Memory Alpha

Nolan North

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, North is probably best known for his voice work on the game series Uncharted (2007, 2009, 2011 and 2016) where he voiced the main character Nathan Drake, (with Richard McGonagle as the voice of Drake's mentor Victor Sullivan), and as protagonist Desmond Miles in the near-annual Assassin's Creed (2007 to 2012, with that character's father, William Miles, being voiced by John de Lancie ).

North's other voice-over work includes the recurring role of Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, in the video games Batman: Arkham City (with James Horan and Tasia Valenza ), Batman: Arkham Origins (with Mark Rolston ), and Batman: Arkham Knight (the cast of which also included Jonathan Banks , Robin Atkin Downes , Horan, Loren Lester , Rolston, Dwight Schultz , Keith Szarabajka , Valenza, and Marc Worden ). North also voiced the same character in the animated feature Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014, with Neal McDonough ).

Star Trek appearances [ ]

USS Vengeance Bridge Officer Star Trek Into Darkness

External links [ ]

  • Nolan North at Instagram
  • Nolan North at X (formerly Twitter)
  • Nolan North at the Internet Movie Database
  • Nolan North at Wikipedia
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  • 3 Daniels (Crewman)

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Published Jul 27, 2024

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Will Premiere with Two Episodes on October 24

The teaser trailer was shown at a Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con!

The Cerritos crew T'Lyn, Jennifer, Mariner, Tendi, and Rutherford emerge from an entrance ready for anything

StarTrek.com

Paramount+ today debuted the teaser trailer for the fifth and final season of its hit animated comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks during the Star Trek universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con. The panel featured an exclusive conversation with cast members Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Jerry O’Connell, alongside executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Mike McMahan.

It was also announced that the fifth and final season will premiere on Paramount+ with two episodes on Thursday, October 24 , in the U.S. and internationally. Following the premiere, new episodes of the 10-episode long season will drop every Thursday on the service leading up to the series finale on Thursday, December 19.

In Season 5 of Star Trek: Lower Decks , the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos is tasked with closing "space potholes" — subspace rifts which are causing chaos in the Alpha Quadrant. Pothole duty would be easy for Jr. Officers Mariner, Boimler, Tendi and Rutherford... if they didn’t also have to deal with an Orion war, furious Klingons, diplomatic catastrophes, murder mysteries and scariest of all — their own career aspirations. This upcoming season is a celebration of this underdog crew who are dangerously close to being promoted out of the lower decks and into strange new Starfleet roles.

Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated comedy series that focuses on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos . The Starfleet crew residing in the "lower decks" of the U.S.S. Cerritos includes the voices of Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero; the Bridge crew is voiced by Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O’Connell, Fred Tatasciore, and Gillian Vigman.

Star Trek: Lower Decks is produced by CBS’ Eye Animation Productions, CBS Studios' animation arm; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive producers include Alex Kurtzman, Mike McMahan, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth. Titmouse, the Emmy Award-winning independent animation production company, serves as the animation studio for the series.

The Star Trek franchise on Paramount+ also includes the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , the new original series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy , slated to begin production later this year, and Star Trek: Section 31 , an upcoming original movie with Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh. All seasons of the critically-acclaimed original series Star Trek: Picard , starring Patrick Stewart reprising the iconic role of Jean-Luc Picard, are also available to stream.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea.

Horizontal clean textless Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 key art poster by Matt Ferguson

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Star trek: lower decks season 5 exclusive clip reveals tendi’s new orion mission.

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Strange New Worlds Season 3 Can Set Up A Star Trek Movie Romance That Deserved Better

Why star trek: the next generation's enterprise had a rarely-seen second bridge, 34 years later, star trek's most disappointing tng character exit still hurts.

On Star Trek Day, CBS Studios and Paramount+ unveil a new, exclusive clip from Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5. The final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks premieres Thursday, October 24 on Paramount+, with two new episodes dropping on that day. Each following Thursday will have a new episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks until the series finale on Thursday, December 19th.

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5' s new clip highlights what former Starfleet Lieutenant D'Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) is up to after she left the USS Cerritos and returned to her people, the Orion Syndicate. Once again known as the Mistress of the Winter Constellations , Tendi leads the Orions on a new mission while also trying to change their murderous ways. Check out the clip below:

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 's key art poster designed by artist Matt Ferguson and 3 new photos from Lower Decks' final season with the crew of the USS Cerritos can be seen below:

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Reveals The USS Cerritos' Final Mission

Change is coming to the lower deckers.

