Summary
Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 has the opportunity to bring backStar Trekcharacters from multipleStar Trekshows.Plenty ofStar Trek: The Next Generation-era characters have been inStar Trek: Lower Decks,which takes place in the 2380s, shortly afterStar Trek: Nemesis. Returning favorites have already includedStar Trek: The Next Generation’s Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), andStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’sColonel Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) and Quark (Armin Shimerman). Robert Duncan McNeill even pulled double duty reprising both of his live-actionStar Trekroles:Star Trek: Voyager’s Lt. Tom Paris andTNG’s Nick Locarno.
Star Trek: Lower Decksprides itself on being in tune with some of the deepest cuts ofStar Trekreferences, and Gabrielle Ruiz, who plays Lieutenant T’Lyn, says the guest star list inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 is"sick".Taken together, this could meanmore than a few surprises are in store forStar Trek: Lower Decks’upcoming 5th season.The fact that it’sStar Trek: Lower Decks' final season means it might be time to pull out all the stops, with the USS Cerritos crew meeting characters from all over theStar Trektimeline, and not just the late 24th century. Here’s a few familiar faces we’d like to see.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Actor Teases Season 5’s “Guest Star List Is Sick”
Gabrielle Ruiz joined Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4’s main cast as T’Lyn, and she hints at amazing guest stars appearing in Lower Decks season 5.
10Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko
Reporter Jake Sisko Is On The Case
Jake Sisko’s (Cirroc Lofton) potentialStar Trek: Lower Decksappearance could be a more lighthearted version of the unrealized plan to putJake Sisko inStar Trek: Picardseason 3, which would have shown Jake as an investigative journalist hot on the case of Changelings that had infiltrated Starfleet. Flashbacks show that Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) served on DS9 while Jake was living there, soBeckett Mariner could be the link that gets reporter Jake Sisko connected with the USS Cerritos crew to research a story. (Or maybe Jake just wants his sweater back from Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) …)
InStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 3, episode 1, “Grounded”, Mariner and Boimler crash Tendi and Rutherford’s dinner at Joseph Sisko’s New Orleans restaurant.
9Jolene Blalock as Subcommander T’Pol’s Descendant
It’s Like A Reverse “Carbon Creek” Thing
There are morenods expected toStar Trek: EnterpriseinLower Decksseason 5, after tributes toStar Trek: Deep Space NineandStar Trek: VoyagerinStar Trek: Lower Decksseasons 3 and 4, respectively. Jolene Blalock’s Subcommander T’Pol is from about as far back as you can go in theStar Trektimeline, but there’s precedent for the women of T’Pol’s family to resemble each other, since Blalock played T’Pol’s ancestor T’Mir inStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 2, episode 2, “Carbon Creek”.A descendant of T’Pol could easily be alive and well in the time ofStar Trek: Lower Decks, with one of the USS Cerritos' savvy junior officers making the connection.
8Robert Picardo as The Doctor
When DID Voyager’s EMH Meet The Cerritos Crew?
InStar Trek: Prodigy,Robert Picardo’s Doctor mentions the USS Cerritos crewoffhandedly without giving any details about their previous interactions. While the Cerritos' Lower Deckers may actually be so dysfunctional as to be legendary, the Doctor’s comment still invites speculation about whether the USS Voyager’s EMH may have actually crossed paths with the Cerritos crew, and if so, when.A guest spot inStar Trek: Lower Deckscould reveal the truth about the Doctor’s alleged experiences aboard the Cerritos, while also letting Picardo lean into the Doctor’s more comedic aspects.
7Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim
Just Give Harry Kim A Promotion Already
SinceStar Trek: Lower Deckscelebrates the lowest-ranked Starfleet officers,Lower Decksis the perfect series to finally promote Garrett Wang’s Ensign Harry Kim.Despite claims thatHarry Kim “belongs” toStar Trek: Prodigy,Star Trek: Voyager’s forever ensign remains remarkably absent from any modern iteration ofStar Trek.An appearance onStar Trek: Lower Deckswould at least let us know that there’s more than one pip on poor Harry’s collar after the USS Voyager’s triumphant return to the Alpha Quadrant. (Otherwise, he’d have to call theLower Deckscharacters"sir", and that would be kind of funny, but so embarrassing for Kim.)
Harry Kim was a captain inStar Trek: Voyager’s series finale, “Endgame”, but that future isn’t the same timeline asStar Trek’s Prime Timeline, so it doesn’t count.
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6Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer
Star Trek: Lower Decksis great at pointing out that universally pannedStar Trekepisodes aren’t as bad as they seem, soLower Decksseason 5 is poised to call out the weirdest parts ofStar Trek’s 5th live action series. That meansthe USS Cerritos' junior officers just might make the best ofStar Trek: Enterprise’s disappointing final episode, “These Are the Voyages…”, and there’s no one better to help them do that than Scott Bakula returning asCaptain Jonathan Archer.
