star trek picard staffel 3 moriarty

Picard Season 3 Brings Back One Of The Next Generation's Silliest Villains

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

On the sixth episode of the third season of "Star Trek: Picard" — called "The Bounty" — Worf (Michael Dorn), Raffi (Michelle Hurd), and Capt. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) break into a space-bound, top-secret Federation storage warehouse called Daystrom station. On board, the characters find a lot of shadowy corridors lined with lockers containing strange "Star Trek"-related artifacts. In one locker, Worf discovers a living tribble, only this one is equipped with fangs and a sucker mouth. In another, Raffi finds the remains of Capt. Kirk, presumably retrieved from under a pile of rocks on Veridian III. The references rest on the border of cute and insufferable, and the episode as a whole leans far too hard into nostalgic temptation. 

Case in point: Daystrom station is equipped with an artificially intelligent security system that recognizes Riker and Worf and immediately initiates a holographic security countermeasure. Ignoring for a moment that a mere storage warehouse is equipped with sophisticated holo-emitters, Riker, Worf, and Raffi find themselves facing off against none other than Moriarty (Daniel Davis), the nemesis of Sherlock Holmes as he appeared in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1893 short story, "The Final Problem." Raffi is baffled that a holographic villain from the 19th century is guarding a Federation black site in the 25th, especially when only armed with an old-fashioned pistol.

Moriarty's presence on "Picard" is a little perplexing, but it was perhaps no more perplexing than his two previous appearances on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" where Moriarty, as a hologram, achieved consciousness and attempted to take over the Enterprise.

Ship in a bottle

Moriarty, as played by Daniel Davis, first appeared in the episode "Elementary, Dear Data" (December 5, 1988). In that episode, Data (Brent Spiner)  had become too good at solving Sherlock Holmes mysteries on the holodeck, making the deduction and investigation parts of the stories — the fun parts — unnecessary. Geordi (LeVar Burton), bored in his role as Dr. Watson, suggested to Data that he needed to be challenged by a mystery, and asked the holodeck to create a character that would actually be capable of besting Data. Note that Geordi said "Data" and not "Sherlock Holmes." The holodeck, using heretofore unknown powers, created a Prof. Moriarty that is self-aware. Moriarty knows he is a citizen of 19th-century England but also finds himself able to access the Enterprise's computers, slowly becoming aware that he is a mere character in a high-tech simulation. He will eventually try to gain control of the ship. 

It will take a great deal of negotiation from Picard to convince him to stop his shenanigans. Moriarty is stored in the ship's memory to be dealt with at a later time. He will be restored accidentally in the episode "Ship in a Bottle" (January 24, 1993) where he will announce he was aware of the passage of time, even when stored in a memory bank. Once again, he will attempt to take over the Enterprise. At the end of the episode, Moriarty is duped into a simulation, and he is placed into a computerized cube that will provide him and his beloved wife with a lifetime of adventures. 

How is Moriarty here?

One can see why "Star Trek" writers are drawn to Moriarty. Like the denizens of the Enterprise, he is an intellectual. And like all life forms on "Star Trek," he demands respect and autonomy; when Picard is confronted with a new life form, he initially balks, unsure how to deal with the fact that his ship spontaneously created an adult human being. Moriarty is a character from classic Western literature, a canon that Trek is fairly obsessed with. Additionally, visiting Doyle's England provides "The Next Generation" with some much-needed visual variety; one can only look at grey-and-lavender hallways for so long before aching for dark earth tones. 

As a villain, though, Moriarty does possess a palpable fatuity. While the dramatic explanation for the character is laid out in detail, his actual presence on "Star Trek" feels a little like, say, Mr. Peabody and Sherman visiting Cleopatra. Author Loren D. Estleman once wrote a novel called "Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula."  "Moriarty vs. Picard" tilts away from "essay on the nature of consciousness" pretty quickly, and falls headlong into the realm of Estleman-like fan fiction.

Moriarty's presence on "Picard" is, quite disappointingly, presented bluntly and without reason, making the character only that much more absurd. As a security device, Moriarty fires bullets at Worf, Raffi, and Riker, while also psychically playing noisy, isolated musical chords through the station's sound system. Riker eventually intuits that the notes being played are from "Pop Goes the Weasel," a tune he once whistled for Data in the "Next Generation" pilot episode. 

Riker also realizes this version of Moriarty is not the same one as before, and is actually a manifestation of Data's consciousness (!). Data is alive and nearby (!!).

It's an unfortunately silly twist that doesn't do anything to allay the character's inherent silliness. 

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Daniel Davis Talks About His “Different” Moriarty In ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3

| October 11, 2022 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 61 comments so far

The final moment of the new NYCCC Star Trek: Picard teaser trailer had a surprise reveal: the return of Moriarty, the holographic Sherlock Holmes adversary who plagued the USS Enterprise-D on a couple of occasions. Actor Daniel Davis has come back to the role after almost three decades, and in a new video, he reveals more about Moriarty’s return including some minor spoilers .

The return of Moriarty is “threatening”

The hologram of James Moriarty played by Daniel Davis was created in the second season  Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Elementary, Dear Data” by Geordi La Forge, who tasked the Enterprise’s computer to create an opponent that could defeat Data. The result was a hologram that became self-aware and tried to take over the ship. Davis played the character again in the sixth season’s “Ship in a Bottle,” which ended with the hologram being stored in a cube that ran a simulation so he would believe he had escaped the USS Enterprise.

Daniel Davis as Moriarty in “Elementary, Dead Data”

Now the character is returning in season 3 of Picard; showrunner Terry Matalas says  he is one of its three villains (the other two being Amanda Plummer’s Vadic and Brent Spiner’s Lore). During the NYCC panel, show star Sir Patrick Stewart was asked to talk about working with Daniel Davis again, but Matalas jumped in to try to prevent any spoilers, saying, “He can’t.” Stewart did say this: “Moriarty being back again is both entertaining and threatening.”

Moriarty brought a gun to the Picard NYCC trailer

Moriarty is different on Picard

In a new Cameo video from Tim Roy , Daniel Davis said he was happy to finally be able to talk about it but also revealed that he only appears in a single episode of Picard .

I have to say a hallelujah because my non-disclosure agreement was lifted yesterday at the New York Comic Con with the announcement that Moriarty would be returning. I’ve had to sit on this information since last December when I went to Los Angeles to film the episode. It was a fantastic experience as it always is… The work was was wonderful. It was just one day of shooting.

While his time in the season appears to be limited, Davis dropped a very interesting clue:

The one thing I think I can tell you is I think the fans will enjoy what happens more if they understand that it’s a bit of a callback to an earlier season, way before Moriarty even appeared actually—the first meeting between Riker and Data. You should remind yourselves of that.

It appears Davis is talking about the scene in the Next Generation series premiere “Encounter at Farpoint” when Riker meets Data for the first time in the holodeck, where Data was trying to master whistling. Davis also indicates that in Picard season 3, he has a scene with Jonathan Frakes’ Riker:

As Riker says in the script in the scene that we did, “This is not the Moriarity that we know from the Enterprise.” And in fact, that is true. And that’s all I can tell you. It’s a different different kind of Moriarty, but it’s still Moriarty. It’s very exciting.

Riker meets Data in “Encounter at Farpoint”

Even though Davis only shot for a day, he was impressed by the scale of the production and attention to detail. He recalled for Moriarty on TNG they used a costume rented from the famed Western Costume Company , but for Picard the production sent someone to his home in New York to measure him for a custom costume.

They had tailor-made the outfit for me and it fit like a glove. It was absolutely astonishing, including an Inverness cape . It was an amazing costume. And then of course, you are treated so wonderfully by the company.

He also recalled being able to spend some quality time with Sir Patrick Stewart.

