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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1 Finale Easter Eggs & References

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains MAJOR spoilers for the Season 1 finale.

In terms of references, if “No Small Parts” was the only episode of Star Trek you’d ever seen, you would have been given a crash course on the entire franchise. Seriously, if you wanted to explain to someone, very quickly, what Star Trek was about, it would probably be easier to just have them watch the 26-minutes of the Star Trek: Lower Decks finale, “No Small Parts.” The Easter eggs and references start with The Original Series and end up with a big shout-out to the TNG movies, the infamous Enterprise finale, and one officially licensed Star Trek toy that is somehow now canon.

Beta III and Landru

The episode opens with the USS Cerritos in orbit of Beta III, the planet from the TOS episode “The Return of the Archons.” In that episode, people all worshiped a bizarre god called Landru, but Kirk and Spock determined that Landru was a computer. Landru encouraged people to go nuts once a day during something called “The Red Hour,” which is kind of like the Trek version of The Purge. Ben Stiller also named his production company “The Red Hour,” a fact which he discussed at length in the first episode of the new Star Trek podcast, The Pod Directive, which is co-hosted by Tawny Newsome, better known to Lower Decks fans as the voice of Beckett Mariner.

Wondering about the word “return” in the episode “Return of the Archons?” Well, the titular Archons were actually humans from an Earth ship called the Archon. The people of Beta III were actually waiting for “the return of the Archons,” meaning, humans from Earth. So, with the Cerritos back at this planet, this is the third time the “Archons” have returned.

Kirk and Spock from TAS

On Ransom’s padd, when he’s talking about Kirk and Spock figuring out that Landru “was a computer,” we see an image of Kirk and Spock, exactly as they appeared in Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973 and 1974. This is the first time that exact animated series depictions of Trek characters have appeared in another Trek series.

Don’t make me paradox you into destroying yourself!

Captain Freeman’s threat to Landru references one of Kirk’s famous talking-a-computer-to-death speeches at the end of the same episode, “Return of the Archons.” Kirk also famously talked other AIs to death in “The Changeling” and “I, Mudd.”

“TOS Era”

Ransom says it’s “always weird visiting planets from the TOS era.” Freeman naturally questions him on this, and he explains it’s what he calls the 2260s because it was filled with “Those Old Scientists,” or TOS. Obviously, the joke here is that “TOS” is what fans have been calling Star Trek: The Original Series, since, well, there’s been a Next Generation or TNG.

“A Gamester of Triskelion or whatever”

Freeman says she never wants people to get taken advantage of by “a gamester of triskelion.” This references the TOS episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion,” who are revealed to be talking brains who make bets using a currency known as “quatloos.”

Captain Freeman Day

Boimler mentions that the Cerritos has a “Captain Freeman Day,” which references Captain Picard Day from the TNG episode, “The Pegasus.” This is the third time in 2020 that a new Trek series has referenced Captain Picard Day. In the first episode of Picard — “Remembrance” — Jean-Luc revisited the Captain Picard Day banner. And, in Episode 5 of Lower Decks, Captain Picard Day was also referenced outright.

Exocomp

The robot named Peanut Hamper is an Excocomp, a type of sentient artificial life first seen in the TNG episode “The Quality of Life.” In that episode, the Exocomps were recognized as being sentient in 2369. Lower Decks happens in 2380, so it seems like a lot has happened since then. “The Quality of Life” was also directed by Jonathan Frakes, who, spoiler alert, appears in this episode of Lower Decks.

Wesley Crusher worked with his mom!

Mariner tries to deflect accusations of nepotism by pointing out that “Wesley Crusher worked with his mom!” This is true! In TNG, Wesley Crusher became an acting ensign on the Enterprise while his mother was a member of the senior staff. Both Crushers were often in staff meetings together! Notably, this episode also ends with Riker and Troi and the USS Titan. Riker and Troi are married and serve together as Captain and ship’s Counselor.

Wolf 359 was an inside job

Mariner’s bad one-time-date tells her “Wolf 359 was an inside job.” This joke is hilarious, but you can also kind of see why people in Starfleet might believe it. After all, the guy who destroyed most of the Starfleet ships at Wolf 359 was Picard, who had been assimilated by the Borg in “The Best of Both Worlds.” Semantically, because the Borg stole knowledge from Picard’s mind and used him to take down Starfleet, they had inside information.

As he’s leaving, Conspiracy Theory Guy says “Changelings aren’t real, the Dominion War didn’t happen!” This references the Dominion War in Deep Space Nine, which was mostly perpetrated by the shape-shifting race of aliens called The Founders but more commonly called, Changelings.

Kalla system and the Pakleds

The faked distress call in this episode comes from the Kalla system. This references the TNG episode “Firstborn,” in which the Kalla system is mentioned as a place the Pakleds hang out.

However, the Pakleds themselves only appeared in one TNG episode ever, “The Samaritan Snare.” As Boimler and Freeman point out, people thought they were a joke back then, too, but it turns out, they’re not anymore!

Apparently, people eat salmon on First Contact Day

Ransom says the Pakled ship is carving up the Cerritos like a “First Contact Day salmon.” First Contact Day references the First Contact, where the Vulcans first formally landed on Earth and met humans. Why would people eat salmon on First Contact Day? Well, First Contact happened in Montana, so maybe, just maybe, there were salmon there?

Mariner’s contraband

We knew in Lower Decks episode 1, that Mariner had hidden various outlawed items throughout the ship. But, in this scene, we see way more of it. Here’s a breakdown of Mariner’s stuff.

A Tribble from “The Trouble With Tribbles” et al. Mariner later says she uses it for “personal reasons.”

A fencing foil. This references Sulu fighting with a sword like this in “The Naked Time.” It also references Mariner telling Boimler that he could become a “sword guy” in the first Lower Decks episode, “Second Contact.”

