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All the retro references in star trek beyond.

Star Trek Beyond is bursting with references to Trek's past. With five series and ten pre-Abrams movies, our cup runneth over.

Spoiler alert! If you haven't seen Star Trek Beyond yet, you'll want to bookmark this for later. If you've already seen it, and you're a fan, you probably picked up on more than a few references to other entries in the Star Trek canon. Leaving out the Kelvin Timeline entries - that means the J.J. Abrams-produced reboots - we still noticed a few dozen throwbacks, references, and friendly nods to the various series and movies of the past. And that's not even including some continuing themes, like captains going crazy and betraying the Federation, anonymous red shirts getting slaughtered, a beautifully filmed saucer crash that reminds us of the same event in Star Trek Generations , and the familiarity of the Swarm (when we hear drones and hive minds and bee references, we can't help but think of the Borg).

From the names of starbases and Starfleet personnel to random quotes, gestures, and throwaway comments, here are  19 Hidden References To  Star Trek 's Past .

 19. Chekov Explains The Origins Of Scotch

In one of Star Trek Beyond 's final scenes, Chekov is seen explaining to a new alien friend that Scotch was " inwented by a little old lady in Moscow ." Anyone who watched the original series knows that Chekov was constantly attributing inventions, sayings, and discoveries to Russia, even when faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Examples abound. When Scotty brings up the classic Scottish saying, " Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on you ," Chekov insists (with a smile) that the saying is Russian. On Pollux IV, he and Kirk discuss Apollo's ability to magically disappear, but he's baffled by Kirk's reference to the Cheshire cat in Alice In Wonderland . " Cheshire? No sir. Minsk, perhaps. " He insists that quadrotriticale was developed in Russia, which is why he's familiar with it when his Captain isn't, and in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , he he says that Cinderella was a Russian epic.

His quote about scotch is pretty specific, though; it echoes his sentiments expressed to Scotty in fan favorite episode "The Trouble With Tribbles," telling him that Scotch was " inwented by a little old lady from Leningrad. "

18. McCoy Calls Spock A "Green-Blooded Ingrate"

McCoy and Spock have a long history of banter, but it's always McCoy who slings the insults, throwing in references to Spock's ancestry and physiology whenever he gets the chance. It's a strange thing for a 23rd-century Starfleet officer to keep doing, especially in a future filled with alien races, and double-especially considering the fact that he's a doctor, but that doesn't stop him. In Beyond, he calls Spock a " green-blooded ingrate " after he saves Spock's life and then gets dragged back onto an alien ship with him, but that's nothing compared to previous insults from the original series:

“ Don’t give me any Vulcan details, Spock .”

“ Are you out of your Vulcan mind? ”

“ I’m trying to thank you, you pointed-eared hobgoblin! ”

“ You bet your pointed ears, I am. ”

Even Kirk gets in on the action in "Catspaw," the very silly Halloween episode:

Spock: “ Trick or treat, Captain? ”

Kirk: “ Yes, Mister Spock. You'd be a natural. ”

17. The Yorktown Space Station

The stunning, multi-dimensional Yorktown Space Station is a major player in Star Trek Beyond . It's where the Enterprise crew gets assigned the mission that sends them into conflict with Krall, and our story begins. In panoramic sweeps we see dozens of species going on about their daily lives, and learn that Sulu's husband and daughter make their home there.

Its name has some history. In the original series episode "Obsession," the Enterprise is supposed to deliver much-need vaccines to the U.S.S. Yorktown, and on Star Trek Voyager , Tuvok's father was an officer on the Yorktown. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , the Yorktown is one of the ships disabled by the destructive probe that's trying to find some whales to talk to.

But in this case, we think the reference is a throwback to Gene Roddenberry's first plan for the show. When he pitched Star Trek to NBC back in 1964, it featured a starship called The U.S.S. Yorktown, named after a World War II era aircraft carrier. Given that the whole premise of Star Trek centers around acceptance and diversity, the naming of the space station Yorktown, where multiple species live together in peace and harmony, seems to be a nod to the creation of the entire Star Trek universe. Further evidence: Director Justin Lin mentioned that there are 50 species on the Yorktown, representing 50 years of Star Trek .

16. Captain Kirk's Log Entry

While Kirk is recording his Captain's Log, he throws in a few references for us longtime fans. The Enterprise is already three years into her five-year mission, but Kirk gets specific, making a point of saying that it's their 966th day on the job. That number didn't come out of nowhere; Star Trek, the original series, premiered its first episode, "The Man Trap," on September 8, 1966. Yes, that's 9/66.

He also refers to life aboard the Enterprise as "episodic," which reminds everyone that this whole universe of movies, merchandise, events, and giant lines at Comic Con has its very humble beginnings in a TV series that almost didn't make it to a third season. Life may feel episodic at times, but Star Trek is always episodic, and the best of the movies feel like an expanded, extended episode of the TV show.

15. The Franklin's Serial Number

This is one of those little Easter eggs that we thought was a stretch, but was recently confirmed by the Star Trek Beyond team. The U.S.S. Franklin's serial number appears a couple of times during the movie, and seemed familiar, making us wonder if it was a tribute to Leonard Nimoy, who died last year and whose presence is still strong throughout this movie. He'd already appeared in the rebooted Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness , and was asked if he could also appear in Star Trek Beyond, but his health was already failing at that point, and he had to say no . He loved the idea, though, and had particularly enjoyed playing alongside the new cast in the first two, but he simply wasn't able to work anymore. Fittingly, there is a dedication to him at the end of the movie, right before the closing credits.

Nimoy's birthday was March 26th, making it 3-26, and a match for the Franklin's NX-326 designation.

14. Kirk's Depressing Birthday

In Star Trek Beyond , Kirk and McCoy share a drink - scotch, stolen from Chekov's locker - and talk about Kirk's upcoming birthday, which is not a celebratory occasion for him. As McCoy not-so-sensitively reminds him, it's the same day his father died. George Kirk's death was the event that kicked off the first reboot movie, and changed the timeline forever, but Kirk doesn't know that; he only knows that his dad died the day he was born. So the two men share a drink and talk about why Kirk is feeling so low.

A similar scene unfolds in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , when McCoy and Kirk share a drink and Kirk complains about feeling old and tired. McCoy isn't particularly sensitive then either. " Other people have birthdays ," he says, " Why are we treating yours like a funeral ?"

McCoy's long history of drinking with Kirk, Chief Medical Officer to Captain, was actually started by their predecessors, Captain Christopher Pike and Doctor Philip Boyce. In "The Cage," which later became the two-parter "The Menagerie," Boyce stops by Pike's cabin, and makes them a couple of martinis, because " sometimes a man'll tell his bartender things he'll never tell his doctor. "

Clearly, McCoy and Boyce went to the same medical school.

13. Krall's History

Remember the spoiler warning at the beginning? If you weren't paying attention then, pay attention now, and plug your eyes and ears while we do this next bit. Scrolling would probably accomplish the same goal, with less drama.

Krall used to be Captain Balthazar Edison of the aforementioned U.S.S. Franklin. Once the crew realizes that, they dig into his history, and find out that he was a soldier in the united Earth military organization called MACO (Military Assault Command Operations). We first heard of such a thing in Star Trek: Enteprise , when crew members and MACO personnel teamed up against the Xindi.

During Krall's final battle with Jim Kirk on the Yorktown, he bitterly refers to fighting the Romulans and the Xindi, and resents the fact that MACO was disbanded and replaced by Starfleet, when the United Federation of Planets was founded, an organization devoted to peace. All of this Trek canon history comes directly from Enterprise , the least-liked and least-watched, but clearly not the least important, of all the Star Trek series.

12. Spock Quotes Shakespeare

When Spock and McCoy are stranded, and Spock is injured, McCoy has some choice words for Spock's decision to start quoting Shakespeare. But how could Spock resist? The Bard and Star Trek go back a long way.

From the first season original series episode "The Conscience of the King," to Klingon Chancellor Gorkon's insistence that " You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon " in  Star Trek VI ,  Shakespeare's presence has loomed large. But by far, his largest fan is Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who uses Shakespeare's words to rescue Lwaxana Troi from a romantically-inclined Ferengi, distract a 19th century landlord in San Francisco from evicting him and his crew by promising her a role in their production of A Midsummer Night's Dream , and convince Q that humanity is actually a pretty worthy species . Remember, this is a man who kept Shakespeare's Collected Works in his ready room at all times, because you never know when you're going to need a quick quote.

 11. Commodore Paris

In Star Trek Beyond, Shohreh Aghdashloo plays Commodore Paris, of the Federation High Command. She's the one who assigns James Kirk the Enterprise's mission, and also offers him a position as Vice Admiral.

In a Trek-savvy audience, you'll hear whispers the first time her name is mentioned, as everyone assumes she is an ancestor of Star Trek Voyager's Ensign-turned-Lieutenant, bad-guy-turned-good-guy, rogue-turned-family-man Tom Paris. Tom Eugene Paris was recruited to Voyager by Captain Janeway from a penal colony, to help her find the Maquis, and more than earned his keep. In his years aboard the starship, lost in the Delta quadrant, he became an invaluable member of the crew, saving them from peril multiple times, working undercover when necessary, and creating a series of particularly annoying holographic novels. His backstory included a disapproving father, Admiral Owen Paris, who came from a long line of high-ranking Starfleet officers. We can only guess that Commodore Paris was among them.

10. Uhura's Necklace

When Kirk is trying to figure out how to locate the Enterprise crew, Spock asks Chekov to scan for a specific Vulcan mineral, located in a necklace he gave to Lieutenant Uhura. McCoy has a field day with this, commenting on how Spock gave his girlfriend a tracking device. Who knew it would come in so handy?

Turns out necklace gifts have come in handy on Star Trek before. In the episode "Elaan of Troyius," the Enterprise is on a diplomatic mission, escorting the captivating but incredibly cranky Elaan to Troyius to be married and end a war. Things get dramatic: she stabs her instructor, chemicals in her tears make Kirk fall in love with her, and her guard betrays the Enterprise to the Klingons. The ship is about to be destroyed when Spock discovers some energy readings on the bridge, and traces them to Elaan's necklace. She calls them "common stones" but they turn out to be dilithium crystals, and once Scotty integrates them into the ship's engines, the Enterprise wins the battle and saves the day. The moral of the story: jewelry saves lives, no matter which timeline you're in.

9. Krall's Relationship With Kirk

Krall may be a new villain, but he has moments when he seems awfully familiar.

