Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 18, 2025

For a series that began as something of a more immature look into the Star Trek universe, Star Trek: Lower Decks has matured quite nicely across its five season run. Though still holding to the somewhat sophomoric humor that really defined the show out of the gate, it has slowly but surely evolved into something that is like a hybrid of what it began with and its timeframe companion, the much more seriously minded Star Trek: The Next Generation. It all comes together, and to a close, in this fifth and final season that fittingly ends with an episode titled "The New Next Generation," a bold title but one I think it earns along the way. As the final season, it's best to come in familiar with previous seasons, so I encourage everyone to start with the first season and move through the series before winding up at these final ten episodes. Each season's individual Blu-ray release is linked below.

• Season One
• Season Two
• Season Three
• Season Four

Season five offers a new central plot line that sees the Cerritos and her crew of capable misfits exploring the galaxy and encountering all sorts of familiar alien faces and races while also dealing with new challenges that could drastically alter the universe and, even, their own self perception. The season dabbles in all sorts of familiar Star Trek riffs while, as Lower Decks does so well, putting its own unique spin on things. But rest assured that season five does right by the show and its characters, particularly its core of Beckett Mariner (voiced by Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (voiced by Jack Quaid), Sam Rutherford (voiced by Eugene Cordero), and D'Vana Tendi (voiced by Noël Wells). The new adventures allow them to face their lives -- characteristics, aspirations, and friendships -- both literally and figuratively with newfound insight, focus, and depth. As the core narrative unfolds, action spikes and propels the season, and the series, towards a fitting climax.

One thing that Lower Decks has always done well -- far better than its off-brand humor -- is to really intertwine and interconnect the larger Star Trek universe into its own prism and purview, and it does just that here. And maybe to the greatest degree ever. There's a good bit of fan service at work in the series, especially as the season's overreaching plot line really just treads familiar Star Trek territory, but the season's ability to bend and twist and reach and do some unexpected things really help to shake off any sort of narrative deice fatigue and present some classic Star Trek elements in a fresh and exciting way. And, there are lots and lots of cameos. Season five is just about the best the show has been, which is a compliment considering how well it's really come together in the past couple of seasons. I'm sorry to see it go.

Of course, the big question that is always front-and-center is what in the world (or the universe) a Star Trek series does with what's at the very end: the series finale. Aptly titled "The New Next Generation," the finale delivers an appropriately rich and focused send-off, with, of course, a flair for capturing the series' unique spin on things. It's traditional in many ways, but it's also impressively identifiable as a unique to and rich in the Lower Decks style and substance alike. It does right by its characters. It's logical, satisfying, and doesn't try to do too much to shake things up. It's fitting.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As usual, Paramount has released a wonderfully crisp and vibrant Blu-ray release for a Lower Decks season release. Spread across two discs, the episodes have plenty of room to breathe on the 50GB discs. The 1.78:1 images are sharp and revealing with the resolution more than capable of delivering the kind of efficient and revealing content fans expect. The resolution capably presents all the details on what is generally less than complex animation. Sure, there are some dense readouts on bridge instruments, but things like uniforms, basic surfaces around the Cerritos, and skin lack any tangible nuance. It's not a complex animation, and the 1080p resolution brings whatever is thrown at it to the screen with the highest of clarity and distinction. Colors are where the image really shines. The Starfleet uniforms are beautifully bold; each hue looks perfectly true to the TNG universe, delivering robust reds, bold blues, and great golds, with splashes of additional color always looking rich and brilliant. Black levels are fine (though "black" uniform areas can veer very lightly gray). If there is a drawback here, it's that there are a few jagged lines here and there, but for the most part everything is crisp and straight. I did not notice any other serious source or encode issues to report.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Final Season features the series standard DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is every bit as full and rich as previous efforts, with the the music as one of the standouts for its attention to detail, satisfying front side spacing, gentle surround envelopment, and hearty bass support. This holds true for all music. Action effects spread throughout the stage, offering discrete placement, seamless movement, and some big cues to back up the spread. It all merges together really well. Environmental effects, especially on board the Cerritos, are of course not often front and center but the little sonic cues and nice touches really help to draw the listener in, and they are always well placed, nicely defined, and presented at just the right volume. Dialogue is clear, well prioritized, and centered for the duration.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc Blu-ray release of Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Final Season contains extras on both discs.

Disc One:

• Audio Commentaries: For "Dos Cerritos" Tawny Newsome, Noël Wells, and Mike McMahan. For "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel:" Jack Quaid, Barry J. Kelly, and Mike McMahan.

Disc Two:

• Audio Commentaries: For "Fully Dilated" Brent Spiner, Noël Wells, and Mike McMahan. For "Upper Decks:" Fred Tatasciore, Brad Winters, Megan Treviño, and Mike McMahan. For "The New Next Generation:" Noël Wells, Jack Quaid, Eugene Cordero, and Mike McMahan
• Lower Dektionary: Season 5 (1080p, 25:24): Looking back at the career-changing ending of season four for the main characters and how that leads into season five. Most of the content looks at the season five stories, with emphasis on characters and their evolving arcs and characteristics, voice work, story elements, relationship to other aspects of and elements in the sprawling Star Trek universe, and much more.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'll confess that I was not the biggest fan of Lower Decks when it first debuted, but the show has grown on me. I am a die-hard "Trekkie" and watch everything -- good, bad, indifferent -- and I'm pleased that Lower Decks wound up pretty close to solidly in the "good" category. I don't think it will be remembered as the best of the (currently available) Star Trek animations -- that prize still goes to The Animated Series -- but this is solid entertainment if one can stomach the occasional burst of lowbrow humor amidst some highbrow Star Trek connects and narratives. This final season Blu-ray release is pretty reminiscent of the previous ones: it delivers rock-solid video and audio and a few extras. Recommended!