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A moopsy drinking Narj's bones

The moopsy was a small predatory animal known for "drinking" bones . Belying its cute and harmless appearance, it was capable of launching itself at high speed towards much larger prey and draining it of its bones in seconds. Though it normally had a slow, waddling gait, the moopsy had a voracious appetite and pursued food relentlessly. When it attacked, its apparently small mouth stretched considerably to reveal large fangs . Its name reflected the sound of its vocalizations.

A moopsy was among the lifeforms kept within Narj's Miraculous Menagerarium . In 2381 , it was released by two Humans who had been accidentally put on display, in the hopes that it would kill Narj and give them ownership of his menagerie . The moopsy devoured two Pyrithian swamp gobblers and Narj, and almost caused the menagerie to fall out of orbit by clambering onto the consoles in the main control room . Lieutenant jg Beckett Mariner and Commander Jack Ransom managed to entice the moopsy back into its enclosure with a trail of teeth , which Mariner had punched out of Ransom's mouth at his suggestion. ( LD : " I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee ")

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Meet Moopsy, The Cutest Murder Alien On Star Trek: Lower Decks

The second episode of the fourth season of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" is called "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee," which is a fun reference to Harlan Ellison's 1967 post-apocalyptic short story "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream." The plot sees Lieutenant Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Commander Ransom (Jarry O'Connell), and a traditional "Star Trek" Redshirt trekking to a distant alien zoo where a pair of humans have accidentally been put on display. Mariner notes that this sort of thing happens all the time and that rescuing humans from alien zoos is a regular occurrence in Starfleet. 

The alien zoo in question is overseen by a sentient humanoid root vegetable named Narj. Narj, a mild-mannered figure, explains that imprisoning humans was a mere accident and that the animals in his menagerie are all happy in their respective artificial biomes. This is a peaceful place, and Narj even abides by a no-weapons policy in the zoo.

This policy proves to be a terrible idea when the Cerritos crew members are introduced to Moopsy, a cute, toyetic, marshmallow-like critter that isn't too many steps removed from a Pokémon. Because of its appearance, Mariner and co. assume Moopsy to be harmless and cuddly, which is, of course, incorrect. It seems Moopsy is a vicious predator that can "drink your bones." The animal can sprout massive fangs, puncture its prey, and biologically liquefy any bone matter therein before slurping it down. It literally drinks bones. Moopsy will drink many bones before the episode's end. 

Also like a Pokémon, Moopsy can only say its own name. 

Heck. I'm calling it now: Pokémon exist in "Star Trek."

Moopsy, Space Tyrant?

Moopsy may also be more than a mere creature of animal intelligence. When Moopsy escapes from its enclosure — perhaps an inevitable plot detail — it makes its way to the space-bound zoo's central control room, attempting to take control. It can only say "Moopsy," but Moopsy is clearly thinking deeply, hatching some kind of scheme.

Of course, the "animal that appears cute but is actually a vicious predator" is not a new gag. One might think of the killer rabbit from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," Nibbler from "Futurama," the blue-skinned aliens from "Galaxy Quest," Goose the flerkin from "Captain Marvel," Stitch from "Lilo & Stitch," the adipose creatures from "Doctor Who," Pooka from "Pooka," or the Nubbins in "Sanctuary" for precedents. Moopsy probably owes its biggest debt to Deborah Howe's and James Howe's 1979 children's novel "Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery," a book about a vampire rabbit that may be savaging the household vegetables. 

"Star Trek" even had its own version of the "killer cutie" back in the 1960s in the form of the tribbles. Tribbles, one might recall, were harmless balls of fur whose cooing seemed to pacify and sedate most humanoids. The tribbles weren't vicious, but they were dangerous vermin; they bred quickly and could wipe out massive food supplies in a matter of days. On an episode of "Short Treks," it was also revealed that tribbles could multiply so quickly, that they could fill and explode an entire starship. It wouldn't be until "Star Trek: Picard" that audiences would be introduced to the vicious, fanged Attack Tribble. 

Little else is revealed about Moopsy apart from its predatory streak and unusual intelligence, but knowing the way the "Lower Decks" writers' minds operate, audiences haven't seen the last of it. 

Moopsy in Star Trek Lower Decks, explained

Star Trek Lower Decks season 4 has arrived on Paramount Plus, and it's introduced audiences to one of the cutest and most terrifying aliens ever. The Moopsy.

James Osborne

Published: Sep 7, 2023

What is the Moopsy in Star Trek Lower Decks, and have we seen it before? Lower Decks loves contradictions, because contradictions can be funny. The incompetent Pakleds as wannabe warmongers? Highly intelligent and capable crew members who are too awkward and chaotic to really make it?

This is Star Trek Lower Decks’ bread and butter. Now, in the animated Star Trek series second episode of its fourth season (which is new on Paramount Plus now) we’ve got another walking contradiction. An extremely cute little alien, who is also horrifically terrifying. The show’s Star Trek characters come face to face with the Moopsy while visiting a galactic menagerie and we’re desperate to learn more. Here’s everything we know about the Moopsy , including its origins and if we’ve seen it before.

What is the Moopsy in Star Trek Lower Decks?

The Moopsy is a small, quadrupedal alien with white fur and large round eyes. Introduced into Star Trek in Lower Decks season 4 episode 2, the Moopsy is kept in a menagerie owned by an individual named Narj. It was freed from its cage and unleashed by a pair of humans who wanted to take the station over for themselves.

It is an incredibly cute, and incredibly dangerous creature which can drink the bones of other aliens (including the Pyrithian Swamp Gobblers) by plunging its large, sharp teeth into them, turning them into a boneless sack of flesh. The Moopsy is also extremely intelligent, and is able to operate the station’s control room. We don’t know what planet the Moopsy comes from, but it’s probably the apex predator with its horrific power.

What we do know is that we’re now desperate for a Moopsy plush doll, or something similar, and we’d love to see the creature come back to Star Trek in some form. Perhaps SNW might be the ones who discover the Moopsy planet?

For more on Star Trek, check out our guide to the  Strange New Worlds season 3 release date . You can also see the best way to watch the  Star Trek movies in order , and our complete breakdown of the  Star Trek timeline . Or, see who we think is the best Star Trek captain , before checking out our ranking of the best TV series .

James Osborne After graduating from the University of York with a degree in archaeology (inspired by Captain Picard), James worked with the news team at Screen Rant while contributing features to Vulture, The AV Club, Digital Spy, FANDOM, and the official Star Trek website. Now, he writes about all things sci-fi and fantasy at The Digital Fix with an 'Enterprise-D ambiance' playlist on loop. He's a seasoned expert on all things Star Trek , Lord of the Rings , Star Wars , and Yellowstone , and is more than willing to share his hot takes on TNG which he believes is the greatest series ever made.

What Is Moopsy: The Star Trek Alien Way More Terrifying Than Alien Facehuggers

"Star Trek" has introduced fans to all kinds of terrifying aliens and monsters. But few hold a candle to the dreaded Moopsy, introduced in "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Season 4, Episode 2 — "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee."

"Lower Decks" may be an animated comedy, but the creative team designed a creature that's equal parts adorable and horrific. When it's first introduced, it looks utterly harmless despite being kept in Narj's (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) Miraculous Menagerarium. It's pretty much a sentient marshmallow that says its own name like a Pokémon. Even the way it moves looks innocuous as it flops around, but when it gets into an enclosure containing two Pyrithian swamp gobblers, it shows what it's capable of.

Moopsy in "Star Trek"  drinks bones. It latches onto its victim and slurps up bones somehow until the host is nothing but a skin sack. The crew of the USS Cerritos realizes the danger they're in and concoct a plan to get Moopsy back in its pen, namely by leaving behind a trail of teeth for the creature to eat to lure it back. Science fiction is no stranger to terrifying aliens, such as the xenomorphs in the "Alien" franchise that lay eggs in humans that the young will eventually burst out from. But there's something about the imagery of a creature drinking bones that puts Moopsy among the all-time terrifying sci-fi creatures .

