A few months ago, the cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy made fans righteously angry. Despite having a mostly complete season two, Paramount+ pulled the plug on the popular series anyway. To make things worse, the streaming service took the show off of its platform entirely. So, what did fans do? They took to the skies, literally flying a “Save Star Trek: Prodigy” banner over the offices of other streaming services, including Netflix. It’s a wild gesture but apparently one that resonated with the hearts of Netflix’s decision makers. Star Trek: Prodigy has found a new streaming home with Netflix and will move forward with a second season in 2024. 

In a world with a lot of annoying streaming updates, this is some pretty refreshing and welcome news. Season one of Star Trek: Prodigy will hit Netflix before the end of this year. Season two will make its debut sometime in 2024. The crew of Protostar and Kathryn Janeway are getting the second shot that they so richly deserve with more Star Trek: Prodigy at Netflix. Speaking of Janeway, actress Kate Mulgrew released a brief statement about the fandom’s awesomeness. 

“I’ve always held that the Star Trek fan base is among the strongest and most intelligent in the world.  They have shown their collective passion, and we’re happy to be able to celebrate Prodigy once again,” said Mulgrew. 

Star Trek: Prodigy executive producer Alex Kurtzman and co-showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman also had a few words to add. “Thank you to our incredible Star Trek: Prodigy fans, who championed not just a show, but a community that’s always been connected by the belief that we build a better future together. We set out to inspire you, but you inspired us. The team is still hard at work on the second season, and we can’t wait to share it with the amazing fans around the world.”

We love to hear it! Fandom is at its best when everyone works together for the greater good.

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I don’t want to sound dramatic, but the thought of Captain Jean-Luc Picard with hair is the worst thing I’ve ever heard. Patrick Stewart’s perfectly shaped bald head is as iconic as the USS Enterprise. No, check that: it’s more iconic. I wouldn’t trade his scalp for any ship in the Federation’s fleet. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love everything from a story in his new memoir about how he auditioned for the legendary Star Trek role while wearing a toupee. It’s not just amazing that executives originally wanted to see him with hair. It’s amazing because the wig he wore for them traveled from the UK to Los Angeles all by itself on an airplane.

Patrick Stewart’s new memoir Making It So continues to provide delightful tales from his long and lustrous career. The latest tidbit (which we first learned about at Insider) gets into the follicle aspect of his Star Trek audition. (The one that led to the role Ian McKellan advised him not to take.) In the book Stewart says that while he was already flying to Los Angeles to audition for Jean-Luc Picard his then wife Sheila Falconer got a call from his agent. “Paramount people had been in touch, asking if I owned a hairpiece, and if I did, could I bring it to the audition?” he wrote.

He did, so she boxed up what Stewart calls his “audition wig.” She then put it on a British Airways flight to LA. Stewart doesn’t know if the toupee flew first class, but we’d like to think it did.

What he does know is what happened when it arrived. Patrick Stewart picked up his wig at LAX when it landed. He then wore it during audition where he only did a single scene before executives dismissed him. He thought that was not a good sign. But in a truly beautiful ending to this story, it was the hairdresser at the audition who realized he’d aced it.

After he finished three executives came by Stewart’s dressing room, where he’d already removed the wig, to say goodbye. He believed that meant his audition had gone poorly, but his overjoyed hairdresser said it was the opposite. She told him they wanted to see him without the wig and clearly liked what they saw.

She was right. And thank goodness she was. It’s delightful to imagine Patrick Stewart auditioning with a wig that flew solo across the Atlantic. But the thought of Jean-Luc Picard with hair is anything but.

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In season three of Star Trek: Picard, production designer Dave Blass made the dreams of millions of fans come true. He achieved this when he meticulously recreated the bridge of the Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Not only did he recreate the old Enterprise, but he introduced us to a new starship, the former U.S.S. Titan. With the Picard complete collection set to arrive on Blu-ray soon, we caught up with Blass to chat about the monumental task of delivering for the fans in Picard’s final season.

Nerdist: You joined Picard in the second season, which was filmed back-to-back with season three. What was your relationship with the franchise before that?

Dave Blass: Star Trek was the reason I got into filmmaking. So, famously I shared in my little talks at Comic-Con, I put up my photo of myself at age 16 in my Spock outfit. That was really, for me, the visual idea of “I want to go to Hollywood to do Star Trek.” So to follow that goal and then achieve the goal was something pretty amazing. And especially with Picard season three. To really stick the landing on putting a closure on The Next Generation storyline was pretty amazing.

The Blu-ray special features for the third season of Picard show the incredible reproduction of The Next Generation’s Enterprise-D bridge. You went out of your way to stick to details from back in the day—many that 99% of viewers wouldn’t notice. Was it important for you that it looked exactly like the The Next Generation era bridge?

Blass: 100%. I mean, when you’re doing something, especially if you’re building it from scratch, there’s no reason not to do it properly. And I think that what we tried to do was to inspire the team to our level of creating a museum-quality replica. Again, a lot of times it’s just using a term like “museum-quality replica.” And rather than say we’re recreating the set, it’s like, no, we’re building a museum-quality replica of the Enterprise-D. From TNG season seven. And then we would just paper the walls with these details.

By doing that, it inspired all the artisans to rise to that level of detail. They would say “Oh, can I match the wood grain exactly the way it was?” Because each one of them is an artist in their own right. So can we get them to elevate their craft and to say, “Okay, this is what we’re doing with the carpet, guys, can you do this?” The upholstery guys would say “Here’s what we need to do, and here’s finding this exact right leather and the exact right carpet.” Just going down the rabbit hole of trying to be where it isn’t just “Oh, it’s a red carpet, it’s fine.” It’s like, “No, it’s not fine. Fine’s not good enough. It’s got to be perfect.” And then once everyone got that, then it became exciting. Then they knew they were working on something special.

In the Blu-ray, we see how emotional it was for the actors to step foot on that bridge again after almost 30 years. Knowing what it would mean for those seven actors, did that add pressure to make sure it was as identical as possible to the TNG era Enterprise?

Blass: Yeah, a friend of mine was prop master on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and they did a season where they did a Seinfeld reunion. And for the show, they rebuilt the diner and Jerry’s apartment. He said that he was on set when they came walking in, and he said that they sat down in the booth and they started crying, because they realized how much that set and that show had changed all their lives. We knew it was going to be powerful for us in that way, and that was why we were so detail-oriented about all the different things. For example, there’s no scene in which Geordi (LeVar Burton) goes and sits in his chair in his station. So we could have easily skimmed and not built the chair that pulls out. But that’s the first thing that LeVar Burton went and did.

He’s like, “Oh look, the chair even pulls out!” It was so important to us just to be there on the day and to share in that moment. They thanked us for all the hard work, it was pretty amazing. I’ll tell you, standing on that bridge, especially having that unique experience? As the person in charge, to stand there on the empty bridge of the Enterprise alone? I don’t want to say it’s a religious thing, but it’s like going to the Parthenon and being like, “Wow, there’s history there.” And it was powerful. You felt it was something different.

We spend most of our time in Picard season three on board the Titan. Which was a redress of the Stargazer from season two. Which elements did you feel you needed to keep from the Stargazer? And which ones did you bring into the Titan that you felt made it unique?

Blass: The main thing was upgrading. We realized that the actors needed busy work. And if you look at the Stargazer, the captain and the command officers didn’t really have consoles to play with, and we added those in. Little computers for them to be playing with at any time. So that was the main difference in adding a bit more eye candy. Some more screens, and things that people can touch and play with. Unfortunately, we really had eight days from when it was the Stargazer to when it was the Titan. So we barely had time. We didn’t even have time to repaint the floors. There were still scratch marks from the finale of season two on the floors when we hit season three.

Another ship you designed for Picard season three was the enemy ship the Shrike. Spoilers, but eventually we learn that Captain Vadic and crew are changelings. Aliens that are part of Deep Space Nine lore. Did you go back and look at the Dominion ships at all when designing that ship?

Blass: We ignored it because there was an initial concern of going, “Okay, do we go Dominion?” And then as soon as you see the ship, you’d know. “Oh, they’re Changelings.” So, it was the idea that this ship was not specific to a race that they had acquired. And it’s also the idea that if you’re going to go out and do something sketchy, you don’t drive the company car to do it. It was the whole idea of they were out there doing this, they would find a ship that would be unique. One they could do whatever they wanted in, but be on the down low.

M’Talas Prime is the planet that we spend the most time on in Picard’s third season. Without a feature film budget, you designed a fully realized world. Can you talk about the influences that went into designing it?

Obviously, you can’t really do a dystopian world without talking about the original Blade Runner. And years ago, I was designing an episode of ER and I was shooting on the back lot of Warner Bros. And then I realized that was one of the main Blade Runner streets that was in the show. All of a sudden, I realize I’m decorating the Blade Runner street. But also it was like we were shooting in the Iraqi village from American Sniper. So it was a backlog studio set that was out in the desert. So it was finding this thing, taking the elements that we wanted to add. It’s at night, so the lights, the neon, the smoke, and then just give it an alien world type of feeling.

You designed the “Nu Borg” ship, or should we say the Jurati-Borg ship, in season two. And also the new but more classic-looking Borg ship from season three. These are two different Borg, so how did you approach designing them differently?

Blass: Yeah, the funny thing is when [Picard showrunner] Terry Matalas came to me for season three, he said, “Okay, so we want a Borg ship completely new, something I’ve never seen before.” I reply “Dude, you just said that to me like six months ago [for the end of season two] and I just gave it to you.” So we did that for season two, and I think that I feel that the Borg singularity ship that we did for that, it’s cool, it’s different. It looks like a Borg but not. But then when we came back, it was the whole idea of how do you do a Borg cube but don’t do a Borg cube? But also, there was the idea that we wanted it to be decaying, but then if you go back to season one, they had a decaying Borg cube in season one.

So it was the whole idea of going, “It’s got to look like a Borg ship. It can’t look like season two’s, it can’t look like season one’s.” And then we looked at all the different variations of Unimatrix Zero [in Voyager] and what else had been done and how do we do that? And we had dozens of different ideas. In the end, Terry’s like, “What if it’s a cube?” I’m like, “Good idea. Let’s just go with a cube.” But it’s like a super cube. And then he came up with the idea that this box is sending out antennas and signals. So the spikes on it just gave it a little bit more of a mean look. And that was something that Doug Drexler and John Eaves developed, and Igor Knezevic also worked on that. So a lot of people doing some great work on that.

Was there anything you really wanted to do in the third season that either time or money just didn’t let you do?

Blass: I would’ve loved to change the Titan around a little bit more. It’s like, thank you to the audience for not giving me a ton of shit on Twitter for the Titan looking exactly like the Stargazer bridge. I would’ve loved to, because also we learned stuff after seeing how it shot. And if I had painted the walls a little bit brighter, going with something different on the floors or something. But we didn’t have time. And again, we knew that we had to budgetarily focus on a lot of stuff. But [I/m] really, really pleased with how season three ended up.

Star Trek: The Picard Legacy Collection Blu-ray set arrives on November 7 from Paramount Home Entertainment. It contains seasons 1-7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, 4 feature films, and seasons 1-3 of Star Trek: Picard.

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Makeup artist James MacKinnon has been a part of the Star Trek family since the early ’90s. In recent years, he’s served as makeup department head on Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, and all three seasons of Star Trek: Picard. With the latter series now wrapped, we caught up with MacKinnon to talk about the challenges of creating new looks for the celebrated final season, and on being part of the Trek family for decades.

Nerdist: Definitely the most regular prosthetic makeup on a single character you got to do in Picard season 3 was on Worf (Michael Dorn). Obviously, Worf has white hair now, so that’s a visual change. But this was the first time Michael Dorn was in his iconic Klingon makeup in 20 years. He looked like the Worf we remember, but were there any subtle changes you made to his look that the average viewer might not notice? Beyond just the white hair?

James MacKinnon: I think we’re elevating what we did in the past, so still keeping to the core of his character. The sculpture is a little different. Our Klingon prosthetics are a different material. They were foam latex back then, and now they’re silicone, so there’s a weight difference. The paint job is different. Back in the foam days, it was opaque, so you had to paint all that detail, and now you kind of see through it.

We splatter this type of skin texture on there to have more realism, because that 8K camera can now see all the sculptures and all the paint. As an artist, you actually have to fine-tune where you don’t see my little paint splatters from an airbrush that looks realistic. That’s my job, to make sure that you look at him as Worf, not as Mike Dorn in makeup. But the sculpture is a little different, similar, but again, it’s different because the material is different and the flow of it is elevated, but still super close.

Your very first professional work was on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine back in the day, and then later the film First Contact. Even though you’d already worked on modern Trek shows like Discovery and the first seasons of Picard, with the original cast of The Next Generation back, did it feel like this season was like coming full circle for you?

MacKinnon: Oh yeah, but I was already seeing Jonathan Frakes in Toronto on Discovery, because he was directing a couple of episodes, so it was just great. They’re kind of my family now. It’s been so long. That relationship is there, and I can call them friends now, because we go to dinner, and I do little side projects with Jonathan for his TV show that he’s doing, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. But we have a little personal connection there, as well, which happened way back then. We were much, much younger, and they were a little bit older than me. Not by much, I’ve just aged well. (laughs) But it’s really nice to have friends that long and have a career expand with such an iconic TV show that is part of everybody’s life.

The makeup on the Borg Queen in Picard season three is the coolest and creepiest she’s ever looked. There was an HR Giger influence on her look going back as far as First Contact. But now it’s full-blown horrific. Was there ever any concern from the showrunners that she was maybe too horror-esque, or did they encourage you to take that far?

MacKinnon: Well, I think [Picard showrunner] Terry Matalas wanted it to be like that. Neville Page is our alien designer, so that starts with Terry and Neville, and that magic happens. After that, it goes to Vincent Van Dyke, where he has to figure out how to make that one-dimensional photograph sculptural, put it on her face, and how is that going to break down into pieces that I’m going to have to put on. There is subtle changes after that.

The process from the design, to the makeup, to the building, to the foam latex, to all the stuff; it all has to work for me on set as well. That’s the best combination of a team that this makes between me, Vincent, and Neville, because they know what they want, and who knows what happened underneath that swirly pool of goop that they fell in [in First Contact], because obviously, Data popped out and he was a little effed up, melted. He came out like that, so what is she going to look like? That’s been 20-some-odd years, so there’s a rotted zombie mess to it. That took five hours to do that makeup, too, which was fun. At 1:30 in the morning, we would start and at 7:00 in the morning she would go to set. Everybody’s sleeping while we’re working.

Speaking of the Borg, we saw a new incarnation of the Borg in the Picard series finale with the young Starfleet officers. Those all leaned into the zombie more and less into the robotic prosthetics. What kind of changes did you implement to make sure they still read to fans as Borg?

MacKinnon: Yeah. That was more of that nanobot type, that nanobot stuff that we did in a previous season. It was a little more showing where that is taking over their skin, so the veins are coming through. There’s a depth in there. There’s that possible roboty-type material too. It was a layering effect before they were to get to become true Borg, where their missing parts are put together. Right before they’re almost completely Borg instead of human. There was a little bit of a play of, how do we do that transition before they become the Borg? I agree with you, it’s a little rotty, veiny, and gross.

One place that had the most aliens in season 3 was the planet M’Talas Prime, where we met Ferengi crime lord Sneed. We hadn’t really seen Ferengi in a long time in Trek, at least not any with significant screen time. What was it like to do classic Ferengi makeup after so long, only now for a 4K world?

MacKinnon: It has been decades. It was amazing. Our Ferengi, Sneed, his makeup, and the actor underneath it were amazing. Obviously, we elevated that so you didn’t have the piece of carpet around the back of the head [like on The Next Generation] and that most likely was there because sculptures then were different. You didn’t have to have a complete sculpture back there, and you could have that hide all the seams and the edges. Now we got to actually see that, see the detail, what it would look back behind his head. It’s just an elevation. You still kept that core classic Ferengi look. But with those new materials, it can just be softer and more organic of a makeup now, yeah.

We saw Vulcans in this season of Picard too, who are very different from previous Vulcans. These were gangsters. How did you approach them, as opposed to the cousins, the Romulans? They’re almost the same, but not quite.

MacKinnon: Yeah. I mean, that’s a difference in the pointing of the eyebrows. The ears are shaped a little bit different and have a little bit of ridges. Kind of like the Romulans from the South [of the planet Romulus] had ridges. The Romulans from the North didn’t have forehead pieces. That’s a long story. That might’ve been more of a budgetary thing, anyway.

You actually got to have an on-screen role in the final episode of Picard as a Starfleet officer. Before that, you played a Borg drone in season one, and appeared in Discovery too. Was it fun to be on the other side of the camera, and did you get a bit of the acting bug at all?

MacKinnon: I do! I like to get a SAG day out of it so I can get some residuals [laughs]. No, but I like a little bit of acting. I’m not an actor at all, but I like to put my face on there. On Discovery, Airiam, the robot girl, I was the guy who unplugged her and turned her off. I got to create her, and then kill her, basically.

Now that Picard has ended, what was the highlight of all three seasons for you? And what was your favorite of the metric ton of different makeups you got to do over the course of the series?

MacKinnon: It was to walk around that corner to see that legacy cast on the ship from The Next Generation. Yes, half of our makeup budget and everybody’s makeup budget went to build that ship. Not that I’m happy about that, but it was worth penny-pinching a little bit. Unfortunately, we penny-pinch for this kind of thing. Just to see those cast members again, after I saw them a hundred years ago in that same situation. They’re a couple of days older, but not by much. They’re what, 27 now? Yeah, it’s fun. It’s a fun relationship to have and grow with, and be part of. I’m sad it’s over with.

Star Trek: The Picard Legacy Collection Blu-ray set arrives on November 7 from Paramount Home Entertainment. It contains seasons 1-7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, 4 feature films, and seasons 1-3 of Star Trek: Picard.

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With his appropriately titled memoir Making It So out now, Sir Patrick Stewart has shared many anecdotes of relevance to Star Trek fans in its pages. Thanks to Slashfilm, we learned he talks at length about his three conditions for returning to his most iconic character after 18 years away from Starfleet in 2020. By the end, when Star Trek: Picard wrapped after its third season, the story met two of those conditions. One of them though? Not so much.

In the book, Stewart recalls how producer Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek novelist Kirsten Beyer, and screenwriter James Duff approached him about the Picard project. Although he flat-out turned them down at first, after a little coaxing, he was more open to listening to their ideas. Once sold on the possibility of his return, here’s how he laid out his conditions for playing Jean-Luc Picard once more.

“1. The series would not be based on a reunion of The Next Generation characters. I wanted it to have little or nothing to do with them. This was not at all a mark of disrespect for my beloved fellow actors. Rather, I simply felt it was essential to place Picard in entirely new settings with entirely new characters. Perhaps Picard might encounter Riker or Dr. Crusher in the second season, but such encounters were not to be the series’ raison d’être. 2. Picard would no longer be serving in Starfleet, and he was not to wear any kind of uniform or badges. 3. The series would run for no more than three seasons.”

Star Trek: Picard was greenlit by Paramount+, and the streamer two of those rules. Well, mostly. After the first season, Picard had his Starfleet status reinstated, even if he’s technically a retired admiral now. He did wear a uniform for the Starfleet Academy graduating class commencement speech that season, but he’s not in uniform throughout the series. So we’re going to say Paramount basically adhered to that rule. Also, Picard only ran for three seasons. So that’s two out of three.

However, the veto on a Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion? Clearly, that went out the window. Even in Picard season one, Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Troi (Marina Sirtis), and Data (Brent Spiner) all appeared. Data in particular had a significant role in season one. Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan also played a big part in the second season of Picard. By year three, it was a full-on Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion series. Even the Enterprise-D came back! All of this was much to the delight of fans everywhere. So as much as we love Sir Patrick, we’re all collectively glad he relented on at least one of his three rules.

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This year saw the incredible ending to Star Trek: Picard’s third season, which brought a close to the saga of the crew of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek: The Next Generation. But in his new memoir, Patrick Stewart reveals he’s not necessarily done with Jean-Luc Picard. He also revealed that they dragged him back into the 24th century kicking and screaming in the first place. In an excerpt published in Time magazine from his memoir Making It So, Stewart revealed he initially refused to take part in any revival of his iconic character. But after a meeting with producers Alex Kurtzman and Kirsten Beyer, they sold him on the idea of playing Captain Picard again.

However, they had to meet certain demands first. Number one, Picard wouldn’t be in Starfleet, so no uniforms. The show could only last three seasons. And it would absolutely not be a Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion series. Well, they stuck to the first two. As we all know, the final season of Picard was a full-blown The Next Generation reunion. And it was the best-reviewed season of Star Trek: Picard by both fans and critics alike. After a less-than-stellar fourth film, Star Trek: Nemesis, the crew of the Enterprise-D got to go out on a high note, 35 years after they debuted on television. But the Picard ending, with the crew playing poker, was almost not the ending. Stewart actually pitched a different one, that nearly happened. Here’s what he had to say in his memoir:

“What I’d like to see at the end of the show,” I told them, “is a content Jean-Luc. I want to see Picard perfectly at ease with his situation. Not anxious, not in a frenzy, not depressed. And I think this means that there is a wife in the picture. The writers came up with a lovely scene. It is dusk at Jean-Luc’s vineyard. His back is to us as he takes in the view, his dog at his side. Then, off-screen, a woman’s loving voice is heard: ‘Jean-Luc? Supper’s ready!’ Is it Beverly Crusher’s voice? Laris’s? Someone we don’t know? It isn’t made clear. But Sunny [Stewart’s real-life wife] was set to record the lines. Heeding his wife’s call, Jean-Luc turns around, says to his dog, “C’mon, boy,” and heads inside. Dusk fades to night, and Picard fades into history.”

The studio didn’t think it was necessary, and the scene didn’t make it in. But perhaps, there’s still a chance. Because Stewart also revealed in his memoir that he has pitched Paramount on a Star Trek: Picard movie. He said this would not be a fifth Star Trek: The Next Generation movie. Instead, “This would be an expansion and deepening of the universe as we’ve seen it in Star Trek: Picard. I’ve discussed this with Jonathan, Brent, and LeVar, and they are all game. Jonathan [Frakes] is my first choice to direct it.”

While we think the ending of Picard’s third season is the best send-off that the cast could hope for, if there’s a really good idea for a film there, then why not? If we get both a Star Trek: Legacy series and a Picard feature, then the future of the 25th century might be bright after all.

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Recently, we learned that a newly discovered type of snake was named after Indiana Jones. Well, after the actor who portrayed him. Now, we’ve got that topped. Because that’s just one snake after all. Thanks to the folks at Gizmodo, we’ve learned that Brazilian scientists from the Emilio Goeldi Paraense Museum have found three new species of spiders, which they are naming after the “Big Three” of Enterprise bridge crews from Star Trek—Captain James T. Kirk, Mister Spock, and Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy. The spiders belong to the Roddenberry genus, which is of course named after Star Trek’s creator Gene Roddenberry.

The scientists discovered these spiders across different locations in Latin America. They found R. kirk in Costa Rica, while they discovered R. spock in Campeche, Mexico, and R. mccoy in Big California Sur, also in Mexico. Co-authors Alexander Sánchez-Ruiz and Alexandre B. Bonaldo identified both a male and female specimen of the spider R. kirk. However, they only discovered a female R. spock and male R. mccoy. Unlike Indiana Jones, they named these spiders after the characters, not the actors. So no R. shatner or R. nimoy in this bunch, sadly.

The original Star Trek series inspired researchers after noticing how the arachnid anatomy resembled that of various starships seen in the iconic franchise. We’re not really sure we see that ourselves at all. Maybe the Enterprise saucer section a bit? But we guess they kind of look like some Klingon ships we’ve seen in the series. We bet these scientists were just super big Star Trek fans, and wanted to immortalize their favorite characters for eternity. We can’t say we blame them. Hey, maybe they discover some new species as time goes on, and we got a few spiders with names like R. uhura, R. sulu, R. scotty, and R. chekov. Get the whole Enterprise bridge crew their own arachnid counterparts.

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Star Trek is in the midst of a golden age, with multiple series in production, and more on the way. But back in the ’70s, it seemed like Star Trek might never return. It might have gone down in history as a show that ran three years in the ’60s, got canceled, and got a cartoon. During that time, the Star Trek Convention was born. These cons kept the fans entertained during the “lost years” of the franchise. Before Star Trek: The Motion Picture relaunched the series. Often, the highlight of those cons, and the only “new” Star Trek material shown at them, was an 8MM reel of bloopers from the original show. Which you can watch right here:

These The Original Series gag reels showed William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, and the rest of the Enterprise crew walking into doors and flubbing technobabble lines. And, of course, cursing up a storm and cracking each other up at any given moment. They’re both goofy and hilarious. Now you can watch a full twenty minutes of these classic bloopers from Star Trek in their entirety, thanks to the YouTube channel Pop Culture Curator.

Although these The Original Series blooper reels were popular at cons, not every Star Trek cast member was happy about them. Someone originally edited them together for the cast and crew for wrap parties at the end of a season. They were never intended for public consumption. According to William Shatner’s memoir Movie Memories, Leonard Nimoy was particularly unhappy about this—especially as Trek creator Gene Roddenberry took these reels to conventions and made money from them.

Nimoy, in a very non-Vulcan move, wrote an impassioned letter to Roddenberry asking him to please stop showing the blooper reels at conventions. It put a rift in their relationship for years. Some believe it’s why Nimoy was the sole hold-out for the proposed 1977 continuation series, Star Trek: Phase II. But, once the blooper cat was out of the bag, it was too late. But as true Star Trek fans, we can’t lie. These The Original Series Star Trek bloopers are fun to watch now and a wonderful time capsule of the franchise’s early years.

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September 8 is officially Star Trek Day, as it is the anniversary date of the original series premiere in 1966. However, this year’s Star Trek Day is celebrating another milestone for the venerable franchise, as it marks 50 years since Star Trek: The Animated Series hit the Saturday morning airwaves. To celebrate, Paramount is releasing a series of animated very Short Treks. The very first comes from critically acclaimed writer and director Casper Kelly, who folks might remember from the viral internet phenomenon Too Many Cooks. He’s also worked on the live-action Short Treks.

