There is a new Star Trek 60th anniversary opening, which starts with the TOS Enterprise going into warp and then transforming into each subsequent series’ hero ships, from the refit to Enterprise-D, Defiant, Voyage, NX-01, Discovery, the SNW Enterprise and finally the USS Athena. The font used in the series captions is the one first seen in TMP.
The Burn was a catastrophic event that occurred about 120 years prior to 3188, which resulted in a galaxy-wide phenomenon of dilithium crystals being rendered inert and severely reducing the speed of faster-than-light travel, cutting off whole systems from each other, the near-collapse of the Federation and the shutting down of Starfleet Academy. The mystery of the Burn and its resolution were central to DIS Season 3 and following that, the Academy was re-established. For those keeping track, DIS Season 5 (with the exception of a flashforward in the finale) took place in 3191, so presumably this new series picks up where it left off.
The opening scene takes place on Stardate 853724.6, 812 years after TNG’s first season which takes place in 2364 (TNG: “The Neutral Zone”), placing it in 3176, 15 years before DIS Season 5. This is the first appearance of Federation Outpost Pikaru (incidentally, Pikaru is a brand of keratin shampoo from Indonesia).
We get out first look at the series’ big bad, Nus Braka, a half-Klingon, half-Tellarite pirate. Neither of his genetic lineages are known for their genteel nature. We also meet Nahla Ake, a half-Lanthanite Starfleet officer who will become Chancellor of the revived Starfleet Academy. She is wearing a tricom badge of the 32nd century and a Captain’s four pips on her collar and shoulders (it’s also indicated on the badge), with a uniform we saw in DIS Season 3.
Lanthanites, introduced in SNW, are a very long-lived race, with lives spanning millennia. We learn later that she is 422 in 3191, which makes her birth year around 2769. The Federation crest on the dais is one with noticeably less stars than the 23rd-24th century one most of us are used to, reflecting the state of the Federation post-burn. It was first seen in DIS Season 3.
Nahla says that Anisha Mir, while she would only have been guilty of theft, is now guilty of felony theft because of the death of an officer. I’m actually surprised the Federation still has a distinction between misdemeanours and felonies, which is very American and doesn’t really exist elsewhere. So if a death occurs in the commission of a misdemeanour, it gets bumped up to a felony?
Bajor is the homeworld of the Bajoran people, who feature centrally in DS9.
The action now moves 15 years later, so to 3191, and the Stardates should be in the 868000s.
Toroth is a system in the Alpha Quadrant. The unnamed Torothan homeworld was first seen in ENT: “Desert Crossing”, and since then the system has been seen marked on various star charts in other series. Star Trek: Star Charts notes that the NX-01 visited the planet (now named also as Toroth) on February 12, 2152. The name V’Rilik sounds Vulcan - or Ni’Var as it is known in the 32nd century. The shuttle Teracaq is named after a Torothan animal, which was roasted and served to Archer and Tucker in “Desert Crossing”. That said, in that episode the Torothan homeworld was arid and desert-like, not like what it is now, but it’s been 1031 years.
The probe flashes through Caleb’s criminal records. The first is from the Federation, I don’t recognise the second, next is Andorian, then Ferengi and Cardassian. The thugs harassing Caleb are Torothan, with the same chin markings seen in “Desert Crossing”. And Anisha is still in prison 15 years later? That’s very… Les Miserables.
The Starfleet Academy motto is “Ex Astra, Scientia” which is Latin for “From the stars, knowledge”.
Fleet Admiral Charles Vance is the CIC of Starfleet, last seen in DIS: “Life, Itself”. Starfleet Academy’s traditional location - at least its main campus - has been in San Francisco since the 23rd century. We saw San Francisco and the Academy grounds still existing in the 32nd century in DIS: “People of Earth”.
Programmable matter is a 32nd century technology, made up of what is probably nanomachines which can be configured in a variety of ways.
Nahla flips through personnel records, one of which is Commander Lura Thok, the Jem’Hadar-Klingon first officer of the USS Athena. The images are projected from her tricom badge. We get our first good look at Athena, NCC-392023.
A DOT-23 greets them as they board - DOTs are repair robots that have been in use since the 2250s (as DOT-7 models), working aboard and outside Starfleet ships. They first appeared in DIS: “Such Sweet Sorrow”. Nahla greets Lura as “Number One”, an old nickname for first officers dating back to the Royal Navy. CAPT Christopher Pike referred to CMDR Una Chin-Riley by that nickname, as did CPT Jean-Luc Picard with CMDR William Riker. Lura is the daughter of Asmaret from the Klingon House of Dak’Hatas, and the Jem’Hadar lineage of Kah-Baj.
Jay-Den Kraag declared his subjects as molecular biology and regenerative therapies - science division, in other words, with a lean towards medical. Not a usual choice for a Klingon, but Klingon medics have to exist.
The officer in operations gold that greets Jay-Den and Kraag at the top of the stairs is a Saurian, a species first seen in TMP. Linus, a Saurian officer, was a supporting character on DIS.
The Regulation Appearance Arches quickly cut Caleb’s hair and put a cadet uniform on him. Technology that materialises clothes on people has been seen as far back as TMP, when Kirk materialised a dress on the Ilia probe who appeared naked in a sonic shower.
