The following incorporates minor spoilers for season two, episode eight of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks.’

The topic of “canon” has come up lots lately. Marvel’s What If…? is a present that performs round however nonetheless principally adheres to it, whereas Star Wars Visions disregards it virtually fully. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Lower Decks is a humorous present that wasn’t anticipated to comply with canon and but, the writers appear to have made it their mission to fill out the gaps in Star Trek continuity. And this is perhaps the cartoon’s biggest power.

The present’s willingness to reference previous adventures is on full show this week, because the USS Cerritos is tasked with operating drills to check crew effectivity. Seeing a Starfleet crew put by means of its paces is one thing we’ve seen many instances earlier than, although this time round it’s for a very non-Starfleet-like motive: Captain Freeman by accident leaves our core 4 forged members behind when jetting off on a rescue mission. To be truthful, the quartet of ensigns did neglect to signal their magnet boots out, which might have let their senior officers know they weren’t on the ship. But nonetheless, it’s a screw-up we don’t typically see on Star Trek.

In response, all the crew is gathered in a cargo bay to be examined by a Pandronian teacher — a species by no means seen in any live-action Star Trek productions, however acquainted to anybody who’s watched the 1973 animated sequence. Pandronians are colony creatures that may break up into three items, one thing that was more durable to create when particular results had been far much less subtle. Animation has fewer limitations, and Lower Decks has taken benefit of that lots in its two seasons to showcase species just like the Caitians, Ariolo and Kzinti.

Though it utilized lots of the forged and crew of the unique sequence, the canonized standing of the animated Star Trek was at all times a nebulous factor, with some writers saying that episodes like “Yesteryear” had been in continuity, however no actual on-screen affirmation of the present’s place within the timeline. One of present creator Mike McMahan’s stipulations for Lower Decks was that it happen in-canon, and he’s used that standing to cement the 1973 cartoon in as effectively.

However, Lower Decks additionally has lots to supply live-action followers, and this week’s episode is heavy on the references, with the Cerritos crew taking over simulations with names like “Natural Selection,” “Chain of Command” and “Naked Time.” These aren’t simply generic descriptions but in addition the names of episodes, and long-time followers will enjoyment of seeing Mariner tackle the Mirror Universe or Boimler face off towards the Borg. We is perhaps conversant in the eventualities, however seeing how these explicit characters deal with them provides a brand new twist.

While the entire drill plot may look like an inexpensive method to pander to old-school followers, it’s additionally much like how the army works in actual life, with college students typically requested to check historic ways and run exams primarily based on actual occasions. We’ve seen the holosuites used to recreate battles on the Alamo, Thermopylae and the Battle of Britain on Deep Space Nine, whereas Riker even used the holodeck to look at the Enterprise NX-01’s remaining mission. (And let’s not neglect the time Troi needed to kill Geordi to earn a promotion to commander.) From the start, Lower Decks has been a present that embraces Starfleet’s naval trappings extra totally than we’ve ever seen, and placing the crew to the take a look at right here appears to be the logical endpoint of that.

But the place Lower Decks shines brightest of all is when it chooses to attach the disparate components of the Star Trek franchise collectively. The Star Trek universe is extraordinarily bizarre and sophisticated however, as an alternative of rebooting all the franchise (DC Comics) or throwing out big swathes of previous story (Star Wars), Star Trek has embraced the mess. The universe is bizarre, so it’s okay if all the things doesn’t neatly match collectively. It’s simply funnier this fashion.