In an October 2020 interview, McMahan confirmed that Ramsey was Mariner’s ex-girlfriend at Starfleet Academy, and stated that “every Starfleet officer is probably at the baseline bisexual” and hinted that this would be expanded in the show’s second season. She also stated in the episode “Envoys” that she once dated a humanoid and female-presenting Anabaj to anger her mother.
In the show’s first season, Captain Amina Ramsey (voiced by Toks Olagundoye) is shown as being chummy with Mariner in the episode “Much Ado About Boimler,” and in the episode “No Small Parts” it was shown that she previously dated Steve Levy, a Lieutenant. Through all of this, Mariner’s queerness is emphasized. Other episodes focus on the lower deckers cleaning up unpredictable anomalies from previous missions, a malevolent computer A.I., drills for the crew which they are designed to fail, a 12-hour-time warp, and a risky first contact mission. The second season ups the ante, with godlike possession of a crew member, a dangerous mission with a “collector,” a mission to retrieve a “special item” for T’Ana, a scammer, and a race of beings which duplicate when they get scared.
The ten-episode first season of the series involves wild adventures from fighting a virus infection and terraforming agent on the ship, to ship salvaging, a surprise party, and a family secret, that Freeman is Mariner’s mother. Sleepy Gary and Jerry Smith on Rick and Morty are queer, with Gary as bisexual and Smith as bisexual or pansexual as noted in recent episodes. Both series include LGBTQ characters, specifically the genderless aliens Korvo and Terry in Solar Opposites. Mike McMahan, the creator of Solar Opposites and writer and producer of Rick and Morty, is the series creator and showrunner, while music is composed by Chris Westlake and Titmouse, Inc. Supporting characters include Carol Freeman (voiced by Dawnn Lewis), captain of the Cerritos, Mariner’s mother, First Officer Jack Ransom (voiced by Jerry O’Connell), Tactical Officer Shaxs (voiced by Fred Tatasciore), and head medical doctor T’Ana (voiced by Gillian Vigman). The series has four main characters: ensigns Beckett Mariner (voiced by Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (voiced by Jack Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (voiced by Noël Wells), and Sam Rutherford (voiced by Eugene Cordero). The series focuses on officers of a low rank who engage in menial work, rather than senior officers or captains, who are supporting characters. It has been nominated for three Critics’ Choice Super Awards and one Emmy Award for voice acting, animation, and sound editing. Star Trek: Lower Decks, which premiered on the streaming platform CBS All Access (later renamed Paramount+) in August 2020, is the first animated series in the Star Trek franchise since Star Trek: The Animated Series which aired on NBC from 1973-1974. On October 14, the season two finale of Star Trek: Lower Decks aired on Paramount+, and while the show is lauded by some for “breaking new ground” as a sci-fi comedy and mature adult animation, often reviewers don’t talk about the LGBTQ representation at the heart of the show itself.