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Star Trek: Picard – ‘Disengage’ Easter Egg Analysis & Theories

We’re two episodes into the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard and the easter eggs are just about as plentiful as last time. We’ve just got to jump into our ‘Disengage’ Easter Egg analysis. The writers for this epic second episode, “Disengage” , were Christopher Monfette and Sean Tretta. The director was Doug Aarniokoski. There are plenty of references, easter eggs and even a few theories to dive into! So without further ado, (dis)engage!

Jack & The Eleos

The episode opens with a flashback with Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). It’s nice to get some time alone with him after last week’s revelations, to get to know him in his element. Alongside his mother Beverly (Gates McFadden), Jack becomes a mix of freedom fighter and doctor. The use of the song ‘Starchild’ by Baby gives it a very Guardians of the Galaxy feel. It’d also be interesting to see more flashbacks throughout the series, perhaps even on the USS Enterprise-D.

We learn that the Eleos is a Mariposa medical vessel, a reference to the Mariposas, an organisation created by Rios (Santiago Cabrera) at the end of last season. In the same ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ vein, we see a Romulan ale bottle of the same style Bones (DeForest Kelley) gifted Kirk (William Shatner) in The Wrath of Khan . Jack also mentions the Klingons, the Fenris Rangers, and Starfleet, factions Trek fans are very familiar with. Perhaps this means we’ll see some proper Klingon action later in the season too?

Jack also uses the French phrase “mon ami” when talking with the Fenris Rangers. This foreshadows what we learn later, in that he is the son of the French Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart). Interestingly, both actors are British and use their native accents in the show. While the show isn’t implying that British accents are biological, the connection is definitely there. Given Picard doesn’t know about his son. Perhaps there’ll be a better explanation for his accent later on.

Raffi Gone Rogue

Picking up where we left Raffi (Michelle Hurd) at the destruction of the Starfleet recruitment facility on M’Talas Prime. She has a conversation with her handler. When Raffi starts blaming herself, they say, “do not seek blame, do not seek anger”. These words are displayed in the end credits, but also are the words of someone who has grappled with similar loss in the past. It makes a lot of sense when this character is revealed to be Worf (Michael Dorn). Especially when considering his experiences in the Dominion War.

She picks up the trail of the Ferengi Sneed. On his Starfleet file, we can see some of his accomplices are fellow Ferengi Quark (Armin Shimerman) and Brunt (Jeffrey Combs) both from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ( DS9 ), as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation ’s (TNG) Thadiun Okona (Billy Campbell) from “ The Outrageous Okona ”. While nice references, given Quark’s return on Lower Decks , Okona’s return in Prodigy , and Jeffrey Combs’ guest spots in Lower Decks , their returns are not off the cards.

While Raffi is meeting with her ex-husband, they call back to Raffi meeting her son at the doctor in Picard season one. Small references like this to the other seasons of Picard are a lot of fun, as each season has largely existed in isolation. With all the references to the previous Trek shows, one that’s far too often overlooked is the newer shows. It’s genuinely cool that we’re calling back to those as well. This feels like such a love letter to Trek .

At the headquarters of the Ferengi Sneed (Aaron Stanford), we can briefly spot an encased baseball on his shelf. Due to his ties to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters , there’s a good chance this is related to Sisko’s (Avery Brooks) love of baseball on the show. There’s also a gambling table, the Ferengi book of acquisition, and even some Mugato horns! Just wall-to-wall easter eggs. I love this section’s affinity for DS9 in particular. Certainly, this gives ‘Disengage’ Easter Eggs to show off!

The namedropping of Section 31 by Sneed, the secret organisation originating in DS9, which recently reappeared in Discovery , is currently ambiguous. While Raffi and Worf’s statuses are classified in the Logs, we don’t know if they’re working with Section 31. I look forward to finding out! I’d love some more covert spy operations and action pieces.

The Reveal of the Handler

Worf, here to make sure nobody takes his “most appearances in Trek” record, returns in this scene. The ensuing bloodbath is fun to watch and a bit reassuring after the line about “preferring pacifism” in the trailer. He also uses his new Kur’leth, designed by Dan Curry, who designed the Bat’leth, to fight Sneed’s men and save Raffi. With Raffi on drugs, it does a good job obscuring Worf until the very end of the scene, even if it is very obvious who it is. Of course, ‘Disengage’ Easter Eggs did hint towards him like the previous episode.

Carrying her away, he reveals himself as Raffi’s handler, referencing the “do not engage” line from earlier. The scene also uses a new version of the Klingon theme that we first heard in The Motion Picture , although something about it sounded slightly off compared to other musical callbacks. I’m looking forward to discovering why Worf didn’t want to meet with Raffi. Perhaps this operation is even bigger than we’re led to believe.

Escape to the Titan

While initially hesitant, citing the 500 crew members of the Titan risking themselves to save two people in a homage to “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”, Shaw (Todd Stashwick) eventually beams Picard and Riker aboard. While beaming back aboard the Titan, we can quickly spot that the Titan’s computers still read Picard as human despite his synthetic body, similar to the advanced synths Soji and Dahj (Isa Briones) in the first season of Picard .

We also see the debris of Picard and Riker’s shuttle, revealed to be named Saavik (Kirstie Alley & Robin Curtis). Beyond her appearances in the movies, Saavik was recently revealed to have captained a USS Titan before Riker. The shuttle’s font is also in the style of The Original Series . Picard also namedrops the planets of Federation founder Andoria and Binar III from “ 11001001 ” in his interrogation. There’ve been a lot of lovely callbacks to The Original Series and their movies these past few weeks.

Captain Vadic

Vadic also implies there’s more than meets the eye with Shaw’s psychological profile. This improves my theory that he was traumatised at the Battle of Wolf 359. The isolytic burst warhead was also a piece of tech banned during the Khitomer Accords, started in The Undiscovered Country and featured in Star Trek: Insurrection . As well as this, every fact she shares about the Shrike birds is true. This implies a much bigger motive for her. The sound the Shrike ship makes is also identical to that of V’Ger in The Motion Picture .

She gives the Titan an hour to hand over Jack Crusher, 59 minutes more than Khan (Ricardo Montalban) gave Kirk to hand over Genesis in The Wrath of Khan. Both times are similarly tense, however. It’s at this time that Picard accepts that Jack is his son. Beverly communication with Picard on the bridge is perfect, and it shows the strength of their relationship despite the passage of time. And we all recognise the final catchphrase “engage!” in an absolute air punch moment.

Although it was obvious that Jack was going to be Picard’s son, I do love that they focused not on the reveal’s impact but on Picard’s emotional turmoil in accepting him. Same sort of story as Worf’s reveal. It wasn’t about the surprise but rather the execution. I can’t wait until we hopefully get into some big surprise reveals later on. I noticed we’ve already seen many trailer shots, so we’re heading into uncharted territory sooner than I thought.

While it’s not a Star Trek series, both 12 Monkeys and season 3 of Picard were showrun by Terry Matalas. As a result, he enjoys putting small references to 12 Monkeys into this and hiring some of the same people. If you haven’t seen it yet, you definitely should! This week’s episode of Picard featured two 12 Monkeys alumni in guest-starring roles, Todd Stashwick as Shaw and Aaron Stanford as Sneed. The episode’s writers, Christopher Monfette and Sean Tretta, also wrote extensively for the series.

Jack Crusher’s pseudonyms included James Cole. James Cole is the lead character of 12 Monkeys . He’s played by Aaron Stanford, who also played Sneed in this episode. This name was also read out by Stashwick’s character Deacon, who addresses Cole by his full name. While it’s just a little wink at the audience who have seen the show, it was a lot of fun.

Sneed also references having developed the drug “Splinter”. ‘Splinter’-ing is the way that characters in 12 Monkeys travel through time. The reference to doing it repeatedly refers to the number of times Cole (and, by extension Stanford) did it over the course of the series. The repetition is reminiscent of when the team tortured Olivia (Alisen Down) by rapidly splintering her “over and over”. I can’t wait to see what references they sneak in episode 3 !

Did you spot any ‘Disengage’ easter eggs that we missed? Star Trek: Picard Season 3 airs on Paramount+ in the United States and on CTV Sci-Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. However, the series will be available on Amazon’s Prime Video service for most international locations in the following days. For coverage of all things Star Trek: Picard Season 3, follow Trek Central!

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Stanford played James Cole in Terry Matalas ' 12 Monkeys series (with Todd Stashwick , Kirk Acevedo , James Callis , Alisen Down , Scottie Thompson , Faran Tahir , Jay Karnes , Christopher Lloyd , Andreas Apergis , Ben Cross , Rothaford Gray , Billy MacLellan , Michael Boisvert , Avaah Blackwell , Dwain Murphy , Stephen McHattie , Conrad Coates , Mark Margolis , Brian Quinn , Romaine Waite , Grace Lynn Kung , Christopher Heyerdahl , Matt Frewer , Daniel Kash , and Priya Ragaratnam ).

He played John Allerdyce / Pyro in X2 (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), both with Patrick Stewart , Rebecca Romijn and Famke Janssen . Bruce Davison appeared in the former while Kelsey Grammer appeared in the latter.

He also portrayed Seymour Birkhoff (birthname Lionel Peller) in the 2010 CW spy drama action series, Nikita , along with Melinda Clarke .

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Published Feb 24, 2023

RECAP | Star Trek: Picard 302 – Disengage

Cornered in space, which has no corners.

StarTrek.com

In Episode 2 of Star Trek: Picard , “ Disengage ,” aided by Commander Seven of Nine and the crew of the U.S.S. Titan , Picard makes a shocking discovery that will alter his life forever – and puts him on a collision course with the most cunning enemy he’s ever encountered. Meanwhile, Raffi races to track a catastrophic weapon – and collides with a familiar ally.

• Jack Crusher
• Jean-Luc Picard
• William Riker
• Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Seven of Nine (Annika Hansen)
• Sidney La Forge
• Kova Rin Esmar
• Matthew Arliss Mura
• Raffi Musiker
• Jae (Raffi's ex-husband)

• S.S. Eleos XII — medical ship
• Orbit around Sarnia Prime
• Nebula, Ryton system
• U.S.S. Titan -A
• District Six

In a flashback two weeks prior, on the Mariposa medical vessel, Eleos XII , Jack Crusher sought orbital entry into Sarnia Prime. Appearing on his viewscreen, a Fenris Ranger declares Jack has violated airspace en route to a designated quarantine zone. Unless he can provide Federation access codes, the Eleos will submit to inspection. Jack assures the ranger that he’s been granted moral authority as he’s looking to relieve thousands below with Galarian fever who are immuno-resistant to bureaucracy.

The Eleos is soon boarded by the ranger, flanked by two additional crewmen, as they inspect the vessel’s complement of medical supplies. Despite the clear medical cargo, the ranger notes that he’s in clear violation of about 27 medical protocols, give or take. In an overt bribe, Jack reveals a crate of advanced-tech weaponry and shares that everyone’s aware that the fever was orchestrated by warlords to clear the zone of refugees. He negotiates a cut for the ranger in on the deal when he trades one half to a warlord and the other to another; it’s no matter to him as it’s bad guys shooting bad guys and they’ve helped the refugees with a pandemic. The ranger agrees, but once out of Jack’s earshot, on the docking bay, he touches his communicator, “ Reach out to the Marked Woman; we’ve found him .”

