By this point, the new generation of Star Trek shows has firmly established itself among fans. Discovery is the bold new take on the series for a bold new time. Picard is nostalgia bait for fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Strange New Worlds may be the new standard bearer for the series, and Lower Decks is an unlikely animated hit that keeps things light.
There’s been some crossover fun too, long a Star Trek staple. The Lower Decks characters Boimler and Mariner, voiced by Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome respectively, appeared in an episode of Strange New Worlds, this time played by Quaid and Newsome in live-action. Meanwhile, back on Lower Decks, the entire Lower Decks crew got promoted, meaning that the high-strung Boimler now has more responsibility.
“I love that the Lower Deckers got promoted,” Quaid said in a statement given before the actors strike went into effect, per Screen Rant. “Boimler has his first away mission that he is leading, and he is nervous, to say the least. He doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. He eventually must learn to trust his friends and trust the process.”
Jack Quaid talks Boimler’s promotion on Star Trek: Lower Decks
New episodes of Lower Decks air on Thursdays. As for that Strange New Worlds crossover episode, it was directed by Star Trek legend Jonathan Frakes, who played Riker on The Next Generation back in the day (and on Star Trek: Picard as recently as this year). They like to keep things in the family out on the final frontier.
“[I]t was a flat-out, unapologetic, full-on comedy episode,” Frakes told Star Trek Explore magazine, per StarTrek.com. “That was a thrill for me, as you can imagine.” Frakes has received lots of praise for the episode, although some of the compliments came across as back-handed:
What a treat, [Star Trek: Strange New Worlds]. I was there when they premiered, and all of a sudden, everybody loved it, the fans and the critics … Unfortunately, part of what happened during that time was that the fans and the critics took the same opportunity to say, ‘This is the Star Trek we’ve been waiting for.’ Either written or unwritten was, ‘Not Discovery and not Picard,’ if you recall. There was a congratulations and a slap in the same swing, but I was fortunate, as I often am in my timing, to be on Strange New Worlds when all the good stuff happened.
What would Riker do in a fourth season of Star Trek: Picard?
As for Riker, it’s possible we could see him again should Picard get another season or a spinoff. Frakes, who has been closely associated with the Star Trek franchise for decades at this point, knows exactly how he’d like that to go:
In my mind, for the show to be able to move forward, Riker would have to be a captain and have his ship, or he would be promoted to admiral and be a liaison. I’m only half-kidding when I say it would be great for me if the show carries on and I’m like Charlie from Charlie’s Angels. They’d have to come to my office one day a week for a meeting with Riker. That’d be perfect. Then I could direct a bunch of the episodes and be around the show. I suspect if it does go forward, it would be Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, and Ed Speelers, who’s now in Starfleet, and Mica Burton and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, who played Geordi’s daughter. I would also imagine Lulu Wilson, who played the Rikers’ daughter in season one and was so fabulous, could be a part of it. She could come back and maybe be in Starfleet.
There’s no word on a fourth season of Picard as of yet. Strange New Worlds season 3 is on the way, though, if slowly; no one’s doing much of anything while Hollywood actors and writers are on strike. The sooner that resolves, the sooner Hollywood can get back to entertaining us.