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5's mission has also been revealed. In its final season, Lower Decks is sending the crew of the USS Cerritos to repair "space potholes," which are subspace rifts in the Alpha Quadrant. The Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5's teaser trailer unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con hinted at the ramifications of these subspace rifts , like encountering an alternate timeline USS Cerritos led by Captain Becky Freeman (Tawny Newsome). Check out the official logline for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 below:

In season five of Star Trek: Lower Decks, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos is tasked with closing “space potholes”—subspace rifts that are causing chaos in the Alpha Quadrant. Pothole duty would be easy for Junior Officers Mariner, Boimler, Tendi and Rutherford...if they didn’t also have to deal with an Orion war, furious Klingons, diplomatic catastrophes, murder mysteries and scariest of all: their own career aspirations. This upcoming season on Paramount+ is a celebration of this underdog crew who are dangerously close to being promoted out of the lower decks and into strange new Starfleet roles.

The entire cast of Star Trek: Lower Decks led by Tawny Newsome's Lt. Beckett Mariner and Jack Quaid's Lt. Brad Boimler are back for the final season. Star Trek: Lower Decks ' creator, Mike McMahan, has hinted this will be the best season of all, with more focus on the Orions, the looming career advancement of the Lower Deckers, and even a wedding. Whether or not Star Trek: Lower Decks has a future beyond its final season on Paramount+ remains to be seen, but fans can help realize that future by watching and spreading the word about Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5.

Source: CBS Studios, Paramount+

Star Trek: Lower Decks

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Star Trek Lower Decks

Lower Decks Season 3 is the best Star Trek show of the year

Star Trek: Lower Decks does not go boldly where no franchise series has gone before, and that’s what makes it brilliant.

nolan north star trek lower decks

Lovingly mocking something while also making a true and earnest version of that thing should be impossible. Imagine if someone said Austin Powers was one of the best James Bond movies and, somehow, James Bond fans everywhere almost unanimously agreed. That’s what Star Trek: Lower Decks is to the rest of the Trek franchise and Trek fandom at large. And, as it embarks upon its third season, what began as the riskiest new Star Trek show isn’t an underdog anymore, it’s now top dog.

With Season 3, Lower Decks has established itself as the new Trek series by which the many other shows in this fictional universe should be judged. Here’s why. No spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3.

Perhaps one of the greatest misconceptions about Star Trek, in general, is that it needs to somehow contain original and cutting-edge science fiction to be good. Not only was this not true for The Original Series , but it has also almost never been what makes this beloved franchise so long-lasting.

Way back in the ‘60s, the classic Star Trek freely used existing science fiction tropes — familiar to a relatively small group of niche readers of magazines and books — and loudly brought those concepts into the TV mainstream. Before Star Trek , there just wasn’t a mainstream consensus for why sci-fi did or didn’t work on TV. After Star Trek , everything that followed was compared to it, even if those things were trying to do the opposite. As TOS writer Norman Spinrad told me , what Star Trek did for science fiction tropes was “like when Bob Dylan went electric.”

Well, so what? What does this history lesson have to do with Star Trek: Lower Decks ?

Calling Lower Decks extremely derivative would almost classify as a joke because it’s such an obvious statement. But what Lower Decks has in common with The Original Series is that, at this point, it doesn’t care at all about pretending like all any of its tropes are new.

One of the biggest burdens of every Trek series since the TOS era has been to try and make not only the sci-fi tropes seem fresh, but also, the world of Star Trek somehow newer and better. Each of these shows — from The Next Generation to Discovery to Strange New Worlds — has wanted the audience to take its newly rebooted version of Trek seriously, and see novelty as the path to that goal.

This is the key to the brilliance of Lower Decks . It’s actually the only show in the entire canon that doesn’t really want to be taken seriously — which, paradoxically means, that we do. That’s because, at its core, Lower Decks has a quality that makes all the other Star Trek shows work: great characters who, for better or worse, exist in a workplace-centric TV show. It’s just that, in the Trek world, their workplace is outer space.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 23: (L-R) Dawnn Lewis, Mike McMahan, Noël Wells, Tawny Newsome, and Jac...

Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Mike McMahan (showrunner), Noël Wells (Tendi), Tawny Newsome (Mariner), and Jack Quaid (Boimler) at San Diego Comic-Con, 2022.

