Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 4 – “No Win Scenario”The respect Ensign Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) shows Commander Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in Star Trek: Picard season 3 ended up saving the USS Titan-A from disaster. Picard season 3, episode 4, “No Win Scenario,” centered on the crew of the Titan trying to save themselves from destruction in the Ryton Nebula. Thankfully, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) deduced the nebula is really an alien life-form about to give birth, which allowed Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), and Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) to mastermind a bold escape plan.
Meanwhile, it was up to Seven of Nine to find the Changeling saboteur aboard the Titan. Star Trek: Picard season 3 revealed that a rogue faction of shapeshifters from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine plan to attack the United Federation of Planets. Seven realized that a Changeling infiltrated the Titan before Riker and Picard came aboard. Having never faced the Dominion as a Borg, Seven reluctantly turned to Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) for help. Later, Picard recruited Shaw’s expertise of the Titan to jerry rig the nacelles as part of their plan to harness the energy of the Ryton Nebula to whisk the starship to safety.
Sidney La Forge’s Respect For Seven Of Nine Saved The Titan In Picard Season 3
Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 3, “Seventeen Seconds,” revealed that Sidney La Forge and Seven of Nine are friends, and Sidney calls her First Officer “Commander Seven.” This is in stark contrast to how Captain Shaw insists Seven uses her human name, Annika Hansen. But Seven and Shaw employed this factoid to their advantage when they laid a trap for the Changeling, who they knew would sabotage their work on the Titan’s nacelle. Sure enough, the Changeling appeared impersonating Ensign La Forge. When Seven held “Sidney” at phaser-point and asked what La Forge calls her, the shapeshifter erroneously replied, “Commander Hansen,” and paid for it with its life.
Star Trek: Picard season 3’s payoff of “Commander Seven” and how Sidney La Forge’s respect for Seven of Nine ending up saving the Titan is ingenious. The fact that Sidney is empathetic and values Seven’s friendship enough to use the name she identifies as shows her quality as a person, and it’s something Seven appreciates. Meanwhile, the real Ensign La Forge was unaware a Changeling stole her face because she was bravely piloting the Titan through the Ryton Nebula. But Sidney’s kindness to Seven becoming the catalyst to expose and stop the Changeling saboteur is brilliant and pure Star Trek.
Picard Set Up Shaw No Longer Dead Naming Seven Of Nine
The other fantastic payoff of “Commander Seven” in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 4, is how it taught Captain Shaw a lesson as well. After Seven iced the Changeling, an impressed Shaw asked how she knew it wasn’t the real Sidney La Forge. Seven replied that the goo-person called her “Hansen” but La Forge always calls her “Commander Seven…. out of respect.” Seven said the last part in such a way that the point was not lost on Shaw. Hopefully, Liam will reconsider his orders and will start referring to Seven of Nine by the name she identifies as.
Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 4 also revealed the reason for Shaw’s animosity towards Picard and Seven of Nine, who are reclaimed Borg. Shaw is a survivor of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Battle of Wolf 359, when the Borg led by the assimilated Picard – renamed Locutus – massacred 40 Starfleet ships. This partly explains Shaw dead naming Seven of Nine, as her name is an unwelcome reminder of his trauma. Yet Shaw also chose Commander Seven to be his First Officer on the Titan, and Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 4 shows that the duo can work together effectively after all… especially if Shaw shows Seven the same respect Sidney La Forge does.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.