star trek picard season 3 episode 6 easter eggs

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45 amazing star trek easter eggs in picard’s daystrom station.

Star Trek: Picard season 3's Daystrom Station contains dozens of incredible Easter eggs spanning the Star Trek franchise.

Star Trek: Picard season 3's Daystrom Station also contains a multitude of amazing Star Trek Easter eggs. The highly classified Starfleet facility is home to experimental weapons and technology stockpiled by Section 31 in the top secret black site. In Picard season 3, Captain Worf (Michael Dorn), Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd), and Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) explored the facility and saw just a fraction of the wonders held in Daystrom Station.

Star Trek: Picard season 3's production designer Dave Blass shared (via Twitter ) some of the other artifacts, and production in-jokes, designed for use on the Daystrom set. Blass and his team assembled a plethora of callbacks to multiple aspects of Star Trek' s TV shows, movies, and even production in-jokes. Here's every Star Trek Easter egg that can be found inside Star Trek: Picard season 3's Daystrom Station.

18 3 Star Trek: TNG Weapons Stored In Picard's Daystrom Station

The Thalaron generator, as seen in Star Trek: Nemesis , is the deadly weapon used by Shinzon (Tom Hardy) to overthrow the Romulan Star Empire. Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) gave his life to destroy the Thalaron generator, but it appears that Starfleet confiscated another at some point after Nemesis , or was perhaps working on their own version. Other weapons from the Star Trek: The Next Generation era include a Koinonian explosive device similar to the one that killed Lt. Marla Aster in the episode "The Bonding", and the Ferengi thought maker used against Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in "The Battle".

17 Captain James T. Kirk's Corpse & Dr. Tolian Soran's Trilithium

Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 6 also reveals that Daystrom Station is the final resting place of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Kirk was buried by Captain Picard on a Veridian III mountaintop after he died fighting Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell). Given the amount of time Kirk spent living in the Nexus , it's likely that his body was of great scientific interest, hence why it is stored in Daystrom Station. A trilithium crystal, the unstable mineral which Soran used in his Star Trek Generations weapon, is also stored in the Daystrom collection.

16 2 Star Trek: Enterprise Artifacts In Daystrom Station

Kemocite was the unstable mineral used in the Xindi's weaponry in Star Trek: Enterprise . The weapon was designed to destroy Earth because the Xindi perceived Humanity to be a threat to their future. The war against the Xindi was a hugely important historical event in early Starfleet history, so it makes sense for the Kemocite Device to be included in the collection. Another device stored at Daystrom is the Augment embryo incubator module, used to create Dr. Arik Soong's (Brent Spiner) Augments in Enterprise season 4.

15 The Kataan Probe & D'Arsay Archive From TNG

Appropriately for Star Trek: Picard season 3's story of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard becoming a father, the production team designed a plaque for the Kataan probe in "The Inner Light". Picard's encounter with the probe allowed him to experience 40 years in the life of father and grandfather, Kamin, whose memories were stored inside. Another alien race whose cultural heritage is stored at Daystrom Station is the D'Arsay archive, responsible for Data's infamous Star Trek mask .

14 3 DS9 Artifacts In Star Trek: Picard's Daystrom Station

The inclusion of the self-sealing stem bolt is something of an in-joke, as Chief Engineer Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) wasn't even aware of how the surprisingly valuable commodity apparently worked. The needy pup probe discovered by O'Brien is also apparently stored in the collection, though again, this is likely a joke as the docile probe isn't a threat to anyone. Another Daystrom item of interest to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fans was the Probability Device, a game that would guarantee its player good or bad luck depending on their result.

13 4 Star Trek Evil Computers Stored In Daystrom Station

After his surprise reappearance in Star Trek: Lower Decks , the evil computer Landru was presumably shipped off to Daystrom Station by the crew of the USS Cerritos. Landru joins the serpentine self-aware computer Vaal from "The Apple". Also stored at Daystrom Station is TOS ' titular Ultimate Computer, M-5 - invented by Star Trek 's Dr. Richard Daystrom (William Marshall). Another evil computer is the Echo Papa 607 weapons system from Star Trek: The Next Generation , represented in Daystrom by one of the system's deadly drones.

12 5 Star Trek Viruses Held By Starfleet Intelligence

Dave Blass revealed plaques for multiple Star Trek viruses, which could surely only be used as weapons. As well as Section 31's controversial morphogenic virus from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , there's the Aphasia virus from the early DS9 episode "Babel", and the life prolongation virus that wiped out the adult population of a planet in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Miri". The Harvester virus which nearly killed Chief O'Brien in DS9 's "Armageddon Game", also gets a plaque. Finally, the memory virus contracted by Star Trek: Voyager 's Tuvok (Tim Russ) is also stored at Daystrom.

11 The Genesis Device

The Genesis Device, first seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, is housed at Daystrom Station. It's referred to as the Genesis II Device, as the original Genesis Device was detonated by Khan Noonien-Singh (Ricardo Montalban). Presumably, Federation scientists had continued to work on the theoretical work done by Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch) and Captain Kirk's son David Marcus (Merritt Butrick) in the decades that followed the theft of the original Genesis Device.

10 The Attack Tribble

Worf is faced with the Klingons' greatest enemy when he discovers a genetically modified Attack Tribble in one of the storage cases at Daystrom. The Klingon Empire ordered the obliteration of the Tribble home world because they were deemed to be an ecological menace. However, at least one of the Tribbles clearly found its way into the hands of Section 31, who have modified the furry creature into a horrific killing machine.

9 Daystrom Station's 4 Star Trek: TOS Artifacts

In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Return to Tomorrow", three lone Arretans stored their consciousness from their energy receptacles for transfer into their new android bodies. Another TOS android artifact is the Exo III android replicator, used by the planets' Old Ones to create their new mechanical society. Finally, the life-energy transfer device that allowed Dr. Janice Lester (Sandra Smith) to swap bodies with Captain Kirk in the final episode of TOS, "Turnabout Intruder," is also included in Daystrom's collection.

8 Borg Vinculum

Unsurprisingly, Daystrom Station contains at least one Borg artifact, a Borg Vinculum, the processing device at the heart of all Borg vessels. The Vinculum purges all individuality from each Borg drone and provides the Collective with important information. The Borg Vinculum is such an integral part of all Borg ships that there are multiple safeguards in place to respond to any attacks or attempts at removal. It's most likely that this particular Vinculum was removed from Star Trek: Picard season 1's Borg Artifact .

7 5 Star Trek Aliens Stored In Picard's Daystrom Station

Plaques for various Star Trek life forms were designed by Dave Blass and his team for use at Daystrom Station. The life forms were the theatrical Excaliban, Yarnek from Star Trek: The Original Series , and Species 8472 from Star Trek: Voyager . Also included are the remains of another life form encountered by the USS Voyager, the sporocystian Nacene, responsible for stranding the starship in the Delta Quadrant. An extra-galactic parasite, responsible for infiltrating Starfleet in the TNG episode "Conspiracy", and a Blastoneuron parasite responsible for the death of Kirk's brother, George Samuel Kirk (William Shatner), is also included in Blass' rundown.

6 The Raven

The holographic raven that Raffi, Worf, and Riker encounter at Daystrom Station is another Star Trek Easter egg, referencing the dreams experienced by Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 16, "Birthright, Part 1". In his dreams, Data was visited by his creator Dr. Noonian Soong who revealed that the raven in his dreams was a metaphor for Data himself. As an evolved version of Data is revealed to be the sentient AI protecting Daystom, the raven is one of many clues to indicate to Riker that his old friend is reaching out to him.

5 Professor Moriarty

Teased as one of Star Trek: Picard season 3's villains, Professor James Moriarty (Daniel Davis) is actually another of Daystrom's Star Trek Easter eggs. Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Professor Moriarty is another layer of the Daystrom A.I's security response to Captain Riker's presence. Challenging the " pathetic old warriors " to solve the riddle of the familiar tune, Moriarty finally leads Riker and Worf to a very old friend.

4 Riker And Data In Encounter At Farpoint

The tune that Riker has to complete is "Pop Goes the Weasel", a traditional song that he and Data used to communicate in the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint". This is emphasized by both Moriarty's copying of Data's response of " marvelous " and the use of footage from the TNG pilot episode. It's the use of "Pop Goes the Weasel" that confirms to Riker that Data is still alive, in some form, inside Daystrom Station.

3 B-4's Head, Data, Lore, Laal, And Soong

B4 is the prototype Soong-type android discovered on Kolarus III in Star Trek: Nemesis . After Data died in Star Trek: Nemesis , the imperfect android created the possibility of his resurrection in a new body. Decades later, this resurrection has taken place. Data's new positronic brain is essentially a basket of Soong family Easter eggs, containing multiple aspects of his creations and their descendants including his flesh and blood brother Dr. Altan Inigo Soong, and evil android brother Lore. The resurrected Data also includes aspects of Lal (Hallie Todd), the tragic daughter that Data created in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 16, "The Offspring".

2 Jean-Luc Picard's Corpse

As Jean-Luc Picard's flesh and blood remains are revealed to be the weapon that was stolen from Daystrom Station by the Changelings, it makes it the grisliest of the Daystrom Easter eggs. Jean-Luc's death in Star Trek: Picard season 1 was strangely forgettable given how monumental an event it was. This was largely due to Picard's android body , which allowed Jean-Luc to carry on as if he had never died. Picard discovers the Changelings heisted his corpse to harvest the organic Borg DNA in his brain, which was misdiagnosed as terminal Irumodic Syndrome.

1 2 Star Trek Props & 1 In Joke At Picard's Daystrom Station

The Oscillation Overthruster from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is a big Star Trek production in-joke, as the prop has been featured in multiple episodes and movies across the franchise. Most notably, the Oscillation Overthruster appears aboard the Phoenix during Star Trek: First Contact 's historic warp flight. Also, the Promellian memory device featured in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Booby Trap" is another prop that reappeared in various guises. Finally, the Drexler organism is Star Trek: Picard 's tribute to VFX legend, Doug Drexler.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 is available to stream on Paramount+.

'​​​​​Star Trek: Picard' Season 3 Episode 6 Recap: The Pieces Are Falling Into Place 

LeVar Burton makes his return as Geordi La Forge, as Picard looks for allies who can help the crew of the Titan.

With the sixth episode of Star Trek: Picard ’s third and final season, some of the biggest questions are finally answered. However, those answers create even more questions, which seem to hint at where the back half of the series is headed. Penned by Christopher Monfettex and directed by Dan Liu , “Bounty” finally delivers the long-awaited reunion of The Next Generation crew, as LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner are brought aboard the Titan , re-teaming with Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Gates McFadden , and Michael Dorn to take on a threat that may just overshadow every other galactic incident that they’ve faced before.

While the Changeling threat has been ever-present across the last few episodes, Vadic ( Amanda Plummer ) has been notably out of focus since the U.S.S. Titan managed to escape from the nebula. With the starship shedding transponders to throw Vadic and the Changelings off their trail, Vadic's frustration with the situation seems to be reaching a fever pitch. “Bounty” opens aboard the Shrike , where Vadic is ranting and raving about how their kind—the Changelings—are suffering while they pretend to be Starfleet. While their plot seemingly hinges on the looming promise of hope, vengeance comes first and foremost. As the scene draws to a close, Vadic instructs her crew to track down each and every known friend or ally that Picard might call upon for help.

Aboard the Titan , Beverly and Picard discuss Jack’s ( Ed Speleers ) nightmares and the burst of aggression that allowed him to take out a handful of Changelings entirely on his own. After running tests on him, Beverly discovered that he has Irumodic Syndrome—which he inherited from Picard. Unfortunately, it’s a terminal diagnosis. As Picard learned years ago, it will continue to affect his cognitive skills as his synaptic pathways waste away, until he eventually dies from it. It’s a rather shocking and tragic diagnosis when he has only just connected with his son. Picard tracks Jack down on the holodeck, where he’s partaking in the libations at 10 Forward and drinking his sorrows away. Well, actually, he tells Picard he’s celebrating the news that he isn’t actually crazy—he’s just broken. He goes on to compare himself to Kintsugi: the Japanese tradition of highlighting the broken pieces of pottery with gold to showcase its imperfections.

RELATED: 'Star Trek: Picard' Season 3: Ed Speleers on Bringing Jack Crusher to Life and Donning the Starfleet Uniform

Jack questions Picard about how he managed to survive his own Irumodic Syndrome, but of course, he didn’t . He has a fully synth body, which allowed him to live beyond the events of “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2.” Picard clearly feels terrible about passing on this fatal disease to his son, and Jack only makes that regret worse by cavalierly remarking about how his mother had tried to protect him from Picard, but in the end, he was doomed before he was even born. This plotline showcases three very different reactions to the diagnosis, with Beverly remaining very pragmatic, Picard showing deep remorse, and Jack trying to play off his own fear with brash words.

The moment is interrupted by Seven ( Jeri Ryan ) letting Picard know that Worf and Raffi ( Michelle Hurd ) have finally beamed aboard the Titan , which prompts a sweet reunion between Worf and the rest of The Next Generation crew aboard the starship. Worf, who is no stranger to the Changelings after dealing with them in Deep Space Nine , relays information about the Dominion War and why the Changelings have such an issue with Starfleet. Following their investigation on District Six, he is convinced that the weapon that was stolen from Daystrom was simply a distraction for something else that was taken, but in order to find out what else was stolen they’re going to have to search the computers on Daystrom. This is ultimately the only way they are going to be able to clear their names and save the galaxy from the Changeling threat.

At the end of Season 2, Raffi and Seven seemed to be in a pretty good place with their relationship, but over the course of the first six episodes of Season 3, it definitely looks like things fell apart between the upheaval of the finale and Seven joining the crew of the Titan . Their reunion is not quite as emotional as The Next Generation crew’s, Though, even though things are chilly between them, Worf does help to bring a little levity to the situation with his concern about going into battle with the pair. Luckily, Seven isn’t going to make the dangerous journey to Daystrom—it will be Worf, Raffi, and Riker venturing into the unknown.

Things go awry almost as soon as the trio arrives on Daystrom. While Krinn’s key gets them through the security protocols, with only a minor glitch, the Changeling-filled Starfleet vessels finally catch up to the Titan , causing them to have to leave the trio behind. Before they escape, Picard is able to inform Riker that they have a plan, but in order for it to work they have to avoid being caught. Now stranded on Daystrom without a clear way to get out, they venture onwards in pursuit of answers. As they make their way past Tribbles and other iconic Star Trek artifacts, Worf explains the purpose of Daystrom as to basically contain all of Section 31’s most nefarious table scraps, which means the Changelings could’ve stolen anything .

While the security program allowed the trio into Daystrom with very little fanfare, it does ultimately recognize that Riker is onboard which prompts a security reaction to be generated. A holographic crow appears, startling the trio at first, but the real surprise comes when an F sharp is played loud enough to cause the ship to shake around them. But more unexpected than either of these is the appearance of Professor Moriarty ( Daniel Davis ) with his ominous words: “I think, therefore I am.” In order to get past Moriarty they have to solve a musical riddle, which Riker is able to easily work through, as it is a song connected to someone he knew very well—Data.

Data’s reintroduction to Picard is paired with a flashback to the very first episode of The Next Generation , when he and Riker first met. While there have been a number of callbacks throughout the series, particularly these past six episodes, this is the first time it has chosen to show and tell. Some might balk at flashbacks, but this works exceptionally well to help connect the new and the old in a seamless fashion.

Back on the Titan , Picard’s escape plan sees them traveling to the Fleet Museum, where they hope to hide among all the starships on display—and perhaps reconnect with an old ally. Geordi La Forge, however, is not looking for the same sort of reunion that they had with Worf. He and his daughter Alandra ( Mica Burton ) beam aboard the Titan , wanting answers for whatever it is that Picard thinks he’s doing. With Frontier Day mere days away, he is under immense pressure, made worse now that Picard is putting his family in the path of danger. Family and fatherhood is the theme playing beneath all of Geordi and Picard’s interaction in “Bounty” as they both have to work through the ideas attached to what parents pass onto their children—good and bad. Geordi is shocked to learn that Picard has a son, but amused that he could manage to turn fatherhood into an intergalactic incident.

Initially Picard had hoped that they could hide the Titan among the other ships, but Alandra reveals that new Starfleet ships are fully integrated, meaning they are able to speak to each other. As soon as they dock, they’ll communicate to the rest of the fleet—alerting the Changelings. While Picard and Geordi hash out things, Alandra visits with her sister Sidney ( Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut ) and expresses her skepticism about their father bending to the plan. There’s a lot of tension there, particularly between Sidney and her father, who seems displeased with her career path.

Jack joins Seven on the bridge, taking the opportunity to sit himself down in the captain’s chair and make himself at home. The duo looks through all the ships that are on display at the Fleet Museum, and Seven is impressed with Jack’s knowledge of Starfleet. She goes on to show him Voyager , explaining that it was where she was reborn and where she found a family within the crew. Jack clocks it that she’s still looking for another crew-turned-family. Seven points out that he has Picard’s knack for “poetic drive-by observations” which just continues to reinforce the nature versus nurture themes that are at play. As they pull up the Bird of Prey, with its neat cloaking capabilities, you can start to see a plan formulating behind Jack’s eyes.

After Picard and Geordi’s heart-to-heart about parenthood, Picard agrees to allow Sidney to return to the museum with her father and sister and claim that she was an unwilling participant in everything that has taken place since Picard and Riker came aboard the Titan . Sidney rightfully calls her father out for this decision, pointing out that he got to go on all of those adventures alongside Picard and stand up for what was right. Why keep her from doing the same? She also points out that her father was the one who taught her that crew is the same as family, so when he talks about protecting his family—it’s the same as her standing beside her crew.

On the heels of this tense moment, Jack catches up with Sidney and Alandra and shares his plan which includes minor larceny. His plan, of course, is to steal the Bird of Prey’s cloaking device and install it on the Titan . When Geordi finally realizes what’s going on, after humoring a star-struck Captain Shaw’s ( Todd Stashwick ), he accuses Picard of orchestrating the theft. But no, it’s his own daughters and Jack. The trio makes an excellent team, but their quick-thinking installation goes terribly wrong, prompting Geordi to jump in and assist with install. After all, this is what he’s good at. After the crisis is averted, Geordi warns Jack to stay away from his daughter, which we know Jack has definitely heard numerous times throughout his life. Though, I have to admit, their little flirty moments in this episode are very fun to watch.

Back at Daystrom, Worf, Raffi, and Riker discover another version of Data that is being used as the manifest within the institute. After watching a message that was left behind by Alton Soong about his final project, Riker feels confident that there’s a chance that this particular version of Data might still recognize them—especially with the knowledge that Data’s memory was backed up. Unfortunately, they don’t have a lot of time to figure anything out because the Changeling Starfleet officers have arrived. Worf and Riker make the decision to take Data with them back to the Titan because he holds vital information inside of him that could help them crack the case wide open. In order to buy them time, Riker faces off against the “Starfleet officers,” but he is ultimately taken hostage by the Changelings.

At the eleventh hour, the Titan arrives to beam them back aboard—but one of the three lifeforms they bring on board isn’t who they’re expecting. Worf reveals that Riker was taken hostage and vows to Picard that he will bring him home. As Picard goes to mull over this unfortunate turn of events, Jack follows after his father to express how sorry he is that Riker didn’t return. To cap off the beautiful, introspective look at parenthood throughout the episode, Jack opens up to Picard about the aspects of himself that he sees in both his mother and his father. He tries to tamp down the weight of his words with a joke about getting some good bits from his father, not just the terminal illness, which offers a glimmer of levity. At the same time, Geordi and Sidney are mending their fences. Geordi admits that he was never disappointed in his daughter, he was disappointed in himself for not jumping in to help his old friends.

This version of Data isn’t quite like the Data they once knew. Beverly, ever the scientist, is impressed with how humanlike this Data is. He even appears to have aged at a semi-normal rate, unlike previous versions. Once Geordi gets Data back up and running again, with only a few minor hiccups, Picard is quick to cut to the chase and ask him about the weapon that was stolen from Daystrom—the one that is more deadly than any other weapon. He starts to answer, but just repeatedly says Jean-Luc Picard, to the point that they think he might be malfunctioning. But he isn’t. He finally shows them what the Changelings stole from Daystrom. It wasn’t a weapon, not exactly. It was Jean-Luc Picard’s body.

Back at Daystrom, Riker is being brutalized by the Changelings, who are desperately trying to get information out of him. In an unexpected twist, one of the Changelings turns on the other two, killing them dead, before the grand reveal that it’s actually Vadic doing her own dirty work. She takes Riker aboard the Shrike, where she shows Riker that she has taken another hostage — this time, it’s someone that he cares deeply about: Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirkis ).

With these two major reveals, Star Trek: Picard is setting the stages for an explosive back half to the season. What could the Changelings want with Picard’s body, and why do they want Jack Crusher? If it was just genetic material they wanted, they have the blueprint—literally. There must be a deeper connection that hasn’t been revealed just yet. As excited as I am to see where things are headed, I’m not ready to let go of this series. These first six episodes have been some truly fantastic storytelling, character explorations, and adventures.

The first six episodes of the final season of Star Trek: Picard are streaming on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Picard : Our Favorite Easter Eggs From The Final Season

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A constant topic of conversation in the  Star Trek: Picard writers’ room involved the question of what constituted simple fan service and what was fresh storytelling in an established universe. What if they wanted to plop a big red statue of Rachel Garrett somewhere? (Which they did, in front of the Starfleet Recruitment Center, in Season 3’s premiere.) Garrett, you might recall, was the captain of the Enterprise-C who gave her life to save a Klingon base in  Next Generation ’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise” — and discovering who this “Red Lady” is became an internal Easter egg for one character on the show to hunt, before it was too late.

“There would totally be a statue of Rachel Garrett somewhere,” says showrunner Terry Matalas. “But does that mean this is a ‘Member Berry  from South Park ? We never really wanted to do that.” When there are references to past Star Treks — either subtle or full-on nostalgic — the writers wanted to make sure the environment and the situation of the story demanded it. “That was our North star,” Matalas says. “As long as it’s not soliciting an eye-roll, then we felt like we could use it. We are living in this universe, and these characters and these events exist.” The team’s many Easter eggs come from all over the Star Trek universe, but not all are explained within the show. Let’s boldly go back and trace the best ones throughout the final season, episode by episode — and if we missed any of your favorites, let us know what you spotted in the comments.

In the first five minutes of Season 3, we beam aboard the Mariposa medical vessel Eleos XII  and quickly realize this must be Dr. Beverly Crusher’s ship. Why? Because we recognize her taste and belongings from The Next Generation : orchids (a favorite flower, also in her quarters in “Cause and Effect”), pearls (“The Big Goodbye”) and drama and comedy masks (representing her love of theater in multiple episodes including “The Nth Degree,” “Disaster,” “Frame of Mind” and “Fistful of Datas”). There’s also a mission plaque honoring her service on Cor Caroli V (a classified case we heard about but didn’t see in “Allegiance”) and an away team kit belonging to her late husband Lt. Commander Jack Crusher (brought out of storage in “Family”). If all that didn’t clue you in, nothing will.

Another Easter egg is far more subtle. It’s a voice, the ship’s computer, warning Beverly of intruders. It belongs to Amy Earhart, wife of showrunner Terry Matalas, and it’s a little nod to Majel Barrett (Gene Roddenberry’s wife, who played Lwaxana Troi, and also provided the voice of most of the onboard computer interfaces). A recording of Barrett’s voice speaks once more at the end of Picard Season 3. Matalas himself provides a voice at the Starfleet Spacedock.

