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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 6 Easter Eggs & References

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This STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS review contains spoilers.

Trying to catch all the references and Easter eggs in any given episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks is a little like trying to count all the times Spock does anything with his eyebrows in The Original Series. It’s possible, but even when you think you’ve spotted everything, the second you blink, he raises his eyebrow again.

In the sixth episode of Lower Decks, there aren’t any references to Spock raising his eyebrow, but there are plenty of eyebrow-raising Easter eggs. Here’s everything we spotted, from holodeck characters to retro-23rd century designs, and one shout-out to the greatest helmsman in Starfleet history.

Ambient Warp Drive Noises Are the Best White Noise

For years, Trekkie superfans have pointed out that the soothing, ambient noise of the Enterprise-D is a sonic genre of white noise in it of itself. Several white noise simulators exist online to help you recreate this noise, while a few fans have tried to create devoted YouTube channels to the various different “ship sounds.” The person who designed all these sounds, and recorded them (often using heavily modulated freezer sound recordings) was Jim Wolvington. From TNG through Enterprise, nearly all ‘90s sound design was overseen or created by Wolvington. In this Lower Decks scene, the gang tries to create the sounds of the Enterprise-D and Voyager.

How the Lower Deck-ers would know what Voyager sounds like at warp is somewhat questionable, considering the ship was missing in the Delta Quadrant for most of their careers. Maybe they visited one of Barclay’s holographic reconstructions?

An Antares-type ship from TOS

The ancient Starfleet wreckage in this episode features a ship with the registry NCC-502. In the TOS episode “Charlie X,” the ship Antares was retroactively given the registry number NCC-501. This designation and starship design is also based on ships seen in The Animated Series episode “More Tribbles, More Troubles.”

Sonic showers

Lower Decks makes its second joke about the fact that most people on Starfleet ships probably use waterless “sonic showers.” The sonic showers were first glimpsed in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but we’ve almost never seen anyone use them. Because water can apparently be replicated, we’ll never really know why 24th Century starships still used the sonic kind. Either way, Dr. T’’ana has a point, using sound vibrations to get cheese out of fur sounds like a drag.

Boimler has something in common with Jean-Luc Picard

When Fletcher and Boimler joke about their Academy days, we learn that Nassicans tried to eat Boimler’s heart at one point. This references the TNG episode “Tapestry,” in which Nassicans stabbed Jean-Luc Picard through the heart, right after he��d graduated from Starfleet Academy.

TOS communicators

Tendi references the classic era of TOS when she says that among the old Starfleet wreckage, she hopes to find “ the original communicators, you know the clamshell design?” When Dax traveled back in time to the 23rd Century in “Trials and Tribble-ations,” she talked about an old tricorder having “classic, 23rd Century design.” Even in Star Trek, people are fans of the design aesthetic of TOS.

Wy can’t they just beam all the wreckage?

Because there’s so much space junk to clean-up, Tendi wonders why they can’t just beam-up the debris using the cargo transporter. In TNG, we saw the cargo transporter in episodes like “Datalore,” but we rarely saw it used in a salvage operation. Rutherford tells her “that stuff’s too massive” to be beamed by the cargo transporter, which could answer a very old fan question: Why can’t starships beam other starships to other locations? Apparently, size is an issue.

All your favorite holodeck parties

Before taking Tendi to the holodeck, Rutherford points out that the Holodeck is not just for fun, and then lists a bunch of ways people have used the Holodeck for fun. As he says, “The Holodeck is not just for hanging with..” and then Rutherford drops a litany of characters who have appeared in Trek, occasionally on the holodeck, but not always. Here’s the list of characters and which episode they appeared.

Sherlock Holmes: Data played Sherlock Holmes in the TNG holodeck episodes “Elementary My Dear Data,” and “Ship in a Bottle.” A holographic version of Sherlock Holmes was never seen in these episodes.

Robin Hood: This seems to reference the TNG episode “Q-Pid” in which Picard is put into the guise of Robin Hood by “Q.” This was a weird alternate dimension simulation, but it wasn’t on the holodeck.

Sigmund Freud: In the TNG episode “Phantasms,” Data took advice from a holographic version of Simgun Freud.

Cyrano De Bergerac: Cyrano De Bergerac does not appear as a holodeck character in Star Trek, however, holodeck addict Reginald Barclay was playing the role of Cyrano for one of Beverly Crusher’s theatrical productions in the episode “The Nth Degree.” In that episode, Barclay later merged his brain with the ship’s computer, which, of course, led to him becoming terrible. The larger plot of “Terminal Provocations,” at least for Fletcher, is pretty much the same.

