‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Releases Surprise ‘Lower Decks’ Crossover Episode

Since the announcement of the second season of Strange New Worlds, the main attraction has been the crossover episode with the animated sitcom Lower Decks. This episode features Tawny Newsome (Mariner) and Jack Quaid (Boimler) bringing their animated characters into the realm of live action. After being shown in advance at Comic-Con, the episode is now accessible for viewing on Paramount Plus.

The following article contains spoilers for “Those Old Scientists”.

There’s an SNL sketch where William Shatner himself tells a room full of Star Trek fans to “Get a Life!” It’s clearly meant as a joke, given Shatner’s barely suppressed smile and the twist in which Phil Hartman’s manager immediately forces him to retract his scream. Depending on who you ask, the draft was either received in the spirit it was intended or outraged by fans who felt mischaracterized and misunderstood. But this dichotomy between legend and truth is what gets the laughs in “Those Old Scientists,” a crossover episode between Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks. Well, that and a gentle elbow in the ribs suggests we could all be a little less obsessive.

The (animated) beta alter conducts a routine investigation of the long-dormant time travel portal, while Boimler and Tendi argue over who found it. Boimler brags that Starfleet found it, but Tendi says that Orion scientists are once again trying to dispel the myth that all Orions are pirates. In the mix, Boimler is standing in a portal when Rutherford accidentally activates it, throwing him back in time. When he arrives on the other side, he is now in the live action world of Strange New Worlds and is greeted by Spock, Una and La’an. And with that, we like the animated version of the title series, complete with a machine-sucking alien.

In Enterprise, Boimler can’t help but express his shock, surprise, and general fanboyism in front of his heroes. La’an lectures her not to pollute the timeline, and thanks to her adventures in “Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” she doesn’t get attached. But since this is the Boimler we know and love, he can’t help but drop spoilers left, right and center. Not to mention his insistence on highlighting the difference between the history he knows and the plots currently unfolding in Strange New Worlds. For example, he is greatly disturbed by the fact that Spock – happy in his relationship with Chapel – laughs, smiles and generally acts as if he is in love. After all, the Spock he knows—his Spock—isn’t as outwardly emotional as legend tells us. It’s almost as if he’s a stand-in for an obsessive fan who tries to enforce the boundaries of Star Trek instead of enjoying the ride.

At the same time, the Enterprise comes into contact with an Orion ship with unspecified intentions, which then steals the time portal. Boimler urges Pike to be diplomatic, but ends up forcing him to trade the much-needed rye wheat to get it back. Pike sees this – and the forced relocation of a planet full of starving colonies – as preferable to keeping this guy on his ship any longer. With the portal active and back in place, the Enterprise crew ready to get rid of this purple haired annoyance, the Mariner jumps through and boldly announces that he’s coming to the rescue. Except, the rig only had power for one trip, and no fuel source is available anywhere else in the quadrant. Leaving an eye-rolling pike for the unlikely possibility that they’ll be stuck with the Cerritos pair for good.

Boimler and Mariner end up hanging out with their heroes until they finally realize that the Enterprise has fuel. Due to the Navy’s tradition of using a component from a previous ship to build the next, they are able to refine a piece of NX-01 into fuel that can be used to send the pair home. (But not before the Strange New Worlds crew can reveal that they, too, are secretly as geeky as a bunch of Enterprise fans of their predecessors, as Boimler is for this era.) They meet the Orions again, and Pike promises to claim that the Orions found the portal and give their burgeoning science vessel a small share of the credit. And when Boimler and the Mariner jump back to the future, the Enterprise crew drinks the Orion cocktail, which turns them all into animated characters on closer.

“Those Old Scientists” is as pure fan service as Star Trek has ever produced, and I mean that as both a compliment and a criticism. Many elements, including the animated title sequence, went straight to the lizard part of my brain and left me grinning like a loon. The distinguished script by Lower Decks executive story editors Kathryn Lyn and Bill Wolkloff is full of great bugs. It also helps that Strange New Worlds has enough comic talent to pull off an episode like this, with Carol Kane stealing the show with the best gag of the episode.

But, and there’s a but, the episode is a bit like cotton candy in that once the first hit of sugar leaves your tongue, there’s not much else to it. We get a lot of scenes where Boimler and then Mariner tell the Enterprise crew how great they are or their followers think they are. Most of these scenes take place sitting at desks, around bars or lounges – telling rather than showing. I know this is Strange New Worlds, so the story always belongs to this crew, not its guest stars. But the lower tiers are made passive observers in a narrative that could or could have really allowed them to show the dynamism they have in their own performance. The moment Boimler and Mariner try to solve things themselves, La’an and Uhura immediately shut them down and tell them to sit back on the bench. Worst of all, this serves Tawny Newsome, who is absent for much of the episode and has little to do when the Mariner finally arrives in the past.

This cotton candy metaphor is probably the best way to sum up “These Old Scientists,” a silly snack between fatter meals or episodes, on either side. That it exists at all is a joy, even if it’s not as lovely as it could have been, and I’d love nothing more than to see more forays into the real world from the Lower Decks crew. At least with Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks in production at the same time, it’s a good time to be a Star Trek fan.