The New Next Generation (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

Warning!

This page contains information regarding Star Trek: Lower Decks, and thus may contain spoilers.

Season & series finale where lots of wild stuff happens!

Summary[]

Teaser[]

A fleet of Klingon Birds-of-Prey led by Relga's Bird-of-Prey patrols the edge of Klingon space. The captain of the IKS Krtas reports that there is no sign of enemies which Relga can see and orders a course set for the border in the hopes of antagonizing Starfleet into a fight. The captain points out that the Klingon High Council considers them to be allies, but Relga doesn't care, angrily ranting that they're only patrolling this worthless corner of the Klingon Empire because her brothers were murdered and the High Council thinks her to be weak.

Relga is cut off by sensors detecting an increase in tachyons, but she is unconcerned by this development, confident that tachyons mean nothing to a Bird-of-Prey. Glowing red, an unstable quantum fissure opens nearby and sends out massive tendrils of energy in all directions. The Krtas captain detects a massive buildup of soliton particles and orders his crew to get them out of there. As the Klingon fleet flees, an energy wave hits the Krtos, transforming it into a mid-23rd century Klingon Bird-of-Prey and the crew into Klingons from the Federation-Klingon War of that era. The Krtas crashes into another Bird-of-Prey, damaging the other ship and destroying the Krtas. A bridge officer reports that they have evaded the soliton wave, but the Krtas has been destroyed. Relga orders her crew not to report this to command, cackling at the thought that this is exactly what she needs.

Act One[]

"First officer's log. Having finished repairs at a joint Starfleet-Klingon research station, the Cerritos is enjoying a little downtime."

In the bar on the USS Cerritos, Dr. T'Ana proposes playing Sexy Treasure Island on the holodeck to Lieutenant Shaxs which he accepts. Beckett Mariner is enjoying the freedom that being a lieutenant junior grade comes with to goof around. T'Lyn points out that mariner had a more chaotic attitude when she first arrived, and Mariner enjoys scaring a nearby cadet. T'Lyn and D'Vana Tendi are studying corbopple, although Mariner accuses them of making that up. Sam Rutherford is frustrated with his inability to fix an old plasma router which should be easy to do with his oculus cybernetic implant. However, the Cerritos systems are too old for his implant to work. Mariner complains about everyone bringing work to the bar and Boimler states that he can't help Rutherford as there's not a lot of engineering advice in Beard Boimler's PADD.

Mariner is surprised and impressed with the success of Boimler basing her personality around his counterpart's PADD and he orders a Bramble based on the PADD. Boimler receives a message on his own PADD from his transporter duplicate Captain William Boimler warning him of the coming potential destruction of the prime universe. "Holy *bleep*, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" panics Boimler and runs off, smashing glassware in his wake. Mariner runs off after her friend while Tendi and T'Lyn note that Boimler is always freaking out about some PADD. Frustrated with his inability to fix the plasma router, Rutherford throws it across the table.

In the captain's ready room, Boimler and Mariner present the data to Captain Carol Freeman and Commander Jack Ransom. Boimler argues that if William really is alive, he wouldn't lie about this, and Mariner insists that they need to take this seriously. To the two junior officer's shock, Freeman instantly takes them seriously and moves to take action by contacting Starfleet Command. Freeman explains that Boimler and Mariner are her best officers and after all that they've been through, Freeman knows to trust them.

In Klingon space, Ma'ah and Malor are returning to Qo'noS in their bloodwine delivery truck. Ma'ah is tense as a captain must be vigilant, but Malor scoffs at the potential dangers that they could face given their profession. Alarms go off as Relga's fleet decloaks around the truck and she delights in how far Ma'ah has fallen. Relga accuses Ma'ah of destroying one of her ships which she was lucky to survive which has just enough truth to convince the High Council. Ma'ah knows that Relga is after revenge and accuses her of having no honor, just like her brothers. Relga angrily insists that while Dorg and Bargh were weak, she is not and has her fleet open fire. Ma'ah attempts a suicide run on the flagship's bridge, but Malor takes control of the vessel and takes it to warp instead over his brother's objections.

On the Cerritos, Admiral Alonzo Freeman and two other high-ranking Starfleet officers confer with Freeman. Long-range scans have confirmed Freeman's fears. Soliton resonance is overloading the dimensional rift and left unchecked, this will destroy their quantum reality. The rift itself can be easily sealed by a subspace gluonic beam, but the problem is getting to it because the rift is surrounded by a Schrödinger possibility field which remaps matter into other possibilities from the multiverse. To Freeman's relief, the Human admiral tells her that of course they'd never choose a California-class starship to handle a catastrophe of this scale, but the alien admiral dashes that relief by revealing that they are sending the Cerritos to deal with it. The USS Enterprise-E is en route, but there's no time and the two Boimlers are linked in ways that they don't yet understand. "Call it fate or entanglement, this is your mission."

