Star Trek: Lower Decks apparently didn't know how it wanted to end. That's the word from series star Tawny Newsome. She recently spoke to Variety about the close of the show and it turns out that series creator Mike McMahan was not sure how he wanted the series to end.
That's not a shocker at all. Ending a story is never easy. Especially when you're in a situation where you have to create an ending almost out of nowhere. There was a lot of talks of Lower Decks planning out more seasons before the ax came down, and when that's the case, you sort of have to scramble a bit to pull out the finish.
Sometimes that finale can really land, and sometimes it can be a bit of a cluster. Either way though, the story will end, so it's always good to figure out ahead of time how you want to end a show. Sometimes a show will make sure that every season can wrap up and be its own finale on its own, no matter what happens. Other times, a show is building up to a finale that will close the series for good.
It seems like Lower Decks split the difference on that one. It's why McMahan was likely still writing the ending, or re-writing the end I should say, as much as he was. He was trying to tweak and perfect the close of the show. A close that all of those involved were unsure was really happening.
As Newsome recounted to Variety;
'“Is this really ending?' Because we kept re-recording it. Mike kept rewriting it, especially the ending scene in the bar. I remember the first time I recorded the episode way back, you know, 13 months ago or whenever, the scene in the bar did not exist. I remember saying in the session, 'If this is the end, we’re not ending with a big send out.'"
The show did end, however. They got the final season in, and they made sure that it hit all the emotional notes that they were hoping for. Was it a finale with the same legs that Voyager, The Next Generation, or Deep Space Nine got? No, but was it better than Discovery? Sure.
While Picard, in my opinion, isn't on Lower Deck's level as far as quality goes, I do feel the only thing Picard did right as a show was its finale. And I believe it's a finale that tops Lower Decks. Yet, Picard knew their end was coming, Lower Decks really didn't.
So all things even, I think Lower Decks did the best job they could do.