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  • Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 5x04 "A Farewell To Farms"
    Logline

    Dr. Migleemo cooks up some hot dishes while Mariner prefers hers served cold.

    ---

    Written by: Diana Tay

    Directed by: Megan Lloyd

    12
  • Massive Update to the Roddenberry Archive (Details Inside)

    For those who don't know: the Roddenberry Archive aims to preserve Star Trek by digitizing ... well, a lot of things. Currently you can already freeroam certain locations. Probably only works on Desktop PCs though.

    Not only did they release their short film "Unification" today, commemorating 30 years of Star Trek Generations, (more details here) but they also added a bunch of new stuff to the Archive.

    Here's a list of changes that I found so far:

    I'll update this post when I find more.

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  • Where to start?

    I want to get into the Star Trek universe but dont know where to start. I have previously seen first three seasons of Disocvery and first season of picard. Picard was cool but disocvery didnt quite track, a little boring and not adventure focused enough. However loving lower decks now (just started season 4) and want to get into the more canon stuff.

    I have access to TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise and SNW. TOS i could probanly get access to if i want, but gotta admit that is not very enticing.

    So where to start? TNG?

    If it helps (and i dont get shunned for this), i am a stargate guy and love especially sg-1 and the adventure of the week format and the character ensemble

    58
  • Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 5x05 "Starbase 80?!"
    Logline

    Ransom uses too much disinfectant gel while Mariner gets paranoid about curses.

    ---

    Written by: May Darmon

    Directed by: Bob Suarez

    9
  • Tawny Newsome guests on episode 300 of Greatest Trek
    maximumfun.org Ep 300: Fantasy Junk League (Lower Decks S5E5 with Tawny Newsome) | Maximum Fun

    When the Cerritos has a navigational breakdown in Cetacean Ops, the only option for emergency repairs is a trip to Starbase 80.

    Ep 300: Fantasy Junk League (Lower Decks S5E5 with Tawny Newsome) | Maximum Fun

    Mariner’s voice actor, “Starfleet Academy” writer, and unnamed Trek series co-developer Tawny Newsome joins regular hosts Ben and Adam to discuss LDS episode, “Starbase 80?!”

    https://maximumfun.org/episodes/greatest-trek/ep-300-fantasy-junk-league-lower-decks-s5e5-with-tawny-newsome/

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  • Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 5x05: “Starbase 80?!” (SPOILERS)

    The title refers to the titular starbase which is considered the worst posting in Starfleet (LD: “Terminal Provocations”). Mariner herself was posted there after the events of LD: “Trusted Sources”, although she resigned her commission soon after. It was recently mentioned in the season opener LD: “Dos Cerritos”, when it was said that the parallel universe Carol Freeman had been posted there, allowing parallel Mariner to take over Cerritos’s captaincy.

    The water planet they just went to is named Piskes IX, continuing the tradition of science fiction planetary names which are just too on the nose, Piscis being Latin for "fish".

    Boimler’s beard now has a goatee, although it hasn’t joined with his mustache yet. Boimler talks about “tenth contact”. As we saw back in LD: “Second Contact”, there are follow up missions after First Contact which are dealt with by support ships like Cerritos to formally establish relations, set up infrastructure, etc. for newly contacted civilizations which are called Second Contact missions. “Tenth contact” is likely just Boimler wisecracking rather than a formal mission numbering.

    We see the Sequoia shuttlecraft in the background. The shuttle, initially totaled in LD: “No Small Parts” was restored, then taken apart again by T’Lyn in LD: “Shades of Green” so Tendi could work on it together with the others when she returned from Orion. It seems to be coming along nicely.

    Cetacean Ops was a throwaway piece of background dialogue in TNG: “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and then elaborated on in the 1992 TNG Technical Manual as well as included on the 1996 Galaxy-class blueprints. The Tech Manual mentioned that Enterprise-D had two whales who helped in navigation. Cerritos’s own Cetacean Ops was mentioned in “Second Contact” and finally seen - the first time Cetacean Ops had been shown on-screen in any Star Trek series - in LD: “First First Contact”. A Cetecean Ops has also appeared in PRO, on the Lamarr-class Voyager-A.

    Casperia Prime, a ringed planet, has been mentioned several times in lore as a holiday destination, first in DS9: “Change of Heart” as where Jadzia Dax wanted to honeymoon. In PIC, it was mentioned that Jack Crusher was conceived while Picard and Beverly Crusher were having shore leave on the planet (PIC: “Seventeen Seconds”).

    Deep Space 6 is from beta canon, being mentioned in the Last Unicorn RPG and in two VOY novels as well as in Star Trek Online.

    The music cues when Starbase 80 appears are reminiscent of horror movie music and are taken from ST II. We can now add Denobulan lice to the blood worms, lemurs and tartan voles native to the planet.

    Boimler’s mention of T’Pol is referring to the infamous decon chamber scenes from ENT, where the use of the gel to “decontaminate” after exposure to potentially hostile environments was just a gratuitous excuse to show the crew rubbing each other down while dressed in their underwear (ENT: “Broken Bow”). I’ve never heard Boims call Mariner “Mare-Bear” before, but… ew.

