We’re jumping through the multiverse this week in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 episode 9 “Fissure Quest.” We’ve got cameos! We’ve got interdimensional insanity! There are Harry Kims galore, and so many other folks from all corners of the Star Trek universe! And we finally get a follow-up to what actually happened to Brad Boimler’s transporter clone, William. There are a lot of fissures to jump through, so let’s get started with my review of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 episode 9 “Fissure Quest.”
Time for a Remix
We’ve been looking for it since season three, but now we finally have an answer for what actually happened to William Boimler in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 episode 9 “Fissure Quest.” He’s the captain of the Anaximander, jumping from multiverse to multiverse. And what a crew he’s got! It’s like a crew of fix-it fic regulars!
He’s got a T’Pol who married Trip Tucker and they lived happily ever after for 63 years! We get to know Curzon Dax himself, not just secondhand stories about him from Jadzia and Sisko. There’s all the Harry Kims you could ask for! And then there’s the one guaranteed to make the internet explode—a Bashir, albeit hologram, and Garak are together. Not to mention that we got these legacy Trek actors to come back and reprise their roles. Incredible! There’s something for everyone in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 episode 9 “Fissure Quest.”
But like everything in our current pop culture landscape, to quote The Barenaked Ladies, “It’s all been done before.” William echoes a common fandom complaint, “That’s all the multiverse is—lazy, derivative remixes!” It’s not an unfair complaint. So many fandoms get wound up in multiversal shenanigans only to simply rehash the same stories over and over again. I appreciate that Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 episode 9 “Fissure Quest,” is self-aware enough to admit that tendency. That self-awareness allows the episode to take the tired concept and turn it on its head. I’m eager to see how that self-awareness will shape the series finale for Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Cameo Cavalcade!
Aside from the veritable cameo cavalcade I already mentioned, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 episode 9 “Fissure Quest” brought us one guest I never saw coming— Lily Sloane, played by the brilliant Alfre Woodard! Sure, Lower Decks, has always been great with legacy Trek cameos, but to have a Star Trek: First Contact cameo, in a show set about 300 years after the events of First Contact is a massive surprise. Apparently, the Anaximander cannot only follow the Beagle through space, but the rifts the Beagle creates can also jump through time. I’m a writer, not a scientist, but based on my limited scientific knowledge, that seems to stand to reason.
Further, the cameo cavalcade will not be denied, though not in the way expected. We’ve got another Mariner! But this Mariner is a heck of a lot more like our Boimler. She’s a bit more timid, doesn’t want to be in the thick of conflict, and doesn’t get into trouble with her superior officers. She’s also a good engineer. But even with her differences with our Mariner, she and Boimler are still close. They know they are friends, even if they are from different dimensions. I love the idea that I would still be best friends with my best friend in any dimension or universe. It’s that kind of friendship that allows William Boimler to know that his friends can handle any job asked of them, even if it means it might kill them.
MORE: Here are our reviews of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, and Episode 8!
Final Thoughts
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 episode 9 “Fissure Quest” is the episode I’ve been waiting for all season. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had fun with the other episodes. It just felt like I didn’t know where they were going. Now everything is falling into place. There’s also some interesting commentary on Wiliam Boimler that I didn’t expect. Longtime Trek fans know that things didn’t go well with Will Riker’s transporter clone, Thomas. Why should we expect different from William Boimler, especially when we see that he faked his death to join Section 31? It subverts audience expectations well.
It could be that William is just tired of multiversal shenanigans, but is it because since he is a transporter clone he feels like a rehash himself? It’s worth considering. Since William is so much like our Bradward in his kindness and sensitivity, this also feels like a bit of a rebranding of Section 31. Perhaps it is just an intelligence organization in this reality, not a covert ops organization.
Finally, I love what William learns through his conversation with Lily. They’re not the bad guys, just different. They’re exploring different realities. She says, “We explore not to meet new aliens, but to learn about ourselves.” Conclusion? Human potential is limitless. What a beautiful idea! If we, to quote the great philosopher Ted Lasso, are “curious” and “not judgmental,” then we truly have limitless potential. We can go to the stars. We can find greater depths of human cooperation and understanding. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Let’s do it. And we can, as long as we don’t freak out. And, like most humans would, Bradward promptly freaks out. Can our reality stop this universe-ending explosion? We’ll have to watch the finale and find out.
What do you think of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 episode 9 “Fissure Quest?” Leave me a comment and let’s talk Trek.
The next episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks will air on December 19, 2024, on Paramount+.
Great review! Especially insightful was this Boimler being so tired of multiverse rehashing because he himself is a transporter duplicate.
It was so good to hear each of those legendary voices again. And it’s surprisingly touching that each of those actors agreed to return to the Trek family. Thank you to all who gave this gift to us Star Trek fans.