Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 9 – “Vox”Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 9 “Vox” saw the return of Admiral Elizabeth Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy), a professional rival of Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) during one of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s most famous stories, “The Best Of Both Worlds.” In the classic TNG season 3 two-part episode, Lieutenant Commander Shelby temporarily joined the crew of the USS Enterprise-D as a Borg specialist, with her eye on Commander Riker’s job as First Officer. Despite the fact the pair never got along personally, Riker did appoint her First Officer when Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was captured by the Borg and assimilated into Locutus.
Shelby made her surprising return in Star Trek: Picard, now an Admiral and in command of the USS Enterprise-F. She’s even given the honor of giving the big Frontier Day speech to the assembled fleet just before it all goes very, very wrong. And while Riker never takes his eye off the ball of the mission at hand, his distaste for Shelby has clearly survived over the decades, as he can barely hide his contempt during her speech.
Why Riker Still Doesn’t Like Shelby In Star Trek: Picard Season 3
Riker has decent reasons to still be somewhat bitter toward Shelby. The two officers had very different philosophies during their Star Trek: The Next Generation encounter, with Riker finding Shelby reckless and Shelby thinking Riker played things too safe. Captain Picard suggested at the time that Shelby’s aggressive actions were largely down to inexperience, but that may not have been the case.
Shelby managed to ascend to the rank of Admiral, outranking the older, more experienced Riker. She also got to command a version of the USS Enterprise, a dream Riker never got to live out. Riker would understandably be a bit miffed that Shelby’s careerist ambitions managed to work out so successfully. The fact that Shelby introduces the concept of Fleet Formation – a truly terrible idea – only makes Riker’s thinly veiled bitterness seem all the more justified.
Shelby’s Picard Season 3 Death Connects To TNG
Once the Borg/Changeling plot goes into effect, everyone in the fleet younger than 25 is organically assimilated. Picard tries to warn Shelby of what’s coming, but it’s ultimately too late, as she’s gunned down by two of her assimilated officers aboard the USS Enterprise-F. It’s a tragic fate for a highly decorated Starfleet officer, but it’s also hard to ignore the irony.
Shelby was a Borg specialist on Star Trek: The Next Generation, having studied them and developed weapons and tactics to engage them. The fact that she eventually met her end at the hands of the Borg is a sort of dark cosmic poetry. Riker may not have been particularly fond of Shelby, but he certainly wouldn’t have wished for such a tragic fate for her. But as Star Trek: Picard begins its endgame, it’s likely the body count is only going to grow.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.