The Doctor’s bedside manner has not improved in 800 years. Orillian lung maggots were first mentioned in VOY: “Fair Trade”. They are native to the Delta Quadrant, which explains the Doctor’s surprise at finding them in Caleb.
“Ad Astra per Aspera,” Latin for “To the Stars Through Hardship/Difficulties,” or “A Rough Road Leads to the Stars”. It is the motto of the state of Kansas, can be found on NASA’s Apollo I memorial, and also in-universe the motto of the United Earth Starfleet in ENT.
You can find the names on the Hall of Fame dissected ad nauseam elsewhere, so I won’t go into them, but merely to note that Harry Kim finally made it past ENS, Samantha Wildman became a CMDR, and Zero (from PRO) apparently had a third generation.
Catecholamines are not technobabble - they’re a class of neurotransmitters that prep the body for a fight-or-flight response. A spike in levels means shit is about to go down, in other words.
Sato Atrium is likely named for Hoshi Sato, the NX-01’s communications officer and xenolinguist. The Doctor pushes the Opera Club, a callback to his fondness of it during his days on Voyager. He walks away singing “Pa-pa-pa Papageno” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
One of the clubs cadets can sign up for is Parrises Squares, a sometimes violent court-based game first spoken of in TNG, although we didn’t actually see a game being played until PRO: “Is There in Beauty No Truth?”
The Doctor mentions he put an aging program 5 centuries before to put organics at ease, which is obviously the Watsonian explanation for why Robert Picardo looks older. A similar explanation was given by Guinan in PIC to explain Whoppi Goldberg’s appearance.
Sam makes a reference to PRO and the crew of Protostar, including Dal R’El, Murph and Captain Gwyndala (which is where we left her at the end of the series), which makes me so happy. PRO needs more love.
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By the way, Nahla is doing the stereotypical bisexual chair sitting meme. Just saying. Ion storms are a regular thing in Star Trek (and usually come with nasty effects). Lura notes that they are near the Badlands, which is an area located near the Cardassian border, inside the Demilitarised Zone that separated Federation and Cardassian space in the 24th Century. It was also known for its turbulent plasma storms and gravitational anomalies.
Nahla tells Lura to “get to the kids”, and Lura beams out with her tricom badge’s personal transporter, another bit of 32nd Century technology.
The Doctor says that damage to the emergency holo-emitters mean that medical staff is in short supply, implying that the medical staff is augmented by EMHs like him. The fact that he can say there are injuries but no casualties with such confidence might also mean he’s tied into the internal life signs sensors.
When Caleb goes to the computer panel, it’s displaying a quote from Janeway from VOY: “Dark Frontier”, which she said to Naomi Wildman: “There are three things to remember about being a starship captain. Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew.”
Lura’s authorisation code is “Thok-Gamma-616-Pi”. She gives instructions to inject a broad spectrum vasosuppressant, and then remove the foreign object. This should narrow the blood vessels and reduce the amount of bleeding when they remove it. From my first aid training I still think it’s a bad idea, but hey, I don’t know about 32nd century medicine and Jem’Hadar-Klingon physiology.
Nahla makes a reference to taking apart the warp drive “bolt by stem-seal”, which is reminiscent of the mysterious “self-sealing stem bolts” whose function nobody seemed to know in DS9: “Progress”.
Lura says, “I am dead. I go into battle to reclaim my life,” which is a paraphrase of a Jem’Hadar pep-talk before they go into battle from DS9: “To the Death”: “I am First Omet'iklan, and I am dead. As of this moment we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember. Victory is life.”
Darem, a Khionian, claims he’s survived pressure differentials up to 7,000 pounds. In pounds per square inch that’s about 476 atmospheres, or the pressure at nearly 5 km under the ocean. He also says he can stand temperatures up to -271 degrees Celsius, which is just a couple of degrees above absolute zero (-273.15 C), the lowest possible temperature. For reference, the vacuum of space averages about -270.4 C and liquid nitrogen’s boiling point is -196 C.
Transporter systems are off-line which apparently also renders personal transporters also unusable? But we’ve seen personal transporters being used without a regular transporter unit in sight, so PTs are not just relays for a main system.
Before Darem goes outside, Genesis asks him to place a device on his neck that will pick up his vocal vibrations so she can hear him even in vacuum.
The Doctor’s command code is “Doctor-delta-10-sigma-3-1”.
Sam warns Jay-Den that a Jem’Hadar’s heart is near where a human liver is supposed to be. Coincidentally, the Vulcan heart is located around there as well (TOS: “Mudd’s Women”).
Why doesn't Caleb just ask the bridge to tractor Braka's escape pod? It's not as if it can get very far, and we know the tractors are functioning because Genesis just used them to rescue Darem.
The song that plays as they approach Earth is “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)”, originally sung by Scott McKenzie in 1967, one of the anthems of the countercultural movement of the 1960s, especially the Summer of Love in that year. This version is performed by Rufus Wainright.
When the Burn hit, all ships using dilithium as a rectifier for their warp cores found the dilithium go suddenly inert, creating instant warp core breaches for those ships in warp.
