Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3
review by Bobby Blakey
There is no denying that Star Trek is a franchise giant spawning from TV, movies, comics, books and more. In the 70s they dived into an animated series with the original crew that ran for two seasons complete with the original cast voicing their characters. In 2020 we headed back into the world of animation with a different kind of series Star Trek: Lower Decks that brought some laughs, but also some fun Star Trek stories. Now the third season is coming home.
Star Trek: Lower Decks follows the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Beckett Mariner, Ensign Brad Boimler, Ensign Samanthan Rutherford and Ensign D’Vana Tendi who have to keep up with their duties and their social lives, while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. In season 3, the U.S.S. Cerritos ensigns in (hilarious) ways they could never imagine, starting with a shocking resolution for Season 2’s epic cliffhanger finale.
The series features the voice talents of Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Eugene Cordero, Noël Wells, Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O’Connell, Fred Tatasciore and Gillian Vigman all bringing their own unique take on their characters as well as guest appearances by Nana Visitor and Armin Shimerman reprising their roles Kira Nerys and Quark respectively.
I would lying if I said I wasn’t initially worried about what they were doing with this show when the first season premired. I expected it to be more of a parody and expected all around silliness. While there are plenty of laughs and fun this plays out in a lot different way than I expected. This show fully captures the essence of Star Trek while still being a lot of fun. They bring a new direction to life on a starship with some great new characters. This new season takes it even further
allowing for every character to shine and even ditched some of the silliness in my opinion, but have no fear the laughs are still there.
The show reminds of the sci-fi animated series Final Space that tries to keep it light and fun while still bringing the action and adventure. The animation is vibrant and I dig the style that just works perfectly. While it may not bring the depth that most Trek movies and series do it fully plants itself in the universe to perfection and offers up a fun and unique take in the franchise. This new season keeps the momentum going set in the first two seasons complete with an awesome episode focusing on Deep Space Nine. The show itself stands on its own, but it is made all the better by appearances from other Trek alumni James Cromwell, JG Hertzler, Susan Gibney and many more.
I enjoyed this third season even more than the first two and with two more seasons already announced hope they can keep them evolving into bigger and better adventures and character development. Grab your copy of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 when it hits DVD on April 25th from CBS and Paramount Home Entertainment.