Paramount+’s latest addition to the ever-expanding Star Trek universe, Star Trek: Lower Decks, is scheduled to launch its second season this summer, roughly a year after the series saw its debut season premiere. As audiences wait for the series’ second season to air, they can take in the show’s first season on DVD and Blu-ray beginning Tuesday. The debut season of this newest addition to the Star Trek universe is an intriguing presentation even in its new home release. While Lower Decks is not a complete disappointment or failure in its debut season, it also is not a total success. That is proven in part through its writing, which is itself both a positive and negative. It will be discussed shortly. For all that the writing does to both benefit and detract from the series’ presentation, it is just one of the elements to examine in addressing the home release of the series’ debut season. The bonus content featured in the home release of the show’s lead season is a positive in its own way. It will be discussed a little later. The two-disc set’s packaging rounds out its most important elements and will also be discussed later. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of the home release of the series’ lead season. All things considered, they make the presentation such that Star Trek fans will find it worth watching at least once.
Paramount+’s home presentation of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1 presents the series as neither an improvement on nor a lessening of the long-running franchise that is Star Trek. That is proven in large part through its writing. The writing benefits the show first and foremost in the fact that each episode is only half an hour instead of a full hour. What’s more, the writing brings the franchise back to the episodic presentation style that was once the franchise’s norm. Every episode finds the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos going from planet to planet facing all kinds of adventures. The whole thing opens with a zombie plague overcoming the Cerritos in “Second Contact” and Ensign Boimler inadvertently being the one to save the day. “Moist Vessel” keeps the action on board entertaining as Captain Freeman (who is revealed early on to be Ensign Mariner’s mother) teachers Mariner a lesson about maturity as she continues to cause trouble for her mother and much of the ship’ senior staff. “Veritas” meanwhile presents audiences with a familiar twice-told tale type plot element that is so common to sitcoms. It’s a surprisingly funny story that, as with the other noted episodes and the rest of the season’s stories, boast a certain stylistic similarity to the writing used in Futurama. To that point, the writing does a lot to make the debut season of Lower Decks worth at least a chance. At the same time, the writing also suffers from one major downfall, that being that it takes itself too seriously in trying to not be serious.
Yes, the stories featured throughout the first season of Lower Decks are original and funny, the dialogue that is used therein proves very problematic. The snarkiness and the amount of foul language that is used throughout each episode proves very problematic. Considering that the series is the creation of Rick & Morty writer Mike McMahan, that should come as no surprise. Things like Mariner getting drunk, Captain Freeman essentially cussing out lower ranking officers, and the overtly over the top silliness as the ensigns testify before a court for something that happened, and more, the writing just suffers in terms of its general content. That against the enjoyment brought by the less serious nature of the stories and that the episodes are standalone presentations offsets one another. It works together to once more show why the writing makes this season worth watching at least once. While the writing featured in the first season of Lower Decks proves both good and bad, the bonus content is featured in Season 1’s home release proves positive, somewhat offsetting the concerns raised in the writing.
The bonus content presented in the home release of Lower Decks Season 1 is positive in that it gives audiences a look behind the show’s scenes. The most notable of the bonuses comes in “Hiding in Plain Sight.” This roughly six minute bonus featurette presents just some of the items used in past Star Trek series that are tossed in here. The shows’ creative heads point out in this segment that the inclusion of the classic items was intentional as a means to add to appeal for fans of those shows. Any diehard Star Trek fan will agree that there is something special in seeing this generation of Star Trek so lovingly throwing back to the franchise’s early days. As with the writing, this follows in the shoes of the writing of Futurama. It is interesting to see the tasteful way in which so many classic Star Trek items and characters were thrown into this series, not just to generate nostalgia, but to use them as story elements, too.
“Hiding in Plain Sight” is just one of the set’s notable bonuses. The “Lower Decktionary” segments give even more insight into the show’s creative process. From the animation, to the title credits (which themselves throw back to the look of TNG’s credits), to the show’s music, audiences get brief but in-depth discussions on so much of the show’s “secondary” content. Those discussions, along with the talks on the throwbacks to classic Star Trek will add its own level of engagement and entertainment for audiences in this presentation. Together with the more positive side of the show’s writing, the two aspects collectively make the show slightly more worth watching.
The bonus and content and writing featured in the home release of Lower Decks Season 1 does well to make this debut season of the Star Trek universe’s latest addition worth watching at least once. They are just a portion of what works to the presentation’s positive. The set’s packaging rounds out its most important elements. Audiences will note that a brief but concise episode summary list is printed inside the case’s front and rear box art. This inclusion allows audiences to make a quick decision as to which episode they want to watch. Making this aspect even more appealing is the fact that the episodes are aligned specifically with each of the set’s two discs. This means that audiences immediately know which episodes are on which disc, and in the process, will be that much more capable of deciding which episode to watch. Those behind the presentation in this aspect are to be commended for this move.
Making the packaging even more of a positive is the fact that the set’s discs are wisely presented inside the case. Disc one is placed on a leaf inside the case by itself while Disc Two is placed on its own spindle on the box’s rear inside. This protects the discs from marring one another. On yet another level, the smart placement of the discs also makes the packaging ergonomic. This will appeal to any viewer who prefers the physical object to streaming. Keeping this in mind along with the positive impact of the packaging’s episode listing, there is no doubt that the packaging proves important in its own way to the whole of the set’s presentation. When this element is considered along with the positive impact of the set’s bonus content, and the mixed impact of the writing, all three elements make the home release of Lower Decks’s debut season somewhat engaging and entertaining, but still neither an improvement nor lessening of the Star Trek universe’s overall legacy.
Paramount+’s new home release of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1 is an intriguing first outing for the latest addition to the ever-growing Star Trek universe. The show is neither an outright win nor a total failure. That is proven in part through the season’s writing. The writing brings together the best elements of Star Trek and Futurama, but the worst elements of shows, such as Rick & Morty and Family Guy at the same time. That whole makes the writing somewhat entertaining, but also equally lacking. The bonus content that accompanies the season in its new home release makes up for the writing’s concerns. That is because of the background that it offers on the show in its lead season. The packaging of Season 1 in its home release rounds out the set’s most important elements. It enhances the viewing experience because it makes choosing an episode easy for viewers while also protecting each of the set’s two discs. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of this set’s presentation. All things considered, they make the debut season of Star Trek: Lower Decks worth watching at least occasionally, but not much more. Star Trek Lower Decks Season 1 is scheduled for release Tuesday through Paramount, Paramount+, CBS Studios and CBS All Access.
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