Back in the Ryton system, in present day, picking up immediately following the events of the previous episode “The Next Generation,” the massive unknown vessel emerges through the void just beyond the nebula heading towards them as the Eleos is running on power levels at 13% with Beverly Crusher inside a medical stasis pod, her son Jack Crusher, Jean-Luc Picard , and Will Riker on board. A worried Jack has no answers; they’ve been pursued by a motley of groups — Fenris Rangers above Sarnia. Klingons a day later. Then three Starfleet officers who tried to prime direct him into an early grave. He reveals they’ve been running for months; whoever is pursuing them — those behind the massive warship across from them — clearly has resources. Unfortunately, the nebula has fried the Eleos ’ systems. They’re out of options, Beverly needs medical attention, and it’s clear the enemy ship does not intend to negotiate so Jack hopes their little shuttlecraft has a larger friend close by. Riker reveals they came on the Titan ; she’s gone but it’s possible she’s still nearby.

Meanwhile back on the Titan , Ensign Sidney La Forge informs Captain Shaw that they’ve picked up a third signal by the nebula. Lt. T’Veen, a science officer, runs a full diagnostic scan that’s reading photonic activity with unrecognizable energy signatures; it’s most definitely another vessel. Reviewing the diagnostic scan, Shaw sees the vessel is packing significant weapons. Commander Hansen thinks they’re after Picard and thinks there’s still time for them to intercept. Shaw belays her order, reminding her of her rank and not holding back his disdain for Picard and Riker. The Titan is an exploratory vessel outmatched by this alien vessel in every way, and he will not risk the 500 lives aboard the ship for two “relics who think that a couple brass metals make them golden boys.”

On the Eleos , as it’s circled by the massive enemy vessel, Jack Crusher suggests they prep Beverly’s med-pod for transport on their shuttlecraft, seeking Riker’s help, who delights in the resemblance between Beverly’s son and Picard. Suddenly, the Eleos is hit by a photon blast, destroying the Titan shuttle. Worried, Picard sees Beverly’s med-pod losing power, and with it, her life signs begin to fade. Jack rushes back in the command bay to alert them they’ve lost the shuttle.

Aboard La Sirena , with the seedy skyline of District Six in the background, Raffi is wrought with guilt, regret, and fury as she watches news replays of the Starfleet recruitment building destruction that left 117 dead. The attack is attributed to a Romulan dissident, Lurak t’Luco. Opening a secure line to her handler at Starfleet Intelligence, Raffi blames herself for the 117 deaths because she failed to stop whoever was stealing experimental weapons from Daystrom . Raffi is committed to finding out who is responsible. Her mysterious handler advises her to not seek blame or anger, before ordering her to disengage her investigation until further notice. Raffi’s not buying what the reports are saying; why would a low-level Romulan triggerman go through all the trouble for this? Her handler orders her once more to disengage; the mission has been terminated. Incensed at her handler’s refusal to meet once more, Raffi plans to go on her own and to speak for the dead.

Picard safeguards the Eleos , placing small transport inhibitors around the command bay when Jack begins to fizzle, enshrouded in a transport field. Quickly flipping the switch of the final device, Jack resolidifies as Picard confirms he now knows what the other vessel wants — Jack, alive. Out of options and resigned to their fate, the unknown vessel has ensnarled the medical ship with its tractor beam, pulling them towards it. Suddenly, the Titan arrives between the Eleos and unknown enemy vessel, shattering the tractor beam. Destroying the transport inhibitors, the trio, unsure of which ship will beam them out first, find themselves in the Titan ’s transporter room. Picard urges Jack to lower his phaser as they’re surrounded by Starfleet security.

In the square of District Six, Raffi reconnects with her ex-husband Jae, unsure if he would show up. Jae notes that their son Gabe said she ambushed him at his baby’s doctor. Stung, Raffi reveals she just wanted to meet her granddaughter in person. She assures him that she’s staying clean and she’s with Starfleet Intelligence. Speaking of which, she needs a favor, an intro to the Ferengi broker Sneed. Heart sunk, Jae exclaims Sneed’s a monster, a gangster, then expresses concern for her head returning to the place of webs and conspiracies and falling back onto drugs and dark rabbit holes. Jae made a choice when they had their beautiful boy — his son and his art, that was enough for him, but it wasn’t for her. With hurtful honesty, Jae tells Raffi that Gabe pushes her away because he remembers all of that. He offers her an ultimatum — he can talk to Gabe and put in a good word for her, or he’ll talk to Sneed — he won’t do both . She knows what it has to be as Jae walks away disappointed.

As the massive enemy vessel circles the Titan like a shark, T’Veen reports they secured all four aboard the ship, with the injured civilian in Sickbay, unconscious but stable. Relieved, Commander Hansen suggests they warp away, but Shaw refuses. Now that they’ve engaged, he wants to know with who and why. Security escorts Picard, Riker, and Jack to the Bridge just as Esmar reveals that the enemy vessel is hailing them.

Captain Vadic* introduces herself to Captain Liam Shaw. Referencing his official Starfleet psychological report, she is thrilled he’s been able to remain “functional,” causing Shaw to darken. Picard interjects telling Vadic she’s caused them some distress and to state her business. She’s delighted by the presence of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, in the synthetic flesh. She states that they’re harboring Jack Crusher, who has broken several laws inside and outside Federation space, and there’s a sizeable bounty on him. She intends to take him. Shaw asserts that Starfleet does not negotiate with bounty hunters. She reminds him that they’re outside of their jurisdiction, then to clearly assess the situation, lowers her shields for the Titan to scan her armament. Lt. Mura reveals the presence of significant isolytic burst warheads, plasma and photon torpedoes, antimatter missiles, pulse wave, and an unknown piece of tech that’s loaded in primary position. As the crew on the Bridge tenses, Vadic states they have one hour to hand over Jack Crusher. If they intend to run, she will be merciless in their assault. As a parting demonstration of her intentions, her vessel seizes the Eleos XII in a tractor beam and hurls it at the Titan , stunning everyone.

Shaw, Seven, and Ensign La Forge review the damage report. The Eleos managed to break through their shields and the force of impact caused shrapnel to tear through the hull on Deck 11. La Forge enthusiastically states that her father has taught her there’s no law of physics that can’t be either weaponized or broken by another law of physics. Assessing the situation, Shaw deduces they’re unable to run or risk destruction the second their nacelles light up, help is days away, the nebula’s damaging their long-range comms. They’re “essentially cornered, in space, which has no corners.” Worse yet, they know nothing about Vadic; there’s nothing in the Starfleet database. As for Jack Crusher, Commander Hansen hands Shaw a padd of the report on Beverly Crusher’s son.

In the Observation Lounge, Jack tells Picard and Riker he’s never even heard of a Vadic. Shaw enters with Seven and two security officers and orders Jack to the Brig. Shaw shows a report of Jack Crusher to the two senior officers. Jack has a lengthy rap sheet; he’s an intergalactic fugitive with aliases such as Jack Canby, John Carson, James Cole, and Jarlis Carvel. Shaw then turns on “First Officer Seven of Nine” relieving her of duty for insubordination; she wagered 500 lives against her loyalty to Picard, and now they’ve engaged with a hostile entity outside of Federation space. Picard defends Seven, but Shaw retorts that Jack is a man who deserves what’s coming to him, so does Seven, and so do they. He’s inclined to hand Vadic her bounty and anything beyond that will be saved for the tribunal. Shaw states that the rules of engagement outside Federation space are clear, “The safety and preservation of the ship’s crew above all else.” They are outgunned; this is a dogfight they will surely lose. Picard requests he be allowed to speak to Jack and learn more. Shaw reminds him that Vadic gave them an hour so he has half that to prepare for Jack’s departure.

Riker questions why Picard is dancing around the issue, to which his old captain replies that Jack very well may be Beverly’s son. Incredulous, Riker remarks how he’s unable to see what he sees, do the math, Jean-Luc ! Picard admonishes Riker for speculating. Moments later, Picard arrives at the Brig and sits across from Jack in his cell with a forcefield door between them.

Anxious, Jack inquires how his mother is doing. Picard states that’s she’s mending but unable to defend him so he must defend himself and the crimes he’s accused of committing — organized crime on Andoria, actual terrorism on Binar III, wanted for the death of a man on Andreus 5, sighted in a war-zone on Kemiyo. Jack corrects the admiral stating it’s a rebellion and they were providing the Kemiyans with medicine and supplies as they’ve been fighting against their oppressors for decades. Picard refers to him as a “freedom fighter,” to which Jack haughtily states, “only in the sense that a doctor fights for the freedom of his patient to not be dead.” He reminds Picard that “currency is currency and medicine isn’t free,” and the likes that take issue of him were none other than mere gamblers, low-level gangsters, fathers of daughters everywhere, not vigilante bounty hunters willing to pick a fight with the Federation. Picard dismisses the lovely self-pardon asserting that they both know Beverly would never permit this.

Jack asserts that it was Beverly who taught him all this; she’s constantly beside him, equal partners, trying to do some good in a good-less universe. Hitting a nerve, Jack questions when Picard even last spoke to Beverly and if anyone he knows still the person he knew , or was he too busy planting roots in his vineyard while everyone moved on. Clocking the resentment, Picard questions who Jack’s father is, to which Jack aggressively retorts that he never had one. Unable to respond, Jack acquiesces to Vadic’s demands as long as it ensures his mother’s future and the end of the current conversation. As Picard gets up and prepares to exit, he tells Jack that he deserves the justice of courts, not criminals, and he himself is not prepared to betray his oldest friend, but to harbor him, risks the lives of everyone aboard the Titan including hers. Right now, he only has 18 minutes left to decide what to do with Jack.

Meanwhile, Raffi has secured a meeting with Sneed, a Ferengi who brokers deals between people, in District Six. Sneed questions if she’s with Starfleet, to which she states the organization didn’t value living “high-class,” consequently, she freelances now before offering him a small bag of rare, glittering gems. Raffi wants to know if he brokered the deal for stolen portal tech for the Romulan t’Luco; the same kind of tech that brought down a Starfleet recruitment center. Feigning shock and lack of knowledge of a t’Luco, Sneed then concludes he’s heard t’Luco went underground after swallowing up that building. Raffi states they both know t’Luco didn’t push that button because she works for him; she wants to know who paid Sneed to blame her client for the attack. Suspicious, Sneed states that she smells like Section 31 and this feels like a sting.

To prove she’s not Starfleet, he demands she take “Splinter,” which got its name for the way it rips its user apart into a million little pieces and pulling them back together again. Taking the narcotic and refusing to let it take hold of her, Raffi maintains her cover that she works for t’Luco. Countering her claims, Sneed produces the severed head of t’Luco. As he leans forward to grab her gems, the disoriented and vulnerable Raffi stabs Sneed’s hand with the Splinter vial. With him distracted, she grabs Sneed’s data-pad of clients. Sneed’s goons ready their weapons as Raffi stumbles to her feet. Suddenly, Raffi sees through her haze a hulking shadow enter the fray with his Kur-Leth, beheading Sneed and attacking his goons. Before Raffi passes out, Worf scoops her up and scolds her for engaging when he told her not to.