    While Tendi scoffs at Mariner’s “curse”, we do have actual examples of people losing their mental acuity after prolonged exposure to an environment. In SNW: “Among the Lotus Eaters”, Pike & Co. lost their memory due to radiation from asteroidal material on Rigel VII. In TOS: “The Cloud Minders”, unprocessed zenite ore emitted a gas which reduced intelligence and heightened emotion, leading to a caste division in Ardanan society.

    The dilapidated Starbase 80 corridor, complete with various wall fittings, a ladder and a Jeffries tube (even the font from the “Ward 5” sign), takes cues from the TOS Enterprise corridors for their design. Kassia Nox is dressed in a 22nd Century-era jumpsuit (from ENT), wearing Commander pips. Flux spectrometers were supposed to be used for luminosity studies in TNG: “Cause and Effect”.

    Mariner was given the disgusting job of emptying the Cerritos holodeck biofilters in LD: “Moist Vessel” in a bid to get her to transfer off the ship. Tendi geeks out over the TOS wall comms which do indeed date to the 2260s, although then why command staff are dressed in ENT-era jumpsuits instead of TOS-era uniforms is an open question. Also in the fusion reactor room is the dilithium crystal access console seen from TOS Season 2 onwards in Enterprise Engineering (TOS: “Elaan of Troyius”, “Day of the Dove”).

    SB80's Operations Center is basically a TOS Constitution-class bridge. The Southern-accented engineer Gene Jakobowski in the ENT-era jumpsuit may be a reference to NX-01 Chief Engineer Trip Tucker, especially when they think he’s initially dead. Tucker died on-screen (albeit in a holographic historical simulation) in VOY: “These are the Voyages”, a move that is heavily criticized in fandom, but was brought back in the novels. Gene is voiced by Stephen Root, who played K'Vada in TNG: "Unification".

    The Acamarians first appeared on screen in TNG: “The Vengeance Factor”. Acamar is a real binary star system, also known as Theta Eridani, situated about 165 ly from Sol. One of the shops on SB80’s Promenade is called “Lornak’s”, after an Acamarian clan and another sells "Parthas", an Acamarian vegetable.

    The “vintage” dress shop Tendi is at has a number of old Trek costumes and props. Hanging above, we have a red female Operations skant and male Sciences top from TOS, a Command top from DIS Season 2, and a female Command skant from SNW. We also see Pulaski's medical skant from TNG, a TMP-era uniform, a Rubicun III costume (TNG: “Justice”), a TOS Klingon uniform with honor sash, a torn Monster Maroon from the movie era, a field jacket from the same period and Ruk’s top from TOS: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” We also see a First Contact phaser rifle, a movie-era Security helmet, various TOS tricorders and TNG/VOY PADDs, a TOS communicator, a Mirror Universe dagger, what might be a VISOR display stand, Khan’s necklace pendant from ST II, one of those TNG cylindrical bags, and, significantly, since the vendor claims the uniforms are of dead people, a pile of TOS redshirts. Others have pointed out NX-01 baseball caps, a cap from the Kelvin Timeline dress uniform, Kirk and Spock's mobster hats from TOS: "A Piece of the Action", a TNG-era medical kit, and Admiral Mark Jameson's chair from TNG: "Too Short a Season".

    The turbolifts have the twist controls from the TOS era, which made a return in SNW, set in that same period.

    This is actually the first time I’ve ever seen these kind of stairs in a Starfleet facility. Mackler and Gorm were in Boimler’s landing party on Targalus IX in LD: “Shades of Green”. Harrison Horseberry’s facial transformation is like that of Geordi in TNG: “Identity Crisis” which was due to exposure to parasites on Tarchennan III. The sickbay is also of TOS vintage right down to the design of the biomonitors.

    Kassia reveals she’s El-Aurian, a member of Guinan’s long-lived species, although she’s just 30. She also claims that SB80 doesn’t use combadges, although we saw TNG-era combadges on SB80 personnel in “Trusted Sources” (although in this episode the badges are absent). It is possible, I suppose, that they were non-functional or the system ceased to function between that episode and now.

    The Arcade has a machine that uses the large circular light that was part of the Atavachron prop in TOS: “All Our Yesterdays”. The screen of the Ferengi’s Fortune game reminds me of the 80s game Joust, and tucked in back is a game with the Cosmic Koala ("Moist Vessel"). Gene is playing a Galaga/Space Invaders-type game where a Romulan Valdore-class is shooting at Constitution refit-class targets (on the side of the cabinet is a Vastam-class from Star Trek Online). Gene is also wearing Scotty's vest from TNG: "Relics".

    A zombie Jet Manhaver is on a Klingon targ kid’s ride.

    The officer tearing the door wiring apart is Rutherford’s nemesis/rival Ensign Livik (LD: “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee”). Horseberry detects an anaphasic consciousness (Clem) possessing the Cetacean Ops whales (TNG: “Sub Rosa”).

    “Scrappy underdogs” is also how Mariner described the Lower Deckers in the very first LD episode “Second Contact”.