That day when I finished my fitting, I was on my way back to the parking lot and I ran into Jonathan Frakes and he was standing outside Patrick Stewart’s trailer, and Patrick Stewart poked his head out and he had finished his work for the day and he said [in perfect Stewart voice], “Oh, Daniel, how wonderful that you’re back” and I was invited into his trailer, and we sat and had a conversation for maybe 90 minutes… Patrick and I have a similar background in the theater and we are both acquainted with Ian McKellen. Of course, they are very close friends And I stood by for Ian in Amadeus on Broadway. So we had a lot to talk about the theater and about his plans and what he’s currently involved with—and I can’t tell you about any of those things either. But we had a wonderful time together.

Daniel Davis as Moriarty in the Picard NYCC trailer

The final season of Picard premieres on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, exclusively on Paramount+  in the U.S., with new episodes of the 10-episode-long season available to stream weekly on Thursdays.  Picard  streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed concurrently by Paramount Global Content Distribution on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories, and in Canada it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

Keep up with news for the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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Only one episode huh?

And only one day of shooting, apparently. So he cannot even be a really big part of that episode.

Yeah, that’s disappointing. He was by far the best surprise of the trailer.

Of course, Daniel Davis has also played the captain of the USS Enterprise… CVN-65, in “The Hunt For Red October”.

That was Fred Dalton Thompson.

Thompson played the Admiral who was on board the Enterprise. Davis played the Captain of the Enterprise, Davenport.

So the Captain was the guy who didn’t care for Ryan wearing the uniform? The way the scene was set up was that Dalton was playing the Captain. I guess I do recall Ryan calling him “Admiral”.

Nothing ever dies in Star Trek anymore. Who would’ve ever thought a 30+ year old holodeck character from two episodes would’ve ever been back? Actually I think he would’ve been too perfect to bring back on Lower Decks and hey maybe they still can. ;)

Really looking forward to this!

We already know that Thadiun Okona ( The Outrageous Okona ) is returning via Prodigy , and this after Bruce Maddox ( The Measure of a Man ) returned via Picard and Ensign Sonya Gomez ( Q Who? and Samaritan Snare ) returned via Lower Decks .

It seems Secret Hideout really likes TNG Season 2. Maybe Carolyn Seymour is next?

Wow, I never really thought about that, but you’re right. There do seem to be a lot of call backs to season 2

I never thought about that either, but you’re right. And who knows, maybe Dr.Pulaski might make an appearance at some point. She is still the biggest new character from season 2 but was never seen or heard from again. And the actor is still around as well.

Moriart wasn’t dead the las time that we saw him.More or Less,Trapped In A Cube,for lack of a better term. But living his life, with the Contessa.

I wasn’t talking literally, just in general that characters never disappear and always extended in some part of the franchise in various media; many for decades on end. And yes even when a character dies…they still come back! ;D

Do I have to check my eyes or did he mention Data?!?!?! 😁😁😁 So I hope my biggest hope will come true and Data indeed will return too!!!

Damn, you’d figure that after dismantling Lore for the last time, they would have fed him into a shredder. Apparently not. So, some 25th century picker bought a surplus Federation storage locker at auction, and got a big payday with a disassembled android.

Lore never visited Talos IV, so they can’t legally execute him.

“good one!”

Yeah, that one’s a Keeper.

They can turn him off. And it would be a good idea to completely disassemble him after that and store him in different parts of the galaxy. He’s not “executed” as he could be put back together and turned on.

Would it be killing him if they destroyed everything but the head?

Is Data’s mother still alive? I mean the character, not the actress; Fionnula Flanagan is still alive.

But Flanagan looks almost the same as she did in Inheritance. . Amazing. One of those actors who just always looked older than they really were I guess (see also Wilford Brimley and Ellen Corby.)

All I can imagine now is season three opening with the 25th century version of Storage Wars!

I was beyond excited seeing him in the trailer, but with him being in just one episode I think I would have preferred to see the reveal in the episode itself.

I think in one of the interviews with Terry, this is what he was hinting at – he had to get permission to include a callback only a few would remember.

Little disappointed it this sounds this is just a cameo. I’d have been stoked it he’d been the season’s big bad somehow.

I’m getting the feeling there are going to be a ton of cameo’s this season.

And so begins the drip feeding of “trust me it will be special” from the cast

I had hoped for Nicky the Nose, but he’ll do.

I’m absolutely thrilled Moriarty will be back. It was honestly a huge surprise for me when I saw the trailer. But it seems odd to make his reveal at the end such a big thing when he’ll be there for what is most likely just one scene (Daniel did 1 day of filming which will hardly be more than the 1 scene he mentioned). I think I would’ve preferred to have gotten his reveal in the actual episode, making his small part feel more impactful.

I’m not so sure it will be just one scene. I mean a tailor made custom suit for one scene?!

I agree with you, but I also am reminded that Discovery spent a ton of time and money on the Klingon torchbearer suit for about 10 seconds of screentime. So wouldn’t put it past them to throw money at the production (though I hope the powers that be have learned some things about what not to do in a star Trek production).

Oh. Huh… Did not know that. Well I hope he is in more than one seen. Moriarty is the thing that got me the most excited about this season.

I’m making a prediction now: Moriarty is just one of several callbacks we’re going to get. This is going to be a “Commander Data, this is your life” kind of thing, with Lore, Moriarty, and other villains returning for minor roles.

What exactly do you mean with “Commander Data, this is your life”? ☺️

It’s a reference to an old TV show, This Is Your Life, in which people would be presented with folks from their past.

Interesting theory, But why would they even be doing that unless Data has some connection to the big bad of the season?

Someone in the Youtube comments on the teaser trailer had some interesting conjecture. Moriarty was created as the one person who could defeat Data. What if he is “summoned” by our TNG crew to defeat Lore? (again, not my theory – but thought it was interesting.)

Makes as much sense as anything else

That’s actually a really interesting theory.

I’ve been wondering this myself. I think Moriarty won’t be a villain this season, first because he’s just in one ep, and second because it makes sense they’d look thru their historical “AI” as it were to try to figure out how to escape whatever bad situation they’re in, and Moriarty is or will be one of them.

Well, that was informative. (Sarcasm)

Better news but it’s still awful he was even involved at all. There is no way to incorporate Moriarity into Trek in a workable way unless they wanted to make the Doyle characters real in the Trek world and time travel was involved. And that is pretty over the top even for Trek.

You realize that he is a character that has already appeared twice in TNG. What is unworkable about him?

They brought him in and used him in ways that didn’t work at all. It’s not unusual. There were a number of episodes that just didn’t work. How in this case? It makes no sense that a hologram would have the ability to take over the ship from the holodeck. At all. If that was so anyone could. Seems like an incredible security flaw. What’s stopping people from saying “create the Enterprise’ auxiliary control that actually works. Boom. You now have total control of the ship. Sorry but that’s insane.

I am assuming you don’t watch the classic series such as TNG? Several episodes show the TNG charecters were fans of classic literature. Picard likes Shakespeare while Geordi and Data liked Sherlock Holmes stories and reenacted them in the holodeck.

This version of Moriarty was created in the holodeck by accident when they tried to create an opponent that could defeat Data. He is a sentient hologram, and he already appeared in two episodes of TNG.

There is only one “classic” series. And it’s not TNG. Referencing classic literature is a long way away from a holodeck created character magically has the ability to take over the ship from the holodeck. Doesn’t matter he is sentient or not. And the character doesn’t need to be sentient to defeat Data. All that character needs is all information about Data and they would know about his “off” switch. It’s actually amazingly easy to defeat Data.

Thanks, this is literally the dumbest thing I’ve read this week.

I was under the impression that this person based on the volume of comments knows something about Trek? if they are joking, it did not translate to text

The comment demonstrates I do know something of Trek. But I guess the only thing I am ignoring is the ability for writers to insert things in that make no sense for their stories to work. Which is obviously what went on in the Moriarity episodes. To a much higher degree than usual.

But you didn’t explain why. Which seems even dumber in and of itself.

One episode. That’s a let down.

