Perennial rebel Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) is in an uncharacteristically chipper mood in Collider’s exclusive sneak peek from this week’sStar Trek: Lower Decks. “Starbase 80?!”, the fifth episode of the show’s fifth and final season, will premiere on Thursday, November 14, on Paramount+. The sneak peek shows the aftermath of an aquatic mission for the Lower Deckers, as Mariner is surprisingly elated at having completed a rather mundane mission involving bioluminescent algae — so much so that her friend D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) jokingly scans her for anomalies.
Mariner’s propensity for insubordination was challenged late last season, as she finally came to terms with the death of her Starfleet Academy friend Sito Jaxa on a Starfleet spy mission, and resolved to live a life her friend would be proud of. The ever-hapless Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), meanwhile, is having trouble getting out of his wetsuit. The clip also shows off Boimler’s slowly developing beard, which he’s decided to grow to emulate his more successful alternate-universe counterpart, who he met in the season premiere. So far he’s noJonathan Frakes, but there are five episodes left to go. The episode’s title also teases a return to Starbase 80, the so-called worst base in Starfleet; the dilapidated base was seen back in Season 3, and serves as a repository for Starfleet’s rejects.
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The recurring thread of the season has been the formation of several dimensional rifts across Federation space; initially dismissed as “space potholes,” theUSS Cerritoshas been given the seemingly menial duty of closing them. However, there may be more to the rifts than meets the eye; in last week’s episode, Mariner consulted with a Klingon friend and learned that the rifts are not forming naturally, but have been artificially created. Meanwhile, Tendi’s dangling plotline fromlast season’s finalewas quickly resolved; forced to lead her sister D’Erika’spirate crewas repayment for a favor to the Cerritos, she eventually won her freedom and made her way back to Starfleet after running a solar-sail race against a rival Orion faction.
With five episodes left to go after this week, there’s still lots to look forward on theCerritos' final mission, including anextra-sized series finale. It also promises the return ofStar Trek: Voyager’s Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), who can be considered the ultimate Lower Decker; he spent seven seasons onVoyagerwithout getting promoted from Ensign.
“Starbase 80?!”, the fifth episode ofStar Trek: Lower Decks' fifth and final season, willstream on Paramount+ starting Thursday, November 14. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates, and watch the sneak peek from the episode above.
Star Trek Lower Decks
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