We already know from Star Trek Into Darkness that the reboot team is a fan of Khan. But the reboot Khan, with all due respect to the talents of Benedict Cumberbatch, is nothing compared to the original, played to perfection by the late Ricardo Montalban, and that's where see some Khanspiration in Beyond . Both Krall and Khan were abandoned, or at least perceived they were, and both are hell-bent on revenge, even if Khan is mostly angry at Kirk while Krall is pissed at the entire Federation. But by the end of the movie, when Krall has already come up against Kirk multiple times, their relationship starts to get personal. He even starts taking on a little of Khan's rhetoric, and finally, in a very Khan-like moment, says, " Goodbye old friend ," a phrase Khan really likes using when talking to his arch-enemy, Admiral Kirk.

In both cases, it's Kirk who survives, so we recommend not becoming an old friend of James T. Kirk's, if you value your own survival... unless your name is Spock.

8. "I Ripped My Shirt Again"

In the movie's opening scene, Kirk meets with the Teenaxi people to help them make a treaty with their enemies, the Fenopians. Before the scene is over, the Teenaxi, who look sort of like tiny dog-monsters, attack the poor Captain as a group, tearing at him as he tries to throw them off. Scotty beams him out, security guards remove the creatures who beamed over with him, and Kirk storms off with the comment, " I ripped my shirt again. "

Viewers of the original Star Trek know that's one of Kirk's trademarks, a nice way to counterbalance all the female near-nudity that was a staple of the 1960s series. His shirt ripped during fist fights with Gary Mitchell, Ben Finney, Finnegan, gladiators on Triskelion, and the Onlies, a bunch of really creepy children. It ripped when Spock sliced it open with a lirpa - don't blame Spock, he was in the grip of a blood fever - and when McCoy tore it open to give him a hypospray.  Assuming some of these events still happened in the Kelvin Timeline, Kirk wasn't kidding when he said "again."

7. Scotty Cracks His Knuckles

There's a light moment near the end of the movie, right when the stakes are at their highest. Krall is about to unleash his superweapon on the entire population of the Yorktown space station, and Scotty is trying to help them shut down the ventilation systems to prevent it. He sits down and gives his knuckles a good crack before diving in.

Flashback! In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , the Enterprise crew travels back to the 80s to try to find some whales. (They need them to communicate with a space probe that's destroying Earth.) The crew splits up into teams, much like in Beyond and many a Trek episode, and Scotty and McCoy go looking for the 20th century equivalent of transparent aluminum.  They pose as scientists to get into a company called Plexicorp, and are given access to the computer. Just saying " Computer " doesn't seem to get it going (as it's an early era Mac), nor does it help when he picks up the mouse and speaks into it directly. Then the Plexicorp guy suggests Scotty use the keyboard.

" The keyboard ," Scotty says . " How quaint. " Then he cracks his knuckles, just like Simon Pegg, and gives it a go.

6. Kirk's Inspirational Speech

As they're about to head into the nebula on a rescue mission, Kirk delivers some words of inspiration to his crew. He has Uhura patch him in to the whole ship, and tells them, " There's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. "

Even across two timelines, our Kirk is still our Kirk. In the original series episode "The Corbomite Maneuver ," the crew is also faced with the unknown, and he wants to reassure then that there's still hope, despite the fact that they've just heard a shipwide message from an alien called Balok telling them they have ten minutes to make preparations for being destroyed. (He assumes they have a deity or two that provides them with some comforting beliefs.) What does Kirk tell his crew?

" There's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. " Wise words, obviously worth repeating.

5. A Toast To Absent Friends

After the mission is over, McCoy throws a little surprise get-together for Kirk's birthday. The crew is all decked out in their civilian clothing, but it's still clear that Kirk is their commander as well as the birthday boy. In view of the losses they suffered at the hands of Krall, he makes a toast. " To absent friends ," he says. It's a poignant moment, made more so by the cutaway added in after the film was done to Anton Yelchin, who died in a tragic accident after the movie was shot. It's a much-needed reminder that even in success, there are casualties.

In Star Trek III: The Search For Spock , Kirk makes the same toast as he has a drink with Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura. In this case he's referring to Spock, who died at Khan's hands and is now in a torpedo tube on the Genesis planet, and McCoy, who's at home, " pumped up full of tranquilizers ." Both DeForest Kelley (McCoy) and Leonard Nimoy are gone now. They have been and always shall be, our absent friends.

4. Spock's Lives

The two Spocks in the reboot movies can get a little confusing, since they are alive at the same time and even have conversations. Quinto's Spock sees Nimoy's Spock as a mentor, and so shaken when he hears about his death that he decides to leave Starfleet and pursue his work on New Vulcan. At least that's his plan. When he's telling McCoy about it, he starts with, "When you've lived as many lives as he ... "

While New Spock doesn't really know all the details of Original Spock's life, we do, and we know that he's lived quite a few lives. He came close to death many times in course of the Enterprise's adventures, but at the end of The Wrath of Khan , he sacrificed his life to save the crew, saving them all and devastating them at the same time. At the last minute, though, he mind-melded with McCoy, preserving his "katra" or his living spirit, so that he could live again. So in The Search for Spock , the crew violated direct orders and headed back to the Genesis planet, where they found his torpedo coffin broken open, and a mindless, empty Spock body waiting to get its katra back.

There was also that time when Spock's consciousness was stored in Christine Chapel, but he didn't actually die; his body was just being used by an entity named Henoch, and he got it back. So that doesn't count.

3. The Reason Spock And McCoy Were Beamed Up Separately

It wasn't just for comic relief that McCoy and Spock are transported separately, although dammit, Jim, that was a great moment. But when McCoy asks why, Scotty explains that he's using the cargo transporter for the first time and doesn't want to risk splicing them. "I couldn't imagine a worse scenario," McCoy says.

Of course, he already experienced that scenario, or rather, he's going to, depending on how you look at the timeline. See list item number four for details of the original Spock and McCoy merger.

In addition, we know that the transporter DID once splice together an unlikely duo. In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Tuvix," Tuvok and Neelix were accidentally fused into one being due to a transporter accident. Tuvix retained elements of both of their characteristics but in the fusion, he became a new person entirely, with his own sense of self and and a desire to continue his existence. This led to a huge moral dilemma about whether or not it was right to kill Tuvix, a unique life form, in order to get Tuvok and Neelix back. Janeway had to make the hard choice, as always, and she wrestled with it, but ultimately decided it was her only real option. Bye bye, Tuvix. So, the splicing thing? A valid concern.

2. Kirk's Promotion

At the beginning of the movie, Kirk wants a promotion. He's tired, he feels a little lost, and the idea of being in one place has some appeal. He talks to Commodore Paris about a Vice Admiral position, which seems a little premature given that he hasn't even completed his five-year mission yet, but she's open to the idea and agrees to discuss it with Starfleet. By the end of the movie, he's changed his mind, and heads off happily anticipating new danger and adventure (and for us, Star Trek 4 ).

What's the advice the original Captain Kirk gives to Captain Picard when they meet in Star Trek Generations ? " Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there, you can make a difference. " This is why Kirk was so depressed at the beginning of The Wrath of Khan and even so unnerved at the beginning of Star Trek: The Motion Picture . He needs that ship to feel like he's making a difference. He also likes to have a good time, which is why New Kirk asks if there's any flying when you're a Vice Admiral. When he's told no, he asks, with a grin, " Where's the fun in that? " And on we go.

1. The Giant Green Space Hand

All fear the giant green space hand! Sounds silly, but we loved when Scotty mentioned this as one of the perils of outer space. That throwaway comment of his is a reference to one of the worst SFX moments from the original series. In the episode "Who Mourns for Adonais? ," the Enterprise encounters the Greek god Apollo, who reaches out into space and grabs the ship with, yes, his giant green hand. " You will obey me ," he says, " lest I close my hand thus ." The air pressure gets a little intense, and he finally releases them by opening his hand (thus). They get the message: Kirk and a team beam down to the planet to see what he wants from them. Spock, however, isn't invited, as he reminds Apollo of Pan.

Apollo's demands are simple: he just wants the Enteprise crew to come live on Pollux IV and give them their loyalty, their tribute, and their worship.  When that doesn't work out, he spreads himself across the wind like the other Greek gods, while Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas cries. Kirk gets his by a wave of remorse once the whole thing is over, and wonders aloud if it would have hurt them so much to gather a few laurel leaves. Too late!

Sharp eyes will spot the green hand in the Star Trek Beyond credits; it's a blink-or-you-miss-it moment, but it's definitely there.

Star Trek Beyond premiered on July 22nd, 2016.

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Recap / Star Trek S2 E2 "Who Mourns for Adonais?"

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Original air date: September 22, 1967

It starts off as just a peaceful morning on board the starship Enterprise when suddenly, as they approach Pollux IV, a giant green hand pops up and holds the Enterprise in place by the saucer section. While everyone is trying to figure out what the hell is going on, a face wearing a gold crown of laurel leaves materializes, claiming to be Apollo , and name dropping those such as Agamemnon, Hector and Odysseus . He insists some crew members come down to the planet to visit him. He specifies that Spock not come as he reminds him too much of Pan .

So, it's Kirk, Chekov, Bones, Scotty and Lt. Carolyn Palamas to beam down. Carolyn, it should be noted does not wear red though we've never seen her before nor will again . (She survives though.) Apollo makes his grand appearance, giving everyone the good news. They're all going to leave that stuffy old starship, come down to this crisp, green planet and worship him! Won't that be fun? Nah, didn't think Kirk would agree.

Apollo makes show of his cosmic powers and demands respect that he just isn't getting. He woos Carolyn, and is not wholly unsuccessful in turning her. However, Kirk convinces her that it isn't right to condemn everyone on the Enterprise to a life they don't want, even if she is made a goddess. She gives Apollo the shaft, and he throws the mother of all tantrums. In the meantime, Spock has managed to locate Apollo's power source (his temple), and destroys it. Broken and defeated, Apollo follows his fellow gods into oblivion. While Apollo was unable to get the worship he desired, he did manage to inspire pity.

