“Fissure Quest” gives Star Trek: Lower Decks some of its highest highs. And yet there’s something missing at its core.
“Fissure Quest” is episode 49 of 50 for Star Trek: Lower Decks. It is impossible not to judge it on some level with that consideration. As a result, this penultimate story finds itself somehow both being a perfect encapsulation of the Lower Decks ethos, while simultaneously lacking the core of what makes the series great.
This adventure takes us through the multiverse. And if you’ve seen Star Trek before, you know there’s no shortage of ground with which to trod there. What makes this particular episode interesting, though, is that it begins its exploration of the multiverse from a little bit of a cynical place.
Lower Decks is not afraid to say that we in the real world presently suffer from multiverse fatigue. And the way it explores that idea is fascinating because it threads the needle between using the trappings of the multiverse while still critiquing it.
To Boldly Recap “Fissure Quest”
William Boimler, Bradward’s teleporter clone, is the captain of the Anaximander, a multidimensional vessel. His task is to track down those responsible for all those multiverse fissures.
His crew comprises a host of variants to famous Trek characters. There’s a version of T’Pol from Enterprise who gets a long life with Trip Tucker. There’s a version of Curzon Dax who hasn’t given up his host to Jadzia. And there’s a surgeon version of Elim Garak who is married to a holographic version of Dr. Julian Bashir.
And of course, there’s about ten million Harry Kims, none of which rank above ensign. But then, the Anaxinander gains two more crewmembers: a risk-averse Engineer Beckett Mariner and a Lieutenant Harry Kim!
And, believe it or not, that’s just the preamble for “Fissure Quest”!
Courtesy of Paramount Plus
And Now… The Plot!
Engineering Mariner realizes what no one else on the Anaximander has figured out: how to find the people creating the fissures. It turns out, every time a fissure is created, there is another one made that travels in the opposing direction. It’s kind of a law of conservation situation. The Anaximander travels through the wrong ones. Hence they’re going the wrong way.
Mariner opens a fissure to bring the offending ship to them and it works! The Anaximander gives chase, both ships take damage, and they all crash land on a nearby planet. There the Anaximander crew encounters a very angry version of the Khwopians who lock them all in a cell.
Already in the cell are the crew of the other ship, the Beagle—captained by Lily Sloane from Star Trek: First Contact! In her universe, she creates a multiverse ship that Zefram Cochrane helps her with.
Sloane and her crew are not villains. They don’t even realize they make a second fissure whenever they travel. They’re just a multiverse version of the Federation who travels across dimension instead of just through space.
The Actual Villain of “Fissure Quest”
As all this is happening, Lieutenant Kim is angry. Why is he the only Kim who ever pipped up? All Kims deserve better! And so armed with nothing but gumption and rage (no brain detected), Lieutenant Kim takes the other Kims, steals, the Beagle, and makes way for a universe where Kims get theirs!
Except there a problem: the Beagle is in bad shape! And if it tries to travel through a fissure, it’s just going to blow up and create a new interdimensional phenomenon that will destroy all realities. Quelle surprise: Kim does it anyway.
As Curzon dies in sickbay with T’Pol at this side, Captain Boimler makes the only decision he can—he sends all that raw destructive power to one universe. And of course the one he sends it to is his own. The only universe where his friends are, the one he trusts to win the day.
Back on board the Cerritos, bearded Boimler receives word from his transporter clone. And rather than handle it smoothly, Bradward screams “we’re all going to die” as we cut to credits.
Courtesy of Paramount Plus
Oh My God Oh My God Oh My God
Let’s get this out of the way: “Fissure Quest” is very exciting. I personally began to hyperventilate the instant I saw T’Pol. It is so thrilling hearing Jolene’s voice again after nearly 20 years away from Star Trek. It is almost impossible not to pump one’s fist in the air at any version of Garak and Bashir being married. And Harry Kim! So genuinely happy for Garrett Wang.
By the time I heard Alfre Woodard’s voice, I actually had to lie down. Lily “F@#$ING” Sloane”?! Are you kidding?
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One of the pillars of Star Trek: Lower Decks is stoking fan excitement. It’s a cartoon! It’s allowed to be silly and, since we’re dealing with voice work only, any living Trek actor can return. This is the stuff nerdy dreams are made of.
The plot zips. The character relationships build fast. And we get an evil Harry Kim—which is hilarious. “Fissure Quest” is a grand adventure.
But.
Courtesy of Paramount Plus
What “Fissure Quest” is Missing
There’s an undercurrent that carries across “Fissure Quest” which gives it its narrative heft. William Boimler hates the multiverse. Yes, the Anaximander is full of interesting alternates and even a version of Mariner. But William is sick of evil Picards, Borg Kirks, and Neelix with a crewcut. That’s not new—it’s derivative!
What a great take down of our current obsession with the multiverse in general!
Then, Lily Sloane shows up with a whole new perspective. She doesn’t see a redundancy of almost-but-not-quite-right worlds. Lily sees the infinite possibilities of every living being. And that makes a great counterpoint to Boimler’s cynical view.
But something is missing—it’s Tendi and Rutherford. I suspect that, had the writers known they were writing the show’s ending, they would have included them, but regardless, some versions of Tendi and Rutherford should be in “Fissure Quest”.
Give me Winter Constellation Tendi at tactical. Make flying ace Rutherford the pilot. Give us a crew of Lower Deckers that isn’t quite right. Show us a William Boimler trying to rebuild the magic and failing. Make it more textual that the thing William Boimler hates isn’t the multiverse, it’s that he knows he’ll never get home.
Everything else? Perfect. But damn if I didn’t spend this whole episode missing the rest of the Cerritos crew.
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Lina is a 10+ year entertainment journalist veteran whose bylines include SYFY Wire, Looper, and Screen Fanatic. She has written comic scripts for IDW Comics and Zenescope Enetertainment and has written Doctor Who shorts for BBC Worldwide. She is a long-time podcast host and producer who has worked on Who Won the Week, SYFY’s Every Day series, and the Amazon podcast Untold Story. She currently co-hosts the New York Times recommended podcast Song vs Song.
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