10 Things We Learned From The Star Trek Lower Decks Trailer
3. Bringing Back The Blue
There's a Bolian aboard! Surely, that should mean the crew will at least be able to get good haircuts!
This unnamed officer who is on the receiving end of a pointed spear in the trailer is a Bolian, a race of blue aliens that have been a part of the franchise since The Next Generation. They have appeared in both Deep Space Nine and Voyager, popping up in the movies as well.
Including one here expands the Lower Decks universe. We know as well that there is a Bajoran officer serving on board the ship, with a Caitian doctor calling back to the original Animated Series.
Star Trek is, at its core, about exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new lives and civilizations. As such, there has been a huge array of alien races introduced along the way. One of the unfortuante consequences of Discovery being a prequel was that, for the first two seasons at least, we weren't able to see many of them as they had yet to be discovered. Picard had such a tight series that there was not much room for exploring those races.
With the presumably lighter Lower Decks coming, one hopes that there will be a larger array of these aliens returning to the fold. The trailer is a good indication that this will come to pass.