A character set to feature in Star Trek: Picard season 3 is a subtle homage to Star Trek: The Original Series' Enterprise helmsman, Hikaru Sulu (George Takei). The final season of the Star Trek: The Next Generation spinoff will reunite the TNG cast for one final adventure, and showrunner Terry Matalas has teased it will also continue the stories of Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. However, it's not just 1990s Star Trek that will get referenced in Picard season 3 as one particular character forms a link between TNG's Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) and TOS' Hikaru Sulu.
Fittingly for a TNG spinoff, Picard season 3 will introduce Star Trek's next generation via Geordi's daughters, Sidney and Alandra, who are both Starfleet officers. Alandra (Mica Burton) is an ensign in engineering while Sidney (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) is an ensign and helmsman on the Titan-A. Sidney's position recalls that of Demora Sulu (Jacqueline Kim), who was introduced in Star Trek: Generations.
Geordi’s Daughter Is A Helmsman Like Sulu’s Daughter
Sidney LaForge is the helmsman on the Titan-A, brought along for the dangerous mission Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) have set out on. It's likely the fact Jean-Luc has put his daughter in danger that leads Geordi to exclaim "Riker, Worf, you roped them into this too?" Sidney isn't the only child of an iconic Star Trek character to follow in her father's footsteps. Star Trek: Generations introduced Demora Sulu, who was a helmsman on the ill-fated Enterprise-B under Captain Harriman.
In the opening scene of Generations, the Enterprise-B is preparing for its maiden voyage, with another, younger Sulu at the helm. "It wouldn't be the Enterprise without a Sulu at the helm," Kirk (William Shatner) muses on meeting Demora. Although Sidney isn't serving aboard the Enterprise, she is, like Demora, following in her father's footsteps, as Geordi started out as an Enterprise helmsman in TNG season 1.
Picard’s Sulu Homage Makes Kirk And Jean-Luc The Same
In Generations, Kirk pondered how Sulu had the time to have a family during all their adventures together. Scotty (James Doohan) responds that "If something's important enough, you make the time" heavily implying that settling down was never high on Jim Kirk's list of priorities. Kirk did have a child, David Marcus, who was tragically killed by the Klingons in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and the demise of Kirk's son David Marcus presumably played a part in the Star Trek icon never truly settling down. With his only son dead, he likely believed he'd lost his only chance of becoming a father.
This makes him very similar to Jean-Luc, who held back on being loved and starting a family due to his guilt over the tragic death of his mother when he was a child. Like Kirk, Jean-Luc watched as his former Enterprise crewmates raised their own families. There's a photo of a beaming Picard holding Will and Deanna's son Thaddeus Troi-Riker as a baby, and he had a strong bond with Beverley Crusher's son Wesley. Star Trek: Picard season 3 will focus on Jean-Luc's lasting legacy, and like Jim Kirk, it will be his impact on Starfleet and the Federation, rather than raising the next generation of officers.