A Tiny Star Trek: Lower Decks Easter Egg References One Of The Next Generation's Weirdest Characters

The latest episode of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," titled "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel," takes place on the Cosmic Duchess, a massive, massive vacation cruise ship that has been outfitted with multiple enclosed, environmentally controlled vacation biomes. The ship includes a ski resort, a beach resort, a tropical river, and a slot machine-encrusted casino. The Duchess looks a lot like Earthship Ark from the short-lived 1973 Harlan Ellison sci-fi series "The Starlost," but it's unlikely anyone will understand that reference.

Early in the episode, Lieutenants Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Boimler (Jack Quaid) enthusiastically read a list of the Duchess' amenities. Mariner notes that they have 240 24-hour spas, an indoor water park, and, perhaps bafflingly, an underwater dry park. No one knows what an underwater dry park is, but they're eager to try. Boimler also notes that one of the space casinos has a bunch of Dixon Hill slot machines.

Ignoring for a moment that a slot machine is an illogical device to keep operating in a post-capitalist sci-fi future, Trekkies will instantly perk up when they hear the name Dixon Hill on "Lower Decks." As first introduced in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The Big Goodbye," Dixon Hill was the protagonist in a series of 20th century private detective novels beloved by Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). Dixon Hill mysteries had been adapted into immersive holodeck adventures, wherein the player takes on the role of Dixon Hill and solves mysteries themselves. Picard and other Enterprise crew members sometimes dressed in 1930s Earth clothing and gallivanted around Depression-era San Francisco, solving murders.

"Lower Decks" has now confirmed that Dixon Hill adventures were not merely an obscure hobby of Captain Picard's, but were actually well-known enough to warrant the construction of Dixon Hill-themed slot machines.

Dixon Hill is said to be from San Francisco. The Dixon Hill novels were published in the 1930s, making him closest in spirit to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade, although a title like "The Big Goodbye" evokes Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel "The Long Goodbye." If one looks closely at on-screen computer panels in both "The Big Goodbye" and the later "Next Generation" episode "The Emissary," one can see various text-only references to Dixon Hill. According to in-universe lore, the Dixon Hill novels were written by an author named Tracy Tormé, named after the late "Star Trek" teleplay writer. Among the Dixon Hill mysteries are "The Big Good-Bye," "The Long Dark Tunnel," "The National Sheriff," "The Listening Man," and "The Parrot's Claw."

While it may be comforting to know that novels from the 1930s will still be enjoyed in the 2360s, Dixon Hill night seem like an odd concept to Trekkies. Picard is aloof, intellectual, and stern. He seems more like a character who would enjoy reading difficult philosophy tomes and impenetrable experimental novels than pulp detective stories; I'd more easily see Picard reading Immanuel Kant or James Joyce. It appears, however, that the tea-drinking commander likes to affect a Brooklyn accent (yes, in San Francisco) and talk about dolls and dames. It feels a little out-of-character for him, but Trekkies accept it.

Dixon Hill also provided one of the more bizarre moments in the 1996 film "Star Trek: First Contact." In that film, Picard is on the run from a pair of Borg drones, so he dupes them by luring them into the holodeck and creating a Dixon Hill scene to distract them. While the Borg aren't looking, though, Picard switches off the holodeck's safety protocols and uses a holographic tommy gun to murder them. Picard's murderous scream in "First Contact" is perhaps the most out-of-character he has ever been.

Dixon Hill was, as mentioned, always Picard's thing, so "Star Trek" has avoided making references to the fictional novels in any other context; it would be weird if, say, Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) was also a massive Dixon Hill fan on "Star Trek: Voyager." Because the character hasn't been mentioned much, Trekkies might've begin to wonder just how popular the character was in the extant "Star Trek" universe. Does everyone read Dixon Hill mysteries or is it only the purview of Picard?

In the "Star Trek: Picard" episode "Watcher," however, Picard travels back in time to the year 2024, where the bulk of the show's second season takes place. While in that year, one of Picard's ancestors can be seen reading a Dixon Hill mystery called "The Pallid Son," making it the first reference in a while. By confirming that Dixon Hill is known throughout the galaxy, and that branded slot machines have been made in his honor, "Lower Decks" marks only the second nod to the character since '96.

Moreover, as anyone who has been to Las Vegas can tell you, there are many, many strange brands for modern slot machines. There are slot machines branded after "The Monkees," "The Golden Girls," "Sex and the City," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Ted," "Sharknado," "The Godfather," and even "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." More than that, one might wonder what Starfleet Officers even use to gamble in such machines. After all, none of them have any money.

New episodes of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.