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This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers.
At least once in their lives, every Star Trek fan has asked themselves a variation of the same question. “Why’s the Captain here?” It might be Picard attending Data’s poetry recital, Janeway reading the Doctor’s holonovel, or Kirk and Burnham getting involved in, well, basically everything. The Captains sure seem like they have a lot of time on their hands. And even then, minor excursions to conferences and sporting events lead to far too many crisis situations that put the crew at peril.
Why not just send some red shirts to deal with this nonsense? Of course, the real reason is that CBS/Paramount+ pays Patrick Stewart and Avery Brooks to be the star of the show, so the Captain needs to be in every episode. But the latest episode of Lower Decks offers a compelling in-universe reason for the captains’ busy social calendars.
“Upper Decks” puts a clever twist on the Next Generation episode “Lower Decks,” which inspired the animated series. While Mariner and Boimler et al. happily carve pumpkins, we check in on the USS Cerritos bridge crew, who have been supporting characters in the series so far. The episode gives viewers a chance to see how Dr. T’Ana tests pain thresholds (answer: masochism) or what Billups puts in his log (answer: bagel details).
But the most compelling storyline involves Carol Freeman, who may have firmly established herself as a top three captain with this episode. She begins her day in the ready room getting debriefed by the staff, and then moves on to check in with various crew people. She watches a tube performance from a crewperson who recently de-devolved (revolved? undeveloped? The opposite of whatever happened to the Enterprise in the TNG episode “Genesis”). She celebrates a fertility event with another crew person who is apparently giving birth and is apparently not human. She even watches a one-person play by a particularly dramatic crewperson.
Before getting to celebrate an anniversary dinner with her husband, a fellow Starfleet captain, Freeman tells her aide-de-camp that the little check ins throughout the day are the most important part of guiding the ship. That might seem like an easy way to tie a bow on the episode, but a climactic battle with invading aliens proved the maxim correct. She was able to defeat the invading insect aliens because she complimented them, remembering from the morning briefing that they hated compliments. Heck, Freeman was rescued by Ensign Barnes because the crewperson was nearby, coming to thank the Captain for attending the aforementioned tuba recital.
More than a clever reversal, Freeman’s attention to the crew highlights a key theme in Star Trek, something that’s been part of the franchise since The Original Series. One of the great pleasures of the show comes from watching the crew people interact with one another, including the Captain. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home works so well not so much because of its “Save the Whales” message but because it lets the crew pal around for a while. The TNG finale “All Good Things…” is so poignant partially because of its final moments, when Picard joined the senior staff in a game of cards. Strange New Worlds gets away with whacky episodes like “The Elysian Kingdom” and “Subspace Rhapsody” because we like watching these characters deal with difficult situations together.
By providing an in-universe reason for the captain’s involvement in mundane ship events, “Upper Decks” underscores a central thesis in of the franchise. The ship’s success doesn’t come from everyone playing their part under the direction of a wise and powerful leader. Rather, it comes from everyone working together and supporting one another, even if that leads to the occasional post-conference kidnapping or tuba recital.
Star Trek: Lower Decks streams on Paramount+ each Thursday.
The post Star Trek Finally Addresses a Nagging Question About Starfleet Captains appeared first on Den of Geek.