    9
  • Highwave, makers of the Hotjo (as seen on DS9), will be restocking the Deep Space Purple color on Friday, November 15.
    highwave.com Hotjo™ 16 oz Travel Mug

    This wide base ceramic mug is almost impossible to knock over. Microwaveable safe & top rack dishwasher safe

    Hotjo™ 16 oz Travel Mug
    2
  • ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition’ Score Reissued on Deluxe Vinyl
    variety.com ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition’ Score Reissued on Deluxe Vinyl

    Jerry Goldsmith's score for 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director's Edition' will be reissued on deluxe vinyl Nov. 15 by Enjoy the Ride Records.

    ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition’ Score Reissued on Deluxe Vinyl
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  • Canon Connectioins: LDS 5x04 - A Farewell to Farms

    • The episode title is a play on the title of the 1590 George Peele poem, “A Farewell to Arms”, which Ernest Hemmingway also referenced with his 1929 novel of the same name.

    • It’s Ma’ah! From Star Trek. Ma’ah first appeared in season three’s “wej’Duj”, and is voiced by Jon Curry.

    • Ma’ah’s brother, Malor, is voiced by Sam Witwer, as is the character of Sig Legnog. Witwer previously played an unnamed Xindi-Arboreal in “The Shipment”, and voiced the character of Tenavik in STO, after Kenneth Mitchell personally choose Witwer to replace him.

    • In this episode we learn that bloodwine is made from worms that have been stomped similar to grapes. Bloodwine was first mentioned in TNG’s “A Matter of Honor”.

        • The sequence of Ma’ah going through the process of producing bloodwine may have been intended as a callback to the scene in “The Star Gazer” where we see Château Picard being prepared. As opposed to Picard’s longing glances at Laris though, we see Ma’ah annoyed with Mariner attempting to call him.

    • This is the second episode to not use the standard LDS title sequence featuring the USS Cerritos’s misadventures, the first being “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption”

    • Bahgol is a Klingon beverage previously seen in “Blood Oath”.

    • K’Elarra is voiced by Mary Chiefo who played L’Rell in seasons one and two of DIS.

    • K’Elarra is…physically aggressive with Ma’ah as an act of courtship. In “The Dauphin” Worf described Klingon women mating behaviour to Wesley as, “Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects. And claw at you.”

    ”Don’t count on that. Ma’ah killed Bargh’s brother,” Malor tattles by relating the events of “wej’Duj”.

    • Boimler’s facial hair has grown in enough to see that his moustache is purple as well. According to his own log in “Grounded”, Boimler dyes his hair, and no one knows what his real hair colour is.

    ”Doctor Migleemo, I’ve never seen you this nervous before, not even when I made you fight that giant Orion,” Tendi relates the events of “Old Friends, New Planets”.

    ”We Klowahkans invented warp travel in the hopes of discovering strange new meals.” Migleemo reveals that his preoccupation with food is something of a species trait, as opposed to unique to himself.

        • This is the first time we’ve heard the name of Migleemo’s species. Coincidentally, the name for this species of birdlike people sounds very similar to the excretory vent birds, as well as reptiles and amphibians, have.

    • The Ketha Lowlands are part of the Ketha province, where Martok’s family is from, as per “Once More Unto the Breach”.

    ”Hey, look, you really helped me back on Serbal V, all right?” Mariner and Ma’ah fought in “The Inner Fight” until she experienced a breakthrough coping with Sito Jaxa’s death.

    ”Weren’t you just afraid of skiing?” Boimler attempted to go down the Coward’s Gulch path aboard the Cosmic Duchess, before having to follow a person he was tailing down the Expert’s Demise slope.

    • Madame Gonald is voiced by Gillian Vigman, who regularly portrays Doctor T’Ana.

    ”Experience bij!” A Klingon hover biker hollers a line from the 1993 interactive VCR board game, “Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Klingon Challenge”.

    • It’s K’orin! From Star Trek. General K’orin was introduced in the episode “Envoys”. He’s voiced by Jess Harnell.

        • ”Yeah, we violated some treaties back in the day.” In “Envoys” Mariner told Boimler that she and K’orin were involved in ”off the books, grey ops stuff.”

    • The Oversight Council chambers feature sets of Klingon honour guard uniforms from STO.

    • Bargh is voiced by Colton Dunn, who previously portrayed Dorg, Bargh’s brother, in “wej’Duj”.

    • We learn that Doctor Migleemo’s first name is Gabers.

    • The Rite of Unending Pain appears to be superficially similar to the Rite of Ascension seen in “The Icarus Factor”. Those undergoing the rite walk through a path lined by raised platforms with warriors wielding painstiks to either side.

    ”Once Kahless made it across the field, he tore the thorns from his legs and he used them to kill Fek’lhr.” As per “Devil’s Advocate”, Fek’lhr is a demonic figure, and the Guardian of Grethor.

    • Darsek’s a Klingon currency first mentioned in “Fristborn”.

    • Migleemo claims the hogfish galantine is ”as plorpful as the ones served on Enara Prime.” Enara Prime was featured in the third season VOY episode “Remember”, and is in the Delta Quadrant. This raises the question of how Migleemo would know about their cuisine.