Tremble before Moopsy

Moopsy from "Star Trek: Lower Decks" would be a formidable opponent regardless of whatever science-fiction creature it was up against. A xenomorph from "Alien" may have corrosive blood, but it's not going to do much good without any bones. And even though a xenomorph's biology doesn't make a ton of sense , they do appear to have bones if "Predator 2" is any indication, as the skull of a xenomorph can be found on the aliens' ship. 

Perhaps it would be more fair to put Moopsy up against a similar entity from the same franchise, namely the tribbles from "Star Trek: The Original Series." Tribbles can be thought of as an early variant of Moopsy from the 1960s. They aren't quite as unsettling since they don't drink bones, but they're plenty dangerous without that skill. Instead, the tribbles aim to eat and reproduce ad infinitum. When it comes to cuteness, Moopsy probably has the advantage because it has an expressive face. 

Moopsy could also probably wipe the floor with the tribbles in a battle of brawn. Tribbles can multiply and take over a spaceship quickly if one's not careful. But again, and this can't be repeated enough, Moopsy drinks bones . As rodents, tribbles are likely filled with bones, so assuming Moopsy is particularly hungry, it could get through dozens of tribbles faster than they can reproduce. While we'd like to say we hope we see Moopsy again because it's so darn cute, it very well could haunt our nightmares with the way it slurps up bones like pho.

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‘Star Trek: Lower Decks:’ How Does Moopsy Rank Against Every Cute Thing That’s Ever Existed?

Last week, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 2, “I Have No Bones, Yet I Must Flee,” unveiled its newest lovable abomination: Moopsy, a living marshmallow that flops around, chirps its adorable name and catch phrase (“Moopsy!”) and sucks the bones out of every living thing it encounters.

You can tell that a lot of thought went into making Moopsy as cute as possible. That floppy, roly-poly locomotion! That butt-waggle just before it feeds! That incredible voice! It’s so cute !

But how cute? Cuteness is a competitive industry. How does Moopsy rank against all the other cute things in this big ol’ universe?

I made it my mission to find out.

Moopsy versus tribbles

Tribbles are sort of the ur-Moopsy: they’re a Star Trek creation that ramped up the cuteness to a thousand percent, only to stun audiences with a hideous dark side. (In the case of tribbles, they don’t drink bones, they just have a zillion babies.) The problem with tribbles, though—aside from the breeding—is that they don’t have visible faces. You can be adorable without a face, but that body type will only take you so far. Moopsy has a sweet lil’ punim you just want to squish, so Moopsy wins.

Moopsy versus Pikachu

Pikachu has always been pretty cute, but never terrifyingly cute. Like, Pikachu’s cute enough that you want to give him an ear scritch, but not so mind-blowingly cute that you want to stuff him in your mouth. That’s why they had to introduce Pichu as an even cuter version of Pikachu. It’s still no contest, though—Moopsy’s cuter than Pikachu and Pichu combined.

Moopsy versus Data’s cat Spot

My chief complaint about Star Trek: The Next Generation is that we never saw enough of Spot, Data’s orange tabby. Remember that scene where Worf has to take care of Spot, and Data’s like, “You must tell him he’s a pretty cat. And a good cat.” We should have had at least seven minutes of that kind of Spot-focused content per episode. Aww, and remember in Picard when Data said that Spot was “the best” of him? Oh, and the poem he wrote about Spot! And when Data thought Spot was dead but Spot survived and Data started crying ? Spot and Moopsy are tied.

Moopsy versus Worf’s pet Targ

A targ is a kind of unicorn pig. Like, a boar with a shaggy mane-thing and a big rhinoceros horn sticking out of its forehead. In The Next Generation , we find out that Worf had a pet targ as a kid, when an illusion of it appears on the Enterprise due to space weirdness. The targ was played by a Russian wild boar named Emmy-Lou. Isn’t that the most amazing thing you’ve ever heard? Sorry, Moopsy, but Worf’s targ is cuter.

Moopsy versus Boo the Dog

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Buddy + Boo (@buddyboowaggytails)

Oh, Boo. You always brightened up my timeline on a gray, hopeless day. Boo was a famous Pomeranian influencer pup who lived with his brother Buddy, until he passed away in 2019. Boo wasn’t just cute—he was rivetingly cute. Like, my hand would stop scrolling and time would dilate while I stared, mesmerized, at his adorable little nose. Moopsy’s pretty great, but Boo takes this round.

Moopsy versus Jorts the Cat

I can’t answer your call at this time because I’m busy being a silly guy. Leave a message if you want beeeep pic.twitter.com/L7oZYwWNZZ — Jorts (and Jean) (@JortsTheCat) August 31, 2023

I love Jorts the cat. I love his silliness, I love his chaotic personality, I love his human’s photography skills, and I love his commitment to union organizing. If this were an all-around personality contest, I’d pick the sharp-witted labor champion over the bone drinker, but when it comes to pure cuteness? Jorts is too badass and impressive, even when he’s being a silly guy. This one has to go to Moopsy.

Moopsy versus Pusheen

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pusheen (@pusheen)

Moopsy and Pusheen are cut from the same cloth: squishy, cheerful blobs who just want a lil’ snack. But has the media landscape become over-saturated with Pusheen? Have Pusheen and all her friends started to lose their luster? I don’t know, but when it comes to cute things that I just want to stare at forever, I’m going to have to go with Moopsy.

Moopsy versus Badgey

Why exactly is Badgey on this list? I don’t know, but I felt compelled to include him. Badgey is meant to be cute in the same way that Microsoft’s Clippy is meant to be cute: he contains all the elements of cuteness, but in the end, they don’t add up to something that’s objectively cute. Anyway, when it comes to pint-sized homicidal Lower Decks beings, Moopsy wins by a mile.

Moopsy versus my cats

Look at these cutie patooties!! Are they not the fuzziest little fuzz faces you’ve ever seen?? Instead of sucking bones, they like sucking churu out of my humble, beseeching hands. It’s almost unfair of me to compare Moopsy to Layla and Luna, the cutest cuties who ever cuted, but this list is meant to be exhaustive. Sorry, Moopsy, my kitties are way cuter than you, especially when they come to me for snuggles.

Moopsy versus every other cute thing that’s ever existed

I’m now realizing that there are a lot of cute things out there. Maybe I won’t get to every single cute thing in the whole of existence? Someone just walked by my window with a bulldog. The other day, I saw one of those “hang in there” posters featuring a kitten. Whenever I pick up cat food, I have to stop and look at the dwarf hamsters.

Eh, let’s call it a tie.

(featured image: Paramount+/CBS/Pusheen the Cat/The Pokemon Company)

The Adorably Murderous Moopsy From 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Now Comes in Plush Form

The Master Replicas figure will not drink your bones. Probably.

The Big Picture

• The Moopsy plush from Star Trek: Lower Decks is finally available for pre-order and is $24.99 USD.
• The bone-drinking alien Moopsy made its debut in season four's second episode of Lower Decks .
• Lower Decks director Barry Kelly joked the plush Moopsy was a top priority for Paramount's marketing.

Moopsy, the adorable, deadly alien introduced in last year's fourth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks , can now be yours in plush form, courtesy of Master Replicas . Although it looks cute and cuddly, and moves like a heavily-sedated guinea pig, the Moopsy kills its prey by drinking its bones - thankfully, not an attribute shared by the plush version. The stuffed creature will measure 10 inches by 5.5 inches, and accurately captures the cuddliness of the Moopsy's on-screen design. The Moopsy plush will retail for $24.99 USD, and will be released in early May; it can be pre-ordered now from MasterReplicas.com .

