Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 7 - "Monsters"
James Callis appears as Maurice Picard in Star Trek: Picard season 2, episode 7 but why is Jean-Luc's father wearing a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager-era Starfleet uniform? Left comatose after foiling Dr. Adam Soong's (Brent Spiner) assassination attempt on Renée Picard (Penelope Mitchell), Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was trapped in his subconscious where he faced the secret about his father and mother, Yvette (Madeline Wise), that he'd suppressed since childhood. But Jean-Luc's journey began by imagining he was in a therapy session with a Starfleet Counselor who turned out to be his father Maurice wearing a uniform similar to what Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) wore in DS9 seasons 1-5.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine introduced the jumpsuit-style Starfleet uniform with a greyish turtleneck under a top with color-coded shoulder pads. After new uniforms intended for Star Trek Generations were scrapped during production, Captain Picard and some of the USS Enterprise-D's crew switched to the jumpsuit uniforms, which were borrowed from DS9 and Star Trek: Voyager. This made for an odd visual and the rationale for Star Trek Generations' random uniform change was never explained in the film. Two years later, Star Trek: First Contact introduced new uniforms with colored turtlenecks underneath a black jumpsuit with blue/grey shoulder pads. DS9 soon adopted these uniforms and they became the standard look of Starfleet for years. However, in Jean-Luc's Star Trek: Picard season 2 subconscious, his father Maurice wore the DS9-style blue uniform of a Starfleet Counselor with a communicator badge that became standard in Star Trek Generations - but why?
Star Trek Generations is actually the key to unlocking Maurice's uniform mystery. Keep in mind that Jean-Luc's therapy session occurred in his subconscious and it reflected a hodgepodge of his memories despite his wearing the same tuxedo from the Europa Mission Gala. Although the scene was shot on the La Sirena set, Maurice's therapy session took place in Captain Picard's ready room in what looks like the USS Enterprise-E - the ready room of the destroyed Enterprise-D looked very different - and Jean-Luc may have unconsciously equated it with Generations. Not only was Generations the Star Trek movie where the DS9-style jumpsuit started being worn on the Enterprise-D but it was also the film where Picard found out his family on Earth died in a fire. Jean-Luc's therapy session with Maurice echoed when Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) helped Captain Picard face the fact that his older brother Robert (Jeremy Kemp), Robert's wife Marie (Samatha Eggar), and their son René (David Tristan Birkin) were all dead, which left Jean-Luc as the last Picard.
If Jean-Luc mentally set his therapy session on the Enterprise-E but Maurice is wearing a DS9-style Starfleet jumpsuit, then the Admiral may be fixated on the time period right after he took command of his second Starship Enterprise after Star Trek Generations and before they switched to the Star Trek: First Contact uniforms. This is a period of time that hasn't been canonically recorded yet but it leads to First Contact, which is significant since the second TNG film was the first time Picard faced the Borg Queen (Alice Krige). In Star Trek: Picard season 2, the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) is not only back but she has assimilated and become one with Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill), although Jean-Luc wasn't aware of this yet while he was in his coma.
It's also interesting that Maurice Picard wearing a DS9 Starfleet uniform bears a passing resemblance to Dr. Julian Bashir, but that is likely just a coincidence because Bashir hasn't canonically met Captain Picard. Yet Bashir also has ties to Star Trek: Picard season 2, which deals with eugenics and the revelation that Dr. Adam Soong genetically engineered his daughter Kore (Isa Briones), who is the last in a long line of flawed Soong daughters. Maurice Picard wearing a DS9 Starfleet uniform is striking since the elder Picard disdained Starfleet and technology. Yet it may also represent Admiral Picard's wistful longing for his heyday as Captain of the Enterprise, a time that seems very far away indeed from the events of Star Trek: Picard season 2.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.