In addition to showrunner Mike McMahan talking to TrekMovie and others to promote the release of Star Trek: Lower Decks on Blu-ray, the man who gives Boimler his voice also did some interviews. We have curated some of the more interesting bits from Jack Quaid’s latest round of media.
Boimler’s life on the Titan is “intense”
Mike McMahan has already confirmed that season two of Lower Decks is going to pick things up right after the end of season one, with Brad Boimler on the USS Titan under the command of Captain William Riker (voiced by Jonathan Frakes). Jack Quaid told ScreenRant what it’s like for Brad to finally get his dream posting:
“Life on the Titan for Boimler is great. It’s everything he ever wanted… It’s interesting with Boimler on the Titan. It’s everything he ever wanted but he’s still Boimler, he doesn’t have much field experience, so it’s a little bit of a learning curve for him and a bit of adjustment. It was a really interesting thing to play and to record. ”
But when speaking to ComicBook.com, Quaid said:
“Boimler is on the Titan and he does have everything that he wants, but he remains very skittish and very freaked out. So it’s like be careful what you wish for a bit. It’s everything he ever wanted, but it’s very intense for him.”
The actor also talked to ScreenRant about how Brad is dealing with some complicated feelings after leaving Mariner and his friends on the Cerritos without saying goodbye:
“I think he jumped at the chance and wasn’t thinking about it. I’m sure it weighs on him. He left without saying goodbye. He just did it and jumped at the chance. I think he was just so excited that he wasn’t thinking. But in the back of his mind, he misses his friends. He realizes that he left unceremoniously and he feels bad about it for sure.”
Boimler on the USS Titan in the season one finale
Characters can be funny and grow too
Speaking to Inverse Quaid talked about how Lower Decks is more than just a comedy:
“You could easily write us off as ‘the funny Star Trek show,’ but I love that Mike [McMahan] and the writers made sure to make these people feel as real as possible. They grow, they change, they learn things about themselves, and they rank up – [or] they get demoted. I think you especially saw that in our Season 1 finale. Big events happen: I got transferred, and Shax died. We’re sticking to that, which is really, really interesting.”
The actor also explained his hopes for Boimler in season two:
“I would like to see him become a bit more confident, a little bit more self-assured. I’d like to see him in more terrifying situations and see how he gets out of them. It’s gonna be really cool to see him on the Titan because you’re seeing him in the element he thinks he should be in but it’s a different ship. He doesn’t have his old friends to back him up. Boimler on his own is really interesting and he learns a lot about himself. That’s what I want to see.
Ensign Brad Boimler in “Veritas”
Pandemic recording is still fun
Star Trek: Lower Decks was able to quickly transition production to remote work during the pandemic, and even delivered the first season ahead of schedule; season two is ready to go in August. But Quaid did explain to ComicBook.com that there was a different dynamic between the two:
“The only downside of it being recorded during the pandemic is that in season one, I was able to actually record in the booth live with Tawny Newsome, which we didn’t get to do. I mean, she’s really busy as well right now. So we weren’t really able to join together, but it’s just been really, really fun. And even if it’s over Zoom, working with Mike McMahan and Brad Winters and the rest of the crew, it’s just always a joy. And I love playing Boimler. He’s just such a little goofball, and I love him so much. So it was a joy. It was awesome.”
🖖🏻Boimler’s back, baby! (Recording from a dark bathroom closet in my hotel room)🖖🏻 @StarTrek @startrekcbs @CBSAllAccess #StarTrekLowerDecks pic.twitter.com/3udQO55ChK
— Jack Quaid (@JackQuaid92) October 23, 2020
Fanboying with Frakes
Even though Boimler has scenes with Riker, Quaid confirmed he hasn’t recorded with Jonathan Frakes, although he did get a chance to meet him in Toronto, when his The Boys co-star Karl Urban introduced them. And the meeting came with a surprise, as he explained to ScreenRant:
“I was a bit like Boimler because I was a really big fan and I was really nervous. He took one look at me and he was like, ‘Oh Jack! Of course! You come with me on my ship!’ He spoiled the end of season 1 for me before I’d even read the script. Mike McMahan had not told me the ending yet but Jonathan Frakes did. We got to know each other and he’s so nice and so cool. He’s just one of the most kind-hearted people I’ve ever met and it’s so cool to be joining him vocally on the ship. It’s really awesome.”