Who Mourns for Tropes?:

• Alas, Poor Villain : Carolyn openly weeps at the virtual death of Apollo. Bones shows some remorse for what they had to do. Kirk ponders if maybe they should've gathered just a few laurel leaves to make Apollo feel better (or perhaps learn more from him). Bones: I wish we hadn't had to do this. Kirk: So do I. They gave us so much. The Greek civilization, much of our culture and philosophy came from a worship of those beings. In a way, they began the Golden Age. Would it have hurt us, I wonder, just to have gathered a few laurel leaves?
• Ancient Astronauts : Kirk speculates that Apollo's story of being the Greek god of that name may be true, not in a "actually a deity" way but in an "advanced aliens visit primitive Earth and inspire worship" way. Notably, this episode predates the Trope Codifier , Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods . This may be why the episode focuses on the Greek pantheon, which tends to be sidelined in more modern iterations of this trope.
• And I'm the Queen of Sheba : Chekov responds to Apollo announcing who he is with " Yes, and I am tsar of all the Russias. "
• Anger Born of Worry : Kirk chews Scotty out for trying to take on an invulnerable cosmic power against his orders, then points out more gently that Scotty could get hurt doing this.
• As You Know : For someone whose job it is to know these things, Lt. Palamas displays a very rudimentary knowledge of the god Apollo.
• Attention Whore : Apollo. Of course, he's a god, what do you expect?
• Big Word Shout : "STOOOOP! STOOOOOOP!! STOOOOOOOOP!!!"
• Bittersweet Ending : The crew effectively eradicate the power source holding them captive, and are free to leave... but don't feel so good about their victory after Apollo's emotional Final Speech , not to mention that in taking down Apollo, they effectively took down the Last of His Kind , and a vital part of their own Earth history.
• Borrowed Catchphrase : Bones: To coin a phrase: "Fascinating!"
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu : Scotty tries to scrap with Apollo several times, only to be knocked ass over teakettle.
• Captain Obvious : Sulu identifies huge, glowing, disembodied extremities well.
• Career Versus Man : Carolyn must choose between Apollo and her duty. Early on, Bones even discussed the trope.
• Death of the Old Gods : Apollo says that gods "return to the cosmos" when they are no longer worshiped. All the other gods have done this, and now he will too.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance : For once, the show gets to claim this in its treatment of women, as Apollo's line "You are very intelligent for a woman" is clearly presented as a relic of the last time he was among humans. Considering Apollo was part of a highly intelligent race of Sufficiently Advanced Aliens who forced humanity to worship and obey them, this even suggests that sexism (and possibly other forms of inequality) were all his fault in the first place .
• Despair Event Horizon : Apollo's defeat by the Enterprise and rejection by Kirk and the others (especially Carolyn) drives him to this.
• Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu? : Apollo pops out of nowhere and casually invites Kirk and co. over for a visit. (It isn't purely social, though.)
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu? : Kirk and co. turn their back to Apollo and laugh when he demands sacrifices of deer and laurel leaves, both in hopes of getting their point across as well as an attempt to make him waste his power smiting them enough for them to be able to overpower him, but their plan is foiled when Carolyn jumps in front of Apollo and asks him to be merciful to them, as described below.
• Did You Just Romance Cthulhu? : Carolyn charms Apollo, and is charmed by him.
• Divine Date : Apollo demands some alone time with Carolyn. She doesn't exactly fight it.
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : Played for Laughs . When McCoy says that Lt. Palamas will leave the Fleet when she finds Mr. Right, Kirk answers that he prefers to think of it not as losing an officer, but as gaining a...He cuts himself off when he realizes that losing an officer to marriage differs from "losing" a child to marriage.
• Dogged Nice Guy : Scotty. He's clearly smitten with Lt. Palamas, Bones notes to Kirk that he doesn't think she reciprocates his feelings.
• Draco in Leather Pants : In-Universe — Palamas thinks of Apollo as kind and loving, even though he acts like a dick to everyone else.
• Emotion Eater : Apollo says that he and the former Greek gods need positive emotions (such as admiration and love) from other beings the same way humans need food.
• Expy : Female Enterprise historian is wooed by superior being and briefly turns her back on the crew? Where have we heard this before?
• Gilded Cage : The pastoral setting Apollo has conjured looks like Paradise. But, it is still a prison if one is not allowed to leave.
• Gods Need Prayer Badly : Gods just can't emotionally deal with not being worshiped.
• Greek Mythology : Apollo loves to name drop. Among the other Greek gods and Hercules he mentions people from The Odyssey and The Iliad .
• Half-Human Hybrid : When filling the team in on the myths concerning Apollo, Palamas states that his mother was a mortal (i.e. a human) named Leto. Apollo himself later confirms this. (The original myths have Leto as a goddess, not a human; the only Olympian god born of a mortal woman was Dionysos.)
• Helicopter Parents : In a strange sense, this is what Apollo seems to think he is to the human race. He longs for the days when humanity was dependent upon his protection, refuses to accept that they've moved on as a species, and insists that they stay on his planet with him just like in the old days.
• Hot God : Apollo is a classically handsome hunk in a skimpy toga.
• Human Alien : As Bones states, "He looks Human, but of course that doesn't mean anything."
• Instant Costume Change : Apollo turns Carolyn's uniform into a pink toga faster than you can say "Clothes beam!"
• Insert Cameo : The hand seen stopping and holding the Enterprise belongs to none other than Gene Roddenberry .
• In the Original Klingon : Inaugurates the Running Gag of Chekov claiming Russian origins for everything, in this case comparing Apollo's vanishing act to "the cat from the old Russian story" and indignantly refusing Kirk's suggestion that the Cheshire Cat is actually English.
• Literary Allusion Title : The episode title and plot were inspired by Adonaïs: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley .
• Love Makes You Dumb : Apollo and Carolyn both lose IQ points upon falling for each other. It makes Scotty a little less bright as well.
• Manly Tears : A ton of this from Apollo, who's heartbroken when he realizes this universe has no room for gods. If you look close, he even makes a tiny spit bubble. Apollo: I would have cherished you, cared for you. I would have loved you as a father loves his children. Did I ask so much? Kirk: We've outgrown you. You asked for something we could no longer give.
• Must Have Caffeine : Scotty tells Carolyn that she looks tired. Would she like to get some coffee with him? Then again, it doesn't seem like Carolyn's peppiness is really what he's worried about.
• Negative Space Wedgie : The weird green hand.
• Should also be noted that Kirk knew that Apollo would very likely kill at least one of them when sufficiently enraged. Carolyn may well have saved their lives.
• Obliviously Evil : Apollo essentially holds the crew of the Enterprise hostage, punishes them when they step out of line - nearly killing some of them, and takes Carolyn away from the landing party to have all to himself - not caring about if he has a relationship with anyone (then again, neither does Carolyn very much). He doesn't realise that after thousands of years of cultural development, those actions to 23rd century humans just make him look like a dick , and certainly not like a god worthy of their worship anymore - just earns their hostility . His muttering to Carolyn, and his eventual demise reveal that he was genuinely confused by their antagonism towards him.
• Oh, Crap! : Apollo goes into a full-blown panic when the Enterprise attacks his temple, realizing that humanity has grown more powerful than he is. (while hurling lightning bolts) "STOP!! STOP, I SAY!! I COMMAND IT!! STOOOOOPP!! STOOOOOOPPP!! STOOOOOOOOOOPPPPP!! "
• Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions : In his tantrum, Apollo says he would love Kirk and his crew like children. Kirk comes out and says they have outgrown that need.
• Physical God : Apollo.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege! : Carolyn pleads with Apollo not to destroy Kirk and co. for openly mocking him.
• Plot Hole : Kirk leads a landing party down to the nearby planet, where the alien reveals that he is Apollo. Later in the episode, Spock, who had been on the Enterprise the whole time, makes reference to Apollo. There is no way Spock could have known who the alien was as Apollo immediately jammed the landing party's communicators: at best, he might've picked up on Apollo mentioning that he doesn't want Spock present because his pointy ears remind him of Pan and he's never liked Pan and thus Spock might've known he's related to Greek mythology, and while he did see his face on the main screen and could've made an educated guess based on his appearance on which such character he would likely be, it's still a stretch.
• Power Echoes : Apollo loves using a booming, echoing voice that would put Princess Luna to shame. His voice softens when he speaks to Carolyn.
• Psychic Strangle : Apollo uses this on Kirk after zapping Scotty.
• Reverse the Polarity : One of the tactics Spock tells Sulu to do to try to free the Enterprise from Apollo's grasp.
• Kirk seems to have invoked taken some liberty with his knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Such stories include no element of gods needing to "recharge" after a good smiting of the mortals. Then again, myths may have gotten a bit garbled over the centuries.
• Leto wasn't a mortal woman but a Titan, the daughter of Koios and Zeus' cousin.
• Taken literally, this could mean that no one believes in more than one god. And that some people believe in less than one. Makes sense in a way since polytheism is now associated with primitive civilizations and all of the modern world's major religions are either non-theistic (many Jains, Hindus, Buddhists, Unitarians, some Quakers among others) or monotheistic (Abrahamic religions).
• Shock and Awe : Apollo's favorite supernatural power. He loses it when the Enterprise destroys his fancy marble temple.
• Sizeshifter : Apollo can grow to many times his normal height, and uses it to intimidate the crew.
• Spanner in the Works : Kirk and his men come up with a pretty good plan to provoke Apollo into draining his energy, but they aren't able to communicate the plan to Carolyn without tipping off Apollo. Sure enough, Carolyn derails the plan by talking Apollo down before he can start firing lightning bolts.
• Spurned into Suicide : What eventually becomes of Apollo.
• Sympathy for the Devil : After Apollo is defeated, McCoy regrets that it came to that, and Kirk acknowledges how much Apollo and his fellow gods gave to humanity via the Greek civilization, even stating "Would it have hurt us, I wonder, just to have gathered a few laurel leaves?"
• That's an Order! : Kirk orders his people to refrain from attacking Apollo without his say-so. Not that Scotty listens.
• Two of Your Earth Minutes : Apollo tells Captain Kirk how long ago his people lived on Earth. Apollo : We knew your Earth well, five thousand of your years ago.
• Villainous BSoD : YMMV on whether Apollo's a full-on villain or Anti-Villain , but when the Enterprise destroys his temple, he looks like his world just ended (which, in a sense, it kinda has).
• Who Wants to Live Forever? : Apollo just knew someday humans would go to the stars and has been waiting centuries upon centuries for them, only to find they have no interest in being his followers. No one does. He's so lonely.
• Wine Is Classy : Apollo invites Kirk and co. to "drink the sacramental wine". He serves no wine, but a bowl of grapes can be seen.
• You Are a Credit to Your Race : Apollo tells Carolyn she is wise for a woman. She later turns it on him, telling him he's quite good at imitating humanity.

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All the 'Star Trek Beyond' Easter Eggs You Could Ever Want Are Right Here

We're running them down.