A bottle of Klingon Bloodwine

A Klingon Bat’leth

And…a “Spock” helmet. This helmet is based on a toy from the ‘70s produced by AHI. For years, fans have pointed out the helmet has nothing to do with Spock or Star Trek, despite the fact that it was sold as a real Star Trek toy. Ethan Peck jokingly unboxed one of these vintage Spock helmets in December 2019 on StarTrek.com. The fact that Marnier has one of these helmets as “contraband,” seems to imply the Spock helmet is canon. Other than Xon, this Easter egg might be Lower Deck’s deepest, deepest cut.

Peanut Hamper’s Refusal to Help

When Peanut Hamper the Exocomp says she’ll “pass” on helping save the ship, Tendi says “What about the needs of the many?” This references Spock’s famous axiom from The Wrath of Khan: “The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few…or the one.”

USS Titan entrance

Although Riker’s USS Titan has been referenced several times on Lower Decks, and one officer even found himself transferred there in Episode 6, this is the first time we actually get to see Riker’s Luna-class starship in action. The way the Titan looks matches with its appearance on the covers of non-canon novels, as does its register number: NCC-80102. In 2379, Riker became the captain of the Titan and Troi, the ship’s counselor.

RED ALERT!

Riker says RED ALERT twice in these Titan scenes. Once when the ship makes its big entrance, and again when he says “We’re still at Red Alert!” This references Riker’s habit for saying “RED ALERT” really, really loud on TNG.

Riker’s first officer seems to be the same species as Linus from Star Trek: Discovery

The alien in the First Officer’s chair looks very much like the Saurian (lizard person) Linus from Star Trek: Discovery. In theory, “Saurians” have been in canon for a long time — Bones and Kirk drank Saurian brandy in TOS, and a Saurian was a prominent background character in The Motion Picture.

Romulan Ale

Mariner says that Riker is “flush with Romulan Ale.” Although Lower Decks referenced Romulan Whiskey in its first episode, this is the first reference to Romulan Ale. In Nemesis, Riker and Troi had Romulan Ale served at their wedding. So, Troi saying “We’ll talk about this,” might reference the idea that she had assumed that all the Romulan Ale had already been drunk.

Starship refit

Captain Freeman insists that she doesn’t want the Cerritos to have cosmetic changes, saying “I hate it when a ship gets repaired and comes out looking all-Sovereign-class.” This references the idea that the original TOS Enterprise looked very different after its refit in The Motion Picture. But, more specifically, it references the Sovereign-class USS Enterprise-E, the ship that replaced the Enterprise-D in Star Trek: First Contact.

Jax’s Death

Jax is the security chief of the USS Cerritos and unexpectedly dies in the first season of a new Star Trek show. This could reference Tasha Yar — the security chief of the Enterprise — who died in the first season of TNG. Jax’s funeral echo’s Spock’s funeral in The Wrath of Khan, but also, Airiam’s funeral in the Star Trek: Discovery episode “The Red Angel.”

Riker calls Carol Freeman his cha’dich

Like Mariner calling Boimler his “cha’dich,” in “Second Contact,” Riker calls Freeman — Mariner’s mom — the same thing. “Cha’dich” is a Klingon term that means someone is basically someone’s loyal assistant, who does their fighting for them. Picard was Worf’s “cha’dich” in the TNG episode “Sins of the Father.”

We don’t use money anymore

Riker tells Mariner “Why don’t you buy me a drink!” Mariner replies “We don’t use money anymore.” This references the fact that most people in the Federation don’t use money. Kirk says something very similar in The Voyage Home when Dr. Taylor says: “Don’t tell me you don’t use money in the 23rd century,” to which Kirk replies, “Well, we don’t!”

Tulgana IV

The planet the Titan is headed for at the very end of the episode is Tulgana IV. This is the same planet Boimler and Mariner visited in the second Lower Decks episode, “Envoys.”

Boimler has a picture of Jack Ransom in his new quarters?

It really looks like that Boimler has a round photo of Ransom in a place of honor in his new quarters. This is hilarious and weird. Does Boimler think Ransom actually was his friend?

Armus

Mariner is so angry that Boimler left the ship without telling her that she says: “I’m going to feed you to an Armus!” This references the oil-slick alien Armus from the TNG episode “Skin of Evil.” Again, this is the creature who killed Tasha Yar.

Riker is still obsessed with the NX-01 Enterprise

Riker says he is late to the bridge because “I was watching the first Enterprise on the holodeck, You know Archer and those guys.” This references the infamous finale of Enterprise called “These Are the Voyages…” which is framed as Riker interacting in a holodeck simulation that recreates the final mission of the NX-01 Enterprise.

Little Risa and the Little Horga’hn

Riker and Troi talk about visiting “Little Risa” on Tulgana IV, which prompts Troi to ask if “we should bring the little Horga’hn.” This references a statue called the Horga’hn which you’re supposed to display openly on Risa if you want to well…get busy. In TNG’s “Captain’s Holiday,” Riker tricked Picard into picking up a statue.

Oh the Jazz

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Riker’s warp speed catchphrase is: “Give me warp in the factor of 5, 6, 7, 8!” He snaps and counts down to this like he’s getting ready to play jazz. Troi says “Oh the Jazz,” which seems to reference her annoyance with this obsession. In “Second Chances,” Troi mocks Riker for being unable to play a certain trombone solo correctly on a song called “Nightbird.” Riker’s interest in playing jazz, specifically the trombone, started with the episode “11001001.” Most recently, Riker was listening to jazz in the Picard episode “Nepenthe,” when Jean-Luc showed up at his house. And now that Lower Decks has put Boimler on the USS Titan, it seems very, very likely that we’ll be hearing more of Riker’s jazz trombone playing in season 2. Hit it!

The post Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1 Finale Easter Eggs & References appeared first on Den of Geek.

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discotreque · 5 years

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Post-SDCC Thoughts

Hell of a weekend, eh?