Hey, lets not forget that Hugh was only in ONE episode and he was in a good chunk of season 1. They should bring back Worfs holo battle partner to de-pacify him;)

Three – “I, Borg”, then “Descent” parts 1 & 2.

It’s not a great sign that the writers had to rely on a Holodeck trick for the plot.

I don’t know, I thought the Dixon Hill trick in First Contact was fun. Could be something along those lines.

This is an odd one, it seems like with only 1-day of shooting in one episode, he has a very minor roll to play and it would have been best to leave this as nice little surprise for when the episode airs. Appearing in the trailer is likely going to set expectations a little too high.

I was the same. But then again, I’m glad he told us now he’ll only be in 1 episode so expectations are already lowered.

I’d love it if they brought back Vic Fontaine, too! There was always a lot more to that character than met the eye.

I can’t believe no one has suggested this, but with all the hints about both, I think Moriarty downloads and takes over Lore’s body. Thoughts?

Star Trek: Picard’s Daniel Davis Shares His Thoughts On Moriarty's Return And Potential Future Appearances

The star had a lot to share.

Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for the Star Trek: Picard episode "Bounty." Read at your own risk!

Star Trek: Picard made a ton of references in the episode "Bounty," but few were as exciting as the reappearance of the classic villain from The Next Generation , Moriarty . Actor Daniel Davis reprised his role for a brief scene and was kind enough to speak to CinemaBlend about returning to the character after decades away. 

I spoke to Daniel Davis about his return as Moriarty and learned that even he didn't fully understand it until a couple of days before we spoke. Davis explained what all went down after he agreed to return and how he wasn't entirely sure what was happening with the character in Star Trek: Picard all throughout filming: 

All I saw were the pages that I was on, and I read the scene and thought, Well, this is not exactly the Moriarty from Next Gen.’ It’s a different take on it…So by the time I got to L.A. I still didn’t have a complete script, and I didn’t know what happened after my scene and what I was doing, really…It made sense to me after I saw it, but not so much sense to me when I was doing it. But somehow or another it worked out ok.

As mentioned, Daniel Davis finally got a chance to see the episode and learned that his Moriarty was actually a clue provided to Riker from Data , who was in the facility . Davis definitely had a greater appreciation for the scene and what it was trying to accomplish compared to when he filmed the Star Trek: Picard scene without any context. 

For those who don't remember, Moriarty was a hologram program based on the Sherlock Holmes character created to challenge Data. In “Elementary, Dear Data,” Moriarty became self-aware, and Picard promised to find a way for him to live outside of the holodeck. 

Moriarty returned in Star Trek: The Next Generation 's “Ship In A Bottle" upset that Picard lied about finding a way to remove him from the holodeck. That actually wasn't true, but the villain couldn't be convinced otherwise. The crew then had to trick Moriarty into believing he'd left the Enterprise , but in actuality, he was trapped in a simulation within a simulation, which was contained inside a memory module.

Daniel Davis admitted that, prior to receiving his scene, his mind was buzzing with possibilities about what his Star Trek: Picard arc might be about. The actor talked about the storyline he'd hoped to be a part of, which would've tied back to his story in The Next Generation : 

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I created my own little scenario in my head about what the episode might be about. My hope, or what I fantasized, was that there would be some sort of resolution between Picard and I about the fact that he does not break promises. And he promised he would find a way to get me off the holodeck, and he never did. So, I thought, ‘Ok, the whole Star Trek: Picard series is about revisiting his mistakes from the past and blah blah blah,’ But that was in my mind.

Daniel Davis didn't get the reunion with Patrick Stewart that he hoped for, and I'm sure there are a few who watched with their Paramount+ subscription who felt the same way. Unfortunately, Jean-Luc Picard was elsewhere working on a rescue plan to save Riker, Worf and Raffi, so there wasn't an opportunity for the two to meet. Of course, it wouldn't have really mattered if they did, because again, this wasn't the actual Moriarty. 

While Daniel Davis didn't get the chance to properly reprise his role, he's certainly open to the possibility if it presents itself in the future. Davis mused about the possibility of appearing in another upcoming Star Trek series or even another season of Picard if that's in the cards:

Even though it’s supposedly the final season of Star Trek: Picard and Patrick has said in one place that he’s done with Picard and another place he says, “Never say never,” there’s always a possibility. One of the producers said to me Moriarty is one of those characters who can show up anywhere. And so, there’s so many incarnations of Star Trek right now. I might pop up on Strange New Worlds! What could be more strange than that?

I would've pointed out that it'd be hard for a holodeck character to make an appearance in the TOS era of Star Trek , but Daniel Davis does have a point. Hell, Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds are having a crossover in the upcoming season, so is it really that hard to believe something like this could happen? 

More realistically, it seems far more likely we'd see Davis on one of the other shows or even a Picard spinoff. While there isn't anything definitive in the works at the moment, there are plenty of folks in the cast campaigning to see the story continue past this. There are definitely more stories to tell if it does, but we'll just have to wait and see. 

Catch new episodes of Star Trek: Picard Thursdays on Paramount+ . With the season officially past the halfway point, now is as good of a time as any to revisit the best episodes so far and speculate where the rest of this season is headed. 

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.

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New ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3 Trailer Reveals the Return of Moriarty and Lore

The new footage also finally reveals the return of Beverly Crusher, a new adversary played by Amanda Plummer, and Mica Burton as Geordi's daughter.

The new trailer for Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard is so jam-packed with action, emotion, and new and returning characters that you're going to want to watch it over and over just to catch everything. Last month on Star Trek Day, Paramount revealed the first teaser trailer for the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard . From that first footage, we learned that Season 3, and the impetus for getting the Next Generation crew back together, centers around a distress call from Beverly Crusher. In today's trailer, released during the Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comic-Con, we get our first look at Beverly and Picard together, as well as the season's new villain, played by the legendary Amanda Plummer , and Mica Burton playing her father's daughter as Ensign Alandra La Forge.

The new trailer will have you gasping at every turn as each reveal doubles down on the final thrilling adventure for these beloved characters. So far Brent Spiner has appeared in every season of Star Trek: Picard as a different character. It's been fitting for Spiner as he frequently played multiple members of the Soong family on The Next Generation. In Season 1, he reprised the role of the beloved android Data, and Season 2 saw him as Data's ancestor Adam Soong. While it's been known that Spiner would be returning for Season 3 along with the rest of the Next Generation cast, his role has been kept a secret until now. The final seconds of the trailer reveal that Spiner will return as none other than Data's evil twin android, Lore.

Lore isn't the only familiar adversary introduced in the new trailer. The new footage also reveals the return of Daniel Davis as Professor Moriarty, a holo-novel character that came to life in Star Trek: The Next Generation . The trailer also has plenty of content for those eagerly awaiting the return of the TNG crew, from Picard desperately searching for Beverly and Deanna Troi's empathic senses intensifying the threatening aura of their new enemy, to Worf's newfound pacifism and Riker's ever-charming wise-cracks. Seven and Raffi are also heavily featured in the new footage which includes an extremely interesting connection between Worf and Raffi.

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New York Comic Con went all out for Picard Season 3, bringing Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner out for their portion of the Star Trek Universe panel. The cast were joined on stage by executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Terry Matalas, and Rod Roddenberry. Matalas also serves as the showrunner for Season 3.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will feature the full returning TNG cast as well as stars Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd . The premiere of the final episodes arrives on February 16, 2023, with new episodes arriving exclusively on Paramount+ every Thursday. In the meantime, you can check out the new trailer for Season 3 down below.