Today, Star Trek Beyond hits movie theaters around the world. It’s the thirteenth Star Trek film ever and if that wasn’t pressure enough, it’s also releasing during a year that serves as the 50th anniversary for the entire shebang. Since 1966, Star Trek has existed in some form , which means Beyond potentially has a lot of fan service to deal with. One of the film’s screenwriters is, of course Simon Pegg, who in addition to playing Scotty in these movies, is also a huge science fiction fan.

Some fans and critics have worried Star Trek Beyond looks like a movie made without a respect to Star Trek in mind. Why is there pop-music in the trailers? How come Kirk is on a motorcycle? But the truth is, Beyond contains a slew of easter eggs and references to the entirety of Star Trek and its long history. Here’s a giant, spoiler-filled list to guide you through every deep-Trekkie-cut in the new movie.

During his Captain’s log voiceover at the start of the movie, Kirk mentions it is the 966th day of the Enterprise’s 5-Year-Mission. 9-66 is a reference to September 1966, the month the first aired Star Trek episode, “The Man Trap,” debuted.

Chekov’s Proud Russian Heritage

Though Bones and Kirk have a conversation in the film being surprised that Chekov isn’t a “Vodka guy,” toward the end of the film, we do see Chekov (Anton Yelchin) lecturing an alien guest at Kirk’s birthday party that whiskey was invented “by a little old lady” in Russia. In the original series, Chekov (Walter Koenig) frequently made erroneous claims that various inventions from Earth, were in fact, “actually” Russian in origin.

Spock and the Mirror

At the end of the movie, as Spock (Zachary Quinto) is going through the possessions of the now-deceased future-version of himself (Leonard Nimoy) he is briefly depicted in front of a refracted mirror. This scene is vaguely reminiscent of the original Spock meditating in his quarters in front of a mirror in The Wrath of Khan.

Snap Wexley at StarBase Yorktown

Not exactly a Star Trek reference, but actor Greg Grunberg, a longtime friend of producer J.J. Abrams, appears as a Star Fleet officer at StarBase Yorktown. Star Wars fans will recognize Grunberg as Snap Wexley, a fighter pilot for the Resistance in The Force Awakens. Grunberg also had a small background part in the 2009 Star Trek

“Skip to the End”

Screenwriter Simon Pegg’s hilarious sitcom Spaced helped to launch his career as an actor and a writer. One of the common catchphrases of his comic-book-loving character Tim was “skip to the end,” which forced other characters to cut out the b/s of a long-complicated tale. Cutely, Captain Kirk uses this catchphrase on Scotty in Star Trek Beyond.

“Absent Friends”

During Kirk’s birthday party at the end of Beyond , he makes a toast by saying “to absent friends.” Kirk (William Shatner) makes this same toast in Star Trek III:The Search for Spock in reference to the death of Spock (and other members of the Enterprise crew.) Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) also toasts “to absent friends,” in Star Trek: Nemesis after Data is “killed.” The toast in Beyond warmly honors this Trek-tradition, but also seems to reference the passing of Leonard Nimoy, and tragically, the death of Anton Yelchin.

Kirk Is Feeling “Episodic”

During Kirk’s Captain’s Log, he mentions he is feeling “episodic,” by the routine of his life. This is (duh) a reference to the 79 “episodes” of the original Star Trek , in which Kirk gets to do all sorts of stuff, including, wielding rocks that look like…um…well, you get it!

Starbase Yorktown

The super-nifty Starbase visited by the Enterprise is called “Starbase Yorktown.” Though the name could derive from numerous historical sources, one of Gene Roddenberry’s original ideas for a name for the ship on Star Trek wasn’t the Enterprise , but instead, the U.S.S. Yorktown.

“It’s Been a Long Road…”

The vast majority of Star Trek Beyond’s deepest cuts are references to the 2001-2005 TV show, Enterprise. That’s right: the supposedly most disliked of all the Star Treks (and the only one with an on-air theme song containing lyrics ) actually gets the majority of the shout-outs here. Mostly, this is because by virtue of taking place in the 2151, the continuity of Enterprise is largely untouched by the time-travel/alternate universe changes from the 2009 film. (That “temporal incursion” takes place in 2233, and the rest of the action takes place in 2258) That 2009 film even contained a reference to “Admiral Archer’s prize-beagle,” which must have been Porthos, Scott Bakula’s dog on Enterprise.

A major plot-point in Beyond deals with the Enterprise crew discovering the long-lost early Star Fleet ship, the U.S.S. Franklin. The design of this ship is similar enough to the “Enterprise” on the show Enterprise because its from around the same time period. Before mutating into the evil Krall, it is revealed Idris Elba’s character was actually a Star Fleet Captain named Balthazar M. Edison who alive during the formation of the Federation in 2161. There’s a little bit of timeline stuff that is wonky here, but through the dialogue, we’re lead to believe that Captain Edison was a member of MACO and fought against the Xindi. In the third season of Enterprise MACO is depicted to be an army-style organization that serves alongside Star Fleet during their war with the alien baddies, the Xindi. As Edison fights Kirk in the climax of Beyond he mentions the war agains the Xindi and the Romulans. The latter is a reference to both the brief appearance of the Romulans in Enterprise but also is a reference to crew members talking about the Romulan War in the original episode “Balance of Terror.”

Riker (left) from TNG in "MACO" gear in the final 'Enterprise' episode "These are the Voyages..." Travis(center/right) is wearing 22nd century Starfleet gear

Scotty also says that MACO was disbanded after the Federation was formed, saying that “we’re not a military organization.” This can be taken as a vague reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in which David Marcus says that the “scientists have always been pawns of the military” to which his mother, Carol Marcus, protests saying that “Star Fleet has kept the peace…”

The uniform Spock borrows from the Franklin vaguely evokes the jumpsuit design of the uniforms on Enterprise , as does the flashback footage showing Edison and his crew. Meanwhile, the technology of the ship itself has all sorts of shout-outs to the 2001-2005 show: Scotty mentions “polarizing the hull,” the presence of “phase canons,” and also that the transporter is mostly used for cargo, even though he modifies it for people.

Finally, Scotty also says that the old ships were “built in space,” which is again, a reference to the TV show Enterprise, but also to the controversial depiction of the Enterprise being built on Earth, in Iowa, in the 2009 film.

Family Photo

One of the most heartwarming moments in Star Trek Beyond occurs when Spock finds a photo of the old-school crew among the possessions of Old Spock. In the movie, we’re meant to take this as Spock realizing how important these people were to his future-self, well into their middle and old ages. The photo itself is a publicity still taken from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Like, the TV show Enterprise , The Final Frontier is not regarded as a popular Star Trek film. But, this picture of everyone together sure is sweet.

Late in the film, Scotty and Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) rig up music on the Franklin to dissrupt the hive-mind of Krall’s ships. The song that plays is, of course, “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys. Kirk notes that it’s a “good choice.” In his very first scene, a very young Kirk is blasting the same song while stealing a car in the 2009 Star Trek. Both Bones and Spock also refer to the selection as “classical music.”

“Kelvin Pods”

When the Enterprise is destroyed, Captain Kirk tells everyone to get to their “Kelvin pods.” This is a reference to the Starship Kelvin, which was destroyed in the first of the new films. Kirk’ dad, George Kirk, died because there were no escape pods on the bridge.

Tiny Monsters

In a humorous scene at the start of the movie, Kirk is conversing with some really nasty-looking aliens, who turn out to actually be hilariously and adorably tiny. This brilliant perspective shift is a classic Trek idea. In the episode “The Corbomite Maneuver,” the crew encounters a very scary alien who turns out to actually have the form of a tiny, super-intelligent baby who drinks booze and laughs a lot.

Bones and Spock Counting on Each Other

When the crew escapes the Enterprise following its destruction, Spock and Bones are stranded together after Spock is almost mortally wounded. This mirrors other occasions in which Spock and Bones are stuck together, notably, “All Our Yesterdays,” in which the two are transported to an ice age of an alien planet’s past. Spock gets super emotional in both scenarios. Additionally, when Scotty beams up Spock and Bones separately, he jokes about the prospect of accidentally combining them into one person. This references Star Trek III in which we learn Spock did in fact, put his living soul (katra) into Bones for safe-keeping, effectively making them one person for a short time.

Green Space Hand

When Scotty discusses the potential fate of the U.S.S. Franklin, he mentions a “green space hand.” That’s a reference to the original series episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” in which the hand of Apollo really does grab the Enterprise. Fun fact: footage from that EXACT episode also appears on a TV in the background of this summer’s X-Men: Apocalypse .

Kirk’s Birthday Blues

While sharing a drink with Bones in Star Trek Beyond , Kirk mentions his birthday is coming up, and he’s depressed about it. The same thing happens in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , though that Kirk is considerably older. This scene between Kirk and Bones also resembles a conversation between Captain Pike and Dr. Boyce in the very first Star Trek thing ever filmed, the unaired pilot “The Cage.” There, Captain Pike expressed his concern for continuing to be Captain of the Enterprise , and over a drink, Dr. Boyce tried to talk some sense into him.

In the scene in Beyond , Kirk also mentions having finished some Saurian Brandy, which is the booze Kirk and Bones hit the hardest in the original series. Bones also claims its “illegal,” a long-running Star Trek joke usually ascribed to Romulan Ale, which everyone gets crunked-on in Star Trek VI , Star Trek: Nemesis and so on.

Commodore Paris

The excellent actor Shohreh Aghdashloo (famous for the SyFy show The Expanse ) appears in Beyond as Kirk’s boss, a Starfleet official named “Commodore Paris.” In the original series, Kirk had a bunch of Commodore bosses, but the name “Paris” seems to evoke a character from the 1995 series Star Trek: Voyager. Lt. Tom Paris was the rogue helmsman of that ship, and his father, a respected Star Fleet admiral, “Admiral Paris.” Is Shohreh Aghdashloo’s character an ancestor of that family? Or is the name just the same?

Star Fleet Captains GONE WILD!!!

As mentioned, Idris Elba’s Kralls is really a crazy depressed Star Fleet captain named Balthazar Edison. In the the final showdown with Kirk, he’s even wearing the classic command-gold uniform! The idea of Kirk having to face fellow captains who have lost their marbles is an extremely common Star Trek plot-device: Decker goes crazy after losing his ship in “The Doomsday Machine,” Captain Tracey turns into a massive asshole in the “The Omega Glory,” and the less said about Garth in “Whom Gods Destroy,” the better.

