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‘Lower Decks’ Was The Best Trek
Settling thee debate of our time
For the longest time, my favorite Trek was Deep Space Nine (1993–1999). I loved how it forced Star Trek to grapple with its utopian premise. Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) was not helming a spaceship exploring some unknown part of the galaxy but was in charge of a space station at the center of the Federation’s political universe. He had to balance a tenuous political situation between the Bajorans and Cardassians as well as an unknown threat that would bring the Beta and Alpha quadrants to their knees.
Many of its episodes questioned the limits of utopia when faced with an external threat uninterested in upholding the Federation’s ideals. Some of its episodes are ones I still think of today, so much so that I never thought another Trek show would take its place in my heart as number one.
That is until Lower Decks blasted onto the scene in 2020. The comedy about a group of lower-deckers (i.e., non-bridge crew) going on wacky adventures somehow managed to carve out a perfect balance between funny and thought-provoking — all while giving long-term fans little inside jokes that did not upset the overall integrity of each episode.
I know the case for what is ultimately the best is subjective (people are allowed to like what they like, even the inferior…