Short Treks

I’ve never seen Rick and Morty—not my thing—and I’m agnostic on the faces until I see them in motion, but the post-DS9 uniforms? My dude with the cybernetics? Tendi’s haircut??? I’m hyped.

With the introduction of Dr. T’ana, my cries of “BRING BACK M’RESS YOU COWARDS” have been tangentially acknowledged!

Also who better than Jerry O’Connell (who I’ve loved since My Secret Identity) to play fanon!Riker obvious smarmy douchebag Cmdr. Ransom?

And in conclusion, I’m already in love with Captain Freeman.

I actually thought we got the perfect portion of Pike & Co. in Season 2, but I’ve also never been one to turn down dessert. Mainly I’m excited to see my girlfriend again:

So they listed titles, and one is going to be called “Q&A”; and they listed concepts, and one is going to be a prologue to Picard; those are the same episode, right? And Jean-Luc is going to be all “why do you look older?” and Q is going to be all “to make fun of you, obviously.”

Picard

I’m a little bemused at the amount of wham-bang action in the Picard trailer tbh, given it’s supposed to be a “gentle” and “cerebral” series, but it’s also possible what’s in the trailer is all the wham-bang in the whole thing.

All along I’ve been rolling my eyes at suggestions that there wouldn’t be any other characters returning, because if you know the TNG cast you know they’d have to be paid not to show up, but I’m nevertheless delighted at the news that Frakes and Sirtis and Spiner—at a minimum—are confirmed to come back.

(I’m also digging the new uncanny-valley makeup for Data/B-4/whoever. I know it’s to hide the fact that Brent Spiner is not, in fact, an immortal android himself, but at least in that brief shot, it was working for me.)

“Delighted,” however, can not begin to capture the pitch of the sound I made when Jeri Ryan appeared on my screen. Fuck the haters, Seven of Nine was a great character played by a great actress (if costumed and occasionally written by jackasses) and she’s enormously important to me personally; she deserves to come back for a victory lap as much as anyone.

Disco

One of my post–Season 2 fanfics, all the colours have washed away (aka “the one where Tilly’s mom yells at Pike”) has been translated into Russian! I’ve never been translated before and I can’t even express how flattered I am at the honour.

Nothing else to report because hiatus. I miss my babies :(

#star trek #star trek picard #star trek discovery #short treks #amy.txt

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Star Trek: Lower Decks – 03 – Buffer Time

While in the turbolift trying to make small talk with the captain, Boimler ends up letting slip two words no senior officer should ever hear: buffer time. Once she learns the lower decks are over-inflating work time estimates (the way even Scotty used to do) in order to secure more free time, the captain puts an immediate stop to it.

And I do mean immediate: suddenly everyone is equipped with a PADD that issues a ticking clock for every task they perform—like an Amazon fulfillment center technician. Free time is eliminated, which means stress and anxiety build up with no time for release…or adequate sleep! And as the TNG episode “Night Terrors” thoroughly demonstrated, Starfleet officers need REM sleep.

As a result of heightened anxiety and increased fatigue among the crew, mistakes are bound to be made. Mistakes like, say, when someone brings along not only the wrong cultural artifact for a diplomatic mission, but one that enrages the aliens to such an extent that they decide to launch an invasion of the Cerritos—the crew of which is in no condition to repel boarders.

Character-wise, Rutherford and Tendi are so slammed by work they come pretty close to taking it out on each other. Boimler, who was already operating on zero buffer time, is happy as a clam even as the rest of the crew crumbles, and Mariner ends up on the ill-fated away mission with the first officer, Commander Ransom, a Starfleet officer in the Kirk/Riker mold.

When the aliens do board the Cerritos, each member of the crew is so lost in their own personal hell of ticking clocks and trying to make up time that will never be made up, there’s barely any time to notice there are intruders aboard ship, let alone do anything about it.

As such, the intruders initially run wild, spraying graffiti all over the exterior and corridors of the ship, despite only being armed with spears, which as Boimler points out are no match against even one hand phaser. Soon he learns the senior officers and captain have also shifted to the new work schedules, resulting in the captain having to virtually run the bridge all by herself.

Down on the planet, the aliens (who are a pretty standard Star Trek alien race of the week) decide that if Ransom or Mariner can defeat their hulking champion, they’ll let them and the other officers go free. Mariner shows Ransom all of the scars that show she’s best suited to participate in the gladitorial match.

Even so, Ransom refuses to let his subordinate fight for him; indeed, he’d rather—and does—stab Mariner through the goddamn foot so that she has no choice but to stand down. While Trak makes clear part of command is being able to send junior officers to their probable deaths for the good of the ship, this is not one of those instances, and Ransom is personally eager to test his mettle—not to mention his honed physique, which Mariner can’t help but notice.

While Mariner and Ransom ultimately bond over their shared near-death experience (and Ransom’s righteous beat-down of the so-called champion, who turns out to be a lot more interested in reading books than fighting) Boimler snaps the captain out of her devotion to the scheduling system that could lead to the loss of the ship.

Realizing perhaps to late to be credible that eliminating down time is a bad idea, the captain makes a shipwide announcement to all crew to bend or break every regulation necessary to secure the ship. The crew then proceeds to use the very PADDs that had been oppressing them to beat the alien intruders back to their ships.

The ship is saved largely due to Boimler urging his captian to essentially backtrack on a system he believed would have ensured maximum crew efficiency. But realistically, that would only happen if everyone was a workaholic like Boimler: the real world is different. And so it is that Boimler’s name is affixed to an edict essentially calling for laziness where indicated, contrary to his hallowed values.

When Tendi assures him no one will ever remember “the Boimler Effect”, we jump forward to the distant future in which it’s being taught in school—and they built a statue of him. That said, he’s not as important a historical figure as Chief Miles O’Brien…obviously!

