Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock have a secret Star Trek: Lower Decks cameo in Screen Rant's exclusive clip from the season 1 DVD, Blu-ray, and limited edition steelbook going on sale May 18. Created by Mike McMahan, Star Trek: Lower Decks is the first half-hour Star Trek animated show since Star Trek: The Animated Series, which aired for two seasons in the 1970s. Lower Decks' 10-episode season 1 streamed on CBS All-Access in 2020 and season 2 will premiere on Paramount+ in August 2021.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is set aboard the USS Cerritos, one of Starfleet's "least-important ships" that specializes in Second Contact missions. Instead of centering on the Captain and bridge crew like other Star Trek shows, Lower Decks focuses on Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid), D'Vana Tendi (Noel Wells), and Samathan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Star Trek: Lower Decks also stars the voiceover talents of Dawnn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman, Jerry O'Connell as Commander Jack Ransom, Fred Tatasciore as Lieutenant Shaxs, and Gillian Vigman as Doctor T'Ana. The secret that Captain Freeman is Ensign Mariner's mother provides much of season 1's humor and drama, as does the reluctant mentorship between Mariner and Boimler and Rutherford and Tendi's love affair with the Cerritos.
The Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1 DVD, Blu-ray, and limited edition steelbook is packed with bonus features, including the Lower Decktionary exploring the secrets of all 10 season 1 episodes, the trailer for Crisis Point: The Rise of Vindicta, Faces of the Fleet: a deep-dive into the crew of the USS Cerritos, and Hiding in Plain Sight, an inside look at the canon and Easter eggs hidden throughout the series. Screen Rant's exclusive clip from Hiding in Plain Sight shows Jack Quaid revealing the blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo by Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series. You can watch Screen Rant's exclusive clip here:
Kirk and Spock's secret cameo is just one of the numerous nods to canon by Star Trek: Lower Decks. Season 1 also had major guest stars from the other Star Trek series, including Jonathan Frakes as Captain Will Riker and Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi in the season finale, "No Small Parts." In fact, Riker and Troi rode to the Cerritos' rescue aboard the USS Titan, which was the first time that famous starship was seen in Star Trek canon. Riker even poached Ensign Boimler to serve aboard his ship, which broke up the Lower Deckers' tight unit and begs the question of whether Boimler will return to the Cerritos.
Whether it's encountering drunken Klingons, dealing with mind-bending sci-fi anomalies, meeting obscure aliens from Star Trek: The Next Generation, or parodying the Star Trek movies in the holodeck, the ribald misadventures of the Lower Deckers showed that Trek can indeed very hysterically funny while still honoring the classic tropes and optimistic outlook about the future the beloved franchise is known for. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1 is a must-have for Trekkers as they prepare for the animated series' return for season 2 in August on Paramount+.