Quick bits to spot during Jean-Luc’s spring cleaning: a Ressikan flute from “The Inner Light,” an artifact from “The Chase” and a ship in a bottle from “Booby Trap.”

Jack Crusher is in so much trouble. Or is it Jack Canby? John Carson? James Cole? Jarlis Carvel? Of all Crusher’s aliases, the last one took him some serious thought — but it’s the next-to-last that gave us pause. James Cole, if you recall, is the name of the protagonist in the 1995 film and subsequent television adaptation of 12 Monkeys , which ran on Syfy from 2015 to 2018. The showrunner for that series? Yes, it was Terry Matalas, who recruited many members of his 12 Monkeys cast (Todd Stashwick, Aaron Stanford, Kirk Acevedo) and crew (co-executive producers Chris Monfette and Sean Tretta) for Picard . Which is why Picard sometimes feels like a 12 Monkeys Easter egg hunt. In addition to the James Cole shout-out, Cole himself — Aaron Stanford — appears as the Ferengi gangster Sneed. Sneed traffics in a drug called Splinter, a reference to splintering, which is what time travel was called in 12 Monkeys .

Beyond that, there are various eggs of note on the rap sheets of (alleged) criminals. Among Sneed’s known associates are Quark, from Deep Space Nine , and smuggler Thadiun Okona, from TNG ’s “The Outrageous Okona,” Lower Decks  and Prodigy . (This guy gets around.)

There’s also a quick bit to spot during the stop on M’Talas Prime: The name itself is a reference to showrunner Matalas, but it dates back to the Enterprise episode “Dawn,” in which the show’s producers decided to troll Matalas (then an assistant) by naming one of the worst places in the galaxy after him.

Worf saved the day! Introducing himself to Raffi, he lists the highlights of his narrative history: Son of Mogh (his biological father), House of Martok (the Klingon general who sponsored him), Son of Sergey and House of Rozhenko (his adoptive human Earth father from “Family”), Bane to the Duras family (as the killer of multiple heads of House of Duras) and Slayer of Gowron (as the killer of the High Chancellor in DS9 ’s “Tacking Into the Wind”).

Together, Worf and Raffi track down and interrogate Titus Rikka, who is played by Thomas Dekker. This is a casting Easter egg, as Dekker also played Picard’s Nexus fantasy son in the film Star Trek: Generations , and considering this is the episode where Picard confronts his missed fatherhood opportunity, the placement seems purposeful. (When he was still a child, Dekker also played a hologram in multiple episodes of Voyager .) Here, Dekker is once again a Trek character who is not what he appears to be — a Changeling. (Definitely not a junkie.)

And as a nice nod to our favorite Changeling, Odo, who couldn’t be here for this outing (actor René Auberjonois passed away in 2019), Worf refers to his former colleague as an honorable man.

Quick bit to spot during Beverly’s off-grid explanation: She and Jean-Luc dated on Casperia Prime, the vacation capital of the Horvan sector. You’ll recall another Star Trek couple has romantic history there: Worf and Jadzia picked it as their honeymoon destination in DS9 ’s “Change of Heart.”

The Ten Forward lounge in Los Angeles (first seen in Season 2 of Picard ) is where Picard and Riker like to meet up. Picard sometimes eats there alone, as we see him doing in the flashback. When admiring officers come upon him, he regales them with a story about the Tamarians, who base their language on myth and metaphor, from one of TNG ’s best episodes, “Darmok.” (Have you ever tried talking to someone who keeps quoting an impenetrable TV show you’ve never seen? It’s like that.) With much patience, Picard eventually deciphers their meanings. For example, “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” means “working together.” Eventually, they add “Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel,” or first contact, to their vocab as well.

Attempts to communicate with an alien culture aren’t always so successful. For a brief period, Picard served as the mouthpiece of the Borg and was forced to lead an invasion force. While in the holodeck version of Ten Forward, Captain Shaw reveals that during the Battle of Wolf 359 (seen in DS9 ’s “Emissary”), he served aboard the U.S.S. Constance — note that a diagram of the starship appears in the closing credits.

Also during drinks at Ten Forward, the Arcanis Lager logo is the same one from the Starfleet bar in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . And one of the photos of Guinan is from a scene in Generations , when she appeared as an echo of herself in the Nexus. (How is there a photo of that moment in this world?)

Showrunner Terry Matalas decided to bring Ro Laren back , he says, because her story “felt like it wasn’t finished.” TNG ’s “Preemptive Strike” wasn’t supposed to be Ro’s last appearance. There was a plan in place to have the character be more heavily featured on DS9 , but Michelle Forbes declined an offer to join the spinoff, which led to the creation of a substitute Bajoran character, Kira Nerys, as well as a change of direction for Ro’s storyline on TNG . Instead of continuing to work with Starfleet, Ro defected and joined the freedom fighters known as the Maquis. Picard asks Ro if she remembers Guinan to test her identity — but it’s not just because Guinan used to stash weapons behind the bar and he’s reaching for one. The three of them had a special bond; they were accidentally turned into children together in “Rascals.”

The Changeling blood test, however, has never been foolproof. In DS9 episodes such as “The Way of the Warrior” and “Homefront,” it was demonstrated and discussed that Changelings could store real blood within their assumed bodies for such occasions. Also, listen for the little guttural noises that Ro’s two Starfleet officers make, revealing that they are Changelings.

Quick bits to spot during the turbolift ride: Captain Shaw rattles off a list of incidents that happened during the films Generations (the saucer section crash) and Insurrection (ignoring the Prime Directive) and the TNG series finale (the time paradox).

Daystrom Station is basically an Easter egg museum; it’s full of genetically-modified attack Tribbles, a version of the planet-changing Genesis Device and the bodily remains of James T. Kirk (which means that someone dug him up after Picard buried him in Generations ), as well as the human corpse of Picard himself. The theme of replacement and resurrection hangs heavily in the air as Riker and company meet a Professor Moriarty hologram and a composite android (Data, Lore, B-4, Lal, in a new vessel). Instead of Moriarty being an adversary to the android, now they are the same. Riker figures this out by referring to key points of his relationship with Data — from whistling together (“Encounter at Farpoint”) to the Sherlock Holmes games they played (“Elementary, Dear Data”). When Data died in Nemesis , Riker struggled to remember what song it was that Data was attempting to whistle. Now, years later, he does. (It’s “Pop Goes the Weasel,” and in the closing credits, you get a glimpse of its musical notation.)

A quick bit to spot during the Fleet Museum tour: The Klingon Bird of Prey was originally featured in The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . Bones gave it the name the H.M.S. Bounty in reference to the 1789 mutiny. And the way the cloaking device is stolen and installed on another ship is a reference to the original Star Trek episode “The Enterprise Incident,” only that one was a Romulan cloaking device.

It’s not exactly the return of Tuvok in this episode — it’s just that a Changeling is pretending to be him. But even the idea of Tuvok counts, since he hasn’t appeared in a live-action Trek since 2001. However, Seven of Nine can tell this isn’t her old Voyager shipmate. First, she refers to their games of Vulcan Kal-Toh, which would hardly be a real test of identity, given that they played in full view of the crew ( Voyager ’s “The Omega Directive”). The fact that they played, and who won, would be public knowledge. Just to be sure, though, she tries again — and trips up the imposter by mentioning her neural pattern stabilization, claiming it was performed on a planet instead of onboard their ship ( Voyager ’s “Infinite Regress”). The planet she names has had demonstrations against Kolinahr, the Vulcan practice of shedding emotion on the way to pure logic, first depicted in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . No Vulcan would go there, let alone the real Tuvok, who had previously immersed himself in Kolinahr ( Voyager ’s “Flashback”).

Speaking of flashbacks, Vadic’s origin story, which takes place during the events of DS9 , refers to how, after Section 31 created a Changeling virus, a cure was developed, and Odo brought it to the Great Link (“What You Leave Behind”).

And a last quick bit to spot during Geordi’s Engineering: When Data says, “I’m no longer on the Enterprise ,” he’s referring to his final moments in Nemesis .

The Easter eggs are front and center in this episode, in which Data gives his TNG memories to Lore. Some of these are mementos from past leisure activities (a hat and pipe from his holodeck roleplay as Sherlock Holmes from “Elementary, Dear Data”) and his deck of cards and chips for playing poker. Others memories represent the two biggest loves of his life: Spot the cat (who started appearing in “Data’s Day” and was last… spotted… in Nemesis ) and Lt. Tasha Yar (who discovered to her delight in “ The Naked Now ” that Data is “fully functional” in every way and “programmed in multiple techniques”). After Tasha died, the android kept a holographic statue of her (first seen in “A Measure of Man”). But it was Spot — technically female, and a mother, even if Data keeps identifying her as male — who taught Data how to love. She inspired poetry and even tears of joy, when Data got an emotion chip ( Generations ).

Quick bit to spot during a stint on the Shrike: Another unlikely couple is referenced during Worf’s rescue of Riker and Troi — this being the fact that Worf and Troi once dated. When Worf bursts in, talking about counting the days since he last saw her, Riker says, “Inappropriate,” and then, “Is this a rescue mission or a continuation of the torture?” Of course, Worf wasn’t being romantic; he was thinking of Troi’s empathetic gifts during his sensitivity training. Still, awkward!

Isn’t it ironic? Picard calls it, but doesn’t explain, so we will. Admiral Elizabeth Shelby, onetime top Borg expert (last seen in “The Best of Both Worlds” gunning for Riker’s job as First Officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise ) fell for a Borg trap. She didn’t recognize that the synchronistic technology that allows every ship in Starfleet to operate as one is the very definition of how the Borg operates, as a collective. So this is not a fleet formation safeguard, but an opening for fleet-wide incapacitation.

Shelby is in command of the Enterprise-F during the Frontier Day ceremony… so what happened to the Enterprise-E ? Everyone looks at Worf. Not my fault, Worf says, referring to something that happened not on screen, but in the novels. “There have been books written about what they have done,” Matalas points out. “There was a whole arc about Worf being captain of the Enterprise-E for a while.” (That was in The Last Best Hope , by Una McCormack.) But the ship’s final mission — involving an “ incident ” above Kriilar Prime — is listed as classified , according to the Star Trek: Picard logs on Instagram. Other ships in the armada include the U.S.S. Hikaru Sulu and the U.S.S. Cochrane (named for the inventor of the warp drive).

Quick bit to spot during the reunion on the Enterprise : Picard’s order, “Set a course for Earth, maximum warp,” is the same line he says in Star Trek: First Contact .

Matalas considers the TNG series finale “All Good Things” to be a perfect send-off, with the crew and captain playing poker together. So one of the final shots of the Picard series finale emulates that iconic final image, right down to the rotation of the camera hovering over the poker table as Picard deals a hand. Before the game, the characters’ revelry in Ten Forward in Los Angeles includes multiple callbacks. References are made regarding drinks of choice — prune juice for Worf, the “ warrior’s drink ” (“Yesterday’s Enterprise”). Data tries to recite a limerick that no one ever lets him finish: “There was a young lady from Venus, whose body was shaped like a …” (“The Naked Now”). Picard recites Shakespeare, as both he and Patrick Stewart, a member of England’s Royal Shakespeare Company, are wont to do. So all’s well that ends well… or is it? Q returns and tells Jack Crusher that he is to stand trial for humanity — the same thing he told Jean-Luc Picard in the TNG pilot, “Encounter at Farpoint.”

One last quick bit. Pay attention to the voice, words and name of the President of the United Federation of Planets: Anton Chekov. He’s voiced by Walter Koenig, aka the original Star Trek series’ navigator and weapons officer Pavel Chekov. This new character is named after the rebooted Star Trek films’ version of Pavel Chekov, who was played by the late Anton Yelchin. And his message resembles a similar one in The Voyage Home : “Do not approach Earth.” Not yet, at least.

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Tuvok hadn’t been featured in live-action Trek since 1999? ST:Voyager ran until 2001!

And also all of the (unsanctioned, non-canon) films and shorts that he has made over the years (Of Gods and Men, Renegades)

Key words being “unsanctioned” and “non-canon”.

I really loved watching this final season. I hope they do another spin-off of the Enterprise-G crew with Seven as Captain. Especially since Discovery is ending after Season 5 and Section 31 is now going to be a movie. There is plenty of room for “Star Trek: Legacy,” as one TVLine reader suggested, to keep took Trek on our screens.

I agree it would be fun to see the further adventures of Captain Seven and her Number One, Raffi. Not sure how I feel about “Special Counselor” Ensign Jack Crusher. His “Chosen One” narrative worked for this season, but I’m not wild about making it an ongoing thing. – I’d also be curious to check in with the Jurati-Borg Collective and see what they are up to – her absence was definitely felt this season (both as a fan favorite and an obvious connection to the main plot.)

One Easter egg/clue I missed in all the nostalgia was the music. Part of the episode title cue, as well as part of the end credits’ music, was from Jerry Goldsmith’s score for FIRST CONTACT, the crew’s last full encounter with…the Borg. . So not only, in addition to being a beautiful score in itself, was it a callback to TNG’s best (and arguably their only truly successful) film, but the producers basically told us FROM GO that this season would come down to another showdown with the Borg and the Borg Queen.

Ahem… The musical tribute went FAR beyond that. The score “quotes” pretty much all the Trek music that has come before, from TOS to Voyage Home to all the TNG spinoffs. It is one of the reasons that this score was so great.

I certinly picked up on most of the other cues. But honestly, until the Borg reveal, I just assumed the use of the FC score was…well, just because it’s beautiful. But in hindsight, when used in tandem with the end credits which essentially foreshadowed many of the plot points all season, it was a missed clue (at least for me).

In episode 2 there were a couple more assiciates of Sneed that were important. Brunt FCA officer & Morn Quark’s bar fly that never talked both from DS9.

Never talked? You could never get Morn to shut up! Nobody can get a word in with that guy!

Ro and Guinan had a relationship well beyond de-aging together. Guinan forged a special bond with Ro and called her “her friend” which was a rare move for Guinan.

Moriaty and President Anton Chekov were too much. Otherwise, they did the nostalgia mostly right.

It was a quick line, but I smiled. After Geordi shut down the Enterprise, Riker says on the way out “I’m going to miss that voice.”

1 thing from episode 9 that cracked me up was Rikers line about thinking the bridge was bigger. Technically he’s not wrong from the changes they made to the set in Generations

The music on the screen at 50:48 is ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’. Now that’s a deep deep cut

Sorry, this is Episode 1

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REVIEW: Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 Delivers Upon the Season's Big Promise

As Star Trek: Picard Season 3 nears its final act, it fulfills its longstanding promise with some memorable returns. Here's CBR's review of Episode 6.

Promotional materials surrounding Star Trek: Picard Season 3 ahead of its premiere were built around the promise of the core Star Trek: The Next Generation cast reuniting for one last adventure. That promise is finally realized in the season's sixth episode, titled "Bounty," which brings the outstanding TNG characters back into the spotlight and continues Picard Season 3's love letter to the Star Trek franchise. Six episodes deep, Picard Season 3 stands as the best bit of Star Trek since the franchise's heyday in the '90s.

Still reeling from the reveal of how extensive the Changeling infiltration into Starfleet has become and the murder of Ro Laren , Jean-Luc Picard compares notes with Worf. Worf, Raffi Musiker , and Will Riker decide to break into Daystrom Station to learn what the Changelings have stolen from the heavily protected Starfleet facility. Geordi La Forge reaches out to his old friends when he learns about their incident with the USS Intrepid. Still unsure of who they can trust and pursued by Changelings and Starfleet alike, Picard and his allies are on the defensive and in the dark as they scramble to stop an impending terrorist attack.

From the bevy of Easter eggs stored within Daystrom Station to the details behind Geordi's new starship, "Bounty" feels the most like outright fan service in Picard Season 3. However, the story remains so tightly crafted, and the performances are so expertly delivered that even the most contrived circumstance feels like the labor of love added to the season. Showrunner Terry Matalas knows exactly who he's writing for -- diehard fans like himself who want plenty of nods to the franchise's past across this bombastic farewell tour, and he seeds them masterfully while carrying the overarching story forward.

LeVar Burton's long-awaited return as Geordi La Forge is as triumphant and nuanced as fans would hope, made all the sweeter by the presence of Burton's actual daughter Mica as La Forge's daughter Alandra. The La Forges get some fantastic material to work with as they're caught up on the Changeling conspiracy, more preoccupied with the implications of a greater threat than a rudimentary reunion. The interplay between the La Forges, including Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut as Sidney La Forge, keeps the sequences on the Titan energetic and enjoyable.

RELATED: Picard: Riker's Winning Move Is a Deep TNG Easter Egg

The heist portion of the episode in Daystrom Station puts its participating characters on the run, pursued by a familiar foe haunting the space station's halls like a ghost in the machine. The sequence is the weaker part of the episode, but two major returns elevate it considerably, as the TNG ensemble stands complete upon its resolution. It is something of a feat in itself that the season patiently waited for six episodes to bring together the TNG cast without feeling like it was spinning its wheels. The payoff feels perfectly organic.

With over half of the final season done, Star Trek: Picard has consistently maintained its high quality and is approaching a strong finish to the TNG saga. There is an enormous amount of story left to resolve and only four episodes to do it, leaving fans with the feeling that the season's final act is going to be relentlessly paced and packed wall-to-wall with plot points. With that in mind, "Bounty" marks the end of the season's extensive foray into fan service, but when it's come to this season, all expectations have constantly been exceeded, so all bets are off.

Created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman, and Terry Matalas, Star Trek: Picard releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.

Easter Eggs In Star Trek: Picard Season 3

After two seasons of half-hearted attempts to endear audiences to a new cast of supporting characters, the final ten episodes of "Star Trek: Picard" will reunite the Starfleet legend with his old crew from "Star Trek: The Next Generation." 

Season 3 of "Picard" is essentially a fifth "The Next Generation" movie and a third attempt at giving one of the most popular casts from "Star Trek" a satisfying farewell. Not that there was anything wrong with the first try, of course, as the series ending "All Good Things..." still ranks amongst the best TV finales of all time. However,  "Star Trek: Nemesis"  was such a bummer that "Star Trek: Picard" spent most of Season 1 attempting to redeem it, and fans weren't exactly wild about how that went, either .

As such, Season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard" sees showrunner Terry Matalas spilling over the toybox and giving fans what they always want — more of the same thing they liked 20 years ago. That means a full "The Next Generation" cast reunion, nostalgia-fueled marketing, and, of course, about a million Easter eggs to reward longtime Trekkies for their encyclopedic knowledge of the canon. We've put our decades of obsessing over "Star Trek" minutiae to the test cataloging as many winks, nods, and name-drops as we can find in "Picard," from the obvious to the extremely obscure. Here are all the Easter eggs fans may have missed in "Picard" Season 3.

The season premiere wastes no time citing The Wrath of Khan as an inspiration

The series opens with the text "In the 25th Century..." in stylized blue typeface over black. This will be familiar to fans of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," which begins with the phrase "In the 23rd Century..." in that same print. This is the first signal that this season of "Star Trek: Picard" (particularly Episode 1) will borrow liberally from the popular film. In addition to a few plot beats throughout the season, the series has a definite aesthetic fondness for the entire "The Original Series" movie era.

There are several subtle nods in the production of the season premiere alone. The alarm klaxon in Beverly Crusher's ship indicating a security breach is the same one that sounds when Spock's quarters are invaded in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock." Likewise, the style of the jacket that Beverly wears in the episode's teaser is reminiscent of the away team jacket from "The Wrath of Khan," which has a similarly broad collar. Later, when we get a look at the redesigned hand phasers, we can see that they've reverted to something closer to the swept-back models from the classic era, very much like those seen in "The Search for Spock" and "The Undiscovered Country."

Of course, there's also the design of the USS Titan-A, which Redditors have identified as a Neo-Constitution Class refit. It cuts a silhouette that's closer to the refit Constitution-Class of "The Original Series" films than any of "The Next Generation" era ships, and throughout the season, it appears that rectangular warp nacelles have come back into fashion at the turn of the 25th century.

The series premiere of Picard gets a nod in the season's opening minutes

Season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard" is plainly designed to be consumed independently from the first two seasons of the series. Most of the original characters introduced earlier are absent or have reduced roles, and there's even a new opening title sequence. Still, the series does make a subtle acknowledgment of its own origins.

Our first images of the season are a brief montage of beautiful and peaceful images of stellar phenomena, with an early 20th-century ballad playing underneath it. This is also how the first episode of the series, "Remembrance," begins. In that episode, the soundtrack was "Blue Skies" by Irving Berlin, as performed by Bing Crosby — a song that Data sang at Riker and Troi's wedding in "Star Trek: Nemesis." Season 2 of "Picard" also uses a 20th-century ballad in its opening episode, in that case, "Je Ne Regrette Rien" by Edith Piaf.

This time, our opening number is "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" by The Ink Spots. This tune has no prior history with "Star Trek," but might be familiar to gamers in the audience, as it features in the "Fallout" series . It was the center of a TikTok meme in 2022 , in which users painted their noses and flared their nostrils as if they were the singer's mouths. This is probably — unrelated.

Fans are prepared to meet Beverly Crusher before she appears

Episode 1's first scenes are set aboard an unfamiliar starship, the Elios, where the camera pans across a cluttered desk. Eagle-eyed fans will quickly put together that this workspace belongs to Dr. Beverly Crusher, thanks to a number of obscure visual clues. 

These include classic drama masks (recalling Crusher's love of theater) and the same sort of flowers that she tends in her quarters in "The Next Generation" episode "Cause and Effect." Her computer is playing back one of Captain Picard's log entries from "The Best of Both Worlds," and the following log in the queue is the one that opens "Encounter at Farpoint," the premier episode of "The Next Generation." She has a plaque awarded to a medical away team as honorary citizens of Cor Caroli V, likely in recognition of a mission that we hear about (but never actually see) in "The Next Generation" episode "Allegiance." 

Since these are all pretty obscure references, we then pan down to a more obvious one — the foot locker of Beverly's late husband, Lieutenant Commander Jack Crusher.

Picard's office is a The Next Generation museum

Just as in previous seasons of "Star Trek: Picard," Jean-Luc's home in La Barre, France, displays a number of artifacts that are familiar to Trekkies. A few of these items receive some special attention in the scene where Picard does some spring cleaning with his girlfriend, Laris. 

First, of course, is the large painting of the USS Enterprise-D that used to hang in his ready room in "The Next Generation," which he considers giving to Geordi La Forge and the Starfleet Museum. Just below it there's also a sextant on the mantle that may be the one from Picard's quarters. The Mintakan tapestry from "Who Watches the Watchers" that used to drape over his chair on both Enterprises still adorns the chair behind his desk at home. There's a Bajoran memento, gold models of both Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E, and, finally, his Ressikan flute from "The Inner Light," perhaps the most precious of all his mementos as it is his only keepsake from his lifetime of memories on the long-dead planet Kataan.

Later, he sits handwriting a note (whose print we don't get a good look at), and the Kurlan naiskos — a precious archeological artifact and a gift from his mentor Professor Galen — can be seen on his table. We get one additional reference here, as the authorization code that Picard uses to decrypt Beverly's message is "Picard 4 7 Alpha Tango," the same security code that he uses to activate the self-destruct sequence on the Enterprise-E in "Star Trek: First Contact."