Debuting in season four's second episode, "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee", a plush Moopsy has been a long time coming. Fans have been clamoring for a plush version of the bone-drinking creature since it first appeared in the fourth season's trailer , and Lower Decks director Barry Kelly agrees. In an interview with Collider's Samantha Coley , the two agreed that a plush Moopsy needed to be a top priority for Paramount's marketing department, saying "Keep saying it! We need plushies. I want a Kayshon puppet, I want Peanut Hamper toys, I want everything. Say you want it so we can get it!"

Kelly also noted that Moopsy was his favorite character design on the show: "When we get the Moopsy up close, we get to do those cute little highlights, and it's got a little mouth, and they've got little cheeks that we animate. It's got the cutest voice since it's one of our editor’s sons, and he's adorable. I am so glad he got to do the voice for it. Moopsy is, by far, my favorite character design in this season. It's super adorable, and I love it."

What is the Moopsy?

The crew of the USS Cerritos encounter the Moopsy when they travel to an alien zoo (a long-established Star Trek trope, dating back to its original unaired pilot ) to retrieve two humans who had been put on display there. Soon after their arrival, the Moopsy escapes, and demonstrates its ability to drink its prey's bones in seconds as it devours the zookeeper and many of the zoo's other creatures. Eventually, Beckett Mariner ( Tawny Newsome ) is able to lure the creature back to its enclosure with a trail of teeth knocked out of Jack Ransom ( Jerry O'Connell ); it eventually turned out that the two human "exhibits" had freed the creature in the hopes of taking over the zoo themselves.

A hit with critics and Star Trek fans alike, Star Trek: Lower Decks is a half-hour animated comedy exploring the less-glamorous aspects of living in the Star Trek universe. A fifth season of the series is now in production, and is slated to be released later this year.Master Replicas' Moopsy plush will retail for $24.99 USD, and is available for preorder now. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates, and watch the Moopsy in action in the Star Trek: Lower Decks clip below.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Behind every great captain, is a crew keeping the ship from falling to pieces. These are the hilarious stories of the U.S.S. Cerritos.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks

The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi an... Read all The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

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• Trivia Tawny Newsome said in an interview with Wil Wheaton that one of the few things her parents had in common was Star Trek and because of her childhood experiences with the series, there was no other franchise she'd rather be a part of. She was also influenced by the positive portrayal of the black father and son on screen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) .
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Star Trek's 10 Best Monster Episodes

• Star Trek embraces peace but also explores monster movie elements for some thrilling episodes.
• Shows like Voyager & Next Generation weave classic monster movie themes with sci-fi twists.
• Even as monsters take center stage, empathy remains a core theme in the Star Trek universe.

Star Trek has a message of peace and tolerance and seeing beyond the surface, but it's not above doing an all-out monster movie from time to time. From its inception in 1966, Star Trek has taught audiences not to judge alien species by appearances . For example, Star Trek: Voyager villains Species 8472 were terrifying, Alien -inspired creatures, who turned out to be benevolent aliens that had been driven to violence by the actions of the Borg Collective. Earlier episodes like Star Trek: The Original Series ' "Devil in the Dark" revealed hidden emotional depths to a creature that was ostensibly a disgusting rock monster.

Despite Star Trek 's message of empathy, sometimes the writers can't resist creating scary monsters and super creeps. Star Trek has always drawn on the history of science fiction, and the big monster movies popularized by studios like RKO are no exception . Over nearly six decades, Star Trek TV shows have drawn on classic monster movies like The Thing From Another World and King Kong , giving them a Gene Roddenberry-style twist.

10 Times Star Trek Went Full-On Horror And Gave Us Nightmares

Star trek: voyager, season 2, episode 15, "threshold", story by michael de luca, teleplay by brannon braga.

Star Trek: Voyager 's notorious salamander episode , "Threshold" begins as an exploration of theoretical transwarp barriers and becomes something more akin to The Phantom of the Opera or King Kong . When Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) breaks the transwarp barrier, he begins experiencing some bizarre side effects. Breaking the transwarp barrier has triggered a strange evolution in Paris' body, which turns him into a salamander, who decides they need a mate in the form of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).

...the monster movie elements ensure that "Threshold" is never boring.

There are some obvious monster movie parallels in "Threshold", from the way that the reptilian Paris carries an unconscious Janeway like the Phantom of the Opera to the body horror of the Voyager helmsman's transformation. The climax of the notorious Star Trek: Voyager episode, in which the "monster" that is now Paris fights off the crew to take Janeway as his mate, is pure King Kong . It's a Voyager episode that is rightly panned for its lack of narrative cohesion, but the monster movie elements ensure that "Threshold" is never boring.

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 7, Episode 19, "Genesis"

Written by brannon braga.

Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 19, "Genesis" is essentially The Island of Dr. Moreau set aboard the USS Enterprise-D. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) return to the Enterprise to discover that the crew has devolved into various terrifying monsters. For example, Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) is de-evolved into a spider-like creature, while Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) devolves into a savage proto-Klingon that tries to kill Picard. The cause of these transformations is a mistake made by Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) while reactivating a cell that would have given Barclay immunity to the flu.

Gates McFadden injects what could have been a very silly story with genuine tension.

Although the science is just as dubious as Star Trek: Voyager 's "Threshold", Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 19, "Genesis" has the benefit of being much more atmospheric. Interestingly, "Genesis" was directed by Dr. Beverly Crusher actor Gates McFadden , who injects what could have been a very silly story with genuine tension. The climax, where Picard tries to fend off an attack from a prehistoric Worf, while Data tries to concoct a cure using the DNA of Nurse Ogawa's unborn baby, is well directed by McFadden, giving this daft TNG outing an exciting monster movie vibe.

"Genesis" was the only episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation to be directed by Gates McFadden.

Star Trek: Every Actor Who Also Directed Episodes Or Movies

Star trek: the original series, season 1, episode 26, "the devil in the dark", written by gene l. coon.

"The Devil in the Dark" is a classic Star Trek monster episode , because it hinges on Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Lt. Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) learning to understand a creature beyond their understanding. Investigating a supposed monster that is attacking a mining operation on Janus IV, they soon discover that the titular " devil in the dark " is no monster, but a mother protecting their young. It's thanks to Kirk and Spock's open-mindedness that the miners manage to avert the destruction of the entire Horta race .

The scene in which Kirk has to reason with the baying mob invokes images of the villagers with torches and pitchforks in the climax of Universal's classic monster movie, Frankenstein .

From a visual effects perspective, the actual Horta in Star Trek: The Original Series may look hokey by today's standards , but it tells a story about the need for empathy. TOS' cave monster isn't able to communicate with the miners, and so has to resort to violence. Similarly, the miners want violent recriminations from the "monster" that killed their colleagues. The scene in which Kirk has to reason with the baying mob invokes images of the villagers with torches and pitchforks in the climax of Universal's classic monster movie, Frankenstein . Thanks to Kirk, however, the Horta has a happier ending than Frankenstein's monster.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 2, Episode 12, "The Alternate"

Teleplay by bill dial, story by jim trombetti and bill dial.

In one of Constable Odo's best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes , a mysterious monster stalks the corridors of DS9 late at night. It's believed to be the mysterious sample that Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and scientist Dr. Mora Pol (James Sloyan) brought back from the Gamma Quadrant. However, in reality, it's Odo, who is under the influence of mysterious alien toxins, and the stress of seeing his "father" again. "The Alternate" is a fun Star Trek spin on Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde , that has some genuinely unnerving moments of horror.

Odo's monstrous alter-ego is less Mr. Hyde, and more like the titular Blob from the classic 1958 sci-fi monster movie.