But the idea of giving the heroic captains of Star Trek mirror-images of colleagues who lose their marbles didn’t stop with the original series. Like Edison, Captain Maxwell was a former war-hero and went rogue in The Next Generation episode “The Wounded,” while jerky (“get it done!”) Captain Jellico briefly messes with the Enterprise in “Chain of Command.” In Deep Space Nine Sisko has to tango with his old friend Commander Hutchinson who also betrays him. Finally, Captain Janeway has to take-out a batshit homicidal Captain Rudy Ransom in the two part episode “Equinox .” Janeway doesn’t get a break with this shit either, as she also has to deal with the evil Captain Braxton, from a future-version of Star Fleet in “Future’s End,” and “Relativity.”

The Stone of Gol: Reloaded

The super-scary bio-weapon sought-after by Krall in Beyond not only looks like this other artifact from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Gambit,* it also does the same thing! In this episode, Picard and Riker went undercover as criminals only to discover that very ancient Vulcan relic was being reconstructed that could basically melt-the-shit out of people, similar to what we see Krall’s weapon do in the new movie.

First, Best Destiny

As mentioned, Kirk is really thinking about quitting being Captain in Star Trek Beyond, so much so he really might take a desk job as Vice Admiral. This is a direct reference to Kirk getting promoted in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and then later regretting that decision in The Wrath of Khan. In that film, Spock tells Kirk that “Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny. Anything else, is a waste of material.” Luckily, Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk comes to his senses by the end of Beyond and never takes the desk job.

Enterprise-A

At the very end of Star Trek Beyond we’re shown a new Starship Enterprise being constructed very rapidly. As we know, it’s a proud Trek-tradition to blow-up the ship and then build a new one. The first time this happened, the original crew was given a new Enterprise in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. That Enterprise had the registry of NCC-1701- A. The new “second” Enterprise in Beyond does, too. It also looks a little different from its predecessor, but not too much.

Star Trek Beyond is in theaters now. Go boldly and find all the other nerdy references we missed!

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Hidden References, Cameos, and Easter Eggs from ‘Star Trek Beyond’

| July 30, 2016 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 128 comments so far

Star Trek Beyond has been out for over a week, so now it’s time to talk about all the cool little winks, nods, and less than obvious “Easter eggs” in the film. There were many really great homages to past Trek in Beyond . For great coverage of the homages, we highly recommend friend of TrekMovie Laurie Ulster’s post on Screen Rant , she did a great job. Our version then, will focus on smaller and less obvious or more real-world (rather than in-universe) nods, cameos, etc.

Michael Giacchino worked some homages to TOS and TOS-movies into his score:

• When Kirk and Chekov are in Jaylah’s trap there’s a small refrain that sounds like the “Shore Leave” music from TOS.
• As the Enterprise arrives at Altamid, there are sort of haunting space chimes, that are very reminiscent of a TMP score track titled “Games.”

Calling the Beastie Boys “classical music” is both a Futurama reference and a long running joke in Sci-Fi in general to call contemporary pop music “classical music.”

Famous Names

The Franklin was lost in the Gagarin Radiation Belt – This is a double reference, it was mentioned in the ENT episode “Strange New World”, and it is named after Yuri Gagarin, first man in space.

The USS Franklin ‘s registry number is NX-326, Leonard Nimoy’s birthday is March 26th or (3/26), it was confirmed by production staff that this was another way in which Beyond  pays tribute to him.

The bridge escape pods were named Kelvin Pods in the movie because of the sacrifice of George Kirk on the bridge of the USS Kelvin  as seen in Star Trek (2009) . It also bears a resemblance to the all purpose spacedock “Work Bee” units first seen in  Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

A nod to Captain Picard’s old ship can be overheard as the crew disembarks on to the Yorktown , the USS Stargazer NCC-2893 is called out over the starbase’s communication system.

The USS Franklin is named for Frank Lin, Justin Lin’s father. The dedication plaque even has a tiny space between the “Frank” and “lin” as a way to signify the namesake.

Other fun bits

Kirk tells Spock to “skip to the end” a reference to Simon Pegg’s Spaced .

When Bones comes into the officer’s lounge he finds Kirk drinking Saurian Brandy, a long running favorite adult beverage of choice in Trek series.

The ephemera control panel on the USS Franklin. John Cho tweeted this picture recently. Trek production staff have often had fun with the tiny labels on control panels which are never going to seen up close.

Scotty discusses the various theories about the Franklin ‘s disappearance, he mentions a “giant green space hand”, which is a reference to the TOS episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” But did you catch that during the end credits a giant green hand appears after all the cast names and crew, right when the names Paramount Pictures and Skydance come up on screen? From the left, the giant hand quickly fills screen and dissolves. The hand is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment.

The giant green space hand is more easily seen on the home video release.

Justin Lin’s son is the green boy that the camera whizzes past but pauses on briefly, on the Yorktown

Greg Grunberg plays Commander Finnegan, the name is a call back to Finnegan from “Shore Leave.” Grunberg is a life-long friend of JJ Abrams and pops up in pretty much every show or movie JJ is involved with. Grunberg was also the angry voice of Kirk’s step-father when the young Kirk took his classic car out for a joyride in Star Trek (2009) .

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, plays the alien Starfleet officer who calibrates the universal translator for Kalara’s language.

Bucket list. Cast, crew and Justin Lin @trailingjohnson were amazing. #StarTrekBeyond https://t.co/VJ95D8pQeK — Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) July 20, 2016

Screenwriter Doug Jung appears as Ben (Sulu’s husband).

Danny Pudi from cult sitcom  Community along with Fast and Furious alum Kim Kold, are two of the aliens that intimidate Scotty after he crashes on Altamid.

We’re sure there’s even more, so feel free to add to the list in the comments.

Remember for this version, we purposefully skipped listing the homages, because Laurie did a great job covering them here:

http://screenrant.com/retro-references-star-trek-beyond/

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I also considered Commodore Paris to be a reference to Tom Paris on Voyager

Yep, I thought she was a distinguished ancestor of out Tom.

So did I……

Carlo Angelotti , Trainer of FC Bayern Munich has a cameo on Yorktown as medical doctor as well. He is friends with Zoe Saldana !

@Stefan_Str

Think you’ll find it is ‘Ancelotti’….

Any who, I did hear about that but completely forgot about! Did he get into shot??

Chekov ‘s “little old lady from Leningrad” who invented Scotch is from TOS “Trouble With Tribbles”

Yes, caught that one – made me smile!

“Little old lady from Russia” don’t you mean? Leningrad is no more. The city is now known by its original name, St Petersburg.

You missed Fiona Vroom, Lolani from STC.

Also, I could have sworn that the Vulcan giving Spock the bad new is Jeffrey Tambor. Could be wrong….

When the swarm first appears on the Enterprise screens, its formation appears to be identical to the “space lips” from Spock’s journey into V’ger in ST:TMP.

Chekov that comments that scotch was “inwented” by a little old lady from Russia (trouble with tribbles)

Kelvin is originally a reference to JJ’s grandfather.

Hhmmmm…Any chance that theory could be absolute BS and that the Kelvin is actually named after the freaking scientist?

There was a USS Kelvin in TOS

No, both the Kelvin and its Captain (Roboue?) were named after family members of JJ Abrams and Roberto Orci. Of course the name Kelvin also fits Star Trek tradition, by being also the name of a well knwon sciencetist, and the basic temperature scale used on earth.

There are at least 3 Voyager references I can remember.

Commodore Paris Scotty not wanting McCoy & Spock spliced together (Tuvix) McCoy says ‘feels like my innards (or insides) feel like they’ve been in a barn dance. This one is a stretch but there was somewhat of a barn dance in Caretaker.

Didn’t catch any DS9 Easter Eggs, there was a 3 nacelled ship near Enterprise at Yorktown, maybe that was the Saratoga or Defiant.

Actually the McCoy Spock spliced together line was a reference to McCoy being the keeper of Spock’s Katra in Star Trek III.

I just went by the transporter accident in that episode & what might have happened since the one on Franklin wasn’t safe for bio transport.

My first thought went to “Tuvix” as well where the characters actually were spliced together. Spock and McCoy weren’t spliced together in TSFS. McCoy was no more than storage spage for Spock’s consciousness.

Speaking of musical cues, right before the Enterprise arrives at Yorktown at the beginning of the movie, the chord progression is very reminiscent of James Horner’s “Star Trek III” score when that Enterprise arrives at space dock.

Yep, I heard that as well.

I find it interesting that kirk had no romantic interests in this film… perhaps carol broke his heart before she left the ship.

Or perhaps he has figured out that shipboard romances between the C.O. and subordinates are (a) inappropriate; (b) probably against regs, for very good reasons; and (c) downright dumb. (A and B are also my main objections to the Spock/Uhura pairing, but I digress.) Also, the general pace of the film didn’t leave much room to introduce, develop, and get rid of the Space-Bimbo-of-the-Week.

lol. did not keep Chekhov from it though

NOPE Just as well Kirk did not appear to have a love interest, lest she automatically be labelled “Space-Bimbo-of-the-Week”. Charming – NOT…:(

Also bear in mind what Kirk said to Jaylah after it was confirmed that she could go to Starfleet Academy. He said that there were a lot of rules, but that she did not need to follow all of them…

Was following your feminist logic until your concluded with term bimbo.

Kirk never let regulations get in the way of shipboard romance

“Kirk never let regulations get in the way of shipboard romance”

Such as when?

@TallguyToo numerous to mention.

I love everything you said. And, “Space-Bimbo-of-the-Week.” Very appropriate. Considering everything that’s gone before…

I don’t think anyone mentioned that, in ST:Beyond, Kirk mentions the Saurian brandy they got on Thasis. Thasis was where the picked up “Charlie X” in TOS, LOL!

I thought that’s what I heard but I hadn’t seen it anywhere else

Isn’t the music blasted at the aliens the same music blaring over the corvette speakers as the young Kirk drives it to it’s demise in the opening scene of ST2009? Kirk smirks and says “good choice”…

I think you are right on that one

100%. JJ apparently is a big Beastie Boys fan, and this is the same from his car stealing scene in the first reboot movie.

I give the film 3 of 5 stars. It was not epic, more episodically reminiscent of a tv script. In a nutshell it was SW Meets Fast & Furious using Trek characters.

ABSOLUTELY! ! !

I think you need to join the meeting across the road,,guest speaker ,george lucas

Yeah I think the production Staff are all there taking notes for Star Trek 4

Hardcore Star Trek fans seem to prefer the movie being reminiscent of an episode. Just goes to show you can’t please all the people all the time.

“I ripped my shirt again” that was a nice reference to Treks first season where Kirk’s shirt was ripped several times.

