“Star Trek: Lower Decks” is about to tackle arguably the most sacred of franchise traditions … with a twist, of course. On one hand, the general setup of two disgruntled alien factions veering precipitously close to the edge of war represents as classic an episode structure as it gets. Famed Starfleet captains such as Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Pike, and more have all had to plunge headfirst into fraught diplomatic relations between warring species and somehow find a way to deescalate tensions as amiably as possible. On the other, well, only “Lower Decks” would satirize this trope to such an absurd extent: featuring alien beings whose only real difference is that, well, one is made up of spheres and the other is made up of cubes.
Never change, “Lower Decks.” Never change.
This ongoing season marks the fifth and final installment of the irreverent, yet wholesome animated series (/Film’s Jacob Hall heaped all sorts of praise on “Lower Decks” season 5 in his review here), but episode 5 certainly promises to take things up a notch. And as /Film can reveal in an exclusive clip from the episode, the central conflict revolves around – actually, scratch that, since that wording is a little too rounded for an impartial description. It is squarely focused on — er, that doesn’t quite work, either, with respect to our cubic friends. Whatever, just check out the footage at the link above to find out why the Orbs and the Cubes are posing such a headache for the crew of the USS Cerritos in this week’s episode of “Lower Decks.”
Star Trek: Lower Decks episode 5 is all about geometry … and diplomacy
So much goes into the decision-making behind “Lower Decks,” and the “Star Trek” canon is littered with some of the most complex and nuanced portrayals of extraterrestrials in all of science fiction history … but we’ve yet to be introduced to a pair of alien races who hate each other purely because they happen to be made up of two polar opposite geometric shapes. That finally changes with episode 5, titled “Of Gods and Angles,” which is written by Keyshawn C. Garraway and directed by Brandon Williams.
As seen in /Film’s exclusive clip, finding some sort of middle ground between the Orbs and the Spheres will take all the careful negotiating that our heroes can muster. Unfortunately, those peace talks are in for further complications with the arrival of Olly (Saba Homayoon), a troublemaking ensign who might even rival Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) in terms of recklessness. What could go wrong?! Fans can find out for themselves when episode 5 of “Lower Decks” premieres on Paramount+ tomorrow, November 21, 2024.