Boimler and Riker in the season 2 teaser
Lower Decks home release out now
The first season of Star Trek: Lower Decks is now available on home media, check out TrekMovie’s review for more details. You can pick up the Blu-ray edition at Amazon for $24.96. The limited edition Steelbook Blu-ray set can be ordered at Amazon for $29.99. And the DVD edition can be ordered at Amazon for $16.66.
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Can not WAIT for season 2 of this show! And not a shock Frakes spoiled something lol. Just happy to see Riker back next season! Maybe he will be back on both LDS and Picard again. Man, it’s still crazy to even SEE Riker back in Star Trek and now multiple shows at that. I know many still hate Kurtzman but for it’s a great time to be a fan again!
My thought precisely — Frakes even let’s out spoilers to fellow actors in the ensemble. I guess that there no NDA for that.
lol Frakes cracks me up. He’s a class act through and through. He’d be the Trek star to have a beer with, because he’s so nice you wouldn’t even know he didn’t want to be there! (Honourable mention: Doug Jones.)
That meeting with J.Frakes just strikes me as a really cool scenario.
Three different generations and iterations of Trek meeting up: A JJ-Trek star takes a younger animated Trek LD star – who both work on The Boys – to meet an elder generation TNG star.
Why can’t there be some kind “Spider-verse” one-off or something like the PARALLELS episode on TNG where the crews of these Trek iterations meet in some nexus or node or some such nonsense? They can have fun doing wagon train drama and treknobabble. Even if it was a trope, like a character’s fever dream where these crews come together, it would be cool to see those casts working together for some reason.
But it will never happen: Too expensive. Too difficult to schedule. Too difficult to contract. No one can create the right script that makes the plot work and that gives each star enough minutes on screen. Pine is still “out” after having walked away from JJ-ST #4. No one could direct it, not even Frakes. Who is the audience for this idea: just Trek Fans, or can it pull in non-Trek fans as well if done right?
One can fever-dream…
Your best chance of seeing something like that would probably be on Lower Decks but I still don’t expect it to happen. Animation would at least alleviate some of the scheduling hurdles since voice actors don’t have to come together to record their roles.
That would be more accurately characterized as “the thinks-its-funny Star Trek show.”
And Mariner served with her mommy. Big events indeed.
That’s another thing I picked up in the article. I guess they really do think their show is funny. Well, a number of people thought “Two and a Half Men” was funny, too….
I find two and a half men complete crap but I love Lower Decks. It works on so many levels for me, I’m actually quite sad it doesn’t for you. I’m optimistic guy maybe season 2 will be a home run for you. We will find out soon enough.
To be fair, I have actually never seen Two and a Half Men. So the reality is I don’t know for certain if it was crap or not. Deciding it wasn’t funny was really a theory that I never bothered to confirm. I could have substituted “The Big Bang Theory”. Which I DID see a few episodes of and can confirm that what I saw was not funny in any way shape or form. But obviously there are plenty of people out there who thought it was.
Wish I had your optimism. It’s just that there has been nothing I’ve seen or read regarding season 2 that suggests it will be anything beyond the unfunny fangasm that was season 1. Let’s just close with, I hope you are right and I am wrong about it. But if I were a betting man I would bet I’m right.
The thing that stood out to me was Quaid saying that they make the people as real as possible. Are you kidding me? Boimler is beyond stupid. He’s Homer Simpson level stupid. Even his name evokes stupidity. That was the point of his character all along. That he’s a simp. If you want to be “real” it’s unfathomable that this guy even got into Star Fleet Academy. Let alone graduated. Now in a goofy comedy like The Simpsons it doesn’t matter one bit how Homer can get a job doing what he is supposed to be doing. But here, we are told they are trying to “keep it real” as it were. We were told that these characters had to not just be funny or goofy, but they had to be competent. Well, Mariner is so competent she is a completely unbelievable character and Boimler is so stupid he makes Pakled’s look like geniuses. Even if the show worked the comments about being “as real as possible” would be completely out of place.
This show is such comfort food. I’m excited for it to come back!