Star Trek: Lower Decks (season 3)

The third season of the American animated television series Star Trek: Lower Decks follows the various missions and adventures of the "lower deckers" (low-ranking officers with menial jobs) on the USS Cerritos, one of Starfleet's least important starships. The season is produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions in association with Secret Hideout, Important Science, Roddenberry Entertainment, and animation studio Titmouse, with Mike McMahan serving as showrunner and Barry J. Kelly as supervising director.

Star Trek: Lower Decks
Season 3
Promotional poster
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Release
Original networkParamount+
Season chronology

Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero voice the 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. A third season of Lower Decks was ordered in April 2021, and voice recording began by June. Writing for the season was completed that September, and picked up from the cliffhanger ending of the second season. Voice recording was finished by March 2022. The season features many connections and references to past Star Trek series such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, including several actors returning as guest stars.

The season is scheduled to premiere on the streaming service Paramount+ in the third quarter of 2022, and run for 10 episodes. A fourth season was ordered in January 2022.[1]

Cast and characters
Main article: List of Star Trek: Lower Decks characters

Main

Notable guests

Production

Development and writing

When announcing the premiere date for the second season of Star Trek: Lower Decks in April 2021, Paramount+ also officially ordered a 10-episode third season of the series.[3] Writing for the season had begun by late May, with creator and showrunner Mike McMahan knowing the direction for half of the season's episodes at that point.[8] All of the scripts for the season were completed by mid-September.[9]

The series focuses on the support crew, or "lower deckers", of the USS Cerritos, and McMahan said the third season would take the first steps towards moving those characters up in rank,[10] with each taking a different path to become the people that he planned for them to be at the end of the series.[11] Following the cliffhanger ending of the second season, McMahan said the third would follow Captain Freeman's trial for allegedly destroying the Pakled homeworld. This continues the series' ongoing storyline about the Pakleds.[5] Other elements from the end of the second season that the third explores include the secrets behind Sam Rutherford's cyborg implant, and the relationship between Beckett Mariner and Jennifer Sh'reyan,[5][6] though McMahan said Mariner's romantic relationship would not become the focus of the series as her character arc was still based on her friendships and relationship with her mother, Captain Freeman. He noted that Mariner and Freeman had grown closer throughout the second season, but the latter's arrest would lead to a new dynamic in the third.[12]

Casting and voice recording

The series stars a group of ensigns serving in the "lower decks" of the Cerritos—Tawny Newsome as Beckett Mariner, Jack Quaid as Brad Boimler, Noël Wells as D'Vana Tendi, and Eugene Cordero as Sam Rutherford—and the ship's bridge crew who believe "the show is about them, but it's not"—Dawnn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman, Jerry O'Connell as first officer Commander Jack Ransom, Fred Tatasciore as security chief Lieutenant Shaxs, and Gillian Vigman as chief medical officer Dr. T'Ana.[2]

McMahan stated in May 2021 that there would be "legacy guest roles" in the season, but they would be "people you're not going to expect when you get them" which he felt was more surprising and satisfying for fans.[8] That December, Jonathan Frakes revealed that he would be reprising his role of William Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation in the season, after doing the same in the previous Lower Decks seasons.[4] In April 2022, J.G. Hertzler was revealed to be reprising his role as Klingon Chancellor Martok from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, though this is a virtual version of the character that is part of the tabletop game Bat'leths & BIHnuchs, a Klingon version of the real-world game Dungeons & Dragons.[7] Second-season guest star Gabrielle Ruiz returns as T'Lyn for the third season,[5] but only for a small role because the season was written before McMahan saw the positive fan reaction to the character in the second season. He hoped to explore the character further in future seasons. Lauren Lapkus also returns from the earlier seasons as Jennifer Sh'reyan, Mariner's Andorian girlfriend.[6]

Newsome began recording voice overs for the season in early June 2021, in a recording studio which was not possible in the previous season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, she was still unable to record with Quaid, as she did on the first season, due to his commitments filming the series The Boys.[13] By late December, Frakes had recorded lines for the season with Quaid.[4] Newsome finished recording for the season by March 2022.[14]

Animation and design

Independent animation studio Titmouse provides the animation for the series, with Barry J. Kelly serving as supervising director for the season. Several animatics for episodes had been produced by mid-October 2021.[5] The series' animation style reflects the look of "prime time animated comedy" series such as The Simpsons, but with more detailed backgrounds and environments than is traditional for prime time animation.[15]

