Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered in 2020, and fans were immediately pulled into the exciting action and funny writing of the animated series. Trek has rarely gone the animated route, but the few shows that have been made have received love from long-time fans and new audiences. Lower Decks was consistent for its five-season run.
By following the support crew of the USS Cerritos instead of the bridge officers, the series found a fresh angle on decades of lore while never losing sight of Star Trek‘s core optimism. With the show having wrapped its run, now’s the perfect time to look back at the episodes that best captured what made Lower Decks special. Here are the ten best episodes, ranked.
10. Season 2, Episode 7: Where Pleasant Fountains Lie
The season 2 episode ‘Where Pleasant Fountains Lie’ is the perfect starter for anyone unsure of the series’ tone. The episode sees Boimler being reassigned from a field mission to managing a malevolent AI, while, in parallel, Billups deals with his mother’s ploys to make him king of their home planet of Hysperia.
The Hysperia planet is ruled by fantasy enthusiasts and acts like a parody of popular genre tropes. Hence, it acts as a perfect primer on how to view the show: an exploration of genres with the Lower Decks officers at the center. It lies at the end of the list because while it tells us more about Billups’ character, there is no narrative push as such.
9. Season 1, Episode 6: Terminal Provocations
‘Terminal Provocations’ is a classic sci-fi comedy episode, with an almost teen-comedy-esque premise. Mariner and Boimler get their friend Ensign Fletcher to recalibrate the ship while they attend a concert during a face-off with the Drookmani ship. When they return, Fletcher is found on the floor with the core missing.
It then becomes a classic mystery of finding the missing core and Mariner and Boimler saving their own reputation. Meanwhile, a holodeck adventure goes awry when Rutherford’s new holographic assistant, Badgey, becomes deranged due to a malfunction. It is a fun-filled episode with a pretty hilarious twist. It ranks 9th due to its contained narrative.
8. Season 3, Episode 1: Grounded
The premiere episode of season 3 jumps off from the season 2 ending, and sees the trial of Carol Freeman. The destruction of the Pakled Planet puts her on trial. It is a wonderful heist episode, featuring plenty of sleuthing on Earth by the lower decks ensigns as they try to clear Freeman’s name.
A reference to Zefram Cochrane and an all-around tight episode make this one of the best. It is also a great season opener. It ranks 8th because the cliffhanger indicated a longer conflict, but it is mostly resolved in the opener itself.
7. Season 1, Episode 9: Crisis Point
Another holodeck adventure, ‘Crisis Point’ sees Boimler stress out about his interview with Freeman. As Boimler is worried, he tries to blow off steam by going on the holodeck, which is invaded by Mariner. The holodeck adventure is designed to be a movie-like experience, and Mariner plays the villain Vindicta.
It is a fun episode, as every holodeck adventure is, and despite being a contained episode with little overall narrative progressing (which is why it ranks 7), it has plenty of moments to write home about.
6. Season 1, Episode 10: No Small Parts
The Season 1 finale delivers a massive, franchise-shaking encounter for the Cerritos, pushing the limits of what a “second contact” crew can handle when ambushed by a deadly Pakled ship.
It’s a thrilling, high-stakes episode that ties together character arcs across the season while introducing real consequences for the crew’s earlier antics. The action is epic, and a heartbreaking sacrifice gives it more emotional stakes. It proved early on that this series had real ambitions beyond being a simple gag machine.
5. Season 3, Episode 5: Reflections
This episode looks at one of the show’s sub-mysteries, Sam Rutherford’s cybernetic eye. The eye malfunctions due to a mishap and changes his personality. He realizes that the changed personality, ‘Red Rutherford’, is a younger version of him as a beginner Starfleet officer.
The episode balances real emotional weight with a lighter subplot following Mariner and Boimler as they staff a Starfleet recruitment booth at a chaotic job fair, giving the pacing room to breathe.
It’s a quieter, character-driven entry that rewards long-time viewers by finally answering questions the show had been teasing since season one.
4. Season 2, Episode 5: An Embarrassment of Dooplers
The Doopler concept is an underrated one in Star Trek, and this Lower Decks episode makes great use of it. A Doopler is a humanoid species that involuntarily duplicates itself, and when Freeman embarrasses a Doopler, he begins to heavily duplicate across the ship, leading to many complications.
The episode balances this comedic plot with a romance sub-plot between multiple characters, including Sam and Tendi. It is one of those episodes that shows how heartwarming Star Trek can be and why it is a comfort show for many.
3. Season 3, Episode 9: Trusted Sources
Star Trek has always made it a point to give some commentary on the current sociopolitical world, and Lower Decks’ ‘Trusted Sources’ is a clever satire on social media journalism. When Freeman’s initiative for California-ships to revisit abandoned planets begins, she begins to control a journalist’s experience and make it seem like the perfect idea.
The writers use the Star Trek universe to comment sharply on very present-day anxieties about misinformation, public shaming, and reputational damage, all without losing the show’s comedic energy. It’s one of the sharpest, most quotable scripts in the entire series, packed with memorable one-liners and a surprisingly biting edge.
2. Season 2, Episode 9: Wej Duj
Structurally, this might be the most ambitious episode Lower Decks ever produced. It splits its runtime three ways, following the same unfolding incident from the perspectives of the Cerritos crew, a Klingon vessel, and a Vulcan cruiser, each with wildly different cultures, priorities, and senses of humor.
The result is a masterclass in world-building disguised as a joke-packed romp, expanding the show’s universe well beyond Starfleet’s walls. It shows how the Lower Decks function across cultures and is the exact type of high-concept sci-fi storytelling Star Trek is known for.
1. Season 5, Episode 10: The New Next Generation
Every series finale has the task of wrapping up seasons worth of build-up and delivering on the hype. Star Trek: Lower Decks also had the same pressures, but it finished it off with ease and brought an end to a genuinely incredible Star Trek entry.
William Boimler and his Section 31 crew race to warn the Cerritos, while Mariner must contend with the Klingon officer Ma’ah amid a dishonorable coup.
Back home, Tendi and T’Lyn recombine the ship after a Schrödinger-field split, and Rutherford finally removes his cybernetic implant, realizing it had been suppressing his true feelings all along. It’s a thrilling, emotionally rich send-off that shifts the crew’s status quo for good, closing the series on an earned, bittersweet high note. No wonder it won a Hugo Award.
| Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode Name | Episode Number | IMDb (as of July 3, 2026) |
| The New Next Generation | Season 5, Episode 10 | 8.9/10 |
| Wej Duj | Season 2, Episode 9 | 8.7/10 |
| Trusted Sources | Season 3, Episode 9 | 7.8/10 |
| An Embarrassment of Dooplers | Season 2, Episode 5 | 7.7/10 |
| Reflections | Season 3, Episode 5 | 8.1/10 |
| No Small Parts | Season 1, Episode 10 | 8.6/10 |
| Crisis Point | Season 1, Episode 9 | 8.1/10 |
| Grounded | Season 3, Episode 1 | 7.7/10 |
| Terminal Provocations | Season 1, Episode 6 | 7.2/10 |
| Where Pleasant Fountains Lie | Season 2, Episode 7 | 7.7/10 |
Which episode do you think is the best in Star Trek: Lower Decks? Comment below.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is available to stream on Paramount+.