    ”Look, a while back, I was transferred to one of the coolest ships in Starfleet.” Boimler was transferred to the USS Titan at the end of “No Small Parts”, and transferred back to the Cerritos in “Kayshon, His Eyes Open”. Though he didn’t so much choose to return to the Cerritos as he wasn’t able to serve on the same ship as his transporter duplicate.

    • We learn that Mariner was in on Qo’noS for more than just returning an artifact and to help Ma’ah regain his rank; another quantum fissure has appeared in Klingon space, making this the third episode of the season where the fissures have been a factor.

        • The scanning indicates that the dimensional rifts are not a natural occurrence.

    • Cap’n Freeman, Rutherford, and Tendi swapped out the Klowahakan’s amuse bouche with replicated manure. In “There Is A Tide” Admiral Vance informs Osyraa the replicators use recycled waste to create food. ”It tastes pretty good for shit.”

    “A Klowahakan without a sense of taste is no Klowahakan at all.” Doctor Migleemo’s adage echoes Rule of Acquisition 18: “A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.” And, according to Kor in “The Sword of Kahless”, ”A Klingon who denies himself the Rite of Vengeance is no Klingon at all.”

    ”Martok started on a ship like this.” Martok claimed in “Once More Unto the Breach” that he started as a labourer cleaning the officer’s mess aboard General ShiVang’s flagship.

    ”I can see Kahless! The first one, the original one!” Kahless’s clone was discovered by Worf on Boreth in “Rightful Heir”.

        • ”The one that did impressions!” It was revealed in “The Savage Curtain” that Kahless was skilled at mimicking the cries of his foes to lure their allies into traps. Honourably. He also would do a tight five minutes at open mic nights.

    1
  • “Bliss” is a remarkable story of forming bonds in challenging times.

    The Voyager episode “Bliss” has always been a wonderful story in my opinion. Naomi Wildman and Seven of Nine, two individuals who joined the ship’s crew after the events of “Caretaker”, find solidarity in their respective distance to life on Earth. They also in a time of crisis bring comfort and assist each other.

    1
  • Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 5x04: “A Farewell to Farms” (SPOILERS)

    Annotations for Star Trek: Lower Decks 5x04: “A Farewell to Farms”

    The episode title is a play on Ernest Hemingway's 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms, a romance between an American ambulance driver in the Italian Army and an English nurse, set against the backdrop of World War I, and has as one of its themes the idea of an end to, or retirement from war.

    Qo'noS is the Klingon Homeworld, last seen in DIS: "Point of Light" or, chronologically in-universe in DS9: "The House of Quark".

    Ma'ah first appeared in LD: "wej Duj", and was last seen in LD: "The Inner Fight". The targ may be the pet he inherited from his previous captain, Dorg, whom he killed and then attained his own rank and the IKS Che’Ta’. The farming outfit Ma'ah wears echoes the one the older Picard wore in TNG: "All Good Things..." and he is sipping from a Klingon bloodwine mug. We also see how bloodwine is made - apparently harvested from worms grown in the soil.

    The usual title sequence is replaced by cinematic-style titles complete with rousing music. Mariner and Ma'ah befriended (sort of) each other in "The Inner Fight" on Sherbal V, which is why she's calling.

    Malor mounts brush devil jaws on the transport. The brush devil is a creature native to Qo’noS with a particularly loud hunting scream, mentioned in the DS9 novel Heart of the Warrior, in which Worf tells of when he and his brother Kurn participated in a brush devil hunt.

    A petaQ is a Klingon epithet, which can be loosely translated as "weirdo" (from taQ, to be weird, and pe, an imperative you). The Klingon axe-throwers are using various blades, but the one flying across the screen is a mek'leth, a two-pronged dagger generally used for throat slashing and disemboweling (ENT: "Marauders"). bahgol is a warm tea-like beverage (DS9: "Blood Oath").

    One of the members of the Klingon band is playing a concertina like DS9’s Klingon Chef in DS9: “Playing God”. Ma'ah tells K'Elarra he did not expect to see her in this pugh gegh (as per the closed captioning) but I suspect this to be an error and it should be pugh qegh, which translates to "barrel/vat of dregs", which makes the bartender's insulted reaction more logical. par'Mach means "love" (but with more aggressive overtones). K’Elarra’s manhandling of Ma’ah and her sniffing him are typical of Klingon mating practices (TNG: “The Emissary”) and her “boob window” commented on by Mariner appeared first on Klingon females with the Duras sisters in TNG: “Redemption”. K’Elarra is voiced by Mary Chieffo, who played L’Rell in DIS.

    Boimler's beard has progressed to an actual moustache now although his goatee is still a work in progress, charitably speaking. cha'DIch can be loosely translated as "second", in the sense of someone who speaks or acts on behalf of the principal in a duel, or in other contexts a confidant or mentee.

    Cerritos is in orbit around Praxon IV. Tendi refers to when Migleemo fought the Orion warrior B'eth in LD: "Old Friends, New Planets". We are told Migleemo's species (Klowahkans) for the first time, and are told they invented warp travel to discover "strange new meals" as opposed to strange new worlds. This also explains Migleemo's penchant for food metaphors. Whether the planet name is a pun on "cloaca" l leave for speculation.

