We just hit the third episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 3, “Seventeen Seconds”. We’re about a third of the way through the season, so the mystery box plot is beginning to heat up, but it’s not doing that without a ton of fanservice. ‘Seventeen Seconds’ Easter Eggs are scattered everywhere. Therefore, there is plenty to unpack and lots to think about what could lie ahead. So let’s get into this thing!
The episode’s writers were Jane Maggs and Cindy Appel, carrying over from the last season’s writers’ room. The director was the legendary Jonathan Frakes, Riker himself, in his 28th Star Trek directing credit. It was his first time directing Trek he starred in since 1998’s Star Trek: Insurrection. However, the actor is no stranger to the Star Trek Universe. Frakes has directed multiple episodes of Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery.
Flashback to Ten Forward
The episode begins with a flashback to a time marked only as “before”. We meet up with Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) at Ten Forward for the second time this season. This time, they’re de-aged to match their appearances in Star Trek: Nemesis. By my calculations, this scene is set around 2381, 20 years before the rest of the season.
Riker’s uniform is a variant reminiscent of that from the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, rather than the photos with young Thaddeus in Season 1 of Star Trek: Picard. There’s also an Arcanis Lager sign in the background, which we’ve seen in Season 2 of Picard. However, this sign originates in Star Trek: The Search for Spock.
We also look at Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) for the first time this season, albeit in the past. She gets a chance with some funny material, a leap forward for Deanna and matches Sirtis’ personality. Riker calls her “Imzadi”, their pet name for one another, which we were first introduced to in TNG’s pilot, “Encounter at Farpoint”. We could argue that ‘Seventeen Seconds’ Easter Eggs sits well here. However, we’ve already spent plenty of time looking at the Ten Forward avenue bar.
Post-Nemesis Adventures
The conversation between Picard and Beverly (Gates McFadden) is probably the emotional highlight of the episode. Their relationship made TNG special. But in all their explanations, we hear about some cool adventures after Nemesis. For starters, learn that they tried five times to get their emotional relationship to work. This on-again-off-again relationship explains why Picard had a romance in Star Trek: Insurrection.
We also hear a namedrop of Casperia Prime. This planet is similar to a popular holiday destination, Risa, except specialising in honeymoons. It’s where Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) wanted to take Worf (Michael Dorn) on their honeymoon in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Change of Heart”. References like that make this whole season such a dream come true for Trek fans such as myself.
We also hear references & Easter Eggs to an action-packed adventure in the Donatra Sector. This shares the name of the commander of the Valdore, who assists the Enterprise-E crew in Nemesis. There’s a good chance that Donatra (Dina Meyer) went on to live an influential life if there’s a whole sector named after her. I appreciate the references to Nemesis, an often-overlooked film in the series.
They also namedrop Beverly’s other son, Wesley (Wil Wheaton), who we learn she hasn’t seen in a long time. We last saw Wesley at the end of the last season of Picard. Although he’s not in Season 3, that doesn’t rule out appearances in other Trek shows, which, given his abilities to travel through time and space, is not a possibility that should be ruled out. I’d love to see Wesley return in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds or Lower Decks, perhaps even in their upcoming crossover.
The Power of Legacy
For not the first time in this series, Sidney LaForge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) speaks highly of her father. While looking for ‘Seventeen Seconds’ Easter Eggs, highlighting this is good. Going to Seven’s (Jeri Ryan) quarters, Sidney comforts her, recovering from her insubordination and loyalty to Picard and Riker. In discussing the strengths of friendship, she alludes to her father Geordi’s (LeVar Burton) friendships. Geordi’s strongest friendship was with Data (Brent Spiner). Therefore, likely the one that Sidney is alluding to.
Beverly discusses the target she sees on Jack’s (Ed Speleers) back if he were openly Picard’s son. This idea of Picard being a dangerous person to be associated with is probably connected to Vadic’s (Amanda Plummer) motive for wanting Jack. Vadic clearly wants to get under Picard’s skin, to “peck and jab at everything that makes you, you”. It would make sense to do this by kidnapping his son.
We also finally see everyone where they’re meant to be. We see Riker in the Captain’s chair, mirroring his appearances in Lower Decks aboard the Titan. Beverly and Jack are seeing patients in the sick bay, where Beverly spent most of TNG, perhaps teasing Jack’s place in a potential 25th Century spinoff series. It also presents the perfect environment for a return of The Doctor (Robert Picardo), who, given that dealing is on the cards, could return at any moment.
Operation: Daybreak – Revealed
After two weeks of vague clues, Easter Eggs and increasing tension, we finally know exactly what Raffi (Michelle Hurd) and Worf (Michael Dorn) are working against. To prevent the reignition of the Dominion War. This massive surprise ties directly into the Treaty of Bajor at the end of DS9. Now that the Changelings and the Dominion War are central to the season’s plot, there could be all manner of unexpected cameos. Could we see the return of Kassidy Yates (Penny Johnson Jerald) or perhaps even Sisko (Avery Brooks) himself?
