Obscure Star Trek Episode Tied To Two Sci-Fi Classics
Star Trek is one of the perfect comfort food franchises—something to put on and lift your spirits no matter how many times you have seen a particular episode. In addition to being a source of great vibes, watching these old episodes will almost always reveal something new that you never noticed before. Here’s a great example: in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Dauphin,” there is a board game that has made appearances in both RoboCop and Back to the Future Part II, tying Trek to two other classic sci-fi franchises.
The Dauphin
Before we can dive into how this Star Trek episode’s board game has such a storied Hollywood history, we need to recap the episode in question. “The Dauphin” is the episode where Wesley Crusher falls in love with the beautiful future leader of a planet to whom the Enterprise is providing an Uber ride.
They instantly hit it off, but Wesley soon discovers that no amount of bonding over chocolate mousse could prepare him for the fact that she transforms into a beastly monster who is easily capable of taking on Worf, the ship’s Klingon security chief.
You Sank My–SHUT UP WESLEY
Because this Star Trek episode heavily features Wesley Crusher, we get a good look at his quarters, including a board game that, at first glance, could be confused with Battleship. In reality, this is a rare sight in the franchise: an electronic chess game of the kind that might have been played in the late 20th century.
This is notable because this classic game is usually portrayed in this franchise as three-dimensional chess, and if you look closely at Wesley’s game, you may notice that its pieces previously appeared on a 3D chess board earlier in the show.
Wesley Bought That For a Dollar
Of course, the idea that a Star Trek nerd like Wesley loves a brainy board game like chess isn’t surprising…even the fact that he’s like the old-school version isn’t shocking considering how much he bonded the next season with Dr. Stubbs, someone who replays 1950s baseball games in his head for funsies.
However, what is surprising is the weird history of this particular prop. Previously, this prop had been created for the satirical film RoboCop, but it wasn’t a chess game—it was instead a Nukem board game, as hilariously described in one of that movie’s many in-universe commercials.
Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Board Games
It would have been cool enough if this Star Trek board game was simply connected to RoboCop, but it also connects to yet another iconic movie. This same prop can be seen in Marty McFly’s home (specifically, in his den) in the future segments of Back to the Future Part 2.
That means that this prop did some time-traveling of its own: it was first designed for a movie set in the ‘80s before appearing in another film set in 2015 and a TV show set in 2365.
A Traveling Prop
Of course, this weird Star Trek trivia is enough to make us wonder if boy genius Wesley Crusher, proud owner of something used as a board game in Paul Verhoeven’s classic film, had ever watched RoboCop.
Did he spend long nights asking Data what his prime directives were and whether he was legally allowed to arrest any Federation officials? Or maybe annoy the android by asking if Lore was like his ED-209?
Sadly, we’ll never know unless one of you writes the fanfiction. And as a fan of both franchises, may I be the first to say—I’d buy that for a dollar.