Riker and Picard's conversation has nods to multiple past Star Trek stories

After receiving Beverly's encrypted distress call, Picard meets up with his old friend Riker at the Ten Forward lounge in Los Angeles. While reminiscing, Riker mentions that the crew of the Enterprise had previously used Beverly's "myriad" codec to encrypt their transmissions while on a mission to Rigel VII. However, Rigel VII is a planet whose first and only appearance is in the original "Star Trek" pilot, "The Cage," from 1965 (though this footage would later be reused in the classic 1966 two-parter "The Menagerie"). The incident to which Riker refers has never been depicted or mentioned before on screen.

The "hellbird" virus that offers the final clue to decoding Beverly's location is another new addition to the canon, a background plot retconned into "The Best of Both Worlds." We learn that the Borg attempted to foul the Enterprise's navigation using a computer virus while Picard was held captive as Locutus of Borg.

References to never-before-mentioned incidents such as these are a pleasant reminder that our heroes have had adventures beyond those that have been the center of existing "Star Trek" episodes and that even the stories we know have complications to which the audience isn't always privy. The Enterprise is a big ship, after all, in an even bigger galaxy.

Frontier Day is celebrating Star Trek's least-loved prequel series

When Picard summons Riker to the Ten Forward bar in Los Angeles, we learn that there is an upcoming celebration planned for Frontier Day, described as Starfleet's 250th anniversary. For this date to line up with where we appear to be in the show's timeline, it would have to be a celebration not of Starfleet's founding, but of its first deep space mission, which launched in 2151 under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer. 

The adventures of this first Starship Enterprise (also known as the NX-01) are the subject of the prequel television series "Star Trek: Enterprise," which aired on UPN from 2001 to 2005. Out of the five "legacy" live-action "Star Trek" series, "Enterprise" is the one that tends to get the least love from the current crop of creators, though there is the occasional nod to its historical significance in the universe, such as the christening of Archer Spacedock on Season 4 of "Star Trek: Discovery."

Incidentally, the souvenir starship models up for sale in Ten Forward appear to be items from the Eaglemoss Collection of "Star Trek" starships. Eaglemoss declared bankruptcy during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic after producing over 400 unique starship models from across the "Star Trek" canon.

M'Talas Prime brings showrunner Terry Matalas full circle

M'Talas Prime, the neon-lit city planet where Commander Raffi Musiker is working undercover for Starfleet Intelligence, is named for Picard showrunner Terry Matalas, who also wrote this episode. However, he didn't name the planet after himself — the planet was first introduced in dialogue on a 2002 episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise" by showrunner Brannon Braga, for whom Matalas was working as an assistant. Matalas would return to "Star Trek" years later to become co-showrunner of "Picard" Season 2 with Akiva Goldsman before finally taking the reins for its final run.

Matalas' fingerprints are all over this season. Fans of his previous series, Syfy's "12 Monkeys," will recognize the actor playing Captain Shaw. That's Todd Stashwick, who played the villainous Deacon on "12 Monkeys." He also guest starred on a 2004 episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise" as Talok, a Vulcan officer who turns out to be an undercover Romulan spy. Don't be surprised if you see a few other cast members from "12 Monkeys" crop up over the course of the season.

The arrival on the Titan mimics famous sights and sounds from Star Trek films

Picard and Riker's shuttle approach towards the USS Titan is very evocative of similar sequences in which Captain Kirk and company return to the refitted USS Enterprise in the various chapters of the original "Star Trek" film series. Once Picard and Riker are aboard the Titan, references to "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" continue as a crewman blows into a digital boatswain's whistle to signal their arrival. The same ritual is performed when Kirk is welcomed aboard the Enterprise in "The Wrath of Khan," and the prop used is almost identical to the one played by Yeoman Burke in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."

The influence of the "The Original Series" era of "Star Trek" films extends to non-diegetic sound choices as well. The arrangement of the musical score when Picard and Riker enter the bridge of the Titan — and the entire sequence of the ship's departure from Spacedock — are extremely reminiscent of James Horner's score from a parallel scene in "The Wrath of Khan." Though composer Stephen Barton also incorporates an original motif for this series and Jerry Goldsmith's famous theme from "The Motion Picture" and "The Next Generation," his arrangements evoke the feeling of "The Wrath of Khan" and "The Search for Spock" for viewers who may not recognize it outright. 

If you want to hear the inspirations for these compositions, listen to "Enterprise Clears Moorings" from "The Wrath of Khan" soundtrack. There's even a brief quote from Cliff Eidelman's score from "The Undiscovered Country" as the ship emerges from the space dock doors.

Raffi's search for the Red Lady is an Easter egg hunt of its own

When Raffi asks the computer to name all the "big events" coming up in the next few months (an pretty ridiculous request considering we're talking about the entire galaxy here), the computer displays a whopping three results. First, the Gratitude Festival, a Bajoran holiday first seen in the "Deep Space Nine" episode "Fascination." Empire Union Day is a Klingon holiday mentioned only in a quasi-educational audio tape called "Power Klingon," released in 1993 as part of a series of books and tapes about the Klingon language by its inventor, linguist Marc Okrand. Long out of print and remembered only by those who study the language , this is about as deep as deep-cut references get.

The "Red Lady" Raffi learns about from her contact on M'Talas turns out to be a codename for a statue being dedicated at a Starfleet Recruitment Center. The statue honors Captain Rachel Garrett, commander of the USS Enterprise-C, whose only appearance is in "The Next Generation" episode "Yesterday's Enterprise." Garrett is killed in battle while coming to the aid of a Klingon colony under Romulan attack. This is a more pivotal moment in history than it seemed, as Garrett and her crew's sacrifice helped to avert decades of war. 

Also on-screen during this scene are images of a few starships that have not made canon appearances before, including the Odyssey-Class USS Enterprise-F, which was designed via a fan contest for the video game "Star Trek Online."

The show's credits are loaded with hints and references

Even the end credits of "Star Trek: Picard" offer a few Easter eggs, some of which don't become apparent until after they've been paid off later in the season. To avoid spoilers, we'll highlight just one, which doesn't require any foreknowledge to interpret. Under the co-executive producer credits, a few staves of musical notation are briefly highlighted. It's a melody in 6/8 time in the key of D Major. If you can read music, you might recognize this tune as "Pop Goes the Weasel," which Trekkies will remember is the song that Data is trying to whistle when Will Riker first befriends him in "Encounter at Farpoint." Riker fondly recalls this moment after Data's death in "Star Trek: Nemesis."

Of course, there's the music that plays under the credits themselves, which contains Jerry Goldsmith's theme from the most beloved of "The Next Generation" films, "Star Trek: First Contact." Like in the end credits of that film, it eventually segues into Goldsmith's tried and true "Star Trek Main Title" fanfare. Once the animated credits have ended, the final set of closing credits are displayed in the blue typeface used in the credits for "Star Trek: The Next Generation." This same font was borrowed for the credits of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," which is likewise awash in "The Next Generation" nostalgia.

Shuttlecraft Saavik pays tribute to a fan favorite

In the opening episode of Season 3, Admiral Picard and Captain Riker commandeer one of the USS Titan's shuttlecraft for an unauthorized rescue mission to Dr. Beverly Crusher's ship, the SS Eleos. However, In the following chapter, "Disengage," the shuttle is destroyed. As the wreckage flies towards the camera, we get a clear look at the shuttle's name: the Saavik.

The vessel's namesake is a junior officer introduced in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," where she was portrayed by Kirstie Alley in her first major film role. Lt. Saavik was Spock's protégé and seemed positioned to take his place as a regular member of the Enterprise crew after Spock's death at the end of that film. However, when Spock actor Leonard Nimoy decided not to leave the franchise, Saavik was gradually given smaller roles (and a different actor, Robin Curtis) in the next two films before disappearing altogether. That is, until a recent official "Star Trek" franchise Instagram post revealed that Saavik eventually rose to the rank of captain and took command of the first USS Titan in the late 23rd century, making the shuttlecraft's name a tribute to her legacy.

In our universe, the original actress to play Saavik, Kirstie Alley,  passed away from colon cancer in December 2022 , and the shuttle may have been christened in her memory.

Ferengi broker Sneed has some famous friends

Any time you see a wall of text on a display in "Star Trek," you're bound to find a few Easter eggs. "Disengage" features quite a few in the criminal record for the Ferengi gangster Sneed. Sneed's list of known associates includes some familiar names from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Quark of Ferenginar is, of course, the series' nefarious bartender, though by this point in the "Star Trek" timeline he's also the owner of a franchise of bars and gambling establishments bearing his name, as seen on "Star Trek: Lower Decks" and in previous seasons of "Picard." Brunt is Quark's nemesis from the Ferengi Commerce Authority, played by Star Trek's man of a thousand faces, Jeffrey Combs. Morn of Luria is Quark's most steady customer, appearing in 93 episodes of "Deep Space Nine" and never speaking a word.

The final name on Sneed's list of known associates is Thadiun Okona, a smuggler and playboy who first appeared in the infamously campy episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" called "The Outrageous Okona" and has since appeared in animated form on both "Lower Decks" and "Star Trek: Prodigy." We can now add a reference in "Picard" to his surprisingly illustrious resumé.

As for Sneed himself, he's portrayed by Aaron Stanford, who starred as James Cole on "Picard" showrunner Terry Matalas' previous series, "12 Monkeys." The name James Cole also appears on Jack Crusher's list of aliases in this episode.

T'Luco's rap sheet references Star Trek Online

While investigating the destruction of the Starfleet Recruitment Center, Commander Raffi Musiker looks into the criminal record of the Romulan outlaw Lurak T'Luco, who Starfleet has named as the perpetrator. Raffi disagrees, believing him to be too small time for such a serious crime. Over Raffi's shoulder, we get a quick look at T'Luco's history, which references two worlds that have never been seen in canon but nevertheless have long histories in the "Star Trek" franchise.

The planets Vendor and Rator III were both first mentioned in a 1973 episode of "Star Trek: The Animated Series," entitled "The Survivor." The shapeshifting Vendorians introduced in that episode wouldn't make another appearance until "Lower Decks" brought them back for a gag in 2020 , but Rator III has taken on a more important role in "Star Trek" history via the massively multiplayer role-playing game "Star Trek Online." 

In the game's backstory (expanded upon in the tie-in novel, "Star Trek Online: The Needs of the Many") Rator III briefly becomes the seat of the Romulan Empire after the destruction of Romulus. Though "Star Trek Online" is not considered canon, this Easter egg would seem to verify Rator III's location and prominence within the shattered Romulan Empire.

Amanda Plummer is a Star Trek legacy

Season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard" pays homage to the style and tone of the original six "Star Trek" feature films, so it's only appropriate that the season's antagonist be cut from the same cloth as those classic movie villains. The casting of Amanda Plummer as the dastardly Captain Vadic is surely no accident — her late father,  Christopher Plummer, portrayed the Klingon General Chang in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" in 1991. Their characters have no direct relation, but there are definitely some stylistic connections beyond their actors' family ties. Both antagonists plainly relish in their villainy, indulging in flowery speeches and theatrical intimidation.

The fact that both Chang and Vadic twirl around in their big captain's chairs and order their crews to open fire with casual flicks of the wrist might just be a coincidence, or it could be a knowing tribute from a daughter to the father in whose footsteps she treads. However, it's almost certainly deliberate that, during Vadic's menacing viewscreen conversation in "Disengage," the sound designers for "Picard" have brought back the same ominous communications klaxon used to punctuate General Chang's hails in "Star Trek VI." It's exactly the sort of detail that someone would only notice if they'd watched "The Undiscovered Country" a dozen times — which, of course, we have, and we appreciate it.

Little production flourishes like this, combined with Plummer's performance, make Vadic a delightful throwback to the franchise's illustrious past.

Beverly and Jean-Luc's split has echoes of The Wrath of Khan

"Picard" Season 3 isn't shy about borrowing from "The Wrath of Khan," but the reveal of Jean-Luc's long-lost adult son might be the most blatant reference to the franchise's most popular film. In "Star Trek II," the audience learns that Kirk fathered a son before the events of "The Original Series," but that the boy's mother, Dr. Carol Marcus, retained sole custody in order to assure him a stable upbringing. In "Picard" Season 3's third episode, "Seventeen Seconds," we finally hear from Dr. Beverly Crusher about her decision to drop off the map and raise their son alone rather than have Jean-Luc be a part of his life.

While telling her tale, Beverly also name-drops a few curios from the "Star Trek" universe. Her last date with Jean-Luc was on Casperia Prime, a planet mentioned on Deep Space Nine as being "The Vacation Capital of the Horvan Sector." Both DS9's Jadzia Dax and Julian Bashir have planned to visit there but neither actually made the trip, and thus the audience has never had a first-hand look. Beverly also mentions the Donatra Sector, which shares the name of a Romulan Commander from "Star Trek: Nemesis."

It's also worth mentioning that, in the alternate "First Splinter Timeline" of Star Trek novels, Beverly and Jean-Luc have a son named René Jacques Robert Francois Picard who is born around the same time as the Prime Timeline's Jack Crusher.

Beverly's lost a lot of family to the stars

While explaining her long absence, Beverly lists the family members that she has lost. First, her parents, whose cause of death has never been mentioned in canon. Previously, we've known only that she was raised by her grandmother, but this seems to confirm the backstory established in "Star Trek" novels that her parents were space explorers whose vessel was destroyed in an attack by hostile aliens.

The death of her husband, Jack, is a well-established but barely-explained piece of "Star Trek" lore that goes all the way back to the first episode of "The Next Generation." Jack Crusher (Sr.) was the first officer aboard the USS Stargazer under Jean-Luc's command and was killed on an away mission. Jean-Luc has been weighed down with guilt over his death ever since, further complicating his romantic feelings for his late friend's widow. Further details about this tragedy have only been explored in non-canonical novels, such as 1991's "Star Trek: Reunion" by Michael Jan Friedman.

Her other son, Wesley, left to explore inter-dimensional time and space with the being called the Traveler at the end of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Apart from dropping in to attend Riker and Troi's wedding in "Star Trek: Nemesis," Wesley has been seen only once since, in the finale of "Picard" Season 2 , where we learn that he has continued to serve as a member of "the travelers," an inter-dimensional watchdog group that protects the timeline from incursions.

Worf's resume summarizes his history across two series

When Worf introduces himself to Raffi Musiker on M'Talas Prime, he reads off a list of impressive-sounding titles, accumulated over the course of his unprecedented 281 appearances across "The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," and the feature film series. To begin with, he is, of course, the Son of Mogh, a Klingon dignitary who was killed by Romulans when he was a young boy (his biological mother has never been named in canon). He is also the Son of Sergei, of "House Rozchenko," referring to his adoptive human parents Sergei and Helena Rozchenko of Earth.

Worf also names himself as a member of the House of Martok, the family that he was inducted into during "Deep Space Nine" after breaking out of Dominion prison with General Martok. Worf is the "Slayer of Gowron," referencing when he defeated the dishonorable Klingon High Chancellor in single combat and installed Martok in his place in the late DS9 episode "Tacking into the Wind."

Finally, he's "Bane to the Duras Family," his nemeses since early in "The Next Generation." Duras is the house of the Klingons who betrayed his parents to the Romulans and later murdered his mate, K'Ehleyr. Worf, in turn, has killed three of the last four heads of the House of Duras — Duras himself and his two sisters, Lursa and B'Etor — and bested their heir, Toral, in combat.

A departed friend from Deep Space Nine plays an invisible role in this season of Picard

The episode, "Seventeen Seconds," reveals that the masterminds behind the attack on the Starfleet Recruitment Center are Changelings, major antagonists from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." As their name suggests, Changelings are shapeshifters whose natural state is a liquid but have the ability to perfectly imitate any person, creature, or object they choose. They command the Dominion, an empire even more vast and powerful than the Federation, located in the distant Gamma Quadrant. The Dominion War takes place over the course of multiple seasons of "Deep Space Nine," but they haven't been heard from since.

Here, Worf tells Raffi that he has been contacted by a friend from the Changelings' Great Link who warned him that a splinter group of Changelings is aiming to attack the Federation. This "man of honor" could be none other than Odo, the former Chief of Security of space station Deep Space 9. Though a Changeling himself, Odo fought on the side of the Federation in the Dominion War, serving with then-Lt. Commander Worf throughout the conflict.

After the Dominion's surrender, Odo returned to the Great Link in order to cure his people of a deadly virus and help to foster a lasting peace. Sadly, Odo will not be making any appearances in "Picard," as actor, René Auberjonois, passed away  in 2019.

Picard encounters a Voyager villain off-screen

The episode "No Win Scenario" opens with a flashback to five years before the events of this season, in which retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard is enjoying a meal at Guinan's Ten Forward lounge in Los Angeles. Fans will note that there are still Frontier Day posters on the wall despite the event being five years away, which is likely a production oversight. 

While there, a group of young officers asks Picard about his encounter with the Hirogen, a species of ritualistic hunters who made their debut in "Star Trek: Voyager" — hence the mention of Admiral Janeway. The adventure in question isn't one that we've seen or heard of before and would have taken place between the film "Star Trek: Nemesis" and the earliest flashbacks in "Star Trek: Picard." This isn't the only reference to a Hirogen on "Picard," however, as one of the ex-Borg seen on the Artifact in the Season 1 episode "Nepenthe" is an assimilated Hirogen .

Later in the episode — when we cut back to this conversation — Picard is regaling his admirers with the story of the classic "The Next Generation" episode "Darmok," in which Picard attempts to survive on a hostile world with an alien captain who speaks only in impenetrable references to his own popular culture and mythology. Of all his famous adventures aboard the Enterprise-D, it's the one that Picard would seem most likely to enjoy recalling, as it's a dilemma that was solved through patience, compassion, and communication. It also happens to be one of the best episodes of "The Next Generation."

Ensign Foster's quarters contain artifacts from DS9 and Voyager

When Seven of Nine first searches transporter officer Foster's quarters near the start of "No Win Scenario," there's a familiar artifact on his desk: a messy stack of thin metal cylinders arranged in a shape like a tumbleweed. This is kal-toh, a Vulcan strategy game enjoyed by Voyager's Lieutenant Commander Tuvok and other members of the Voyager crew. Seven is particularly adept at the game and can be seen effortlessly demolishing veteran player Tuvok in the episode "The Omega Directive." Seven has also been seen teaching the game to then-girlfriend Raffi Musiker in the final moments of the "Star Trek: Picard" episode "Et in Arcadia Ego."

Later in "No Win Scenario," Captain Shaw suggests that Seven search Foster's quarters again to find a pot or vase in which Foster's changeling imposter may have hidden while sleeping in liquid form. Lo and behold, Seven checks inside a light fixture and finds a bucket that's more or less identical to the one that Constable Odo of "Deep Space Nine" used to sleep in. 

This is a pretty silly inclusion, given that Odo's bucket is not a traditional Changeling artifact but something he would have acquired from the Cardassians long before he even knew that other Changelings existed. While Odo has since joined the Great Link, which would immediately share the knowledge of this habit with the entire species, it's unlikely that the Changelings — whose goal is to destroy the Federation — would want to honor his peoples' one and only traitor.

Picard explains away one of Voyager's silliest contrivances

"Star Trek: Picard" finally clarifies a baffling piece of "Star Trek" canon involving the franchise's famous simulator room, the Holodeck. On "Star Trek: Voyager," the titular vessel is hurled halfway across the galaxy and must brave a long, dangerous journey back to Federation space with no allies or support. Despite concerns about the ship's limited energy supply leading to replicator rationing, USS Voyager's holodecks — a purely recreational system — remained in service for the entire seven-year mission. The series handwaves this by explaining that holodecks have their own independent power source that is incompatible with the rest of the ship, but it feels a lot more like an excuse for the writers to continue to tell "The Next Generation" style holodeck fantasy stories despite the more dire stakes of "Voyager."

"No Win Scenario" finally offers an explanation as to why Starfleet would give its holodecks their own power source — so that they can be used as a pleasant sanctuary in the event that the ship should be damaged beyond repair. There, the crew could enjoy a nice diversion while, say, plummeting hopelessly into the heart of a gravity well, as the Titan does during this episode. This allows Jean-Luc and his son Jack Crusher to share a quiet moment in a simulation of Ten Forward while the rest of the ship's systems are on the blink. It's a flimsy explanation, but it's better than the nothing we had before.

Vadic's knife is familiar, and not just from Star Trek

In "No Win Scenario," the mysterious Captain Vadic uses an ornate dagger to slice off her own hand, which transforms into the face of her Changeling overlord. If this dagger looks familiar, it should — this is the Jackal , crafted by knife smith Gil Hibben and employed in an assortment of genre cinema and television. For instance, it's the rogue vampire hunter Faith Lehane's signature weapon on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

It's also not the first time the Jackal has appeared in "Star Trek" canon. It played the role of a ceremonial Reman dagger used by Tom Hardy's Praetor Shinzon in "Star Trek: Nemesis," even featured on the film's theatrical poster. We'd be surprised, however, if this is meant to hint at anything in Vadic's origins. It's likely just an Easter egg for fans, as well as a nod to one of the most maligned movie installments in the franchise and one of the cooler custom blades of the silver screen.

Captain Shaw was present for Star Trek's darkest hour

During his tirade in the Ten Forward holodeck simulation, the Titan's Captain Shaw reveals that he is a veteran of the Battle of Wolf 359, the Federation's devastating defeat at the hands of the Borg. This battle takes place during the famous "The Next Generation" two-parter "The Best of Both Worlds," in which Jean-Luc Picard is assimilated by the Borg and forced to lead their invasion force, though only the aftermath of the massacre is seen in that story. Our first and only canonical glimpse at the battle comes in the opening scenes of "Emissary," the first episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," in which we learn that Benjamin Sisko is also a survivor of Wolf 359.

Shaw served aboard the USS Constance, which joins the still-incomplete list of the 39 vessels destroyed during that battle. Diagrams of the Constance also appear during the closing credits of the season, which identify it as a Constellation Class starship. This is consistent with its one non-canonical reference in the video game "Birth of the Federation."

Incidentally, Shaw also mentions that, despite the creation of a new, more benign offshoot of the Borg during Season 2 of "Star Trek: Picard," the "real" Borg are still out there somewhere, waiting to menace the Federation once again. This is an important clarification, given the time travel antics that brought about the new hive, which was created by Dr. Agnes Jurati and the temporally-displaced Borg Queen in the early 21st century.

The nebula's newborns recall The Next Generation's first adventure

As the USS Titan sinks deeper into the gravity well of a strange nebula, Dr. Crusher realizes that the pulses of energy that are rocking the ship are actually contractions and that the anomaly around them is a womb that's about to give birth. While explaining this phenomenon to the crew, she and Admiral Picard reference an earlier encounter with a space-dwelling life form, dating way back to the first episode of "The Next Generation," titled "Encounter at Farpoint." In their maiden voyage together, the crew of the USS Enterprise-D discovers that a remarkable new space station is actually an imprisoned shapeshifting space jellyfish.

In "No Win Scenario," the beings born in the nebula also turn out to be space cephalopods, though more closely resembling octopi. It's a cute callback to the very beginning of Picard, Riker, and Crusher's service together, one that restores a sense of hope and wonder to the weary Starfleet legends.

