Behind-the-scenes images give a more detailed look at the alien skull collection featured on Star Trek: Picard. The second episode of Picard season 2 entitled “Penance” takes fans on a wild ride into an alternate universe where instead of being a man of peace dedicated to diplomacy, Picard has become a cold-blooded warrior famed for wiping out alien civilizations that threaten Earth.
Such mirror dimension exploits are of course nothing new for Star Trek and indeed date all the way back to The Original Series when Kirk, Spock and the crew of the Enterprise encountered darker versions of themselves from another reality. Picard season 2 takes this idea further than ever though as Q creates an entire alternate universe in which the Federation is dedicated to war instead of peace, plunging Picard and his new crewmates into this xenophobic and militarized nightmare. Of course now it’s up to Picard and company to set things straight by going back in time to stop this darkest of timelines from coming to pass.
“Penance” indeed features multiple striking moments intended to point up just how brutal the dark version of Jean-Luc Picard really is, and none is more striking than the sight of Picard’s collection of mounted skulls from the various alien races he’s wiped out over the years. Now thanks to production designer Dave Blass, fans can get a closer look at the various highly detailed and impressive skulls that were created for the show. See the images in the space below:
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It’s indeed amazing how instantly identifiable the various alien races are even in skull form. Of course the Ferengi skull stands out immediately for its massive ear pieces, confirming that Ferengi ears are indeed not all cartilage. Klingon skulls are also easy to spot with their “lobster-head” details, as are Cardassian ones with their various lumps and projections. Vulcan skulls might be somewhat harder to pick out given how similar that race is to humans, but it’s made slightly easier by the skulls' greenish hue (the Vulcan skull featured on Picard is of course said to be that of Sarek himself, a detail that makes darkest timeline Picard seem even more ghoulish and evil). The Borg skull too is interesting as it shows how fully fused-together that race’s biological and machine parts really are.
The sight of all those finely-detailed skulls arrayed in Picard’s house in “Penance” is indeed effective in driving home just how much more brutal and violent this version of the Federation is than the peace-loving iteration Star Trek fans have come to know and love. None of this will quiet Trek fans who think Star Trek: Picard has been too dark all along of course, but maybe having a legitimate story-based reason for skewing so much grimmer and meaner will make things easier to swallow.
Source: Dave Blass/Instagram