The crucial reason that Lower Decks is so successful is that it takes the office-in-space concept and remixes it as a straightforward sitcom. This has been going on since 2020 but, in Season 3, it really makes you wonder if the best aspects of other Trek shows aren’t their closeness to the philosophical sitcom setup too. Ask yourself: how many great TOS episodes end with a joke and a big laugh on the bridge?

Lower Decks Season 3 has more Trekkie Easter eggs, callbacks, and surprise cameos than Seasons 1 and 2 combined. Just when you think this season won’t go there, it goes there . And then, sometimes, it goes places you never knew Star Trek could go — and you love it for it anyway.

But, interestingly, despite the many flashy connections to the rest of Trek, Season 3 also seems to have the most serialized internal continuity, at least when it comes to character arcs of our beloved lower-deckers themselves. The Mariner (Tawny Newsome) of Season 1 is not the same person we meet in Season 3. She’s more complex, funnier, sadder, happier, and on the path to becoming one of the greatest Star Trek characters of all time.

Lower Decks Season 3 Klingon garb

The gang dressed as...Klingons?

These subtle-yet-hilarious character flourishes are also true of Boimler (Jack Quaid), Tendi (Noël Wells), and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), all of who change in surprising ways this season. Meanwhile, Captain Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) makes a convincing case for being one of the most consistently competent Starfleet captains in the entire franchise.

One simple joke that Lower Decks loves telling over and over again: People who are good at their jobs almost never get enough credit, regardless of their job title. In Season 3, Lower Decks presents this moral conundrum from several angles — in wildly different ways across various episodes. If you do the right thing, but nobody knows, is it still right? In these episodes, very often the public truth of something is revealed to be different from a private truth, which gives Lower Decks a kind of reflective duality rarely found in sitcoms, much less an animated sitcom that is intentionally derivative of the biggest sci-fi franchise of all time.

And yet, it’s those contradictions that make Lower Decks kick so much ass. It’s the least ironic intentionally ironic TV show of all time. In The Wrath of Khan , when Spock sacrificed himself, Kirk said at his funeral that “of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human .” This was ironic because Spock was (duh) not human. It was a joke that was also sad that was also profound.

Kirk’s irony was only interesting if you already knew something about Star Trek. Lower Decks lives in that exact place where sci-fi irony and humanist honesty collide. And if fans are lucky, this show will stay in that time loop forever.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 debuts its first episode on Thursday, August 25, on Paramount+.

Phasers on Stun!: How the Making — and Remaking — of Star Trek Changed the World

This article was originally published on Aug. 22, 2022

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Check Out First Images From First Two Episodes Of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Season 3

nolan north star trek lower decks

| July 27, 2022 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 7 comments so far

Paramount+ followed up the release of the official trailer for season three of Star Trek: Lower Decks with the first official preview images. We have two images each from the first two episodes, and episode titles as well.

Episode 301: “Grounded”

The first episode is called “Grounded,” likely referring to how the crew of the USS Cerritos are grounded after Captain Freeman was arrested for the destruction of Pakled Planet at the end of season two. And the first image from the episode shows Freeman still in custody being escorted by some Starfleet Security officers.

nolan north star trek lower decks

Dawnn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman

The second image shows the four ensigns in their civilian clothes back on Earth, or as Tawny Newsome described them at the SDCC panel , “the Earth outfits are bangin’.”

nolan north star trek lower decks

Noël Wells as Ensign Tendi, Jack Quaid as Ensign Brad Boimler, Tawny Newsome as Ensign Beckett Mariner, and Eugene Cordero as Ensign Rutherford

Episode 302: “The Least Dangerous Game”

The second episode is called “The Least Dangerous Game,” which is a twist on the idea of hunting humans . Both images appear to show the crew back on the USS Cerritos, indicating the “Grounded” issue may get wrapped up in the first episode. The first image shows the crew wearing some Klingon armor. This is from a scene shown at Star Trek: Mission Chicago where they are playing a Klingon version of D&D called “Bat’leths & BIHnuchs.” The game features a virtual Martok (voiced by J.G. Hertzler).

nolan north star trek lower decks

Tawny Newsome as Ensign Beckett Mariner, Eugene Cordero as Ensign Rutherford , Jack Quaid as Ensign Brad Boimler and Noël Wells as Ensign Tendi

The second image shows Boimler on a ship (presumably the Cerritos) running from a new alien named K’Ranch, voiced by Nolan North. Mike McMahan revealed to EW that K’Ranch is inspired by Tosk from Deep Space Nine .

nolan north star trek lower decks

Nolan North plays K’ranch and Jack Quaid as Ensign Brad Boimler

ICYMI: Season 3 Trailer

And here again, is the official trailer released during San Diego Comic-Con.