Star Trek: Lower Decksmight reveal, in its characteristic quick-witted patter, how Archer’s involvement in the founding of the United Federation of Planetsreallywent down, since what we saw in “These Are the Voyages…” was just a holodeck program.Better yet,Lower Decks' characters could run their own holodeck program,more or less like Commander Riker’s, and put right what once went wrong.
5Todd Stashwick as Liam Shaw
Shaw Just Says “No” To Everything The Cerritos Crew Does, Probably
Star Trek: Picard’s fan-favorite,Captain Liam Shaw, would be a much younger version of his gruff self inStar Trek: Lower Decks' 2380s setting, but still very much a part of Starfleet since Shaw was present for the Battle of Wolf 359. An animated cameo featuring Shaw would recognize the desire forStar Trek: Legacywithout necessarily committing to anything bigger.Shaw would be a great by-the-book antagonist for the chaotic USS Cerritos junior officers, while also being someone who has more in common with Lt. Beckett Mariner than both might initially think. That could mean a classicStar Trekbonding moment for both Mariner and Shaw.
4Walter Koenig as Federation President Anton Chekov
Or Koenig Could Bring TOS' Pavel Chekov To Lower Decks
Walter Koenig already has a character in modernStar Trek:Federation President Anton Chekov, the descendant ofStar Trek: The Original Series’Pavel Chekov, who was heard inStar Trek: Picardseason 3, episode 10, “The Last Generation”. SinceStar Trek: Lower Deckstakes place in the early 2380s, about 20 years beforeStar Trek: Picard, the younger Chekov would be in the earlier days of his political career.That time difference would make Anton Chekov the equivalent of a lower decker himself,giving him something in common with theStar Trek: Lower Decksmain characters.
Koenig could also theoretically reprise his original role of Pavel Chekov inStar Trek: Lower Decks, despite the hundred years' difference between the series.Star Trek: The Original Series' George Takei set a precedent forTOSactors withCaptain Hikaru Sulu’sStar Trek: Lower Decksappearance in season 3, episode 8, “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus”, as part of Ensign Brad Boimler’s (Jack Quaid) dream.Koenig’s original Chekov could be in a dream sequence, like Sulu,or be part of a holodeck program.
3Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Philippa Georgiou
Georgiou Could Have Section 31 Business With William Boimler
With few details available about the exact time frame or plot of the upcomingStar Trek: Section 31movie, there’s no reason that Michelle Yeoh’s Emperor Philippa Georgiou couldn’t wind up in the 24th century, courtesy of some Section 31 approved time travel. (Or not. Georgiou doesn’t care about your rules.)There’s even a logical reason for Georgiou to cross paths with the USS Cerritos.Star Trek: Lower Decksintroduced a plot where Ensign Brad Boimler’s transporter clone, William Boimler (Jack Quaid), was recruited into Section 31, which needs to be resolved beforeStar Trek: Lower Decksends for good.
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2Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
This Girls' Trip Is Sponsored By The Fenris Rangers
Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine was rejected from Starfleet fairly early after returning to the Alpha Quadrant, but it’s possibleSeven’s stint with the Fenris Rangersin the Beta Quadrant hasn’t started yet. T’Lyn actress Gabrielle Ruiz suggests that the"sick"guest cast overlaps with this season’s girls' trip, sowhy not have Seven of Nine meet Mariner, Tendi (Noël Wells), and T’Lyn for a truly epic hang? Maybe it’s a good old-fashioned heist. Maybe Tendi has family connections to the Fenris Rangers. And maybe the ladies ofStar Trek: Lower Decksinspire Seven to do good wherever she can, with or without Starfleet.
1Ethan Peck as Lt. Spock
Hijinks Are, Once Again, A Logical Course Of Action
AfterStar Trek: Lower Decks' Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimlercrossed over intoStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 2, episode 7, “Those Old Scientists”, it’s time forStrange New Worldsto repay the favor. One ofStar Trek’s many varieties of time anomalies could drop Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) in the vicinity of Boimler or Mariner in the 24th century, prompting an entertaining reunion. Imagine Mariner trying fervently to explain that their new Vulcan friend totally isn’t Spock, because he’s way too young and that would be so weird. No, this is T’Lyn’s hot cousin … Spork.Imagine Spock trying to play along.
Of course,Spock isn’t the only name fromStar Trek: Strange New Worldsthat we’d like to see inStar Trek: Lower Decks. Celia Rose-Gooding as Ensign Nyota Uhura could join in on the promised girls' trip and let loose a little bit, building off Uhura’s scenes with Mariner inStar Trek: Strange New Worlds. Rebecca Romjin as Number One almost has to meet real-life husband Jerry O’Connell’s Commander Jack Ransom. And Anson Mount’s Captain Christopher Pike is always welcome. These are just our picks, but any names from across theStar Trekfranchise will almost certainly make the guest list inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 amazing.
