This week brings us to the second episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and we’ve got your next round of new photos from “Envoys” today — takes Ensign Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Ensign Mariner (Tawny Newsome) on a diplomatic mission with a Klingon general, getting into trouble along the way.
While those two try to find their footing on an alien planet, Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) finds himself searching for a new calling aboard the Cerritos as he tries his hand at other roles aboard ship.
Here are four new photos from this week’s episode, along with nine previously-released images for “Envoys.”
'Star Trek: Lower Decks' -- 'Envoys'
1 of 13
Tendi and Mariner move some cargo down a corridor. (CBS All Access)
Tendi and Mariner encounter a glowing orb in the corridor. (CBS All Access)
Boimler waves a padd about. (CBS All Access)
Mariner shows Tendi their workspace. (CBS All Access)
Boimler finds Mariner eating in the shuttlecraft. (CBS All Access)
Boimler and Mariner arrive at the Klingon facility. (CBS All Access)
Mariner and Boimler encounter a Ferengi while away from the Cerritos. (CBS All Access)
Mariner and Boimler share a moment aboard their shuttle. (CBS All Access)
Rutherford listens to Lt. Commander Billups, the Cerritos' chief engineer. (CBS All Access)
Security chief Lt. Shaxs seems angry. (CBS All Access)
A dirty Rutherford chats with Tendi. (CBS All Access)
Tendi and Rutherford grab a drink at the bar. (CBS All Access)
Tendi and Rutherford spend time in a Jefferies tube. (CBS All Access)
On social media this week, CBS has released some new looks into the series, including this comparison video showing the before-and-after process of the animation work that goes into producing an episode of Lower Decks.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDupgqeI8so/
In other news, showrunner Mike McMahan and the creative team behind the series will hold a virtual panel during ReedPop’s “Metaverse” digital convention on Thursday, where they’ll appear in a video event at 2:45 PM on August 13.
Ready to boldly go into the #ReedpopMetaverse? Join the creative team behind CBS All Access’ new animated series, “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” for an exclusive clip of Ep 3 & a Q&A panel to discuss the newest Star Trek Universe series.
Finally, if you didn’t catch it at the end of “Second Contact,” here’s the preview for this coming season of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
ENVOYS — After a high-profile mission goes awry, Boimler (Jack Quaid) is further plagued with self-doubt when Mariner (Tawny Newsome) proves herself to be a more naturally talented sci-fi badass than he. Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) quits his job in engineering and explores other departments on the U.S.S. Cerritos.
Written by Chris Kula. Directed by Kim Arndt.
Star Trek: Lower Decks returns Thursday, August 13 with “Envoys” on CBS All Access and CTV Sci-Fi Channel. International distribution for the series has not yet been announced.
If you’re living like Cris Rios with an old Walkman — er, record player — in your quarters, then our friends over at Lakeshore Records have a new pressing to add to your collection!
The label released composer Jeff Russo’s Star Trek: Picard score back in April on digital download and streaming services, but now they’re returning to 2399 with a special collectors’ edition of the first season’s soundtrack in Borg-errific green vinyl!
Due to beam down on October 9 — just days after Star Trek: Picard lands on Blu-ray — the two-LP special release will include 26 of the first season’s tracks across both records, each pressed from galactic “Trans Green Splatter” vinyl coloring.
Included will be these tracks from Season 1:
Side A – 17:30 mins approx
01. Star Trek Picard Main Title
02. Star Trek Picard End Title
03. Walking With Number One
04. The Painting
05. Twins
06. Romulan Collusion
07. Trouble For Picard
08. Raffi Decides To Join
Side B – 20:28 mins approx.
01. Sizing Up Rios
02. Happier Times
03. Mystery Ship
04. Soji And Narek Waltz
05. Home Movies
06. Seven Needs Revenge
Side C – 18:39 mins approx.
01. Raffi Calls Bosch
02. Looking For Picard
03. Walking Around Nepenthe
04. Picard And Riker Reunite
05. Picard Bids Farewell
Side D – 22:16 mins approx
01. Tal Shiar Admonisher
02. Sutra Arrives
03. Romulans Arrive Pt.1
04. Talking To Data
05. The Crew Leaves As One
06. Blue Skies
07. Star Trek Picard Episode 110 End Credits (Full Version)
Have you picked up previous Star Trek soundtrack vinyl releases — and will you be adding the Picard set to your collection? Sound off in the comments below with your thoughts!
