Annotations for Star Trek: Lower Decks 4x05: “Empathological Fallacies” (SPOILERS)

The title is a play on the term “pathological fallacy”, where traits seen in one person or group are extrapolated to be part of the entire population that person belongs to.

Captain Sokel of the VCS (“Vulcan Command Ship”?) Sh’val was last seen in LD: “wej Duj” as T’Lyn’s commanding officer, who recommended that she be reassigned to Starfleet.

Angel I is the titular planet in TNG: “Angel One”, which is ruled by women. It was visited by the Enterprise-D in 2364. Risa, of course, is a resort planet that has featured or been mentioned in almost every post-TNG series.

Katrot says she loves the Starfleet carpeting. In PIC: “Võx”, Picard says he misses the Enterprise-D’s carpeting. The other Betazoid diplomats are Cathiw (who makes a pass at Ransom and Freeman) and Dolorex.

“Anything glowing and green” might refer to Aldebaran Whiskey, which matches the description (TNG: “Relics”).

Romulan ale was illegal in Kirk’s time (ST II, ST VI), became legal during the Dominion War when the Romulans allied with the Federation (DS9: “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges”), but then apparently became illegal again after (Nemesis). Then again, Romulan Ale was part of a consignment of Alpha Quadrant gifts to be handed to the Karemma (LD: “Hear All, Trust Nothing”), and in PIC: “Disengage” it’s implied to be contraband, so who knows?

The names Boimler are trying to memorize include Jet Manhaver (LD: “Cupid’s Errant Arrow”), the second coolest person on the Cerritos, Hans Federov (named in LD: “Room for Growth” and “The Stars at Night”) a.k.a. Towel Guy and the ship gossip, Honus (LD: “Mugato, Gumato”) the bartender, Kayshon (LD: “Kayshon, His Eyes Open”) the Tamarian security chief, Taylor (named in LD: “In the Cradle of Vexilon”) the Kzinti ensign, Merp (named in LD: “I, Excretus”), Big Merp (“In the Cradle of Vexilon”) and Sleepy Merp.

Tsunkatse is a mixed martial art arena fight (VOY: “Tsunkatse”). Boims thinks he’s being initiated into a fight club - well, there’s slamming of a sort anyway.

Worf, son of Mogh, grew up on the farm colony of Gault (TNG: “Heart of Glory”), raised by his human adoptive parents, the Rozhenkos. The security officer reciting the poem is named Haubold.

Lwaxana Troi, while suffering from Zanthi Fever, empathically broadcast her feelings of affection for Odo, making a number of the crew act amorously (DS9: “Fascination”). Betazoids are telepathic among themselves, but can teach others to hear their thoughts, too, as Troi apparently did to Riker (TNG: “Encounter at Farpoint”), although this was kind of dropped after the pilot.

Alterian flaking may come from the same planet as the Alterian chowder that Sisko attempted to order in Quark’s (DS9: “Armageddon Game”).

The jigsaw puzzle (Starfleet Security Series, 1000 pieces) has a picture of the NX-01 Enterprise and Malcolm Reed on its cover.

The map of the Romulan Neutral Zone, like most maps in the post-DIS era, is based heavily on Geoffrey Mandel’s Star Charts. The Cerritos is in the vicinity of the planet Syrma, or Iota Virginis (in a starchart in PIC: “Disengage”). The planets marked on the map are Romulus and Romii (TOS: “Balance of Terror”) and Cheron.

It’s unclear whether this is the same Cheron as that in TOS: “Let There Be Your Last Battlefield”, and beta canon sources are contradictory on this point. Cheron is stated to be the site of a humiliating defeat for the Romulans (TNG: “The Defector”) and in ENT: “In a Mirror Darkly”, the USS Defiant database identifies the Battle of Cheron as the one that ended the Earth-Romulan War.

Sarek suffered from Bendii Syndrome, which caused him to lose control of his emotions and also affect people around him (TNG: “Sarek”) and he eventually died from it (TNG: “Unification”).

T’Lyn is 62 years old. In comparison, T’Pol was 63 when she joined the NX-01 in 2151.

The (apparently Bajoran) Tarot cards show the Emissary, Derna (the fourth moon of Bajor, DS9: “Image in the Sand”), the Borhya (a Bajoran word for ghost, TNG: “The Next Phase”), Invasion, the Celestial Temple and the Ten of Orbs (Nine orbs were said to have appeared over the centuries in DS9: “Emissary”, with a tenth orb recovered in DS9: “Shadows and Symbols”).

Shax says the Invasion card is more of a rebirth, rather like the traditional Earth tarot card Death, which is associated with transformation and also rebirth. Then again Boimler says all the cards are about rebirth.

Tendi’s admittedly heightened desire to make T’Lyn be her friend harkens back to LD: “Moist Vessel”, where she admits that it kills her if someone doesn’t like her. As Tendi hugs T’Lyn, we see Big Merp at the back using the Game headset (from TNG: “The Game”).

When Mariner says that Sarek was “Vulcan as a motherfucker”, both her hands are in the Vulcan salute. She showed a similar two-handed salute to Freeman, described as a “sarcastic Vulcan salute” in “Moist Vessel”. Interestingly enough, the Vulcan salute was invented by Leonard Nimoy based on the Jewish Priestly Blessing, which also uses both hands.

It’s always struck me as strange that while technically nobody on either side is supposed to enter the Neutral Zone, the Romulans routinely seem to lurk inside the Zone just outside of the Federation border of it. While startrek.com claims the Zone is only one light-year wide, that’s still a lot of room compared to what is usually depicted.