Tendi is summoned back to Orion for a wedding, joined by Mariner and T'Lyn, while Boimler and Rutherford go through teething problems as new roommates.
Tropes:
- Arranged Marriage: The wedding is the culmination of one of these, which will merge the Tendis with another powerful Syndicate family. D'Erika actually doesn't mind it though, and only kidnapped herself because it provided an opportunity to get Tendi to Orion.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: When Tendi apologises for leaving home without making sure her sister wanted to take her place, D'Erika admits she did want it, but once she had it she became consumed with anxiety that everyone on Orion would see her as an Inadequate Inheritor and a poor substitute for Tendi.
- Blasé Boast: Played for Laughs. Tendi's attempts to downplay her family's wealth give T'lyn the impression that Orions flaunt their wealth while pretending to be modest about it.
- Cleavage Window: The Orion outfit given to T'Lyn sports a prominent cleavage window. T'Lyn complains about the "inefficient" use of material.
- Continuity Nod: As established in ENT: "Bound" (which Mariner makes fun of), Orion women run their society and the men are subservient. The Orion captain in the beginning is a woman, Tendi's mother is the head of her family, and all the establishments are run by women. The wedding even inverts the usual Bridal Carry, as shown in Mariner's photos.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: An Orion ship becomes the latest victim of the mysterious ship and its vaporizing beam of light, no more able to prevent it from disabling its systems than its past victims could.
- Cypher Language: Orion. Through this, we learn that the text on the sedan says... "This is a very fancy chair". Turns out, most of the writing in the episode is similarly bland in meaning, giving some weight to T'Lyn's observation about downplaying spectacles.
- A Day in the Limelight: For the Orions. While they've been part of the franchise since "The Cage", Orion society has never really been fleshed out beyond the Orion Syndicate and its criminal activities across multiple eras. Tendi's presence on the Cerritos has slowly laid the groundwork, leading inevitably to this kind of episode and the most extensive canonical world-building the Orions have received over the preceding half a century.
- The Dreaded: Tendi is so dreaded that when a bouncer tells her to get in line because he was turned around and didn't see who she was first, he recites her title in shock and begs not to be flayed. He literally spends the rest of the interaction on his knees with his head bowed and hands clasped. His coworker watches in horror like he fully expects him to be murdered and they both act like the man was blessed to make it out alive.Bouncer: I owe you a debt of eternal gratitude. My grandchildren will sing of this day.
- Drinking Contest: Tendi plays a drinking game with the bar owner; it has the added risk of an angry bug that tries to bite whoever is doing the drinking unless they can raise a forcefield over their hand. Tendi ends up winning when the owner chokes, nearly getting bitten before Tendi slams a mug over the bug.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Nya'al seems to be indulging in the Orion equivalent of this in order to forget his feelings for D'Erika, accepting being a boy toy in a sex dungeon in exchange for being able to blitz out on the owner's pheromones.
- Dude Magnet: Tendi is apparently considered to be this by Orion standards, as Ingreeta notes that she was always able to attract and enthrall the males of their species quite easily, even without her Orion pheromones.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Mariner unabashedly engages in this with Nya'al. Even T'Lyn agrees that the man is "aesthetically pleasing."
- Everyone Has Standards: T'Lyn accompanies Tendi for the chance to observe internal Orion culture firsthand, which is apparently still Shrouded in Myth to the Federation. Tendi is generally ashamed of her background because of the whole "pirates and criminals" Planet of Hats, but asks T'Lyn to be more restrained in her report. T'Lyn's response is to discard the PADD containing all her notes, saying it is unethical to publish a profile on someone without their consent.
- Everybody Knew Already: Tendi spends much of the episode trying to keep up appearances that she isn't Orion royalty and trained as an assassin with a ceremonial title, but given that her statements are along the lines of "We are barely the 5th largest Syndicate family" it doesn't work (in addition to the fact she demonstrates advanced combat skills in "Hear All, Trust Nothing" last season under similar denial). When she decides to admit it, Mariner and T'Lyn have been so engaged with the spectacle it barely registers.
- Fanservice: No matter how you slice it, Orion culture is very heavy on fanservice. Tendi, Mariner, and T'Lyn adapt by wearing outfits that show off plenty of leg and cleavage (T'Lyn's in particular is backless). The trio even visit an honest-to-God sex dungeon with plenty of scantily clad male and female patrons.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: T'Lyn spends the episode writing down information about Orion culture for a chance to pass it on to the Vulcan Science Council. However, when Tendi begs her to leave out "some of the stabbings", T'Lyn declares that the report was damaged before tossing the PADD out the window. She reasons that compiling such a report without subject consent is unethical, so Orion culture will just have to remain a mystery.
