The third season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, the Star Trek Universe adult animated comedy series following abroad the U.S.S. Cerritos, produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment, really hit its stride leading up to fateful Captain Freeman Day. When announcing a premiere date for the second season, Paramount+ officially ordered the 10-episode third season. Now, Paramount+ has announced that the third season is arriving in Summer 2022. So what can we expect when the new season comes?

Series creator and Executive Producer Mike McMahan spoke with Geek Girl Authority about the show’s incoming season, revealing some juicy tidbits about what’s in store when the show returns this summer: romance, time travel, and Vulcans (oh my)!

Lower Decks Season 3 This Summer

     Paramount+

The third season of the series will pick up where season two ended, opening with Ensign Beckett Mariner, played by Tawny Newsome (Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, Space Force), dating the ponytailed Andorian, Ensign Jennifer Sh’reyan, played by Lauren Lapkus (Orange Is the New Black, Adventure Time). But McMahan clarified that the A-plot wouldn’t cover the romantic storyline.

“They’re an item,” confirmed McMahan. “But, the stories aren’t really about them dating – that’s not what the show’s about.”

Instead, season three will focus on the Lower Deckers moving up in the ranks, with each taking a different path to become the people who they will be by the end of the series. In an interview with TrekMovie, McMahan said:

For Bradward Boimler actor Jack Quaid, the first episode of the third season also includes his favorite line of the series. Quaid says that for Season 3, he’s read some things that have hit him really emotionally, according to a Tweet from writer Avery Kaplan linking to the source of the quote, The Complete Guide to Star Trek. See below:

Season three is the first steps towards what my kind of vision for these lower deckers is, which is: when do they stop being lower deckers? When do they start moving up in rank for real? Not Boimler ditching out and taking a crack at the Titan, but what is the real slow journey for them?

More T’Lyn, Not Enough T’Lyn

McMahan also confirmed Star Trek Universe fans would see one of the new characters introduced in the Season 2 episode “wej Duj” return, fan-favorite T’Lyn, played by Gabrielle Ruiz (Spidey and His Amazing Friends, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend). T’Lyn is a Vulcan prone to “emotional outbursts.” At least, the outburst is emotional by Vulcan standards. Think T’Pol, but more expressive… well, only a little.

However, many viewers may find themselves clamoring for more T’Lyn, as she will only appear briefly in Season 3. McMahan explained this was because they hadn’t had the opportunity to see how audiences would receive T’Lyn. After all, the writer’s room was working on Season 3 as Season 2 aired. Speaking about T’Lyn’s upcoming appearances, McMahan told GGA:

When Lower Decks introduced the character, T’Lyn served aboard the Vulcan cruiser Sh’vhal. But by the conclusion of “wej Duj,” the young Vulcan is subjected to an almost unimaginable indignity: she gets transferred to Starfleet, where she’ll presumably be serving aboard a Federation vessel. Whether said Federation vessel will be a California-class ship remains to be seen. Still, it seems all but inevitable that it’s T’Lyn’s destiny to cross paths with our favorite Lower Deckers.

I wanted to make sure [“wej Duj”] was as good as I thought it would be before I started tipping the scales a little bit and seeing a lot more of T’Lyn. But, I love T’Lyn, and I can’t wait to see more of her.

Time Travel Episode (Maybe More Than One)

In addition to the return of popular characters, we can also expect the third season of Lower Decks to tackle one of the most reliable of all Star Trek narrative staples, time travel. Knowing McMahan’s writing style, a Lower Decks time travel episode will both manage to shock viewers and homage the classic Star Trek Time Police episode. For example, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Trials and Tribble-ations,” in which Captain Sisko and his crew are sent back to the 23rd century to prevent the assassination of Captain James T. Kirk during the Great Tribble Hunt.

“Lower Decks will handle time travel, probably more than once,” confirmed McMahan.

McMahan Is Eager to Expand the Series into Comics

He also confirmed Trekkies might eventually see the crew of the Cerritos in another medium, as well. As McMahan has previously Tweeted, Lower Decks comic books may be in the franchise’s future! The series’ creator said he’s eager to adapt the series, provided they can find “the perfect team and concept,” and even suggested these stories could fill in the gaps between seasons.

What are the odds that we’ll see a comic adaptation of the series? “[I]f people want it, yell for it,” McMahan said. “That would help.”

The third season of Lower Decks will be arriving for streaming on Paramount+ in the summer of 2022, followed by the fourth season in 2023.