Einstein and Stephen Hawking: Data played poker with holographic versions of Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Isaac Newton in the TNG episode “Descent Part 1.” Stephen Hawking played himself.

Leonardo da Vinci: On Voyager, Janeway frequently hung out in a holographic reconstruction of DaVinci’s workshop. The Voyager hologram of Leonardo da Vinci was played by John Rhys-Davies.

Socrates: The Greek philosopher Socrates was also mentioned in the episode “The Nth Degree,” mostly because Cyrano claims to have met him. But, in the Voyager episode “The Darkling,” the holographic doctor created a hologram version of Socrates who played Kal-toh (or Vulcan chess) against the Vulcan T’Pau. We most recently saw a Kal-toh game set in the season finale of Star Trek: Picard.

Delta Shift

It’s been previously established that the USS Cerritos seems to be on a four-shift duty rotation. This was an idea first introduced in “Chain of Command,” where Captain Jellico temporarily ordered the USS Enterprise on a four-shift rotation instead of three. Delta Shift is, presumably, the night shift.

Holodeck safeties

When Tendi and Rutherford enter the training program, the shipwide failures cause the holodeck safeties to be disabled. This concept goes back to the first season of TNG, in which the holodeck safeties were disabled in the episode “The Big Goodbye.” Arguably, even before that though, in the episode “11001001” an upgraded holodeck was used as a trap to lure Captain Picard and Commander Riker away from the bridge.

Load Bajorian Marketplace

Tendi and Rutherford are briefly in a holodeck recreation of a Bajoran marketplace on the planet Bajor. Though it’s not clear which province or city they’re in, it’s definitely not one of the bigger cities. Despite the fact that the space station Deep Space Nine was originally in orbit of Bajor, we didn’t get down to the planet all that much.

Evasive pattern Sulu alpha

When the Cerritos is in trouble, it’s time for some evasive maneuvers. Naturally, saying “Evasive pattern Sulu alpha,” references the flight controller (or helmsman) of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Hikaru Sulu.

Fletcher hooking his brain up to the computer

If it’s not obvious by now, the plot of “Terminal Provocations” is mostly lifted from “The Nth Degree,” insofar as Fletcher hooking his brain into a computer is similar to what Barcarly did in TNG. That said, aspects of the AI monster in this episode are vaguely reminiscent of other rogue AI hybrids, including Nomad from the TOS episode “The Changeling,” and naturally, V’Ger from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Transfer to the Titan

Fletcher is sent to the USS Titan at the end of this episode. This means the person who “fired” him from his job is almost certainly Captain William T. Riker. In 2280, Riker has been the captain of the Titan for probably less than a year. We know Will and Deanna went to the Titan after Star Trek: Nemesis but we never actually saw what they did there. It’s also a good bet, that at this point in time, Riker is an expectant father.

Considering that Ron Docent’s secret password in the previous Lower Decks episode was “Riker,” it feels very possible that we could be getting a Number One cameo very soon. Or, at least, we can hope!

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

The post Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 6 Easter Eggs & References appeared first on Den of Geek.

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in-a-trans-like-state · 6 years ago

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just watched ds9 In the Hands of the Prophets and I know it's an allegory about conservation christians interfering in the us schooling system but there's more to it than that

like what sisko said you cant just dismiss the bajorian beliefs and honestly I think that Keiko could have handled that lesson plan a LOT better and yeah the religious lady was mostly wrong but she had a point

like these are kids who've survived a genocide and youre teaching them that their religion isn't true

and yes the episode wasn't black and white and did discuss these points a bit but I think it could have done with more

and honestly I was waiting for someone to explain why the humans did NOT like the interference cos of their history which is also important

like they'd be over 300 years of writing about this issue and yet everyone was like oh wow we have to work out this ethical dilemma from scratch. like there'd have to be a pretty good framework for this sort of thing if there was a lot of schools with kids from different planets.

though of course there's always the chance the federation insists (indirectly) people have to devalue (idk there's probably a better way of saying that) their culture to get in. which is pretty imperialistic but would not put past them

#love me sone sci fi tackling ethics and cross cultural education #without it being really black and white #lets have some philosophical discussions #i dont think the episode disagrees with me #this is more an analysis of my own thoughts i guess #like i agreed with Keiko first #but know im like no #also the phrasing is so important like i sat there going just phrase it slightly differently and it would be way better fot everyone #like if everyone was a bit less definate in their statements #i speak #ds9 #star trek #ds9 meta

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trashtrekker · 6 years ago

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Meet Hekenar Damar

She was born on 2360 in Cardassia Prime from Zenil Gherok. The people gossiped she was the mistress of Damar for a long time and a famous student of Natima Lang rebel political movement.