The Changeling in question assumed the identity of Titus Rikka (Thomas Dekker). Dekker also played Thomas Picard in Star Trek: Generations, from which we hear music cues throughout the episode’s meditations on Picard’s fatherhood, and Henry Burleigh in Star Trek: Voyager’s “Learning Curve” and “Persistence of Vision”. It is cool how Trek reuses a lot of guest actors for different roles over the years.
The rogue Changelings being back in the Alpha Quadrant directly violates the Treaty, and if the information were to go public, the Dominion War would likely be reignited. Worf only knows about this because of a “man of honour” inside the Great Link, who is certainly a reference to Odo (Rene Auberjonois). Since Auberjonois passed away in 2019, it makes for a beautiful tribute to insert the important legacy character into the big reunion. DS9 is my favourite Trek series, so I’m excited about what’s coming!
Worf’s Many Titles
After a short cameo in last week’s episode, we finally catch up with Worf. He introduces himself as Worf, son of Mogh, House of Martok, Son of Sergey, House of Rozhenko, bane to the Duras family and slayer of Gowron. This line is jam-packed with Easter Eggs and references Worf’s history across TNG and DS9. The operatic music playing in the background is identical to the music Picard was listening to in Star Trek: First Contact, directed by Jonathan Frakes.
Mogh is his biological father, often referenced in TNG. He joined the House of Martok in “Soldiers of the Empire”, after the House of Mogh ceased to exist. Sergey and Rozhenko refers to his adoptive father on Earth, Sergey Rozhenko. This is also the surname of Worf’s son Alexander. Him being a bane to the Duras family refers to him killing Duras in “Reunion” as well as the recurring Duras sisters. Worf also killed Gowron (Robert O’Reilly) in “Tacking Into the Wind”.
Worf also mentions that he’s not a Starfleet officer and should be considered more of a “subcontractor” for Starfleet Intelligence. While unlikely, this could ultimately tie in to the Section 31 namedrop last week. This would add to the pile of DS9 references in Raffi and Worf’s story section.
The Saboteur
There’s a big reveal that there’s also a Changeling saboteur aboard the Titan. Ensign Foster (Chad Lindberg) is seen with his face moving. We previously saw Foster acting pretty suspicious in the series’ previous episodes. It was obvious that there was something wrong with him. While some theorised that this could connect to the bugs from “Conspiracy”, he was, in fact, a Changeling. The idea of a rogue Changeling aboard a ship is reminiscent of DS9’s “The Adversary”.
The Verterium gas is a nice callback, first mentioned in VOY’s “Investigations” and adopted into Trek lore. The way Foster glared through the door reminded me of how we were first introduced to Lore (Brent Spiner) in the trailer. Perhaps Lore is the real weapon stolen from Daystrom, reassembled to wreak havoc one final time? It would be really exciting for TNG and DS9 to crossover like that. Only time will tell, but we look to be finding out next week when Raffi and Worf go to Daystrom Station.
After Jack recovers from the Changeling’s attack in sickbay, he’s seen knowing what a Changeling is. While the Dominion War is a major piece of history, his personal recognition of them could suggest a shared history. Perhaps Jack knows more about Vadic than he and Beverly let on? Given Vadic’s crew on the Shrike being Changelings, it’s not impossible. Could more Changelings on the Titan be hidden in plain sight? Perhaps even Riker himself?
Seven Monkeys
In Seven’s quarters, we see a model of the USS Voyager on her shelf. While an obvious callback to her time on VOY, we also learned in “The Next Generation” that Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) had a hand in getting Seven her current commission aboard the Titan. ‘Seventeen Seconds’ Easter Eggs highlights that Seven is still nostalgic for her time aboard Voyager and also for being called Seven. Both the new and legacy characters both revert to calling her Seven when Shaw (Todd Stashwick) isn’t around.
Her being forced to assume this identity is akin to deadnaming a trans person, and it’s obvious that she prefers Seven. This further suggests that Shaw has problems with the Borg, which I’ve theorised previously could be connected to trauma stemming from Wolf 359. I’d love for Commander Seven to properly stand her ground with Shaw and get to use her name. Trek has always excelled at cultural commentary, and this would be a lovely opportunity.
Seven also features Jack’s vision, setting up another mystery box plot. The red branches and the red motif in the rest of the vision are reminiscent of the Red Forest in showrunner Terry Matalas’ other show 12 Monkeys. The idea of narrating over it I also found similar to its introduction with Olivia’s (Alisen Down) hypnotic voice. The red door and the voice are a complete mystery, and it’s too early to have concrete ideas. However, consider me hooked!
Conclusion
Did you spot any ‘Seventeen Seconds’ Easter Eggs that we missed? Star Trek: Picard Season 3 airs on Paramount+ in the United States and on CTV Sci-Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. However, the series will be available on Amazon’s Prime Video service for most international locations in the following days. For coverage of all things Star Trek: Picard Season 3, be sure to follow Trek Central!
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