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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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Originally published on February 16, 2023.
