Star Trek: Lower Decks (season 2)

The second season of the American television series Star Trek: Lower Decks follows the support crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos in the year 2380. The season is produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions in association with Secret Hideout, Important Science, Roddenberry Entertainment, and Titmouse, Inc., with Mike McMahan serving as showrunner and Barry J. Kelly as supervising director.

Star Trek: Lower Decks
Season 2
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Release
Original networkCBS All Access
Season chronology

Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero voice "lower decks" crew members of the Cerritos, with Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O'Connell, and Gillian Vigman also providing voices for the season. Lower Decks was ordered for two seasons by CBS All Access in October 2018. Production on the second season took place remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The season will premiere on CBS All Access in 2021.

Cast and characters
Main article: List of Star Trek: Lower Decks characters

Main

Notable guests

Production

Development

CBS All Access officially ordered two seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks in October 2018. Mike McMahan was set as showrunner for the series.[2] By late March 2020, work on the series was taking place remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing staff to work from home.[3] Executive producer Alex Kurtzman said in August that work on the season was "barreling ahead, full steam ahead", in contrast to the live-action Star Trek series for which production was delayed due to the pandemic.[4] The season is set to premiere in 2021.[5]

Writing

McMahan revealed in March 2020 that writing on the second season had already begun,[6] and it was completed by mid-September. Due to the pandemic, the whole season was written remotely using Zoom, with some of the season's new writers never meeting the others in person while working on the series.[7] McMahan wanted to play with the character combinations in the second season after getting comfortable with the series' characters, such as telling a story in the second season with the characters Beckett Mariner and D'Vana Tendi together. He added that the second season would not undo the end of the first season, and would begin with Brad Boimler working on the USS Titan[1] McMahan also felt that the writers did not do the best job in the first season of addressing LGBTQ characters and relationships, especially since it was their intention to portray Mariner as bisexual though this is never made explicit. He said the second season would address this better.[5]

Casting

The series stars a group of ensigns serving in the "lower decks" of the Cerritos, including Tawny Newsome as Beckett Mariner, Jack Quaid as Brad Boimler, Noël Wells as D'Vana Tendi, and Eugene Cordero as Sam Rutherford.[8] Also starring are the bridge crew of the ship that believe "the show is about them, but it’s not", including Dawnn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman, Jerry O'Connell as Commander Jack Ransom, and Gillian Vigman as Dr. T'Ana.[8][9] After the death of Lieutenant Shaxs, voiced by Fred Tatasciore, at the end of the first season, the second season introduces a new security chief for the Cerritos.[1]

After the end of the first season, McMahan confirmed that Jonathan Frakes would return as his Star Trek: The Next Generation character William Riker in the second season after guest starring in the first season finale,[1] but Marina Sirtis does not also return as Deanna Troi because "the stories didn't go that way".[5] McMahan added that there would be other characters in the second season returning from previous Star Trek series, and said they would "come in a way that you don't expect".[10]

Animation

Kurtzman stated in August 2020 that work on the season's animation had begun.[4]

Release

The season will premiere in 2021 on CBS All Access in the United States.[5] Like previous All Access Star Trek series, each episode of the season will be broadcast in Canada by Bell Media on the same day as the All Access release, on the specialty channels CTV Sci-Fi Channel (English) and Z (French) before streaming on Crave.[11] Amazon Prime Video has the streaming rights for the series in several territories, including Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and India.[12]

References
  1. Star Trek (October 8, 2020). The Ready Room – Star Trek: Lower Decks Finale Special. Facebook. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  2. Goldberg, Lesley (October 25, 2018). "'Star Trek' Animated Comedy a Go With 2-Season Order at CBS All Access". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  3. Pascale, Anthony (March 24, 2020). "'Star Trek: Discovery' And 'Lower Decks' Work Continues By Remote". TrekMovie.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  4. "'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 4 Writing Already Underway, 'Strange New Worlds' To Shoot In 2021". TrekMovie.com. August 12, 2020. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  5. Vary, Adam B. (October 8, 2020). "'Star Trek: Lower Decks' EP Mike McMahan On That TNG Cameo and LGBTQ Characters in Season 2". Variety. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  6. Mike McMahan [@MikeMcMahanTM] (March 27, 2020). "An awesome thing to see while we write season 2!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2020 – via Twitter.
  7. Star Trek (September 10, 2020). Star Trek: Lower Decks – Mid-Season Special – The Ready Room. Facebook. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  8. ""Star Trek: Lower Decks" Voice Cast and Animated Characters Unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con(R)". The Futon Critic. July 20, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  9. "Comic-Con 2019: 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Characters and Voice Cast Revealed". TrekMovie.com. July 20, 2019. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  10. "Below Deck With Lower Decks: Mike McMahan Breaks Down Season One". StarTrek.com. October 9, 2020. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  11. "'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Coming To CTV Sci-Fi Channel And Crave In Canada". TrekMovie.com. June 23, 2020. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  12. Ritman, Alex (December 17, 2020). "Amazon Beams Up 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Animated Series for Multiple Territories". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
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