Ransom demands to know how they're supposed to do this when their heads are turning into cactuses, but the alien admiral has calculated adjustments for the ship's shield harmonics that should in theory block the effects of the field. Billups reports that engineering can make the upgrades, but they'll need to work around the clock. Freeman asks if the Enterprise can't handle this, but the human admiral states that with the connected Boimlers, the Cerritos is their only option. Mariner confronts Boimler for sending a universe-destroying rift to his own reality as everyone gets to work, and Boimler tries to defend that it was William's doing rather than his own.

In engineering, the crew rushes to get the updates installed while Rutherford complains that they're never gonna be able to flush the ancient plasma conduits in time and that his implant could do it twice as fast if it didn't have to use "history's oldest relays." Ensign Olly reports that quantum filtering is live, but Billups warns Freeman that while the shields are updated, he doesn't think that Starfleet took into account the hull. There seems to be a potential interference between the field and the duranium alloys throughout the Cerritos. Olly explains that the field could affect the hull, but the shield updates should make sure that the crew is unaffected. Billups promises that they're working on a fix for the hull, but they need more time which is in short supply. Freeman notes that they should be okay as long as there aren't any complications.

Barnes reports that a small vessel has just dropped out of warp and is hailing them, much to Freeman's frustration. It's the bloodwine delivery truck and, against Ma'ah's objections, Malor requests political asylum from Mariner. The brothers fight over Malor's request and Freeman agrees to find out what they're talking about.

In the ready room, Ma'ah and Malor have explained the situation to Freeman and Mariner. Freeman guesses that Relga probably encountered the same soliton wave that they're dealing with and Ma'ah tells her that Relga is seeking revenge because he killed her brothers. Mariner interjects to clarify that Relga's brothers had tried to kill Ma'ah first. Ma'ah will gladly die in battle with Relga despite his brother's warnings that Relga will never give him a fair fight. Freeman agrees to give Ma'ah and Malor safe harbor as long as they're confined to quarters. "Sorry, but apparently, we're the only ones who can save the frickin' universe today," complains Freeman. Malor asks if the quarters have a replicator, explaining to his brother that all of their snacks are made of bugs while the Cerritos has salties and sweets. Ransom calls Freeman to the bridge, telling her that more Klingons just dropped out of warp. While Ma'ah is pleased, Freeman is annoyed because they don't have time for this: they're supposed to be closing a rift.

Relga's fleet surrounds the Cerritos as Relga contacts the Starfleet ship. Relga tells Freeman that she tracked two murderers to this location and demands that they be handed over immediately. Freeman tries to solve this in a diplomatic fashion, but Relga is uninterested. Relga declares that she knows who Freeman is and that Freeman's admiral mate will not protect Freeman from her. Relga accuses Freeman of being an accomplice to the petaQs who destroyed her ship as the Cerritos receives an incoming call from Admiral Freeman. Freeman has the furious Klingon put on hold and starts to report to her husband, but Admiral Freeman interrupts her. Over the objections of his wife and daughter, Admiral Freeman declares Ma'ah and Malor to be criminals and murderers and orders Freeman to turn them over to Relga before hanging up on her. Ransom finds the conversation to be weird, but Freeman points out that the whole day is weird and orders Ransom and Lieutenant Kayshon to bring her the Klingons, unwilling to make their own rules just because their friends are involved.

Switching back to Relga, Freeman informs the Klingon captain that she's getting what she wants. Kayshon leads Ma'ah in, but Malor isn't with him. Ransom reports that Malor seems to have wandered off, and Shaxs reports that sensors can't locate him and Shaxs has a team sweeping the ship for Malor. Freeman pleads with Relga to be patient given the situation and sends her the data on the shield updates. However, Relga rejects this and demands that both brothers be handed over to her or she will take them by force. Relga's fleet opens fire, destroying the bloodwine delivery truck and pounding the Cerritos, targeting her engines. The ship goes to red alert as the shields drop to 80 percent and Boimler takes evasive maneuvers. With some fancy flying, Boimler hits one of the Birds-of-Prey with the Cerritos when it gets too close, sending the enemy ship careening into a second Bird-of-Prey, destroying both Klingon ships. With no time for a fight, Freeman has Boimler take them to warp on a course for the rift.

Act Two[]

Helping Barnes to her feet, Freeman asks Billups for good news on the shield updates as the Klingons can't be far behind, but Billups is still working on it. While Freeman believes her daughter that she didn't hide Malor, Freeman still needs Mariner to find Malor now because the Klingons are forcing them into a bad situation. Boimler reports that they're approaching the possibility field, and the Cerritos drops out of warp and comes to a stop facing the rift. T'Lyn warns Freeman that without the shield update, quantum interference with the hull could alter the physical structure of the Cerritos. Declaring that whatever they get turned into is better than getting blown up by the Klingons, Freeman orders Boimler to take the ship to full impulse.

The Cerritos enters the field and Ransom reports that the soliton energy is reacting with the duranium and the readings are getting freaky. Freeman orders all hands to "brace for weird." The Cerritos changes shape, now having a single warp nacelle on its underbelly instead of the usual two. Boimler reports that they're in the Cerritos from a reality where the ship is a Freedom-class starship. Freeman wonders how you even go to warp with just one nacelle, but she cuts off Tendi's explanation.