- Gilligan Cut: Boimler and Rutherford note that they have been forbidden to use the Mark Twain holoprogram after having the captain attempt to use it to resolve the dispute she has with the Chalnoth captain. Tendi suggests Boimler and Rutherford could just share their feelings with each other instead of going to such absurd lengths. Cut to the two cosplaying Mozart and talking out their problems.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Tendi tells Nya'al that he can do better than moping in a sex dungeon hopped up on pheromones. He agrees, only to immediately fall in line when the Madame snaps at him.
- Implausible Deniability: Tendi goes to great lengths to deny the pirate upbringing she obviously had. When she finally admits the truth, Mariner cuts her off and points out that it was fairly obvious.
- Innocently Insensitive: The Chalnoth captain growls something incomprehensible while cosplaying as Mark Twain and Rutherford suggests trying it in a Southern accent. He immediately protests that it was a Southern accent.
- Just a Flesh Wound: Mariner takes several blades in the shoulder and acts like it's little more than a painful annoyance. She even removes each blade without severe bleeding.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: T'Lyn wants to go with Tendi on a mission to prepare a first-hand report on the Orion culture. The episode is the first time they had any sort of meaningful world-building in decades and is almost entirely dedicated to that matter.
- Like a Son to Me: Boimler and Rutherford describe their bonsai "Lil Boney" as their son... moments before the Chalnoth captain gobbles it down.
- Living Aphrodisiac: Tendi once again clarifies that only some Orion women release mind-controlling pheromones and that she is not one of them; this time though, it's made clear she never had the ability to do so, instead of simply choosing not to use them. The ladies wind up meeting one who can when their search for Nya'al brings them to a sex dungeon, a fact Tendi uses against her by threatening to release an antidote into the dungeon and ruin her livelihood.
- Luminescent Blush: The Madame of the sex dungeon reveals that Tendi could make men swoon without pheromones, causing Tendi to blush furiously while demanding she play it off as a joke.
- Lured into a Trap: D'Erika kidnapped herself because she knew Tendi would eventually come to their old playground, where she could confront her alone.
- Mafia Princess: Tendi turns out to be one of these on top of being a trained pirate assassin. Despite her protesting that her family is only the fifth most powerful in the Syndicate, her parents are clearly loaded, possessing both a vast estate and dozens of loyal servants.
- Not So Above It All: When Mariner comments that Tendi's title of "prime" sounds "cool as hell", T'Lyn concurs. Later, when Mariner calls D'Erika's ex Nya'al a "big ol' hunk o' ham steak", T'Lyn agrees that he is "aesthetically pleasing".
- Oh, Crap!: Nya'al freaks out and tries to run when he sees Tendi.
- Planet of Hats: As we know, the Orions' hat is piracy and debauchery.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: As soon as the girls leave the Cerritos, Boimler and Rutherford's buddy-buddiness goes completely down the crapper thanks to their bonsai tree, though they work it out pretty quickly and their subplot switches to helping out the captain halfway through.
- Resolved Noodle Incident: How Tendi acquired the Orion title "Mistress of the Winter Constellations" is finally revealed. What specifically that is and entails, remains a little opaque.
- The Reveal: Tendi's backstory and mysterious past are finally spelt out. Small things she's said, actions she's taken, clear back to "Second Contact", now have fuller context.
- Running Gag: Every time a dagger is thrown, Mariner ends up being hit in the shoulder — the same shoulder, in the same spot. The third time, she ducks behind a console and it still manages to bounce into her when D'Erika misses her throw at Tendi. Mariner even notes that it happened again offscreen during the daddy-daughter dagger dance (during the reception?).
- Strong Family Resemblance: Aside from their different hairstyles and outfits, Tendi and her sister D'Erika look almost alike.
- Take That!: Mariner thinks that Orion pheromones were made up by Starfleet, as an excuse to explain a captain getting taken out by some Orion showgirls.
- Theme Naming: Many of the Orion characters have names with a consonant and apostrophe, but with a pronunciation that skews closely to a familiar Earth name. This is more obvious with Tendi's sister D'Erika.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Mariner stops T'Lyn from interfering in Tendi's fight with D'Erika because it's obvious the two are working out some issues.
- Too Important to Walk: Tendi, T'Lyn, and Mariner are carried on a couch/sedan chair through the Tendi family estate. Her parents get the same treatment.
- We Used to Be Friends: D'Erika's mad at Tendi because she turned around and bailed for Starfleet the second she could, saddling D'Erika with her responsibilities (not that D'Erika minds that part, she just would have liked to have been consulted). Tendi realizes that, while she meant well, not explaining herself to her sister really hurt her.
- The Worf Effect: Shaxs gets a rare Worfing when he attempts to restrain the rowdy Chalnoth captain, only to be tossed aside after a brief struggle by the much larger man.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Mariner's reaction after getting stabbed for the third time (let alone after taking cover specifically to prevent this from happening).
