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| “ | You know what? I do get off on breaking protocol. I'm good at exploring strange new worlds, solving space mysteries, and kicking asses. Protocol is for people who need to be told what to do, which I don't. | „ |
| ~ Beckett Mariner |
| “ | Freeman: Get off my yacht! That's an order! Mariner: To let you get killed? Uh, no way. I won't give you the satisfaction. Freeman: I'm trying to save lives. You can't just bully your way into whatever you want. Why do you act like this? Mariner: Because I'm a Kirk-style free spirit who kicks butt and it super intimidates people. You know that, that's why you've always protected me from getting court-martialed. Freeman: You're not a Kirk. Kirk was confident. Mariner: So am I! Freeman: You used to be. But now the only thing you're confident of is that everything has to be a fight. You have to drop your defenses and make some allies. |
„ |
| ~ Mariner and her mother arguing. |
| “ | Look, we don't have to like each other. But until we're off this [Bleep] planet, we need to work together. How else are you gonna get revenge on whoever did this? Each, and every one of you, comes from a species that chose to travel into space, and all the danger that comes with it. We've survived worse. If we can work together, nothing can stop us. | „ |
| ~ Mariner rallies the Ferrengis, Orions, Bynars, Romulans and Cardassians. |
Beckett Mariner is the main protagonist of the Paramount+ animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks and a guest character in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
She was a female Human Starfleet officer who lived during the late 24th century. Both of her parents served in positions of command in Starfleet: her mother Captain Carol Freeman, attempted to keep a close eye on her activities aboard the USS Cerritos, while her father, Alonzo Freeman, was a Starfleet admiral.
An Ensign and later Junior Lieutenant, Mariner is known to be a real hothead who acts more on instinct than respect for Starfleet rules, despite having great potential as a Starfleet officer buried within her. She would eventually recognize that all her years of bad behavior and consistent insubordination came from a deep insecurity brought on by the loss of a dear friend and the realization that Starfleet is not what she thought it was.
She is voiced by Tawny Newsome.
History[]
Beckett Mariner attended the Starfleet Academy in her youth and knew a little about Nova Squadron while being a good friend of the Bajoran Sito Jaxa whom she idolized to the point of trying to follow in her footsteps after Sito graduated before her. Around the time Mariner finally graduated, she learned of Sito's death during an undercover mission and subsequently, the Dominion War had broken out. Both events would leave Mariner no longer seeing Starfleet the way she once believed.
Mariner prided her ability to think for herself in critical situations, as she had served aboard five different Starfleet vessels, including the USS Quito, and had "seen stuff". There was a time when she was interested in advancing in rank, though her views regarding promotion and the importance of the senior staff had become somewhat jaded by 2380. (LD: "Second Contact", "Cupid's Errant Arrow")
On one harrowing occasion, she was trapped in a sentient cave for weeks, describing it as "a dark place that knows things." She also noted that she had almost been decapitated by a singing crystal, and held in a Klingon prison where she had to fight a yeti for her shoes merely because the yeti wanted to be antagonistic. (LD: "Envoys")
She kept additional battle scars from a fight with a tentacled man that stabbed her with a barnacle blade in the chest, a fight on Magus III that left a scar on her right shoulder, a scar on her left bicep from Nanibia Prime, and a scar on her hip from a fight in Scottsdale. (LD: "Temporal Edict")
At some point, she befriended and blood bonded with General K'orin. The two had worked together on Jaxxa Prime, Vulcan, and Earth. Years later, she recalled that she and K'orin had done some "off-the-books grey-ops stuff back in the day." (LD: "Envoys")
In 2381, Mariner overhears a conversation implying that her mother will have a promotion that will result in her transferring from Cerritos, something that Mariner takes both badly and as a betrayal since she thought their mother-daughter relationship was improving. While Mariner would come to seriously argue with his mother over this while the crew of the Cerritos tried to save the damaged USS Archimedes from crashing on Lapeeria, his friends convinced him to reconcile with Freeman shortly before that Archimedes is finally saved. Unfortunately Freeman was arrested by Starfleet Security on charges of blowing up the Pakled Planet, much to Mariner's dismay.
On temporary leave during Freeman's trial, a Mariner who doesn't trust the Starfleet system to do what's right recruits her friends in a rogue attempt to exonerate her mother by stealing the Cerritos, only for it to end in fiasco following Freeman being cleared of all charges. Tired of her daughter's rebellious behavior once too often, Freeman places her under the supervision of Commander Jack Ransom. During the weeks following the Cerritos' return to service, Mariner endured Ransom's sometimes excessive authority while trying to build a romantic relationship with her former rival, Jennifer Sh'reyan.