Shaxs detects the arrival of the Klingons who follow the Cerritos into the field. Freeman orders speed maintained as they have to get to the rift. Shields drop to 60 percent as the Cerritos is hit by another energy wave which changes it into a slightly different Freedom-class ship. In the corridors, Mariner and Ma'ah search for Malor. Rutherford struggles with the changing systems of the Cerritos which are incompatible with his implant. An energy wave changes one of the Birds-of-Prey into an ancient Klingon sailing barge which, not being airtight, has its entire crew vented into space. Barnes worries that the same thing could happen to the Cerritos and Freeman tells Billups that they really need the shield update, ordering Boimler to navigation as they can't afford to go off course.

At a computer panel in the corridors, Tendi tells T'Lyn that the Cerritos wasn't designed for this kind of stress, and they need to disable non-essential systems to help route power to structural integrity. However, T'Lyn argues that disabling systems could damage resource conduits, but Tendi yells that it won't matter if they get blown up. As Tendi blows up at her, T'Lyn suggests that the pressure of their situation is impairing her logic and perhaps they should work on different systems. Rutherford suddenly begins banging his head against the wall in frustration because he can't get any of the isolinear relays stabilized. To Tendi's shock, Rutherford thinks that he's falling out of love with the Cerritos. Tendi tries to suggest that it's just a rough patch, but Rutherford isn't so sure as things aren't getting any better.

In Cetacean Ops, Boimler sprays down Kimolu while he works the navigation console as the two beluga whales bicker. Mariner and Ma'ah enter in search of Malor, but neither Kimolu nor Matt have seen him. Boimler suggests that something like this might've happened in Beard Boimler's reality and searches his PADD for any clues. Boimler finds a log that reveals that in Beard Boimler's reality, Becky Freeman had hidden Klingons who were seeking asylum. Seeing this, Ma'ah accuses Mariner of hiding his brother over her insistence that she didn't as Boimler tries to break them up.

The ship changes again, this time into the ISS Cerritos from the mirror universe. Shaxs is excited by the Terran Empire weapons that they now have access to, but another hit disables the ship's weapons. Freeman tries to reason with Relga, who taunts her that Freeman never should've given her the shield updates and orders Freeman to hand over the fugitives. As the Cerritos flees from Relga's ship, a hit knocks out the engines leaving it dead in space with minimal shields. The helmsman is thrown out of his seat and injured, and Ransom takes his station as T'Ana treats the man. Freeman is confused as to why the Bird-of-Prey isn't changing, but T'Ana suggests that it probably is. It just doesn't matter as the Klingons hardly ever update their fleet designs, "they always want their ships to look like big stupid birds." Shaxs reports that they only have basic power systems while Billups reports that his team is still working to fix interference, but this has set them back even more and they have to assume that they'll be boarded.

Ma'ah storms onto the bridge with Beard Boimler's PADD, using it as proof to accuse Mariner of hiding his brother. Mariner again insists that she's not lying, and Freeman believes her daughter. Ma'ah believes that malor's location is hidden somewhere on the PADD, but Boimler snatches it and after a moment, destroys his counterpart's PADD. While the PADD has improved his life, it's not worth it to Boimler if it means that he doesn't have his best friend's back. Touched, Mariner tells Boimler that he's a better friend than Beard Boimler which he doesn't need a PADD to know. Furious, Ma'ah tries to attack the pair, only to have Ransom effortlessly catch his punch with one hand which Ransom attributes to high intensity interval training. Declaring that this has gone on long enough, Ransom reveals that he was the one who hid Malor, shocking all but T'Ana who had already figured it out. Both Ransom and Mariner think that there was something wrong with Admiral Freeman's message. They had promised Malor asylum and Ransom knew that the captain had to follow orders, so he bought her time and some plausible deniability. Kayshon suddenly draws everyone's attention to the message having uncovered the truth: it was actually Relga posing as the admiral which is a dishonorable act.

Freeman comments that they're in a impossible situation: they can't hand Ma'ah and Malor over, but they can't fight back either. Shaxs laments the fact that they have Terran weapons, but no way to power them. "There has to be some sneaky underhanded Kirk-style trick we can use to *bleep* her up, like they did in the old days," suggests T'Ana. This gives Billups an idea and he tells the others that one of his officers might be able to help with that.

Relga hails the Cerritos again, demanding to know if Freeman is really going to make her board the ship and urging Freeman to save some lives by giving the brothers up. Freeman confronts Relga about the fake message, and she declares that the crew has to die now since her trick was discovered. "You know, you were right. I really shouldn't have shared that shield update. Guess I'll just have to take it away," declares an unconcerned Freeman, amusing Relga who challenges Freeman to try. On the outer hull, supported by Meredith holding a lifeline, Olly uses her Greek demigod powers to strike Relga's Bird-of-Prey with a massive lightning bolt as the ship makes an attack run. Relga gloats that the trick did nothing, but one of her crewmembers reports that their shields are down, having been drained by Olly's attack and leaving the Klingons fully exposed to the energy field. Frantically, Relga orders her crew to fire on and destroy the Cerritos, but another wave strikes the unprotected ship, changing both it and the crew. Relga's targ becomes an oyster while the Klingons devolve into monsters that begin attacking each other. Ma'ah identifies the creatures as mindless Proto-Klingons who are filled with rage. The feed cuts out when Relga throws another Proto-Klingon into her ship's viewscreen. The Bird-of-Prey's bridge explodes followed by the rest of the ship moments later.