Stray Observations:

The entire main premise of the Cerritos-based plotline is an homage to officers like Scotty and LaForge being lauded as “miracle workers” for getting work done far quicker than estimated, when in reality they just know how to manage expectations.

Ransom’s duel with the huge alien champion is akin to Kirk’s battle with the Gorn in “Arena”, as well as other bouts that usually caused his uniform to tear or even fall off.

I appreciated Mariner’s mixed feelings about Ransom’s fight, both being outraged that he’d fight in her place and kind of turned on once it’s clear Ransom’s got this.

Interesting how Mariner and her Captain/Mom have barely interacted so far. One assumes Boimler/Tendi/Rutherford will learn about that connection at some point…

The gold plaque Boimler receives is similar to the dedication plaques that hang in some corner of the bridge of every Starfleet ship.

The future teacher describes the eagle on Statue Boimler’s arm as “The Great Bird of the Galaxy”—which was the nickname of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.

Chief O’Brien probably needs no introduction. His illustrious career spanned from the first episode of TNG and the last episode of DS9 and beyond. He also devised Scotch-flavored chewing gum, bless him.

By: sesameacrylic

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 2 Easter Eggs & References

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers for Episode 2.

With its second episode, Star Trek: Lower Decks has shown no sign of slowing down on the endless supply of Easter eggs and deep cuts. Just like with Episode 1, catching everything in an episode of Lower Decks might require you to have the ability to slow down time, just like the Scalosian in the TOS episode, “Wink of an Eye.” But, we don’t have that ability, so we have to rely on our memories and ugly bags of mostly water human bodies which happen to contain the wetware of our brains. In other words, we don’t have Rutherford’s cyber enhancement to help us out.

In Lower Decks episode 2, “Envoys,” Mariner and Boimler go on a hilarious mission together while Rutherford tries to figure out his true purpose in life. Along the way, some of the most famous aliens in all of Trek are referenced, and at least one alien you haven’t thought of in a long time. From a hilarious Wrath of Khan reference to a tour of Klingon cuisine to a very deep cut from one episode of TNG, here are all the Easter eggs and Trekkie references we caught in “Envoys.”

Transdimensional energy creatures

In the very first scene, Mariner and Tendi are accosted by a mouthy orb of pure energy. Mariner is excited about meeting “one of those transdimensional energy creatures,” and when it starts issuing demands, she knows just what to do with it. This kind of “energy ball” alien could reference a similar type of lifeform from the TOS episode “Day of the Dove.” The creature also mentions that it will “feed on fear,” which seems to reference a similar non-corporal lifeform from the TOS episode “Wolf in the Fold.”

Discovery Spore Alien reference

After Mariner shirks the alien down to size, it seems to get itself embedded in the uniform of Captain Freeman. This could reference a small spore alien that was embedded in Tilly’s uniform in Discovery season 1, only to remerge in season 2, pretending to be Tilly’s old junior high friend, May.

“It’s warp time!”

Captain Freeman mentions she wants a cool catchphrase to signal when the Cerritos goes into warp. Obviously, Picard’s catchphrase “Engage,” is the most famous of these kinds of things, even if it was first uttered by Captain Pike in “The Cage.” In Trek 2009 Pike said “Punch It” before going into warp, in a kind of overt Han Solo/Lando Calrissian reference. In Discovery, Pike says “Hit It.”

Castro on the Enterprise

The Lower Decks gang briefly talks about someone named Castro who apparently served on the Enterprise for “like a minute.” Relevantly, at this time, in 2380, Picard is still in command of the Enterprise-E albeit without Riker and Troi. As far as we can tell, “Castro” has never been mentioned or seen in TNG or any of the films before now.

“All Klingon names have an apostrophe for some reason”

This observation about Klingon names is obviously not entirely true. In fact, most of the early Klingons — Kor, Koloth, Kang or even Worf — do not have apostrophes in their names. The preponderance of apostrophes in Klingon names likely begins with the TNG episode “Heart of Glory,” in which we learn there is K’Tinga class Klingon ship, and met a Klingon named K’Nera.

Getting married in a dress uniform

Mariner gives Boimler grief about the fact that he’s wearing a more formal dress uniform by saying, “Nice dress uniform. You getting married after this.” In TNG and Voyager, a dress uniform often appeared in wedding episodes, notably in “Data’s Day.” The dress uniform in Lower Decks is seeming incongruous with the mostly white dress uniforms worn by the Enterprise crew in Nemesis, just a year prior in 2379. That said, the uniforms of the Cerritos already represent a throwback vibe to the TNG uniforms than anything seen in the TNG films.

Blast shield

The shuttlecraft Yosemite has a blast shield. We know it goes up and it goes down. We don’t really know what it does. However, like the sand joke in episode 1, this might be another moment where Lower Decks is throwing in a Star Wars reference. The phrase “Blast shield” is used to describe the part of Luke Skywalker’s helmet that obscures his vision in A New Hope.

Mariner is dreaming about Khan

While Mariner is napping on the shuttle, we catch her murmuring “Buried alive, marooned for eternity.” When she wakes up she says, “I keep having this awesome dream!” She is dreaming about Khan’s famous speech in The Wrath of Khan when he tells Kirk, “I shall leave you as you left me..marooned for all eternity at the center of a dead planet…buried alive…buried alive!” This speech, naturally, is followed by Kirk bellowing “KHAAAAN!!!”

Blood wine, Gagh and Raktajino

This episode makes quick references to Bloodwine (which Mariner and the Klingon envoy drink), Gagh (when Mariner says “the man wants hot worms!”) and Klingon coffee, better known as Raktajino. Gagh originates in the TNG episode “A Matter of Honor,” in which Riker has to eat the still-live serpent worms to prove he’s a badass. Bloodwine also originates in “A Matter of Honor,” though throughout the entire franchise it’s still never been made clear if there is actual blood in the Bloodwine. The most recent reference to Bloodwine was in Discovery Season 2 when Jet Reno referred to the Klingons as “The guys who drink Bloodwine.” Raktajino, meanwhile, originates on DS9, starting with the episode “Dax.”