Odo's transition into the monster toward the end of the episode is horrifying to watch as he rants and raves while struggling to remain in a solid state. Odo's monstrous alter-ego is less Mr. Hyde, and more like the titular Blob from the classic 1958 sci-fi monster movie. Interestingly, Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) doesn't categorically confirm it's the alien toxins that caused the transformation, suggesting another cause. As the gelatinous monster bears down on Dr. Mora Pol, it becomes clear that the real cause of the transformation is Odo's father issues.

All 4 Star Trek Characters Played By James Sloyan

Star trek: voyager, season 3, episode 12, "macrocosm".

Star Trek: Voyager has many creepy episodes , but "Macrocosm" is the most overt monster episode. Like Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "Genesis", also written by Brannon Braga, "Macrocosm" has a silly concept that is realized like a survival horror movie. The monsters faced by Captain Janeway and the Doctor (Robert Picardo) are effectively giant viruses that become airborne, infecting those they come into contact with. To repel the viral infection of the USS Voyager, the Doctor created an antigen which Janeway eventually detonated inside the holodeck, killing the assembled macroviruses.

"Macrocosm" finally gave Captain Janeway her Ellen Ripley moment.

"Macrocosm" got a wryly funny sequel in Star Trek: Lower Decks ' season 4 premiere, "Twovixed", but the episode itself is a decent homage to the Alien franchise. As the Star Trek franchise's first female captain, it's great to see Janeway getting to be an action hero like Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series , or Picard in Star Trek: First Contact . While the monsters themselves weren't anywhere near as terrifying as Alien 's Xenomorph, "Macrosm" finally gave Captain Janeway her Ellen Ripley moment.

Star Trek: Discovery, Season 1, Episode 3, "Context is for Kings"

Teleplay by gretchen j. berg, aaron harberts, and craig sweeny.

The disgraced Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is given a second chance after her mutiny aboard the USS Shenzhou in a Star Trek: Discovery monster episode. "Context is for Kings" explores what happened to the USS Glenn, the second of Discovery 's crossfield-class starships . Following a catastrophic accident while experimenting with spore drive technology, the ship's entire crew were killed, save for the tartigrade creature they had captured and wired to the spore drive. Freed from its shackles by the accident, the creature rampaged through the Glenn, killing a Klingon boarding party and turning its attention to Burnham and her away team .

The true monster in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, episode 3, "Context is for Kings" is Starfleet themselves.

The true monster in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, episode 3, "Context is for Kings" is Starfleet themselves. The cruelty that the crew of the USS Glenn had shown to the tartigrade was unbecoming of Starfleet, and showed how far they were willing to diverge from their principles to defeat the Klingon Empire . Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) hammers this point home by having the tartigrade brought aboard the USS Discovery, taunting it as it tries to break free from the forcefield.

Jason Isaacs 10 Best Acting Roles (Including Star Trek: Discoverys Lorca)

Star trek: lower decks, season 4, episode 2, "i have no bones yet i must flee", written by aaron burdette.

Star Trek: Lower Decks introduced Moopsy into the canon in the season 4 episode, "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee". Visiting an alien menagerie, newly promoted Lt. junior grade Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) had to conted with Moopsy, a soft fluffy creature that also happened to drink bones . Mariner and Ransom came up with a suitably irreverent Lower Decks solution to their problem, by punching out Ransom's teeth and using them as treats to lure the Moopsy back into its cage.

Moopsy is basically a monstrous Tribble, unable to control its base urges.

Moopsy was the sort of creation that could only feature in the irreverent world of Star Trek: Lower Decks , and yet it plays on existing creatures in the canon. Moopsy is basically a monstrous Tribble, unable to control its base urges. However, Mariner and Ransom don't kill the creature to save themselves, they find a humane - if slightly painful - solution to their situation. Not only that, but Mariner also unmasks the truly dangerous monsters - greedy humans seeking to bulk up their business portfolios , in this case by staging a hostile takeover of an alien menagerie.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 1, Episode 9, "All Those Who Wander"

Written by davy perez.

"All Those Who Wander" combines the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Arena" with Alien to provide a terrifying episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . The vicious Gorn babies that are encountered by the Enterprise away team are relentless, rampaging through the ship and killing everything in their path. It's through the noble sacrifice of Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak) that the away team is able to get back to the safety of the USS Enterprise. However, the scars of the terrifying encounter between the Enterprise and the Gorn carry over into Strange New Worlds season 2 .

The Gorn infants move like raptors, drawing comparisons with the climax of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park

Because there's genuine dramatic stakes and a cost to life, Star Trek: Strange New World 's Gorn survival horror movie is the best version of the subgenre after the classic movie, Star Trek: First Contact . As an hour of television, it wears its genre influences on its sleeve, particularly the similarities between the icy crash site with the colony in Aliens . However, it's not just the Alien franchise that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds riffs on in "All Those Who Wander". The Gorn infants move like raptors, drawing comparisons with the climax of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park .

Complete History Of The Gorn In Star Trek

Star trek: the next generation, season 1, episode 23, "skin of evil", teleplay by joseph stefano & hannah louise shearer.

Armus (Ron Gans) in Star Trek: The Next Generation , is a truly monstrous creation, and even refers to himself as " evil " . Unlike the Horta in Star Trek: The Original Series , Armus isn't attacking the Enterprise away team to protect its children, he's doing it because he's a monster. A black, oily mass of everything impure and evil rejected by a " race of Titans ", Armus was abandoned on the planet Vagra II . There, he fantasized about torturing any visitors to the planet, but he quickly got bored after killing Lt. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby).

Tasha Yar was no red shirt, and her death at the hands of the monster of the week makes "Skin of Evil" an impactful entry in the TNG canon.

"Skin of Evil" is one of Star Trek 's best monster episodes because, like "All Those Who Wander", it takes a toll on the characters. Star Trek: The Next Generation loses Tasha Yar to this monster, which proved that it would be a very different show to Star Trek: The Original Series . A TOS version of "Skin of Evil" would have played out in a similar fashion, but with the deaths of some disposable red shirts thrown in . Tasha Yar was no red shirt, and her death at the hands of the monster of the week makes "Skin of Evil" an impactful entry in the TNG canon.

Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 1, Episode 5, "The Man Trap"

Written by george clayton johnson.

Star Trek 's best monster episode is also its very first, setting the tone for those that would follow . Star Trek: The Original Series , season 1, episode 5, "The Man Trap", features a Salt Vampire that feeds on salt, which can also shapeshift to take the form of anyone that can help it achieve its goals. In essence, "The Man Trap" is Star Trek 's take on the 1951 movie The Thing From Another World , later remade by John Carpenter as The Thing . Both the Star Trek episode and the Thing movies center on a shapeshifting creature that feeds on the human characters.

"The Man Trap" was chosen by the network as the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series to air due, in part, to its strong monster-of-the-week.

Both iterations of The Thing and Star Trek: TOS season 1, episode 5, "The Man Trap" also play on paranoia and being unable to trust your own eyes . In "The Man Trap", the Salt Vampire has the ability to take the form of the woman most desirable to each of the male characters. For example, Dr. McCoy believes it to be his former lover, Nancy, driving a wedge between him, Kirk and Spock. "The Man Trap" was chosen as the first episode of Star Trek: TOS to air in 1966, and its influence can be felt in Star Trek 's monster episodes nearly 60 years later.

All these episodes of Star Trek are available to stream on Paramount+.

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This is a pattern to make a small white creature in the style of Moopsy from Star Trek Lower Decks. Crafters should be comfortable crocheting in the round and may need to adjust placement of bobbles so that feet can line up properly. This pattern is ideal for advanced beginner crocheters.

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The now-tossed Star Trek 4 went through many iterations since the first announcement in July 2016 , including a story by legendary Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino, a surprise 2022 Kelvin cast announcement that apparently Chris Pine and company only learned about through the press, and prequel story set “decades before the 2009 film.”

