A lot of dialogue on “Lower Decks” is devoted to annoyed repetitions of “Starfleet ideals.” Ensigns Boimler, Mariner, Tendi, and Rutherford (Jack Quaid, Tawny Newsome, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero) often have to remind themselves that there is indeed a larger ethos at work while they empty trash cans and are ignored by their superiors. Working as an ensign on the Cerritos and calling yourself an important piece of the Federation is like working as a broom jockey in a movie theater and claiming to be an important part of Hollywood. 

Starfleet, like any job, has its crappy corners. An early episode of “Lower Decks” — “Cupid’s Errant Arrow” (September 3, 2020) saw Tendi and Rutherford envying the superior pieces of hardware aboard a rival vessel. They ended up secretly stealing a box of widgets called T-88s and bringing them back to their own ship. This smacks all too familiarly of instances in retail jobs where one races their co-workers to the broom closet to get “the good broom.” 

When living on a vessel, cramped together with co-workers you may not like, the submarine-like existence of a Starfleet ensign makes itself all too clear. In the latest episode — “Room for Growth” — it is revealed that private quarters can be made available to ensigns, but only through an oblique lottery system. Only a few ensigns will be allowed to live in a room with a door on it. Additionally, this is such a coveted prize, that a complex system of cheating has already been put into place, and the central Lower Deckers will have to race their rivals through the ships labyrinthine ductwork to access a certain computer server.