Boimler warns that the wave frequency is increasing moment before the Cerritos is hit by another wave. The wave changes the Cerritos into a Sovereign-class ship, restoring the Cerritos to operational status. Freeman orders a course set for the rift, but Boimler warns her that the effects will increase the closer that they get. The Cerritos heads through the possibility field at full impulse, changing into an Oberth-class ship, a Galaxy-class ship, and a Miranda-class ship before returning to its original California-class. Boimler announces that the rift is expanding too quickly, and they won't get there in time, and Mariner complains that they didn't change into a bigger, better ship.

Having had an epiphany, Rutherford announces that there's no better ship and the California-class is perfect for this mission. The class was designed for all sorts of functionality, and they can reconfigure systems better than anyone. All of this time, Rutherford thought that the problem was with the ship, but it's actually with his implant and Rutherford's overreliance on it. For the first time, Rutherford disconnects his oculus and begins reconfiguring the warp core by pure skill alone. An astonished Livik comments that he's never seen someone engineer that fast before and the engineering crew cheers Rutherford on. Tendi and T'Lyn detect the fact that Rutherford is rerouting the rift's energy directly into the dilithium chamber. The Cerritos is being fueled by interdimensionality itself and the results will be unpredictable.

Using the new power, Boimler accelerates the ship even faster towards the rift. However, the ship's superpositions decouple, bifurcating the Cerritos into two quantum possibilities. Boimler tries to keep them on course, but the helm's not responding and Shaxs reports that the systems are split with each ship trying to control the other. Working together from the separate Cerritos', Tendi and T'Lyn unite as "science besties" to fix the problem and merge the two ships back together.

As Malor joins the bridge crew, the Cerritos finally makes it through the possibility field and fires the gluonic beam into the rift. However, the beam fails to close the rift and Tendi realizes that they're too late. "On my farm... when a river threatens to destroy your crops, you cannot stop it, but you can build a dam," suggests Malor unexpectedly. Mariner realizes that he's right, runs to the science station, and adjusts the controls. The beam's intensity increases as does both its light and the light in the warp core. The possibility field is sucked back into the rift which becomes a large circular portal rather than a fracture in reality. Boimler reports that it worked: the energy is contained, and the rift is stable, but it's now a permanent rift into the multiverse. The crew celebrates as Ma'ah is shocked that the solution came from his seemingly unintelligent brother. Mariner pulls Malor into a hug over his objections which Ma'ah joins in on.

Act Three[]

"Boimler's log. Our Klingon friends are heading back to Qo'noS, but they might not have time for farming. Due to her dishonorable actions, the High Council handed over Relga's fleet to Ma'ah's command. Now that the rift is a permanently open portal to other quantum realities, Starfleet considers it a gateway to a whole new frontier. The increased tachyon density means no modern starbase can be stationed nearby. Luckily, there's one with older systems that aren't affected. Starbase 80. The mission: explore strange new realities with a little help from some familiar friends. Kassia still runs the base, but when it comes to exploring the multiverse, Starfleet wanted their best to supervise missions going into the rift."

Now in command of Relga's fleet with Malor serving at his side and K'Elarra on his crew, Ma'ah returns to Qo'noS. A small fleet, including the Cerritos and the Enterprise, tow Starbase 80 to the rift via tractor beam to guard the rift and to serve as the headquarters for a new mission to explore the multiverse. The Anaximander flies through the rift to the prime universe carrying her interdimensional crew, now including Lily Sloane and her crew. While Commander Kassia Nox still commands the Starbase 80, Freeman has been transferred to the starbase to oversee the multiversal exploration.

In the Cerritos hanger, T'Ana hugs Freeman goodbye, Ransom shakes hands with her and Shaxs gives her a bear hug. Mariner asks her mother who will throw her in the brig if Freeman is no longer around, but while neither woman thought that Mariner would last a week when she first boarded the Cerritos, Mariner no longer needs Freeman, and it is now Freeman's turn to go on an adventure. Admiral Freeman steps out of a shuttle, having transferred to Starbase 80 to be with his wife which is the main reason that Freeman accepted this new assignment. After the Freemans cross to the starbase, they are greeted by Nox who, to Admiral Freeman's horror, takes the couple to get slimed up with some homemade disinfectant gel.