On the planet Krulmuth-B, Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi investigated a mysterious portal discovered by Christopher Pike in 2259 and Boimler found himself sucked into it. Mariner jumps without hesitation in turn and collides with a Boimler who was going to make the opposite journey. Recovering herself, she realizes from the presence of Pike, Spock and La'an that she had just traveled in time but her arrival exhausted the energy of the portal, blocking Mariner and Boimler in 2259. Taking advantage of the situation, Mariner meets Nyota Uhura for whom she has deep admiration. Much like Boimler previously, she makes Una Chin-Riley uncomfortable about her future image but later makes up for it by revealing that Una is the face of Starfleet recruiting in their time. Eventually with the help of the Enterprise crew and the Orions, Mariner and Boimler are able to use the time portal to return to the 24th century.
During a visit from journalist Victoria Nuzé of Federation News Network, Mariner secretly participates in an interview, confessing many good things about the crew and life aboard the Cerritos despite the recent negative setbacks she has experienced. Unfortunately, the bad reputation that Nuzé gave the Cerritos following all the glimpses led the majority of the crew to blame Mariner for this while ultimately being kicked off the ship by Freeman at Starbase 80 while also being disowned by her own mother and Jennifer rejecting her. Freeman would later discover to her horror that Mariner had said nothing wrong and that it was all the fault of the interviewing officers who stupidly and without realizing it blurted out every single thing about the Cerritos. Wanting to right her terrible mistake, Freeman contacts Starbase 80, only to learn that Mariner has resigned from Starfleet.
Mariner joins Petra Aberdeen in the Independent Archaeologists Guild, living a life of adventure and research for ancient artifacts, yet missing a bit of her former life in Starfleet. Upon learning that the fleet's Texas-class ships had gone rogue due to their faulty AI and were beginning to attack the Cerritos, Mariner came to the aid of his former crew with the help of other California ships and finally destroyed the Texas vessels. Afterwards, Mariner is welcomed with open arms aboard the Cerritos, reconciling with her mother and reconnecting with her three best friends who never let her down.
Some time later, Mariner, Boimler and Rutherford helped bring the USS Voyager to Earth to become a museum, but the situation escalated when a dormant Tak Takian parasite awoke after having been on the ship for years. years and it's multiplied. Things got worse with the arrival of the holograms The Clown and Doctor Chaotica who quickly took possession of the ship and Mariner found herself trapped in the viscous substance of the Tak Takian. A successfully hiding Boimler attempts to free Mariner but to no avail, so Mariner encourages Boimler to save the day on his own despite his doubts about his judgment since she was fired from the Cerritos and he did nothing to help her. Eventually, Boimler and Rutherford neutralized the holograms by screwing up Voyager's systems with cheese. At the end of the day, Boimler is promoted to Lieutenant Junior and against all odds, Mariner is also promoted to the same rank. Dismayed, she goes to see Ransom to refuse her promotion but Ransom reveals that he knows that she helped Boimler regain confidence in himself and that that's why she was promoted, especially since he didn't doesn't trust the judgment of the former "small-minded" commanders that Mariner had in her career.
Personality[]
Mariner is a confident, outspoken, rebellious, reckless, arrogant and energetic woman. She doesn't like following the rules, judging them as bad and preferring to act according to her common sense, which most often gets her into big trouble. She sometimes exhibits obnoxious behavior, saying bad words when she is frustrated and most often gets angry when someone disagrees with her. Despite her negative traits, Mariner is capable of realizing her own mistakes and then trying to repair them, as when she crumbled her friendly relationship with Tendi by dint of making cliché remarks about the Orion species and apologizing for it.
Deep down, Mariner suffers from a deep insecurity born from the loss of Sito Jaxa and the sudden Dominion War that made her see a bad side of being a Starfleet Captain, equating it with sending people towards death. She then forced herself to remain an Ensign in order to simply explore and solve mysteries as she believed Starfleet was meant to be.
Skills[]
Mariner was highly proficient at hand-to-hand combat, and was a master of anbo-jyutsu. She was well-practiced at martial arts because it could be done alone and she often lacked friends at her postings. Her physical condition is optimal, allowing him to easily perforate Commander Ransom's teeth and hurt his face without much effort as well as being able to fight on equal terms against a Klingon, such as Ma'ah for example, despite their difference in strength.
