In "Star Trek Picard" season 2, episode 4, we finally learn what the deal is with Picard's
accent, spot a reference that's been with Trek for more than 50 years, and we also learn
that Guinan stays strapped, no matter what century she's in.
In the fourth episode, "Watcher," Picard and Jurati leave the confines of the La Sirena
and head to the Picard Chateau in 2024.
"Oh dear."
"So Chateau Picard is abandoned in this era."
"Nearly a century at this point."
The former Enterprise captain explains that at this point in history -- nearly 400 years
in the past -- the Picard vineyard has been abandoned for generations, and it will be
decades before the Picards return to occupy it once again.
While giving Jurati a brief tour, Picard finally resolves a debate regarding his backstory
that has raged among Trekkies for more than three decades.
According to Picard, during the Second World War, Nazis occupying France used his family's
chateau as a base of operations.
His family only survived, he says, when they fled into the underground tunnels.
From there, the family escaped across the English Channel to the United Kingdom.
This is a long-awaited explanation as to why Jean-Luc Picard, a Frenchman, is played by
the English actor Patrick Stewart with no discernible French accent.
It sounds like after arriving in the United Kingdom, the Picards assimilated into English
culture, keeping their British accents even after returning to France more than a century
later.
Having brought the Borg Queen aboard the La Sirena to help guide them back in time, Picard
and his crew once again rely on her for interdimensional knowledge.
The Borg Queen claims to know the location of the Watcher, a being with awareness of
other timelines which might be able to help them.
However, to access the information, Jurati needs to be partially assimilated.
It's a risky procedure, but she convinces Picard it's the only way.
They get some of the information they need, but much of it is scrambled in Jurati's head.
While Picard gives her a tour of his family's French chateau, Jurati begins subconsciously
fixating on the number 15.
Picard points out that while in the chateau's library she moves 15 beads on an abacus, selects
the 15th volume of an encyclopedia, and picks up a bottle of pinot noir from 1915.
This seems to indicate that there's some information rattling around in her subconscious -- something
Picard would recognize, because he's seen this sort of thing before.
The subconscious fixation feels like a direct nod to the events of "The Next Generation"
episode "Cause And Effect."
In that episode, the Enterprise is stuck in a repeating loop of time, and Data implants
a subconscious message to himself regarding the number three to help them solve the dilemma.
Perhaps thanks to this experience, Picard can recognize the same phenomenon in Jurati
and see the fixation on 15 as a potentially helpful subconscious message.
Time travel is at the core of some of the most classic "Star Trek" stories and provides
some of the franchise's most memorable moments.
One such instance is from "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," which sees Kirk and Spock aboard
a commuter bus after traveling back in time to San Francisco.
There, a large mohawk-sporting punk is carrying a boom box and blaring loud music, specifically
the song "I Hate You" written and performed by "Star Trek" producer Kirk Thatcher.
Annoyed by the crass music and cacophony of disruptive noise, Kirk asks the punk to turn
it down, only to be met with a middle finger.
Seeing no other choice, Spock reaches forward and gives the man a Vulcan neck pinch, knocking
him unconscious and turning off the music.
In the "Picard" episode "Watcher," we get a repeat of this scene, but with far different
results.
While Seven and Raffi travel on a similar commuter bus in Los Angeles, another mohawked
punk carries a boom box playing a slightly altered new version of the same song, "I Still
Hate You."
This time though, when Seven angrily asks the man to turn the music off, the punk goes
from angry to ashamed, turning off his boom box before sheepishly apologizing for causing
the pair any trouble.
"I just like that song.
Sorry.
Sorry."
Seeking the Watcher, Picard finally gets a set of coordinates and beams over, finding
himself in a familiar alley.
He materializes at 10 Forward Ave, the same location as Guinan's bar in the 25th century,
and realizes that Guinan may be the person he's looking for.
However, it's a much smaller detail that's sure to draw the eyes of longtime Trekkies,
as a brick wall in the background holds a well-worn "Star Trek" prop: a poster for a
boxing match at Madison Square Garden.
First appearing in the classic "Star Trek" episode "The City on the Edge of Forever,"
the poster has since become an iconic Easter egg across the franchise, making re-appearances
in other time travel episodes.
It turned up in the background of "Past Tense," a two-part story on "Deep Space Nine," when
O'Brien and Kira travel back to the 20th century looking for Sisko, Dax, and Bashir.
The poster was seen again, just barely, in the "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode "Storm
Front" when history is altered and Captain Archer finds himself in Nazi-occupied New
York City in 1944.
Whether it was left up on the wall for decades or is some sort of 21st-century rematch, we
still have to wonder why they're advertising a boxing match occurring at Madison Square
Garden in downtown Los Angeles.
Entering the bar, Picard discovers a much younger Guinan -- now played by actress Ito
Aghayere -- with a much different attitude.
