Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes, famous for playing First Officer William Riker in The Next Generation, is directing an upcoming crossover between the franchise's animated series Lower Decks and its current flagship show Strange New Worlds, and he's got some hype to share on the highly-anticipated event. Based on what he's got to say, this may be an episode long-remembered for Star Trek fans everywhere.
The Lower Decks crossover will involve The Boys star Jack Quaid as his animated character ensign Brad Boimler and Space Force's Tawny Newsome as ensign Beckett Mariner as they are seen in live-action for the first time. This will allow them to meet characters from Strange New Worlds like Spock (Ethan Peck), Una Chin-Riley/Number One (Rebecca Romijn), and Captain Pike (Anson Mount). While it's true that crossovers have been commonplace over the years as part of Star Trek, there's something special about this one. These are two incredibly different shows with entirely different styles, so how will that clash be handled? Well, according to Frakes, it will be hilarious.
Frakes recently appeared on the TrekMovie podcast All Access Star Trek to speak about the crossover, and he had some exciting info to share. "Mariner and Boimler just happen to cross over from their animated world into the ship with Anson (Pike), and Rebecca (Number One) and Ethan (Spock) on Strange New Worlds," he said, casually describing an event that will likely leave several fans hyperventilating. "And it is a flat-out comic [episode]. It's fabulous. It's a fish out of water." Sounds like a pretty standard procedure for crossovers. But unlike shows like Ahsoka bringing in animated characters from Star Wars Rebels, the cartoons and their actors remain connected in this case.
"Fortunately, both Quaid and Tawny look like their characters," Frakes continued. "So it's so absurd to see them in three dimensions and their interrelations… Boimler is obsessed with Spock, and terrified of Number One. There is so much good stuff. And Mariner comes to save the day. It's very, very funny. I'm very proud of it. And I can't wait for people to see it." Star Trek has seen many inconsistencies between shows in the past, but it looks like at least Mariner and Boimler will remain a satisfying constant in this case.
The contrast between the humor of Lower Decks and the more serious tone of Strange New Worlds could not be more apparent even with the two of them apart. While Lower Decks has its moments of sincerity, its comedic premise focusing on the lesser-seen crew members of a typical Federation starship lends itself to much more light-hearted goofiness than its live-action counterpart. Meanwhile, Strange New Worlds has been a fan-favorite for its engaging depiction of the original USS Enterprise crew. That's not even mentioning the tightrope-walking raunchiness of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
So there's a lot to look forward to here. Of course, Boimler is a Spock fanboy and Mariner gets stuff done. Any fan of Lower Decks would expect that. But seeing that and other unexpected interactions on the screen will surely be a memorable experience for viewers. Now Spock's reaction to the two of them? That will be a surprise worth waiting for.
The Star Trek crossover episode will air in Strange New Worlds season 2 premiere on Paramount Plus on June 15th, 2023.
Source: TrekMovie