Annotations for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3x06: “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”:

A sehlat is a Vulcan animal akin to a large furry bear with pronounced saber-tooth tiger-like fangs. Spock’s childhood pet sehlat, I-Chaya, was first mentioned in TOS: “Journey to Babel” and subsequently seen and named in TAS: “Yesteryear”. A non-cartoon version of a wild sehlat was seen in ENT: “The Forge”.

We see the Bellerophon-class USS Farragut (NCC-1647). At this point in his career (2261), Kirk is her first officer, having served on it since he last left Startfleet Academy in 2255. 4 years prior, in 2257, Farragut lost her captain to a dikironium vampire (TOS: “Obsession”) at Tycho IV. Also see my post on making sense of Kirk’s early career history.

Farragut is doing a survey of Helicon Gamma, an unihabited M-class planet. M-class, or Minshara-class planets (as per ENT: “Strange New World”) are capable of sustaining humanoid life.

Farragut is currently under the command of Captain V’Rel, a female Vulcan officer. Kirk’s frustration at her risk-averse nature and his stating that “risk is why we’re here,” echoes his speech in TOS: “Return to Tomorrow” when he insists that “risk is our business.” Kirk’s desire to rewrite the book is also consistent with his character, who has always tended to change the rules (ST II).

Kirk says, "Starfleet could have sent a probe, but instead they sent us because some things you need to see for yourself to truly understand," which is a paraphrase of Archer's remark to T'Pol in ENT: "Civilization", "Starfleet could've sent a probe out here to make maps and take pictures, but they didn't. They sent us so we could explore with our own senses."

John Logie Baird (1888-1946) was a Scottish inventor, best known for demonstrating the first television system in 1926 and going on to invent colour television. Doctor Who fans will remember him being portrayed in the 2023 special “The Giggle”.

Speaking of, at approximately 11:33, to our right and along the same plane as the top of the bridge dome, the TARDIS can be seen among the scavenger’s tentacles.

This is the first time we’ve heard of Asaasllich, Destroyer of Worlds, or the Astrovore, but a lot of this - centuries old scavenger ship, comms interference, unable to get through the hull, gravitational beams destroying planets, consuming resources, large enough to swallow starships whole - reminds me very much of TOS: “The Doomsday Machine”.

Ortegas claims the Klingons call it Chach-Ka, “The Annihilator”. The Klingon word chach means emergency or auxiliary and qa’ means spirit, so I’m not sure if those are the right words or what the Klingon name should be.

We see a toppled 3-D chess set, similar to those on which Kirk and Spock would have regular games in future. This is the first time in SNW where Kirk has been addressed as “Captain Kirk” (excepting alternate timeline versions). As Spock enters the wrecked room, we see a picture of Starbase One on the wall.

Scotty refers to the scavenger as “Nessie”, the popular nickname for the Scottish cryptid known as the Loch Ness Monster. Kirk tells him to come up with some “miracles”, foreshadowing Scotty’s future reputation as a “miracle worker”.

The scene where Scotty is struggling in a wrecked Jeffries tube also reminds me of a similar scene in “Doomsday Machine”. Scotty’s time estimate looks ahead to a time when he always multiples his repair estimates by a factor of 4 to maintain his miracle worker rep (ST III, TNG: “Relics”).

Aldentium (first mention) is used by a few species in propulsion systems. This is also the first mention of Sullivan’s Planet and its pre-warp (and thus Prime Directive-protected) population of 100 million.

Scotty better get used to Kirk just ignoring his protestations and getting on with it, or else it’s going to be a really long 32 years. This is Kirk’s command style - which is less consultative than Picard and Pike’s process.

Another “Doomsday Machine” reference. The procedure to replace a CO that Chapel refers to is covered by Starfleet Regulation 104, Section C.

The scavengers use ion particles in their weapons, which rip through flesh and bone like bullets.

The clock Pelia tosses is the iconic and once ubiquitous Kit-Cat Clock, first made in 1932. She hands M’Benga what is supposed to be an Atari Video Computer System (also known as an Atari 2600), one of the first video game consoles made, released in 1977.

The use of wired (as opposed to wireless) communications to insulate them from jamming is similar to the reboot Battlestar Galactica universe, where intership communications were hard wired to prevent them from being hacked by the Cylons.

Kirk’s mother is named Winona (first named in ST 2009). The story about the dog with the car crops up in Bruce Feirstein’s book Nice Guys Sleep Alone, where it’s used as a metaphor for someone who keeps pursuing a paramour but once they’ve “got” them, they don’t know what to do with them.

As Kirk’s crew come together, the first of the core group of people he will grow to rely on for the rest of his career, the music echoes James Horner’s rousingly nautical soundtrack from ST II.

Pike suggests baryon particles to give the scavenger indigestion (shades of souring the milk ala TNG: “Galaxy’s Child”), and La’An says they have to access the waste system of the warp drive. In TNG: “Starship Mine” it was established that operating warp drives led to a build up of baryons that needed to be occasionally purged from starships by means of a “baryon sweep”.

Pelia used to be a roadie for The Grateful Dead, who stand among the greatest rock groups in history.

While Uhura is usually pictured at her communications station, she has taken the navigation and helm stations on a few occasions, notably in TOS: “The Man Trap” and TOS: “Balance of Terror”. She temporarily took over Spock’s station in TOS: “The Galileo Seven”.

Kirk once told Scotty to “discard the warp nacelles if you have to” in TOS: “The Apple”, but this is the first time we’ve seen a starship do this on-screen.

Una’s trick of using a depressurising section of the ship as a makeshift reaction thruster was also used in TNG: “Cause and Effect” - Riker ordered the shuttle bay to depressurise so as to avoid Enterprise-D colliding with Bozeman. That being said, Una only uses a single airlock rather than an entire shuttlebay, which seems implausibly small when shifting something of Enterprise’s mass.

As we zoom in on the hull markings, we see a United States flag, a delta with what appears to be an United Nations logo inside, and the registry number XCV-100. One of the first spaceships named Enterprise, also prior to Earth Starfleet’s formation, had the registry number XCV-330 (TMP, ENT: “First Flight”).

Prior to First Contact with the Vulcans means prior to 2063 (STFC). Pelia narrows it down to just after World War III ended in 2053. Other ships launched around that time included Cochrane’s Phoenix in 2063 and the UESPA probe Friendship 1 (VOY: “Friendship One”) in 2067. Friendship 1 had the same delta with the UN logo.

Aldebaran whiskey is the “it’s green” liquor that Scotty imbibes with Picard in TNG: “Relics” (and possibly the same one he drinks in TOS: “By Any Other Name”).

Pike’s optimism is laudable - in the end, what Star Trek teaches us is whether we turn into monsters or not can’t be blamed on circumstance, it’s a choice (TOS: "A Taste of Armageddon"). The same choice faced Captains Janeway and Ransom in the Delta Quadrant (VOY: “Equinox”), and both chose differently. Kirk’s lesson that we’re not that different from the enemy would serve him well in situations where he can anticipate the enemy’s moves (TOS: “Balance of Terror”), reactions (“A Taste of Armageddon”) or when he reaches out with empathy instead of destruction (TOS: “Arena”).

Annotations for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3x06: “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”:

A sehlat is a Vulcan animal akin to a large furry bear with pronounced saber-tooth tiger-like fangs. Spock’s childhood pet sehlat, I-Chaya, was first mentioned in TOS: “Journey to Babel” and subsequently seen and named in TAS: “Yesteryear”. A non-cartoon version of a wild sehlat was seen in ENT: “The Forge”.

We see the Bellerophon-class USS Farragut (NCC-1647). At this point in his career (2261), Kirk is her first officer, having served on it since he last left Startfleet Academy in 2255. 4 years prior, in 2257, Farragut lost her captain to a dikironium vampire (TOS: “Obsession”) at Tycho IV. Also see my post on making sense of Kirk’s early career history.

Farragut is doing a survey of Helicon Gamma, an unihabited M-class planet. M-class, or Minshara-class planets (as per ENT: “Strange New World”) are capable of sustaining humanoid life.

Farragut is currently under the command of Captain V’Rel, a female Vulcan officer. Kirk’s frustration at her risk-averse nature and his stating that “risk is why we’re here,” echoes his speech in TOS: “Return to Tomorrow” when he insists that “risk is our business.” Kirk’s desire to rewrite the book is also consistent with his character, who has always tended to change the rules (ST II).

