9 Ups & NO Downs From Star Trek: Lower Decks 5.9 - Fissure Quest

Captain William Boimler's mission is one big cetacean observation, much to his chagrin in the beginning. All of those stars are a reference unto themselves, unto the Defiant. As is customary for Lower Decks, Fissure Quest gets meta about the multiverse, too. William himself states, exasperated,

Because they're probably a hacky, evil version of someone we all know: a reverse Picard, or Borgified Kirk, or f**k it, I don't know, human Worf! That's all the multiverse is, just lazy, derivative remixes.

Take your pick there for references, as to what he might be referring to! It's not lost on us either that the first officer of the Cerritos is also the guy who invented 'sliding'. That is crossing universes of a different kind.

As the Khwopians invaded the ship, Garak and holo-Bashir (who also had a mobile emitter, by the by) picked up phasers, reminding us of The Doctor and Suder in Basics (Part II). Moments before, Garak had emerged from behind a wall panel in sickbay, reminiscent of his counterpart's far worse, but similar, experience as such behind Dominion prison panelling in By Inferno's Light.

Like everything, my dear doctor, that was all the truth, to the best of our lies.