From official history that you can found on Cardassia's Archives, Hekenar was adopted by Corat Damar and wife in 2363 after the baby Hekenar lost her mother. She lived with her new family on Cardassia and she became the Prodigal daughter of Damar Family. She was designed to be a soldier as her step-father Corat while he became Glinn under Gul Dukat and then Legate. In according with Federation, she was the youngest member of C.L.F. (Cardassian Liberation Front) with her father Corat.

She wasn't involved in the attempt that killed her stepmother and stepbrother but she was severely injured during a dominion bombing in 2376.

From 2376 she lived on DS9 and Earth with a Romulan ambassador far away from destabilize Cardassia for no known reason.

Now in 2386

She is the first Officer graduated in Starfleet academy with Cardassian citizenship

Hekenar is a Doctor, but she said that her cardassian blood makes her a good soldier, thought her mentor Doc. Bashir thought that it was not true, because she looks kind and soft. Garak finds fun how Bashir was shocked to see her fight.

She starts to love medicine thank to Julian Bashir

For a little time Garak take care of Hekenar because he promised to Corat to keep her Safe.

She has a best friend: a nurse named T'vik, a vulcan academy mate.

She hates a lot when a bajorian bullying cardassians .

She is proud to be a Starfleet member.

Everyone in Cardassia see her with respect. Only for her Surname Damar.

She loved a lot his Father and she know all the truth about her mother and Damar.

Every year for Damar Sacrifice anniversary she brings to Corat mausoleum a Cardassian daylily Hemerocallis.

She is addicted by 1990s earth music and clothes.

She loves baseball and when she was on DS9 with other cardassian 'orphans' they made a team called Spacespoon. They won on 2380 the 4th memorial tournament to Benjamin Sisko.

She finds human nature very similar to Cardassians

She loves to be right.

She always be right, no matter what.

#meet #star trek #star trek ds9 #my art #digital art #traditional art #doctor bashir #elim garak #fan comic #new alliance #headcanon #damar #legate damar #cardassian #main character #1of4

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hadescavedish · 7 years ago

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Star Trek recommendation?

Yes! (today I only wrote some parts for DS9 tho) @get-dank-with-banks

Considering you’re watching TOS I think it’s no need to introduce this show, it was unique and ahead its time, it probably was one of first harder sci-fi as TV shows, and one of its stories even won Hugo Award.

(you have know the characters so I’ll jump to TNG a bit)

TNG:

All in all it’s sitcome/family series, it doesn’t have much main arc just like TOS, the first season is probably the worst because of the bad writings, but after second season’s The Measure of A Man it started to grow out as a show, especially when third season’s Yesterday’s Enterprise first broadcasted it was immediately embraced by fans. And episodes like: The Best of Both Worlds, The Inner Light, I,Borg and many other episodes are considered to be the best among all series.

It has its hightlights but it has its flaws: the problematic female character writings (compared to DS9 and VOY), and the finale seasons started to dry out, and in later seasons others’ stories weren’t not so focused as captain Picard and Data. And not to mention the questionable first season.

DS9:

Which is considered to be the finest Trek by some fans (probably including me), the only Trek has such a main story arc which stands as whole. It has the best writings for all characters even the recurring ones. And it contains many topics that have certain social depths. After watching it I got mind-blown. A controversial fact is some believes producers stole Babylon 5’s idea that set in a space station but this isn’t confirm, both shows are great tho.

The story is a starfleet officer lost his ship and his beloved wife, and went into a depressing period, he wanted to resign but starfleet sent him in a Bajor station which just got libertated from the occupation of Cardassian Union. They accidentally found a wormhole, it linked the Alpha quatrant and the Gamma quatrant… that is how the story started, with the show’s going, it built a story arc of a war between Alpha and Gamma quatrant. This isn’t a show about war, it is about the effects that war has done to people.

