Trek Thursdays: Trekking Towards Sixty #5 — “Lower Decks” And “Wej Duj”

On September 8th, 1966, an intrepid crew of explorers boldly went where no one had ever gone before on television. At that moment, Star Trek was born. A series that launched a franchise that has kept a firm grip on audiences for decades.

As the sixtieth anniversary approaches, we here at Comicon are ready to celebrate one of the greatest science fiction franchises. While Star Trek has graced the silver screen, most of its life has been on our television screens. So, that’s where our focus shall remain.

Every week through September 8th, we’ll be spotlighting two Star Trek episodes, from any and every iteration, that we feel are some of the greatest. At this point there are over 950 episodes of Trek, so it goes without saying some favorites won’t make the cut for this list of 60.

Beloved characters are at the core of each Trek series throughout the decades. Those figures whose adventures, pains, triumphs, struggles, and developments are what we crave on a weekly basis. Without them, the shows would not have stood the test of time and captured so much of our hearts.

Yet they are not the only draw for this franchise.

A vast wealth of recurring or even one-off characters has also caught our eyes over time. Some episodes even turn their eyes away from the main cast and do something prominent and entertaining with other characters. Some you know, others are new, but what they share is a wealth of character potential akin to their main character counterparts.

Let us celebrate a few of those episodes and side characters.

-RED ALERT: SPOILERS FOLLOW-

“Lower Decks”
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 7, Episode 15 (02/07/1994)

While TNG didn’t have as robust of a supporting cast of characters as many of its successors, they made it count when they did make these deviations. There are episodes featuring the likes of Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) or Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) or Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meany) that could easily slot into this space. Each of them getting some real meaty beats to chew upon throughout the years of this series, and beyond.

Instead though, I’m turning my gaze upon an episode that put the spotlight on underutilized, barely known, and just created in the moment characters. An episode only barely featuring the main cast that still found a way to create a massive gut punch of an ending.

Synopsis: As the senior staff discusses crew evaluations, a quartet of junior officers is left to do their best. Especially as they begin to speculate about the reasons for unusual actions of their commanding officers as the ship prepares for a mysterious mission at the Cardassian border.

On paper the episode seems like a simple one. A day in the life with unfamiliar characters as their career fates rest in the hands of their commanding officers. In execution though, it’s so much more.

Most of us are not the movers and shakers in our everyday gigs, careers, or jobs. Being in the middle, or lower, and having to wonder about the choices of your bosses is commonplace for the majority. In TV shows, like Trek, we spend all our time with the main cast who often are either the bosses or adjacent enough to the bosses to not be a “common worker” type.

Nurse Alyssa Ogawa (Patti Yasutake) at this point is the most familiar of the quartet, having appeared in numerous episodes over the years. Ensign Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) likely wasn’t instantly familiar, but the episode made sure to remind that she was previously seen in the Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) focused academy episode. You know — the one with the Nova Squadron mistake and where Robert Duncan McNeil played the first version of Tom Paris, otherwise known as Nick Locarno.

Ensign Taurik (Alexander Enberg) and Ensign Sam Lavelle (Dan Gauthier) were completely new characters.

What makes the episode tick is seeing this other side of things, through eyes different than the characters we know so well — Seeing how much the senior staff does know and care about members of their crew, even those who are at the bottom of the rungs. The switch that saw Sito sent on a mission with a Cardassian, that turns out to be fatal, feels slightly jarring but in a well-crafted way.

Through Sito we see a different side of Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Especially the side of Picard where he is tough on her because he believes she deserves a second chance after the Nova Squadron tragedy. That second chance doesn’t come, and the loss of Sito resonates with the crew. This is an episode that has a long reaching set of ripples and quite a legacy.

“Wej Duj”
Star Trek: Lower Decks – Season 2, Episode 9 (10/07/2021)

If we’re going to talk about the episode “Lower Decks”, it’s only fitting to discuss the adult-oriented animated series born of that episode and its premise.

Everything about Lower Decks as a series is built upon what the same-named episode created as a foundation. The main cast is a set of lower rank officers trying to make it in Starfleet under the guidance (at least sometimes) of an eclectic cast of senior officers.

That didn’t stop the series from doing its own unique twist take on the “Lower Decks” episode. Specifically, that meant leaping away from the main series ship at times to follow the lower decks crews of a Klingon vessel as well as a Vulcan vessel. It gave both species, who had been part of Trek since the beginning, a bit more spotlight regarding their differing ship culture.

Synopsis: An unexpectedly long warp trip gives the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos time for some much-needed rest & relaxation. Days in the life of other lower rank figures are played out on other ships, culminating in a climactic meeting of ships against a common foe.

Trek species run the gamut when it comes to their personalities, cultures, rules, and so much more. Especially their feelings about one another.

I love how much this episode gets to play with the humor of the different crews regarding one another. Showcasing these groups with the biting humor and wit that are hallmarks of this series — Ensign Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) struggling to find himself a “bridge buddy” and causing a whole bunch of faux pas and volatile situations. Boimler impressing Lieutenant Junior Kayshon (Carl Tart) by speaking Tamarian, only to mistakenly insult his weight is a good chuckle.

Not to mention pottery making Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore) is more than golden. Something about that heavily scarred and traumatized man with his rage and elated joys that just feels so warm.

One of the best things that the show did in the first season was turn the goofy Pakled junk collecting species into a genuine threat. We witness more of that as the thread continues to into this episode (and right into the next, which I already discussed in the last column).

Oh, and we cannot forget that this is the episode where we are introduced to T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) and M’ach (Jon Curry) who both play roles of importance down the line (T’Lyn, the bigger part once since she joins the Cerritos crew in season four).

There is just so much to love about how much this episode is the epitome of the series. Characters getting into hilarious situations, built around a solid character development foundation, with a wealth of Trek knowledge and love clear as day at every turn. None of it feeling forced or nostalgic but celebratory and expanding.

Come back next week as we dive into two more of Star Trek’s greatest episodes.