Warning: Contains Spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 9 "The Inner Fight"
Summary
- Mariner's connection to Wesley Crusher is established through their mutual friends in Starfleet Academy, including Sito Jaxa and Nicholas Locarno.
- Mariner's deep grief over Sito Jaxa's death indicates that her friendship with Sito was genuine and not merely a passing acquaintance.
- Wesley Crusher's absence in Star Trek: Lower Decks leaves room for him to potentially make an appearance and help Mariner, as he represents an important and celebrated aspect of the Star Trek universe.
Lieutenant Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) from Star Trek: Lower Decks has a connection to Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) from Star Trek: The Next Generation, thanks to their mutual friends. Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 19 "The First Duty" shows Wesley as a member of Nova Squadron, an elite flight team at Starfleet Academy, which includes Cadets Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill), Jean Hajar (Walker Brandt), and their leader Nicholas Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill). Wesley's squadron faces an inquiry following the death of one of their own during the flashy Kolvoord Starburst maneuver, which Locarno pressured the others into performing.
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 9 "The Inner Fight", confirms that Mariner knows Nick Locarno after Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) intentionally leaves Mariner out of the Cerritos' assignment to locate Locarno, since Beckett and Nick's shared history is a trigger for Mariner's bad behavior. Elsewhere, Mariner reveals to Klingon captain Ma'ah (Jon Curry) the real reason she's been fighting her recent promotion to lieutenant: a friend of hers from Starfleet Academy, Ensign Sito Jaxa was killed in the line of duty in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 15, "Lower Decks." Mariner confesses that she considered her "perfect friend" Sito a role model, as someone who pulled herself together after a setback and earned the honor of serving on the USS Enterprise.
