The crew of the USS Cerritos is back, as the second season of Star Trek: Lower Decks kicks off this year’s ten-episode run with “Strange Energies” — a new take on the classic ‘one of our heroes becomes a god’ Star Trek story.

Written by series creator Mike McMahan, the episode allows for some hilarious lines from Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell), some nice character work between Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Captain Freeman (Dawwn Lewis), and some new challenges for best friends Ensign Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) and Ensign D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells).

What a delight to have this show back in our lives! Between the opening sequence of Mariner working out on the holodeck — a rather unconventional program — to the floating head of Jack Ransom chewing on a warp nacelle, I have truly missed the energy of this show, its characters, and its mischievous take on Star Trek.

“Strange Energies” is definitely a ‘catch-up’ episode, allowing viewers to see how the USS Cerritos crew has been faring since last season’s finale. By the end of last year’s “No Small Parts,” Mariner and Freeman formed an cordial alliance, allowing the rebellious ensign to take on off-the-record side missions during the ship’s second contact assignments – taking actions that Starfleet may not approve, but that are the right thing to do.

But we discover in this episode that both characters have leaned a bit too hard into their new mother-daughter bond, which takes a godlike Ransom to push them to a point where they can both admit it’s not working out.

“Stop pretending to like each other!” the giant Ransom head bellows at the Cerritos, enraged from being stuck in the middle of the two women but unable to assert his authority. The ship’s stalwart first officer gets the all the funniest material this week, as the “Strange Energies” take on the mortal-becomes-god trope stays true to Lower Decks’ approach to making Star Trek funnier through connections to the larger canon (in this case, the ill-fated Gary Mitchell from “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”)

To be sure, there also some really nice, animated visuals here too – from the design of Mariner’s holodeck program, to the manifestation of god-Ransom’s powers and the refined look of the Cerritos itself. In addition to being a funny show, Lower Decks sure is a pretty one, and so far this season the animation feels more vibrant and bold.

Meanwhile, Tendi and Rutherford continue to rebuild their relationship in the wake of Rutherford’s injury and memory loss last season. Rutherford is both himself, but not – after quickly rejecting Ensign Barnes in the first season, the pair are back together again, now on a third date – leading Tendi to feel insecure about their friendship.

Their B-story is a sweet acknowledgement of the impact of Rutherford’s memory loss without rushing to undo it; while Tendi’s efforts to ‘fix’ Rutherford through ever-increasing chaotic science experiments run a little over-the-top by the end of the episode, she eventually explains herself – and her fears – to her friend.

Finally, we hop over to the USS Titan for a last-minute check-in with Ensign Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid), who seems like he’s way, way in over his head on Captain Riker’s (Jonathan Frakes) ship… but more on that next week.

TREK TROPE TRIBUTES

• Just to be safe, Dr. T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) makes sure to drop a boulder on Ransom, just as Captain Kirk buried Gary Mitchell at the end of “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
   
• Naturally, Ransom’s uniform top immediately rips open after being impacted by the strange energies.
   
• “Look I know we’re not supposed to have interpersonal conflicts, but I really hate that Andorian,” Mariner quips, a nod to the ‘Roddenberry rule’ established during The Next Generation, where writers were forbidden to put the show’s Starfleet crew at odds with one another.
   
• “They keep showing me lights,” jailed holographic Boimler tells Mariner in the Cardassian prison exercise program, nodding to Picard’s experiences in “Chain of Command, Part II.”

CANON CONNECTIONS

• The Cardassian uniforms, weapons, and architecture — including their door controls! — seen throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are faithfully recreated in Mariner’s holodeck programs.
   
• The prison facility is guarded by both Cardassian Galor-class warships and Hideki-class patrol ships, which look fantastic in animated from.
   
• The bridge of the Miranda-class USS MacDuff is identical to the bridge of the USS Reliant as seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where this ship design was first introduced.
   
• In addition to the MacDuff, the hangar at the holographic Cardassian facility also holds a Jem’Hadar fighter, a Bajoran Interceptor (“Shadows and Symbols”) a Federation fighter (“Caretaker”), a Danube-class runabout with sensor pod, a Delta Flyer-class ship, and a Star Trek: Enterprise-era Klingon D5 warship.
   
• In one final nod to Gary Mitchell, Lt. Commander Stevens offers to read “Nightingale Woman” to Ransom in sickbay – the same poem which Mitchell quoted after being zapped by the galactic barrier in “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

• In another tribute to California, the undersea mural Mariner uncovers while power-washing the Apergosian city is inspired by Robert Wyland’s Whaling Walls.
   
• In her holodeck workout program, Mariner is wearing Starfleet branded sweatbands and sneakers – surely a cosplay we’ll see at future conventions.
   
• The show’s opening credits sequence has been updated for the new year, as both Pakled battle harpies and Klingon Birds of Prey are now part of the growing battle between Romulan Warbirds and Borg cubes.
   
•  The Cerritos’ digital model has also gotten an upgrade this season, with some added definition to the warp nacelles and deflector array – most notably, the dual shuttlebays at the rear of the saucer section are now clearly visible and ringed by blue lighting.
   
• The indecisive Apergosian leader is voiced by the always-welcome Randall Park, known from his roles as FBI Agent Jimmy Woo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Louis in Fresh Off the Boat, and more.
   
• Boimler’s old bunk on the Cerritos is filled with items calling back to last year’s episodes, including Mariner’s bat’leth and her bottle Romulan whiskey, a T-88 scanner from “Much Ado About Boimler.” (There’s also a three-dimensional chess set tossed in there.)

While “Strange Energies” does not quite hit the propulsive heights of last season’s final few episodes, we’ve seen the first five episodes of this season, and trust us, the show hasn’t lost any of its steam. It’s still a decent episode in its own right, but “Strange Energies” is definitely the appetizer to Season 2’s main course.

But a reintroduction to this crew, the feel of a Lower Decks episode, and the humor, this episode helps to ease us back into comedy after the dramatic action-adventure of Star Trek: Discovery.

I’m glad new Star Trek is back, and looking forward to the rest of this season!

Star Trek: Lower Decks returns on August 19 with “Kayshon, His Eyes Uncovered” on Paramount+ in the United States and CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada, followed by Amazon Prime Video (in select international regions) on August 20.