In the first very Short Treks, “Skin A Cat,” poor word choice complicates a dire Klingon attack. To see what that actually means, watch the full Star Trek: very Short Trek episode down below:

The first very Short Trek features Ethan Peck (Spock), Pete Holmes (Captain), Cristina Milizia (Knickersonian, Dream Woman, and M’Ress), Bonnie Gordon (Computer), and Eric Bauza (Antedian, Ass Face, Screwhead).But the episode isn’t all we’re getting to honor this iconic series. There’s also a new Star Trek: The Animated Series web comic, also from writer Casper Kelly. This one’s called “The Scheimer Barrier,” no doubt an homage to Filmation Studios founder Lou Scheimer, producers of the classic animated series. He also produced shows like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Hopefully, thanks to these new shorts, people will rediscover the classic cartoon show. Although the animation was rudimentary—and that’s being generous—the classic Star Trek cartoon ran for two seasons. And it reunited much of the original voice cast, and they had some impressive stories to boot. Star Trek: The Animated Series was the first official “revival” of Star Trek. It kept the Trek fires burning during the decade between the original show and 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. So today, let’s raise a glass of Romulan Ale to the ever-groovy Star Trek: The Animated Series.

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One of the most infamous episodes of Star Trek: Voyager got a sequel in the season four premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks. The episode, entitled “Twovix,” is a play on the Voyager season two episode “Tuvix,” which first aired in 1996. Both the Voyager and Lower Decks episodes focus on a storyline where a transporter accident fuses two crew members into one being. That new being wants to live its life, while the respective Captain tries to forcibly separate them to get their friends back. On Voyager, those characters were Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Neelix (Ethan Phillips), who became Tuvix. On Lower Decks, it was Dr. T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) and Andy Billups (Paul Scheer) who fused into T’illups.

So why was the classic Voyager episode controversial? Well, it still divides the fans over whether Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) was an actual murderer. When the characters of Tuvok and Neelix fuse into Tuvix, thanks to alien orchid mucking up the transporter, this new Vulcan/Talaxian hybrid wants to live. Then, a method of extracting both the original DNA patterns of Tuvok and Neelix emerges. Janeway chooses to restore her crew members even if though it means death for Tuvix. And Tuvix pleaded for his life. This was a great example of Star Trek using sci-fi metaphors to shed light on ethical dilemmas. But many fans continue to believe that Janeway forcing Tuvix into two people again was an execution.

Besides the reference to the Tuvix plot, the episode had a lot of other fun Easter eggs for longtime Voyager fans. First off, we briefly hear Jerry Goldsmith’s Voyager theme. Also, the U.S.S. Cerritos got to tow Voyager to Earth, where they said it would be “on display before permanently going into orbit.” This was a reference to Picard season three, where we learned that in the early 25th century, the U.S.S. Voyager was in orbit in the Starfleet Museum. And Mariner and Boimler even reference “the Pike thing” from the recent Strange New Worlds crossover episode. We guess the events of that episode took place right before the start of Lower Decks’ fourth season.

Other surprises for Voyager fans include the Borg alcoves for the freed drones from Voyager season six. Also, the giant microorganisms from the third season episode “Macrocosm” are seen flying about. We even saw replicas of the amphibian creatures that Janeway and Tom Paris devolved into. That is, of course, from what many consider the worst episode of Voyager ever, “Threshold.” The Holodeck also brings back characters from Voyager’s past, like the villainous Dr. Chaotica, from the episode “Bride of Chaotica.” Also, the evil Clown from season two’s “The Thaw”, and Michael Sullivan, Janeway’s 19th century holographic love interest from many episodes. With all the Star Trek: Next Generation references on Lower Decks, we’re just happy Voyager got a similar amount of love at last.

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The Star Trek franchise is currently flourishing on Paramount+, with shows like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. But Paramount+ recently canceled one of the very best Treks, the animated Star Trek: Prodigy, after only one season. Even with its second season almost completed. They even unceremoniously pulled the Prodigy season off the streamer in a cost-cutting move, much to the anger of Trek fandom. Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, those fans are making their voices heard. Via a plane flying a “Save Star Trek: Prodigy” banner near the offices of every major streaming service.

All of this began when Star Trek fans galvanized and gathered 33,000 signatures in a petition on Change.org, along with raising money via GoFundMe. From there, loyal Trekkers contracted a plane to fly a “Save Star Trek Prodigy” banner over the Los Angeles offices Amazon, Hulu, and Apple. But most notably, they circled for ten minutes over the Netflix offices on Sunset Blvd. Given that before Paramount+ became the sole home of the franchise, it was found on Netflix for many years. So that streamer makes the most sense to become Star Trek: Prodigy’s new home. Certainly, the crew of the Protostar and Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) deserve another shot.

Co-showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman took to social media to thank the fans for their support. Fans also joined co-executive producer Aaron Waltke and actress Bonnie Gordon outside Netflix. Truth is, the entire reason we have Star Trek as a franchise today is because of fan efforts. When cancellation loomed for the original Star Trek in its second season in 1968, fans sent thousands of letters to NBC. They guaranteed the series a third season, which gave it enough episodes for syndication. And that’s where Star Trek really took off in pop culture. So these fan efforts are not in vain. In the meantime, fans who want to watch the first season of Prodigy can purchase a Blu-ray of the series, which arrives on September 26.

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Part of the fun of watching Star Trek: Strange New Worlds over the past two seasons is how the series connects to the overall Trek canon. Especially the original Star Trek, for which the storylines on Strange New Worlds are barreling towards. So far, Strange New Worlds has five regular and recurring cast members who were part of the classic ‘60s crew—Spock, Uhura, Chapel, M’Benga, and on occasion, James T. Kirk. In the season two finale, “Hegemony” they introduce us to yet another iconic member of the Enterprise crew, Montgomery Scott. Played originally by James Doohan, then Simon Pegg, Scotty is played now on Strange New Worlds by 29-year-old Scottish actor Martin Quinn.

Mr. Scott Joins the Strange New Worlds Cast

We meet Scotty in “Hegemony” as a brilliant young engineer who becomes stranded on the planet Parnassus Beta when the reptilian Gorn ravaged the colony world. A lieutenant junior grade, Scotty encounters Pike and his landing party on a rescue mission. Pike’s away team then falls into a Gorn “trap” he set, while sheltering in an abandoned building. We learn he was assigned to the U.S.S. Stardiver, a solar research vessel. The Gorn ambushed the Stardiver in a surprise attack, and Scotty escaped in a shuttle he jury-rigged to increase its warp capacity to Parnassus Beta.

Much like Ellen Ripley in Alien, he was the sole survivor of this attack on his ship by an aggressive non-humanoid species. With his technical know-how, Scotty was then able to help Pike and the Parnassus survivors beam back to the Enterprise. There, he meets the Enterprise’s current Chief Engineer Pelia (Carol Kane), and we discover the two actually have quite a history. When Pelia was an instructor at Starfleet Academy, she was Scotty’s professor. In fact, she describes Mr. Scott as “one of my best students, who sadly received some of my worst grades.”

Does Scotty’s Appearance on Strange New Worlds Line Up With Star Trek Canon?

We don’t know a whole lot about Mr. Scott’s past before becoming Captain Kirk’s chief engineer on the Enterprise. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Relics,” an elder Scotty explained to Captain Picard that in his 51-year career, he served on 11 different ships. Some were cruisers, others freighters, and of course, some Federation starships. He mentioned that he only served as Chief Engineer on two vessels—the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701, and its successor ship, the Enterprise NCC-1701-A. However young he may appear on Strange New Worlds, he’s likely already served on nine other ships besides the Stardiver.

Will Martin Quinn Join Strange New Worlds as a Regular Cast Member?

We think it’s likely Martin Quinn will join the cast of Strange New Worlds in season three, probably as a junior officer working in engineering. Although, nothing has been confirmed so far. Given his prickly relationship with Pelia, that would result in a lot of interesting stories. We could see her training him for his eventual role as the Enterprise’s Chief Engineer under Kirk. Although we imagine that would still be several seasons away from happening. The arrival of Scotty to Strange New Worlds leaves only three major crew members from classic Star Trek who have yet to appear in the series. That’s Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, Hikaru Sulu, and Pavel Chekov. Hopefully, though, we don’t see all of them on Strange New Worlds.

Chekov was a very young ensign who joined Kirk’s crew in season two of Star Trek. So it wouldn’t make sense to see him at all. As for Sulu and Bones, we hope that if we do see them, they don’t become part of Pike’s crew. Kirk needs to have some officers of his own choosing when he takes over the Enterprise from Pike. It would be a disservice if all his main crew were just holdovers from Pike’s days. Still, we can’t wait to see Scotty meet his future commanding officers Spock and Kirk in season three. We have a feeling even the young Mr. Scott will earn his reputation as an engineering “miracle worker” early on.

Originally published on August 10, 2023.

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Sometimes an actor is perfect for a role. For example, most MCU fans would agree that they cannot imagine anyone else besides Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark/Iron Man. I’d argue that this is the same for Star Trek fans when it comes to J.J. Abrams’ Trek trilogy and its leading man Chris Pine. He truly makes a perfect young and brash Captain Kirk. (And Chris Pine seems like a cool dude who minds his business. Love it.) But there was another awesome actor who auditioned for that part and didn’t get it. Timothy Olyphant revealed that he auditioned for the role of Captain Kirk in the Star Trek movies but ultimately lost the Captain-ship to Chris Pine.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Timothy Olyphant recently talked about his near-Kirk experience on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast as he reminisced about his auditions for Star Trek. Olyphant said auditioning for Abrams was wonderful but the director decided to go with the younger Chris Pine instead. Interestingly, Timothy Olyphant went in to audition for the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy, not Captain Kirk. However, Abrams said they already had a guy. That random guy was someone named Karl Urban. He sounds vaguely familiar. But the director did encourage him to read for Captain Kirk because they were still searching for their leading Star Trek man at the time.

“I believe it was one of those things where it’s like they might have been prepared to hire me, but they wanted somebody younger, and [Abrams] was having a hard time finding somebody younger,” Olyphant said. “And somewhere along the line, J.J. called and said, ‘I found a guy, younger, who’s really good.’”

Of course, Timothy Olyphant has no hard feelings about not joining the Star Trek universe. He later met Chris Pine and praised him for being a great guy and an awesome actor. As we know, Timothy Olyphant did very well after not getting the role of Captain Kirk. He nabbed a starring role as Deputy US Marshall Rayland Givens in Justified and its recent revival, Justified: City Primeval. He also made his way to the Star Wars universe as Cobb Vanth. Now, we can only imagine a Star Trek world with him as the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

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This season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds gave us everything. A musical episode. An episode about post-war PTSD. An amazing courtroom drama. And a time-traveling crossover where the crew of Lower Decks met the crew of Pike’s Enterprise. That episode was definitely a highlight of the season, and it got us thinking. What other famous starships could meet Pike and his crew in some Star Trek time travel crossover?

While Strange New Worlds is episodic for the most part, we don’t see anything stopping the creators from doing a multi-part story where the Enterprise encounters her namesake starships via time travel shenanigans. What those shenanigans are, we’ll leave that to the writers. But here are some other crews we want to see interact with the Anson Mount’s Captain Pike and his Enterprise crew in future seasons of Strange New Worlds.

The Kelvin-Timeline Enterprise Crew

Look, we get it. This one’s a long shot. But as every year passes, it seems less and less likely that we’ll get a final Star Trek movie in the Kelvin timeline. How many directors has Paramount announced only for nothing to happen? We’ve lost count. But at a recent Star Trek convention, both modern Spocks, Strange New Worlds’ Ethan Peck, and the Kelvin timeline’s Zachary Quinto, appeared on stage together. The two seemed very chummy, and it got us thinking. Why couldn’t Pike’s Enterprise encounter the alt-universe’s Enterprise?

Not only would an episode like this provide closure for the Kelvin timeline Enterprise crew, but it would give us a glimpse into their future. Since it might be cost-prohibitive to bring back the entire cinematic Star Trek crew, particularly Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana, maybe just limit it to characters who have counterparts on Strange New Worlds. For all we know, John Cho’s Sulu is Captain Sulu 10 years after Star Trek Beyond. This is one that’s least likely to happen, but also the one we’d want to see the most.

The Enterprise-B, from Star Trek: Generations

Ah, the Enterprise NCC-1701-B. We only encountered this Excelsior-class starship once, at the start of the 1994 film Star Trek Generations. In the year 2293, we saw her on her maiden voyage under the command of Captain John Harriman—the first Enterprise in 30 years without Kirk in command. An earnest but clearly inexperienced guy, Alan Ruck portrayed Captain Harriman. Sadly for Harriman, his guest of honor, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) died on the Enterprise-B’s first mission. Well, at least to the galaxy at large he did.

So, what was it like being the Captain of that particular Enterprise? Canon tells us that the Enterprise-B had a long and successful voyage. But no matter what accomplishments he made, could her Captain ever live down being the guy who lost a Starfleet legend on his first day on the job? This is a character study we want to see! Let’s be real, the Enterprise-B probably won’t ever get its own movie or series, but a fun time travel adventure where Captain Pike gives his eventual successor a much-needed pep talk? We’re there. Especially if that Captain is Alan Ruck.

The Enterprise-G Crew from Star Trek: Picard, with Captain Seven of Nine

We encountered the newest Federation flagship, the Enterprise-G, at the end of the final season of Star Trek: Picard. Captained by Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), with first officer Raffaela “Raffi” Musiker (Michelle Hurd) and with Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) and Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) as officers, fans are dying for them to get their own series—one Picard showrunner Terry Matalas has called Star Trek: Legacy. But nothing is officially in development, and sadly, we may never see that series come to life.

But we need at least one adventure of the crew of the Enterprise-G with Captain Seven at the helm. Why not a time travel adventure, where Captain Pike gets to see how far into the future his legacy goes? Star Trek famously did a “backdoor pilot” in the ‘60s for a show that never happened. Hopefully, an episode like this could be a backdoor pilot for an eventual Star Trek: Legacy. If nothing else, we’d have at least one adventure with Captain Seven and her gallant crew.

Captain Worf and the Enterprise-E

The Enterprise-E was under the command of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in the films Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis. Eventually, when Picard became Admiral, Worf (Michael Dorn) became her new Captain. Her final fate was shown as “classified.” In Picard’s final season, all we know about what happened to the Enterprise-E was that it was nothing good, and Worf said, “That wasn’t my fault.” Could this classified mission be a time travel one? Not only would this episode finally give us a Captain Worf adventure (long overdue), but it would solve one mystery left dangling in Picard’s final season. Besides, who doesn’t want to see Worf and La’an (Christina Chong) be badasses together?

The Enterprise-C from Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise”

We only ever encountered the Enterprise-C in one episode, in the Star Trek: The Next Generation adventure “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” In that fan-favorite story, the Enterprise-C, while trying to save a Klingon outpost from Romulan attack, is thrust 22 years into their own future, where they meet Picard and the Enterprise-D crew. The C was under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett, played by Tricia O’Neil, the first female Enterprise Captain in the franchise’s history,

We eventually discover that the Enterprise-C must return to its own time and fulfill its destiny, which is to be destroyed while saving the Klingons. But presumably, that Enterprise had many adventures before that. Obviously, you’d have to recast Captain Garrett, but we’d love to see a proper Enterprise-C adventure where it doesn’t end in her death. And to anyone who says more than one time-traveling journey for this Enterprise is too much, I remind you of every time both Kirk and Picard time-traveled on their starships. Multiple time travel incursions just come with the name Enterprise.

George Takei as Captain Sulu on the U.S.S. Excelsior

In the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, we learned that Hikaru Sulu was the Captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior. He helped Captain Kirk on his final mission, which saw the peace treaty form between the Federation and Klingon Empire. We later saw Captain Sulu in the Voyager episode “Flashback,” which took viewers back to those events. But George Takei is a national treasure. He may be 85 now, but as anyone who follows him on social media knows, he has not lost a step. Who’s to say he’s not still in command of the Excelsior decades later? Although we hope by this time he’s at least Admiral Sulu. Let Strange New Worlds give Sulu a victory lap around the stars.

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In its first season, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reinvented one of the franchise’s oldest alien adversaries, the Gorn. They gave this classic antagonistic species an upgrade by injecting some blood from two of cinema’s most deadly extraterrestrials. We’re talking about Gorn inspired by the xenomorph from the Alien franchise and the Predator. In the season two finale of Strange New Worlds, “Hegemony,” the Gorn returned. And these aliens destroyed a Federation starship, along with most of a human colony. So how did Strange New Worlds update this alien race once thought of as a silly product of its 1960s time? First, we’ll tell you all about Star Trek‘s Gorn and why they haven’t appeared much for five decades.

Who Are the Gorn, Star Trek‘s Race of Reptilian Aliens, and Where Have They Been?

First appearing in the original Star Trek series episode “Arena,” the Gorn Hegemony was a warlike reptilian race who decimated a Federation outpost on the planet Cestus III. When Captain Kirk chased the enemy Gorn ship deep into space, an advanced species called the Metrons forced Kirk and the Gorn captain to fight for survival on a remote world. This fight scene, with a man in a very fake-looking alien lizard suit, became the subject of parody. It was even parodied in Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. Perhaps because of that, Star Trek has seemingly almost totally avoided the Gorn, beyond cameos and name drops across different series. The Gorn popped up briefly in CGI form on Star Trek: Enterprise in 2004 and in the 2013 Star Trek video game, for which the Gorn and William Shatner reunited for a silly promotion.

Strange New Worlds Reinvents the Gorn

But Strange New Worlds changed everything about these aliens, making the Gorn intergalactic boogymen. In the episode “Memento Mori,” we learned that La’an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) had some serious PTSD based on her childhood trauma of surviving a Gorn massacre. During her childhood, the Gorn attacked and captured the SS Puget Sound, a colony ship, and left its crew on a Gorn breeding planet. The survivors, including La’an, were hunted for sport or eaten alive by their newborn hatchlings. Only a young La’an Noonien-Singh survived and told her tale to Starfleet. This was the first documented encounter with the Gorn on Star Trek, although it was not considered an official first contact. As La’an says, “Many people have seen the Gorn, but few live to tell about it.”

In “Memento Mori,” the Gorn only appeared in their Star Trek space vessels. We don’t actually see them in the reptilian flesh. Their vicious ways were only spoken of by Lt. Noonien Singh. In fact, they are described and treated as the shark in Jaws. When La’an described her childhood encounter with the Gorn and their lifeless eyes, it’s almost like hearing Quint talk about the shark that killed his crewmates on the U.S.S. Indianapolis. But in Strange New Worlds season one, episode nine, “All Those Who Wander,” we truly saw the Gorn for the first time in this Star Trek series. And they owe their newest incarnation to two classic sci-fi adversaries, the Xenomorph and the Predator.

The Gorn Become Terrifying Foes in Star Trek‘s World

When the Enterprise responded to a distress beacon from a crashed Starfleet vessel, the U.S.S. Peregrine, they found the ship in shambles on an ice world and the crew of 99 officers dead. The logs showed that they had picked up three stranded refugees, all infected with Gorn eggs. They found a human girl (shades of Newt in Aliens) and an unknown alien in the wreckage. Despite initial scans showing nothing unusual, the Gorn eggs were hatching inside one of the aliens.

Just like in Ridley Scott’s Alien, the hatchling busted out of the victim’s body and scampered off. Two others then emerged from the body of another victim. The four hatchlings quickly became two as they killed the others and fought for dominance. The POV shots of the Gorn hatchlings looked extremely similar to the heat signature vision of the alien hunters from the Predator franchise. Their reptilian appearance was also like the Predator, although that predates the movie, as the Gorn first appeared in 1967. Like the Xenomorph from Alien, the Gorn matured at an exponential rate, but the Enterprise crew managed to kill it before it grew to full size.

But the Enterprise crew took a heavy casualty when they fought the Gorn. The Gorn hatchling spit a type of venom onto Chief Engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horack), similar to the Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park. But this was more than venom. La’an revealed that this is how the Gorn lay their eggs. Hemmer took his own life before allowing the Gorn to take hold of him. In the two separate episodes of season one, they did not show a full-grown Gorn.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season Two Reveals a Full-Grown Gorn

In season two’s “Hegemony,” the Gorn attack the human colony world Parnassus Beta, and decimate most of the population. Only a few survive. They also destroy the U.S.S. Cayuga. The episode shows that the Cayuga’s Captain, Marie Batel, has been infected with Gorn eggs. We finally see an adult Gorn in this episode, in a space suit no less. Unlike their Star Trek: The Original Series counterpart, this Gorn has a tail. Although Spock kills this particular Gorn, at the end of the episode, the Gorn Hegemony has the upper hand over Pike’s Enterprise, leaving us with a massive cliffhanger ending.

Of course, this sets up certain continuity issues. Technically “Arena,” the episode where Captain Kirk fights the Gorn in The Original Series, takes place about eight years after Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Spock and Uhura don’t seem to know anything about the Gorn in The Original Series, which doesn’t make much sense. You’d think with their experiences in these Strange New Worlds episodes, they would have a few thoughts about this particular enemy. But it’ll be interesting to see how Strange New Worlds deals with this all of this, as we are no doubt going to see the Gorn continue to be a significant threat to Pike and his crew as the show continues to unfold.

Originally published on July 1, 2022.

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The season finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was the first season-ending cliffhanger for the series, continuing a proud Star Trek tradition. In “Hegemony,” Captain Pike (Anson Mount) faces off against the reptilian Gorn, with the lives of hundreds of his crew and several civilians on the line, and what ended with a life-or-death standoff. It’s definitely an effective Star Trek season finale cliffhanger (perhaps one of the best), and it’s got our anticipation levels for season three even higher than they already were.

Although a staple of Star Trek now, the season-ending cliffhanger was not part of the original Star Trek series. It didn’t begin until Star Trek: The Next Generation’s third season finale. Since then, however, some of the most memorable Trek moments have been those cliffhangers at the end of the season.

We rank our 10 best Star Trek season finale cliffhangers, from across five decades of the franchise. We should note, these are only season-ending cliffhangers, and not mid-season nor two-part episodes.

10. Star Trek: Discovery “Such Sweet Sorrow – Part II” (Season 2 Finale, 2019)

Star Trek: Discovery was ostensibly a prequel to the original series in its first two seasons. But unlike its spin-off Strange New Worlds, it never felt like it was using Trek canon as something to play off of, or lean into. It felt like it was set in a totally different universe. Even the uniforms didn’t evoke that classic Starfleet “feel.” So they made a decision at the end of season two. The Discovery crew, in order to save the galaxy, take important information that needed to be safeguarded to prevent universal annihilation into an unknown future time.

This decision took the brakes off of Discovery’s storytelling limitations by journeying to a future totally out of the prequel timeline. Where would Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and her colleagues wind up? Turns out, it was 930 years into the future, far past any known Trek series timeframe. But in that Star Trek Discovery season two finale cliffhanger, they left us wondering just where, and more importantly, when, the starship would find itself in the following season. And that mystery had fans speculating fervently for quite some time. It is the mark of a successful cliffhanger, indeed.

9. Star Trek: Enterprise “The Expanse” (Season 2 Finale, 2003)

Star Trek: Enterprise, the prequel series which ended an 18-year run of first-run Star Trek, didn’t get the love from fans in its initial run. But since then, Trekkers have embraced the adventures of Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) and his pioneering crew. While the first two seasons were a bit rough around the edges, things really got rolling in the season two finale, “The Expanse.”

In that episode, an unknown alien force attacks Earth, killing millions. This attack prompts Starfleet to recall the Enterprise NX-01 home. They task them with finding out the truth about the Xindi, the mysterious race they believe was behind the tragedy. This cliffhanger ending is when many fans believe Star Trek: Enterprise got good, as season three paid off this strong finale with a compelling season-long arc. Sadly, Enterprise lasted only two more seasons, but many consider this finale a storytelling high point.

8. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “Tears of the Prophets” (Season 6 Finale, 1998)

Most Star Trek season finale cliffhangers place our main characters in terrible peril. But there’s little worry that they won’t make it back by the next season. That was not the case with Deep Space Nine’s season six season finale, which saw series antagonist, and Trek’s greatest villain, Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) murder Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell). The Trill symbiote returned inside a new body in season seven, as Trill are a joined species of host and symbiote. But Jadzia herself, DS9‘s science officer, best friend of Sisko, and wife of Worf? She was gone for good. This tragic event on the station shattered the crew, already demoralized by the ongoing Dominion War. A heartbroken Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) left for Earth, where he began working in his father’s restaurant in New Orleans. A more depressing cliffhanger for sure, but one with real ramifications going forward.

7. Star Trek: The Next Generation “Time’s Arrow, Part I” (Season 5 Finale, 1992)

This episode is pretty goofy, and doesn’t hold a phaser to the best The Next Generation cliffhangers on this list. But it’s still really fun to watch. Scientists on Earth discover Data’s severed head miles beneath San Francisco and estimate it’s been there for 500 years. The Enterprise crew realizes their beloved android crew member was destined to die centuries in the past. Not long after, Data (Brent Spiner) finds himself stuck in 19th-century San Francisco, entangled in a sinister alien plot.

Soon, Data is interacting with major historical figures of that period like Jack London and Mark Twain. He even met a much younger Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), whose species lifespan is very long. In one of the most absurd Star Trek: Next Generation cliffhangers, the finale shows the entire bridge crew going back in time to save Data. Thus, leaving the Enterprise with no senior staff at all. Was it all ridiculous? Yes. Were we dying to find out what happened in the next season? Also, yes.

6. Star Trek: Voyager “Equinox – Part I” (Season 5 Finale, 1999)

For six seasons, Captain Janeway and the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager thought they were the only Starfleet vessel lost in the Delta Quadrant. Then they discovered they were not alone as they thought in this season five finale. Janeway learned that the Equinox was pulled into this part of space the same as they were. But soon, they discovered its commanding officer, Captain Ransom, (John Savage) has been harvesting bio-energy from a nucleogenic alien species. He had murdered dozens of them and used their energy just to enhance their warp drive, traveling 10,000 light years in mere weeks.

Naturally, Janeway was appalled at these atrocities from fellow Starfleet officers, and the Equinox crew eventually kidnaps Seven of Nine when Janeway tries to end Captain Ransom’s plans. Then, towards the episode climax, the angry nucleogenic aliens attack Voyager, making no distinction between one Starfleet ship and the other one that’s killing their species for fuel. We genuinely wondered for several months just how the heck the Voyager crew was going to get out of this one.

5. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine “The Jem’Hadar” (Season 2 Finale, 1994)

Throughout season two of Deep Space Nine, viewers heard whispers of a malevolent power in the Gamma Quadrant, the area of space on the other side of the Bajoran wormhole. They learned a name—the Dominion. But we never saw them. That is until the season two finale, which introduced us to the Dominion properly. Mainly, in the form of their foot soldiers, the clone army called the Jem’Hadar. And also, their administrators, the Vorta. And it all happens while Ben Sisko and his son Jake (Cirroc Lofton) are on an interplanetary camping trip, believe it or not. We learn how deadly the Federation’s new enemies are when they destroy a Galaxy-class starship. Sisko then has to go back to DS9 and prepare the Federation for a powerful new enemy.

