What Strange New Worlds Viewers Need To Know About Lower Decks To Enjoy The Crossover

So, you're a "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" fan, but you haven't watched "Star Trek: Lower Decks," and now the two are crossing over and you're out of your element. The bad news is that you haven't watched "Lower Decks," because despite being an adult animated comedy, it's also a genuine "Star Trek" series that delivers on the core principles of what makes "Trek," well, "Trek"! The good news is that we've got all of the information you need to enjoy the crossover episode without feeling like a Klingon who has lost their bat'leth. 

The crossover episode of "Strange New Worlds" features two of the characters from "Lower Decks": Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) who manage to find themselves transported not only to three dimensions, but into the past when Captain Pike (Anson Mount) was in charge of the U.S.S. Enterprise. These two ensigns have established a place for themselves in the hearts of fans and in the "Star Trek" timeline, and seeing them both in the flesh is truly exciting. (Seriously, those California-class uniforms look absolutely gorgeous in 3D, and who can complain about Newsome or Quaid?) 

So buckle in and grab yourself a Raktajino, because here is everything you could possibly need to know about "Star Trek: Lower Decks" before enjoying the crossover episode with "Strange New Worlds." 

Boimler and Mariner are both lower deckers on the U.S.S. Cerritos, a California-class Starfleet vessel that does the kinds of missions that would waste the time of the Enterprise and the other A-listers. They do "second contact," for example, but their jobs are just as important. Someone has to do the grunt work, after all! The lower deckers are the bottom of the rung; they're ensigns who sleep in bunks and have zero ability to pull rank. Despite that, Mariner almost never does as she's told (in part because the captain of the Cerritos is her mother, Captain Carol Freeman, voiced by Dawnn Lewis), and she frequently gets her friends into all kinds of wacky shenanigans. The upside is that she's also experienced a lot in her colorful Starfleet career and she manages to get everyone out of a bind as regularly as she gets into them. 

Boimler is her opposite. He's fussy and neurotic and extremely by-the-books, and Mariner tends to drive him crazy. Over the course of the series, however, the two have rubbed off on one another. Some fans want them to get together romantically and ship "Marinler," but what's for certain is the two have a strong bond and a fun friendship that's pure joy whether animated or live-action. Oh, and they're also both giant Starfleet nerds. 

"Lower Decks" is pretty irreverent, but it's also clear that the team behind the series has a lot of love for all of the "Star Trek" that has come before. There's a lot of sarcastic, quick humor and the characters all talk a mile-a-minute, alongside deep cut references to impress even the most hardcore fan. Not only that, but the characters themselves are fans of Starfleet and its history, and they reference the events of the other shows that have come before with some regularity. This isn't even the first time that the Lower Deckers have gotten to visit another show's crew and ship, as they visited the space station Deep Space Nine in season 2 and all geeked out big time. (Especially Ensign Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero, who ran around the promenade like Quark in a latinum mine.) 

Boimler is the biggest Starfleet history nerd of them all and knows almost everything about the major successes of Starfleet, while Mariner seems to know some of its dirty little secrets as well. They both have a deep love for Starfleet, even if they show it quite differently. Hey, we all have to be fans in our own way. Besides, who wouldn't get awkward if they met Spock?!

New episodes of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.