Poll Should Lower Decks acknowledge modern Trek?

Lower Decks is insanely overflowing with Star Trek references, but aside from the holodeck movie parody, have any of them been post-2005?

Lower Decks season 1 was set 2380, and according to tie-ins and behind-the-scenes info, Picard leaves the Enterprise-E to head up the Romulan relocation effort in 2381 which is likely the setting for Lower Decks season two. Would crossover or mention of modern Trek ruin the warm fuzzy nostalgia for anyone?

Discovery was classified and everyone should think her destroyed in 2258, but Michael Burnham was widely known and infamous before then. She could get a mention, as could some of Pike's new Strange New Worlds additions to the lore. Even worlds and aliens from the Kelvin Universe (as well as Badass Captain Robau) can come up.

 

I'm totally okay with modern Trek references in general. The only issue I could see is that since those shows haven't run their course yet, LD could "risk" being contradicted later on. For example, if LD started a few years earlier and reference Discovery as a super cool shroom-powered ship from the 23rd century, that would get weird, when Discovery gets erased from the records by the end of season 2. TBH I also don't think they're gonna do much with the Picard backstory, as that is all in all a pretty tragic story, and LD is more upbeat. With Cerritos being thoroughly unimportant I don't really see an issue with them not being involved in the evacuation efforts either.

Also, Mariner already mentioned Section 31, which means that either S31 got busted after the Dominion War, she's referring to the public version from Discovery, that she knows because she's Mariner and she's seen all the TV shows and movies , or it's just a slip-up.

Really, I don't care what they do, if it ends up being good-hearted fun, as it was up until now.

 

The less references to other shows, the better. I don’t need any more small universe syndrome.

 

I like the show because it has a bunch of clever and niche franchise references and makes no apologies for it.

Without that aspect, it’s really just a silly, hyper, borderline parody show from where I sit. So, I’m in the minority. I say keep referencing older Trek. It’s literally one of the only things that keeps me tuned in. As for new Trek, it’s still in current production, and therefor not nearly as fun to Easter-egg.

 

Where's the option for limited references? Lower Decks is in a unique position to explore really unusual ideas and concepts that would be difficult in live action show.

 

And since posting this, the new trailer for season two just dropped... with a glimpse of what looked like Freecloud from ST: Picard

 

I wouldn't mind a meta-reference like Mariner trying to figure out if she should do her hair like season 1-2 Burnham or Season 3 Burnham or go for a full Captain Killy terran blowout

 

They could mention people like Lorca and Georgiou, whose deaths weren’t part of Discovery being classified. Especially since Georgiou was meant to be such a highly distinguished captain, alongside Archer and Pike.

 

I love it when the newer Trek shows make references to past episodes from the known Trek Universe, the more the merrier.

Fk "small universe syndrome'.

As a much older Classic Star Trek viewer, it is at times, the only thing that keeps me interested and looking forward to watching the new shows/episodes.

 

Sure. I'm not choosey about what they reference; though I do love the show's deep cuts most. The fact that they went as far as to mention Xon proved to me just how massive of fans they are.

I love they don't don't reference the big stuff as much as they do the smaller things -- they've stayed very focused on making specific mentions of aliens and villains from the early-early TNG days and TAS.

 

Discovery wasn't erased from records - only certain bits pertaining to the ship were.
As we discovered in 32nd century, Admiral Vance said that per UFP records, the USS Discovery was recorded as lost/destroyed... without any mention of Spore Drive.
That would mean that LD could easily refer to Disco in a gag (most likely) if it wanted to without breaking continuity (of course, it couldn't mention the Spore Drive... unless Mariner got her hands on redacted info about the Spore Drive from somewhere - in which case, she could, but would opt to keep the info to herself and destroy the remaining data to ensure something like Control doesn't arise - the first few minutes (opening) of an episode could revolve around Mariner going through all kinds of ridiculous situations only in the end to be asked: 'what happened to you?'... and she'd say something like: 'oh you know, covert Starfleet Intelligence work, saving the universe... very hush hush' in a nonchalant way... and then the real story for that episode would begin.