4. Star Trek: Voyager “Scorpion – Part I” (Season 3 Finale, 1997)

This was definitely a game-changing episode for Star Trek: Voyager in every way. After three seasons lost in the Delta Quadrant, and a lot of fan apathy towards the series, the Voyager crew finally bumps up against Borg space. They were a threat they always knew was on the horizon, since Starfleet knew the Borg were from the Delta Quadrant since the days of The Next Generation. But they also meet the first alien race ever encountered more powerful than the Borg, known as Species 8472.

When Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) discovers something that could help the Borg in their conflict with the one species they can’t assimilate or defeat, she does the unthinkable. She forges a truce with the Federation’s deadliest enemy. They would resolve this big cliffhanger ending in the fall of that year, with the addition of a Borg crew member to the Voyager cast—Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). This makes the finale one of the more impactful payoffs to any Star Trek cliffhanger.

3. Star Trek: The Next Generation “Redemption – Part I” (Season 4 Finale, 1991)

After a watercooler moment cliffhanger the season before (see our number one entry), The Next Generation writer’s staff felt the need to top themselves. And they came pretty close to doing so. In the fourth season finale, “Redemption,” Worf (Michael Dorn) resigned his commission in Starfleet, and joined the Klingon Empire in their civil war. Worf leaving the Enterprise is emotional and surprising, leaving the audience wondering how/when the Son of Mogh will return.

However, the real cliffhanger is finding out the mysterious Romulan behind the Klingon civil conflict was …Denise Crosby?? Yes, the actress who played Enterprise-D security chief Tasha Yar in season one, and was infamously killed off, was somehow back. And also now a Romulan. Or was she? Star Trek fandom was talking about this for the entire summer of 1991, trying to make sense of it all. Turns out, she was Tasha’s half-alien daughter, Sela. Still, we had no idea what it all meant, and speculated furiously. The true definition of a great cliffhanger.

2. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine “A Call to Arms” (Season 5 Finale, 1997)

Since the end of Deep Space Nine’s second season, the mysterious Dominion had been making its presence known in devastating ways. But in the fifth season finale, they dealt the biggest blow to our heroes. They take the series’ titular space station away from them. Captain Sisko and the officers under his command must flee DS9 as the Dominion take it for themselves. But not before Starfleet mines the entrance to the wormhole, cutting them off from their own part of the galaxy.

With our heroes now on the run, and their home base taken over by a very formidable enemy, we officially have the start of the Dominion War. It’s a conflict that would up as one of the best storylines in all of Star Trek history. This goes on for two more seasons with ramifications lasting all the way into Picard’s recent final season. When it comes to storyline-altering cliffhangers, we think this one’s got it all.

1. Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The Best of Both Worlds – Part I” (Season 3, 1990)

Alright, you probably guessed this one would top the list. If you did, you were right. Before this episode, the Star Trek franchise had never done a season-ending cliffhanger before. The original series only had one two-parter, “The Menagerie,” and that was mid-season. To say this one changed the game for The Next Generation is a massive understatement. They had introduced the cybernetic Borg Collective in season two, and the only way the Enterprise crew got away from this technologically superior enemy was with the help of Q.

But in this third season finale, they finally came to Federation space, and destroyed a whole colony. While Riker struggles with choosing to take his own command, fate forces his hand. The Borg assimilates Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and makes him one of their own—Locutus. In the episode’s final moments, now-Captain Riker opens fire on his Captain and mentor. And fans everywhere had their jaws on the floor. Would Picard return? Was this the “Captain Riker Show” now? “The Best of Both Worlds” finally took The Next Generation out of the original series’ shadow. And it successfully launched it into a place the classic show never went into a fourth season. This is why it is the best Star Trek season finale cliffhanger of all-time.

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Starfleet has had several uniform designs in over 55 years of Star Trek. And we mean several. It’s wild how often Starfleet changes tailors. But while some uniforms have been fashion-forward, others… not so much. Here, we rank all the main Starfleet uniforms seen in the franchise thus far. We are skipping Alt-timeline uniforms, except for the J.J. Abrams Kelvin universe, since it made prominent appearances. And we skipped ones with very brief screen time, such as the U.S.S. Kelvin crew uniforms. So, let’s set phasers to stunning, and talk about some future fashion, ranking from best to worst.

1. Wrath of Khan through Generations (1982-1994)

Costume designer Robert Fletcher designed some of the worst Starfleet uniforms ever for 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Luckily, he got a “do-over” for The Wrath of Khan in 1982, and the subsequent five films. These uniforms are the crème de la crème of Trek wear. Yes, unlike most Starfleet uniforms on this list, they are only one color, maroon. But their design recalls 19th-century nautical uniforms, and so they just look so very regal. Officers must have loved these, because as TNG flashbacks showed us, they stayed in circulation for over fifty years.

2. The Next Generation, Seasons 3-7 (1989-1994)

These are the uniforms most think of when they think of TNG. After seasons one and two costumes were retired (we’ll get into why later), designer Robert Blackman came up with new yet similar uniforms for TNG year three. These had the same color designs as the earlier seasons, but were two-piece jackets and pants combos, and now with a more dignified collar instead of a V-neck. There is something about these that are just simple and classy, and there’s a reason they have remained iconic. Maybe it’s also because we always loved when Jean-Luc pulled down on his shirt in a huff.

3. Picard, Seasons 2-3 (2022-2023)

These first appeared in season two of Picard, and feature prominently in season three. Why do we love these so much? They take the color combo and general aesthetic of the Deep Space Nine/Voyager uniforms, but add the details and front “open flap” of the ‘80s movie uniforms. And it just all works. We kind of wish the black was on the shoulders instead, but hey, it’s ok. These new uniforms rock. Let’s keep them around.

4. First Contact, Insurrection, Nemesis, Deep Space Nine Season 5-7 (1996-2002)

Usually, we hate gray tones in Starfleet uniforms. But the uniforms introduced in the 1996 film First Contact really are very smooth. And the pop of color in the undershirts/collars keeps them from looking bland and lifeless. Much like the original maroon movie uniforms, these look the most “military” of all the Starfleet uniforms. This fits, as they introduced them in a war with the Borg, and later used them on DS9 when the Federation was at war with the Dominion.

5. Strange New Worlds (2022)

A very recent addition to the canon, the retro-modern uniforms introduced in Strange New Worlds totally evoke the Pop Art colors of the original series. Only with much better fabrics that show much more in terms of details. The little Starfleet Deltas on the shoulders and sleeves? We love that touch. These uniforms prove that the basic concept of the classic ‘60s series still works today if you do them right. Kudos to SNW costume designer Bernadette Croft for bringing that classic style to the modern day.

6. Star Trek (2009), Into Darkness, Beyond (2009-2016)

Similar to Strange New Worlds, the “retro chic” uniforms of the Kelvin timeline movies were meant to evoke the bright, primary colors of The Original Series. And they really did just that, just as SNW’s uniforms currently do. The only reason that SNW ranks a wee bit higher is that we’re not super crazy about the “shirt over another shirt” thing the Abrams films had going on. Luckily, that was modified for Star Trek Beyond. But other than that detail, we love these.

7. The Original Series, The Animated Series (1966-1969, 1973-1975)

Yes, to modern eyes, these old-school uniforms look kinda cheap. The shirts scream “your Mom’s favorite fabric store,” and instead of a metal badge, it looks like someone slapped a Starfleet Delta sticker on the shirt. But, these bright primary colors instantly grab your eye, and make you think of a fun rainbow-hued future you actually want to live in. So hats off to TOS designer William Ware Theiss, who made these velour uniforms pop on all those tube television sets back in the day. They will live long and prosper.

8. Deep Space Nine Season 1-5, Generations, Voyager (1993-2001)

These uniforms first appeared on Deep Space Nine in 1993, then in the film Generations in 1994, and finally in Voyager from 1995-2001. Since they were lost in space, Janeway’s crew was stuck with one uniform design for seven years. They are very classic Trek, and are pretty much the TNG era uniforms, only with color on the shoulders and black in the torso. We dig them, and they’d rank higher, except for one thing. The cut and fit of these really make them look like cozy space pajamas. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

9. Discovery Season 4 (2021-2022)

We were not big fans of the original early 23rd-century designs, seen on Starfleet officers on Discovery. Star Trek only really got away with “one color” uniform standard one time (see entry #1). But when Discovery jumped to the 32nd century, the crew got some snazzy new uniforms to go with their new home in the far future. These costumes evoke the best of TOS, TNG, with a touch of the classic nautical tradition seen in the original movie uniforms, right on the shoulder. We hope these stick around in season five and beyond.

10. Lower Decks (2020-Present animated, 2023 live-action)

Yes, this is an animated show. But it’s canon, so we are counting them. We are not sure why the U.S.S. Cerritos has different uniforms than the rest of Starfleet, but we must admit, these are kind of cool. Much like the current Picard season three uniforms, they combine classic ‘90s Starfleet aesthetic with a little bit of the classic film uniforms, with the open flap on the shirt. The real reason we know these are good is that on the Strange New Worlds episode “Those Old Scientists,” both Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) wore the animated uniforms in live-action, and they were quite fetching.

11. The Next Generation Season 1-2 (1987-1989)

During the first two seasons of TNG, creator Gene Roddenberry decided that in the future, no one would want to see wrinkles. Look, he had a lot of wacky ideas. So he had his original series costume designer William Ware Theiss design jumpsuits that looked like spandex. To avoid wrinkles, they came with a foot strap to go over the shoe so that they could pull it taut. This was pure hell on the backs of the cast. Later, they demanded they be changed for season three into two-piece costumes. The basic design is still iconic, but they just look uncomfortable, making these awkward designs rank this low.

12. Discovery Seasons 1-3 (2017-2020)

Discovery’s first two seasons were set ten years prior to TOS, but the leap from these uniforms to what we saw later is head-scratching. While we like the blue hue, the silver piping on them and the accompanying shoes really just make these uniforms look like space tracksuits. It’s as if Starfleet decided to hire Adidas to design for them. When the crew of the Enterprise showed up in season two in classic colors, it just made us dislike these uniforms even more. Luckily, the Discovery crew eventually ditched them for snazzier threads when they landed 900 years in the future in season 3.

13. Prodigy (2021-2022)

Technically, the uniforms used by the kids on the Protostar in the animated series Prodigy are not quite official Starfleet. But these unique uniforms have a cool design overall. We dig the asymmetry in the torso. But we would love them way more if they ditched the grey and gave us some classic gold, red, and blue. Maybe we’ll get there someday. This series is just in its infancy.

14. Picard Season 1 (2020)

We didn’t see that many Starfleet uniforms in the first two seasons of Picard. But the ones we did see didn’t hit the mark. The basic design recalls the old DS9/Voyager uniforms, but there are just too many extra details on the shoulders. They are just a bit too busy. At least for the higher-ranking officers. The lower-ranking officers were ok, the collars are just awkward. Set phasers to “meh.”

15. The Original Series, Pilot Episodes (1965)

Think of these as prototypes. This sweater/pant set was seen first on Captain Christopher Pike in the first TOS pilot “The Cage.” Then again on Kirk in “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” the second pilot. The design is actually kind of snazzy, in a mid-‘60s Mad Men-era way. But the color palette? Just way too muted. They’re just gray/blue and a boring pale yellow. Kind of yawn-worthy. Not awful, but they didn’t last long enough to make an impression. Luckily, when Star Trek went to series, they got much more fun in terms of color choices.

16. Enterprise (2001-2005)

We understand that Enterprise, set only 150 years in the future, was supposed to look more like our own modern era. But man, these Starfleet uniforms really just look like Captain Archer and crew were working as mechanics in a space garage. They are just a tad too real-world looking, and lack any sci-fi fun and fantasy. They’re still better than the Enterprise theme song though. And luckily for them, they are not the lowest ranked on this list.

17. The Motion Picture (1979)

Talk about coming full circle. Robert Fletcher, the same designer who made these lowest-ranked costumes for The Motion Picture, later designed the best uniforms in Star Trek in our estimation, from films II–VI. Much like the DS9/Voyager uniforms, these straight-up look like pajamas. But unlike the ones worn by Sisko and Janeway, these come in boring tones of beige, gray, and white. I’m sorry, Earth tones are Star Wars. We come to Star Trek to taste the rainbow. And Kirk’s regular duty uniform looks like he’s an interplanetary dentist. These made only one appearance, and there’s a reason why. Blow them out the airlock.

Originally published March 1, 2023.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds shimmied and crooned into a new world indeed with its latest episode. Titled “Subspace Rhapsody,” the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds musical episode took the crew to new notes as a subspace fold ripple has an unusual effect. It causes the crew members to uncontrollably sing their feelings, often with dancing. “I thought it was a joke,” choreographer Roberto Campanella tells Nerdist. “It took me so many conversations to understand that they were going to do a musical. It was the whole thing. They kept saying, ‘Listen, this was never done before. It’s the whole episode.’ I felt the pressure.”

It’s true that when you think of Star Trek, musical doesn’t immediately jump to mind. However, the idea has been in the works for a while. Cinematographer Benji Bakshi (who Nerdist spoke to separately from Campanella) says the discussions about the musical started when he was interviewing for the series. Bakshi, a cellist whose family has strong connections to music, brought his musical sensibility to filmmaking by using the camera as an instrument. “As early as we could, we were chewing on what the concept would be. One of the exciting things about it was I thought, ‘Oh, musical. You’re just going to go off the rails and have everybody sing instead of talk.’ But it wasn’t that. It was this really interesting, scientifically motivated plot-based phenomenon that caused them to sing instead of talk when the emotions reached a certain point.”

With songs from Tom Polce and Kay Hanley and a script from Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff, Campanella and Bakshi worked closely with the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds musical episode’s director, Dermott Downs. Campanella shares he read the script for episode eight before getting into “Subspace Rhapsody,” because he wanted to know where the characters were coming from. They held a number of meetings to discuss the emotional narrative, but ultimately, Campanella put his trust in the cast. “Now, the cast, as always, they know better than anybody else,” Campanella says, “If you detour, if they’re not too sure about it, then they talk to you. I knew that I was in good hands. There was that mutual trust that really helped keep an eye on where we were going and to make sure the progression didn’t peak too quickly.”

At first, the crew of the Enterprise is hesitant, confused. They ask, “Why are we singing?” Feelings they would not have otherwise shared make themselves known in verse. Bakshi notes each song lent itself to a different tone and dynamic. He says, “They’re all channeled by certain emotions, which is typical of musical numbers. You’re living in the moment of an emotion and using the song to process it.”

For example, La’an’s intensely personal “How Would That Feel” is the quietest of the episode, and as such, was filmed that way. “La’an’s song was this deeply internal struggle,” Bakshi explains, “She goes alone in her room, and we thought the lighting should be moody. This is a dramatic internal piece. She’s literally arguing with herself over, ‘Can I change as a person? Can I open up and not be this way? Why am I this way?’ Then she has a dream sequence of what it could be with Kirk, and she awakes into the idea of, ‘No, I can’t do that. I’m stuck in my ways.’ It’s an almost tragic wrestle. That needed to be a womb-like presentation.”

Campanella notes “How Would That Feel” was his favorite number in the musical episode. “Just that emotional power that she was able to express, but with everything and just standing there doing nothing,” he says. Campanella’s second favorite song was Nurse Chapel’s “I’m Ready.” It’s big, loud, and joyful. Chapel celebrates good news in the lounge with a confident song and dance number. She’s ready to move on into her next role, and everybody’s part of the moment except Spock.

“That is her character. ‘I want to be experiencing the world and I’m ready to be free. I’m ready to come out,'” Bakshi says, “We needed to capture that energy. We did flashing lights and moving the camera around and all the dancing. We planned pretty intricately on this overhead shot where she’s spinning at the camera floating and crowd-surfing.”

Campanella emphasizes that the cast all devoted as much time as they could outside their regular shooting schedule to learn their dances. He did rehearsals with dancers and then the actors would come to see the dancers, give their notes, and learn before starting their own rehearsals. Bakshi would pop his head in and they would both talk with the director to determine the dynamics and the best way to adjust it for capturing—including that epic Klingon boy band scene.

As the Enterprise crew joins their voices to stop the subspace fold’s influence, they hail the approaching Klingons. The Klingons have come to destroy the fold, which would have disastrous consequences. They appear on the Enterprise‘s viewscreen, which means we as viewers have a limited angle. But the crew rigged the captain’s chair on a track to slide back. “That became the mechanism to widen the shot and turn it into choreography. There was that aspect of it,” Bakshi says. “Then it was the writers, and I believe Nami, the composer came up with the idea of the boy band because the finale was really hitting every single music genre. So, what haven’t we touched, and what would be the most fun, because they’re trying to elevate the energy of the subspace fold to its peak. What would happen?”

The Klingon boy band made the final cut, thankfully. However, they shot two versions of the Klingons, led by Bruce Horak as the Klingon captain. The second was opera. Ultimately, the opera take felt too close to the other singing. Luckily, the Klingon boy band won. Bakshi jokes, “That said, nobody knew if that would actually go too far or break Star Trek.”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will wrap season two on Paramount+ on August 10. You can pre-save the musical episode soundtrack now.

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Star Trek fans just received a surprise gift. Paramount+ dropped the seventh episode of season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds early, after a Comic-Con premiere. And this wasn’t just any episode either. In “Those Old Scientists,” we saw the 2D animated lead characters of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Ensigns Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner, not only go back in time to meet the Enterprise crew, but also move from animation into live-action. And played by their actual voice actors, Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome, respectively. Luckily, they both look pretty close to their animated counterparts in real life. Here’s how the first epic (but also low-key) crossover between live-action and animated Star Trek shook out.

How Did the Lower Decks Characters End Up in the Strange New Worlds Timeline?

This crossover episode actually began in the animated world of the late 24th century, on board the U.S.S. Cerritos. For the uninitiated, that’s the main starship on Lower Decks. The ship arrives at Krometh B, where an ancient time travel portal was first discovered by the Enterprise 120 years prior. They task the away team with checking if the portal is still functioning, simply because there’s no record of it working for over a century. Ensign Tendi, an Orion, insists however that her people actually discovered the portal, not the Enterprise. Despite what any historical records might say.

The portal has not worked in over a century. However, Boimler is excited to interact with anything discovered by the crew of the original Enterprise. Well, original Federation Enterprise, as he later points out. (This will matter later). While analyzing the portal, he realizes that there are traces of a rare alloy called Heronium. Boimler’s fumbling around then results in the machine activating, sending him back in time to the 23rd century. Right into the era of Strange New Worlds. And right away, he meets the Enterprise away team of Spock, Una, and La’an. They’ve just arrived on the planet too.

What Happened In This Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds Crossover Episode?

Now onboard the Enterprise NCC-1701, time-tossed Boimler, who worships the heroes of Starfleet history, is star-struck in meeting them. Especially Captain Pike and Number One. Boimler constantly almost breaks the temporal Prime Directive. Accidentally, he gives way too much information about the future to people in the past. Boimler nevertheless befriends Enterprise crew members, and tries to set up a surprise birthday party for Captain Pike. Orion scientists, who actually discovered the portal, then beam it onto their ship. Boimler helps to provide information for Pike’s crew to get it back. But when they attempt to send him back to his proper time, things go awry yet again. Boimler’s friend Beckett Mariner then appears in the past too.

With two future people on board his ship, Pike doesn’t know quite what to do with them. Mariner fangirls over meeting Uhura. But Boimler worries they will both become stranded in the past. In a moment of bonding with Pike, Boimler realizes they both idolize Captain Archer of the NX-01 Enterprise (famously of Star Trek: Enterprise). Then it hits him. Starfleet actually plated the first Enterprise with a Heronium alloy. The exact metal needed to make the portal work and send them back home. And since tradition demands that one piece of an old ship needs to be incorporated into the namesake version, some Heronium alloy exists on board the current Enterprise. And with that discovery, Boimler and Mariner can use the portal to go home. But not before Spock gives them a “Live long a prosper” salute. One final moment for Brad Boimler to geek out about.

Is It Likely That the Lower Decks Characters Will Return Again to Strange New Worlds?

Time travel happens pretty much all the time in the Star Trek universe. Someone sneezes and they are in another century it seems. So while there’s nothing suggesting that the Cerritos crewmembers will ever encounter Pike and company again, there’s nothing really stopping them from having another encounter either. After all, there are other crewmembers of the Cerritos who still could appear in live-action. Of course, the Enterprise from Strange New Worlds could also travel forward in time, arriving in the 24th century, becoming animated themselves on Lower Decks.

Other crossovers that involve time travel could see the Enterprise crew meet a live-action version of the crew of the Protostar from Star Trek: Prodigy. Or, the Enterprise encounters the crew of a future namesake, the Enterprise-G. That was the starship under the command of Captain Seven of Nine seen in the Picard series finale, and which has Jean Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher’s son Jack as a crewmember. Fans are clamoring for a spin-off series from Picard called Star Trek: Legacy, but in the meantime, it sure would be fun to see the NCC-1701 come across the NCC-1701-G out in space. In the Star Trek universe, anything can happen as long as portals, wormholes, or a warp-speed slingshot around a star are part of Trek lore.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds hasn’t let us down in season two. The series has continued its behind-the-scenes mission of being excellent. Though we’re sadly approaching the end of the season, Paramount is seeing it out with a bang—or, we should say, a song. That’s right, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is getting a musical episode. Paramount shared the news at San Diego Comic-Con, along with a tease of the Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks crossover. We’ll see Captain Pike, Uhura, and all our faves belting it out, and the trailer for said Star Trek musical episode looks incredible.

Titled “Subspace Rhapsody,” the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds musical episode will feature 10 original songs. It will also have a “Subspace Rhapsody” version of the main titles. That will feature music and lyrics by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce. You can already pre-save the soundtrack too. As the first-ever Star Trek musical episode, Strange New Worlds is indeed boldly going. And from the looks of it, the cast is absolutely on board. We can’t wait to see everyone’s various singing and dancing talents. Plus, the trailer teases more than one La’an and Kirk moment. I really want this for La’an; she deserves only good things.

It’s always a treat when television series do musical episodes. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Magicians, and Once Upon a Time all had stellar musical interludes, just to name a few. And this trope is made for Star Trek. While Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s “His Way” did have songs, Strange New Worlds looks to have some sort of interaction that makes the crew burst out in song. Maybe an alien compels them; it seems like something a Q would do. Or perhaps it’s some environmental effect. Whatever the reason, we are so in.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ musical episode, “Subspace Rhapsody,” will stream on Paramount+ on August 3.

Featured Image: Paramount+

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Despite modern special effects and production design, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is definitely intended as a true prequel to the original 1960s Star Trek. This differs from the J.J. Abrams films, which were set in an alternate universe. Strange New Worlds connects to the canon of Gene Roddenberry’s original show in many, and sometimes surprising, ways. With Paul Wesley playing James T. Kirk on Strange New Worlds in three episodes now, it was inevitable his “prime timeline” iteration would meet Anson Mount’s Captain Pike at some point. But did their first canonical meeting line up with how they described it on The Original Series? Actually, yes it did.

Strange New Worlds Shows Captain Pike and James T. Kirk’s First Meeting

In the classic Star Trek series two-part episode “The Menagerie,” the series stated Captain Kirk already met the former Enterprise captain back when Christopher Pike “was promoted to Fleet Captain.” It’s a small reference they could have ignored and overwritten. Few would have noticed. However, the writers of Strange New Worlds adhered to that bit of continuity trivia in the sixth episode of season two, “Lost in Translation.”

Part of the plot of the episode has the Enterprise overseeing the construction of an outpost in a nebula—a nebula that is a stellar nursery. Not only did Starfleet assign the Enterprise to help complete this refinery outpost, but Starfleet also sent another ship, the U.S.S. Farragut. That starship has a young Lt. James T. Kirk on board, who meets Pike for the first time in this episode. During this mission, Starfleet gives Pike command over the outpost and the Farragut. Thus, temporarily promoting him to the rank of Fleet Captain. So Strange New Worlds and The Original Series continuity remains intact.

Other Times Strange New Worlds Connects to Classic Star Trek Continuity

This is not the first time Strange New Worlds has found a way to connect directly to the original series. In episode four of season two, “Among the Lotus Eaters,” we learned just what happened on the Rigel 7 planetary mission. This was the same mission that left Chris Pike shaken in “The Cage,” the unaired original Star Trek pilot. The pilot left it vague, only telling us that Pike lost several members of the Away Team. “Among the Lotus Eaters” actually answered that mystery, after 57 years.

Previously, in the first season finale, we saw a glimpse into an alternate future for the Enterprise, one where Pike avoids his grisly fate (confined to a life-saving chair where he can no longer move or speak). In that future, we saw that the events of The Original Series episode “Balance of Terror,” where the Enterprise first encounters the Romulans, play out as intended. Of course, with some major twists due to wibbly-wobbly, time-wimey shenanigans. But certain bits of dialogue play exactly the same in both series.

Classic Star Trek Canon Strange New Worlds Still Needs to Explain

So what about where the show does deviate from Star Trek: The Original Series continuity? There are some big things the show has yet to explain. Spock (Ethan Peck) and his betrothed, T’Pring, were a couple in the show’s first season and much of the second. But in Strange New Worlds they’ve chosen to take some time apart. Still, it’s a breakup that seems based on logic, and it’s amicable so far. There’s no explanation yet on why, years later in The Original Series episode “Amok Time,” T’Pring was willing to allow Spock to potentially die in ritual combat in order to free herself from her commitment to him.

Also, Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett Roddenberry) has a long-lost fiancé in the classic Star Trek, Dr. Roger Korby. So far, we haven’t seen any mention of him on Strange New Worlds by Chapel, now played by Jess Bush. But these aren’t continuity errors yet, more like unexplained mysteries they will probably reveal more about as Strange New Worlds continues. Hopefully, with enough seasons to complete their five-year mission. There’s still plenty of time to explain these.

The big area where Strange New Worlds doesn’t link up to the classic Star Trek series is simply aesthetically. The Enterprise NCC-1701 under Pike’s command is practically a luxury liner. The corridors are roomy, and the Captain’s quarters are enormous (with their own kitchen!). The ship even has a spacious lounge with live music. Ten Forward on the Enterprise-D in The Next Generation wasn’t nearly as big. The original show’s Enterprise was cramped and small. Let’s not get started on the differences on the bridge.

Strange New Worlds Takes a Page from the Marvel Comics Approach

Eventually, Strange New Worlds might pull some magic dilithium crystals out of their warp core to explain any conflicting events. After all, Pike’s Enterprise is home to some 200 crew members. Kirk’s Enterprise has more than double that. Did they refit the ship to fit more crew for Kirk’s five-year mission? While they might say something like that at some point, truthfully, what Strange New Worlds is doing in terms of visual continuity is simply taking the Marvel Comics approach and hand-waving it all away.

