These are historical favorites in Star Trek that not only are easily recognized right away but also contribute to its history.
“I wanted it to feel old.” Mike says. “I gave it the same type of feel like you’d see in an old Star Trek comic book.” Sure enough, that vibe is definitely there when you take into account the color scheme of greys, dull yellows, and other muted colors in the rocks in the animated scenery. It looks like the background you would find in an old Gold Key Star Trek comic.
“This could be something from like a pre-Asimov story, or something that felt like an old soft-cover pulp novel, with Greek myth structures like the sirens included.” Mike continued.
The opening to this episode shows exactly that, with one of the scientist’s fantasies emerging as a scantily-clad version of his 7th grade geology teacher dressed in a toga luring him to what must be his certain doom.
Mike tells us more about another of the episode’s classical themes: the relationship between Starfleet officers and scientists.
“We also wanted to push something that I came up with in season one. The Lower Deckers, and people in Starfleet, if [they] ever happened to wash out of Starfleet, they end up having to become an outpost scientist, which is the most boring gig that you could ever get.”
