Star Trek: Picard’s Best Easter Eggs (TOS, TNG, Voyager & More)

Here are the best Easter eggs from Star Trek: Picard's first 3 episodes. Built primarily on the return of Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, the latest Star Trek series is pushing forward the franchise's timeline, continuing storylines derived from The Next Generation and both continuities of the movie series. But as progressive as Star Trek: Picard has been, there's an undeniable whiff of nostalgia in the air, and the series makes no secret of its secondary purpose as a love letter to the past of Trek.

In the 3 episodes aired thus far, Picard has been dragged out of retirement by the emergence of Data's twin daughters and is still dealing with the fallout from his dramatic Starfleet departure over the halted Romulan evacuation. Picard smells a conspiracy and is readying himself to head back out into space and find the surviving twin, Soji, who is blissfully unaware of her importance. Played by Isa Briones, Soji is currently helping disassemble inert Borg clones on a defunct Cube under the direction of Picard's old pal, Hugh. The final shot of episode 3 sees Stewart deliver his long-awaited "engage" and once more warp into the unknown towards danger.

Now that Star Trek: Picard's time on Earth is over, it's worth looking back over the Easter eggs the series dropped during those initial episodes. From Picard's home and vineyard, to Starfleet HQ and the Daystrom Institute, here are the best nods and references in Star Trek: Picard so far:

Episode 1

Blue Skies

The Easter eggs begin as early as Star Trek: Picard's very first scene. As the camera pans over a wondrous outer space visual, Bing Crosby's "Blue Skies" begins playing, and this track holds a deep relevance to the central plot of the latest Trek series. Data performed this song at Riker and Troi's wedding in Star Trek: Nemesis and later, after his noble sacrifice, B-4 is heard humming the same tune, hinting to the audience that part of Data might still live on. The use of "Blue Skies" again here carries forward that idea of Data's survival and the sentience of artificial life.

The Picard Day Banner

Episode 1 of Star Trek: Picard features an entire room of Jean-Luc paraphernalia, as the former Starfleet admiral enters the vault that houses his personal belongings. There's a Bat'leth, models of ships Picard commanded during his pomp, and best of all, there's the Picard Day banner. Much to the captain's chagrin, Picard Day was celebrated by youngsters on board the Enterprise, with an art contest to be judged by the man himself. Jean-Luc famously disliked the festival, and his keeping of the banner ruffled a few fandom feathers after Star Trek: Picard's premiere aired. Rather than being inconsistent to Picard's character, however, the proudly displayed banner highlights Picard's yearning for the past.

Seattle

One of the more subtle Easter eggs in Star Trek: Picard comes when Dahj is first apprehended by the mysterious Romulan black ops unit. Confused by the assault, she tries to reason with her captors (before beating them all up) and claims to be from Seattle. This could be an interesting allusion to Star Trek: Discovery's Ash Tyler, who was also a human unknowingly housing a completely different persona. Instead of a synth, Ash turned out to be a Klingon, but before he discovered this, he also said he was originally from nearby Seattle. What is it about rewriting personalities in Star Trek lore that means Seattle has to be the subject's designated birth place?

Episode 2

Picard's Parietal Lobe Defect

In The Next Generation's "All Good Things..." the troublesome Q meddles with the timeline, and Picard finds himself in a future where he's suffering with Irumodic Syndrome, which can lead to delusions and erratic behavior before proving fatal. After returning to the present, Picard gets himself checked by Dr. Crusher and learns of a defect in his parietal lobe which, while relatively innocuous now, could one day lead to that very condition. In a great example of decade-spanning continuity, Dr. Benayoun reveals that he was hesitant to certify his old friend fit for service because the defect had worsened over the past 3 decades.

Asimov Shout-Out

As with the "Blue Skies" Easter egg in Star Trek: Picard's first episode, there are many more references to robots and sentience to be found throughout the series, usually whenever a character holds a book in such a way that the title is directly in-shot. Perhaps the best example of this comes when Dr. Jurati visits Picard at his family vineyard and, somewhat presumptuously, begins rifling through his library. The scientist picks up a copy of Isaac Asimov's The Complete Robot which, as the title implies, contains stories which directly relate to the themes of Star Trek: Picard, especially the philosophical argument over sentience.

Picard Hates Sci-Fi

Arguably episode 2's best reference comes directly in the wake of the Asimov nod, when Picard states, "I never really cared for science fiction.I guess I just didn't get it." This verging-on-blasphemous line is a tongue-in-cheek jab at Star Trek fans and fits neatly with the Shakespeare-loving Picard's character. However, the line might also highlight how modern Star Trek has moved partially away from the traditional depiction of science fiction the franchise epitomized once upon a time.

Episode 3

Vasquez Rocks

When Picard goes to visit his former Starfleet ally, Michelle Hurd's Raffi, he finds her dwelling at Vasquez Rocks. In what could be Star Trek: Picard's best Easter egg thus far, Vasquez Rocks is not only a real place in California, but is an iconic Star Trek filming location that has been used in The Original Series, The Next Generation, Voyager, Enterprise, the classic movie series and the J. J. Abrams films. Now not only has Star Trek: Picard filmed at Vasquez rocks, but the location has been used to represent itself, rather than an alien landscape, and is thereby enshrined into canon as a site of significance in fictional Star Trek lore, and not just behind the scenes.

Gorn Egg

Vasquez Rocks isn't the only Easter egg Raffi produces in Star Trek: Picard. As she sifts through Picard's data on Bruce Maddox, a word very familiar to fans arises - "Gorn." This species are famous from the original series episode "Arena," in which Captain Kirk did battle with this lizard-like creature armed with nothing but his wits and a dropkick. The Gorn were already name-checked in a previous Star Trek: Picard episode but this reference is far more interesting, since it lists a "cryptographic algorithm" labelled "Gorn Egg." This exact meaning behind this phrasing isn't clear; perhaps someone in the Star Trek world is using their favorite green aliens as a password, but the fact that Star Trek: Picard contains a Gorn Easter egg literally consisting of the words "Gorn Egg" is the height of all references.

The EMH

Far more obvious than episode 3's Vasquez Rocks and Gorn Egg references, Star Trek: Picard brings back the Emergency Medical Hologram from Star Trek: Voyager. In that series, the appropriately-named Robert Picardo played a holographic doctor who experiences human development somewhat akin to Data, and the idea is revisited on Rios' ship, with an on-board EMH designed to look like its master. As with Voyager's Doctor, this hologram is a friendly, overly-chipper program with a unique sense of humor and a good degree of sentience.

Star Trek: Picard continues with "Absolute Candor" February 13th on CBS All Access.

Source: screenrant.com