Lower Decks Season 3’s Big Cameo Is Also A Delightful Movie Reference


Among the references in this week’s “Lower Decks” are the bomb from “Star Trek: Nemesis,” a god-like rock being like in “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,” an alien name hidden under dust like in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” and what might be a dig at any number of “Star Trek” movies with a line about sequels ignoring the thing that made the series popular. This snob likes to think Ensign Mariner was referring to the Kelvin movies. 

During the climax of “Crisis Point 2,” Boimler finds God — a massive creature made of rock — and asks Him the purpose of life. When Boimler becomes frustrated with God’s axiom-heavy answers, he kicks a hole in the side of God’s head and climbs inside (!). While in there, the scene suddenly shifts and Boimler finds himself magically transported to the rustic farmhouse of Captain James T. Kirk. 

This is, of course, a reference to David Carson’s 1994 film “Star Trek: Generations.” That film featured a free-floating spatial energy ribbon called the Nexus which orbited through the universe destroying ships, but absorbing their crew. Inside the Nexus was an ill-defined psychic realm that could read a guest’s thoughts and provide for them whatever they most wished for. It was essentially Heaven. Also, because time has no meaning in the Nexus, both Kirk (William Shatner) and Picard (Patrick Stewart) could meet one another despite having been swept up 87 years apart. 

When Picard enters Kirk’s “Heaven,” it’s manifested as Kirk’s own horse ranch where he, years before, spent days chopping wood, riding horses, and making breakfast for his offscreen girlfriend Antonia. Kirk’s Heaven was something he already experienced. In Boimler’s version of it, it’s still the same ranch, but there is no Kirk. Instead, he meets Captain Sulu (Takei). 



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