9 Ups & NO Downs From Star Trek: Lower Decks 5.7 — Fully Dilated

Completing our temporally-temporarily marooned trio in Fully Dilated was Beckett Mariner. Initially unsure of what to do with herself beyond just bashing Snell on the head with a broom (rightly so!), the lieutenant eventually decided on having her own Captain-Picard-Kataan-probe-style adventure on Dilmer III.

Naturally, nothing went quite to plan. One accidental poke in the eye with her antennae landed Mariner back in her old haunt — jail — for a couple of months in spite of herself. There, her 'Ressikan flute' might well have been made out of soap, but at least she gave Frère Jacques (if not variations on like Picard and Commander Daren) a good go. She did make friends, too. Just don't mention the murderers!

Mariner also continued to delight, and to do important work, as a queer character this episode. Some of the best representation is casual conversation. Her "I had months to try to find a friend, a husband, a wife, a job, or learn a flute" to fellow inmates was purposefully incidental, perfectly by-the-by. It couldn't have been more essential in the normalisation of LGBTQIA+ relationships.