    'urwI'pu' means "traitors". Martok’s legendary killing of them took place in the Ketha Lowlands, a poor area of Qo’noS, where he said his family was from (DS9: “Once More Unto the Breach”). A d'k tagh (misspelt diktagh) is a traditional Klingon warrior's dagger first seen in ST III. Boimler's fear of skiing cropped up last episode in LD: "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel". He mentions the Ritual of J'ethurgh and the Ritual of Forced Conscription, both first mentions.

    bIj means punishment, which is usually used as a verb, not a noun. But the term “Experience bIj!” is a particularly deep cut from the Star Trek: The Next Generation - Interactive VCR Board Game - A Klingon Challenge, where during the game Captain Kavok (played by Robert O’Reilly who was Gowron on TNG and DS9) occasionally says this to one of the players who must then draw a Bij card and do what it says.

    K'orin is a Klingon General and friend of Mariner's, who was last seen in LD: "Envoys". quv beq means "crew of honor". lujwI'pu' means "losers". Councilor Enaj is “Jane” spelled backwards.

    Mordanian may refer to the inhabitants of Mordan IV (TNG: "Too Short a Season").

    Kahless refers to Kahless the Unforgetable, a semi-mythical figure who was the greatest warrior in Klingon history as well as the first Emperor (TOS: “The Savage Curtain”).

    Fekh’lr is the guardian of Grethor, the Klingon underworld (TNG: “Devil’s Due”). While we’ve known that part of Kahless’ legend is that he conquered a group called the Fekh’lri, we’ve never actually connected them to the mythical Fekh’lr on screen. In Star Trek Online, however, they do resemble Fekh’lr and were foot soldiers of Kahless’s enemy Molor (created by the Dominion), and were banished to Gre’thor with him. Boimler’s remark suggests that the Fekh’lri were minions of Fekh’lr as this story has Kahless killing Fekh’lr.

    Painstiks (or pain sticks) were first seen being used in the Klingon Rite of Ascension, marking the occasion of a Klingon child reaching the Age of Inclusion and becoming a Klingon warrior (TNG: “The Icarus Factor”). darseks are the main currency used in the Klingon Empire (TNG: “Firstborn”). tagh-jaj qaD can be translated as “begin the challenge day”.

    Boimler notes that the maximum painstik voltage is 30,000 volts. Whether or not an electrical shock is lethal really depends on both voltage and amperage, where voltage is the force of electrical power passing through but current (amps) is the rate of flow.

    A hogfish (on Earth at least) is a type of wrasse living in the Western Atlantic, so called because of its elongated snout. It doesn’t have more than two eyes, though. Enara Prime is a planet in the Delta Quadrant, home to the Enarans, a telepathic species (VOY: “Remember”).

    HIq’aD comes from HIq (ale, wine) and ’aD (blood vessel), so I’d imagine it’s an epithet saying that Malor’s a drunk.

    qoH means “fool”. Boimler references his brief transfer to the \Titan\ at the end of Season 2 and the first few episodes of season 3. Klingons can’t transfer ships except with a two-thirds vote of the Oversight Council.

    chatlh means “thick soup”, but it’s also slang for “nonsense”. Sto-vo-kor is the Klingon equivalent of Valhalla. Ma’ah uses a bat’leth while Bragh fights with a gin’tak battle spear. The armor Bragh crashes into before he grabs the spear is a Klingon Honor Guard set from STO. The Klingon blood spilled is pink, as per ST VI, although this has been inconsistent through Star Trek, which generally shows Klingon blood as red.

    Mariner discovers that the dimensional rifts are not natural, but someone is causing them. toDuj means “courage”.

    Malor claims he sees Kahless, the “original one”. A clone of Kahless was created by the monks of Boreth in TNG: “Rightful Heir”, who eventually became the ceremonial Emperor/Head of State of the Empire. He also says the original was “good at imitating voices”, which indeed the Excalbian recreation was when he imitated Surak’s voice in TOS: “The Savage Curtain”.

    3
  • Star Trek x OddBalls Underwear Collaboration Beams Down – Trek Central
    trekcentral.net Star Trek x OddBalls Underwear Collaboration Beams Down – Trek Central

    If you had told me when I started Trek Central that I would be reviewing Star Trek Underwear, I don't know what I would have said. However, times have changed. The Star Trek x OddBalls underwear collaboration is in full swing. You can beam down to get yourself a new pair of Star Trek-branded boxers ...

    Star Trek x OddBalls Underwear Collaboration Beams Down – Trek Central
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  • Canon Connections: LDS 5x03 -Best Exotic Nanite Hotel

    • The episode title is a reference to a British comedy drama, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”, starring Dame Judy Dench, who voices the character Krog.

    • Captain Freeman records the stardate as 59393.7.

        • Judging by the amount of facial hair growth Boimler’s exhibited over the course of the three episodes this season, we can assume that so far the entire season has taken place over about 17 hours.

    • The cruise ship, the Cosmic Duchess has a number of habitat domes attached to it, very similar to the habitat domes we see attached to Starbase One in various episodes of SNW.