Rutherford approaches Tendi and T'Lyn in the bar, now with his implant fully removed, leaving Rutherford with a completely organic head for the first time since Starfleet Academy. Rutherford explains that he had to choose between the Cerritos and the oculus, and it wasn't really a choice at all. Rutherford figures that engineering should be twice as interesting without the aid of his cybernetics, while Tendi is stunned speechless by this major change in her friend. Rutherford finds it strange to be so organic, but Tendi finds him to be very handsome. Rutherford immediately begins blushing and stammering, his more intense emotions no longer blocked by a dopamine inhibitor. T'Lyn comments that she didn't realize his romantic affections for Tendi which she denies, but tenderly cares for Rutherford as he collapses under Tendi's affections. T'Lyn quips that she was clearly mistaken, watching the Rutherford and Tendi's obvious care for each other. Mariner joins the group with a round of drinks, surprising her friends at how well she's taking the departure of her mother. Mariner reflects upon their journey, the crew and their ship:

"You know why Boimler's weird death-faking clone sent that cosmic wave at us? Because he knew we kick ass. And I'm not just talking about the five of us. The whole Cerritos crew is stacked with amazing officers. Yeah, there's a lot of ships in the fleet which are bigger, fancier, they have engineering sections that are attached to the main part of the ship. And honestly, those crews are way more professional. Hey, I should know, I've been kicked out of half of 'em. But this thing we do doesn't require perfection. We're explorers. We live for the unknown. You can't prepare for that. Nobody on the Cerritos is even close to perfect. We're a mishmash of people and various creatures that don't fit in anywhere else. But we're a family. That's why I love it here. We believe in the mission and in each other. My mom might be gone, but she handpicked this crew. Which is why I know we're gonna be okay. This isn't the end of the story, it's the beginning. We're gonna make her proud."

Elsewhere, Olly demonstrates her actions against Relga to her friends while delta shift plays poker together. Billups, Meredith, Livik, and Goodgey look over a project together. Goodgey is zapped by the project, causing him to briefly turn evil before reverting back to normal. In Cetacean Ops, Westlake is swimming with Kimolu and Matt and Steve Stevens jumps in the water and joins them. In sickbay, T'Ana treats a patient when a frightened O'Connor drops out of a portal behind her, having somehow returned from his ascension. T'Ana barely spares O'Connor a glance before returning to her patient. Kayshon and Dr. Gabers Migleemo tend to some plants and get sprayed by the sap of one while other crewmembers enjoy a historical fantasy on the holodeck and a group of female crewmembers gather around a green glowing device on a table and cheer.

On the bridge, Mariner admits that she did get mad and set her bed on fire and kicked a computer before she finally accepted her mother's departure. Shaxs announces the arrival of the captain: the newly promoted Captain Jack Ransom. Ransom teases Shaxs about his love for blowing up the warp core, and compliments Rutherford's pretty inspired updates to the ship's plasma injectors. Ransom tells Tendi and T'Lyn that their new mission is to check out some talking goo on Snickmik V and the two wonder about the viscosity of the goo and if it has anything nice to say.

The Cerritos moves away from Starbase 80, and Ransom calls Boimler and Mariner together. Needing a first officer, Ransom reveals that he's promoting both Boimler and Mariner to provisional first officer of the Cerritos. While they're both still only lieutenant junior grade and not quite ready yet, Ransom has confidence that they can make it work together. Down the line, Ransom might promote one of them to full first officer and he suggests that they think of it as a contest. Rather than being excited about the opportunity, Boimler and Mariner are worried about the impact that it will have on their friendship. Boimler reminds Ransom that they're still lower decks, but Ransom tells Boimler that they're in charge of the lower decks now. Boimler and Mariner reluctantly take the seats on either side of the captain's chair with Mariner assuming a sulky posture while Boimler is more tentative.

On Starbase 80, the station's personnel and the Anaximander crew are holding a party and mingling with each other. Outside of the window, the Cerritos flies away and Freeman watches it go with a smile, raising her glass in a toast to the ship. Onboard, Ransom tries to pick a catchphrase for when the ship goes to warp, quickly settling on "engage the core." Dismayed that Ransom is using a workout joke, Boimler and Mariner try to dissuade him without success. The Cerritos jumps to warp, continuing its adventures.

Log entries[]

"First officer's log. Having finished repairs at a joint Starfleet-Klingon research station, the Cerritos is enjoying a little downtime."
"Boimler's log. Our Klingon friends are heading back to Qo'noS, but they might not have time for farming. Due to her dishonorable actions, the High Council handed over Relga's fleet to Ma'ah's command. Now that the rift is a permanently open portal to other quantum realities, Starfleet considers it a gateway to a whole new frontier. The increased tachyon density means no modern starbase can be stationed nearby. Luckily, there's one with older systems that aren't affected. Starbase 80. The mission: explore strange new realities with a little help from some familiar friends. Kassia still runs the base, but when it comes to exploring the multiverse, Starfleet wanted their best to supervise missions going into the rift."

Memorable quotes[]

"Set course for the border. Maybe we can antagonize Starfleet into a fight."
"But the High Council considers them to be allies."
"*bleep* the council! We're only patrolling this worthless corner of the Empire because my brothers were murdered, and the council thinks me weak! I would cut all their throats for a chance to..."

