The Big Picture

  • Star Trek: Lower Decks features the haunting holo-program Badgey, who has gained sentience and a sense of evil.
  • In the upcoming episode "A Few Badgeys More," Badgey is back for revenge on his Starfleet makers, luring in unsuspecting Drookmani scavengers with the promise of Starfleet secrets.
  • The freedom of animation allows Lower Decks to create outlandish characters like Badgey that live-action shows can't, according to supervising director Barry Kelly. Fans can expect a hilarious ride with Badgey seeking revenge on Rutherford and Shaxs.

Star Trek: Lower Decks features some of the most inventive villains in the entire Star Trek franchise, and one of the most beloved, (and despised) is the haunting holo-program Badgey. Created by an earnest ensign Rutherford, Badgey was intended to be a training program that would help new Starfleet recruits understand mission objectives, however, thanks to faulty AI and a glitch gone arwy, Badgey gained sentience and a sense of evil. After seemingly being defeated in Season 1, Badgey is back for blood in a new sneak peek from the upcoming Lower Decks Season 4 episode "A Few Badgeys More." Collider is delighted to share the exclusive clip, which reveals exactly how Badgey has been biding his time, waiting to get revenge on his Starfleet makers.

Badgey is voiced by 30 Rock fan-favorite actor Jack McBrayer and in the new footage from this week's episode he can be seen luring in some unsuspecting Drookmani scavengers with the temptation of Starfleet secrets and the promise that he's "certainly never killed anyone" before! Earlier this year I spoke with Lower Decks supervising director Barry Kelly about Season 4 and he spoke about how the freedom of animation allows the series to play with outlandish characters like Badgey and Peanut Hamper in a way that the franchise's live-action shows couldn't get away with.

"With that particular episode, we were going pretty crazy with a returning villain. I think it's always that character that comes back — it would be awesome to see him in live-action, but I don't think a live-action show can do that character, you know? It's where our medium is our strength, is in characters like Badgey and like Peanut Hamper, where it's almost like we have to over-animate a certain character and certain characters we have to completely reduce. It's over-exaggerating but in two different directions. It's like, 'This one needs to do way less, and this one needs to do way more than any other character on the show.' I don't think any other show can do that. That's the beauty of animation."

If this clip is any indication, Star Trek fans are in for a hilarious ride with the return of Badgey as he'll likely be seeking revenge on Rutherford and Shaxs after their last attempt at defeating him at the end of Season 1.

Will There Be More 'Lower Decks'After Season 4?

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Image via Paramount

Luckily, the upcoming Season 4 finale — which features some big swings according to series creator Mike McMahan — isn't the last time we'll see the crew of the Cerritos. Paramount has renewed the adult animated series through Season 5. However, if fans want the show to continue beyond that, McMahan has urged viewers to get more people to watch the series now. "I have more than seven seasons worth of story. I would love to get seven seasons to have that TNG look," McMahan told Collider. "I would say if you want seven seasons of the show, I would rather you get more people to watch it now than assume you'll do a letter-writing campaign if we don't get more because right now we only have five seasons."

In addition to McBrayer, Star Trek: Lower Decks features the voice talents of Tawny Newsome, JackQuaid, EugeneCordero, NoëlWells, DawnnLewis, JerryO'Connell, GabrielRuiz, GillianVigman and FredTatasciore.

The next episode of Lower Decks Season 4, "A Few Badgeys More" hits Paramount+ on October 12. You can get an exclusive sneak peek at the return of the dastardly Badgey down below.