Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 will be its final season on Paramount+, butit still doesn’t make sense why.Created by Mike McMahan,Star Trek: Lower Deckspremiered in 2020 as the first animatedStar Trekhalf-hour comedy.Lower Decksborrows its title and inspiration from theStar Trek: The Next Generationepisode of the same name.Star Trek: Lower Deckswas originally about the hardworking and unsung Ensigns of the USS Cerritos, although they rose up the ranks and became junior grade Lieutenants at the start ofStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4.
Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 4 endedwith a big shift in the USS Cerritos' ranks following Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) saving the galaxy from disgraced ex-Starfleet cadet Nicholas Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) and his doomsday Genesis Device. Lt. D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) left Starfleet and returned to the Orions to fulfill a bargain made for the Orions' help to rescue Mariner. Even without Tendi, the USS Cerritos' mission of Second Contact continues inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, whichParamount+ inexplicably announced is the final season on the streamer.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Is Relatively Inexpensive To Produce
Lower Decks costs less than a live-action Star Trek show
Star Trek: Lower Decksending on Paramount+may have to do with the streamer’s finances, but Mike McMahan’s animated comedy is relatively inexpensive to produce compared toStar Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Picard.Titmouse, Inc. handlesStar Trek: Lower Decks' animation, but whatever their budget is, it is still a fraction of what a live-actionStar Trekseries costs. After all, there are no sets to build and maintain, no costumes or props to make, and far less overhead overall. Perhaps the biggest expense isStar Trek: Lower Decks' voice actors, but even then, there is a big financial difference between recording their voices and actors performing in live-action on set.
Given the relatively low cost ofStar Trek: Lower Deckscompared to every live-actionStar Trekseries produced for Paramount+, Mike McMahan’s show ought to run for many more seasons. PerhapsStar Trek: Lower Decksending is due to its streaming performance on Paramount+, and, indeed, McMahan andLower Decks' cast are encouraging audiences tobinge old and new episodes of the series as much as possible to boostLower Decks' numbers.ButLower Decksis also popular withStar Trekfans and has earned its stripes and recognition as genuineStar Trek,so why drop a series that has accumulated so much intrinsicStar Trekvalue?
Lower Decks’ Cast & Creators Want To Continue The Show
Everyone who makes Lower Decks loves the show
Series creator Mike McMahan. voice actors Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noel Wells, Eugene Cordero, Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O’Connell, and others havepublicly expressed their desire to continueStar Trek: Lower Decks.Newsome has gone on record that playing Mariner onLower Decksis her favorite job she’s ever had. As busy asQuaid is as a major Hollywood starjuggling multiple movie and TV projects, he is loyal toStar Trek, and Jack also wants to keep playing Lt. Brad Boimler. Further,Lower Decksis McMahan’s dreamStar Trekproject, and he would be happy to keep making his show for years to come.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Cast Guide - Who Voices Each Character In All 4 Seasons
Star Trek: Lower Decks features an incredibly talented and prolific voice cast of actors. Here’s who’s who aboard the USS Cerritos.
Star Trek: Lower Decksis not a show with its best days behind it, nor is it running out of steam. If anything,Star Trek: Lower Deckshas continuously gotten betteras Mike McMahan and his writing team quickly figured out what the show is about and capable of.Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 4, especially, was perhaps the richest in characterization and backstory, and McMahan promises even more depth inLower Decksseason 5. While the Lower Deckers' promotions to Lieutenants could be framed as the beginning of their end as ‘Lower Deckers,’ there is no set time frame to explore Mariner and friends having two pips, and there is still vast story potential for the ‘Warp Core Five.’
Star Trek’s Popular 24th Century Ends With Lower Decks
TNG’s era will grind to a halt
Another tragedy ofStar Trek: Lower Decksending on Paramount+ is that it grounds the 24th century era ofStar Trekto a halt. BeforeLower Deckspremiered in 2020, the beloved 24th century that began withStar Trek: The Next Generationwas last seen in 2002’sStar Trek: Nemesis, besides fleeting glimpses inStar Trek(2009) andStar Trek: Picardseason 1.Lower Decksbrought backTNG’s aesthetic and all of its enduringly cool aspects, and even finally showed divisions likeCetacean Ops thatStar Trek: The Next Generationonly hinted at. WithoutStar Trek: Lower Decks,and the potential non-renewal ofStar Trek: Prodigyby Netflix, the 24th century shuts down yet again.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 - Everything You Need To Know
Star Trek: Lower Decks to the franchise where it had never been before with five seasons of comic antics, but sadly the show went off the air as well.
Star Trek: Lower Decksis a show built to run far beyond five seasons on Paramount+, and it proved, along withStar Trek: Prodigy, that animatedStar Trekis on equal par with live-action. The USS Cerritos' voyages encompass every fun, weird, cool, nerdy, and enduring aspect ofStar Trek.Lower DecksprovedStar Trekcan be riotously funny, especially because Mike McMahan’s series celebratesTrekout of genuine reverence rather than mocking it for cheap laughs.Star Trek: Lower Decksisn’t dead yet, and season 5 is only the final season on Paramount+. Hopefully, Mariner, Boimler, and the USS Cerritos can find another streaming home. But either way,Star Trek: Lower Decksending on Paramount+ at all just doesn’t make sense.
