History Recap / StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS2E07ThoseOldScientists

* AscendedMeme: Season 1 sparked a lot of fandom jokes about [[MemeticHair Pike's Peak]], i.e. the fact that Pike's hairstyle is seemingly as unflappable as he usually is. Boimler remarks upon meeting Pike that he's famous in part for having "great hair."

Boimler awakens in Sickbay, with Pike, M'Benga, Noonien-Soong and Number One clustered around him. It's Stardate 2291.6, and the ''Enterprise'' is on a mission to deliver some grain to an outlying colony. Boimler admits that he's from the future, and the ''Enterprise'' crew resolve to send him back through the portal as quickly as possible: Uhura is already working on translating the graphemes on the portal, and Spock, M'Benga and Boimler beam down to investigate. When asked how he activated it, Boimler suggests it's "dumb luck," to which Spock snorts laughter -- finding the idea of assigning intelligence to chance to be ridiculous. Boimler is unnerved by the burst of emotion.

It's Stardate 58460.1. Ensigns from the U.S.S. ''Cerritos'' have been assigned to beam down to Krulmuth-B, home of a time portal first discovered by Captain Pike. MilitaryMaverick Ensign Beckett Mariner (Creator/TawnyNewsome) is in command, with [[WeWillAllBeHistoryBuffsInTheFuture Starfleet fanboy]] Ens. Brad Boimler (Creator/JackQuaid), MrFixit Ens. Sam Rutherford (Creator/EugeneCordero) and TheMedic and CulturalRebel Ens. D'Vana Tendi (Creator/NoelWells), a rare Orion officer in Starfleet. If these don't sound like the main characters of ''Strange New Worlds'', that's because they, uh, aren't: these are actually the main characters of ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'', which takes place 120 years later. And is animated. The four cartoon characters beam down, and Rutherford immediately detects horonium, a now-out-of-date alloy used in the construction of early Earth starships like [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise the NX-01]]. Boimler geeks out over standing exactly where Pike and Spock once did, wishing he could live back in those days. Tendi protests that scientists from her Orion ancestors actually found it first, complaining about the stereotype that all Orions are either RuthlessModernPirates or seductive {{Green Skinned Space Babe}}s. Rutherford takes a photo of Boimler with his tricorder... and the portal activates, sucking Boimler in. He's ejected 120 years ago, at the feet of Number One, La'an and Spock... and he's in live action, taking advantage of the InkSuitActor resemblance between Quaid and Boimler. He notes that the three in front of him look "very realistic" before passing out in shock, and Number One radios the ''Enterprise'', noting they might have a problem.

* InternalReveal: Played with: Pike tells Boimler and Mariner that he already knows "what's going to happen to me" when the two try to avoid discussing his final fate. Actually, he ''doesn't'' know: he thinks he's going to die, but they know he's going to wind up in that beeping wheelchair.

* InternalReveal: Pike tells Boimler and Mariner that he already knows he's going to wind up in that wheelchair when the two try to avoid discussing his final fate.

* LegendaryInTheSequel: All of the ''Enterprise'' crew here are galactic legends in Starfleet by the time of the 2380s, with Pike's birthday becoming a holiday, Una being used for recruitment posters, and Spock being known as the most famous Vulcan of his time.

* SpecialEditionTitle: The opening sequence is rendered in non-CGI animation.

* VindicatedByHistory: In-universe example when Una learns from Boimler and Mariner that she's the literal poster child for Starfleet recruitment by the late 24th Century. While Una publicly chastises them for revealing future events, she's privately touched and grateful to learn what her legacy will be (especially after what she went through at the beginning of the season with her court martial).

* HotHelpingYourCase: The Orion science vessel really is a crew of scientists, but they don't help matters by absconding with the portal and trading it back for grain. With a little help from Boimler and Mariner, their captain is willing to hash things out with Pike and accept recognition as the scientists who discovered the portal.

[[caption-width-right:350:One ''Cerritos'' Ensign, trouble. Two ''Cerritos'' Ensigns-- Chaos.]]