Those weird red tendrils may hint at an additional villain

In Episode 5, "Imposter," we see that Jack Crusher is having waking nightmares about betraying the crew of the Titan, the first evidence that he might be some sort of enemy sleeper agent. In his dreams, he sees a strange red door creak open and vein-like tendrils spread across various surfaces. In one vision, he sees those tendrils appear on the face of Titan's operations officer, Ensign Esmar. This image is evocative of the "Star Trek: Voyager" two-parter "Scorpion," in which Ensign Harry Kim (also an ops officer) is infected with a deadly virus by the aliens known as Species 8472. This is probably a coincidence, or maybe a cute production nod, but it might also be a clue to what's happening with Jack and the nature of this season's major foe.

Species 8472 is a hostile species that hails from Fluidic Space, an extra-dimensional realm once invaded (unsuccessfully) by the Borg. When we last saw 8472 in the "Voyager" episode "In the Flesh," they were experimenting with human DNA to create and train shapeshifting double agents to infiltrate Starfleet. By the end of the episode, the Voyager crew seems to persuade 8472 that the Federation doesn't present a threat, but is it possible that they went through with their infiltration plan after all and that 8472 has joined forces with the Changelings? The Changeling who was interrogated by Raffi and Worf did say that the Federation's new foes were a group of "like-minded souls," implying that there may be more than one faction involved.

It seems unlikely that 8472 would make an appearance, but on a show as reference-happy as "Star Trek: Picard," we certainly can't count them out entirely.

Changeling blood tests have never been reliable

"Imposter" reveals that this latest crop of Changeling infiltrators has mastered the ability to replicate the internal structure of whatever species they've morphed into, thus circumventing any existing method of detection the Federation put in place during the Dominion War. This is meant to demonstrate that the typical process for proving someone isn't a Changeling — by extracting blood from them and ensuring that it doesn't turn into goo — isn't effective any longer.

This isn't as huge a development as it seems to be, as bloodletting has never actually been a reliable way to determine whether or not someone is a Changeling. The shapeshifters had already found a way around the standard blood test midway through "Deep Space Nine" — in the episode after the test was devised. In the Season 4 premiere, "The Way of the Warrior," Klingon General Martok cuts his hand to prove he is who he claims to be. A year later, we learn that this Martok is, in fact, a Changeling and that the real Martok has been imprisoned in the Gamma Quadrant since before his doppelganger's first appearance on the show.

Captain Sisko's father, Joseph, has his own theory as to how this works. In the episode "Homefront," Joseph decries the uselessness of subjecting citizens to blood screenings, given that a Changeling could easily store real blood within its assumed body in case it ever needed to prove its identity. The Changelings we see in "Picard" are definitely more advanced, given their ability to retain their form even when dead or unconscious, but the ability to fool a blood test isn't actually a major feature of the upgrade.

Captain Shaw runs through a list of Picard's most public disasters

In "Imposter," the USS Titan's Captain Liam Shaw retakes command of his ship from the mutinous Admiral Picard and Captain Riker. As he gleefully escorts Picard and Riker to their hearing with Starfleet Intelligence, his two rivals defend themselves by mentioning the number of times they've saved the entire galaxy. In response, Shaw lists off a few examples of when the crew of the Enterprise (D or E) broke bad, arguing that saving the Federation a few times has, at best, made their service records a wash.

Shaw chooses to highlight three blemishes on Picard and Riker's records. First, he mentions the crash-landing of the Enterprise-D's saucer section in "Star Trek: Generations." This may be an iconic moment of "Star Trek" cinema, but it really shouldn't be held against them, as an emergency saucer landing is just one of the ship's safety features working exactly as designed. We accept no slander of Counselor Troi's piloting skills! Shaw also brings up Picard's rebellion against the Federation in "Star Trek: Insurrection," which he implies was motivated by Picard's desire to sleep with charming Ba'ku villager Anij. Then again, seeing as Picard was disobeying orders to save the Ba'ku helped to prevent Starfleet from participating in a genocide, it's a little disingenuous to frame Picard as the bad guy in this one, too.

As for the third incident he mentions, in which Picard almost wipes out all life in the galaxy by creating a spacial anomaly that grows backward through time in the "The Next Generation" finale "All Good Things...", Shaw may have a point. It's hard to give Picard credit for preventing pan-galactic doom when the threat was the result of his own time-traveling.

Michelle Forbes never shows up with good news

"Imposter" boasts the long-awaited return of fan-favorite character Ro Laren, who hasn't been seen since "Preemptive Strike," the penultimate episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Picard's most complicated mentee, Ro joins the crew of the Enterprise during Season 5 and appears in a total of eight episodes. The character was popular enough amongst fans and writers alike that she was intended to feature in the spin-off "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," but actor Michelle Forbes was reluctant to sign an extended contract. This led to the character of Kira Nerys being created in her place. A different fate was written for Ro, who closes out her run on "The Next Generation" by defecting from Starfleet to join the human and Bajoran resistance group called the Maquis. 

Now, Ro has returned as a Commander in Starfleet Intelligence, and she arrives on the Titan to interrogate Picard about his effort to commandeer the ship to pursue his agenda. This gives Ro and Picard the opportunity to resolve the tension created by their unpleasant parting in "Preemptive Strike" and puts a bow on Ro's canonical "Star Trek" tenure. With her death in this episode, it now appears that we've really seen the last of Ro Laren after a 29-year hiatus.

However, that doesn't mean that Michelle Forbes hasn't set foot on the deck of a starship in all of that time. The last time sci-fi fans saw Forbes don a scowl and a spacesuit was on "Battlestar Galactica," where she guest-starred as Admiral Helena Cain. Just like in "Picard," Forbes' character challenges the authority of that show's commander and patriarch. It didn't work out great for her on that show, either.

The 12 Monkeys cast rules M'Talas Prime

"Imposter" introduces another of the crime lords of the planet M'Talas Prime, a Vulcan gangster named Krinn. Krinn is a close associate of the Ferengi baddie Sneed, who was played by Aaron Stanford — the star of "Picard" showrunner Terry Matalas' previous show, "12 Monkeys" There, Stanford played time-traveling protagonist James Cole. Appropriately, Krinn is also played by another actor from "12 Monkeys," Kirk Acevedo, who played apocalypse survivor José Ramse. The relationship between Sneed and Krinn closely parallels the friendship shared between Cole and Ramse. Both sets of characters grew up together in hostile environments, the mean streets of M'Tala Prime's District Seven and the plague-ravaged future United States, respectively.

It wouldn't be surprising if all of the most prominent figures on M'Talas Prime turn out to be buddies with the planet's namesake. It would certainly underline the joke if co-stars Amanda Schull, Emily Hampshire, or Barbara Sukowa turned up as members of this bizarre interspecies crime family by the time the season comes to a close.

Further "12 Monkeys" alums working on this season of "Star Trek: Picard" include composer Stephen Barton, actor Tiffany Shepis as the Titan's Dr. Ahk, and of course, Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw.

Daystrom Station's Easter egg collection is unmatched

"The Bounty" sees Captain Riker, Commander Musiker, and Worf sneak through the vault at Daystrom Station, hoping to learn what the Changelings were really after when they burgled the facility before the start of the season. As they search the secret archive of spooky technology, they pass by several displays containing artifacts from throughout the history of the "Star Trek" franchise.

The label of the first display we see is too blurry to identify for certain, but it appears to be a Thalaron weapon like the one used by Shinzon in "Star Trek: Nemesis." The rest of the artifacts, however, are clearly labeled for the audience. There's the "Genesis II Device," apparently an upgraded version of the planet-changing machine from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," as well as the body of James T. Kirk, recovered from Veridian III after his burial in "Star Trek Generations." We also see a Borg Vinculum, the device that processes the thoughts of assimilated drones as originally seen on "Star Trek: Voyager," and a genetically modified Tribble .

While no specific items from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" are seen aboard the station, it's not entirely left out of the fun. The collection itself is curated by Section 31, the amoral covert ops organization introduced in Season 6 of "Deep Space Nine." Section 31 also plays a role in the backstory for this season of "Picard," having created the deadly virus that crippled the Changelings and forced an end to the Dominion War. This atrocity is doubtlessly to blame, at least in part, for the fury of the Changeling faction that currently terrorizes the Federation.

Data's presence on Daystrom Station is apparent from the beginning

Towards the end of "The Bounty," the audience learns that the advanced artificial intelligence which guards the vaults of Daystrom Station is, in fact, a new synthetic android that houses the restored memories of Data, his siblings Lore, B-4, and Alton Soong, and his daughter Lal. However, the clues as to the AI's identity are laid almost from the moment Riker, Raffi, and Worf arrive at the station. When Worf swaps out the computer's security key with the hacked copy he acquired on M'Talas Prime, the computer says "Thank you" in a number of different voices. The first of these voices is that of Data himself.

The rest of the clues are sussed out by Riker throughout the adventure. A holographic crow appears in a corridor, which is an echo of one of Data's dreams from "The Next Generation" episode "Birthright." Later, the team is confronted by Professor Moriarty, a fictional character who became a sentient life form when the computer attempted to create a worthy adversary for Data in his Sherlock Holmes holodeck program in "Elementary, Dear Data." 

There are also a few audio cues. The sound of a violin — Data's primary musical instrument — begins echoing throughout the station, and when Riker recognizes that it's playing excerpts from "Pop Goes the Weasel," he flashes back to his first meeting with Data in "Encounter at Farpoint," when Data is struggling to whistle that very tune. Riker previously recalled Data's whistling at the android's wake in "Star Trek: Nemesis" but couldn't remember what song Data was attempting. Thankfully, this adventure jogged his memory.

The fleet museum hides one particularly important starship

While on the run from the Changeling-infiltrated Starfleet and looking for a way to rescue the away team from Daystrom Station, the USS Titan pays a visit to the fleet museum, the final resting place of many legendary vessels. In addition to the ships that get a shout-out — the Defiant, the Enterprise-A, Voyager, and the HMS Bounty — there are also a few other ships visible around the perimeter of the old spacedock. Eagle-eyed viewers will make out two examples of the fan-favorite Akira-class from "Star Trek: First Contact," a Nebula-class ship originating from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," an old-style Romulan Bird-of-Prey from "Star Trek: The Original Series," and a Klingon Battle Cruiser as seen in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."

However, one noteworthy ship is visible only in a few shots and never gets a close-up: the Enterprise NX-01, from "Star Trek: Enterprise," which is parked behind the Klingon Battle Cruiser. We get a decent look at it during the montage that plays under Altan Soong's personal log, and from there we can see that the NX-01 has received a refit since its last appearance on "Enterprise," with the addition of a familiar drive section like the one found on the Constitution-class. 

This refit never made it to "Enterprise," but it has been seen in books and merchandise . Young Jean-Luc Picard even has a model of the refit on display during a flashback in "Picard" Season 2 . This would seem to confirm that this refit did, in fact, occur in canon. Hopefully, we'll get a better look at the updated NX-01 during the Frontier Day parade.

Mica Burton's casting isn't The Bounty's only backstage nod

All season long, we've been following the adventures of Ensign Sidney La Forge, daughter of the famous engineer Geordi La Forge. Sydney is portrayed by Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, a newcomer to the "Star Trek" family. "The Bounty" brings LeVar Burton back to reprise the role of Geordi, who is now a Starfleet Commodore and the curator of the fleet museum. Geordi brings along another familiar face: Sidney's sister, Alandra, portrayed by Burton's real-life daughter, Mica Burton.

This, however, isn't the only backstage bonus that this episode has to offer. When the Daystrom Institute AI (which we later learn is Data) scans Will Riker's face, we see his service record appear on our screen. This confirms some apocrypha from official reference materials (like Riker's mother's name, Betty), and also gives us Riker's birthday — August 19th, the same as actor Jonathan Frakes.

The names of the two Starfleet vessels dispatched to pursue the Titan are also tributes to behind-the-scenes figures from the show's art department. One is the USS Sternbach, almost certainly named for artist  Rick Sternbach , designer of countless starships during "The Next Generation" era. The other is the USS Cole, likely named for Lee Cole, an art director and graphic designer who helped define the interior aesthetic of "The Original Series" film era. She worked on the aborted "Star Trek: Phase II" series before joining the production teams of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

The Chin'toka System is a battleground of the Dominion War

At the start of "Dominion," the Titan is hiding in a scrapyard in the Chin'toka System. Located at the edge of Cardassian space, Chin'toka is the site of two pivotal battles in the Dominion War, as seen in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." In the episode, "Tears of the Prophets," Captain Benjamin Sisko and the crew of the USS Defiant led the allied Federation, Klingon, and Romulan fleets in a successful invasion of Chin'toka, winning the allies their first offensive victory of the war (sadly, while Lt. Commander Worf was aboard the Defiant in this battle, his wife Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax, was back on DS9, where she was murdered by Gul Dukat).

The Dominion wouldn't be on their back foot for long, however, and the following year, in "The Changing Face of Evil," they would retake the system with the aid of their new members, the Breen. The Second Battle of Chin'toka was a devastating defeat for the allies. Using their deadly energy-dampening weapons, the Breen tore through the Federation and Romulan forces, including the USS Defiant, whose wreckage can be seen floating in the window of the Titan's conference lounge. Also visible in the scrapyard are the remains of a massive Jem'Hadar warship.

Speaking of junked ships, the Vulcan wreckage against whom the USS Titan stages the aftermath of a fictional battle is a design first seen in "Star Trek: Discovery," in an episode set nearly 150 years earlier. This was likely done to spare the "Picard" effects team from having to build a brand new CGI model for a handful of shots.

Seven of Nine tests Captain Tuvok's authenticity

In an effort to find someone in Starfleet she can trust with intelligence about the Changeling's plot to attack the Frontier Day ceremony, Seven of Nine reaches out to Captain Tuvok, her old shipmate aboard the USS Voyager. During this conversation, she attempts to trip up a potential imposter using leading questions and misinformation, knowing that only the real Tuvok will be able to parse her meaning. First, she feels reassured when Tuvok mentions that she used to routinely defeat him in the Vulcan game kal-toh. Her assertion that only Tuvok would remember their games of kal-toh is a bit of a stretch, as the two played at least once in the Voyager mess hall in full view of the crew. It's possible that this was also a checkpoint Seven's test, a point at which she could feign total trust and lull a possible imposter into a false sense of security.

However, when she suggests meeting at a planet disavowed by Vulcans, she realizes that she's actually talking to a Changeling infiltrator. Seven also deliberately misidentifies this planet as the place where her neural patterns were stabilized, while that actually occurred on "Voyager" in the episode, "Infinite Regress." This is the second reference to "Infinite Regress" this season, the first being the Borg Viniculum stored aboard Daystrom Station in "The Bounty."

Tim Russ's appearance in "Dominion" isn't actually the first we've seen of Tuvok since Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant. He also makes a wordless, animated cameo in an episode of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," "Grounded," in which we learn of his involvement in a secret operation to exonerate Captain Carol Freeman of destroying Pakled Planet. This episode is set two decades before "Picard," and presumably features the real Tuvok.

Troi learns to take some of her own advice from The Next Generation

While Counselor Deanna Troi and her husband Captain William Riker are imprisoned together aboard Captain Vadic's ship, the Shrike, they reflect on the way they've each handled the death of their son, Thad. We first learned of the tragic loss of their firstborn in "Nepenthe," a first season episode of "Star Trek: Picard." Since then, their marriage has hit the rocks, and in Season 3's "Surrender," we learn a bit more about their difficulties. Managing grief is hard enough for two human parents, but it's tougher still when one parent is a half-Betazoid with empathic abilities, meaning that she feels both her own grief and her husband's. In an effort to ease the process, Deanna apparently uses her abilities to siphon off some of Will's pain. This led to a period of separation.

When conversing about this conflict, Deanna realizes that she's broken what she calls the first rule of being a therapist: "You can't skip to the end of grief." This is something we actually see her working on with one of her patients in an episode of "The Next Generation," "The Loss." Here, we sit in on Counselor Troi's therapy sessions with Ensign Brooks, who recently lost her husband and is in denial about her own pain. Over the course of the episode, we see Troi pull Brooks out of her false sense of contentment and truly feel what's happened to her. Only then can Brooks truly heal. Now, it seems that Deanna's going through the same sort of struggle, and she has had to learn this lesson for herself.

Data's computational speed has been upgraded

In "Surrender," the Changelings led by Captain Vadic have hijacked the USS Titan, locking the crew out of the ship's command functions. Only a few of our main characters have eluded capture, and they are struggling to find a way to retake the bridge. While brainstorming a solution, Ensign Sydney La Forge mentions that breaking Vadic's lockout codes would require a processor with a capacity of more than 90 trillion operations per second. Picard's eyes light up at this, as he recalls that the new synthetic golem containing Data, Lore, and all their Soong-type android siblings is currently lying dormant in one of the ship's science labs.

This heavily implies that Data's current processing power is at least 90 trillion operations per second, and considering how quickly and totally he seizes control of the Titan's computer, it may be much more than that. This is a serious upgrade from his previous stated computational speed. In the "TNG" episode "The Measure of a Man," Data is said to be able to perform 60 trillion operations per second. That means his new positronic brain is at least 33% faster than the one in his old body.

It's worth noting, however, that the storytellers in both that 1989 episode and this one from 2023 have likely underestimated the processing power of a cutting-edge android being from the distant future. Bear in mind that the 16-core Neural Engine found in current Apple computers can perform 15.8 trillion operations per second. Surely the legendary Lt. Commander Data should be more than six times smarter than your Mac?

Data's memories are represented by familiar props from The Next Generation

Commodore Geordi La Forge reactivates the new Data and deactivates the partition between his different personalities in the hope that his friend Data will win out over his malevolent brother Lore, with whom he currently shares a brain. Data is a gentle soul and has no interest in destroying Lore, whereas Lore is only too eager to take his brother apart piece by piece. Data realizes that he can use this to his advantage and wilfully offers up his memories for Lore to steal. As Lore gobbles up aspects of Data's life, he unknowingly becomes Data, allowing the two personalities to fuse into a single being who has Data's wisdom and kindness as well as Lore's capacity for emotion and whimsy.

We see this struggle take place inside the new android's head, as Data manifests his memories in the form of recognizable props from "The Next Generation." First, we see the hat and pipe from his Sherlock Holmes costume, which he first wore in the episode "Elementary, Dear Data." He also summons a small holographic statue of the late Lt. Tasha Yar, with whom Data had a brief intimate relationship in the episode "The Naked Now." This memorial hologram was first seen in "The Measure of a Man," and later in "The Most Toys."

Finally, Data offers up his cat Spot as a representation of his capacity to love. Longtime fans may chuckle to hear Spot referred to as a "he," as the cat's sex inexplicably changed from male to female during "TNG" Season 7. Spot is now a boy cat again — at least in Data's memory.

The Frontier Day fleet includes some familiar names

Season 3's penultimate episode, "VÕX," shows us the long-advertised Frontier Day ceremony in which the entire active Starfleet assembles for a single demonstration over Earth. Naturally, this calls for the cast of "Picard" standing in front of a big map so that fans can pause the show and take note of as many of the involved starships as possible. We even get an extended shot of just the fleet map. Director and showrunner Terry Matalas certainly knows his audience.

None of the assembled ships are old enough to have appeared on earlier "Star Trek" series, but a few of them have been featured in previous armada scenes in Seasons 1 and 2. These include the USS Zheng He, which Captain Riker commands in the standoff with the Romulans in "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2." Most of the fleet that investigates the anomaly in "The Star Gazer" is present here, including the Gilgamesh, Sutherland, Ibn al-Haytham, and the new Excelsior.

Some of the ships are also named for prominent figures in the history of "Star Trek" special effects and production design. The USS Okuda, which also appears in "The Star Gazer," is certainly named for production designers and authors of multiple "Star Trek" reference books, Michael and Denise Okuda . The USS Drexler pays homage to the longtime "Star Trek" ship designer Doug Drexler, while the USS Trumbull likely pays tribute to the late Douglas Trumbull, a pioneer in special effects who passed away in 2022.

We've also got ships named for important figures in "Star Trek" history, like the USS Cochrane (for warp drive inventor Zefram), the USS John Kelly (an astronaut from the "Voyager" episode "One Small Step"), and the USS Hikaru Sulu,  who needs no introduction.

Fan-favorite guest star Shelby's first name is finally canon

"VÕX" features a surprise appearance by Elizabeth Dennehy as Shelby, a beloved guest star from "The Next Generation" two-parter "The Best of Both Worlds." In that episode, Shelby joins the crew of the Enterprise-D to confront the Borg threat, even becoming the ship's new first officer after Captain Picard is captured by the Borg. Though Shelby's role in the two-parter is memorable, she never appears on the series again. Her only other canonical appearance is a cameo in the animated series "Star Trek: Lower Decks," by which time she has been promoted to captain.

While she remained unused on television for decades, Shelby became a main character in "Star Trek: New Frontier," a long-running series of novels by Peter David and John Ordover. In the novels, she receives a first name, Elizabeth (after Dennehy) and is eventually promoted to the rank of admiral.

"VÕX" makes a point of establishing Shelby's name and rank as canon, even placing her in command of the USS Enterprise-F during the Frontier Day ceremony.

Shelby gives the events of this season an exact Earth date

In the future of "Star Trek," Federation starships aren't in the habit of measuring time by the same calendar that the viewers use at home. Sure, they still use the same minutes, hours, and years — but when someone asks what day it is, a Starfleet officer is bound to respond with something like, "Stardate 47988." Over the years, fans have engineered ways to roughly translate this into Earth dates, but this isn't an exact science. Every once in a while, however, circumstances provide us with the tools we need to pin the events of a given episode to an exact date on our calendar.

We've known all along that Season 3 of "Picard" is set in the year 2401, as confirmed by showrunner Terry Matalas in interviews. It's also implied by nature of the Frontier Day festivities, celebrating the 250th anniversary of Starfleet, since the maiden voyage of the Enterprise (NX-01) began in 2151. In "VÕX," Admiral Shelby gets even more specific and notes that the NX-01's mission began "250 years ago today." Luckily for us, that launch predates the transition to the stardate calendar, so thanks to Captain Archer's log entry from "Broken Bow," the first episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise," we know that this episode of "Picard" takes place on April 16th. Funnily enough, that's only three days after the episode itself debuted, on April 13th, albeit in the year 2023.

The cast of VÕX includes some familiar voices

Several "Star Trek" alumni make their return in this episode exclusively in voice over. Most prominently, Alice Krige, who originated  the Borg Queen in "Star Trek: First Contact" and reprised it in the series finale of "Star Trek: Voyager" is back to provide the voice of the Borg Queen during her confrontation with Jack Crusher. Krige succeeds actor Annie Wersching, who portrayed the queen in Season 2 of "Picard." Wersching died of cancer in January of 2023 at the age of 45, and this season's premiere was dedicated in her memory.

The late Majel Barrett can also be heard in this episode reprising the role of the Enterprise-D computer via clips of archival audio. Barrett portrayed the default voice of the Starfleet computer across a plethora of "Star Trek" series, films, and video games, and fan works from 1966 until her death in 2008. She also originated the roles of Nurse Christine Chapel and Number One on "The Original Series," both of whom are now regular characters on "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." She might be best remembered as Lwaxana Troi, Deanna's mother, on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and as the wife of series creator Gene Roddenberry.

Finally, the voice of Captain Benbassat of the ill-fated USS Excelsior is provided by prolific voice actor Nolan North, who has played multiple characters on "Star Trek: Lower Decks." He's best known as the voice of Nathan Drake in the "Uncharted" video game series.

