Marinler

"You really think I'd buy you guys are best friends?"

- Barbara Brinson to Beckett Mariner, Cupid's Errant Arrow

Marinler is the het ship between Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner from the Star Trek: Lower Decks fandom.

Season 1
SECOND CONTACT

Mariner while inebriated and thus not inhibited is being very friendly if not teasing to Boimler about his recording of captain's log, for his part Boimler seemed to have kept quiet about Mariner wounding him with a contraband blade while drunk, even if during the episode Boimler does accept captain Freeman's mission to spy on Mariner for any offenses his ultimate choice to not report anything to the captain, based on Mariner taking his side even when furious with him, laid the foundations for their much more intimate and close relationship they will enjoy during the series.

CUPID'S ERRANT ARROW

Mariner is paranoid about Boimler's new girlfriend, while the text of the episode motivates her erratic behavior as being related to past trauma with a friend of hers, this particular episode is rife with themes of jealousy and romance, Barbara Brinson the new girlfriend in question was deliberately paralleled with Mariner at the climax of the episode with Barbara's paranoia being explicitly romantic, the episode ends with Boimler and Mariner walking off-screen together with Mariner commenting positively on Boimler's worth as a romantic partner.

TERMINAL PROVOCATIONS

Mariner and Boimler go to a concert together wearing matching shirts Brad made for them. Afterwards, she expresses to him that she's happy that they spend time together, and that he's actually not as annoying as she previously thought; Boimler reciprocates that sentiment.

After defeating a corrupted computer core, Boimler reaffirms that he enjoys working with Mariner. She then reveals that she stole the keys to the Captain's Yacht; the episode ends with the two running off to hang out.

CRISIS POINT

The episode saw Boimler discover Mariner's secret, that she is captain Freeman's daughter information they both decided not to share with the rest of the crew, nearly immediately afterwards Boimler had a personal interview with the captain, sensing his distress the captain encouraged him to say the first thing on his Mind which Brad revealed was Mariner, fearing her secret was out Freeman interrogated him further with an erratic and stressed Boimler blurting out he found Mariner both “hot” and “nasty” before running away in terror.

NO SMALL PARTS

Coming off of the revelation of the previous episode, Boimler decides to tease Mariner about her secret. He inadvertently ends up revealing it to the whole crew, sparking tension between them, as Mariner decides to compete with him for a promotion, desperate to reclaim her lost anonymity. Their bickering, however, is cut short, as the USS Cerritos is attacked by the Pakleds.

During a skirmish with a Pakled boarding party, Boimler confesses to Mariner that she's his best friend, and that he doesn't want her to leave for another ship. She berates him for getting too personal, but not before smiling to herself at the revelation. The two make their way to the bridge, where Mariner takes command. However, the Pakleds end up overpowering the Cerritos. When all hope seems lost, the USS Titan—commanded by Captain Riker—arrives just in the nick of time, and drives away the Pakled ships. Mariner and Boimler exchange a quick glance, relieved.

Mariner and Boimler are later seen chatting in the bar, the latter maintaining constant eye-contact. Boimler thanks Mariner for mentoring him throughout the season. Annoyed by Boimler's attitude, she asserts that they can hang out without her being his mentor. Boimler counters this by saying that this is what she wanted, to which she replies that her target moves. Boimler then declares that he'll no longer be obsessed with promotion, and that he'll start appreciating what he has on the Cerritos. The two are then interrupted by Captain Riker; he commends Boimler for his bravery, and asks Mariner to buy him a drink. It is revealed that Boimler was offered a promotion to the Titan, which—unbeknownst to Mariner—he accepted.

The episode ends with Mariner in her bunk at night, flooding Boimler with angry voice messages, threatening and screaming at him for leaving and ghosting her.

Season 2
STRANGE ENERGIES

Mariner's first scene in the premier of this season dealt with her feeling abandoned by Boimler, with her specifically choosing to not save a holographic Boimler in a simulation, her lamenting she now spends all of her time with her mother now which doesn't feel the same, the holographic Boimler trying to find excuses for his real life counterpart "maybe you intimidate him" which arguably apply more if they were talking about a romantic relationship than a friendship.

KAYSHON, HIS EYES OPEN

In Episode 2 of this season "Kayshon, His Eyes Open", Jet who is sent in to replace Boimler is constantly compared to Boimler by Mariner, despite the eventual understanding Jet and Mariner come to and the sexual tension between the two, Jet recognizes that Mariner would rather have Boimler in his place once Brad is back on the ship and gracefully bows out. Boimler's part of the episode arguably sees him lose his dream job on the Titan with an interesting lack of bemoaning on his part with the most probable explanation that he at least is back with his friends especially Mariner since the whole scene of his return focuses strictly on him and Mariner.

AN EMBARRASSMENT OF DOOPLERS

Episode 5 contains the strongest hints towards Marinler, perhaps paralleling the episode 5 from the previous episode, besides the two of them being assumed to be a couple again Mariner's plan to sneak into the after party is literally just to be Boimler's date (Boimler getting in through pretending to be his clone who serves on the Titan) the emotional high point of their plot this episode is when Boimler chooses to spend his night with Mariner and apologize for his departure to the Titan instead of attending the party where he hoped to advance his career.