Marvel Comics’ continuity has been going since the ‘60s, much like Star Trek. Heroes born in that era are still published today, with their old adventures intended as canonical to the modern versions of the characters. Yet, the teen X-Men dressed in ‘60s clothing, for example, and other aspects of those early stories refer to then-contemporary culture. Marvel’s solution to that was simple—the events of those stories still happened, but flashbacks to those events in today’s comics show them in a modern light.

The original X-Men, for example, had sleeker versions of their classic uniforms in 21st century comics, like X-Men: First Class. Jack Kirby’s original designs inspired them, but the costumes weren’t identical. Strange New Worlds has likely taken the Marvel Comics method. It’s interesting that these two long-running pop culture franchises, both born in the ‘60s, and with decades of continuity between them, handle their continuities in the same fashion. We’ll see how this continues as the Star Trek franchise continues to expand on the classic canon.

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In the season one finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, we were introduced to former Vampire Diaries star Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk. Only that Kirk was from an alternate future, where he Captained another starship. Then, in season two, Wesley played the Kirk from yet another alternate timeline, in the episode “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.” Finally, in Strange New Worlds‘ sixth episode of season two, “Lost in Translation,” we finally meet Wesley’s version of the Prime Universe’s Lt. Jim Kirk. We got to chat with the actor about playing so many versions of one of sci-fi’s most iconic heroes.

Editor’s Note: This interview took place prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Here’s more information about why actors are striking and what you can do to help.

Nerdist: Your version of James T. Kirk first appeared in the season one finale, which showed us Captain Kirk in an alternate future. Did you know at the time that it was going to blossom into a recurring character in season two, or did you think, given the timeline of the series, that it might be a one-off?

Paul Wesley: No, I knew that I was going to do a few more episodes in season two. So it’s a great question, because season one’s finale was based on [the classic episode] Balance of Terror, as you know, and I made a pretty concerted effort to try to create some semblance of Kirk and Balance of Terror, which was a much more serious Kirk. If you actually rewatch the episode, he’s quite serious. The stakes are quite high, and there’s very little Kirkisms. He’s a captain who’s on a mission. And so I made a decision to play it that way. Knowing full well that I would have an arc in season two that I was certain would allow me to explore other facets of Kirk’s personality. And I was right. And so I was able to play Kirk differently in season two. But I had no idea it would be an alternate timeline in season two.

You’ve told this story before, about how after you finished shooting your first Strange New Worlds episode, you wound up seated on the plane next to William Shatner. Did he have any good words of advice on playing the character he made so iconic? And not to get too “woowoo” on you, but did this all feel like a sort of omen to you that your Kirk was gonna stick around long term?

Wesley: Yeah. To be honest with you, I don’t really believe so much in “woo-woo,” as you would say. But I couldn’t help but think, “This is crazy.” The statistical probability of us being on the same plane after I secretly wrap the season one finale playing Kirk is very low. The statistical probability of us sitting next to one another? Even lower. And so I thought, “All right, well this is pretty insane.” And I didn’t, frankly, get any advice from him because I was sworn to secrecy. William Shatner and I had actually met a few times and spoken on the phone because we used to be neighbors, so I kind of introed myself “Hey, you know we used to be neighbors.” He’s like, “Oh yeah, right.”

And we were talking a little bit, and then I awkwardly inferred that perhaps I was playing a character he might be familiar with. But he was so confused. And then I just kind of was like, “I’m sworn to secrecy and I told everyone I wouldn’t say anything, so I’m just going to keep my mouth shut.” Also, frankly, I also am someone who, I hate to annoy people. And he’s been playing this character forever and gosh, he must be so sick of talking about it. And so I didn’t want to bug him on his plane trip, either.

Jim’s relationship with La’an has been one of the unexpected joys of season two. It never seemed like she of all characters would ever be a romantic pairing for him. What’s it been like having two different versions of your character in a romantic pairing with Christan Chong’s La’an in the same season?

First of all, when we meet alternate timeline Kirk, she goes to a different timeline and meets this guy and falls in love with him. And he frankly falls in love with her too. And then he dies. In episode six, she meets Kirk again. Now what I thought was, “Okay, if I create a whole new Kirk, and he is a completely different personality, he doesn’t have the same sort of charm or mannerisms, then maybe it won’t be as difficult for her.” And so I kind of just made the decision. I said, “Okay, I’m going to kind of make him somewhat similar to episode three. Because it makes it so much more heartbreaking.”

And also because episode three was still really the Kirk that I want to be, even in the prime timeline. Kind of nerdy, adventurous, charming, funny, a rogue, good morals, loyal. These are all things that I still was instilling in Kirk anyway. So I thought, “Okay, well how much more heartbreak can there be?” It’s like the movie Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, but only one person had memory erased.

One of the fun things we saw in episode six, “Lost in Translation,” was Jim’s relationship with his brother Sam, who is serving on the Enterprise. We never saw that in the original series, because he died [in the episode “Operation — Annihilate!”] as soon as we knew he existed. What’s your take on the Sam/Jim dynamic? Why is Sam so seemingly threatened by Jim’s success?

Wesley: Well, I don’t have a brother. I have three sisters, but I think threatened maybe isn’t the right word. I think he’s just annoyed that his brother somehow is not only doing well, but actually ahead of him in many ways. And I think sometimes you have that “nice guys finish last” thing. I think in many ways, it’s applicable to Sam in the sense that he’s doing everything right. He’s doing everything by the books, one plus one equals two. And [Jim] Kirk’s jumping off a plane and then somehow finding a parachute while he is falling. And he thinks, “How does this guy pull this off every time?” I think he doesn’t understand why Kirk is the favorite child. Or why Kirk is somehow ahead of him in many ways, career-wise. And I think it’s like he’s thinking, “How is this guy doing this? It’s driving me insane.”

Your Jim Kirk differs from Chris Pine’s [in the Kelvin timeline films] because, unlike his version, yours will eventually grow into the Shatner iteration of the character. How do you think your Jim is different than the one in the original series? And how do you think he’ll evolve into the version the world knows?

Wesley: Look, I think that the Kirk in the original show is a very specific Kirk that existed in a 1960s television paradigm, and it was a very episodic series. And what I mean by that is if you watch season one, episode four or something, and then you watch season three, episode three, Kirk is kind of the same guy. Just having different adventures. And I think the Kirk that I want to play, the pre-captain—In many ways, he is not ready for the captain’s chair yet. But by the time that I’m hopefully finished with this character, and I don’t know when that will be, I would like him to feel like, “Okay, that guy should be in the captain’s chair. That guy’s ready.”

At the end of episode six, we witness a historic moment: Kirk and Spock meet. And of course, we’re left wanting more. I asked Ethan Peck this same question, but the question applies to you too. How much pressure do you feel at making sure that relationship comes off exactly right?

Wesley: I obviously feel pressure, but I also believe that actors bring a part of their own personality to characters. And I have to tell you, I’m pretty good friends with Ethan. And we have a Kirk/Spock dynamic that exists naturally between us. Whether it’s casting director geniuses or pure coincidence, I don’t know. But I know that our relationship is very organic, we’re not going to force it. We just have this natural cadence and rhythm that is so Spock/Kirk, I can’t quite describe it. Ethan marches to the beat of his own drum. He does things his own way, and sometimes says things that are so out of left field. And in many ways we’re opposites. But I really adore him, and I would like to think that he likes me as well as a person. And I think that’s very much like Spock and Kirk.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two drops new episodes every Thursday.

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Thanks to series like Strange New Worlds and Picard, the Star Trek franchise on TV is flourishing. But it all began of course in 1966 with the original Star Trek series made. That classic show made the adventures of Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise crew into legends. Now, Fisher-Price celebrates the crew of the NCC-1701 with a new Star Trek: TOS Little People Collector’s Figure set. Right now, it’s an SDCC 2023 exclusive. You can read this set’s official description, as well as check out images of Starfleet’s finest crew, down below:

Click To View Gallery

Star Trek + Little People = Wow! What could be better? Now we all can boldly go where no man or woman has gone before with the Little People at our side. Set your sights for the final frontier and begin your exciting space exploration with the U.S.S. Enterprise crew that includes Captain James T. Kirk with a phaser, First Officer Spock with a tricorder and giving the Vulcan salute, Chief Communications Officer Nyota Uhura, and Chief Helmsman Hikaru Sulu. Each figure is wearing its iconic Starfleet uniform with the delta insignia and stands about 2 1/2-inches tall. Plus, the display-worthy package brings you aboard the Enterprise bridge with fun graphics details to discover. Order a set for yourself and another for a family member or friend – and “live long and prosper!”

So far, the Fisher-Price Star Trek Little People only includes these four characters. Hopefully, one day Dr. Leonard McCoy, Chief Engineer Scott, and Ensign Pavel Chekov join them on the bridge. And hey, why not throw in a Klingon here and a Gorn there? Seems only fair. This item will first be sold at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, at the Entertainment Earth Booth #2343 for $24.99. If supplies remain after the show, your pre-order will be filled and shipped to you in August 2023.

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Throughout Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Ethan Peck has been the Enterprise’s famous half-human/half-Vulcan science officer Spock. But in the latest season two episode of Strange New Worlds “Charades,” Spock’s Vulcan DNA is removed by a group of confused aliens. The results are hilarious, allowing Peck to indulge in the kind of over-the-top acting that the character of Spock is rarely afforded. We had a chat with Peck about finally getting to play a version of Mr. Spock that’s less about logic and more like an overgrown adolescent.

Nerdist: There’s always at least one episode of every classic Trek series that feels like a sitcom. And now this season it falls on Spock to be at the center of it. How did it feel to lean into the comedy aspects of Star Trek, which isn’t something that your character gets to do a whole lot? Or really ever?

Ethan Peck: It was so fun and terrifying and intimidating. Because it’s such a stretch, and it’s such a risk, in my opinion. And I remember reading the script and thinking “No way, this is nuts.” And I personally love that style of acting, which I guess is comedic, goofy, silly. I think a lot of my friends think it’s hilarious that I’m playing the character of Spock, because they know what a weird goofball I am. Which is what Spock is underneath the Vulcan veneer, right? He’s just a weird, goofy person filled with wonder and looking to be amused and entertained.

In this episode, Spock without his Vulcan half is very much like a teenager going through puberty. He’s angry, he’s sad, he feels helpless, he’s hungry all the time… among other things. Was this episode one of the most liberating for you as an actor after playing a Vulcan with suppressed emotions since year two of Discovery?

Peck: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Definitely the most liberating for me as an actor playing Spock. Because usually he’s on rails all the time. There’s a rhythm and a musicality and an efficiency to the way he speaks. Also a brilliance to the way he speaks. It’s really difficult as an actor, and so to be able to be loose and have more fun, it was definitely very liberating and really fun. And I really got to shout-out Jordan Canning, the director of the episode. They really helped guide me through those big explosive and crazy moments that I got to play as human Spock.

Spock and T’Pring essentially break up in this episode. Or at least take some time apart. But in the original series, it seems like whatever feelings she had for Spock have evaporated. She was willing to let him die in “Amok Time.” Can we expect to see more of the two of you on screen together before the real estrangement happens between them?

Peck: I really don’t know. I don’t know what to expect. It’s funny, I don’t know what “a break” even means to Vulcans. It could be weeks, months, or years. Who knows? They have a long lifespan, and they’re very patient and very self-regulated. So I’m sure they could do just fine without one another for a long time. And they do, right? Spock and T’Pring spend a lot of time apart. So I don’t know where things will go. I’m excited to see, and I hope that there’s a lot more because Gia Sandhu, the actress that plays T’Pring, is so wonderful, and she and I get along really well, so I love working with her.

You have incredible chemistry with Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel. And in this episode, you both take things to the next level. The original series always seemed to imply that Christine’s feelings were unrequited, but now we know better. Did you know when the show started that Spock and Chapel would become a thing, or did it take you by surprise?

Peck: I mean, it’s all taken me by surprise. I didn’t know. I guess I could have assumed that would exist at some point in the future, but I didn’t know when. Just didn’t know how. And yeah, it’s all been a surprise. Every couple of weeks is a surprise when we got a new script, which is really fun.

You got to reunite with Mia Kirshner, who played your mother Amanda on Discovery. But you got to spend a lot more time with her in this episode, without Sarek in sight. What was it like to get to flesh out that dynamic in a totally different context?

Peck: It was so wonderful. Mia Kirshner is such an incredible actress and scene partner on set. We just really get along well, and she is really talented and skilled, and works really hard and really cares. And she brings her heart to every moment. And for a scene partner, that’s a gift. So yeah, to figure out those moments and what they’re like, it’s also so different because before it was Vulcan Spock, and now in this episode, it’s mostly human Spock. And so it was a totally new dynamic, and it felt really exposing and it was really touching.

Now that Paul Wesley has appeared a couple of time on the show, how do you feel about eventually meeting his version of Kirk and establishing that iconic friendship? And do you feel a lot of pressure to get that chemistry just right, because of the enormous history with the previous iterations of Kirk and Spock?

Peck: Yeah. I mean, Paul and I get along really well too. I’ve got to tip my hat to the casting directors of the show, because they choose just amazing people. Paul and I get along super well. He cares deeply about his work generally, and I mean, from my experience, especially Kirk. And so we have a great rapport off camera that I think will really make its way on camera. So I think it’ll be very easy to find and very unique to us. It’ll be different than Nimoy and Shatner, but I think it’ll be the same too. It’ll be the same spirit.

Can you give us some hints as to whether or not we’re going to see that Sybok (Spock’s half-brother from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) Easter egg from season one payoff anytime soon?

Peck: I would love to explore that. Yeah, maybe Sybok is his nemesis? What do you think about that?

Speaking for much of Star Trek fandom, I think we are collectively down for that.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two premieres episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.

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One of the breakout characters of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been La’an Noonien Singh, the Enterprise‘s security chief, played by Christina Chong. Although Strange New Worlds has many legacy characters from Trek history, La’an was new. While not a legacy character, she carried a legacy tied to Star Trek‘s past, as she is the descendent of ultimate Trek villain, Khan Noonien Singh. Although aloof and distant in the show’s first season, in season two we’ve seen her open up much more. In episode three, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” she had a brief and doomed romance with James T. Kirk. We caught up with Christina Chong about her character’s growth in Strange New Worlds‘ sophomore year.

Nerdist: At the end of season one, La’an goes on a leave of absence on a personal mission. Did you know at the time you filmed the season finale that La’an would be back on the Enterprise rather quickly, or do you think she was going to be off on a side quest for all of the second season?

Christina Chong: No, they told me very early on that it’s going to look like La’an’s leaving the show, but don’t worry, she’s not. She’s coming back. I didn’t know that she was going to come back straight away. I guessed she would, because otherwise, we can’t spend so much time with her. So I was pretty sure that she would come back quickly.

When Paul Wesley came on to the show at the end of season one as Kirk, few people would have thought he would form a unique bond with La’an, because she’s not a character from the original series. Did it take you by surprise that the showrunners were going to develop this relationship between your character and a young Jim Kirk? And what was it like getting to work so much with Paul?

Chong: So I had an inkling because that scene in the transporter room at the end of the season one, episode 10, I come down with Paul and I was like, “Hmm, why am I with Paul in this? What are they setting up here?” I had an idea, I was thinking maybe they’re pre-plotting something for the next season. And then we were doing episode one pickups, and the showrunners said, “We’re thinking of something for La’an for next season. Romance with maybe Kirk.” And I thought, “Oh, interesting.” So they’d already kind of given me a hint that it was coming. And I’d never seen Paul’s work. I was aware of him, but I’d not seen his work.

And I’d had one brief conversation with him in the first season, since we both have the same acting coach. And she said, “You need to meet Paul before, I think you guys are really going to get on. You need to really meet him before you start working with him. I said, “No, no, no. I’ll just see him on the day. It’s an acting job. I’ll fake the chemistry, I’ll be fine.” And she said, “No. Meet him beforehand, have dinner.” And then we went for dinner and yes, we got on straightaway.

In the finale of season one, they showed a brief moment of La’an joyfully hugging Pike when he comes aboard the Enterprise in the future timeline. Did knowing where she ends up in a version of the future gave her a bit of insight going into season two?

Chong: Not really, because that’s way off in the future. And I’m working with what I have here now within the parameters of the season arc. So I knew that she had to open up. But it’s a long journey from season two to the future version of La’an. But yeah, it was tricky for me to pitch where it was though. Because she can’t suddenly go from being this super reserved security chief to suddenly being all smiley and romantic. So I was having to push and pull it constantly throughout the scenes with the director. I had to figure out where the right barometer was for each scene.

In that same potential future, we see that she goes into the command structure. She becomes a first officer like her mentor, Una Chin-Riley. Is that where you personally would like to see her go, or do you have other ideas about where she ends up, or where you would prefer her to end up?

Chong: Well, I think that makes sense. I would love that because it feels like Una is her older sister-type thing. Una got her into Starfleet. She’s been her champion, her kind of supporter, confidant. And so I think she looks up to her and I think she sees that as her natural progression to do something like Una. So I think that’s completely right for her to be Kirk’s number one in the future.

In season one, La’an had a harder shell. She was someone that was very defined by her trauma. At the end of episode three, we see her come face to face with her own evil ancestor Khan when he wasn’t so evil, when he was a child. Do you feel that meeting him in that way allowed her to put her shame about her family history behind her finally?

Chong: Exactly. In that moment, there was huge growth for her. It was like the acceptance of seeing that little boy looking into that little boy’s eyes and realizing, oh, he wasn’t always that tyrant. He was a little boy and something made him like that. He wasn’t born with it. And so she chose to save him. Even at the risk of what is to come, because she’s not him, she’s not like him. She can’t do that. And now it’s realizing that she doesn’t have to carry that anymore, that good things can come from the bad. Also looking forward, looking to the positives. Looking at not being a victim of it anymore, accepting it, and moving forwards. Actually saying, “Okay, yes, this is me. I am a descendant of his, but I don’t have to carry it within me.”

Speaking of La’an’s trauma, the Gorn is a huge source of misery for her, as the only survivor of a horrific Gorn attack when she was a child. This represents a different kind of trauma that we don’t think she’ll ever be able to get past. Without giving too much away, is this something we’re going to be following up on in season two?

Chong: So that we’re talking about, PTSD really. And so I think with therapy is possible to get rid of those triggers, but I think trauma is always in there somewhere and it’s about managing it. Reframing it. And so getting so up close in person with the Gorn and finding that family, I think that’s all part of realizing that she’s not alone on this journey. Maybe they can overcome and fight the Gorn. So I think it will still be there on some level. But I don’t think she’s going to have it as close to the surface as it was in season one.

We know you’re releasing an EP soon, Twin Flames. What was it like to produce music at the same time that you’re filming a TV show that we know has very demanding hours? How did you find time to squeeze in a second career?

Chong: Well, I actually did it after we finished season two. I just put it out in the universe. I said, “If it’s meant be, it’ll be.” And so I ended up being connected to Ed Sheeran’s producer Jake Gosling, who produced the whole EP, and I was very lucky to work with him. So the single is out already. There’s going to be another single coming out July 7, and then they’re kind of dropping with the show until August 11th when the EP comes out. There are also plans to do acoustic versions, a Christmas Single, and more.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two drops new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.

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In the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ season two premiere, “The Broken Circle,” we saw Klingons on the show for the very first time. And much to the happiness of longtime Trekkers, their makeup was very much the design fans have known for most of Trek’s last forty years. Despite Strange New Worlds being a sequel to Discovery, producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers told Inverse that the “new look” Klingon makeup from Discovery is no more. Alonso Myers said “I think we were probably a little more influenced specifically by the look of the movies.” Goldsman added “Henry is very polite. I worked on Discovery and I’ll just say, it’s nice to have those Klingons in the rearview mirror.”

For casual fans who don’t know what the Strange New Worlds showrunners are talking about, here’s the short version. In Discovery’s first season in 2017, the Klingons were given a pretty radical redesign. Their look (and their ships) all seemed to be a totally different alien species. And given how Discovery was a prequel set ten years before the original series, it made little sense. Although the events of Discovery’s Klingon War get a mention in SNW’s season premiere, the makeup change did not. It seems producers just want us to forget that was a thing that happened. Although, it seems that the change came less from fan demand, and more from how much more taxing the heavy Discovery makeup was for the actors.

Of course, longtime Star Trek fans know this is not the first time Klingons have received a radical makeover. In the sixties series, the Klingons made seven appearances total. They had no forehead ridges, and just looked like humans with some very extreme facial hair. Ten years later, and with a feature film budget, the Klingons received the look everyone now knows, with the forehead ridges. This Klingon look became iconic, and lasted throughout the next three decades of Star Trek films and TV series. All until Discovery made a radical change.

Will Strange New Worlds ever bother to explain away the look of the Discovery Klingons? There is precedent for such a thing. On Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005, they finally explained after 40 years why the original Klingons looked the way they did. Long story short, it was due to a human-created genetic virus using DNA from human augments like Khan. A virus with effects that took a generation to shake off. Maybe one day, Star Trek will similarly explain away the look of the Discovery Klingons. This is one franchise that knows how to retcon pretty much anything.

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In the history of Star Trek, one villain still always rises to the top as the galaxy’s GOAT: Khan Noonien Singh. Ricardo Montalban first portrayed the genetically enhanced tyrant in the 1967 Original Series episode “Space Seed.” He then returned with a vengeance in the seminal 1982 classic Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. One of the main characters in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is Khan’s descendant, La’an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong). It was only a matter of time before Khan himself appeared in the series. However, Strange New Worlds brought in Khan in a different way. And it might have officially changed Star Trek canon as we know it.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Khan Is Just a Little Kid

The second season episode “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” has La’an and an alternate timeline version of James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) travel to the 21st century, specifically 2024 Toronto. Eventually, the pair learn that an undercover Romulan time traveler (Adelaide Kane) has been in the past for decades, all in an effort to change human history, by slowing down scientific progress. Her plan was to destroy a cold fusion reactor, which would destroy the city of Toronto. This Romulan first strike would have officially started the human/Romulan war well over a century early, erasing the existence of the Federation in the 23rd century. Much like the Borg in First Contact, the Federation’s enemies tried to erase the Federation’s existence by meddling with humanity’s past.

When Kirk and La’an put a dent into that plan, the Romulan agent goes to Plan B. She goes to the Noonien Singh Institute for Cultural Advancement. There, she plans to kill a young Khan (Desmond Sivan) who is around 10 years old. Her temporal computations predict that Khan would grow up and usher in a “dark age” on Earth, which allows the utopian world we know in Star Trek to emerge. So if Khan dies, Earth might never climb out of the darkness he causes. La’an kills the Romulan agent, saving young Khan, her own ancestor, and thus restoring her timeline. So how does this all change Star Trek canon? For the answer to that, we have to go back to 1967.

Star Trek’s 1960s History of the 1990s

In the canon of Trek, the history of the 20th century played out differently than in the real world. In the episode “Space Seed,” Star Trek revealed that great progress in genetic engineering in the late 20th century occurred. Eventually, a group of genetically engineered people, led by Khan, took over the governments of the world in 1992. By the year 1993, Khan and the augments had control of 40 nations. That’s a large chunk of the known world. They were eventually toppled, and Khan and several of his augments were exiled into space in suspended animation in the year 1996 on a sub-warp speed sleeper ship.

Captain Kirk then awakened Khan in the 23rd century, and he tried to take over the starship Enterprise. Spock described the crew of Khan’s ship, the S.S. Botany Bay, as relics of “…the mid-1990s. The era of Earth’s last so-called World War.” Dr. McCoy also gave the Third World War another name—the Eugenics Wars. Kirk finds a way to defeat Khan, and exiles him and his crew to the planet Ceti Alpha V. Some 15 years later, Khan escapes his planetary prison and attempts his revenge on Kirk. These events are familiar to anyone who has seen The Wrath of Khan. Spoiler alert, Khan fails, although Spock does briefly die.

Star Trek and Its Contradicting 20th and 21st Centuries

Star Trek canon has tried to ignore the events of Khan’s timeline, which has a given date for the events of his early life, ever since the 1990s came and went. In later chapters of Trek where various crews travel to the late 20th century Earth, there’s no mention of a dictator like Khan. Mind you, it’s never implied that Khan ruled over America. All these stories— Star Trek IV, the Voyager episode “Future’s End”— only visited the United States. One might infer that Khan was just being an evil tyrant off-screen on some other continent.

However, in Star Trek: First Contact, they imply heavily that World War III took place in the 2050s, not the 1990s. But the Picard season two finale, which took place in the year 2024, showed one of Data’s ancestors pulling out a file with the name “Project Khan, June 7, 1996” on it, suggesting Khan’s life took place in the ‘90s. So what gives? Maybe when it to modern Trek, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. But Strange New Worlds might have produced a retcon that explains away these inconsistencies with one big gesture.

The Time Travel Solution

It seems now that Star Trek canon is pivoting towards merging the Eugenics Wars and World War III as one event as originally suggested. With that event firmly in the 2050s, it makes sense that Khan would still be a child in 2024—although the writers of Strange New Worlds could have hand-waved the whole thing away. But the Romulan time traveler messing with Earth’s history mentions, “This was all supposed to happen in 1992!” She says they have fought entire temporal wars, changing the past. However, certain elements, presumably like the Eugenics Wars and Khan, keep reinserting themselves into the timeline.

This exposition dump in the episode may seem like just a big Star Trek in-joke at first, but it could actually explain every Khan-related continuity inconsistency away. Some time traveler’s meddling in the past changed things so that the emergence of Khan and his fellow genetic augments now occurs later than originally intended. So, maybe everything we knew about Khan we learned in “Space Seed” was true, at least at the time. At least until some Romulan meddling changed things into the way we know them now. Now, if only Strange New Worlds can explain why the swanky lounge on the Enterprise went away by the original series time.

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Paramount+ has canceled a number of shows, including the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy. The show, which brought Kate Mulgrew back as Captain Kathryn Janeway, is the only Star Trek show in the current slate to target a younger audience. Besides canceling the Star Trek series, Paramount+ has also canceled The Game, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, and Queen of the Universe. Furthermore, the company will soon be removing the four series from the streaming service entirely.

The news comes right before Paramount+ and Showtime launch as a single service. A spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter the following:

As we prepare to combine Paramount+ and Showtime later this month in the U.S., we are refining our content offering to deliver the best streaming experience for subscribers. This is consistent with our content strategy since launch and across our business, which ensures we make smart, efficient choices, informed by audience data and insights. We are removing select programming as we look to optimize Showtime’s robust slate of premium originals.

