7 Ups & 1 Down From Star Trek: Lower Decks 5.1 — Dos Cerritos

Speaking of fighting with oneself, out of all the crew of the Cerritos, Beckett Mariner has had the most internal conflict — externalised as insubordination or just downright flagrant disregard for protocol and the chain of command, refusing promotion after promotion until recently.

We have had our reservations at TrekCulture about how this disobedience was portrayed at times on screen, though NOT with the reasoning behind the characterisation. Mariner's is ultimately a journey of self-acceptance through trauma in the tragic and sudden loss of friend Sito Jaxa and survivor's guilt of the Dominion War.

What works so well once again in Dos Cerritos is that Prime (for want of a better term) Mariner is confronted with a version of herself who has risen up the ranks, but in doing so has taken discipline to the (very wrong) extreme — the aforementioned riding crop.

Captain Becky just wants to go back to being "charmingly insubordinate," and in doing so she repeats one particular double Vulcan hand gesture for our Mariner to see. "Don't you give me that sarcastic Vulcan salute!" Prime Mariner adds, mirroring her mother from Moist Vessel. "Huh, so that's how that feels!"

The mirror made real is ultimately the best life lesson. Concerned at the start of the episode about her duties to a new group of Ensigns, our Mariner concludes by the end that, whatever happens, "I'm not going to cover up my insecurities by becoming a screaming despot".