As the enemy vessel aggressively hovers before the Titan , Picard and Riker make another appeal to Shaw on the Bridge that doesn’t involve cooperation. Shaw vehemently refuses to hear what he has to say; he’s not in the business of selling out the lives of his crew for the “son” of his “ex-girlfriend.” He reminds the two officers that they only have 15 minutes left to let Vadic know their answer. In the Brig, Jack manages to short circuit his cell’s force field before knocking out the officer guarding him and making a break for it.

In Sickbay, Riker questions Dr. Ohk about Beverly’s vitals. She’s suffered an arterial wound, but they’ve luckily located the internal trauma and stopped the bleeding. She’ll be alright. Good! Riker urgently grabs the hypo and injects Beverly.

As Shaw and Picard continue to debate their options, the enemy ship hails them. Vadic still intends to honor their terms, but she wants them to know the name of her vessel — The Shrike — it’s named after an Earth creature; a small bird that “doesn’t attack in anger or malice, one that isn’t made frantic by hunger, but rather kills surgically, carefully.” She reminds the gentleman they can hand over Jack now or later, but with each passing moment, she will take another piece of them, everything that makes them them, until there’s nothing left.

As Shaw prepares to turn Jack over, Esmar relays that there’s been a security breach on Deck 12 at the Brig. Shaw is incensed. Seven finds Jack in the transporter room. Picard urgently pleads with Shaw; if he really was trying to escape, he’d be half a system in a shuttle away now. At the transporters, the only place he can go is to hand himself over to Vadic… to protect his mother. Shaw thinks they should let him do exactly that and not risk the lives of the crew. Suddenly, the door to the Bridge’s lift opens. Beverly enters, escorted by Riker. Meeting Picard’s gaze, she sends him an affirmative, sad nod, confirming what Riker tried to assert earlier. Knowing all he needed to know, and accepting the inconceivable, Picard belays Shaw’s command asserting Admiral’s orders. Jack stays here. “Because he’s my son.”

With the truth finally out there, Shaw orders full power to forward shields and commands La Forge to prepare for flight. Shaw asserts that whatever happens next is on Picard. Putting Vadic on screen, Picard relays his answer — Engage! — as the ship rockets past the Shrike , firing a series of rear torpedoes toward their opponent. The move delights Vadic as she orders her crew to follow him. If she’s looking for a fight, she’s going to have to find them first.

* Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country — Not a direct connection; the enemy Vadic, played by Amanda Plummer, harkens back to another classic Star Trek villain, General Chang , played by Amanda’s father Christopher Plummer.

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Recap / Star Trek: Picard S3E02 "Disengage"

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Two weeks ago , Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) sails the Eleos XII into contested space, and is confronted by the Fenris Rangers. While he's in violation of various laws, he claims to be on a mission of humanitarian aid to help relieve the Galarian fever on the planet down below. He also bribes the Rangers with a shipment of weapons. As they leave, the Ranger radios in: "Reach out to the Marked Woman. We've found him."

Today, Picard, Riker and Jack Crusher investigate their options aboard the ailing Eleos . While Riker tries to devise a technobabble solution, Picard sets up transport inhibitors — narrowly preventing the giant ship from beaming Jack away, and confirming to Picard that they are after the boy specifically. Jack, meanwhile, wants to get Beverly's medpod to Picard's shuttle... but the giant ship blows the shuttle up, stranding them aboard. Back at the Titan -A, sensors pick up the weapons fire. Captain Shaw is not interested in bringing his ship in — the Titan is a Fragile Speedster built for science and exploration — but Seven has a firm word with him about whether he wants to be remembered as the man who saved two Famed In-Story Living Legends ... or the man who stood by and let them die. Therefore, as the giant ship begins to haul the Eleos in with its Tractor Beam , the Titan arrives to break the lock. After a bit of a kerfuffle with the transport inhibitors, all four occupants of the ship are evacuated by transporter, with Dr. Crusher being transported directly to Sickbay.

Raffi consults with Starfleet Intelligence, upset that she was unable to save anyone. She requests permission from her handler to go deeper, but her handler (again via text message) claims they have identified a culprit, a Romulan extremist named T'Luco who purchased the portal technology from a Ferengi crime lord named Sneed. "Repeat: Starfleet Command has terminated investigation. Disengage ." Raffi, after being denied a face-to-face meeting with her handler, resolves to go it alone. To do this, however, she needs to connect with Sneed... And to do that , she needs to talk to her ex-husband, Jae Hwang. Jae hoped that she wanted him (Jae) to reach out to their son Gabriel, and is disappointed when she's more interested in her theories.

The giant ship hails Captain Shaw, and its captain introduces herself as Vadic. She claims that she's a bounty hunter and Jack Crusher is a wanted criminal. She gives Shaw one hour to make a decision, and then lowers her ship's shields as a sign of good faith. Titan 's scans reveal that her ship is armed to the teeth; there's no way they can fight their way out, and also no way the ship is merely for bounty hunting. Vadic proves her point by using her ship's tractor beam to throw the Eleos at the Titan bodily , resulting in a collision that the shields barely handle. A cursory search of Memory Alpha reveals that Jack is indeed an intergalactic fugitive, and Shaw has him held in the brig, with Picard trying in vain to get Jack to reveal what the big deal is. Riker, meanwhile, needles Picard about Jack's resemblance to himself note  where Jack's apparent age lines up with the last time he and Beverly saw each other .

Raffi meets with Sneed. She claims to want to know — on behalf of her boss, T'Luco — who is spreading the rumors that T'Luco used the portal phlebotinum. Sneed suspects she's Starfleet Intelligence, maybe even Section 31, and demands she prove herself by taking a hallucinogen. Despite this, Musiker manages to maintain her cover story. However, Sneed has already seen through it: he knows for a fact that nobody works for T'Luco anymore, and proves it with a Decapitation Presentation of the Romulan's head. He then orders his mooks to kill Raffi. Musiker is, of course, completely inebriated by the drug... But whoever comes in for a Big Damn Heroes moment, fighting off the mooks with a bladed weapon and then killing Sneed, is not. The rescuer helps Raffi up and begins to walk her out of the den: "I told you, do not engage." It's Worf, son of Mogh.

