Star Trek: Lower Decks is hinting at changing up the show’s formula

Is Star Trek: Lower Decks changing up what works for the brand?

Star Trek: Lower Decks is on the verge of its fourth season, and will be premiering its newest season on Paramount+ on Sept. 7. Fans are excited for more adventures of the Cerritos, and are hoping to see how the fallout from the highly popular crossover episode with Strange New Worlds plays out on Lower Decks.

Yet, despite a successful first three seasons, it appears as though things are about to change. According to GamesRadar.com, Lower Decks will “change things up in a fun way”. According to series director Brian Kelly, who spoke with SFX Magazine, they’re borrowing from a previous episode.

Apparently, they’re taking a lot from the episode ‘wej Duj’, with Kelly going on to say;

"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."

Star Trek: Lower Decks may be going bigger in season four

While Kelly was vague with SFX Magazine, via GameRadar+, his interview with MovieWeb is a bit more telling, saying;

"We’ve been pretty episodic, but this season, we’re putting these little tags here and there. There are also some new guest stars, and throughout the season, you can get a glimpse of what lower decks life is like on a Romulan ship or a Klingon ship. It doesn’t matter which ship you go to, there’s fun characters that can be found in every ship. Those Easter eggs are going to be really fun."

So it seems like the general formula for the show is going to become more involved, with it expanding the lower deck’s gimmick to other ships, as well as carrying over points from episode to episode, making it more serial in nature like Deep Space Nine was, in its later years.