They're called back to the bridge: sensors have picked up an Orion ship. Pike, concerned about pirates, has shields raised and weapons armed, but Boimler, as non-specifically as he can (which isn't very non-specific at all), explains that Tendi's great-grandmother -- when she said her Orion ancestors found the portal first, she was being fairly literal -- is aboard, and explaining that hostile action could change the future. The Orion captain, claiming to be in charge of a science vessel, seems content to stand down... but then he beams up the portal and races off with it. Boimler looks like an idiot, and Pike later mumbles to Una that he feels like he's "trying to stop a toddler from knocking over the furniture."

Boimler is hanging out with Ortegas and Chapel, enthusing over their participation in the "golden age of exploration." Chapel slips off when Spock arrives... and smiles at her. This leads Boimler to panic, and he chases after Chapel. He asks if this whole "smiling" thing is new, and Chapel explains that Spock is exploring the ''other'' side of his HalfHumanHybrid nature. Boimler is concerned: the Spock he knows is, of course, TheStoic, and he's concerned that his presence is disrupting the time stream. Chapel explains that, no, this whole thing preceded Boimler's arrival; he's doing it for her. She then realizes that, if the Spock Boimler knows from history is TheStoic, then his exploration of his human side isn't going anywhere... and, by implication, his dalliance with ''her'' isn't going anywhere either. [[DownerEnding She swallows tears]].

* ActingUnnatural: To the extent that anything about this situation can be considered "natural", Boimler conspicuously recoils when Una gets his attention, leading her to suspect he knows something about her future. It turns out Starfleet uses her for recruitment in the future, and Boimler has her poster in his bunk.

** Ortegas recognizes the symbols on the time portal as Nausicaan, having once seen similar symbols on a dom-jot set she saw on Starbase Earhart. All three have previously featured in TNG's "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E14Tapestry Tapestry]]" and LWD's "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS2E03WellAlwaysHaveTomParis We'll Always Have Tom Paris]]".

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Wanting to fix the problems he made, Boimler tries to hijack a shuttle with Mariner's help, intending on trying to get the portal and the grain back. If this were the ''Cerritos'', the plan might have worked. However, this is the ''Enterprise'' and with such a ProperlyParanoid Communications Officer like Uhura at the console, La'an is alerted and the two are apprehended before they can even leave.

* HolodeckMalfunction: Parodied. Upon awakening (after being knocked unconscious during the time travel), a disoriented Boimler initially thinks he's in a holographic simulation of the Pike-era ''Enterprise''. It's only after it doesn't freeze on command and he physically pokes Pike that Boimler realizes he really ''has'' traveled back in time to the pre-Kirk era.

** Pike admits that if he was on the bridge of the ''NX-01'' in the same way that Boimler and Mariner are on his ''Enterprise'', he wouldn't act so different with Captain Archer.

** Played for both laughs and drama with Spock's emotional behavior. Boimler and Mariner getting creeped out by him smiling is hilarious; Chapel realizing her influence on him (and by extension their relationship) won't last, much less so.
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: As is usual for Boimler around people he respects.
** His indirect inquiring about Spock's emotions clues in Chapel that Spock's attempt to get in touch with his human side is doomed to failure if history knows him for his stoicism. Worse, Spock makes the same deduction based on Boimler's own reactions, Chapel's reaction to Boimler, and Boimler's discomfort about the subject.
** He admits to Una that he has a poster of her in his bunk. She takes this exactly how it sounds, when he meant to say it's a recruitment poster and what got him to join Starfleet. It takes Mariner to clear that up, which leaves Una touched about her own legacy - if still slightly creeped out by Boimler.

* PlanetOfHats: As in ''Lower Decks'', the Orions' reputation as pirates is played with. Boimler has trouble believing Tendi's claim that her ''TOS''-era ancestors were actually scientists (someone had to build the ships, she argues), and the ''Enterprise'' crew are skeptical when Boimler reiterates that claim. Her ancestors do in fact steal the portal, but are reasonable enough to barter for its return. Boimler getting them to go beyond that prejudice is what ultimately gets an agreement with the Orion captain to take credit for discovering the portal, recognizing his crew as scientists.

