Before Star Trek: Lower Decks spotlighted the junior officers of the USS Cerritos, Star Trek: Discovery was the original Lower Decks show. Star Trek: Discovery has evolved more than perhaps any other Star Trek series over its soon-to-be 5 seasons. Originally a prequel set a decade before Star Trek: The Original Series, Discovery left the timeline completely and permanently jumped to the distant 32nd century. Discovery now more closely resembles a traditional Star Trek show, but in season 1, Disco was Lower Decks before there was Lower Decks.
Star Trek: Lower Decks seemed a risky experiment at first, but Mike McMahan's animated series proved that Star Trek could deliver laugh-out-loud comedy that still honored the franchise and its canon. Lower Decks is about Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid), D'Vana Tendi (Noel Wells), and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), who do the dirty work from the bowels of the USS Cerritos. McMahan's show is inspired by his favorite episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Lower Decks," which was a unique look at the trials and tribulations of four junior officers aboard the USS Enterprise-D. Yet Discovery actually beat Lower Decks to the punch as a show about bottom-ranked Starfleet Officers.
Discovery Was Originally Designed As A Lower Decks Show
Star Trek: Discovery began with the fall of Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), who was imprisoned for instigating the devastating Klingon War of 2256-2257. When Burnham was transferred to the USS Discovery, she served as a non-commissioned Specialist, and her roommate was Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), a Cadet fresh out of Starfleet Academy. Although Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Issacs) took a sinister interest in Burnham in Discovery season 1, Michael's friends were Tilly and Lt. Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), the astromycologist Lorca despised. Commander Saru (Doug Jones) didn't trust Michael at first, and Discovery season 1 was undoubtedly a Lower Decks-style show instead of being about the main bridge crew.
Discovery's POV was always Michael's as she gradually redeemed herself from her sins at the start of the series. By the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 1, Burnham ended the Klingon War and saved the galaxy. Her reward was the reinstatement of her rank as Commander, and Burnham spent more time as a bridge officer alongside Saru and Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) in Star Trek: Discovery season 2. Similarly, Michael's friends received promotions and also became bridge officers, and they ultimately became the USS Discovery's senior staff in the latter seasons of the show.
Why Discovery Evolved Into A More Standard Star Trek Show
Star Trek: Discovery was a polarizing show from its inception, and it was accused of veering too far from what longtime fans perceived Star Trek to be. There were creative changes behind the scenes between seasons 1 and 2, but according to Star Trek: Discovery's executive producers, the master plan was always to chart Michael Burnham's rise to earning her Captaincy and command of the USS Discovery. As Michael rose up the ranks, Discovery took on more of the usual Star Trek tropes and structure, although the show still retains its ability to buck the norm and tell the action-packed, serialized stories that are Discovery's trademarks.
No doubt, some of Star Trek: Discovery's evolution is a reaction to the hostility the series met in its early years, as well as the creative team's desire for the show to be 'more Star Trek.' Star Trek: Discovery is now a far cry from what the series was like in season 1. And with Star Trek: Lower Decks going all-in on the POV of the Cerritos' junior officers, which won over skeptical audiences who now thoroughly enjoy laughing with Star Trek, the fans have the real Lower Decks show they deserve.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 and Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 premiere in 2023 on Paramount+.