Star Trek: Lower Decksintroduced a multiverse problem that had previously been faced onStar Trek: The Next Generation.When mysterious quantum fissures started popping up throughout the galaxy inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, the USS Cerritos was asked to investigate. Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid) and his crew of"interdimensional castaways"on the starship Anaximander discovered the cause of the fissures, but the Cerritos ultimately helped save the day.
This multiverse storyline allowedStar Trek: Lower Decksto bring back several characters from variousStar Trekshows and eras. The vastness ofStar Trek’s multiverse allows for an infinite number of possible realities, meaning characters from any timeline could appear, and even return from the dead. Multiverse stories have become popular in modern media like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, butStar Trekhas explored parallel universessinceStar Trek: The Original Series. Star Trek: The Next Generationtook things even further,exploring the exact same phenomena the USS Cerritos encounters inStar Trek:Lower Decksseason 5.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 Introduced Lower Decks' Quantum Fissure Multiverse Problem
Lt. Worf Encounters A Quantum Fissure In The TNG Season 7 Episode, “Parallels”
InStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 7, episode 11, “Parallels,“Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn)returns from a Bat’leth tournament and soon begins noticing changes on the USS Enterprise-D. As the changes become more and more significant, the crew of an alternate reality Enterprise determines thatWorf encountered a“quantum fissure in the space-time continuum,“causing him to shift between various quantum realities. At the end of “Parallels,” hundreds of Enterprise-Ds start appearing through various quantum fissures, and the Enterprise crew must find the one from which Worf originated.
“Parallels” makes great use of the concepts of quantum fissures and parallel universes bleeding over into one another in only a single episode, butStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 expands on the idea.Stretching the idea over a whole season allowedLower Decksto exploreStar Trek characters from alternate realitiesand touch upon “What if” scenarios fromTreklore. “Parallels” is a great episode ofTNG,and I’m gladLower Decksfound a way to revive the concept of quantum realities in a really fun way.
Will Star Trek Ever Explore The Multiverse Lower Decks Season 5 Set Up?
I Hope Star Trek Finds A Way To Continue Exploring The Multiverse
Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 ended with a bang, as the USS Cerritos saved the universe, resulting in the creation of a stable wormhole to the multiverse.This opens the door for all kinds of funStar Trekstories,but it remains to be seen if the franchise will capitalize on this potential. As an animated series,Star Trek: Lower Deckswas able to bring back several classic characters, regardless of the age of the actors who portrayed them. Actors likeStar Trek: Enterprise’s Jolene Blalockreturned to voice their characters, offering a glimpse at the types of stories a futureStar Trekproject could explore.
An animated anthology series, for example, would allowStar Trekto explore “What if” scenarios and maybe even revisit some of the universes that have already been introduced. I, for one, would love to see more of the purple universe glimpsed inStar Trek:Lower Decksseason 5, episode 7, “Fully Dilated,” or the one fromStar Trek: The Next Generation’s “Parallels” where the Borg won.Star Trekon Paramount+ doesn’t currently have any shows or upcoming projects set in the 24th or 25th centuries, but the multiverse portal introduced inStar Trek: Lower Decks’final season has too much story potential to pass up.