Worf destroyed the Enterprise-E off-screen

Since the entire modern Starfleet has been hijacked by the Borg, Picard and his old crew are forced to flee to the fleet museum and bring an old starship out of mothballs to confront them. As luck would have it, Commodore Geordi La Forge has been secretly reconstructing the USS Enterprise-D, on which he and his surrogate family served during "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Obviously, the real reason why Picard's crew will be riding into battle aboard the Enterprise-D and not the more advanced Enterprise-E is because, by and large, the viewing audience doesn't have as much nostalgia for the dimly lit, battle-hardened E as they do for the cozy and familiar D. The characters do, however, offer a funny in-universe explanation.

While en route to the Enterprise-D in Spacedock, Geordi mentions that it's a shame that they're unable to use the Enterprise-E, after which everyone side-eyes Worf. "That was not my fault," says Worf, implying that he is somehow responsible for the loss of Picard's second Enterprise. This actually lines up with some backstory provided in a "Star Trek: Picard" tie-in novel, "The Last Best Hope" by Una McCormack. There, we learn that Picard chooses Worf to succeed him as captain of the Enterprise-E after his promotion to admiral. The exchange in "VÕX" implies that this is canon, and that Worf's tenure as captain of the Enterprise had an explosive conclusion. In the Enterprise's Star Trek: Picard Log on Instagram , the ship's final mission is listed as "CLASSIFIED."

President Chekov's warning is its own basket of Easter eggs

The series finale, "The Last Generation," opens with the crew of the refurbished Enterprise-D listening to an audio distress call sent by the President of the United Federation of Planets, Anton Chekov, voiced by original "Star Trek" cast member Walter Koenig. Koenig's casting, along with a reference to his father, implies that President Chekov is the son of Commander Pavel Chekov, former navigator and weapons officer of the Enterprise under James T. Kirk. Chekov says that his father was fond of saying, "There are always possibilities," a phrase favored by Pavel Chekov's shipmate Spock. President Chekov shares his first name, Anton, with late actor Anton Yelchin, who portrayed Pavel Chekov in the rebooted "Star Trek" film trilogy. Yelchin was killed in an accident in 2016.

The text of President Chekov's message also closely resembles one sent by a previous Federation President in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," when the Earth is under attack by a strange alien probe. Both messages include the phrases "Do not approach Earth" and "Save yourselves ... Farewell." In both "The Voyage Home" and "The Last Generation," our heroes are fugitives from Starfleet who must return to Earth in a stolen vessel to prevent a global disaster.

While playing the audio message, the text on the Enterprise-D's view screen mentions General Order 12, a Starfleet directive mentioned in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" that requires that vessels go to red alert when any vessel approaches without first establishing communications. Also noted are Starfleet Order 104, which requires that commanding officers exhibiting strange behavior be relieved of duty, and Regulation 19, Section C, which allows another officer to take command in an emergency.

Raffi invents the portable transporter (unless she didn't)

To retake the bridge of the USS Titan from the assimilated junior officers, Seven, Raffi, and a few other grown-ups rig phasers with transporter technology in order to instantly beam anyone they shoot into the secured transporter room. The plan works, allowing them to capture their Borgified shipmates without harming them. Impressed with the ingenuity of Raffi's new weapons, Seven tells her that she "may have just invented the portable beam-me-up." This particular use of transporter technology is, in fact, something new for "Star Trek," but it's not the first time we've seen portable transporter technology or the use of a transporter as a weapon.

On "Star Trek: Voyager," the Vidiians use weapons similar to Raffi's new rifles, which fire a phaser-like beam at their targets that transports individual organs out of their victims. Voyager's cook, Neelix, falls victim to one of these weapons in the episode "Phage" when a Vidiian makes off with both of his lungs. (In fairness, this happens years before Seven joins the Voyager crew.) Similarly, in "Star Trek: Insurrection," the Son'a employ drones that fire small transporter tags, beaming whatever they hit up into holding cells aboard their ship. Raffi's rifles seem to be an evolution of this technology, as they do not appear to require any kind of projectile to lock onto a target.

Seven's reference to a portable transporter might actually be a call-forward to a technology that we know to be commonplace in the distant future of Starfleet. In later seasons of "Star Trek: Discovery," set over 600 years after "Picard," tiny transporters become integrated into Starfleet badges, allowing officers to instantly beam between any two points.

The finale contains many small nods to Treks past, and some big ones

"The Last Generation" contains a handful of smaller nods to other "Star Trek" films and episodes, including some direct visual references. When Captain Picard plugs back into the Borg Collective, we're treated to some footage from the prologue of "Star Trek: First Contact," showing images from his original assimilation.

The shot towards the end of the episode of the Enterprise-D and the Titan-A flying side by side framed against Earth's sunrise is evocative of a similar shot towards the end of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," in which the Enterprise-A and the Excelsior fly one final time together before parting ways. The rechristening of the USS Titan as the new Enterprise parallels a reveal in "Star Trek IV," when the USS Yorktown is renamed the Enterprise-A in tribute to Kirk and his crew. Both of these reveals take place in Spacedock, as the captain of the old Enterprise approaches via shuttle.

In the final scene of the series, Worf mentions that he will be teaching a seminar about "mugato meditation." A mugato (sometimes called a mugatu), is a giant horned ape creature seen in the "Original Series" episode "A Private Little War." When asked to propose a toast, Data breaks into a saucy limerick that he once tried to recite in the Season 1 "TNG" episode "The Naked Now." Just like last time, he is interrupted before he can finish.

Finally, we close on the crew playing poker, like in the "TNG "finale "All Good Things..." and the final shot of the series under credits is patterned closely after the final shot of "The Next Generation," right down to the rotation of the camera over the poker table as Picard deals.

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Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Proves There Is Such Thing As Too Many Easter Eggs

This post contains  spoilers   for episode 6, season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard."

The most recent season of "Star Trek: Picard" initially sold itself as essentially a reunion special. Early trailers boasted that most of the main cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" would return, including Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner (even though Data had died several times over). While some Trekkies may have been excited about the promise of a reunion, other more cautiously pessimistic fans could immediately envision a plodding nostalgia-fest wherein characters do nothing but repeat old lines of dialogue, walk around on old sets, and become weepy over the tricorders they used several decades prior. 

Quite mercifully, in the new season's first five episodes, the nostalgia has been relegated to a mere steady drip. The "Next Generation" characters have been introduced slowly, making the reunions more organic. Additionally, they have all been allowed to grow up a little since audiences last saw them in "Star Trek: Nemesis," making the relationships strained rather than warm. This has made for better drama and better storytelling in general. Even when Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) was brought back in episode five, it was handled with tact rather than nostalgia. It was fitting that Picard (Patrick Stewart) kind of hated her now. When the Changelings from "Deep Space Nine" were re-introduced, it was more mysterious than exploitative.

Episode six, however — called "The Bounty" — seems to have collapsed under its own restraint. "The Bounty" goes full-bore nostalgia, throwing in dozens of Easter eggs, cameos, and old-world "Star Trek" ships included for no other reason than for Trekkies to point in recognition. Frankly, it's embarrassing. 

The Easter eggs museum

At this point in the series, Worf (Dorn), Riker (Frakes), Crusher (McFadden), Picard, and Geordi La Forge (Burton) have all reunited thanks to the dictates of the season's plot. Worf and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) have been investigating who stole a particularly dangerous piece of technology from the Daystrom space station. That station happens to be located next to Earth and right by a well-regarded Starfleet ship museum. La Forge has become the curator and maintainer of said museum, allowing him to enter the story. While Worf, Riker, and Raffi break into the Daystrom station, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) stay on board the U.S.S. Titan and look out over the ships in the museum. 

A painful amount of time is spent looking at the ships. Seven scrolls through a database, and she and Jack comment on each of the ships that come up. Each ship comes with its own musical quotation from the series or movie in which it appeared. The U.S.S. Defiant gets a few strains of Dennis McCarthy's theme song. The Voyager gets the same from Jerry Goldsmith. Seven wistfully recalls it at the place where she was reborn. Jack looks at the Enterprise-A, last seen in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,"  and declares himself to be "a Constitution-class man." Even the H.M.S. Bounty, the Klingon ship used in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" appears, and it is implied that its still-working cloaking device may come in handy. 

Each musical cue elicits nostalgic mistiness as well as bitter resentment. Trekkies do love canon references and have a sci-fi machine fetish — we practically invented the practices — but this kind of wallowing in the past is self-indulgent, even for a series called "Star Trek: Picard." 

The Easter egg institute

Even a moment's thought might have Trekkies questioning the very need for a starship museum. While it may be historically valuable to retain a few ships for their significance, I personally always got the impression that Starfleet vessels were recycled. Some of these ships are enormous, and the actual raw materials needed to make them can't be infinite. As such, surely the Utopia Planitia shipyards would constantly be receiving decommissioned ships to salvage for parts. Also, on "Picard," the ships appear to be constantly powered up, their lights shining through their windows and their warp engines lit. Are the ships always powered up and ready to go? Is life support on? Why use all that power to keep a century-old ship flight ready when there's no crew to operate it and no missions for it to go on? In light of these admittedly nerdy questions, the whole ship museum sequence emerges as gross pandering. 

Also pandering are the scenes on board the Daystrom station. It was established in the previous episode that Daystrom station is protected by an artificially intelligent security system that, as it turns out, adapts itself to the people breaking on board. When the station sees Worf and Riker sneaking inside, it initiated a security hologram program that resurrects the Sherlock Holmes villain Moriarty (Daniel Davis). This is a reference to two "Next Generation" episodes wherein the Enterprise accidentally created a sentient holodeck character that, in one instance, tried to take over the ship. There is no real reason for the character to appear on Daystrom station other than that Riker — and the audience — might recognize him.

The joy of reference

While Riker, Worf, and Raffi are sneaking around the institute, they creep past any number of Easter eggs and references, passing lockers containing, say, the remains of Capt. Kirk, salvaged from the Veridian system. Worf finds a locker with a tribble in it, despite a story he told on "Deep Space Nine" where the Klingons destroyed the tribble homeworld. "Picard" is implying that every artifact from "Star Trek" has been stored here. The references and the corresponding theme music are insufferable, and they introduce strange new wrinkles into "Star Trek" lore. Why, for instance, keep a tribble in a space station? Either it's too dangerous to proliferate, or it's an extinct species that can be resurrected. Having one squirreled away in a remote secret locker doesn't help anyone. 

I want to state openly, however, that the references on "Picard" are of a different flavor than the many, many references one might find on any average episode of "Star Trek: Lower Decks,"  the animated series. It's notable that "Lower Decks" is a comedy series that plays openly with the usual formalism seen throughout "Star Trek." The characters are all ensigns, often called upon to do the most undignified jobs on a starship that has little to no prestige in the Federation. When massive elements of extant Trek lore appear on "Lower Decks," it serves as a comedic juxtaposition of the characters' smallness. Fans recognize it, but then the characters run past it, and we all have a hearty chuckle. 

"Picard" has no such humor, hanging its references with sticky, undue reverence. Just because a character, a ship, or a piece of technology is important to us the viewers, doesn't mean the characters would treat it the same. Trekkies can smell inorganic references a mile away.

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‘Star Trek Picard’ Season 3: All the Easter Eggs, From the Fleet Museum to Daystrom Station

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“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3 is finally here and boy, is it a trip down memory lane.

This season, touted as the “final voyage,” reunites Jean-Luc Picard with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise .

Their adventures were chronicled in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which ran for seven seasons from 1987 to 1994. The last time the cast shared the screen was in the 2002 feature film “Star Trek: Nemesis.”

The newest season of “Picard” picks up some 20+ years later, with Picard (Patrick Stewart) assembling his old crew to save one of their own.

Also Read: ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3 Cast and Character Guide (Photos)

Each week, we’ll break down the easter eggs and “Trek” reference from the latest episode. Of course, spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution.

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3, Episode 1 Easter Eggs

Warning: spoilers ahead.

The very title of this episode, “The Next Generation,” is an homage to the show that introduced us to the U.S.S. Enterprise D, its captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew.

The episode opens on the Eleos, an aide vessel captained by Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), the former chief medical officer of the Enterprise. The camera pans through her personal items, including theater masks (Crusher formed a theater troupe on board the Enterprise and taught acting), orchids (her favorite flowers which she was seen tending in one episode) and a storage locker belonging to Lt. Jack Crusher (her first husband who was killed while serving under Picard). There’s also a glass filled with a blue liquor — unmistakably Romulan ale.

Beverly is replaying Picard’s log during an encounter with the Borg, in which the Enterprise hid in a nebula. Beverly is hiding the Eleos near a nebula.

The next scene features Picard at his family winery in France. In the distance, you can hear a dog barking, likely his pet pitbull “Number One.” He is looking at a painting of the Enterprise-D. His companion, Laris, says “The first love is always the sweetest.” Picard replies “Well, she wasn’t the first, but she was definitely my favorite.” Picard’s first command was the U.S.S. Stargazer, the same ship Jack Crusher served on.

Picard tells an assistant to give the painting to Geordi, the first mention of Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), the Enterprise’s chief engineer and now head of Starfleet’s fleet museum.

Picard looks at more memorabilia at his desk, which include a Bajoran award. He picks up a Ressikan flute, a memento of the time he lived the life of a man named Kamin on the dead planet Kataan. The story of Kamin is told in the Season 5 episode of “The Next Generation” titled “The Inner Light.”

That evening, Picard receives an encoded message from Beverly Crusher. He’s alerted by the trill from his old Enterprise communications badge. It’s located in a box along with his red and black command uniform from the Enterprise.

Picard meets up with his old friend/former first officer Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) at a bar. The bartender offers up miniatures of the Enterprise-D, which she calls “fat ones.” This is an inside joke for Trek fans; the Enterprise-D saucer was unusually oblong and large; later models were more streamlined.

Riker reveals he is spending time apart from his wife Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), the former Enterprise counselor, and their daughter Kestra. Kestra is also the name of Deanna’s deceased sister, whose death was explored in the Season 7 episode of “The Next Generation” titled “Dark Page.”

Picard shares the codeword “hellbird” with Riker. Riker explains that it was a term used when Picard was “incapacitated.” He’s referring to when Picard was assimilated by the Borg in the Season 3 finale of “The Next Generation” titled “The Best of Both Worlds.” The Borg gained all of Picard’s memories, so the crew had to devise a new system.

To track down Crusher, Riker and Picard go aboard the U.S.S. Titan, Riker’s command after leaving the Enterprise. The ship has undergone a “Neo-Constitution refit.” The Constitution class is one of the most popular in Trek lore; the original Enterprise itself was a Constitution-class starship.

The first officer aboard the Titan is none other than Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), another human who was assimilated by the Borg and rescued in the “Star Trek: Voyager” episode “Scorpion.” Seven became Picard’s ally during Season 1 of “Picard” where they helped root out Romulan spies.

Seven introduces herself as Annika Hansen. Her commanding officer, Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) has instructed Seven to use her human name rather than her Borg designation.

Seven was given a field commission by Picard, but officially joined Starfleet upon the advice of Picard and Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Janeway was the captain of the U.S.S. Voyager that rescued Seven.

Seven invites Picard and Riker to the bridge, where they meet a smiling helmsman, ensign Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). Sidney is Geordi’s eldest daughter. Riker embarrasses her by bringing up her nickname from Starfleet Academy — “Crash” La Forge — after she crashed a shuttle … twice.

A quick pan around the Titan bridge reveals a Bajoran tactical officer, a Haiilian communications officer (with little hair) and a Vulcan science officer (with no hair). Bald crewmen (or crewwomen in this case) have had a special place in “Trek” lore, dating back to Lt. Ilia (Persis Khambatta) from “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.” Other bald crewmembers include Lt. Airiam (Hannah Cheesman) from “Star Trek: Discovery,” Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and, of course, Picard.

Showrunner Terry Matalas identified the Vulcan science officer as Lt. T’Veen. The actor who plays T’Veen, Stephanie Czajkowski, is a cancer survivor who kept her head shaved or short.

As the Titan leaves spacedock, Seven tells the crew to set speed to “maximum warp.” Picard asks if she should give Engineering a heads-up before doing so, but Seven tells Picard there’s no need; it’s all automated now. During “The Next Generation,” Picard would often have to inform La Forge that he was going to push the limits of the Enterprises’ engines, despite the chief engineer’s concerns.

Captain Shaw is not impressed by Picard or Riker, choosing to not greet them upon arrival and starting dinner before they arrive. Actor Todd Stashwick is not new to the “Trek” universe; he played Torak in the Season 4 episode of “Star Trek: Enterprise” titled “Kir’Shara.”

Shaw tells Riker he had to purge the “bebop” files when he took command of Titan. Riker is a jazz lover and was shown to play the trombone in several episodes of “The Next Generation.” Shaw says he prefers “structure.” The music playing he’s playing in the background is a piano concerto by Chopin — classical music for a by-the-books captain.

The “steak” Shaw is eating is blue — and we don’t mean undercooked. We don’t know the significance behind that but we wanted to point it out!

In a secondary storyline, Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) is working undercover to discover what happened to experimental weapons stolen from the Daystrom Institute. An informant gives her the clue “Red Lady” which she discovers is a red statue of Captain Rachel Garrett that will be dedicated at a Starfleet recruiting center. Garrett was the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise C, whose fate was explored in the Season 3 “The Next Generation” episode titled “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”

Riker and Picard make their way aboard the Eleos. While exploring the ship, Riker calls Picard “Captain” and then apologizes, saying “old habits.” Picard later refers to Riker as “Number One” — the way they referred to each other during their Enterprise days.

Riker is ambushed by an assailant (Ed Speleers) but manages to get the upper hand. When asked by Picard what his relationship is to Crusher, he responds “her son.” So far, the only son Crusher is known to have is Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who lived and served aboard the Enterprise-D.

The credits are filled with easter eggs themselves that will be revealed as the season progresses. The only one that is applicable right now is that display of the Shrike, the giant warship hunting the Eleos.

Also Read: Who Is Vadic in ‘Star Trek Picard’? Everything We Know About the Villainous Big Bad

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3, Episode 2 Easter Eggs

We finally get the full name of Ed Speleers character — Jack Crusher. He’s named after his stepfather, Jack R. Crusher. We do a deep dive into the younger Crusher here .

Among the Eleos’ supplies is a bottle of blue Romulan ale, one of the galaxy’s most inebriating liquors. In Episode 1, Beverly has a glass next to her bed.

The Shrike opens fire on the Eleos, destroying the shuttle Picard and Riker flew over on. The debris reveals the shuttle’s name — Saavik. Saavik was a Vulcan officer who served aboard the Enterprise-A. She was played by the late Kirstie Alley and later by Robin Curtis.

The Titan comes to the Eleos’ rescue and attempts to transport Picard, Riker and the Crushers aboard. However, the signal is blocked due to transport inhibitors Picard setup around the bridge. Realizing what he’s done, Picard takes out a phaser and destroys the inhibitors with surprising speed and accuracy, much to Jack’s astonishment. This is a subtle reminder that Picard is in a synthetic body with potentially better reflexes.

Back on M’Talas Prime, Raffi meets up with her ex-husband, Jae Hwang (Randy Goodwin). Viewers previously met their son, Gabe (Mason Gooding), back in Season 1. In the Season 3 opener, Raffi gets emotional while looking at a photo of their granddaughter.

Picard, Riker and Jack make their way to the Titan bridge, where they’re scolded by Capt. Shaw. At one point, Ensign Esmar (Jin Maley), the communication officer, calls out “Captain!” Shaw, Riker (who once commanded the Titan) and Picard all respond in unison, “What?”

Capt. Vadic (Amanda Plummer) has dossiers on all the officers. She hints that Shaw has psychological problems. She also somehow knows that Picard is not human, saying “Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, in the synthetic flesh.”

Jack Crusher has many aliases, among which is “James Cole.” James Cole is a character from “12 Monkeys,” the show that “Picard” showrunner Terry Matalas previously produced.

While deep undercover, Raffi meets the Ferengi broker Sneed. Sneed is played by Aaron Stanford, who played James Cole on “12 Monkeys.” Of course, he’s barely unrecognizable under all those prosthetics.

Sneed tries to break Raffi using the synthetic narcotic Splinter, which is administered via the eye. Given Raffi’s history of substance abuse, she is able to partially withstand its effects. Splinter is name of the technology used in “12 Monkeys.”

Todd Stashwick, who plays Captain Shaw, ALSO appeared on “12 Monkeys.”

Raffi’s handler is revealed to be non-other than Worf (Michael Dorn). Worf rescues Raffi by slicing and dicing his way through Sneed’s goons. The Romulan thug has green blood while Sneed’s Ferengi blood is yellow.

Jack is about to turn himself over to Vadic when Beverly appears on the bridge of the Titan. She has a wordless exchange but it’s enough for Picard to confirm that Jack indeed is his son.

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3, Episode 3 Easter Eggs

The episode opens with the Shrike hot on the Titan’s tail. Shaw orders the Titan to delve deeper into the nebula in an attempt to shake the Shrike. It’s an evasion maneuver seen in many Trek shows and films, notably “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”

After the opening credits, a graphic appears that reads “Before.” The scene opens with a digitally de-aged Picard and Riker. They’re older than they were on the Enterprise but younger than the present. They’re celebrating the birth of Riker’s son Thaddeus, who was born on the Titan after Riker became captain. That would date this celebration about three years after the events of “Star Trek: Nemesis” and 20 years before the events of “Picard” Season 3.

Picard and Riker’s celebration is interrupted when Troi, Riker’s wife and Thaddeus’ mom, messages them with a fussy baby in hand. Riker apologizes and calls her imzadi , which is the Betazoid word for “beloved.”

Back in the present, Seven of Nine is confined to her quarters for insubordination. There’s a model of the U.S.S. Voyager — the ship that rescued her — on her desk. Ensign La Forge visits her and commends her for helping Picard and Riker, which is something her dad would’ve done. Seven thanks La Forge and tells her to rest, to which La Forge answers, “Yes, Commander Seven” instead of “Yes, Commander Hansen” as a sign of friendship.

Picard and Beverly finally have a face-to-face conversation about Jack. Picard got Beverly pregnant while on shore leave two months before she left the Enterprise. She never told him because she was afraid his enemies will target their son.

At one point, Beverly tried to tell Picard about Jack but “two Reman assassins had intercepted the ship in the Donatra sector.” Donatra was the name of the commander of the Romulan warship Valdore seen in “Star Trek: Nemesis” played by Dina Meyer.

After Raffi regains consciousness, she meets her rescuer/handler. He identifies himself as “Worf, son of Mogh. House of Martok. Son of Sergey. House of Rozhenko, bane to the Duras family, slayer of Gowron.” These are nods to Worf’s complicated lineage. His Klingon father was Mogh, but he was adopted as a boy by Sergey and Helena Rozhenko. Worf eventually aligned himself with House Martok, whose sworn enemies were the Duras family and notably the Duras sisters, who were killed in a battle against the Enterprise in “Star Trek Generations.” In the Season 7, Episode 22 of “Deep Space Nine,” Worf kills Chancellor Gowron for undermining Martok during the Dominion War.

Jack and Seven discover the Shrike is tracking the Titan via its verterium emissions. Gas leaks are another “Trek” trope. It’s how the Enterprise and Excelsior were able to track General Chang’s cloaked Klingon ship in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.”

