WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 5, "Imposters."Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 5 "Imposters" sees the short-lived return of a Star Trek: The Next Generation icon and the escalation of the Changelings' plot against the United Federation of Planets. After the USS Titan-A managed to narrowly escape the Ryton Nebula and temporarily shake Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer) and the Shrike in the triumphant previous episode "No Win Scenario," the crew attempts to put the pieces of the plot against them together as they lick their wounds. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) also continues to attempt to form a bond with his son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers).
Now recovered from his injuries, Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) takes command of the ship back from Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Though he's developed something of a reluctant respect for Picard and Riker after they managed to save the USS Titan-A from certain doom, Shaw still calls in Starfleet so that Picard and Riker are forced to answer for their initial transgressions in deceiving Shaw when they boarded the ship. That action results in a series of events that will have long-lasting effects not only on Picard's life but on the Federation as a whole.
