There's so much more to running a starship than simply making it so on the bridge. Like its namesake The Next Generation episode, Star Trek: Lower Decks shifts the focus away from the Picards, Siskos, and Janeways of this world to concentrate on the junior officers who are more traditionally background players – or even phaser fodder – in other branches of the Star Trek universe.
And season 4 is set to take that even further, thanks to an episode in the animated show's second season. "Our season 2 episode 'wej Duj' gave us a glimpse of the lower decks of other [Vulcan, Klingon and even Borg] ships," supervising director Barry J. Kelly tells SFX magazine in the new issue, which features The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon on the cover.
"This season we’re getting a little taste of other species’ lower deckers, with new ships and fun attitudes from the crews serving under their superiors. Some lower deckers have big aspirations, and for others it’s just a day job in space. 'wej Duj' is definitely an inspiration for this season, starting from the first episode. Viewers will pick up that something bigger is going on in the background of the show. I can’t wait for viewers to see what we did – it really changed up the season in a fun way."
The first two episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 arrive on Paramount Plus on September 7, with subsequent episodes releasing every Thursday. In the meantime, check out our picks of the other best new TV shows on the way in 2023 and beyond.
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That's just a snippet of our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX Magazine, which features The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon on the cover and is available on newsstands from Wednesday, September 6. For even more from SFX, sign up to the newsletter, sending all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.
