Daystrom Institute

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 most 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 of Starbase 80 are reminiscent of those from horror movies. 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.

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.

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.

The “vintage” dress shop Tendi is at has a number of old Trek costumes and props. Hanging above, we have a red female Operations and male Sciences top from TOS, a Command top from DIS Season 2, and a female Command top from SNW. We also see a dress Sciences uniform 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, and Ruk’s top from TOS: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” We also see a phaser rifle, a movie-era Security helmet, various TOS tricorders and TNG PADDs, a TOS communicator, a Klingon d’k tahg, what might be a VISOR display stand, Khan’s belt buckle 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.

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. Kassie reveals she’s El-Aurian, a member of Guinan’s long-lived species, although she’s just 30.

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. Gene is playing a Galaga-type game where a Romulan Valdore-class is shooting at Constitution refit-class targets. He’s also wearing a vest reminiscent of Scotty’s vest in the movies.

Rutherford 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”.

This is the Daystrom Institute Episode Analysis thread for Lower Decks 5x04 A Farewell to Farms.

Now that we’ve had a few days to digest the content of the latest episode, this thread is a place to dig a little deeper.

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.

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.

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.

Boimler references his brief transfer to the Titan at the end of Season 2 and the first few episodes of season 3.

qoH means “fool”. 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”.

This is the Daystrom Institute Episode Analysis thread for Lower Decks 5x03 The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel.

Now that we’ve had a few days to digest the content of the latest episode, this thread is a place to dig a little deeper.

After rewatching DS9: “Defiant”, I had a thought; to prevent transporter clones from impersonating each other, could Starfleet require, as a part of duty, that transporter clones receive slight genomic resequencing that changes no major traits but allows DNA scanners to distinguish them?

I can think of a few issues. One, would it break genetic experimentation laws even though there would be negligible changes to each transporter clone? Two, is this too sever a violation of personal liberties for the Federation to be allowed? Three, is the technology there to do this effectively in a starship’s sickbay?

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").

This is the Daystrom Institute Episode Analysis thread for Lower Decks 5x01 Dos Cerritos and 5x02 Shades of Green.

Now that we’ve had a few days to digest the content of the latest episode, this thread is a place to dig a little deeper.

The title is similar to the infamous Season 2 clip show TNG: “Shades of Grey”, written due to a writer’s strike at the time.

D’Erika is eating wing-slug rolls. Orion wing-slugs were mentioned by Lwaxana Troi in TNG: “Ménage à TroiBoimler has seen when he died briefly (LD: “In the Cradle of Vexilonn beta canon they are said to be native to the Rigel system.

The Stardate is 59376.9 - by TNG reckoning that makes it 2382 (as also reckoned using Naomi Wildman’s age last episode), and Cerritos is at Targalus IX. One of the banners being displayed says “No Money No Problems”, an allusion to the song “Mo Money Mo Problems” by the Notorious B.I.G.

Boimler appears to trying to grow facial hair, probably inspired by his parallel counterpart from last episode. He’s calling his tips “Bointers”. He is addressed as Commander even though his rank remains LT-jg, presumably because he’s in command of this away team.

The shuttle Sequoia, named after the California National Park like all Cerritos shuttles, was damaged in LD: “No Small Parts” and has been under repair since LD: “Strange Energies”.

The Blue Orions are House Azure now, and a blazzard is a kind of domesticated Orion bird with reptilian features. Tendi says Orions haven’t used sailships in hundreds of years. Bajoran lightships used solar sails as far back as the 16th Century (DS9: “Explorers”), and R’ongovian ships also used solar sails for ceremonial purposes (SNW: “Spock Amok”).

The Orion sailship doesn’t have inertial dampeners, and neither did the Bajoran lightship. Inertial dampeners are only critical at FTL speeds, and solar sails are not meant for that. However, like Sisko’s Bajoran lightship, the Orion sailship does appear to have gravity plating.

