T'Lyn may have been added late but she is a vital member of the Lower Decks crew

I'll get this out of the way right off the bat: T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) is my personal favorite character in Star Trek: Lower Decks. Even though she was initially introduced as an apparent one-off character in Season 2's "wej Duj," her introduction as a new member of the Lower Deckers in Season 4 significantly improved the structure and comedy of the show for me.

Whereas the other primary characters are intense and zany in various ways, T'Lyn is calm and logical, as we might expect a Vulcan to be. This makes T'Lyn an excellent foil to a character like Beckett Mariner without the same level of antagonism that we see between Mariner and senior officer characters, like Commander Ransom or Captain Freeman.

In light of that, it's interesting to note that Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan said in the "Lower Decktionary" special features on the Season 2 Blu-Ray that T'Lyn is a Vulcan version of Mariner.

"A Vulcan version of Mariner is like Mariner if you've turned the volume and the energy down by 90%."

- Mike McMahan

This makes sense in a way, but it is also worth noting that this statement is in relation to T'Lyn's original appearance in the episode "wej Duj," which peeks into the lives of lower deckers on Klingon and Vulcan ships. In the context of a Vulcan ship, T'Lyn is definitely a "loose canon" of sorts by taking initiative and being attuned to her instincts. That is, of course, why she is transferred to Starfleet.

By contrast, when T'Lyn is fully integrated as part of the lower decks crew on the USS Cerritos, she shifts from being hotheaded by Vulcan standards to being cool and rational by Lower Decker standards. This gives us various dynamics with the other characters that are similar in certain ways to the classic Spock/McCoy dynamic from The Original Series.

Having T'Lyn as a straight man to the other Lower Deckers also helps to temper the zaniness. Episodes prior to T'Lyn often got amped up to a point of being more inane than funny. With T'Lyn, the antics remain, but we have a character who can provide the "logical" perspective without directly discouraging it. Of course, humor varies, but for me, this actually enhances the comedy.

Beyond serving a valuable meta purpose for the structure of the show, T'Lyn is also a relatable character in and of herself. Like other Lower Decks characters, T'Lyn demonstrates the importance of finding your place and coming to understand yourself. In her case, it is perhaps that it is better to find a place where you are valued than stay in the place where you think you "ought" to be.

While T'Lyn's self-motivation and initiative were frowned upon on her Vulcan ship, the Sh'vhal (inasmuch as Vulcans frown), these very same traits are seen as important aboard Starfleet vessels, like the Cerritos. Not only that, but her less emotional outlook actually makes her very insightful when helping her Lower Decker friends, like when she accompanies Tendi and Mariner to Orion.

As perhaps the most iconic alien species in Star Trek, there is a certain logic to include a Vulcan in Lower Decks, even if it took three seasons before it happened. In some ways, waiting to add T'Lyn allowed the series to set a tone and style that could be revamped and rejuvenated later on. In other ways, it feels like it happened too late.

Perhaps if Lower Decks was set to have three more seasons, the addition of T'Lyn would not feel like it was happening late in the game. As it is, though, we are about to see the premiere of the final season this week. In light of that, let's just hope we get plenty of great character moments with T'Lyn, and the rest of the Lower Deckers.