You’ve heard of it, but now, you’re going to visit it for yourself. Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 episode 5, “Starbase 80?!,” was written by May Darmon and directed by Bob Suarez.
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Ominous music plays as the U.S.S. Cerritos travels at warp speed. Aboard the ship in Repair Bay Five, Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells), Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) are wearing wetsuits and toweling off. Their four badges are sitting on the table. They’ve just returned from Piskus IX, an ocean planet, and are exhausted.
However, Mariner declares she enjoyed the experience. Tendi confirms Mariner isn’t running a fever. Mariner says she’s simply learned to embrace all elements of Starfleet. Tendi says she’s come a long way and that she admires her. Mariner’s even excited about a red alert. The four friends head for the bridge.
On the bridge, Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) reports the Cerritos dropped out of warp due to a navigational malfunction. Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) contacts Cetacean Ops. Kimolu reports the navigation processor is spewing out random coordinates. It was necessary to drop out of warp to avoid flying blind. Plus it keeps shocking the water. Both Matt and Kimolu are shocked by green energy. Freeman tells the computer to shut down nav-processing and the energy subsides. They’ll need a new processor. Unfortunately, there’s only one location they can reach on impulse: Starbase 80. Mariner says she doesn’t want to return to “that hellhole.” But there are no other practical options. Freeman sets a course at full impulse.
Star Trek: Lower Decks recap, ‘Starbase 80?!’
The Cerritos docks at Starbase 80. Mariner tells Freeman she refuses to go back. Freeman is sympathetic and admits she doesn’t want to visit, either. She apologized for sending Mariner there in “Trusted Sources.” Freeman says she’s sure it won’t be that bad. Ransom pokes his head in and says Starbase 80’s transporters aren’t safe for organic use, and they want the Cerritos crew to rub down with some kind of gel. Mariner insists Starbase 80 is cursed.
Soon Boimler, Rutherford, Tendi, Mariner, Freeman and Ransom are rubbing down with gel (see also: Star Trek: Enterprise). Mariner insists Starbase 80 is cursed. Rutherford says she can’t really believe that. But Mariner insists she’s seen it. Meanwhile, Ransom is thoroughly enjoying the gel.
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Having been gelled, the Cerritos crewmembers step aboard Starbase 80. They’re greeted by Kassia Nox (Nicole Byer), diplomatic liaison in an outdated uniform. She’s under the impression that Starfleet has finally sent a crew to repair their flux petrometer. But Freeman explains they’ve been forced here under dire circumstances and need a new nav processor. Nox is sure they have one in storage, albeit likely an older model.
Freeman states the Cerritos isn’t cutting-edge either, so it should work fine. Nox says the chief engineer is on level 15 and should be able to help. She directs Mariner to go see if she can help with any station repairs in the meantime. Mariner tries to get sent back to the Cerritos. But Freeman orders Mariner to stick with Nox and help out.
Upside Down Engineering
As they walk through the halls, Nox explains that she volunteered for service on Starbase 80. She welcomes them to engineering, where a gravity plating malfunction causes them to fall to the ceiling. The base hasn’t experienced many updates since the 2260s, and they’re still using wall comms. They don’t have food replicators either, so they have food vendors all over the station.
Examining the gravity stabilizer, Rutherford contacts Andy Billups (Paul Scheer) to ask for help. But Billups only responds with incoherent moaning. Rutherford receives a green shock from his combadge. He concludes Billups’ breakfast burrito didn’t sit well, so he’s on his own. Nox offers to show Rutherford their old schematics. Mariner cites the curse, but Boimler points out Billups is back on the Cerritos. As Mariner and the others walk away, Winger Bingston, Jr. and several other Cerritos crewmembers stumble inside, moaning, licking and with green glowing eyes.
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Meanwhile, Freeman and Ransom arrive at their destination and find a red alert in effect. The man inside, Gene (Stephen Root), appears to be unconscious. But he’s just taking a nap. The red alert is constant because he lacks the tools to disable it. Freeman promptly fixes the problem. She asks Gene about the chief engineer, and he says that’s Jacabowski.
Gene says Jacabowski is probably in the arcade on level 33, and he can get them the nav processor. He draws them a map on a napkin. Freeman exclaims that they just came from 33. Gene tells them to have fun and falls back asleep.
Acamarians in Charge
Elsewhere on starbase, Nox and our heroes walk past crowds of glowering Acamarians. Nox explains that an old negotiation ceded half of the starbase to them. Rutherford seems disoriented as he reaches for some of the station’s Famous Chunky Sauce. They arrive at a room filled with stacks of manuals.
Tendi attempts to divide the work with Rutherford. But Rutherford just moans and begins knocking over stacks of manuals. Mariner declares he’s got the curse. Tendi says there must be a rational explanation. But a crash from outside leads them to discover a half-dozen moaning, licking Cerritos crewmembers. Tendi concedes there could be a curse.