Sarium krellide is a material used in power cells or in explosives (TNG: “In Theory”), and also powered Starfleet combadges (PRO: “Observer’s Paradox”).

Phlox kept a Pyrithian Bat as part of his menagerie on the NX-01 (ENT: “Flight or Fight”, et al.).

“It is possible to do everything right and still get your away team kidnapped by the corporate elite,” is a paraphrase of Picard’s “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose,” from TNG: “Peak Performance”.

On Hysperia, they keep dragons for pets and call their warp drives “dragonsbreath engines” (LD: “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie”).

T’Lyn appears to have added herself to the cartoon squiggles of the others on the Sequoia’s hatch.

Boimler tells Mackler to “turn away from the mountain”. The Black Mountain is a spiritual battleground in the afterlife (LD: “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris”) which Boimler has seen when he died briefly (LD: “In the Cradle of Vexilon”).

Assisting T'Lyn in demolishing Sequoia is Goodgey, Badgey's good twin from LD: "A Few Badgeys More".

The title is Spanish for “Two Little Hills”, and aside from a literal description of the episode’s plot, reminded me of the song “Dos Oruguitas” (Two Butterflies) from the movie Encanto. A similar title was LD: "wej Duj", Klingon for "Three Ships".

The collector’s (Yorif by the closed captioning) ship is a Zibalian freighter (TNG: “The Most Toys”), and the collector himself is of the same unnamed species as Palor Toff from that episode, which also appeared in LD: “Reflections”. He has Hupyrian guards (TNG: “The Nagus”, et al.). Tendi’s holographic disguise is that of a Heliian woman, the species to which Aquiel belonged (TNG: “Aquiel”). 

Seen in the collection is a Risian horgh’an (TNG: “Captain’s Holiday”), a Veltan lust idol (called a sex idol in “The Most Toys”), next to a broken Bajoran Reckoning Tablet (DS9: “The Reckoning”). Apparently, Orions lived in childhood slime dungeons. Yorif uses a ST II design phaser and claims his ornate facial piercing is “prescription”. 

The LD title has the 3D effect that was applied to TNG’s title which appeared only in Season 5. The ever-crowded battle in the title sequence is joined by Apollo’s hand (TOS: “Who Mourns for Adonais?”), which grabs the Borg cube, a Tholian ship drawing its web (TOS: “The Tholian Web”) and V’Ger (TMP), complete with its sound effects.

Mariner is playing a game of Vulcan kal-toh with T’Lyn. Boimler’s Fleet magazine, aside from the “30 Under 30” feature, also highlights “Klingon Kouture: Blood is the New Black” (an allusion to Orange is the New Black, which also starred Kate Mulgrew), as well as “Q Who? The Continuum Awaits”(alluding to TNG: “Q Who?”). It also mentions “Treknomics”, which is an out-of-universe term used to refer to Star Trek economics. The cover also somewhat resembles the official Star Trek Explorer magazine published by Titan Comics. It is issue No. 47, a recurring number and in-joke in Star Trek. 

Naomi Wildman was born on Voyager in 2372 during its sojourn in the Delta Quadrant, the half-Ktarian half-human daughter of Ensign Samantha Wildman who was pregnant when she came on board. This dates this season around 2382. Tendi mentions it’s been “months” since the end of Season 4. 

Worf encountered a quantum fissure in TNG: “Parallels”, which sent him on a journey through several parallel realities, including parallel Enterprises. D’Erika says that the Orion warship (later we find out it’s a medical frigate) dates from the time of the Great Plague over 300 years prior. Roger Korby’s claim to fame was his translation of medical records from Orion ruins that revolutionized immunization techniques (TOS: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”), but I always imagined the ruins to be older than a few centuries. 

It was established in “Parallels” that quantum signatures differ from universe to universe. In this case, the parallel that Cerritos is in exhibits only a .327% variance. Among the differences in hair (and in Otherford’s case, cybernetic augmentations), the parallel Billups is King (where our Billups rejected the throne) and has Hysperian accessories over his uniform, like Worf used to wear his sash over his. 

