OCTOBER 13, 2022 - In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Daniel Davis played a most memorable villain, Professor Moriarty.  However, in this version, he was a self-aware hologram, and very dangerous.

Beginning in the season 2 episode, “Elementary, Dear Data”, while Commanders Data and LaForge were playing Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson respectably, a verbal slip on Geordi’s part asked the computer to create a villain that could defeat Data, not Holmes, and so a self-aware super genius villain was born. 

He was defeated, of course, until he resurfaced in season 6’s episode, “Ship in a Bottle” where he ultimately ended up in a holographic containment cube making him believe that he’d escaped the Enterprise and was a free (holo) man. 

Many fans were hoping for one of the subsequent movies to be a “Wrath of Moriarty” where he would face off once again with the crew of the USS Enterprise.  But that never happened… until (sort of) now.

In the trailer for Star Trek: Picard season 3, we saw Moriarty once again threatening someone. We have to believe it’s our beloved crew. We also learned that his time on set was for one day, and he’ll appear in just one episode.

Speaking of his role, Davis shared one tidbit. “The one thing I think I can tell you is I think the fans will enjoy what happens more if they understand that it’s a bit of a callback to an earlier season, way before Moriarty even appeared actually—the first meeting between Riker and Data. You should remind yourselves of that.”

Hmm, what does his appearance in PIC season 3 have to do with Riker entering the holodeck while Data tries to whistle “Pop Goes the Weasel” on “Encounter at Farpoint”? We’ll sadly still have to wait for a few more months for the answer, but it will be worth the wait.

For more details as well as other stories about Davis’s time with Stewart and his custom-made costume, warp over to TrekMovie.com. And check out DSTN’s live coverage of New York Comic Con, where the trailer premiered.