Tawny Newsome hints that Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 will be “weird, chaotic, and stressful” for her character, Lieutenant Beckett Mariner. Newsome and Mariner enjoyed a banner 2023; Tawny brought then-Ensign Mariner to live-action and appeared in Lower Decks and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ crossover episode with her co-star, Jack Quaid, who plays Brad Boimler. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 then promoted Mariner, Boimler, and their friends on the USS Cerritos to Lieutenants, junior grade.
At the 51st annual Saturn Awards red carpet, Screen Rant caught up with Tawny Newsome who represented Star Trek: Lower Decks, which was nominated for Best Animated Series or Special. When asked about what’s on tap for Mariner and the cast of Star Trek: Lower Decks in the upcoming season 5, Newsome joked about how long it’s been since she recorded her voiceovers as Mariner and teased Beckett’s character growth. Read her quote below:
The funny thing about animation is we record it approximately 20 calendar years before it airs, so I’m trying to remember back to 1995 when we did it. We’ve seen a lot of character growth with my character Mariner. She now is a lieutenant junior grade, so she’s actually been promoted, which is something she never wanted to do. And she’s embracing it in a weird, chaotic, stressful kind of way, but she’s making it work for herself.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 – Cast, Story & Everything We Know
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 is coming, but when will it air, and what will happen to Tendi and the Lower Deckers after THAT cliffhanger?
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Was Huge For Lt. Beckett Mariner
Lower Decks will return for season 5 on Paramount+
Against her wishes, Ensign Beckett Mariner was promoted to Lieutenant, junior grade, in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, and her new rank and pip sent Mariner off the deep end. Beckett began a self-destructive wave of rebellion that concerned her fellow Lower Deckers. However, Lower Decks season 4, episode 9, “The Inner Fight,” revealed what was really getting Beckett’s goat with the bombshell that her history is tied to the late Ensign Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill), her friend and idol from Starfleet Academy who died in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s season 7 episode, “Lower Decks.” It was Sito’s death that fueled Mariner’s intent to never rise above the rank of Ensign.
Still, Mariner’s heroism and belief in Starfleet shined through, and she saved the galaxy from disgraced ex-Starfleet cadet Nicholas Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) in Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ season 4 finale, “Old Friends, New Planets.” Although Mariner has seemingly accepted her new role as a Lieutenant, Tawny Newsome’s comments hint that Mariner will still be Mariner in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, and Beckett will continue to rebel and create chaos on the USS Cerritos. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 may have been the best yet, but season 5 could top it by continuing to evolve Lt. Beckett Mariner and the USS Cerritos’ Lower Deckers.