‘Star Trek: Picard’ Reunites ‘Next Generation’ Cast, Announces Return of Classic Enemies in New Season 3 Trailer

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A new trailer for the third and final season of Paramount+ ‘s “ Star Trek : Picard” launched out of New York Comic Con Saturday, revealing new additions to the Patrick Stewart-led show’s cast — including the return of some iconic villains from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

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And last but not least in terms of big “Picard” casting news was the reveal that Mica Burton (“Critical Role,” “Vampire: The Masquerade: L.A. by Night”) and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (“Cruel Summer”) have also been cast in recurring roles. Chestnut is playing Ensign Sidney La Forge, the eldest daughter of Geordi La Forge (famously played by LeVar Burton)and helmsman of the U.S.S. Titan, while Mica Burton (LeVar Burton’s real-life daughter), is taking on the part of Ensign Alandra La Forge, Geordi La Forge’s youngest daughter who works alongside her father.

The final season of “ Star Trek: Picard ” premieres on Thursday, Feb. 16 on Paramount+. New episodes of the 10-episode-long season will drop weekly on Thursdays.

The Saturday “Picard” panel at New York Comic Con featured Stewart and cast members LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner, as well as executive producers Alex Kurztman, Terry Matalas and Rod Roddenberry.

Stewart, Burton, Dorn, Frakes, McFadden, Sirtis, Spiner, Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd star in “Picard,” which is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.

Executive producers include Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Matalas (who serves as showrunner), Stewart, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Doug Aarniokoski and Dylan Massin.

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‘Star Trek: Picard’: Daniel Davis on Moriarty’s Surprising Return

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• Star Trek: Picard

‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Renewed For Season 4 At Paramount+

Bill maher applauds william shatner for controversial ‘star trek’ interracial kiss, patrick stewart was asked to wear a wig at his ‘star trek’ audition — a wig that flew by itself from heathrow to lax, tom hardy “never said ‘good morning'” or “good night” while filming ‘star trek: nemesis,’ says patrick stewart.

After three decades off the screen, Moriarty — and Daniel Davis, the actor who portrays him — is back on today’s Star Trek: Picard , once again taunting and hunting members of Starfleet. Only this time, Sherlock Holmes’s holographic arch-enemy is not the same Moriarty who appeared on two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Spoilers past this point , but in today’s episode, titled “The Bounty”, written by Christopher Monfette and directed by Dan Liu, after heading to a Starfleet black site called Daystrom Station to try and discover what this season’s villains the Changelings are planning, Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) and company instead encounter Moriarty. Quickly, Riker realizes that a musical tone playing under Moriarty’s attack is not about the villain; but in fact a whistling tune he figured out way back when Riker first met Data ( Brent Spiner ) on Next Generation .

“The interesting thing for me was that I never got a complete script from them because they’re very tight about keeping everything under wraps,” Davis told Decider. “All I ever received were my scenes that I had in the show, just the pages… I read the scene and I thought, ‘This isn’t even Moriarty. This isn’t the guy that I created on the show.'”

Don’t worry, Davis wasn’t ultimately disappointed — he was elated to return to the show that helped make his name back in 1993, the same year he launched his other most iconic role, as butler Niles on sitcom The Nanny . And despite Moriarty’s brief, decidedly different return on today’s Picard , he still got a custom made suit and a 90 minute chat with Patrick Stewart out of the deal.

For much more from Davis on the character’s return, as well as whether there will be a Nanny reunion for the thirtieth anniversary, read on.

Decider: You’ve been in dozens or roles… What do you think it is about this two episode appearances from a couple of decades back as Moriarty that has stuck with viewers for so long?

Daniel Davis: I think that it was a brilliant choice to combine the Star Trek mythos with the Sherlock Holmes mythos because a lot of the fans for ones are the fans of the other. So it satisfied, it just satisfied the longing in Data and Geordi to create something on the Holodeck that they would enjoy doing, and so I think it translated to the fans. It astonishes me still to this day how popular those episodes are, but they were so well written. And as usual with Star Trek episodes, there is so much to unpack in every episode that you can watch again and again and again and just keep, you know, adding your own thoughts to it. They were just great episodes. “Ship in a Bottle” was my favorite because of just the dealing with the fact that: what does it actually mean to be a sentient human being.

J umping ahead to Picard here, how did they first approach you about reprising this role? And what was your reaction like?

Well, my agent called me and the first thing he said was, “We’ve heard from Star Trek ,” and I said “Yes.” And he said, “Don’t you want to know what it is?” And I said “I don’t care. Whatever it is, yes.” And, so, once we had agreed to do it, the interesting thing for me was that I never got a complete script from them because they’re very tight about keeping everything under wraps. All I ever received were my scenes that I had in the show, just the pages. So, I read through and, of course, the moment I had agreed to do it, I had written my own little fantasy of what the episode might be. And I think I had hopes, or at least I imagined, that it would be some sort of resolution between Picard and Moriarty. Because Picard doesn’t break promises, and he told the character that he would find a way of getting him off the Holodeck, which he never really did. And so I thought, ok, so this episode is going to be about Picard coming to terms with some of his past mistakes and blah, blah, blah. And then suddenly I would be like The Doctor on Voyager , or I’d have an arm band that would allow me to come off the Holodeck and be a real person.

But, of course, then I read the scene and I thought, “This isn’t even Moriarty. This isn’t the guy that I created on the show.” And so I put in a call and was able – I kept trying to speak to the executive producer who was always on set, so I could never really get any information about who I was in that moment. So, I didn’t really understand what I was doing. I ended up doing it the way it was written and hoping that it would work. And then, of course, they just sent me a screener of the episode like two days ago, and I thought, “Gee, if I had had that information, you know, before I shot it…” — Because Riker, as you probably remember, says in the scene when I’m introduced, “This is not the sentient being that we knew on the Enterprise.” And I agreed, when I read it I thought, “No, I’m not.” So who am I? And then when the other scene, the second scene, played when they come in the room where Data is and he says he wasn’t trying to harm us, he was trying to guide us. And then I thought oh, I was a figment of whatever Data’s brain, or however it’s functioning, just created me to guide them to him so that they would find him. So I served a function, but it wasn’t really Moriarity in that sense.

But at the same time, you’re putting the costume back on… So what was that like when you got back into that suit?

Well, first of all, I was of course delighted to be asked to return. I’m a huge fan of the show. I’m a huge fan of Star Trek from the very beginning, and to be a part of it and to be working with those people again was really exciting for me because they’re such– It’s such a cliche to say that a company is like a family, but at this point they really are like a family. They’ve been together for so long. And I went out, they treated me so beautifully and so well. They sent a tailor to my home in upstate New York to measure me for my costumes because the original costumes had been lost to time, and so they tailor-made a suit for me with an imprint “S” and a whole outfit.

The first day I was on set, I went for a costume fitting, and as I was coming out and crossing to the parking lot to get back to the hotel, I saw Jonathan Frakes standing speaking to someone, but I couldn’t tell who he was talking to. And he turned around at one point and he saw me and he said, “Well, look who’s here,” and he was speaking to Patrick who was standing in the doorway of his trailer. And it was like “Oh Daniel, it’s wonderful you’re back. I’m so happy to…” He invited me in for a chat and we sat down and talked for at least 90 minutes, and it was just wonderful. But getting back into the character, which is what you asked me – It was a little tricky because I didn’t really recognize him. I didn’t really recognize, in the writing, who this guy was. But I adjusted to it. And of course being with them, and acting opposite them and acting off of them, you just go right back. It’s like riding a bicycle.

You have a really lovely close-up introduction shot in the episode where you have this sort of curve of your mouth. You put a little snarl on it. What do you do there? How do you form an expression like that, from an acting perspective?

It’s always the mind body connection. Acting is just thinking and listening for me. And, the moment I saw Riker and I heard him speak my name and recognize my name, it was just this little, sort of, smile of recognition. It was sort of like, “yeah, you remember me, and I‘m going to make you remember me even better.” And it was just something going on in my head, I can’t really tell you. It’s a question of mechanics more than anything else.

Fair enough. I guess I just wanted to offer my appreciation of that moment .

I appreciate that you appreciated it. My sly little smile.

Looking back, you had that second Next Generation episode airing in 1993 — which, like we talked about, was a big deal. That’s also the same year when you kicked off your role in The Nanny . What was that year like for you? To have those two big moments in your career?