Quotes[]
| “ | Mariner: The longer I'm off a ship, the more useless I feel! Like that. Like that big dumb red thing. Alonzo Freeman: Beckett, you know that's the Golden Gate Bridge. Mariner: Nobody drives anymore! Why do you need a bridge? This planet's whack. |
„ |
| ~ Beckett Mariner to her father, Alonzo Freeman. |
| “ | Boilmer: Mariner, the reporter. I'm so sorry I told you to apologize for something you didn't do. Mariner: Aw, it's okay, you big dummy. I know you were just trying to protect me. Boilmer: Is this one of those you say it's fine, but you're actually still mad and it's gonna blow up in my face situations? Because I will happily continue to apologize. Mariner: No, I'm not mad. I got a taste of civilian life, and I am just so happy to be back. Tendi: Look, we all should've done more to defend you. Mariner: Nobody handled that worse than me. I love you guys. |
„ |
| ~ Mariner reconnecting with her friends after returning to the Cerritos. |
| “ | Mariner: Oh, thanks for bailing me out of jail. Quimp: Do you understand how many people I just had to bribe to keep your little drunken fistfight from ruining Starfleet's diplomatic mission? Mariner: Hey, you know me, man. I'm a wild rogue, living on the edge of chaos. I sit weird in chairs. You can't predict me. Quimp: Usually your chaos means something. But it's weird this time. You seem angry about nothing. Mariner: Yeah, right. Oh, look, if anyone's weird, it's you, Mr. "I Should Probably Be Getting to Bed." You've changed, dude. Quimp: Yeah, I have. That's what happens when you're not stuck in a perpetual state of immature rebellion. Mariner: Wow. Immature? Quimp: You have all the support you ever wanted, nobody to scream at or rail against, and look at you...still picking fights to make sure you get hurt. Mariner: What? No. That-That's not what that was. Quimp: I just want you to be careful. |
„ |
| ~ Mariner arguing with her Ferrengi friend, Quimp, over her impulsive behavior despite no longer having any reason to be that way. |
| “ | Karavitus: I bet I age more gracefully than you, because I'm a better person. Mariner: I'm the ranking officer here. Go back to the young side. That's an order. Karavitus: No! You always hated me, just because I'm Delta shift. Mariner: I've always hated you because you're an asshole. We can't help Asif if we both die of old age halfway to the wall. [Both have backs that are cracking] Karavitus: I'm only an asshole because I work just as hard as you, at all the same jobs, but nobody cares. Our shift sucks. Everyone is asleep. Mariner: That sounds great to me. Karavitus: It isn't. I've met the captain... I don't know... Five times. I've seen Ransom three or four. None of us in Delta shift will ever rank up, like you all did, because nobody knows we exist. Mariner: Damn. It's like we work on two different shifts. Karavitus: Yeah. That's why we've always resented you Beta shifters. Mariner: Oh, we thought you hated us because we broke stuff during the day and you had to fix it at night. Karavitus: Yeah, that's sucks, too. Mariner: I'm sorry for being a dick to you. Maybe we try to find a shift between ours, where we can try to be civil. Karavitus: Maybe. If we survive this stupid old-age cave. |
„ |
| ~ Mariner and Karavitus resolve their differences while they are on the effect of chronitons which makes them age seriously. |
| “ | Mariner: Not too long ago, I got a promotion I didn't want. I tried to get demoted, but my commander won't do it. Ma'ah: You must hate Starfleet. Mariner: That's the thing, I... Don't. Back at the Academy, my dream was to be a captain. I modeled myself after this perfect friend. Sito was, everything I wanted to be. I mean, she made some mistakes, but she rallied. She graduated ahead of me, and was stationed on the Enterprise. Ma'ah: The Enterprise? I have heard tales of its triumphs. Mariner: Oh, yeah. So did she. And it got her murder by Cardassians. She didn't sign up to be a spy, she... She-she wanted to explore. She... It destroyed me. Then, before I knew it, the Vorta, the Jem'Hadar... Ma'ah: The Jem'Hadar? You fought the Dominion? Ah... The shapeshifters sent many warriors to Sto-vo-kor. I wish I could have seen it. Mariner: No, you do not. There was no honor, just massacres. Ma'ah: But, in the end, you were victorious. Mariner: Starfleet is supposed to be about puzzling together the mysteries of life, not fighting wars. I don't want to be a general. I don't, I don't want to send my friends off to die. I just want to be an ensign. If it was good enough for Sito, then it's good enough for me. Ma'ah: In the past Klingons believed humans to be weak and easily defeated. But your species has proved its toDuj. Sito was a warrior. You do not honor her. Mariner: You didn't know her. Ma'ah: Do you follow every order from your commanders? Mariner: No. Ma'ah: Sito made her choice. You want to solve puzzles and mysteries? Your friend gave her life to protect that. She would not approve of your actions. Mariner: You're... You're right. She'd... She'd say I'm acting like an idiot. A biHnuch. Okay, but Starfleet can do better. I'm not wrong to call out bull[Bleep] when I see it. |
„ |
| ~ Mariner recounting that the reason she always arranged to be demoted to Ensign was because she was afraid of not being up to the task of being a senior Starfleet officer, before the Klingon Ma'ah encourages her to overcome her own fears. |
| “ | Hey. What up, everyone? I have an important message for all you lower deckers out there. This guy sucks! He's an idiot and his plan is stupid. He's gonna get you all killed 'cause he only cares about himself. | „ |
| ~ Beckett warning everyone about how dangerous Nick Locarno is. |
Trivia[]
- In developing the characters for Lower Decks, Mike McMahan described all four leads in an 10 August 2020 TrekMovie.com interview as a combination of other Star Trek characters, parts of himself, and people in his life.
- Tawny Newsome also portrayed Beckett Mariner in live-action in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Beckett does not have the same last name as her parents.