“Little Qo’nos”

When translated into English, one of the signs (written in Klingon) actually reads “Little Qo’nos,” which makes sense since Mariner called this area of the planet “the Klingon district.” Qo’nos is the homeworld of the Klingon Empire, though the name wasn’t actually revealed until Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. It is sometimes spelled “Kronos.”

Court Martialed

Boimler worries that he and Mariner will be court-martialed for losing track of the shuttlecraft, to which Mariner replies, “don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.” The formal process of court-martial does not necessarily mean one will get kicked out of Starfleet. Both Kirk and Spock were court-martialed in TOS, in the episodes “Court Martial,” and “The Menagerie,” respectively. Apparently, Mariner has been court-martialed, too. This gives her something else in common with TNG favorite, Ensign Ro.

The Khitomer Accords

Boimler is also worried that he and Mariner are “violating the Kitohmer Accords.” This references the general peace treaties between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. These peace talks began in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, roughly in the year 2293. However, because the Enterprise-C was destroyed near Khitomer in 2344, there seems to have been more than one incarnation of the Khitomer Accords.

Section 31 power walk

Boimler mentions Section 31 as he performs his absurd energy-conserving speed- walk. Because Boimler is only an Ensign, this makes it seem like Section 31 is common knowledge in 2380. In the DS9 era (mostly 2370s) Section, 31 was still top-secret.

Klingon food cart owner has a Mek’Leth

When Mariner and Boimler ask the Klingon who runs a food kiosk about the location of the general, she pulls a Mek’Leth on them. This small, curved Klingon blade was introduced as Worf’s second weapon of choice in the DS9 episode “The Way of the Warrior.” That said, it is most remembered for Worf using it on Borg in zero gravity in the film First Contact.

Kaelon II aliens from TNG’s “Half a Life”

If the distinctive blue and black jumpsuits, combined with veiny foreheads seemed vaguely familiar, that’s because these aliens were seen in exactly one episode of TNG. Mariner mentions that the stares from these aliens make it seem like they’ve never seen a Starfleet uniform. Boimler responds, “Well, they are Kaelons and Kaelons are notoriously isolationist.” In the TNG episode “Half a Life,” we learn that part of the reason why the Kaelons are so closed off from the rest of the galaxy is that they force people over 50 to commit ritual suicide. In “Half a Life,” Lwaxana Troi falls in love with a Kaelon man, only to realize that he’ll be dead very soon.

Retro Klingon disruptors

In a glass case in the Klingon marketplace, there are several old school Klingon disruptors, seemingly for sale. These are straight from TOS, specifically the kind seen in “Errand of Mercy.”

“Warm hot joystick in your hand”

Commander Ransom mentions a “warm hot joystick,” in reference to being on the bridge. This seems like he’s talking about the “manual steering column,” which Riker used to fly the Enterprise in Star Trek: Insurrection. Relative to Lower Decks, that tech is probably fairly new.

Janeway protocol

When Ransom mentions using the “Janeway protocol,” he acts like Rutherford should know what he’s talking about. In truth, we have no idea what the Janeway protocol is other than it references Captain Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager. However, because this holodeck simulation involved temporal rift, it seems possible Ransom is suggesting Rutherford should have tried to use time travel to reset everything. (Janeway does this in both “Year of Hell” and “Endgame.”) That said, Ransom shouldn’t know Janeway used time travel to reset everything, so maybe that’s not it. Chronologically, at this point, Janeway is an Admiral at Starfleet. Or, at least she was the year prior, in Star Trek: Nemesis.

Risa references

One district Mariner and Boimler find themselves in seems to be a knock-off the planet Risa. There’s a giant statue of a horga’hn, and when Boimler is flirted-with, the term “jamaharon” is mentioned. All of this originates in the TNG episode “Captain’s Holiday.” In that episode, Picard vacations on Risa and learns that displaying a statue of a horga’hn means you seek “jamaharon,” which basically just means you want sex.

“I am for you”

The alien woman who tries to plant her eggs in Boimler also seems to read his thoughts and essentially, become what he needs in order to lure him to his doom. This could reference the TOS episode “That Which Survives,” in which Losira (Lee Meriweather) says “I am for you, James T. Kirk” before she kills whoever’s name she has just said.

“In the name of the Prophets!”

Lt. Shaxs is a Bajoran, so when he says “In the name of the Prophets!” it seems to indicate he’s a religious Bajoran. Lower Decks takes place after the finale of DS9, so it seems possible that Bajorians in Starfeelt are even more devout, specifically because their Messiah — Ben Sisko — not only helped end the Dominion War, but also, went to live with the literal Prophets.

A Simulation to learn about defeat

Shaxs tells Rutherford that the “Shmorgishborg” simulation was designed to be unwinnable and to teach people about defeat. This references the idea of The Kobayashi Maru—”the No Win Scenario”—in The Wrath of Khan.

“Shmorgishborg”

The joke “Shmorgishborg” is a play on the word “smorgasbord,” which usually refers to a fancy buffet. The word derives from the Swedish word “smörgåsbord.” In First Contact, when Picard first tells 21st-century resident Lily about the Borg, she replies, “Sounds Swedish.”

Founding members of the Federation

Mariner tries to give Boimler some advice about Andorians, and he replies, “Andorians were a founding member of the Federation, you want to tell me about Tellarties too!” This references the idea that Anodrians and Tellarites are some of the earliest of Trek’s alien species. Both races were first introduced in “Journey To Babel,” and later in the Enterprise episode “United,” the 22nd-century origins of the Human-Tellarite-Anodrian alliances are made clear.