Star Trek: Prodigy was renewed for a second season in November 2021. The good news is the series will still complete post-production for that season and maybe find life elsewhere. CBS Studios will shop both seasons around. Still, it could be a while before we see Prodigy continue. This trend of streamers dropping content as if it never existed is troubling, but unfortunately, as long as it continues to offer a cost savings, we don’t anticipate it changing.

Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman, who write on the show, shared the above hopeful message on Twitter. They make a great point about how Prodigy serves younger fans. It introduces a whole new generation to the wonderful Star Trek universe.

Additionally, Aaron J. Waltke, an executive producer on the show, shared an in-depth thread about what fans can do to help the canceled Star Trek: Prodigy. You can check out his Twitter for a complete list of ideas, but among them, Waltke suggested streaming the show while it’s available, using viral hashtags, and purchasing Prodigy digitally and in physical form.

We will keep our fingers crossed for this Star Trek series!

Originally published on June 23, 2023.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds sailed into season two recently, returning less than a year after its debut. And, there was one major immediate cliffhanger to resolve from season one: the unexpected arrest of first officer Una Chin-Riley. In episode two, “Ad Astra Per Apsera,” fans finally found out the fate of Una’s Starfleet career. The Una-centric episode pays homage to Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Measure of a Man” episode. In it, Data was similarly on trial over a question of his rights and ability to serve in Starfleet. “Ad Astra Per Aspera” shares some structural and thematic beats with “Measure of a Man” for sure. But Strange New Worlds also has a unique, utterly memorable ace up its sleeve: Yetide Badaki as Neera. 

The episode picks up on the eve of Una’s trial, where she’s presented with an unattractive ultimatum. She must either take a plea deal that will lead to her dishonorable discharge from Starfleet or challenge the court martial and risk a lengthy stint in jail. Unwilling to go down without a fight, Una (and Pike, the epitome of a best friend/captain with an unwavering loyalty to her) opts to take Starfleet to court. But there’s a half-hearted defense attorney (on Starfleet’s payroll, no less) assigned to her case. So Una and Pike secure the services of one of the quadrant’s most notoriously fierce lawyers. Enter Badaki’s Neera, one of Una’s fellow Illyrians.

Una and Neera share a species; however, it quickly becomes clear that they’re not cut from the same cloth. Instead of jumping at the chance to defend another Illyrian against Starfleet in court, Neera is initially dismissive of Una’s predicament. From Neera’s perspective, Una is a traitor to the Illyrian people. She feels that Una “abandoned” her planet and disowned a deeply ingrained part of her Illyrian culture (genetic modifications) in order to assimilate in Starfleet. Neera eventually takes the case (thanks to Pike’s stubbornness), but explains she isn’t doing it out of any goodwill towards Una. She wants to provide a voice for Illyrians who “can’t or won’t pretend to be who they really are,” and this case is her best shot at sticking it to Starfleet.

The idea of genetic modifications getting a crew member in trouble with Starfleet isn’t a new one. “Measure of a Man” is the obvious inspiration for “Ad Astra Per Aspera.” But Deep Space Nine’s “Doctor Bashir, I Presume” also sees a beloved officer (Alexander Siddig’s Doctor Bashir) in hot water over hiding his genetic modifications from Starfleet. But while “Doctor Bashir, I Presume” explores identity and the treatment of children with disabilities, Strange New Worlds presents Una’s plight through an entirely new lens. The series focuses on structural corruption and long-standing prejudice within Starfleet itself.

The exploration of Starfleet as an aspirational but very flawed vision of the future was a theme first introduced in The Next Generation. So returning to it in Strange New World through an episode that parallels a TNG all-timer makes perfect thematic sense. Interestingly, the episode doesn’t give most of the philosophical heavy-lifting and monologues to Una or even Captain Pike. Instead, it’s a new, one-off character who gets to steal the show. 

It’s difficult to remember another recent Star Trek episode that functions so wholeheartedly as a star turn for a guest actor. But bringing in Neera to fight on Una’s behalf isn’t just an opportunity for the series to highlight grade-A talent. In addition to letting Badaki work her magic, spotlighting Neera is a necessary break from tradition to make the episode work on a narrative and thematic level. Pike and Una are plenty aware of the deep flaws and prejudices within Starfleet. However, they are relatively idealistic, starry-eyed officers who hold the organization with a great deal of respect.

They may rail against the decisions being passed down regarding Una’s hidden genetic ancestry. But for them to suddenly take to the stand decrying Starfleet’s extensive history of bigotry and injustice would be a pretty significant heel-turn. This is especially true considering they’re both still eagerly serving aboard the Enterprise for the rest of the season. In recruiting Neera, Strange New Worlds is able to launch a wholehearted, in-depth criticism of Starfleet without miswriting one of their pre-existing characters. 

Once Neera, Una, and co. take to the courtroom, it quickly becomes clear that Neera doesn’t just see this case as a one-off favor for another member of her species. By taking Una’s case, Neera is at long last given the platform to tell a high ranking Starfleet official (to their face) that their laws, codes, and customs are backward and bigoted.

Any time the morality of Starfleet itself is challenged, there’s almost always a dust-up in the Trek fandom. However, Neera’s grudge against Starfleet isn’t just presented as a cut-and-dry “she’s right they’re wrong” situation in Strange New Worlds. Dana Horgan’s script goes to great pains to paint Neera as a very passionate individual with flaws and predispositions of her own. Neera may be fighting for the right cause and helping our intrepid heroes. But she’s also a scrappy lawyer willing to resort to low blows if it means a case will sway her way. This conflict of interest in turn gives Badaki plenty of wiggle room to form a complex, multi-faceted character over the course of the episode.

That’s what’s so compelling about Neera in Strange New Worlds. In her deep passion to fight for the cause of the Illyrian, her personal feelings towards Starfleet come dangerously close to jeopardizing Una’s case in the name of tackling a larger, more “important” issue. That righteous fury is evident in every shift of her rigid posture and impassioned delivery. Though Neera is a strong character on the page, the intensity and strength Badaki brings to the character makes her truly memorable.

When the crew of the Enterprise applauds Neera for her victory at the episode, you can’t help but clap along with them. It’s a powerful performance and an astoundingly well-written, multi-faceted character that elevates “Ad Astra Per Aspera” beyond just a rehash of classic Trek courtroom episode. 

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuted last year and brought an electric energy to the universe. The story of Captain Christopher Pike’s Enterprise, with its dynamic and dynamite crew, captured a sort of Star Trek magic. If you haven’t checked out the series yet due to a lack of Paramount+, now is your time. The streaming service has put all of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on YouTube for free (via Polygon). That’s 10 episodes to get to know the characters as they bounce around on missions of exploration and aid.

Yes, it is a blatant move to pull in new Strange New Worlds viewership ahead of the upcoming second season, but it’s surprising that Paramount+ dropped the whole first season on YouTube rather than only a few episodes. It’s an excellent opportunity to give this series a try, though. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has character arcs that develop over the season, but it pairs those with adventure-of-the-week vibes that keep things fresh. You’ll visit different planets, meet different aliens, and learn how absolutely horrifying the Gorn can be.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season one will be available to watch free on YouTube through June 30. When you inevitably get hooked on Strange New Worlds and watch the whole first season, you won’t have to wait long for more. Season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres on Paramount+ on June 15.

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We got our first look at season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with a teaser chock full of emotion, adventure, and Spock being Spock. But now, the full trailer for Strange New Worlds season two has been released. And in addition to showcasing more of our favorite familiar faces, this trailer also gives us a look at a highly-anticipated Star Trek crossover event. Yes, the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks is going live-action and crossing over into the Strange New Worlds universe. In the trailer for season two, we get a glimpse of live-action Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler, played by Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid. We can also expect to see animation coming into the live-action world of the show.

You can watch the full Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two trailer below.

The synopsis for the season shares a bit more about what we can expect to see. It notes:

Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Spock (Ethan Peck) and the rest of the Enterprise crew are back exploring strange new worlds and boldly going where no one has gone before.

Short and to the point! But the trailer promises we’re going to go deep into the crew’s adventures. A blog post on Star Trek‘s official website notes that “In Season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, confronts increasingly dangerous stakes, explores uncharted territories and encounters new life and civilizations. The crew will also embark on personal journeys that will continue to test their resolve and redefine their destinies. Facing friends and enemies both new and familiar, their adventures will unfold in surprising ways never seen before on any Star Trek series.”

In addition to a season trailer, Paramount+ also released a clip showcasing the beginning of the trial of Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn). Starfleet arrested Number One at the end of the first season after learning she is an enhanced human, something wholly illegal. The clip shows various members of the crew giving testimony as to Una’s alleged sedition. While La’an (Christina Chong) and Dr. M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) highlight Una’s sterling character, Spock (Ethan Peck) alludes to her hiding something. We’ll have to wait for the season to find out what he says.

Well, that’s basically everything we love most about Star Trek. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two releases on June 15. The series streams exclusively on Paramount+.

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Every so often, you have an opinion that boldly goes where no one has before. I doubt my affection for Star Trek Into Darkness is exclusive to me. We defenders exist in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, in a deep pocket of space otherwise forgotten. For some Trekkies, Into Darkness is the worst of the worst—a film that uses sweeping parallels to things done best in better projects. And while I’d never suggest Into Darkness tops Wrath of Khan, I’d urge those who’ve entirely written it off to take another look. Star Trek Into Darkness is better than you might remember for reasons you might not suspect. 

It’s understandable why the movie miffs so many people when you consider the context of its release. A sequel to the 2009 J.J. Abrams-directed reboot of the Star Trek series, Into Darkness invited speculation early in production when it cast Benedict Cumberbatch as a villain. Though his character was called John Harrison, rumors swirled that the name was a false identity. Fans believed Cumberbatch was instead playing iconic Trek villain Khan Noonien Singh. Those rumors only strengthened during the promotion of the film. But Cumberbatch and returning director Abrams repeatedly shot them down. So much so that by the time the movie came out on May 16, 2013, we were all pretty sick of the conversation.

I’ll never forget sitting in an IMAX theater on opening night and hearing the audience’s collective groan when it turned out John Harrison was, indeed, Khan. Despite Cumberbatch’s protestations, it was so expected that it was immediately annoying.

I still liked the film overall, and it was generally well-received at the time. Into Darkness has an 84% fresh approval on Rotten Tomatoes. It did pretty well at the box office, too, grossing $467.4 million against a $190 million budget. But disdain for the film has grown these last 10 years. The annoying Khan reveal—and the press circus leading up to it—cast a shadow over its legacy, as did the film’s other callbacks to Wrath of Khan. It was the first time we really saw Abrams’ over-reliance on that which came before, a hat trick he’d carry into the Star Wars franchise a few years later.

And yet, I can’t help but have a soft spot for Into Darkness. The film does a lot to “earn” that reliance on the past. That may seem like an excuse for lazy storytelling, but I don’t think it is. There are in-universe reasons for the parallels to Wrath of Khan organically baked into the story. If you recall, in Star Trek (2009), a Romulan mining vessel commanded by Nero (Eric Bana) emerges from the future and attacks the USS Kelvin, a Starfleet ship. The incursion alters the course of history, creating an alternate reality separate from the established canon. The impacts of this event ripple through time. The event reshapes the lives of familiar characters, alters their relationships, and generates distinct storylines.

The idea of a parallel universe isn’t just the stuff of science fiction but has roots in real-world quantum theory. In the mid-20th century, the “Many Worlds” theory posited that multiple realities exist as distinct entities without interaction. However, more recently, some quantum physicists speculate that parallel worlds might actually overlap and exist in the same region of time and space simultaneously. If that’s the case, an infinite number of realities might exist. Many of them would be incredibly similar to the one we’re living in right now. Events in one universe could “trickle into” another, initiating parallels and overlaps that keep our worlds in constant conversation.

That might sound like a pretty basic concept to port into a Star Trek film. Still, I think the Kelvin timeline is rather elegant in using quantum theory as character development. I give a lot of credit to Abrams’ casting of the 2009 film. Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Karl Urban as Bones, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, and the late Anton Yelchin as Chekov add so much to these films. Their chemistry is pitch-perfect, and the family bonds established in Star Trek carry beautifully into the sequel.

The basic set-up of Into Darkness—a terrorist attack on Starfleet that comes from within leads the Enterprise crew on a mission to capture “a one-man weapon of mass destruction”—is immediately knowable and felt. We recognize the stakes because we already care deeply about this new cast, charming and colorful as they are. 

The parallel worlds thing would be lazy if we didn’t have these perfect ingredients. The love between the Kelvin-timeline Kirk and Spock doesn’t lean too hard on our history with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. When we learn John Harrison—the commander responsible for the attack on Starfleet—is Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman awoken from centuries of sleep by Starfleet admiral Alexander Marcus to develop new superweapons, we know where things will go. The rest of the film plays out as a loose homage, ending with a mirrored version of Spock’s touching sacrifice in Wrath of Khan after saving the Enterprise’s warp drive. In Into Darkness, Kirk saves the drive, sharing an inverse of the iconic hand-touch moment before succumbing to radiation poisoning. (Unlike Spock in Khan, however, Kirk in Into Darkness is revived by the film’s end.) 

Suppose we believe that alternate universes occupy the same space-time, thereby influencing timelines relative to their own. In that case, it makes sense that events as prominent as those in the Wrath of Khan would seep into nearby worlds. I know some fans take issue with the rushed nature of the plotting. When Spock dies in Khan, he’s spent decades with Kirk. Kelvin-timeline Kirk has only known Spock a few years. But this doesn’t bother me. The preceding events are catastrophic and distinct enough that new stakes emerge. And Pine and Quinto sell it like hell. Pine’s delivery of “I’m scared, Spock…help me not be,” and Quinto’s crestfallen face bring me to tears every time. It’s an inversion of something familiar but not a cheap one.

I can’t and won’t defend some things about Into Darkness. The immediate reversal of Kirk’s death irks me. And then there’s the whitewashing of Khan, which is not only offensively shortsighted (Khan is a non-white Sikh in canon) but also boring. There’s also the gratuitous scene revealing Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) in her underwear. The moment has zero bearing on the plot or character and feels like the cheap sexualization of a young actress. That one’s so bad the filmmakers—including co-writer Damon Lindelof—have since apologized for it.

So no, Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t some misbegotten masterpiece. The more aggressive flaws are inexcusable, if not downright retrograde, and I won’t argue with legacy Trekkies that the film bests anything that came before. It isn’t worthy of cultural reappraisal in the way something like a Kubrick movie—misunderstood at its time before growing into an all-time classic—might be. But I think it’s a fascinating watch in 2023, considering the “requels” that now proliferate culture. Abrams and crew found a way to weave science into myth and give us powerful character moments that transcend some unfortunate aspects.

Despite its imperfections, Star Trek Into Darkness is a fascinating and highly entertaining pop culture artifact. From the exhilarating space-driving scene to the spine-tingling moment when Uhura confronts the Klingons, it’s full of scenes that remind you just how fun Star Trek can be and how great this cast is. Ten years on, it fits nicely into the ever-expanding Trek canon, guiding the evolution of legacy storytelling toward audacious new frontiers, even with some bumps along the way.

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For over 50 years, the Star Trek franchise has given us many iterations of the starship Enterprise. With the recent finale of Star Trek: Picard, we’re now up to a whopping 10 Starfleet vessels by that name. However, the sets and schematics for many of the Enterprise starships of the past have been lost to time. Thankfully, the folks at the Roddenberry Archive, who have been cataloging the life and legacy of Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, have put together digital recreations of each Enterprise bridge, with help from YouTube channel OTOY. This includes bridges from that first 1964 pilot episode all the way to the last episode of Picard. You can check out All the Enterprises A-Z, narrated by Q actor John de Lancie, right here:

The video begins with the very first sketches for the Enterprise back in 1964, by designer Pato Guzman. We then see the Enterprise bridge in its various iterations in the ”60s original series. And the video leaves no cosmic stone unturned. We get a more realistic look at the bridge from the first animated series, as well as that for the lost 1970s series, Star Trek: Phase II. Even the designs for the Enterprise from the Star Trek movie that never was, Planet of the Titans, gets a nod. That unrealized ship later became the inspiration for the U.S.S. Discovery decades later. Of course, every TV Enterprise from The Next Generation on gets a highlight.

In addition, we get the Enterprise from alternate timelines as well, like the Kelvin timeline from the J.J. Abrams films, and the 26th century version seen in an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. The video is totally up to date for the Star Trek franchise, as it showcases the bridges for the Enterprise-F, briefly glimpsed in the last season of Picard, and the new Enterprise-G, now under the command of Captain Seven of Nine.

For more detailed information on each Enterprise, head on over to the official Roddenberry Archive site.

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Star Trek: Picard has ended its third and final season, to both critical and fan acclaim. The season was chock-full of references to the entire Star Trek franchise’s past. And while some were just fun Easter eggs, others seemed like definite teases for future stories. Where would those stories play out? While we’re hoping for a Star Trek: Legacy series, that’s currently not in actual development. But we imagine they could continue these threads in a variety of future series, or possibly even films. Here are the teases Picard dropped in season three which caused us to raise our eyebrows, Spock-style.

Captain Kirk’s Body

One of the many secret things that Section 31 was hiding aboard Daystrom Station, as seen in the episode “The Bounty,” was the corpse of James T. Kirk. Or is it a corpse? The computer readout suggests there are possibly life signs. The body of Starfleet’s most iconic Captain now stored in a secret lab opens up a whole can of worms. And honestly, it’s one we’re dying to see opened.

Picard showrunner Terry Matalas has suggested that this Easter egg was a tribute to William Shatner’s 1996 Star Trek novel The Return, which saw a Borg/Romulan alliance resurrect Captain Kirk after his death in the film Generations. That storyline would be impossible to adapt faithfully now, but we still want to know what Section 31 is attempting to do with Kirk’s body. There’s got to be a story there.

The Genesis II Device

One of the Federation’s most incredible scientific achievements was the Genesis Device, which played a key role in parts II, III, and IV of the original films. Conceived by Doctors Carol and David Marcus, the latter being the son of James T. Kirk, Genesis could create “life from lifelessness.” A missile that would carry the Genesis matrix could instantly transform a dead moon into a living planet.

However, the Genesis Device could also destroy an already existing inhabited world. The device ultimately proved faulty, and the Genesis-created planet violently self-destructed in The Search for Spock. But if they created a second Genesis device, then it may have deadly consequences for the galaxy. Especially if it was only created as a weapon. Seeing a “Genesis II” device at Daystrom Station in Picard, we really want to know who thought recreating such a potential Doomsday device was a good idea, and what they intend to use it for.

The Remaining Rogue Changelings

The main bad guys of Picard season three were a group of rogue changelings from the Dominion, who worked with the Borg Queen to take out Starfleet. Most of these rogue changelings were once tortured and experimented on by Section 31, transformed for all time. So they are not going to let go of that animosity anytime soon. While Amanda Plummer’s character, Captain Vadic, may be dead (probably), as the final episode of Picard showed, many are still out there. And we doubt they are through being a threat to the Federation and its allies.

The Mystery of Worf and the Enterprise-E

Although Geordi La Forge was able to salvage the saucer section of the old Enterprise-D and restore her, her namesake starship was not so fortunate. The other members of the Enterprise crew mention the Enterprise-E in the past tense, suggesting something happened to her, presumably under the command of Captain Worf. It must have been something from which the ship could not recover. Everyone looked straight at Worf at this moment, to which he said “That was NOT my fault.” So, what did Captain Worf do to the Enterprise-E? Crash it? Blow it up? There just has to be a great story there, and we are amped to hear what that is.

Q and Jack Crusher

At the end of Picard’s second season, the seemingly immortal Q appeared to die. Although from what we never found out. Or at least that’s what he told his favorite lower-life form in the galaxy, Jean-Luc Picard. But Q, once again played by John de Lancie, popped up on the new Enterprise-G, in a post-credits scene. He reminds Jack Crusher that while humanity’s trial has ended for his father, it’s only now getting started with him. What Q could mean by that is a total mystery, but it’s one that we really, really want to know the answer to.

While we’d love to see these breadcrumbs followed up on a future series or movie, we’re not opposed to other media. A novel about Captain Worf and the Enterprise-E? A comic book about Section 31’s nefarious plans for Genesis? We’d be down for any of those. Certainly, there are enough hints in Picard’s final season to supply many years worth of stories. And we can’t wait for them to be told.

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Star Trek: Picard has wrapped up its glorious final season, ending with a bit of a tease for the future. Towards the end of the episode, we learn that our Starfleet “Hero Ship” of the season, the Titan, has been rechristened as the new U.S.S. Enterprise. Seven of Nine is her Captain, and among her crew are Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), son of Beverly Crusher and Jean Luc Picard, and Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut), daughter of Geordi La Forge.

These inclusions have us wondering. Could a potential Star Trek: Legacy spinoff, focusing on the crew of the new Enterprise, have a role for all the kids of the TNG crew? While they shouldn’t all be crewmembers on board the Enterprise, as that would be a tad cheesy, they could still all have parts to play in the potential show. A “Next Next Generation.” Here are the kids of the classic Enterprise-D crew we hope to see in a future spin-off, should Paramount+ ever greenlight this series.

Kestra Troi-Riker

We first met Kestra Troi-Riker (Lulu Wilson) in Picard’s first season episode, “Nepenthe.” She was the second child of the former Enterprise crewmates William Riker and Deanna Troi and about 14 when we met her. Although only seen in that one episode, Kestra Troi-Riker was portrayed as an adventurous kid with a lot of spunk. Although she clearly carried a great sadness due to the loss of her older brother Thaddeus.

In a piece of dialogue cut from Picard season three’s “Surrender,” the show was going to reveal that Kestra was attending Starfleet Academy. So maybe once she graduates, she gets an assignment on the Enterprise-G? Again, we hesitate to place all the kids of the TNG crew as Enterprise-G officers. We would mostly just want them to appear in different capacities. However, if we got to include just one more as a crew member, Kestra Troi-Riker would make the most sense.

Soji Asha

Much of the plot of season one of Picard revolved around the mystery of Data’s children, particularly Soji Asha (Isa Briones). Soji was created by scientists Bruce Maddox and Altan Soong, the son of Data’s creator Noonien Soong. They took a single positronic neuron of the then-deceased android Data and used it to create new, more human-sentient androids. These twins were Soji Asha and her sister Dahj. Although Romulan extremists sadly murdered Dhaj, her synthetic sister survived.

We last saw Soji on the planet Raritan IV, where she was on a diplomatic tour advocating for the newly unbanned synths. As far as we know, Soji never met her father Data, who is now living in a flesh-and-blood body of his own. But that father/daughter reunion is one we would want to see on a Star Trek: Picard spinoff. We do think it would be a stretch to have Soji as a member of the crew. However, given her relationship with both Seven and Raffi, she would cross paths with them at some point. Not to mention also work together with the children of her dad’s Enterprise-D family.

Alexander Rhozenko

Not all the kids of the Enterprise-D crew were introduced in Picard. Worf was the first TNG crew member to have a child, back when TNG was still airing new episodes. In season four of The Next Generation, Worf met his son Alexander, whom he had with his old flame K’Ehleyr. When they killed his half-Klingon/half-human former girlfriend, Worf became a single father. And usually, he wasn’t very good at it.

Alexander grew up partly on the Enterprise-D, and partly raised by Worf’s human parents on Earth. As a teen, he joined the crew of a Klingon Bird of Prey, as seen on Deep Space Nine. We haven’t seen Alexander in over thirty years. So it would be great to this “Enterprise kid” on a Picard spinoff series, possibly now as a Klingon warrior of great renown. It would be cool if he were a Klingon Captain, and we saw his Bird of Prey working alongside his dad’s old friends on the new Enterprise. A variety of actors played Alexander—so a recast wouldn’t be out of the question.

Sela

Tasha Yar is often regarded as the forgotten Enterprise-D crew member. Actress Denise Crosby left the role of the Enterprise security chief at the end of season one of TNG, and her character was killed off. But an alternate timeline Tasha appeared in the season three episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” In that episode, she went back in time to the prime reality in order to die a more honorable death. But it turned out she didn’t die after all.

Romulans captured alt-Tasha, and after marrying one, they had a child together. That child grew up to be Romulan Commander Sela, also played by Crosby. She faced off against Picard and his crew a handful of times. As far as we know, Sela is still out there—unless she died in the destruction of Romulus. But we have a feeling she survived. Since Denise Crosby didn’t get to come back for Picard’s final season, Legacy could be the perfect place to bring her back. We’d love to know how the last thirty years have changed her.

Wesley Crusher

Last but definitely not least, we can’t forget the original child of an Enterprise officer, the one and only Wesley Crusher. Wesley, played by Wil Wheaton, was the son of Dr. Beverly Crusher and the late Jack Crusher, Jean-Luc Picard’s best friend. After a time at Starfleet Academy, Wesley’s true nature as a Traveler was revealed to him, a being that lives outside of space and time. We didn’t see him again until a cameo scene at the end of Picard season two, where he recruited a new Traveler into the fold.

The show explained that the Travelers ensured the flow of time in the universe, recruiting agents to act on their behalf. In Picard season 3, Beverly heavily implies that she has not seen Wesley in decades and that he remains lost to her. But Wesley is not dead, and it seems a meeting with his brother Jack is in order. Certainly, Jack might have some resentment towards Wes, who not only abandoned their mother, but who also had the benefit of having Picard as a father figure… Even though he was not his biological son. Think of the drama! It would certainly be a story worth telling on a Picard spinoff.

All seasons of Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: The Next Generation are streaming now on Paramount+.

The post Other ‘Enterprise Kids’ We Want in a STAR TREK: PICARD Spinoff appeared first on Nerdist.

The first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard had their share of Easter eggs for longtime fans to spot. But season three blew the previous two out of the water in this regard. With the final season a swan song for the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, the producers stuffed these episodes full of fun winks and nods for fans. Here are a few of the best ones we spotted in Picard‘s episodes.

Jump to Easter Eggs From: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five // Episode Six // Episode Seven // Episode Eight // Episode Nine // Episode 10

Picard Episode One “The Next Generation” Easter eggs

The Opening Title Card

The opening title card says “In the 25th Century…” This didn’t just tell us when the show took place, but it’s a direct homage to how the title card from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan appeared. Only in that film, it said “In the 23rd Century…” Even the font is the same.

Aboard the S.S. Eleos

Among Dr. Crusher’s belongings we saw aboard her medical vessel the Eleos was the Comedy and Tragedy masks, which represented Beverly’s time running an acting class on the Enterprise-D. This was something we saw in the TNG episode “The Nth Degree.” She and Lt. Barclay even did a production of Cyrano de Bergerac together.

