In this review of Star Trek: Lower Decks #7, no nonsense Captain Carol Freeman’s past is explored, revealing just how similar her behavior once was to that of her headstrong daughter’s.
Star Trek: Lower Decks #7
Written by: Tim Sheridan
Art and Main Cover by: Robby Cook
Page Count: 28 pages
Release Date: May 14, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Star Trek: Lower Decks #7, begins with Lieutenants Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler performing multiple reckless stunts around the U.S.S. Ceritos, leading to Mariner getting reprimanded by her mother/commanding officer. Freeman expresses disappointment about her daughter’s recent backslide after all of the progress (and the promotion) Mariner has achieved in recent months, (we’re talking about Season One level antics here).
Mariner fires back that her mother never had to endure the frustration of serving on the “Lower Decks”, which prompts a flashback to fifteen years earlier, with Ensign Carol Freeman serving aboard the U.S.S. Illinois… on the Lower Decks.
Ensign Freeman bristles at the unorthodox regulations from her captain, so when she breaks curfew one night with a site-to-site transport to the holodeck, Freeman ends up in sick bay instead, and is greeted nonchalantly by its new chief medical officer Doctor Pulaski, (feel free to search your memory archives…we’ll wait).
Pulaski is researching a possible new transporter side effect, and had rerouted all off-hours site-to-site transporter use to sick bay, which irks Freeman to no end. (Also, what was that thing moving behind Freeman?) Pulaski goes about her work while casually grilling Freeman about her recent life choices, (fear of command, being an ensign on the Lower Decks at age 35).
Perturbed but unbowed, Freeman uses her next duty shift to reroute transporter access through the auxiliary phaser array (which definitely won’t be a problem, right?). Freeman’s fellow ensigns try to talk her out of it, but they are interrupted by a red alert. Freeman and the others arrive on the bridge to find the ship under attack by the Romulans.
During the attack, one of the crew activates the auxiliary phaser array causing most of the bridge crew to be beamed somewhere else. Freeman and her Lower Decks team are all wearing transport inhibitors so they are the only remaining crew on the bridge, as the Romulans press their attack.
Star Trek: Lower Decks #7 ends as Carol Freeman decides to stand up for her crewmates by sitting down, (in the captain’s chair) before Doctor Pulaski arrives to pull rank on her.
Analysis
Like mother, like daughter…like heck? Star Trek: Lower Decks #7 kicks off a new two-part story arc by writer Tim Sheridan (Titans Academy) and artist Robby Cook. This mother/daughter pair are definitely cut from the same cloth (or, hear me out; transporter accident).
With Star Trek: Lower Decks #7, we now know that both Carol Freeman and Beckett Mariner have endured life on the Lower Decks of a Federation starship, (and actively avoided moving up the ranks), but beyond that, their life experiences are polar opposites.
At roughly the same age that Freeman was married with a teenage daughter, Mariner has no such responsibilities. Freeman chose to be posted on another ship in order to experience freedom from her family obligations.
Writer Tim Sheridan (DC animation) crafts a compelling opening chapter, featuring character-accurate dialogue, drama, conflict, Trek easter eggs, action, suspense and Lower Decks trademark humor. Doctor Pulaski works as an ideal foil for Freeman’s free-spirited ensign, and the hushed rumors about how Pulaski first joined the U.S.S. Enterprise-D (as well as how she left) in TNG Season 2 are hilarious.
In true Lower Decks fashion (and family tradition), Freeman’s willful disregard for Federation protocols puts the U.S.S. Illinois at risk, and possibly explains why she continuously attempts to prevent Mariner from going down the same path, (although that road did lead to the Captain’s chair so…)
The mother/daughter conflict works here, with the plot of Star Trek: Lower Decks #7 fitting seamlessly within established animated series canon. The rapport between Freeman and her fellow Lower Decks team also quickly establishes the group as bickering but supportive, in the grand Lower Decks tradition.
Robby Cook’s art and color effortlessly mimics the animated series look, but despite the minimalist requirements of the house style, Cook’s art still rocks the panels of Star Trek: Lower Decks #7 with impressive facial expressions, solid action sequences, and a sense of scope.
Final Thoughts
Star Trek: Lower Decks #7 is a welcome addition to Trek lore that evokes the look, feel and stakes of a (now classic) Lower Decks episode, while deepening the Freeman/Mariner dynamic with unexpected parallels to Freeman’s past, and uncovers a mystery to be solved.