Kirk says, "Starfleet could have sent a probe, but instead they sent us because some things you need to see for yourself to truly understand," which is a paraphrase of Archer's remark to T'Pol in ENT: "Civilization", "Starfleet could've sent a probe out here to make maps and take pictures, but they didn't. They sent us so we could explore with our own senses."

John Logie Baird (1888-1946) was a Scottish inventor, best known for demonstrating the first television system in 1926 and going on to invent colour television. Doctor Who fans will remember him being portrayed in the 2023 special “The Giggle”.

Speaking of, at approximately 11:33, to our right and along the same plane as the top of the bridge dome, the TARDIS can be seen among the scavenger’s tentacles.

This is the first time we’ve heard of Asaasllich, Destroyer of Worlds, or the Astrovore, but a lot of this - centuries old scavenger ship, comms interference, unable to get through the hull, gravitational beams destroying planets, consuming resources, large enough to swallow starships whole - reminds me very much of TOS: “The Doomsday Machine”.

Ortegas claims the Klingons call it Chach-Ka, “The Annihilator”. The Klingon word chach means emergency or auxiliary and qa’ means spirit, so I’m not sure if those are the right words or what the Klingon name should be.

We see a toppled 3-D chess set, similar to those on which Kirk and Spock would have regular games in future. This is the first time in SNW where Kirk has been addressed as “Captain Kirk” (excepting alternate timeline versions). As Spock enters the wrecked room, we see a picture of Starbase One on the wall.

Scotty refers to the scavenger as “Nessie”, the popular nickname for the Scottish cryptid known as the Loch Ness Monster. Kirk tells him to come up with some “miracles”, foreshadowing Scotty’s future reputation as a “miracle worker”.

The scene where Scotty is struggling in a wrecked Jeffries tube also reminds me of a similar scene in “Doomsday Machine”. Scotty’s time estimate looks ahead to a time when he always multiples his repair estimates by a factor of 4 to maintain his miracle worker rep (ST III, TNG: “Relics”).

Aldentium (first mention) is used by a few species in propulsion systems. This is also the first mention of Sullivan’s Planet and its pre-warp (and thus Prime Directive-protected) population of 100 million.

Scotty better get used to Kirk just ignoring his protestations and getting on with it, or else it’s going to be a really long 32 years. This is Kirk’s command style - which is less consultative than Picard and Pike’s process.

Another “Doomsday Machine” reference. The procedure to replace a CO that Chapel refers to is covered by Starfleet Regulation 104, Section C.

The scavengers use ion particles in their weapons, which rip through flesh and bone like bullets.

The clock Pelia tosses is the iconic and once ubiquitous Kit-Cat Clock, first made in 1932. She hands M’Benga what is supposed to be an Atari Video Computer System (also known as an Atari 2600), one of the first video game consoles made, released in 1977.

The use of wired (as opposed to wireless) communications to insulate them from jamming is similar to the reboot Battlestar Galactica universe, where intership communications were hard wired to prevent them from being hacked by the Cylons.

Kirk’s mother is named Winona (first named in ST 2009). The story about the dog with the car crops up in Bruce Feirstein’s book Nice Guys Sleep Alone, where it’s used as a metaphor for someone who keeps pursuing a paramour but once they’ve “got” them, they don’t know what to do with them.

As Kirk’s crew come together, the first of the core group of people he will grow to rely on for the rest of his career, the music echoes James Horner’s rousingly nautical soundtrack from ST II.

Pike suggests baryon particles to give the scavenger indigestion (shades of souring the milk ala TNG: “Galaxy’s Child”), and La’An says they have to access the waste system of the warp drive. In TNG: “Starship Mine” it was established that operating warp drives led to a build up of baryons that needed to be occasionally purged from starships by means of a “baryon sweep”.

Pelia used to be a roadie for The Grateful Dead, who stand among the greatest rock groups in history.

While Uhura is usually pictured at her communications station, she has taken the navigation and helm stations on a few occasions, notably in TOS: “The Man Trap” and TOS: “Balance of Terror”. She temporarily took over Spock’s station in TOS: “The Galileo Seven”.

Kirk once told Scotty to “discard the warp nacelles if you have to” in TOS: “The Apple”, but this is the first time we’ve seen a starship do this on-screen.

Una’s trick of using a depressurising section of the ship as a makeshift reaction thruster was also used in TNG: “Cause and Effect” - Riker ordered the shuttle bay to depressurise so as to avoid Enterprise-D colliding with Bozeman. That being said, Una only uses a single airlock rather than an entire shuttlebay, which seems implausibly small when shifting something of Enterprise’s mass.

As we zoom in on the hull markings, we see a United States flag, a delta with what appears to be an United Nations logo inside, and the registry number XCV-100. One of the first spaceships named Enterprise, also prior to Earth Starfleet’s formation, had the registry number XCV-330 (TMP, ENT: “First Flight”).

Prior to First Contact with the Vulcans means prior to 2063 (STFC). Pelia narrows it down to just after World War III ended in 2053. Other ships launched around that time included Cochrane’s Phoenix in 2063 and the UESPA probe Friendship 1 (VOY: “Friendship One”) in 2067. Friendship 1 had the same delta with the UN logo.

Aldebaran whiskey is the “it’s green” liquor that Scotty imbibes with Picard in TNG: “Relics” (and possibly the same one he drinks in TOS: “By Any Other Name”).

Pike’s optimism is laudable - in the end, what Star Trek teaches us is whether we turn into monsters or not can’t be blamed on circumstance, it’s a choice (TOS: "A Taste of Armageddon"). The same choice faced Captains Janeway and Ransom in the Delta Quadrant (VOY: “Equinox”), and both chose differently. Kirk’s lesson that we’re not that different from the enemy would serve him well in situations where he can anticipate the enemy’s moves (TOS: “Balance of Terror”), reactions (“A Taste of Armageddon”) or when he reaches out with empathy instead of destruction (TOS: “Arena”).

Ensign Gamble identifies himself as a “junior medical officer”, not a nurse, but the two may be equivalent. The stardate is 2184.4, and it has been six months since he was assigned to Enterprise. Since Gamble came on board to sub for Chapel while she was away on her three-month fellowship with Korby, this places the episode six months after SNW: “Hegemony, Part 2” or three months after SNW: “Wedding Bell Blues”.

Gamble mentions Korby’s work on “molecular memory and corporeal transference”, and that “man’s fascination with resurrection and reincarnation might be based on forgotten technology” foreshadows the android technology Korby will discover on Exo III (TOS: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”).

Chapel asks how much “tarazine” is lethal. I’m not sure if she meant “thorazine”, which is a real world antipsychotic. Chapel jokes about “command function” being in the “left lobe [of the brain]”. The frontal lobe is where higher executive functions are regulated, and the left hemisphere controls speech, comprehension, math and writing.

Vadia IX was first mentioned in “Wedding” as where Korby and Chapel conducted a dig, and Trelane’s remarks imply it was the ancient homeworld of the Q.

According to the star chart, Vadia is in the same sector as Majalis (SNW: “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach”) and a sector away from Eminiar (TOS: “A Taste of Armageddon”) and Cait (home system of the Caitians), and about 100 ly away from Gorn space. It is under the jurisdiction of the M’Kroon, who have their first mention here.

Beto Ortegas first appeared in “Wedding”, but was mentioned prior to that in the SNW novel Toward the Night by James Swallow. As I noted previously, Beto is usually a nickname in Spanish for names that end in -berto, and we find out here his actual first name is Humberto.

“We’re gonna need a bigger landing party,” is a reference to the famous line, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” from the 1975 movie Jaws.

Polaris is also known as the North Star, the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor (or the Little Dipper), but we are unaware if it has any planets, let alone twelve. This is the first mention of Praetorian. La’An says, “Fascinating,” which is a phrase Spock often uses - Chapel seems to notice this.

“Ancient astronauts” is a reference to a dubious (not to mention racist) yet popular hypothesis in real-world ufology, where it is posited that aliens with advanced technology visited Earth in the past and left traces of their visits, including objects like the Pyramids or Stonehenge which proponents of this theory argue could not have been built by primitive man without help. In the Star Trek universe, however, aliens have visited more primitive cultures and either influenced them and/or been mistaken for deities. We have TOS: “Who Mourns for Adonais” where aliens are taken to be gods by the ancient Greeks and TOS: “Return to Tomorrow” where Sargon suggests humans are the descendants of Aretans. In TNG: “The Chase” (and DIS Season 5), much humanoid life throughout the galaxy is said to be seeded by the Progenitors. In TNG: “Who Watches the Watchers?”, Picard is mistaken for a god by the Mintakans.