        • Freeman claims the Cosmic Duchess is the size of a moon. Though moons can vary fairly wildly in size, even if we’re talking about Pluto’s smallest moon, Styx, that still indicates the cruise ship is one of the largest structures we’ve seen in Trek, and perhaps the largest structure built by the Federation.

    • Rogue nanites were also the problem in the TNG episode “Evolution”.

    ”One of the space casinos has a bunch of Dixon Hill slot machines.” Dixon Hill is the fictional hard boiled detective, whose adventures Captain Picard enjoys playing out on the holodeck, as first seen in “The Big Goodbye”.

        • In space, they just call them casinos.

    • It’s Jennifer! From Star Trek! Jennifer is played by Lauren Lapkus.

        • Jennifer has not had a speaking role in the show since season three’s “Trusted Sources”, where she and Mariner seemingly broke up over the erroneous belief that Mariner betrayed the trust of the USS Cerritos crew by bad mouthing them to a FNN reporter; yet in the first scene this episode with her, Jennifer is acting as though they’re still an item.

    • Ransom recruits Boimler to locate the AWOL Admiral Milius. Milius is named for the screenwriter John Milius, who wrote such films as “Conan the Barbarian”, “Red Dawn”, and perhaps most relevant to this episode, “Apocalypse Now”.

    • It’s Jet! From Star Trek! Jet is voiced by Marcus Henderson, and has not had a speaking role since season two’s “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris”.

        • Jet’s hands were devoured by piranha bats, but Doctor T’Ana is going to grow him a new pair. Characters were artificial body parts include: Captain Picard [heart], Worf [spine], Geordi [eyes], Nog [leg], Ishka [heart], and Jack Crusher [personality]

    ”She gave me back a candle!” Mariner did not accept the return of the candle, telling Jennifer to give it to Castro.

    • Jennifer is being prompted and transferred to the USS Manitoba. Usually the Manitoba is only ever mentioned alongside the USS Saskatchewan, and both are overshadowed by the other Prairie-class starship, the “USS Alberta”.

        • ”There’s a bunch of Andorians on the ‘Toba*.”* As a species native to a moon covered in ice, Andorians are well suited to cold temperatures aboard the Manitoba.

    • This is the first episode in which we see a Gallamite depicted on screen. Jadzia Dax dated a Gallamite named captain Boday, who was notable for his transparent skull and “toothy smile.”

    • The Kreetassan vacationers are offended when Boilmer drinks a cocktail and eats in front of them, causing one to attack him before Ransom intervenes. It was established in “Vox Sola” that Kreetassans view eating the same way they do sex, an intimate and private act.

    ”Apparently one of Milius’ acolytes spends a lot of time at the top of the huge, dangerous mountain.” The mountain is very familiar, but I can’t quite place it.

    • We learn that T’Lyn’s favourite musician is an individual named Krog, who plays an instrument called the vibe tubes. Though this is the first we’ve heard their name, the vibe tubes appeared in the TNG episode, “We’ll Always Have Paris”.

    ”You’re grabbing my genitals!” As Captain Kirk discovered in “Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country”, ”Not everybody keeps their genitals in the same place.”

    • Boimler refers to various space whales, mentioning the gormagander, introduced in “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”, and ”those galaxy’s child things,” from “Galaxy’s Child”. Previously Mariner was the only character to break the fourth wall in that fashion.

    • When the nanite icosahedron strikes a palm tree and briefly stops, you can see a millinery in the background that has on displays hats similar to several that Guinan wore over the season of TNG, and some Bajoran vedic mitres.

    ”I can’t believe we’re going to get killed by a goddamn icosahedron.” Yet Mariner has been seen playing Bat’leths and BiHnuchs in “The Least Dangerous Game”.

    • Rutherford locates a miniature Intrepid-class USS Endeavour. There have four other USS Endeavours, NCC-1895, NCC-25530, NCC-39222, and NCC-71805. Only the NCC-71805 was mentioned in dialogue, with the other three only appearing on charts and displays.

        • We’ve previously seen a tiny ship when Jadzia Dax, Bashir, and O’Brien get shrank down along with their runabout in “One Little Ship”.

    ”We’ve been through a month of hell!” That is the longest length of time any Starfleet ship has gone through hell.

    • Boimler appears to be drinking bloodwine out of the traditional mug, the sort of which were first seen in “Apocalypse Rising”.

    5
  • The Ultimate Star Trek TNG Movie Retrospective | Rowan J Coleman

    Consider watching this video with FreeTube, a nifty open-source program that lets you watch YouTube videos without Google spying on your viewing habits!

    Combined with Libredirect, which automatically opens youtube links in Freetube, it becomes really slick and effortless to use.

    1
  • Canon Connections: LDS 5x02 - Shades of Green

    • The episode title is a call back to the TNG season two finale, “Shades of Grey”, in which commander Riker is attacked by a poisonous vine, and the only way to save him is to make him watch other episodes from TNG’s first two seasons in his head. Truly, the cure is sometimes worse than the disease.

    • Captain Freeman records the stardate as 59376.9 in her log.

