Star Trek Introduces The Worst Version Of Deep Space Nine

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 5 - "Starbase 80?!"Star Trek: Lower Decks has its own version of Deep Space Nine, and it's the worst starbase in the United Federation of Planets - Starbase 80. In its fifth and final season on Paramount+, Star Trek: Lower Decks sees the USS Cerritos investigating rifts in space that open into alternate Star Trek timelines. However, a malfunction of the Cerritos' navigation processor forces Captain Carol Freeman's (Dawnn Lewis) California Class starship to dock at the dreaded Starbase 80 for repairs.

In Star Trek, Federation starbases are usually havens for starships and their weary Starfleet crews. Months or years deployed in the final frontier take a toll, and starships often need repairs, upgrades, and resupplies, while Starfleet Officers also require shore leave. While most Federation starbases are sleek and comfortable, Deep Space Nine was an outlier as it was a retrofitted former Cardassian mining facility orbiting Bajor. Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his crew turned DS9 into a thriving center for commerce and culture, as well as a strategic post guarding the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. Starbase 80, however, is another matter.

Starbase 80 Is Star Trek: Lower Decks’ DS9 And It’s The Worst

There's A Reason No One Wants To Be Transferred To Starbase 80

Starbase 80 has been teased throughout Star Trek: Lower Decks as the worst Starbase in the Federation, and it lived up to its reputation. Starbase 80 is an obsolete and gloomy eyesore hanging in the middle of nowhere, and its distance from the Federation means it is unsupplied and largely forgotten. Starbase 80 is infested with Pyrithian bats, the gravity plates in Engineering don't work, and the Promenade is controlled by dangerous gangs of Acamarians from Star Trek: The Next Generation.Lieutenant Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) has reasons to believe Starbase 80 is cursed.

Still, Starbase 80 has bright spots, starting with its cheerful diplomatic liaison, Commander Kassia Nox (Nicole Byer). Nox, who is a long-lived El Aurian like Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), sees the goodness in Starbase 80 as a place where people can find second chances. Nox espouses the virtues of Starbase 80's food and the charm of its throwbacks to Star Trek: Enterprise's 22nd century and Star Trek: The Original Series eras. At the end of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 5, the USS Cerritos' crew - and even Mariner - decide SB80 isn't so bad. But they still wouldn't want to be assigned there.

How Starbase 80 & DS9 Are Similar

Commander Sisko Might Have Found Deep Space Nine Similar To Starbase 80 At The Beginning

Starbase 80 gives Star Trek: Lower Decks its own version of Deep Space Nine, and Mike McMahan's animated comedy drew inspiration from Captain Sisko's retrofitted Cardassian space station. When Commander Benjamin Sisko first stepped aboard the former Terok Nor in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's series premiere, "Emissary," he found the station gutted by the exiting Cardassians and barely functional. Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) and Starfleet's engineers eventually got DS9 up and running, and it became home to hundreds of Federation citizens, Bajorans, and myriad alien species and visitors.

Like Deep Space Nine, Starbase 80 has a Promenade of retail stores, a bar like Quark's (Armin Shimerman), restaurants serving exotic foods, its own version of Ops, which resembles the bridge of a 23rd century Constitution Class starship, and SB80 is home to a motley mix of Starfleet personnel and aliens. Starbase 80 also has a Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Harrison Horseberry (Liam McIntyre), who has a British accent similar to DS9's Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig). The difference between Deep Space Nine and Starbase 80 is the Federation showed Captain Sisko's station proper attention, while SB80 is considered undesirable.

Star Trek’s Enterprise & TOS Eras Are Alive In Starbase 80

Starbase 80 Is Stuck In Starfleet's Past

Starbase 80 is a repository of Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: The Original Series technology and paraphernalia. Star Trek: Lower Decks is set in the late 24th-century era of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and touring Starbase 80 is like visiting Starfleet's past from a century prior - but it's no holodeck simulation. As Commander Nox confirmed, SB80 has existed for over a century, and the station hasn't been upgraded since the mid-2260s - Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) era. SB80 is a literal Starfleet throwback.

Starbase 80 has malfunctioning turbo lifts that use twist handles, the station's personnel use wall communicators and don't have Starfleet comm badges, and Engineering has an old-style reactor (with an adjacent corn dog stand since the station's replicators no longer work). Perhaps Starbase 80's funniest gag is the shop that sells the discarded Starfleet "uniforms of long dead men." Part of the store's inventory is Star Trek: The Original Series and TOS movie-era uniforms, while Commander Nox and Chief Engineer Gene Jakobowski wear blue jumpsuits from Star Trek: Enterprise's 22nd century era.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Has Visited DS9

Mariner Was Once Stationed On DS9

Starbase 80 is a comically fitting space station designed for Star Trek: Lower Decks, but the animated series has visited the real Deep Space Nine. Before she was transferred to the USS Cerritos, Ensign Beckett Mariner was stationed on DS9 during the Dominion War. In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 6, "Hear All Trust Nothing," the USS Cerritos made a nostalgic flyover of Deep Space Nine before docking. Captain Freeman met the station's commander, Colonel Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), while the Lower Deckers visited Quark's bar.

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 6, "Parth Ferengi's Heart Place" saw the USS Cerritos orbit Ferenginar so that Captain Freeman could negotiate the Ferengi joining the Federation with Grand Nagus Rom (Max Grodenchik) and First Minister Leeta (Chase Masterson). Star Trek: Lower Decks is the only Star Trek on Paramount+ series that has made a significant effort to bring back Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters and update fans on what happened after DS9 ended. Starbase 80 is a much less desirable destination than Deep Space Nine, but like many things in Star Trek: Lower Decks, there are good things to be found when one looks beneath the surface.