Yesterday saw the series premiere of the new animated comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks. Not only was “Second Contact” loaded with jokes, but it also grabbed a lot of fun Star Trek references. Today, we take a closer look at the Easter eggs and highlight some of the new details revealed in the episode that were not covered in our review. Of course… SPOILERS.
FESTIVALS
Two different members of the USS Cerritos crew were seen wearing a VISOR, the corrective medical device for blindness worn by Geordi La Forge Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Nomad
There was a deep reference Star Trek reference that has starred us since the opening scene was released at Comic-Con @ Home. Look in the closet where Boimler recorded his “captain’s log,” and see Nomad (or maybe “a Nomad”) standing against the wall. The Nomad space probe rotated mass sterilizing machine was the featured antagonist in the Star Trek episode “The Changeling.” It helps if you turn up the brightness to see that it’s him, he’s tipped a bit to his side, behind it preserved what it looks like on transport paint cartridges.
Romulan Whiskey
In the opening show, Mariner shows all the contraband she picked up during coastal leave, including some Romulan Whiskey, which is the alcoholic cousin to Star Trek’s famous Romulan Ale – and according to Boimler, also against regulations.
Bat’leth and Klingons
It’s not Star Trek unless there are some Klingons, and we know some will come Lower Decks. In “Second Contact,” Mariner makes a number of references to the warrior race and its advantage for honor, including Boimler declaring her cha’DIch, and humiliating Worf by name. She also grabbed a bat’leth during her coastal vacation, which did not go well for Boimler.
Her box contraband also included a Glavin, the spiked glove handgun used by the Ligonians in the TNG episode “Code of Honor,” but the less said about that episode the better.
Cetacean Ops and a squash court
We learned a bit about the USS Cerritos themselves in “Second Contact.” The California class ship has the registration number NCC-75567. And one of the many “ops” sections of the ship is Cetacean Ops, just like one referenced but never seen on the USS Enterprise-D. According to some background information, the Enterprise’s Cetacean Ops is where dolphin and whale crew members worked. After “Second Contact” aired, executive producer Mike McMahan was a guest The Closet with Wil Wheaton and indicated that we may finally see this area of the ship in season two. During the episode, it was also mentioned that the USS Cerritos has a squash court on deck 9.
Shuttles called for parks
The most prominent shuttle used during “Second Contact” was the Yosemite, but others that were seen in the shuttle bay were named Joshua Tree, Redwood and Death Valley. These are all national parks in the state of California, which is appropriate since the USS Cerritos is a ship in California.
Argo buggy
The USS Cerritos’ car compliment also includes Argo buggies, such as those introduced in Star Trek: Nemesis.
Captain’s Knickknacks
Captain Freeman’s ready room had a shelf with collectibles that looked like tributes to items kept by some of Star Trek’s famous captains, including a service cap like Pike’s, a baseball like Sisko’s, and more.
Freeman also had a burning flag for the state of California, yet another reference to the state where most of Star Trek is produced. It could be a relic of World War III.
A familiar bar
The ship also contained a beam, which was said to be one of the few places that Mariner liked above the lower decks of the ship. The bar was not named, but it had a number of elements similar to those seen in Ten Forward on the USS Enterprise-D, including uniforms of guards, and glassware.
Spock’s beard
“Second Contact” saw many of the crew taken over by a “rage virus”, and turned them into zombies spitting a black substance. This gave one of the Vulcans in the crew a familiar look, reminiscent of Mirror Spock.
A walk on the trunk
Rutherford’s date with Ensign Barnes (in Trill) involved them taking a walk across the hull of the ship, wearing space suits first seen used in Star Trek: first contact.
TNG period, down to the font
The show is set to end the year after the TNG movie Star Trek Nemesis, which checks based on the stardate of episode 57436.2. In another way Lower Decks drives the TNG feel at home using the same font seen in the ’90s Star Trek, including displaying a post-credits episode title.
TOS, by the figures
Even though the show calls Star Trek: The Next Generation, there were a number of references to it Star Trek: The Original series. Besides Nomad and Mirror Spock, the number 79 was mentioned twice (the date of Boimler’s commission and Tendi transferred from Starbase 79). We think this is a reference to the 79 episodes of TOS.
Alien crew
The crew of the USS Cerritos included a number of early races, both known and obscure. Before the episode aired, we knew that the main characters included a Catian (Dr. T’Ana), a Bajoran (Shaxs) and an Orion (Tendi). During “Second Contact” we also saw a number of Andorian and Vulcan crew members, which is common because they are also founding members of the Federation. We also saw a Benzyt (pictured above), a Bolian, a Trill, a bar waiter who looked like Klingon, and another crew member who could be half Klingon (like B’Elanna Torres).
There were also some obscure races, including a Napean. (See below, pressing a crate next to Rutherford.)
There were at least a few new aliens, or at least we haven’t figured it out yet, but the bartender could be related to Jaylah.
What did we miss?
Did you catch anything else? Let us know in the comments below.
Promo for all months free month
CBS All Access also announced a one-month free promotion. Try for a limited time 1 month FREE!
New episodes of Star Trek: lower tires premieres Thursday on CBS All Access in the US and on CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada, where it’s also streaming on Crave. It is not yet announced where and when Lower Decks will be available outside the US and Canada.
Keep up with all the news and reviews of the new Star Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com.