    • We’re informed that the people of Targalus IX have recently joined the Federation, acquired post scarcity technology, and are dismantling their capitalist systems. They’re literally burning their currency in the streets. However, we know that in the 24th century some Federation worlds, such as the Bolian homeworld of Bolarus IX maintain their financial institutions.

    • In addition to what we can assume to be the Targalan’s language, much of the signage on Targalus IX is in Federation Standard -- i.e. English -- as are the anti-capitalist shirts they’re wearing.

    • Boimler’s got a wispy bit of moustache growth happening. Apparently in addition to the PADD he took, he’s also attempting to steal Beardler’s look from the previous episode.

    • Boimler is inundating the ensigns he’s been assigned with ”Bointers.” The first time he substituted his name for a real word was when he told Rutherford to ”Boim me up,” in “Cupid’s Errant Arrow”.

    • We learn that the Orions have a ”pirate queen” who is the head of the Orion Syndicate. It’s unclear if this positon is the official Orion head of state, or simply the leader of the criminal organization.

        • Pirate queen Sabor is voiced by Debra Wilson, who has voiced several unnamed characters on PRO, the Orion pirate Z’oto on LDS, and even Lisa Cusak in the DS9 episode, “The Sound of Her Voice”.

    • Orions used to use solar sailships. Other cultures who are confirmed to have used such technology include the Bajorans, as seen in “Explorers” and R’ongovians introduced in “Spock Amok”.

    ”Damn, now this is buffer time. Respect” The term buffer time was first used in “Temporal Edict”, and was coined to describe the policy of padding out work time estimates, first explicitly articulated by Scotty in “Star Trek: The Search for Spock”.

    • The House Tendi sailship has a ship’s wheel for steering the vessel. The pirate ship, The Serene Squall in the episode “The Serene Squall” was also a starship with a wheel.

    • Sarium krellide was first noted on a display screen in TNG’s “Night Terrors”, and a combadge in PRO’s “Observer Effect” was seen to have the words written on a power cell. The is the first episode where the term is spoken aloud by a character.

    • Tendi attempts to give her sister a cup of pyrithian bat milk. Doctor Phlox kept a pyrithian bat in the sickbay aboard the NX-01.

    ”Snakes don’t eat snakes!” Apparently snakes on Orion are less inclined to cannibalism than Earth snakes.

    • The disruptor that the Targalan cleaning robot is attempting to sweep with looks very similar to the phaser rifle first seen in “Stardust City Rag”

    ”It is possible to do everything right, and still get your away team kidnapped by the corporate elite,” Boimler quotes Picad’s line from “Peak Performance”.

    • Billups’ mother sent him a dragon. Human ”ren faire types” colonized Hysperia because of its dragons, as per “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie” but we have yet to see one on screen.

    • In addition to finishing repairs on the Sequoia, T’Lyn added a stick figure drawing of herself to those of Boimler, Mariner, Tendi, and Rutherford. The doodles of the Lower Deckers were first seen in “No Small Parts”

    • Rutherford claims he and Tendi used to work on the Sequoia every day: ”It was our project.” Previously they worked together on a model of the USS Cerritos, and a model of Deep Space 9, as seen in “An Embarrassment of Dooplers”.

    ”I was trying to deceive you into socializing.” T’Lyn is really giving away the game on that whole, ”Vulcans are incapable of lying,” lie that they spout all the time.

    ”Come back Mackler, turn away from the mountain!” Boimler is referring to the Black Mountain where Starfleet officers go to fight three faceless representations of their father on their journey back to life, as outlined by Shaxs in “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris”

    • It’s Goodgey! From Star Trek! Goodgey previously appeared in “A Few Badgeys More”.

    • Captain Freeman contracted out the disposal of Targalus IX’s wealth to the Tendi family, which is implied will offset the loss of their fortune due to Tendi’s insistence on trying to find a peaceful compromise. It would seem that the gold bars and jewels must have some value to the Orions. We’ve seen gemstones as having value in episodes such as “Haven” and “Move Along Home”, but in “Who Mourns for Morn”, Quark describes gold as ”worthless.” Twice.

        • The Orion ship D’Erika is using for wealth disposal is presumably the same one she sent to retrieve Tendi in “Old Friends, New Planets”.

    1
  • Meet the Star Trek: Section 31 Crew

    I'm reposting this because the list is now complete.

    Edit: Except Garrett? Maybe she won't get one?

    ---

    Fuzz (The Maniac)

    Fuzz can switch from hysterical laughter to filter-free anger at the drop of a dime.

    He's a fun-loving guy until he isn't. Just don't suggest anger management sessions to this Section 31 operative.

    ---

    Melle (The Lover)

    While most Deltans take an oath of celibacy upon joining Starfleet, Melle uses her irresistible magnetism for Section 31's benefit. After all, she's in a league of her own.

    ---

    Zeph (The Machine)

    Mech life ain't just about brute force. The human Zeph lives, works, and everything in between, inside his mechanical exoskeleton, drawing out the right tools in his work as a Section 31 operative.

    ---

    Quasi (The Enigma)

    No one's ever met a Chameloid's true form before, perpetuating their myth-like status as they never show their real appearance, which suits Quasi perfectly as a member of Section 31. He's disinterested in the delusion of "utopia" and most other things, especially you.

