Star Trek Beyond: 25 Easter Eggs, References & In-Jokes

After returning from his opening mission, we get an insight into Kirk's mentality: he's bored, feeling like he's wasting his time on pointless missions and missing the excitement he signed up for. His answer, ridiculously, is to basically retire to a space station and become even more bored, but that's not one to discuss right now.

When Kirk shares his concerns about stagnation with friend and confidante Bones he says he's concerned that his life is starting to feel "episodic". At that point they might as well have had him turn to the camera and wink with his tongue in his cheek.