Meh, Mariner is the type of character who was imbued with all the knowledge of all other Trek TV series (well, most of it that dates to her era).
She wouldn't have any knowledge of events that occur in PICARD though, nor Season 3 of Disco... albeit they COULD hint at some stuff from Picard... such as FreeCloud, the TW conduits, etc.

 

I mean, that's fair enough, but it doesn't really affect my point, which was that referencing current shows leads to the danger of the reference being contradicted. If LD had aired before DSC season 2 and referenced the spore drive, that would have caused continuity issues. Hypothetically.

And while I love that about her, I would prefer it if the show wouldn't get too... I guess meta about it? Like the XO referring to Kirk and Spock as Those Old Scientists, was a bit too much for me, and I think if Mariner knew of in-universe classified stuff like the spore drive without any explanation that would be a little bit too much for me too. But who knows

Also, I love how I got immediately contradicted with the (apparent?) Freecloud appearance in the trailer

 

I'm assuming Lower Decks takes place before Picard so I would understand why they wouldn't reference that series. I wouldn't mind a Discovery reference though, maybe Mirror Georgeiou ended up in the Lower Decks time when she went through the portal and she might show up on the show. They seem to reference all other Trek, so might as well include Discovery in that too.

 

Yes, but that didn't happen.
Its also possible LD writers didn't want to mention anything about Disco in the first season until they had a better sense of what's going to happen to the ship in S2.
At any rate, I don't think LD will go out of its way to mention Disco... and if it does, it probably won't say a thing about the Spore Drive or Sphere Data... or it might, but only as a 'crazy conspiracy theory gag' that no one would consider to ever be accurate (except for few people who got their hands on the redacted files - if they exist in the first place).

I didn't mind the XO referring to TOS as Those Old Scientists... it was a snippet that's easy to miss.
As for Mariner knowing in-universe classified stuff... meh, it really depends on her history and clearance. She seemed to have connections to most major figures in Starfleet of the 24th century (which I find a bit much, but I guess its ok for what it is - although, it could also mean she was involved in classified missions which would give her access before her 'demotion').

So, she might or might not know about the Spore Drive and Sphere Data... besides, she only breaks rules that she deems are stupid in terms of bureaucracy... I don't think bringing out the Sphere Data which could sparkle another potential issue like what Control did would be something she'd do (but then again that was also something of an outlier because Control came from S31 database and its desire to annihilate all sentient life to me seemed to come from out of nowhere - aka, just for the sake of it - which when looked at objectively has no real basis or probability of actually happening).

That said, the Spore Drive on the other hand had little to do with Control, but because it was connected to Disco, it could be classified or buried under 'failed experiments' due to at the time requiring a biological being being genetically modified with Tardigrade DNA - even though we know that it was also mentioned a fast enough computer could do the task - which I'm certain 24th century UFP computers could do.

That could be Freecloud, or it could be something else.
We don't know.
The only way they could reference Picard is maybe referencing some locations like Freecloud, Nepenthe and TW conduits, but beyond that, I don't think they'd bother.

LD and Trek in general should probably move away from using well known characters and references. An off hand reference I guess is fine, but using those too much becomes repetitive.

 

Lower Decks absolutely should acknowledge modern Trek. Basically, we would find out in Season 2 (2381) that the Romulan sun is dying, which is when the tone of the show alters course (something never before seen in this kind of animated comedy) and the Cerritos joins the Romulan evacuation effort, interacting mostly with Raffi and sometimes with Admiral Picard. As the exaggerated elements disappear, the animation style moves ever closer to live action, which is what the series becomes in the Season 4 finale (2383), when we first see the characters performed mostly if not exclusively by their voice actors. The show then continues as live action, culminating in a theatrical movie set in 2387, where the crew helps Ambassador Spock make his last-ditch effort to stop the supernova.

 

With Old Spock played by Ethan Peck wearing that old man snapchat filter