Denise Crosby will not appear on Star Trek: Picard after all

Despite the speculations and Denise Crosby confirming Tasha Yar will be seen on Star Trek: Picard, that apparently isn’t going to be the case.

The rumor mill has been busy while fans are awaiting the third season of Star Trek: Picard, and one of those rumors was that Denise Crosby would be reprising her role as Lt. Tasha Yar from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actress all but confirmed it herself at the Star Trek convetion 56-Year Mission Las Vegas when she told that audience “You will see Tasha Yar but I’m not going to tell you how.” Well, maybe she didn’t. Crosby could have been referring to a photograph or hologram.

At any rate, showrunner Terry Matalas has finally closed the lid on the rumor in a recent SFX Magazine interview [via CBR]. He said that the final season does reference Tasha Yar, but that’s all there is to it.

"“There’s definitely a reference to Tasha Yar. But it’s not beyond that.”"

Not bringing Denise Crosby back is a wise decision.

As I mentioned before, Crosby’s character died in the first season of The Next Generation, and Picard going out of its way to bring her back to the land of the living would have been creepy. Sure, she could have made an appearance on the holodeck or one of the crew could have replayed her final message to Lt. Commander Data after she died, but what would that have really accomplished?

Tasha Yar had her goodbye moment in The Next Generation’s third season episode, “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and it was a fitting send-off, certainly better than being killed by a dark slime monster or whatever that thing was on “Skin of Evil.” That was sufficient to wrap up her storyline, and a return to Star Trek: Picard would have simply been trying to squeeze her in for the sake of reuniting everyone.