Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 features a much-anticipated crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks, but who are Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome)? The Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover is directed by Jonathan Frakes, and Lower Decks' showrunner and creator Mike McMahan wrote dialogue for the episode, which Frakes describes as a "flat-out comedy." The crossover will also be partly animated in the Lower Decks style, but the main story will take place in live-action on the USS Enterprise.
Star Trek: Lower Decks launched in summer 2020 and season 4 will premiere on Paramount+ in late-summer 2023. Lower Decks is the first Star Trek animated half-hour comedy, and it centers on the USS Cerritos, an underdog California Class starship performing Second missions in the late 24th century a few years after Star Trek: Nemesis. However, Lower Decks' focus is on the junior officers rather than the bridge crew led by Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis). Like Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks mainly follows an episodic structure of a planet or crisis of the week, but the character development is serialized. In this way, the two Star Trek series are ideal for crossing over.
Who Are Boimler & Mariner From Star Trek: Lower Decks?
Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) are two of Star Trek: Lower Decks' four main leads, along with Ensign D'Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) and Ensign Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Mariner and Boimler are best friends who are often at odds. Boimler, who grew up on a raisin farm on Earth, is a by-the-book Starfleet Officer who dreams of becoming a Captain, but the headstrong and irrepressible Mariner is dedicated to avoiding command and pursuing her own chaotic vision of what it means to be a Starfleet Officer. Ironically, Beckett is Starfleet royalty; her mother is Captain Freeman and her father is an iral, but Mariner also has a mysterious past that gave her tons of experience in Starfleet. Both Mariner and Boimler are super fans of Starfleet history, so they likely know everything there is to know about Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and his Enterprise crew.
When Star Trek: Lower Decks began, Mariner took the hapless Boimler under her wing and tried to be his mentor. However, as Lower Decks continued, Boimler asserted himself and is emerging as a top-flight Starfleet Officer. Boimler racked up lots of experience, and he even briefly served on the USS Titan under Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Meanwhile, Mariner's hijinks nearly ended her Starfleet career, and she is on a form of probation overseen by the Cerritos' First Officer, Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell). Strange New Worlds' crossover is set after Lower Decks season 3, and Mariner and Boimler's visit to Captain Pike's USS Enterprise will likely be referenced in season 4.
How Strange New Worlds’ Star Trek Crossover Happened
On season 2's slate of episodes.
The Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks crossover is a first of its kind because it will be a mix of live-action and animation. It will mark the first time animated Star Trek characters will jump to live-action, and it's also probable that Captain Pike and his live-action cast could appear in animated form. Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan punched up dialogue and wrote jokes, not just for Mariner and Boimler, but for Strange New Worlds' cast as well. Further, Frakes effusively praised how Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, and Strange New Worlds' ensemble of actors embraced playing broad comedy. It will be fascinating to see how Lower Decks' breakneck joke style and rapid-fire dialogue melds with Strange New Worlds in live-action.
Will Strange New Worlds Have More Star Trek Crossovers?
In an interview with SFX Magazine, Strange New Worlds co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman hinted at the potential for more Star Trek crossovers. Goldsman said, "In many ways [the crossover is] a Star Trek melting pot, that episode. And there are more, but far be it for me to spoil…" Star Trek is a shared universe that takes place in several different eras, but Strange New Worlds' 23rd-century Enterprise crossing over with Lower Decks' 24th-century Ensigns could open the door to more Star Trek on Paramount+ shows and crews meeting.
Already, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3 crossed over with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Prodigy is a stealth Star Trek: Voyager sequel with many of the 1990s series' characters playing major roles, especially iral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Star Trek: Picard season 3 also had crossover characters from DS9 and Voyager. Future crossovers as ambitious as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks' may hinge on how well Pike and Spock meeting Mariner and Boimler is received, but the Enterprise crew meeting the Cerritos' crew already has the makings of an all-time classic Star Trek episode.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 premieres Thursday, June 15, on Paramount+.