Fresh off a well-received crossover episode with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the hit animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks is back for its fourth season on Paramount+. Continuing the voyages of the USS Cerritos, a service vessel within the Starfleet armada often tasked with the more menial jobs around the United Federation, Lower Decks is just as packed with funny nods to the Star Trek mythos as it's ever been. Instead of just delivering more of the same, Lower Decks Season 4 takes even bigger creative swings with its story and characters and fortunately, connects more often than not.
It's promotion time on the Cerritos, with several of the junior officers up to take the next major step in their careers in Starfleet on the intrepid starship. This leads to a heightened sense of responsibility and prominence as Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler, along with their friends, acclimate to their new roles as they traverse the cosmos. These promotions come just as the galaxy faces an unstoppable threat that only the Cerritos and its misfit crew may be equipped to quell before it's too late.
Right from the opening episode, Lower Decks Season 4 is back in the thick of its fan-favorite antics, lovingly skewering everything from Star Trek: Voyager to the more unsavory side of the Holodeck. But, subtly at first, it becomes clear that showrunner Mike McMahan and the team are incorporating more risks and diversions from the formula. Lower Decks is deceptively bold, managing the tricky balance between giving audiences the comfort and humor they expect while gradually building high stakes and episodes that break from the storytelling norm.
Additionally, for all the usual mirth and good-natured poking fun at Star Trek tropes and oddities, there is a greater sense of progression for Lower Decks rather than the feeling of it spinning its wheels. Each of the main characters have grown significantly since they were first introduced to audiences. More than just receiving promotions, these characters are growing closer together, and like many Star Trek series before Lower Decks, forming found families as they tour the quadrant.
That growth and closeness extend to the audience, with fans caring about the well-being and direction of the crew of the Cerritos more than ever. More than just the primary quartet, this extends to everyone from Captain Freeman and Commander Ransom to Chief Security Officer Shaxs and Chief Medical Officer T'Ana. There are payoffs in Season 4 that have been building since the series' earliest episodes, and longtime fans will be very pleased by the direction of the new season.
Tightly constructed, ambitious, and perhaps most importantly, just as funny as ever, Star Trek: Lower Decks continues to deliver the goods four seasons deep. There was some criticism that Lower Decks Season 3 was more serious than fans had anticipated coming off the first two, and without compromising that emotional growth, Season 4 does lean more heavily into the comedy. Between this and Strange New Worlds, there is a strong argument that Lower Decks is consistently the strongest Star Trek series on Paramount+, using the franchise to its benefit more than just fodder for jokes as it charts its own path forward, engines at full.
Created by Mike McMahan, Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 premieres Sept. 7 on Paramount+, with new episodes released on Thursdays.