“El Cucuy”, or Coco (meaning “skull”) is a mythical Spanish boogeyman, a monster who spirits naughty children away and eats them. The Ortegas family is from Colombia (SNW: “Among the Lotus Eaters”).

I’m not sure why the Universal Translator doesn’t pick up on N’Jal’s speech here and nobody seems to question it. Was N’Jal’s earlier speech translated or was he speaking Federation Standard, and if the latter, why doesn’t he speak it here? Uhura says her intepretation is the “closest translation”, so perhaps the UT somehow doesn’t want to be imprecise?

La’An translates the Chinese text as “Here stands the beholder sentry of eternal bridges.”The Chinese text reads, in traditional Chinese script, “這裡矗立著永恆之穚的旁觀者哨兵,” which I would translate (from Mandarin) as “Here stands the eternal bridge’s sentry.”

Korby’s challenge to Spock, that the latter does not believe that the science exists to prevent consciousness from fading after death is ironic considering the Vulcan (or at least the Syrannite sect) belief in the existence of katras and Spock’s future experience with that (ENT: “Kir’Shara”, ST III).

Rukiya was M’Benga’s terminally ill daughter which he placed in the care of a non-corporeal life form (SNW: “The Elysian Kingdom”). Gamble’s remark about the entity that emerged possibly just being something bearing Rukiya’s appearance and that it ate her echoes my own doubts about the ending of that episode. Thank you!

Scotty sends the orb “nowhere”. The idea of using the transporter to dematerialize but not rematerialize threats was first mooted by a crazed Chekov in TOS: “Day of the Dove” in reference to leaving a party of Klingons dematerialized. In TOS: “Wolf in the Fold” they beamed Redjac’s host body away, dispersing its components into space, but here they decide to keep the Vezda in the transporter buffer like M’Benga did to Rukiya to keep her alive (SNW: “Ghosts of Ilyria”).

What exactly the Vezda life forms are is not made explicit, but the fact that they are ancient, malign, non-corporeal entites draws parallels with beings like the pah-wraiths from DS9 (also, N’Jal says “Mika-tah Vezda-pah”, as does Batel when she sees Gamble). Also, what the connection between the Gorn and the Vezda (or indeed if there is a further connection with the Q) is as yet unexplored. And why there was Chinese on the console.

The containment orbs (although not for prison purposes) for ancient non-corporeal forms also remind me of the Aretan orbs in TOS: “Return to Tomorrow”.

And as the episode ends we finally have the now late Gamble’s first name: Dana.

Ensign Gamble identifies himself as a “junior medical officer”, not a nurse, but the two may be equivalent. The stardate is 2184.4, and it has been six months since he was assigned to Enterprise. Since Gamble came on board to sub for Chapel while she was away on her three-month fellowship with Korby, this places the episode six months after SNW: “Hegemony, Part 2” or three months after SNW: “Wedding Bell Blues”.

Gamble mentions Korby’s work on “molecular memory and corporeal transference”, and that “man’s fascination with resurrection and reincarnation might be based on forgotten technology” foreshadows the android technology Korby will discover on Exo III (TOS: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”).

Chapel asks how much “tarazine” is lethal. I’m not sure if she meant “thorazine”, which is a real world antipsychotic. Chapel jokes about “command function” being in the “left lobe [of the brain]”. The frontal lobe is where higher executive functions are regulated, and the left hemisphere controls speech, comprehension, math and writing.

Vadia IX was first mentioned in “Wedding” as where Korby and Chapel conducted a dig, and Trelane’s remarks imply it was the ancient homeworld of the Q.

According to the star chart, Vadia is in the same sector as Majalis (SNW: “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach”) and a sector away from Eminiar (TOS: “A Taste of Armageddon”) and Cait (home system of the Caitians), and about 100 ly away from Gorn space. It is under the jurisdiction of the M’Kroon, who have their first mention here.

Beto Ortegas first appeared in “Wedding”, but was mentioned prior to that in the SNW novel Toward the Night by James Swallow. As I noted previously, Beto is usually a nickname in Spanish for names that end in -berto, and we find out here his actual first name is Humberto.

“We’re gonna need a bigger landing party,” is a reference to the famous line, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” from the 1975 movie Jaws.

Polaris is also known as the North Star, the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor (or the Little Dipper), but we are unaware if it has any planets, let alone twelve. This is the first mention of Praetorian. La’An says, “Fascinating,” which is a phrase Spock often uses - Chapel seems to notice this.

“Ancient astronauts” is a reference to a dubious (not to mention racist) yet popular hypothesis in real-world ufology, where it is posited that aliens with advanced technology visited Earth in the past and left traces of their visits, including objects like the Pyramids or Stonehenge which proponents of this theory argue could not have been built by primitive man without help. In the Star Trek universe, however, aliens have visited more primitive cultures and either influenced them and/or been mistaken for deities. We have TOS: “Who Mourns for Adonais” where aliens are taken to be gods by the ancient Greeks and TOS: “Return to Tomorrow” where Sargon suggests humans are the descendants of Aretans. In TNG: “The Chase” (and DIS Season 5), much humanoid life throughout the galaxy is said to be seeded by the Progenitors. In TNG: “Who Watches the Watchers?”, Picard is mistaken for a god by the Mintakans.

“El Cucuy”, or Coco (meaning “skull”) is a mythical Spanish boogeyman, a monster who spirits naughty children away and eats them. The Ortegas family is from Colombia (SNW: “Among the Lotus Eaters”).

I’m not sure why the Universal Translator doesn’t pick up on N’Jal’s speech here and nobody seems to question it. Was N’Jal’s earlier speech translated or was he speaking Federation Standard, and if the latter, why doesn’t he speak it here? Uhura says her intepretation is the “closest translation”, so perhaps the UT somehow doesn’t want to be imprecise?

La’An translates the Chinese text as “Here stands the beholder sentry of eternal bridges.”The Chinese text reads, in traditional Chinese script, “這裡矗立著永恆之穚的旁觀者哨兵,” which I would translate (from Mandarin) as “Here stands the eternal bridge’s sentry.”

Korby’s challenge to Spock, that the latter does not believe that the science exists to prevent consciousness from fading after death is ironic considering the Vulcan (or at least the Syrannite sect) belief in the existence of katras and Spock’s future experience with that (ENT: “Kir’Shara”, ST III).

Rukiya was M’Benga’s terminally ill daughter which he placed in the care of a non-corporeal life form (SNW: “The Elysian Kingdom”). Gamble’s remark about the entity that emerged possibly just being something bearing Rukiya’s appearance and that it ate her echoes my own doubts about the ending of that episode. Thank you!

Scotty sends the orb “nowhere”. The idea of using the transporter to dematerialize but not rematerialize threats was first mooted by a crazed Chekov in TOS: “Day of the Dove” in reference to leaving a party of Klingons dematerialized. In TOS: “Wolf in the Fold” they beamed Redjac’s host body away, dispersing its components into space, but here they decide to keep the Vezda in the transporter buffer like M’Benga did to Rukiya to keep her alive (SNW: “Ghosts of Ilyria”).

What exactly the Vezda life forms are is not made explicit, but the fact that they are ancient, malign, non-corporeal entites draws parallels with beings like the pah-wraiths from DS9 (also, N’Jal says “Mika-tah Vezda-pah”, as does Batel when she sees Gamble). Also, what the connection between the Gorn and the Vezda (or indeed if there is a further connection with the Q) is as yet unexplored. And why there was Chinese on the console.

The containment orbs (although not for prison purposes) for ancient non-corporeal forms also remind me of the Aretan orbs in TOS: “Return to Tomorrow”.

And as the episode ends we finally have the now late Gamble’s first name: Dana.

The title alludes to old time radio plays, and modern reproductions such as the “Thrilling Adventure Hour”, which ran as a podcast and staged performances in Los Angeles from 2005 to 2015. It is also an episode where the cast play different characters, like SNW: “The Elysian Kingdom”.

The first music cue is from TOS, and of course the lighting, costuming and props all evoke the style of TOS and 1960s science fiction. The wave-form on the large screen reminds me of the Control wave from the title sequence of The Outer Limits.

“Maxwell Saint” is sitting in a very typical James Kirk pose in the chair and speaks in a parody of William Shatner’s acting and diction. “Lee Woods” mentions the war - Ortegas served in the Klingon War. Zipnop of the Triathic Agonyan Empire has very visible wire rods holding up their “eyes”. The face also reminds me of the aliens in the 1957 movie Invasion of the Saucer Men.

