The title refers to the transdimensional fissures that Cerritos has been dealing with in this season.
Raktajino is âKlingon Coffeeâ, although in truth its history is a bit more complicated. In short, raktajino is a Federation version of raâtaj (Klingon coffee with liquor) with added nutlike flavoring (making it raktaj) and cream, creating a portmanteau of âraktajâ and âcappuccinoâ: raktajino. A fuller explanation can be found here. As a side note, the Klingons got coffee from raiding human ships, and both developed a taste for it and started growing it themselves on QoânoS.
Mariner and Boimler are drinking from Highwave Hotjo 14 oz. travel mugs, which were used as props on DS9. Boimlerâs full beard has finally grown in, mutton chops and all.
Boimler was transporter cloned by accident in LD: âKayshon, His Eyes Openâ, with the clone taking the name William Boimler, taking Bradwardâs place on the USS Titan. William was apparently killed by a neurocine gas leak in LD: âCrisis Point 2: Paradoxusâ, but that was a cover for his recruitment by Section 31.
Oddly enough, Section 31 - the rogue covert intelligence organization that does (officially) unsanctioned ops in the name of preserving the Federation, first mentioned in DS9: âInquisition - is never mentioned in the episode. However, William is wearing a Section 31 combadge (first seen in DIS: âPoint of Lightâ).
Shax died in LD: âNo Small Partsâ, but reappeared with only vague allusions to dark truths about scientific depravity and the afterlife in LD: âWeâll Always Have Tom Parisâ.
Williamâs command, the Defiant-class USS Anaximander, escapes Quantum Reality 582.76-Ί. With him are alternate universe counterparts of characters we know. Anaximander (c.610 to c.546 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Thales, who subscribed to the notion the the universe arose from a boundless ultimate reality, the apeiron.
The Anaximander name was given to a Ptolemy-class transport tug (NCC-3804) in Franz Josephâs 1975 Star Fleet Technical Manual.
In our reality, TâPol (voiced by original actor Jolene Blalock) was Archerâs first officer on the NX-01 Enterprise, from ENT, who had a relationship with Chief Engineer Trip Tucker . Curzon was the Trill Dax host immediately before Jadzia, from DS9.
Garak (voiced by original actor Andrew Robinson) was the tailor/spy exiled to DS9, and given his thinly veiled relationship with Dr Julian Bashir (voiced by original actor Alexander Siddig), itâs appropriate his counterpart is married to an EMH based on Bashir. In the Prime universe, the Mark II EMH was supposed to be modeled on Bashir until his secret as an Augment was revealed (DS9: âDoctor Bashir, I Presumeâ). The EMH Bashir uses a mobile emitter like the Prime universeâs Doctor EMH (obtained in VOY: âFutureâs Endâ).
There is a fan fiction script by Ellie K-E/@almaasi, âLittle Achivementsâ, a dialogue between Garak and Bashir 20 years after the events of DS9, which depicts them as being married, and notable for having been performed by Robinson and Siddig. Itâs sweet. You should go see.
As a side note, a team made up of alternate reality counterparts was also the basis of the 2000s Marvel comic Exiles.
Neelix was the cook/morale officer on the USS Voyager during most of her time in the Delta Quadrant. A âreally big Spockâ, a giant clone, was seen in TAS: âThe Infinite Vulcanâ and its skeleton displayed as part of a collection in LD: âKayshon, His Eyes Openâ.
William is understandably jaded by all the variations on a theme heâs seen (he does a Picard face-cover meme gesture at one point). This is a meta commentary on not just how the multiverse has been treated in Star Trek (Mirror Universe, Kelvin Timeline, et al.) but how multiverses have been treated - especially recently in the MCU - in popular culture in general.
Harry Kim (voiced by original actor Garrett Wang) was the Operations Officer on Voyager, who famously was never promoted from Ensign in its entire seven-year run. The one just beamed on board wears lieutenantâs pips, though. Harry is treated better in the beta canon, with the IDW comic and the post-âEndgameâ novels promoting him to a full Lieutenant and Star Trek Online making him a Captain.
The black and white outfit with red piping worn by one of the Kims is a Starfleet racing uniform seen in VOY: âDriveâ.
Curzon was known for his close relationships with Klingons and his love of Klingon culture, explaining his skill with a batâleth.
The uniform variations seen on the Harrys are the First Contact-era uniforms, the original Voyager uniforms and the aforementioned racing uniform. They all seem to be wearing the DS9 and VOY-era combadges. One Harry is playing the clarinet, as does his Prime counterpart.
