Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Finale & Series Ending Explained

Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 5 Finale - "The New Next Generation"Star Trek: Lower Decks' thrilling and resonant finale closes this chapter of the USS Cerritos' lower deckers' Starfleet careers, but not before the California Class starship saves Star Trek's Prime timeline. Written by series creator and showrunner Mike McMahan, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 10, "The New Next Generation" picks up from the cliffhanger of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 9, "Fissure Quest."

Lieutenant Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) piloting the Quantum Reality-jumping starship Beagle into a dimensional rift not only killed Kim, but it released soliton tachyon burst that could destroy the entire Star Trek multiverse. Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid) sent the soliton beam into the Prime Universe with instructions to his Prime Universe counterpart, Lt. Brad Boimler, knowing the USS Cerritos could find a way to stop it. With the USS Enterprise-E unable to arrive in time, and given the connection between the Boimlers, it was up to the USS Cerritos to close the unstable rift.

The Cerritos' mission was complicated by Klingons led by Relga (Roxana Ortega), who wanted to kill Ma'ah (Jon Curry) and his brother Malor (Sam Witwer). Friends of Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), the Klingon brothers were granted asylum by Starfleet aboard the Cerritos. Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) led the Cerritos into the Schrödinger possibility field surrounding the rift as the Klingons chased and attacked them.

The USS Cerritos Saves Star Trek’s Multiverse

The Cerritos Crew Did It By Working Together

The USS Cerritos and Relga's Klingon Bird-of-Prey had modified shields that protected the crew from the transmuting effects of the Schrödinger field, but the rest of Relga's armada wasn't so lucky. The Schrödinger field warped the exterior of the Cerritos, transforming it into alternate Starfleet classes found in Star Trek's multiverse, like a Mirror Universe Terran Empire California Class, Sovereign Class, and Galaxy Class. Relga's ship was destroyed when she and her crew were turned into mindless proto-Klingons.

Working together, the USS Cerritos' crew figured out a way to stop the Schrödinger field. Eschewing his implant and trusting his love for the California Class USS Cerritos, Lt. Sam Rutherford modified the ship's deflector array. When the Schrödinger Field split the Cerritos in two, co-Chief Science Officers Lt. D'Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) and Lt. T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) recombined their starship. When the Cerritos was unable to close the rift, Malor's Klingon farming simile gave Mariner the idea of how to alter the Cerritos' subspace gluonic beam to stop the Schrödinger Field.

Not only did the USS Cerritos crew "save the universe," but they also managed to stabilize the quantum reality rift, turning it into a safe gateway into other timelines and alternate realities. This win was the biggest success of Captain Carol Freeman's tenure as commander of the Cerritos, and it happened because her crew worked as one to solve the crisis.

Starbase 80 Guards A New Multiverse Wormhole

Star Trek: Lower Decks Gets Their Own Deep Space Nine Mission

Star Trek: Lower Decks' finale set up a brand-new mission for Starfleet reminiscent of the original mission of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Starfleet took control of the multiversal portal and assigned a permanent mission to guard the wormhole and explore the multiverse. Starbase 80, which has systems old enough not to be affected by the portal's tachyon emissions, is now permanently docked at the portal. While Commander Kassia Nox (Nicole Byer) runs Starbase 80, Captain Carol Freeman was assigned as the leader of the multiverse's exploratory mission, with her husband, Admiral Alonzo Freeman (Phil LaMarr), overseeing it for Starfleet.

Section 31's Defiant Class starship Anaximander was reassigned as Starfleet's multiverse exploration vessel. Under the command of Captain William Boimler, the Anaximander's crew of Star Trek legacy characters, including T'Pol (Jolene), Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), Dr. Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson), Captain Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), and multiple Ensign Harry Kims will permanently chart the Multiverse. With "The New Next Generation," Star Trek: Lower Decks inherits the mantles of both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Has 2 New Captains

Captain Ransom & Captain Ma'ah Take The Center Seats

Captain Carol Freeman's reassignment to Starbase 80 means her First Officer, Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell), rises up to become the new Captain of the USS Cerritos. Initially portrayed as unlikable, Ransom's virtues and skills as First Officer became more apparent, especially in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5. Ransom's promotion to Captain is essentially Star Trek: Lower Decks telling the story that Star Trek: The Next Generation never did with Jack's inspiration, Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), who never became Captain of the Enterprise.

Regla's dishonorable actions motivated the Klingon High Council to promote Ma'ah to Captain of Relga's armada, with Malor as his First Officer. Ma'ah was introduced as a lower decker in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2 who was a victim of Klingon politics. Ma'ah befriended Mariner in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, but he was relegated to being a farmer on the Klingon homeworld, Q'onoS. Ma'ah overcoming his enemies rewards him with the Captaincy he deserved, and it gives Starfleet and the USS Cerritos a new ally in the Klingon Empire.

The Cerritos' Lieutenants Move On Up

Star Trek: Lower Decks' title remains relevant even as the USS Cerritos' junior grade Lieutenants rise up to new assignments on the bridge crew. Against their will, Captain Ransom decided to make Lieutenants Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner his provisional co-First Officers. Ransom is pitting the best friends against each other for his own amusement and for their career advancement, to see if either Beckett or Bradward distinguishes themselves for the job of Cerritos Number One. As Ransom noted, Boimler and Mariner may be lower deckers, but they're not also "in charge of the lower deckers."

After competing amongst themselves since Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 7, "Filly Dilated," Lieutenants Tendi and T'Lyn are now happily in sync as Co-Chief Science Officers. Lieutenant Rutherford also realized he still loves the USS Cerritos and no longer needs his implant to be the best young engineer in Starfleet. Rutherford also learned the dopamine from his implant suppressed his romantic feelings toward Tendi. The rest of the USS Cerritos' senior staff stays in place after Captain Freeman's departure, and Captain Ransom's starship continues its mission to perform Second Contacts and serve as the Enterprise of the California Class.

Lt. Beckett Mariner's climactic speech at the end of Star Trek: Lower Decks' finale sums up the true purpose and mission of the USS Cerritos. The California Class starship is filled with great Starfleet Officers who would be misfits aboard other ships, but they have a home and a way to establish themselves on the Cerritos. Lower Deckers also have the opportunity to shine on the Cerritos, as Star Trek: Lower Decks cements itself as the true successor to Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Will Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 6 Happen?

The USS Cerritos Will Hopefully Return Some Day

Sadly, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5's finale marks the end of Mike McMahan's beloved animated comedy on Paramount+. There are no plans for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 6 on Paramount+. Nor is there any movement known towards Star Trek: Lower Decks being picked up by another streaming service, the way Netflix imported Star Trek: Prodigy. For now, Star Trek: Lower Decks is over, and so is the modern renaissance of animated Star Trek. However, the USS Cerritos may return.

Star Trek fans can help potentially resurrect Star Trek: Lower Decks by repeat binging the 50 episodes on Paramount+ and inviting others to watch the series. Demonstrably high streaming numbers will make Star Trek: Lower Decks more attractive to other streaming services and, possibly, to Paramount+ for a phase II.

Mike McMahan has plenty of ideas about what could happen next to the USS Cerritos, and he has also mused about doing Star Trek: Lower Decks in live-action. Star Trek: Lower Decks has proven itself to be endlessly innovative and essential Star Trek, and hopefully, it's only a matter of time until the USS Cerritos warps back onto our screens.