The title sequence has been altered to resemble TOS’s opening narration and titles. For what it’s worth, 84 months is 7 years, alluding to the 7 seasons given TNG, DS9 and VOY. The USS Adventure has a registry number of 20-1. The title The Last Frontier riffs off Trek’s “final frontier” line.

We’ve seen holographic battle simulators in DIS: “Lethe”, and Enterprise had a recreation or rec room in TAS: “The Practical Joker” , so the concept of a holodeck predates TNG by quite a bit, although the model first seen in TNG: “Encounter at Farpoint” was supposed to be the latest model and both Riker and Wesley seemed impressed by it. The screen in the briefing room displays the “Holodeck Program Power Distribution”. In VOY: “Parallax” it was said that holodecks run off holodeck reactors which are incompatible with standard power systems on the rest of the ship.

Spock took dance lessons from La’An in SNW: “Wedding Bell Blues” and is continuing them in lieu of his morning calisthenics routine. Much like Picard enjoyed Dixon Hill stories from the 1930s, La’An enjoys Amelia Moon mysteries from the 1960s. Using transporter buffer patterns to create holographic avatars is similar to what happened in DS9: “Our Man Bashir”.

La’An’s request for a mystery that is challenging to solve is at least less foolhardy than Geordie’s request for an adversary capable of defeating Data (TNG: “Elementary, Dear Data”). The grid pattern of this 23rd Century holodeck is the same as those in 24th Century holodecks. La’An even gives the standard “run program” command.

Spock alluded to his ancestor being Conan Doyle (or as some speculated, Sherlock Holmes) in ST VI when he quoted the aphorism that “when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” This confirms it. In the real world, none of Doyle’s children had offspring, so Spock can’t be a direct descendant.

La’An - I mean, Amelia Moon switches into an American accent when speaking to Uhura - I mean, Joni Gloss. The voice-over narration alludes to that in classic noir films and hard-boiled detective stories.

Amelia refers to Gloss, a Hollywood agent, as “William Morris” - the William Morris Agency represented some of the biggest names in Hollywood history.

Max Factor does have a Ruby Red shade, but it was released in 2015 and inspired by Marilyn Monroe.

The Sunny Lupino character, with allusions to an ex-husband and relationships with the studio, not to mention the red hair, has characteristics of comedienne Lucille Ball, her ex-husband Desi Arnaz, and Desilu Studios’ involvement with the production of Star Trek. Her reference to Alfred (Hitchcock) putting her in Crows (1963’s The Birds) also references Tippi Hedren, who Hitchcock discovered and gave her first leading role. Hedren didn’t win an Oscar for that, however. Her name also echoes film star Ida Lupino.

Woods’ remark, “I’m an actor, not a doctor,” is an inversion of Dr McCoy’s catchphrase, “I’m a doctor, not a…”

Having a lead detective’s partner be a “bumbling idiot” is akin to the stereotype of Watson being bumbling next to Holmes, thanks to Nigel Bruce’s portrayal of him in the Basil Rathbone films. In the stories, however, Watson was not at all bumbling, but merely appeared less intelligent because he served as an audience surrogate for Holmes to explain his amazing deductions.

The NPCs notice Spock’s uniform, much like Trixie did when Picard walked into the Dixon Hill simulation in TNG: “The Big Goodbye”.

Ortegas’ suspension for insubordination was in SNW: “Shuttle to Kenfori”.

Omnidirectional holodiodes are a primary component of holodecks, first mentioned in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual but never on-screen until now.

Jess Bush uses her natural Australian accent as Adelaide Shaw (Adelaide is a city in South Australia). Hedda Gabler is an 1891 play by Henrik Ibsen. The West End refers to London’s theatre district.

The lack of safeties and the inability to end the program is a long-honoured Trek trope that has finally made its way to SNW.

“You know what’s not realistic? A lady first officer.” Roddenberry always claimed that the reason Number One (Majel Barrett) had to be replaced was because the network didn’t want a woman in a command position. It may be truer that they didn’t want Roddenberry’s mistress to be one of the leads of the new show.

“Mick Bowie” may be a real character in this world, or Saint just mocking McBeau with a portmanteau of Mick Jagger and David Bowie.

Gloss’s very meta description of what Bellows wanted to do with The Last Frontier is what Roddenberry wanted to do with Star Trek.

Scotty’s suggestion provides an explanation why holodecks have their own dedicated power sources and processors. Pike’s Enterprise having a crew of 203 was first mentioned in TOS: “The Cage”.

The end credits are printed in the style of TOS (as is the music), but instead of still photographs we have bloopers, including “space acting” (what the actors call the moving from side to side as if the ship is being shaken about) and Saint trying to get in the chair using the Riker Maneuver.

The title alludes to old time radio plays, and modern reproductions such as the “Thrilling Adventure Hour”, which ran as a podcast and staged performances in Los Angeles from 2005 to 2015. It is also an episode where the cast play different characters, like SNW: “The Elysian Kingdom”.

The first music cue is from TOS, and of course the lighting, costuming and props all evoke the style of TOS and 1960s science fiction. The wave-form on the large screen reminds me of the Control wave from the title sequence of The Outer Limits.

“Maxwell Saint” is sitting in a very typical James Kirk pose in the chair and speaks in a parody of William Shatner’s acting and diction. “Lee Woods” mentions the war - Ortegas served in the Klingon War. Zipnop of the Triathic Agonyan Empire has very visible wire rods holding up their “eyes”. The face also reminds me of the aliens in the 1957 movie Invasion of the Saucer Men.

The title sequence has been altered to resemble TOS’s opening narration and titles. For what it’s worth, 84 months is 7 years, alluding to the 7 seasons given TNG, DS9 and VOY. The USS Adventure has a registry number of 20-1. The title The Last Frontier riffs off Trek’s “final frontier” line.

We’ve seen holographic battle simulators in DIS: “Lethe”, and Enterprise had a recreation or rec room in TAS: “The Practical Joker” , so the concept of a holodeck predates TNG by quite a bit, although the model first seen in TNG: “Encounter at Farpoint” was supposed to be the latest model and both Riker and Wesley seemed impressed by it. The screen in the briefing room displays the “Holodeck Program Power Distribution”. In VOY: “Parallax” it was said that holodecks run off holodeck reactors which are incompatible with standard power systems on the rest of the ship.

Spock took dance lessons from La’An in SNW: “Wedding Bell Blues” and is continuing them in lieu of his morning calisthenics routine. Much like Picard enjoyed Dixon Hill stories from the 1930s, La’An enjoys Amelia Moon mysteries from the 1960s. Using transporter buffer patterns to create holographic avatars is similar to what happened in DS9: “Our Man Bashir”.

La’An’s request for a mystery that is challenging to solve is at least less foolhardy than Geordie’s request for an adversary capable of defeating Data (TNG: “Elementary, Dear Data”). The grid pattern of this 23rd Century holodeck is the same as those in 24th Century holodecks. La’An even gives the standard “run program” command.

Spock alluded to his ancestor being Conan Doyle (or as some speculated, Sherlock Holmes) in ST VI when he quoted the aphorism that “when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” This confirms it. In the real world, none of Doyle’s children had offspring, so Spock can’t be a direct descendant.

La’An - I mean, Amelia Moon switches into an American accent when speaking to Uhura - I mean, Joni Gloss. The voice-over narration alludes to that in classic noir films and hard-boiled detective stories.

Amelia refers to Gloss, a Hollywood agent, as “William Morris” - the William Morris Agency represented some of the biggest names in Hollywood history.

Max Factor does have a Ruby Red shade, but it was released in 2015 and inspired by Marilyn Monroe.

The Sunny Lupino character, with allusions to an ex-husband and relationships with the studio, not to mention the red hair, has characteristics of comedienne Lucille Ball, her ex-husband Desi Arnaz, and Desilu Studios’ involvement with the production of Star Trek. Her reference to Alfred (Hitchcock) putting her in Crows (1963’s The Birds) also references Tippi Hedren, who Hitchcock discovered and gave her first leading role. Hedren didn’t win an Oscar for that, however. Her name also echoes film star Ida Lupino.

Woods’ remark, “I’m an actor, not a doctor,” is an inversion of Dr McCoy’s catchphrase, “I’m a doctor, not a…”

Having a lead detective’s partner be a “bumbling idiot” is akin to the stereotype of Watson being bumbling next to Holmes, thanks to Nigel Bruce’s portrayal of him in the Basil Rathbone films. In the stories, however, Watson was not at all bumbling, but merely appeared less intelligent because he served as an audience surrogate for Holmes to explain his amazing deductions.