- Relga, lashing out at the Klingon Captain

"We have evaded the soliton wave, but the Krtas has been destroyed. Shall I report this to command?"
"No. This is exactly what I needed."

- A Klingon officer, reporting to a gleeful Relga

"I've been trying to fix this stupid old plasma router, which should be easy with my implant, but the Cerritos systems are too old."
"You love the Cerritos. Don't listen to him, girl. He didn't mean it."
"Yes, I did."

- Rutherford, frustrated despite Tendi's attempts to calm him down

"I wish I could help you, Rutherford, but there's not a lot of engineering advice on this PADD I stole from alt-dimension me."
"I cannot believe basing your personality on that thing actually worked. That beard looks good. I hate it."
"I didn't actually crib all that much."
"Uh-huh. What do you want to drink?"
"Uh, uh, something called a Bramble?"

- Boimler and Mariner, discussing Boimler's attempts to transform himself based on Beard Boimler

"Holy *bleep*, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"
"What – what the hell? Boims, wait up! What are we screaming about?"

- Boimler panicking, confusing Mariner

"Is it just me, or is Boimler always freaking out about some PADD?"
"It is not just you."

- Tendi and T'Lyn, confused by Boimler's behavior

"T'Pol? Harry Kims? An interdimensional overload?"
"Captain, if William's alive, he wouldn't lie about this."
"Mom, I know this is coming from nowhere and we're just junior officers, but we have to take it seriously."
"I agree."
"Oh. You do?"
"Let's get Command on the line now."
"Whoa, what, really? I mean, we thought it would take way more convincing."
"Yeah, I mean an -- an undead transporter clone could be kind of a stretch."
"You two are my best officers. And after all we've been through, I think I know enough to trust you."
"Wow. I mean, thanks."
"Man, that is good captaining."

- Freeman, surprising Boimler and Mariner with her instant acceptance of their report

"Eh, why so tense, brother? We still have hours before we arrive at Qo'noS."
"A captain must be vigilant."
"We deliver bloodwine. What danger would we encounter? A leaky barrel?"
"Every mission is a potential battle."
"Wake me if Kahless makes another appearance."

- Malor, making fun of Ma'ah's vigilance just before Relga arrives

"Relga."
"Ah, the great Captain Ma'ah, hauling garbage."
"It's not garbage. It's wine!"
"How the mighty have fallen, murderer."
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"You destroyed one of my ships. I was lucky to survive."
"We don't know what you're talking about."
"I know, but there's just enough truth to convince the High Council. Ready weapons!"
"This is madness!"
"No, it's vengeance. Relga has no honor, just like her brothers."
"Bargh and Dorg were weak. I am not."

- Ma'ah, Relga, and Malor, arguing

"I will ram their bridge. We will have the element of surprise."
"Sorry, brother, but today is not a good day to die."
"What are you doing?! Unlock my controls now! Malor!"

- Ma'ah, stopped from doing a suicide run by Malor

"Long-rang scans have confirmed your fears, Captain Freeman."
"Soliton resonance is overloading the dimensional rift."
"Unchecked, this will destroy our quantum reality."
[the Cerritos crew gasps in horror]
"The rift itself is easily sealed with a subspace gluonic beam."
"The problem is getting to it. The rift is surrounded by a Schrödinger possibility field."
"A what?"
"The S-field completely remaps matter into other possibilities from the multiverse."

- Two admirals, reporting on the devastating effects of the rift to Freeman

"Of course, we would never choose to have a California-class ship handle a catastrophe of this scale."
"Oh, thank God. For a moment, it sounded like this was up to us."
"Unfortunately, it is."
"What?! Why?"
"Enterprise is en route, but there's no time. The two Boimlers are linked in ways we don't yet understand. Call it fate or entanglement, this is your mission."

- The Human admiral, Freeman, the Alien admiral, and Ransom, discussing the mission

"What the *bleep*? You sent a universe-destroying rift to your own dimension?"
"It wasn't me. It was William!"
"Looks like the Boimlers have given us no choice. (everyone groans) Let's move people."
"Come on! It was William!"

- Mariner, blameing Boimler for William's actions as Freeman has everyone get to work

"We can give them safe harbor, right, mom?"
"Yes, but confined to quarters. Sorry, but apparently, we're the only ones who can save the frickin' universe today."

- Mariner, convincing Freeman to give her friends asylum

"You're harboring two criminal Klingons, captain."
"Word travels fast. I don't believe they've committed any crime."
"They're murderers. I'm ordering you to immediately hand them over to Captain Relga."
"Dad, these are my friends."
"Is this coming from Command? Zo, I..."

- Admiral Freeman, giving orders against the objections of Freeman and Mariner

"Soliton energy's reacting with the duranium. Readings are getting freaky!"
"All hands, brace for weird."

- Ransom and Freeman, as the ship enters the possibility field

"Oof, an ancient Klingon sailing barge. All lives lost."

