WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4!
Summary
- Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 expands the Star Trek canon in significant ways, revealing more about the Orions and depicting a historic agreement between Ferenginar and the Federation.
- Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 has a great story but suffers from pacing issues, with episodes focused on discussions rather than delivering a thrilling narrative.
- Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4 is a strong run of episodes that explores emotional depth, but ties itself in knots with addressing canon inconsistencies.
Since 1990, many Star Trek shows have been where Star Trek: The Original Series has never gone before – into season 4 – but which fourth season is best? TOS was canceled after its third season, and would take the best part of a decade to be resurrected as a movie franchise. In the 1990s, Star Trek: The Next Generation was so immensely popular that it made it to season 4 and beyond, and spawned multiple spinoff shows. Each of TNG's successors also hit the fourth season point, with Star Trek: Enterprise succumbing to TOS' fate at the end of its own season 4.
When Star Trek: Discovery relaunched the TV franchise in 2017, nobody could have believed it too would hit season 4 and beyond. The success of Discovery spawned a direct spinoff; the fan-favorite show Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and reinvigorated the franchise for a new generation. Of the modern Star Trek shows, only Discovery and the animated comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks have made it to season 4. As Strange New Worlds season 3 begins production, it has a way to go until it reaches season 4, and also has an impressive list of competitors for the prize of best Star Trek season 4.