• Art Evolution : Sneed is the first Ferengi seen in live action in a long time, and his design is subtly different than contemporary Ferengi. His eyebrow line in particular is much larger and appears to be a mixture of muscle, fat and ligaments, as previous Ferengi had more of a thin ridge across their eyebrow line linking to their ears and had an implied bone structure to it. His head shape also appears slightly more bulbous and segmented.
• Ax-Crazy : From her scenes in her debut episode, it's evident Vadic isn't the most stable member of the Trek rogues gallery.
• The Shrike has the Eleos in a tractor beam when the Titan downwarps between the two ships, breaking the beam.
• Worf rescues Raffi from Sneed and his mooks with a Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind .
• Bounty Hunter : Vadic claims to be one who's trying to collect the price on Jack Crusher's head. While Jack is guilty of these transgressions, the sheer size of Vadic's resources and time she's put into this hunt implies there's much more going on here than a simple bounty collection.
• Lower Decks had the Drookmani scavengers similarly weaponize their tractor beam by reversing it, though on a much smaller scale.
• For that matter, it's appropriate that Ensign La Forge explains how the tractor beam could be weaponized; her father reversed its intended function several times over the course of TNG .
• Speaking of Lower Decks , background details in Sneed's lair reveal the Ferengi are still harvesting Mugato horns . The Ready Room explicitly confirms the nod.
• The tactical analysis of the Shrike 's overwhelming complement of weapons mirrors Worf's similar analysis of Shinzon's Scimitar during Star Trek: Nemesis . The Shrike is also stated to be carrying Isolytic Burst weapons, which haven't been seen in TNG-era Trek since the days of the Son'a (and which won't chronologically be seen again until later on Star Trek: Discovery courtesy of Ruon Tarka).
• Cherry Tapping : Vadic has the Shrike take the Eleos in a tractor beam and throw it at the Titan, which destroyed the Eleos but the Titan managed to maneuver enough to make it a glancing blow, yet still penetrated the shield and caused some hull damage. Ensign La Forge explains that a combination of Techno Babble in the tractor beam and raw kinetic force got around the shield. It was Vadic affirming they were outmatched.
• The Titan 's ill-fated shuttle is the Saavik .
• During negotiations, Vadic notes that Picard's a synthetic human (his status quo since the end of Season One).
• Worf indeed has the beard of iron grey that his adoptive mother Helena Rozhenko predicted he would someday have.
• Curb-Stomp Battle : The Son of Mogh delivers one of these to the Ferengi Sneed and his associates.
• Cutting the Knot : Picard opts to simply shoot the transport inhibitors he previously set up so that the Titan can beam everyone to safety, rather than waste time individually deactivating them when a hostile ship is bearing down on them.
• Dare to Be Badass : Seven tells Shaw that he can be remembered as the hero who saved two of Starfleet's greatest legends, or the man who let them both die.
• Dark and Troubled Past : Implied with Shaw during negotiations with Vadic. Upon recognizing him, Vadic reveals she's read Shaw's official Starfleet psychological profile. We don't learn its contents, but Vadic is mockingly relieved that Shaw's still "functional" in spite of whatever's in that file, a pointed choice of wording. Indeed, it's telling that Shaw's already sour expression hardens in response to Vadic's specific choice of words.
• Dead Guy Junior : Beverly's son reveals his name to be Jack — the name of Beverly's first husband and Picard's best friend, killed in action aboard the first U.S.S. Stargazer eleven years before TNG began.
• Decapitation Presentation : Sneed tells Raffi that he knows she isn't working for T'Luco, and proves it by pulling the Romulan's head from his ice box.
• Deadly Euphemism : Jack snarks that the Starfleet officers that came after him and Beverly tried to "Prime Direct" him into an early grave.
• Double-Meaning Title : "Disengage" not only refers to Worf's orders to Raffi as her handler, but also to the Titan -A's tactic of fleeing from the Shrike into the Ryton Nebula to buy themselves time and space to get away more conclusively. It's also a Mythology Gag to Picard's Catchphrase command of "engage".
• Entertainingly Wrong : Vadic opens her conversation with the Titan -A's bridge crew with " good afternoon ", noting that it supposedly is afternoon in Earth's solar system. If she knew anything about Earth's rotation and time zones, it's always afternoon somewhere on the planet, unless perhaps she's going by UTC or some other standard baseline.
• Evil Laugh : The episode cuts to black at the end with Vadic's gleeful laugh echoing as she and her ship pursue the Titan -A and the protagonists into a nearby nebula.
• Face–Heel Turn : To the extent that they even were heroic at all back in the first season, the Fenris Rangers in Jack's flashback are blockading a planet on which a bioengineered plague is raging, and when Jack manages to get the Eleos past their inspection (by bribing the patrol's leader), the Rangers then call up Vadic to tell her where Jack is. It's possible that Seven, back when she was a Fenris Ranger, was more of a Token Good Teammate than she was representative of the group in general.
• Facial Dialogue : Beverly can still barely stand when Riker brings her to the Titan -A's bridge, but she and Picard need no words to confirm what Picard and Riker already know — that Jack is Jean-Luc and Beverly's son.
• Fan of the Past : Sneed is a fan of 20th century Earth culture, mostly because it's valuable to the right buyer.
• Faux Affably Evil : Vadic (which amusingly contrasts Amanda Plummer's role to her father's Affably Evil General Chang from Star Trek VI ).
• Five-Second Foreshadowing : Motion can be seen in the shadows outside Sneed's hideout right before Worf pulls a Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind on Sneed's guards for a Big Damn Heroes moment, takes the gangster's head off , and rescues Raffi.
• From Bad to Worse : Beverly's pod is losing power, and this is immediately followed by the Shrike blowing up the Titan 's shuttle with its opening volley, preventing any escape.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking : Vadic lights one up during "negotiations" with the Titan .
• Grievous Harm with a Body : A shipborne version; with the Eleos unoccupied, Vadic has the Shrike 's tractor beam throw the medical vessel straight at the Titan -A. It doesn't do much damage, but may have been intended more for the intimidation factor anyways.
• Impairment Shot : After Raffi takes Sneed's "splinter", the camera from her POV goes distorted as she succumbs to its effects.
• I Shall Taunt You : Vadic orders her ship's shields to be dropped at one point so that the Shrike 's weapons can be scanned. She also promises one hour, but hails the Titan -A well before it expires to taunt Shaw and Picard about the name of her vessel and what she promises to do in her quest for vengeance.
• Shaw's tact leaves something to be desired, but he was absolutely right in not wanting to risk the lives of his crew to save Picard and Riker after their rogue mission goes awry.
• Shaw is also right that Jack's multiple aliases and criminal records make him very untrustworthy.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold : Shaw certainly has issues (to put it politely), but when Picard finally pulls rank to stop Jack going to Vadic's ship and Shaw asks him why (that Jack is his son), he immediately acquiesces to Picard and works with him to escape Vadic.
• Laughing Mad : Vadic, especially in the climax when she's manically giggling at the Titan 's attempts to evade them.
• Leitmotif : Jerry Goldsmith 's "Klingon Theme" from The Motion Picture plays at the end of Worf's Big Damn Heroes moment. This is the first time it's been used as a personal theme for Worf since Insurrection .
• List of Transgressions : Picard confronts Jack with his extensive criminal record. Picard: You're accused of organized crime on Andoria, actual terrorism on Binar III and you're wanted for the death of a man on Andreus 5. Jack: That's unfair, he's a Falsetti, and they go into a deep hibernation for seven cycles, so is he dead or is he alive? Who's to say? Picard: Says here you were recently sighted on Kemiyo. That's a war zone. Jack: It's a rebellion. The Kemiyans have been fighting against their oppressors for decades. I brought them medicine, supplies. Picard: Oh, so you're a freedom fighter? Jack: Only in the sense that a doctor fights for the freedom of his patient to not be dead. I'm that, at best. At worst? Well, I'm a thief. Picard: Of stolen medical supplies, yes. But also, stolen weapons and other prohibited cargo. Jack: Currency is currency and medicine isn't free.
• Luke, You Are My Father : Beverly and Jean-Luc confirm through some Facial Dialogue near the end of the episode that Jack Crusher is indeed their son. Riker catches on substantially earlier but isn't able to conclusively prove it.
• Meaningful Name : Invoked by Vadic as she gives a Cold Ham To the Pain description of how the Shrike resembles its Earth namesake. "It's an Earth creature. A small carrion bird, one that doesn't attack in anger or malice, one that isn't made frantic by hunger but rather kills surgically, carefully . Give me the boy now or continue to delay, but with each ticking moment, I will take another piece of you. I'll peck, and I'll jab at everything that makes you you. Every system that makes your ship your ship, until there's nothing left but the choice to have given me what you could have given me now. But certainly... take your time."
• Mildly Military : Picard has no right to give the orders he does. He might have been an admiral once, but today he's retired and is therefore outside the chain of command. For Shaw to ignore him and just throw Jack to the wolves would be a Jerkass move, but he'd have military law entirely on his side. To keep the show moving, this Loophole Abuse is not addressed.
• Multiple Identity IDs : Jack is revealed to have multiple aliases, and they all have his initials: Jack Canby, John Carson, James Cole, and Jarlis Carvel (the last one being Shaw's favorite).
• The episode title, "Disengage", is the negative form of Picard's famed Catchphrase , "engage" — which he utters at the end of the episode for good measure, as the Titan -A flees into the nearby Ryton Nebula.
• Among Sneed's various goods for sale is an evidently antique baseball in a clear box, just like the one that Captain Sisko used to keep on his desk in his office on DS9. Depending on what happened in the intervening nearly thirty years, it might even be the same ball.
• The Titan -A physically cutting off a tractor beam to shield a smaller ship and beam its occupants aboard is the same tactic used by the Enterprise -D when dealing with the Garidians' dispute in the opening section of the renowned TNG video game A Final Unity .
• Vadic hailing the Titan and casually addressing Shaw and others by name recalls Nero from 2009's Star Trek , where he opened a conversation with the alternate-reality Captain Pike and Enterprise with "Hi Christopher, I'm Nero".
• The medical supplies on the Eleos are labeled as coming from an organization called the Mariposas. This is the medical foundation formed by Cristobal Rios and Teresa Ramirez after the former stayed in the past at the end of Picard Season 2.
• Never My Fault : Among the things Shaw berates Seven for, that she persuaded him to rescue Picard and Riker, never mind that he’s the captain and he clearly didn’t trust or respect her even before she helped Picard and Riker take the shuttlecraft.
• Jack mentions multiple run-ins with agents of Vadic's conspiracy. We only get the broad strokes from Jack, along with a flashback, but they serve to illustrate how long the Crushers have been on the run and how extensive the conspiracy is.
• The list of outstanding charges against Jack in Federation and non-Federation space, which Picard reads out in the Brig.
• Vadic references Shaw's psychological profile, and mockingly notes that he is still "functional", alluding to something severe happening to him in his past.
• Off with His Head! : Sneed shows T'Luco's severed head to Raffi to underline his refutation of her cover story and tells his lackeys to chop off hers as well. Sneed loses his own head only moments later when Worf kills him and his men to rescue Raffi.
• Outside-Context Problem : At this point no one has a clue who Vadic is or what the Shrike is capable of. Once they get a good look at its weapon systems, which includes five types of torpedoes and several weapons they don't recognize, the Titan bridge crew is well aware they are outside its weight class.
• Properly Paranoid : Jack reveals to Picard and Riker why Beverly was so paranoid in her transmission last episode. The conspiracy targeting the Crushers evidently has substantial resources and pull at their disposal, as they managed to sic Fenris Rangers, Klingons, and even Starfleet officers on them over the last few months — hence Beverly's warnings not to bring Starfleet into this or to trust anyone. She's vindicated, as Vadic proves to have extensive knowledge of Starfleet — including access to Shaw's private Starfleet psychological profile.
• Protagonist-Centered Morality : Picard is perfectly okay with Beverly's son's Heroic Sacrifice . He's completely opposed to his son doing the same thing — even though these two characters are the same person . While Picard's dismay at being the Last of His Kind has been on his mind ever since his brother and nephew died untimely in 2371 (thirty years ago), it's still one hell of an about-face... especially since "approving of my son's Heroic Sacrifice " is very in-character for Jean-Luc Picard.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech : Shaw does this several times to Seven of Nine — oh, wait, Annika Hansen — for her Military Maverick tendencies.
• Worf is Raffi's handler.
• Jack is Picard's son, a fact so obvious that Riker badgers Picard about it several times before confirming with Beverly.
• Rewatch Bonus : Vadic's reactions during her first meeting with Picard — in particular, her emphasis on him being here in the synthetic flesh — take on a much different context after the revelations of "The Bounty".
• Raffi refuses to give up her investigation because she knows Starfleet is wrong about the culprit.
• Shaw relieves Seven of duty for going behind his back, but this doesn't stop her from commanding teams to hunt down Jack when he breaks out of the Brig. The crew evidently don't mind, either, since not one raises an objection.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat : Vadic and Shaw's opening dialogue during "negotiations".
• Jack reminds Picard and Riker that the Eleos has been on the run for months and, after having been moored in the Ryton Nebula for too long, its systems are now running on fumes and fried.
• The Deflector Shields on the Titan can only do so much when Vadic hits them with the full, kinetic mass of the Eleos . As Sidney explains, physics will always be physics.
• Surrounded by Idiots : Jack's opinion of Picard and Riker for ignoring his mother's explicit warnings to not trust anyone and to not bring Starfleet into this, having done pretty much the exact opposite.
• Teleport Interdiction : Picard wisely sets up transport inhibitors moments before Jack Crusher is nearly beamed away by the Shrike . He then has to destroy the inhibitors so the Titan can beam them aboard .
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill : Vadic uses three photon torpedoes to destroy Picard's shuttle. One should have been more than sufficient, and could have also destroyed the Eleos .
• This Is Gonna Suck : Picard silently winces as he accepts he's about to do something really stupid to protect his son, and Shaw is equally dismayed when Picard reveals that fact and he has no option but to go along with it. Shaw: ( under his breath ) ... God damn it ...
• Title Drop : Raffi's handler tells her to "disengage" from her investigation.
• The Shrike tries to tractor in the Eleos when transporters and boarding prove useless, the sheer force of the beam combined with the state of the Eleos nearly tearing the ship apart. The Titan warps in between the two ships to break the connection.
• Vadic then uses the tractor beam to toss the Eleos at the Titan , just to prove how outmatched they are.
• Unknown Rival : Jack and Beverly have no idea who Vadic is or why she and her followers have been targeting them.
• Villain Has a Point : Despite Starfleet's opposition to working with bounty hunters, Shaw admits that Vadic's claim on Jack has legal validity.
• Sneed is genuinely impressed that Raffi managed to maintain her lucidity after taking his drugs, and accurately pegs her as a former addict.
• Sarcasm Mode or not, Vadic says she's impressed that Shaw is still "functional" after the events of his Dark and Troubled Past .
• Wakeup Makeup : After spending years on the run as a renegade, being severely injured, kept in stasis, operated on, and abruptly awoken from a coma, Beverly limps onto the bridge with perfect mascara and lipstick and elegantly styled hair.
• "I told you, 'Do not engage'!", by Worf, revealing to the audience that he was Raffi's Starfleet intelligence handler.
• "Because he is my son.", by Picard regarding Jack.
• Wham Shot : Worf is revealed to be Raffi's rescuer and handler from Starfleet Intelligence.
• What the Hell, Hero? : Riker lightly tears into Picard for dancing around the issue of his obvious relation to Jack, with Picard merely insisting that they not jump to conclusions. Riker revives Beverly despite her weakened state to force Picard's hand.
• The Worf Effect : Averted when the Son of Mogh shows up to rescue Raffi as he takes out three of Sneed's mooks before taking off Sneed's head.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! : Jack's incredulous reaction to Picard's insistence that they open a dialogue with the Shrike and find out who they are and what they want, when it's currently targeting every system on the ship.
• Star Trek: Picard S3E01 "The Next Generation"
• Recap/Star Trek: Picard
• Star Trek: Picard S3E03 "Seventeen Seconds"

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Review: Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 2 “Disengage”

Hot on the heels of discovering Beverley Crusher ( Gates McFadden ) and her supposed son, Jack ( Ed Speleers ), hiding in an unusual nebula just outside Federation space, Captain William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) and Admiral Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) face off against the threatening ship that seems to have arrived to capture the young man.  

