A Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) Easter egg in Star Trek: Picard season 3 calls back to one of the major characters from seasons 1 and 2 who missed out on the final season. Picard season 3 reunited the legendary cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation for one more mission to save the galaxy while also introducing new characters like Jack, the son of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). However, several main characters from the previous Picard seasons did not appear in season 3 to make room for the TNG icons.
Available To Stream On Paramount+
One of the prevalent mysteries of Star Trek: Picard season 3 was the secret of Jack Crusher. Raised by his mother on the outskirts of the galaxy, Jack endured lifelong nightmares and grew up isolated and lonely while being haunted by authoritarian leanings. As Crusher began to manifest abilities such as controlling the minds of others, Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) used her Betazoid powers to unlock the red door in Jack's mind to learn the truth that he possesses organic Borg DNA. But before Jack's Borg revelation, Crusher helped him find another memory that ties back into a missing Picard character.
Jack Crusher’s Picard Easter Egg Calls Back To Soji & The Deltans
In Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 9, "Vox," Troi helped Jack uncover the meaning behind the red vines in his vision, and Crusher realized they were memories of his visiting the Crimson Arboretum on Raritan IV when he was a boy. Raritan IV was a planet introduced in Star Trek: Picard season 2. Raritan IV is inhabited by the Deltans, and it was where Soji (Isa Briones) performed duties as an ambassador to her race of synthetics on the planet Coppelius. Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) was also with Soji before she was called away to the USS Stargazer. Soji's visit to Raritan IV in Star Trek: Picard season 2's premiere was the last time Isa Briones played the 'daughter' of Data (Brent Spiner); Briones portrayed Kore Soong, the daughter of the evil Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner), for the rest of Star Trek: Picard season 2.
Of course, if Jack Crusher visited the Crimson Arboretum on Raritan IV as a boy, this was years before Soji visited the planet or was even built. Soji and her twin sister Dahj were activated in 2396 and implanted with false memories of their childhood by Dr. Bruce Maddox (John Ales), Dr. Altan Inigo Soong (Brent Spiner), and Jurati. It's not known if Jack Crusher ever visited Raritan IV as an adult or crossed paths with Soji before Star Trek: Picard season 3 began.
Star Trek: Legacy Can Team Up Jack Crusher & Soji
Jack Crusher and Soji meeting or even teaming up is one of the many possibilities of Star Trek: Picard's proposed spinoff, Star Trek: Legacy. Picard showrunner Terry Matalas indicated he would like to bring in the other offspring of TNG's legends that couldn't be included in season 3 due to budgetary concerns, Soji being one of them. A meeting between Soji and Data was even on the table but had to be scrapped. But Star Trek: Legacy could potentially bring Soji aboard the USS Enterprise-G to meet Ensign Jack Crusher, the Special Counselor to Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan).
Soji meeting Jack Crusher sets up interesting scenarios. Admiral Picard is Soji's friend and mentor, but it's unclear how far and fast news spread that Picard has a son who is now a Starfleet Officer aboard the Enterprise in 2402. Soji would obviously see many aspects of Picard in Jack, but the jury's out on whether they would get along or how well the former Borg drone and the synthetic ex-Borg scientist would work together. At the very least, Jack and Soji could commiserate about the beauty of Raritan IV, since they each visited the planet in the past of Star Trek: Picard.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 is available to stream on Paramount+.