Star Trek: Lower Decks has finally warped into North America, and as the new animated series launches today, there’s a few news bits that we wanted to shine a spotlight on before the next mission of the new crew!
As the hours approached last night’s debut of Lower Decks, the official Star Trek social media team released a four-part series of Starfleet recruitment posters to highlight starship life for new officers in the fleet — giving Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford, and Tendi each a chance to be the face of the ‘fleet.
The yellow-striped, California-class USS Cerritos. (CBS All Access)
Series showrunner Mike McMahan spoke with the How to Kill an Hour podcast earlier this week, and as part of his discussion he expanded upon the look and design of the California-class starship at the center of the series: the USS Cerritos.
The ship is in great condition. It’s a California-class ship, which has always existed in Starfleet — [this is] what we’re saying — that they’re the utility support ships. In the California-class [line], there are three types of hull painting: there’s blue, red, and yellow.
We’ve extended the visual metaphor of the uniforms to the ships, and the Cerritos has yellow on the hull because it’s primarily a second contact engineering ship. They show up to planets that need engineering stuff done on them in order to be able to communicate with the Federation.
There’s also, you’ll see in the show, blue-hulled California class ships, which are usually deployed to places where there has to be more medical expertise, and red-hulled ships that are like for moving around ambassadors and doing more command-level stuff.
A front view of the Cerritos, inspired by the Miranda-class USS Reliant. (CBS All Access)
The actual design for the Cerritos, which is our lead ship, is directly inspired by my favorite Starfleet ship — the Reliant from ‘The Wrath of Khan.’ I just love the look of that ship. I wanted to take the Reliant and then put it into a version of the ‘Next Gen’ look of ships — and then on top of that, it’s a support ship so it can’t look as cool as all the other ships. It can’t be as easy to get around in it.
I’m surprised by how many people online were like, “Well, wait a minute, engineering section is removed and put in between the nacelles?” It’s like, guys, there were diagonal turbolifts in the Enterprise-D. Have you guys not been looking at the schematics of the Enterprise D?! Because we have been!
Also, as my wife — who saw some of those tweets — rolled her eyes and said, “Why are they not knowing that there are diagonal turbolifts on this ship? There’s diagonal elevators at the Luxor in Las Vegas. They think the Luxor has better technology than a Starfleet ship?”
A composite of the Cerritos’ master situation display monitor from ‘Second Contact.’ (CBS All Access)
Listen, I love the internet. It’s a hive mind where everybody who knows more than me is getting together and trying to make sure that everything is stress checked. But when it comes to the ship, we had many hundreds of designs that we whittled down to exactly what I wanted.
I wanted the nacelles to be shaped more squarely than the smooth lines of the Enterprise-D’s nacelles. And I also didn’t want it to look [like the ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’-era] NX-class where it was funky and early, and I didn’t want it look like a Sovereign-class, which is all fancy and shiny.
I wanted it to look a little more like a standard season four, season five TNG-era ship. So it has fewer decks, but it’s still a fully functioning Starfleet ship. It has a full crew. And I don’t want to spoil anything… but we do visit some parts of the ship that we’ve always heard about but never seen before.
One of those never-seen places may be the long-joked-about Cetacean Ops laboratory, introduced in the Next Generation Technical Manual and the expanded Enterprise-D Blueprints, as discussed in this week’s new edition of The Ready Room, where host Wil Wheaton interviewed McMahan following the overnight debut of Lower Decks.
Mike McMahan: “We’re all obsessed with Cetacean Ops; we love that it exists. We’re breaking a story now for the second season where we’re like, ‘Is this it? Is the one where we finally go to Cetacean Ops?’ Because a lot of our characters talk about Cetacean Ops, and sometimes enter a scene wet — but we never actually get to go into Cetacean Ops [in Season 1].
I’m dying to go into Cetacean Ops but it’s got to be worth it. It’s got to be for a good reason.”