Before we get to that, though, the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard “Disengage” begins with a bit of backstory to the Crushers’ adventures together. Jumping back two weeks previously, we see Jack trying to deliver medical supplies to a location plagued by sickness, only to be met by a couple of Fenris Ranger ships. Jack isn’t above trying to smooth-talk his way out of the blockade and even resorts to a bit of bribery to get out of the jam. Before the leader of the rangers leaves, though, he sends a message to an unknown contact asserting he has found Jack. Someone is indeed hunting the young man.

Back to the present day, the Crushers’ ship is no match for the imposing enemy vessel. The three men scramble to protect Beverly’s medical pod and regain contact with the Titan , but not before Riker asserts to Picard that there is something “familiar” about their new friend. Picard seems to know what Riker is alluding to but opts to focus on the present situation instead. The new arrival destroys the Titan’s shuttle, which means Picard, Riker, and the Crushers are trapped in a faceoff.

“You could be the hero who saved heroes. Or you could be remembered as the captain who left two legends to die. It’s your call.” – Seven to Shaw as the two disagree over rescuing Picard and Riker.

Before too much damage can be done, and before Beverley’s life support pod is disabled, the Titan arrives just in time to rescue the away team. The last-minute save almost didn’t happen, as Commander Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan ) needed to take great pains to convince the Titan’s stubborn and displeasing captain, Liam Shaw ( Todd Stashwick) , that putting the Titan at risk to save the wayward men was worth it, despite his adamant objections.

When the four stranded humans beam back to the Titan, it’s time for some introductions. The commander of the opposing ship, Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer), wastes no time introducing herself. Moreover, she lets the Starfleet ship scan her striking vessel, which she ultimately reveals is the Shrike. Like the Scimitar in Star Trek: Nemesis , the Shrike seems to be built as an overpowered predator, complete with a mysterious weapon at the base of the ship. To further show her resolve, Vadic has her ship throw the unoccupied medical vessel at the Titan, crashing it into the Neo-Constitution class. It definitely seems like Vadic isn’t playing around.

Our first impressions of Captain Vadic are positive. She seems nicely unhinged, an assessment supported by some of her curious behavioral quirks. She seems to have a sincere need to get to Jack Crusher — although we don’t believe her stated intention of just wanting to collect a bounty on Jack.

In watching Amanda Plummer, we can’t help but think of her father, Christopher Plummer, who so memorably played the dramatic General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered County. In fact, we wouldn’t be terribly surprised if the younger Plummer’s performance in Picard is partly inspired by him; the two share a knack for dramatically spinning in their command chair, after all. But, we’re not worried Amanda won’t be able to carve out a bespoke performance for herself as this season’s main villain – she seems like a fine addition to the Star Trek baddie pantheon.

Moreover, Vadic hints at being a villain who has done her homework. In their initial conversation, she praises Shaw for being at all “functional” despite his psychological profile, which begs a couple of questions: what in Shaw’s past was so traumatic for him that it could have sent his life into a spiral, and why did Vadic bother to learn about the Titan’s captain before their encounter?

In any case, Vadic gives the Titan an hour to hand over Jack, a spacious amount of time that conveniently allows for a few pivotal character-driven scenes to take place. After doing a bit of research on Jack, Shaw commits to handing him over, as we learn Jack is actually a criminal with quite a few offenses and pseudonyms on his resume. Shaw asserts he’s a con man, which makes the captain inclined to hand him over to Vadic the bounty hunter.

“I have a great affinity for virtuosos, but it seems that your instrument is deception and thievery.” “Wow, that’s a hell of an opener.” – Picard and Jack, as Jack is sitting in the brig.

Picard gleans a bit of Jack’s personality as the pair converse in the brig. Jack asserts he is a fighter who only struggles for the well-being of people across the galaxy, even if it means resorting to less-than-chivalrous measures. To Picard’s surprise, he also asserts his mom is an equal partner in this endeavor, something Picard just doesn’t believe. Jack, for his part, makes a great point: he asks the older man how many people have actually gone unchanged over the years, which sounds like a great thesis for this season of Picard and its returning characters. Seeing how the TNG folks have changed since we last saw them will be something worth keeping an eye on.

Despite Picard and Riker’s moral objections, Shaw is still inclined to turn over Jack. Jack is thinking along the same lines, too, as he breaks out of the brig and tries to beam to Vadic’s ship, a move that Picard considers as the young man protecting his mother. Before Shaw allows Jack to beam over, Beverly arrives on the bridge and dramatically yet wordlessly tells Picard that Jack is indeed his son. This revelation makes Shaw understand they can’t just turn over the boy, so the Titan plunges into the nearby nebula to try and escape the Shrike . Seeing Picard and Crusher communicate silently in this way is a great moment between these characters (and these actors), and hints at a chemistry that developed – and then broke down – for the pair in the years after Star Trek: Nemesis .

As our older heroes are facing off against Vadic, Raffi Musiker ( Michelle Hurd ) is trying to piece together how and why the destruction of the Starfleet Recruitment Center happened. According to news reporting, a Romulan terrorist, Lurak T’Luco, is likely responsible for the destruction, but there’s surely more to the story. Raffi’s mysterious handler is not helpful and insists she disengages from the operation altogether. This doesn’t sit right with Raffi, who goes rogue and pursues a lead on the investigation against her handler’s wishes. A Ferengi, Sneed ( Aaron Stanford ), supposedly sold T’Luco the devastating weapon used in the recruitment building attack.

To help set up the meeting with Sneed, we get re-introduced to some of Raffi’s familial trouble. Super-conveniently for her, her ex-husband, Jae ( Randy Goodwin ), can arrange the meeting with the Ferengi. Jae spares no words in what he thinks of Raffi’s dedication to Starfleet over her family, and offers her an ultimatum: he can either set up the meeting with Sneed or talk to their son, Gabe, on his mother’s behalf.

It’s at this point we must wonder why Jae would be this cold toward Raffi. She is clearly trying to save a lot of people from dying. Even if he thinks she’s pursuing another one of her conspiracy theories, doesn’t he know her previous theory in Picard season one panned out in the way she thought? We don’t blame Raffi for feeling the need to opt for her mission in this case, and Jae should not have confronted her with that choice. This kind of forced family drama only hampers an otherwise well-measured episode. To Hurd’s credit, Raffi does seem torn over the decision, and regret and sorrow are etched on her face as she thinks about the choice.

The Starfleet Intelligence operative does gain a face-to-face meeting with Sneed. Raffi tries to ascertain the identity of Sneed’s boss by pretending to have worked for the same Romulan the news is blaming for the attack, but Sneed sees right through her attempt. The small-lobed Ferengi is even sharp enough to identify her as a member of Section 31, the mysterious Starfleet intelligence bureau first mentioned in Deep Space Nine and then prominently featured in Discovery .

Sneed, ever the vile gangster, plays to Raffi’s drug history by asserting she could prove she isn’t loyal to Starfleet by ingesting some of his drug products, which she does. Raffi resists the drug’s effects long enough for Sneed to pull out his ace in the hole: the head of the very Romulan Raffi claims to be working for. It’s only the last-minute save from a sword-wielding Worf ( Michael Dorn ) that Raffi evades certain death, and the Klingon reveals to the audience that he was Raffi’s handler all along.

Taken together, “Disengage” only engages us more in this season’s developing plot. The fact that Picard has a son is a major revelation, although not one that is unknown to the captain; remember, he faced the prospect of a newly discovered child in The Next Generation’ s “Bloodlines,” although that son ultimately proved a fraud. We’re sure Jack is actually Picard’s son, however, so the idea that Beverly ghosted Jean-Luc for twenty years means there’s certainly some explaining to do.

This family drama is much more interesting than the family drama that played out with Raffi in this episode. We would be content with this show not focusing again on Gabe or Jae, especially since the choices Raffi was forced to confront between her work and her family were unreasonable. We’re hoping for a happy ending for Raffi and her family, of course, so we hope this season will leave the character on a high note in that regard. She deserves it, after all.

Equally as interesting as the expanding Picard family tree is why Vadic is so obsessed with capturing Jack. Moreover, her strategy in confronting the Titan is not like other villains we’ve seen. Her metaphor about being like a bird and nipping away at her enemies until they falter presents an exciting challenge for our heroes; will Shaw, Picard, and Riker be able to outsmart this unstable personality?

Stray Thoughts:

• We learn the Titan-A has a crew complement of about 500 people, as asserted by Captain Shaw in this episode.
• Asserting that history remembers Picard as a captain and not an admiral is fairly rude on Jack’s part, yeah? Yes, the audience remembers Picard as a captain and his adventures in TNG and subsequent movies, but Picard has done plenty of things since becoming admiral, like leading the ill-fated Romulan evacuation.
• We’re not wishing for a higher death count, but how did only 117 people die in the recruitment center attack? The entire building collapsed and then dropped onto another part of the city!
• Why did it take Vadic so long to try and beam Jack away from the medical ship?
• Why would Picard reason that the enemy ship would give up sending ground troops after only one failed takeover attempt?  Riker threw a plasma grenade and killed two intruders – that hardly qualifies as insurmountable resistance.
• We aren’t experts in shield technology or physics, but the Eleos seemed to impact the Titan ’s bridge directly. Why didn’t that room specifically, and the ship generally, take more damage after being hit directly by the smaller vessel?
• Among Sneed’s human artifacts in his office are a baseball and a hand grenade.

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner as Lore, Jeri Ryan as Seven, Michelle Hurd as Raffi, along with Amanda Plummer as Vadic, Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw and Ed Speleers .

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Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

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Armin Shimerman admits envy of Sneed on Star Trek: Picard

By rachel carrington | oct 26, 2023.

In the final season of Star Trek: Picard, a Ferengi was introduced who wasn’t anything like Quark played by Armin Shimerman on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Armin Shimerman played the first Ferengi ever seen on a Star Trek property on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Ferengi were meant to be enemies of the Federation and a threat; however, the episode that introduced the Ferengis took a comedic turn instead, something Shimerman regrets and has apologized for. But that did lead to a starring gig as Quark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

From that point forward, though, Ferengis were seen as greedy aliens that would sooner steal from you than stab you. They were never seen as much of a threat…until Star Trek: Picard changed all of that in its third and final season, introducing Sneed, a corrupt, essentially evil crime boss, played by Aaron Stanford (12 Monkeys and Nikita).