Ok Film, the parts were better than the whole I thought. #3 of the new ones in my book.

Ok so clearly the new ship created at the end with the registry 1701-A is a throw back to what happened at the ebd if STIV:TVH

Every day I come to the internet to see if finally I will have the chance to see her schematics! The new ship seems to be the jjprise minus all the features I disliked the most about the ‘original’ jjprise!! Did anyone else notice this? Surely I’m not the only one who is acutely observant of changes in starship design…

I think the new 1701-A REALLY overcompensated for the previous flimsy nacelle pylons, but overall a spectacular design.

Agreed with your observations. The weird thing is….I didn’t realize how used to the JJprise I’d gotten until I saw her being torn apart. I realized I’m actually gonna miss that ship. Still…..can’t wait to see the new one in action, she’s a beaut!

Ooh yes. It is rad. Reducing the pushed forward deflector dish and removing the flimsy and curved nacelle pylons is an amazing move.

Knowing that the jj-prise was going down in this film I was super keen to see where the next ship called ‘Enterprise’ would go in terms of design… I did not expect to see it in this film though! I agree, I have seriously warmed to the jj-prise since I saw it for the first time. I look to it with love now; initially it disgusted me.

This film was full of surprises. The new ‘A’, and the photo of the original crew were awesome touches ^^

I’m going to see it for a 4th time :D

If I am being pedantic, I think the pylons could meet the nacelles halfway down, instead if at the leading edge

I’m with you. I hated the original hot-rod JJprise, and while I haven’t seen a lot of the JJprise-A, from what I have seen I think I can live with it.

As far as I know the Franklin is named after Justin Lins father, Frank Lin

It’s interesting that knowing that, one can see the extra space between the K and L on the dedication plaque than between the other letters.

It says that in the story above.

Did anyone think that the Yorktown’s design was reminiscent of Larry Niven’s Ringworld?

No not at all and it’s not

I saw another hidden Easter egg/ cameo/ homage story on YouTube for Beyond that says because it’s the 50th anniversary there were 50 new alien species sprinkled throughout the movie. I did notice quite a few in background scenes of the Yorktown especially.

Wouldn’t it be great if they released each of the 50 new alien races ( as well as the other BEYOND figures ) as high end action figures ( instead of those ghastly funko-pop travesties )?

Out of the 3 Kelvin-timeline movies, Beyond screams out for new toys, but alas it seems that in space no can hear you scream…

McCoy saying “In a pigs eye” is a reference to “Amok Time”.

-Karl Urban’s unbuttoned shirt and necklace in the party scene are a tribute to McCoy’s civilian look from the beginning of TMP. -Chris Pine’s hair is now close to the same color and parted on the same side as TOS Kirk’s, complete with little forehead flip when it gets roughed up. -Justin Lin’s son’s alien look was inspired by Yoda. He gave them a description of what he wanted, and then later admitted he’d just wanted to be Yoda. -The pantsless alien crew member is named Kevin. Kevin Riley, is that alternate-universe you?? -Bones’ line ‘In a pig’s eye!’ comes directly from the TOS episode ‘Amok Time’.

What pantsless aliens?

In the party scene, the little tiny guy walking with Keenser. Kirk says “Hey, Keenser. Kevin, see you’re still not wearing pants,” or something to that effect.

Wow. Totally missed that!

Even weirder “Kevin” appears to be one of the Teenaxians they beamed up with Kirk (since they were on him) from the failed diplomatic mission at the beginning.

“Justin Lin’s son’s alien look was inspired by Yoda” Who was that? Pantsless alien crew?

I wonder if the design of Yorktown looks like DS9 on purpose. That might be an Easter egg. And the drinking scene between Bones and Kirk is very similar to the scene between Pike and Boyce from the Cage.

They don’t look anything alike, other than that are both designed to look like space stations

Looking at some other sites today, anyone know why in the UK version, Joe Taslim’s ( Manas/Anderson Le ) image does not appear next to Eddison in the “Case Closed” scene near the end of the film? Instead he’s replaced by another actor with a shaven head.

Lydia Wilson’s Jessica Wolfe ( Kalara ) remains intact to Eddison’s right in the holo-display, but Joe Taslim is definitely missing in the version I’ve seen at the cinema.

These are great, thanks. I especially love the significance of NX-326, and the Stargazer cameo which I totally missed. The “Shore Leave” theme and the Goldsmith and Horner cues were all very cool — glad they’re on the soundtrack! There’s also a Yorktown shot where we see the Enterprise through interior windows, very similar to a shot in Star Trek III.

Eager to see Beyond again and catch the floating hand in the credits. When Scotty said that, it was all I could do to not scream!

Shot of Enterprise entering space doors at Yorktown very reminiscent of Enterprise entering Spacedock in STIII

I thought the three glass toast between kirk and mcoy with chechovs brandy was in honour of Leonard nimoy

Wow. I assumed that was for George Kirk, but you know what they say when you assume…

Yeah pretty sure it was intended to be for Kirk’s dad

I like to imagine that in-universe it was primarily for Kirk’s dad, but also a little for Admiral Pike, who was like a dad to him too. Leonard got lots of other tribute through the movie.

And while they didn’t realize it at the filming… for Anton

He probably did it in the other two films, but my son pointed out that Karl Urban wears a pinkie ring, just as DeForest Kelley used to (it was his mother’s wedding ring and when Roddenberry told him to ditch the ring, Kelley told him “no ring, no DeForest”).

That’s a fine bit of DeForest trivia there, never heard that. Right on –

The sound design of the saucer breaking atmosphere as the ship passes by the screen you can hear a sound reference to the Enterprise of Star Trek 4 TVH as the ship goes to Warp.

McCoy’s hand held medical tricorder used to scan a drained corpse aboard the Enterprise has that heart pump sound effect as heard back in the 60’s when life readings were given in “sick bay”.

Scotty beams McCoy and Spock individually citing concerns that the Transporter technology was so outdated that the two (Spock/McCoy) could be spliced together. I thought this was a reference to McCoy holding Spock’s Marbles and the previous 3rd movie.

Yeah, when Kirk walks around, the sound of the rocks under his shoe sounds just like the sounds of Kirk walking on the Genisis planet in the Search for Spock.

Thats a bit cruel, some people are reaching, yes.

can you elaborate?.

Did anyone else notice that many of the computer sounds in Yorktown’s control room we’re from TNG/VOY and I think even from the later TOS movies? I’ll have to confirm this for sure when I get the blu-ray!

Yes even on the bridge of the ENT, definate TNG era “hail” effect

Nice reference to saurian brand, even down to a similar bottle… but they got it wrong mentioning that it was illegal. Romulan Ale was the illegal stuff Bones had brought in from across the Neutral Zone. Saurian Brandy was everywhere.

Kirk’s birthday seemed to be influenced from Wrath of Khan. His toast to “absent friends” was identical to Kirks toast with Uhura, Sulu and Chekov in Trek 3, just before Sarek arrives. McCoy’s toast to good eyesight and a head full of hair also seemed to be influenced Kirk’s eye problems in Trek 2.

Some sounds aboard the Franklin were TOS sound effects.

The transporter pads were now MUCH easier to stand on. lol Flat and ringed, like those in TOS. The awkward spheres are, thankfully, gone.

Kirk mentions assembling an away team…wrong for the era, should’ve been “landing party”.

McCoy mentions med-bay, should be sick-bay…but he did this in earlier films too.

One glaring iconic omission, Spock, has yet to use a tricorder…hope they slip that in somewhere, next time.

I thought the toast to “good eyesight and a full head of hair” was not only a reference to the birthday scene in “Wrath of Khan…” “For patients your age, I usually recommend Retinax…” We all know how Kirk felt about those glasses! But I also thought it was an in-joke referencing the long standing rumor about Shatner and bad toupees.

Not bad, jabbing at both the actor and his character in one line!

Also thought the hair/eyesight line might be a polite little dig at Picard.

If you watch the distance to impact during the USS Franklin’s freefall, the last distance is 1967, which is the year of the Adonais/Green Hand episode, plus 4 or 5 other episodes that together look like the inspiration for this movie.

In TNG Technical Manuals it suggests that the Prime Universe NCC-1701 A was originally the USS Yorktown renamed. This contradicts the wildly non-canonical Mr. Scott’s Guide to the Enterprise which says that the NCC-1701-A was originally the USS TiHo, which was built from the keel up to be a transwarp test-bed.

Uh… no. The Kelvin Pods do not look like TMP’s pods.

Not sure if this has been mentioned , but if memory serves wasn’t Yorktown Gene’s second choice for names of the Enterprise?

previous Trek (movies/tv)

-Spock Primes death – Nimoy/Trek II

-saucer separation/destruction of the Ent with the saucer crashing on a rocky planet – Generations/Trek III

-Enterprise A – Trek IV

-‘absent friends’ scene* – Trek III/Nemesis (*no doubt a nod to the passing of Nimoy but the camera also seems to linger on Chekov)

-Yorktown – Roddenerrys original name for the Enterprise (also the Ent-A in Trek IV was originally the USS Yorktown)

-Yorktowns observation lounge with window showing Enterprise’s arrival – Trek III

-Scotty saying Spock and Bones could have merged in transporter – Trek III

-spock going through old spocks possessions in front of refracted mirror – Trek II (the refracted mirror in spocks quarters)

-crew using the enemys ship – Trek III

-Franklin crashing in water – Trek IV

-Villain marooned on inhospitable planet for decades out for revenge – Trek II (also a khan like villain out for revenge 5th time in a row – IX, X, XI, XII)

-kirk bones birthday scene ‘heres to perfect eyesight..and a full head of hair’ – Trek II (glasses/alcohol) and shatners ‘hair’ (also the scene was a call back to Pike/Boyce ‘bartender’ scene in The Cage)

-Kralls fountain of youth/rejuvenation thing – Insurrection

-cloaked Federation ship on alien world – Insurrection

-Enterprise being invaded/phaser fights in corridors – Nemesis/First Contact

-NX ship/uniforms/Maco/reference to Xindi & Romulan wars – Enterprise

-Scotty in the torpedo – STID (it actually looks like it might be a leftover from Khans torpedos)

-McCoys medallion – TMP

-rocky planet vistas – TOS (both pilots showing rocky planet matte painting backdrops)

-‘Episodic’/’Shirt ripped again’ – TOS

-day 966 – TOS (Sept 1966)

-Chekov’s russian inventions – TOS

-brandy from Thasus – TOS (Charlie X)

-Chekov and the green girl – TOS (Gamesters of Triskelion)

-Greg Grunberg/Commander Finnegan – TOS (Shore Leave)