Star Trek: Lower Decks returns next Thursday with “Envoys” on CBS All Access, CTV Sci Fi, and Crave.
Star Trek makes a triumphant return to the world of animation with the premiere of Lower Decks and its pilot episode, the aptly-named “Second Contact.” Combining some glorious nostalgia, deep-cut references sure to satisfy the most ardent Star Trek fan, episodic storytelling, and a plethora of humor and smarts, Lower Decks is a triumph right out of the gate.
Having had the opportunity to view the first four episodes of the season so far, we’re pleased to report “Second Contact” is not a fluke. Lower Decks succeeds as both a Star Trek show and as an animated comedy, and we’re excited to see where this show goes next.
Unlike its most recent predecessors in the Secret Hideout-era — Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard — Lower Decks does not shy away from or work to reimagine or ‘modernize’ certain elements of Star Trek’s history. Instead, it revels in what has come before.
Ensigns Tendi (Noel Wells) and Boimler (Jack Quaid) take in the view from the USS Cerritos’ observation port. (CBS All Access)
From the cold open of “Second Contact,” complete with establishing shots of the USS Cerritos, docked at a classic movie-era Starbase, to an opening “captain’s log,” to the overall look and feel of the ship, this show oozes nostalgia for Berman-era Trek from its pores from the opening shots.
Series creator and showrunner Mike McMahan — and his team — are not just huge Star Trek fans — they are comedy pros, too. And while humor can be extremely subjective, I found the jokes worked across all four of the episodes we got the chance to preview. This is a funny show, accentuating the things we love about Star Trek — all while living up the promise of not just being a brilliant comedy as well.
“Second Contact” introduces us to our series leads – Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells), and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Newsome and Quaid immediately establish themselves and jump off the screen in this episode; Newsome’s performance as Mariner in particular is dripping with a sly charisma that makes the character extremely compelling.
Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) goes on a spacewalk with his date, Ensign Barnes (Jessica McKenna). (CBS All Access)
Lower Decks is structured like classic episodes of The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine: a strong A-story, with B and C-stories supporting the main plot. In this episode, the A-story very much focuses on Mariner and Boimler; the latter of which is given an assignment by Captain Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) to keep an eye on Mariner’s rule breaking ways.
The B-story, which sweeps up Tendi, involves a hilarious outbreak of a zombie-like rage virus aboard the USS Cerritos and gives us our first major exposure to the ship’s senior staff: first officer Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) and Doctor T’Ana (Gillian Vigman), the Caitian doctor who is likely to cement herself as a fan favorite.
Finally, the C-story involves Rutherford going on a date with a fellow officer, but ultimately breaking things off because his romantic partner was more interested in love instead of the fact an access hatch was in need of maintenance. Given the primary focus on Mariner and Boimler in the pilot, it may take an episode or two more for Tendi and Rutherford to fully establish their characters, but I like what I’m seeing to this point.
The Lower Decks score, composed by Trek newcomer Chris Westlake, hearkens back to the bombastic riffs of ’90s-era television adventures, a welcome throwback and instantly feels familiar and lived in. The composer, who also scored McMahan’s just-debuted Hulu series Solar Opposites, also gets a shout-out in the episode as Ensign Tendi’s boss, Nurse Westlake.
As for the show’s title sequence, it hilariously plays off the sweeping scope of the Star Trek: Voyager opening visuals, with the Cerritos haphazardly encountering a black hole, colliding with a comet, and high-tailing it away from a Romulan/Borg skirmish, among other troubles along the way — leading into the episode title, which returns to the on-screen credits for the first time since Star Trek: Enterprise.
It’s a perfect way to introduce viewers to a Trek comedy that cares about the Trek universe.
Pipe the gas cure into the vents, problem solved. (CBS All Access)
Trek Trope Tributes
Mariner says senior officers are always “yelling about directives,” and later that “Klingons are always making oaths.”
Ransom is bit on the planet by an insect, and as he returns to the ship says, “I’ll be fine” when he is encouraged to “get that looked at it.” Sure, Ransom. You’ll be fine.
When Boimler is injured, Mariner dismisses it quickly by saying, “You’ll be fine. Doc will wave a light over it.”
The rage virus cure is released through the Cerritos‘ ventilation system to cure everyone instantaneously.
