Star Trek: Picard season 3 episode 6 review and recap: One foot in nostalgia, one in storytelling 

Star Trek: Picard has been, for most of its third season, a story-heavy ride with Picard, Riker, and Dr. Crusher (Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and Gates McFadden, respectively).

This chapter of the story was always meant to take things over from the older generation and hand it over to the fabled central cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, some of which were forcefully inserted in this episode.

Promising plenty of drama in the synopsis, this episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation did not take long to access things from both the past and future of the universe amid a growing crisis with some strong plot lines to resolve. The synopsis for the episode reads:

"Now on the run, Picard and the skeleton crew of the USS Titan must break into Starfleet's most top-secret facility to expose a plot that could destroy the Federation. Picard must turn to the only soul in the galaxy who can help: an old friend."

Episode 6 of Star Trek: Picard season 3 aired on March 23, 2023. It is available for streaming on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Picard season 3 episode 6 review and recap: A story of replacements

From the beginning, Star Trek: Picard was aimed at two things: the old players and pieces in the franchise's history, spearheaded by Jean-Luc Picard as he reflected on his successes and failures and the promise of a new story with new characters that could match up to the fame of the original characters.

Titled The Bounty, this episode began with Picard fretting over his son, Jack, inheriting his Irumodic Syndrome while Geordi LaForge worried about his daughter inheriting his stubbornness. This aptly sets up the tension required to dive deep into the nostalgia the showrunners aimed for in this episode.

With the Changeling threat still on and a fresh plot brewing, this episode was quite packed with plotlines. It also managed to introduce three NextGen cast members, most of which felt quite rushed. The tone of nostalgia was also aided by the appearance of many old characters, including a cameo for Cmdr. Ro (played by Michelle Forbes).

The return of Moriarty and a new version of Data in a new version are also just as surprising. The majority of this episode was driven by things that we have already seen in the past. But it also managed to hold on to some aces for the end of the episode, which also aptly set up the series' future.

It is revealed towards the end that Riker is captured by the returning Vadic, a changeling. She also revealed the mystery behind the "weapon," something that many fans were waiting to find out about.

The "weapon" that the Changelings stole was the corpse of Jean-Luc Picard. After he died in the first season's finale, a team of cyberneticists was able to shunt his consciousness into an android body. Since then, Picard has been in an Android body with human-like features. But the changelings took the corpse for a reason that Star Trek: Picard is yet to reveal.

This should form the story for the next part of Star Trek: Picard. It is currently streaming on Paramount+.