Everyone knows Star Trek: Lower Decks is crammed full of references to Franchise canon. But what about the references to pop culture outside of Star Trek?
For today’s Trek Tuesday, we’re compiling seven of the non-Star Trek references on Lower Decks. Did we include your favorite? Be sure and let us know in the comment section.
The Blues Brothers
In Lower Decks Season 2’s “An Embarrassment of Dooplers,” Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) sneak off the quarantined U.S.S. Cerritos to visit Starbase 25. While there, Mariner’s old frenemy Malvus (Tom Kenny) attempts to frame them for possession of illegal weapons.
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In the ensuing kart chase, Mariner and Boimler are pursued by the starbase’s corrupt station security officers. The chase scene pays homage to the shopping mall chase scene in the 1980 film Blues Brothers.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
In Season 2’s “I, Excretus,” the crew of the Cerritos endures a visit from Starfleet Drill Instructor Shari yn Yem (Lennon Parham). For Mariner, this includes a drill set in the Mirror Universe, originally introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2’s “Mirror, Mirror.”
In the drill, Mariner must infiltrate the Terran Empire. There, she encounters Mirror Boimler. When he realizes Mariner is from the prime timeline, he points at her and hisses. This behavior is a reference to the final shot of 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which features protagonist Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) pointing and hissing in the same manner.
Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace
Another non-Star Trek reference comes from the title of Season 4’s “Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place.” The episode sees the Lower Deckers visiting Ferenginar. There, Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) and D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) meet the eponymous Ferengi, hug-cierge Parth (Dave Foley).
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The title of the episode pays homage to the metafictional 2004 BBC Series Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace.
For A Few Dollars More
From Lower Decks Season 4, the episode “A Few Badgeys More” pays homage to the 1965 Western For a Few Dollars More. The movie is the second in the Man with No Name trilogy, directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood.
But while this is a joke that refers outside of Star Trek canon, it also has a level of “Franchise self-reference.” This is because of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 episode “A Fistful of Datas.” Its title pays homage to 1964’s A Fistful of Dollars, the first movie in the Man with No Name trilogy. According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, “A Firstful of Datas” was originally titled “The Good, the Bad and the Klingon.” This alludes to the third movie in the trilogy, 1966’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Star Wars
The penultimate and final episode of Lower Decks Season 4 pay homage to another spacefaring genre franchise: Star Wars. In “The Inner Fight,” Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) and her away team visit New Axton, a planet with officials who channel the Galactic Empire. In addition, the region the away team visits on the planet bears a strong similarity to Tatooine’s “wretched hive of scum and villainy” Mos Eisley, as depicted by 1977’s Star Trek: A New Hope.
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The motif continues in the Lower Decks Season 4 finale, “Old Friends, New Planets.” In this episode, Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) assembles Nova Fleet. This fleet bears a resemblance to the Rebel Alliance fleet from many Star Wars movies. The similarity to Star Wars isn’t a mistake. This is confirmed by Mike McMahan himself in episode commentary on the Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Blu-ray collection.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
In Lower Decks Season 5’s “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel,” the Cerritos crew visits the Cosmic Dutchess. This nanite-tracking mission is complicated by the inclusion of Mariner’s ex, Jennifer (Lauren Lapkus), on the away team. The title of the episode pays homage to the 2011 movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Apocalypse Now
The title of the episode wasn’t the only non-Star Trek homage to be found in “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel.” In the episode’s third act, Boimler, Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) and Andy Billups (Paul Scheer) track down Admiral Milius (Toby Huss), who has gone AWOL.
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When Milius is located, the episode launches into an extended homage to Apocalypse Now. This includes shot composition and narrative role: Milius is a close analogy for Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). In fact, the name Milius even refers the co-screenwriter of Apocalypse Now, John Milius. This is confirmed in the commentary for the episode on the Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Final Season Blu-ray collection.
The Star Trek: Lower Decks episodes discussed above are currently available for streaming on Paramount+. Meanwhile, all five seasons of Lower Decks are currently available on DVD and Blu-ray.
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