Star Trek: Picard Actor Promises Surprising Season 3 Fangirl Moment

This post contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard.

From episode one of Star Trek: Picard‘s third season, Captain Liam Shaw has reveled in playing the spoilsport. The series’ third season has been a reunion of sorts, bringing Jean-Luc Picard back into the orbit of his former crewmates, including Will Riker, Beverly Crusher, and Worf. But immediately after Shaw met Picard and Riker, the Captain began dismissing the duo and their beloved adventures.

Despite his deep disdain for our heroes, Shaw has quickly become a fan favorite, with many hoping that the character’s adventures will continue beyond the third, and currently intended final, season of Picard. Much of that popularity can be attributed to Shaw’s actor Todd Stashwick, who brings a real humanity to a potentially unlikable character.

But while Shaw has been a cool customer to our heroes thus far, Stashwick assures fans that it won’t always be that way. “I loved the fact that this guy is not impressed with the legends,” Stashwick told Collider. “He does not see them as having high status over him, except for one character he does.” Stashwick does not name the character, saying only that the character is from Star Trek: The Next Generation. When Shaw meets the character, “his heart [goes] pitter-patter,” promised Stashwick. “There’s a lovely little moment to the point where Seven and Picard have to look at each other because I am just fangirling over one of the other characters.”

Given the interactions we’ve seen thus far, we know that he’s not referring to Picard, Riker, or Dr. Crusher. He may be referring to Deanna Troi or Worf, both of whom have played small roles this season, but have not yet met Shaw. But the most likely choice is a character that has not yet made his return: Geordi La Forge. In the most recent episode of Picard “No Win Scenario,” Shaw revealed that he left Starfleet Academy as an engineer, which means that he’s most likely to admire the man who worked miracles on the Enterprise-D and -E.

Of course, there has been a LaForge present on Shaw’s bridge, Geordi’s daughter Sidney. Despite earning the nickname “Crash” for smashing two shuttles in the Academy, La Forge was assigned to the Titan-A as a helmsman. And if Shaw has such exuberant feelings for her father, he has done a good job hiding them, treating Ensign La Forge with the same gruff professionalism that he extends to everyone else (who isn’t Picard or Riker, that is).

Whoever his Enterprise crush may be, Shaw will still have the courage of his convictions, something that drew Stashwick to the character. “When you hear his logic, and you hear his reasoning, even in Episode 1, you’re like, ‘The guy’s got a point,'” the actor explained. “Even if it’s delivered caustically, sarcastically, dripping with sarcasm, or passive-aggression, he’s not wrong.”

If indeed he has undying love for Geordi La Forge, then Shaw’s record of not being wrong will remain unbroken.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 is now streaming on Paramount+.