Ensign Barnes refers to the songs of The Monkees as “classical” music, just as McCoy categorized the Beastie Boys in Star Trek Beyond.
After coming up with the cure, Captain Freeman tells Dr. T’Ana she’ll get “to publish more award-winning research,” a classic Trek poke at senior staff always talking about awards and commendations throughout Trek.
After things have calmed down, Rutherford references the rage virus by saying to Tendi “that stuff happens all the time.”
Aliens Spotted (and Spotted Aliens)
A Benzite, seen multiple times in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine — most prominently in the TNG episodes “Coming of Age” and “A Matter of Honor” — is present at Tendi’s arrival on the Cerritos.
One of the crew members who boards the Cerritos with Tendi is an Andorian, marking the first appearance of the race in Lower Decks. Andorians have been frequently seen on Star Trek since Star Trek: Enterprise — appearing in Discovery and Picard as well — and it’s fair to say you’ll be seeing more of them in this series as the season progresses.
Ensign Barnes, Rutherford’s date — and one of the helm officers aboard the Cerritos — is a Trill, the spotted-skin race made famous by Jadzia and Ezri Dax in Deep Space Nine. It is unclear if she is joined, but her father is “part cyborg.”
One of the Cerritos’ away team members is a Bolian, the first appearance of the race in their traditional blue appearance since Ensign Chell on the USS Voyager — but we did see a holographic red Bolian in Picard this season.
As Ensign Tendi join the Cerritos with a few other Starfleet personnel, we see what appears to be a half-Klingon Starfleet ensign joining the crew, too.
Of course, Ensign Tendi is the first Orion regular in Star Trek history; the green-skinned race made its debut all the way back in “The Cage”, with subsequent appearances in the Original Series, Enterprise, Discovery, and the Kelvin Timeline films.
Canon Connections
Standard Starbase
Douglas Station, the starbase the USS Cerritos is docked at the opening of the episode, matches the design for Space Dock, which was first seen in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and used as several additional starbases in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
VISOR Vision
Two crewmen are seen wearing a Geordi LaForge-style VISOR in this episode – the first when Tendi arrives aboard the shuttle on the Cerritos, and the second as a member of the Galadonian landing party.
An Engineer and His Tools
When first introduced, Rutherford has an open toolkit filled with tools that match those seen on other 24th century Star Trek shows, including Miles O’Brien’s toolkit in Deep Space Nine.
Starfleet Luggage
Classic 24th century luggage design is still the fashion in 2380, as Tendi carries a cylindrical case that is shaped like those first seen back in “11001001” in TNG’s first season.
Cetacean Ops
Boimler mentions Cetacean Ops as one of the coolest places on the ship. Previously only mentioned in dialogue in “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and hinted at in “The Perfect Mate,” the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual and establishes Cetacean Ops as important to navigation aboard a starship, manned by dolphin crewmen.
The Coolest Places On the Ship
Mariner, Tendi, and Boimler visit the holodeck. This is the first time the holodeck has appeared in its Next Generation appearance — plain black walls with a yellow grid pattern — since the Enterprise series finale “These Are the Voyages…”
Boimler, however, loves the USS Cerritos‘ warp core, the first traditional vertical warp core, complete with pulsating thumping sound, seen since Star Trek: Nemesis.
Bar Wear & Barware
The waiters aboard the USS Cerritos are wearing the same green colored uniforms as the waiters in Ten Forward on the USS Enterprise — in addition, many of the drinking glasses are right out of Guinan’s inventory.
Pattern Enhancers
The Cerritos’ away teams beam down to the planet with the help of standard 24th century pattern enhancers, like the ones featured throughout 90s era Trek and first seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Power Play.”
Argo Buggy
On the planet’s surface, Mariner and Boimler travel around using the Argo buggy, whose first and only previous appearance was in Star Trek Nemesis.
cha’DIch, baby!
Mariner nominates herself Boimler’s new “mentor” and goes on to say she is now his cha’DIch. Picard served as Worf’s cha’DIch in a much more serious scenario where Worf was facing discommendation from the Klingon High Council. (TNG: “Sins of the Father.”)