Julian Bashir and Miles OâBrien went from being rivals to best friends on DS9, who played various sports together, darts and racquetball being most prominent.
Alt-Mariner says her Troi (presumably Deanna Troi) was transporter cloned and stranded on a planet for years, like William Rikerâs transporter clone Thomas (TNG: âSecond Chancesâ). Her Boimler wears a leather jacket all the time, perhaps like the one Prime Boimler wore in LD: âCupidâs Errant Arrowâ.
Voyager did have more than her fair share of Borg infiltrations. The aliens trying to steal organs are a reference to the Viidians (VOY: âPhageâ et al.).
Two-Pip Kim complains that everyone gets promoted before ops because no one knows what they do. To be fair, Ops is a rather vague description. According to the Star Trek TNG Technical Manual, Operations Management Officers coordinate activities and mission goals between departments, prioritizing and resolving conflicting demands on ships resources. They also allocate power during crisis situations, routes information to specific departments and the shipâs computer and monitor incoming and shipboard communications.
Alt-TâPol says she âwasâ married to a human for 63 years, which suggests that Alt-Trip is now dead in her reality (he would be 261 years old if still alive, which is not likely for a human, even in the 24th Century). In the Prime reality, Trip ostensibly died in 2161 (ENT: âThese Are the Voyagesâ), and he and TâPol never married. However, the novels retconned this death, and it is a testament to how universally hated Tripâs death was that itâs one of the few retcons about which I have never heard anyone complain about.
petaQ is a Klingon epithet which can be translated as âweirdoâ.
The ship flying out of the rift reminds me of the XCV-330 Enteprise from the 22nd Century, first seen as part of the Enterprise lineage of ships in a painting in TMP. It is based on an early Matt Jeffries design concept for Enterprise from 1964. The ring structure might be a coleopteric warp drive which the XCV-330 used, also used by Vulcan starships.
biHnuch means âcowardâ, first appearing in TNG: âSins of the Fatherâ and then in LD: âThe Least Dangerous Gameâ as part of the name of the tabletop RPG the Lower Deckers play, Batâleths & BiHnuchs.
The appearance of the Khwopian and the bog environment tells us that theyâve landed on a version of the planet Khwopa (LD: âMuch Ado About Boimlerâ), on which Cerritos helped repair a water filtration system.
Alt-Curzon mentioning drinking bones is a reference to moopsies, otherwise cute looking animals who do just that (LD: âI Have No Bones Yet I Must Fleeâ).
The woman in an ENT-era jumpsuit (but with a different shoulder patch) is an alternate of Lily Sloane (voiced by original actor Alfre Woodward), an associate of Zefram Cochrane in the mid-21st Century (First Contact).
Alt-Garak is not âjustâ a surgeon, in the same way Prime Garak is not âjustâ a âsimple tailorâ.
Alt-Lilyâs ethical boundaries against contacting species who canât cross realities on their own is similar to how Starfleetâs Prime Directive uses warp drive as a guide as to whether a civilization is ready for First Contact.
Alt-Lilyâs ship is called the Beagle, probably named after Charles Darwinâs HMS Beagle, an early ship of exploration. As a Star Trek related cut, the merchant ship SS Beagle was involved in the events of TOS: âBread and Circusesâ. An even deeper cut is that A.E. Van Vogtâs 1950 SF novel The Voyage of the Space Beagle is sometimes cited as a proto-Star Trek type story.
So the final villain this season is Two-Pip Kim, which in a meta way is appropriate since last seasonâs big bad was Nick Locarno, who totally does not look like Harryâs best friend Tom Paris.
A âmicro warp jumpâ, a jump over much shorter distances than usual, was the basis of the Picard Maneuver (TNG: âThe Battleâ).
Alt-TâPolâs transferring Alt-Daxâs memories to herself is like the reverse of what Spock did to McCoy when he transferred his katra in ST II.
A soliton wave in a Star Trek context is a faster-than-light wave that was thought to have practical applications in warp propulsion or faster than light communications (TNG: âNew Groundâ), but was also potentially destructive.
The first time âTo Be ContinuedâŠâ was used on LD was at the end of LD: âFirst First Contactâ.
Great notes, as always.
In addition to the already-cited references, the Beagle could additionally be a sly reference to Archerâs pal Porthos.
Interestingly, Jolene Blalock is credited simply as âJoleneâ. EDIT: Mike McMahan says this was at her request. https://bsky.app/profile/mikemcmahan.bsky.social/post/3ld3v4usznc2i
Our TâPol also had some indirect experience with the concept of katra transference when Archer briefly carried Surakâs katra.