Sequels are always a challenge. It's fitting that Lower Decks approaches its first attempt at a direct sequel with a sense of trepidation... and mostly makes it work.
The sequel to the movie-riffing delights of "Crisis Point" is called "Crisis Point II: Paradoxus" and it's the highlight of the season. He plays the heroic Captain Bosephus Dagger of the U.S. Wayfarer in the Rise of Vindicta sequel, and has a lot to live up to. That is in terms of both the pastiche it brings to the table, as well as what it can bring to the table on its own terms. Thankfully, the latter is the most important thing here, and it is what the movie mostly gets right.
The pastiche is fun, but it doesn't include the fancy upgraded movie costumes like the Lower-Decks-meets-TNG ones. Even if there is nothing as bad as Nemesis, the vibe of the movie is still the same. It's good, it's kind of whatCrisis Point already did, so it loses some of its sheen the second time around.
Like "Crisis Point" before it, the strength of "Paradoxus" is in its character work, and it is much more of an intimate piece. While "Crisis Point" focused on Mariner's struggles, "Paradoxus" builds like a good sequel should and contains important developments for both Tendi and Boimler. He dealt with the grief of losing his twin William in a random gas leak on the Titan, instead of using the heroic, bold persona he had created for himself as Captain Dagger. She initially sees the distracted mood as disrespectful to the cinematic universe she created in Vindicta, only to change her mind when she learns of William's accident. It comes from a dehydration-caused hallucination of George Takei as a retired Sulu.
The development of Tendi is more subdued. As she and Rutherford chase down the A-plot of Boimler's movie in the background, their friendship becomes strained as she takes her role seriously. It explodes in a realization for Tendi that she doesn't just want to be a senior officer, she wants to be in the captain's chair one day. It's a fascinating development for her, considering Tendi's anxiety about taking the lead sometimes, and good material to pick up on with her.
The film picks up on the mistakes that the second film makes. Lower Decks is incapable of developing its four core characters as a unit, constantly splitting them into the Tendi/Rutherford, Boimler/Mariner pairs, and stretching two big character arcs across two different pairs and two different threads. Like some of the most annoying sequels, it kind of exists just to hook future plots, and it only works if you don't immediately have an annoying cliffhanger. That twist is the revelation that William Boimler has gone full Tom Riker, and is not just alive but faked his death to join Section 31 in a seemingly sinister plot.
Maybe Lower Decks didn't have to be faithful to a lot of Star Trek sequels. In comparison to the originalCrisis Point, the show did at least try to pull off a second act, but it can be difficult. That is enough for a sequel.
On Thursdays, new episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks are available on Paramount+.
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