Coming August 25

The third season of  Lower Decks  arrives on Thursday, August 25, and streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Latin America and is distributed concurrently by Paramount Global Content Distribution on Amazon Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan, India and more and in Canada, airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

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I know it’s the wrong character (and actor), but I really hope Martok tells everyone playing “Bat’leths & BIHnuchs” to experience b’jh!

Funny. This Klingon version of D&D called “Bat’leths & BIHnuchs.” Episode. Was it not Frake’s as Direction for an Star Trek Video Game called “Star Trek:Klingons”? The circle come to an end

Calling it, we are definitely getting an Allamaraine call-back in “The Least Dangerous Game”.

I had that VHS game with Robert O’Reilly not quite playing Gowron. Very goofy game.

I still have it! Experience Bij!

3rd Season is going to be Lower Deck’s tribute to Star Trek III The Search For Spock.

Be great to use an extended format of Short Treks because I like many want to see the founding of the Federatio, Archers role; xactly what happened to Sisko and Federation post Dominion War and the any exploits of Enterprise 1701, the any planets they visited and co sequences of Kirk’s visits. Please no more TNG, Star Fleet, Federation and Trek itself is such ore Tham this washed up boring show. Archer and the NX made valuable contributions to founding of Federation give them there do. We don’t need Frakes or any of those clowns you guys force feed on the Trek Universe. , let every Captain’s story be told and their contributions shared and explained in their own words and own way. The actor that played Archer is not my favorite but Archer is more relevant to the story of Trek and the Federation than Picard can ever be. It’s like giving 45 more relevance then George Wsshington or Abraham Lincoln

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nolan north star trek lower decks

In the Fourth Season Finale, Lower Decks Comes Apart

Image of Darren Mooney

This recap of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 10 finale, “Old Friends, New Planets,” contains spoilers.

“Old Friends, New Planets” is a disappointing conclusion to an underwhelming season of Star Trek: Lower Decks . As with “ The Inner Fight ” before it, “Old Friends, New Planets” plays as a mishmash of half-baked ideas that never cohere into anything particularly satisfying.

This is particularly frustrating because there is a germ of a good idea here. At its core, Lower Decks is a show about low-ranked officers on a military spaceship. As such, it is surprising that it has taken the series four full seasons to tell a story about a mutiny. After all, mutinies are evergreen fodder for compelling drama. Users on Paramount+ can hop over to Showtime to stream legendary director William Friedkin’s last film, an adaptation of Herman Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny Court Martial .

Star Trek has told stories about mutinies before. The franchise’s first two-part episode, “ The Menagerie ,” was a story built around a court martial for Spock (Leonard Nimoy) after he hijacks the Enterprise. Generally, the franchise has used mutinies as a basis for high-concept action thrillers, like Star Trek: Voyager did with “ Worst Case Scenario ” or “ Repression .” Given that most Star Trek shows are built around the captain and the senior staff, their sympathies tend to align with the senior officers.

As such, the basic concept of Lower Decks would lend itself to an interesting inversion of this template. What would a Star Trek story about a mutiny look like if it were told from the perspective of the junior officers? There are arguably shades of this to the first season of Star Trek: Discovery , as Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) rebels first against Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and later against Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs), but that drama is largely character-focused.

“Old Friends, New Planets” begins with an interesting premise. What would happen if these junior officers finally took a stand against their superiors? What if these characters who the franchise often treats as disposable or interchangeable organized? It’s certainly an interesting angle for a season finale broadcast just after the resolution of a writers’ strike and in the midst of an ongoing actors’ strike , particularly considering Lower Decks ’ longstanding interest in the politics of labor .

“Old Friends, New Planets” is a disappointing conclusion to an underwhelming season of Star Trek: Lower Decks that plays as a mishmash of half-baked ideas that never cohere into anything particularly satisfying.

Lower Decks has long been a show about junior staff members threatened by advances in automation or artificial intelligence that would make them redundant. It is a remarkably consistent theme across the show’s four seasons. “Old Friends, New Planets” suggests an interesting companion question. What happens if these characters decide to stand up to those in positions of authority? After all, life isn’t necessarily great for those at the bottom of the chain of command.

Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) outlines his case in a broadcast to the Alpha Quadrant. “If you’re tired of risking your life for soulless bureaucratic captains who don’t even know your name, if you fear following the orders of incompetent commanders who failed into seats of power, if you’re stuck on the lower decks, then I invite you to join us on the Detrion System,” he tells the disaffected masses of all the major powers. Broadly speaking, there’s a compelling narrative hook there.