The NPCs notice Spock’s uniform, much like Trixie did when Picard walked into the Dixon Hill simulation in TNG: “The Big Goodbye”.

Ortegas’ suspension for insubordination was in SNW: “Shuttle to Kenfori”.

Omnidirectional holodiodes are a primary component of holodecks, first mentioned in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual but never on-screen until now.

Jess Bush uses her natural Australian accent as Adelaide Shaw (Adelaide is a city in South Australia). Hedda Gabler is an 1891 play by Henrik Ibsen. The West End refers to London’s theatre district.

The lack of safeties and the inability to end the program is a long-honoured Trek trope that has finally made its way to SNW.

“You know what’s not realistic? A lady first officer.” Roddenberry always claimed that the reason Number One (Majel Barrett) had to be replaced was because the network didn’t want a woman in a command position. It may be truer that they didn’t want Roddenberry’s mistress to be one of the leads of the new show.

“Mick Bowie” may be a real character in this world, or Saint just mocking McBeau with a portmanteau of Mick Jagger and David Bowie.

Gloss’s very meta description of what Bellows wanted to do with The Last Frontier is what Roddenberry wanted to do with Star Trek.

Scotty’s suggestion provides an explanation why holodecks have their own dedicated power sources and processors. Pike’s Enterprise having a crew of 203 was first mentioned in TOS: “The Cage”.

The end credits are printed in the style of TOS (as is the music), but instead of still photographs we have bloopers, including “space acting” (what the actors call the moving from side to side as if the ship is being shaken about) and Saint trying to get in the chair using the Riker Maneuver.

Given the plot, the title probably alludes to the Korean zombie movie “Train to Busan”. Also, actor Ken Foree played Peter Washington, the lead character in 1978’s Dawn of the Dead.

The stardate is 2449.1, and Enterprise is on a routine scanning mission. Pike, for once, refers to the ship as Enterprise and not “the Enterprise”. This is actually the correct naval nomenclature, since you wouldn’t use “the” before a proper name; for example, “Hello, this is the John Doe.”

There’s a big hunk of text on screen which these old eyes can barely make out. We get the scientific name of chimera blossom, or chimera weed, chimeralca oleracea (the second word just means “herb” or “vegetable” in Latin - brassica oleracea is cabbage). The science report is dated 2257 and talks about chimera as sparsely distributed throughout the galaxy, a source of omega-15 fatty acids and antioxidants and its use as a medicinal herb in many areas near the “Klingon region”. It is also used to treat hypotension and “diaphorous ceti syndrome”. It has the highest level of “vitamin alpha 15” among green leafy vegetation, chock-full of other vitamins and minerals (including iron vulcanate) and plays a role in "vision healthy mucus membranes" and protection from lung and oral cavity cancer.

Ortegas says it’s been a long time since she flew into disputed Klingon territory, alluding to her service during the Klingon War (SNW: “Those Old Scientists”, “Under the Cloak of War”).

Pike mentions a mission hvulcanateenga were on in Zeta Borealis. Zeta Coronae Borealis is a double star system about 520 ly away from Sol. M’Benga blamed his nausea on Vedalan cigars. The Vedalans (TAS: “The Jihad”) are a felinoid species and the oldest spacefaring race known.

M’Benga translates the Klingon warning as “Go Back Or Die”. The text is not in the usual pIqaD script used in transcribing Marc Okrand’s tlhIngan Hol but one that was created by Geoffrey Mandel for his fan-made USS Enterprise Officer’s Manual in 1980 and is meant to be a one-for-one substitution for English. Since this particular alphabet has no “c” equivalent, the warning actually reads “GO BAOOK OR DIE” and the words under that are (taking “oo” as “c”) “By Order of the Klingon High Council”. My very basic Hol would translate "Go Back or Die" as yiHeD ghap bIHegh.

I missed this last time, but this season’s title sequence includes shots of a Klingon D7-type cruiser, a shuttlecraft and Starbase One.

There is no animal life on Kenfori. The last planet I recall from Star Trek that had no animal life was Omicron Ceti III (TOS: “This Side of Paradise”), but that was because the planet was being bathed in Berthold rays, which disintegrate animal tissue with prolonged exposure.

M’Benga has three ex-wives, four if you count an annulment. His enjoyment of fishing was revealed in SNW: “Spock Amok”.

M’Benga points out that certain poisons have medicinal value. To be fair, the opposite position is truer. As the Swiss doctor Paracelcus (said to be the father of pharmacology) opined in 1538, “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison.”

The Klingon ship approaching the planet is a D7-type, probably a K’t’inga class since it appears to have an aft torpedo launcher. One was last seen in SNW: “Subspace Rhapsody”. I say D7-type because K’t’inga-classes - first named in Roddenberry’s TMP novelisation, are technically anachronistic in SNW, since they are supposed to be more advanced than the D7s we see during TOS (which only have a forward torpedo launcher). But Temporal War shenanigans, etc. etc.

Pike says the Klingons are hunting them like Skral rabbits. The River Skral is a river on Qo’noS (first mentioned in DS9: “The Way of the Warrior”), and features in Klingon mythology as well. Closed captioning identifies the female Klingon commander as Bytha.

Spock says Vulcans can regulate pain via meditation. In TOS: “Operation: Annihilate!” Spock fights through the pain of being infected by a Denevan parasite by chanting the mantra: “I am a Vulcan. I am a Vulcan. There is no pain.”

Christine slaps Spock to snap him out of the meld. In TOS: “A Private Little War” Spock instructs her to hit him to awaken him fully from a healing trance - Scotty stops her, not knowing, but M’Benga finishes the job. The new nurse (first appearing in SNW: “Wedding Bell Blues”) is credited as Ensign Gamble, but I don’t think his name has been mentioned yet on screen.

When Una is briefing the senior staff, we see pictures of the NX-01 (ENT) and Phoenix (First Contact) displayed at the end of the room. Una says that La’an should get what Ortegas is going through, as indeed she should, given her own history with the Gorn (SNW: “Memento Mori”).

Basically, the Chimera Blossom (and now we know why it was named that) allows for hybridisation of different species. In the research facility’s case it hybridised the humans and Klingons with the all-consuming moss, and now M’Beng intends to use it to hybridise Marie’s human genome with the Gorn DNA inside her.

Viridium is a material that can be tracked across star systems. Spock used a viridium patch to track Kirk to Rura Penthe in ST VI. M’Benga was offered a drink by a R’ongovian (SNW: “Spock Amok”) during Spock and Christine’s wedding (“Wedding Bell Blues”), so that’s when he ingested the viridium-spiked olive.

Bytha identifies herself as the daughter of Dak’Rah, and the Champion of House Ra’Ul. Ambassador Rah appeared in “Under the Cloak of War”, where M’Beng killed him - whether it was in self-defence or not is ambiguous.

Ortegas has a ritual of kissing her fist and then knocking on the console for luck. I don’t believe I’ve noticed her do it before.

Bytha says her father was a traitor. As related in “Cloak”, Dak’Rah defected to the Federation following the Klingon War and became an ambassador. Because of this, his House underwent discommendation, which is the equivalent of being excommunicated from Klingon society (TNG: “Sins of the Father”).

Una trying to inform the Klingons that they are on a rescue mission echoes Saavik’s Kobayashi Maru test in ST II, where she gave orders to do the same. Una’s reluctance to raise shields echoes Kirk’s similar reluctance when faced with the USS Reliant in the same movie.

M’Benga finally confesses that he murdered Dak’Rah.

Sto-vo-kor is the Klingon Valhalla, where honourable Klingons who die in battle go after death.

Another quote from ST II, this time from Ortegas: “Klingons don’t take prisoners.” Una’s reference to a warrant officer confirms there are indeed enlisted personnel within Starfleet at this time, as WOs stand in a gap between enlisted and commissioned ranks.

Given the plot, the title probably alludes to the Korean zombie movie “Train to Busan”. Also, actor Ken Foree played Peter Washington, the lead character in 1978’s Dawn of the Dead.

The stardate is 2449.1, and Enterprise is on a routine scanning mission. Pike, for once, refers to the ship as Enterprise and not “the Enterprise”. This is actually the correct naval nomenclature, since you wouldn’t use “the” before a proper name; for example, “Hello, this is the John Doe.”

