The first season of Star Trek: Lower Decks was a breath of fresh air, an animated comedy show that understands humour but also understands Star Trek, creating a comedic series within that universe which does not disrespect it. Through solid writing, nice characterisation and restrained fanservice, the show produced easily the best debut season of a Star Trek series since at least 1993 (if not 1966).
The second season continues in this vein. The writing is sharper and funnier, and the clever in-depth references to prior episodes come even thicker and faster. There are more long-running character and story arcs, although the show does a great job of making each episode stand alone even if you're not intimately familiar with the franchise. There's a nice line in experimentation this season as well, such as an episode extending the Lower Decks "format" to a Klingon and Vulcan ship.
There's also a good distribution of the stories this year. Boimler and Mariner still have lots to do, but it feels like Rutherford, Tendi and the bridge crew have more time in the sun as well, along with recurring characters.
The show's originality does perhaps flag a little at times. One episode sees the crew dealing with a constantly-duplicating alien, which feels a bit like a Rick & Morty episode (Rick & Morty and Lower Decks share some creative staff). A couple of gags perhaps don't land like they should. But these are relatively rare issues.
The second season of Star Trek: Lower Decks (****½) is funny but also good Star Trek,with heart, humour and some great character moments. The season is available now on Paramount+ in the USA and on Amazon Prime Television across much of the rest of the world.
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