Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3, Episode 4 - "Room for Growth"Data's (Brent Spiner) infamous mask makes a comeback in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 4, "Room for Growth," sees Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid), and D'Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) competing for better quarters on the Cerritos with Delta Shift. Meanwhile, Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Wells) takes the Engineering team on a mandatory relaxation sabbatical after they had to clean up the Cerritos from the aftereffects of when Freeman wore a mask similar to Data's.
"Masks" was the 17th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, and it's not highly regarded by fans or by the cast and creatives of TNG. Written by Joe Menosky from a story premise by Michael Piller, "Masks" saw the USS Enterprise-D intercept a rogue comet that contained an ancient Mayan-like civilization. The comet used the Enterprise's scans as a carrier wave to infect the ship and plant structures containing ancient symbols inside. Meanwhile, Data molded a mask that he wore as the android became infused with multiple personalities from then long-dead race. Chief among them was Masaka, the queen about to awaken. As the Enterprise is transformed into the civilization's temple, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) dons a mask of his own, Posing as Korgano, Picard convinces Masaka to "sleep," reversing the effects of the ancient temple and saving the Enterprise.
In Spiner still gave a splendid performance as Data and the various beings speaking through the possessed android.
Why Lower Decks Keeps Repeating Events From TNG & TOS
Star Trek: Lower Decks is a love letter to Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Original Series, and a lot of that deference involves putting the crew of the USS Cerritos in familiar situations that the USS Enterprise has boldly gone through before. This includes humanity being placed on trial (again) by Q (John de Lancie), Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) turned into a psychic god by "strange energies" just as Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) in TOS, and now, Captain Freeman possessed by an ancient mask. But beyond homage and parody, Lower Decks cleverly built-in a rationale for why such events keep happening: Because the California-class USS Cerritos' specialty is Second , Captain Freeman's ship and crew follow-up missions by "more important" starships like the Enterprise and get caught in identical situations.
Mariner previously joked about this flaw in Starfleet, that they're not so great at "follow through." Hence, lessons that should be learned often aren't heeded and the bizarre circumstances that occur on ships like the Enterprise are often repeated by the Cerritos. However, the fact that the Cerritos gets into so much trouble and manages to overcome it all has begun to earn Captain Freeman's ship a legendary status within the California-class of Starfleet in Star Trek: Lower Decks, and they deserve the accolades.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.