Below Deck with Lower Decks: The Outrageous Okona

What happens when there’s a big party and you’re not on the Cool Kids List? That’s exactly what happens in this week’s episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, which sees the Cerritos ferrying a Doopler emissary to Starbase 25 to participate in trade negotiations.

Despite the sensitivity and stress that comes from such an assignment, Captain Freeman is excited that they’ll be arriving just in time for a Command Conference which has a reputation for a pretty wild after party. The guest list for the party is pretty exclusive — only personnel from Starfleet’s most prestigious starship classes are invited to attend — so Freeman is pretty jazzed about being the only California-class captain to make the cut.

Of course, before she and her crew can even head to the party, they have to deal with the Doopler emissary, who’s stressing out and duplicating — excuse me, “Dooplercating,” thank you very much — himself every few seconds. Time and room get pretty tight on the Cerritos, but our heroes prevail and manage to get to the party while things are still going strong.

Do Captain Freeman and her people actually make it past the velvet rope? Well, that’s really its own story. Meanwhile, here in this space, we have other priorities, like pointing out the outrageous DJ who’s throwing down some seriously mad hooks for those brave souls on the dance floor. It’s none other than that charming rascal himself, Thadiun Okona!

Introduced in the second season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Outrageous Okona,” this charismatic cargo freighter who has quite a way with the ladies makes life difficult for Captain Picard and the Enterprise crew when he inadvertently drags them into a squabble between two headstrong families. He’s accused of stealing a precious heirloom from one family, and fathering a child with the daughter of the other family’s patriarch. The question Picard faces is whether Okona really is just a willful yet harmless and even romantic rogue or instead an actual criminal, and can he do it without either family taking violent action as they seek justice?

By the end of the episode, Okona is exonerated of all wrongdoing and is last seen flying away aboard his freighter. Given his mischievous personality and fondness for shaking up the prim and proper environs of a Starfleet crew, it makes perfect sense he’d end up spinning tunes for a dance party. One has to wonder where he might show up next!