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.