Vendorian shapeshifter

Without a doubt, the deepest cut in the episode. Boimler and Mariner briefly encounter a tentacled Vendorian, a shapeshifting alien that was first seen in a 1973 episode of The Animated Series called “The Survivor.” In that episode, the Vendorian ended-up being helpful and saving the crew. In this case, not so much.

Ferengi throwback

Although the Ferengi who confronts Boimler and Mariner is eventually revealed to be a pretty nice guy, the overt reference here is to the over-the-top way the Ferengi behaved in their very first appearance in the TNG episode “The Last Outpost.” From the fur outfit to the “hand thing,” this Ferengi is designed to evoke our 1987 memory of how absurd these guys first looked. When Mariner says she thinks he’s a Bolian, it’s an obvious tip to the audience that she’s lying. Boilans are the blue-skinned folks who, are perhaps best represented by Mr. Mot, the barber on the Enterprise-D in TNG.

But. In terms of this portrayal of the Ferengi. Go back to “The Last Outpost,” and look for the “hand thing.” The recreation here is spot-on.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 4 Review: Moist Vessel

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks review contains spoilers.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 4

When Star Trek: The Next Generation boldly explored the idea of having families onboard the USS Enterprise the series didn’t really know how that was going to play out, other than the fact that Wesley Crusher was going to randomly save the ship every couple of weeks. But, other than Captain Kirk’s son David Marcus in The Wrath of Khan and The Search For Spock, the Trek franchise has rarely explored what it’s like when adult children work alongside their parents in Starfleet. But in “Moist Vessel,” that’s exactly what happens, and the result is the first episode of Lower Decks that feels fully independent from the rest of Trek canon.

Like Ensign Ro or Tom Paris before her, we know that Ensign Beckett Mariner has a history of getting demoted for insubordination. In “Moist Vessel,” we get to see how that actually plays out. As she says at the very end of the episode to Boilmler, “I’m pretty good at getting demoted.” Right now still early in its first season, Lower Decks isn’t’ shying away from its interest in how slackers behave in an egalitarian future in which there are almost no barriers for anyone to do whatever they want with their life. What Lower Decks suggests, particularly in “Moist Vessel,” is that in a quasi-utopian future, hell is still other people. And the greatest crime people commit in the near-perfect 24th century is that they can be endlessly boring.

TNG had a field day with this on a few occasions. In “Starship Mine,” everyone wants to avoid a pedantic trivial officer named Commander Hutchinson. In “The Perfect Mate,” Picard even tried to mock himself by calling himself “dull,” and noting that he liked to fall asleep while reading. Even Lt. Barclay’s slightly trivial tendencies would visibly irritate the senior staff of the Enterprise. With “Moist Vessel” this concept is flipped. As Mariner has been maintaining since the first episode, maybe everyone on the senior staff is uncool and the people having the most fun in Starfleet are those who are unambitious.

When Mariner’s mom — Captain Freeman — decides to promote her daughter as punishment, the rest of the episode is spent with Mariner in total hell as a result of this reverse-nepotism. In TNG, we always kind of assumed everybody loved going to see Riker play jazz on his trombone in Ten Forward, but what if Riker had busted out an acoustic guitar instead? “Moist Vessel” teases us with this possibility when Captain Freeman mentions that Commander Ransom is going to do just that. Even the beloved TNG games of poker are mocked here, because Mariner notices, correctly, that nobody ever seems to take any risks. The reason she’s not higher in rank is that she recognizes that on some level, more responsibility makes people more boring.

As someone who recognizes my past self in Mariner, I think this is generally true. When you’re in your twenties (which we assume Mariner is) having more responsibility feels like it will make you pathetic, and the greatest rub to being uncool is that you’ll never know it happened. Because Lower Decks is mostly a show that sticks with the POV of the Lower Deckers, this episode lets us really feel Mariner’s viewpoint. When she lays back in her bunk at the end of the episode, having gotten rid of her extra responsibility, you can relate to her bliss. I mean, anyone who has ever quit a job because they could will feel what she feels in this scene. And yet, the episode doesn’t really let her off the hook either.

This is actually the first episode that lets us have some sympathy for Captain Freeman. She might not be the greatest captain in Starfleet, but she does know what she’s doing, and contrary to what her daughter thinks of her, she is legit cool. And part of the reason we know that is because Freeman doesn’t even pretend like all the bullshit she has to put up with is good. She’s aware that Captain Durango is boring, and tells Mariner that the fact he’s boring isn’t the point. Later, she makes it very clear that she too dreads the various crew functions in which Ransom plays his acoustic guitar and one crew member does a one-person-show called “The United Federation of Characters.” Freeman’s attitude toward all of this is something Mariner doesn’t understand yet: Part of being an adult is knowing something sucks, but putting up with it anyway.

Freeman doesn’t have to convince herself that uncool things are cool to be the Captain, which proves there’s a fallacy in Mariner’s viewpoint. Obviously we’re gonna side with the slacker because it’s kind of her show, but when Mariner and her mom work together to save the USS Cerritos, it feels like a smart step for the show. Yes, these characters might tend to fall back into sitcom dimensions, but there is a glimmer of development happening, too.

If there’s any flaw this episode has, it’s that some of that super-absurd stuff that Freeman has to put up with is only mentioned and not depicted. Personally, I would have loved to have heard one of Ransom’s awful self-written songs. And, as painful as I’m sure it was meant to be, just WHAT WAS the “United Federation of Characters?” With “Moist Vessel,” we got the best character piece of the series yet, but let’s hope some of those jokes about shipboard entertainment come back in future episodes.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 4 Easter Eggs & References

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers.

With most new Star Trek shows, locating the Easter eggs and references takes probably at least two viewings. But, with Lower Decks, you can watch an episode four times and still be missing references and Easter eggs. This is saying something when you also consider that these episodes are half as long as episodes of Discovery or Picard. So, with that in mind, like in the previous episodes, there is almost certainly something we missed in trying to gather all the Easter eggs and references from Lower Decks episode 4, “Moist Vessel.”