Unfortunately, “Old Friends, New Planets” isn’t even vaguely interested in this idea. This is obvious from the outset. The Star Trek universe has any number of non-aligned planets and guilds that exist outside the established military structures of the major powers. Why does Locarno need a fleet? Why strand all of the senior officers of these ships on one planet instead of holding them in custody as hostages? If Locarno was simply stunning these crews, why did the Che’Ta’ leave floating debris?

“The Nova Fleet” is really just a framework on which “Old Friends, New Planets” can hang a variety of callbacks and action sequences, which feels like a shame. In “The Inner Fight,” Mariner (Tawny Newsome) gave a really moving speech about the death of Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) in “ Lower Decks .” That tragedy was something that shaped Mariner’s outlook. It also defined Locarno. It brings a lot of emotional heft to the two-parter, lending Mariner’s character arc some real weight.

There is a more interesting and more compelling version of “Old Friends, New Planets” that offers a version of Nick Locarno and “the Nova Fleet” that isn’t so obviously cartoonishly evil, and which generates some actual inner conflict for Mariner. Of course, Mariner already quit Starfleet in “ Trusted Sources ,” and there’s a worry that having her flirt with the idea of joining the mutineers would retread old ground, but it would also offer some actual character motivation.

After all, Star Trek has told plenty of stories about series regulars who have conflicted relationships with outcasts and outlaws, like Ro Laren’s (Michelle Forbes) arc in “ Preemptive Strike ” or Miles O’Brien’s (Colm Meaney) relationship with Liam Bilby (Nick Tate) in “ Honor Among Thieves .” A better version of “Old Friends, New Planets” might find some measure of sympathy for junior officers who don’t want to end up as anonymous “ redshirts ,” a trope so ubiquitous in the franchise that Star Trek named it.

“Old Friends, New Planets” is a disappointing conclusion to an underwhelming season of Star Trek: Lower Decks that plays as a mishmash of half-baked ideas that never cohere into anything particularly satisfying.

It is clear from the outset that Locarno is a raving narcissist who is really just using this grand scheme as a way to nurse his wounded ego following the disgrace of “ The First Duty .” He is, as T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) succinctly puts it, “an asshole.” However, the best Star Trek villains have some measure of complexity to them, even if they are complete psychopaths. In “ Covenant ,” for example, Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) found some empathy for those followers seduced by Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo).

There is, after all, some measure of tragedy around Nick Locarno. The character appeared in a single episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation , where he was found guilty of orchestrating a dangerous maneuver that led to the death of Cadet Joshua Albert. He was originally intended to become a series regular on Voyager , where he would have a redemption arc for his sins. However, the character was rewritten as Tom Paris (also McNeill) and so Locarno never got the chance to be redeemed.

There’s a potentially interesting angle there, the story of a character cut adrift in a sea of Star Trek continuity, one rewrite away from complete reinvention. Instead, Mariner is never tempted by Locarno. She sees through Nick Locarno immediately, and – after just eight minutes – the rest of the episode becomes a set of crosscut chase sequences, in which Locarno tries to retrieve the Genesis Device that Mariner stole for him as the Cerritos mounts a rescue mission to recover Mariner.

The result is a jumble of nonsense. The third season of Lower Decks worked so well because its elements built organically to the finale, “ The Stars at Night .” That closing episode felt like a satisfying payoff. In contrast, “Old Friends, New Planets” breezes through clumsy references to earlier episodes in the season in a way that feels like a decidedly haphazard game of mad-libs. “Old Friends, New Planets” bounces from reference to homage to in-joke, seemingly at random.

Rutherford’s (Eugene Cordero) rivalry with Livik (Nolan North) recurs from “ I Have No Bones, Yet I Must Flee .” This disagreement is resolved by “Twaining,” the practice of going to the holodeck in character as Mark Twain, as demonstrated in “ Something Borrowed, Something Green .” Speaking of that episode, Tendi (Noël Wells) is forced to confront her sister D’Erika (Ariel Winter) on Orion. The Genesis Device that appeared briefly in “ Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place ” becomes a key plot point.

“Old Friends, New Planets” is a disappointing conclusion to an underwhelming season of Star Trek: Lower Decks that plays as a mishmash of half-baked ideas that never cohere into anything particularly satisfying.