Armin Shimerman watched Standford’s portrayl of a Ferengi on Star Trek: Picard and felt the pangs of jealousy.

According to Indiewire , while watching Sneed on Star Trek: Picard, Shimerman turned to his wife and said “That’s the way I should have played the Ferengi from the first.”

Admitting that Sneed was more believable, oily, cunning, and less cartoonish, Shimerman knows the Ferengi would have been a much different species.

"“[Sneed] was both cunning and oily and believable and less cartoonish … it would have been an entirely different species if I had played a Ferengi as well as that actor played it.”"

In reality, though. would someone like Sneed have been able to continue long term on Deep Space Nine? Quark, in spite of his materialism and need for latinum, became a beloved character on the series. He certainly didn’t end up with his head chopped off at the end of Worf’s blade.

While the Ferengi were seen as comic relief, the Federation has its fair share of enemies, so having one that was more of an annoyance than a foe made sense as some aliens are more interested in the latinum than being the king of an evil empire. So while Shimerman may regret how he portrayed Quark, Star Trek fans don’t. Without him, we wouldn’t have the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition and the numerous one-liners that made us laugh and appreciate him even more.

Next. Armin Shimerman wanted to know Quark’s IQ. dark

Picard: Worf's Title, Explained

Star Trek's beloved Klingon returns in a big way in the new season of Picard, complete with a very elaborate title. It covers his entire history.

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 3, "Seventeen Seconds," now streaming on Paramount+ .

Worf's formal introduction in Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard has already become a favorite moment for Trekkies. Having saved Raffi from the sinister Ferengi Sneed in Season 3, Episode 2, "Disengage," Worf reveals his identity to her in Episode 3, "Seventeen Seconds" along with his formal name and title. "I am Worf, Son of Mogh, House of Martok, Son of Sergey, House of Rozhenko. Bane to the Duras Family. Slayer of Gowron." The kicker is that he then offers her tea.

The title itself is an exceptional summation not only of Worf's standing , but his past in earlier Star Trek shows. He has the distinction of making more appearances in the franchise than any other character, and his title delivers a considerable amount of information, as well as informally referencing a number of specific episodes. Here's a breakdown of each part of his name, along with the pertinent episodes to provide context.

RELATED: Picard's Estranged Lovers Are Very Different from Wrath of Khan's

Worf's Father Mogh Was Killed By Romulans

Mogh has yet to appear onscreen in Star Trek , though his influence on galactic events is notable. He and his wife were killed with The Khitomer Massacre: a Romulan sneak attack on a Klingon colony that helped prompt the Klingons to make a formal alliance with The Federation. Worf was one of the few survivors of the incident and was raised by humans in the wake of his parents' death. He's forced to falsely denounce Mogh as a traitor in order to prevent a Klingon Civil War in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 17, "Sins of the Father." Mogh's good name is cleared just before the beginning of The Klingon Civil War in Season 4, Episode 26, "Redemption," but Chancellor Gowron dissolves his House in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4, Episode 1, "The Way of the Warrior" after Worf refuses to support an ill-conceived Klingon invasion of Cardassia.

Worf Joins the House of Martok on Deep Space Nine

General Martok is a hero of The Klingon Empire, having distinguished himself during The Dominion War which takes place during the last two seasons of Deep Space Nine . Worf formally joins his House after aiding him during the events of Season 5, Episode 21, "Soldiers of the Empire," and presumably remains there through his appearance in Picard . Martok becomes Chancellor of the Empire after The Dominion War, making Worf a powerful political figure by association. His status at the time of Picard remains unknown.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard Proves Jonathan Frakes Was Born To Play Will Riker

Sergey Rozhenko Is Worf's Adoptive Human Father

After Mogh's death, Worf is raised by a human couple, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko, on the farming colony of Gault. The family eventually relocates to Earth, where they continue raising Worf until he joins Starfleet academy. Though Sergey is mentioned multiple times throughout the franchise, he only appears onscreen once, in The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 2, "Family." He's portrayed as a loving and supportive father, though not always certain about addressing his adopted son's Klingon side. Worf's mention of Sergey in his title suggests that he has embraced his human upbringing more readily, and wishes to honor his adoptive father's efforts.

Worf Is a Fierce Enemy of the Duras Family

The Duras family remains allies of the Romulans throughout the franchise, making them implacable foes of both Worf and by extension The Federation. The House of Mogh has a long feud with the rival House of Duras, whose leader Ja'rod conspired with Romulans to engineer the Khitomer Massacre. Worf kills Ja'rod's son in single combat after the murder of his lover K'Ehleyer in The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 7, "Reunion." Leadership of the family then falls to a pair of sisters, Lursa and B'Etor, who engineer the Klingon Civil War in a bid for the throne. They remain regular antagonists until their ship is destroyed in combat with the Enterprise-D during the events of Star Trek Generations.

RELATED: Picard's Villain Vadic Is the Literal Next Generation of Star Trek Villain

Worf Kills Gowron at the End of the Dominion War

Gowron is a wild-eyed Klingon (and popular meme subject) who becomes Chancellor after Worf kills his rival Duras in "Reunion." He rules The Klingon Empire for eight years, through the turmoil of his people's civil war and into the much bigger war against The Dominion. He's portrayed as a cagey and often contrarian leader who sometimes puts his own ambitions ahead of the good of The Empire. Worf challenges his suitability to lead and slays him in single combat at the end of The Dominion War during the events of Deep Space Nine Season 7, Episode 22, "Tacking into the Wind," leaving General Martok the new Chancellor.

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

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Review: Action-Packed ‘Star Trek: Picard: Firewall’ Reveals Seven’s Compelling Quest For Identity

| March 24, 2024 | By: Dénes House 11 comments so far

Star Trek: Picard: Firewall Written by David Mack Published by Pocket Books

“No plan ever survives contact with the enemy – and, as far as I can tell, you have no Plan B. What are you gonna do out there when everything starts to go wrong?” “If executed correctly, my plan –” “Forget about correctly. Forget about your plan. Listen to what I’m telling you: People are fallible. Combat is chaotic. We have strict rules of engagement, a duty to use nonlethal force – but our enemies don’t. One mistake up there could get us and the rest of the team killed. Did you account for that?” He wasn’t sure how he expected Seven to react. He didn’t think she would shrink like a violet, or wither in the face of criticism, but he certainly didn’t expect what she did next. She lifted her chin and actually seemed to get taller. “I am aware of the dangers posed by the mission. I’ve weighed the certain costs of failure against the potential gains of success. Imperiling eight lives to save eight hundred thousand is an acceptable risk-reward ratio.” “Gotta give you credit, kid. You’ve got a way with math.”

At the end of the Berman era of Trek, Jeri Ryan’s Seven was last seen returning to Earth aboard the Starship Voyager, involved in a romantic relationship with Chakotay, and anticipating the possibility of joining Starfleet alongside her mentor and mother-figure, Captain Kathryn Janeway. At the character’s next appearance, 20 years later in the first season of Star Trek: Picard , she is detached from Janeway and Chakotay, works for the mysterious Fenris Rangers, and is soon to develop a relationship with Raffaela “Raffi” Musiker. David Mack’s novel Star Trek: Picard: Firewall  is designed to fill part of that two-decade gap in Seven’s story with an adventure set at a key turning point for everyone’s favorite ex-Borg.

Mack’s novel brings Seven out from under Janeway’s shadow and chronicles her struggle to figure out her own identity and chart her own path in a galaxy growing darker by the minute. Feeling left behind as her former Voyager shipmates have all gone on to their new lives, Seven is a drifter, moving from planet to planet, job to job, longing for connection but afraid of being hurt. With the resettlement crisis on Romulus pulling Starfleet’s resources from the Federation’s outer sectors, Seven experiences the growing lawlessness, poverty, and despair of colonies once dependent on Federation aid. Their hopelessness mirrors her own as she, too, has been rejected by a Starfleet terrified of her Borg past. When she’s approached by a shadowy Federation Security agent and recruited to infiltrate the vigilante terrorist organization the Fenris Rangers, Seven sees the opportunity to finally be accepted by Starfleet. But as she gets deeper into the Rangers, she finds that they are not what they have been painted to be—and perhaps neither is the Federation.

This book is a slam-bang action novel, exploring some of the fringes of the Star Trek universe. While embracing Starfleet’s utopian 24 th -century setting, it also acknowledges that even in a utopia, the galaxy is an enormous place, and even good decisions made for the right reasons can have negative downstream consequences. I especially appreciated the detailed look at the Fenris Rangers, their mission, their ethos, and their organization, all of which Mack fleshes out admirably.

While we meet a number of characters from Star Trek: Picard’s three seasons as well as from Star Trek: Prodigy , Mack keeps his Easter eggs subtle and sparse. The focus here is on Seven and her struggle to both understand who she is and to be accepted. While the Seven of Nine character on Voyager , and eventually on Picard , has long been an icon for gay and transgender people, her bisexual identity and connection to trans identification have never been as clear as they are here. Mack describes it as an exploration of Seven as “a newly out queer woman,” and Seven’s exploration of her newfound identity is at turns touching, sad, and hopeful.

Mack doesn’t skimp on the action, which is gritty, bloody, and visceral. Firewall brings elements that feel like Blade Runner , Star Wars , and High Noon into its Star Trek setting. And Mack utilizes his “f-bomb” allotment in an emotionally climactic way. The plot and characters never lose sight of the hopefulness of Gene Roddenberry’s universe, but fans who like their Trek more sanitary may find this novel pushing their boundaries. But in the end, Seven, the Rangers, and Starfleet all have the opportunity to shine as heroes. Good prevails, and evil is defeated over tremendous odds and through cleverness, technology, friendship, and endurance.

Action, inclusivity, and deep character growth: David Mack’s Firewall digs deeply into Seven and gives her clear motivations as she transitions from one Trek series to the next.

Available now

David Mack’s Star Trek: Picard: Firewall from Pocket Books was released on February 27. You can pick it up now at Amazon in hardcover  and  Kindle e-book .

Firewall is also available as an audiobook on CD now and also Audible . You can listen to a sample of the audiobook, read by January LaVoy below:

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I haven’t done a Trek novel in years….this may get me back into it! Thanks

This does look good, but I’m saving my latinum for “Pliable Truths” by Dayton Ward, a prelude to DS9 featuring Picard (still reeling from his torture at the hands of Gul Madred), Ensign Ro, and Garak.

Why not both?

Because I’m usually very busy and only get to leisure read a few books a year. :P

Plus, at $20 a pop (I only read paper books), one has to be choosy about what goes into their library.

I love Trek novels. David Mack is a top-notch storyteller, and he knows how to voice these Trek characters. Can’t wait for this!

I finished reading this novel last week. It was great and I concur with the reviewers comments. Great story!

Dr. Dave ASU planetary science professor President, Phoenix Star Trek fan club

I enjoyed the book, but my question is about regeneration. This takes place only about 4 years after Voyager returned from the Delta Quadrant. There are no references to regeneration, but several to sleeping. Are we just supposed to assume Seven figured out how to do without it?

