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On Thursday, the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks returned with a bang for its third season with the episode “Grounded”. TrekMovie had the chance to speak with series creator and showrunner Mike McMahon about putting together the episode and how it sets up what’s to come in Season 3.
The title of the season opener “Grounded” feels like it has many meanings, such as how much of the humor is more character-based. Is that something you’re moving towards in Season 3?
For the first episode back, we wanted it to feel like not only setting the stage for this season, but we also wanted to pay some of the bills from last season. And we wanted to celebrate episodes where you come back to Earth. So it has a little bit of all those flavors. I really love the episode because I do First contact. I love James Cromwell. And I love all the Earth episodes of TNG and Deep Space Nine. I like being there for those things, but yeah, I think it really sets the stage for like, “Hey, this season is going to have a lot of heart in it.” We’re not just going to wander around. We’ll have fun! But also, we’ll be doing some things with the characters that create more stages for the future.
Although this takes place shortly after the season 2 finale, the opening of season 3 feels like the characters have been put in new positions, literally and emotionally – Tandy shows her science, Beumler shows more confidence. Was the intention to reposition the four lower floors to adjust their arcs for the season?
Oh yes, absolutely. It may seem sudden, but at the same time, we’ve had a year to watch this finale, where Beumler literally dives through a threshold he didn’t feel like he was prepared for. When you watch all 30 of these episodes in a row, all the characters change each season. They are all based on experiences they had in previous seasons. And the trick is, none of us have much change, right? It’s like there are things in our lives that make us feel more confident. And then we test to see if that’s who we are. And Lower decks it’s all about exploring personal truth, not perhaps a new galactic planetary truth. So every year I challenge the writers and myself to say, “Okay, what are we learning about the characters this year?” What did they not know about themselves? What are they doing wrong about themselves? And, as any good Starfleet officer would do, how do they allow themselves to move forward and actually learn from the experiences they’ve had without changing the DNA of what Lower decks is all about.
Tawny Newsom as Midshipman Beckett Mariner and Dawn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman in Grounded
The senior officers are indeed in the background in this episode, but they are also the big heroes of “Grounded.” It seems the sitcom lesson Mariner needs to learn is to trust the system, to trust Starfleet. Is this her lesson?
I don’t know if I’m saying trust all systems with this episode. But I think what I was trying to say is that Mariner says very often that Starfleet can be better, Starfleet can do better. She’s part of Starfleet, but she has notes. In this episode I wanted to say: Listen, you’re not wrong, we can all always do better, but you can’t turn against the system you want to be a part of, which actually has good elements, we’ve seen in so many episodes . Starfleet and bridge officers should have wins as much as they screw up. Lower decks it’s not about fumbling, clumsy officers, or bringing down Starfleet. It’s about there always being ways to improve. And sometimes Mariner is right. Sometimes Starfleet isn’t good at certain things. But she could also be wrong. And in this premiere episode, she’s so sure she has to take the reins that the last thing she expects is what her father tells her at the beginning, which is to trust Starfleet.
As far as references go, you went big this time with this huge one First contact sequence. Is this indicative of a different way to go beyond the easter egg references and just indulge in something?
yes I think the reason we did this was – part of it is that I love First contact. i love [director Jonathan] Frakes. I love this era. I love all the performances in it. Part of it was that it was an Earth-themed episode, and it’s one of my favorite Earth-based Star Treks. So it had to be on the table. But on top of that, it was partially based on Enterprise episode where they go back and change the footage for the Mirror Universe. I liked this for an episode of Enterprise they literally went back to the film and put it on the screen. I thought, “How can we get that feeling back, but in a Lower decks way?” Because everything in Lower decks is something like what we take inspiration from in the Star Trek we love? So it didn’t feel like a big change of pace to me because it was like, Oh, this has been done on Star Trek a few times. This is just our version.
Of course in first contact, The Enterprise crew had no real idea who Zefram Cochrane really was, but here your Bozeman theme park shows off his full rock ‘n’ roll style. So, canon-wise, are you saying that they built this park after the Enterprise came back around what used to be just kind of a simple statue monument?
Yes, because in the movie First contactwhen the Enterprise went back, the way Geordie described it as, “Oh, there was a statue here.” But part of the Zefram Cochrane story is the film First contact. Bringing them back and writing about it becomes part of the common knowledge. So now they celebrate the person a little more as a person instead of as an idea.
