Summary
Star Trek: Lower Decksdoes one thing better than any other show in the franchise – making fun ofStar Trek.With just the right balance of snark and genuine admiration,Lower Deckscalls out the tropesStar Trekhas created, using its characters as the voice of the fans. In the show’s penultimate episode, “Fissure Quest,“Lower Decksfires shots atStar Trek’smultiverse.
The Trekverse introduced the concept of the multiverse all the way back inStar Trek: The Original Series. The second season episode “Mirror, Mirror” established the existence of theMirror Universe, an alternate reality that contained evil versions of all the Enterprise crew members. Since then, the canon has established that the Trekverse contains an infinite number of alternate/parallel universes/realities/timelines, and nearly every show has at least one episode dealing with the multiverses.
Throughout thisfinal season ofLower Decks, the crew of the Cerritos has been dealing with quantam fissures that are opening doors into alternate universes. So, this season has included some wild multiverse shenanigans. And in “Fissure Quest,” an unexpectedLower Deckscharacter returns and shares his harsh opinions aboutStar Trek’smultiverse trope.
A Crew of Multiverse Fan-Favorites
Though “Fissure Quest” starts in the Prime Universe with fans' favorite Lower Deckers, a mention of Bradward Boimler’s transporter clone,William Boimler, soon shifts the story to a completely different crew. Aboard a Defiant class ship, Captain William Boimler and his crew of multiverse fan-favorite characters – T’Pol, Curzon Dax, Elim Garak, Dr. Julian Bashir, and several copies of Harry Kim – have been on a months-long mission to track down the ship creating the quantam fissures.
Narration by William Boimler reveals that while he loves his ragtag crew ofStar Trekalternates, he’s supremely frustrated with multiverse shenanigans. Early in the episode, his crew encounters a ship in distress. As they prepare to beam over the human lifeform from the ship, Boimler ponders, “Who will it be? Neelix with a crew cut? Really big Spock?”
The annoyance in his tone says a lot more than his words, implying that he’s seen so many alternate versions of famous Trekverse characters that he’s over the phenomenon. WhenHarry Kimbeams aboard, Boimler rolls his eyes and makes a snarky comment about adding this Kim to their collection. T’Pol reveals the majority of the crew consists of alternate versions of Ensign Harry Kim. The only novel thing about this new one is his rank –he’s finally made Lieutenant.
‘Lazy Derivative Remixes’
As the crew catches this new Kim up on their mission, they reveal that someone is trying to destroy the multiverses. When Kim asks why, Boimler does not hold back his real, raw feelings about the multiverse.
“Because they’re probably a hacky evil version of someone we all know! A reverse Picard, or Borg-ified Kirk, or, f*ck it, I don’t know, human Worf. That’s all the multiverse is – just lazy, derivative remixes!”
Boimler’s rant gives voice to a common complaint within theStar Trekfanbase. Many Trekkies believe that though the multiverse was once an interesting concept,Star Trekhas explored multiversesso many times that they’ve lost all their appeal.
The intrigue of multiverses has always been seeing different versions of familiar characters, doing things the characters fans know and love would never do. On a limited basis, that concept makes for excellent storytelling. But after seeing dozens ofevil versions of Starfleet crews, and different versions of Earth created by changes to the timeline, and characters who’ve died brought back to life, the stories get less creative, and the concept of the multiverse gets old.
Though Boimler’s rant rings true for many fans, there will always be some who never get tired of exploring all the little ways that their favorite characters and the worlds they know can change with just the minute alterations of a different universe. In fact, that’s the point of the episode.
The crew discovers that the quantam fissures are being created by a ship from an alternate universe whereZephram Cochrane and Lily Sloancreated quantam drives instead of warp drives. When Boimler confronts Sloan, the captain of the quantam drive ship, she explains that her crew explores the multiverses to learn about all the ways sentient life can change and grow based on its environment. Because even “lazy derivative remixes” have valuable lessons to teach. And what isStar Trekabout if not learning more about the depths of sentient life?
The final episode ofStar Trek: Lower Decksdrops on Thursday, December 19th on Paramount+.