Well, it was an embarrassment of riches really, because I always keep my hair kind of long because I play so many, sort of, classical parts, especially in theater. So, I’ve always worn my hair long. And I went to audition for The Nanny at my final callback at CBS and I think by the time I got home, the agent called and said, “You’re going to be doing it, you got it.” And then I got a call about coming back to Star Trek , and so I was just glad I hadn’t cut my hair. So we kept the hair and shot that episode, and then right after I shot it just a few weeks later, I was on set with short hair to play Niles in The Nanny .

It was a very serendipitous year. It was the pilot of the episode and, quite honestly, I think I had done maybe twelve pilots that never went anywhere and I thought “If this one doesn’t go, I’m going back to New York and going back to the theater,” and then I didn’t know whether it would go or not. My agent called after they screened it in the test market and said this has tested higher than anything CBS has put out in a very long time. So we did it, and we did it for six years. And it was great fun. In fact, I just last night went to Renée Taylor, who played Fran’s mother on the show, gave herself her 90th birthday party last night in Manhattan and I went to that and some of the old gang was there and we had a wonderful time.

Fran Drescher had mentioned doing something for the 30th anniversary of The Nanny this year, have you heard anything about that?

There were a couple of the young kids, who are now grown ups, were at the party last night, and they brought it up and I said this is the first I’m hearing of it. So, I honestly – I don’t have a clue what’s happening. We haven’t heard.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Star Trek: Picard streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

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29 years later, Star Trek is rebooting a villain it stole from another franchise

Star Trek is bringing back a villain that literally no one expected.

Nobody expects Moriarty! The stakes for Star Trek: Picard Season 3 are at an all-time high, but nobody could have anticipated that this nostalgia-filled Next Generation reunion would also become... a Sherlock Holmes crossover? Here’s how the big New York Comic-Con trailer for Picard Season 3 reveals three new villains, two of which we haven’t thought about in a very long time. And the implications could be fascinating.

The final Picard Season 3 trailer

At New York Comic Con 2022 , the explosive teaser trailer for Star Trek: Picard Season 3 revealed quite a bit. The story of the upcoming season seems centered on a new villain named Vadic (Amanda Plummer) who wants revenge on Picard, for... reasons that are not clear!

We also get a full look at the returning Next Generation cast, including Geordi (LeVar Burton), Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Crusher (Gates McFadden), Troi (Marina Sirtis), and Worf (Michael Dorn) — who notes he now “prefers pacifism to combat.” Considering he was a fierce Klingon warrior throughout The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine , this change was certainly unexpected.

The trailer gives us glimpses of Seven (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd), who seem to have switched places in regard to their interest in Starfleet. Seven is now in uniform and a commander in Starfleet, while Raffi appears to be out of uniform, which could indicate she’s quit Starfleet (again!)

We’re also introduced to two new members of the La Forge family: Mica Burton as Alandra La Forge and Sharpe Chestnut as Sidney La Forge, the youngest, and eldest daughter of Geordi La Forge, respectively. Both are in Starfleet, and at one point in the trailer, Picard gives “La Forge” the order to “gun it” because it turns out Sidney La Forge is the helmsman of the USS Titan . In Season 1 of The Next Generation , Geordi La Forge was the helmsman of the USS Enterprise before becoming the chief engineer in Season 2. (Mica Burton is also the real-life daughter of LeVar Burton.)

But the big news of the trailer is definitely the rogues' gallery...

Picard Season 3’s villains, explained

Vadic in 'Star Trek: Picard'

As revealed at New York Comic Con, the primary antagonist of Picard Season 3 is a new character named Vadic played by veteran actress Amanda Plummer. Vadic talks a lot about burning down the Federation and getting vengeance on Jean-Luc. The inciting incident of the season seems to be Vadic (or her forces) attacking Beverly Crusher, who according to Gates McFadden is working for a 24th-century version of “Doctors Without Borders,” and that Crusher is “being hunted.”

The source of Vadic’s anger will clearly be a major reveal in Season 3, but for now, her ships in the trailer give-off major Star Trek 2009 reboot vibes , reminiscent of Nero’s (Eric Bana) Romulan forces in that film. Of note, Vadic also appears to rock one gloved hand and one not-so-gloved hand, which has got to be a shout-out to Khaaaaaan!!

But Vadic and her motivations are really just the beginning of the game. Because the game in Picard Season 3 is very much afoot!

Daniel Davis returns as Moriarty.

Moriarty’s Star Trek return

In December 1893, in the Arthur Conan Doyle-penned short story “The Adventure of the Final Problem,” Sherlock Holmes faced his greatest nemesis of all time, the evil Professor James Moriarty. Back in the day, Doyle created Moriarty as a retroactive end-all-be-all villain because he wanted to kill off Sherlock Holmes. (Pretty much every adaptation of Moriarty is slightly better and more fleshed-out than the Doyle original.)

But what does Moriarty have to do with Star Trek? Well, in the TNG Season 2 episode, “Elementary, Dear Data,” a sentient holographic AI version of Moriarty was created by Geordi and Data after they were getting bored of Data solving Sherlock Holmes roleplay scenarios too quickly. Played by Daniel Davis, this Moriarty became self-aware of his 24th-century setting and tried to take over the Enterprise . In the TNG Season 6 episode “Ship in a Bottle,” Moriarty returned, tried to take over the Enterprise again, and then was stuck in perpetual simulation by Picard. At the time of “Elementary Dear Data,” TNG had to pay royalties to use these characters. But in 2022, Moriarty is very much in the public domain.

Star Trek’s connections to Sherlock Holmes run deep. Picard Season 1 showrunner Michael Chabon has written one Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel, The Final Solution , while Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer has written several Sherlock notable Sherlock Holmes books, starting with The Seven Per-Cent Solution . There are also deep canon implications that Spock is a blood relative of Sherlock Holmes on his mom’s side. Will Picard Season 3 finally set that record straight?

Daniel Davis as Moriarty, Brent Spiner as Data/Sherlock Holmes, and Patrick Stewart as Picard in the episode “Elementary Dear, Data” (1988).

But how is Moriarty back in Picard ? Somewhat tellingly, the first shot of Moriarty in the trailer seems to show him on the deck of the La Sirena . In the two previous seasons of Picard , one feature of La Sirena is its numerous holographic crewmembers. Presuming that Moriarty is back as a literal AI hologram again, perhaps he comes back through La Sirena ?

Brent Spiner returns as Lore

Brent Spiner as Lore in 'Star Trek: Picard' Season 3

For longtime TNG fans, the biggest shock was that Brent Spiner is returning to Trek canon not as a resurrected Data, nor as the android prototype B-4, but instead, as the android Lore, Data’s evil twin brother from The Next Generation.

However, this new incarnation of Lore looks decidedly more human than Data or Lore looked before. Spiner seems to be keeping his natural skin tone, and also lacks those classic yellow android eyes. Still, in the final shot of the trailer, Geordi clearly identifies that this is Lore.

The last time we saw Lore was in the TNG Season 7 episode, “Descent Part II.” In that story, Lore had briefly brain-washed Data and led a group of liberated Borg to attack all sorts of planets. It ended with Data becoming good again, and then, turning Lore off. Presumably, Lore’s body was taken from the Enterprise and stored on Earth, likely at the Daystrom Institute where Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill) worked as a roboticist in Picard Season 1. Then again, the press release says that this character is named Lore, which could indicate there's some other twist. B-4 with Lore’s memories? A composite of Lore and Data’s memories that resulted in a new uber-Lore?

Lending credence to the idea that this return is not straightforward, comes from Brent Spiner himself. Speaking at the Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comic-Con, Spiner said that Lore is back in “a very complicated way.”

Either way, Picard Season 3 seems intent on not only giving the Next Generation crew a proper send-off but also, filling this finale with the deepest Trekkie cuts ever.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 hits Paramount+ on February 16, 2023.