- Ransom, observing the newest change caused by the field

"The Cerritos wasn't designed for this kind of stress. We need to disable non-essential systems to help route power to structural integrity."
"Negative. Disabling systems could damage resource conduits."
"Yeah, resource flow won't matter if we get blown up!"
"Raising your voice will not solve the problem."
"Neither will doing nothing! We are co-senior science officers. We should be working together on this!"
"It appears the pressure of our situation is impairing your logic. Perhaps we should work on different systems."
"Perhaps we should."

- A stressed Tendi, arguing with T'Lyn

"I can't get any of the isolinear relays stabilized. It's this ship. I... I think I'm falling out of love with the Cerritos."
"What? But there's so much more to fix. Maybe this is just a rough patch."
"That's what I thought. But it just isn't getting better."

- Rutherford, considering a breakup as Tendi tries to talk him out of it

"That Klingon's hot."
"I noticed."

- Matt and Kimolu, admiring Ma'ah

"The Cerritos is a Terran Empire ship now. Ah, by the Prophets, our weapons are amazing! (weapons go down) Oh! Weapons are down. Aah!"

- Shaxs, briefly excited by the new change

"Boims, that thing was working for you. You're so handsome and cool."
"I don't want it in my life it means not having your back."
"Oh, man, that's actually – That's really sweet. You're a better friend than Beard Boimler."
"I don't need a PADD to know that. Friendship."

- Mariner, surprised when Boimler chooses to destroy the PADD for her

"How a – are you s– so strong?"
"High intensity interval training."

- A surprised Ma'ah, overpowered by Ransom

"This has gone too far. I hid Malor."
"What?"
"Ha! I *bleep* knew it."
"Why?"
"That message from Admiral Freeman didn't sit right."
"Yes. Thank you. Mom, it did not sound like Dad."
"We promised Malor asylum, and Relga's a bully. I knew you had to follow orders, so I bought you time and some plausible deniability."
"That wasn't your call, Jack."

- Ransom, revealing the truth to Mariner, T'Ana, and Freeman

"Uzani, when the light came over the mountain."
"We don't need to watch this. His orders were clear."
"Jinza, when the truth was uncovered."
"They're murderers, I'm ordering you to immediately hand them..."
"Ah, she faked the message."
"Damn. That is so dishonorable."

- Kayshon, revealing to Freeman that it was really Relga, to Mariner's disgust

"We can't hand them over, but we can't fight back. This is an impossible situation."
"I can't believe we have Terran weapons and no way to power them."
"There has to be some sneaky underhanded Kirk-style trick we can use to *bleep* her up, like they did in the old days."
"One of my officers might be able to help with that."

- Freeman, Shaxs, T'Ana, and Billups, coming up with a plan

"Ugh. What are they turning into?"
"Mindless Proto-Klingons, filled with rage."

- Ransom and Ma'ah, watching the transformation of Relga and her crew

"Captain, the Cerritos is operational. We've gone all Sovereign-class."
"I guess I'll have to take it. Helm, get us to the rift."

- Shaxs and Freeman, after the ship undergoes another change

"Why couldn't we have changed into a bigger, better ship?"
"There is no better ship!"
"Rutherford?"
"The Cali-class rules! We're perfect for this."
"But I thought you were falling out of love?"
"Yeah, but then I realized my problems aren't with the Cerritos. They're with my implant. Time to do this the old-fashioned way. These Calis were designed for all sorts of functionality. We can reconfigure systems better than anyone."

- Mariner's complaints are interrupted by Rutherford's epiphany, surprising Tendi

"Today's chaos has driven us apart. But that's when we need to be the most in synch."
"Relinquish control. Trust each other. Before, we had to prove ourselves. Now, we unite as..."
"Science besties!"

- Tendi and T'Lyn, as they put the ship back together

"On my farm... when a river threatens to destroy your crops, you cannot stop it, but you can build a dam."
"What are you talking about?"
"He's right."

- Malor, offering a surprising solution to Ma'ah's confusion and Mariner's agreement

"Whoa, the energy's contained. The rift is stable, but it's uh, it's permanently open."
"Holy *bleep*. Wait, did we just save the *bleep* universe?"
[the crew cheers]

- Boimler and T'Ana, after the universe is saved

"Huh? We are victorious because you listened to Malor?"
"Yeah. I guess Ransom made a good call hiding this big old genius, or we'd be toast."
"Klingons do not hug."
"Shut up."

- Ma'ah, stunned that Mariner got her solution from Malor

"If you're not here, who's gonna throw me in the brig?"
"When you first arrived, I didn't think you'd last a week."
"Yeah, neither did I."
"Now I'm proud to say that you don't need me. It's my turn to go on an adventure."
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you, too."

- Mariner and Freeman, saying goodbye

"Welcome to Starbase 80, Freemans. Now let's get you slimed up with some homemade disinfectant gel."
"She's kidding, right?"
"You wish."

- Kassia Nox, greeting the Freemans

"Where's your implant?"
"I had to choose between the Cerritos and the oculus. Not really a choice at all."
"Uh, I – I, I – I don't know what to say."
"Engineering should be twice as interesting now that I don't have cybernetics hooked up to my melon. It does feel weird to be so organic though."

