Of course, not everyone in “Star Trek: Picard” immediately capitulates to Jean-Luc’s whims. Though they’ve since come to a much greater understanding of one another, his roguish and estranged son Jack never lets Picard off the hook for his past mistakes. Riker himself, in fact, had to dress down his former Captain in a previous episode, when his insistence on attacking the villainous ship commander Vadic (Amanda Plummer) nearly cost them everything. But nobody, not even Geordi with his initial misgivings, can even approach the amusing vehemence of Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick).
Shaw’s entire demeanor changes, however, once the venerable Geordi La Forge steps foot on his starship. His icy exterior melts in the presence of such Starfleet royalty, completely changing the stone-faced captain into a total fanboy. The fact that both are former engineers gives them an immediate common ground to appreciate one another’s skills. Shaw, of course, has nothing but admiration for all the feats that Geordi accomplished in his heyday. As for the good Commodore, even he takes a beat in the middle of their dire emergency to communicate how impressed he is with Shaw’s maintenance of the Titan amid extremely trying circumstances. Two nerds from entirely different walks of life bonding over their shared nerdery? That’s what “Trek” is all about, baby!
The arrival of LeVar Burton in “Picard” had to be perfect, and episode 6 delivered just about as well as anyone could’ve hoped. By giving us an older, wiser, but still relatable Geordi, his potentially distracting presence only adds more meaning to the ongoing action. By gracing us all once again with his cool, calm, and collected personality, Geordi proves that a parent was just what everyone on “Star Trek: Picard” truly needed.