Jack knocks out the guard stationed outside Seven’s quarters, to which she responds, “You’re insane.” Remember this for later.

Jack is attacked by the saboteur, who is revealed to be a Changeling, a species of shapeshifters that waged war against the Federation 25 years prior (the aforementioned Dominion War).

While exposed to toxic verterium gas, Jack has visions of a woman (in the form of Seven of Nine) who beckons to him “find me!” Is he actually insane?

Meanwhile, Raffi and Worf interrogate Titus Rikka, a criminal played by Thomas Dekker. As a child actor, Dekker appeared as Picard’s imaginary son in “Star Trek Generations.” He also played a holographic child on “Star Trek: Voyager.”

Rikka is sweating and shaking profusely, which Raffi thinks are drug withdrawals. However, Worf recognizes them as something else. Rikka is also a Changeling who is losing the ability to hold his solid form.

Worf asks Rikka how long he has been separated from the Great Link. The Link is the collective of Changelings in their liquid forms introduced in “Deep Space Nine.” The Link makes decisions for all Changelings.

Worf tells Raffi about a schism in the Link and a rogue faction of Changelings that were not able to accept defeat from the Dominion War. It seems they have now infiltrated numerous parts of the Federation. Worf learned about the schism from “a close friend within the Link, a man of honor.” While Worf doesn’t name this friend, he’s referring to Odo (played by the late Rene Auberjonois), the Changeling constable on Deep Space Nine.

Back on the Titan, Picard tells Riker to stop running and fight, despite the “instinct to be fearful of loss.” Picard is referring to the death of Riker’s son Thaddeus at a young age. Riker tells Picard he’s out of line.

The Shrike uses the portal weapon to literally turn the Titan’s weapons on itself. The Titan is struck by its own torpedoes. The disabled ship gets pulled deeper into the nebula where it’ll be crushed by a gravity well.

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3, Episode 4 Easter Eggs

The episode opens on Frontier Day five years prior. Picard is trying to enjoy his lunch at a pub when several Starfleet cadets gingerly approach him and ask him out the Hirogen. The Hirogen were alien hunters native to the Delta Quadrant (think Predators).

The cadets ask Picard if he sought advice from Admiral Janeway. Janeway and the Voyager crew were the first Starfleet personnel to encounter the brutal race while stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

With the Titan trapped in the nebula and its systems failing, Riker has a heart-to-heart with his former captain. Riker reveals he lost hope when his son Thaddeus died, and his wife Troi, as an empath, also felt his grief. Riker reveals he went on the mission to get away from Troi. He urges Picard to talk to Jack in the few hours they have left.

Picard takes Jack to the holodeck where they enter a replica of Ten Forward – the Enterprise bar and later a brick-and-mortar bar.

Picard offers Jack some Chateau Picard from his own winery. Jack politely turns him down and says he prefers whiskey.

In order to trap the Changeling saboteur, Shaw tells Seven to find its “pot.” Seven assumes he is NOT referring to cannabis, demonstrating that marijuana is still around in the 25th Century.

Shaw shows Seven an example of a Changeling “pot.” In the bottom corner of the display is a photo of Odo (Rene Auberjonois).

Back on the Shrike, Vadic cuts off her hand, which dissolves into a Changeling face. The face instructs her to pursue “the asset,” which we assume is Jack.

The show jumps back to Frontier Day five years ago. Picard regales the cadets with the story of the Tamarian alien he had to work with despite being unable to understand each other. The events he describes took place in the Season 5 Episode 2 of “The Next Generation” called “Darmok.”

Another cadet references Jack R. Crusher, Beverly’s first husband. Picard later tells his son about the time he and Jack R. Crusher blindly navigated a micrometeoroid shower in a damaged shuttle together until they got home.

Shaw interrupts Picard’s tale and reveals he was at The Battle of Wolf 359. The battle is infamous in Trek lore and is depicted in the first episode of “Deep Space Nine.” The Borg, having assimilated Picard, used his knowledge to massacre a fleet of 40 vessels. Among them was the U.S.S. Constance, on which Shaw served.

Shaw was only a handful of survivors from Wolf 359 (11,000 people died in that single battle). He is still suffering from PTSD decades later.

Beverly discovers the bio-electrical pulses are actually contractions and the nebula is a life form giving birth. Jack proposes the Titan ride the pulse waves out of the nebula.

Beverly tells Riker that they’ve encountered species that thrive in space, in which Picard replies, “Farpoint!” Farpoint was the very first mission shown in the series premiere of “The Next Generation,” in which a station was actually an alien life form.

Riker thinks the plan is too risky, but Beverly invokes Troi’s name, making him change his mind.

Shaw and Seven work in tandem to open the warp nacelles in order to ride the wave. When La Forge appears and offers to help, Seven is able to deduce that La Forge is the Changeling after she calls her “Commander Hansen” instead of “Commander Seven.”

With Picard and Jack’s help, the Titan frees itself from the nebula, which gives birth to space babies. Beverly quotes the Enterprise mission, “to seek out new life,” which they have done.

It’s revealed that Jack was in the bar five years ago listening to his father’s story. Jack asks if Picard had a life outside Starfleet, to which Picard replies, “Starfleet has been the only family I have ever needed,” which crushes Jack.

Riker reaches out to Troi and apologizes for his behavior.

Back in his quarters, Jack experiences visions and is once again told by a female voice to “find me.”

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3 Episode 5 Easter Eggs

The episode opens with Jack massacring all of the bridge crew in a shootout. Luckily, it’s just a vision. “Star Trek” tends to shy away from such explicit violence, but a similar scene took place in Season 2 of “Star Trek: Discovery” when Burnham has a vision of Leland murdering the Discovery bridge crew.

At the end of his frightening vision, Jack’s eyes turn red and he again hears voices. Is he possessed? We deep dive into his visions here .

Shaw, Seven, Picard and Riker talk about the Changeling they encountered, who can mimic other species down to their internal organs. Beverly wants to investigate how the Changelings can now bypass the ship’s internal security systems.

With Starfleet on it’s way to question Picard and Riker, Jack asks if he should find himself a set of restraints. Picard responds, “many a rebel from all reaches of the galaxy have found their way to Starfleet.” This is a foreshadowing of what’s — or more accurately who’s — to come.

Raffi and Worf spar on the La Sirena, and Worf easily defeats her before taking a meditative stance. He urges patience on her part. They receive a message from Worf’s handler, who denies them access to the Daystrom Station.

While investigating the criminals who broke into Daystrom, Worf and Raffi pull up a list of suspects. One of them is Krinn. Among the other names on the screen include Morn, a side character from “Deep Space Nine” that frequented the station bar. Morn is a play on Norm, the lovable bar patron from “Cheers.”

Before turning them over to Starfleet, Shaw chastises Riker and Picard for previous instances when they’ve defied orders/Starfleet Command. He mentions several famous “Enterprise” adventures, including when the Enterprise saucer was “hot-dropped” on a planet (“Star Trek: Generations), throwing the Prime Directive out the window to “snog” a villager on Ba’ku (“Star Trek: Insurrection),, or they time they created a tie paradox in the Devron system (“Star Trek: The Next Generation” series finale.)

Riker and Picard meet the Starfleet Intelligence officer, who turns out to be Commander Ro Laren. We deep dive into Ro’s past here .

While dissecting the Changeling, Beverly confirms they can mimic internal organs and do not revert to liquid state after death. They have somehow evolved, she deduces.

After being interrogated, Picard tells Ro that the Changeling remains are in sickbay. She diverts them to the holodeck, where Picard disables the safety protocols, so he can essentially make it a booby trap. With the protocols disabled, he grabs a live phaser from behind the bar that belonged to Guinan. Guinan was a mentor to Ro aboard the Enterprise.

After exchanging words and memories, Ro and Picard realize they are who they say they are. They sheathe their phasers and Ro reveals that Starfleet has been compromised by Changelings.

Worf and Raffi meet the criminal Krinn, a Vulcan gangster. They are forced to fight to the death, and Raffi fatally stabs Worf. Fortunately, it’s a ruse. Worf has learned how to feign death. Krinn gives them a key that will grant them access to Daystrom Station.

On her way back the Intrepid, Ro’s security team plant an explosive on her shuttle. They beam off, revealing they are Changelings. With seconds left, Ro does a suicide run towards the Intrepid and crashes into their nacelle.

The Changelings find Jack, who kills four of them with ease. He sees another vision of a red doorway.

Before leaving for the Intrepid, Ro gives Picard her Bajoran earring. The earring has her entire investigation encrypted within it. They receive a message from Ro’s operatives, who turn out to be Worf and Raffi.

When Beverly asks Jack how she knew the security team was Changelings, he replies, “I didn’t. I think there’s something very wrong with me.”

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3 Episode 6 Easter Eggs

The episode opens with the Titan on the run. The ship evades capture by dropping decoy transponders. We learn that in addition to Starfleet, Vadic and the Shrike are on its tail.

Vadic confirms the Changelings will have vengeance on Frontier Day, which is approximately three days away.

Beverly discovers that Jack has irumodic syndrome, inherited from Picard. The syndrome drove Picard to have hallucinations and disassociate from reality in the series finale of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” But after the events in Season 1 of “Picard,” he is in a synthetic body and no longer vulnerable to the syndrome. But as Jack is human, his condition will degenerate.

Picard meets Jack in the holodeck bar. Jack asks how Picard survived irumodic syndrome, to which he replies, “I didn’t” — another reminder that Picard’s human body is gone … or is it?

Raffi and Worf beam aboard the Titan. Worf thanks Picard for his annual bottle of “sour mead” aka wine from Chateau Picard, which he describes as “quite tart.”

Seven and Raffi have a slightly awkward exchange in the transporter room, a reminder they used to be lovers.

Worf and Raffi explain whatever the Changelings stole lies can be tracked in the Daystrom Station manifest. The station houses “experimental weapons” and “alien contraband.”

Worf, Raffi and Riker beam aboard Daystrom and use the key from Krinn to disable the security system. Worf is glad that Raffi’s ex-lover Seven is not a part of the away team. Worf should know — his ex K’Ehleyr was killed while trying to help him in the “Next Generation” episode “Reunion.”

Two Echelon-class Starfleet ships arrive at Daystrom with sophisticated tracking technology, forcing the Titan to flee.

Worf, Raffi and Riker explore the inventory at Daystrom, which Worf calls “Section 31’s most nefarious table scraps.” Section 31 is a critical clandestine division of Starfleet intelligence introduced in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” but has been around since the time of “Discovery.” A “Section 31” spin-off starring Michelle Yeoh was reportedly in the works several years ago.

Among the “good stuff” they find: a Genesis device used to terraform dead worlds (seen in “Star Trek II and III), a body scan and/or remains of James T. Kirk (captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise), and a genetically modified “attack” tribble (an irresistibly cute furry alien with extraordinary reproductive capabilities.

The A.I. system defending Daystrom pulls up files on the away team, including one on Riker. The photo, interestingly, is of a younger Riker from approximately 20 years prior.

The A.I. system sends a holographic crow, which caws at the away team. Riker notes there is “something familiar” about the crow as they approach the station mainframe.

As part of the security response, the A.I. system creates a hologram of Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis), a holodeck villain created by Data to be his intellectual rival in “The Next Generation” episode “Elementary, Dear Data.”

The Titan flees to Athan Prime, the home of the Federation Fleet Museum, which is overseen by former Enterprise crewmember and current Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).

Geordi beams aboard with his daughter Alandra and gives Beverly a big hug. He addresses his eldest daughter, Sidney, by her first name, to which she replies, “Sir.”

Picard asks Geordi to clone the Titan’s transponder signal to lure them away from Daystrom, but Alandra reveals that plan won’t work because all the ships in the fleet “talk to each other” and are aware of each other’s location.

Back at Daystrom, we see a shot of the two ships patrolling the station. There’s an off-screen conversation between the Sternbach and Cole, who are searching for the away team. Sternbach is the last name of Rick Sternbach, the visual designer who worked on “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and several Trek shows.

Moriarity fires at the away team with live bullets, indicating safety protocols are turned off. Riker notes he is not the same self-aware Moriarity they encountered 30+ years prior. Every few seconds, musical notes punctuate the air. Riker, a trombone player, realizes the notes are to “Pop Goes The Weasel,” the song Data was trying to whistle when Riker first met him in the first episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Riker finishes the tune, which disables the Moriarity hologram.

Worf, Riker and Raffi reach the main chamber and discover the A.I. system, which ends up being Data (Brent Spiner) or a version of him.

Geordi initially refuses to help Picard. At best, he’ll be court-martialed. At worst, Starfleet will come after his family, two of whom we have now met. We have yet to meet his wife though she is mentioned in passing.

Jack takes the captain’s chair next to Seven and looks at the various legendary ships stationed at the Fleet Museum. They include the U.S.S. Defiant (from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”), the U.S.S. Enterprise-A (from the “Star Trek” movies), the U.S.S. Voyager (from “Star Trek: Voyager”) where Seven was “reborn,” the HMS Bounty (the Klingon Bird of Prey used in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home”). As each of these ships is shown, the musical theme from each respective series or film is played.

Raffi notes that Data died (after the events of “Star Trek: Nemesis”) and Worf says this cannot be the Data they served with. Raffi says this Data is a hybrid synthetic with an android interface. Somehow, Starfleet was able to take Data’s memories from B4, a more primative android where Data stored his personality. They activate a hologram of Dr. Altan Soong, the son of Data’s creator and the man who created the body Picard inhabits now. He says this Soong golem in Daystrom has a bit of Lal (Data’s daughter), B4, Lore (Data’s evil twin) and Data.

This may explain why the photo of Riker this Data has on file is about 20 years old — the last time he saw Riker “in person.” However, one would think this Data has access to the most current Starfleet files.

Worf deduces that Data is protecting the manifest, he is the manifest. Unfortunately, the away team is discovered by Starfleet.

Shaw, who was an engineer aboard the U.S.S. Constantine, geeks out over meeting Geordi.

Jack and Sidney steal and install the cloaking device from the HMS Bounty, allowing the Titan to return to Daystrom Station undetected. Geordi and Alandra stay onboard the Titan to make sure the cloaking device works properly.

Raffi and Worf escape Daystrom but Riker is captured. Geordi meets them in the transporter room and is taken aback by seeing his best friend, Data, 20 years after his death.

With his daughters’ help, Geordi reactivates Data. All of the personalities manifest, but Data’s comes through strongest. He identifies Geordi, his best friend and calls Picard “captain,” the rank Picard held when Data died.

Data finally reveals what was stolen from Daystrom Station: the human remains of Picard.

Riker is interrogated by a Starfleet officer, who turns out to be Vadic. She blackmails Riker into telling Picard’s whereabouts with the one thing he cares about: his wife Deanna Troi.

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3 Episode 7 Easter Eggs

The episode opens with the U.S.S. Titan hiding in the Chin’Toka Scrapyard. The Chin’Toka system was where several battles of the Dominion War were fought during “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” Many Starfleet and allied ships were destroyed, and it would make sense that their debris would be in a scrapyard.

Seven of Nine reaches out to her former Voyager crewmate Tuvok (Tim Russ) for help. The four pips reveal that he has reached the rank of captain.

Seven deduces that Tuvok is really a Changeling by lying about her neural net. The real Tuvok stabilized her neural net in Season 5, Episode 7 of “Voyager” (“Infinite Regress”).

Picard, Beverly Crusher and Geordi La Forge turn to the Soong golem for answers. Unfortunately, the Lore personality has taken over. Lore was introduced as Data’s “evil twin” in Season 1, Episode 13 of “The Next Generation” (“Datalore”).

Despite Geordi La Forge warning Jack Crusher to stay away from his daughter Sidney, the two engage in some flirting. Jack is able to read Sidney’s mind — a new ability he hasn’t demonstrated before.

The Titan crew sets a trap for Vadic and the Changelings. They make it appear the Titan is derelict and have the Changelings board the ship. Once aboard, they lure them into traps and imprison them in forcefields.

Beverly Crusher and Picard trap Vadic in sick bay. Vadic reveals the origin of her evolved physiology — she was experimented upon as a prisoner of war during the Dominion War. Want to know more? Here’s everything you need to know about Vadic .

Lore disables the forcefields imprisoning the Changelings and Jack and Sidney become separated. Jack “possesses” Sidney and kills the Changeling attacking her. This is another one of Jack’s previously unseen abilities.

Vadic whistles “Three Blind Mice” — another children’s song from Earth (“Pop Goes the Weasel” was played in the previous episode). Her human captor whistled the tune while experimenting on her and the other Changelings.

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3, Episode 8 Easter Eggs

Vadic and the Changelings commandeer the bridge of the U.S.S. Titan. She proceeds to cut off the ship’s “eyes” (power), “ears” (communications) and the “road ahead of them” (doors). Trapped with nowhere to go, the Changelings easily hunt down the crew.

She lines up the bridge crew, which includes tactical officer Mura, communications officer Esmar, science officer T’Veen, Seven of Nine, and Captain Shaw.

Jack uses his special powers to take over the body of a Titan security officer, but his connection is lost when a Changeling shoots the officer and kills him.

Vadic gives the crew an ultimatum: deliver Jack Crusher or she’ll start executing the bridge officers one by one.

Riker and Troi reunite on the Shrike, where they’re both being held prisoner. Riker again calls her imzadi (beloved) and tells her how he came face to face with “bleakness” while trapped in the nebula. He stops short of saying what it felt like, but it’s clear he’s referencing the death of their son, Thaddeus.

Troi says a Changeling masked as Riker visited her. She joked he was “good in bed and bad at pizza.” One of Riker’s hobbies is making outdoor pizzas, as seen in Season 1 of “Picard.”

Jack uses his power to take over Mura’s body and input a command override code, but Vadic catches him. She forces Mura and Esmar to their knees. She is about to execute Mura, but points the phaser at Esmar. After Esmar cries out Vadic shoots T’Veen instead. This shocking scene is a play on the “Redshirts always” trope in “Star Trek.” Mura and Esmar are “yellowshirts,” whereas T’Veen is a “blueshirt.”

Riker and Troi have a heart-to-heart conversation. Riker says they might die aboard the Shrike and “Kestra would have lost everyone,” referencing their daughter. The topic then turns to their dead son. Riker felt immense grief afterThaddeus died, but Troi used her powers to dull that grief. She, in turn, felt everyone’s grief as an empath, which drove a wedge between them.

Troi reveals she hated Nepethe, the planet they settled on to heal Thaddeus. She wants to move back to the city to drink raktajino  lattes. Raktajino  is a Klingon coffee mentioned throughout “Star Trek.”

A Changeling guard enters their cell but is stabbed from behind by Worf. Worf professes that he’s “counted the days” since he last saw her, a nod back to when they were romantically involved in the later seasons of “The Next Generation.”

Jack, Sidney, Beverly and Picard reunite with Geordi. In order to determine whether or not Picard is who he says he is, Geordi asks him what anniversary gift he received six years ago. “A Chateau Picard bordeaux, which you said was too dry,” Picard correctly responds. There’s an ongoing joke this season about the crew not liking Picard’s wine, with Shaw turning down a drink and Worf calling it too tart.

Jack surrenders to Vadic on the bridge to stop the executions. He reveals he’s holding a device that will kill him if she makes any moves. She cryptically teases him about his powers, and refers to the “red door” he sees in his visions.

Before they leave the Shrike, Raffi and Worf discover why the Changelings stole Picard’s body from Daystrom Station. They removed the parts of his brain with irumodic syndrome. Remember, Jack also has been diagnosed with irumodic syndrome, which may be giving him his special abilities.

There’s another battle happening in this episode. Within the mind of the Soong golem, Data and his brother Lore are fighting for dominance, with the latter winning. Data draws upon his memories as Lore takes over. They include a violin concerto (Data played the string instrument several times in “The Next Generation), Sherlock Holmes houndstooth hat and pipe (he enjoyed playing the detective on the holodeck), a tricorder, a holographic crystal of slain crewmate Tasha Yar, a deck of cards (poker was a favorite pastime among the senior crew) and his cat Spot.

Lore fully takes over and Geordi is distraught at losing his best friend a second time. However, Lore’s win is short-lived. The memories he took from Data transform him. “You took the things that were me, and in doing so, you became me,” a reconstituted Data explains.

Data regains control of the Titan. Jack uses the device he brought to the bridge, which is not a grenade but a personal forcefield generator. Picard orders the evacuation hatch opened, which sucks Vadic into space. Her body freezes due to exposure and shatters into pieces when it hits the Shrike. The personal forcefield prevents Seven and Jack from being sucked out.

The Titan then destroys the Shrike and presumably, Vadic and Picard’s remains.

Despite Vadic’s death, Troi senses “a great darkness” on the ship.

Data and Geordi help with contractions, at which point Data says, “We’re good here.” Geordi calls out that Data used a contraction, something he didn’t do previously but Lore could. It was one way to discern the two.

Troi counsels Jack and tells him they’ll open the red door together.

“Star Trek: Picard” is currently streaming on Paramount+

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‘Star Trek Picard’ Season 3: All the Easter Eggs Explained, From Spacedock to That Post-Credit Cameo

There are numerous references to “Star Trek: The Next Generation” even Trekkies may have missed

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3 is finally here and boy, is it a trip down memory lane.

This season, touted as the “final voyage,” reunites Jean-Luc Picard with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise .

Their adventures were chronicled in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which ran for seven seasons from 1987 to 1994. The last time the cast shared the screen was in the 2002 feature film “Star Trek: Nemesis.”

The newest season of “Picard” picks up some 20+ years later, with Picard (Patrick Stewart) assembling his old crew to save one of their own.

Each week, we’ll break down the easter eggs and “Trek” reference from the latest episode. Of course, spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution.