Picard also ignores this issue, but that is taking place nearly 20 years later, so seems more likely she’d have figured it out by that point.

Who is that on the cover? She doesn’t look anything like Jeri Ryan.

Mack’s written some of the best Star Trek period. I’m at least intrigued, but maybe not as much as the Cox and Ward novels coming out this year (I guess I don’t care for the Picard novels so far.)

This is an excellent book. You could almost see this as a streaming movie with not much extra effort. It’s surprisingly small in scope, picking out one corner of the ST Universe, and spending some time exploring places and people in the region without going into “The end of the Federation as we know it” territory. The characters, including Seven’s mentor, are well written and fleshed out very nicely.

This story takes place primarily in 2381, so it is concurrent with S2-4 of Lower Decks, and about 2-3 years before Prodigy. There are scenes on the USS Dauntless, and brief mentions of Tysess, Noum, and Asencia, but they are light and not relevant to the main story.

Overall, this book does an excellent job at tying together plots threads and characters from Voyager, Picard, Star Trek (2009), and Prodigy without having to visit Memory Alpha to keep up. I definitely recommend this one.

Who is Worf in ‘Star Trek: Picard’?

Worf is one of the most popular characters the 'Star Trek' universe has ever produced, but who is he and what makes him so special?

Warning: Contains spoilers about the latest season of Star Trek: Picard .

Worf — son of Mogh, of the Klingon House of Martok, of the Human House of Rozhenko, bane of the House of Duras, slayer of Gowron — is a surefire highlight in the Star Trek universe. Despite living most of his life among humans, Worf is in many ways the perfect Klingon. After his parents died in the Khitomer Massacre, the young Worf was taken in by an adopted human family. Growing up outside the Empire meant that much of his knowledge of Klingons came from ancient stories, myths, and legends, including those of Kahless, founder of the Empire and the ultimate warrior. Worf never saw the negative sides of Klingon society, the political corruption, the treachery, the mindless violence. Instead, he becomes the best version of a Klingon, taking on the higher concepts of honor and loyalty.

Worf takes his sense of honor to certain extremes, even willingly accepting discommendation (the ultimate disgrace for a Klingon) in order to preserve peace within the Empire. In Deep Space Nine , it is revealed that in his youth, he could not contain his violent anger. The guilt he felt after accidentally killing a friend made him take control of his emotions and led him to a career in Starfleet. We see some of this iron self-control slip in the brilliant Next Generation episode “ Reunion .” After Worf’s lover K’Ehleyr is murdered by Duras, Worf tears apart Starfleet ethics by beaming onto a Klingon ship and executing the terrified Duras with an edged weapon.

Worf ascends through the ranks of Starfleet, is present on DS9 during the violent Dominion War, and becomes regarded as a hero within the Klingon Empire. He returns in the latest season of Star Trek: Picard , where it is revealed he is working as a subcontractor to Starfleet Intelligence. He teams up with the troubled human operative Raffaela Musiker and saves her life by killing the Ferengi broker Sneed.

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• 2024 Spring Entertainment Preview

Star Trek: Discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants

Imagining the future of the future

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It’s a truth universally acknowledged that even among the greatest television shows in Star Trek history, most of them take two seasons to stop being kind of bad. Never has that been more true or more excruciating than in the case of Star Trek: Discovery .

Polygon is looking ahead to the movies, shows, and books coming soon in our Spring 2024 entertainment preview package, a weeklong special issue.

Often it felt like what Discovery was really doing in its early seasons was discovering what didn’t work. Strong performances from a great cast? That works. A Klingon design that absolutely nobody liked ? Definitely not. But despite the stumbles, Discovery season 1 had still averaged C’s and B’s with reviewers, and had built an audience and a subscriber base for Paramount Plus. On the strength of Disco ’s first season, Paramount greenlit Star Treks Picard , Lower Decks , and Prodigy , three new shows covering a huge range of ages and nostalgic tastes. And spinning out of Disco ’s second season, which introduced familiar , nostalgic characters and a brighter, more Star Trek-y tone, Paramount produced Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , inarguably the best new addition to the franchise since 1996.

Star Trek: Discovery crawled so that the rest of modern Trek could run... and then it started to walk. The show’s third season saw the USS Discovery and crew in the place that should have been their starting blocks: the bleeding future edge of Star Trek’s timeline. Thanks to season 3’s groundwork, season 4 became the first time that Discovery had a status quo worth returning to. In its fifth and final season, Star Trek: Discovery is finally free — free in a way that a Star Trek TV series hasn’t been in 23 years.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is such an elder statesman of the television elite that it’s easy to forget that it was daring. The show’s triumph wasn’t just that it featured a new cast of characters, but also its audaciousness in imagining the future of the future — and making that future unmistakably different . The Original Series showed a racial and national cooperation that seemed fantastical in its time, with an alien crewmember to denote the next frontier of embracing the other . Next Generation saw that bet and raised it, installing a member of the Klingon species, the Federation’s once-feared imperialist rival state, as a respected officer on the bridge of Starfleet’s flagship.

Next Generation ’s time period — one century after Kirk’s Enterprise — wasn’t a nominal choice, but a commitment to moving the story of Star Trek forward. From the show’s foundations, Gene Roddenberry and his collaborators, new and old, set a precedent that the Federation would evolve. Therefore, in accordance with the utopian themes of the franchise, old enemies would in time become friends. Next Generation embraced The Original Series ’ nemeses and the rest of ’90s Trek saw that bet and raised it again, pulling many of Next Gen ’s villains into the heroic fold. Voyager welcomed a Borg crewmember and disincorporated the Borg empire; Deep Space Nine gave the franchise the first Ferengi Starfleet cadet, and brokered a Federation-Klingon-Romulan alliance in the face of an existential threat.

But Discovery — at least until it made its Olympic long-jump leap 900 years into the future — couldn’t move Star Trek forward. So long as it was set “immediately before Kirk’s Enterprise,” hemmed in by the constraints of a previously established era of Star Trek history, it could graft on new elements (like Spock’s secret human foster sister) but it couldn’t create from whole cloth (like a galaxy-wide shortage of starship fuel that nearly destroyed the Federation). Like its predecessor, the ill-fated Star Trek: Enterprise of the ’00s, it was doomed to hang like a remora on the side of the events of The Original Series , or, if you’ll pardon another fish metaphor, doomed like a goldfish that can only grow as large as its half-gallon fishbowl will allow.

Discovery ’s later, free seasons in the 32nd century have shown the Federation at its most vulnerable, a subtler echo of Picard ’s own season 1 swing at fallen institutions . (Fans of Voyager and Deep Space Nine know that this is an extremely rich vein of Trek storytelling.) In its third season, Discovery solved a galaxy-wide fuel crisis that had shattered the community of the Federation. In its fourth it fought for a fragile new Federation alliance and its millennia-old ideals.

And those seasons have also boldly committed to the idea of imagining the future’s future — 900 years of it. The centuries-old rift between Vulcans and Romulans is long healed, Ferengi serve as captains in Starfleet, the work of Doctor Noonien Soong has brought new medical technologies to the fore.

Even still, Discovery hasn’t been truly free in its third and fourth seasons. Star Trek: Picard was out there, forming new past elements of a post- Next Gen / Voy / DS9 era that Discovery had to abide by. And, after all, the show still had to make sure there was something for its own next season to come back to.

But now — with Prodigy and Picard finished, and Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks locked into their settings of Star Trek’s established past, and Starfleet Academy and Section 31 not yet in production at the time that its final season would have been written — Discovery has reached the final final frontier for a Star Trek show. If you’re a Star Trek fan, that should excite you.

Not since Deep Space Nine in 1999 and Voyager in 2001 has a Star Trek series had the freedom to wrap up its run with the Federation in any state it wants to. With franchise flagship Next Generation at an end, and Voyager restricted to the Delta Quadrant only, Deep Space Nine used its last seasons to throw the Federation into all-out war, making sweeping changes to the established ficto-political norms of ’90s Trek. Voyager used its finale to do what Captain Picard never could: defang the Borg (mostly).

We don’t know exactly what Discovery will do with that freedom. Season 4 directors have talked about reaching “ into the past to get further into the future ,” and likened it to Indiana Jones. Official news releases have said the crew will “uncover a mystery that sends them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries.” But speculating on what that means would be beside the point.

Discovery , the show about an intergalactically teleporting starship, can finally, actually, go anywhere. It’s been almost a quarter of a century since a beloved Star Trek series was so free to boldly go. Let’s hope they’re very bold indeed.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres with two episodes on April 4 on Paramount Plus.

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Screen Rant

Picard has 2 star trek ds9 ferengi easter eggs.

TNG's Ferengi came into their own during Star Trek: DS9, so it makes sense for Picard season 3's DS9 sequel story to feature some familiar Ferengi.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 5 - "Imposters." Star Trek: Picard has featured two big Star Trek: Deep Space NIne Ferengi Easter eggs in both season 1 and season 3. The Ferengi were first introduced as potential replacements for the Klingons in Star Trek: The Next Generation , but became hugely popular in DS9, so it makes sense for the TNG sequel show to reference the classic Trek aliens. Picard season 3 went one step further by introducing a new Ferengi character, the brutal gangster Sneed (Aaron Stanford), who was swiftly dispatched by Captain Worf (Michael Dorn) during his rescue of Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd).

Unsurprisingly, it was revealed that Star Trek: Picard 's Ferengi villain, Sneed had links back to other criminal characters from the TNG era. Those associates included the "Outrageous" Thadiun Okona (Billy Campbell) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine barfly Morn (Mark Allen Shepherd). However, Sneed's criminal associates also include two infamous Ferengi from DS9 , brilliantly continuing Picard 's love of Ferengi Easter eggs.

RELATED: Picard Season 3's Ferengi Fixes A Star Trek Discovery Mistake

Picard's 2 Star Trek DS9 Ferengi Easter Eggs Explained

In Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 5, "Imposters", Worf and Raffi are forced to return to M'Talas Prime's District 6 when they're denied access to Daystrom Station by Starfleet Intelligence. As the facility is guarded by an intelligent A.I., Worf and Raffi theorize that Sneed or one of his associates must have supplied the Changelings with technology to outfox it. Scrolling through a list of Sneed's associates, they settle on Vulcan gangster, Krinn (Kirk Acevedo) , but not before passing the name of Brunt of Ferenginar (Jeffrey Combs) an old nemesis of Deep Space Nine bartender Quark (Armin Shimerman). Brunt's name was also seen the first time Raffi accessed Sneed's file in Picard season 3, episode 2, "Disengage".

Quark was also included in the list that Raffi had previously consulted, but there were two Quark Easter eggs back in Star Trek: Picard season 1, episode 5, "Stardust City Rag". A sign for Quark's Bar was clearly visible on Freecloud, confirming that the Ferengi had franchised out his DS9 business. When the crew of the La Sirena landed on Freecloud in 2399, seeking the missing Bruce Maddox (John Ales), Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) fabricated a criminal persona, which included reference to a job he conducted with a " Mr. Quark of Ferenginar ", which proves that the Ferengi's legend still held weight on the eve of Star Trek 's 25th century timeline.

