Lower Decks Season 5 Finale and Series Finale Explained

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Finale – “The New Next Generation”Star Trek: Lower Decks' thrilling and resonant finale closes this chapter in the Starfleet careers of the lower decks of the USS Cerritos, but not before the California-Class starship saves Star Trek Prime Timeline. Written by series creator and showrunner Mike McMahan, Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 10, “The New Next Generation” picks up the suspense of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 9, 'Fissure Quest'.

Lt. Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), piloting the Quantum Reality-hopping starship Beagle into a dimensional rift not only killed Kim, but also released a tachyon soliton blast that could destroy the entire planet. Star Trek multiverse. Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid) sent the soliton beam to the Prime Universe with instructions for his Prime Universe counterpart Lieutenant Brad Boimler, knowing that the USS Cerritos could find a way to stop him. With the USS Enterprise-E unable to arrive in time and given the connection between the Boimlers, it was up to the USS Cerritos to close the unstable rift.

The Cerritos' mission was complicated by the Klingons led by Relga (Roxana Ortega), who wanted to kill Ma'ah (Jon Curry) and her brother Malor (Sam Witwer). Friends of Lieutenant Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), the Klingon brothers were granted asylum by Starfleet aboard the Cerritos. Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) led the Cerritos into Schrödinger's field of possibilities around the rift while the Klingons pursued and attacked them.

The USS Cerritos saves the Star Trek multiverse

The Cerritos team did this by working together

The USS Cerritos and Relga's Klingon Bird of Prey had modified shields that protected the crew from the transmuting effects of the Schrödinger field, but the rest of Relga's armada was not so lucky. The Schrödinger field distorted the Cerritos' exterior, transforming it into alternate Starfleet classes found in Star Trekmultiverse, such as a Mirror Universe Terran Empire California Class, Sovereign Class, and Galaxy Class. Relga's ship was destroyed when she and her crew were turned into mindless proto-Klingons.

Working together, the crew of the USS Cerritos discovered a way to stop Schrödinger's field. Avoiding its implant and relying on his love for the California-Class USS Cerritos, Lieutenant Sam Rutherford modified the ship's deflector array. When Schrödinger Field split Cerritos in two, scientific co-directors Lieutenant D'Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) and Lieutenant T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) recombined their starship. When the Cerritos were unable to close the rift, Malor's Klingon farming simile gave Mariner the idea of ​​how to alter the Cerritos' subspace gluonic beam to stop the Schrödinger Field.

Not just the crew of the USS Cerritos “save the universe”, but they also managed stabilize the rift of quantum reality, transforming it into a safe portal to other timelines and alternate realities. This victory was the greatest success of Captain Carol Freeman's tenure as commander of the Cerritos, and it happened because her crew worked together to resolve the crisis.

Starbase 80 protects a new multiverse wormhole

Star Trek: Lower Decks Gets Its Own Deep Space Nine Mission

Star Trek: Lower Decks' final configuration an all-new mission for Starfleet reminiscent of the original mission of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Starfleet took control of the multiversal portal and assigned a permanent mission to protect the wormhole and explore the multiverse. Starbase 80, which has systems old enough to not be affected by the portal's tachyon emissions, is now permanently docked in the portal. While Commander Kassia Nox (Nicole Byer) commands Starbase 80, Captain Carol Freeman has been assigned as leader of the multiverse exploratory mission, with her husband, Admiral Alonzo Freeman (Phil LaMarr), overseeing it for Starfleet.

Section 31's Defiant-Class starship Anaximander has been reassigned as Starfleet's multiverse exploration ship. Under the command of Captain William Boimler, the crew of the Anaximander of Star Trek Legacy characters including T'Pol (Jolene), Dr. Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson), Captain Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), and several Ensign Harry Kims will permanently map the Multiverse. With “The New Next Generation”, Star Trek: Lower Decks inherits the mantles of both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Star Trek: Lower Decks has 2 new captains

Captain Ransom and Captain Ma'ah occupy the center seats

Captain Carol Freeman's transfer to Starbase 80 means her first officer, Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) becomes the new captain of the USS Cerritos. Initially portrayed as unpleasant, Ransom's virtues and abilities as a first officer became more apparent, especially in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5. Ransom's promotion to Captain is essentially Star Trek: Lower Decks telling the story that Star Trek: The Next Generation never did so with Jack's inspiration, Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), who never became captain of the Enterprise.

Regla's dishonorable actions motivated the Klingon High Council to promote Ma'ah to captain of Relga's armadawith Malor as his first officer. Ma'ah was presented as a lower story in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2 that fell victim to Klingon politics. Ma'ah befriended Mariner in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, but he was relegated to farming on the Klingon homeworld of Q'onoS. Ma'ah, overcoming his enemies, rewards him with the captaincy he deserves and gives Starfleet and the USS Cerritos a new ally in the Klingon Empire.

The Cerritos Lieutenants rise

Star Trek: Lower DecksThe title remains relevant even as USS Cerritos' junior-level lieutenants move up to new assignments on the bridge crew. Against his wishes, Captain Ransom decided to make Lieutenants Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner his provisional co-officers. Ransom is pitting the best friends against each other for his own amusement and the advancement of their careers, to see if Beckett or Bradward distinguish themselves for the job of Cerritos Number One. As Ransom noted, Boimler and Mariner may be lower floors, but they are not “responsible for the lower floors.”

After competing with each other since Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 7, 'Filly Dilated,' Lieutenants Tendi and T'Lyn are now happily in sync as co-science directors. Lieutenant Rutherford also realized that he still loves the USS Cerritos and no longer needs his implant to be the best young engineer in Starfleet. Rutherford also discovered that the dopamine from his implant suppressed his romantic feelings for Tendi. The remainder of the USS Cerritos senior team remains in place after Captain Freeman's departure, and Captain Ransom's ship continues its mission to make Second Contacts and serve as the California-Class Enterprise.

Lieutenant Beckett Mariner's climactic speech at the end of Star Trek: Lower Decks'finale sums up the true purpose and mission of the USS Cerritos. The California Class ship is filled with great Starfleet Officers who would be misfits aboard other ships, but they have a home and a way to settle in the Cerritos. The Lower Deckers also have the opportunity to shine in the Cerritos, as Star Trek: Lower Decks consolidates itself as the true successor of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Will Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 6 Happen?

The USS Cerritos will hopefully return someday

Sadly, Star Trek: Lower Decks The Season 5 finale marks the end of Mike McMahan's beloved animated comedy on Paramount+. There are no plans for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 6 on Paramount+. There is also no known movement towards Star Trek: Lower Decks being picked up by another streaming service, in the same way that Netflix imported Star Trek: Prodigy. For now, Star Trek: Lower Decks is over, and so is the modern revival of animation Star Trek. However, the USS Cerritos may return.

Star Trek fans can potentially help resurrect Star Trek: Lower Decks put repeat the 50-episode marathon on Paramount+ and invite others to watch the series. Provably high streaming numbers will Star Trek: Lower Decks more attractive to other streaming services and possibly Paramount+ for a Phase II.

Mike McMahan has a lot of ideas about what could happen near the USS Cerritos and has also thought about doing Star Trek: Lower Decks in live action. Star Trek: Lower Decks has proven to be infinitely innovative and essential Star Trekand hopefully, it's only a matter of time before the USS Cerritos returns to our screens.