    ---

    Alok Sahar (Mastermind)

    Alok Sahar is a strategic mastermind who leads a special team of Section 31 operatives. Sahar is driven to make amends for actions in his past by serving the greater good, which involves tracking down and recruiting Emperor Philippa Georgiou for a covert mission.

    ---

    Philippa Georgiou (The Emperor)

    Unable to return to the Terran Empire, Emperor Philippa Georgiou lives under a new alias as owner of The Baraam, a nightclub operating outside of Federation space.

    That is, until Section 31 enlists her to help protect the Federation while also facing the sins of her past.

    19
  • Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 5x03: “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel” (SPOILERS)

    The title of the episode is a play on the 2011 film (and its sequel) The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, about a group of retirees who purchase a hotel in India. Nanites are of course microsopic nanotechnological robots which were first introduced into the Star Trek universe in the TNG episode "Evolution", although chronologically they have existed as far back as DIS: "Perpetual Infinity".

    The Stardate is 59393.7. Cerritos is at the Cosmic Duchess, an interstellar cruise ship with multiple domed biomes which is undergoing a nanite cluster infestation. Boimler's facial hair is increasing, now with stubble on his chin and cheeks. He notes that one of the casinos has Dixon Hill slot machines, Dixon Hill being a 20th-Century hard boiled detective character Picard was a fan of (TNG: "The Big Goodbye"). Mariner's shocked reaction to Jennifer's kiss is understandable, since we were led to understand they broke up in LD: "Trusted Sources".

    Jet Manhaver is a background character who was last featured in LD: "We'll Always Have Tom Paris". The way he describes Ransom's using him as fodder is reminiscent of the jokes about the fates of redshirts in TOS.

    T'Lyn suggests Jennifer has a brain parasite. The last time a brain parasite caused amorous complications was in LD: "Cupid's Errant Arrow". Jennifer says she is being transferred to the USS Manitoba, which from the name might be a Parliament-class starship (the others we know of being Toronto and Vancouver).

    The Risa Bar is named of course after the pleasure planet (TNG: “Captain’s Holiday”) and the biome actually reminds me of the Risa instance in Star Trek Online. This is the first time we’ve actually seen Gallamites although the species was first mentioned in DS9: “The Maquis, Part I” when Jadzia Dax mentioned she had a dinner date with the Gallamite Captain Boday, and Kira evinced some discomfort with his transparent skull. Kreetassans, an easily offended species, first appeared in ENT: “Vox Sola” and consider eating a taboo activity not to be done in front of others. The huge dangerous mountain pointed out by Ransom vaguely resembles the Paramount logo if you squint (it may just be a coincidence).

    T’Lyn makes note of the poster of Krog on the Rocks, who performs on Vibe Tubes. Named in this episode, the Vibe Tubes are a futuristic musical instrument, the prop first seen being played in a holographic recreation in TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris".

    Admiral Milius’s acolyte is Denobulan, the same species as Dr Phlox of ENT. Denobulan females emit powerful pheremones during mating (ENT: “Dear Doctor”). “Not everyone keeps their genitals in the same place,” is a lesson we first learned in ST VI.

    Tendi makes reference to Mariner's parents, who are often separated for long periods of time since Carol Freeman is a starship Captain and Alonzo is a Starfleet Admiral.

    Milius' appearance resembles that of Marlon Brando's Colonel Kurtz in the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now, which in turn was written by John Milius, Francis Coppola and Michael Herr inspired by Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. In both stories the Kurtz character sets himself up as a demigod worshipped by natives.

    An iscosahedron is a 20-sided polyhedron, best known to tabletop roleplayers as a d20 die. Gormaganders (DIS: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad") and the "Galaxy's Child" thing (TNG: "Galaxy's Child"), are examples of cosmozoans, giant organisms that live in space.

    Captain Tersal says that her parallel universe Endeavor has been through a "month of hell", an allusion to VOY: "Year of Hell". Although Endeavor's scale is due to her being from a universe that is tiny, in the Prime universe the runabout Rubicon was once shrunk by a subspace anomaly (DS9: "One Little Ship") and Voyager was turned into a Christmas tree ornament by Q (VOY: "Death Wish").

    6
  • Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 5x03 "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel"
    Logline

    The Lower Deckers hunt nanites on a resort… in space?!

    ---

    Written by: Stephanie Amante-Ritter

    Directed by: Brandon Williams

    8
  • The Starfleet Gazette Will Not Be Endorsing a Candidate for President of the United Federation of Planets
    www.mcsweeneys.net The Starfleet Gazette Will Not Be Endorsing a Candidate for President of the United Federation of Planets

    “After the Washington Post announced it would not endorse a presidential candidate in this year’s election or in the future, its billionaire owner ...

    The Starfleet Gazette Will Not Be Endorsing a Candidate for President of the United Federation of Planets

    "Sure, The Borg have been a bit of a problem. Their tendency toward mass assimilation and the stripping of individuality and personal freedom doesn’t exactly jibe with our idea of what makes a great leader. But let’s be honest. Kathryn Janeway hasn’t been perfect."

    18
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