Star Trek: Lower Decks returns for its third season with “Grounded,” a classic Lower Decks style take on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock that reminds us of all the things we love about the animated comedy. It is wonderful to have this show back for another season, and it provides a fun change of pace after so much live action Star Trek in recent months.

After the season two cliffhanger, in which Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) was arrested by Starfleet Security for supposedly being responsible for destroying the Pakled homeworld, Pakled Planet, the crew of the Cerritos are on shore leave on Earth while Freeman stands trial and the Cerritos in dry dock awaiting repairs.

Frustrated by what she believes is about to be a sham trial of her mother, Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) enlists the help of her fellow Lower Deckers, Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) and D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) to try and steal the Cerritos to find evidence that will exonerate Freeman.

The episode follows the Lower Deckers as they try to find a way to the Cerritos’s drydock, and then to head out — Search to Spock style! — to prove Freeman’s innocence. Chased by Starfleet Security, all hope seems lost for the Lower Deckers until… Freeman arrives, having been exonerated by a secret Starfleet mission to clear her name. A mission the Lower Deckers knew nothing about and had nothing to do with, and seems like a great episode of some other Star Trek show!

The resolution to “Grounded,” written by Chris Kula, is where it truly shines in the Lower Decks style — because by the end of the episode, absolutely nothing our intrepid heroes did contributed towards Freeman’s exoneration. But along the way, the show gives us a fun exploration of some new and familiar parts of Earth, and gives the main Lower Decks characters a chance to shine as they work together.

It makes total sense that four ensigns would not ultimately be the reason why a major interstellar diplomatic incident gets solved. But borrowing a lot the tropes from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock tricks the audience into thinking maybe this is the time they DO matter to the bridge crew storylines. I applaud Lower Decks for not giving into the temptation to have our ensigns be pivotal to Freeman’s release, because then it is just like any other Star Trek show.

The other highlight of the episode is historic Bozeman, Montana, the location-turned-museum where Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell, reprising his role) launched his warp ship, the Phoenix, as seen in Star Trek: First Contact. The idea that it has been turned into a tourist-trap amusement park amuses me, and there are all kinds of fun touches to First Contact and classic science fiction theme park rides.

Welcome back, Lower Decks. I am ready to laugh!

TREK TROPE TRIBUTES

• “Grounded” is Lower Decks’ take on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and other similar episodes in which our heroes feel they need to go rogue in order to save one of their colleagues.
   
• Naturally because Admiral Freeman’s office is in San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge is visible out the window, keeping up the tradition of the Bridge being visible from absolutely everywhere in the city in Star Trek!

CANON CONNECTIONS

• The Federation News Network, which broadcasts news coverage of the trial of Captain Freeman, was most recently seen in the Star Trek: Picard pilot “Remembrance.”
   
• According to the ticker at the bottom of the screen, now-Admiral Edward Jellico (from TNG’s “Chain of Command”) has ordered the Zebulon Sisters — first referenced in the Lower Decks episode “Terminal Provocations” — from appearing on screen.
   
• The same ticker reveals that the Buffalo Solar Knights have eclipsed the London Kings in the first game of the ELDS (Earth League Division Series?). Is baseball back as a part of Earth culture for the first time in two decades?
   
• The ticker also indicates that a six-year old Zakdorn is the youngest person to be crowned Strategema Grand Master (the game was introduced in “Peak Performance”), and that a group of teens were recently injured at a Sonny Clemonds concert. Clemonds is the cryogenic survivor from the 20^th century who befriends data in “The Neutral Zone.”

• The Boimler Raisin Farm has much of the same equipment as the Chateau Picard vineyard seen in “Family” and “All Good Things,” as well as some of the larger floating equipment seen in Star Trek: Picard.
   
• Boimler is wearing the same outfit out in the vineyards as older alternate future Picard at the beginning of “All Good Things.”
   
• Rutherford and Tendi are eating at Sisko’s Creole Kitchen, the first time Joseph Sisko’s restaurant has appeared in Star Trek since Deep Space Nine’s seventh season. To mark the occasion, Rutherford is wearing one of Jake Sisko’s patented sweaters.
   
• Boimler struggles with one dash of Ketracel White Hot Sauce, whereas Mariner enjoys a bit of a kick.
   
• Transporter Chief Carlton Dennis (Denny) is wearing an older Starfleet uniform from the Star Trek: Voyager era; with his outer jacket, he’s dressed quite similarly to the hologram of Lewis Zimmerman seen in “Projections.”

• Denny has restored many transporter platforms; his collection features transporters based upon the sets seen in many Star Trek films and television productions.
   
• As the camera pushes in on Historic Bozeman, Jerry Goldsmith’s theme for Star Trek: First Contact plays.
   
• James Cromwell reprises his role as Zefram Cochrane for the first time since “Broken Bow,” though this time he is a holographic recreation aboard the Ride the Phoenix theme park ride.
   
• The statue of Zefram Cochrane talked about by Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: First Contact is at the center of the Bozeman park; a model of this statue was also in Captain Archer’s quarters aboard the Enterprise NX-01.
   
• The Starfleet security officer monitoring dry dock is playing 3D chess on his computer terminal.

• The Starfleet security ships that chase down the Cerritos after the Lower Deckers steal it are the same design as the Federation fighter craft seen in the Battle for Deep Space Nine in “Sacrifice of Angels.”
   
• The secret mission to exonerate Captain Freeman was led by Captain Morgan Bateson from “Cause and Effect,” with with some help from Tuvok, pictured here for the first time since his return to the Alpha Quadrant. Now that’s a show I want to watch!
   
• The Pakleds’ plan was to destroy their own planet and frame the Federation — to force the Federation into relocating them to a planet that is more rich in resources, which Freeman describes as a “true Samaritan Snare.”

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

• The Star Trek franchise video bumper that first started appearing before episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been updated slightly for Lower Decks. The Cerritos has replaced the Enterprise for Lower Decks, which means we’ll probably see similar variants used for Prodigy, Picard, and Discovery when those shows return.

• The nebula clouds in the opening franchise animation also contain the spectral koala!
   
• This is a rare Star Trek episode that has only an A story. There is no B story, which normally follows different characters on a different (but sometimes related) plot.
   
• Pakled Planet’s capital is called Big Strong City.
   
• Tuvok’s participation in the free-Freeman mission would seem to indicate the Vulcan’s neural degradation (noted in “Endgame”) has been repaired!
   
• Admiral Freeman’s office has a number of plants in it. Each of the planters has a little LCARS control on it. Later in the episode, it is revealed that Admiral Freeman’s first name is Alonso.

• The battle sequence in the opening credits has gotten slightly more intense in Season 3. After Klingon ships were added in Season 2, there is now a Crystalline Entity present — I guess it’s Crystalline Entity season.
   
• The shots of the Ride the Phoenix ride leaving Earth are recreations of the same shots of the ship from Star Trek: First Contact — complete with Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride.”
   
• The Zefram Cochrane safety video in line for, and on board the Phoenix, is reminiscent of a lot of science-fiction-themed rides, such as the famous Back to the Future: The Ride at Universal Studios and of course, the Star Trek: The Experience rides like Klingon Encounter and Borg Invasion 4-D.

The laughs are back with the return of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and they’re very welcome. The show launches the third season with a classic Lower Decks twist on a fun Star Trek trope.

I can’t wait for the next nine weeks of episodes to enjoy this fun show heading into the fall!

Star Trek: Lower Decks returns with “The Least Dangerous Game” Thursday, September 1 on Paramount+ in the United States, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics, as well as on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada and on Prime Video in many other regions.