“The New Next Generation” gives Star Trek: Lower Decks a satisfying series finale by changing the Cerritos crew’s status quo without closing off its future. It delivers meaningful promotions and a new challenge for Captain Carol Freeman, while keeping the ensemble’s relationships—and the possibility of further adventures—intact.
Does “The New Next Generation” work as a series finale?
Yes. The season-five episode brings five seasons of Lower Decks to a close with a genuine sense of change, but not the false finality of an ending that leaves nowhere for these characters to go. At 34 minutes, according to TrekCore’s review, it has room for a large-scale crisis and an ensemble farewell.
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![Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Complete Series [Blu-Ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61s3s3po90L._SL160_.jpg)
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Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Complete Series [Blu-Ray] | $40.59 | Buy on Amazon |
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Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Final Season [Blu-Ray] | $14.49 | Buy on Amazon |
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Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season Four [Blu-ray] | $14.49 | Buy on Amazon |
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Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season Three [Blu-ray] | $19.95 | Buy on Amazon |
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Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season One | $13.99 | Buy on Amazon |
That balance is the finale’s strongest choice. Alex Perry of TrekCore calls it an “action-packed, poignant, ensemble” close, praising its satisfying character moments. Keith R.A. DeCandido at Reactor goes further, calling it “the best series finale Star Trek has done.” Those are two critics’ individual judgments, not evidence of a measured consensus, but both point to the episode’s focus: the crew’s response to change matters more than simply making the last threat as enormous as possible.
Spoilers: what happens in the finale?
Spoiler warning: The details below reveal the rift’s outcome and major changes to the Cerritos leadership.
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The central crisis is a rift that becomes a permanently open portal to other quantum realities. Starfleet turns to Starbase 80 to oversee exploration: its older systems are unaffected by the increased tachyon density. The premise gives the episode the scale of a multiverse-spanning adventure, but the solution remains rooted in the crew working together. DeCandido highlights the characters’ cooperation and ingenuity rather than presenting the crisis as something overcome by spectacle alone.
That distinction helps the episode stay recognizably Lower Decks. Its universe-level stakes could have crowded out the lower-decker ensemble, yet the new possibilities matter chiefly because of how they reshape the characters’ working lives and relationships. The title, “The New Next Generation,” captures that shift: a new phase for this crew, not a replacement for the crew viewers have followed.
Who takes over the Cerritos?
Captain Carol Freeman chooses to leave the Cerritos and run Starbase 80. In an official StarTrek.com interview, creator Mike McMahan said he wanted the move to give Freeman a new challenge and open story possibilities involving her husband. It is a substantial change in her role, but the episode presents it as a beginning rather than a punishment or a severing of ties.
Jack Ransom takes the Cerritos captain’s chair. Mariner and Boimler become first officers, a promotion that turns the series’ familiar lower-decker perspective into a new position of responsibility. Actor Jerry O’Connell described the evolution and promotions as fitting for the ending. The episode earns the handoff by making advancement feel like character development, not merely a roll call of new titles.
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Rank #3
- Genre: TV Sci-Fi
- Number of Discs: 1
- Number of Tracks: 0
- Playback Duration: 257
- Rating: NR
How much closure does the ending provide?
The finale resolves a major crisis and gives its characters consequential next steps, but it does not claim that every future story is finished. Freeman has a new assignment; Ransom, Mariner, and Boimler inherit a changed command structure; the crew’s bonds remain part of the picture. The fictional route to further adventures stays open, though that is not confirmation that the series will continue.
StarTrek.com’s post-finale interview frames Starbase 80 as a place for second chances. Mariner actor Tawny Newsome calls Freeman’s move “a fitting end to this chapter of Lower Decks.” That phrasing suits the finale: the characters can move forward without pretending their shared past has been erased. TrekCore likewise reads the ending as a shift in status quo that keeps the core ensemble together.
Rank #4
- Genre: TV Sci-Fi
- Number of Discs: 2
- Number of Tracks: 0
- Playback Duration: 257
- Movie Title: Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 3
Verdict: a farewell that leaves room to explore
“The New Next Generation” is most successful when it treats the finale as a transition rather than a full stop. Its quantum-reality crisis supplies the adventure, but the leadership changes supply the emotional payoff. The crew does not simply return to its old positions, and the relationships that made the series an ensemble remain central.
For viewers who want a definitive goodbye to every character, the open-endedness may feel less conclusive. For a show built around a working starship and its crew, though, leaving the Cerritos pointed toward new possibilities is a fitting sendoff. The episode closes this chapter without claiming there can be no next one.
Best Value
Revisiting the final season
The final-season Blu-ray edition reviewed by Blu-ray.com includes an audio commentary for “The New Next Generation” featuring Noël Wells, Jack Quaid, Eugene Cordero, and Mike McMahan. It is a specific final-season release, not a complete-series set; current availability and regional formats can vary. See Blu-ray.com’s edition details.
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