It’s also possible that this is Jean-Luc’s ready room on the USS Veritasa starship he commanded during the evacuation of the Romulan Empire, and on which he served with Raffi, as outlined in the events of the comic book miniseries, Star Trek Picard: Countdownby Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson.
Locutus, “Tapestry,” and Various TNG Quotes
Although it’s very difficult to make out the exact quotes being spoken when Tallinn (Orla Brady) enters Picard’s mind, we hear various quotes from him, many of which seem to be from The Next Generation era, although some seem to be composites.
We clearly hear Jean-Luc say, “I am Locutus of Borg…” from TNG’s “The Best of Both Worlds,” But some of the other quotes are much harder to figure out because they appear to be overlapped with other quotes. For example, one quote is easy: “I’d rather die the man I was…” which is from the TNG episode “Tapestry” in which he tells Q, “I’d rather die the man I was than live the life I just saw.”
But again, it’s a jumble of Picard-isms in there, and it seems what we’re hearing is intentionally obscure.
Eternal Sunshine of Picard’s Mind…?
This is probably not an intentional easter egg, and perhaps not even a conscious reference. However, the entire notion of Tallinn entering a childhood memory, and revising that memory to help Jean-Luc feel less alone, is very similar to a classic moment in the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In that film, Clementine (Kate Winslet) enters a bad childhood memory of Joel’s (Jim Carrey) and manages to protect him from trauma, too.
I Only Work in Outer Space…
The entire relationship between Theresa (Sol Rodriquez) and Rios (Santiago Cabrera) is very reminiscent of Kirk and Gillian in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. And in one scene in this episode, Rios outright borrows a joke from Kirk. When Theresa asks him, “Are you from outer space?” Rios replies, “No, I’m from Chile. I just…I work in outer space.”