We also see her orchids, which we once saw in her Enterprise quarters in “Cause and Effect.” There’s also a large case with the belongings of her deceased husband Jack Crusher, which she brought out of storage on Earth in the episode “Family.”

We also see a plaque honoring her service in saving the planet Cor Caroli V from a deadly plague. We saw the aftermath of that event in the third season TNG episode “Allegiance.” Most importantly, there’s an old Enterprise-D computer console, which is playing Captain Picard’s log entry from the episode “The Best of Both Worlds,” where the crew faced off against the Borg Collective.

Inside Picard’s Office

Hanging in his office was Picard’s painting of the Enterprise-D, which we saw displayed in his Ready Room on TNG. On his office desk was the Ressikan flute he learned to play when he lived another lifetime in the episode “The Inner Light.” Also on his desk was an ancient artifact given to him by his mentor and archaeology professor Dr. Galen. It was a Third Dynasty Kurlan naiskos, something Galen gave him in the sixth season TNG episode “The Chase.”

In Ten-Forward

At Guinan’s bar Ten Forward in Los Angeles, we found the bartenders selling souvenirs for the upcoming Frontier Day. This is a day celebrating the founding of Starfleet. They had an overstock of Enterprise-D models at the bar, as the bartenders said “nobody wants the fat ones.” Riker doesn’t care for this Enterprise-D shade, and we don’t either. Show some respect, young lady. That was the Federation flagship once.

Starfleet Spacedock

The massive Earth-orbiting Starfleet Spacedock was shown, now expanded with extra levels. The Spacedock first appeared in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and then appeared in the following three movies. The model was also used a few times on TNG. However, there it was meant to represent a different spacedock, one not in orbit of Earth. This is the first time we’ve seen it in the era of Jean-Luc Picard.

On Board the Titan

The newly retrofitted U.S.S. Titan is itself an Easter egg of a sort on Picard. The ship was given to the newly minted Captain Riker at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis to command, but we never actually saw her. It finally appeared on Star Trek: Lower Decks, which takes place almost 20 years before Picard season three. But this Titan has been retrofitted to the new Constitution Class model, and is now considered the Titan-A.

When Admiral Picard and Captain Riker board the Titan for their inspection, we hear the classic nautical boatswain whistle upon their entrance. This recalls Admiral James T. Kirk’s arrival on the Enterprise for his inspection in Wrath of Khan.

When the crew of the Titan stands in formation for the arriving Picard and Riker, we see officers from various classic alien races. There’s a green Orion, a Vulcan, a Trill, and perhaps the deepest cut, what looks like a Chalnoth. We first saw this usually savage alien race in the TNG episode “Allegiance”

When Picard and Riker have their extremely awkward dinner with Captain Shaw on board the Titan, Jean-Luc hands him a bottle of wine from his own vineyard, Chateau Picard.

Raffi’s Mission

When we first meet Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) this season, she’s on the planet M’Talas Prime. This is a cute little Easter egg nod to Picard showrunner Terry Matalas. Raffi’s under deep cover on a mission for Starfleet Intelligence, searching for a deadly weapon stolen from the Daystrom Station. The Daystrom Institute was first named-dropped on TNG, and referenced scientist Richard Daystrom. He first appeared in the TOS episode “The Ultimate Computer.” Daystrom Institute in Okinawa, Japan was first seen in Picard season one.

Captain Rachel Garrett

Raffi is looking for something or someone called “The Red Lady.” She’s not sure if it’s a person, a ship, or something else. It turns out, it’s a statue. We then see that there’s a red statue in front of a Starfleet recruitment center of Captain Rachel Garrett. She was in command of the Enterprise-C, and she gave her life to save a Klingon base on Narendra III. This took place 25 years prior to The Next Generation. This act cemented the peace treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. We met her in the classic TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”

Beverly in Cryofreeze

This one’s not a reference relating to the Star Trek franchise, but another classic sci-fi franchise, Alien. When Riker and Picard board the Eleos, they find Beverly in cryofreeze, in what seems like a nod to how they discovered a frozen Lt. Ellen Ripley at the beginning of James Cameron’s Aliens.

Closing Credits Sequence

Even the end credits sequence for Picard season three is one giant Easter egg. There are close-up shots of LCARS interfaces from a starship, potentially teasing future episodes. One has a readout for a Holodeck program for Guinan’s Ten-Forward bar in Los Angeles.

Another mentions the destruction of a ship called the Constance, cited as “War Damage.” The only ship by that name in the franchise was a Constellation Class vessel from the TNG game Birth of the Federation from 1999.

A readout for the Starfleet museum shows that as the final resting place for Voyager, Kirk’s Enterprise-A, and Captain Sulu’s Excelsior. Another ship, Pioneer, is from the Star Trek Online game.

The music used for the closing credits is Jerry Goldsmith’s theme from Star Trek: First Contact, which segues into his classic theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which also doubled as the Star Trek: The Next Generation theme.

Jump to Easter Eggs From: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five // Episode Six // Episode Seven // Episode Eight // Episode Nine // Episode 10

Picard Episode Two “Disengage” Easter eggs

Here are some of the Easter eggs we spotted in Picard episode two, titled “Disengage.”

Romulan Ale

In the episode’s opening flashback, we saw the S.S. Eleos going through an inspection. Among Jack Crusher’s (Ed Speleers) contraband onboard the Eleos were several bottles of Romulan Ale. The drink is illegal in Federation space, but that has never stopped Starfleet officers from imbibing frequently.

An Old-School Music Cue

When the enemy starship Shrike appears in front of the Titan, the score sounds a lot like the original music cue when the Romulans first appeared in the classic TOS episode “Balance of Terror.” That would make two references in modern Trek to that episode recently. Strange New Worlds also paid homage to it.

An Homage to an Underappreciated Vulcan

The Titan’s destroyed shuttlecraft bore the name Saavik. That’s the name of the Vulcan officer introduced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, played by Kirstie Alley. Robin Curtis continued the role in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Recent data files released for Picard season three show that Saavik was the captain of the first U.S.S. Titan. The shuttle’s red script font is the same one from the shuttlecraft Galileo in the sixties TV series. It’s a very clever Easter egg that Picard left for us to find.

Transporter Inhibitors Return

The transporter inhibitors used to keep Jack Crusher from beaming onto an enemy ship were first introduced in Star Trek: Insurrection. In that film, Data used them to prevent transporting off a Starfleet shuttle. He later used them to keep the citizens of the planet Ba’ku from beaming away.

The Synthetic Man

When Vadic (Amanda Plummer) appears on the view screen and meets Picard face to face, she refers to meeting him “in the synthetic flesh.” This refers directly to the end of Picard season one, where the Jean-Luc Picard we knew died, and was reborn in a new synthetic flesh and blood body.

New Ferengi with an Old Name

Raffi meets with a Ferengi crime lord named Sneed on M’Atalas Prime. Although Sneed is a new character, he was possibly named for a Starfleet officer from the novel The Long Night. His appearance was very reminiscent of a Ferengi crimelord from The Next Generation named Omag, who we first met in the episode “Unification.”

A Familiar Space Station?

When Raffi (Michelle Hurd) meets with her ex-husband to get information, we see what looks like Deep Space Nine on a background monitor. Although we suppose it could be another Cardassian space station with a similar design, it sure does seem like Picard planted this Easter egg for our enjoyment.

Starship Collision Course

When the Shrike used its tractor beam to literally throw another starship at the Titan, thus crashing into her spectacularly, it recalls similar “two starships ramming into each other” moments from the franchise’s history. We saw this first in the TNG episode “Cause and Effect.” Later, in the Voyager episode “Year of Hell.” Most famously, the Enterprise-E rammed itself into the warbird Scimitar in the film Nemesis.

Jack Crusher’s Shady Past

As Captain Shaw (Todd Stashwick) went through Jack Crusher’s record, he discovered one of his aliases was “James Cole.” That’s a character from Terry Matalas’ series 12 Monkeys. When Jean-Luc also later goes through all of Jack’s arrests and citations, he names drops well-known Trek planets like Andoria. However, he also mentions Bynar III, home of an alien race not seen since TNG’s first season episode “11001001.”

Section 31

Sneed name-drops Section 31, Starfleet’s off-the-books intelligence agency. The agency first appeared in Deep Space Nine, where it played a big part in many episodes. It later popped up in Star Trek: Into Darkness and Discovery. The agency’s existence was more like an urban myth. Now it seems even the Ferengi know about it in this Picard Easter egg.

An Entrance Worthy of a Warrior

When Worf (Michael Dorn) first appears to rescue Raffi, we hear Jerry Goldsmith’s Klingon theme music. It was first introduced in the opening moments of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Later, it became Worf’s defacto theme music by Star Trek: First Contact, which Goldsmith also scored.

Jack Crusher’s Daring Escape

Jack Crusher’s escape from the Titan’s brig was a callback to the Angosian soldier Roga Danar from the third season TNG episode “The Hunted.” In that episode, Danar leaned on his ingenuity and combat experience to get out of a jail cell surrounded by a force field.

The Titan’s Doctor Hails from a Familiar World

The doctor on board the Titan is a Trill, the same species as Jadzia and Ezri Dax on DS9. The joined species were first introduced in the TNG episode “The Host,” with a very different alien appearance.

Enemy Ship with a Familiar Name

Vadic’s ship, the Shrike, was also the class of a Romulan vessel. We saw it in the TNG video games Starfleet Command, Armada, and Armada II. Could this be a hint at a Romulan connection?

Hiding in the Nebula

The final moments of episode two saw the Titan going into a nebula to hide from the Shrike. This is a direct callback to the Enterprise hiding from the Reliant in Wrath of Khan.

Picard Episode Three “Seventeen Seconds” Easter eggs

The Birth of Riker and Troi’s Son

In the flashback opening scene, which takes place in 24th-century Los Angeles at the Ten Forward bar, we see Riker and Picard having a toast to Will’s newborn son Thaddeus. Riker mentions that it was a difficult birth, and he was afraid he was going to lose him. This foreshadows Thad’s untimely death we learned about in Picard season one.

Seven of Nine’s Little Piece of Home

We see a model of the U.S.S. Voyager in Seven of Nine’s crew quarters, while she tinkers with some electronics while confined to quarters by Captain Shaw.

Beverly and Jean-Luc’s Big Conversation

When Beverly Crusher and Picard see each other again and discuss their son Jack after so many decades, it recalls the conversation Captain Kirk and his former lover Carol Marcus had about their son David in Wrath of Khan. David also never knew his dad, and did not meet him until he was an adult.

Captain Riker Takes Command

Captain Shaw gets seriously injured in the Shrike’s attack, forcing him to give Captain Riker an emergency field commission in command of the Titan. This recalls how Captain Pike gave Spock the emergency position of Captain in Star Trek 2009 after Nero’s attack. This made Kirk First Officer, just as Picard defaulted to becoming Riker’s Number One.

An Operatic Callback

The opera that Worf is listening to while training with his Bat’leth to is Hector Berlioz’s Les Troyens. The aria in particular is called “Vallon Sonore.” This is the same piece of music that a pensive Picard listened to before the Borg attack on Earth in Star Trek: First Contact.

Worf’s Credentials

When Worf introduces himself formally to Raffi, he says he is “Worf, son of Mogh, House of Martok. Son of Sergei, House of Rozhenko. Bane to the Duras family. Slayer of Gowron.”

All of this references different pieces of Worf’s history in the franchise. His father was Mogh, killed by Romulans at the Khitomer outpost. He was then raised by human Starfleet officer Sergey Rozhenko, as revealed in the episode “Family.” When the Duras family tried to strip Worf of his family honor, Worf killed Duras, and later came into conflict with his sisters.

This conflict between Worf and the Duras family formed a long-term arc over several seasons of TNG. Particularly in the episodes “Sins of the Father,” “Reunion,” and “Redemption.” During the Dominion war arc on DS9, Worf killed Klingon High Chancellor Gowron for his poor leadership, giving the reigns of the empire to House Martok. It was House Martok who adopted Worf into their family after Gowron had stripped him of his family titles.

Enemies Within

The Titan being sabotaged by someone onboard recalls many episodes of Deep Space Nine. In that series, Changelings disguised themselves as Starfleet officers and sabotaged ships from within. We saw this kind of sabotage as well on board the Enterprise, in the feature film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

The True Enemy Revealed

Worf reveals the true enemy behind the terrorist attacks on Starfleet installations when he interrogates a suspect who morphs into a liquid state. The terrorist was a Changeling, the shape-shifting Founders of the Dominion. The Dominion waved a long and deadly war on the Alpha Quadrant for three seasons of Deep Space Nine.

The actor who played the Changeling posing as a human named Titus Rikka was Thomas Dekker. He famously played John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but has real Trek bonafides. As a child actor, he played Jean-Luc Picard’s imaginary son in Generations. He also played the holographic Victorian child Henry Burleigh on Voyager in two episodes, “Learning Curve” and “Persistence of Vision.” The part of the Changeling is his first “real” role in the franchise.

Jump to Easter Eggs From: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five // Episode Six // Episode Seven // Episode Eight // Episode Nine // Episode 10

Picard Episode Four “No Win Scenario” Easter eggs

The Kobayashi Maru

The title of the episode, “No Win Scenario,” is a direct reference to Starfleet’s Kobayashi Maru test. This test was the first scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, performed as a way of seeing how Starfleet cadets handle a no-win scenario where the loss of life is inevitable. We saw it referenced again in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot film, only this time, with a young James T. Kirk.

The Hirogen

In the flashback opening scene at the Ten Forward bar, young Starfleet officers ask Picard about facing off against the Hirogen. The Hirogen were a species of big game hunters (think Predator) who Voyager encountered in the Delta Quadrant. A young officer asks if he asked Admiral Janeway for advice since she was the first Starfleet officer to make contact with this species. Picard’s non-answer suggests he didn’t give Kathryn a call.

Arcanis Lager

In the holodeck version of Ten Forward, we see a neon sign advertising Arcanis Lager. This same sign was seen in the Starfleet bar Dr. McCoy goes to in The Search for Spock. It seems Arcanis Lager has kept their logo the same for a century.

Odo’s Bucket

The Changeling’s plot to kill and impersonate Starfleet officers mimics their plot to take over the Federation in Deep Space Nine. When Seven of Nine begins searching the Titan for a Changeling’s bucket where they regenerate in their liquid state, it looks exactly like the one Odo used on DS9. The same bucket was also used as a flower pot during the brief time he became solid.

Paying Homage to Christopher Plummer

Amanda Plummer chews the scenery as the evil Vadic and spins her Captain’s chair around, cackling like a gleeful child on board the Shrike. This is exactly as the villainous Klingon Commander Chang did in his chair on board the Bird of Prey in The Undiscovered Country. This is a fun nod to the similarity between father and daughter actors, as Chang was played by Amanda’s father, Christopher Plummer.

The Tamarians

In another flashback to Picard telling stories to younger officers in Ten Forward, Jean-Luc spins the tale of how he made first contact with a race called the Tamarians, a species that only spoke in metaphors. Together, he and a Tamarian Captain fought against a deadly beast together. This is all a reference to the TNG fifth season episode, “Darmok.”

Stargazer Stories

Picard tells his son (Ed Speleers) about a near-death situation he and his best friend, Jack Crusher, found themselves in decades before on a shuttlecraft. Although this isn’t a reference to a specific episode, many books and comics have detailed the close bond between Jack Crusher and Picard in their younger days aboard the Stargazer.

Wolf 359

Captain Liam Shaw tells his painful story of being a young engineer on the U.S.S. Constance during the Battle of Wolf 359. This was from the episode “The Best of Both Worlds,” when the Borg captured Picard and turned him into Locutus. They used all the information in his brain to stage an attack on Starfleet in star system Wolf 359. We only saw the aftermath of Wolf 359 in TNG, but a flashback in the pilot of Deep Space Nine showed the devastating attack itself.

“Encounter at Farpoint”

When the Titan gets out of the gravity well in the nebula, they realize it’s actually a womb for a spacefaring species that can survive in a vacuum. Picard realizes they’re very similar to the beings the Enterprise-D encountered in the TNG pilot episode “Encounter at Farpoint.” Upon seeing this species, Beverly Crusher says, “to seek out new life.” This is, of course, itself a reference to the spoken word intro to Star Trek TOS and TNG.

Picard Episode Five “Imposters” Easter eggs

The Intrepid 

The starship Intrepid delivers Commander Ro to the Titan, and the name Intrepid has a long history in Star Trek. It was a Vulcan ship in the TOS episode “The Immunity Syndrome,” and its successor ship was mentioned in TNG as the ship Worf’s adoptive human father served on. The starship Voyager was an Intrepid-class ship.   

Picard and Riker’s Most Notorious Moments 

As Captain Shaw escorts Riker and Picard to meet Starfleet intelligence, he mentions several of their less than glorious moments in the franchise. He name- drops the Enterprise-D saucer section crash on a planet in Generations, Picard violating the Prime Directive in Insurrection, and the time paradox they created in the Devron system in the TNG series finale “All Good Things.” 

IDIC – Infinity Diversity in Infinite Combination  

When Worf and Raffi return to District 6, the encounter a Vulcan crime lord. He wears a Vulcan IDIC symbol, which stands for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. That symbol first appeared on Spock in TOS in the episode “Is There in Truth No Beauty,” also as a medallion he wore around his neck.  

The Mobile Emitter  

Worf and Raffi used a mobile holographic emitter to try and fall the Vulcan crime lord. Mobile emitters first appeared in Voyager, invented so their own holographic doctor could travel off the ship.  

Ro Laren’s Bajoran Earring 

When Commander Ro first appeared in this episode, she wasn’t wearing her traditional Bajoran earring. This shocked Picard, because she was adamant about wearing this symbol of her heritage on TNG. She ultimately gives Picard her earring, which contains all her investigations into the Changeling conspiracy. 

“Amok Time”  

When Worf fakes his death in a battle with Raffi, it echoes how Kirk faked his own death in “Amok Time,” when he had to do battle with Spock on the planet Vulcan.  

“Conspiracy” Callback 

The reveal of a vast conspiracy within Starfleet, going up to the highest levels, echoes the plot of the first season TNG episode “Conspiracy,” which was about a previous covert alien takeover of Starfleet. 

Admiral Janeway 

When Picard mentions enlisting the help of Admiral Janeway to Ro Laren, this is of course a mention of Admiral Kathryn Janeway, the former captain of the U.S.S. Voyager. We see her as an Admiral briefly in Star Trek: Nemesis, and as a supporting character in the animated Star Trek: Prodigy.  

Kahless the Unforgettable 

When Worf fakes his own death, he says he used the “Kahless technique” to slow down his heartrate to mimic death. Kahless is the Klingon messiah, an ancient warrior known as “the Unforgettable,” who appears in TOS and also TNG.  

Jump to Easter Eggs From: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five // Episode Six // Episode Seven // Episode Eight // Episode Nine // Episode 10

Picard Episode Six “The Bounty” Easter eggs

Jack Crusher’s Irumodic Syndrome

Jack discovers in episode six he has Irumodic Syndrome, a degenerative brain condition he inherited from his father. Picard actually died of the disease in the first season, before having his consciousness transferred to a synthetic body. Picard’s Irumodic Syndrome, which was kind of like a future version of Alzheimer’s disease, was first mentioned as something the older Picard would suffer from in the alternate future timeline of TNG’s finale “All Good Things.”

Inside Daystrom Station

Daystrom Station was mentioned by Worf as the place where Section 31 hides its most off-the-books tech and contraband. Among this contraband, we saw some major references to Star Trek‘s past. We saw a version of the Genesis device, the torpedo that could create a living world from a dead moon. This played a heavy part in Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock and was in part developed by Captain Kirk’s son, David Marcus.

Speaking of Kirk, we also saw that for unknown reasons, Starfleet has the corpse of James T. Kirk himself, who died in Star Trek Generations. Why they have his body in the stations, which Picard buried on Viridian III, remains a big mystery. And finally, we saw a genetically modified “attack tribble.” The usually cute and fuzzy pets from TOS now seem deadly. They still seem to really hate Klingons, and make shrill noises in their presence.

Daystrom’s AI Security System

We learned the sophisticated AI system that acts as security for Daystrom Station is none other than a version of Data himself. Well, Data and other Soong-made androids. But we’ll get to them. The program used Data’s memories as part of its protection program. These included a holographic crow, a reference to Data learning to dream in the TNG episode “Birthright.”

A holographic Professor Moriarty also appeared, a reference to the time Data had a battle of minds with the infamous Sherlock Holmes villain in “Elementary, Dear Data.” Finally, the song “Pop Goes the Weasel” is a direct reference to the first time Riker met Data in the TNG pilot episode “Encounter at Farpoint,” where he watched as Data struggled to whistle.

The Starfleet Museum

Many classic ships from Star Trek history are seen in the Starfleet Museum on Athan Prime. First, we saw the Defiant, from Deep Space Nine, as we heard a bit of the DS9 theme song. We passed by Kirk’s second Enterprise, the Enterprise-A, which was decommissioned in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. And Seven of Nine wistfully passes by Voyager, the starship where she was “reborn” from her time as Borg. We hear the Jerry Goldsmith Voyager theme as we pass her by.

The original Enterprise blew up, but another 1960s-style Constitution-class ship is among the rest, the U.S.S. New Jersey. Finally, the commandeered Klingon Bird of Prey, renamed the H.M.S. Bounty by Kirk in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, was also among the others, with her cloaking device intact. Several other starships were spotted in the distance, but none can be readily identified just yet.

Daystrom Android M-5-10

The AI protecting Daystrom Station is actually a synthetic “golem” body, one which looks and sounds like the late Commander Data. We learn that Dr. Altan Inigo Soong, son of Data’s creator Noonien Soong, created a synthetic body for his consciousness before he died. But into that body, he poured the memories of Data, his twisted brother Lore, his daughter Lal, and his prototype brother B-4. All mixed together into one new being. Starfleet was using this AI as a security system on the station. Soong made the body age like a human being, but the brain was still positronic.

Picard’s Dead Body

In episode six, we discovered that the object the Changelings stole from Daystrom Station wasn’t actually an object at all, it was a corpse. Housed within Daystrom, for unknown reasons, was the previous human body of Jean-Luc Picard, which died in season one. His consciousness was transferred to a new synthetic form. As to why the Changelings want the corpse of Admiral Picard, we’ll have to wait to find out.

Picard Episode Seven “Dominion” Easter eggs

The Return of Tuvok (But Not Really)

When Seven of Nine contacts who she believes to be her old Voyager comrade Tuvok, once again played by Tim Russ, she mentions all the games of Vulcan Kal-toh they played together. She believed this proved Tuvok was not a Changeling. However, when he agreed to meet her in a world protesting against Kolinahr, she knew he was an imposter. Star Trek: The Motion Picture introduced Kolinahr as a discipline a Vulcan takes to purge all remaining emotion. It’s a very sacred ritual to the Vulcan people.

Scanning for Lifeforms

The scanner Vadic uses to track Jack Crusher on the Titan used a very familiar sound effect. It was the same one used by Commander Chekov on his scanner in Ceti Alpha V in The Wrath of Khan.

Lore Influences Data

The programming of Lore, the malicious prototype android, began to overtake Data’s positronic matrix in this episode, and this isn’t the first time it has happened. In the sixth season TNG season finale “Descent,” Lore began transmitting his negative emotions to Data, in a way, taking over his programming. Here, they share a body, but the effect is mostly the same.

Project Proteus

In this episode, we learned about Project Proteus. In Greek mythology, the god Proteus could change his shape at will. This project was an operation taken by Section 31 during the Dominion War, and we learned that several Changelings were captured, experimented on, and tortured, all to create a new breed that could replicate solid beings perfectly—including their organs and blood. Vadic is a survivor of such an experiment. So her feelings of hostility toward the Federation are at least somewhat valid.

The Changeling Virus

The episode also referenced, and corrected, something Worf said in the previous episode. In “Imposters,” Worf said Section 31 created a virus to spread through the Great Link of the Changelings, an effort by the covert Starfleet intelligence organization to wipe them out. In Deep Space Nine, we learned a cure was found, but Starfleet did not administer it, as Worf said. It was Odo who did it, against Starfleet orders. So the Founders have a certain right to remain angry at Starfleet.

Picard Episode Eight “Surrender” Easter eggs

Nepenthe

While in captivity on the Shrike, Will Riker and Deanna Troi talk about how they dealt with the untimely loss of their son Thad. They both admit to each other that neither of them really liked their cabin life on the planet Nepenthe, where they lived when Thad was ill, and where they stayed after his death. Nepenthe was a planet that we first saw in the Picard season one episode appropriately titled “Nepenthe.”

Worf, Riker, and Deanna’s Awkward Reunion

When Worf rescues Will and Deanna, he tells Deanna he’s been counting the days until he saw her again, making her husband Will very uncomfortable. Although often a forgotten plot point, Worf and Troi actually dated towards the end of TNG’s run. But Worf’s gratitude towards Deanna has nothing to do with their romantic past, but with how her psychological expertise helped him center himself into the zen Worf of today.

Data’s Memories

When Geordi La Forge attempts to plug Data back into the Titan’s computer systems, it begins to bring down the partitions between Data’s personality and his malevolent brother Lore’s. Lore tries to erase Data, by taking precious memories of his, one at a time. Among those memories are many references to Data’s past adventures on the Enterprise-D during the seven-season run of TNG.

We see his Sherlock Holmes hat and pipe, first seen in TNG season two’s “Elementary Dear Data.” Next, we see his memorial hologram of the late Enterprise crewmember Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), who died in TNG season one. We first saw Data’s hologram of his late friend in TNG’s “The Measure of a Man.” Data’s playing cards and chips from his many poker games with his crew mates appear as well. Finally, we see Data’s beloved pet cat Spot, who he cared for over several seasons of TNG, and who was last seen in the film Nemesis.

Data Recalls His Death

When the Enterprise crew comes together again for the first time, Picard wonders if bringing the new synthetic human Data online is a betrayal of his earlier desire to experience death. This refers to the remains of the literal android Data, who only wished to die in Picard season one. Data assures Picard that while that Data was grateful to die, this Data was happy to be alive and with his dear friends.

Picard Episode Nine “Vox” Easter eggs

Resistance Is Futile

When Deanna Troi opens the door in Jack’s mind, she uncovers something she didn’t want to see—a Borg cube. The Collective being the true “final boss” of the season makes sense, as they were the TNG crew’s biggest adversary. This makes the first appearance of the true Borg Collective in Star Trek since the end of Voyager in 2001. We saw a more benevolent form of Borg form at the end of season two of Picard, and several ex-Borgs in season one. But this marks the first appearance of the actual hive in decades.