We finally find out that Mariner is her middle name, so she was born Beckett Mariner Freeman. She went by "Becky" when living on Starbase 25 (LD: "An Embarassment of Dopplers") and her father still uses that name (LD: "Grounded").

The globes at the rear of the Orion frigate are like those spinning at the rear of a D’Var type Orion scout ship (TOS: “Journey to Babel”, SNW: “Those Old Scientists”). Blue-skinned Orions (actually light green) appeared only in TAS and were the result of coloring problems in the animation (Hal Sutherland, the director, was colorblind, also explaining why TAS tribbles are pink). Also, the odd pronunciation of “Orion” by the blue-skinned Orions here (“OR-ee-on”) comes from TAS: “The Pirates of Orion”, the mistake being due to an absence of a pronunciation guide.

Captain Becky says “there’s no interpersonal conflict allowed on my ship!” which was Roddenberry’s edict for TNG. Mariner also mentioned that people weren’t supposed to have conflict in LD: “Strange Energies”. Becky also uses a riding crop - in LD: “First First Contact” Mariner said she didn’t want a new captain because potentially they could be “some weirdo with a riding crop”. That was likely an allusion to Captain Styles (ST III) using a swagger stick. 

As she goes to replace Mariner, Becky uses the sarcastic Vulcan salute first seen in LD: “Moist Vessel”. We find out that the parallel Captain Freeman ended up at the infamous Starbase 80 (first mentioned in LD: “Terminal Provocations”). 

The Blue Orions say they are laughed at for their “ridiculous uniforms”, which were a product of TAS design. As Parallel Boimler goes to take his seat as Acting Captain, he does a reverse Riker Maneuver out of the conn chair. 

At the bar next to Ransom is a bottle of Cardassian kanar (DS9: “The Marquis, Part II”). In front of Boimler is a raktajino mug seen in DS9, in reality a Highwave Hotjo 16 oz. Travel Mug.

It's easy for us to understand that The Doctor is a sapient being.

After all, he acts like one! He's got a slew of odd personality quirks, balances irritating behavior with kindness and sympathy, behaves in a similarly slightly erratic manner as most of us flesh and blood creatures, and responds to difficulties with every appearance of genuine emotion. It's extremely easy for human audiences to look at the early seasons Voyager crew as bigoted for their slow acceptance of him as a "real" member of the crew, and react very harshly to later challenges to his personhood from people outside of the crew. It's not uncommon to see that behavior referenced as proof that 24th century people are no more "enlightened" than the obviously flawed people of today. And maybe they aren't; that's not my topic for today.

But the element I think that argument is missing is something these 24th century people have been exposed to all their lives, and we in 2024 have only begun to encounter: soulless, unconscious entities capable of impressive imitations of a real person.

24th century holograms appear as perfect copies of physical humans, with perfectly recognizable voices, normal human mannerisms, and convincingly human speech that responds naturally and automatically to nearly any expected or unexpected input. Any of us unknowingly tossed onto a 24th century holodeck would be totally convinced that these people projected around us and interacting with us are as real as anybody we meet today: nothing they do will clue us in to the fact that we're interacting with philosophical zombies.

Most of us first encountered something like this when ChatGPT and it's ilk suddenly got really good and easily accessible just a couple years ago. Suddenly a computer could create text that read like a human had written it, responding to context and occasionally interjecting very human behaviors (like making up answers to stuff it didn't know, and attempting to gaslight anyone who called it out for being wrong). A shocking number of modern people seem to genuinely believe that these bots show real consciousness (even some who really ought to know better). And it's not hard to understand why, when these bots can spoof every text-based indication of humanity that most of us look for.

