Star Trek Just Did The Unthinkable And Topped Strange New Worlds’ Crossover

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 just topped its previous crossover with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. In Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 7, "Those Old Scientists," Ensigns Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) made the jump from animation to live-action. After encountering a portal, Boimler and Mariner find themselves in the 23rd century USS Enterprise of Captain Christoper Pike (Anson Mount). What follows is a hilarious series of interactions as Boimler tries (and fails) to contain his excitement about meeting his heroes.

In its final season on Paramount+, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 finds the USS Cerritos investigating a series of quantum fissures that have opened up across the galaxy. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 9, "Fissure Quest," reveals that Section 31 has assigned Captain William Boimler and a crew of "interdimensional castaways" to investigate these rifts in spacetime. Boimler's crew includes some surprisingly familiar faces from across the Star Trek timeline, many of whom have not been seen since their respective shows ended.

How Star Trek: Lower Decks Topped Strange New Worlds’ Crossover

Lower Decks' Animation Allowed For More Characters To Return

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Those Old Scientists" remains a brilliant and hilarious episode of Star Trek that introduced new fans to Star Trek: Lower Decks. For obvious reasons, prequel series like Strange New Worlds cannot always bring back the original actors to reprise their roles, but an animated series like Lower Decks does not have that problem. Captain Boimler's crew in "Fissure Quest" includes T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), Curzon Dax (Fred Tatasciore), Garak (Andrew Robinson), Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), and many Harry Kims (Garrett Wang), all of whom are voiced by their original actors (with the exception of Curzon).

It would be difficult for a live-action show like Strange New Worlds to achieve a crossover of the same magnitude with so many returning characters. Not only have the creators of Star Trek: Lower Decks truly maximized the advantages of animation, but they also let their obvious love for Star Trek shine through. "Fissure Quest" showed a Garak and a (holographic) Bashir as a loving married couple, and revealed that this T'Pol spent over sixty years married to Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer). Both of these storylines fulfill the desires of many Star Trek fans, who have voiced their opinions on message boards and comment sections across the internet.

Lower Decks’ Crossover Took Advantage Of Star Trek’s Multiverse

Multiple Star Trek Shows Collided In Lower Decks' Penultimate Episode

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 has also taken full advantage of the multiverse to bring characters together from different Star Trek series. Captain William Boimler himself is a transporter clone of the original Lt. Bradward Boimler, and his entire crew aboard the Anaximander is made up of alternate-universe versions of popular characters. While these Star Trek icons maintain the same basic personality as their Prime Universe counterparts, they have also been shaped by an entirely different universe. This gives Lower Decks the freedom to have fun with their characters and show a different side to these beloved fan favorites.

When Boimler and his crew get captured by "feral Khwopians," they find themselves in a cell with another crew from an alternate reality. This crew is led by Captain Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard) who has a ship called the Beagle capable of traveling throughout the multiverse. Introduced in Star Trek: First Contact, Lily Sloane never had the chance to become a true explorer in that action-packed film. Star Trek: Lower Decks gives her and all of the other returning characters a chance to fulfill different dreams, and also implies that other beloved Star Trek characters are out there in the multiverse, too.