I Watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home For The First Time, And I Finally Understand A Recurring Lower Decks Joke

The original Star Trek movies were never a part of my childhood, as I became a fan of the franchise later in life. That said, I'm working on catching up. I've seen The Motion Picture, shared my thoughts on The Wrath of Khan, and accused The Search For Spock of trying to be a Star Wars movie. Now I've finally watched The Voyage Home, and realized I now have a new appreciation for a Lower Decks joke I hadn't previously.

Lower Decks is the definitive Star Trek comedy series, and it's jam-packed with references that the most die-hard of fans appreciate the most of all. I thought I was pretty well-versed in the jokes, but after watching The Voyage Home with a Paramount+ subscription, I realized all the whale stuff went over my head.

When People Called Star Trek IV "The One With Whales," I Didn't Realize That Was The Entire Plot

I've been a part of the Star Trek fandom for quite a while, and have frequently heard Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as "The One With Whales," even seeing pictures of Spock in a tank with whales. I thought that was the gist of it, as a standout part of a movie with a larger plot where the TOS crew is on Earth stuck in the past for some other reason. Imagine my surprise when I learned the whales were the reason for the trip!

For those who haven't watched The Voyage Home in a while, Kirk and the crew brought the humpback whales back to the future to communicate with a probe in order to help prevent the destruction of Earth. I can't imagine what the hell they said to turn the situation around, but if this isn't further evidence of why saving the whales is so important, I'm not sure what is.

I Appreciate Cetacean Ops Way More In Star Trek: Lower Decks Now

Every time Cetacean Ops jokes came up on Star Trek: Lower Decks, I always felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle. I knew the mention of it came from The Next Generation (surprisingly one of the less WTF moments on that show), but I had no idea how or why whales ever ended up on Starfleet ships in the first place.

Now that I have the context of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, I at least know that there's some greater connection between whales and alien life in the franchise universe than I was originally aware of. I mean, if whales were responsible for saving Earth, I can't see why Starfleet wouldn't look into enlisting them for active duty and hopefully allow them to get us out of other jams along the way.

Unfortunately, Star Trek: Lower Decks ended and we don't have more episodes to really dive into the specifics of whales in Starfleet and how that evolved over the years. That said, maybe we'll see a future live-action series look into it or there will be a class lesson about it in Starfleet Academy? If anyone reading this is currently on the writing team for Season 2, float that idea to the room!

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is available to stream on Paramount+. Check it out again, or for the first time like I did, and be sure to see all the other Trek shows and movies on the platform as well.