Summary
- Being called "Star Trek for Girls" is a compliment to the creator, Mike McMahan, as he loves writing female characters and telling their stories in the Star Trek universe.
- The Star Trek franchise has a long history of strong female characters, from Lieutenant Uhura to Captain Kathryn Janeway, and the current generation of shows continues to showcase dynamic women.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks is a great example of positive and complex female characters, including Lieutenant Beckett Mariner, Lieutenant D'Vana Tendi, and Captain Freeman, proving that Star Trek is for everyone, regardless of gender.
Calling Star Trek: Lower Decks "Star Trek For Girls" is the ultimate compliment to the show's creator and showrunner Mike McMahan. Lower Decks season 4 just wrapped with an explosive and thrilling finale where Lieutenant Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) saved the galaxy from her disgraced ex-Starfleet Academy classmate Nicholas Locarno. While Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) and the USS Cerritos were able to rescue Mariner, it came at the cost of Lieutenant D'Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) making a huge personal sacrifice to save her friend.
In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, we asked Mike McMahan about how Star Trek: Lower Decks has delved into the Orion culture thanks to Tendi and her family. McMahan explained how a fan called Lower Decks "Star Trek for Girls" and why that supposed put-down delighted him. Read his quote below:
I love that somebody the other day online said, "I don't know if I like Lower Decks. It feels like Star Trek for Girls." And I was like, you couldn't have praised the show more. I didn't respond to it, but I was like, Oh my God, if that's how Lower Decks gets known, give me an Emmy right now. Because I love the matriarchal Orion stuff so much. It's so fun to write. I love Tendi, I love Mariner, and telling those stories. Like the girl's trips episodes. I think we've done three of them now. Girl's trip plus Boimler. I love love love writing women in Star Trek. I love female Starfleet officers. I love female Captains, I love Orions and warrior princesses, warrior queens. Women and Star Trek is such an amazing format to tell stories in, and it's just so powerful. I love it and Orion fits into that exactly. Just perfectly. And if you don't like it, Dr. T'Ana will just slice you open.