THE SPY HUMUNGOUS

WHERE PLEASANT FOUNTAINS LIE

Episode 7 sees Mariner outright inviting Boimler to eat together once they would have arrived on Earth and in the main plot her working behind the scenes in an good intentioned but overly-controlling manner to make sure Boimler does not get put in more danger than he can handle, this episode which also sees a blatant theme of sexuality (albeit in the Billups plot) features a fight between Boimler and Mariner with the two of them in suggestive poses at time.

I, EXCRETUS

WEJ DUJ

Personal Logs
"Personal log, Stardate 58001.2. Had some trouble today with a collector ship but whatever, the big news is Boims the betrayer is back on the Cerritos! You know the real winner here is Jet. Truly, I mean it can take years for me to let someone get close, truly, I was going to make his life a living hell. Now, Jet's free and I can focus my energy on being pissed that Boimler abandoned me to go the Titan! You know what feels like order is restored, everything just feels right. And yeah, I mean maybe I sort of missed the purple jerk, but that's like one percent of one percent of the anger. Okay! Whatever! Shut Up! Leave me alone. Boimler has a lot of work to do to get back on my good side. The best part is, he KNOWS he messed up. Figuring out creative ways to get back at him is going to give me life."

- Beckett Mariner

Season 2
An Embarrassment of Dooplers
 * The premise of the episode is Mariner asking Boimler out to a royal ball.
 * Alien shopkeeper, Malvus, calls Boimler—much to his chagrin—Mariner's boyfriend.
 * While driving through the aviary, Mariner points out to Boimler that she went on a date there once.
 * Mariner and Boimler get into a car chase which ends with them driving into a pond. In “Much Ado About Boimler” it's revealed that a similar thing happened to Mariner and her ex from the Academy.
 * The bouncer denies Mariner entry to the Starfleet afterparty. She gets into an argument with Boimler, accusing him of abandoning her. The bouncer then comforts Mariner, stating that he knows what it's like to be vulnerable.
 * At the party, Boimler realizes that he misses Mariner, and that he doesn't have fun without her.
 * Boimler finds Mariner drinking alone at an empty dive bar. They reconile, and Mariner admits that he's the only person she makes an exception when it comes to showing her feelings; he then calls her his "number one".
 * Mariner and Boimler notice a carving on the bar's counter that reads “Kirk + Spock”. They bond over that, and decide to carve their own names into the bar.
 * Later on, the crew of the Cerritos joins them at the bar. Carol approaches them, and starts teasing Boimler, agreeing that he's actually Mariner's "number one".
 * The episode ends with Carol looking at the "Mariner + Boimler" carving with a kind of knowing motherly look of approval.

Quotes
"I try not to feel anything around Brad."

- Beckett Mariner to Barbara Brinson, Cupid's Errant Arrow

"Yeah, I mean he is a dork, for sure. But he's my dork."

- Beckett Mariner about Brad Boimler, Cupid's Errant Arrow

"You can pose as your clone, and I can be your plus-one!"

- Mariner to Boimler, An Embarrassment of Dooplers

"Of course I do [have feelings]. I just don't show them to everyone. I don't know why I make an exception for you."

- Mariner to Boimler, An Embarrassment of Dooplers

Fanon
Marinler is by far the most popular ship in the Lower Decks fandom, with nearly 100 works on AO3 as of February 2022. Their dynamic is often compared to Spirk, even in-universe with Mariner seeing herself as a "Kirk-style free spirit".

Due to the events of the season 1 finale with Boimler leaving to pursue his career and Mariner in obvious shock and hurt over it a common theme in Marinler fics are reunion fics with Boimler choosing or being forced to go back to the Cerritos him and Mariner having an confrontation about what he did and more often then not finding forgiveness and starting to date.

Another common trope is Mariner and Boimler communicating via messages on their PADD, this allows the characters to behave in a way most teens and younger adults will recognize from real life.

Generally speaking Mariner is characterized in fan works as the more active participant even if she does not internally acknowledge her actions are romantic with Boimler being on the receiving end, but this is not an universal trend as some fanwork depict Boimler actively wanting a relationship and not being sure if Mariner would accept him (tantalizingly the show might have hinted at this in canon, Boimler in s02e05 admitted to have considered Mariner too jaded and badass to care about him and in episode s02e01 an holographic replica of Boimler told Mariner that the real Boimler might be intimidated by her hence their communication difficulties)

Other common tropes and scenarios used in fanon works are holodeck simulations, shuttle crashes (happened in canon in s0e07) and cross-overs with the Mirror Universe (one such cross-over was simulated in s02e08).

A common pairing that tends to also happen in Marinler fics is Tendiford.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Marinler tag on Tumblr, Mariner x Boimler is also used.
 * Marinler tag on Tumblr, Mariner x Boimler is also used.