In my memories, episodes like Duet, Past Tense, Homefront, In the Pale Moonlight, The Siege of AR-558 and many other episodes are the finest. It even has the first lesbian kiss in American TV show history (the epsiode is called Rejoined, a very moving sci-fi love story)

The characters:

Benjamin Sisko: the series’s first black captain as main character. He is direct, efficient and very smart, he can be very stubborn to what he believes sometimes. Usually the calm figure but not the certain times. He has his dark side. Btw he’s a great dad and husband, and a very good chef. (Played very good jazz piano in seaons 7 lol)

Kira Nerys: the first officer, a female Bajorian officer. When the show started she is a very aggressive person bc she was a terrorist who fought for her people with all her life, she doubted about starfleet and Sisko’s motive at first but with the show goes she begain to trust him and adapted the new way of fighting for her planet Bajor. The first and the finest strong female character in all Trek shows, her story arc, imo, has the best writing even among male characters.

Jadzia Dax: who has lived 300 years, her concept is very intriguing, the concept for her people was first designed in TNG. A wise, sympathetic, enthusiastic, and adventurous lady. The station’s goddess lol

Julian Bashir: an innocent young man, and gifted physician. He’s very talkative and can be a bit obnoxious sometimes, but really, he’s just a bit childish and got a very pure heart within.

Odo: his real state is liquid, his background is a myth even to himself, he’s the station’s chief security, an intelligent detective, SASSY AS HELL, he seems to be grumpy, usually wants to be alone, sensitive within, and pretty stubborn. (sounds familiar?)

Miles O’Brien: he is not a starfleet officer, a good man who has been through hell, very rational and reasonable, family guy, still struggles with his marriage on the station.

Quark: Odo’s greatest rival, actually his best friend, they’re cute (lol) he seems to be only care about money (if you have watched TNG you will know what ferengi is like but this one is a bit different) he actually has a very good taste on women, not like other ferengi, a bartender who you can talk with unless he’s trying to sell you something.

other characters are wiritten finely, especially Nog, Weyoun, Garak, Dukat and many more.

#voy for tomorrow #voy has very balanced casting #strong female characters #ds9 has good female characters too but voy is more feminism

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ao3feed-spirk · 8 years ago

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Crystal Eyes

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2tf5jP0

by Geritashipper123

S'chn T'Gai Spock has been alone for a very long time. Ever since his father died and took the stories he would tell of a mythical federation with him, he hasn't really been happy either. So he dedicated his life to his work- Prove that his father wasn't a mad man. When a mysterious old man offers to make all his dreams come true- how the hell is he supposed to say no?

But what will he find below the sea? And how far is he willing to go for his goals?

(Or, local linguist, history nerd, son of a supposed mad man and a whore Spock goes on an all expenses paid for adventure with a group of strangers that in another life he may have been friends with. What happens next will shock you.)

Words: 897, Chapters: 1/13, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Multi

Characters: Spock (Star Trek), Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Sarek (Star Trek), Spock Prime, Gaila (Star Trek), Nyota Uhura, Hikaru Sulu, Ben Sulu, Jaylah (Star Trek), James T. Kirk Prime, Winona Kirk, George Kirk, Amanda Grayson, Nero (Star Trek), Krall (Star Trek), Sybok (Star Trek), Mirror Khan Noonien Singh | John Harrison, Pavel Chekov, Demora Sulu, Joanna McCoy

Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock, Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Gaila/Nyota Uhura, Ben Sulu/Hikaru Sulu, George Kirk/Winona Kirk, Amanda Grayson/Sarek, James T. Kirk Prime/Spock Prime

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, AU, Fluff, Angst, Adventure, Non-Graphic Violence, Love at First Sight, Spock Prime is meddling again, A gift for a friend, Joanna and Demora kinda aren't included?, But they're mentioned, Jaylah is adopted by Scotty and Bones, Bajorian Scotty, Bajorian Leonard, Catian Nyota, Bolian Pavel, Everyone is an alien except Jim, Reboot Nero is just plain evil, Like he doesn't even have a reason, Atlantis AU, Developing Relationship, Spock is lonely and deserves all the love in the universe, Blushing, Blushy Flustered Spock, Hurt Spock, Nerd Spock

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2tf5jP0

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #Spirk

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redhatmeg · 6 years ago

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Wow, Duet is a really powerful episode.

Like, they perfectly encopassed the mindset of someone who committed war crimes of Nazi caliber.

The guy is smug. He tries to turn around the situation, tell Kira that no, he didn’t do anything bad, in fact Bajorans were cowards and didn’t put any resistance, oh, and there was no war, so how can all the things that he did be considered war crime?

I wonder if there will be something along the lines of Nuremberg Trials.