Following the new Star Trek 5 announcement, star Chris Pine reportedly reacted “with a deep sigh” according to Deadline . “Chris is excited learn about this new film through today’s studio announcement,” said a representative for the actor, “because it went really well the last time this happened, right?”

Also expected for the Trek 5 reunion are co-stars Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Karl Urban (“Bones” McCoy), and John Cho (Sulu). Actor Anton Yelchin, who portrayed Chekov in the first three films, passed away in 2016.

While little is known about the planned story of this new film, sources close to Trek 5 development hear that Paramount is pursuing  Dune and  Wonka star Timothée Chalamet for the role of “Sybok,” half-brother of Spock, originated by actor Laurence Luckinbill in 1989.

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Star Trek Merch: ‘Lower Decks’ Moopsy Plush And ‘Search For Spock’ Anniversary Steelbook Available For Pre-Order

| March 10, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 35 comments so far

This week’s Star Trek merchandise update has two exciting items just now available to pre-order: one to cuddle, one to watch.

Moopsy plush!

Since Moopsy appeared in the season 4 Lower Decks  episode “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee” last fall, the adorable bone-drinking monster has been a sensation, inspiring memes and more fan-made creations. Now, finally, an official Moopsy plush toy is on the way from Master Replicas. The new plush measures 10 x 5 1/2 inches and is priced at $24.99. Moopsy arrives on May 13, and you can pre-order now at masterreplicas.com .

Search For Spock 40th Anniversary Steelbook

This year is the 40th anniversary of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . Paramount Home Video is celebrating with a special limited edition Steelbook release of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition of the movie. The set comes with a translucent outer sleeve and a foldout case featuring spacedock. There is a product page on Amazon listing a release date of May 28, but it’s not yet available for pre-order.

Walmart has an exclusive edition that comes with a poster and mini booklet. That is available for pre-order now for $24.96 .

Find more news and reviews of  Star Trek merchandise .

DISCLAIMER: We may link to product affiliate links that support TrekMovie by earning a small commission when you purchase through them.

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I like the idea of the steelbook, but I bought the collection, and the poster is folded. Can’t really display that.

I’ve seldom seen a disc boxed set were any of the small posters come unfolded?

Both are quite tempting. Moopsie is a good gift for friends’ kids though. Just can’t show them where it came from for… awhile.

I have all the Trek films on disc, and see no need to replace any of them anymore. I do however, still absolutely love that movie, and revisit it a couple of times a year. A classic.

This movie definitely does NOT deserve the disdain people have for the odd-numbered Star Trek movies, because it’s a good one. I love the “caper” feel to the movie; Leonard Nimoy’s time on Mission: Impossible served him well there. And Spock’s remembering Jim’s name before his own … just lovely.  

Well put. Honestly, I think I’ve watched TSFS — and enjoyed it — just as many times as TWOK and TVH. It’s a wonderful trilogy.

Yes! It’s an essential part of the story and really quite good.

You’re right ST III is a good movie. Last time I checked, it’s 78% Fresh on RottenTomatoes and I feel that’s the right call. It’s so enjoyable.

Honestly, I think all the TOS movies are classics except ST 5: The Final Frontier. I like STTMP because, even if it’s not the greatest story for the characters, it’s an excellent science-fiction movie and the practical sfx are just amazing. The Enterprise and all the miniatures look great and the Jerry Goldsmith score is one of the best ever written.

TFF, though, has some very nice character moments, but the script is bad. Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett were right about it, but Shatner did not listen to them. He should have. I’m a TOS fan first, but TFF is the worst of all ST movies, probably, imo, followed by Generations.

Shatner was great as Kirk, but putting him in charge of the story is SO not a good idea. Leonard Nimoy’s autobiography didn’t come right out and say this, but reading between the lines, it seemed that Shatner wanted to make Kirk a lone hero, prevailing without the help of Spock or McCoy, all for his greater glory. Sorry, Shat, but that’s not Star Trek!

‘Eh, excuse me but what does God need with a starship?!!?’

kirk would not have prevailed if bones and spock had not rejected sybok’s influence.

Script was unfinished due to writers strike in ’89 but still has some great lines in it.

I think a Moopsy plushie would have sold well if it had been available when the episode dropped. I’m not sure how much demand there’ll be, all this time later.

Still, part of me insists on saying, “Moopsy!” :-)

And Moopsy is canon – he’s part of the Star Trek future history timeline.

Here we go… was just waiting to see when the old ways would return…

Moopsie is part of the Star Trek timeline — that’s a factual statement, and I am not offering any judgement on it whatsoever.

Nor did I offer any judgment on your post. But the underlying meaning of your statement is clear. You didn’t have to write it out. And it’s fine. I’m just being a brat.

After buying the golden six on 4K, I promised my wife, I wont buy anymore copies of the Star Trek films. The steelbook looks cool though. I love spacedock.

Never understood the spacedock love, really wished somebody kamikazed into it. It just seems so terrestrial-minded with the literal doors and the big-is-cool approach as opposed to doing a spaceframe dock or something like Epsilon 9. And even though it is roundly denied, the interior of spacedock looks like they just redressed the reactor of deathstar2 from JEDI. There’s a general ILMification of Trek starting in this film, since they were designing instead of working from Mike MInor and Joe Jennings concepts, with that company even designing the tricorders to no good gain.

TSFS has some good moments, but I generally get hung up on how bad the snow looks and the GREEN ACRES look of daytime on Genesis. Plus there is the whole nonsense of the story, which seems to hinge on repurposed moments from TWOK with slight twists (Kirk shoots first this time, then is saying you’re going to have to bring us up there instead of you’re going to have to come down here.)

But it does have its heart in the right place, like TFF (though I like TFF a whole lot more.) McCoy’s monolog in BoP sickbay is my favorite De moment in all the movies, right up there with his best stuff from the series.

TSFS does have the merit of the best line in all of ST “You did what you had to do, what you always do, turn death into a fighting chance to live” or something like that… It’s a toss-up between that and “Brain and brain… what is brain ?!”

I got all 10 of the TOS/TNG films on 4k, even though I don’t yet have a 4k player because they came with upgraded Blu-Rays. I agree, the steelbook looks cool but not sure I could justify that again. I have the first two seasons of SNW and all three seasons of PIC on blu-ray steelbook.

Such an underrated Star Trek movie.

Absolutely! Indeed, its my most-watched of the TOS movies on disc, but always puzzled by the lack of behind the scenes material, deleted scenes or shots, etc. The best score of James Horner’s two ST soundtracks by far, from lush and sweeping to quietly sensitive, to stunning action pieces, and so on. And IMHO a very solid, serious, non over-the-top Vulcan femme portrayal by Robin Curtis. My most viewed of the TOS films, and most beloved.

eh…Horner’s work on STIII is imo a prime example of him just plagiarizing himself. Granted – it’s a direct follow on to the previous film so of course themes will be shared, but it’s not very different all IMO from the Khan score. Even still – I hope La La Land Records has a remaster / release of this score as well. They’ve done TMP and Khan…makes one w/ a completionist bend a little anxious

I thought there was already a complete 2 disc set of SFS. How else would I have heard on youtube that 60s/LostinSpace/Williamseque-sounding cue with Klingons roaming the Enterprise right before it blows? It sure wasn’t on the original vinyl, which wasted a whole second platter on a silly ‘dance’ version of the main theme.

