Spoilers to follow Star Trek: The Lower Decks.

Well, that's all folks. "Star Trek: Lower Decks” has officially wrapped its fifth and final season. Sayonara, USS Cerritos, that was a truly memorable five-year mission.

Singing Because It Doesn't Feel Like "Lower Decks" needed to end here. The show is reportedly ending due to behind-the-scenes goings-on at Paramount, from being cut due to the company's planned merger with Skydance to Lower Decks reaching its premium limit for Paramount+.

Therefore, the series finale of "The New Next Generation" balances the open ending by leaving things different enough. Captain Freeman leaves the Cerritos and so Ransom becomes the new captain - with Beumler and Mariner as his two co-pilots in command. Rutherford discards his implant, while Tandy and Tlin's friendship as co-senior science officers continues to blossom. (Another problem with "Lower Decks" ends there - no enough time with T'Lynn, the show's welcome straight woman, in the main cast.)

But whenever something cherished ends, you should not only mourn, but also celebrate it do they exist. "Lower Decks" ran for 50 episodes and never went downhill. In fact, it refused to settle for being a mere parody of Star Trek , but instead was loving and honest that feels right at home with the rest of the property's long history. "Lower Decks" Season 5 Keeps Its Run Strong (we at /Film ranked it as one of the best TV of 2024). Ending here keeps Trekkies' fond memories of Lower Decks as fond as they can be.

Now that Lower Decks has ended its run, there's a thought I can't escape: It might just be the most consistently good Star Trek show ever. Oh sure, Deep Space Nine was more ambitious (and had a lot more, twice as long episodes). There are other individual seasons of past Star Trek shows that I would also rank against Lower Decks - The Original Series Season 1, The Next Generation Season 5, etc. But running on the 26-episode season model, the old Star Trek series would inevitably have some misses. The Lower Decks never did, nor did any single season bring a slump.

Instead of running out of steam, season 5 even brought back some of the show's best episodes. "A Farewell To Farms" relayed the Klingon-focused Trekkie dream episode. "Fully Expanded" had a familiar premise (Starfleet officers visit a pre-warp planet and mingle with the locals), but it fired on all cylinders, with strong characterization, humor, and drama. You almost wonder, madly, what the writers of Lower Decks could do with the model of longer seasons. But then again, sometimes it's better to just accept what you have.

Lower Decks is flying after securing its place in Star Trek history by delivering classic episodes of some of the the greatest Trek characters ever like Beckett Mariner herself (not to mention her unforgettable voice actor, Tawny Newsom). Not bad for a show that could easily have gone back on itself, improperly mixing the Star Trek formula with humor when, in practice, it struck a perfect balance and never lost it.

Star Trek: Lower Decks is currently showing on Paramount+.