Poll of the Month - Easter Eggs

[Genkos Adea]

It's April, it's Spring (at least in the northern hemisphere) and it's starting to warm up (again, only for those of us up north). This means only one thing to many people - birth, growth, renewal. All of this can be summed up in the Christian celebration of Easter - the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. To many who celebrate (and a lot of people who, like myself, don't), Easter is symbolised in the form of an Easter egg.

 

Now we could have asked you all about your favourite forms of chocolate (correct answer: all) and maybe we'll do that next year, but instead we thought we'd ask about that other type of Easter egg - the in-joke, the reference, the little nugget of gold that's only there waiting for the fans to leap upon and write about on countless internet forums... And our Discord, of course.

 

Fair Warning: This post contains some spoilers for the new series of Star Trek: Discovery, Picard, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. We have warned you!

 

The most recent, and arguably the greatest Easter egg ever made by anyone ever (because it references my favourite Star Trek film) was the momentary reoccurrence of Kirk Randolph Thatcher in Picard. He originally played the "Punk Dude" who is accosted by Kirk and Spock in the masterpiece film, The Voyage Home, and memorably appears in the Picard episode "Watcher".

 

 Another little Easter egg is the delightful appearance of the famous Vasquez Rocks in pretty much every episode of the Original Series, as well as many other appearances in plenty of other Trek series (and a few other non-Trek films and TV shows including the A-Team, the Muppet Movie and the live action Flintstones).

 

The one that cannot go without mentioning is the use of Majel Barrett-Roddenberry as the voice of the computer in almost every series since the Next Generation; for me, when I write my sims I can always hear her responses as the computer. It's like she's still with us every time.

 

Who hasn't simmed their character climbing through the Jefferies tubes on board their ship? Those maintenance crawl spaces have more in common with the nautical vessels, where space is at a premium and tubes are the way forward. These maintenance shafts on board our starships are named Jefferies Tubes, after the Starfleet Engineer W.M. Jefferies, who was named in homage to the real designer of the original Enterprise - Matt Jefferies!

 

And of course, absolutely every episode of Lower Decks features a ridiculous amount of Easter eggs in every scene, and to list them here would take up an entirely new poll! But suffice to say, I'm going to pick my favourite, which is the  only canon appearance of the Spock Helmet toy from the 60s in Ensign Mariner's stash of contraband.

 

But what's your favourite? One of the above, or a completely different egg altogether? I'm egg-cited to hear your answers!

Edited April 18, 2022 by Genkos Adea

[Serala]

I mean, come on... Probably the best scene in Star Trek IV....
...Nice shout out in Picard.

[Alieth]

Hard challengers here! But I must go fully with LD 'cause the show has been a treat so far!

[Wyatt Ral]

No vote for the helmet? 

 

[Tahna Meru]

I get incredibly egg-cited about Trek Easter eggs, and Lower Decks is obviously such a strong contender! But since my favorite Trek movie is The Voyage Home, obviously my favorite egg is Kirk Randolph Thatcher.

[+ Yalu]

As this Life magazine cover from June 1997 says, the Titanic disaster re-emerged from the pages of history and captured the public consciousness throughout the mid-1990s, culminating in the release of the blockbuster film we all know and love in December 1997.

In the Voyager episode Year of Hell, Tom Paris designs transverse bulkheads to protect the ship from a Krenim attack, with Titanic's watertight bulkheads as inspiration.  Given that this episode and the film were released only 5 weeks apart, it seems as though Voyager's writers might have had a little "Titanic fever" themselves.

Quote

Paris:  In theory, they could stay afloat even with half the ship filled with water.
Janeway:  ::dubious:: As I recall, it sank.
Paris: Well, let's just say I've made a few improvements.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Yalu

[Sal Taybrim]

I'm going with Majel Barett-Roddenberry, but I could also vote for LD.  LD does references *right*  - they're funny, they fit with the story, and often they're things that you only pick up on the second or third watch.  I prefer that over the direct 'here's nostalgia on a plate!' references

[Serala]

2 hours ago, Yalu said:

Paris:  In theory, they could stay afloat even with half the ship filled with water.
Janeway:  ::dubious:: As I recall, it sank.
Paris: Well, let's just say I've made a few improvements.

I am literally watching this episode right now! And yeah, amazing!