-the opening of what we think are large aliens who turn out to be tiny aliens – TOS (Corbomite Manoeuvre/Catspaw)

-Captain gone mad/villainous after being marooned/losing crew – TOS (The Omega Glory/Doomsday Machine/Whom Gods Destroy)

-‘giant green space hand’ (also appears in the end credits) – TOS (Who Mourns For Adonis? – which was also recently referenced in XMen:Apocalypse)

-Doomsday Machine in end credits – TOS (Doomsday Machine)

-Genesis planet in end credits – Trek III

-Spock/bones stranded together – TOS (All Our Yesterdays)

-conflicted Kirk wrestling with the notion of taking desk job/Admiralty – Treks I-IV

-the opening was somewhat similar to the Klingon Courtroom scene – Trek VI

-Kirk washing his face in his bathroom – Picard at the start of First Contact

-Commodore Paris – Voyager

-announcement for “USS Stargazer” at Yorktown – TNG (The Battle)

-Enterprise A rapid building – looked like it inspired by this famous cutaway poster http://i.imgur.com/iIwfC.jpg

-‘Sabotage’/Kelvin pods – ST09

-score during the nebula sequence – TMP (similar to entering V’Ger music)

-Kirk v Krall fight music – TOS (Amok Time fight music)

-Demora – Generations

-Gay Sulu – George Takei

-The mass swarm of smaller ships – Voyager (The Swarm)

-Franklin registry NX 326 – Leonard Nimoys birthday (March 26)

other SF movies:

-uncovering old footage on derelict revealing the twist – Event Horizon, Sunshine, Planet of the Apes remake -the remnants of the crew of the crashed space ship on a distant planet becoming the basis for a war years later – Planet of the Apes remake -long lost space captain gone ‘space-mad’ trying to kill crew – Sunshine, Interstellar -igniting the fuel tank on the crashed ship to defeat the villain/using the past/future technology to destroy his army – Planet of the Apes remake -strangely alluring ass kicking alien woman – Fifth Element, Avatar -little white floating things bouncing in the air in the alien forest – Avatar -the sprawling Syd Mead style space station – Interstellar, Elysium -music destroying the attacking aliens – Mars Attacks -‘skip to the end’ – Spaced -at end villain appears to have conflicted conscience/looks to be turning good before reverting back to evil – Star Wars The Force Awakens -the death star schematic on the Yorktown – Star Wars

Am I the only one that noticed Krall call Kirk “My Old Friend” A direct reference to Kahn from Star Trek !! the wrath of Kahn?

I’ve seen that posted a bit, but do not think it’s accurate. I don’t think Krall was referring to Kirk as “my old friend,” instead, I think he was referring to the U.S.S. Franklin, the starship that had been under his command, as his old friend. It was one of the subtle hints as to whom Krull really would turn out to be.

However, the use of the line itself is definitely an homage to Khan.

U.S.S. Franklin is who I thought was “my old friend”.

From “Wrath of Khan” and forward, including the Kelvin timeline, we all know that photon torpedoes are actually physical devices, the black cylinders from the original timeline or the white casings used in “Into Darkness” the one Scotty uses to escape the Enterprise in “Beyond.”

However, did anyone notice how, in “Beyond,” when a torpedo was fired and would pass into view from behind, all you could see was a bright white animated blob that was nearly identical to how the photon torpedoes were depicted in “The Original Series.” The sound effect from firing the torpedoes was almost identical as well. This is most evident when Scotty is shot into space in one, as the torpedo is launched and then tracked as it heads towards the planet. I thought that was nice homage to the original effects…

Star Trek is clearly in the wrong hands. JJ and his uncreative friends have refreshed the look (something that is partly due to the huge increase in the budgets for these movies) but have either chosen or are simply incapable of writing their own material. Instead of “rebooting” the original, they should have taken Star Strek 100 years further into the future after TNG. These guys are either simply bad at what they do or are not true Star Trek fans, thus their comfort with messing with the originals. Perhaps it’s both.

Of course, you’re wrong, but that’s ok.

Of course. It is. God forbid we create as opposed to re-create Johnny boy. Enjoy the blue ray.

No way to your suggestion. I want me Kirk, Spock et al. Not enough is known about their prime timeline, let alone this new Kelvin timeline. And I am a true Star Trek fan, because I say so…:)

My favourite was seeing Sybok when The Beastie Boys were playing. I heard a voice say “I couldn’t help but notice your pain………”

Didn’t see anything about the name Yorktown, which was the first name choice for the Enterprise

Footage of the original crew of the USS Frank Linn. They are wearing ENT era uniforms.

You can also see a shuttle approaching in the background that looks like the ones used on Star Trek Enterprise.

Yeah I recognised the enterprise uniforms by their collars and shoulder badges. They seemed a little different though – couldn’t make out if they had the department-coloured shoulder piping like the tv ones? I was wondering if they reused the actual tv uniforms or whether they’d been made especially for this feature.

I think it’s Chris Pine assistant, the woman who is alongside Anton Yelchin, in one of the last scenes where Kirk makes a homage to absent friends.

I have no idea if the others who were in that scene are linked to the others actors, too.

Go back and look at the Dedication Plaque for the USS Franklin. Did you guys notice how it says, “To boldly go where no MAN has gone before.”?? A clear nod to the TOS verses the more inclusive language since the TNG.

Love the nod to the original TOS version, but still a little too “self-aware” for my tastes.

I might be imagining it, but I’m pretty sure the Teenaxi were inspired by the Gorons from The Legend Of Zelda series. They look damn near identical, and they curl up into a ball and roll around.

Kirks toast at his birthday part at the end where he say “to absent friends” is a reference to ST:III

Without knowing the connection to Justin Lin, I thought that the USS Franklin was a reference to the crew member that helped Scotty rig the transporter to keep his pattern alive for almost 75 years in TNG:Relics

I’ll have to go back and see it again but I could have sworn that I heard a quick music queue from the DS9 theme when we first saw Yorktown Station.

Hmm. I did note the Next Generation font used for the end credits. I also noticed James Kirk was listed in the credits for the VFX, I think it was. The hexagonal mirror panels in the tube where the Enterprise-A was being built were the same from the dry dock in The Motion Picture. Um…Scotty in a tube, putting cables together, just like in the original series. Although, that was what usually saved the ship in the TV series. Not this time. There was an alarm sound taken from the Enterprise-E when Yorktown was being attacked. McCoy may have made a subtle reference to ‘Q’, but I’m not sure if ‘Q’ counts as an anomaly. The Giant green hand nebula actually made me chuckle once I noticed what it was.

So, is the audience supposed to believe that Kelvin timeline crew are the same physical counterparts as prime timeline crew? Pine looks more like Shatner in the new film, but Anton Yelchin looks nothing like Walter Koenig, nor does Simon Pegg resemble James Doohan. Can someone explain this to me?

Joke answer: Sadly, none of the cast were dedicated enough to undergo plastic surgery to turn themselves into exact duplicates of the original actors.

Real answer: It’s called “suspension of disbelief.”

I recognised the klaxon sound as Greg Grunberg ordered red alert on Yorktown. It’s the same sound as the klaxon on the Scimitar when the Remans realised Picard and Data had escaped. I’m also fairly sure it was used on Voyager a few times.

I believe that Greg Grunberg is a good friend of JJ Abrams.

If I’m not mistaken, Yorktown was the name Roddenberry originally intended to be the starship name until he changed it to Enterprise. Can’t remember where I heard that one…it was a long time ago.

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Starting with  Star Trek: The Next Generation , Hallmark is revisiting the landmark crossover episode which brought Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) through time to visit the Enterprise-D. Taken from his shared time in the ship’s holodeck , this “Relics” ornament has Scotty offering Picard a glass of green Aldebaran Whiskey.

The “Relics” ornament — which also features audio from this scene in the Next Generation episode — will be available in October 2023 for $34.99.

Data and his pet cat Spot take the second  Next Gen ornament spot this year; this TNG release will also include integrated audio: press a button and hear the android’s “Ode to Spot” poem, as recited aboard the Enterprise-D in “Schisms.”

The Data and Spot ornament will be available in July 2023 for $22.99.

A two-pack of Badgey ornaments from  Star Trek: Lower Decks represents the animated series this fall, as these representations of the hologram’s good and evil personalities join the Hallmark  Star Trek lineup.

The Badgey two-pack will be available this October at a price of $19.99.

The original  Star Trek series gets plenty of representation in 2023, starting with this nod to “Who Mourns for Adonais?”

The “giant green space hand” (as it was called in Star Trek Beyond ) of the Greek god Apollo — which captured the Enterprise in the beginning of that 1967 episode — comes to life this year with an ornament that allows holiday collectors to insert a standard Christmas tree light into its ‘wrist.’

Available in July, the “Who Mourns for Adonais?” ornament will cost $29.99.

Hallmark is also releasing two miniature-sized ornaments this year — a small USS Enterprise and a tiny Captain Kirk — which will fit perfectly on the branches of one of those small table-top Christmas trees.

Both are coming in October; the Captain Kirk ornament will cost $9.99 and the  Enterprise ornament will be $10.99.

A new tabletop display decoration rounds out Hallmark’s Star Trek releases for 2023: a six-inch original  Enterprise ‘orbiting’ a glowing planet from deep space. 

In addition to the light show, the display also includes audio clips from five Original Series episodes (including “Balance of Terror”), plus the series theme song — you can also play ambient Enterprise bridge sound effects from the display base.

Warping in this October, the  Enterprise tabletop display will retail at $129.99.

Keep checking back to TrekCore for the latest in  Star Trek merchandise news!

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What Is Spock's Star Trek Hand Sign Called & What Does It Mean?

There is no more iconic hand gesture in pop culture than the split-fingered greeting used by Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and other Vulcans in "Star Trek." Usually accompanied by the phrase, "Live long, and prosper," the gesture requires splitting one's fingers between the middle and ring finger while extending the thumb, with the palm facing forward. But while many fans have seen it used throughout "Star Trek," many don't know its name, let alone its origins.

Spock's gesture is known as the Vulcan Salute. It was first seen in the episode "Amok Time," the episode of "Star Trek: The Original Series" in which Spock returns to Vulcan to compete in a mating ritual. Though not originally in the script for that episode, Nimoy felt it would be a good way to add more depth to Vulcan culture. "I suggested to the director that there should be some Vulcan thing that Vulcans do when they greet," Nimoy said in an Archive of American Television interview preserved by FoundationINTERVIEWS on YouTube. It was one of many aspects of Vulcan culture improvised by the actor . But the star clarified that the episode's writer, science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, had come up with the phrase, "Live long, and prosper."

