The NYCC 2022 trailer gives us our first look at Amanda Plummer as Vadic.
It doesn’t seem like that long ago that we reported on the first full trailer for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, which gave us first looks at the returning ST:TNG crew.
Joining Admiral Picard (Patrick Stewart), Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) are his old Enterprise crewmates; Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Geordi La Forge (Levar Burton), Worf (Michael Dorn) and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McGadden).
Back in June, Picard‘s showrunner Terry Matalas was busy teasing the principal villain for the final season saying:
“It is a new character. Played by someone you’ve seen a million times before. Someone I’ve always wanted to work with. And… wow. You’re not ready.”
Last weekend, at the New York Comic Con, a new trailer revealed her; as promised, it’s a new character named Vadic, played by Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire).
From what we can see, she has an almighty axe to grind with the Admiral…
“We will scorch the earth under which he stands and the night will brighten with the ashes of the Federation.”
While Troi senses an “all-consuming darkness”, the trailer also reveals a couple of further villainous faces. One is a continuity deep cut from a couple of TNG episodes, the other perhaps not so unexpected.
Moriarty
The surprise is Moriarty. Appearing in only two episodes, Moriarty was a holodeck creation from Season 2’s ‘Elementary, Dear Data’ when they try to come up with a challenge worthy of defeating Data. They end up with a sentient hologram on their hands.
Saved on a promise, he returned in Season 6’s ‘Ship in a Bottle’, incensed that he was still imprisoned in the ship’s computer and was eventually granted a sort of digital freedom within an isolated Holodeck module. However, it was not quite what he was demanding and he’s unlikely to be pleased to discover the truth!
Lore
The presence of Lore, however, makes plenty of sense. The android brother to Data, but designed without his moral scruples, reoccurred various times during TNG. His inclusion allows Brent Spiner, who has embodied multiple Doctors Soong and their creations across the years, to play a part in proceedings.
Family Connections
There’s so much more to talk about with this new trailer – pacifist Worf for example – but the element that jumped out as us was the presence of a La Forge at the helm of the Titan.
That’s Geordi’s eldest daughter, Ensign Sidney La Forge, played by Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (Homeland, Cruel Summer). However, thanks to Collider, we’ve also learned there’s another La Forge in the mix; Ensign Alandra La Forge, Geordi’s youngest daughter will also appear – she’s played by LeVar Burton’s real life daughter Mica Burton. We understand the pair are set to be recurring characters across the series.
With Riker and Troi’s daughter in season 1 and Wesley popping up briefly in season 2, we can’t help but wonder if any other children of the crew will pop up. Alexander, anyone?
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 comes to Paramount+ on February 16th, 2023 and presumably to Amazon Prime a day later.
Well keep you posted.