EDIT ADDON: While SFS sounds more sweepingly symphonic, I greatly prefer the complex or busy orchestrations in TWOK, which make it seem very rich and pretty much offset most of what would be huge complaints from me about it sounding so much like BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS with lifts from GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY/PATTON/list any Goldsmith military cue. Geez, the Spock going down the stairs bit in TWOK is still just beyond awesome, and I’ve heard it well over ten thousand times by now (no exaggeration, it’s part of my regular rotation that includes TMP, TFF, BREAKHEART PASS, the FLINT and Bond scores and the heroic stuff from WHERE EAGLES DARE.)

Moopsy!!!!!

Also, I already have ST:TSFS on DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K. Do I really need another version? Don’t answer that, of course I do. But I’ll save my money.

But, Moopsy!!!!!!!

Star Trek III makes Star Trek 3 look like Starship Troopers 3

Unless it has Atmos sound or unreleased deleted scenes i can’t justify buying it again.

the steelbook is OK.. Considering the whole 4k boxset sold last year I wonder if there is much demand for this

I didn’t buy the box set because it didn’t have the new TMP 4K director’s cut in it, and I don’t think I’m alone for not buying it for that reason. So there is a market.

Well, there also was no blu/4k combo of the director’s cut. They made you purchase them individually; the extended cut of ST TMP was only in 4K in an expensive box set. VI as a director’s cut was also limited to 4K no blu-ray. Some of that kind of irks me. Also only the directors cut of 1 was redone in Atmos sound. None of the other films have theatrical stereo 2.0 audio, and also weren’t redone. the 7.1 mixes are loud on sound effects and music but you can’t hear the dialog. if you want to downmix to stereo or listen with a soundbar and don’t have a proper system good luck. They were poorly mixed in 2009 and were never redone.

Yeah, all that too!

I have the TMP set with the 4K Director’s Edition, but would be open to getting the rest as I “only” have the older blu rays. Do I really want to take the risk of trying to build the 4K movie collection based on the hope they’ll still be releasing steelbooks like these until 2031 to at least cover TUC? Any bets on the odds of that?

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Published Nov 13, 2023

WARP FIVE: Mike McMahan Reflects on the Fourth Season of Star Trek: Lower Decks

From the Orion homeworld to a follow-up of a TNG thread, the series showrunner shares how each installment impacted our intrepid crew.

SPOILER WARNING: Discussion for Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 4, Episode 10 finale "Old Friends, New Planets" to follow!

Getty Images / StarTrek.com

That’s a wrap on the fourth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks !

This season, the creative team behind the hit animated comedy series took us aboard a historically significant starship, promoted our Core Four Lower Deckers, and gave each of them the opportunity to show off those new pips in a medley of new adventures.

Ahead of the season finale, “Old Friends, New Planets,” StarTrek.com had the opportunity to sit down with series creator and showrunner Mike McMahan to look back at how each installment culminated into the season’s two-part cinematic “Lower Decks movie.”

The Next Generation Connection

"Old Friends, New Planets"

StarTrek.com

Prior to the creation of Star Trek: Lower Decks , Mike McMahan connected with the Star Trek audience with his popular Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 8 Twitter account , which comes full circle with this season’s “The Inner Fight” and “Old Friends, New Planets.” These two episodes tie back to 30+ years old storylines from the TNG era’s “ The First Duty ” and “ Lower Decks .”

“It’s my ultimate little sneaky nerdy joy to be like an assistant writing fake episodes of Star Trek for free on Twitter, and I’ve now manifested them into some real episodes,” McMahan enthusiastically shares. “It’s awesome. I love Wrath of Khan . I love submarine movies in general, and this is our Lower Decks homage to all of that.”

Referencing to events in the season finale, McMahan adds, “I got to put a mini Genesis Device with a seatbelt on the bridge and have Mariner call it ‘GD.’ I was in heaven. This ruled!”

As for the reemergence of Nick Locarno, McMahan notes, “Usually, I like Starfleet officers to kind of have figured things out and get to move on up. But then other times, I like to go and punish characters for making me feel bad for when I was a teenager and I first watched it.”

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Nick Locarno

“’The First Duty’ really upset me,” states McMahan. “Just like how I had the Lower Deckers kind of reach back and [prank call] Armus. I was like, ‘It’s time for Nick Locarno to get his due. It’s time for me to get a little back on Nick.’”

“We already have Tom Paris,” adds McMahan. “We get to see what a redemption story for a character like that. So we have that one, but now what’s the ‘Harry Mudd didn’t get it together, Tom Paris sort of did’ story. It was a blast getting to do that. And I love working with Robert Duncan McNeil. Robbie, we’d had him on the show Season 2 and I had just been dying to get him back [in the recording booth], and this was the perfect way to do it.”

Reuniting the Nova Squadron

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Cadet Mariner

The season finale not only got to bring back Robert Duncan McNeil, but it also included the return of Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher and Shannon Fill as Sito Jaxa.

Fill had largely retired from acting following her appearance on TNG. McMahan gives us insight on how they brought her back out of retirement for the series. “It was a lot of work from my producer Brad Winters and our casting team because I don’t believe she had acted in 35 years. We had a really hard time tracking her down.”

“When we finally did, she drove down from Central California to reprise her role for us,” shares McMahan. “She was the nicest, sweetest human being. She brought her daughter to watch her record. It was such a blast. My producer still texts with her. We love her. We’re begging her, ‘You’ve got to come out.’ The fans haven’t gotten to talk to her in decades. We need her to come to conventions and see how much the fans love Sito and that was awesome.”

“We told her this was a story that affected us when we watched it,” elaborates McMahan. “Now, we are channeling that through a character through one of our leads. For [Shannon], it was almost a surprise that… it was kind of news to her how affecting this work was that she had doc. This arc that she made so many years ago almost when she was a different person. It’s cool on Lower Decks when we get to dive into stuff that you or I might watch because we throw it on in the background or because we’re rewatching a season. But then to actually sit down with the performer and revisit that, it’s almost like a time machine. It’s really interesting.”

“When I record with [Jonathan] Frakes, I’m doing a variation on Riker,” McMahan continues. “I’m doing fun, loud, that new era Post- Nemesis , pre-darker stuff Riker where he is out there having a blast. And with Shannon, it was like we’re trying to recapture a performance that she gave that makes you feel like there’s one more. I like finding performances that are like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this exists.’ There’s one more little moment for this character to shine. It was really cool to get to do that.”

In “Old Friends, New Planets,” we see Nick Locarno lamenting about they’ll graduate and go their separate ways, and why he wanted to pull off a stunt like that, as opposed to seeing our Lower Deckers promoted at the end of the Season 4 opener, running their own missions, but still finding time for their friendships.

“When you leave the Academy, you’re going to end up on another ship, but you might make new friends there,” reflects McMahan. “You don’t have to lose the friends you made before. Nick Locarno is all about fame. He’s all about showing off. He knows he’s the best and he makes choices that I wouldn’t agree are very Starfleet-worthy. I really like that we’re learning about what Starflight officers should be by seeing his mistakes. At the same time, you can see a great Starfleet officer. Occasionally, you’ve got to see one that lets you down to be like, ‘Yeah, that just doesn’t feel right.’”

Tendi’s Starfleet Future

In the closing moments of “Old Friends, New Planets,” Tendi fulfills her promise to her sister D’Erika to leave the Cerritos behind and return home.

Speaking to where that leaves one of our Core Four, McMahan reaffirms his New York Comic Con statement that “Something Borrowed, Something Green” won’t be the last of the Orion homeworld we’ll see.

“We are not only going to see more Orions and more of Tendi, but what I wanted to do was make you feel for a moment that this was the end,” McMahan cheekily reveals. “This was something that was happening to her she didn't want. Then, we see her in that moment realize that she has been reactive for so many instances where she's like, ‘Am I Starfleet or am I Orion? How are other people defining me and do I have to be careful?’ And there's that moment at the end of this episode where the music hits and she gives this look and she has this confidence where you see the Mistress of the Winter Constellations for a second, where she's like, ‘Fuck waffling around anymore. I'm going to define myself and chooses.’ She's not being forced to go back. She's choosing to go back. For her, that felt like a cool moment for Tendi, just like how we had a cool one for Mariner this season.”

