The first episode of the brilliant Star Trek: Picard is now out in the world, premiering today on Paramount+ in the US and coming to us here in the UK tomorrow via both Paramount and Prime Video. Showrunner Terry Matalas and his crew have created a vibrant and exciting continuation of plot lines dating right back to The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager and like many of Trek‘s other modern series, Picard‘s final season is filled with Easter eggs and nods to the past.
Today we’re taking a look at just some of what we’ve picked up whilst watching the season premiere. If you haven’t seen the episode yet then you might want to come back later and avoid potential spoilers!
Star Trek Universe Intro
It’s been five years now since Star Trek returned to our screens with the debut of Discovery. In that time the franchise has grown from one series to five. In fact in 2023 all five series look set to debut new seasons which is incredibly exciting news for fans.
Now dubbed the Star Trek Universe, before each episode we get to see a cool little intro animation which plays over the sound of the classic Trek score. But what you might not have noticed is that this intro changes for each show. The scenario remains the same, a ship zips around the screen painting the classic colours of Starfleet uniforms before the legendary insignia appears.
But in each show the ship changes to the focal point of that show. So for Lower Decks it’s the Cerritos, for Discovery it is, of course, the USS Discovery. But which ship does Picard Season 3 feature? Why it’s the USS Titan-A of course!
Khan Callback
After the Titan swoops across the screen for the Star Trek Universe intro, the screen fades to black before a set of opening titles takes over. Both the font and the styling should look very familiar to Star Trek fans but what about the card which reads “In the 25th Century…”?
That moment calls back to the opening credits of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. After scrolling through the film’s main titles, the story begins with an on screen card which read “In the 23rd Century…” in the exact same font. A nice little nod to one of the pinnacles of Trek storytelling from the past.
Captain’s Log
After a brief establishing shot of the Eleos, the ship shared by Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and the mysterious character played by Ed Speleers, we jump inside to the sound of a very familiar voice. It’s none other than the voice of Admiral Picard, reaching out from the past in a clip from the “Best of Both Worlds” two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
In the clip we hear Picard detailing that the Enterprise-D is hiding from the Borg in a nebula. Using the properties of the gaseous cloud to hide the ship from the Borg’s sensors. It’s a clue to why the Eleos is found hiding in the Ryton System, also masking itself from the sensors of its pursuers.
“Family” Ties
As the camera pans around what appears to be Beverly’s quarters on the Eleos we several of her belongings. There’s various PADDs, hyposprays and other devices related to her work but also a number of personal items. One of those items is slightly battered looking crate which belongs to a Starfleet officer by the name of Jack Crusher.
Fans will, of course, know that Jack was the husband of Beverly and a close friend of Admiral Picard during his days at Starfleet Academy. Jack was killed many years prior to Beverly and Jean-Luc being posted together on the Enterprise with both recounting how the latter had been the one to inform Beverly and a young Wesley Crusher of Jack’s demise.
The crate itself also made an appearance in the season 4 premiere of The Next Generation, “Family”. In the episode, the crate had arrived from Earth whilst the Enterprise was undergoing repairs following its battle with the Borg. The crate included a holographic recording Jack had made for Wesley when was only 10 weeks old.
Picard’s Curios
As with season 2, there are plenty of Easter eggs lurking in Picard’s office at his Chateau on Earth. We revisit the location in this episode as it’s being packed away with Picard and Laris (Orla Brady) preparing to make a move elsewhere.
The scene opens with the two facing the legendary painting of the Enterprise-D which once hung in the Captain’s Ready Room on board the ship. Thankfully it seems she survived not only the destruction of that vessel in Star Trek: Generations but also all of Picard’s subsequent adventures.
Another item which makes a prominent appearance is the Kurlan naiskos ceramic figure which appeared back in the TNG season 6 episode “The Chase”. Visited by his former-mentor Professor Galen on the Enterprise, Picard was gifted with the figure which was believed to be from the Third Dynasty. It was seen throughout the remainder of the series in the Ready Room before being rescued by Picard in the final moments of Generations.
Rigel VII
There are a couple of notable place names mentioned during the episode. One of which calls back to The Original Series two part story “The Menagerie” as well as the original pilot episode, “The Cage”.
Rigel VII is the seventh planet of the Rigel system which is located within the Alpha Quadrant. The planet is the homeworld of the Kalar, a pre-warp humanoid species. In 2254, Captain Pike and a landing party from the USS Enterprise attempted to explore Rigel VII. There they were attacked by the native Kalar warriors and several of the landing party were seriously injured.
The planet has been referenced several times across Trek history including having a song named after it, “Moon Over Rigel VII”, which was referenced by Kirk in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
M’Talas Prime
In this week’s episode we find Raffi (Michelle Hurd) working undercover for Starfleet intelligent in an area known as District Six. It’s home to what appears to be plenty of illegal activity and organised crime and will be at the centre of the Raffi sub-plot over the coming weeks.
But an establishing shot of the planet reveals that it’s called M’Talas Prime. Now we can’t help but think this might be a reference to season 3 showrunner and soon to be Star Trek god, Terry Matalas.
USS Titan-A
Plenty has been written about the refit of the USS Titan which has been at the centre of much of Picard‘s final season marketing. But when did the ship first appear?
The USS Titan (NCC-80102) was a Luna-class ship and launched in the 2379 under the command of the newly-promoted Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Like the other ships in the Luna class, was named for a moon in the Sol system. The ship was staffed by several transfers from the USS Enterprise-E as that ship was given a refit.
During this era the Titans would take the lead in a series of Star Trek novels under the Star Trek Titan banner. Former-Voyager crew member Tuvok would serve under Captain Riker during this period, echoing the legacy feel of Picard season 3.