There’s big hunk of text on screen which these old eyes can barely make out. We get the scientific name of chimera blossom, or chimera weed, chimeralca oleracea (the second word just means “herb” or “vegetable” in vulcanate There’s a big hunk of text on screen which these old eyes can barely make out. We get the scientific name of chimera blossom, or chimera weed, chimeralca oleracea (the second word just means “herb” or “vegetable” in Latin - brassica oleracea is cabbage). The science report is dated 2257 and talks about chimera as sparsely distributed throughout the galaxy, a source of omega-15 fatty acids and antioxidants and its use as a medicinal herb in many areas near the “Klingon region”. It is also used to treat hypotension and “diaphorous ceti syndrome”. It has the highest level of “vitamin alpha 15” among green leafy vegetation, chock-full of other vitamins and minerals (including iron vulcanate) and plays a role in "vision healthy mucus membranes" and protection from lung and oral cavity cancer. brassica oleracea* is cabbage). The science report is dated 2257 and talks about chimera as sparsely distributed throughout the galaxy, a source of omega-15 fatty acids and antioxidants and its use as a medicinal herb in many areas near the “Klingon region”. It is also used to treat hypotension and “diaphorous ceti syndrome”. It has the highest level of “vitamin alpha 15” among green leafy vegetation, chock-full of other vitamins and minerals (including iron vulcanate) and plays role a in vision healthy mucus membranes and protection from lung and oral cavity cancer.

Ortegas says it’s been a long time since she flew into disputed Klingon territory, alluding to her service during the Klingon War (SNW: “Those Old Scientists”, “Under the Cloak of War”).

Pike mentions a mission he and M’Benga were on in Zeta Borealis. Zeta Coronae Borealis is a double star system about 520 ly away from Sol. M’Benga blamed his nausea on Vedalan cigars. The Vedalans (TAS: “The Jihad”) are a felinoid species and the oldest spacefaring race known.

M’Benga translates the Klingon warning as “Go Back Or Die”. The text is not in the usual pIqaD script used in transcribing Marc Okrand’s tlhIngan Hol but one that was created by Geoffrey Mandel for his fan-made USS Enterprise Officer’s Manual in 1980 and is meant to be a one-for-one substitution for English. Since this particular alphabet has no “c” equivalent, the warning actually reads “GO BAOOK OR DIE” and the words under that are (taking “oo” as “c”) “By Order of the Klingon High Council”. My very basic Hol would translate "Go Back or Die" as yiHeD ghap bIHegh.

I missed this last time, but this season’s title sequence includes shots of a Klingon D7-type cruiser, a shuttlecraft and Starbase One.

There is no animal life on Kenfori. The last planet I recall from Star Trek that had no animal life was Omicron Ceti III (TOS: “This Side of Paradise"), but that was because the planet was being bathed in Berthold rays, which disintegrate animal tissue with prolonged exposure.

M’Benga has three ex-wives, four if you count an annulment. His enjoyment of fishing was revealed in SNW: “Spock Amok”.

M’Benga points out that certain poisons have medicinal value. To be fair, the opposite position is truer. As the Swiss doctor Paracelcus (said to be the father of pharmacology) opined in 1538, “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison.”

The Klingon ship approaching the planet is a D7-type, probably a K’t’inga class since it appears to have an aft torpedo launcher. One was last seen in SNW: “Subspace Rhapsody”. I say D7-type because K’t’inga-classes - first named in Roddenberry’s TMP novelisation, are technically anachronistic in SNW, since they are supposed to be more advanced than the D7s we see during TOS (which only have a forward torpedo launcher). But Temporal War shenanigans, etc. etc.

Pike says the Klingons are hunting them like Skral rabbits. The River Skral is a river on Qo’noS (first mentioned in DS9: “The Way of the Warrior”), and features in Klingon mythology as well. Closed captioning identifies the female Klingon commander as Bytha.

Spock says Vulcans can regulate pain via meditation. In TOS: “Operation: Annihilate!” Spock fights through the pain of being infected by a Denevan parasite by chanting the mantra: “I am a Vulcan. I am a Vulcan. There is no pain.”

Christine slaps Spock to snap him out of the meld. In TOS: “A Private Little War” Spock instructs her to hit him to awaken him fully from a healing trance - Scotty stops her, not knowing, but M’Benga finishes the job. The new nurse (first appearing in SNW: “Wedding Bell Blues”) is credited as Ensign Gamble, but I don’t think his name has been mentioned yet on screen.

When Una is briefing the senior staff, we see pictures of the NX-01 (ENT) and Phoenix (First Contact) displayed at the end of the room. Una says that La’an should get what Ortegas is going through, as indeed she should, given her own history with the Gorn (SNW: “Memento Mori”).

Basically, the Chimera Blossom (and now we know why it was named that) allows for hybridisation of different species. In the research facility’s case it hybridised the humans and Klingons with the all-consuming moss, and now M’Beng intends to use it to hybridise Marie’s human genome with the Gorn DNA inside her.

Viridium is a material that can be tracked across star systems. Spock used a viridium patch to track Kirk to Rura Penthe in ST VI. M’Benga was offered a drink by a R’ongovian (SNW: “Spock Amok”) during Spock and Christine’s wedding (“Wedding Bell Blues”), so that’s when he ingested the viridium-spiked olive.

Bytha identifies herself as the daughter of Dak’Rah, and the Champion of House Ra’Ul. Ambassador Rah appeared in “Under the Cloak of War”, where M’Beng killed him - whether it was in self-defence or not is ambiguous.

Ortegas has a ritual of kissing her fist and then knocking on the console for luck. I don’t believe I’ve noticed her do it before.

Bytha says her father was a traitor. As related in “Cloak”, Dak’Rah defected to the Federation following the Klingon War and became an ambassador. Because of this, his House underwent discommendation, which is the equivalent of being excommunicated from Klingon society (TNG: “Sins of the Father”).

Una trying to inform the Klingons that they are on a rescue mission echoes Saavik’s Kobayashi Maru test in ST II, where she gave orders to do the same. Una’s reluctance to raise shields echoes Kirk’s similar reluctance when faced with the USS Reliant in the same movie.

M’Benga finally confesses that he murdered Dak’Rah.

Sto-vo-kor is the Klingon Valhalla, where honourable Klingons who die in battle go after death.

Another quote from ST II, this time from Ortegas: “Klingons don’t take prisoners.” Una’s reference to a warrant officer confirms there are indeed enlisted personnel within Starfleet at this time, as WOs stand in a gap between enlisted and commissioned ranks.

The title is named after the eponymous 1966 Laura Nyro song which was more famously covered by The 5th Dimension in 1969. It has lent its name to various other media, including a movie, an episode of Gilmore Girls, as well as an episode of Cheers. It’s sung from the point of view of a woman wanting her boyfriend to marry her. 

The Stardate is 2251.7, three months after the events of SNW: “Hegemony, Part II”. The Federation Day Centennial being 3 days away places the Earth year as 2261. Various non-canon sources give different dates for Federation Day, ranging from an unused newspaper clipping from Generations giving the date as October 11 to May 8 in Geoffrey Mandel’s Star Charts. 

The music being played as we move through a Starbase One biodome (SNW: “Strange New Worlds”) is “Hacker De Tu Piel” by Lavanda Son, a Venezuelan tropical salsa band. 

Chapel has returned from her three month fellowship and brings along with her Dr Roger Korby (her future fiancé as per TOS: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”). Korby was played in the TOS episode by Michael Strong. In that episode, Spock referred to Korby as the Pasteur of archeological medicine, whose translation of old Orion records revolutionised immunization techniques. Of course, in the original, there is no hint that Korby and Spock had met before. In any case, if the timeline in the original still holds, Korby will disappear on Exo III within the year. Cillian O’Sullivan, who plays him in SNW, has an Irish accent which Strong did not display.

As Spock digests the information that Korby is Chapel’s date, the background music echoes the “fight music” from TOS: “Amok Time”, indicating his jealousy.

Ortegas’s personnel file seen in SNW: “Among the Lotus Eaters” seemed to mention only one sibling, Fabiola (a feminine name). Here her brother is named “Beto”, which a nickname for Spanish names that end in “-berto”.

Pike does have an impressive array of medals (Memory Alpha lists 17), and in 2256 was ranked among the most decorated captains in Starfleet (DIS: “Choose Your Pain”). Batel makes a crack about Pike’s hair products, a rather meta joke considering the Internet memes about his hair.

