I don’t think I can agree with that - plenty of Lower Decks episodes seemed reverse-engineered around whatever legacy actors they were able to book, and other legacy actors were just sort of…stuffed in there.
I would agree that they always crafted meaningful stories around that stuff, but that stuff is still pretty foundational - moreso than perhaps any show besides the third season of Picard, which I would enthusiastically hold up as an example of “fan service” (I don’t love the term, but whatever, it fits) done very poorly.
But it’s true. Fan service can bring you only so far. Lower Decks has tons of fan service but it’s almost never the main purpose of the story.
I don’t think I can agree with that - plenty of Lower Decks episodes seemed reverse-engineered around whatever legacy actors they were able to book, and other legacy actors were just sort of…stuffed in there.
I would agree that they always crafted meaningful stories around that stuff, but that stuff is still pretty foundational - moreso than perhaps any show besides the third season of Picard, which I would enthusiastically hold up as an example of “fan service” (I don’t love the term, but whatever, it fits) done very poorly.