Anthony and Laurie quickly cover the latest on the SAG-AFTRA strike, then chat about their recent interview with makeup artist James MacKinnon, who talks about being hired to work on the next Star Trek movie… for a week. They talk about some new Trek books coming next year, new Lower Decks merchandise, and an update on recording for season 5 of Lower Decks. The podcasters then launch into their review of the Star Trek: Lower Decks season finale, “Old Friends, New Planets,” talking about how the slow build all season paid off so well. There was a bit of debate over the merits of this season’s villain and how well the plan and motivation was crafted. But both agree that season 4 was the best so far and this episode brought back plenty of surprising callbacks along with some exciting cameos from The Next Generation. They wrap up with some Lower Decks deep-cut costumes from Halloween and a fun podcast with Sir Patrick Stewart.