Starfleet Bureaucracy
The Galardonian farmers that Mariner decides to help with some extra equipment because they “can’t afford to wait for Starfleet bureaucracy to notice them” are reminiscent of the forgotten Bajoran refugees Ensign Ro introduces Captain Picard to in “Ensign Ro.”
Mariner’s Shore Leave Haul
Mariner’s collection of items she gathered on Shore Leave at Douglas Station includes a Klingon bat’leth, a glavin weapon from Ligon II (“Code of Honor”) and a Saurian brandy bottle.
[td_smart_list_end]
Other Observations
The California-class USS Cerritos has a number of references to its namesake including the California state flag on the wall of Captain Freeman’s ready room, and the fleet of Type 6-A shuttlecraft named after California’s parks – Redwood, Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Death Valley, and King’s Canyon. (Plus, Boimler is from Modesto, CA, as well.)
The first-seen Sikh Starfleet officer is on duty in the shuttlebay as Tendi first arrives on board.
There are references to the following Starfleet regulations: 498, 756, 25, 15, 348 and 76, as well as General Order No. 5.
Mariner’s declaration to Boimler and her lower decks crewmates at the end of the episode includes references to Spock coming back from the dead in Star Trek III, the Genesis device and Khan from Star Trek II, whales from Star Trek IV, Sulu rocking a sword in “The Naked Time,” Kirk, Worf, Gary Mitchell, and Deanna Troi’s famous jumpsuit wardrobe.
“The bridge is not cool.” “Yes it is!” (CBS All Access)
“Second Contact” is a fun and funny beginning to the latest Star Trek series, combining humor and smarts into a self-contained episode that capably establishes the characters and their dynamics. Based on this episode, and the three that come after — “Envoys,” “Temporal Edict,” and “Moist Vessel” — prepare to be left breathless by the series as it progresses.
And because this is Star Trek — and ultimately, the characters ascend above the story — perhaps the most consequential reveal of the episode is the one at the end; Ensign Mariner is actually Captain Freeman’s daughter, who she has been trying to get reassigned because their relationship is strained.
It will be interesting to see how that dynamic develops over the remainder of Lower Decks’ first season — and something we discuss with series showrunner Mike McMahon in our new one-on-one interview with the writer, coming to TrekCore later this week.
There are nine more episodes to air this season, and the Lower Decks production team are hard at work scripting Season 2 now. We are strapped in and excited for the ride ahead: it’s warp time!
What did you think of “Second Contact”? Share your thoughts on the Star Trek: Lower Decks premiere in the comments below!
While Star Trek: Lower Decks is about to beam to viewers in the United States and Canada this week — with its online virtual “premiere party” kicking off on August 4, just as this article goes live — fans around the world are still wondering just when they’ll get their own chance to enjoy the animated adventures in their part of the world.
Believe us, it’s something we’ve been concerned about too — as we’ve had to sort out how to manage spoilers on social media while still engaging our readers in North America, for example — and the lack of information from international platforms has been only more and more noticeable as the weeks have passed.
In a new interview today with the How to Kill an Hour podcast, Lower Decks showrunner Mike McMahan shared some insight into the state of international plans for the new series — and how the impact of COVID-19 shook up the normal timeline.
I want everyone in the world to be able to see this show. And I think that, something the internet doesn’t quite calculate into, you know, it’s always a mystery, you’re always seeing like, “Oh what is CBS up to?”
CBS wants all you guys to see it too. I want to be careful here, because I normally just go radio silent because I don’t want to speak out of turn because this business stuff, the deal making, is not something I’m involved in. I’m involved in making sure a Trill symbiont is called a symbiont and not a symbiote.
But from what I know – here’s the pieces of this I know for you guys to hold on to – is there are, in the works, a way for you guys to watch it. I don’t know the timeline, but the reason you guys don’t know yet is squarely because of COVID… because the timelines for everything we’ve been doing for production have been completely thrown out.
A lot of what we’re doing [for ‘Lower Decks’] unexpectedly got shifted two months earlier, because they were juggling around schedules and stuff. A lot of the different groups in entertainment — when you shuffle that stuff around, they can’t move as fast as [we in production can]. My priorities were keeping everybody on the show healthy — making it the best as possible — and getting it into everybody’s hands as soon as I can, because we’re all fucking miserable right now.