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Meanwhile, Ransom and Freeman attempt to use an old lift to reach the arcade. But instead, it transports them to the maintenance labyrinth before abandoning them. Ransom offers to call for help. But Freeman says, unlike her alternate universe self, she won’t let 80 get the best of her.
On another part of Starbase 80, the Cerritos crew is causing chaos. Tendi attempts to call Doctor T’Ana (Gillian Vigman), but only gets incoherent yowling. Tendi’s shocked with green energy by her combadge. Nox observes that only the Cerritos crew is afflicted, not any of the 80 locals. She offers to have the starbase doctor take a look at it.
Curses and Labyrinths
In the maintenance labyrinth, Freeman and Ransom find Gene. He was attempting to fix an oxygen leak and got his head stuck in a tube. They free Gene (and some bats). Freeman says she needs to find the station’s engineer. Freeman fixes the oxygen leak and then asks to be pointed to Jacabowski. Gene shows them to the stairs and says the arcade is 30 flights above. Ransom is delighted.
Meanwhile, Tendi has become infected by the curse as well. Boimler uses his combadge in an attempt to call for help, but he’s shocked by green energy too. The station doctor, Harrison Horseberry (Liam McIntyre), appears and says they need to get Rutherford and Tendi to sickbay. But once there, his scans reveal no pathogens or biological phenomena. Mariner attempts to call for evac. But Nox crushes Mariner’s combadge, declaring she’ll get it, too. Mariner accuses Nox of being up to something and attacks her.
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As Nox and Mariner fight, the former reveals she’s El-Aurian, but only 30 years old. Nox says that the curse is coming from the combadges. Mariner says Boimler just used his combadge and he’s fine. But Boimler isn’t fine: he’s infected, too. Mariner realizes the curse is from the Cerritos and knocks Boimler out.
Elsewhere, Freeman and Ransom have arrived at the arcade. They encounter some rough-looking Acamarians. But when the Acamarians learn Freeman and Ransom are going to the arcade, they offer them some free tokens. Inside, they encounter Gene again. Freeman demands an explanation. A nearby Acamarian reveals Gene is Chief Engineer Jacabowski. Gene explains that he couldn’t resist assistance from Starfleet. He tells Freeman that he’ll get them their nav processor if they help him with a bat infestation. Freeman accepts.
Snickt
Meanwhile, Mariner and Nox dodge infected Cerritos crewmembers. Mariner apologizes and says she was off her game because she had hit rock bottom last time she was at the starbase. But Nox says it isn’t rock bottom for anyone. It’s a place for second chances. This is why Nox loves it. Mariner says she’s kind of into Starbase 80 when she puts it like that. Mariner realizes it isn’t a curse, but something piggybacking on their combadge signals. Nox says they must find the source.
Mariner uses her tricorder to scan Manhaver’s combadge. There’s a biological energy signature. Therefore the Cerritos comm logs should reveal the source. But to do so, they’ll have to get aboard the Cerritos. Nox says they can make it with the help of her biggest weirdos.
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Soon Mariner, Nox, Horseberry and Chad the corn dog vendor are dodging the infected crewmembers aboard Cerritos. They’re making good progress until they encounter a hall jammed with drooling crew. Chad leaps into action, producing six corn dogs as though they were Wolverine claws. The crew piles onto him and the other three escape.
On the bridge, Nox is able to isolate the source of the combadge signal. It’s cetacean ops. They arrive there and find Matt and Kimolu unconscious. But one of them rises out of the water, eyes glowing green. He opens his mouth and green tendrils of energy reach out to the computer screen. Horseberry analyzes the situation and discovers an anaphasic being is controlling his body. This is the source, and it’s possessed everyone else and turned them into its appendages.
Clem
Mariner leaps into action and attacks the being’s host whale. But soon both she and Nox have been possessed by the being as well. Only Horseberry remains himself. He whacks the whale with a net, causing the being to be ejected. Then he traps it under a bucket. Mariner and Nox are returned to themselves. Nox tells him he achieved this via “complicated doctor stuff.” The rest of the Cerritos crew are restored, as well. And Chad survived the onslaught too.
On Starbase 80, Nox records a supplemental base commander’s log. She states that Horseberry set up a stable vessel for the being, Clem, to inhabit. Nox welcomes Clem to Starbase 80. Clem promises not to try and inhabit anyone. He says he tried to do so in the first place to prove to his superiors he was capable of communicating with physical life forms. But spreading himself too thin caused him to lose control.
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Soon, the Cerritos crew is helping the 80ers solve the last of their problems, including fixing the grav-plating in engineering. Nox hopes Mariner now sees that Starbase 80 is staffed by “a bunch of scrappy underdogs.” But then she wonders where Freeman has gone.
Elsewhere on the starbase, Ransom and Freeman struggle to capture the last of the bats. Freeman insists the alternate Freeman must have failed at this, and “the big one” still remains. Ransom protests that it won’t even fit in the cage. “Not with that attitude it won’t,” declares Freeman. She charges into battle over Ransom’s fearful protests.
The first five episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 are now available for streaming on Paramount+. New episodes debut on Thursdays.
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