Edit:

The Cardassian stance on Gul Darhe’el (that he was buried like a national hero) is reminescent how many nations (like communist Russia, for example) look at war criminals coming from their country. It’s clear that Cardassia downplays their crimes against Bajor, calling Bajorians oversensitive about “the abuses of Cardassian occupation”. However, Gul had to do something which Cardassians considered honorable or a grade favor for Cardassia. Maybe they somehow justify Gul’s work camp (saying, for example, that it was holding only criminals)... or maybe he was a great general or politician. Maybe he was funding some charities.

We all know from history that war criminals could be complately different people among their own countrymen.

#meg watches deep space nine #duet #major kira

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ao3feed-johnharrison · 8 years ago

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Crystal Eyes

by Geritashipper123

But what will he find below the sea? And how far is he willing to go for his goals?

Words: 897, Chapters: 1/13, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Multi

read it on the AO3 at http://archiveofourown.org/works/11184555 via AO3 works tagged 'John Harrison' http://archiveofourown.org/works/11184555

Remember to check out the John Harrison fanworks community on livejournal and dreamwidth. Follow ao3feed-johnharrison for all your John Harrison needs including fanfic involving the character in any pairing, crossovers, fanart and links.

#john harrison #stid #stxii #spoilers #khan #khan noonien singh #star trek into darkness #ao3feed

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sokorra · 3 years ago

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The Rewatch 220: Progress

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)Episode: 1:15 Progress (0215/1993)Rating: 4/5Redshirt Status: 0/2 Notable Guest Stars: Brian Keith (Mullibok) – Brian Keith is a classic film actor most known for being the father in The Parent Trap (1961) and Family Affair. He has a long list of credits and there is probably a film for all tastes. He died in 1997. Terrence Evans (Baltrim) – This is…

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#adventures of Jake and Nog #Bajorian History #centralia #native american history #science fiction #season 1 #Star Trek #Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #television #The Rewatch 2020 #tv reviews

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virgootome · 8 years ago

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Crystal Eyes

by Geritashipper123

But what will he find below the sea? And how far is he willing to go for his goals?

Words: 897, Chapters: 1/13, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Multi

from AO3 works tagged 'Ben Sulu/Hikaru Sulu' http://ift.tt/2tf5jP0 via IFTTT

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ao3feed-gaila · 8 years ago

Text

Crystal Eyes

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2tf5jP0

by Geritashipper123

But what will he find below the sea? And how far is he willing to go for his goals?

Words: 897, Chapters: 1/13, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Multi

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2tf5jP0

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #gaila

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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How Star Trek: Next Generation’s “The Chase” Changed Canon Forever

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What do space heists and archaeology have in common? The answer is one of the most important and bizarrely under-appreciated episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 6 banger, “The Chase.” Written by future Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore and Joe Menosky, and directed by Jonathan Frakes, “The Chase” is a perfect example of a late-era TNG episode insofar as the characters all feel super-cozy, and the story has a subtle intensity without resorting to a ton of explosions or violence. At the same time, “The Chase” also offered a Watsonian answer to a question with a seemingly very obvious Doyle-ist answer: Why do Star Trek aliens look the way they do? In “The Chase,” we learn all about the rules of Trek aliens, and along the way, the TNG lore is expanded in other big ways, too.

“The Chase” aired on April 26, 1993, and as such, exists in the interesting time when TNG and DS9 were airing new episodes simultaneously. DS9 had already expanded the canon of Trek by permanently parking itself in the histories of both the Bajorians and the Cardassians, but in doing so, DS9 had also brought another Star Trek plot element back into vogue in a big way: The ancient space mystery! These kinds of stories usually focus on a long-dead alien species that had a profound impact on history and influenced everyone’s basic perception of why things are the way they are. In a sense, the entire first season of Star Trek: Picard falls into this story phylum. In the 1993 DS9 pilot, “The Emissary” — which aired just six months before “The Chase” — we learn the ancient gods of Bajor, the Prophets, are really timeless aliens from another plane of existence. This kind of idea is nearly as old as science fiction itself, but prior to DS9, Star Trek did this all the time. The notion of ancient and influentially alien races pops up in TOS a lot, including references to “the Old Ones,” in “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” and “Catspaw.” There’s also Sargon’s race of energy beings from “Return to Tomorrow,” who low-key take credit for the existence of humanoids. This idea also pops up with “the Preservers” in the episode “The Paradise Syndrome.” Before “The Chase,” TNG had a few episodes like this, too, including “The Last Outpost,” and pivotally, the Season 2 episode “Contagion,” the first time we learn that Picard had previously considered a career in archeology before staying on the career path that led to starship captain.

