Star Trek Just Revived a ’90s Trek Rule First Set by The Next Generation

This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers.

Every Trekkie knows that the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation sucked. So bad were the series’ initial episodes that even the cast doubted the show would get a second season.

So what changed to make TNG one of the most beloved sci fi series of all time? There are lots of potential answers, everything from Gene Roddenberry’s death to Patrick Stewart learning how to have fun with his castmates. But most Trekkies point to one phenomenon as the turning point: Commander William T. Riker grew a beard.

Whether coincidence or not, a change in hair styles became somewhat of a bellwether for a Trek show getting really good in the ’90s. Of course, the crew of the USS Cerritos on Lower Decks would know this just as much as anyone, which is probably why Ransom, Billups, and Shax all sport fancy facial hair and Captain Freeman opts for a variation of the bob that Janeway wore during the good seasons of Voyager. No one is cool enough to rock the bald head/goatee combo Sisko used to make Deep Space Nine the best Trek series of all time, but the spirit is there.

In the fourth episode of Lower Decks‘s fourth season, Boimler joins the club with a purple mustache sprouting from his upper lip. And, wouldn’t you know it, he’s a lot more confident too, taking the lead over his more brash buddy Mariner to make his way through the Klingon legal system.

What made a superfan like Boimler start his no-shave journey in the fifth and final season of Lower Decks?

It took a visit from an alternate reality for Bomiler to understand the importance of growing the beard. In the season five premiere of Lower Decks, the Cerritos crew meets slight variations of themselves. Much to the delight of Prime Boimler, the alternate reality Boimler was confident and in control. And, of course, he had a rich, purple beard.

Over the past few episodes, Boimler has been trying to emulate his other self, mostly with limited results. But that hasn’t stopped him from trying to be his better self by growing facial hair… which turns out to be his greatest challenge. Boimler’s looked downright gross over the past few episodes, with patches of purple peach fuzz splattered across his face.

But in episode four “A Farewell to Farms,” Boimler’s got a full on pushbroom under his nose, and all the Riker-like confidence that comes with it. A lot of the pleasure in “A Farewell to Farms” comes from not just the way a pair of Klingon brothers re-enact the TNG classic “Family” (a bearded Riker episode, of course), but from seeing Boimler find his swagger.

Yet, in classic Boimler fashion, the plan backfires. After all, Riker’s beard, Sisko’s goatee, and Janeway’s bob all signaled a lack of quality in the episodes that preceded them. But, in those cases, TNG, DS9, and VOY all had several seasons of 20-plus episodes to follow.

Boimler’s growing his beard in Lower Decks‘s final season, in episode four of a season with only 10 episodes total. In other words, we can assume Boimler will finally get his full beard in episode 10, right when the series ends, suggesting that everything that came before is (jokingly) substandard at best. Which is a bummer, but at least Lower Decks already did great versions of TNG stinkers “Shades of Gray” and “Skin of Evil.”

Star Trek: Lower Decks releases new episodes every Thursday on Paramout+.

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