The Rest of the Lower Deckers

In “The Inner Fight,” it’s Ma’ah who helps Mariner see what Starfleet means to her.

“He redefined it [for Mariner] when he was like, ‘You're not wrong to be mad. You're not wrong to be sad, but there's another option if you want to take it, how to express it,” McMahan explains. “You're allowed to feel lost. You're allowed to mess up. You're allowed to let your emotions take over, but there's also a way for you to let your emotionality be a power, to let it fuel you to do what's right and to honor.”

"The Inner Fight"

“Klingons are so about honor,” adds McMahan. “It was the perfect entity to hear what she was saying and just even without even thinking, he's like, ‘You need to honor her. If you care this much about her, you don't want to be destroying yourself. You want to be destroying your enemies.’ And just hearing that take, and Mariner does have a relationship with Klingons before that, I think she just had never spoken. This season brought her, she got a promotion and she couldn't get rid of it. Ransom wouldn't let her get rid of it.”

“And then she starts trying to put herself in a violent situation,” McMahan states. “She starts being unpredictable and it isn't until she's in a fight to the death with a Klingon and then there's a rain delay that she can even speak about these things she's never spoken about before because she thinks that they're just going to fight to the death anyway. And then I like that there's this change in her, this pretty quick change in her where she knows that she can go about it differently. But Boimler and Rutherford and Tendi and T'Lyn weren't in that cave. She still gets to have it as her thing. And will she ever tell them about that moment? I don't know. But it's something she shares with Ma’ah, and Ma'ah keeps things on lock. You know what I mean? So I like that she can make that choice and it's still a part of herself that isn't necessarily out there for everybody else to have an opinion on, but that she still was able to address it. I loved getting to do that.”

The finale also gets to see Boimler in the captain’s chair aboard the Cerritos when Captain Freeman and the senior crew are aboard the Orion warship. On that moment, McMahan notes, “What's interesting to me about Boimler is Boimler is kind of the part of all of us that's like, ‘If I get this, I'll be set.’ And then you get it and you're like, ‘Oh wait, there's all this other stuff, or I wish I could have done it better.’ Boimler is always two steps forward, one step back. And so there's really fun stuff in Season 5 where now he's had a taste of it and how does that cause him to move forward? We don't pull him back down, you know what I mean? But now he's like, that little boost of confidence causes some really fun stories to happen next season as well.”

Can we contribute that to Boimler surviving death leading his first away mission in "In the Cradle of Vexilon"? “He seems to survive a lot of death, doesn't he?” jokes McMahan. “Part of surviving death medicinally in Starfleet is you never get used to it.”

On What to (Not) Expect in the Upcoming Fifth Season

In a lightning round with McMahan, we covered on what fan-favorites we can or cannot expect to see next season.

During Nick Locarno’s all comms address in “Old Friends, New Planets,” we see Goodgey react to the transmission along with the crew aboard the Cerritos . Commenting on our new A.I. friend, McMahan remarks, “You'll see Goodgey a little bit. There isn't a big Goodgey story in Season 5 because I had told three. I like to take a season off sometimes, and we just did a big Badgey / AGIMUS / Peanut Hamper episode.”

“So, Season 5, there's not a big robotic A.I. story,” continues McMahan. “I've kind of put that to bed for the moment. And there's other things we're doing in Season 5.”

"A Few Badgeys More"

Don’t take that to mean the series is done with our motley crew of A.I. companions. “I would love to tell more,” clarifies McMahan. “I love Goodgey. Goodgey makes me laugh, and I would love to check in with AGIMUS and see how those other base computers are doing. I like those guys. They make me laugh.”

Our odd-numbered seasons saw “Crisis Point” (Season 1) and “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus” (Season 3). Will the fifth season see the next installment for a possible holodeck trilogy?

“In Season 5, we don’t get a Crisis Point 3,” concludes McMahan. “But I use that time for something really fun. You will get some really cool stuff next season.”

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Christine Dinh (she/her) is the managing editor for StarTrek.com. She’s traded the Multiverse for helming this Federation Starship.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea.

• Behind The Scenes

From Discovery to Picard to Lower Decks , Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds , there's a lot of New Star Trek to love.

Seven years ago, in 2017, after a 12-year absence, the Star Trek franchise returned to TV. On Sept. 24, 2017, the two-episode debut of Star Trek: Discovery was risky, bold, and, up until it dropped, shrouded in secrecy and more than a little bit of behind-the-scenes drama.

But, the Star Trek franchise survived this rocky start. After all, The Next Generation had several different writing staffs and production teams until it finally stabilized around 1990. And of course, The Original Series had its fair share of big production pivots across its three seasons. Radical change is built into the DNA of all Star Trek, though for some haters, the “NuTrek” that began with Discovery wasn’t what they wanted. Maybe it was the paywall on CBS All-Access. Maybe it was those all-blue uniforms in the first two seasons of Discovery . Or it was a million other, totally unfair complaints trolls had against the new Trek regime under Alex Kurtzman.

But, now, we’re nearly a decade into this brave (and strange) new world of Star Trek on TV. And, even for the most stubborn Trekkie, there are, in fact, episodes of so-called “NuTrek” that can convert a hater into a lover.

With representatives from every single new series, here are 10 episodes from the new era of Star Trek, all of which are just as good as great episodes from the classic eras that came before. Very mild spoilers ahead.

Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 2: “I Have No Bones, Yet I Must Flee”

The Moospy is coming!

With a title liberally stolen from Harlan Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream,” the sci-fi deep-cuts in this brilliant Lower Decks romp are never-ending. When the USS Cerritos encounters an alien zoo (classic!), the most deadly creature may also be the cutest.

Brilliantly, this Lower Decks takes a common Trek trope about misunderstood monsters and flips it on its head. The most dangerous creatures in this episode aren’t the aliens, but instead, well, you can guess.

This Lower Decks episode is also essential because it introduced the aforementioned bone-sucking (but otherwise adorable ) alien monster known as the Moopsy. Forget facehuggers from Alien. Moopsy will destroy all of them.

Prodigy Season 1, Episode 13: “All the World’s a Stage”

The kids of Prodigy discover the shuttlecraft Galileo from the classic USS Enterprise .

Can Star Trek do a version of Galaxy Quest ? The closest proof that the answer is yes, exists in the form of this extremely charming episode of Prodigy .

In “All the World's a Stage,” the kids of the USS Protostar roll up on the planet in which the inhabitants are all pretty much cosplaying as members of Starfleet from The Original Series . But, something has been lost in translation, because these folks call themselves “Enderprizians,” and refer to Starfleet as “Star Flight.”

Eventually, we learn that Ensign Garrovick, a redshirt Kirk saved in the episode “Obsession,” crashed a shuttle on this planet over a century prior. The Protostar tweens have to band together with these in-universe TOS fans to save the planet, and themselves. It’s a smart cross-generational story that sends a love letter to 1960s Trek fandom, while telling a great story that non-Trekkie kids can love, too.

Discovery Season 2, Episode 14: “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2”

Spock gets ready to send his sister Michael where no Trek time traveler has gone before.

With Discovery Season 5 taking place roughly in the year 3191, it’s hard to remember that the first two seasons happened in the 2250s. While Season 1 alternated between the depression of the Klingon War and the bleakness of the Mirror Universe, Season 2 was the moment in which Discovery actively moved closer to the ethos of The Original Series , with a dash of J.J. Abrams-reboot zest.