The notion that Picard has an Indiana Jones-esque tendency embedded in his personality is one of the smarter layers in his character. I love Kirk, but, other than horseback riding and mountain climbing, his hobbies are comparatively kind of generic throughout TOS and the films. (Sulu has more unique hobbies!) One of the reasons the character of Picard is so easy for people to embrace is his multifaceted love of all sorts of stuff that doesn’t have much to do with exploring space. In “The Chase,” we get a character-development metaphor that illustrates this is the ancient artifact called the Kurlan naiskos, a statue with little statues inside of it, representing as Picard says, “the many voices inside the one.” The storytelling lesson? Cool characters work better when there’s contradictory stuff inside of them.

It’s also helpful when those “many voices” can create cool stories. In High Fidelity, John Cusak’s Rob Gordon explains character development like this: “What really matters is what you like, not what you are like… Books, records, films – these things matter!” With Picard, the vastly different interests that feel divergent from his Starfleet persona — hard-boiled noir novels, archaeology — help round him out in a way that you can imagine him as a real person, existing beyond the confines of the TV show. But, prior to “The Chase,” the archaeology thing hadn’t really been explored in any real way. It’s almost like in the final two seasons of TNG, the writers remembered Picard has a cool intellectual superpower called “archaeology.”

After “The Chase,” we get a Season 7 two-parter called “Gambit,” in which Picard goes undercover using his former archeology professor’s name, Galen, to track down—you guessed it—ancient pieces of an alien artifact that could have untold power! The interstellar adventures of Galen Jones never really took off as a TNG spin-off, but again, if you squint, aspects of Star Trek: Picard don’t feel that far off from “The Chase” or “Gambit.” (As post-” Unification” stories, these episodes also double-down on the idea that Picard is personally invested in the history of Romulus and also making peace with the Romulans in general. Thanks, Spock!)

But. The reason why “The Chase” is so important to Star Trek canon isn’t just connected to the ongoing character development of Jean-Luc Picard. Picard’s personal stakes in unlocking an ancient archeology mystery help make the episode move, but the larger revelation of what is going on is slightly cooler. There’s a scene where Picard is describing the four billion-year-old genetic mystery and the camera slowly zooms in on him, really letting you know that this shit is about to get real. It goes like this:

“It’s four billion years old. A computer program from a highly advanced civilization, and it’s hidden in the very fabric of life itself. [SLOW JONATHAN FRAKES ZOOM LENS BEGINS, OMINIOUSLY.] Whatever information this program contains could be the most profound discovery of our time. Or the most dangerous.”

The culmination of “The Chase” is all about various governments trying to unlock the secrets of the genetic computer program to figure out its secrets. This is the Raiders of the Lost Ark stuff. The Klingons think it’s a giant weapon. The Cardassians think it’s an unlimited power supply. Belloq thinks it’s a radio for talking to God, even though nobody invited him. Even the Romulans are in on it, wanting to obtain this four billion-year-old puzzle for themselves. In the end, the big revelation is that all the “humanoid” bipedal species we’ve seen throughout Star Trek were created intentionally by an even more ancient set of humanoids. This tap-dance with real science doesn’t contradict evolution per se, but in the ancient message the ancient humanoid woman says: “Our scientists seeded the primordial oceans of many worlds, where life was in its infancy. The seed codes directed your evolution toward a physical form resembling ours.”

Star Trek Villains Who Actually Had a Point

By Ryan Britt

Why Star Trek Needs More Characters Like Captain Lorca

By Lacy Baugher

So, the TLDR is that in the Trek universe, we evolved naturally, but only because we were given a push. This is as close the Trek canon will come to the notion of panspermia, the real-life theory that organic life could have been intentionally seeded on Earth. But, Trek alum Ronald D. Moore would revisit this idea in a big way in his famous reboot of Battlestar Galactica. This has all happened before and it will all happen again… sometimes, in a different franchise.

So what’s the big deal with the revelation that all the humanoid alien species share a common ancestor? Well, the knee-jerk answer is that this episode provided bandaid on the slightly unrealistic notion that most aliens in Star Trek just like humans with different foreheads or wrinkled noses or funny ears. And that’s true, “The Chase” does provide a Watsonian answer for why the Star Trek universe looks the way it does, at least when it comes to extraterrestrials. Haters might say this was a bad idea because it called attention to something that doesn’t need explaining, sort of like the Trek version of the midichlorians. But, that negative take misses a slightly larger truth, which debunks an important myth about the foundation of Trek.