The closed captioning says “Tilarian Star Gems”, but it could be “Talarian”, a race first seen in TNG: “Suddenly Human”. The Talarian Republic encompasses at least two Alpha Quadrant star systems in the 24th Century.

The second act resets to the same opening narration of the first act (similar to TNG: “Cause and Effect”), but then takes it into different events - the celebration of Spock and Chapel’s wedding instead of the Federation Day Centennial. 

One of the items on the wedding checklist is for a wedding licence and Pike’s approval, giving us a clue as to the legal requirements for a wedding for Starfleet personnel. 

Kal-if-fee refers to part of the traditional Vulcan wedding ceremony (the kun-ut-kal-if-fee), specifically where the bride opts for a ritual challenge where two males fight for the right to mate with her (“Amok Time”).

Korby says he’s checked himself for phase variances to see if he’s in an alternate dimension. As we learned from TNG: “Parallels”, each parallel universe (and its inhabitants) has its own quantum signature. Spock refers to an improbability field that once made the crew sing (SNW: “Subspace Rhapsody”). 

The entity says, “Greetings and many felicitations”. In TOS: “The Squire of Gothos”, Trelane’s first message to Enterprise is “Greetings and Felicitations”. His snapping of fingers is also reminiscent of Trelane and Q. The possible relationship between Trelane and the Q has been the result of much fan speculation and made explicit in some licensed fiction (the late and much lamented Peter David’s Q-Squared being the best example). 

Scotty’s claim that he’s not much of a drinker is belied by his conduct during TOS, especially when he literally drinks the alien Tomar under the table in TOS: “By Any Other Name”. 

Korby’s remark about “wishing us all into a cornfield” is a reference to the classic Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life”, where Bill Mumy (who would later star in DS9: “The Siege of AR-558”) plays a malevolent child with immense reality-altering powers who banishes people who defy him to “the cornfield”, where they are never seen again. 

Spock quotes from Pablo Naruda’s Love Sonnet XI as part of his vows (and I believe it was also quoted earlier when he was speaking with Korby). 

While no names are mentioned, I think it’s pretty clear it is Trelane (he even lets loose with a “Tally Ho!”), and his father, appropriately enough is voiced by John de Lancie, namely Q. Why Spock doesn’t remember this when “The Squire of Gothos” comes around is now an open question. Trelane also mentions an unnamed “old home world” Korby was digging around in and that he is 8,020 years old.  

The song that closes out the celebrations is, of course, “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by 80s pop duo Wham!. And it appears that Ortegas was more affected by her encounter with the Gorn than we thought although whether it’s PTSD (like Keyla Detmer in DIS) or something more sinister remains to be seen.

We discovered that the Gorn used light for ship-to-ship communications in SNW: “Memento Mori”, and in that episode they used it to fool one Gorn ship into firing on another. 

The first mention of wolkite, a rare mineral which apparently contains “subspace gauge bosons”. Gauge bosons are an elementary subatomic particle that acts as a messenger particle that carries forces for fermions (don’t ask me to explain further - I’m a lawyer, dammit, not a particle physicist), which apparently can be tracked with sensors. Let’s roll with it.

Inertial dampeners create subspace fields which protect crewmembers from the worst effects of acceleration and deceleration, especially when moving at faster than light speeds (VOY: “Tattoo”). This tells us that ships at warp speeds experience intertial effects, and that subspace fields affect inertial mass, both which run counter to claims that *Star Trek* warp drives run on the same principles as Alcubierre drives.

There is a slight blurring effect on the bridge as *Enterprise* moves to warp, reminiscent of the “wormhole effect” in *TMP* and when *Bounty* goes into time warp in *ST IV*. 

Chapel says that without certain shots, Batel’s tissues might turn necrotic in the statsis field. Why exactly this would be the case, if a stasis field is designed to suspend all cellular growth, is not explained - unless it only prevents growth and not decay. Epinephrine is another name for adrenaline, and can be used to prevent cardiac arrest and anaphylactic shock, among others. Batel is allergic to cryoserum and hence can’t be put into stasis. So stasis isn’t just some kind of force field but also involves cryogenic suspension as well? I have so many questions…

Joseph (M’Benga) isn’t around because he was part of the landing party kidnapped by the Gorn at the end of SNW: “Hegemony”.

April says the Federation is still recovering from the Klingon War (2256-2257), which occured in DIS Season 1, some 2-3 years prior. Chapel and M’Benga served in that war (SNW: “Under the Cloak of War”). 

As we learned in“Hegemony”, Pelia was one of Scotty’s engineering instructors at the Academy. Scotty better get used to working under time pressures, considering what he’s going to face in the years to come (at least, until he starts padding estimates).

La’an was the sole survivor, as a child, of her colony ship SS *Puget Sound* which was captured by the Gorn. The person she sees in her dream is Manu, her brother, who sacrificed himself for her during that time. He discovered the Gorn’s use of light as communication, and passed that knowledge on to La’an (“Memento Mori”). 

Scotty says “bawheid!” which is a Scottish invective meaning a stupid person (originally a person with a round face/head). *Stardiver* was Scotty’s previous assigment which was attacked by the Gorn (“Hegemony”). 

I will not, for the moment, debate the plausibility of the Gorn relying entirely on instrumentation and not visuals for their ships.

Una says that the radiation in the binary star system is so intense that they can only use impulse and shields won’t protect them. This reminds me of the conditions in the Mutara Nebula in *ST II*, where the static discharge and gas rendered visual and shields useless (*Enterprise*’s warp drive was out, anyway). 

Debulking surgery is a type of surgery used to reduce the size of cancerous tumours, commonly used in cases of ovarian cancer. 

Some Illyrians still use genetic engineering among their community, which is against Federation laws (SNW: “Ghosts of Illyria”, “Ad Astra Per Aspera”), hence the use of Una’s blood being against regulations. 

The screen at Una and Uhura’s briefing first shows the Finibus system which featured in “Memento Mori”, and then the Galdonterre system which was mentioned in DS9: “Blood Oath” as a place where the Albino hid from Kang, Kor and Koloth. Both  are in the Beta Quadrant. The larger scale map also shows systems where CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) events have occured, stellar events which trigger Gorn attacks.

X-class flares are the largest category of solar flares, which can cause radio blackouts and trigger radiation storms in the upper atmosphere. Supra-arcade downflows are sunward-traveling plasma voids seen during solar flares, which appear as voids because they are less dense than surrounding plasma. 

“A couple of litres” of Una’s blood seems like a lot - a human body typically holds about 5 litres of blood, so 2 litres is like 40% of your volume, which would send you into severe hypovolemic shock. Maybe they meant pints.

Valeo Beta V was where SNW: “Not All Those Who Wander” took place, where the USS *Peregrine* crashed after a Gorn hatchling outbreak on board. 

Pike’s strategy is similar to how Picard defeated the Borg in TNG: “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II”, by sending a command to put them to sleep. While it works for now, Pike’s concern about whether they’ve just kicked the can down the road foreshadows Kirk’s future encounter with the Gorn about six years later in TOS: “Arena” (which has to be quite extensively retconned given the events in SNW). 

“I’m Erica Ortegas, I fly the ship,” was the mantra that kept Ortegas focused while a memory sapping field was affecting everyone during the events of SNW: “Among the Lotus Eaters”.

Pike reluctantly starts to recites the Lord’s Prayer, saying to his father, “You win.” Pike’s father was a science teacher who also taught comparative religion, who died some time previous (SNW: “Those Old Scientists”) and with whom he had a contentious relationship.

The title is named after the eponymous 1966 Laura Nyro song which was more famously covered by The 5th Dimension in 1969. It has lent its name to various other media, including a movie, an episode of Gilmore Girls, as well as an episode of Cheers. It’s sung from the point of view of a woman wanting her boyfriend to marry her. 

The Stardate is 2251.7, three months after the events of SNW: “Hegemony, Part II”. The Federation Day Centennial being 3 days away places the Earth year as 2261. Various non-canon sources give different dates for Federation Day, ranging from an unused newspaper clipping from Generations giving the date as October 11 to May 8 in Geoffrey Mandel’s Star Charts. 

The music being played as we move through a Starbase One biodome (SNW: “Strange New Worlds”) is “Hacker De Tu Piel” by Lavanda Son, a Venezuelan tropical salsa band. 

