One of the highlights of Star Trek: Mission Chicago was a panel for Star Trek: Lower Decks. This was the first time the cast had been together since the season 2 premiere. Perhaps more importantly, this was the first time they had attended a Star Trek convention together and were greeted by a packed crowd.
Cast cosplay as themselves
Creator and showrunner Mike McMahan took the stage with the energy of a rock star and exclaimed “you guys packed this room, this is insane!”. him as he led the crowd in a chant of “Lower decks! Lower decks! His tone then turned serious, delivering some “bad news”, revealing that the cast “just couldn’t make it” to the event. But the good news was that “the crew of the USS Cerritos could do it.”
Mike McMahan waves to the Mission Chicago crowd (Photo: TrekMovie)
The team was introduced one by one, starting with Jerry O’Connell as Jack Ransom, and when the audience saw that he was in full lower covers uniform, the crowd went wild. And they continued with appearances by Noël Wells as Tendi, Jack Quaid as Boimler and Tawny Newsome as Mariner. Jack even had purple hair from Boimer and the Geordi bear. McMahan later explained that Eugene Cordero (Rutherford) sent the best he could but couldn’t be there due to a scheduling conflict.
Jerry O’Connell, Noël Wells, Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome in Mission Chicago (Photo: TrekMovie)
Not only did they dress like they were on the USS Cerritos, but each actor said they saw parallels between them and their lower covers characters…
Tawny: At some point, Mike started writing a shadow of me that I didn’t think I’d let out that often. But now through Mariner, I realized that there is not much line.
German: You know I didn’t think [I was like Ransom] until I put on this uniform this morning. And I’ve been ordering a lot of these three all day… [having two more pips] It went straight to my head.
James: Yes, definitely. I scream, but not as often as Boimler does. But every now and then I get really startled, like I like Universal Halloween and Boimler’s scream comes out multiple times… That’s something I discovered was inside of me through this work.
Christmas: I feel that Tendi is a shadow of me that I have forgotten… I feel that I am a very optimistic person, but sometimes I don’t know if people know how to handle it. So I’m like, ‘Oh, just shut up’… She’s definitely like me and my essence. I’m also like probably crazy.
Jerry O’Connell, Noël Wells, Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome in Mission Chicago (Photo: TrekMovie)
Jack even had a very Boimler-like moment when he was given his own Tom Paris commemorative plaque.
Noël Wells and Jack Quaid in Mission Chicago (Photo: TrekMovie)
Season 3: Peanut Hamper, Klingon D&D, cameos, and more
McMahan showed off the trailer for season three and promised it was “just a hint” of what’s to come, with a full trailer later this year. He also revealed the teaser poster, confirming that the figure in the poster was indeed Peanut Hamper, adding, “Peanut Hamper’s story will continue.”
Season 3 teaser poster revealed during Mission Chicago
The executive producer then delighted the crowd and told them that they could see a clip that would not be shared with the general public. The clip featured the first cold open scene of an episode that was not the season premiere. It featured the lower floors playing a Klingon version of Dungeons & Dragons called “Bat’leths & BIHnuchs”. The game featured a virtual Martok (voiced by JG Hertzler) as the dungeon master, but Boimler noted that he was not the real Chancellor Martok, but a “Ferengi knockoff”. He had lines like “Qapla! You rolled an 18, which means the petaQ is frozen in fear from your battle cry.” The game ended with Boimler being eliminated for “not living out your days as a warrior, but as a dentist”.
The moderator pressed for season three details, and McMahan recounted but explained why he didn’t want to reveal too much…
Look, the rules of the third season. I don’t want to tell you anything… There will be some classic faces in season three. There will be some interesting ships. I don’t know if you guys like starships. I don’t want to joke too much about the third season because there will be a trailer. And part of what we love about lower covers is the surprise. You can never see what’s coming.
After being pressed by Tawny, he also revealed that we’ll get more background on Boimler:
Very quickly, in the first episode, you will understand a little more about the Boimler heritage.
Mike McMahan and Jerry O’Connell at Mission Chicago (Photo: TrekMovie)
Singing babies and salamanders
Tawny has made it clear that there is something she wants to see happen, revealing, “I’ve submitted everything from a musical episode to a different type of musical episode.” Noel Wells also said that he has released the same and McMahan promised: “I will make them sing and play in lower covers.”
During the Q&A, a fan asked if we’ll see Janeway and Tom Paris’ salamander children. [from Voyager’s “Threshold”]. And Mike appeared to confirm that they are coming:
There was a little glimpse of a salamander in the first season when Boimler was sent to the farm on the medical ship and there was Anthony the salamander, but not the salamander himself. When will we see them? I can not tell. Will we see them? Yes absolutely.
Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome in Mission Chicago (Photo: TrekMovie)
More to come from Chicago
There’s still plenty more coverage from the convention, including reports from other Star Trek Universe panels. Stay tuned to TrekMovie in the coming days for more Star Trek: Mission Chicago.
Mike McMahan, Jerry O’Connell, Noël Wells, Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome in Mission Chicago (Photo: TrekMovie)
Find more lower covers news and reviews.