Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 1 - “Dos Cerritos"Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5’s premiere finally answers a big mystery about Lieutenant Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) that has lasted for the four years since the animated comedy began. Season 5 isStar Trek: Lower Decks’final season on Paramount+, so it’s not surprising Mike McMahan’s hilarious series isanswering long-held questions.Lower Deckshas already solved mysteries about Lt. Samanthan Rutherford’s (Eugene Cordero) past, while others, like what happened to Lt. William Boimler (Jack Quaid), still linger.
When Ensign Beckett Mariner was introduced inStar Trek: Lower Decks' series premiere, she kept the fact that she was Captain Carol Freeman’s (Dawnn Lewis) daughter a secret.Mariner is actually Starfleet royalty; not only is her mother the USS Cerritos' Captain, but her father is Admiral Alonzo Freeman (Phil LaMarr). Beckett didn’t want comparisons to her mother, and wanted the anonymity to fly under the radar to continue breaking Starfleet rules as she saw it. It wasn’t untilEnsign Brad Boimler(Jack Quaid) accidentally outed Beckett that the rest of the USS Cerritos' crew found out Mariner is the Captain’s daughter.
Star Trek Finally Answers Lower Decks’ 4-Year-Old Beckett Mariner Mystery
Now we know why Beckett is “Mariner” and not “Freeman”
Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5’s premiere, “Dos Cerritos,” finally revealed why Beckett goes by the last name Mariner. When the USS Cerritos accidentally crosses aquantum fissure into a parallel universe, they encounter another Cerritos commanded by Mariner’s doppelganger, Captain Becky Freeman (Tawny Newsome). Mariner asking the alternate reality Captain Freeman how she can go by the name Becky prompted this retort that explainsMariner is Beckett’s middle name:
I guess what I should’ve done is hide behind my middle name to distance myself from my mother, ‘Mariner.’
So,Beckett’s full name is Beckett Mariner Freeman.(Amusingly, Beckett’s initials BMF also mean… something else.)Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5’s reveal is a case where the simplest explanation is the best explanation. Many theories have floated about Mariner sinceLower Decksseason 1 to explain questions about her, like Beckett is a time traveler. However,Star Trek: Lower Deckshas pleasingly explored Mariner’s very human history and inner life, and it’s much more relatable that Mariner simply used her middle name as her surname to be independent and carve her own path in Starfleet.
Mariner Won’t Be A Captain Like Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Alternate Reality Becky Freeman
What kind of Captain could Mariner be?
Lieutenant Beckett Mariner dreads command, which was explained at theend ofStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4. As a Starfleet Academy cadet, Beckett idolized and befriended Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill), who tragically died in theStar Trek: The Next Generationepisode “Lower Decks.” Losing Sito instilled a fear of sending friends to die in Mariner, which fuels her desire to remain an Ensign and avoid command. However, Mariner is now a Lieutenant, and she rejects the kind of Captain her doppelganger, Becky Freeman, became.
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Captain Becky Freeman hides her insecurity by being a cruel taskmaster who whacks her crew with a riding crop and sends them to the brig for any infraction. Ironically, Becky also hates being a Captain, and she tries to switch places with Mariner so she can go back to being “charmingly insubordinate.” One day, Lt. Beckett Mariner could follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a starship Captain. Thankfully,Mariner is made of better stuff than her alternate reality double.Captain Beckett Mariner would makeStar Trek: Lower Decksproud by doing it her way.