The ship itself wouldn’t make an appearance on screen until the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode “No Small Parts” when Captain Riker would come to the aid of the USS Cerritos in a battle with the Pakleds. That episode would see Ensign Boimler (Jack Quaid) transfer to the Titan with the ship then appearing in the Lower Decks season 2 premiere.
“It wouldn’t be the Enterprise without a Sulu at the helm…”
When Admiral Picard and Captain Riker arrive on the bridge of the USS Titan they’re greeted by the beaming face of the ships helm officer, Sidney LaForge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). But the moment itself is more than just an introduction to the daughter of Geordi (LeVar Burton).
Back in Star Trek: Generations before catching up with the crew of the Enterprise-D, we stepped back in time with a prologue featuring Kirk (William Shatner), Scotty (James Doohan) and Chekov (Walter Koenig ) as they joined the launch of the Enterprise-B. Upon arrival they were greeted by the beaming face of that ship’s helm officer too. This time is was Ensign Demora Sulu (Jacqueline Kim), the daughter of legendary Trek character Hikaru Sulu (George Takei).
The two moments share similar dialogue of Picard reflects the disbelief that Kirk had at meeting the progeny of one of his former crew.
Metaphasic Shielding
As the USS Titan gets underway there is a passing reference to the activation of “metaphasic shielding”, a technology that was first introduced back in the season 6 TNG episode “Suspicions”. That episode also happened to big an important one for Beverly Crusher!
Metaphasic shielding is a form of subspace shielding technology invented by Dr. Reyga, a Ferengi scientist, in the year 2369. Reyga found himself the victim of a murder-plot which nearly saw Dr. Crusher bring her Starfleet career to a premature end.
The new technology is capable of withstanding the pressure, radiation and energy found within a star’s corona. In the season 7 premiere, “Descent, Part II”, Beverly would once again take centre-stage, commanding the Enterprise-D whilst Picard and several other senior officers were engaged in a stand-off with Data’s (Brent Spiner) brother Lore and the Borg. Whilst on the run from a rogue Borg vessel, Beverly would implement the Metaphasic Shield technology successfully to hide the Enterprise in the corona of a nearby star.
It would appear that by 2401 the technology has been refined and is now in regular use within Starfleet.
“You and Janeway convinced me to join Starfleet…”
With her suspicions that Picard and Riker have ulterior motives for arriving on the Titan, newly minted Starfleet Commander Seven (Jeri Ryan) challenges the two on their intentions. But talk quickly turns to her unease in her current position. A strained relationship with Captain Shaw (Todd Stashwick) has left Seven questioning her place in the world.
Picard implores her to stick with Starfleet, claiming that he truly believes she has found her place. In response Seven exclaims that it was both Picard and Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) who convinced her to enlist.
This is, of course, a passing reference to the former-captain of the USS Voyager. Janeway and Steven shared a special bond after her rescue from the Borg and fans are hoping that Janeway may pop up in live-action for a cameo this season. In the meantime you can catch up with Janeway’s adventures in the brilliant animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy.
Raffi’s Search History
Towards the end of the episode, Raffi starts to piece together her intel on the so-called “Red Lady”. With some encouragement from her mysterious handler, Raffi learns that this might be the target of an upcoming attack rather than a person of interest on M’Talas Prime. Searching her database for information on upcoming events yields some very exciting results that fans will want to look very closely at.
Firstly there’s an audio reference to the Tal Shiar, the Romulan intelligence agency which has been a recurring theme across Star Trek since the days of TNG. But after this the visual results on Raffi’s readout holds plenty to get excited about.
The Red Lady refers to a statue of Captain Rachel Garrett which is being unveiled at a Starfleet recruitment agency in the nearby District Seven. Captain Garrett was the commanding officer on the USS Enterprise-C which was famously lost in a battle with the Romulans at Narendra III. The events of the battle played a central part in the TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” in which Garrett was played by Tricia O’Neil. The Enterprise-C was caught in a temporal wake and arrived in the present day, triggering a disastrous change to the timeline. After working with the crew of the Enterprise-D, Captain Garrett was killed in a battle with the Klingons before her ship could travel back to the past and re-correct the course of history.
There are two ships which appear on Raffi’s screen that fans will want to pay close attention to. One of those is the USS Enterprise-F, a ship which we know will appear later in the season. Here we get a beauty shot of the ship under a headline which reads “Enterprise-F Slated For Early Decommission”. We don’t have any context as to why the ship might be taken out of active duty but could this be a plot point for later in the season?
The second ship which appears on screen appears to be the USS Voyager-B. Whilst the text above the image isn’t as easy to read, a second shot would certainly look like it reads “Voyager” whilst the design of the ship in the image seems very familiar. Could the successor to the legendary ship make an appearance this season?
Classic Themes
The final season of Picard features a wonderfully designed end credit sequence which itself is full of Easter eggs. But as the stunning LCARS readouts spring to life on screen a number of classic themes play out over the speakers.
First is the stunning theme which composer Jerry Goldsmith introduced in the soundtrack to Star Trek: First Contact. The theme would play out over the opening credits of that film as was as being a recurring theme across that and all subsequent TNG-era movies. Though it has made brief appearances in Picard, this is the first time we’re hearing it in full.
That First Contact theme soon gives way to another very familiar tune. The classic TNG theme tune, also composed by Goldsmith. Trek fans will no doubt remember that the theme was composed for Star Trek: The Motion Picture before becoming a running theme across various soundtracks before eventually becoming the headline tune of The Next Generation.
Keep a close ear out for other classic cues from across the franchise that might appear this season!
That’s a wrap on episode one, did you spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments below.
Stream new episodes of Star Trek: Picard every Thursday on Paramount+ in the UK. Here in the UK new episodes stream every Friday on both Paramount+ and Prime Video. Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Blu-ray, DVD and digital now.