This article was originally published on Oct. 8, 2022

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INTERVIEW: Daniel Davis on STAR TREK: PICARD’s Hologram Moriarty

Computer: safety protocols on!

RED ALERT ! This interview contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard season 3  episode 6, “The Bounty.” Written by Christopher Monfette and directed by Dan Liu , “The Bounty” is currently available for streaming on Paramount+. 

Daniel Davis first played the role of Hologram Professor James Moriarty in the  Star Trek: The Next Generation  season 2 episode “Elementary, Dear Data.” He later reprised the role in  TNG season 6’s “Ship in a Bottle.” In spite of appearing in only two episodes, the character cast a long shadow over the franchise. And now, Davis has returned to the Franchise in  Picard season 3’s “The Bounty.”

The Beat got the chance to chat with Davis over Zoom and find out all about returning to  Trek after thirty years, to ask about memorable convention experiences, and to find out where he thinks our favorite sentient hologram might possibly appear next!

This interview has been edited for clarity and length .  Cover image:  Picard season 3 teaser trailer .

AVERY KAPLAN: How did you come to be involved in Picard season 3?

DANIEL DAVIS: Back in November 2021, my agent called and said, “We’ve heard from Star Trek .” And I said, “Yes.” And he said, “Don’t you want to know what it is?” I said, “It doesn’t matter. Yes, whatever it is.”  

I guess they had been thinking about involving Moriarty in the episode, but they had begun to write and they thought, “Well before we write this, we better find out if we can get him to come back.” Yeah, twist my arm. Of course, you can get me! So once I said yes, they worked on the script.

But they kept the script from me; I never saw it. They keep things under close guard because things have a way of getting out. Which makes them very unhappy.

So all I got were my pages that I was going to be shooting. And I could not make heads or tails of it. I said, “This is not Moriarty, at least, not how I remember him.” Because the menacing and the danger had passed, I thought, with “Ship in a Bottle.” That we were over that aspect of him – and had gotten over it a long time before that, really.  

But I didn’t know who I was in “The Bounty.” And even, in Riker ( Jonathan Frakes )’s words: this is not the self-aware Moriarty that we knew on the Enterprise . So I was confused, and there wasn’t really anyone around to answer my questions, so, I did what actors do: I just said the words.

And then when I got the request from CBS to start doing these interviews, I said, “I can’t talk about it because I haven’t seen it, and I really don’t know how I fitted in or what the episode was about.” So they sent me a screener, and I watched the episode yesterday and today, and I thought, “Oh, okay. When you have the callback to Data ( Brent Spiner ) and Riker’s first meeting; and you have the crow; and you have Moriarty, who is a strong association with Data; and you have the tune, which is a strong association for Riker… Then Riker’s going, ‘Ah, snap finger: Data’s around here somewhere.’”  

And then, the scene that I didn’t read, but I saw finally, was Riker saying, “He wasn’t trying to hurt us, he was trying to guide us.” And I thought, “Ah! That’s why I was there.” But I was in the dark until that moment, so that was kind of strange.

But you do what actors do: you just sort of say the words and hope that it all works together when they cut it – and it did! So I think I’m supposed to be some version of Data – in whatever function his android brain still has – to lead them to him. And that’s why he wasn’t exactly the Moriarty that we know.

KAPLAN: Would you consider the Picard incarnation of Moriarty to be a manifestation of Data’s subconscious mind?

DAVIS: It’s possible… It could be a version of Data. I mean, he’s the most schizophrenic android in the history of androids, with so many personalities. So it’s either Data, or Lore, or Soong, or, you know, another manifestation. Because when Data does achieve consciousness in the episode. They haven’t integrated yet. So it’s very possible that Moriarty is a manifestation of some aspect of Data’s personality…

The interesting thing, though, is it was Geordi La Forge ( LeVar Burton ) that programmed Moriarty to be as brilliant as Data. I guess that Data, Geordi and Moriarty are sort of entwined in the psyche of each of them.

The only trouble was I didn’t get to see Geordi, even though he was in the episode, and I didn’t get to have a scene with Patrick Stewart . And so it wasn’t really what I was being called back to do, because I had a fantasy in my mind that I was being called back to resolve the broken promise that Picard made to me about getting me off the holodeck. But, it didn’t turn out to be that. So I’m still on that holodeck, somewhere! Floating around with Countess Bartholomew ( Stephanie Beacham ).  

KAPLAN: Does your personal interest in the Sherlock Holmes canon extend beyond this role?

DAVIS: Well, I read the books, back when I was younger. In high school, I think, I read all the short stories and books. And I was in a play, at my home theater of American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) in San Francisco, of The Crucifer of Blood , in which I played Doctor Watson opposite Peter Donat as Sherlock Holmes – and Moriarty was not a figure in that play.

I think that’s what’s exciting for the fans. You have Sherlock Holmes and you have Star Trek : you have two of the great mythologies of our culture combined into two, now three episodes. It’s pretty exciting.

KAPLAN: Is the role of Hologram Moriarty one that you find has often been close at mind, or was appearing in Picard a return to the past for you?

DAVIS: Well, it was both. It was a return to the past because it is thirty years since we did “Ship in a Bottle.” It’s also the thirtieth anniversary of The Nanny beginning, so I’ve got all these anniversaries in my head.

But it was something that I have hoped for. A return to Moriarty has been a hope of mine. When Picard first started, I mean, it was the first thing I thought of: will they bring me back? So it’s a very nostalgic period in my life. I never would have expected that it would last as long as it has. But, what was I thinking? Of course, it’s going to last, with the fans keeping it alive.

And I’ve been to conventions, and I get Cameo requests to be Moriarty. So it’s very much alive. It doesn’t go away. It’s part of me now.

KAPLAN: Do you have any memorable experiences from conventions?

DAVIS: Oh, I’ve had so many wonderful encounters with people. I’ve met people that I’m still in contact with. A few years ago, I was going to do a play in New York where I had to have a Scottish accent. And a man came up to the table with his wife, and he was clearly Scottish. And I said, “Would you mind if go off in a little room and record our conversation together?” I happened to have the script, and I said, “Could you read these lines to me?” He actually ended up being my inspiration for my accent when I did the play.

And once I had a couple show up. They unrolled a canvas poster, and on both sides were photographs of me as Moriarty. And it was as tall as a wall. I mean, it rolled out for, like, nine feet. And they wanted me to sign it. And of course, I did, and then I said, “But where do you put this?” And they showed me a picture of a barn that they have, and all of us hanging from the rafters in this barn. All these giant, nine-foot-long posters of all the characters that they could get to pose for them.  

And I have now met people from the four corners of the Earth. I have Australian fans, I have Chinese fans, a lot of people in Europe, and a lot of Italian fans. So it’s put me in contact with the world at large. Between this and Niles, I don’t know that there’s anywhere that I could go that I wouldn’t be recognized. “Oh, you’re Moriarty.” “Are you Niles?” I get it all the time. And it’s wonderful! I don’t mind it in the least.

KAPLAN: Like many other Star Trek actors, you have stage experience, specifically with Shakespeare. I’m curious if you have a favorite Shakespearian role you’ve performed?

DAVIS: I have been so lucky in my career. I was classically trained when I was young, and the theater was all I was ever interested in being a part of. The movies were something up there, that I didn’t understand how they do that. And television– when I was a kid, and trying to be an actor in the theater, people in the theater didn’t do television; people in the theater didn’t do movies; movie stars didn’t do plays. There were walls up between all the aspects of our profession. And they came down a few years ago.

But I have been in so many productions of Shakespeare – more than thirty. And I’ve been in Hamlet six times and played him four times. I played Macbeth; I played Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing ; I played King Lear a few years ago. I wanted to play King Lear while I could still pick up Cordelia at the end of the play.