“Old Friends, New Planets” has a lot of “remember when…?” plotting. It also doesn’t follow any clear arc or structure, which includes a strange diversion during which Migleemo (Paul F. Tompkins) undergoes “barter by combat.” There are also no real stakes for either Starfleet or the Nova Fleet. From Starfleet’s point of view, Locarno is using the Genesis Device as a deterrent in an uninhabited system. From Locarno’s point of view, as the Ferengi point out, he already has “the Trynar Shield.”

Beyond that, the “Trynar Shield” that encloses the Detrion System makes the chase sequence with Mariner feel largely pointless. She cannot leave the system, so it’s really only a matter of time before Locarno finds her. More than that, given how rare Genesis Devices are, why doesn’t Mariner just immediately detonate it in the void of space? “Old Friends, New Planets” suggests that the episode knows that Locarno’s obsession with the Genesis Device is irrational, but it still feels like lazy plotting.

This may sound like nitpicking, and it kind of is. However, it’s a serious problem with “Old Friends, New Planets” that there’s really nothing to do with the episode except pick nits. “Old Friends, New Planets” is just a bunch of stuff happening, so it’s a problem that none of that stuff is particularly compelling or coherent. The episode seems to suggest that it’s enough to give the audience “Acting Captain Bradward Boimler” (Jack Quaid) without actually doing anything with that image.

“Old Friends, New Planets” brings back actor Shannon Fill to reprise her role as Sito Jaxa. In doing so, it ties Lower Decks to the Next Generation episode of the same name. More than that, its first line of dialogue is given to Joshua Albert, the cadet who died off-screen to spur the plot of “The First Duty.” As a result, there’s an emotional weight baked into “Old Friends, New Planets” that the episode does nothing to justify or pay off. It is frustrating because Lower Decks is usually better than this .

As a result, the biggest emotional beat of the episode – Tendi’s departure – feels completely hollow. Tendi gave up her position on the Cerritos for a bunch of nonsense with no real stakes. This should be a big moment — a series regular potentially departing the show. However, it ultimately just feels like another thing happening in the jumble of the narrative. Those final scenes don’t resonate because this isn’t a story about Tendi. Ultimately, this isn’t a story about anything.

An Ent in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2

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Star Trek: Lower Decks

Jerry O'Connell, Dawnn Lewis, Jack McBrayer, Eugene Cordero, Noël Wells, Jack Quaid, Gabrielle Ruiz, and Tawny Newsome in Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020)

The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi an... Read all The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

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  • Tawny Newsome
  • 653 User reviews
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Jack Quaid

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Noël Wells

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Eugene Cordero

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Dawnn Lewis

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Jerry O'Connell

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Fred Tatasciore

  • Lieutenant Shaxs …

Gillian Vigman

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Paul Scheer

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Jessica McKenna

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Nolan North

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Phil LaMarr

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Carl Tart

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Kari Wahlgren

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Paul F. Tompkins

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Gabrielle Ruiz

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Lauren Lapkus

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Ben Rodgers

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  • Trivia Tawny Newsome said in an interview with Wil Wheaton that one of the few things her parents had in common was Star Trek and because of her childhood experiences with the series, there was no other franchise she'd rather be a part of. She was also influenced by the positive portrayal of the black father and son on screen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) .
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Jerry O'Connell, Dawnn Lewis, Jack McBrayer, Eugene Cordero, Noël Wells, Jack Quaid, Gabrielle Ruiz, and Tawny Newsome in Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020)

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Here's How the Loss of This Major Cast Member Will Be Handled in 'Tracker' Season 2

Manny jacinto's comment about 'the acolyte' season 2 will break star wars fans' hearts, '9-1-1: lone star' cast member shares disappointing first thoughts after series cancellation, the big picture.

  • Exciting news for Star Trek fans: Season 4 of Lower Decks takes the Cerritos crew to the iconic USS Voyager.
  • Mark your calendars! Lower Decks Season 4 lands on Paramount+ on September 7.
  • Paramount has also released a new poster for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4.

A new trailer for Season 4 of Star Trek: Lower Decks takes the crew of the Cerritos to the USS Voyager. The premiere of Season 4 is just around the corner and as Star Trek fans eagerly await the return of our favorite lower deckers, we've received a new look at the upcoming episodes promising epic adventures for Starfleet's most chaotic crew . The new trailer for Lower Decks Season 4 takes fans on a journey back through some of the best moments so far for ensigns Beckett Mariner ( Tawny Newsome ), Brad Boimler ( Jack Quaid ), D'Vana Tendi ( Noël Wells ) and Sam Rutherford ( Eugene Cordero ). Senior officers Commander Jack Ransom ( Jerry O'Connell ), Lieutenant Shaxs ( Fred Tatasciore ), Doctor T'ana ( Gillian Vigman ), and Captain Carol Freeman ( Dawnn Lewis ) also get their own spotlights as the trailer hypes audiences up for the adventure of a lifetime.

