I was in Hall H for the Star Trek Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con, and something Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan said gave me hope that season 5 isn’t the end of the show. Earlier this year, Paramount+ announced Star Trek: Lower Decks is ending, although this was something McMahan and his creative team knew was coming. Even while promoting Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 last year, McMahan started to sound red alerts that Paramount+ was closing the blast doors on Star Trek’s first half-hour animated comedy, and sure enough, that’s what happened.
Star Trek: Lower Decks joins Star Trek: Discovery, which also ended with its fifth and final season in May. With Star Trek: Picard also over, and Star Trek: Prodigy canceled by Paramount+ – and subsequently saved by Netflix – this leaves Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (which completed season 3 production and was renewed for season 4) as the last of the original 5 Star Trek on Paramount+ series. Star Trek will go on as Paramount+ is also prepping Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, announced a new Star Trek live-action workplace comedy, and has a made-for-streaming movie, Star Trek: Section 31, raring to go. But as sad as I am to see Lower Decks end, I’m optimistic that it may not be really over.
Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Creator Mike McMahan Says Season 5 Is Final Season On Paramount+
Lower Decks season 5 is the end of a chapter
At San Diego Comic-Con’s Star Trek Universe Hall H panel, whenever Mike McMahan spoke about Star Trek: Lower Decks ending, he repeated something that made my ears perk up. Mike always said Star Trek: Lower Decks season is the “final season on Paramount+.” To me, adding that qualifier at the end seems to be a very specific choice by a talented writer known for his witty rejoinders. Here is a quote from Mike McMahan at Comic-Con about Star Trek: Lower Decks ending with season 5:
This is our final season on Paramount+. [Crowd boos] No no no! We’re not supposed to make the crowd boo. But because we knew it, this season is a celebration of all things Lower Decks and all things Star Trek, so we love it… You’re getting a closure that feels like the end of a chapter, but you’re not getting a closure on the Cerritos or these characters.
While answering a fan question later in the panel, Mike McMahan again repeated that Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 is the final season on Paramount+. To me, Mike is implying – or trying to set in motion – a future for Star Trek: Lower Decks after it ends on Paramount+. It’s clear to me that MIke McMahan and everyone behind the scenes at Star Trek: Lower Decks, as well as the voice cast led by Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid, would be thrilled to continue playing their USS Cerritos junior Lieutenants for years to come. And McMahan couldn’t be more clear he considers Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 to be merely the end of a chapter.
How More Star Trek: Lower Decks Can Happen
Fans can save Lower Decks
Answering another fan question at San Diego Comic-Con’s Star Trek Universe panel, Mike McMahan gave a “safe answer” about why Star Trek: Lower Decks is ending that didn’t turn out so “safe” by the end. Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman then urged the fans to take action to give Star Trek: Lower Decks a future beyond Paramount+. Here are McMahan and Kurtzman’s quotes from Comic-Con urging fans to watch Star Trek: Lower Decks to boost season 5’s numbers and save the show:
Mike McMahan: My safe answer for [why Lower Decks is ending] is watch the hell out of this season when it airs… And after we air, I’ll think of other things to say when I don’t work with these guys so directly anymore.
Alex Kurtzman: Watch it twice because, actually, it does register. Finish it, and then watch it again… Guys, your petitions are incredible. They’re incredible. Look what you did for Prodigy. Do it again.
Mike McMahan and Alex Kurtzman’s hopeful message is clear to me: Fans need to take greater action to save Star Trek: Lower Decks and possibly find it a new streaming home, just as Star Trek: Prodigy was rescued by Star Trek’s passionate and vocal fanbase. Maybe it’s because Star Trek: Lower Decks has had 5 seasons that the audience isn’t as outraged that it is ending, but no more Star Trek: Lower Decks is a massive loss and a tragedy. Star Trek: Lower Decks is pure and essential Star Trek, and the USS Cerritos’ creator, Mike McMahan, has put out a red alert in so many words: It’s up to Star Trek fans to pick up the fight and save Star Trek: Lower Decks, and we can do it.