People of the 24th century have spent their entire lives interacting with bots that smash the Turing Test even more thoroughly, and on every level imaginable. They can walk onto a holodeck and spin up a person from scratch who looks, smells, feels, and sounds completely real, who talks coherently and shows perfectly ordinary physical mannerisms. And they also know, with ironclad certainty, that these creations are no more human and no more alive than a tricorder or a hyperspanner. Just about all they have to definitively prove if someone is real or not lies in if they can exist outside the holodeck.

Enter The Doctor. He's very definitively a hologram. When first activated he's no more real than any other holographic creation, and only slowly grows in unanticipated ways which slowly convince his crew that he's become something more than that. This process is slow, but it's actually a bit of a surprise that it happens at all. Excepting Kes and Neelix, everyone on Voyager is quite accustomed to holographically generated people who act human but are purely a facade. That this very reasonable prejudice could be overcome at all should be seen as a triumph of empathy. It's not at all surprising that the people back home on Earth aren't buying it, and can't even be persuaded beyond a bare minimum threshold of plausible uncertainty.

I theorize that people who are growing up right now in an environment of very convincing AI chatbots will find it easier than we did to recognize holographic beings in Star Trek shows as sophisticated extensions of those internet bots, and will mirror the slow acceptance by Voyager's crew that The Doctor is something more than that.

So what does that mean for us? What do we do as more of our instinctive indicators of another person's humanity are effortlessly aped by machines? This is a difficulty which Star Trek shows had only begun to grapple with, but it's fertile ground for future episodes and undeniably a relevant question for our day.

I think the Vau N'Akat seen in Prodigy have a lot of "biological and technological distinctiveness" to be added to the collective's own. My question is whether or not the Borg could take advantage of the Vau N'Akat's abilities, and whether they'd be all that helpful.

For instance, could assimilated Vau N'Akat use their heirloom powers to manipulate materials in order to pump out at least the shells of Borg Cubes like nobody's business?

I think this depends on how heirloom material actually works and is made. Its utility to the Borg probably depends on whether or not it's a limited resource or actually some sort of alloy that could be constructed anywhere in the galaxy.

In truth, we can't know that, as in the current state of canon Vau N'Akat lore, it's basically just space magic to us. If I had to take a wild guess, I have two theories:

1. Maybe Vau N'Akat have detachable nanobot-esque cells that communicate with the brain over an electromagnatic signal, allowing the quick assembly of structures at a relatively precise level, especially with the one specific material. (Perhaps all that blue dust stuff that happens at death are these cells freaking out as communication ceases and, for lack of orders, devouring the body.)
2. The Vau N'Akat have organs that essentially very precisely accelerate exchange particles. (This theory makes the above one seem comparatively more plausible.)

Another question is whether or not Vau N'Akat drones could use all that "your will is mine" stuff to aid the assimilation of other Vau N'Akat and/or create one super drone.

Going with theory 1, maybe the "Your will is mine" stuff is actually a weak ability to lend extra cells to the desired person that builds up when a lot of people are doing it, strengthening healing and immune responses as well as any use of that person's detached cells, thus explaining that whole scene.

If this is the mechanic by which it works (and assimilation doesn't somehow bork the mental facilities for this), this could be a very powerful ability for the Borg. It almost sounds too powerful, as those cells could be used as essentially an assimilation virus or a bioweapon, which I think would break the balance of power in the ST universe in a way that I think writers really wouldn't want to.

Overall, as I have said before, just as I find it very fun to try to theorize how the Vau N'Akat work, I also find it very difficult due to both its status as a very new species and their general uniqueness (almost un-Trekiness, not to insult them) as a species. I do think Prodigy does some good things with the Vau N'Akat, and it's nice to have a species that's a bit more than just forehead ridges and a fatal flaw (if they even bother with the forehead ridges - looking at you, Betazoids). However, similar to some of the complaints with Prodigy in general, I can't deny that the space magic aspect feels more Star Wars than I can say I like in Star Trek.

So, what are your thoughts?

I guess the only case we can examine is The Doctor. Whenever The Doctor uses a transporter, what traveling: the lights or the mobile emitter?

