Annotations for Star Trek: Lower Decks 4x02: âI Have No Bones Yet I Must Fleeâ:
The title is a play on the classic science fiction short story âI Have No Mouth But I Must Screamâ by Harlan Ellison, best known in Star Trek for writing TOS: âThe City on the Edge of Foreverâ, although what ended up on screen was significantly different from what he originally wrote.
The opening scene plays around with the stereotypically treacherous nature of Romulan society. Remans were the indigenous species of the planet Remus whom the Romulans enslaved for centuries. The markings on the Romulan officersâ foreheads mark them as Northern Romulans (as opposed to the smooth-foreheaded Southerners). The torture chair is of the same type that was used for Geordi La Forge in TNG: âThe Mindâs Eyeâ. The design of the Romulan ship is not your standard Dâderidex but based on the initial concept art for the class by designer Andrew Probert.
The outfits that Ransom and Shax are wearing as they stretch are the ones from the infamous exercise scene in TNG: âThe Priceâ, with Ransom wearing Troiâs tights and Shax in Crusherâs colors. Ransom suggests hot fudge sundaes - chocolate sundaes were a favorite of Troiâs.
Tendi packs the model of the Cerritos she and Rutherford built (LD: âAn Embarassment of Dopplersâ) - later we also see the Deep Space 9 model she gave Rutherford in the same episode. She refers to an unseen adventure where they swapped bodies because of cosmic rays, mind swapping being featured in several Trek episodes, most recently in PRO: âMindwalkâ. Tendi also has a picture of âThe Dogâ (LD: âMuch Ado About Boimlerâ) among her possessions.
Boimler has his Stargazer model (LD: âReflectionsâ), his promotion certificate (LD: âNo Small Partsâ), his Captain Freeman Day Banner (LD: âFirst First Contactâ) and the Klingon headpiece he wears when playing batâleths & biHnuchs (LD: âThe Least Dangerous Gameâ). He also has a Mirror Universe Archer figure (ENT: âIn a Mirror, Darklyâ, although how the Prime Universe knows about that is unknown), a commemorative plate with the Cerritos on it, the recruitment poster with Number One (SNW: âThose Old Scientistsâ), Spock in his monster maroons and Data in his First Contact uniform holding a phaser rifle.
The shuttles are named after National Parks, in this case Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Redwood. Mariner refers to a âmenagerieâ, alien zoos that are always scooping up humans (TOS: âThe Menagerieâ).
I donât recognize the purple starfish-like creature, but next to it is a glommer (TAS: âMore Tribbles, More Troublesâ) and a cylinder of florkas (LD: âMoist Vesselâ). In the other display case is a Ceti Eel (ST II). We also see among the exhibits an Aldebaran serpent (TNG: âHide and Qâ), a koala (âMoist Vesselâ), a unicorn alien dog (TOS: âThe Enemy Withinâ) and an Hanonian land eel (VOY: âBasics, Part IIâ).
The visor Boimler puts on is the one Spock uses in TOS: âIs There in Truth No Beautyâ to protect against madness for gazing on the Medusan form.
Narj points to his Pyrithian swamp gobblers. Other Pyrithian species include the Pyrithian Bat and the Pyrithian Moon Hawk. Dr Phlox on the NX-01 had a bat and used a paper model of a moon hawk to scare the bat when it escaped (ENT: âA Night in Sickbayâ).
Rutherford is working on The Most Important Device in the Universe, a common prop in Star Trek and other science fiction related shows. Rutherford calls a two tube configuration Tucker Tubes, presumably after Chief Engineer âTripâ Tucker of the NX-01. A Cochrane is a measure of warp field strength, with 1 Cochrane equal to a field strength that will produce Warp Factor 1, or the speed of light.
Mariner refers to the time Ransom stabbed her in the foot (LD: âTemporal Edictâ), when he turned into a head and tried to eat her (LD: âStrange Energiesâ), their time on the orbital lift (âThe Least Dangerous Gameâ).
Rutherford could have been promoted when he saved the Cerritos from the Pakleds in LD: âNo Small Partsâ and the crew of the Roubidoux from a cosmozoan in âMuch Ado About Boimlerâ but he turned it down. He finally gets his promotion to LT j.g. for the time he removed Cerritosâ hull in LD: âFirst First Contactâ.
Ransomâs reference to humans being âThe Most Dangerous Gameâ is to the eponymous 1924 short story by Richard Connell, which basically created the trope of hunting humans and the hunter eventually becoming the hunted. The short story has been adapted and copied innumerable times. The title was inverted for LDâs âThe Least Dangerous Gameâ.
Was Spock Amok broadcast after the Prodigy ep with Janeway and Dal swapping?
SNW: âSpock Amokâ was released on June 2, 2022 while PRO: âMindwalkâ was released on December 15, 2022. Iâll correct it.
the erasure of Prodigy is working apparently :(
/s
Seriously, thanks for your great attention to detail!