Chapel has returned from her three month fellowship and brings along with her Dr Roger Korby (her future fiancé as per TOS: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”). Korby was played in the TOS episode by Michael Strong. In that episode, Spock referred to Korby as the Pasteur of archeological medicine, whose translation of old Orion records revolutionised immunization techniques. Of course, in the original, there is no hint that Korby and Spock had met before. In any case, if the timeline in the original still holds, Korby will disappear on Exo III within the year. Cillian O’Sullivan, who plays him in SNW, has an Irish accent which Strong did not display.

As Spock digests the information that Korby is Chapel’s date, the background music echoes the “fight music” from TOS: “Amok Time”, indicating his jealousy.

Ortegas’s personnel file seen in SNW: “Among the Lotus Eaters” seemed to mention only one sibling, Fabiola (a feminine name). Here her brother is named “Beto”, which a nickname for Spanish names that end in “-berto”.

Pike does have an impressive array of medals (Memory Alpha lists 17), and in 2256 was ranked among the most decorated captains in Starfleet (DIS: “Choose Your Pain”). Batel makes a crack about Pike’s hair products, a rather meta joke considering the Internet memes about his hair.

The closed captioning says “Tilarian Star Gems”, but it could be “Talarian”, a race first seen in TNG: “Suddenly Human”. The Talarian Republic encompasses at least two Alpha Quadrant star systems in the 24th Century.

The second act resets to the same opening narration of the first act (similar to TNG: “Cause and Effect”), but then takes it into different events - the celebration of Spock and Chapel’s wedding instead of the Federation Day Centennial. 

One of the items on the wedding checklist is for a wedding licence and Pike’s approval, giving us a clue as to the legal requirements for a wedding for Starfleet personnel. 

Kal-if-fee refers to part of the traditional Vulcan wedding ceremony (the kun-ut-kal-if-fee), specifically where the bride opts for a ritual challenge where two males fight for the right to mate with her (“Amok Time”).

Korby says he’s checked himself for phase variances to see if he’s in an alternate dimension. As we learned from TNG: “Parallels”, each parallel universe (and its inhabitants) has its own quantum signature. Spock refers to an improbability field that once made the crew sing (SNW: “Subspace Rhapsody”). 

The entity says, “Greetings and many felicitations”. In TOS: “The Squire of Gothos”, Trelane’s first message to Enterprise is “Greetings and Felicitations”. His snapping of fingers is also reminiscent of Trelane and Q. The possible relationship between Trelane and the Q has been the result of much fan speculation and made explicit in some licensed fiction (the late and much lamented Peter David’s Q-Square being the best example). 

Scotty’s claim that he’s not much of a drinker is belied by his conduct during TOS, especially when he literally drinks the alien Tomar under the table in TOS: “By Any Other Name”. 

Korby’s remark about “wishing us all into a cornfield” is a reference to the classic Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life”, where Bill Mumy (who would later star in DS9: “The Siege of AR-558”) plays a malevolent child with immense reality-altering powers who banishes people who defy him to “the cornfield”, where they are never seen again. 

Spock quotes from Pablo Naruda’s Love Sonnet XI as part of his vows (and I believe it was also quoted earlier when he was speaking with Korby). 

While no names are mentioned, I think it’s pretty clear it is Trelane (he even lets loose with a “Tally Ho!”), and his father, appropriately enough is voiced by John de Lancie, namely Q. Why Spock doesn’t remember this when “The Squire of Gothos” comes around is now an open question. Trelane also mentions an unnamed “old home world” Korby was digging around in and that he is 8,020 years old.  

The song that closes out the celebrations is, of course, “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by 80s pop duo Wham!. And it appears that Ortegas was more affected by her encounter with the Gorn than we thought although whether it’s PTSD (like Keyla Detmer in DIS) or something more sinister remains to be seen.

We discovered that the Gorn used light for ship-to-ship communications in SNW: “Memento Mori”, and in that episode they used it to fool one Gorn ship into firing on another. 

The first mention of wolkite, a rare mineral which apparently contains “subspace gauge bosons”. Gauge bosons are an elementary subatomic particle that acts as a messenger particle that carries forces for fermions (don’t ask me to explain further - I’m a lawyer, dammit, not a particle physicist), which apparently can be tracked with sensors. Let’s roll with it.

Inertial dampeners create subspace fields which protect crewmembers from the worst effects of acceleration and deceleration, especially when moving at faster than light speeds (VOY: “Tattoo”). This tells us that ships at warp speeds experience intertial effects, and that subspace fields affect inertial mass, both which run counter to claims that *Star Trek* warp drives run on the same principles as Alcubierre drives.

There is a slight blurring effect on the bridge as *Enterprise* moves to warp, reminiscent of the “wormhole effect” in *TMP* and when *Bounty* goes into time warp in *ST IV*. 

Chapel says that without certain shots, Batel’s tissues might turn necrotic in the statsis field. Why exactly this would be the case, if a stasis field is designed to suspend all cellular growth, is not explained - unless it only prevents growth and not decay. Epinephrine is another name for adrenaline, and can be used to prevent cardiac arrest and anaphylactic shock, among others. Batel is allergic to cryoserum and hence can’t be put into stasis. So stasis isn’t just some kind of force field but also involves cryogenic suspension as well? I have so many questions…

Joseph (M’Benga) isn’t around because he was part of the landing party kidnapped by the Gorn at the end of SNW: “Hegemony”.

April says the Federation is still recovering from the Klingon War (2256-2257), which occured in DIS Season 1, some 2-3 years prior. Chapel and M’Benga served in that war (SNW: “Under the Cloak of War”). 

As we learned in“Hegemony”, Pelia was one of Scotty’s engineering instructors at the Academy. Scotty better get used to working under time pressures, considering what he’s going to face in the years to come (at least, until he starts padding estimates).

La’an was the sole survivor, as a child, of her colony ship SS *Puget Sound* which was captured by the Gorn. The person she sees in her dream is Manu, her brother, who sacrificed himself for her during that time. He discovered the Gorn’s use of light as communication, and passed that knowledge on to La’an (“Memento Mori”). 

Scotty says “bawheid!” which is a Scottish invective meaning a stupid person (originally a person with a round face/head). *Stardiver* was Scotty’s previous assigment which was attacked by the Gorn (“Hegemony”). 

I will not, for the moment, debate the plausibility of the Gorn relying entirely on instrumentation and not visuals for their ships.

Una says that the radiation in the binary star system is so intense that they can only use impulse and shields won’t protect them. This reminds me of the conditions in the Mutara Nebula in *ST II*, where the static discharge and gas rendered visual and shields useless (*Enterprise*’s warp drive was out, anyway). 

Debulking surgery is a type of surgery used to reduce the size of cancerous tumours, commonly used in cases of ovarian cancer. 

Some Illyrians still use genetic engineering among their community, which is against Federation laws (SNW: “Ghosts of Illyria”, “Ad Astra Per Aspera”), hence the use of Una’s blood being against regulations. 

The screen at Una and Uhura’s briefing first shows the Finibus system which featured in “Memento Mori”, and then the Galdonterre system which was mentioned in DS9: “Blood Oath” as a place where the Albino hid from Kang, Kor and Koloth. Both  are in the Beta Quadrant. The larger scale map also shows systems where CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) events have occured, stellar events which trigger Gorn attacks.

X-class flares are the largest category of solar flares, which can cause radio blackouts and trigger radiation storms in the upper atmosphere. Supra-arcade downflows are sunward-traveling plasma voids seen during solar flares, which appear as voids because they are less dense than surrounding plasma. 

“A couple of litres” of Una’s blood seems like a lot - a human body typically holds about 5 litres of blood, so 2 litres is like 40% of your volume, which would send you into severe hypovolemic shock. Maybe they meant pints.

Valeo Beta V was where SNW: “Not All Those Who Wander” took place, where the USS *Peregrine* crashed after a Gorn hatchling outbreak on board. 

Pike’s strategy is similar to how Picard defeated the Borg in TNG: “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II”, by sending a command to put them to sleep. While it works for now, Pike’s concern about whether they’ve just kicked the can down the road foreshadows Kirk’s future encounter with the Gorn about six years later in TOS: “Arena” (which has to be quite extensively retconned given the events in SNW). 

“I’m Erica Ortegas, I fly the ship,” was the mantra that kept Ortegas focused while a memory sapping field was affecting everyone during the events of SNW: “Among the Lotus Eaters”.

Pike reluctantly starts to recites the Lord’s Prayer, saying to his father, “You win.” Pike’s father was a science teacher who also taught comparative religion, who died some time previous (SNW: “Those Old Scientists”) and with whom he had a contentious relationship.