Wesley Crusher’s Cosmic Fate

Beverly Crusher mentions to Jean Luc giving her first child Wesley “his space” growing up, and ultimately losing him to space itself. This was a reference to how in the TNG episode “Journey’s End,” Wesley Crusher evolved into a Traveler, a being that lives outside of space and time. We saw this adult Traveler version of Wes in the Picard season two finale, where he recruited Kore Soong into the Travelers.

The Return of Shelby

On Frontier Day, we see the Enterprise-E, NCC-1701-F. In command is none other than Admiral Elizabeth Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy). Fans might remember her as the ambitious young Commander gunning for Riker’s job in “The Best of Both Worlds,” hoping to one day become the Enterprise’s first officer. The character was never given a first name in the series, but non-canon Trek books gave her the name Elizabeth, after the actress that played her. That is now officially canonical.

A Nod to Captain Archer’s Enterprise

In Admiral Shelby’s speech on Frontier Day, she commemorates 250 years since the Enterprise NX-01 launched, giving birth to Starfleet. That Enterprise was of course the hero ship of Star Trek: Enterprise, and under the command of Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula).

The U.S.S. Pulaski

One of the ships at Frontier Day that gets name-dropped is the U.S.S. Pulaski. This means Stafleet named a ship after Dr. Katherine Pulaski, the Enterprise-D’s Chief Medical Officer in season two of TNG. She was played by veteran TV actress Diana Muldaur. After Dr. Crusher returned to the Enterprise in year three, we never saw her again. Sadly, it seems she died since then, as most vessels are not named for the living.

The Return of the Original Queen Bee

When Jack Crusher boards the Borg cube, after being whisked away via a transwarp conduit, he heard the voice of the Borg Queen. But this Borg Queen wasn’t the late Annie Wersching, or Voyager’s Susanna Thompson. It was the voice of actress Alice Krige, who originated the role in Star Trek: First Contact.

Like Father, Like Son

The Borg Queen says she gave Picard the name Locutus when he became “the one who speaks for the Borg.” She describes Jack Crusher by his new Borg designation Vox, which means “the voice itself.” Since Jack was revealed as a biological transmitter facilitating assimilation across the Federation, we can see how the name applies.

Frontier Day Starships

On the monitor on the Titan, we see the names of various Federation starships at Frontier Day. There’s the U.S.S. Excelsior, the latest starship to bear the name of Captain Sulu’s famous ship. Speaking of Sulu, another ship is the U.S.S. Hikaru Sulu, named after the former TOS helmsman.

The U.S.S. Drexler is named after visual effects artist Doug Drexler and the U.S.S. Trumball is named after Douglas Trumbull, the special effects genius who worked on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The U.S.S. Okuda is named after Mike and Denise Okuda, the “Treksperts” who created the LCARS readouts on Starships since the TNG days. Other ships seen were the Firesword and the Resnik, ships that were in the spacedock in the first episodes of this season.

Worf Wrecked the Enterprise-E?

When Geordi takes his friends to the Starfleet Museum to show off his special surprise, (that’s the next entry) he laments that they could no longer use the Enterprise-E for any special mission. Everyone looks at Worf, who says “that wasn’t my fault.” This likely means that just as in the novel Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack, Worf became Captain of the Enterprise-E once Picard got promoted to Admiral. Something happened though which caused the Enterprise-E to get decommissioned early, or even destroyed, during an event that was classified by Starfleet.

The Enterprise-D Returns

The biggest Easter egg of them all, perhaps in the whole season, was Geordi’s special surprise in Docking Bay 12 at the Starfleet Museum. He reveals to his friends the old Enterprise-D, now fully restored to her TNG-era glory. Starfleet was able to save the saucer section from the surface of Viridian III, where it crashed in the film Generations. The drive section and the warp nacelles were from another Galaxy-class starship. The entire bridge of the Enterprise-D is just as fans remember it, back in 1994. Right on down to the carpets.

A Familiar Computer Voice

The computer voice of the Enterprise-D is none other than the late Majel Barrett Roddenberry. Aside from playing Nurse Chapel on TOS and Lwaxana Troi in TNG, she voiced the Starfleet computer systems for the first five live-action Star Trek series. She passed away in 2008, but she left voice recordings of herself for future use in Star Trek projects. Her last time as the Enterprise computer voice was in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 big screen Star Trek reboot.

Picard Episode Ten “The Last Generation” Easter eggs

A Familiar Starscape

Before the episode’s cold open about the Enterprise-D, we see a glimpse of the starfield from the opening credits of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the first time the credits have been used on Star Trek: Picard.

The Familiar Voice of Walter Koenig

As the Enterprise-D approaches an Earth under Borg attack, we hear a very familiar voice behind an SOS message. It’s the voice of TOS actor Walter Koenig, as Federation President Anton Chekov.  He’s telling all approaching vessels to flee Sector 001, but reminding them to never give up hope. He even reminds everyone that “there are always…possibilities.” A direct quote from Spock in The Wrath of Kahn. Koenig is actually not playing his iconic role of Pavel Chekov, who in 2401 would be 150 years old. He’s playing his previously unknown son, Anton Chekov.

Although the name Anton Chekov could be a tribute to the famous Russian writer of the same name, Anton was no doubt a tribute to the late Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov in the Kelvin-verse J.J. Abrams films. The scene is also a nod to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when the Federation President warned all approaching ships to avoid Earth, which was under threat from an alien probe.

The Crippled Borg Collective

As the Enterprise approaches the Borg cube, which is hiding in the gases of Jupiter, we encounter the Borg Collective for the first time since the final episode of Star Trek: Voyager in 2001. In “Endgame,” Kathryn Janeway obliterated the Borg transwarp network in the Delta Quadrant. Almost all Borg ships were cut off from each other, and each ship became its own mini-collective. But unconnected from each other, the Borg were effectively crippled.

Although it appeared that particular Borg Queen died in the Voyager finale, she was instead only deeply damaged. As we saw in “The Last Generation,” many of those unconnected Borg died without the rest of the Collective. “Endgame” was also the last time Alice Krige played the Borg Queen.

The Flashback to a Flashback

To save his son Jack, now Vox of the Borg, Jean Luc actually assimilates himself into the Borg hive mind once more. When he does this, we get flashbacks to a flashback. It’s repurposed footage of Picard’s memory of being assimilated from the opening scene of First Contact.

We Were On the New Enterprise the Entire Time

While fans wondered if we’d see a new Enterprise in Picard, little did we know we were soaking in it the entire time. Towards the final episode’s end, we learned that Seven of Nine had been promoted to Captain of the Titan. We discovered that after her refit, the Titan had been renamed. After the destruction of the Enterprise-F during the Frontier Day attack, Starfleet rechristened the Titan as NCC-1701-G.

Worf’s Mugato Meditation

Once the crew of the Enterprise-D saves the Federation once again, our newly spiritual Worf mentions to his friends in Ten-Forward that he must get up early the next day to teach Mugato Meditation. The Mugato is an ape-like creature from the TOS episode “A Private Little War.” We have no idea what Mugato Meditation is because those creatures seemed less than calm when fighting Captain Kirk.

“A Warrior’s Drink”

Beverly also teases Worf in Ten Forward, telling him to “drink your prune juice.” In the TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” Guinan introduced him to this “Earth drink” called prune juice, which he tasted and said was “a warrior’s drink.”

Data’s 35-Year-Old Limerick

While drinking with his Enterprise friends in Ten Forward on Earth, Data starts to recite a limerick, “There was a young Lady from Venus, whose body was shaped like a…” at which point everyone cuts him off. Data attempted to recite this same limerick in TNG’s second episode back in 1987, “The Naked Now.” But just like in this episode, everyone shut him up before the punchline.

Picard’s Love of the Bard of Avon

Picard gives a toast to his beloved crew and in true Jean-Luc Picard fashion, quotes William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. He says, “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat; and we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”

“All Good Things…”

The last time we see the Enterprise-D crew together in Picard’s final episode, they were playing poker together in Ten Forward. This mirrors TNG’s final episode, “All Good Things,” where we see the crew together around the poker table. Everything came full circle.

Q Returns

In a post-credits scene, we see Jack Crusher in his quarters on the Enterprise-G. Then, John de Lancie returns as the omnipotent Q. Jack tells him he’d heard he was dead, referring to Q’s last appearance in the Picard season two finale. Q tells Jack, “Humans think too linearly,” which suggests this Q is from an earlier point in his timeline. Or, death just doesn’t mean the same thing for the Q. He suggests that Jack Crusher has a big future, something every Star Trek fan hopes to see play out in a potential spin-off series.

Star Trek: Picard seasons one through three are all currently available on Paramount+.

Jump to Easter Eggs From: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five // Episode Six // Episode Seven // Episode Eight // Episode Nine // Episode 10

Featured Image: Paramount+

Originally published on February 16, 2023.

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Although Star Trek: Picard’s third and final season might have possibly been the end of the road for Patrick Stewart’s iconic character and the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, the final episode left a lot of story potential to continue the story of Starfleet in the 25th century. And we mean a lot. Although the Enterprise-D saved the Federation from the Borg/Changeling alliance, the event marked a new dawn for Starfleet. And for one iconic ship in particular.

A New Enterprise for a New Generation

In the Picard series finale “The Last Generation,” Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) receives a promotion to the rank of Captain. She gets this news from none other than her old Voyager crewmate and mentor Tuvok (Tim Russ). Her command places her aboard the U.S.S. Titan, which was her commanding officer Liam Shaw’s dying declaration in the previous episode, “Vox.” Her first officer is her friend and former lover Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). And her “special counselor” position is occupied by Starfleet’s newest officer, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), the son of Jean-Luc and Beverly Crusher.

But in the biggest surprise, we learned that after her post-Borg attack refit, they rechristened the Titan as the new U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-G. And that basically confirms that the Enterprise-F we saw commanded by Admiral Shelby was destroyed in the Borg assault. According to ancillary materials, it was due for decommissioning soon anyway. For all the fans asking when we’d see a new starship Enterprise in Star Trek: Picard? It turned out we were following her adventures from the very first episode of season three. We just didn’t know it until the very end of the series.

Reports of Q’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

But that’s not all. A post-credits scene shows Jack Crusher in his quarters on the Enterprise-G. As he unpacks, he receives a visit from none other than Q (John DeLancie). Yes, the same omnipotent entity who made life miserable for Picard’s Enterprise. And who supposedly died at the end of season two of Picard. But as Q says, humans think too linearly. This could be a Q from an earlier point in his timeline. Or perhaps death really doesn’t mean the same thing to a being from the Q Continuum. But he told Jack that he has a significant destiny. If Q shows up with a cryptic message, you know big things are in store for Jack Crusher.

The Legacy of ’90s Star Trek

Picard season three showrunner Terry Matalas has been open about his desire to continue 25th-century Star Trek stories in a new series he’d call Star Trek: Legacy. And there is already a huge fan demand for this show to come to fruition. Obviously, such a show would tell the adventures of the Enterprise-G, under the command of Captain Seven. Most of the main characters are now cast; we’ve got our Captain and First Officer, our counselor, and our helm officer in Sidney La Forge. Star Trek: Picard perfectly set up the next Next Generation, and it would be a shame if Paramount+ doesn’t follow up on this incredible gift of a setup.

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Section 31 is the subject of the new Star Trek film for Paramount+, starring best actress winner Michelle Yeoh. She’ll reprise her Star Trek: Discovery role of former Empress Philippa Georgiou. In Star Trek’s Mirror Universe, she once ruled an empire with an iron fist. Now exiled to the main “Prime” reality, she found a new home in Starfleet’s secret arm of their intelligence apparatus, known as Section 31. But who and what exactly is Section 31, and how long has it been a part of Trek lore? Although we first heard about them in Deep Space Nine, in the Trek timeline, they’ve been around since the very founding of Starfleet.

Starfleet’s Biggest Secret, Exposed on Deep Space Nine

Section 31 made its first appearance in the Deep Space Nine sixth season episode “Inquisition.” In that 1998 episode, a mysterious man named Luther Sloan (William Sadler) who claimed he was from Starfleet Internal Affairs tried to recruit Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig). Eventually, Sloan revealed to Bashir that he’s part of Section 31, a secret autonomous intelligence agency that works within the shadows of Starfleet. An organization with no supervision, and no problem doing things that were against Federation principles. The name came from Article 14, Section 31 of the Starfleet Charter, which allowed for “extraordinary measures to be taken in times of extreme threat.”

Dr. Bashir felt Section 31 went against the very principles they founded the Federation on, and refused to join. His commanding officer, Captain Benjamin Sisko, told him if Section 31 tried to recruit him again, to take them up on the offer. If only so he could function as a double agent, as to learn more about them. The next time Sloan appeared, Bashir accepted his offer, and went on a mission for him. One where he was manipulated and used to further Federation goals during the Dominion War of 2374-2375. The excuse for something like Section 31 among Starfleet higher-ups who knew of them was that Starfleet needed an equivalent as ruthless as the Romulan and Cardassian spy organizations.

Section 31’s Most Shameful Moment

Eventually, Bashir learned of Section 31’s most heinous plot. They created a morphogenetic virus that spread to the Dominion’s Founders, the Changelings, all in an effort to wipe out their entire race. Although Bashir discovered a cure, the virus proved that Section 31 was willing to commit genocide to preserve the Federation. This fact would come back to haunt them in Star Trek: Picard season three. In this most recent season, we learned that torturous experiments on captured Changelings by Section 31 resulted in a new offshoot species, one hellbent on revenge. They made no distinction between Starfleet and the organization Starfleet knew existed, yet turned the other way when they did something abhorrent.

Section 31 in the 22nd and 23rd Centuries

The next few times we saw Section 31 were in Enterprise and Discovery, both prequel series taking place over a century before the events of DS9. In Enterprise, we learned how Section 31 recruited NX-01 Officer Malcolm Reed in its earliest days, circa 2154. On Star Trek Discovery, which takes place a century after Enterprise, Section 31 played a big role too. The organization had its own fleet of Starships, and seemed to operate officially with some supervision from Starfleet intelligence. That seemed to contradict what we knew about them from both Deep Space Nine and Enterprise.

Eventually, there was an attempt by Control, a dangerous sentient A.I., to take over Section 31. Although the combined efforts of the starships Discovery and Enterprise stopped Control from executing its plans, Captain Pike blamed the entire fiasco on Section 31. It was during this time that Empress Philippa Georgiou joined Section 31. Coming from an “evil” universe, she had no problem doing morally murky things for the Federation. Starfleet Command promised to reform Section 31 into an agency with much more transparency going forward. Again, this does not mesh with what we know about Section 31 a century later in the DS9 era, when they are once again a secret organization.

Section 31 in Lower Decks and Picard

In the post-Dominion War era, our first mention of Section 31 was in the animated series Lower Decks. The character of William Boimler was actually recruited into Section 31. And by his time, they seemed to be common knowledge. If even someone on the U.S.S. Cerritos, the least important ship in Starfleet, knew about Section 31, then it’s not really a secret anymore. Decades later, in Star Trek: Picard, Daystrom Station is an off-the-books Black Site, where Captain Riker said Section 31 stored their most secretive projects. This just proves once more that by 2401, just about everyone knew about this once ultra-secret organization.

Section 31 in the Kelvin Timeline

We never heard about Section 31 in the era of Kirk and Spock. Obviously, because they hadn’t been conceived of yet. However, they played a big part in the lives of their alt-timeline counterparts in the film Star Trek Into Darkness. In that universe, Section 31 was under the command of Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller). This version of Section 31 had its own massive operation, and a giant starship called the Vengeance.

It was this version of Section 31 that awakened Khan Noonien Singh from his lost 20th-century sleeper ship. Once awakened, they tried to harness his genetically advanced mind for tactical advantages against their enemies. Unfortunately, Khan proved too much to handle for Section 31, and he helped bring the organization down. Because of this, it seems Section 31 became common knowledge a century before it ever was in the Prime Universe.

The Future of Section 31

The new Star Trek: Section 31 movie starring Michelle Yeoh might fill in some of the gaps and explain some of the inconsistencies we’ve seen regarding this organization. How did they go to open secret in the 23rd century, only to go back to something only a select few knew about a century year later? Certainly, a movie that is all about the evolution of Section 31 would help to explain many things about the supposedly Utopian Federation. After all, this shady group does the things no one wants to talk about that help preserve this perfect galactic union. There’s definitely an epic movie in that story.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds captured our hearts in season one. With its incredible cast and characters and its complex stories and fun adventures, Strange New Worlds took us to new frontiers. Set during the years Captain Christopher Pike commanded the U.S.S. Enterprise, the Paramount+ series brought back some familiar characters like Spock and Uhura. It also introduced delightful new crew. As the next chapter approaches, Paramount+ has released the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two trailer.

This trailer has a lot to love. It highlights the best parts of Strange New Worlds: friendship, adventure, and exploration. And we can’t forget the humor. The dynamic between the crew especially stands out. We see some more Nurse Chapel and Spock moments. Una needles La’an about having a certain reaction to James T. Kirk. (Also, does this mean things are okay with Una? Seems like!). Klingons look like Klingons again. And then the best part: Spock being the most Spock.

Captain Picard has “Engage.” Captain Pike has “Hit it!” But Spock? He has, “I would like the ship to go. Now.”

It’s direct, to the point. We like it.

We don’t have a synopsis for season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds yet. However, we do know the season will feature a crossover with the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two will premiere on Paramount+ on June 15.

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Nerdist Log, stardate 0418.23: Good news/bad news out of the Star Trek universe. The bad news is the long-awaited spinoff series starring Michelle Yeoh as Captain Philippa Georgiou is not happening. The good news is the Oscar-winner will still reprise the role she first played on Star Trek: Discovery. Instead of an entire show, though, Michelle Yeoh will headline a standalone Star Trek movie titled Star Trek: Section 31.

Star Trek: Section 31 isn’t as much Michelle Yeoh as we wanted, but what we’re getting still sounds pretty good.

Paramount+ has announced what it’s calling a “special original movie event” for its streaming service. Star Trek: Section 31 will see Yeoh return as the character she introduced during season one of Discovery. (That’s where she also played her character’s evil Mirror Universe counterpart.) In 2019 reports said Yeoh would get her own spinoff series. Instead, her story will continue in her own film.

Here’s how Paramount+ described the film in a press release:

In Star Trek: Section 31, Emperor Philippa Georgiou joins a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets and faces the sins of her past.

In a statement, Yeoh talked about getting the chance to play the Star Trek character again. “I’m beyond thrilled to return to my Star Trek family and to the role I’ve loved for so long,” she said. “Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of Star Trek launched. To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!”

CBS Studios will produce the film with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. It goes into production later this year. Olatunde Osunsanmi will direct with a script from Craig Sweeny. They’ll both also produce as well—as will Alex Kurtzman, Aaron Baiers, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, and Yeoh.

Did we want even more time with Michelle Yeoh on Star Trek? Yes. Obviously. But some is still way better than none at all.

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The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Picard gave long-time Trekkers something we never thought we’d see again. The starship Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation, fully restored to her classic ’80s/’90s look, flying once more. Somehow, the producers of Picard and Paramount+ were able to keep this one a secret from the public. Because when the crew set foot on that old bridge once again, fans on social media went wild. No one saw it coming. Now that the Enterprise has returned, Paramount+ has revealed a new Picard digital billboard in New York City, showcasing the old girl’s glorious comeback.

Seeing that really cool 3D effect, it really looks like the Enterprise (a much tinier Enterprise) just flew into Times Square and docked. The fans on the street went nuts seeing the iconic ship again, and you can hear folks shouting “D! D! D!” in reference to the TNG Enterprise’s corresponding registry letter. If you really look carefully, you can also see a fan shoot up their hand and do the Vulcan salute. Another fan can be heard shouting “Everybody remember, the D is the fat one!” This was a fun fan callback to episode one of Picard season three, where someone said no one wants toy models of the TNG Enterprise, and calls that ship “the fat one.”

With only one episode of Star Trek: Picard left to go, we likely only have one more ride left with the Enterprise-D. Will she save the Earth from another Borg invasion? Probably. But what happens to her afterward? Will she have more adventures? Will she go back to the Starfleet Museum? That seems the more likely scenario here. Whatever happens, here’s hoping that the Picard finale is not the last time we board this Enterprise. So much work went into recreating that set, it would be a shame if we don’t see it at least a few more times. As Spock might say, it would be highly illogical.

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Ever since they announced that a new starship Enterprise would appear in season three of Picard, fans have been wondering who would be in command. We had our own ideas for who might sit in the big chair of the Enterprise-F. Well, we were correct about one of our candidates. Although it was maybe the most deep-cut character they could have chosen for the job. As we saw in Picard episode 9, “Vox,” the person in charge of the Enterprise-F was Admiral Elizabeth Shelby, played once again by Elizabeth Dennehy. And if you don’t remember her, worry not; we’re here to catch you up.

Riker’s Biggest Rival

Lt. Commander Shelby first appeared in The Next Generation‘s third season finale, “The Best of Both Worlds.” This was the iconic episode in which the Federation faced off against the Borg Collective, after they kidnapped Jean-Luc Picard and turned him into Locutus. Shelby was introduced as an officer in Starfleet Tactical. Knowing that a Borg invasion was imminent since the Enterprise first encountered them in TNG season two’s “Q Who,” Shelby had become Starfleet’s Borg expert. Naturally, when the Collective entered Federation space, they assigned her to help the Federation flagship.

But from the start, the ambitious young officer was ruffling feathers on the bridge. When she heard that Commander William Riker had been offered his own starship command, she immediately went gunning for his job. She made it clear to Riker that he was “in her way” and that she deserved a shot at being the Enterprise’s first officer. She claimed Riker was willing to stay in the shadow of a great man like Picard. Ouch. To say these two did not get along in “The Best of Both Worlds” was something of an understatement. But things changed at the end of that episode, as it ended with a huge cliffhanger. The Borg had assimilated Captain Picard into the Collective, leaving Riker as Captain of the Enterprise.

The Enterprise’s (Temporary) First Officer

In “The Best of Both Worlds Pt. II,” Riker was put into an impossible position. While he wanted to promote Data or Worf to the role of the first officer, Shelby’s knowledge of the Borg made her the ideal choice for his Number One. Even though the two did not get along, Riker told Shelby, “We don’t have to like each other to work well together.” After the Enterprise crew rescued Picard from the Borg, Riker resumed his role as First Officer. Shelby retained her field promotion to full Commander. She and Riker parted ways on far more friendly terms, although not exactly best buds.

After guest starring in two of the most popular episodes of TNG ever, fans often asked if Shelby was ever going to return. And maybe even finally get a first name. But in the official canon, she never did. On Deep Space Nine, a “Captain Shelby” got a shout-out, but they did not confirm it to be the same character. She appeared in non-canon novels, like the late ‘90s book series Star Trek: New Frontier. There, she finally received a full name: Elizabeth Paula Shelby. Star Trek gave the name Elizabeth to her simply because that’s the name of the actress who played her. Recently, Shelby made a cameo on Lower Decks and was shown to be a Captain by the time that series took place, which was a few years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis.

Shelby Is in Command of the Enterprise At Last in Picard Season Three

But aside from that brief appearance, we had not seen or heard from Shelby, until now. In Picard’s penultimate episode, Shelby returned as Admiral Shelby, sitting in the Captain’s chair of the Enterprise-F. It looks like Shelby finally got what she always wanted, the center seat on the Enterprise. Riker mentioned her as Admiral Elizabeth Shelby, making her non-canon name now officially canon. She gave a rousing speech about the birth of Starfleet during Frontier Day, right before the Borg attack began.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Borg took her out before she even knew what was really going on. Although her appearance was brief, it was nice to know that Shelby’s ambitions to one day take charge of the Federation flagship finally paid off for her. And, of course, this is Star Trek. It might be possible that she could take two direct phaser blasts to the chest and live. We just don’t know if she did yet. But we have a feeling this was not only her return but also her swan song. At least she died with a much more flattering hairstyle than the one she had in her TNG days. We’re glad they gave her that dignity, at least.

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The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Picard’s third season, “Vox,” saw something Star Trek fans never thought they’d see again. The main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation on the bridge of the Enterprise-D, nearly 30 years after she was seemingly destroyed on screen. When Picard, Riker, Troi, Data, Worf, La Forge, and Crusher walked aboard that old bridge, you could practically hear the sound of Trekker tears falling everywhere. It was that emotional of a moment. Especially when Picard sits in the Captain’s chair and said “Engage.” But how could the Enterprise-D even still exist? Didn’t it get all blowed up? It turned out that Geordi La Forge was the key.

How the Enterprise-D Returned

In Picard episode six, “The Bounty,” we learned that Commodore Geordi La Forge, was in charge of the Starfleet Museum on Athan Prime. They built it around the old spacedock, and on display were iconic starships from Star Trek’s past. There was Captain Kirk’s Enterprise-A, as well as Voyager, the Defiant from Deep Space Nine, and even the Klingon Bird of Prey from The Voyage Home. In that episode, Geordi’s daughter Alandra mentioned something Geordi was working on in “Hangar Bay 12,” but Geordi quickly shushed her. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to reveal it in front of admiral Picard. Now we know what it was.

In the final act of “Vox,” when Starfleet has been entirely compromised by the Borg and the Dominion Changelings, Picard and company became desperate. On board the Titan, they were totally vulnerable, as all modern Starfleet ships were now networked together. Something planned by the Borg to make them even more susceptible to assimilation into the Collective. With all of Starfleet compromised, Picard and his old crew needed a ship not connected to the rest. Something more “analog.” And Geordi had just the one at the Starfleet Museum.

The Secret of Hangar Bay 12

Once they arrived at the museum, Geordi revealed to his friends what he’d been keeping secret in Hangar Bay 12. For the past 20 years, he’d slowly restored the Enterprise-D to her original glory, piece by piece. In the film Star Trek: Generations, a Klingon ship destroyed the drive section. However, the saucer section survived, although heavily damaged, and crashed on the planet Veridian III. The next time we saw our beloved TNG crew, they were on the brand-new U.S.S. Enterprise-E in the film First Contact. The assumption was that Starfleet had scrapped the remains of the Enterprise-D. But that’s not what happened.

Since the Veridian system was home to a pre-warp civilization, turns out the Prime Directive didn’t allow Starfleet to leave the saucer section of the Enterprise-D on the surface. They had to remove it, or risk contamination. It ended up in the Starfleet Museum, where La Forge painstakingly restored it. The drive section and the nacelles came from another decommissioned Galaxy-class starship Syracuse. The bridge looked exactly like it did during the seven years that Picard was in command of her, right on down to the carpet. In fact, Jean-Luc even cracks a joke at the whole ridiculousness of a carpet on a Federation starship. Every piece of original TNG production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator Andrew Probert’s classic bridge design is there. It truly feels like the cast stepped into a time machine.

