• The Orion starship we see in the opening is visually similar to the Orion interceptors seen in “Borderland” with some distinct differences.
• Notably, this interceptor has a pair of arms extending from the underside of the ship, similar to the Orion starship seen in the TAS episode, “The Pirates of Orion.”
• Starting with Risik’s tattoos, we see several examples of the Orion alphabet introduced in “Borderland”.
• Among the plunder the Orion lower deckers are sorting is:
• A Bat’leth
• A number of 24th century Starfleet type-2 phasers
• A Vulcan harp
• A 23rd century Starfleet type-2 phaser
• A Starfleet compression phaser rifle
• ”Hey, did you guys see that Maleer got big pieces of metal attached to her head?” In “Borderland” we were introduced to the idea that Orion body modification practices do include grafting bits of what appears to be scrap metal to their bodies.
• The captain’s chair aboard the Orion ship is similar in shape to the one seen in “The Pirates of Orion”.
• The Mysterious Threat destroys the Orion vessel, just as it did the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, IKS Che’Ta’ in “Twovix”, and a Romulan ship in “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee”.
• “I have put my foot in my mouth enough when it comes to Orion stuff.” Tendi was hurt by Mariner’s insistence that all Orions are pirates who love to pillage in “Crisis Point”, and Mariner again insulted Tendi by suggesting she use her pheromones to influence a dom-jot game they were attempting to hustle in “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris”.
• Among his possessions on display, Boimler has a USS Cerritos commemorative plate.
• Tendi, Mariner, and T’Lyn take the Yosemite II shuttle on their away mission/girls’ trip. The original Yosemite was destroyed in when Mariner and Boimler were caught in a gravity well and forced to crash land in “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie”, and the Yosemite II was introduced in “Grounded”.
• As the shuttle approaches Orion, we see an Orion barge of the type operated by Harrad-Sar in “Bound”.
• Several of the buildings on the Orion skyline bear the symbol worn by the Orion crew in “The Pirate of Orion”.
• “You grew up in a castle, like friggin’ Billups?” We learned that chief engineer Billups grew up as heir to the throne of the human colony Hysperia, which is populated entirely by “ren faire types.”
• Tendi confirms that her family is part of the Orion Syndicate, a criminal organization first mentioned in “The Ascent”.
• B’rt Tendi is played by Nolan North, who’s portrayed several Trek characters, including:
• Bridge officer of the USS Vengeance - “Star Trek Into Darkness”
• The Half a Rascal - “Much Ado About Boimler”
• Cerritos transporter chief, Lundy
• Sokel - “wej Duj”
• K’ranch - “The Least Dangerous Game”
• The A.B. Chambers is the steamboat that Mark Twain briefly worked on.
• Boimler and Rutherford both show up dressed as Mark Twain. The real Samuel Clemens encountered the crew of the USS Enterprise D when they travelled back to 1893 in “Time’s Arrow”.
• Tendi was first referred to as the Mistress of the Winter Constellations in “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris”.
• The bottle the Slit Throat bartender pours from features an image of the Orion captain from “The Pirates of Orion”.
• The stir stick in Madam G’s drink is topped with the symbol worn by the Orion crew in “The Pirates of Orion”.
• New Seattle is a colony on Penthara IV, a world the Enterprise D responded to a disaster on in “A Matter of Time”.
• The pattern on the privacy screens of the hump dungeon mirror those of the fence in the fantasy Captain Pike experienced of Vina as an Orion “slave girl” in “The Menagerie, Part II”.
• T’Lyn observes that the male Orions in the hump dungeon appear to be under the influence of pheromonal chemical manipulation. It was established in “Bound” that Orion culture is actually matriarchal, with women controlling the men via the use of pheromones.
• ”Tendi’s made it clear that Starfleet made those pheromones up.” Actually, all Tendi ever said in “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris” is that she’s, ”not even that kind of Orion.”
• Coqqor is played by Eric Bauza, who’s portrayed several PRO and LDS characters, including:
• Barniss Frex - “Asylum”
• Scot’Ee and Sool’U - “All the World’s a Stage”
• Assface and Screwhead - “Skin a Cat”
• Though there has previously not been any canon Chalnoth ships, the design here appears to be based on the ships seen on the cover of DC Comics’ “Star Trek: The Next Generation” #61, published in 1994.
• The starship boneyard that Tendi and D’Erika used to play in as children contains a Federation exploration vessel of the same design as the USS Raven, which Seven of Nine’s parents used to study the Borg and get assimilated. Ship type was first seen in “The Raven”.
• Coqqor devours Rutherford and Boimler’s bonsai tree. In “Allegiance” the Chalnoth Esoqq was unable to eat the food disks provided to Picard and the others by their captors, but did strongly imply that he could subsist on the Mizarian prisoner.
• ”I may not be a pirate, but I’ve rerouted my share of EPS conduits.” Tendi demonstrated her shipjacking abilities in “Hear All, Trust Nothing”.
• ”A report without the subject’s consent would be unethical.” Vulcans monitor other species without their consent all the time, such as in “Star Trek: First Contact”, “The Andorian Incident”, and “Carbon Creek”.
• Boimler and Rutherford end the episode on the holodeck, both dressed as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The works of Mozart have been featured in:
• “Where No One Has Gone Before”
• “The Ensigns of Command”
• “Sarek”
• “A Matter of Time”
• “A Fistful of Datas”
• “Cogenitor”
Agreed all around. Would have loved it if he found the Twain exercise to be subversive and twisted.
Yeah, I don't want to rewrite the episode too much, because that's not what I'm here for, but what Rutherford and Boimler showed up on the bridge, still struggling to get their Twain cosplay off? The episode already had Rutherford decrying how complicated vests are. They get called to the bridge, and they're still half in costume when they interrupt Freeman's negotiations with Coqqor and he demands an explanation. They stumble over one another trying to provide context for who Twain is, and that they were in an argument, but by both engaging with the character they were able to sort out their differences. The camera pulls in tight on Coqqor's face as his eyes narrow, and after a pause he says, "Show me."
Freeman's willing to entertain anything at this point but isn't convinced. However, Coqqor really gets into the character. After some coaching from Boimler and Rutherford, Freeman is able to reach an agreement with Coqqor, and in addition to scanning access, they agree to a cultural exchange. They give Coqqor the Cerritos' library of Twain writings, including a printing of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" that's been in Boimler's family for generations, but he's willing to part with for the sake galactic diplomacy. Coqqor then immediately eats the book.