Small Details You Missed In The First Trailer For Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2
When CBS launched the first season of "Lower Decks," an animated "Star Trek" sitcom, back in 2020, it took many fans by surprise. Although there is precedent for a "Star Trek" cartoon in "Star Trek: The Animated Series, which ran during the 1970s, it is not a franchise most people associate with adult humor or wacky hijinks. Regardless, fans instantly fell in love with "Lower Decks" and its ragtag team of low-level Starfleet officers. The show received positive comparisons to, among others, DC's "Harley Quinn," another adult animation set in a popular media franchise universe.
Following up on the success of its first season, the trailer for Season 2 of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" was debuted during the Star Trek Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con, and on top of some solid giggles, there are plenty of details to unpack. This trailer has more references to the franchise's larger universe than there are tribbles in the galaxy, so let's dig into it!
A Tamarian crew member
The Tamarians were first introduced in the classic "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Darmok." Famously, in that episode, Captain Picard must learn how to communicate with the Tamarians, who only speak in reference to cultural myths for which Starfleet has no reference point, and eventually learns enough to make peace with their species.
In the Season 2 trailer for "Lower Decks," we see a Tamarian enter the ship's bridge in a Starfleet uniform, and the captain greets him as an officer. It is clear that, in the time since Picard made first contact with the Tamarians, their relationship with the Federation has grown strong enough for Tamarians to enlist in Starfleet. In reply, the Tamarian says, "Rapungi, when he joined The Seven." What that means is anyone's guess, but it's clear that, whatever their status in the Federation, the Tamarians have not become significantly easier to communicate with.
Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade
Blink and you'll miss it, but in a brief exterior shot, the Season 2 trailer for "Lower Decks" shows off a bustling hub of social life. And what's that in the upper right of the frame? It's Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade — Quark's for short. Everyone's favorite Ferengi might serve any number of roles in this upcoming season, but his mere presence should be cause for excitement among superfans. Toward the end of the trailer, we see more Ferengi. A line of dialogue informs us, "The Ferengi got everyone else." Clearly, the Ferengi will not all be as friendly as Quark this time around.
Even Quark isn't always a good guy. The Ferengi culture is centered around the acquisition of wealth, and plenty of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episodes explore how that ethos of capitalism clashes hard with the Federation way of life, where the profit motive has long been relegated to the dustbin of history. Moreover, Quark himself doesn't have the best of relations with the rest of his species, or even with his own family. It will be thrilling to see how the appearance of Quark and other Ferengi characters affects the plot of "Lower Decks."
Natima Lang
At one point in the "Lower Decks" Season 2 trailer, we see a female member of the Cardassian species being used as a human shield (Cardassian shield?) by another character. Judging by the pattern of ridges lining her face, and the ovular marking on her forehead, this appears to be Natima Lang, a romantic interest of Quark's from the "Deep Space Nine" episode, "Profit and Loss." Her involvement with Quark in that episode, combined with the apparent confirmation of Quark's appearance in Season 2 of "Lower Decks," seems like ample evidence that his Cardassian lover is making a return to the screen in cartoon form.
The Cardassians are most known to Trekkies as the ruthless occupiers of the planet Bajor. Notably xenophobic to all other species, they committed countless atrocities against the Bajorans, including a regime of hard labor camps and summary executions. However, there is a Cardassian resistance movement, of which Natima Lang is a part. She becomes romantically involved with Quark through her involvement in that movement.
A Borg takeover and Locutus of Borg reference
Among the most iconic moments in "Star Trek" history is Captain Jean Luc Picard's capture and conversion by the Borg, the fiercest enemies "Star Trek" has ever put to screen. In Season 3, Episode 26 of "The Next Generation," the Borg strips Picard of his individuality and makes him a part of their collective mind. In the most memorable scene from that episode, Picard, fitted with a Borg body implant, turns to face the camera, and the laser embedded in his implant creates a red halo around him. It is a chilling scene and one that "Lower Decks" seems primed to have some fun with.
A brief shot in the Season 2 trailer for "Lower Decks" depicts a direct homage to that famous scene. It's another blink-and-miss, but we can see somebody who was once presumably a Starfleet member outfitted with the same kind of Borg implant that was fused to Picard as Locutus of Borg, with the same sweep of the red laser over the camera — lens flares aren't always a bad sign for "Star Trek" properties. Behind him, we can see at least four other people also taken over by the Borg.