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3, Episode 1 Easter Eggs

• The very title of this episode, “The Next Generation,” is an homage to the show that introduced us to the U.S.S. Enterprise D, its captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew.
• The episode opens on the Eleos, an aide vessel captained by Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), the former chief medical officer of the Enterprise. The camera pans through her personal items, including theater masks (Crusher formed a theater troupe on board the Enterprise and taught acting), orchids (her favorite flowers which she was seen tending in one episode) and a storage locker belonging to Lt. Jack Crusher (her first husband who was killed while serving under Picard). There’s also a glass filled with a blue liquor — unmistakably Romulan ale.
• Beverly is replaying Picard’s log during an encounter with the Borg, in which the Enterprise hid in a nebula. Beverly is hiding the Eleos near a nebula.
• The next scene features Picard at his family winery in France. In the distance, you can hear a dog barking, likely his pet pitbull “Number One.” He is looking at a painting of the Enterprise-D. His companion, Laris, says “The first love is always the sweetest.” Picard replies “Well, she wasn’t the first, but she was definitely my favorite.” Picard’s first command was the U.S.S. Stargazer, the same ship Jack Crusher served on.
• Picard tells an assistant to give the painting to Geordi, the first mention of Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), the Enterprise’s chief engineer and now head of Starfleet’s fleet museum.
• Picard looks at more memorabilia at his desk, which include a Bajoran award. He picks up a Ressikan flute, a memento of the time he lived the life of a man named Kamin on the dead planet Kataan. The story of Kamin is told in the Season 5 episode of “The Next Generation” titled “The Inner Light.”
• That evening, Picard receives an encoded message from Beverly Crusher. He’s alerted by the trill from his old Enterprise communications badge. It’s located in a box along with his red and black command uniform from the Enterprise.
• Picard meets up with his old friend/former first officer Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) at a bar. The bartender offers up miniatures of the Enterprise-D, which she calls “fat ones.” This is an inside joke for Trek fans; the Enterprise-D saucer was unusually oblong and large; later models were more streamlined.
• Riker reveals he is spending time apart from his wife Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), the former Enterprise counselor, and their daughter Kestra. Kestra is also the name of Deanna’s deceased sister, whose death was explored in the Season 7 episode of “The Next Generation” titled “Dark Page.”
• Picard shares the codeword “hellbird” with Riker. Riker explains that it was a term used when Picard was “incapacitated.” He’s referring to when Picard was assimilated by the Borg in the Season 3 finale of “The Next Generation” titled “The Best of Both Worlds.” The Borg gained all of Picard’s memories, so the crew had to devise a new system.
• To track down Crusher, Riker and Picard go aboard the U.S.S. Titan, Riker’s command after leaving the Enterprise. The ship has undergone a “Neo-Constitution refit.” The Constitution class is one of the most popular in Trek lore; the original Enterprise itself was a Constitution-class starship.
• The first officer aboard the Titan is none other than Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), another human who was assimilated by the Borg and rescued in the “Star Trek: Voyager” episode “Scorpion.” Seven became Picard’s ally during Season 1 of “Picard” where they helped root out Romulan spies.
• Seven introduces herself as Annika Hansen. Her commanding officer, Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) has instructed Seven to use her human name rather than her Borg designation.
• Seven was given a field commission by Picard, but officially joined Starfleet upon the advice of Picard and Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Janeway was the captain of the U.S.S. Voyager that rescued Seven.
• Seven invites Picard and Riker to the bridge, where they meet a smiling helmsman, ensign Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). Sidney is Geordi’s eldest daughter. Riker embarrasses her by bringing up her nickname from Starfleet Academy — “Crash” La Forge — after she crashed a shuttle … twice.
• A quick pan around the Titan bridge reveals a Bajoran tactical officer, a Haiilian communications officer (with little hair) and a Vulcan science officer (with no hair). Bald crewmen (or crewwomen in this case) have had a special place in “Trek” lore, dating back to Lt. Ilia (Persis Khambatta) from “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.” Other bald crewmembers include Lt. Airiam (Hannah Cheesman) from “Star Trek: Discovery,” Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and, of course, Picard.
• Showrunner Terry Matalas identified the Vulcan science officer as Lt. T’Veen. The actor who plays T’Veen, Stephanie Czajkowski, is a cancer survivor who kept her head shaved or short.
• As the Titan leaves spacedock, Seven tells the crew to set speed to “maximum warp.” Picard asks if she should give Engineering a heads-up before doing so, but Seven tells Picard there’s no need; it’s all automated now. During “The Next Generation,” Picard would often have to inform La Forge that he was going to push the limits of the Enterprises’ engines, despite the chief engineer’s concerns.
• Captain Shaw is not impressed by Picard or Riker, choosing to not greet them upon arrival and starting dinner before they arrive. Actor Todd Stashwick is not new to the “Trek” universe; he played Torak in the Season 4 episode of “Star Trek: Enterprise” titled “Kir’Shara.”
• Shaw tells Riker he had to purge the “bebop” files when he took command of Titan. Riker is a jazz lover and was shown to play the trombone in several episodes of “The Next Generation.” Shaw says he prefers “structure.” The music playing he’s playing in the background is a piano concerto by Chopin — classical music for a by-the-books captain.
• The “steak” Shaw is eating is blue — and we don’t mean undercooked. We don’t know the significance behind that but we wanted to point it out!
• In a secondary storyline, Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) is working undercover to discover what happened to experimental weapons stolen from the Daystrom Institute. An informant gives her the clue “Red Lady” which she discovers is a red statue of Captain Rachel Garrett that will be dedicated at a Starfleet recruiting center. Garrett was the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise C, whose fate was explored in the Season 3 “The Next Generation” episode titled “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”
• Riker and Picard make their way aboard the Eleos. While exploring the ship, Riker calls Picard “Captain” and then apologizes, saying “old habits.” Picard later refers to Riker as “Number One” — the way they referred to each other during their Enterprise days.
• Riker is ambushed by an assailant (Ed Speleers) but manages to get the upper hand. When asked by Picard what his relationship is to Crusher, he responds “her son.” So far, the only son Crusher is known to have is Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who lived and served aboard the Enterprise-D.
• The credits are filled with easter eggs themselves that will be revealed as the season progresses. The only one that is applicable right now is that display of the Shrike, the giant warship hunting the Eleos.

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3, Episode 2 Easter Eggs

• We finally get the full name of Ed Speleers character — Jack Crusher. He’s named after his stepfather, Jack R. Crusher. We do a deep dive into the younger Crusher here .
• Among the Eleos’ supplies is a bottle of blue Romulan ale, one of the galaxy’s most inebriating liquors. In Episode 1, Beverly has a glass next to her bed.
• The Shrike opens fire on the Eleos, destroying the shuttle Picard and Riker flew over on. The debris reveals the shuttle’s name — Saavik. Saavik was a Vulcan officer who served aboard the Enterprise-A. She was played by the late Kirstie Alley and later by Robin Curtis.
• The Titan comes to the Eleos’ rescue and attempts to transport Picard, Riker and the Crushers aboard. However, the signal is blocked due to transport inhibitors Picard setup around the bridge. Realizing what he’s done, Picard takes out a phaser and destroys the inhibitors with surprising speed and accuracy, much to Jack’s astonishment. This is a subtle reminder that Picard is in a synthetic body with potentially better reflexes.
• Back on M’Talas Prime, Raffi meets up with her ex-husband, Jae Hwang (Randy Goodwin). Viewers previously met their son, Gabe (Mason Gooding), back in Season 1. In the Season 3 opener, Raffi gets emotional while looking at a photo of their granddaughter.
• Picard, Riker and Jack make their way to the Titan bridge, where they’re scolded by Capt. Shaw. At one point, Ensign Esmar (Jin Maley), the communication officer, calls out “Captain!” Shaw, Riker (who once commanded the Titan) and Picard all respond in unison, “What?”
• Capt. Vadic (Amanda Plummer) has dossiers on all the officers. She hints that Shaw has psychological problems. She also somehow knows that Picard is not human, saying “Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, in the synthetic flesh.”
• Jack Crusher has many aliases, among which is “James Cole.” James Cole is a character from “12 Monkeys,” the show that “Picard” showrunner Terry Matalas previously produced.
• While deep undercover, Raffi meets the Ferengi broker Sneed. Sneed is played by Aaron Stanford, who played James Cole on “12 Monkeys.” Of course, he’s barely unrecognizable under all those prosthetics.
• Sneed tries to break Raffi using the synthetic narcotic Splinter, which is administered via the eye. Given Raffi’s history of substance abuse, she is able to partially withstand its effects. Splinter is name of the technology used in “12 Monkeys.”
• Todd Stashwick, who plays Captain Shaw, ALSO appeared on “12 Monkeys.”
• Raffi’s handler is revealed to be non-other than Worf (Michael Dorn). Worf rescues Raffi by slicing and dicing his way through Sneed’s goons. The Romulan thug has green blood while Sneed’s Ferengi blood is yellow.
• Jack is about to turn himself over to Vadic when Beverly appears on the bridge of the Titan. She has a wordless exchange but it’s enough for Picard to confirm that Jack indeed is his son.

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3, Episode 3 Easter Eggs

• The episode opens with the Shrike hot on the Titan’s tail. Shaw orders the Titan to delve deeper into the nebula in an attempt to shake the Shrike. It’s an evasion maneuver seen in many Trek shows and films, notably “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”
• After the opening credits, a graphic appears that reads “Before.” The scene opens with a digitally de-aged Picard and Riker. They’re older than they were on the Enterprise but younger than the present. They’re celebrating the birth of Riker’s son Thaddeus, who was born on the Titan after Riker became captain. That would date this celebration about three years after the events of “Star Trek: Nemesis” and 20 years before the events of “Picard” Season 3.
• Picard and Riker’s celebration is interrupted when Troi, Riker’s wife and Thaddeus’ mom, messages them with a fussy baby in hand. Riker apologizes and calls her imzadi , which is the Betazoid word for “beloved.”
• Back in the present, Seven of Nine is confined to her quarters for insubordination. There’s a model of the U.S.S. Voyager — the ship that rescued her — on her desk. Ensign La Forge visits her and commends her for helping Picard and Riker, which is something her dad would’ve done. Seven thanks La Forge and tells her to rest, to which La Forge answers, “Yes, Commander Seven” instead of “Yes, Commander Hansen” as a sign of friendship.
• Picard and Beverly finally have a face-to-face conversation about Jack. Picard got Beverly pregnant while on shore leave two months before she left the Enterprise. She never told him because she was afraid his enemies will target their son.
• At one point, Beverly tried to tell Picard about Jack but “two Reman assassins had intercepted the ship in the Donatra sector.” Donatra was the name of the commander of the Romulan warship Valdore seen in “Star Trek: Nemesis” played by Dina Meyer.
• After Raffi regains consciousness, she meets her rescuer/handler. He identifies himself as “Worf, son of Mogh. House of Martok. Son of Sergey. House of Rozhenko, bane to the Duras family, slayer of Gowron.” These are nods to Worf’s complicated lineage. His Klingon father was Mogh, but he was adopted as a boy by Sergey and Helena Rozhenko. Worf eventually aligned himself with House Martok, whose sworn enemies were the Duras family and notably the Duras sisters, who were killed in a battle against the Enterprise in “Star Trek Generations.” In the Season 7, Episode 22 of “Deep Space Nine,” Worf kills Chancellor Gowron for undermining Martok during the Dominion War.
• Jack and Seven discover the Shrike is tracking the Titan via its verterium emissions. Gas leaks are another “Trek” trope. It’s how the Enterprise and Excelsior were able to track General Chang’s cloaked Klingon ship in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.”
• Jack knocks out the guard stationed outside Seven’s quarters, to which she responds, “You’re insane.” Remember this for later.
• Jack is attacked by the saboteur, who is revealed to be a Changeling, a species of shapeshifters that waged war against the Federation 25 years prior (the aforementioned Dominion War).
• While exposed to toxic verterium gas, Jack has visions of a woman (in the form of Seven of Nine) who beckons to him “find me!” Is he actually insane?
• Meanwhile, Raffi and Worf interrogate Titus Rikka, a criminal played by Thomas Dekker. As a child actor, Dekker appeared as Picard’s imaginary son in “Star Trek Generations.” He also played a holographic child on “Star Trek: Voyager.”
• Rikka is sweating and shaking profusely, which Raffi thinks are drug withdrawals. However, Worf recognizes them as something else. Rikka is also a Changeling who is losing the ability to hold his solid form.
• Worf asks Rikka how long he has been separated from the Great Link. The Link is the collective of Changelings in their liquid forms introduced in “Deep Space Nine.” The Link makes decisions for all Changelings.
• Worf tells Raffi about a schism in the Link and a rogue faction of Changelings that were not able to accept defeat from the Dominion War. It seems they have now infiltrated numerous parts of the Federation. Worf learned about the schism from “a close friend within the Link, a man of honor.” While Worf doesn’t name this friend, he’s referring to Odo (played by the late Rene Auberjonois), the Changeling constable on Deep Space Nine.
• Back on the Titan, Picard tells Riker to stop running and fight, despite the “instinct to be fearful of loss.” Picard is referring to the death of Riker’s son Thaddeus at a young age. Riker tells Picard he’s out of line.
• The Shrike uses the portal weapon to literally turn the Titan’s weapons on itself. The Titan is struck by its own torpedoes. The disabled ship gets pulled deeper into the nebula where it’ll be crushed by a gravity well.

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3, Episode 4 Easter Eggs

• The episode opens on Frontier Day five years prior. Picard is trying to enjoy his lunch at a pub when several Starfleet cadets gingerly approach him and ask him out the Hirogen. The Hirogen were alien hunters native to the Delta Quadrant (think Predators).
• The cadets ask Picard if he sought advice from Admiral Janeway. Janeway and the Voyager crew were the first Starfleet personnel to encounter the brutal race while stranded in the Delta Quadrant.
• With the Titan trapped in the nebula and its systems failing, Riker has a heart-to-heart with his former captain. Riker reveals he lost hope when his son Thaddeus died, and his wife Troi, as an empath, also felt his grief. Riker reveals he went on the mission to get away from Troi. He urges Picard to talk to Jack in the few hours they have left.
• Picard takes Jack to the holodeck where they enter a replica of Ten Forward – the Enterprise bar and later a brick-and-mortar bar.
• Picard offers Jack some Chateau Picard from his own winery. Jack politely turns him down and says he prefers whiskey.
• In order to trap the Changeling saboteur, Shaw tells Seven to find its “pot.” Seven assumes he is NOT referring to cannabis, demonstrating that marijuana is still around in the 25th Century.
• Shaw shows Seven an example of a Changeling “pot.” In the bottom corner of the display is a photo of Odo (Rene Auberjonois).
• Back on the Shrike, Vadic cuts off her hand, which dissolves into a Changeling face. The face instructs her to pursue “the asset,” which we assume is Jack.
• The show jumps back to Frontier Day five years ago. Picard regales the cadets with the story of the Tamarian alien he had to work with despite being unable to understand each other. The events he describes took place in the Season 5 Episode 2 of “The Next Generation” called “Darmok.”
• Another cadet references Jack R. Crusher, Beverly’s first husband. Picard later tells his son about the time he and Jack R. Crusher blindly navigated a micrometeoroid shower in a damaged shuttle together until they got home.
• Shaw interrupts Picard’s tale and reveals he was at The Battle of Wolf 359. The battle is infamous in Trek lore and is depicted in the first episode of “Deep Space Nine.” The Borg, having assimilated Picard, used his knowledge to massacre a fleet of 40 vessels. Among them was the U.S.S. Constance, on which Shaw served.
• Shaw was only a handful of survivors from Wolf 359 (11,000 people died in that single battle). He is still suffering from PTSD decades later.
• Beverly discovers the bio-electrical pulses are actually contractions and the nebula is a life form giving birth. Jack proposes the Titan ride the pulse waves out of the nebula.
• Beverly tells Riker that they’ve encountered species that thrive in space, in which Picard replies, “Farpoint!” Farpoint was the very first mission shown in the series premiere of “The Next Generation,” in which a station was actually an alien life form.
• Riker thinks the plan is too risky, but Beverly invokes Troi’s name, making him change his mind.
• Shaw and Seven work in tandem to open the warp nacelles in order to ride the wave. When La Forge appears and offers to help, Seven is able to deduce that La Forge is the Changeling after she calls her “Commander Hansen” instead of “Commander Seven.”
• With Picard and Jack’s help, the Titan frees itself from the nebula, which gives birth to space babies. Beverly quotes the Enterprise mission, “to seek out new life,” which they have done.
• It’s revealed that Jack was in the bar five years ago listening to his father’s story. Jack asks if Picard had a life outside Starfleet, to which Picard replies, “Starfleet has been the only family I have ever needed,” which crushes Jack.
• Riker reaches out to Troi and apologizes for his behavior.
• Back in his quarters, Jack experiences visions and is once again told by a female voice to “find me.”

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3 Episode 5 Easter Eggs

• The episode opens with Jack massacring all of the bridge crew in a shootout. Luckily, it’s just a vision. “Star Trek” tends to shy away from such explicit violence, but a similar scene took place in Season 2 of “Star Trek: Discovery” when Burnham has a vision of Leland murdering the Discovery bridge crew.
• At the end of his frightening vision, Jack’s eyes turn red and he again hears voices. Is he possessed? We deep dive into his visions here .
• Shaw, Seven, Picard and Riker talk about the Changeling they encountered, who can mimic other species down to their internal organs. Beverly wants to investigate how the Changelings can now bypass the ship’s internal security systems.
• With Starfleet on it’s way to question Picard and Riker, Jack asks if he should find himself a set of restraints. Picard responds, “many a rebel from all reaches of the galaxy have found their way to Starfleet.” This is a foreshadowing of what’s — or more accurately who’s — to come.
• Raffi and Worf spar on the La Sirena, and Worf easily defeats her before taking a meditative stance. He urges patience on her part. They receive a message from Worf’s handler, who denies them access to the Daystrom Station.
• While investigating the criminals who broke into Daystrom, Worf and Raffi pull up a list of suspects. One of them is Krinn. Among the other names on the screen include Morn, a side character from “Deep Space Nine” that frequented the station bar. Morn is a play on Norm, the lovable bar patron from “Cheers.”
• Before turning them over to Starfleet, Shaw chastises Riker and Picard for previous instances when they’ve defied orders/Starfleet Command. He mentions several famous “Enterprise” adventures, including when the Enterprise saucer was “hot-dropped” on a planet (“Star Trek: Generations), throwing the Prime Directive out the window to “snog” a villager on Ba’ku (“Star Trek: Insurrection),, or they time they created a tie paradox in the Devron system (“Star Trek: The Next Generation” series finale.)
• Riker and Picard meet the Starfleet Intelligence officer, who turns out to be Commander Ro Laren. We deep dive into Ro’s past here .
• While dissecting the Changeling, Beverly confirms they can mimic internal organs and do not revert to liquid state after death. They have somehow evolved, she deduces.
• After being interrogated, Picard tells Ro that the Changeling remains are in sickbay. She diverts them to the holodeck, where Picard disables the safety protocols, so he can essentially make it a booby trap. With the protocols disabled, he grabs a live phaser from behind the bar that belonged to Guinan. Guinan was a mentor to Ro aboard the Enterprise.
• After exchanging words and memories, Ro and Picard realize they are who they say they are. They sheathe their phasers and Ro reveals that Starfleet has been compromised by Changelings.
• Worf and Raffi meet the criminal Krinn, a Vulcan gangster. They are forced to fight to the death, and Raffi fatally stabs Worf. Fortunately, it’s a ruse. Worf has learned how to feign death. Krinn gives them a key that will grant them access to Daystrom Station.
• On her way back the Intrepid, Ro’s security team plant an explosive on her shuttle. They beam off, revealing they are Changelings. With seconds left, Ro does a suicide run towards the Intrepid and crashes into their nacelle.
• The Changelings find Jack, who kills four of them with ease. He sees another vision of a red doorway.
• Before leaving for the Intrepid, Ro gives Picard her Bajoran earring. The earring has her entire investigation encrypted within it. They receive a message from Ro’s operatives, who turn out to be Worf and Raffi.
• When Beverly asks Jack how she knew the security team was Changelings, he replies, “I didn’t. I think there’s something very wrong with me.”

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3 Episode 6 Easter Eggs

• The episode opens with the Titan on the run. The ship evades capture by dropping decoy transponders. We learn that in addition to Starfleet, Vadic and the Shrike are on its tail.
• Vadic confirms the Changelings will have vengeance on Frontier Day, which is approximately three days away.
• Beverly discovers that Jack has irumodic syndrome, inherited from Picard. The syndrome drove Picard to have hallucinations and disassociate from reality in the series finale of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” But after the events in Season 1 of “Picard,” he is in a synthetic body and no longer vulnerable to the syndrome. But as Jack is human, his condition will degenerate.
• Picard meets Jack in the holodeck bar. Jack asks how Picard survived irumodic syndrome, to which he replies, “I didn’t” — another reminder that Picard’s human body is gone … or is it?
• Raffi and Worf beam aboard the Titan. Worf thanks Picard for his annual bottle of “sour mead” aka wine from Chateau Picard, which he describes as “quite tart.”
• Seven and Raffi have a slightly awkward exchange in the transporter room, a reminder they used to be lovers.
• Worf and Raffi explain whatever the Changelings stole lies can be tracked in the Daystrom Station manifest. The station houses “experimental weapons” and “alien contraband.”
• Worf, Raffi and Riker beam aboard Daystrom and use the key from Krinn to disable the security system. Worf is glad that Raffi’s ex-lover Seven is not a part of the away team. Worf should know — his ex K’Ehleyr was killed while trying to help him in the “Next Generation” episode “Reunion.”
• Two Echelon-class Starfleet ships arrive at Daystrom with sophisticated tracking technology, forcing the Titan to flee.
• Worf, Raffi and Riker explore the inventory at Daystrom, which Worf calls “Section 31’s most nefarious table scraps.” Section 31 is a critical clandestine division of Starfleet intelligence introduced in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” but has been around since the time of “Discovery.” A “Section 31” spin-off starring Michelle Yeoh was reportedly in the works several years ago.
• Among the “good stuff” they find: a Genesis device used to terraform dead worlds (seen in “Star Trek II and III), a body scan and/or remains of James T. Kirk (captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise), and a genetically modified “attack” tribble (an irresistibly cute furry alien with extraordinary reproductive capabilities.
• The A.I. system defending Daystrom pulls up files on the away team, including one on Riker. The photo, interestingly, is of a younger Riker from approximately 20 years prior.
• The A.I. system sends a holographic crow, which caws at the away team. Riker notes there is “something familiar” about the crow as they approach the station mainframe.
• As part of the security response, the A.I. system creates a hologram of Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis), a holodeck villain created by Data to be his intellectual rival in “The Next Generation” episode “Elementary, Dear Data.”
• The Titan flees to Athan Prime, the home of the Federation Fleet Museum, which is overseen by former Enterprise crewmember and current Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).
• Geordi beams aboard with his daughter Alandra and gives Beverly a big hug. He addresses his eldest daughter, Sidney, by her first name, to which she replies, “Sir.”
• Picard asks Geordi to clone the Titan’s transponder signal to lure them away from Daystrom, but Alandra reveals that plan won’t work because all the ships in the fleet “talk to each other” and are aware of each other’s location.
• Back at Daystrom, we see a shot of the two ships patrolling the station. There’s an off-screen conversation between the Sternbach and Cole, who are searching for the away team. Sternbach is the last name of Rick Sternbach, the visual designer who worked on “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and several Trek shows.
• Moriarity fires at the away team with live bullets, indicating safety protocols are turned off. Riker notes he is not the same self-aware Moriarity they encountered 30+ years prior. Every few seconds, musical notes punctuate the air. Riker, a trombone player, realizes the notes are to “Pop Goes The Weasel,” the song Data was trying to whistle when Riker first met him in the first episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Riker finishes the tune, which disables the Moriarity hologram.
• Worf, Riker and Raffi reach the main chamber and discover the A.I. system, which ends up being Data (Brent Spiner) or a version of him.
• Geordi initially refuses to help Picard. At best, he’ll be court-martialed. At worst, Starfleet will come after his family, two of whom we have now met. We have yet to meet his wife though she is mentioned in passing.
• Jack takes the captain’s chair next to Seven and looks at the various legendary ships stationed at the Fleet Museum. They include the U.S.S. Defiant (from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”), the U.S.S. Enterprise-A (from the “Star Trek” movies), the U.S.S. Voyager (from “Star Trek: Voyager”) where Seven was “reborn,” the HMS Bounty (the Klingon Bird of Prey used in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home”). As each of these ships is shown, the musical theme from each respective series or film is played.
• Raffi notes that Data died (after the events of “Star Trek: Nemesis”) and Worf says this cannot be the Data they served with. Raffi says this Data is a hybrid synthetic with an android interface. Somehow, Starfleet was able to take Data’s memories from B4, a more primative android where Data stored his personality. They activate a hologram of Dr. Altan Soong, the son of Data’s creator and the man who created the body Picard inhabits now. He says this Soong golem in Daystrom has a bit of Lal (Data’s daughter), B4, Lore (Data’s evil twin) and Data.
• This may explain why the photo of Riker this Data has on file is about 20 years old — the last time he saw Riker “in person.” However, one would think this Data has access to the most current Starfleet files.
• Worf deduces that Data is protecting the manifest, he is the manifest. Unfortunately, the away team is discovered by Starfleet.
• Shaw, who was an engineer aboard the U.S.S. Constantine, geeks out over meeting Geordi.
• Jack and Sidney steal and install the cloaking device from the HMS Bounty, allowing the Titan to return to Daystrom Station undetected. Geordi and Alandra stay onboard the Titan to make sure the cloaking device works properly.
• Raffi and Worf escape Daystrom but Riker is captured. Geordi meets them in the transporter room and is taken aback by seeing his best friend, Data, 20 years after his death.
• With his daughters’ help, Geordi reactivates Data. All of the personalities manifest, but Data’s comes through strongest. He identifies Geordi, his best friend and calls Picard “captain,” the rank Picard held when Data died.
• Data finally reveals what was stolen from Daystrom Station: the human remains of Picard.
• Riker is interrogated by a Starfleet officer, who turns out to be Vadic. She blackmails Riker into telling Picard’s whereabouts with the one thing he cares about: his wife Deanna Troi.

