Meanwhile, aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos, Ensign Mariner (Tawny Newsome) gets a temporary new captain while the usual senior officers are on an elite mission. The elite mission involves covert uniforms straight out of the TNG episode "Chain of Command," and Mariner even mentions Picard's replacement captain from that episode, Edward Jellico.
Mariner and her new team have to rescue the crew of the U.S.S. Rubidoux from a mysterious alien that is a cross between the tentacle monster from the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Vox Sola" and the space jellyfish from the TNG pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint," but who cares? We gotta talk about pineapples!
In the captain's ready room, Mariner throws around a pineapple. You might think that pineapples have nothing to do with Star Trek, but that's where you're wrong! Pineapples show up all over the place. Rom (Max Grodénchik) eats a pineapple in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Assignment," and Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) wears a pineapple-themed Hawaiian shirt in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Alter Ego." A captain, however, would only have a pineapple in her ready room if she loved pineapples, and that, my friends, is why this is a reference to the Enterprise episode "Silent Enemy," in which Hoshi Sato figures out that Malcolm Reed's favorite food is pineapple just in time for his birthday.
That's right, Star Trek fans: The coolest, sneakiest Easter egg in the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "Much Ado About Boimler" is a pineapple. What will that show's writers reference next week?
