10 Times Star Trek Broke The Fourth Wall
8. Eisenberg Class - Die Trying (Discovery: Season 3, Episode 5)
A series with as much history as Star Trek is bound to get pretty self-referential from time to time, with the occasional meta-nods to fans, and tributes to the things that made Star Trek possible. In Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery, the crew are hurled into the far future in an attempt to evade the psychotic AI Control, and find themselves looking upon a galaxy barely held together following the cataclysmic ‘Burn’.
After several episodes of searching, the crew eventually manages to track down the beleaguered remnants of Starfleet, hidden away behind a distortion field as a shadow of their former selves. Having not seen any Starfleet ships besides their own in this time period, the crew are overjoyed to see many, and even manage to spot the USS Voyager-J, the 11th ship to bear the name following the original famously captained by Katherine Janeway.
Alongside these ships, although not mentioned in the episode, is the USS Nog. Much like Voyager, the reference of Nog is obvious: Starfleet’s first Ferengi who proved to be a pivotal officer during The Dominion War. However, less obvious is the specification of the Nog; Eisenberg class, named for Aron Eisenberg, the actor who played Nog on Deep Space Nine, and who tragically passed away in 2019, during the production of Discovery season 3.
Although not a huge self-referential banner held up to the audience, the inclusion is a small tribute for devoted fans to find, and a testament to the legacy of one of Star Trek’s most underrated characters.