Season Review: Star Trek: Lower Decks Season Three

The longest running adult animated series on Paramount+ has been a spearhead that has allowed the streaming service to not only stay afloat until more content arrived, but it helped the streamer in becoming a destination for adult animation that now has brands that include Beavis and Butt-Head, South Park, and more on the way. With the third season having wrapped and the fourth season having both been ordered and put into pre-production earlier this year with writing that kicked off in April and voice recording kicking off in June, it seems Star Trek: Lower Decks will be one of the few animated series to get multiple season orders from Paramount in the conglomerate’s history which only has a few franchises with that same distinction.

In order to be in a position to last this long, an animated franchise has to have a good foundation in areas of production, cast, writing, and more and from where I sit, Star Trek: Lower Decks ticks all of these boxes. Is it perfect? No. But, the show IS getting better season after season which is a rare trait to be able to observe in an industry that loves its fair share of “one and done” franchises. Paramount deserves a lot of commendation for allowing this franchise to flourish.

For those that don’t know, Star Trek: Lower Decks follows the low-ranking support crew of the starship Cerritos beginning in the year 2380. The adult animated series spin-off of the billion dollar Star Trek franchise and features Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero who voice “lower decks” crew members of the Cerritos, with Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O’Connell, Fred Tatasciore, and Gillian Vigman providing voices for the ship’s senior officers. Rick and Morty’s Mike McMahan is the creator and showrunner with Titmouse handling animation production.

For the show’s 10 episode third season, the season featured many connections and references to past Star Trek series such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, including several actors returning as guest stars. While one might think that this show only lends itself to die-hard fans of Star Trek, as someone who is NOT, I found myself enthralled with the series’ stellar animation production, hilarious voice cast, and well-written premises that really doesn’t make me feel excluded for NOT being a Trekkie. Sure there are sight gags and shit I’m not going to be as privy to, but Star Trek: Lower Decks does plenty to keep me intrigued and now looking forward to the show’s fourth season.