Lower Decks Season 5 returns to a planet forgotten in Season 1

Red alert! This article contains Spoilers For the final episode of “Star Trek: Lower Decks”.

If the “lower floors” king To end its fifth and final season, at least it continues to appear at the highest level (As Jacob Hall of /Film noted in his review) with a series of loops that seem as appropriate as possible. In recent weeks, there have been episodes Show some love to the underappreciated Upper Deckers team Aboard the USS Cerritos, she was returned A fan-favorite character from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” And even Breaking the format to deliver the long-awaited Klingon story. Creator Mike McMahan and his entire writing team couldn’t have planned a more satisfying story if they tried — especially considering the fact that the show’s sudden cancellation, unfortunately, took everyone by surprise. However, this hasn’t slowed the show’s momentum one bit as we head toward the finish line.

Judging by the final and penultimate episode of the series, titled “Fissure Quest,” things are coming full circle in ways that even the biggest Trekkies could not have predicted. In the latest adventure, our main cast are all sitting on the sidelines in favor of a multiverse story that certainly feels relevant today. The events begin with the clone of Ensign Boimler (Jack Quaid), The previously introduced William Boimler who ends up being recruited into the mysterious Section 31takes command of an interdimensional rescue operation that seeks to repair the damage done to the multiverse by unknown parties. As they pursue the criminal, their resulting battle forces them to crash land on a particularly muddy planet… a planet that eagle-eyed viewers may recall we’ve visited before.

In one of the show’s most profound segments, we return to the planet Kwopa from the Season 1 episode “Lower Decks,” which was instrumental in developing the character of Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome).

Have you ever stopped to think about how far our basement has come? This misfit group of ensigns have been through a lot over the years, and this week’s episode of “Lower Decks” found a bold way to remind viewers of that fact. While the multiverse storyline with plenty of fun cameos (which concludes in next week’s series finale) grabs a lot of the limelight, there’s one key location that serves as more than just a setting for the action. As it turns out, the swamp planet Kwopa that our interdimensional crew landed on is a planet fans have seen before. Fortunately, this was also an important episode early in the show He helped decide who would become a Mariner.

Swamp planet. Why does it have to be a swamp planet? If you don’t quite understand why the Alternate Universe Mariner wastes no time declaring that “stupid swamp planets are the worst,” a refresher might be in order. In the seventh episode of Season 1, “Much Ado About Boimler,” an unexpected encounter with an old friend helps put Mariner’s irresponsible ways into perspective. Amina Warren (Tox Olagundoye), Mariner’s former partner in crime who has since risen through the ranks to captain, takes temporary command of Cerritos and brings her boyfriend (whom she has promoted to first officer) on a remote mission to repair a waste pipe for the salamander-like aliens known as Khwopans. Here, Mariner shows how much growth she needs to do and proves that she is completely useless in a crisis. (You can actually watch the episode with a free trial on Paramount+ here.)

Fast forward a few years later, and the alternate universe Mariner immediately remembers this swampy planet (and how much she hates it, and again invokes her line from Season 1 about how these planets are “the worst kind of planets, as far as planets go”), though the results are better Much this time. Seriously, revisit this episode and get ready to interact with the well-rounded individuals they’ve all become since then.

We only have one episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and it’s scheduled to premiere next Thursday, December 19, on Paramount+.