- Tendi, stunned speechless by the removal of Rutherford's implant

"I think you look very handsome."
"Oh! Thanks, Tendi. Wow. Emotions can get pretty intense without a dopamine inhibitor, huh?"
"I was unaware of your romantic affection."
"Oh, no, we're just friends."
"My head feels hot."
"Am I sick?"
"Let me take your temperature."
"Clearly I was mistaken."

- Tendi's compliments leave Rutherford flustered, to T'Lyn's amusement

"You know why Boimler's weird death-faking clone sent that cosmic wave at us? Because he knew we kick ass. And I'm not just talking about the five of us. The whole Cerritos crew is stacked with amazing officers. Yeah, there's a lot of ships in the fleet which are bigger, fancier, they have engineering sections that are attached to the main part of the ship. And honestly, those crews are way more professional. Hey, I should know, I've been kicked out of half of 'em. But this thing we do doesn't require perfection. We're explorers. We live for the unknown. You can't prepare for that. Nobody on the Cerritos is even close to perfect. We're a mishmash of people and various creatures that don't fit in anywhere else. But we're a family. That's why I love it here. We believe in the mission and in each other. My mom might be gone, but she handpicked this crew. Which is why I know we're gonna be okay. This isn't the end of the story, it's the beginning. We're gonna make her proud."

- Mariner's outlook on the Cerritos and her crew

"Yeah, I did get mad and set my bed on fire."
"Wait, what?!"
"What?! Is it still burning?!"
"Yeah, and I kicked a computer, but you know, that's all out of my system. I'm good, I think. I'm – I mean I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. Tune in. Uh-oh."

- Mariner, telling her Friends about her less than ideal response to the recent changes

"You know, she told me to never let you detonate the warp core."
"Oh, man."
"Unless you really deserve it."
"All right!"

- The newly-promoted Ransom, teasing Shaxs

"I need a first officer."
"Bu – uh, but I'm only a lieutenant jg."
"I know you're not quite ready, but the two of you have a chance of making it work as provisional first officers."
"What?"
"That's not a thing."
"It is now. I might eventually promote one of you. Think of it as a contest."
"Please don't do this."
"It will mess up our friendship."
"Eh, a little interpersonal conflict's the best way to learn."
"Since when?"
"Sir, but I – I can't. I don't – we're still lower decks."
"No, you're in charge of the lower decks. Grab a seat."
"Oh, man."

- Ransom, surprising Boimler and Mariner with a promotion

"Oh. I gotta figure out a cool thing to say when we go to warp."
"I – I think it'll happen naturally, over time."
"Yeah, you don't want it to sound forced."
"Ooh, I got one. Engage the core."
"Uh, no. I don't like it."
"No, no. Don't you dare go to warp on a workout joke."
"Nope, I'm sorry, I like it. It's staying."
"Ransom, you are better than this."
"No, please don't make this our lives, sir."
"Come on, you don't want to set that tone."
"Sir..."
"What if this is a five-year mission?"
"Engage the core!"

- Ransom, arguing with Boimler and Mariner over his chosen catchphrase in the last lines of the series

Background information[]

Title[]

This is the second of two season/series finales to invoke the title of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the first being PIC: "The Last Generation".

Continuity[]

The Klingons on the IKS Krtas, as well as the ship itself, are transformed by the effects of the rift into their alternate 23rd century physiology and designs as seen on Star Trek: Discovery.
- Similarly, Relga and the crew on her ship transform into Proto-Klingons: the same type of creature that Worf devolved into in TNG: "Genesis".

Links and references[]

Starring[]

Tawny Newsome as
- Beckett Mariner
- Beckett Mariner (alternate; archive audio)
Jack Quaid as
- Brad Boimler
- William Boimler (archive audio)
Noël Wells as D'Vana Tendi
Eugene Cordero as Sam Rutherford
Dawnn Lewis as Carol Freeman
Jerry O'Connell as Jack Ransom
Fred Tatasciore as Shaxs
Gillian Vigman as T'Ana

Guest cast[]

Nicole Byer as Kassia Nox
Jon Curry as
- Ma'ah
- Krtas captain
Saba Homayoon as Olly
Phil LaMarr as
- Alonzo Freeman
- Alonzo Freeman (simulation)
Jessica McKenna as
- Barnes
- Cerritos Computer
Charlotte Nicdao as Meredith
Nolan North as Livik
Roxana Ortega as Relga
Gabrielle Ruiz as
- T'Lyn
- Ariolo Federation scientist
Paul Scheer as Andy Billups
Carl Tart as
- Kayshon
- Relga's bridge officer
Sam Witwer as Malor

Characters with unidentified voice actors

Human Starfleet sciences commander

Background characters[]

Anaximander

Julian Bashir (alternate hologram)
Elim Garak (alternate)
Harry Kim(s) (alternate)
T'Pol (alternate)

USS Cerritos

Ma'ah's Bird-of-Prey

Relga's Bird-of-Prey

Previous episode:

"Fissure Quest"

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Season 5

Next episode:

Final episode in series

Memory Alpha

The New Next Generation (episode)

Contents