So it’s well known in your mind that Picard and his crew went back in time and visited Boseman and Cochrane and may even be featured somewhere in the theme park?
Yeah, I don’t know why they have to keep this a secret. I know there are rules to time travel, but this felt like something that happened to them as opposed to a mission that the time travelers decided to do. Like, if you don’t tell people about it, can’t the Borg just keep trying to do this? To me, that would be common knowledge, not protecting the secrets of the past.
Was it easy or difficult to bring back James Cromwell and what was it like directing him?
I was the voice actor on that one. We have animation directors and voice directors and this season I got to direct Cromwell and I got to direct all these fun legacy people. But it was really hard to catch him because half the time he was filming Inheritance, which I love. And the other half of the time he’s protesting causing mischief, which I love. So we had to wait for him not to stick his hand to the Starbucks counter, but also not to take pictures Inheritance. We were able to record it remotely at his house which was great.
James Crowell returns as Zefram Cochrane in ‘Grounded’
And he really nailed it. He is, but different. Got it right away, is that what you’re saying?
All of our legacy actors are immediately up and running. And by stupid, I mean they all fall into this role that they’ve played before – and obviously Cromwell has been in the movies, but he’s also been in episodes of Star Trek, like Deep Space Nine. So everyone from the legacy cast comes in and goes, “This is how I would play this.” And we make them play exactly how they want to play it. But on top of that, we’re like, “Okay, give it to us a little bit faster, give us a little bit more of a smile.” We get both versions. We receive Lower decks version and we get the bona fide classic version of Star Trek. And then, depending on what the scene is, we can use the classic shot look instead of the “fun” shot.
When you’re bringing in a legacy character, how far into the scriptwriting process do you get before you’re sure you can get the actor?
We kind of write it into the script and then cross our fingers. And we haven’t come across anything yet. Usually, in short, I talk to [Alex Kurtzman’s production company] Secret stash, Henry [Alonso Myers] and Terry [Matalas] and Akiva [Goldsman] and Hageman [Dan and Kevin] and all the showrunners. And that’s who plans to do what with whom and here’s our plan. And as long as they’re all in line and as long as I talk to John Van Sitters [VP at Paramount Star Trek Group] and I’m like, “This is what I think is going to happen in the timeline right now.” And I’m talking to [Star Trek author] Dayton Ward and [science consultant] Dr. Erin [Macdonald ]. We have all these brains working to make sure it makes sense canonically, it makes sense comedically, it makes sense for the character, it makes sense for the other series. And then we go out to find out if they are available.
This episode quickly wrapped up some storylines, as if even the Gavin thing was over at the end. Is that your way of keeping this show episodic? Because at first it seemed to me that maybe you would arrange for his return later.
Yes, we want each episode to feel like it’s their own unique little island. And then at the same time, like with the Peanut Hamper, we want them to feel that way, and then sometimes we want to tell more than one story with them. But like my favorite Star Trek episode, I like to feel like things are resolved and that the things we saw in this episode don’t rely on you having to wait to see more unless I’m very sure of what I want to do with it. So I love Gavin’s character and I like to end up seeing him – like some people would be like, “Oh, Gavin’s there and he’s having an adventure,” but other people might be like, “Did Gavin die?” And I didn’t want these people to remain unresolved because I liked Gavin. I like Bobby Moynihan, and I wanted to see him maybe not get arrested, but go, “Come on, buddy, it’s time to get off the theme park ride.”
Do you feel like the balance of heart and comedy, the balance of deep cuts vs. overt references in Grounded is kind of a new normal for Lower decksat least for season 3?
I don’t think there is ever a normal for Lower decks. Every episode plays with balance, with comedy, with character. It is up to you to judge whether we are successful. But thematically for each episode, some episodes are about one character, some are about being a lower decker in general, some are about having a good time, and some are more dramatic. I’d like to believe that we’re always striving to be better and better with each episode and that there is no such thing as normal.
Fred Tatacciore as Lt. Shax, Dawn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman, Phil Lamar as Admiral Freeman and Gillian Vigma as Doctor T’Anna in Grounded
New episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks stream Thursdays in the US on Paramount+ and CTV Sci-Fi in Canada (where it’s also available to stream on Crave). It airs Fridays on Amazon Prime Video in international territories worldwide. In Latin America, Lower decks debuted (both seasons 1 and 2) in September.
Keep up with all the news and reviews from the new Star Trek universe on TV at TrekMovie.com
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