Two episodes into its third season, Star Trek: Picard is absolutely loaded with references to The Next Generation, The Wrath of Khan, and many other past franchise entries. Dedicated fans have sniffed out a bulk of these references while streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, but rest assured, there are no doubt more to find. To that end, CinemaBlend learned of a connection to the iconic 1979 motion picture that may have floated over some viewers' heads, as actress Stephanie Czajkowski shared with us an explanation for why her character Lt. T'Veen is bald.
Fans might have already noticed Lt. T'Veen on the bridge of the U.S.S. Titan, and wondered about the details behind the Vulcan science officer's story. Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas shared just a bit of background on T'Veen on Twitter:
Meet Lt. T'Veen, Science Officer. Vulcan. Several Captains fought to have her on their bridge. The Titan won. pic.twitter.com/UUCJxdLwoQFebruary 4, 2023
Vulcans are famously known for their bowl haircuts, so seeing a younger Vulcan with a shaved head was a bit jarring. Co-star Stephanie Czajkowski shared that the look came about following conversations she had with Terry Matalas about her acting headshot sporting her shaved dome, and both were on board with the idea of bringing that look to Picard.
Matalas encouraged Czajkowski to research the history of Vulcans in Trek lore to see how many examples she could find where baldness came into play. She explained that informative process, and its connection to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and also shed lightly on why so many are trying to get Lt. T'Veen on their ship. In her words:
We’ve seen bald Vulcans before but they tend to be really old…I wanted to play with, and he allowed me to play with the idea that what happens if she has a little Deltan in her? What does that do in terms of scientific acuity? In terms of a bigger sense of sensing the world around you. Vulcans in particular, and if you throw a little Deltan spice in there, their sense are really on high alert all the way through. But also, they can process information so much faster than a human can. So I think, for all of those reasons, she was very, very, much wanted.
Deltans first made their debut via the character Ilia in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and have popped up sporadically in the time since. Stephanie Czajkowski explained that, in her mind, Lt. T'Veen has some Deltan lineage mixed in with her Vulcan bloodline, which helps to heighten her sense of the world around her, and make her a desired science officer in Starfleet.
Armed with her research, Stephanie Czajkowski went back to Terry Matalas and explained what she believed was the story behind Lt. T'Veen in Star Trek: Picard. To her surprise, the showrunner shared an encouraging response and was very easy to work with. Here's how she put it:
I was like, ‘Hey, I have a feeling when this comes out and people see this head it’s going to be striking. What’s the story? I think it’s this, are you cool with that?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, dude, yeah, I’m fine.’ So we said she’s a quarter Deltan. Her grandma’s Deltan.
A Vulcan science officer who is also a quarter Deltan makes for an interesting combo, especially given how at odds those species' personalities are. Deltans are described as being very open, while Vulcans are anything but. It certainly makes me want to know more about Lt. T'Veen, though it feels unlikely we'll get too much time with her in Star Trek: Picard, given all that's going on.
The good news, however, is that Jack Crusher actor Ed Speleers is leading the charge for a direct spinoff following Star Trek: Picard, which could give characters like Lt. T'Veen more time in the spotlight. If that doesn't happen, though, it's also possible for T'Veen to reappear in any other upcoming Trek series, provided the story falls within the TNG timeline. We'll just continue to enjoy the character on Picard in the meantime and see where things end up for her and the Titan crew at the series' end.
Star Trek: Picard streams on Paramount+ on Thursdays. The weeks are winding down to the much-anticipated series finale, so there's still plenty of time for fans to debate Picard's ultimate fate, and whether or not this will be his final adventure.