The reason why The Original Series mostly tackled aliens who looked like humans in bad make-up is only partially an economic one. Yes, it’s widely impractical to do Hortas and Gorns every week, but in creating the writers’ bible for TOS, Roddenberry also made it clear that humanoid aliens were part of a dramatic choice, not just an economic one. In early pitch documents, Roddenberry describes “the parallel worlds” concept like this: “It means simply that our stories will plant and animals life, plus people, quite similar to that on Earth.”

Roddenberry wasn’t just doing this to save money. The “parallel worlds” concept was clearly something he wanted so the stories would connect with a casual viewer and not just hardcore science fiction fans. Prior to Star Trek, the general perception of filmed science fiction was that it was genre dominated by “Bug-Eyed Monsters.” By introducing the “Parallel worlds” concept, Roddenberry was creating a buffer against the series becoming too much like monster-of-the-week science fiction. Yes, this decision conveniently saved a little bit of money, but it’s very clear that wasn’t the only factor. Even at the beginning, Star Trek wanted to do humanoid aliens not because it was easy, but because telling those stories would be more interesting.

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What Moore and Menosky did with “The Chase,” was to come right out and make that dramatic choice into a thoughtful and exciting episode. The physics and biological science of the Star Trek universe might not exactly line up with our own, but the way in which the various shows prioritize people over technology is a relative constant. In “The Chase,” TNG reminded everyone that Star Trek was always about telling stories about people, even if those people were literally aliens. In this way, “The Chase” didn’t so much as change canon, but rather, clarified it. The reason why the Romulans, Humans, Cardassians look the way they do has an answer. But the real answer to that question requires even more introspection than the episode has time for. Which, in a nutshell, is what a lot of good Trek is supposed to do. “The Chase” is both an overt metaphor and a hardcore in-universe story at the same time. Many voices, inside the one.

Editor’s note: Norman Lloyd, the actor who played Professor Galen in “The Chase” (and inhabited many, many other roles in his long career) passed away earlier this week. You can learn more about his life and career here.

The post How Star Trek: Next Generation’s “The Chase” Changed Canon Forever appeared first on Den of Geek.

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icaxnozomi · 8 years ago

Text

— revelation

eighteen.

throughout human history, the number is marked as an important year of life. the first chapter of adulthood. the branching out into the world or the universe rather. at this age, nozomi was old enough to join the imperial navy.

she would often see her father’s old comrades, talking to them if they both had the time. i see you’re finding success as an idol. nova, huh. interesting nickname. i’m sure your father would be proud, though it would’ve been nice to see you along with us. its been long since you’ve last seen the luminara, right?

nozomi agrees. its been too long since she’s last seen the luminara and everything from her childhood. its also been too long since she received her late father’s letter. he said he’d send someone to talk to her when she reaches eighteen. say everything he couldn’t say, but she didn’t know when.

how will they know how to reach her? its been long since nozomi moved out of her home. her mother doesn’t know what this mysterious person has to say or who they are either. on top of it all, its not long until nozomi will add another year to her existence. the thought of her father being a man of broken promises often floats in her mind.

at eighteen, a chapter of waiting began for nozomi.

tw: kidnapping, parent death, threats of murder

a day off after a performance at coruscant gives nozomi time for herself. she would’ve spent it with her fellow group members, but she needed time alone. a common she walks around the crowded merchant streets of coruscant, looking for a cosmetic product that was much raved about.

after dozens of apologizes for bumping into other shoppers, nozomi decides to take a short-cut through an alleyway. she should’ve known better.

a hand grabs her wrist. she doesn’t dare to turn around, but she’s prepared to fight back if necessary.

“don’t turn around and don’t fight back,” the owner of the hand says. “i promise to let you go if you follow me.”

nozomi moves, trying to run away. the grip only gets tighter. she decides to listen, for now. she’ll fight back if her life is in absolute danger; oddly, the promise sounded sincere. her captor pushes her forward. she’s lead into a shuttle; eventually, into the underworld.

is this where i die, nozomi ponders to herself, i think it is. she looks around the sights the underworld had to offer. dark buildings adorned with shining signs. daunting humans and aliens alike staring at her, yet not wanting to approach her. she’s led into one of the dark buildings, one that is more secluded. its hallways are tight, smell lingering with smoke, and voices talking about matters too far from being legal.

she’s pushed into a room by her captor. she turns around when she hears a piece of metal fall onto the floor. seeing her captor, she’s sure this is the last moment of her life. she starts to scream, yelling, cardassian repeatedly. she’s hopes someone hears her. but the alien puts a hand over her mouth, muffling her screams.

“nozomi,” the cardassian mutters, “you need to shut up.”

