A Trio Of Lower Decks Guest Stars Tie The Show To Classic Star Trek
This post contains spoilers for the season finale of "Star Trek: Lower Decks."
"Star Trek: Lower Decks" has always had a knack for a perfectly deployed guest star, but the show's fourth season finale takes the Trek alum cameos to another level. That's because when three "Star Trek: The Next Generation" actors appear to reprise their roles in "Old Friends, New Planets," it's not for the sake of a joke or a second contact plotline, but as a part of the show's essential backstory. The Lower Deckers have always wanted to make a name for themselves, but as it turns out, Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) was once a lot closer to Starfleet history than she realized; she actually attended Starfleet Academy with a minor "Next Generation" character who turned out to be the Big Bad of season 4 of "Lower Decks."
A flashback in the latest episode reveals the surprising connection. In a scene that takes place directly before the events of the season 5 "Next Generation" episode "The First Duty," Mariner chats with a group of students who are arguing about a seemingly sketchy plan. Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) is leading the pack, and confesses to Mariner that they're "gonna cause some trouble together." Meanwhile, Beverly Crusher's son Wesley (Wil Wheaton) and Bajoran classmate Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) appear hesitant to go along with his plan.
Nova Squadron returns
This episode relies on fans' memory of a "Next Gen" deep cut, so you'll be forgiven for forgetting the context of the plot the cold open foreshadows, but it's safe to say that Nick —whose colleague died trying to do a deadly maneuver he encouraged the team to attempt — does not come out of the situation looking great. It's no surprise that he'd go on to try something as risky, ambitious, and ill-advised as creating an unaligned alpha quadrant fleet all on his own.
Nick, Wesley, and Sito may not be the glossiest or most famous characters to pop up on "Star Trek: Lower Decks," but their appearance feels like an important turning point in the show. Sito was one of the subjects of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Lower Decks," which focused specifically on the lives of underappreciated junior officers. Series creator Mike McMahan previously called the "TNG" episode his favorite in any Trek series and cited it as an inspiration for the adult animated comedy, making this a great full-circle moment for the show. Plus, with this in mind, it makes total sense that Mariner would rub elbows with these characters.
The inclusion of the Nova Squadron members also feels significant in that it shows that "Star Trek: Lower Decks" is no longer a show that's content just to comment on Trek history through clever references and homage episodes. Instead, this casually revealed bit of background information makes the show feel more meaningfully tied to Trek canon — albeit a small corner of Trek canon — than ever before.
Lower Decks isn't just about Trek lore -- it's a part of it
The show has always seemed to have a sort of "leave no trace" narrative philosophy, in which its characters do grunt work that by definition won't alter the course of the entire franchise. "Lower Decks" is allowed to be as nimble and reference-packed as it is because it can dart in and out of Trek lore at will without worrying too much about messing with known mythology.
But "Old Friends, New Planets" is a welcome reminder that these characters are a part of Trek mythology now, and they have a place in it beyond the role of comedic commentators. This isn't just "Mystery Science Theater 3000" by way of "Star Trek," but a fully realized show that has an important spot in the Trek timeline. The finale not only includes Wesley and Sito, but it also reintroduces an older, equally miscalculating version of Nick who learned nothing from the incident that left his fellow Squadron member dead back in the day. Instead, he's the season's villain, and even if he isn't actually killing people, he's still an antagonistic force – the natural extension of the guy who ended up expelled from Starfleet after pushing a cover-up on his classmates years ago. In the end, Nick ends up dying for a funny, ridiculous reason: a Ferengi bomb he's trying to disarm turns out to have a paywall on it.
He's gone, but if "Star Trek: Lower Decks" continues, it'll be with a firmer place in the Trek canon than it's ever had before — one that, after four seasons of creativity and uniqueness, it definitely deserves.
"Star Trek: Lower Decks" seasons 1 through 4 are now streaming on Paramount+.