Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3, Episode 9 - "Trusted Sources"The worst place in Starfleet has finally been revealed by Star Trek: Lower Decks when Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) is kicked off the USS Cerritos. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 9 introduces Captain Carol Freeman's (Dawnn Lewis) new initiative: Project Swing By. Meant to herald a new wave of crucial Second Contact missions of the California-class starships, Freeman mistakenly believed Mariner jeopardized her project by telling derogatory tales about the Cerritos to a Federation News Network reporter.
Mariner is transferred to Starbase 80, the absolute worst place in Starfleet. Starbase 80 was referenced previously in Star Trek: Lower Decks as a space station far off in deep space where the dregs of Starfleet are sent, and it's a place even Mariner feared. After Beckett is transferred, a Starbase 80 shuttle docks in the Cerritos to fetch her, and they're as bad as expected, if not worse. Slovenly and dim-witted, the two Starbase 80 denizens are indicative of the whole station. Later, when Captain Freeman realizes Mariner was innocent of slandering her starship and crew, we saw a bit of Starbase 80's gross interior, which has severely outdated technology and was infested with Pyrithian bats, which were introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise. Not surprisingly, Mariner quit Starfleet instead of spending another minute in Starbase 80.
Starfleet Has Different Punishments, Including The Death Sentence
Starfleet is meant to be made up of the best of the best, but occasionally, there are disciplinary cases that need to be punished. Dismissal from Starfleet happens from time to time for crimes such as lying or breaking Starfleet's code of honor. Occasionally, prison time is warranted for severe crimes against the United Federation of Planets. For example, Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) was sent to a penal colony for mutiny at the beginning of Star Trek: Discovery. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 will reveal if Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) will be sent to prison for lying about being a genetically-engineered Illyrian.
In the mid-23rd century, Starfleet actually had the death penalty. General Order 7 ruled that no one from Starfleet may make contact with Talos IV and the alien psychics who inhabit the planet. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) was tried for mutiny and subject to the death penalty for stealing the USS Enterprise to transport Captain Christopher Pike (Sean Kenney) to Talos IV in Star Trek: The Original Series. However, Star Trek: The Next Generation established that the death penalty no longer existed in the Federation by the mid-24th century.
Why Mariner Quit Starfleet Instead Of Staying In Starbase 80
It's not surprising that Mariner resigned her Starfleet commission rather than remain in Starbase 80. She may be headstrong and prone to reckless action, but Mariner is also too talented to be wasted away in a place like Starbase 80. Beckett genuinely believes in the tenets of Starfleet as a force for good in the galaxy, and she herself is too good of an officer to be banished. It makes sense, then, that Mariner quit and took up the offer of archeologist Petra Aberdeen (Georgia King), who is a former Lieutenant also disillusioned with Starfleet.
What is surprising is that a place like Starbase 80 exists and is maintained by Starfleet. Granted a space station in the far-off regions of the galaxy may not be well-supplied and state-of-the-art, but the kind of rejects Starbase 80 houses are hilariously out of character for Starfleet. But it does make sense that Starfleet occasionally employs people who are not up to snuff and has to stash them somewhere. Starbase 80 is also a very funny idea as a punishment that Star Trek: Lower Decks was smart to showcase.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.