What Happened To DS9's Ferengi After The Dominion War

In Star Trek: Lower Decks ' DS9 crossover episode, "Hear All, Trust Nothing", it was revealed that Quark was profiting from the Dominion War, by turning his bar into a tourist trap. He would sell souvenirs and pose for pictures with guests, who were keen to soak up the history of the legendary station. It transpired that Quark's success was down to a revolutionary new replicator, which was powered by stolen Karemma technology. This led to a diplomatic incident aboard the station, but it clearly didn't halt Quark's expansion into Freecloud and beyond by the time of Star Trek: Picard season 1.

Meanwhile, another member of DS9 's close-knit Ferengi family , Quark's brother Rom (Max Grodénchik) was named Grand Nagus and aimed to reform Ferenginar, overturning centuries of gender inequality in the process. When he was named Nagus, Rom made it clear that he had no time for Brunt, which is presumably how he ended up pursuing a life of crime alongside Sneed and Krinn in Star Trek: Picard . Rom's son Nog was last seen serving as a Lieutenant, junior grade in DS9 , but he must have had a considerable impact after the Dominion War, as he got an Eisenberg class starship, the USS Nog named after him in the 32nd century, as seen in Star Trek: Discovery season 3.

MORE: Picard Season 3’s Changeling Plan Explained (So Far)

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

Why Famke Janssen Turned Down The Role Of Jadzia Dax In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

"Star Trek" is notoriously good to its actors. If a hard-working performer gets a small gig in one episode of "Star Trek," it becomes incredibly likely they'll be invited back for another. Armin Shimerman, for instance, played a talking treasure chest and a random Ferengi character on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" years before he was offered the main role of Quark on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Likewise, Tim Russ played a terrorist on the "Next Generation" episode "Starship Mine" (March 29, 1993) before he became Tuvok on "Star Trek: Voyager." There are dozens of other examples. Once you're in the "Star Trek" family, you'll be a part of it for life. 

According to the book "Star Trek: The Next Generation 365,"  by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann, actress Famke Janssen was offered a venerated spot in the Trek family ... that she turned down. Janssen appeared in the episode "The Perfect Mate" (April 27, 1992) as Kamala, a woman specially trained and genetically equipped to be irresistible to men. Her character was betrothed to a diplomat, a gift meant to ensure peace between two warring alien worlds. Kamala was to "imprint" on her eventual groom , becoming his perfect mate, but a complex set of circumstances had her imprinting on Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) instead. She left the episode marrying a man she could never love. 

Around the same time "The Perfect Mate" was filming, Paramount began pre-production on "Deep Space Nine." Show creators Rick Berman and Michael Piller had already invented a character named Jadzia Dax, a young woman implanted with a long-lived symbiont that carried multiple lifetimes of memories from its previous hosts. Janssen was offered the role of Dax, but she refused, wanting to work on her film career instead. 

Changing one's spots

It's worth noting that the character of Dax, eventually played by actress Terry Farrell, sported a trail of spots that extended from her forehead, and down the sides of her neck. The spots were a last-minute change to Dax after a prosthetic forehead didn't work out so well. The spots, by the admission of "Trek" makeup artist Michael Westmore, were modeled directly on Janssen's character in "The Perfect Mate." 

Berman and Piller were, according to the "365" book, having trouble casting Jadzia Dax, and Famke Janssen just happened to be near the offices on the right day. They liked Janssen and asked her to read for Dax. The idea of starring in a long-running TV series, however, was not what the actress wanted to do at that time. She said:

"I wanted some kind of guarantee that I could do feature films on the side. [...] And while I felt ['Deep Space Nine'] was a great opportunity, I felt I would get lazy as an actor if I didn't keep challenging myself with different parts."

Farrell got the role instead, and Janssen moved to movies. It seems she made the right decision, as 1995 saw her playing Xenia Onatopp, a vicious, lascivious assassin in the James Bond movie "GoldenEye." That same year, she worked with Clive Barker in the unusual horror outing "Lord of Illusions." She would also work with Ted Demme in "Monument Ave.," with Robert Altman in "The Gingerbread Man," with Woody Allen in "Celebrity," and with Robert Rodriguez in "The Faculty." She has also appeared in the three "Taken" movies, and in three "X-Men" movies. 

"Deep Space Nine" might have been fun, but her film career seems to have thrived without it.

James Cromwell's 4 Star Trek Roles Explained

• James Cromwell's versatile acting career included four different characters in the Star Trek universe.
• Each of Cromwell's Star Trek appearances involved unique alien roles in different series.
• Cromwell's portrayal of Dr. Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact marked a significant role in Federation history.

Emmy award winner and Academy Award nominee James Cromwell has appeared as four different characters in the Star Trek universe. A prolific character actor, Cromwell began acting in 1974 with an appearance on The Rockford Files . From there, he went on to appear in numerous popular television shows throughout the 1970s, including All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Three's Company, and Diff'rent Strokes. He continued appearing on television in the 1980s, in episodes of Little House on the Prarie and Barney Miller , among many others, but also began taking on film roles. His first starring role came in the 1992 film Babe , for which Cromwell was nominated for an Academy Award.

Although James Cromwell is likely most recognizable to Star Trek fans as Zefram Cochrane from Star Trek: First Contact , the actor had played three other Trek characters before appearing in that film. Cromwell's Star Trek debut came in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 11, "The Hunted," in which he portrayed the bureaucratic Prime Minister of the Angosians. Cromwell later appeared in one of TNG's two-part episodes , season 6's "Birthright" as a Yridian dealer named Jaglom Shrek. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4, episode 7, "Starship Down," Cromwell took on another alien role, a Karemma named Hanok who serves as a commerce minister.

Every Star Trek Movie Ranked (From Worst To Best)

Star trek: the next generation season 3, episode 11 - "the hunted", star trek: the next generation.

Cast Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden

Franchise(s)

Showrunner Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Rick Berman

Where To Watch Paramount+

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Writers Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore

In Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "The Hunted," Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-D visit the planet of Angosia III to assess their petition to join the United Federation of Planets . As the Prime Minister, James Cromwell's Nayrok is the first person to approach Picard, and he requests help to apprehend a dangerous escaped convict. The Enterprise soon finds the prisoner, whose name is Roga Danar (Jeff McCarthy), but his story does not quite match up with that of Nayrok. According to Danar, he and many of his fellow prisoners were genetically enhanced soldiers who fought a war for the Angosians.

After the Angosian wars ended, the enhanced soldiers had difficulty reintegrating into civilian life, and they were banished to a penal colony. When Picard confronts Nayrok about Danar's claims, Nayrok refuses to answer, claiming it to be a matter of internal security. When Danar leads the inmates in a rebellion against the government building, Nayrok asks Captain Picard for help. Picard, however, states that the conflict seems like an internal matter that Nayrok must handle himself. Due to the human rights violations Nayrok and the Angosian government committed against their soldiers and veterans, Angosia III's application to join the Federation is denied.

The story of Damar and the Angosian government's treatment of veterans was meant as an allegory to US veterans of the Vietnam War. While the end result is arguably effective, it's not exactly subtle.

Jaglom Shrek

Star trek: the next generation season 6, episodes 16 & 17 - "birthright, parts 1 & 2".

In Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Birthright" two-parter, the Starship Enterprise visits space station Deep Space Nine, and James Cromwell's Jaglom Shrek kicks off the main plot involving Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn). A member of the Yridian species, Shrek is an information broker who tells Worf that his father Mogh may have survived the Khitomer Massacre. Shrek claims that Mogh is alive in a Romulan prison camp, but Worf doubts this information and makes the Yridian personally take him to the camp. Once there, Worf learns that his father did die at Khitomer as he believed and his family's honor remains intact.

The Romulan guards prevent Worf from leaving since he now knows the location of the camp. Worf inspires some of the young Klingons to be curious about their culture and heritage, and the Romulans eventually allow them to leave the prison camp. Jaglom Shrek only appears briefly in "Birthright, Part II" and has no lines, but his role was originally meant to be bigger. James Cromwell broke his leg in between filming the two parts of the episode, which resulted in his role being reduced. In the initial script, Worf learned more about Shrek's past, and he became a more sympathetic character.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4, Episode 7 - "Starship Down"

Star trek: deep space nine.

Cast Terry Farrell, Cirroc Lofton, Rene Auberjonois, Nicole de Boer, Michael Dorn, Andrew Robinson, Nana Visitor, Avery Brooks, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman, Alexander Siddig

Streaming Service(s)

Showrunner Ira Steven Behr, Michael Piller

Writers Ira Steven Behr, Michael Piller, Ronald D. Moore

"Starship Down" follows the senior staff from Deep Space Nine as they meet with James Cromwell's Hanok for secret trade agreements. Hanok represents the interests of the Karemma, who live on a planet in the Gamma Quadrant and are part of the Dominion. As Hanok meets with Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and DS9's crew, two Jem'Hadar ships emerge and fire on the Karemma ship. When the Defiant enters the fray, the ship is severely damaged.

Hanok ends up trapped in the Defiant's mess hall with Ferengi bartender Quark (Armin Shimerman) , who was acting as a mediator for the negotiations. As Quark has been imposing fake Federation tariffs, Hanok is reluctant to trust the Ferengi. When a torpedo impacts the mess hall without detonating, Quark and Hanok must work together to defuse it, which helps Hanok gain respect for Quark. After the Defiant makes it safely back to DS9, Quark shows Hanok how to play Dabo, and the Karemma wins a significant amount of money.

Best Star Trek: DS9 Episode From Each Of The Shows 7 Seasons

Zefram cochrane, star trek: first contact.

In his most substantial Star Trek role, James Cromwell portrays Dr. Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact . As the inventor of warp drive technology, Cochrane holds a special place in Federation history as his invention led to Earth's first contact with the Vulcans. The character of Zefram Cochrane (played by Glenn Corbett) was first mentioned in Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 9, "Metamorphosis," when the Starship Enterprise found him marooned on an asteroid. A mysterious entity known as the Companion (Elinor Donahue) had restored Cochrane's youth and kept him alive for 150 years.

In First Contact , Captain Picard and the USS Enterprise-E follow a Borg cube back in time to 2063 Earth, where the Borg are trying to prevent human's first contact with aliens. The Enterprise destroys the Borg ship, and then several members of the crew beam down to ensure Cochrane's historic flight happens as it was meant to. Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz), in particular, are excited to meet one of their heroes and are somewhat disappointed to learn that Cochrane's true motivations were financial.

James Cromwell also provided the voice for a hologram of Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 1, "Grounded," which reveals that the site of first contact has become an amusement park.

After the damage caused by the Borg, Cochrane initially wants to abandon his plans, but Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and the Enterprise crew convince him to continue. In the end, Cochrane, Riker, and La Forge board the ship called the Phoenix and break the warp barrier. Not long after, a Vulcan survey ship called the T'Plana-Hath lands in Bozeman, Montana to greet humans for the first time, as the Enterprise crew watches from a distance. Picard and his friends then return to the 24th century, having ensured that the seeds of the Federation and Star Trek's future were planted.

Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: First Contact is streaming on Max.