Season four of Lower Decks got underway on 7 September, 2023 with Twovix. Written by showrunner and creator Mike McMahan, this one, obviously, is going to make a comment on the controversial Tuvix episode of Voyager.

And for deep cuts, there’s a visual reference to Threshold, Freeman (Dawn Lewis) investigates Janeway’s decision from the Tuvix episode, macroviruses and Borg tech, Harry Kim’s clarinet, the Voyager theme makes an appearance, and some familiar holo-characters run amok.

The Cerritos is transporting Voyager to Starfleet Command as a museum piece. Unfortunately, a transporter accident combines T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) and Billups (Paul Scheer) and Freeman has to figure out what to do.

We also get see how T’lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) and Tendi (Noel Wells) are getting along as the Vulcan science officer settles into her new role aboard the Cerritos. And Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) lets Boimler (Jack Quaid) know that promotions are coming, and unless things go very badly, he’ll be a lieutenant junior grade.

There’s also a great reference when Mariner (Tawny Newsome) reminds Boimler not to mention the Pike then (the fantastic Strange New Worlds crossover ep).

All in all, however, this is a wonderful nod to the Voyager series as T’lllups creates more hybrids instead of letting Freeman use Janeway’s solution, and the macroviruses and familiar Voyager holodeck characters cause a number of problems for the Lower Deckers.

So fun, and a great way to open the season.

I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee introduces the new season arc, with a cold open that pairs with the end of the season premiere where a strange craft blew up a Klingon ship, this time it’s Romulan.

Written by Aaron Burdette, this episode debuted on 7 September, 2023. Boimler is prepared to make some big moves, as he, Tendi and Mariner all settle into being lieutenants and new quarters. Unfortunately, Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) wasn’t promoted and tries to find a path to promotion to stay with his friends, and Mariner, well, she tries to get demoted.

The episode, whose title is a nod to Harlan Ellison’s I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, riffs on familiar material, a bit of a nod to The Cage, The Original Series’ first pilot.

I love that Ransom and Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore) are working out in the same outfits Troi and Crusher wore in TNG.

We also get introduced to Moopsy, one of the beings in Narj (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) menagerie.

In the Cradle of Vexilon was writtten by Ben M. Waller and debuted on 14 September, 2023.

Boimler leads his first away mission to an alien megastructure. The structure, a massive ring, is run by a sentient computer (familiar trope), Vexilon (Oscar Montoya). Things are complicated after the computer is updated, causing a number of disruptions across the ring. Boimler also has to learn how to command, and delegate, not to mention trusting his team.

There are some fun Easter Eggs, the Chula game from DS9, that weird hat from TNG’s Qpid, the Kataan prone (The Inner Light), a Lirpa, and Nomad (The Changeling).

Boimler has a tough time sleeping in his new quarters because of the glow from the Bussard collector. Happily, by the end of the episode, thanks to a promotion, Rutherford joins him as his roommate and adjusts the opacity of the screen.

Tendi and the others aboard the Cerritos deal with a banal, but important assigment, which they initially think is a hazing.

This is a great episode, and we get to see how our Lower Deckers deal with their new promotions, and what that means for their performance, and how they settle into the idea of giving orders, and being in command.

This series is so much fun, and so Trek.