Star Trek: Picard Featuring a brilliant performance by Amanda Plummer as the Changeling Vadic, following in the footsteps of her father Christopher Plummer’s legendary performance as General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Christopher Plummer was one of the most celebrated film actors of the 20th century, and he was arguably the most high-profile actor to take on the role of a Star Trek villain when he played the treacherous Klingon Chang. His Shakespeare-loving conspirator remains one of the best Star Trek Evil of all times.
Although not an A-list movie star like her father, Amanda Plummer has also enjoyed a varied, critically acclaimed career, notably starring in classic films like Pulp fiction And The Fisher King. Like Vadik, she was idiosyncratic and off, smoking cigarettes and giggling when her ship, the Shrike, caught fire. Her performance in Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 7 “Dominion” puts her squarely in the ranks of the all-time greats Star Trek Wicked, right along with her father.
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How Christopher Plummer’s Chang compares to Amanda Plummer’s Vadik
The couple couldn’t be more different
While Chang and Vadik are both great Star Trek Villains, they couldn’t be more different than characters. in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered CountryThe final film to feature the cast of Star Trek: The Original SeriesGeneral Chang was a decidedly different kind of Klingon, eloquent and even sort of charming in his own way. His verbal volleys with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) early in the film perfectly set up their final deadly battle. He was a worthy villain for them TOS Crew to go out on.
Vadic has none of Chang’s charms. As she pursues Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) for reasons that remain unclear, her eccentricities are on full display. The rage that fuels her has driven her to the brink of madness, and Vadik’s changing discomfort in keeping the form of the “SolidsShe is a volatile, unpredictable antagonist, perhaps the most chaotic Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has ever faced.
Vadik may be one of the great Star Trek villains
The antagonist was one of Picard’s greatest additions to the Star Trek canon
The Pantheon of Greatness Star Trek Villains are powerful, with characters like Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) and Q (John de Lancie) eventually becoming part of pop culture canon. Vadik may not reach that level of notoriety, but she remains a fascinating character, arguably the strongest antagonist since Star Trek Returned to television in 2017. Landing someone of Plummer’s talent was a coup for the show, as she loaded a massive amount of intrigue into a character that could have been a severe misfire in the wrong hands.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 7 “Dominion” reveals Vadik’s horrifying backstory, a victim of horrific war crimes at the hands of the Federation during the Dominion War. Tying her origins to arguably the Federation’s darkest, most amoral era is a powerful choice, perhaps finally forcing the Federation to come to terms with its horrific, desperate acts late in the war. It makes Vadic an important piece of Star Trek: PicardBut also the wider Star Trek Myth.
How Vadik’s Story Ended in Picard
The villain is scarily close to succeeding
Vadik’s origin story and master plans are revealed in “Dominion”, but the rest of Picard Season 3 did not bode well for the new fan-favorite antagonist. Picard’s attempt to trap Vadik fails, and she and her crew manage to take over the Titan. She immediately began executing the Titan’s crew, including Lieutenant T’Veen. Thanks to some quick-thinking and clever use of a personal force field by Jack Crusher, however, Tavik’s plans are quickly thrown into chaos.
A team that included Worf, Riker, and Deanna Troy were able to retrieve the Titan, and when Picard realized Jack and Seven of Nine were safe thanks to Jack’s quick thinking, he jettisoned Vadic into space along with the rest of her crew. Vadik was frozen in the vacuum and was shattered when she crashed into the Shrike’s deflector shield.
However, Vadik’s death was not the end of her impact on the world of Star Trek: Picard. It became clear that Vadik was working with the Borg, and was an integral part of their goal to assimilate the entire Federation. Vadik secretly spread Picard’s borg-tainted DNA through Starfleet’s systems, which gave the cyborg threat the opportunity it needed. Fortunately, Admiral Crusher was able to finally defeat the Borg and identify all the changeling infiltrators Vadik had created. Still, the plans of the castle in Star Trek: Picard was incredibly close to success, and it is in no small part to Vadik that Starfleet was almost defeated.
Star Trek: Picard – Season 3