It’s not long before the premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks season five, and my excitement is palpable! The last seven days have been spent celebrating the lower and upper deckers of the Cerritos. Today, I’m honored to round off the countdown to season five with a super-enthusiastic “Okie dokie!”. That’s right, today is all about our favorite cyborg, Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Engage the warp drive as we explore some of the greatest moments of Rutherford’s journey to season five!
Warning – spoilers ahead for seasons one through four of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
A New Cyborg
Rutherford is the Cerritos’ resident cyborg. As of his first appearance on-screen, we learn he’s only been cybernetically enhanced for a few weeks. Keep note of this – it’s important for understanding the timeline of a certain conspiracy later in the show.
The chirpy Engineer confirms he has a date with Ensign Barnes (Jessica McKenna), but his cybernetics are reducing his nerves. Enter trusty Mariner (Tawny Newsome), who fiddles with the device. Next thing we know, he’s displaying thoughts and feelings I’m sure many of us can relate to.
His date with Barnes goes quite well when you consider it’s interrupted by an alien zombie apocalypse! The two connect over 60s band The Monkeys during a spacewalk, and there’s an obvious chemistry between them. That is, until a door malfunctions. Barnes is feeling frisky and hints at wanting a kiss. But all Rutherford can think about is why the door didn’t work! This sets up our quirky cyborg as a kickass geek, a persona I instantly adored.
The Rise And Fall Of Badgey
Of course, a kickass geek is going to create a recurring enemy for the show! Meet Badgey (Jack McBrayer), a cute simulation shaped like a Star Trek delta. Designed as a training program, a freak accident on the holodeck turns him into a crazy murder child. He wants revenge, and he wants to use Rutherford as the dish to serve it on!
Unfortunately for Badgey, he doesn’t achieve revenge in season one’s ‘Terminal Provocations’. With safety protocols disabled, Rutherford and Tendi (Noël Wells) can tire him out. It’s then, amidst the snow drifts of their latest holodeck environment, they battle. Badgey ultimately loses the fight, Rutherford snapping his neck and howling in grief. Then the holodeck is restored, and the two lower deckers make a run for the exit.
This isn’t the last we see of the psychotic hologram. In season one’s finale ‘No Small Parts’ Rutherford calls upon his creation to help them against the Pakleds. The plan succeeds, but Badgey makes another attempt on Rutherford’s life in the process. He then returns for a final hurrah, attempting to take over the galaxy before evolving into a higher being. He bids this universe goodbye, following the fabled Koala towards the next frontier. That’s a lot of chaos for one lower decker to create, but if anyone was to cause it, it had to be Rutherford!
Hidden Memories
We get a proper hint of Rutherford’s past in season three’s ‘Reflections’, and it’s not what we expected. During a well-needed sleep, Rutherford’s cybernetics (which had recently had their cache cleared) spark wildly. A moment later, the calm blue color of his cybernetic eye turns red, and an older personality surfaces. This different Rutherford is obnoxious and rude, and it isn’t long before Tendi realizes something’s wrong. Security becomes involved and a chase through the ship ensues. The other Rutherford makes it to the Captain’s yacht where he’s stunned by Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore).
However, the phaser hit does more than stun the Ensign – it overloads his cybernetics, and he falls into a coma. In his mind’s eye, Rutherford is forced to face his other personality, his past self. The pair agree to a challenge – the winner of a dangerous Devron race becomes the sole personality. The other Rutherford puts up a good fight, but our Rutherford is victorious with the help of his best friends!
To the victor goes the spoils. In his dying moments, the other Rutherford shares a memory of his past. There’s an explosion and a cover-up, and our quirky Engineer is at the heart of it all. The truth comes out in season three’s finale ‘The Stars at Night’, when Rutherford realizes his code runs the automated Texas-class ships. Admiral Buenamigo (Carlos Alazraqui) is behind the entire conspiracy, orchestrating Rutherford’s cybernetics and memory loss to protect the Texas project. Samanthan Rutherford’s backstory is without a doubt one of the most interesting explored in Lower Decks so far.
Friendship With A Hint Of More
I couldn’t write an article about Rutherford and not explore his relationship with D’Vana Tendi. They become close friends very early in the show, seen regularly together in many scenes. There is also an obvious attraction between the two characters which both deny throughout the series.
This sexual tension becomes the focus of season four’s ‘Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place’. Our dynamic foursome are assigned “travel guide duty” on the planet Ferenginar. Their task is to update Starfleet’s records about the Ferengi homeworld. Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) asks Rutherford and Tendi to act like a couple for the relationship view of the planet. Rutherford and Tendi are both enthusiastic, joking with each other in their geeky way as they get into character.
Unfortunately, once on Ferenginar things quickly escalate. The duo are joking about all the “couples behaviors” they can do when nudity comes up – awkward! In their hotel, they get dressed smart and get a little embarrassed about how much they find the other attractive. Then a Ferengi gives them lingerie for a spicy photoshoot and awkwardness resumes! By the end of the episode, they are back to their delusional friendship, convinced they have zero romantic chemistry. How wrong they are!
Season Five Warps In!
That’s a wrap on our countdown to Lower Decks season five! If you haven’t caught any of our other articles celebrating the Cerritos’ journey through the seasons, please give them a read. We have covered Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, the Bridge Crew, Other Deckers and Friends & Foes.
Season five premieres on Paramount+ in the US, UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea. You can also catch it on Bell Media’s CTV Scifi Channel in Canada. The final, on-screen adventure warps in with a double episode debut on Thursday, October 24 (2024).
More from Trek Central
- 🚨Lower Decks – Bridge Crew’s Journey to Season Five
- 🔥Lower Decks – Tendi’s Journey to Season Five
- 🖖Command a Starship! – Bridge Command Review
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