And so I don’t have a bucket list any more of Shakespearian roles. I’ve done all the ones that I wanted to do. When I think of all of them, Hamlet is probably my favorite, because I played it at four different stages of my life. So that each time I played it, I brought the last five years of experience and knowledge with me into interpreting the role.  

And god bless him, Ian McKellen just did Hamlet . He’s eighty-something years old and he just did Hamlet again in London. So I thought, “If Ian can do it, I can do it. I’m gonna stick around and do it when I’m 82 and see how it goes.” But when you’re old enough to play these parts, when you’ve had enough life experience to play these complicated parts, you’re too old to do them. So, grab it while you can!

KAPLAN: In addition to live-action onscreen performances, you have also performed in several animated shows. Would you consider returning as an animated version of Hologram Moriarty?

DAVIS: I actually had a conversation about this with Kate Mulgrew ( Vice Admiral Janeway ) about a month ago. We had dinner together in New York, and I said, “Why couldn’t I?” I mean, as one of the producers on Picard said: “Moriarty can pop up anywhere.” So yes, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I think that Janeway and Moriarty is a marriage made in animated heaven, so, we’ll see!

New episodes of Picard are available for streaming on Paramount+ on Thursdays.

Read all of The Beat’s  Star Trek coverage by clicking here !

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Well done for spoiling the surprise for those in parts of the world where this episode in unaired.

I agree with the previous poster: “Moriarty” should have been kept out of the article title.

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Official Trailer | Star Trek: Picard - Season 3

The final voyage begins on February 16!

The official trailer for the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard is here.

The final season of Star Trek: Picard premieres on Thursday, February 16, with new episodes of the 10-episode-long season available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Seasons 1 and 2 of Star Trek: Picard are currently available to watch now.

In addition to streaming on Paramount+ , Star Trek: Picard also streams on Prime Video outside of the U.S. and Canada, and in Canada can be seen on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. Star Trek: Picard is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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Star Trek: Picard

Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

• Kirsten Beyer
• Michael Chabon
• Akiva Goldsman
• Patrick Stewart
• Michelle Hurd
• 2.8K User reviews
• 78 Critic reviews
• 14 wins & 54 nominations total

Episodes 30

• Jean-Luc Picard

• Raffi Musiker

• Seven of Nine

• Dr. Agnes Jurati

• Cristóbal Rios …

• Adam Soong …

• La Sirena Computer

• Jack Crusher

• Doctor Beverly Crusher

• Captain Liam Shaw

• Ensign Sidney La Forge

• Ensign Esmar

• Titan Computer …
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Stellar Photos From the "Star Trek" TV Universe

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Did you know

• Trivia The Chateau Picard vineyard first appeared in Family (1990) . It was run by Jean-Luc Picard's brother Robert and his wife Marie, and their son René. Jean-Luc would learn in Star Trek: Generations (1994) that Robert and René had both burned to death in a fire, leaving Jean-Luc as the last in the Picard line.
• Goofs Commodore Oh often wears sunglasses. Star Trek lore establishes that Vulcans have an inner eyelid to protect against harsh sunlight on their desert planet. Oh's shades are a fashion statement, not a protective measure.
• The first season features a Borg cube and the planet Romulus.
• The second season features a Borg ship, a wormhole and hourglass, and the Borg Queen's silhouette.
• The third season does not have an opening titles sequence.
• Connections Featured in Half in the Bag: Comic Con 2019, The Picard Trailer, Streaming Services, and Midsommar (2019)

User reviews 2.8K

• I_Ailurophile
• Feb 18, 2024

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• Why make a TV series about Picard rather than a movie?
• January 23, 2020 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Star Trek: Captain Picard
• The Sunstone Villa and Vineyard, Santa Ynes, California, USA (Château Picard)
• CBS Television Studios
• Roddenberry Entertainment
• Secret Hideout
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 46 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Screen Rant

Star trek's moriarty actor was 'puzzled' at first by picard return.

Exclusive: Daniel Davis explains how Professor Moriarty's comeback in Star Trek: Picard confused him at first before he understood his season 3 role.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 6 - "The Bounty" Star Trek: Picard season 3 guest star Daniel Davis was initially "puzzled" at first by his return as Professor James Moriarty. Davis appeared in two classic episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation as Moriarty, a holographic version of the Sherlock Holmes villain who was created to outwit Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner). Moriarty's comeback in Star Trek: Picard season 3 places an alternate version of the criminal mastermind in Daystrom Station, a Starfleet black site housing their biggest secrets.

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Daniel Davis was asked about how he prepared to play this slightly different version of his iconic TNG character. Davis explained how his role in Star Trek: Picard season 3 compared to his initial expectations. Read his quote below:

Well, I was puzzled by it, to tell you the truth. Because when I settled the fact that I was committing to the episode, I hadn't read it. I hadn't seen the script... And I was puzzled because even Jonathan Frakes' character, Riker, says, "This is not the self-aware Moriarty we knew on the Enterprise." And I agreed with that line. And I thought, "Who am I?" Because I thought he was past being menacing and threatening on Next Gen. I fantasized that perhaps they were going to have me have some sort of resolution with Picard, because Picard is not a promise-breaker. And he said, "I will find a way of getting you off the holodeck" But he never did. So I thought, "Oh, okay, maybe that's what this is gonna be about." But it wasn't.

Related: Picard's Brent Spiner Lore Return Is Bigger Than We Thought

Daniel Davis Plays A Different Version Of Moriarty In Star Trek: Picard Season 3

After Daniel Davis eagerly signed on to guest star in Star Trek: Picard season 3, he wasn't given the entire script for his episode, "The Bounty," and he only had the pages containing his scenes. This explains Davis' initial confusion as the behavior of Moriarty in Picard season 3 didn't match where he left the character in Moriarty's final TNG season 6 appearance, "Ship in a Bottle." But Davis went on to clarify that when he watched the episode, he was able to grasp that he was playing a different variation of Moriarty. Davis told Screen Rant:

When I saw [the episode], Riker's next line in the scene with Data, when they find the room that Data is in, he says, "Oh, he wasn't trying to hurt us. He was trying to guide us." And I think it was some manifestation in Data's mechanism that sort of created something familiar to Riker. Not only the character of me, but the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel." So that he would go, "Oh, that's the first time I met Data." And so he starts putting it together. And then I realized, "Oh, that's why I was there. That's what I was doing."

Although Davis didn't get the resolution with Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) he hoped for, he was still very happy to return as Moriarty in Star Trek: Picard season 3 . Indeed, Davis reprising Moriarty was well-received by fans. Davis is also hoping that his comeback as Moriarty leads to more appearances in other Star Trek series, since Moriarty is, after all, a hologram who can conceivably pop up elsewhere. Hopefully, this includes Star Trek: Legacy , the follow-up series to Star Trek: Picard season 3 being championed by showrunner Terry Matalas and a growing legion of Star Trek actors and fans.

How Star Trek: Prodigy Connects to Picard's Season 3 Villain

Prodigy's holodeck episode is a nod to a classic episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and a subtle reminder of a Picard villain yet to come.

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 17, "Ghost in the Machine," now streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Prodigy has a nifty way of reinventing past Star Trek dilemmas, whether it's the Kobayashi Maru or a crashed shuttle with a singular name. Season 1, Episode 17, " Ghost in the Machine " continues that tradition, with a new wrinkle in the favorite franchise dilemma: the malfunctioning holodeck. More specifically, it riffs on a classic episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which a holographic version of Professor Moriarty traps several members of the crew in a simulacrum of the Enterprise that they believe to be the real thing.

The Prodigy episode's choice of setting, and plot, is telling. While it isn't directly connected to the events of the upcoming third season of Picard , its use of the gag clearly signals things to come. Moriarty is slated to return on Picard, and "Ghost in the Machine" has quietly suggested that fans brush up on his past appearances without compromising its ability to tell its own story.

