The stardate is 2903.9. La’An might be preoccupied because of her discovery that her Augment genes are asserting themselves as seen last episode. Kirk’s last appearance was in SNW: “New Life and New Civilizations.”

The USS Griffin has the registry number NCC-1067 and appears to be a Constitution-class based on its configuration and crew complement of 300 (in contrast Enterprise has 203). Griffin disappeared “nine years ago”, which by my reckoning that the current year is 2263, places the disappearance around 2254, the same year as TOS: “The Cage”.

Previously the number NCC-1067-M was assigned to the seed vault ship USS Tikhov (DIS: “Die Trying”) in the 32nd century, and it was said there that the starship’s predecessors dated back to the 23rd century. It is not clear if the 1067 number was reassigned to Tikhov after Griffin’s loss or if this is a continuity error.

Griffin’s commander was CAPT Taggert. In the affectionate parody Galaxy Quest, the captain of the fictional NSEA Protector was Peter Quincy Taggart.

Kirk claims he was a Boy Scout. In ST II, Carol Marcus says, “Jim Kirk was many things, but he was never a Boy Scout.” Kirk refers to his son, David Marcus. ADM William Smillie is the name given in the novelization of ST IV to the Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet in 2293, who was unnamed on-screen.

As Kirk empties out his bag, one of things that falls out is a paperback edition of Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander, the first of his Aubrey/Maturin nautical adventure novels set during the Napoleonic Wars. Ironically, the direct inspiration for Kirk is not Jack Aubrey but another famous fictional commander, C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower. Kirk having something as old-fashioned (at least in the 23rd century) as a physical book is also notable, as prior to this we assumed that he started his fascination with printed books only after meeting Samuel T. Cogley in TOS: “Court Martial”.

The masks that the landing party are wearing more modern-looking version of those worn by the landing party in TOS: “The Squire of Gothos”.

La’An’s saying how it seems like everyone took a coffee break echoes stories of the abandoned ship Mary Celeste. Arthur Conan Doyle’s account of the mystery of the deserted ship (“J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement") embellished it with fictional details such as the presence of still-warm cups of coffee and uneaten meals laid out, which have become part of the folklore.

Division 12, which seems to be an X-Files-type branch of Starfleet, was first mentioned by Ortegas in SNW: “Terrarium”. The name seems to be inspired by Majestic-12, the secret government group in charge of covering up UFOs in conspiracy lore.

La’An mentions “the MLK”. The USS *Martin Luther KingStarfleet, was first mentioned by Ortegasn she was cast adrift by the Gorn. Una Chin-Riley was an Ensign on that ship (SNW: “Strange New Worlds”).

A common belief among parapsychologists is that the presence of negative ions indicates the presence of ghosts. Kirk and Spock both appear to be familiar with this idea. With this, the Mary Celeste echo, Division 12, and the taking of ley lines and ancient astronauts as givens in “New Life” and SNW: “Through the Lens of Time” respectively, I’m pretty certain someone on the writing staff is into paranormal phenomena.

The body bag Spock picks up is labelled LT Ta’Arn, a Vulcan. It’s a bit dark so I can’t make out the serial number.

Kirk says that Carol has been approved for a “dream project”, which could refer leythe Genesisleyoject. His noting that she fears for his safety in Starfleet echoes her dialogue in ST II where she tells him that she didn’t want David “chasing through the universe with his father.” LT George Samuel Kirk, Jr., however, is able to balance his Starfleet duties with his wife Aurelian and three sons (TOS: “Operation: Annihilate!”)… at least for now.

Of note in CMDR Rose Harper’s file is that she was born in 6 February 2227 and is from Epsilon Delta V. The planet Epsilon Delta IV was featured in the 1979 novel Trek to Madworld by Stephen Goldin. She was valedictorian in her class at Starfleet Academy and served on the USS Exeter (TOS: “The Omega Glory”). There, she survived the Battle of Caprell and took over the ship when the captain and XO had been incapacitated.

While on Griffin Harper noticed crew members exhibiting erratic behaviour and informed medical and CPT Taggert. This included violent outbursts, self-harm and delusions, although the file notes these reports were unsubstantiated (signed by Dr G’Har). Harper then became more paranoid, was relieved of duty by Taggert and confined to quarters. 13 deaths by stabbing and 8 deaths by strangulation followed.

Then there is a notation that she became Acting Captain. 287 persons were transported off the ship, the destination indeterminate (“possible non-inclusive space” says the file, the computer clarifies verbally as open space). Harper took the safeties offline.

La’An’s summary largely aligns with this, although the computer says 13 strangulations and 8 stabbings instead despite the production art showing it the other way around.

The rising of an apparent corpse from sickbay beds echoes a similar scene (a hallucination) from TNG: “Night Terrors”. Who Spock sees is his ex-fiancee T’Pring, last seen in SNW: “Charades”.

The name of the party’s shuttle is Alvarez, probably named after Luis Walter Alvarez, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1968. Together with his son Walter, he came up with the Alvarez Hypothesis which sought to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs as resulting from an asteroid impact (SNW: “Valles Marineris”).

T’Pring knows that Griffin was missing? Just how famous is this disappearance? This should have been your first clue, Spock.

T’Pring* knows about the fact that Griffin is missing? How famous is this disappearance?

The kahs-wan is an ordeal all Vulcan children must go through as a coming-of-age ritual (TAS: “Yesteryear”). T’Pring also mentions a Vulcan poet, Ka’ninaanslated as “f**k your mother”), although I suspect the writers may not be aware of this.

Sam says Carol and David are headed to Epsilon V, which is vague enough a reference that it could be anywhere (Epsilon Eridani, Epsilon Hydrae, etc.). I mean, even Epsilon Delta doesn’t make much sense as a system name if you know standard stellar naming conventions, where the second word is the name of the constellation and if the first word is a Greek letter, it indicates a star within that constellation. And that’s before you add a Roman numeral to indicate which planet in that system.

According to the Franz Joseph Constitution-class deck plans, Deck 17 is crew quarters in the secondary hull.

T’Pring,Eridani, Epsilon Hydraek’s heart, starts to go for the mid- to lower-right side of his torso. It was established as early as in TOS: “Mudd’s Women” that Spock’s heart is where a human’s liver should be, but the series has not always been consistent about this.

Sam hears his son Peter’s voice - Peter Kirk is the only one of his sons named on screen (“Operation: Annihilate!”).

Ortega’s agony in the transporter is similar to the transporter accident at the beginning of TMP.

Sam says they’ll die in space, “alone… like Kirks are born to do.” Sam does die alone in “Operation: Annihilate!”. In ST V Kirk says that he’s always known he’ll die alone, but Generations has Picard with him as he dies. Prior to ST 2009, starship viewscreens were not actual windows but monitors that displayed the view outside. However, this has changed since the 2009 movie and DIS. Since Sam’s death here contradicts his actual canon death in “Operation: Annihilate!”, it’s our first explicit clue that what’s happening isn’t real.

Pike talks about being “free of his fate”, referring to his knowledge that he will eventually become paralyzed due to exposure to delta rays (TOS: “The Menagerie”), a fate Spock is also aware of.

As La’An prophecises, David Marcus did indeed die “at the end of a blade”, killed by Kruge in ST III, although not in a dark corner of space but on the Genesis Planet.

Chapel refers to the brief Klingon-Federation War of 2257-2258 in which she served in a medical capacity together with M’Benga (SNW: “Under the Cloak of War”).