* VerbalBackspace: When the Orion Scout Ship arrives over the planet, Boimler proudly boasts that it's a Scout Ship and he's built one before. However, when he realizes that it's probably the ship that carries Tendi's grandma, he quickly corrects himself and claims it's actually a ''Science'' Ship.
* VindicatedByHistory: In-universe example when Una learns from Boimler and Mariner that she's the literal poster child for Starfleet recruitment by the late 24th Century. While Una publicly chastises them for revealing future events, she's privately touched and grateful to learn what her legacy will be (especially after what she went through at the beginning of the Season with her court martial).

* TimeTravel: Boimler and Mariner travel from the 24th Century to the mid-23rd Century through a portal on an alien planet.

** Mariner also offhandedly mentions knowing that Ransom, who she's had BelligerentSexualTension with before, sleeps facedown. Though she might have been making that part up.

** In contrast, Pike reveals to the Ensigns that he’s aware of [[Recap/StarTrekS1E11TheMenageriePartI his future]], to their shock, but changes the topic before they can follow up on it. In this case, they already know what will happen to him, so telling them this one extra detail doesn't really change anything.

** Boimler and Mariner think people in the past talk really slowly and quietly, which is largely an artifact of the difference between an hour long live action drama and a half hour animated comedy.

* CaptainsLog: A variation. Boimler pokes fun at the old pre-TNG era Stardate classification system (five digits instead of six) by just using "the past" when he can't figure it out.

* {{Interquel}}: As per the Stardate in the framing device, the LWD section of the crossover is set during mid-Season Three (specifically in-between the events of "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS3E06HearAllTrustNothing Hear All, Trust Nothing]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS3E07AMathematicallyPerfectRedemption A Mathematically Perfect Redemption]]").

* InternalDeconstruction: In true ''Lower Decks'' tradition, the franchise gets picked apart, albeit this time it's the antics of the ''Cerritos'' ensigns themselves. Much of the antics they would normally be able to (mostly) pull off on their own ship without much consequence doesn't fly with the crew of Starfleet's flagship, which either causes more trouble than intended or is prevented because they caught them in the act. Given the ''Enterprise'' crew's reactions, it implies that the reason Boimler hasn't gotten a better posting on another ship, or at least a promotion since he was sent back from the ''Titan'', is because such a flagrant disregard for professionalism and regulations that's barely tolerated on the ''Cerritos'' wouldn't fly on any other ship, let alone ''the'' flagship.

* HolodeckMalfunction: Parodied. Upon awakening (after being knocked unconscious during the time travel), a disoriented Boimler initially thinks he's in a holographic simulation of the Pike-era ''Enterprise''. It's only after it doesn't "shut down" and he physically pokes Pike that Boimler realizes he really ''has'' traveled back in time to the pre-Kirk era.

** What convinces the Orion Captain that Boimler and Mariner are actually time travellers is Mariner recalling that Tendi is also called the "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS2E03WellAlwaysHaveTomParis Mistress of the Winter Constellations]]", which is also used by one of his officers (who is of course Tendi's great-grandmother).

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The description on the time portal that Uhara was trying to translate all episode is eventually revealed to say that...it is a time portal.

* OutOfGenreExperience: ''Strange New Worlds'' is a WagonTrainToTheStars played straight similar to ''The Original Series'' told from the perspective of the senior officers; ''Lower Decks'' is a DeconstructorFleet told from the perspective of the rank-and-file RagtagBunchOfMisfits, who live in a time when Starfleet has become more bureaucratized. Crossing them over has multiple effects one wouldn't expect to come from an episode of ''Strange New Worlds'', but would expect from ''Lower Decks''.

