Over the course of Star Trek: Picard season 3, there are many great Star Trek references. Many allude to Star Trek: The Next Generation and there are plenty of references to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. However, there may be even more references to the Star Trek movies than there are to the shows.
RELATED: Read all our recaps of Star Trek: Picard here
Here are 8 references to the Trek movies from Picard season 3. There are many others that aren’t included on this list. Please be sure and let us know if we didn’t include your favorite. Prepare for shakedown, and be aware that this article includes spoilers for the entirety of Picard season 3.
Opening Text
Picard season 3 wastes no time getting to the cinematic Trek references. The very opening of the season pays homage to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This movie opens with blue text on a black screen reading, “In the 23rd Century…”
For “The Next Generation,” the text is updated to read, “In the 25th Century…” This allusion ensures you’re in the cinematic mindset as soon as the season begins.
Shuttlecraft “Saavik”
Near the conclusion of the episode, “The Next Generation,” Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) “borrow” a shuttlecraft from the U.S.S. Titan-A. In “Disengage,” the name of the shuttlecraft can be briefly glimpsed after it is destroyed by the Shrike.
RELATED: Star Trek: 8 Women of Vulcan
The shuttlecraft is named for Saavik, a character introduced in Wrath of Khan. Saavik was played by Kirstie Alley in her first appearance and Robin Curtis in subsequent appearances in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. According to a @StarTrekLogs Instagram post released before Picard season 3, Saavik became the Captain of the first Titan.
Captain Vadic
Speaking of the Shrike, the fearsome battleship is commanded by Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer). Eventually, she is revealed to be a Changeling who escaped from experimentation on Daystrom Station.
However, this character’s casting pays homage to one of the greatest Trek movie villains. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Klingon villain General Chang is played by Amanda’s father, Christopher Plummer. Both scene-stealing performances guarantee that our larger-than-life protagonists have equally oversized enemies.
Jerry Goldsmith
Several of the Trek movies feature scores by Jerry Goldsmith. These include the first, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Some fans of small screen Trek might not realize this movie was the source of the music most commonly identified as the TNG theme song.
RELATED: Goldsmith’s score also got referenced by Star Trek: Lower Decks, “Grounded.”
Goldsmith’s music is referenced through Picard season 3 through the score by Stephen Barton and Frederik Wiedmann. One specific example is Goldsmith’s “Klingon theme,” also from the TMP soundtrack. Already used for Worf (Michael Dorn) in Star Trek: First Contact, this theme continues to be associated with the “warrior for peace” throughout this season.
Acting Alumni
Another way Picard season 3 pays homage to the Trek movies is through returning actors playing different roles. The most obvious of these is Tim Russ. In “Dominion,” he reprises his best-known role, Tuvok from Voyager. However, he also appeared as an unnamed crewmember aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-B in the opening scenes of Star Trek: Generations.
This isn’t the only returning actor from Generations, either. In the episode “Seventeen Seconds,” Worf and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) pursue an individual named “Titus Rikka,” who proves to be a Changeling. Rikka is played by Thomas Dekker, who previously appeared as one of Picard’s “Nexus children” in the Time Ribbon scenes of Generations. And in “The Last Generation,” Federation President Anton Chekov is played by Walter Koenig. This is implied to be the descendant of Koening’s TOS character, who appeared in the opening scenes of Generations.
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
In “The Bounty,” Worf, Raffi, and Riker infiltrate Daystrom Station to determine what the Changelings stole from the facility. They soon encounter what appears to be Hologram Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis). However, this is not the same “self-aware Moriarty” from TNG.
RELATED: Star Trek: Picard, Moriarty, and The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
Instead, Picard season 3’s Moriarty is revealed to be something of a red herring. This calls to mind the 1974 novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. The novel is written by Nicholas Meyer, who wrote and directed Wrath of Khan, co-wrote The Voyage Home, and co-wrote and directed The Undiscovered Country.
The Bounty
Several of the objects found in Section 31’s Daystrom Station stronghold pay homage to the movies. These include a second Genesis Device. This references the plot of Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. It is also the method by which Spock (Leonard Nimoy) returned from the Black Mountain.
Also hidden in the vault are the remains of James T. Kirk (William Shatner). The display screen displays X-ray imagery that recalls Kirk’s ultimate fate in Generations. Finally, the “younger brother” of Data (Brent Spiner), B-4, can also be found in the vault. This prototype android first appeared in Star Trek: Nemesis.
The Borg Queen
After Vadic is dispatched by Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in the antepenultimate episode of Picard season 3, “Surrender,” the big bad is revealed. While her presence isn’t revealed until the episode, “Võx” and she isn’t fully unveiled until “The Last Generation,” the Borg Queen (voice of Alice Krige; body double Jane Edwina Seymour) casts a long shadow over this season.
RELATED: We three Queens: What to know about Star Trek: Picard‘s Borg Queen
This echoes the fact that the Borg Queen did not appear over the course of TNG, but made her debut on the big screen in First Contact.
All episodes of Picard season 3 are available for streaming on Paramount+.
Paramount+. Thousands of episodes including all Star Trek series, live TV & exclusive originals–all in one place. Try it free!
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/damion-poitier-star-trek-picard-worf-the-flash-goldface-the-sundering/
- STAR TREK: Answering Your Questions About Caitians - April 22, 2025
- Book Review: WHERE SHADOWS BLOOM - April 18, 2025
- STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Season 3 Will Debut at Tribeca Festival 2025 - April 17, 2025