From a surprise guest star (Haley Joel Osment) to a heartwarming story about Mariner and Captain Freeman (briefly) becoming allies, this episode was about a lot more than just Easter eggs. But that’s not why you’re here. You came for the Trekkie eggs and you shall have them!

Here’s all the deep-cuts and references we caught in Lower Decks episode 4, “Moist Vessel.”

USS Mercet

This episode finds the USS Cerritos teaming-up with another starship of the exact same class, the USS Mercet. Like the Cerritos, the Mercet is a California-class starship, and, just like the Cerritos, is named for a town in California. We can only imagine what the USS Berkley is like.

Ancient generation ship

The concept of a “generation ship,” is a super-old sci-fi trope, which has appeared in everything from the Robert A. Heinlein novel Orphans of the Sky to the Doctor Who episode “The Ark in Space.” Generally speaking, generation ships carry multiple generations of people, because faster-than-light travel is not possible. Sometimes this also means the ships are sleeper ships, too, i.e. containing people in suspended animation. The earliest generational ship in Star Trek appeared in the TOS episode “For the World Is Hollow I Have Touched the Sky.” In at least two alternate realities, the USS Voyager (“Shattered”) and the USS Enterprise NX-01 (“E²”) both became generational ships, in which the crews’ decedents became the new crew in the future.

Terraforming Emulsion

Much of the conflict in “Moist Vessel” happens because an inert “terraforming emulsion” is let loose and begins turning parts of the ship into self-contained biospheres and/or ecosystems. Like generation ships, terraforming is a pretty big sci-fi trope that doesn’t appear in Trek all that often. The most famous piece of terraforming tech in Trek history is easily the Genesis Device from The Wrath of Khan and The Search For Spock. Like the terraforming emulsion, the Genesis Device had an instant effect. In “Moist Vessel,” the terraforming emulsion is described as something to the ancient aliens had “to “to use it on a dead planet they could call home.” In The Wrath of Khan, Dr. Carol Marcus uses a “moon or other dead form,” as the ideal place to use the Genesis Device.

Tellarite

Captain Durango is a member of the Tellarite species. He is also the first Tellarite we’ve seen in the TNG era. The first Tellarites appeared in the TOS episode “Journey To Babel.” Like the Andorians and the Vulcans, the Tellarites are founding members of the Federation. Star Trek: Discovery has given us several 23rd-century Tellraties in episodes like “The War Without. The War Within,” and the Short Treks episode “The Escape Artist,” which was, of course, written by Lower Decks showrunner Mike McMahan.

Hull colors on the Mercet and the Cerritos

Since its debut, fans have noticed that the Cerritos has gold/yellow ring on its saucer. Meanwhile, the Mercet has the exact same stripe of color, only blue. Just before the launch of Lower Decks, McMahan explained that because the Cerritos is a second-contact and engineering vessel, that its outward color is yellow, which mirror the yellow/gold colors worn by engineering and security officers. “In the California-class [line], there are three types of hull painting: there’s blue, red, and yellow,” McMahan. This means we can infer that the Mercet is more of a science vessel than the Cerritos, despite the fact the ships are the same class.

Sarcastic Vulcan salute

As Mariner is leaving Captain Freeman’s Ready Room, she flashes the famous “live long and prospers” Vulcan salute. Freeman yells, “Don’t give me that sarcastic Vulcan salute!” Interestingly, we haven’t seen the Vulcan salute used sarcastically or ironically all that much. Although, in Star Trek 2009, Spock did say “Live long and prosper,” with such venom that it almost scanned as “fuck you.” In Discovery, we also learned that “The Vulcan Hello,” was not the Vulcan salute, but instead, firing upon a Klingon vessel without checking first.

Beings of pure energy

This one was easy. When Tendi is talking to Rutherford about a crew member named O’Connell (Haley Joel Osment) who is going to try to ascend into a higher plane of existence, Rutherford says, “Oh, like a Q! Or, the Traveler!” The Q obviously references the Q Continuum, first seen in “Encounter at Farpoint.” In terms of a “regular” person becoming a Q, that happens in the TNG episode “True Q,” in which a woman named Amanda Rogers realizes she can become a being of pure energy. The Traveler refers to the alien of the same name from the planet Tau Alpha C. (Though sometimes, this was said to be Tau Ceti.) The Traveler himself didn’t exactly become a being of pure energy, but he did help Wesley Crusher “ascend” beyond the physical realm in the TNG episode “Journey’s End.”

However, in Nemesis, just one year before Lower Decks, Wesley Crusher was glimpsed at Riker and Troi’s wedding in a Starfleet uniform, implying he was, in fact back in Starfleet. (Wesley also had a new rank of Lieutenant, which seems to indicate he had returned to the service.) So, does Rutherford know about Traveler stuff from Wesley? And is that because Wesley is actively a part of Starfleet again — an officer who is also a being of pure energy?

Holodeck waste removal

Throughout TNG and DS9 it is strongly suggested that people have sex with holograms. This is implied in TNG episodes like “11001001,” but pretty much stated outright in DS9, specifically the episode “Merdiain,” in which Quark is outright commissioned by a sleazy client to create a holographic duplicate of Kira for erotic purposes. Later in “Moist Vessel,” when Ransom and Freeman are talking about what Mariner is doing, they say Mariner is “emptying BEEP out of the holodeck’s BEEP filter.” We all know what they mean.

Debating the Prime Directive

When Mariner is called in to join a senior staff meeting, she jokes “Are you guys debating the Prime Directive again?” In fairness, most debates about the Prime Directive do tend to occur in conference rooms like this one.