Boimler is hanging out with Ortegas and Chapel, enthusing over their participation in the "golden age of exploration." Chapel slips off when Spock arrives... and smiles at her. This leads Boimler to panic, and he chases after Chapel. He asks if this whole "smiling" thing is new, and Chapel explains that Spock is exploring the ''other'' side of his HalfHumanHybrid nature. Boimler is concerned: the Spock he knows is, of course, TheStoic, and he's concerned that his presence is disrupting the time stream. Chapel explains that, no, this whole thing preceded Boimler's arrival. She then realizes that, if the Spock Boimler knows is TheStoic, then his exploration of his human side isn't going anywhere. [[DownerEnding She swallows tears]].

With Boimler's help, Pike tracks down the Orion pirate / science vessel, and Pike barters his ship's load of grain for the portal. They reinstall it on Krulmuth-B. Spock notes that its horonium reserves are nearly depleted, and that there is literally none to replace it with anywhere in a hundred thousand lightyears, but there's just enough to send Boimler back. Therefore everyone is slightly aghast when ''Mariner'', also played by Newsome in live-action, comes barreling through, intent on rescuing Boimler. Despite her attempts at blasé cynicism, she's NotSoAboveItAll, immediately fangoobering over the possibility of meeting Uhura. Of course, Uhura is neck-deep in the translation and refuses to take a break until Mariner basically forces her to. In the mess hall, Ortegas sees the glyphs Uhura's working on and recognizes them as being ancient Nausicaan, and Uhura cracks the code, looking for instructions on how to operate the time portal. Alas, the scribbles merely read, "THIS IS A TIME PORTAL." Meanwhile, Spock and Boimler attempt to synthesize some horonium fails, explosively. (There's a reason Starfleet doesn't use horonium anymore.) So Boimler decides to settle in in the 23rd century. He starts by attempting to steal a shuttlecraft, get the grain back from the Orions and get history back on track. Mariner is delighted to help him, claiming she never gets caught. La'an instantly shows up and pulls a phaser on both of them.

Pike debriefs them both in his quarters. It's his birthday on Friday, and Boimler has been "subtly" influencing the crew to throw him a party -- he wants one of his idols to enjoy his life before... Oh wait, we can't talk about that. Pike, of course, already knows what his fate is to be. No, he plans to ignore his birthday because he is now older than his own father was when ''he'' died; Chris never got the chance to bury the hatchet with him. Boimler points out that, if his crew knew what Pike does, wouldn't ''they'' want to spend more time with them? He and Mariner then apologize for their disruptive behavior, and Pike allows that he might've been as big a fanboy had he suddenly found himself next to Captain Jonathan Archer on the bridge of the NX-01. This triggers Boimler's EurekaMoment: they're standing on the NCC-1701, and Starfleet tradition for LegacyVesselNaming is to incorporate a bit of the prior ship. There's a piece of Archer's ''Enterprise'' -- a piece of the NX-01, containing horonium -- right here on the ship. As they extract it, Ortegas and Uhura fangoober about Travis Mayweather and Hoshi Sato, the heroes that inspired them. As they beam down, Boimler gets a chance to say farewell to his hero: He has, he admits, a poster of Una Chin-Riley in his bunk. Number One took that quite the wrong way, until Boimler explains that it was a ''recruiting'' poster: Number One is, quite literally, the face of Starfleet, and "''Ad Astra Per Aspera''" is emblazoned right there on the poster.

Finally, they're on the surface of Krulmuth-B, with the Orions waiting for them. Captain Caras received a message asking him to come here and trade the portal back for the grain. (Boimler and Mariner take full responsibility.) Pike explains that they are trying to send the two wayward ensigns back to the future, and Boimler volunteers that it's a future where the FantasticRacism against Orions has waned; one of their best friends, in fact, is the Mistress of the Winter Constellations. Caras is shaken by this, since one of his crewmembers, Astrea Tendi, goes by this appellation. Pike offers to make the trade, and to let history record that the portal was discovered by Orion ''scientists''. Caras, pleased by this aversion, agrees, and Boimler and Mariner return to 2380 and animation.