RELATED: Star Trek Prodigy's Jameela Jamil Dishes on THAT Big Reveal

Professor Moriarty Is One of Star Trek's Unique Antagonists

Moriarty first appears in The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 3, "Elementary Dear Data." To make their Sherlock Holmes holodeck program more challenging, Geordi instructs the computer to create a foe capable of outwitting Data. It's an unfortunate slip of the tongue -- Geordi means a foe capable of outwitting Holmes , whom Data plays in the holodeck to the engineer's Doctor Watson -- which results in the program's Moriarty gaining self-awareness.

That returns to bite the crew in Season 6, Episode 12, "Ship in a Bottle." Unable to leave the holodeck and wearying of his time trapped there, Moriarty lures Data, Lt. Barclay and Picard into a holographic version of the Enterprise , indistinguishable from the real one. They believe they're in the "real" world while they're actually stuck in the holodeck with him the whole time. The trio eventually solves the dilemma by making Moriarty believe that he has freed himself from the holodeck, then leave his program running in a memory module, where he could experience a lifetime in the 24th century unaware that he was still in a computer's data banks.

RELATED: Star Trek: Prodigy Gives the Federation's Overlooked Founders Their Due

Prodigy Makes a Nod to Moriarty Without Harming Its Own Narrative

"Ghost in the Machine" finds the Protostar crew using the holodeck to puzzle out how to safely contact the Federation. They eventually give up and leave, only to find themselves in a simulacrum of the Protostar still within the holodeck. The remainder of the episode concerns their efforts to find a way out, as well as determining why the holodeck malfunctioned in the first place.

Unlike "Ship in a Bottle," the Prodigy episode gets the twist out of the way early. The crew figures out that their spaceship is make-believe in the episode's first few minutes, while Picard and his friends don't solve the mystery until late in the second act. That's in keeping with Prodigy 's need to focus on its own crew's dilemma of getting back to the Federation, in which their malfunctioning holodeck program plays a large part. Moriarty doesn't come into play at all (though someone similar does), and while "Ghost in the Machine" openly tips its cap to "Ship in a Bottle," it borrows only the concept and leaves the remaining details untouched.

Yet its placement in the schedule -- a short time before Moriarty's return on Picard -- is a quiet nudge to Star Trek fans to do a little catching up. With Star Trek 's new line of shows so tightly scheduled, it's hard to believe that it's a mistake. The specifics of it let Prodigy continue with its own storyline unimpeded, as well as making an excellent episode in and of itself. Moriarty differs from other Star Trek antagonists in that his wishes are not unreasonable and his emotions are quite justified. Picard may change all of that, making Prodigy 's subtle admonition all the more important.

New episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy stream every Thursday on Paramount+.

John de Lancie doesn't think it was expected that season three of Star Trek: Picard would be so well-received

P roducing a television (or streaming) series is a gamble. There's no way to know if the show will be liked enough or watched enough to continue. The chance of cancellation always looms over practically every series (unless it's NCIS or Law and Order: SVU). Star Trek: Picard was always meant to be a three-season series so the producers knew the show was wrapping no matter how well received the final chapter would be. But, according to John de Lancie , in an interview he gave Trekmovie, [ via Comicbook ] he didn't think anyone expected season three to be as good as it was. So, obviously, the fan clamor for a spin-off must have come as a surprise as well.

The way de Lancie describes it, the powers-that-be had already decided on what the next series would be—Starfleet Academy. So there was no opening for Star Trek: Legacy.

"I don’t think that they expected that Season 3 was going to be as good and as well-received. They had already decided on another show. They were already moving in another direction. But it was certainly a really valiant and well-appreciated finale to The Next Generation.”John de Lancie

I find it hard to believe that the producers and the studio wouldn't have known how successful the final season of Picard would be since they were bringing back practically everyone from Star Trek: The Next Generation. That series has maintained its fanbase over the years, and seeing them all together again onscreen was a big draw. It was akin to announcing another movie with the cast. Had season three of Picard unfolded on the big screen, I have no doubt there would have been major numbers at the box office.

If no one was prepared for the success of the final season of Picard, then the door to a possibility of a spin-off shouldn't have even been opened. Though showrunner Terry Matalas has said the series finale wasn't intended to be a set-up for a spin-off, there's really no other way to interpret it the final scene. Q, who supposedly died in season two of Picard, appeared before Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), who just happens to be Admiral Picard's (Patrick Stewart) son with, essentially, a promise of troubles to come. That's quite a big carrot to dangle if there was never any intention of feeding the horse.

As of now, we don't have any news on Legacy, and with Star Trek moving forward with Starfleet Academy, it doesn't seem like it's on the studio's radar at present.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as John de Lancie doesn't think it was expected that season three of Star Trek: Picard would be so well-received .

• Entertainment

Star Trek: Sind euch diese Easter Eggs in "Discovery" Staffel 5 aufgefallen?

"Star Trek: Discovery" Staffel 5 begeistert Trekkies mit allerhand Anspielungen und versteckten Details. Sind euch diese Easter Eggs in den ersten 5 Folgen aufgefallen?

« Zur vorherigen Seite 5: Constitution-Klasse aus dem 23. Jahrhundert

Auf der Suche nach dem ersten Puzzle der Karte zum Ursprung allen humanoiden Lebens im Universum treffen Moll und L'ak auf einen Androiden mit dem Namen Fred (J. Adam Brown). Als Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz) diesen untersucht, stellt sich heraus, dass es ein alter Android ist, der basierend auf Plänen von Dr. Altan Inigo Soong (Brent Spiner) gebaut wurde.

Dr. Soong ist ein Nachfahre des Erschaffers von Data (ebenfalls Spiner) aus "Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert". Wir lernen Soong am Ende der ersten "Star Trek: Picard"-Staffel kennen. Dies spielt in der "Star Trek"-Chronologie rund 800 Jahre vor "Discovery".

Jäger des verlorenen Schatzes

In antiken Gefilden begeben sich die neuen Schurken, Moll (Eve Harlow) und L'ak (Elias Toufexis) auf Schatzsuche. Die Sets erinnern dabei natürlich, wie könnte es auch anders sein, an " Indiana Jones ".

Jean-Luc Picard

Am Ende der ersten Folge verrät Kovich (David Cronenberg) Michael, wonach sie überhaupt sucht. Er verrät, dass bereits Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) mit der Quelle humanoiden Lebens in Berührung kam, als verschiedene Spezies auf der Suche nach dieser "Waffe" waren, die Leben erschaffen kann.

Bird of Prey

In der ersten Folge sehen wir ein Trümmerfeld im Weltraum. Unter den Schiffswracks sehen wir auch einen Klingonischen Bird of Prey, wie wir ihn aus anderen "Star Trek"-Filmen und -Serien kennen. Wahrscheinlich aus dem 23. oder 24. Jahrhundert. Also zur Zeit von " Star Trek: Der Film " oder " Raumschiff Enterprise - Das nächste Jahrhundert ".

In der zweiten Folge der fünften "Star Trek: Discovery"-Staffel lösen Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Adira (Blu del Barrio) und Tilly (Mary Wiseman) das Rätsel, wo sie nach dem nächsten Teil der Karte suchen müssen. Es führt sie nach Trill, die Heimatwelt der gleichnamigen Spezies. In "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" ist Jadzia Dax eine Trill.

Als Erinnerung: "Star Trek: Discovery" Staffel 5 spielt im 32. Jahrhundert, also rund 800 bis 900 Jahre später als "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine".

Captain Picard wurde in "Star Trek: Discovery" bereits 3 Mal erwähnt, jüngst in Staffel 5. Wir schildern euch die besagten Picard-Momente!

Neue Folgen erwarten uns immer donnerstags. Um 9 Uhr gibt es stets je eine neue Folge im Streaming-Programm von Paramount+. "Star Trek: Discovery" Staffel 5 besteht aus 10 Folgen. Nach dem Serienfinale geht es mit anderen "Star Trek"-Neuerscheinungen weiter!

Star Trek: Discovery

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