There have been many cases which The Doctor has become solid so other solid objects can no longer pass through them. If the object we are seeing being beamed is the mobile emitter, then is it necessary for them to be on a separate pad? I imagine the person accompanying The Doctor could just hold the emitter instead.

As anyone who watched Prodigy knows, the main characters + Chakotay end up on the ISS Voyager A during some accidental multiverse hopping due to time shenanigans.

It could be argued that the mirror universe is just a random variant of it in the multiverse where the Terran Empire is still prominent.

However, I noticed two things: Terran Admiral Janeway refers to the fleet as "The New Terran Fleet", maybe suggesting a success for the Terran rebellion.

This is further supported by the fact that her combadge is the same as (and her uniform plausibly an evolution of) the ones seen in the various IDW mirror universe comics, the earliest of which is from 2017.~1~

The plot of these comics tries to fit in with the info from DS9, revealing (in its own continuity, at least) that the Terran Empire still existed during DS9 but had been reduced to the Sol System, with most people outside it not even realizing it still existed. The comics chronicle the resurgence of the empire and the rise and fall of Picard.

Is it possible that the timeline we see in Prodigy is actually the same mirror universe in DS9 and that the IDW mirror universe comics have been semi-canonized?

1: Coincidentally but not relevant to the question, the ISS Cerritos shown in the holodeck in LD:I, Excretus also uses these badges, but not the typical mirror universe uniforms, although it could be those are just the mirror Cali Class uniforms.

While responding to a comment in a crappost I made on Risa, my mind developed a few thoughts on how Seven was impacted overall.

First of all, here are the facts:

• Seven was assimilated at 6 years old.
• She was in a maturation chamber for 5 years (2350-2355).
• She was in the collective until 2374, when she was 30.

Now, my questions:

• What is 7's biological age? In other words, how far does a Borg drone need to be matured to function in the collective? Equivalent of a 16? 20? 25? How much do Borg age while they are assimilated?
• What are the psychological impacts on Seven's mind, and to what extent are they permanent? To what extent is she emotionally equivalent to a child? Having such a level of isolation from humans would obviously (and clearly did) have a major impact on Seven's mind. However, Seven improves a lot in some senses by Picard. Is it possible that Borg nanoprobes somehow maintain neuroplasticity in a way that allows Seven to be able to adapt in a way a human who have become a ferile child at 6 might not be able to?

Because of his original purpose, it makes sense that the Doctor wouldn’t have held a Starfleet rank during Voyager.

However, in Prodigy, he still doesn’t have pips. This leads to my questions:

• Can a self-aware hologram hold rank or a non-com position in Starfleet?
• If so, how would the Doctor attaib it?

According to the STO wiki, he doesn’t wear them by choice but does have a rank. That might be a reasonable explanation; I can’t imagine Janeway not at least trying to field commission him.

Darwin Station was an explicitly Federation genetic research facility which was creating human children with telepathic and telekinetic powers, rapid physical maturation, and immensely powerful active immune systems (the last of which unwittingly killed the crew of a transport ship). This seems like precisely the sort of genetic engineering which has been banned in the Federation since it's conception, in regulations which are repeatedly referenced in TNG, DS9, and VOY. And yet, nobody even hints at there being an ethical, legal, or regulatory issue with what these researchers are doing. Dr. Pulaski even says of one augment child, without any apparent concern, "We could be looking at the future of humanity."

One would think that if one has a broad reaching policy against genetic augmentation principally motivated by the genetic wars, and by subsequent reinforcement of the idea that arbitrarily enhanced people are likely to be dangerously unstable, this sort of genetic program is exactly what that policy exists to prevent. And yet, there is it.

So, what happened here? Was this the product of a brief lull in Federation policy regarding genetic augmentation? A Federation research team going way off the rails, meeting an Enterprise crew feeling unusually liassez-faire about Federation law? Or something else?

Here’s a bigger bugbear (than the Vulcan question): how does it all work in Ferengi society?

