The title is a play on the classic 1965 Sergio Leone spaghetti western, “For a Few Dollars More”, starring Clint Eastwood. That movie was a sequel to “A Fistful of Dollars”, which was referenced in the TNG episode title “A Fistful of Datas”.
Badgey is an instructional AI created by Rutherford that went homicidally rogue (LD: “Terminal Provocations”). Badgey was thought destroyed in LD: “No Small Parts” but last seen encoded in Rutherford’s original cybernetic implant and being salvaged from the wreckage of the Battle of Kalla in LD: “The Stars at Night”. Badgey’s code was also used in that episode as a basis for the Texas-class AI, with predictably disastrous results.
The ship that salvages Badgey is Drookmani, who scavenge the wreckage of battles, claiming “trash” as their own. They were last seen in LD: “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption”, where they raided the Areore on the instigation of rogue exocomp Peanut Hamper.
The Bynars are a cybernetically augmented species, connected to a master computer on their planet Bynaus (TNG: “11001001”). This is their first appearance since their introduction, despite occasional mentions in the series. The speech and lettering they use is consistent with that in the TNG episode.
Grapplers were used on starships and shuttlepods, like the NX-01, in the 22nd Century (ENT) as a precursor to tractor beams. La’An Noonien Singh and Boimler both said they liked grapplers (LD: “Those Old Scientists”). Pakleds also used gigantic grapplers to tear ships apart (LD: “No Small Parts”).
AGIMUS, another rogue AI, first appeared in LD: “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie”, where he was placed in the Daystrom Institute’s Self-Aware Megalomaniacal Computer Storage facility. In “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption”, Peanut Hamper was placed in the cell next to AGIMUS.
The shot of the Daystrom Institute is of their facility in Okinawa, last seen in “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie” but also present in 2399 in Season 1 of PIC, where it housed the Institute’s Division of Advanced Synthetic Research.
The drone AGIMUS produces is similar in design to the Echo Papa 607 drone of the arms merchants of Minos (TNG: “The Arsenal of Freedom”).
Montañita is a coast town in Ecuador known for being a party destination, at least in the 21st Century.
The movie the AIs are watching appears to be a Lassie movie, based on the appearance of the collie.
AGIMUS says the Bynar ship went missing on Stardate 58934.9, if anyone’s keeping track.
If an attacking ship knows the frequency that the target’s shields are tuned to, they can get tune their weapons accordingly to bypass them (ST: Generations).
Rutherford snapped Badgey’s neck to “kill” him in“Terminal Provocations”. Installing holo-emitters so that a hologram can appear off the holodeck first turned up in VOY: “Message in a Bottle” and then in VOY: “The Killing Game”. Voyager was also installed with holo-emitters when converted into a museum ship in LD: “Twovix”.
Tendi first encountered sand (and a beach) on the holodeck in LD: “Second Contact”. Boimler’s plan to play along and get intel is similar to how Kayshon and Ransom dealt with the Pakled spy in LD: “The Spy Humongous”. AGIMUS says Plymeria is a planet that is ripe for domination.
Goodgey and Badgey splitting into good and evil parts is what happens with Kirk in TOS: “The Enemy Within”, although that was the result of a transporter accident.
Root beer was used as a metaphor for the Federation in DS9: “The Way of the Warrior”. Alexander Rozhenko preferred root beer floats to bloodwine in DS9: “Sons and Daughters”.
Neurazine gas is used to incapacitate humanoids (VOY: “Message in a Bottle”), not to be confused with neurocine gas, which is lethal to Bajorans and Humans (DS9: “Civil Defense”). The latter was used to fake WIlliam Boimler’s death so he could be recruited by Section 31 (LD: “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus”).
Badgey’s plan to upload himself into subspace relays and then take over bears some similarities to Control’s commandeering the Section 31 fleet in DIS, the Construct’s taking over of ships in PRO, or the Borg taking control of the fleet in PIC. Seriously, guys, find a newer plan.
Boimler sarcastically remarking that Starfleet couldn’t reverse the invasion in an hour refers to where catastrophic events are pretty much solved and reset within the hour runtime of an episode.
The Tyrus VIIA research station was where the exocomps first displayed signs of sentience (TNG: “The Quality of Life”). The station is the site of a particle fountain used in mining the moon below. The interior of the station’s main control matches the set from the original episode.
Warp 9.9 is approximately 3029.26c, per the TNG warp scale. As Badgey uploads himself into subspace, we see shots of the Cerritos, the Vancouver (LD: “Cupid’s Errant Arrow”), with Boimler’s ex Barbara Brinson, the VCF Sh'val with Captain Sokel (LD: “wej Duj”), Starbase 25 (LD: “An Embarrassment of Dooplers”), Deep Space 9 (LD: “Hear All, Trust Nothing”), Douglas Station (LD: “Second Contact”).
Badgey’s ascension, including the blue hue he takes on and the bird-like shape surrounding him, is identical (but less painful) to LT O’Connor’s in LD: “Moist Vessel”. He also sees the Cosmic Koala and mentions the Q Continuum and the Black Mountain (LD: “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris”, and actually seen in LD: “In the Cradle of Vexilon”).
As theorized by many fans, the mystery ship isn’t destroying the ships, but stealing them.
The choice of Bynars as the latest victims was clever; if you're going to remind everyone what's going on with mysterious ship, but need to get through the entire sequence as quickly as possible, go with the species that transfer information at the quickest rate!