Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3, Episode 1 - "Grounded"The season 3 premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks brought back two controversial Captains from Star Trek: The Next Generation: Morgan Bateson (Kelsey Grammer) and Edward Jellico (Ronny Cox). Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3's first episode, "Grounded," picks up from the season 2 finale cliffhanger where Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) was arrested by Starfleet and accused of detonating a bomb on Pakled planet. To save her mother, Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) leads her fellow Lower Deckers in a scheme to prove Freeman is innocent, but the Ensigns are unaware that Starfleet also undertook a mission to prove the USS Cerritos' Captain is the victim of a conspiracy.
Captain Morgan Bateson's lone TNG appearance was in the popular season 5 episode, "Cause and Effect." Bateson was the Captain of the USS Bozeman, which was caught in a temporal distortion that sent the 23rd-century starship forward in time, where it collided with the USS Enterprise-D in a causality loop. When Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew solved the loop and freed both vessels, he had to inform Captain Bateson that the Bozeman and all souls aboard were now stranded in the 24th century. In TNG season 6's "Chain of Command" two-parter, Captain Edward Jellico made a permanent negative impression on Trekkers when he was assigned to replace Picard as Captain of the Enterprise. Jellico's severe, micro-managing style of command alienated the crew (and viewers), and it was a relief when Picard was rescued from his capture by the Cardassians and took back the Enterprise's Captain's chair.
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3's premiere includes surprising updates on Jellico and Bateson, who are both still high-ranking officers in Starfleet in the early 2380s. A news ticker during an FNN: News of the Galaxy broadcast at the start of the Lower Decks season 3 premiere reads: "Admiral Jellico Bans Zebulon Sisters From Active Duty Starships". Not only does this mean that Jellico was promoted to the Admiralty, but he's blocking the popular performers of the Chu Chu Chu dance from holding concerts aboard Starfleet ships. Luckily, the Cerritos got to host a Chu Chu dance in Lower Decks season 1. Thankfully, Captain Bateson is more heroic and led an elite Starfleet team to discover that a data forger faked the "evidence" that Captain Freeman bombed Pakled planet. Bateson and his operatives, including Star Trek: Voyager's Commander Tuvok (Tim Russ), successfully exonerated Captain Freeman so that she could return to duty on the Cerritos.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Has Brought Back Lots Of TNG Captains
Audiences never know who is going to appear in Star Trek: Lower Decks, which is part of the fun of the animated comedy series. Lower Decks dives deep into Star Trek lore and, along with Admiral Jellico and Captain Bateson, the show has previously brought back other Captains seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Captain Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy), who was once Commander Will Riker's (Jonathan Frakes) rival as the Enterprise-D's First Officer, appeared in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2. The very same episode also had a cameo by Captain Thadiun Okana (William Campbell). Meanwhile, Sonya Gomez (Lycia Naff) was only an Ensign when she served in Engineering aboard the Enterprise-D but in Lower Decks' time, she is now Captain of the USS Archimedes.
Unfortunately (or fortunately in Jellico's case), Captain Bateson and Admiral Jellico's mentions in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3 didn't require Kelsey Grammer and Ronny Cox to voice their Starfleet characters. Still, it's good to have a canonical update on both former TNG guest stars and to know that Captain Bateson has become a valuable member of Starfleet in the 24th century. As for Jellico, he's been mentioned prior in Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the best thing about him being an Admiral is that it means he can't be Captain of the Enterprise again.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.