Brad Boimler is the affable, ambitious, and hard-luck protagonist of Star Trek Lower Decks.
In Star Trek Fleet Command, he’s a rare command officer in the Lower Decks Crew.
Captain’s Maneuver
He’s got nothing.
Below Decks Ability
The Boimler Effect – Increase Mitigation by 45%/62.5%/80%/100%/125%
The nice thing about the new Below Decks abilities is that they make everything you do better. So you can mix and match these new abilities on your ships either to complement your captain’s and officers’ advantages. So you could throw Brad Boimler under a PvP crew, and reduce the damage your opponent is doing to you. Or likewise, you could use him on your lower decks against Armadas, Mission bosses, or hostiles.
Reducing the amount of damage will keep you in battles longer. And that’s always a good thing.
Officer Ability
The Real Action – Increase Piercing by 30%/35%/40%/45%/50%
I’m not sure when you’d actually use this. It’s a nice ability, but using it costs you his below decks ability. Plus, because he’s a Lower Decks officer, he’s not going to give you any synergy at all for anyone in the game. Perhaps as we get an influx of below-decks officers, there might be a chance for this to become useful.
The Creation of Bradward Boimler
Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan has stated that the character of Boimler is partially-based on Sam Lavalle from the TNG episode fittingly named… Lower Decks. (The episode Lower Decks was itself inspired by the 70’s British TV drama Upstairs-Downstairs, which told the stories of British aristocrats and their servants from 1903 to 1930.)
The character of Sam Lavalle was imagined as a young Riker, one desperate to impress and advance his career. These traits were amplified for comic effect, and when combined with aspects of McMahan and some of his friends, Bradford Boimler was born.
Jack Quaid
Brad Boimler is voiced by actor Jack Quaid.
Quaid was born on April 24th, 1992. I think nothing I’ve written on this website has made me feel older than that. He was only two years old when the TNG episode Lower Decks aired in February of 1994. As opposed to everyone else I’ve covered on this website so far, he’s the first actor whose parents are more famous than he is.
His parents are Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. They were a big couple in the late 80s/early 90s. It’s odd to give homework based on an actor’s parents, but if you haven’t seen Innerspace with Quaid and Ryan, drop what you’re doing and do it right now. It’s on Amazon, so go watch it right now. Then come back. Apart from a great Sam Cooke soundtrack, it’s got Martin Short, Henry Gibson, and the great Kevin McCarthy. And if that’s not enough, it’s got the amazing performance of Robert Picardo (Voyager’s EMH) as “The Cowboy.” When I was a kid, we had that movie on VHS, and wore it out.
Back to Jack Quaid. He made his screen debut in The Hunger Games in 2012.
He’s currently starring with Karl Urban (McCoy) in the Amazon series, The Boys.
Apart from his role on Lower Decks, Quaid has been a busy voice actor. He was the pilot in Smallfoot, was the voice of Richie Rich on Harvey Girls Forever!, and in 2023, he’ll be playing Superman in the HBO Max series, My Adventures with Superman.