WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1, Episode 9, "Crisis Point," now streaming on CBS All Access.
In the latest episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Ensign Boimler prepares for an upcoming interview with Captain Freeman by loading a new simulation program in the U.S.S. Cerritos' holodeck. This program recreates the ship and its crew perfectly, and although Boimler only wishes to interview the Captain, Mariner takes control of the simulation and changes it to plunge herself and the other ensigns into a cinematic experience.
Because of this, Lower Decks has the perfect opportunity to homage multiple Star Trek films, from the classic to the modern. Yes, after nine episode of referencing every television series in the Star Trek franchise, Lower Decks finally features multiple homages to J.J. Abrams' Kelvin Timeline movies.
When Mariner takes control of Boimler's simulation, she creates a movie scenario where she is a villainous marauder in control of her spaceship. She and her crew, which is made up of Tendi and Rutherford, attack the Cerritos. This basic premise opens the door for plenty of space action and phaser fights, and this is exactly what "Crisis Point" delivers.
As a result, the episode features multiple nods to the 2009 Star Trek film and its sequels, Into Darkness and Beyond. First off, once Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi are in the movie simulation, director J.J. Abrams' signature lens flares are on full display. What's more, the camera angles are also different and much more in tune with the modern films.
And the homages don't stop there. Indeed, Rutherford is also able to save the engineering crew of the Cerritos thanks the magic of beaming, which was used in a similar fashion in Into Darkness.
What's more, the Crisis Point movie reaches its climax when the Cerritos is damaged and crashes on a nearby planet. The nacelles break off from the ship, and the saucer crashes into the terrain of the planet, much like the Enterprise did in Star Trek Beyond. And, like in the threequel, Mariner and a few other officers remain in the broken halls of their ship to fight in a climactic battle.
Thanks to the holodeck, Star Trek: Lower Decks was able to go as big as the franchise's modern films. It poked fun at some of its signature elements, and criticized its more questionable moments. But like everything Lower Decks does, it came from a place of love.
Streaming on CBS All Access, Star Trek: Lower Decks stars Tawny Newsome as Ensign Beckett Mariner, Eugene Cordero as Ensign Rutherford, Jack Quaid as Ensign Brad Boimler, Noël Wells as Ensign Tendi, Dawnn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman, Jerry O'Connell as Commander Jack Ransom, Gillian Vigman as Doctor T'Ana and Fred Tatasciore as Lieutenant Shaxs.