Star Trek: Picard brings Deanna Troi back in a shocking way

This post contains spoilers from Star Trek: PIcard, season three, episode six, “Bounty.” 

When Worf (Michael Dorn) made his entry in Star Trek: Picard, fans were onboard for the way he swept in fighting and taking off heads. It was a majestic way to bring the Klingon back into the fold, and we all loved it. He was the only Star Trek: The Next Generation character to return so abruptly, unless you count Dr. Beverly Crusher’s (Gates McFadden) entry at the beginning of the season.

Up until now, though, PIcard hadn’t really brought Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) back. Oh, we’ve seen her in brief glimpses like in the flashback after Captain Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and the short conversation she had with Riker, but otherwise, she has been MIA since the beginning. This week’s episode changed all of that in a massively powerful way. Troi is back…as Captain Vadic’s (Amanda Plummer) hostage.

All stops have been pulled out for this final season of Star Trek: PIcard.

Before the episode ended, Captain Riker was taken hostage from the Daystrom Institute, and just when we thought he only had Changelings to contend with, it turned out that Captain Vadic had overtaken another Changeling so she could take Riker hostage. Even then, Riker insisted, after thirty-five years of friendship, he would not betray Admiral Jean-Luc PIcard (Patrick Stewart), but Vadic had an ace in the hole that assured her he would—Deanna.

At the beginning of the episode, Vadic told her minions to find anyone associated with Picard, and her team was able to zero in on Deanna which finally brings her and Riker together onscreen. And while we saw in the trailer the two of them having a conversation, or an argument, rather, we don’t know if that means they were safe. They could have been having that argument in a holding cell.

At any rate, Deanna is finally a part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion, albeit in a precarious situation. It was a shocking and unexpected way to bring in the final piece of the puzzle, and I can’t even begin to imagine how she and Riker will get out of this one. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if it didn’t have something to do with Worf as he told Admiral Picard that nothing would stand in his way from bringing Riker back. Now, he’ll just have an extra friend and colleague to rescue.