“Star Trek Picard” Season 3 Episode 7 Easter Eggs

• The episode opens with the U.S.S. Titan hiding in the Chin’Toka Scrapyard. The Chin’Toka system was where several battles of the Dominion War were fought during “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” Many Starfleet and allied ships were destroyed, and it would make sense that their debris would be in a scrapyard.
• Seven of Nine reaches out to her former Voyager crewmate Tuvok (Tim Russ) for help. The four pips reveal that he has reached the rank of captain.
• Seven deduces that Tuvok is really a Changeling by lying about her neural net. The real Tuvok stabilized her neural net in Season 5, Episode 7 of “Voyager” (“Infinite Regress”).
• Picard, Beverly Crusher and Geordi La Forge turn to the Soong golem for answers. Unfortunately, the Lore personality has taken over. Lore was introduced as Data’s “evil twin” in Season 1, Episode 13 of “The Next Generation” (“Datalore”).
• Despite Geordi La Forge warning Jack Crusher to stay away from his daughter Sidney, the two engage in some flirting. Jack is able to read Sidney’s mind — a new ability he hasn’t demonstrated before.
• The Titan crew sets a trap for Vadic and the Changelings. They make it appear the Titan is derelict and have the Changelings board the ship. Once aboard, they lure them into traps and imprison them in forcefields.
• Beverly Crusher and Picard trap Vadic in sick bay. Vadic reveals the origin of her evolved physiology — she was experimented upon as a prisoner of war during the Dominion War. Want to know more? Here’s everything you need to know about Vadic .
• Lore disables the forcefields imprisoning the Changelings and Jack and Sidney become separated. Jack “possesses” Sidney and kills the Changeling attacking her. This is another one of Jack’s previously unseen abilities.
• Vadic whistles “Three Blind Mice” — another children’s song from Earth (“Pop Goes the Weasel” was played in the previous episode). Her human captor whistled the tune while experimenting on her and the other Changelings.

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3, Episode 8 Easter Eggs

• Vadic and the Changelings commandeer the bridge of the U.S.S. Titan. She proceeds to cut off the ship’s “eyes” (power), “ears” (communications) and the “road ahead of them” (doors). Trapped with nowhere to go, the Changelings easily hunt down the crew.
• She lines up the bridge crew, which includes tactical officer Mura, communications officer Esmar, science officer T’Veen, Seven of Nine, and Captain Shaw.
• Jack uses his special powers to take over the body of a Titan security officer, but his connection is lost when a Changeling shoots the officer and kills him.
• Vadic gives the crew an ultimatum: deliver Jack Crusher or she’ll start executing the bridge officers one by one.
• Riker and Troi reunite on the Shrike, where they’re both being held prisoner. Riker again calls her imzadi (beloved) and tells her how he came face to face with “bleakness” while trapped in the nebula. He stops short of saying what it felt like, but it’s clear he’s referencing the death of their son, Thaddeus.
• Troi says a Changeling masked as Riker visited her. She joked he was “good in bed and bad at pizza.” One of Riker’s hobbies is making outdoor pizzas, as seen in Season 1 of “Picard.”
• Jack uses his power to take over Mura’s body and input a command override code, but Vadic catches him. She forces Mura and Esmar to their knees. She is about to execute Mura, but points the phaser at Esmar. After Esmar cries out Vadic shoots T’Veen instead. This shocking scene is a play on the “Redshirts always” trope in “Star Trek.” Mura and Esmar are “yellowshirts,” whereas T’Veen is a “blueshirt.”
• Riker and Troi have a heart-to-heart conversation. Riker says they might die aboard the Shrike and “Kestra would have lost everyone,” referencing their daughter. The topic then turns to their dead son. Riker felt immense grief after Thaddeus died, but Troi used her powers to dull that grief. She, in turn, felt everyone’s grief as an empath, which drove a wedge between them.
• Troi reveals she hated Nepethe, the planet they settled on to heal Thaddeus. She wants to move back to the city to drink raktajino  lattes. Raktajino  is a Klingon coffee mentioned throughout “Star Trek.”
• A Changeling guard enters their cell but is stabbed from behind by Worf. Worf professes that he’s “counted the days” since he last saw her, a nod back to when they were romantically involved in the later seasons of “The Next Generation.”
• Jack, Sidney, Beverly and Picard reunite with Geordi. In order to determine whether or not Picard is who he says he is, Geordi asks him what anniversary gift he received six years ago. “A Chateau Picard bordeaux, which you said was too dry,” Picard correctly responds. There’s an ongoing joke this season about the crew not liking Picard’s wine, with Shaw turning down a drink and Worf calling it too tart.
• Jack surrenders to Vadic on the bridge to stop the executions. He reveals he’s holding a device that will kill him if she makes any moves. She cryptically teases him about his powers, and refers to the “red door” he sees in his visions.
• Before they leave the Shrike, Raffi and Worf discover why the Changelings stole Picard’s body from Daystrom Station. They removed the parts of his brain with irumodic syndrome. Remember, Jack also has been diagnosed with irumodic syndrome, which may be giving him his special abilities.
• There’s another battle happening in this episode. Within the mind of the Soong golem, Data and his brother Lore are fighting for dominance, with the latter winning. Data draws upon his memories as Lore takes over. They include a violin concerto (Data played the string instrument several times in “The Next Generation), Sherlock Holmes houndstooth hat and pipe (he enjoyed playing the detective on the holodeck), a tricorder, a holographic crystal of slain crewmate Tasha Yar, a deck of cards (poker was a favorite pastime among the senior crew) and his cat Spot.
• Lore fully takes over and Geordi is distraught at losing his best friend a second time. However, Lore’s win is short-lived. The memories he took from Data transform him. “You took the things that were me, and in doing so, you became me,” a reconstituted Data explains.
• Data regains control of the Titan. Jack uses the device he brought to the bridge, which is not a grenade but a personal forcefield generator. Picard orders the evacuation hatch opened, which sucks Vadic into space. Her body freezes due to exposure and shatters into pieces when it hits the Shrike. The personal forcefield prevents Seven and Jack from being sucked out.
• The Titan then destroys the Shrike and presumably, Vadic and Picard’s remains.
• Despite Vadic’s death, Troi senses “a great darkness” on the ship.
• Data and Geordi help with repairs, at which point Data says, “We’re good here.” Geordi calls out that Data used a contraction, something he didn’t do previously but Lore could. It was one way to discern the two.
• Troi counsels Jack and tells him they’ll open the red door together.

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3, Episode 9 Easter Eggs

• The song playing at the beginning of episode is “I Can’t Stop Crying” by Will Grove-White” from “Fleabag.”
• Jack says the red blossoms remind him of the trips he took with his Beverly to the Crimson Arboretum on Raritan IV. Showrunner Terry Matalas named the planet after Raritan, New Jersey, near where he grew up.
• The blossoms may be a metaphor for individuals, and the vines a metaphor for what connects them below the surface — a hint of what’s to come.
• Jack described the vines as “purposeful” and “perfect.” There is one species in the universe whose purpose is to seek perfection.
• The female voice from beyond the door beckons: “Hear me. Find me. Fear nothing. We will be together soon, Jack.”
• After her vision, Troi runs out to find Jack’s parents, Beverly and Picard. The sign on the door that closes behind her says “Counselor,” which was her role on the Enterprise.
• It’s finally revealed what’s behind the door: a Borg cube. His parents say it’s impossible, as Jack has never been assimilated and there are no nanoprobes in his system.
• Beverly says “no one has seen or heard from the Borg in a decade,” which directly contradicts the events of “Star Trek: Picard” Season 2, where the Borg asked specifically for Picard’s help.
• Beverly deduces that the Borg passed some organic technology to Jack through Locutus. Locutus is the name Picard took after being assimilated by the Borg 35 years prior. That was depicted in “The Next Generation” Season 3 finale and Season 4 opener “The Best of Both Worlds Part I and II.”
• Jean-Luc wants to tell Jack about the Borg but Troi stops him as there are protocols when threats to the Federation are discovered. Jack is considered “dangerous.”
• Picard speaks to Jack and tells him a Borg “seed” is implanted in him. Jack is distraught after learning he is merely a bee or drone. If you look at the wall behind him, the wall has a honeycomb design.
• He tries to leave but discovers security guards are stationed outside. He uses his ability to possess the security guards. When Picard asks Jack “What is this?” he responds in a very Borg-like answer: “futility.”
• Beverly also tries to stop Jack but the security guards stop her as well. He tells his mother he always thought the voice in his head was her, but now realizes it is the Borg Queen. He commandeers a shuttle and follows instructions from the Queen to “find me.”
• As they watch Jack escape, Picard tells Beverly “he inherited the best of you and the worst of me.” This is a reference to the aforementioned “The Best of Both Worlds” episodes.
• Data tries to comfort Picard by putting his hand on Picard’s shoulder. Picard pats Data’s hand. He did the same gesture to Riker in the Season 1 episode of “Nepenthe.”
• Jack flies to the coordinates the Queen sends him, and a Borg cube appears via a transwarp conduit.
• Geordi and Data make a startling discovery. Whereas assimilated Borg are “receivers,” Jack’s unique DNA makes him a “transmitter.” That’s why Vadic kept referring to him as special.
• Worf notes all of Starfleet is gathered in one location: the Sol system. A map appears with dozens of Starfleet vessels including the U.S.S. Sutherland (whose predecessor appeared in the “Next Generation” episode “Redemption”), the U.S.S. Okuda (named after “Trek” designers Michael and Denise Okuda), the U.S.S. Gagarin (named after the Soviet cosmonaut), the U.S.S. Ibn Al-Haythiam (named after the mathematician), the U.S.S. Drexler (named after “Trek” artist Doug Drexler), the U.S.S. Huygens (named after the Dutch astronomer), the U.S.S. Reliant (whose predecessor appeared in “The Wrath of Khan”) and several other ships.
• The map graphic dissolves into a live-action shot of the ships around Earth Spacedock about Earth. The doors open to reveal NCC-1701-F, the newest U.S.S. Enterprise commanded by Admiral Elizabeth Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy). More on Shelby’s guest appearance here .
• Shelby’s Frontier Day speech pays homage to the NX-01, the first Enterprise commanded by Jonathan Archer 250 years prior. That Enterprise’s adventures were shown in the series “Enterprise.”
• Shelby is proud to showcase the newest Starfleet technology, Fleet Formation. It allows all Starfleet vessels to synch and act as one, a very Borg-like concept. One of the ships that syncs with the Enterprise is the U.S.S. Pulaski, named after Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) who served on the Enterprise-D.
• Picard notes the irony of Fleet Formation as Shelby was introduced as a Borg tactical specialist who really disliked the Borg.
• Jack beams aboard the Borg cube determined to destroy the Queen. She calls him “my child” and “my flesh.” She also names him Regenerati (rebirth) and Puer Dei (Child of God) before settling on Vox (voice), which is also the name of the episode.
• The voice of the Queen belongs to Alice Krige, who reprises her role from “Star Trek: First Contact.”
• Jack tries to kill the Queen, but cannot bring himself to. She assimilates him using tendrils, saying the phrase “Resistance is futile.”
• Geordi and Data discover that the Changelings stole Picard’s human body to extract the Borg genetic code. They infiltrated Starfleet vessels and introduced the code into the transporter system. Everyone who beams on or off-board has the code spliced into their genes, making the dormant Borg drones. Beverly notes this only affects brains still developing, which in human age is 25 or younger.
• This explains why Ro didn’t trust the transporters and decided to take a shuttlecraft to board the Titan way back in Episode 5. She suspected the Changelings were contaminating them — and she was right.
• Picard tries to warn Shelby but it’s too late. The Borg Queen uses Jack to transmit her signal through the entire fleet, activating all the dormant drones, including both LaForge girls, tactical officer Mura and communications officer Esmar. They become Borg and begin taking over the bridge.
• Shelby is killed when activated Borg take over the Enterprise. She is shot twice by two ensigns.
• This also explains why Vadic executed T’Veen instead of Mura and Esmar. As a Vulcan, T’Veen was likely older than 25, as Vulcans age slower than humans. Showrunner Terry Matalas confirmed this theory to TheWrap.
• Geordi is terrified to learn both Sidney and Alandra have turned in Borg and no longer register as human.
• The older, unaffected crewmembers (Picard, Riker, Shaw, Seven) flee the bridge as Esmar takes control of the Titan.
• The U.S.S. Excelsior, a vessel featured in several “Trek” films, manages to regain control but is promptly destroyed by the other Starfleet vessels, including the U.S.S. Hikaru Sulu. The Sulu is named after the original Enterprise helmsman, who ironically later became the captain of the Excelsior.
• The assimilated ships take formation into a shape that resembles DNA helixes or Borg symbols, depending on who you ask.
• The older crewmembers make it down to the maintenance deck with hopes of escaping on a repair shuttle. Shaw is killed in the firefight. With his last breath, he gives command to Seven, finally addressing her as Seven of Nine instead of Commander Hansen.
• There’s a nice moment where Raffi shields/holds back Picard, her former commanding officer. Raffi also decides to stay with Seven, her former lover, onboard the Titan.
• The assimilated fleet approaches Spacedock with the goal of eliminating any remaining Earth defenses.
• Geordi pilots the crew back to the Fleet Museum. They need a ship which is not connected to the assimilated fleet. That ship, of course, is the Enterprise-D.
• Geordi explains that the saucer section, which crashed on Veridian III, was retrieved so as to not violate the Prime Directive and influence the less advanced species in the system. The secondary hull engine and nacelles are salvaged from the U.S.S. Syracuse, another Galaxy-class starship.
• Geordi says “obviously they cannot use the Enterprise-E” and everyone looks at Worf. Worf was the captain of the Enterprise-E, which has befallen some sad fate that renders her unusable.
• Picard assumes command of the Enterprise-D. The computer voice that greets him is that of Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the wife of creator Gene Roddenberry. She also played No. 1 and Nurse Chapel in “The Original Series,” and Lwaxana Troi in “The Next Generation.”
• The crew take their positions on the bridge, including Geordi at the helm, where he started in early episodes of “The Next Generation.”
• As the Enterprise-D sets course for Earth, Picard utters his famous phrases: “Make it so” and “Engage!” He also tugs at the bottom of his tunic, a signature move fans have dubbed The Picard Maneuver.

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3, Episode 10 Easter Eggs

• The series finale is titled “The Last Generation,” a play on “The Next Generation” — the name of the “Star Trek” series that chronicled the adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D.
• The Star Trek logo at the beginning of the show flickers and turns green as it is “assimilated’ by the Borg.
• Picard and the Enterprise-D crew receive a distress call from Anton Chekov, the President of the Federation. Chekov is the son of Enterprise-A helmsman Pavel Chekov, played by Walter Koenig in “The Original Series.”
• The Enterprise tracks the Borg cube to Jupiter. Riker mentions the Borg hid a transwarp conduit within the planet’s gases, allowing them to enter the Sol system and broadcast their signal.
• Picard says, “What began over 35 years ago ends tonight.” He is referring to the Enterprise’s first contact with the Borg in “The Next Generation” which was hastened by the omnipotent being Q (John DeLancie).
• A wide shot shows how small the Enterprise is compared to the cube. In previous shows, Borg cubes have been compared to small moons. Several antennae protrude from the cube, amplifying its signal to the Starfleet ships surrounding Earth and attacking Spacedock.
• Seven, Raffi and their ragtag group of non-assimilated crew take back the Titan bridge, beaming their assimilated colleagues to a locked transporter room.
• Beverly is able to isolate Jack’s location on the cube. Data offers to go, given his “experience with the Borg.” He’s referring to being kidnapped and altered by the Borg queen in “Star Trek: First Contact.” Picard refuses and has Riker and Worf round out his away team.
• As the ranking officer — a commodore — La Forge is granted command.
• Troi and Riker share an empathic moment together, as he may not return from this mission.
• Picard finds a fully assimilated Jack broadcasting the Borg signal. Jack is wearing an eye prosthetic similar to Locutus’.
• The Borg queen, whose body has withered away, calls Picard by his Borg designation: “Locutus.”
• Aboard the Titan, Raffi realizes the Titan can be released from Fleet Formation if they cloak. Seven tells tactical to upload every prefix code they have for the fleet. With each ship’s prefix code, the Titan can disable their shields. Captain Kirk used this exploit to disable the U.S.S. Reliant’s shields in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”
• Riker and Worf find the beacon controls, but are attacked by drones. Worf dispatches several drones with his sword but is shot. He tells Riker to pick up his sword, but it’s too heavy. Hidden in the hilt is a phaser.
• The Borg cube fires upon the Enterprise. With Worf on the away team, Beverly takes over tactical, firing phasers and photon torpedos with accuracy. “A lot’s happened in the last 20 years,” she tells an astonished La Forge, Data and Troi.
• They locate the beacon at the heart of the cube. Data says he can fly the Enterprise into the cube ala Luke Skywalker and the Death Star in “Star Wars.”
• The fleet destroys Spacedock and Earth is defenseless. Sidney and Alandra destroy the Titan’s cloaking device, leaving the Titan exposed. Jack continues to broadcast orders, saying “concentrate fire on Sector 001.” Sector 001 is the Federation designation for Earth, and the fleet begins targeting all the major cities.
• In an attempt to stop the queen, Picard begins “unplugging” Jack. He then plugs himself into the Collective. Viewers see flashbacks from “The Next Generation” episodes “The Best of Both Worlds Part I and II.”
• Picard pleads with Jack to unplug, but Jack resists. La Forge tells Beverly to destroy the beacon, knowing it will kill Jack, Picard, Riker and Worf.
• Riker bids farewell Troi, saying “I love you, imzadi . We’ll be waiting, me and our boy,” referring to their deceased son Thaddeus.
• Troi empathically hears Riker and is able to discern their location despite the Cube falling apart around them. She also used this empathic tracking ability to locate Shinzon’s cloaked ship in “Star Trek: Nemesis.”
• The away team makes it safely aboard, and the cube — and Queen — are destroyed. With the beacon destroyed, all assimilated personnel regain individual control.
• We then get a captain’s log from Riker, explaining how Beverly, now an admiral and head of Starfleet Medical, devised a way to purge the Borg genetic code using transporter technology.
• By the end of “Picard,” Picard and Crusher hold admiral ranks, La Forge is a commodore, and Riker and Worf are captains. Troi holds a commander rank, while Data presumably never got promoted from his lieutenant commander rank.
• Captain Tuvok (Tim Russ) is alive and formally promotes Seven of Nine to captain, upon the recommendation from Shaw.
• Jay (Raffi’s estranged husband) sends her good news: their granddaughter wants to meet her grandmother. Raffi was looking at her granddaughter’s photo in the first episode.
• Data struggles to process his emotions and seeks counseling from Troi, but goes well over time during their appointments. Troi zones out by researching beach vacation spots, including Trill, Bajor, Malibu (California), Zadar IV, Orlando (Florida) and Kaphar Prime.
• There’s a time jump to a year later. The Enterprise-D is back at the Fleet Museum, where she is shutdown.
• Jack is fast-tracked through Starfleet and receives his first posting aboard the Titan, now re-christened the U.S.S. Enterprise-G.
• Jack’s commanding officers? Captain Seven of Nine and First Officer Raffi Musiker. He tells the helm to set a course for the M’Talas system with phasers and photon torpedos ready. It’s one final self-referring easter egg from showrunner Terry Matalas.
• The Enterprise-D crew close down Guinan’s Ten Forward Bar. Worf has been drinking prune juice, which Guinan introduced him to in “The Next Generation.” He called prune juice “a warrior’s drink.”
• The crew are joined by Picard for a game of poker. This mirrors the series finale of “The Next Generation.”
• In the post-credits, Jack is visited by Q (John de Lancie). We break down the ending and post-credit scene in detail here.

“Star Trek: Picard” is currently streaming on Paramount+

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How To Find A Cool Easter Egg In ‘Star Trek: Picard – The Final Season’ On DVD And Blu-ray

| September 9, 2023 | By: Matt Wright 11 comments so far

Fans may recall that showrunner Terry Matalas had mentioned in various interviews and on social media that he planned to include the full poker scene from the finale as a bonus feature when Picard season 3 was released on disc. TrekMovie has found that bonus feature. It’s a hidden “easter egg” in the DVD and Blu-ray menus, on the last disc of the set.

One More Hand

On disc 3 of the Blu-ray set (or disc 4 of the DVD set), highlight “Rebuilding the Enterprise-D” in the Extras menu, and then press the left arrow on your remote (on the DVD set press the right arrow). A poker card will appear, press OK, and you’ll get a 6 minute bonus feature called “One More Hand.” Jonathan Frakes gives a brief intro to the final scene at the poker table, and then we’re treated to the raw add libbed footage of the 5 minute continuous take that showrunner/director Terry Matalas filmed for the finale.

The Blu-ray disc 3 menu showing the poker card

The DVD disc 4 menu showing the poker card

Available now in the US

You can order the final season on Amazon: Blu-ray for $34.96 , Steelbook Blu-ray for $39.95 , and DVD for $29.96 .

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Wait a sec .Isn’t this around the time where a bunch of us should bring up the dirty word of 2023? Nostalgia?

I may consider watching this special feature but ONLY if the dialog is new, ambitious and groundbreaking.

every time I go to town, the boys keep kickin my dog around. why why why, bark bark bark

Star Trek fans: We want the original TNG crew back together again! Also Star Trek fans: there is too much fan service and nostalgia in the new shows.

— insert Picard facepalm meme here —

What’s a DVD?

It’s like a VHS tape, only rounder.

It’s the diet, higher-end version of a laserdisc.

Something that a LOT of people still buy, despite others pretending it’s not the case, since streaming has proven to be disastrous at guaranteeing shows’ availability.

…my copy showed up today, pretty psyched to add it to my Trek collection!

This is a cool Easter Egg. I’m glad they are still this neat stuff on DVDs

• Why is DVD still allowed? Nothing like perpetuating 1995 NTSC video standards.
• 4K. We need this show in 4K.
• If you haven’t already purchased the soundtrack, it is very highly recommended.

Who buy Blu-Ray, actually?