Far more cynical, this Guinan in 2024 has had enough of the human race and is about
to close her bar and depart planet Earth.
She also doesn't recognize Picard, and that makes sense.
After Q altered history, there was no longer a starship Enterprise to travel back in time
to 1893, and allow Picard and company to first meet Guinan in the "TNG" episode "Time's Arrow."
It's possible that her new, less hopeful attitude is the result of never having met Picard and
getting a peek into humanity's -- and her own -- future.
"If you're here to drink, you're late.
If you're here to loot, you're early."
When she meets Picard in "Watcher," Guinan is more than just cynical -- she's distrusting
and suspicious.
She makes it known she won't tolerate a thief by pulling a shotgun out from under the bar.
This should come as no surprise to fans of "The Next Generation," who will remember that
Guinan is known for keeping a powerful firearm at her side.
In the episode "Night Terrors," when fear grips the Enterprise and a fight breaks out
in the ship's lounge, Guinan pulls a phaser rifle from under her bar.
But in 2024, a simple pump-action shotgun is all she needs to ward off thieves, brawlers,
and malcontents.
"Your suspicions, Madame Guinan, are undoubtedly based upon your keen observational skills."
Viewers still reeling from the surprising sight of a younger Guinan and a new actress
playing her may have missed the next Easter egg.
Walking through the streets of downtown L.A., Guinan is headed to donate some items from
her bar, which she has decided to close down before she leaves the planet.
She and Picard stop at a tent labeled 21st Street Mission Donation Center, where they
drop off Guinan's donations to benefit the less fortunate.
Of course, the 21st Street Mission is nothing new in "Star Trek," as it was previously seen
in the episode "City on the Edge of Forever."
When Kirk and Spock travel back to 1930s New York, they're aided by Edith Keeler, who runs
the 21st Street Mission, a homeless shelter that houses, feeds, and clothes those in need.
"Excuse me, Miss.
Where are we?"
"You're in the 21st Street Mission."
At the tail end of the fourth episode, "Watcher," we find Q sitting at a table outdoors reading
a copy of a contemporary newspaper, the Los Angeles Times.
In this version of 2024, it seems the world has the same issues as the real world in 2022,
with one headline noting that "Brynner fights unionization."
The headline is a reference to Chris Brynner, the wealthy magnate from the "Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine" time travel episode "Past Tense."
There he appeared as something of a cross between Bill Gates and Rupert Murdoch.
Brynner is the owner and CEO of a tech conglomerate called Brynner Information Systems and wields
political influence through the several network channels he controls.
While he presents himself as an elitist, he seems genuinely good-hearted and helps Dax
locate her friends in the Sanctuary District, even coming to question the ethics of his
time.
However, the headline of the paper held by Q reveals that Brynner is now anti-union,
suggesting that he has more in common with the corporate ethics of his era than we previously
thought.
As Q sits at an outdoor dining area reading the Los Angeles Times, a young woman comes
walking out of the NASA facility where they are preparing for the upcoming space flight
mission to Europa.
The building is marked conspicuously as the Jackson Roykirk Plaza, which at first might
seem like the name of a real-life landmark in Los Angeles.
However, fans of "Star Trek: The Original Series" will spot the name right away as a
reference to a character mentioned in the episode "The Changeling."
In that episode, Captain Kirk and the Enterprise encounter a long-lost Earth space probe called
Nomad that was launched in 2002.
The probe, which was designed by a brilliant 21st-century scientist named Jackson Roykirk,
was piloted by an artificial intelligence given a mission to seek out new life in the
galaxy.
Unfortunately, the probe's logic systems identified the aliens it encountered as imperfect and
turned against them.
“This is the creator of Nomad – perhaps the most brilliant, though erratic scientist
of his time."
It seems that, in the fictional 2024 seen on "Picard," Roykirk is still remembered as
one of the space agency's leading minds.
Whether he is still alive and working for them in his later years or the plaza was named
as a memorial to him after his death remains unknown.
Speaking of that last scene, it's not just any book the woman is leafing through -- it's
a book titled "The Pallid Son" by author Tracy Tormé.
A sharp eye will note that the book cover is adorned with the banner "A Dixon Hill Mystery."
Dixon Hill was the name of a fictional detective in "Star Trek" and star of several novels
-- and later holodeck programs -- preferred by Jean-Luc Picard.
First mentioned in "The Next Generation," Dixon Hill has been referenced over the years
in episodes of "Enterprise" and "Voyager" as well.
"I think that your marvelous mind is trying to tell us something."
"Look at you, Dixon Hill."
The book's fictional author, Tracy Tormé, is named after the real-life writer of "The
Next Generation" episode that the detective series first appeared in, "The Big Goodbye."
"Ready for San Francisco, Mr. Whalen?"
"More than ready, sir."
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