Mike McMahan talks ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ at STLV 2019. (Photo: TrekCore.com)
And, I did not know that doing all that stuff was going to end up having to leave UK, and abroad other than Canada hanging for a minute — but it’s not because we don’t love you guys, and it’s not because we don’t want to share ‘Trek’ with you guys. You know, ‘Star Trek’ is universal. ‘Star Trek’ is global.
The characters in Star Trek aren’t an American set of characters. They are an Earth set of characters, and you know, we want everyone on the planet to be able to see this Federation show, so I get the frustration. I have been quiet about it, only because I don’t want to step on the jobs of everybody else [who] is trying to get it to [global fans] faster, and accidentally slow [those plans] down to calm people down on Twitter.
The thought of having CBS be like, “We were about to close [the international deal], but then you fucking said something, and now people have to wait an extra month” — because it complicated some deal or whatever… It’s been in the works for a long time, and I’m fine at people tweeting their frustrations at me. I get it. I’ve been frustrated at deal making a million times before.
But my priority is that you get it as soon as possible. So I know it’s frustrating, but it really is a symptom of our whole timeline moved up. We were not expecting to premiere [as soon as August], but because of circumstances being what they are, it was important to us to get this out in the world. And we had the ability to do it safely.
The unintended consequence is [fans around the world] having to see us all being pumped about it, and then [be] like, “Hello, what about us?”
But trust me, it’s a priority that you guys get it. And we’re working on it.
Some have aimed their frustrations at CBS, but as with Discovery and Picard in the past, announcements on international airings of the new Star Trek series won’t come from them: it will almost certainly come from whatever global partner acquires the rights to Star Trek: Lower Decks — just like Netflix did when it picked up Discovery back in 2016.
Once those negotiations are completed — whenever that may be — and an announcement is made, you can be sure to read about it here at TrekCore.
In the meantime, for those of you who’ll be able to watch the Star Trek: Lower Decks premiere this Thurdsay on CBS All Access, CTV Sci Fi Channel, and Crave, watch for our review of the series premiere, “Second Contact” and some overall thoughts on the four episodes we’ve seen so far that morning.
We’re just over 48 hours from the debut of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and we have a chance for readers to beam up a pair of the exclusive Lower Decks character pins that were only available at 2019’s San Diego Comic Con event!
This contest has ended and winners have been notified.
The first Lower Decks merchandise released for the CBS All Access animated series, these convention-exclusive pins — featuring the faces of Ensign D’Vana Tendi and the Cerritos’ Dr. T’Ana — were part of 2019’s Star Trek Universe experience at San Diego Comic Con, only available as giveaways to on-site visitors to the annual California event.
We’ve been holding onto three pairs of these pins since last summer, just waiting for premiere week to make sure that some other Star Trek fans got their chance to bring the Orion ensign and Caitian doctor home — and now three TrekCore readers will win a pair of these rare pins!
Join us on social media and answer the following question:
You can enter by sharing your answer in one of two ways!
You have until midnight (Eastern time) on Sunday, August 9 to get your entry in — we’ll reach out to the three winners via Twitter or Facebook after the contest closes to arrange for fulfillment.
* * * *
Unfortunately, due to the increasing delivery times facing the US Postal Service and international shipping challenges, we must limit this contest to residents in the United States.
Sorry folks – wish it weren’t the case, but mailing things are a mess right now and we don’t want these to get lost in transit. Good luck to all who enter!
The comments section of this article will not be considered for contest entries.
We’re still more than two months away from the return of Star Trek: Discovery this October, but as we dive into the 23-week marathon of new Trek episodes that kick off this Thursday, CBS All Access has teased something from the far future in a new promotional image.
Released on social media today, this new Lower Decks – Discovery image was meant to hype up the five-month marathon of new episodes that run from the Lower Decks launch on August 6 through the Discovery finale in January, but along with a nice new photo of Sonequa Martin-Green sporting Michael Burnham’s new look, eagle-eyed fans spotted something else on the Discovery half of the graphic.