While the universe-destroying killer AI called “Control” feels like a rough draft of several other Trek villains, the emotional core of Discovery Season 2 — mostly focused on Spock and Burnham — truly delivers in this epic finale. When the classic USS Enterprise has to team up with the USS Discovery , the sensibilities of various Star Trek aesthetics collide. This was the moment when Discovery jumped into a new future to reboot itself for Season 3, and the moment that Discovery also created what became the proto-pilot episode for Strange New Worlds .

Picard Season 3, Episode 6: “The Bounty”

All your favorite characters await the arrival of even more of your favorite characters.

Midway through Picard Season 3, just when you thought the sweet nostalgia couldn’t get any sweeter, we get this episode. Even explaining why this episode is called “The Bounty” is, oddly, a really cool spoiler.

While it's fashionable to complain about fan service in a big geek franchise, “The Bounty” (and Picard Season 3 in general) proves how fan service can be done well by making massive Easter eggs integral to a real and heartfelt story.

Bottom line: between the Fleet Museum of awesome starships and the Daystrom Institute’s vault of strange devices and creatures (and apparently, the bones of Captain Kirk!) this episode has so many Star Trek goodies in it that it feels like opening a pack of trading cards or something. Did we mention the holographic Moriarty is in this one and an HD flashback to the first Next Generation episode, ever? If ever even had a passing interest in Star Trek, this episode will remind you why just the basic stuff in this universe is so damn cool.

Strange New Worlds Season 1, Episode 5: “Spock Amok”

Chapel and Spock discuss just how bad Spock is at being engaged.

Star Trek meets Freaky Friday in perhaps the most tender and hilarious body-swap sci-fi TV episode, ever. In order to work out their relationship problems, Spock and T’Pring decide to swap katras, and briefly inhabit each other’s bodies. But, of course, the swap seems permanent, and so, Spock has to pretend to be T’Pring, while T’Pring has to convince everyone’s she’s Spock.

While Ethan Peck’s take on Spock has been pretty much spot-on since the ending of Discovery , Gia Sandhu was put in the unique position of not only having to play T’Pring in this episode, but Spock too! Sandhu was more than up to the challenge, and this episode solidified her as one of the most memorable Strange New Worlds recurring guest stars.

But “Spock Amok” isn’t just about body-swapping shenanigans. There’s also a great subplot here involving Pike trying to work out a bizarre diplomatic problem, while another delightful storyline focuses on La’an and Una playing “Enterprise Bingo.” So, come for the body swap that leads to the Chapel-Spock-T’Pring love triangle, but stay for an episode that will give you all the warm and fuzzy Trekkie feelings.

Short Treks Episode 5: “Q&A”

Number One AKA Una (Rebecca Romijn) shines in a one-of-a-kind minisode.

Although the anthology format of Short Treks seems to have not stuck long term, the fifth episode, “Q&A,” represents perfectly why the concept is so great. Do we need an entire episode that explores Spock’s very first day on the USS Enterprise in 2253? Probably not! But, in the anthology world of Short Treks , this small, very specific story could be told without too much fuss.

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (and Picard co-creator) Michael Chabon, “Q&A” finds Spock (Ethan Peck) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) trapped together after a turbolift malfunctions. Here, Michael Chabon specifically attacked a real-life truth and combined it with a slick retcon. In Gene Roddenberry’s original conception of Star Trek , Number One would have been more like Spock. But when “The Cage” was rejected as a series pilot, and Roddenberry retooled the concept of Spock, many of Number One’s personality traits were given to Spock.

So, how does that work in canon? “Q&A” provides the answer. Spock clearly looks to Number One as his North Star when it comes to balancing his outward persona with his innermost feelings. Strange New Worlds has slightly walked back some of these themes more recently, but then again, several years have passed between “Q&A,” “The Cage,” and the most recent Number One-centric episode, “Ad Astra per Aspera.”

Discovery Season 1, Episode 7: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”

Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson) stops by Discovery to shake things up with a time loop.

Despite being the NuTrek series that launched the entire franchise, the serialized nature of Discovery makes it difficult to pick out just one episode, since so many episodes rely on dense season-long arcs. However, smack-dab in the middle of Discovery’s first season is a wonderful stand-alone episode called “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.”

In it, Rainn Wilson makes his second appearance as Harry Mudd, a reboot (pre-boot?) of an actual mustache-twirling villain from Star Trek: The Original Series . This version of Mudd has time crystals, which allow him to turn the whole episode into a delightful time loop story. If more Discovery Season 1 episodes had been like this one, the show probably wouldn’t have faced such early opposition from fans and critics. This was an instant classic in 2017, and it holds up still.

Lower Decks Season 1, Episode 10: “No Small Parts”

The Easter egg in this opening scene is one of the deepest, and best cuts in all of Lower Decks . You either know who Landru is...or you’re not of the body.

Although you could populate this entire list with Lower Decks episodes that would convert cranky or confused fans, the Season 1 finale of the show might remain the most impressive. Although the internet will tell you that Lower Decks is just Rick and Morty with Trekkie jokes, nothing could be further from the truth. With “No Small Parts,” showrunner Mike McMahan took the structure of a TNG season finale and married that sensibility with the ethos of what the series is all about.

The crew of the USS Cerritos is often doing the mop-up chores of Starfleet, and so it makes sense that their greatest nemesis would be extremely silly alien pieces from TNG . And yet, when things really start to hit the fan, Lower Deck pulls out the big phasers with an unforgettable cameo that will put a smile on the face of even the most casual or jaded Star Trek fan. After you watch “No Small Parts,” you’ll immediately want to watch the next season, and guess what? You’ll find most Lower Decks episodes are just as good.

Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 9: “Subspace Rhapsody”

Captain Pike, seconds before hearing Klingons burst into song.

Although the notion of a Star Trek musical episode might sound like the ultimate example of NuTrek jumping the space shark, the truth is, the zany premise of “Subspace Rhapsody” is exactly the kind of concept The Original Series would have floated if it had had the budget.

When the Enterprise gets hit by an improbability field from a subspace fold, suddenly, they’re enveloped in a kind of reality that operates on the rules of a musical. Getting to the end of this musical reality is the goal of the episode, meaning the musical premise is what drives the entire episode.

That said, “Subspace Rhapsody” does an incredible amount of character work for nearly every member of the crew. This episode establishes the canonical fact that Nurse Chapel has to leave the Enterprise at some point in order to make sense of her wonky TOS chronology. Plus, Chapel dumping Spock in the song “I’m Ready” leads to Spock’s lament “I’m the X,” which effectively retcons the more emotional Spock we’ve seen throughout this series, Discovery , and the 1964 pilot episode “The Cage.”

All in all, “Subspace Rhapsody” represents what Strange New Worlds does best: it takes a huge risk by playing it safe. Or maybe it's the other way around.

Picard Season 3, Episode 10: “The Last Generation”

Raffi and Seven take charge of the USS Titan, which may have a totally different name now, but no spoilers!

The series finale of Picard is a weird episode to watch as your very first episode of NuTrek but, for longtime fans of the 1990s version of the franchise (which is an era that lasted from 1987 to 2005), this big, bold episode will remind you of all your favorite Star Trek toys.

While watching this episode out of context with the rest of Picard Season 3 could be disorienting, combined with its predecessor — the penultimate episode “Võx” — you’re getting a TNG movie that is much better than most of the actual TNG movies. Heartfelt, action-packed, and with nods to all corners of Trek fandom, “The Last Generation” is also a not-so-secret backdoor pilot for yet another Trek series that has yet to materialize. Fans and showrunner Terry Matalas have dubbed this hypothetical spinoff show as Star Trek: Legacy . Will we ever see it? There are always possibilities, but for now, the most crowd-pleasing NuTrek episode of them all will remain this absolute banger.

Picard, Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, and Discovery all stream on Paramount+. Prodigy streams on Netflix.

• Science Fiction