So, that's what the Vulcan Salute means within the universe of "Star Trek." But for Leonard Nimoy, it had a far more profound personal meaning rooted in his Jewish upbringing.

Leonard Nimoy's Vulcan Salute took inspiration from an ancient Jewish tradition

Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock on "Star Trek: The Original Series" and elsewhere, was raised in a Jewish household in Boston, Massachusetts, as the child of Ukrainian immigrants. His parents were observant, particularly his father, who brought his son along to High Holiday services at their local Orthodox synagogue. There, Nimoy witnessed a ritual that would go on to inform his Vulcan Salute.

Synagogue services on major holidays include the Priestly Blessing. Members of the priestly class of Kohanim — in the most simple terms, those with last names like Cohen and derivations thereof — bless the congregation by lifting their hands with the split-fingered gesture. The difference is that, in performing the Priestly Blessing, both hands are raised.

Crucially, members of the congregation are instructed to avert their gaze while the Blessing is recited, as the priests are said to be channeling the divine presence. Congregants often cover their faces with a tallis, a ritual shawl worn during prayer. But young Nimoy was much too curious to remain under the veil, so he would peer out at the Kohanim from under his father's tallis.

As noted on the  Star Trek  website, Nimoy wrote, "There were a group of five or six men facing the congregation and chanting in passionate shouts of a Hebrew benediction ... My dad said, 'Don't look.' ... I peeked. And when I saw the split-fingered gesture of these men ... I was entranced. I learned to do it because it seemed so magical. It was probably 25 years later that I introduced that gesture as a Vulcan greeting in 'Star Trek' and it has resonated with fans around the world ever since. It gives me great pleasure since it is, after all, a blessing."

• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired Jan 19, 1967

For bringing hostility into their solar system, a superior alien race brings Captain Kirk into mortal combat against the reptilian captain of an alien ship he was pursuing. For bringing hostility into their solar system, a superior alien race brings Captain Kirk into mortal combat against the reptilian captain of an alien ship he was pursuing. For bringing hostility into their solar system, a superior alien race brings Captain Kirk into mortal combat against the reptilian captain of an alien ship he was pursuing.

• Joseph Pevney
• Gene L. Coon
• Fredric Brown
• Gene Roddenberry
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• DeForest Kelley
• 40 User reviews
• 13 Critic reviews

• Captain James Tiberius 'Jim' Kirk

• Mister Spock

• O'Herlihy

• (as Carole Shelyne)

• (uncredited)

• Lieutenant Leslie
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• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia Although it was not intentional, Desilu's research department realized that Gene L. Coon 's screenplay strongly resembled a novella of the same name by Fredric Brown . To deal with the difficulty, Brown was telephoned about the matter and he agreed to a writer's fee and an official credit for the story.
• Goofs Gunpowder is a low explosive: it has to be contained to explode. Otherwise it simply burns. Even if Kirk had real gunpowder, it wouldn't have exploded.

Metron : You surprise me, Captain.

Captain James T. Kirk : How?

Metron : By sparing your helpless enemy, who surely would have destroyed you, you demonstrated the advanced trait of mercy. Something we hardly expected. We feel that there may be hope for your kind. Therefore, you will not be destroyed. It would not be... civilized.

Captain James T. Kirk : What happened to the Gorn?

Metron : I sent him back to his ship. If you like, I shall destroy him for you.

Captain James T. Kirk : No. That won't be necessary. We can talk. Maybe... reach an agreement.

Metron : Very good, Captain. There *is* hope for you. Perhaps, in several thousand years, your people and mine shall meet to reach an agreement. You're still half savage. But there is hope. We will contact you when we're ready.

• Crazy credits The closing credits are set against a combination background of stills from that episode, previous and future episodes - as per usual Star Trek: TOS practice.
• Alternate versions Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song. Highlights include a wider angle on the Cestus outpost showing more destruction (and removing an oddly-placed chunk of metal in the foreground) and the never-before-seen Gorn ship.
• Connections Featured in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
• Soundtracks Theme From Star Trek Written by and credited to Alexander Courage

User reviews 40

• planktonrules
• Dec 6, 2006
• January 19, 1967 (United States)
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Technical specs

• Runtime 50 minutes

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Weird Star Trek Easter Eggs

• Star Trek embraces its weird and wonderful easter eggs, like the secret cameo of R2-D2 in the 2009 reboot, which adds a fun twist for fans of both Star Trek and Star Wars .
• The body of James T. Kirk, the iconic Enterprise captain, is preserved and studied at the Daystrom Institute, hinting that he may still have a future in the series.
• Star Trek Beyond pays homage to the original series with a reference to the cosmic green hand in space, capturing the nostalgia and history of the franchise in one easter egg.

To boldly go where no one has gone before, Star Trek reinvented sci-fi for a televised audience back in the 1960s and has continued to do so. Star Trek has been revitalized over the last decade, with plenty more shows and movies well on the way in the ever-growing library of Star Trek content. With over 6 decades of legacy and continuing missions, Star Trek has harbored some weird easter eggs, from its own series and others.

RELATED: Star Trek: Best Holodeck Creations Ever

Star Trek isn’t shy about referencing its past, and many of the best easter eggs in the series embrace the weird and wonderful, allowing audiences to enjoy its past and embrace its future. Star Trek isn’t afraid to get strange, whether it’s including a robot from another rival franchise, or featuring cosmic hands from decades prior.

R2-D2 In Space

Star trek (2009).

There’s a secret cameo in the Star Trek reboot, one that competing fans of Star Trek and Star Wars may be rather confused about. Star Wars' cinematic venture concluded with Revenge of the Sith , and that would be the last time audiences saw R2-D2 in live-action. That was, until 2009’s Star Trek , which featured the adorable and sassy droid flying out into space as part of some debris.

The R2-D2 cameo is definitely a “blink and miss it” moment, and features within the space debris. R2 can be found on the left of the screen as the Enterprise comes to see the wreckage of another ship . It’s weird, and wonderful, considering J.J. Abrams went on to direct R2-D2 in The Force Awakens.

James T. Kirk’s Remains

Star trek picard (season 3, episode 6).

Featuring in the final season of Star Trek Picard , and the crew enter the Daystrom Institute, where they discover some amazing secrets from across the Star Trek series, such as genetically modified Tribbles, and the Genesis machine that brought Spock back to life. However, the most famous possession within the Daystrom Institute, is the body of James T. Kirk , perhaps the most famous Enterprise captain to ever live.

RELATED: Star Trek: Best Criminal Characters, Ranked

Kirk tragically died in Star Trek Generations , and many fans were disappointed and confused by this death. However, it seems that the Starfleet Admiral may have life in him, as his body has been kept preserved and under study within the Daystrom Institute. There’s hope yet that Kirk may one day return.

Apollo’s Green Hand

Star trek beyond.

Star Trek Beyond features a weird easter egg that some audiences might not understand. Scotty references the fate of the U.S.S. Franklin and how it was snatched by a “ green space hand ” this alone is reference enough to the past of Star Trek , but the end credits solidify it by actually showing the cosmic green hand in all its glory.

In The Star Trek Original Series episode “ Who Mourns for Adonais? ”, the Enterprise is plucked off course and snatched by a floating green hand in space, which brings the fleet to a planet that is seemingly paradise. It’s great to see this green hand return in both mention and physical appearance within the end credits of Star Trek Beyond.

Green Starfleet Uniform

Star trek: strange new worlds (season 1, episode 5).

It seems rather strange that Captain Kirk wears a green tunic in a random episode of Star Trek The Original Series , but there’s actually a good reason for that. Star Trek was released in 1966 when color wasn’t exactly a priority for televised series. Kirk was mostly seen wearing a yellow uniform, but it turns out that this was the error, and this yellow outfit was due to poor lighting. Therefore, some of Kirk’s attire, seemed lime green, when in fact it always was.

RELATED: Star Trek: Deep Space Characters Who Appear On Other Series

This is referenced in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , a new Star Trek show that embraces everything weird about Star Trek . Captain Pike can be seen in a green uniform in the Season 1 episode “ Spock Amok ”, a hilarious reference to the old 60s show.

Jeff Bezos Plays An Alien

Many might know Jeff Bezos as the former CEO of Amazon, perhaps the most famous company of all time. Jeff Bezos is worth a fortune, and more, and he made a cameo in Star Trek Beyond , even if many audience members might not have known it due to the incredible prosthetic work of Star Trek Beyond ’s makeup team, which turned Bezos into an alien .

Bezos is a huge Star Trek fan. So much so, that he invited William Shatner on board a Blue Origin spaceflight. Bezos features as an unnamed alien Starfleet officer in heavy makeup, and it’s weird to know that beneath all that green is one of the richest men in the world.

Trouble With Tribbles

Star trek: into darkness.

Doctor McCoy has a Tribble of his own that he uses for testing in his sickbay in Star Trek: Into Darkness . It’s always great to see a Tribble , especially when they caused so much trouble in their first Star Trek appearance way back in The Original Series “ The Trouble With Tribbles ”, Season 2, Episode 15. Tribbles are known to multiply, continuously, but luckily that’s not the case in Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Instead, McCoy experiments with the Tribble in his sickbay, and he even uses it to save some lives. Tribbles are a weird addition to Star Trek , and show the endless and creative potential of their many alien creatures. Star Trek is ever-opportunistic, and Tribbles showcases just that thanks to their simple and furry design.

MORE: Star Trek: Best Roles Played By Jeffrey Combs

Green (Crewman)

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Crewman Green was a male Human Starfleet enlisted crewman who lived during the mid- 23rd century . He served in the command division aboard the USS Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk during the mid- 2260s .

In 2266 , Green, along with Crewman Sturgeon , both armed with a type 2 phaser , made up the two-thirds of the landing party that joined Captain Kirk to the surface of planet M-113 to investigate the death of Darnell , a crewman who had apparently been murdered during the visit of the previous visit to the surface. Kirk ordered Green to search for Nancy Crater , who had, in actuality, died some time before and been replaced by a creature able to hypnotically project an image of any individual it chose.

Green came across this creature, and was subsequently attacked and killed when it extracted all the salt from his body, as it had done to its other victims. The creature then took on the appearance of Green and returned to the ship with the rest of the landing party. Eventually, Green's body was discovered, and it was realized that the creature had infiltrated the ship. ( TOS : " The Man Trap ")

External links [ ]

• Green (Crewman) at StarTrek.com
• Green (Crewman) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)