" isn't just a joke machine, even though the jokes are very good — this is a bunch of "Star Trek" fans using their own "Star Trek" show to answer all the questions they've ever had about "Star Trek."

If this review sounds rapturous ... Well, that's because it is. Over five seasons, I have grown to love the "Lower Decks" crew as much as I've loved any "Star Trek" crew, which makes the show's premature cancelation all the more devastating. If any "Trek" series deserved a full seven season run, following in the footsteps of "The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," and "Voyager," it's the one created by folks who clearly understand and appreciate the history that accompanies a "Trek" series reaching seven seasons. Frankly, this show ending now is devastating.

At the same time, we can appreciate that "Lower Decks" never had the opportunity to lose its steam, never delivered a bad season, and never disappointed. It only got better as its creators became more comfortable adding to the universe so they so clearly love. It leaves us wanting more. If the social media posts from cast and crew are any indication, it's clear that the cancelation wasn't a planned one, and that everyone involved wanted to make more. And I wish they could've made more.

The best "Star Trek" becomes a comfort. We watch it in times of strife and anxiety to feel better about the future, and to imagine ourselves in a world where science, reason, and diplomacy rise above the noise. "Lower Decks" did all of that while also making us laugh. It remains a gift, and one that I'll cherish forever. 

/Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

"Star Trek: Lower Decks" season 5 premieres October 24, 2024 on Paramount+.