Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4's Next Generation Jokes Are Brilliant Deep Cuts
Spoilers for "Star Trek: Lower Decks" follow.
At the beginning of the second episode of the fourth season of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," called "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee," senior officers Commander Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) and Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore) are working out in the gym of the U.S.S. Cerritos. They mention that to explore the galaxy and counter tyranny, they must remain flexible. Shaxs grunts and strains, while the frustratingly fit Ransom goads him on. They engage in unusual stretching maneuvers, employing some kind of bizarre futuristic yoga into their routine. Most unsettling are their outfits. Ransom wears a blue body stocking with a purple one-piece swimsuit over it. The swimsuit has cutouts in the chest area to accentuate his pecs. Shaxs wears a forest green body stocking with a burgundy singlet stretched on top. His pecs, too, are allowed a little "window" for accentuation.
Fans of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" will recognize these outfits right away, as they were the exact same outfits worn by Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) in the episode "The Price" (November 13, 1989).
In the episode, Deanna and Beverly engage in the same strange future yoga while idly discussing their respective romantic statuses. Troi has fallen in love with a passing diplomat and she is keen to talk about amorous affairs. The scene granted the characters an opportunity to be "off duty" for a moment and discuss their personal lives, but it was clear, even in 1989, that it was a scene constructed for reasons of pure prurience. Put the women in sexy outfits and make them stretch. Yes ... ha ha ha. Yes!
The makers of "Lower Decks" — masters of deep-cut Trek references — likely had a ball calling out one of the most notorious scenes in "NextGen" history.
Deep Cut Nine
Indeed, the "Next Generation" references are particularly clever this time around, and even some Trekkies might need a primer. My personal favorite involves a machine that Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) feels compelled to tinker with in order to improve the engine efficiency of the U.S.S. Cerritos. The device will be instantly recognizable not only to Trekkies, but to any sci-fi fans from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. The device is two pairs of laser emitters, each pair connected by a clear plastic tube containing flickering neon lights.
This device is a prop that was built sometime in the late 1970s by an engineer named John Zabrucky who founded the much-touted and now-shuttered prop-making business Modern Props. Its official name is "Modern Props #195-290- i1," but it was soon nicknamed The Most Important Device in the Universe by sci-fi fans. It appeared in movies and TV shows for years ... before finding its way onto the Enterprise-D; it can be seen in the background of multiple episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The device was never given a name, nor did anyone explain what it did. It was merely a sci-fi widget that made for a good futuristic background decoration.
In "I Have No Bones," Rutherford finally gives the device a name. After toiling away for hours, he announces to his superior officer that he has increased the efficiency of the Tucker Tubes by .7 picocochrans. The tubes, it seems, were presumably named after Charles "Trip" Tucker III (Connor Trinneer), the engineer from "Star Trek: Enterprise." It is still vague what exactly the Tucker Tubes do, although it's likely unbearably technical. All we know is its energy output can be measured in the fictional units of cochrans.
Qpid's Qloset
An additional note about the Tucker Tubes: judging by the sound it emits, Rutherford seems to be using The Doctor's sonic screwdriver (from "Doctor Who") to work on it. Another deep cut for sci-fi nerds.
It was established in previous episodes of "Lower Decks" that Lieutenant Shaxs and Dr. T'Ana (Gillian Vigman) are having a covert — and very sexual — love affair on board the Cerritos. They've tried to keep their affair secret, but they're not very good at it. When Boimler (Jack Quaid) temporarily moves into Shaxs' quarters, he discovers that it shares a wall with the ship's holodeck. The same holodeck wherein T'Ana and Shaxs engage in their sexual role-playing games. As it so happens, the lovers are currently embroiled in a long-form fantasy game wherein they dress as characters from Robin Hood.
The costumes, however, aren't those worn by Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. They are the ones worn by the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in the episode "Qpid" (April 22, 1991). That episode — a whimsical trifle — saw the trickster god Q (John De Lancie) transporting the crew of the Enterprise-D to Sherwood Forest wherein they had to reenact the life events and action-packed adventures of the ancient British legend. More than anything, "Qpid" was an opportunity for the actors to play dress-up and let loose.
It seems that Shaxs and T'Ana are also playing dress-up and letting loose, only in a way that leaves scratch marks and that keeps Boimler awake at night.