The most exciting part of the new footage, however, is the return of the USS Voyager. Mariner elatedly exclaims that they get to do something on Voyager — and it is safe to say we're just as happy about it as she is — following a stunning shot of the ship's return to animation after being previously seen in the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Prodigy . The rest of the new footage speed runs through the kind of adventures that only the crew of the Cerritos can deliver, with Boimler running from an active volcano, Tendi and Mariner visiting another Orion planet, and a terrifyingly cute new alien species that fans are going to want plushies of immediately.

Alongside the new trailer, Paramount also released an adorable new poster featuring our favorite ensigns hijacking a shuttlecraft while a planet explodes in the background. The range of emotion of each character runs the full gamut from Mariner's thrilled determination to Boimler's pure terror, with Rutherford and Tendi both somewhere in the middle. See the poster below.

It's the Best Time to Be a 'Star Trek: Lower Decks Fan'

Fans of Star Trek: Lower Decks have had quite the summer, with the series making its first live-action debut in an epic crossover episode with Strange New Worlds . The seventh episode of Strange New Worlds Season 2, titled "Those Old Scientists," saw Boimler and Mariner sucked through a portal and sent back in time for a one-of-a-kind adventure with the crew of Captain Pike's ( Anson Mount ) USS Enterprise. The episode also gave voice actors Quaid and Newsome the opportunity to play their characters in live-action, while also giving fans a taste of what the SNW characters would look like in the style of Lower Decks . The new season of Lower Decks is said to be a love letter to Star Trek fans that strikes a bold new path in this beloved universe. You can read more about the upcoming episodes in our review of Season 4 right now.

For a limited time, you can catch up on Season 3 for free on YouTube and celebrate the return of the animated series on Star Trek Day with theatrical screenings in select cities. Lower Decks Season 4 premieres on Paramount+ on September 7, see the new trailer down below.

  • Star Trek: Lower Decks

IMAGES

  1. STAR TREK LOWER DECKS Trailer And Poster

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  2. Preview “The Least Dangerous Game” With Images And Clip From ‘Star Trek

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  3. Star Trek: Lower Decks (TV Series 2020–2024)

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  4. Nolan North Star Trek

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  5. Star Trek: Lower Decks (TV Series 2020–2024)

    nolan north star trek lower decks

  6. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020)

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COMMENTS

  1. Nolan North

    Nolan North (born 31 October 1970; age 53) is an actor and voice performer who had a supporting role as a Vengeance bridge officer in Star Trek Into Darkness and performed several voices in Star Trek: Lower Decks.According to TrekMovie.com North was asked by Abrams if he would work on the Trek sequel while working on J.J. Abrams' Super 8 (2011), and North mentioned that it was a very small role.

  2. Star Trek: Lower Decks S4 Episode 2 Review: "I Have No Bones Yet I Must

    It's a utopian view of labor relations. L-R Jerry O'Connell as Commander Jack Ransom and Tawny Newsome as Ensign Beckett Mariner appearing in episode 2, season 4 of Lower Decks streaming on ...

  3. List of Star Trek: Lower Decks characters

    List of Star Trek: Lower Decks characters

  4. Meet The Very Animated People Of 'Star Trek: Lower Decks'

    The cast of Star Trek: Lower Decks as seen in Dawnn Lewis's Instagram post. ... Ryan Stanger as "Tactical Officer" and Nolan North as Titan Conn Officer of the Paramount+ series STAR TREK: LOWER ...

  5. Star Trek: Lower Decks (TV Series 2020-2024)

    Star Trek: Lower Decks (TV Series 2020-2024) Nolan North as Command Ensign with Accelerated Growth and Reverse Aging, Lars Lundy, Livik, Malok, Niko, B'Rt Tendi, Betazoid Gift Box, Cadet, Captain Sokel, K'ranch, T'im, Winger Bingston, Jr, Winger Bingston, Jr.

  6. "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Wej Duj (TV Episode 2021)

    Wej Duj: Directed by Bob Suarez, Barry J. Kelly. With Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero. As the U.S.S. Cerritos crew has downtime during a long warp trip, a Klingon ship and a Vulcan one find themselves unknowingly heading to an encounter with the Starfleet ship.