I’ll split order my post by my pre-Rom and post-Rom thoughts.

Pre-Rom:

• Gay (not Lesbian) Ferengi are probably a normal thing.
• Based on DS9 “Profits and Lace” and Nilva’s reaction to the transitioned Quark, it might be possible that male to female transition, while considered very weird, would be considered fine if you make a sufficiently good female by Ferengi standards, if you know what I mean.
• Conversely, female to male transition probably wouldn’t be accepted, based on the reaction to Pel, although Pel didn’t necessarily actually change her gender identity or get her lobes surgically enlarged. It may be possible that some trans Ferengi existed and simply hid that they weren’t cis, although it’d be more difficult considering the mobility limitations on females. There were probably surgeons on the planet who were like “If you’ve got the Latinum, I’ll totally do it.”
• Overall, I think the sentiment would be, “If you’ve got the lobes and you’ve got the Latinum, I don’t care what you do.”
• For instance, if a non-binary Ferengi made lots of profit, they might not be totally respected, but at least not bothered as much.

Post-Rom:

• Lesbian Ferengi are probably legal but still frowned upon.
• Transitioning either way is probably easier, considering the shift in gender roles as seen by 2381 in Lower Decks.
• Generally, with the Federation membership bid, probably a lot more open but still rife with social issues.

Questions:

• Do Ferengi experience dysphoria when their ears are the wrong size? (Very possibly yes, considering the dysphoria humans can experience from other secondary sex characteristics.)

I've often pondered about how Vulcans view gender and sexuality.

I think pre-Surak/logic, they may have demonstrated homophobia and transphobia, but modern Vulcan Society would probably be chill with it under the reasoning that discrimination would reduce a person's efficacy as a functional member of Vulcan Society. For instance, given a choice between allowing a person to contribute verses driving them to the brink of suicide, Vulcans would probably tend to lean towards the first option.

There could very well still be stigma (Vulcans are far from a perfect society; some may have views that it is illogical to have a romantic relationship without a child), but it's dampened by the logic from the previous paragraph.

There's also the Pon Farr to keep in mind. Not only would it be hard to fight a person in the Ponn Farr, but also you'd literally be killing them by trying to prevent expression of their orientation.

I can’t think of a single VOY episode with mind-melds that didn’t have a character treating it as a super taboo or dangerous telepathic ability.

Is there a reason The Alamo was a heavily discussed historical event during Deep Space Nine’s seventh season? Was there an anniversary of the event? Did it come into popular consciousness in the 90s? Was someone on the writing staff related to Davy Crockett?

I am aware that ENT retcons the change in Klingon physiology as augments Klingons. Is there an accepted theory as to why legacy characters who return after TOS, are shown to have changes? Do people simply retroactively apply the events of “The Augments”?

As said in LD 2x07 Where Pleasant Fountains Lie, Billups is from Hysperia and there is still the technicality that can force him on the throne.

This kind of condition makes me wonder what Hysperia's political status with the Federation is. What stops Billups from e.g claiming asylum with the Federation, especially considering the Hysperians are not a powerful force?

I have three theories:

• Hysperia is a Federation colony, so they are able to apply their throne law on Billups and Billups is unable to claim asylum with a political entity he was already born into.
• Hysperia is not a Federation member, but has a scare resource (like dilithium) that makes Starfleet want to maintain good relations with Hysperia.
• Alternatively, it could be some sort of weird prime directive thing.

In LD 1x08 Veritas, Rutherford is rotating some "EPS Capacitors" (These seem to have little mention outside this episode) to prevent them from overheating.

Before I ask my questions, I first want to establish what makes sense to me here. Although not previously mentioned, like electrical capacitors, EPS Capacitors probably help to "smooth out" plasma flow. As these are high-power systems, I am sure there is risk of overheating in these capacitors that is not as present in current electrical capacitors, which usually don't have a rotating mechanism.

