Holograms All the Way Down (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

It's Holodecktastic!

Summary[]

Within a holoprogram, the NX-class Enterprise is in space, and on the bridge, Charles Tucker III talks to Malcolm Reed, Travis Mayweather and T'Pol regarding the excellent news about how the treaty was just signed and the Earth is safe. Just then, a D7-class Klingon battle cruiser takes the Enterprise by surprise and fires disruptor blasts at the Earth ship. This causes a console to explode, which sends Tucker flying across the bridge...

But he is frozen in mid-air as William T. Riker calls out to the holodeck: "Computer, freeze program." Deanna Troi is present with him, and he tells her that watching this historical holo-program was just what he needed to relax and clear his head. He finally decides he's ready to talk with Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Just as they are about to exit the holodeck, Quark's voice calls out to his holosuite's computer:

"Computer, freeze program." He then looks to Elim Garak and tells him "See, a perfect fake." He then explains to him that he needs propaganda to win a war. Quark even agrees to give him such a holoprogram for the right price. He tells Garak that he'll throw in a key chain and half-price root beer floaties. Garak then takes his cup of root beer float and slurps through the straw. All of a sudden, D'Vana Tendi's voice can be heard saying:

"Computer, freeze program!" The lower deckers of the USS Cerritos are learning about how the Romulans got into the Dominion War. Beckett Mariner, Tendi, and Brad Boimler are present. Tendi thinks that the holoprogram they are playing is way cooler than Boimler's Kirk-Gorn friends-to-something-more fan fiction sims she had found in his personal files. Hearing this causes Boimler to spit out his drink.

But just as this appears to be the real world, it again turns out to be a holoprogram that the crew of the USS Protostar are viewing. Zero freezes the program, telling Gwyndala and Rok-Tahk that they thought that this program would be educational. But they instead found it very lacking in anything for the crew to learn.

This too ends up being a holoprogram in the USS Enterprise's rec room. Hikaru Sulu pauses the program, then turns to Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and tells her "By the great bird of the galaxy, I've had enough of this nonsense! I swear it's the practical joker all over again!" Sulu then walks out of the rec room, and –

Once again, it appears that even this is a holoprogram, and this time it's Saru of the USS Discovery that is pausing the program. But then Hemmer says "End simulation." Then Neelix, lying down in the bed of what appears to be his quarters on the USS Voyager, speaks to his PADD: "Computer pause holonovel." He then realizes that he's seen enough silly stories for one night. He places his PADD on the nightstand by the window and he says "Goodnight computer!", and lies down to go to sleep.

The voice of Charles Tucker III can then be heard saying "Computer, end playback." But he's not really Tucker at all; in fact, he's a five-headed holographic amalgamation of Tucker, Riker, T'Pol, Spock, and Uhura. He then asks his other heads if they are actually real, or if they're part of the program. They then raise their hands in uncertainty. The computer voice then speaks, saying "Something is not right. Computer, freeze program." Tucker then says, "You are the computer! Who are you talk–" But before he can finish his sentence, he is frozen along with the rest of the program.

Background information[]

5 September 2023: Title revealed on StarTrek.com [3]
27 September 2023: Premieres on StarTrek.com and the Star Trek YouTube channel

Continuity[]

Riker and Troi reviewing a mission log of the NX-class spacecraft Enterprise recalls the events of ENT: "These Are the Voyages...".
Trip says 'It's been a long road...', which is the opening line of "Where My Heart Will Take Me", the main title song of Star Trek: Enterprise that played over the opening title sequence.
D'Vana watching Quark and Garak conspire to create holographic propaganda to lure the Romulans into the Dominion War recalls the events of DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight", although Sisko was involved in that conspiracy and not Quark.
Garak drinking a root beer floatie recalls his and Quark's conversation comparing root beer to the Federation in DS9: "The Way of the Warrior".
When Hikaru Sulu said: "I swear, it's The Practical Joker all over again!", this was a metareference to an episode that shows the main computer of the USS Enterprise play a number of pranks on the crew of the ship in TAS: "The Practical Joker". This was also from the same episode that introduced a holographic simulation room, which was seen to be a predecessor to the holodeck.
Despite airing almost three weeks after LD: "Twovix"; the episode portrays Beckett Mariner, Brad Boimler, and D'Vana Tendi as ensigns, meaning that the the setting of the holoprogram was sometime prior to that episode.

Production[]

This episode features character crossover appearances from every previously aired series.
While most of the episode is animated in the style of Star Trek: The Animated Series, the characters from Star Trek: Lower Decks appear as they normally do within their series, and the characters from Star Trek: Prodigy, a 3D-animated series, are represented by crudely animated promotional still images.
George Takei reprises Sulu in the style of Star Trek: The Animated Series for the first time in nearly 50 years, after TAS: "The Counter-Clock Incident" aired on 12 October 1974.

Links and references[]

Voice actors[]

Connor Trinneer as Trip (holograms)
Jonathan Frakes as Riker (hologram)
Armin Shimerman as Quark (hologram)
Noel Wells as D'Vana (hologram)
Angus Imrie as Zero (hologram)
George Takei as Sulu (hologram)
Doug Jones as Saru (hologram)
Bruce Horak as Hemmer (hologram)
Ethan Phillips as Neelix (hologram)
Bonnie Gordon as Computer

Background holographic characters[]

References[]

Aenar; Betazoid; Brikar; captain; Cardassian; Cerritos, USS; commander; computer; containment suit; counselor; D7-class (unnamed); Deep Space 9; Dominion War; Earth; Enterprise; Enterprise, USS; Enterprise-D, USS; fan fiction; Ferengi; forgery; friends; Gorn; great bird of the galaxy; holodeck; hologram; holonovel; holoprogram; holosuite; hybrid; Kelpien; key chain; Kirk, James T.; Medusan; Mylean; NX-class; Orion; PADD; Picard, Jean-Luc; practical joker; Protostar, USS; Quark's; rec room; road; Romulans; root beer floatie; "smooth sailing"; Starfleet uniform (2140s-early 2160s); Starfleet uniform (2250s-early 2270s); Starfleet uniform (2350s-2370s); Starfleet uniform (32nd century); Starfleet uniform (early 2380s); Talaxian; treaty; Vau N'Akat; Voyager, USS; Vulcan; Vulcan uniform; yawn

External link[]

Watch "Holograms All the Way Down" at YouTube

Previous episode:
"Worst Contact"

Star Trek: very Short Treks
Season 1

Next episode:
"Walk, Don't Run"