The traditional Discovery uniform badge — the split-delta Starfleet design seen in use since the series premiered — seems to have been replaced with a new, oval-shaped badge that (when examined closely) features an inscribed representation of that split-delta graphic, along with hash marks to represent Burnham’s rank of Commander.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this new badge design, though it is the first official image released with it in view — in mid-2019, Discovery actor Wilson Cruz tweeted (and later deleted) an on-set photo of himself and Raven Dauda (who plays Dr. Pollard) wearing the badges (which we’ve held back from publishing until this official look today).
Raven Dauda and Wilson Cruz on the set of ‘Discovery’ Season 3 – sporting the new badges.
What does this mean for the state of Starfleet, 900 years after the Discovery crew warped from their home time period? Little is still known about the state of the universe on the other side of that Red Angel wormhole, but we’ll know more once the series returns in October.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 returns to CBS All Access and CTV Sci Fi Channel on October 15, and is expected to return internationally to Netflix on October 16 worldwide.
This Thursday finally brings us to the premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks, the new animated series set aboard the California-class USS Cerritos, and ahead of the new show we’ve got even more images from the crew’s first adventure!
“Second Contact,” the show’s first episode, features the arrival of Ensign D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) to the USS Cerritos, where she’s introduced to fellow ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), all learning what it takes to make it as Starfleet officers.
SECOND CONTACT —Series premiere. Ensign Tendi has her first day of work on Starfleet’s U.S.S. Cerritos, where she meets fellow support crew members, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler and Rutherford. Meanwhile, Boimler is tasked with a secret special assignment and Rutherford attempts to keep his dating life intact while a sci-fi disaster strikes the ship.
Written by Mike McMahan. Directed by Barry J. Kelly.
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) August 3, 2020
* * * *
When it comes to Lower Decks merchandise, that train is beginning to leave the station this week too, as animation company Titmouse — who produces Lower Decks‘ animated episodes — has launched the Lower Deckers Shirt Collective, a weekly T-shirt release which will feature designs celebrating the new series.
Fans in US and Canada can sign up for an entire season’s worth of eleven shirts — one per episode, plus a bonus subscriber-exclusive design — at a cost of $180; for those wanting to pick and choose, each of the ten episodic shirts will also be available individually for $20 each.
Lower Decks showrunner Mike McMahan has hinted in the past that there could be familiar Star Trek voices returning for animated appearances in the new series, and in a brief update via Inverse today, he offered even more confirmation that we’ll hear from “legacy” characters soon.
“That’s interesting because we do have legacy actors who show up in the first season of ‘Lower Decks’ and we have gotten to have a little bit of where are they now sort of vibe through a ‘Lower Decks’ lens.
But I gotta say, if anyone wants Mariner to show up on their live-action Star Treks, you’ve got to have Tawny.”
There’s no word yet on who might show up — or when — so expect some surprises as the season progresses. (And if we ever get these animated characters in a live-action series, you can see McMahan already pressing for his voice cast to fill those real uniforms.)
* * * *
There’s still no news on international availability for the new series, unfortunately — and we all hope that news is coming soon — but there does seem to be at least one ray of hope on the situation.
Series showrunner Mike McMahan eased the fears of one fan on Twitter late last week, intimating that a plan for international distribution for Lower Decks was on the way, though beyond his reassurance the writer/producer did not offer specifics.
“Sometimes a man’ll tell his bartender things he’ll never tell his doctor,” once said Enterprise physician Dr. Phillip Boyce, and now fans of the franchise can learn to make all sorts of Star Trek sprits sing with Star Trek Cocktails,a new book coming this fall from Hero Collector.
Set to arrive just in time for happy hour on November 3 from Hero Collector, author Glenn Dakin’s Star Trek Cocktails: A Stellar Compendium is a new 152-page hardcover collection of bartender-friendly drink recipes from the United Federation of Planets (and beyond), with drinks inspired by all corners of the Star Trek universe.
Some examples include the “Live Long and Prosper,” a refreshing grapefruit drink; “Jean-Luc’s Earl Gray Martini,” and a mysterious-looking “Odo’s Chameleon.”