“h-how do you know my name,” nozomi says in between harsh breaths, after the cardassian’s hand is removed. those who don’t know her personally know her as nova, the stage name she chosen at sixteen. definitely, the cardassian wouldn’t be someone nozomi knew. “i’m going to kill you, i swear. if i don’t, the empire will.”

“i’m going to kill you,” the cardassian rebuts. “especially after all the things your father has done to my species. if you act up, i’ll kill you right after i say what i have to say.”

nozomi sits down on the flimsy bed. out of all species her father could’ve sent, he sends one of the most dangerous? she decides to trust the alien for now.

“good,” the cardassian says, sitting down on a chair. there’s no room for introduction. “your father captured a group of my people, murdered them all except for me. he first asked me about rebellion secrets, though i didn’t know much. he eventually gave up and instead gave me a mission. to send you a message when you reach the age of eighteen.”

“h-how did you find out where–”

“where you were,” the cardassian interrupts. “first of all, you are someone well known. its easy to know when you are having a concert or a public appearance. for your private life, well, your father sent a human to follow you. if it was me, i would’ve been done for a long time ago. that’s why we’re here.”

“what’s my father’s message?”

“your father told me to relay some pieces of information that only your family knows, to confirm that i’m his messenger. you are born nozomi bando, the only daughter of admiral bando. during his time on the luminara, you and your family lived in the imperial estate on raxus. you guys have a home in bajor also. your family currently lives in the bajorian estate. convinced, or do you want more?”

nozomi eyes the creature skeptically. anyone could’ve gathered that information if they looked hard enough.

“i’m guessing that’s a request for more,” the cardassian continues. “your father gave you a silver necklace, with an amulet made from compressed star dust. he gave it to you on your tenth birthday, privately, telling you not to tell anyone who gave it or where it came from. correct?”

“c-correct.”

“then, listen up. i’m only telling you this once and you only have one question to ask me after you process this.”

nozomi nods, signalling the cardassian to continue. the alien turns around, making sure that the door was locked.

“your father was a member of the imperial navy for forty years, a matter you already know. i’m also sure you’ve heard about the merciless acts he’s committed during his time as an admiral. well, a human he surprisingly is. he felt guilt and started to feel resent towards the empire as he reached old age and neared the end of his service. his last year as an admiral was spent stopping countless rebellion outbreaks, one of those i was a part of,” the cardassian pauses for nozomi to process what was said. her father, an adored admiral for the imperial navy, resenting its missions? a bizarre concept that was. out of everyone, her father seemed like the last to feel resent towards the empire. “its funny, he gathered information about the rebellion and told the empire leaders. yet, he kept enough information himself to join the rebellion without being in danger. his murder was a facade.”

a facade. does that mean, no, he’s dead, nozomi thinks.

“on their way to the outbreak, your father asked his men if there were anyone who felt resent towards the empire. i don’t know how he convinced them to tell the truth, but he did. they were taken to a separate room and when the rebels hijacked your father’s ship, those who pledged allegiance to the empire were murdered. its crazy, how your father planned the murder of his own men? those loyal to him and the empire? he’s one of the most merciless people i’ve ever met and my species were considered merciless. your father was the last one standing and was taken 'captive’ along with those who felt resent towards the empire. they were taken somewhere, a place i’m not supposed to tell you. those who tried to act courageous and say they were just joking were murdered on the spot. only a few, along with your father, remained to join the rebellion.”

she couldn’t think. her father felt resent towards the empire, that was one thing. now, this alien tells her that her father faked his death and joins the rebellion? the enemy, the one thing her father always told her to despise. the cardassian takes note of the young girl’s changed expression.

“i-,” the alien continues, “its a lot to process, but its true. whether you believe me or not, its true.”

“is-is he alive? my father, is he alive?”

“as of this month, when we last met, yes. he told me not to tell you where he is and you are forbidden to tell anyone, including your mother. if word breaks out that your father is a part of the rebellion, everyone will know its you. i,” the cardassian wishes the next part was fiction, “i can’t say that he will forgive you, but i can say that you will end up like those who were found guilty during his time as an admiral. he told me to tell you, to trust your instinct. not everything, not everyone, not every story you know is true. he says he knows he can’t control whether or not you’ll join the imperial navy or want to join the rebellion. whatever side you choose, he tells you to look at everything with a close eye and trust nobody. he also sends his congratulations on your idol venture.”

the cardassian stands up from the chair and puts back its morph-gen.

“good luck nozomi, you’re going to need it.”

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