Star Trek: Lower Decks | Who is Beckett Mariner?

As we head into the Season 3 premiere of on August 25, we’ll be looking at those serving aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos, a California-class starship.

The Lower Deck of the Cerritos is comprised of the “cool, scrappy underdogs of the ship” — Ensigns Beckett Mariner, Bradward Boimler, D’Vana Tendi, and Samanthan Rutherford. Through their adventures, we get a look at a side of Starfleet we’ve rarely seen before.

Kicking things off is Ensign Beckett Mariner (voiced by Tawny Newsome)!

Starfleet Legacy

Much to Mariner’s chagrin, she’s the daughter of two prominent Starfleet officials. Her mother Carol Freeman captains the Cerritos while her father is an Admiral.

Mariner has no interest in following in her parents’ footsteps stuck in the shadows of their legacies, determined to pave her own way. The entire crew would have been none the wiser except Boimler left his communicator on revealing her secretive parentage to the bridge crew.

Lower Decks All the Way

According to Captain Amilia Ramsey, her best friend at the Academy, Mariner was the best in her class; they all expected her to make captain first.

However, Mariner has made it absolutely clear she wants to “fly under the radar” because “senior officers are overrated” since they’re always “stressed out and yelling about directives.” After all, “it’s better down here where the real action is.”

Starfleet Career

All this to say, don’t underestimate Mariner. Her investigative and combat skills, cleverness, and loyalty are top-notched. She’s served on five different starships, including the Quito while it made first contact with the Galadorans, as well as the starbase Deep Space 9.

As discovered in “No Small Parts,” following the Titan’s rescue of the Cerritos from a fleet of Pakleds, Captain William T. Riker was Mariner’s cha’DIch (AKA mentor).

With more experience than her rank signals, Mariner has done plenty of “some off-the-books gray ops stuff back in the day,” proudly brandishing her scars as trophies.

She has absolutely no interest in climbing the ranks like her friend Boimler.

Mariner LOVES the Brig

Much to Capt. Freeman’s dismay, Mariner’s insubordinations include beaming down to planets without authorization, contraband, off-the-books side missions — that’s only counting all the things she’s aware of.

Following Boimler’s transfer to the Titan, Mariner loses her mind as she works more closely with the captain. Not jeopardizing Freeman’s command and utilizing Mariner’s love and ability to sidestep protocol, the mom and daughter duo find a solution to their working styles and develop a mutual understanding of one another. Mariner goes as far to even state Freeman her “best friend” since the role was vacated by Boimler.

In her Holo-therapy session in “Crisis Point,” she realizes that she would have been done with Starfleet if Freeman kicked her off the Cerritos, endearing her to her mom’s “overbearing, mom ways.”

Character-Building Chaos with Friends

The rebellious and intelligent Mariner often uses her quick wit and sarcasm to shield her feelings. Following Boimler’s transfer and his slight by leaving in the middle of a shift without a goodbye to her following the Season 1 finale, she reveals to Tendi, “Every time I open up, people get promoted and take off. It's better to just keep it surface level and never have friends instead of always losing them.”

She takes great pride in inspiring her fellow Lower Decks, especially Boimler, with her “character-building chaos” teachings. Make no mistake, despite her disdain with protocol, she doesn’t hate the ship or the crew. After all, she gets to “work with [her] best friends.”