Here’s the publisher’s description:
Have you ever longed for a taste of Romulan Ale? Or pined for the mellowing effect of Dr McCoy’s Mint Julep? Perhaps a Fuzzy Tribble would get you purring? Or a soothing sip of Captain Picard’s Earl Grey Martini? This voyage into the future of stylish drinking is a must for all Star Trek – and cocktail – fans.
With dozens of recipes from mixology consultants Simon Pellet, Adrian Calderbank, photos by David Burton and Jess Esposito, illustrations by Adrian Salmon and a witty garnish of quotations gathered by Glenn Dakin, this book will help you say cheers to your favourite show and provide enough inspiration to help you launch your own franchise of Quark’s Bar.
We’ve also got two sample pages to share, courtesy of the Hero Collector announcement: “Kirk’s Old Fashioned” and a Rura Penthe-inspired “Ice Planet.”
But if you’re in the mood to whip up a 24th century-inspired drink of your own to celebrate the launch of Star Trek: Lower Decks next week, tonight we can share with you this recipe for blue Romulan Whiskey!
(Pardon the splashes of blue curacao!)
As featured in the first clip from the series, this make-it-yourself recipe comes to us thanks to this fancy Lower Decks party-at-home kit we received from CBS All Access today, since obvious pandemic concerns preclude the usual Hollywood event typically accompanying a new Star Trek series launch.
'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Party Kit
1 of 8
While we all may be stuck at home for the launch of the new series, we hope you’ll join us in a drink on August 6 when Star Trek: Lower Decks beams down to CBS All Access and CTV Sci Fi — and we’ll have an extra one on behalf of global fans, still awaiting news on their own chance to see the new series.
We’ve got a roundup of news for all the 2020 Star Trek productions today, as we go from a set of new promo videos into award nominations for some of the year’s earlier releases!
The day began with the official announcements for the 72nd Emmy Award nominations — television’s biggest prizes — and the Star Trek franchise was once again named in the mix for this year’s golden trophies.
Star Trek: Short Treks scored its nomination in the category for which CBS was most hopeful it would,Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, where it will be up against a number of web and mobile-format rivals, including digital entries from Better Call Saul and The Good Place, along with two new “quick bite” series on the mobile platform Quibi — The Most Dangerous Game and the revival of Reno 911!.
As for Star Trek: Picard, like Discovery in previous years, the series landed several nominations in technical categories, including Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup,Outstanding Period And/Or Character Makeup, and Outstanding Period And/Or Character Hairstyling, as well as audio categories Outstanding Sound Editing and Outstanding Sound Mixing.
The winners in the 72nd Annual Emmy Awards will be announced on September 20.
* * * *
CBS All Access released two new character videos for Star Trek: Lower Decks, featuring young engineer Ensign Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and the upstart Orion scientist Ensign D’Vana Tandi (Noel Wells).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDKOvqbpFPt/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDMzgaZnD58/
* * * *
In addition to all that, CBS All Access also debuted a new promotional video for the upcoming 23-week marathon of new Star Trek episodes — from the August 6 premiere of Lower Decks through the Season 3 finale of Discovery aimed for January 7 — which also includes a tiny bit of new footage from each upcoming show.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDMX_KHntJv/
(We’ve embedded both YouTube and Instagram versions of the promo here, as our international friends often encounter region-locking issues due to licensing agreements.)
While the Lower Decks portion of the new promo includes a few beats of action as Ensign Mariner (Tawny Newsome) cracks wise about 23rd century alien encounters, the new footage from Discovery shows off a few new moments between Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and newcomer Book (David Ajala), but also an exciting moments when she seems to use her Red Angel suit to confirm her safe passage through the time-twisting wormhole seen in last year’s finale.
“What, is this the 2260’s?” (CBS All Access)Book (David Ajala) and Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) in the future. (CBS All Access)Burnham is happy to see she’s landed on target. (CBS All Access)
* * * *
Finally, Star Trek: Discovery lead Sonequa Martin-Green announced the birth of her daughter on social media today, and we wish her, husband Kenric Green, and their entire family well.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDM1fsSFEVC
Star Trek: Discovery returns October 15 on CBS All Access and CTV Sci Fi, and is expected to return on Netflix for international viewers on October 16 globally.
Star Trek: Lower Decks debuts August 6 in the US and Canada; international distribution has not yet been announced.