Marketing

A teaser and first key art for the season were released during a panel for the series at the Star Trek: Mission Chicago convention in April 2022, part of a week of celebrations for "First Contact Day", marking the fictional holiday of April 5 when first contact between humans and aliens was made in the Star Trek universe.[16] The panel included Newsome, Quaid, Wells, and O'Connell all in cosplay as their characters, as well as McMahan, and the cold open and first scene of a season three episode was also shown to the audience.[7] Discussing the teaser that was released at the panel, Arezou Amin of Collider said it was vague but promised "more of the comedy the show has become known for" along with increased stakes from the previous seasons.[17] Dylan Kelly at Yahoo! said it "offers a myriad of new challenges" for the main characters, including a "chaotic USS Cerritos hijacking".[18]

Release

The season will premiere on Paramount+ in the United States in the third-quarter of 2022,[1] and run for 10 episodes.[3] Each episode will be broadcast in Canada on the same day as the U.S. release by Bell Media on specialty channels CTV Sci-Fi Channel (English) and Z (French) before streaming on Crave.[19] Prime Video has the streaming rights for several territories, including Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and India.[20]

References
  1. Andreeva, Nellie (January 18, 2022). "'Star Trek' Universe News: 'Discovery', 'Strange New Worlds' & 'Lower Decks' Renewed, 'Picard' Gets Season 2 Premiere Date". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  2. "Comic-Con 2019: 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Characters and Voice Cast Revealed". TrekMovie.com. July 20, 2019. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  3. Del Rosario, Alexandra (April 5, 2021). "'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Renewed For Season 3 As Second Season Gets Teaser & Premiere Date On Paramount+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  4. Orquiola, John (December 23, 2021). "Jonathan Frakes Interview: Star Trek Discovery Season 4". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  5. Orquiola, John (October 14, 2021). "Mike McMahan Interview: Star Trek Lower Decks S2 Finale". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on October 14, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  6. Kaplan, Rebecca (December 15, 2021). "Mike McMahan Dishes on Star Trek: Lower Decks and Cali-Class Cuisine". Geek Girl Authority. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  7. Pascale, Anthony (April 11, 2022). "'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Cast Delights Mission Chicago With Cosplay And Season 3 Clues". TrekMovie.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  8. Orquiola, John (May 17, 2021). "Mike McMahan Interview: Star Trek: Lower Decks". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  9. McMahan, Mike [@MikeMcMahanTM] (September 13, 2021). "Just as summer will soon transition to fall, the Lower Decks season three writing wraps and the Solar Opposites season 4 writing begins. First day of SO4 today!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2022 – via Twitter.
  10. Pascale, Anthony (August 8, 2021). "Interview: Mike McMahan On How 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Has Grown The Beard For Season 2... And 3". TrekMovie.com. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  11. Zalben, Alex (May 14, 2021). "'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Creator Mike McMahan Is Making a Star Trek Show, First". Decider. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  12. Whitbrook, James (October 15, 2021). "Star Trek Lower Deck's Mike McMahan Breaks Down Season 2's Epic Finale". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  13. "Recording Has Already Started For 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 3". TrekMovie.com. June 7, 2021. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  14. Britt, Ryan (March 3, 2022). "Star Trek's Tawny Newsome is "on the case" to make a 'Lower Decks' movie happen". Inverse. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  15. Reilly, Ken (August 15, 2020). "Interview: Mike McMahan on Star Trek: Lower Decks' Animation Design, Balancing Canon and Creativity, and "Good People Doing Good Things" in Starfleet". TrekCore.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  16. Haring, Bruce (April 9, 2022). "'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Debuts Teaser Trailer And Key Art For Season 3 Of Paramount+ Animated Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  17. Arezou, Amin (April 9, 2022). "'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 3 Trailer Shows High Stakes for the 'Cerritos' Crew". Collider. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  18. Kelly, Dylan (April 11, 2022). "'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 3 Trailer Teases Chaotic USS Cerritos Hijacking". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  19. "'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Coming To CTV Sci-Fi Channel And Crave In Canada". TrekMovie.com. June 23, 2020. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  20. Ritman, Alex (December 17, 2020). "Amazon Beams Up 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Animated Series for Multiple Territories". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
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