Lower Decks' Latest Star Trek Easter Eggs Involve Alien Beverages
A surprising amount of "Star Trek" worldbuilding manifests in beverages. It does make sense, though, since not all alien worlds out there would have the same drinks that us Earthlings do. Take Klingon bloodwine; it's only natural that a warrior race literally drinks blood. The crystal-blue colored Romulan ale is consistently described as under embargo in the Federation; naturally, two warring powers don't conduct legal trade. While Cardassian Kanar is not consistently colored, it proved surprisingly integral to the arc of Damar (Casey Biggs), who takes solace in a bottle and must pull himself out of it to be a resistance leader during "Deep Space Nine."
"Star Trek: Lower Decks" is a love letter to each corner of the franchise's history. Sure enough, the latest episode has some beverage-related Easter eggs. In "Parth Ferengi's Heart Place," the U.S.S. Cerritos takes a trip to the Ferengi homeworld of Ferenginar. Our four leads are assigned "travel guide" duty; hit up the happening spots on the planet to make a map for future visitors. In effect, work-sanctioned bar hopping. Lieutenant (junior grade) Mariner (Tawny Newsome) hits up her Ferengi buddy Quimp (Tom Kenny) while Boimler (Jack Quaid) takes in Ferenginar's television.
Their respective adventures feature one drink each that might sound familiar to Trekkies.
The Drinks of Ferenginar
Several of the Ferengi programs that Boimler watches include ads for Slug-o-Cola; some are straightforward commercials while others are product placement so blatant they'd make Meryl (Laura Linney) from "The Truman Show" proud. Slug-o-Cola is a green soft drink enjoyed by the Ferengi; if you want a clue about their diet, the main ingredient is apparently algae (hence the green color). Slug-o-Cola was first seen in "Deep Space Nine" and the Ferengi's appetite for it hasn't dulled since.
As for Mariner, she orders a "Dagger of the Mind," implicitly some kind of cocktail. However, this is actually the title of an early episode of "Star Trek: The Original Series" ("Lower Decks" sometimes goes meta with its references). The title itself is a line from "Macbeth," hardly the last time "Star Trek" alluded to Shakespeare. In that episode, the Enterprise visits the planet Tantalus V, only to have a stowaway: Simon van Gelder (Morgan Woodward), an asylum doctor who seems as crazed as the patients he treats. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) decides to investigate.
It's gradually revealed the facility's head Dr. Tristan Adams (James Gregory) has developed a "neural neutralizer" machine. Supposedly meant to calm his patients, the machine can rewrite memories, plant commands in a subject's brain, induce pain, or destroy minds. That final fate is what befalls the power-mad Dr. Adams. The episode has a place in "Trek" history; it features the first Vulcan mind meld when Spock (Leonard Nimoy) performs the act to learn the truth from van Gelder.
As for the drink, "Lower Decks" doesn't say anymore. Presumably, the name is because it leaves hangovers that'll have you screaming like Captain Kirk did in the neural neutralizer.
"Star Trek: Lower Decks" is streaming on Paramount+.