Just unveiled during the San Diego Comic Con @ Home Star Trek Universe panel, CBS All Access has now made available the opening moments from “Second Contact,” the series premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks!
Set to debut in the US and Canada on August 6 — unfortunately, still no news regarding additional international distribution plans — the first of ten episodes opens with this introduction to the USS Cerritos‘ second-contact mission, as narrated by young Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid)… while finding off the excitable antics of his friend, Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome).
Last summer, Lower Decks writers Ben Rodgers and Ann Kim spoke about Ensign Mariner, a character who’s been demoted from higher ranks multiple times but is “the Star Trek nerd” of the group.
Ben Rodgers:
She’s kind of a classic ‘Star Trek’ hero — she’s a little bit Kirk, a little bit Riker. [She] doesn’t really play by the rules necessarily, thinks outside the box a little bit, but gets the job done and is really, really good at Starfleet stuff. She’s like the ultimate ‘Star Trek’ nerd.
She knows a little bit about everything… but she has been demoted so many times, [and] that’s why she’s on a lower deck. Despite knowing everything, she is really bad at taking orders — she’s kind of like Maverick from ‘Top Gun’ a little bit.
Ann Kim:
She also reminds me a little bit of an Ensign Ro… that vibe of, ‘I’m really talented, I’m really smart, I know what I’m doing, but this institution is flawed and I’m going to have to kind of bend the rules to make things work the way they should — at least in my opinion.’
…while writer Chris Kula spoke about Ensign Boimler, a “straight shooter” who’s “neurotic” and “obsessed with rank.”
He is our by-the-book, obsessed with rank, wants-to-be-a-captain-one-day [character] and thinks that following protocol is the only way he’s going to get there. He’s wound super-tight, which makes him a perfect foil for Mariner who is more and more freewheeling, you know, [that] ‘Maverick’-type spirit.
He will get in the captain’s chair one day… if he can take a page from [Mariner] and learn there’s more to Starfleet than just following the rules.
In case you missed last night’s report, we’ve now got the names of the first four episodes of the season, with a host of new preview images from many of them for your perusal.
Keep checking back to TrekCore for all the latest Star Trek: Lower Decks news as it breaks!