  7. 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 3 Recap Ahead of Season 4

    Star Trek: Lower Decks. By Alicia Shalapata. Published Sep 6, 2023. Your changes have been saved. Email is sent. Email has already been sent. close. ... (Nolan North) Ventrix Hunt, ...

  8. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3

    The third season of the American adult animated television series Star Trek: Lower Decks is set in the 24th century and follows the adventures of the low-ranking officers with menial jobs on the starship Cerritos, one of Starfleet's least important starships. The season was produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions in association with Secret Hideout, Important Science, Roddenberry ...

  9. Review: 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Comes To Play In "The Least Dangerous

    Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3, Episode 2 - Debuted Thursday, September 1, 2022 Written by Garrick Bernard Directed by Michael Mullen. SPOILER-FREE REVIEW. ... K'ranch (Nolan North) ...

  10. "Star Trek: Lower Decks" The Least Dangerous Game (TV Episode 2022

    "Star Trek: Lower Decks" The Least Dangerous Game (TV Episode 2022) Nolan North as Lars Lundy, K'ranch. Menu. Movies. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. TV Shows.

  11. Preview "The Least Dangerous Game" With Images And Clip From 'Star Trek

    The third season of Star Trek: Lower Decks continues this week with the second episode. We have details and a first look at some new images. "The Least Dangerous Game" The second episode of ...

  12. Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Will Premiere with Two Episodes on

    Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated comedy series that focuses on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos.The Starfleet crew residing in the "lower decks" of the U.S.S. Cerritos includes the voices of Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero; the Bridge crew is voiced by Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O'Connell, Fred Tatasciore, and ...

  13. Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Exclusive Clip Reveals Tendi's New

    On Star Trek Day, CBS Studios and Paramount+ unveil a new, exclusive clip from Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5. The final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks premieres Thursday, October 24 on Paramount+, with two new episodes dropping on that day. Each following Thursday will have a new episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks until the series finale on Thursday, December 19th.

  14. Lower Decks Season 3 is the best Star Trek show of the year

    Lower Decks Season 3 has more Trekkie Easter eggs, callbacks, and surprise cameos than Seasons 1 and 2 combined. Just when you think this season won't go there, it goes there. And then ...

  15. Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 Episode 2

    Kranch and Boimler - Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 Episode 2. On Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 3 Episode 2, Kranch (Nolan North) give Boimler (Jack Quaid) an opportunity to scream, "YES!"

  16. Star Trek: Lower Decks

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  17. Check Out First Images From First Two Episodes Of 'Star Trek: Lower

    The first image shows the crew wearing some Klingon armor. This is from a scene shown at Star Trek: Mission Chicago where they are playing a Klingon version of D&D called "Bat'leths & BIHnuchs ...

  18. Star Trek: Lower Decks Review & Recap: Season 4, Episode 10

    This recap of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 10 finale, "Old Friends, New Planets," contains spoilers. "Old Friends, New Planets" is a disappointing conclusion to an ...

  19. "Star Trek: Lower Decks" wej Duj (TV Episode 2021)

    "Star Trek: Lower Decks" wej Duj (TV Episode 2021) Nolan North as T'im, Captain Sokel, Cadet. Menu. Movies. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. TV Shows.

  20. Star Trek: Lower Decks

    Nolan North Command Ensign with Accelerated Growth and Reverse Aging, Lars Lundy, Livik, Malok, Niko, B'Rt Tendi, Betazoid Gift Box, Cadet, Captain Sokel, K'ranch, T'im, Winger Bingston, Jr, Winger Bingston, Jr. ... Star Trek: Lower Decks, with the freedom given by its animated platform, had the potential to be one of the best pieces of Trek in ...

  21. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5

    Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5

  22. Star Trek: Lower Decks (TV Series 2020-2024)

    Star Trek: Lower Decks: Created by Mike McMahan. With Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero. The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

  23. New 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 4 Trailer Brings Back ...

    Exciting news for Star Trek fans: Season 4 of Lower Decks takes the Cerritos crew to the iconic USS Voyager.; Mark your calendars! Lower Decks Season 4 lands on Paramount+ on September 7 ...

  24. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4

    The fourth season of the American adult animated television series Star Trek: Lower Decks is set in the 24th century and follows the adventures of the low-ranking officers with menial jobs on the starship Cerritos, one of Starfleet's least important starships. The season was produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions in association with Secret Hideout, Important Science, Roddenberry ...