Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, episode 9, "weJ Duj (Three Ships)".
Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) in an independent-minded Vulcan named T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz).
Leonard Nimoy was instrumental in developing much of what became Vulcan culture during Leonard Nimoy and Spock, "sensors" must have been uncommon based on the curious way the legendary actor pronounced it.
Star Trek: Lower Decks certainly noticed how Leonard Nimoy's Spock pronounced "sensors" because the animated series gave the exact same inflection to the Vulcans introduced in "weJ Duj (Three Ships)." Aboard the Sh'Vhal, the Vulcans pronounce "sensors" the exact same way Spock does, which makes Leonard Nimoy's acting choice officially Star Trek canon, just as how the Vulcans adopted many of Nimoy's innovations. Amusingly, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1 also made a joke out of the mispronunciation of "sensors" when Mariner mocked a Starfleet iral who didn't realize he also constantly said, "sen-SORS" (which could mean the iral spent a lot of time among Vulcans). But it all ties back to Leonard Nimoy's influence on Star Trek. Star Trek: Lower Decks has turned "sensors" into a subtle tribute to how Nimoy helped define the Vulcans as Spock.
Meanwhile, Star Trek: Lower Decks' new Vulcan character, T'Lyn, is a homage to Valeris from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. T'Lyn's hairstyle, which she wears with a headband, echoes Valeris' in Star Trek VI, with the difference being that Kim Cattrall shaved her sideburns to accentuate her pointy ears. T'Lyn is extremely intelligent but defies her commander, and Star Trek: Lower Decks sets T'Lyn up to be an ongoing character who gets transferred to a Starfleet ship (possibly the Cerritos) at the end of the episode. This is unlike how Valeris was only seen in the final movie starring the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series.
However, while T'Lyn comes into conflict with her superior officers and fellow Lower Deckers on the Sh'Vhal, the young female Vulcan is not a traitor, which is what Valeris was. Although she was the protege of Spock, Valeris sided with Klingon and Romulan conspirators who wanted to sabotage peace between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets. Valeris helped engineer the murder and coverup of Klingon High Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) and she would have continued to kill to maintain her plot until she was caught by Spock, Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner).
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, episode 9 contains more nods to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, especially in how a Klingon Lower Decker aboard the Bird-of-Prey Che'ta stopped his renegade captain from ing in a conspiracy with the Pakleds to attack the Federation. But the Vulcans were also standouts in this week's Star Trek: Lower Decks and it was T'Lyn's new regenerative shield amplifier that led to the Vulcans saving the Cerritos and destroying the Pakleds. While T'Lyn physically resembled Valeris, Star Trek: Lower Decks' subtle homage to Leonard Nimoy and Spock's mispronouncing "sensors" was comedy gold.
Star Trek: Lower Decks streams Thursdays on Paramount+.