Now, for the questions:

• Why do the capacitors rotate, and what does this do to prevent overheating?
• Why do they have to do this in the 24th century in a post-scarcity society?

For the first: My first theory is these are variable capacitors. Assuming the mechanics work similarly to electrical capacitors, Rutherford could be changing the capacitance of each capacitor to rotate the load. This doesn't feel completely right, though (for instance, how to keep the array within specification).

A better theory is that although its function is analogous to an electrical capacitor, the physical mechanics used behind it are different, and somehow wear in the internal materials is uneven unless rotated, somewhat like tires.

For the second: We practically mastered rotating crap with electricity in THE 20TH CENTURY and have only gotten better since. I don't understand why Starfleet couldn't just give each capacitor a servo motor running off an EPS tap that does the randomization automatically, or at the very least mount them all on a belt. Heck, if heat is the problem, why not a liquid cooling loop? The worst that can happen is an ensign has to go get a mop.

It could be possible that maybe it was kept there as a task to bully ensigns/make officers feel useful, but I feel that kind of thinking wouldn't necessarily exist at the Cali class drawing board. It could be possible that somehow the magnets in the motor interfere with the EPS containment field, but I feel like that would mean a lot more crap would have to be banned on board if the EPS conduits were that vulnerable.

Ultimately, I really can't make full sense of this second point, and would love insights on this and my first question.

In LD 4x06 Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place, Ransom mentions that there are no married officers on board. However, way back in LD 1x02 Envoys, when trying command in the simulation, Rutherford accidentally kills all the ship’s children via destruction of the pre-K and Kindergarten decks. I am thus wondering, are there actually any children on the Cerritos? I do have several theories (some of which could co-exist together), none of which I am certain of:

For No:

• Due to their longer-term mission, Starfleet legally requires schools on the California class in case officers with kids transfer on. These sit empty on the Cerritos.
• Perhaps during Envoys there were some kids, but they transferred off the ship before the Ferenginar visit.
• Alternatively, the training simulation (which seems to represent the Cerritos due to the bridge, LCARS colors, and addition of officers like Ensign Casey) drew upon a generic ops division Cali class configuration for the rest of the ship, thus falsely assuming there were children.

For Yes:

• Birth out of wedlock is common in some Federation cultures, including United Earth.
• It could be possible there are married officers that serve on different ships, with the kid(s) of that couple living on the Cerritos.
• There could be married couples on the Cerritos, but only ONE is an officer (a la O’Brien and Keiko); for instance, Lt. Holly has a husband who is a botanist. The Cerritos cannot allow her husband to do travel guide duty and must assign someone else.
• Similarly, maybe non-commissioned couples exist on the Cerritos, but an officer is required to do the duty.
• Maybe Ransom wasn’t totally literal. Officer couples may just be very rare aboard the Cerritos, and the only ones that are aboard include officers doing a duty so vital they can’t do travel guide duty. Ransom didn’t feel the need to fully explain this and went with the simple version when giving the job to the Beta shifters.

Update (8/23/2024): I was rewatching Lower Decks 2x10 First Contact and the mentions of Captain Freeman probably thinking the Captain Freeman Day decorations were for children implies that at least during season 2, there were children on the ship. I feel that the Archimedes incidents could be impetus for the ship being declared too uncomfortable for a family. I'll see in my rewatch if I come across any other implied children on the Cerritos in later seasons.

During LD 3x10, as much as I enjoy the comaraderie (and Boimler voice-cracking through the ship names), I was little confused as to how the entire class could have made it to the Cerritos so fast. Wouldn't they be relatively evenly spread across the safer part of Federation space, with some in the middle of missions?

After some thought, my theory is that the class decommissioning was more immediate than I first thought; Starfleet had ordered every ship of the class to a central location for crew reassignment not too far from Douglass station, so they were already gathered nearby (having travelled from whatever corners of Federation space the class may have operated in) and been waiting a few days or so when Mariner informed them of the situation.