Conference room chairs

Mariner quickly discovers the senior staff is debating about the furniture in the briefing room. “A beige chair with a strip of leather right down the middle,” is mentioned. This could refer to a chair Picard had in his personal quarters throughout The Next Generation, which had a strange piece of fabric running right down the middle. The briefing room chairs in Voyager also had at least two leather-ish sections at the top and in the middle.

Everyone folds at poker all the time

When Marnier joins the senior staff’s poker game, she is chastised because she decides to go “all in.” She also points out that most of the characters tend to fold, just when things are getting interesting. This references several episodes of TNG in which the senior staff play poker together and tons of people fold. In “The Best of Both Worlds,” Wesley folds only to discover, in the end, that he would have had the winning hand.

Taco Tuesday

When Tendi is talking to Rutherford about needing to be liked, it looks like she is having a taco. This could mean that the USS Cerritos has Taco Tuesdays in the mess hall, just like on the USS Discovery, about 120 years prior. In the Short Treks episode “Calypso,” the sentient computer of the Discovery, Zora, claims at one point, it is “Taco Tuesday.”

Tamarians

At one point, Tendi lists off an “ascension process for the Tamarians.” The Tamarians are also known as “The Children of Tama,” and appeared in the TNG episode “Darmok.”

Moriarty!

While Boimler is caught talking to himself, he briefly pretends to be talking to a non-existent hologram on the Holodeck, specifically, Moriarty. This references the sentient holographic version Professor James Moriarty (Daniel Davis), first introduced in Trek canon in the TNG episode, “Elementary, My Dear Data.” In that episode, Moriarty was accidentally brought to life when Geordi asked the computer to create someone who could defeat Data in a Sherlock Holmes simulation. Moriarty reappeared in the episode “Ship in a Bottle,” and attempted to take control of the Enterprise from the holodeck. At the end of the episode, Picard and the crew trapped Moriarty in an endless simulation, in which Moriarity believed he had won his freedom.

The character of Moriarty, of course, originates in the canon of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, specifically the short story “The Final Problem,” and the novel, The Valley of Fear. Within Star Trek canon, it could be debated that Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty are not fictional characters, but rather quasi-historical ones. In The Undiscovered Country, Spock attributes a Sherlock Holmes quote to “an ancestor,” which seems to imply Spock is related to Sherlock Holmes on his human side. Or, maybe Spock was referring to Doyle, and not Holmes. Or perhaps, as many Sherlock Holmes fans and scholars have maintained for decades, Doyle was simply the real-world literary agent for Dr. Watson, and both things are true.

The notion of Watsonian (in-universe) and Doylist (real-world) viewpoints relative to canon originates, naturally, within Sherlock Holmes scholarship and fandom. However, these viewpoints also heavily apply to Star Trek, insofar as both viewpoints are often required to reconcile various canon discrepancies.

In fact, from a Watsonian viewpoint, the reference to Moriarity implies that Boimler is aware of the infamous holographic Moriarity from the Enterprise, and that, perhaps, that Moriarty escaped the “Ship in the Bottle” simulation and is terrorizing various holodecks throughout Starfleet. But, from the Doylistic standpoint, this is mostly just the Lower Decks writers making a fun reference to the TNG episode in which the holodeck goes bananas. Finally, any Sherlock Holmes references in Trek tends to be meta even when you don’t talk about Data and Spock. Both Nicholas Meyer (director The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country) and Michael Chabon (showrunner of Star Trek: Picard) wrote their own Sherlock Holmes pastiches. In fact, in Meyer’s first Holmes book – The Seven-Per-Cent Solution — Moriarty turns out to be a hallucination created by Sherlock Holmes’ grief and cocaine addiction. So, in The Next Generation, Moriarty was a hologram. But in Nicholas Meyer’s Holmes canon, Moriarty is an outright delusion!

The voice of the Cerritos references… Captain PIke?

Though uncredited, the voice of the ship’s main character in this episode is played by Vanessa Marshall. The fact that the computer says “Hitting It” in reply to Captain Freeman saying “Hit it” could be a reference to Captain Pike saying “Hit it” on Discovery Season 2.

Also, the computer getting sassy in general has a precedent in the TOS episode “Tomorrow Is Yesterday.”

Captain Freeman’s first name is Carol

Not only is this the first episode that Mariner calls Captain Freeman “mom,” but we also hear Freeman’s first name spoken aloud: “Carol.” This entire episode is about terraforming, and the creator of the Genesis Device in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was named Carol Marcus. This seems intentional.

O’Connell becomes… V’Ger?

When O’Connell’s ascension actually does end-up happening, aspects of it visually look a lot like when Decker became part of the massive A.I. known as V’Ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. O’Connell also briefly has wings, which could reference the Red Angel in Star Trek: Discovery, but probably not.

Spock visors

Just before Mariner and Freeman meet-up with an admiral in the conference room, we see Cerritos crew members vacuuming-up the terraforming emulsion. But, they’re wearing red visors while doing it. This seems like a reference to Spock’s red visor in the TOS episode “In Truth Is There No Beauty?” In that episode, Spock wore the visor to prevent himself from going insane by looking directly at a creature know as a Medusan. The Medusans were last referenced in the Star Trek: Picard episode, “Broken Pieces,” when Rios’ engineering hologram talked about “Medusan astrogation.”

Starfleet medals, DISCO-style

The medals that Mariner and Freeman receive at the end of the episode are almost identical in style to the medals that the entire crew of the Discovery were given in the Season 1 finale episode “Will You Take My Hand?” This is most likely the “Starfleet Medal of Honor,” which is given for acts of valor. The insignia on the medal is a little different than the DISCO versions, but that blue stripe on the fabric is unmistakable. Interestingly, in “Will You Take My Hand?” the vast majority of characters who received medals, were, not primary cast members, and, it could be argued, were part of the “Lower Decks” of Discovery, even if they worked on the bridge.

Star Trek: Lower Decks airs new episodes on CBS All-Access on Thursdays.

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