Is This the Final Mission of the Old Enterprise?

Will the newly restored Enterprise-D survive the final episode of Picard? Or will they destroy the old girl all over again? We hope that she not only saves the day, but gets to triumphantly warp back to the Starfleet Museum, where she can take her place among the other iconic ships of the Fleet. Hopefully, as the one who saved the entire Federation from the Borg. Again. We’ll find out when the final episode of Star Trek: Picard drops on April 20 on Paramount+.

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There’s nothing like seeing something epic on a huge screen. Fans were incredibly excited to hear about beloved films like The Lord of the Rings: Return of The King and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi returning to theaters to celebrate respective anniversaries. But fans of television series deserve to see their favorites in huge dimensions as well. And that’s exactly what some Star Trek: Picard lovers can look forward to. Star Trek: Picard will release its series finale in theaters. And not only that, the Picard finale will screen in IMAX theaters. Here are the details.

Gofobo, the company which is helping to facilitate the Star Trek: Picard theater screenings, shares:

Get ready to send off Jean-Luc Picard and his crew in style! On Wednesday, April 19, experience the last two episodes of Star Trek: Picard in IMAX®, followed by a live-streamed Q&A with the cast of the show. Plus, enjoy exclusive perks like complimentary concessions and a season finale poster giveaway. Participating cities include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles*, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. Get your free tickets Wednesday, April 12 at 1PM ET/10AM PT before they’re gone!

10 IMAX theaters will host the Picard series finale and will screen the series’ last two episodes. These screenings will give an early look at the finale before it releases on Paramount+ on April 20. Star Trek: Picard‘s final season has been an incredible one. And no doubt, fans will appreciate this celebration of the series.

Tickets to the Star Trek: Picard screenings are free; however, Gofobo warns that “Tickets are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are non-transferable. Due to theater capacity a ticket does not guarantee admission to the event.” Additionally, the Q&A will take place live at the Los Angeles screening. Other locations will watch a broadcast of the event. The panel will include Patrick Stewart, Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jeri Ryan, Brent Spiner, Alex Kurtzman, Executive Producer, and Terry Matalas, Executive Producer and Showrunner.

Interested fans can sign up for tickets to Picard in theaters via: http://startrekpicardfinalescreenings.com. Per Variety, registration will open on Wednesday, April 12, at 10 am PT/1 pm ET. It is time to boldly go… watch Picard in IMAX theaters.

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The great mystery of Star Trek: Picard’s final season has been all about uncovering the secret of Jack Crusher, the son of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). Played by Ed Speleers, we’ve seen that Jack is not an ordinary young man. And Starfleet’s Changeling enemies are desperate to capture him and enact some kind of grand nefarious plan involving him since season three’s first chapter.

But after eight episodes, we still don’t know what’s up with Jack exactly. At the end of episode eight, “Surrender,” Jack connects telepathically to Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), suggesting we are finally about to find out at last. But there have been a few hints already, and we think we know what Jack might really be, and just how the Changelings plan to use him.

The Strange Case of Jack Crusher

So far on Picard this season, we’ve seen Jack Crusher have visions and hear voices. Visions of dark tendrils branching out everywhere, leading towards a mysterious red door. In Picard episode six, Jack received news on what he believes is the reason why. In “The Bounty,” we learned Jack had inherited his father’s Irumodic Syndrome. This was a degenerative brain condition that Picard lived with for years, and which ultimately killed him. Picard’s mind is currently housed in a new synthetic body.

But Irumodic Syndrome doesn’t explain how Jack Crusher can do other things we’ve seen him do. He’s been able to suddenly defend himself on an instinctive level from Changeling attackers, killing four of them in seconds. He can telepathically communicate with others, see through their eyes and control their actions. All of these behaviors indicate the Borg hive mind. Only Jack can connect with other humanoids, and not members of the Borg Collective. But to explain how Jack could be a “human Borg,” we need to explain his father’s painful history with the cybernetic drones.

“Resistance is Futile.”

In the classic third season TNG episode “The Best of Both Worlds,” the Borg kidnapped Picard and turned him into one of them. They even gave him the rare honor of an individual name, Locutus. The Borg used the knowledge in his brain to wage war on the Federation. At the battle of Wolf 359, the Borg destroyed 40 starships and lost 11,000 officers. The crew of the Enterprise were able to take back Captain Picard, and Dr. Crusher was able to remove his Borg implants. Beverly even said “there is extensive infiltration of microcircuit fibers into the surrounding tissue. His DNA is being rewritten.”

While Beverly removed the majority of the Borg implants in Picard’s body, there’s evidence that they left something behind in his DNA. It’s entirely possible she missed something. In Picard episode seven, “Dominion,” Data suggested that the Irumodic Syndrome Picard was diagnosed with was a false diagnosis. What appeared to be Irumodic Syndrome was actually masking something else. Could that something else be related to what the Borg did to him decades earlier? Future encounters Picard had with the Collective seem to suggest that was the case.

First Contact Clues

In the Enterprise’s next encounter with a Borg cube, in the film First Contact, Captain Picard seemed able to sense the Borg, feeling them when they were near. This suggests they left something of themselves behind in him, even years after he was free of being Locutus. Perhaps like a Trojan Horse. Picard never became Locutus again, but perhaps something worse happened. Because he might have passed on his Borgified DNA to his natural-born offspring with Beverly Crusher.

Although other characters like Seven of Nine and a few others have been freed from the Borg collective, as far as we know, none have had any natural-born children after the fact. Only Jean-Luc Picard has. And Jack might have advanced Borg traits simply as part of his genetic makeup, as opposed to acquiring them through assimilation. This might make Jack Crusher a unique being in all the galaxy. But if he’s “born a Borg,” what does the Dominion want with him? And do the Borg and the Dominion even have a connection?

Is There a Dominion/Borg Connection?

So what exactly do the Borg Collective and the Dominion have to do with each other? In Star Trek history, pretty much nothing. These two powers were separated by huge chunks of space. To explain this, we have to explain how the Star Trek version of the Milky Way galaxy was broken up into four quarters. The United Federation of Planets was located in the Alpha Quadrant, and is its greatest power. The Beta Quadrant was home to the Klingon and Romulan Empires. While the Alpha and Beta Quadrants are adjacent to each other, the Gamma and Delta Quadrants are very, very distant.

The Borg Collective originated in the Delta Quadrant, some 75 years away from Federation space at maximum warp. The Borg’s use of superior technology, specifically their transwarp conduits, meant they could send ships to places Starfleet would take decades to arrive in. Meanwhile, the Dominion were the overlords of much of the Gamma Quadrant. They didn’t have access to the Alpha Quadrant until the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole in Deep Space Nine, allowing them a shortcut into Federation space, which was an equally distant 75 years away. So as far as we know, the Borg and the Dominion have never had much interaction. So how and why would the Borg factor into a Changeling plot?

Jack Crusher: Genetic Template for a New Dominion Army?

The answer has to do with the Dominion’s standing army, the Jem’Hadar. These reptilian humanoids were the footsoldiers in the Dominion’s conquest of the Gamma Quadrant, as well as their soldiers during the Dominion war. They were genetically engineered beings, all hatched and not born. The Dominion bred the Jem’Hadar in a lab to have one purpose and one purpose only; to fight for the Founders, the Changelings they worshipped as gods. They had enhanced fighting capabilities, and could even go without food or sleep. They also had the ability to camouflage with their surroundings, similar to the Predator from that film franchise.

However, as we’ve seen from this rogue faction of Changelings in Picard, they are on their own, cut off from the Great Link. Which means they have no Jem’Hadar army to serve them. But who would make a great template for a new, similar army? None other than a Borg/human hybrid like Jack Crusher. So far, we’ve seen he has innate defense mechanisms when threatened, able to kill four Changeling attackers without even knowing how or why. He can telepathically connect with others, making him an incredible asset on the battlefield. Simply put, he’d be the perfect genetic template for a cloned military force for this faction of Changelings. Similar to how Jango Fett was the template for the Clone Army in Star Wars.

In the final two episodes of Picard’s final season, we’re sure to find out just what the Changelings have in store for the destruction of the Federation at the Frontier Day celebration. But even if their plan were to work, and Starfleet was destroyed, they’d still have to conquer the Klingon Empire, the Ferengi, what’s left of the Romulan and Cardassian Empires. For that, they’d need an army. And we bet Jack Crusher is key to creating that military force. We’ll find out for sure when Star Trek: Picard drops its final two episodes on April 14 and 21 on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Picard’s third season isn’t even over yet, and it’s already being called one of the best Star Trek seasons in years, maybe even decades, by the fans. And a big part of the reason why is showrunner Terry Matalas. The lifelong Trekker has made Picard season three an incredible tribute to not only The Next Generation, but also incorporated major elements from both Deep Space Nine and Voyager. And although this is Picard’s final season, they’re definitely leaving room for more. And potentially, that series could be one called Star Trek: Legacy.

Matalas has said on various occasions it’s his desire to continue the story of the 25th-century Star Trek universe in a Picard spin-off series called Star Trek: Legacy. Paramount+ has not greenlit this series, and it’s just an idea right now. But it’s an idea that fans desperately want to see come to fruition. All we know about the potential series is that it would continue stories of new characters introduced in Picard, along with legacy characters from Star Trek’s trio of ’90s series. Here’s what Matalas had to say at his recent Inglorious Treksperts GalaxyCon panel appearance (via TrekMovie)

“Look, I love this time period in Star Trek, the 25th century. I always view it as the present day in Star Trek for me. It’s where we all left off. And the way we leave this season is a passing of the torch from the last generation to the next… I would certainly love [Star Trek: Legacy] to happen. We certainly leave it so that you can do that.

Celebrating the ’90s, Star Trek’s Golden Age

So why do fans clamor for this era of Trek so much? Because the ’90s was when Star Trek ruled. Despite first airing in the ‘60s, Star Trek wasn’t a culturally dominant franchise until the ‘90s. The original series was a cult show, albeit with quite a large and vocal following. The feature films of the ‘80s were successful, but nowhere near as popular as Star Wars or other Spielberg-era blockbusters. And TNG was a ratings hit right out of the gate in 1987, but struggled with the fans. The the Borg captured Captain Picard in the third season TNG cliffhanger “The Best of Both Worlds” in the summer of 1990…and Star Trek as a franchise began to own the decade.

“The Best of Both Worlds” pushed TNG into the stratosphere, and the show became a legit fan and critical hit after that. For the rest of the show’s run, TNG was appointment television, and the most popular syndicated drama on TV. It led to spin-offs Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and three high-profile feature feature films that decade. Thanks to the success of the various shows and movies, Star Trek toys and merchandise began to really take off, after many failed attempts in prior decades. And many lifelong fans of the franchise were made that decade. And yet, until Picard season 3, they have not been served particularly well.

Ending Star Trek Prequel Fatigue

Almost all Star Trek media since 2001 has been a prequel (Enterprise), an alternate timeline prequel (the J.J. Abrams films), and yet more prequels (Discovery, Strange New Worlds). All of these have their merits, especially the excellent Strange New Worlds. But fans of Trek’s heyday have wanted to see the continuing story of the 24th (now 25th) century characters. Or, at the very least, the galaxy they inhabited. Picard has finally given us that in season three, and fans are clamoring for more. And Matalas has hinted at just who and what we might see, should Legacy ever happen.

Boy, wouldn’t you want to check in with the Klingon Empire? Wouldn’t you want to check in with Deep Space Nine and the Doctor [from Voyager] and everything that went on with the Berman-verse? So that’s kind of where I see it, to explore the galaxy and sort of get back to the Next Gen roots of storytelling is what I would see as a kind of version of Star Trek I’d like to see, with this group of characters that we’re seeing. I don’t want to talk too much about them, although I think you could guess as to who I would like to see.”

Other characters Matalas has mentioned as potentially appearing on Star Trek: Legacy are Deep Space Nine’s Major Kira (Nana Visitor), Worf’s now adult son Alexander, and bigger roles for Jonathan Frakes as Captain Riker. We imagine the crew of the U.S.S. Titan, featured prominently in Picard season three, would factor in too. Fans have really fallen in love with Todd Stashwick’s Captain Shaw, and Geordi’s daughter, Ensign Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). Seeing these new characters interact with Trek legends from the ’90s shows would put fan excitement into maximum warp. It’s the perfect recipe for a fan-favorite series.

Star Trek Fandom Has Always Made Things Happen

For the last few years, Paramount+ has had three concurrent live-action Trek shows running; Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds. A Starfleet Academy series is spinning-off from Discovery, so now we need something to satiate the fans of Picard. Star Trek has a very long history of organized fandom making things happen with the franchise. Once again, it might be time for the fans to rally and manifest this new Trek show.

In the ’60s, a letter-writing campaign saved Trek for a third season. More recently, when fans responded to the new versions of Pike and Spock on Discovery, Paramount+ responded to demand and gave us Strange New Worlds. And it’s been wildly popular. Hopefully, Paramount+ listens again. Next First Contact Day, we hope we hear about Star Trek Legacy as an actual series, and not just an idea or a social media hashtag. It’s definitely the series loyal Star Trek fans have been waiting years for.

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Although Star Trek: Discovery will soon end with season five, a new live-action StarTrek series will arrive to replace it. After years of rumors, Paramount+ has officially announced a series order for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. This show will follow an all-new class of Starfleet cadets. And we’ll get to see students coming of age in one of the most legendary places in the galaxy. Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau will serve as co-showrunners. Gaia Violo wrote the series pilot. The series will begin production in 2024.

You can read the official description of the new Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series right here:

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will introduce us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.

Paramount+ also released a special “recruitment announcement” from the legendary institution itself:

Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy! Explore the galaxy! Captain your destiny! For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves.

The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!”

The mention of the Academy opening up for “the first time in over a century” suggests the new Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series will be a spinoff of Discovery. We learned in recent seasons that because of a terrible galactic incident, the Federation was reduced to just a few worlds by the 32nd century. But by the end of Discovery season three, Starfleet began the climb back, and the Academy reopened.

Many fans crossed their fingers and hoped that Starfleet Academy might take place in the post-Picard timeline. We would have loved to see characters from The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager as instructors. But it seems more likely we’ll see characters from Discovery instead. We do also hope the new Star Trek series won’t be completely Earthbound. It would be amazing to see cadets training on starships, as we did in The Wrath of Khan.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will debut on Paramount+ sometime in 2024 or 2025.

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With Star Trek: Picard season three’s sixth episode, we saw the long-awaited return of LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge. These days, Geordi is actually Commodore La Forge, and runs the Starfleet Museum. But he didn’t arrive alone. He was joined by his real-life daughter Mica Burton, who played Geordi’s daughter, and fellow Starfleet officer, Alandra La Forge. We got the chance to chat with the two Burtons, who told us about what it was like playing on-screen parent and child in the 25th century.

Nerdist: Playing father and daughter on-screen has to be very cool for you both. How did you both react when the Picard producers approached you about the idea for this season? Or was this something that you two pitched to them?

LeVar Burton: Yeah, this was all (Picard showrunner) Terry Matalas’ fault. When I first started talking to Terry about coming back and playing Geordi again, I shared with him what I felt was important to me. He said, “Well, what do you want to see happen?” And I said, “The only thing that I feel like I need to have happen, Terry, is that we rehabilitate Geordi’s canon, where his relationships with women are concerned.”

I know, I know, that in “All Good Things” [The Next Generation series finale], we find out that Geordi was married to Leah Brahms, the woman that was stalked in the episode, “Booby Trap.” And that they had two daughters, Sidney and Alandra. I didn’t buy that. Just never bought the idea that the engineer was discomforted by the presence of women. It’s an old, tired trope. So, that was really, really important to me, and Terry took it from there and he made this happen. He created these two daughters for Geordi, and the suggestion was made, “Well, let’s have Mica audition,” and here we are.

Now, you’ve just talked about Geordi and his relationship with women. And we’ve heard “mom” La Forge mentioned in episode six. Are we ever going to find out just who Mrs. La Forge actually is in this timeline?

Mica Burton: It’s Beyoncé. We talked about this on Twitter. Terry Matalas confirmed it. Our mother is Beyoncé Knowles, and she lasted until the 25th century.

Well, of course she did.

Mica: And it was a beautiful wedding. She sang herself at her own wedding. This is Star Trek canon.

LeVar: You know, I have heard that Rihanna is a big Star Trek fan…. and I’m just going to put it out there that maybe Geordi married Rihanna.

Mica: Look, Bad Girl Ri, if you are my mother, please step forward.

Even though Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) has an icy relationship with her dad on Picard, it seems Alandra and Sidney have more of an understanding. Mica, did you ever talk to Ashlei about your two characters’ relationship off-screen? What it was like for both of them to grow up as daughters of a legend?

Mica: It’s funny, we actually didn’t. We had this conversation afterward about it. But our sisterly bond forged … “La Forged”.

LeVar: Ba-duh-bum.

Mica: Ba-duh-bum. Day one that I came to set. She is just so warm and lovely, and we bonded like that, and we became actual sisters. So, I think that a little bit of our personal relationship informed this lovely sisterly bond on the show. But we discussed it afterward that even though Sidney and her father have not had the best relationship, that wouldn’t have gotten in the way of the sisters. The sisters love each other. The sisters understand each other through and through. They don’t need a guy around. They don’t need a dad around.

Sidney name-drops her famous dad a lot in the first five episodes. Do you think that Alandra does the same thing when she meets people? Or is that purely a Sidney thing?

Mica: I think it’s hilariously a Sidney thing. It’s one of those “trying not to be like her dad”, but she still wants you to know that’s her dad. Maybe it’s like it almost hovers around Alandra, because she works with him. I don’t think there is anybody in the Starfleet Museum that doesn’t know that she’s Geordi’s kid. So, I think it maybe almost haunts her a little bit.

In this episode, Commodore La Forge and Jean-Luc have a really emotional exchange about fatherhood and other things, and how it has changed Geordi, and made him more cautious. What was it like playing such an intimate scene with Patrick Stewart again after 20 years?

LeVar: Just delicious. Delicious. He’s obviously one of the best actors of this generation, and I’ve known that for a long, long time. And anytime you get an opportunity to do a two-hander with Patrick, it’s a good day.

So, we talked about “All Good Things,” and how some of those things (from the future timeline seen in that episode) came true for Geordi, like having two daughters. But in that episode, he was also a published author. So I’m wondering, does Commodore La Forge write novels on the side?

LeVar: He does. He does.

Mica, I know you’re big in the gaming world. This is a huge thing for you. How would you feel if Alandra La Forge made the jump into a Star Trek game of some kind?

Mica: I genuinely cannot eloquently explain the joy that would bring me to see something come that full circle. Even to know that somebody might cosplay Alandra, as someone who was a cosplayer coming up in her career. When I saw people cosplaying my D&D character from Critical Role, Reani—I still sob every time I see it. So, to think that somebody might cosplay live-action me … to think that they’d have a video game with me, tears. Just drowning. I’m going to start a flood.

On TNG, Geordi was very deferential to Captain Picard. You would’ve never heard him call him “Jean-Luc”, but he does here. Did you fill in the blanks of Jean-Luc and Geordi’s relationship in the missing two decades?

LeVar: Well, there weren’t any conversations. But you take your clues from the text, and the way it was written, it was clear that where Geordi had been, and what he had been doing, and the life that he had been living had changed him significantly. And adventuring around the universe was no longer a priority for him. He became a family man, and he needed and wanted stability. So, we find him in a real stable situation, and that all gets threatened when Picard comes calling, and rightly so.

I think it was the right note to play. Gene Roddenberry was clear that he didn’t want any conflict among the bridge crew. His opinion was that we would’ve evolved beyond that. I’m not so sure, and in terms of storytelling, conflict is essential for a good story. So, having those handcuffs taken off of all of us, I think that has made for much better storytelling.

It feels like a lot of this season is setting up a “next Next Generation,” and I don’t know if that’s really going to happen. We know Terry Matalas wants to do a Star Trek: Legacy series. So Mica, is that something that you would be interested in being a part of?

Mica: I would literally not want anything more in this world, other than unicorns to be real. But right under unicorns being real, it would be to be a crew member regularly on a Star Trek series. I am so thankful for this opportunity, and I get it. I get the love of the Star Trek family. I’ve always been a part of it, like my dad said tangentially, just growing up with everybody. But leaving that cast and that crew on the last day, I got to know all the camera operators, and everybody on set, and it broke my heart. I loved being a part of that, and I see why I grew up with the family that I did, which was Patrick, Gates, Michael, and Brent. Because, my God, there’s no family like a Star Trek family.

Star Trek: Picard season three drops new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiered its first season a little less than one year ago. The newest Star Trek series endeared itself to fans quickly, in no small part because of its incredible cast. With adventurous, sharp, and sometimes heartbreaking stories and the aforementioned cast, Strange New Worlds made an impression. It’s the kind of series you want to watch repeatedly just to spend more time with your favorites. And you can do just that with the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season One home release. We have an exclusive clip from that release featuring Christina Chong discussing La’an’s journey.

La’an Noonien-Singh’s arc developed over the season. We learned about her family, of course, and her history with the Gorn. Strange New Worlds took the not-so-intimidating Gorn from Star Trek: The Original Series and made them terrifying hunters. Season one reckoned with the Gorn and La’an’s history with the reptilian species more than once.

The rest of this feature, “Exploring New Worlds,” is part of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season One‘s home release. The collection comes with over 90 minutes of special features, including cast and crew interviews (like the one above), gag reel, and deleted scenes. One of the features focuses entirely on Captain Pike and Anson Mount. Plus there’s a closer look at world building and exclusive commentary.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season One arrives on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray Steelbook on March 21, and will be available on 4K UHD Steelbook on May 16.

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After its first two seasons deliberately stayed away from involving the much-loved cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, season three of Picard has finally embraced its roots as a legacy series. The show has dipped into TNG’s expansive pool of talent to fill its ensemble. But where previous episodes have introduced major TNG players like Geordi, Riker, and Worf, this week’s episode, “Imposters”, features the return of an unlikely but undeniable fan favorite: Michelle Forbes’ Ro Laren. Ro’s momentous return marks a series high for Picard. It serves as not only a testament to the power of Forbes’ performance, but also a reminder of how Bajoran women serve as necessary disruptors in the Trek universe. 

Two shows in the Trek franchise have prominently featured a Bajoran woman in the main or recurring cast: Deep Space Nine with Nana Visitor’s Kira Nerys, and, of course, The Next Generation, who introduced us to the strength of Bajoran women with the fiery, unflinching Ro Laren. Though both Ro and Kira are ‘good guys’, and allied with Starfleet, it quickly becomes clear on both shows that just because they work with Starfleet officers, they don’t always agree with or even like Starfleet. 

While it may be easy to forget when so much of Star Trek’s current programming explores ideas of corruption within the Federation itself, the idea that Gene Rodenberry’s Utopian alliance of planets might be anything other than entirely morally upstanding was once taboo and blasphemous in the Trek universe. Challenging the position of Starfleet as heroes was a risky move for the fledgling Next Generation. One of the first characters to truly provide a moral challenge to Picard, Riker and their blind loyalty to and belief in was undoubtedly Ro.

Introduced in an episode fittingly titled “Ensign Ro”, we first meet the Bajoran freedom fighter as a lowly ensign assigned to visit the Enterprise-D to assist with locating a group of terrorists. Both Picard and Riker immediately vocally protest this assignment, citing previously clashes with Ro. It’s rare that we see Picard—a Captain perhaps most famous for his level-headedness and cerebral nature—express such blatant disdain for a member of Starfleet. It quickly becomes clear that the tensions between Ro and Picard/Riker are more than reciprocated.

One of the first true anti-heroes of the Star Trek franchise, Ro undergoes a fascinating arc. Initially a reluctant rebel-hunter, then Maquis defectee, she embraces her Bajoran heritage and decides to take up the rebellion against the oppressive Cardassian regime. Ro herself is an electric, scene-stealing character and a welcome addition to virtually any episode. But what’s most memorable about her is how she challenges Riker and Picard in their attitude and frame of thought about Starfleet’s morality. 

Though perhaps not as sympathetic towards Bajor as Deep Space Nine would later be, The Next Generation takes the cause of the Maquis and the plight of the Bajoran people seriously. This comes not just from writing the Maquis off as villains-of-the-week or turning Bajor into yet another small planet for Starfleet to rescue. Instead, Bajor and its people resist Starfleet involvement. They often find themselves in direct opposition of Enterprise-D missions. Time and again, Ro flat-out tells Picard and Riker that her personal beliefs and cultural identity put her at odds with Starfleet’s agenda. In turn, this causes Picard to reluctantly reexamine his position on the issue when he must conflict with another officer. 

It’s also through Ro’s turn on The Next Generation that we indirectly get Deep Space Nine’s fearsome first officer Kira Nerys. Another fan-favorite, this time a series regular and an undoubtedly more empathetic (but no less strong-willed) Bajoran woman with ties to the Maquis rebellion. Though the writers initially created the character as replacement for Ro, Kira quickly becomes one of Deep Space Nine’s core players and a fascinating character in her own right.

Where Ro introduced the presence of Bajor as a small but strong people willing to go to any means necessary to dislodge the brutal military occupation of Cardassia, Kira was the portrait of a seasoned veteran who had achieved something of a shaky victory. Ro joins the Maquis after some tossing and turning; Kira already got her hands bloody in the occupation when the show introduces her. 

But instead of a warmongering veteran or a violent freedom fighter walking the line towards “terrorist” (a dynamic acknowledged in the Deep Space Nine documentary as uniquely pre-9/11), Kira Nerys is a warm, welcome presence in the series. She brings heart and humor along with her stubbornness and now customary Bajoran strength. Though they may share more than a few traits in terms of physical appearance (a brown bob, nose ridges, red uniform, and of course, the earring) they represent the growth of the series’ attitude toward and interest in Bajor as a planet.

By the time Deep Space Nine entered its later seasons, Bajor itself had the opportunity to develop and explore darker, messier facets of its history—in particular surrounding their religious beliefs and leaders exemplified in Kai Winn, the first elected Kai of Bajor post-Cardassian occupation and an orthodox believer in the Prophets. Through Kira, Bajor receives the same kind of introspection that Starfleet explores via Ro in The Next Generation. It’s yet another oxymoronic similarity between the trajectories of Ro Laren and Kira Nerys during their Star Trek tenures. 

With the return of Ro Laren in “Imposters,” audiences are once again reminded of the fiery, scene-stealing strength of Bajoran women in Star Trek. They are not just heroes to root for, but morally and ethically complex freedom fighters whose oppression and subsequent battle for independence has crafted a crop of deeply complex characters. In Bajoran women, Star Trek finds some of its most memorable characters and compelling episodes—a torch carried by Picard’s most recent entry. 

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