Across the endless expanse of theStar Trekfranchise, there are enough characters to populate a reasonably sized real-world nation. Crew members, aliens, allies, and enemies appear so frequently that no one can keep track of the entire catalog. Look at Laris, Picard’s housekeeper, and occasional complicated love interest for a great example of a minor figure with enormous implications.
Star Trek: Picardispart of the massive sci-fi franchise’s ongoing efforts to rebuild after the 2009 reboot film trilogy. Critics have been fond of the series, while some fans find it to be too self-referential. The show has a new cast of interesting characters that add much to the universe.
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Who is Laris inStar Trek: Picard?
Laris isa Romulan woman whoworks for Jean-Luc Picard after his retirement. She’s best known as a housekeeper who attended to Picard in his advanced age and held down the homestead while he was away. Before working for Picard, Laris served her government in the Tal Shiar. The Tal Shiar is an intelligence agency that is most comparable to a secret police force. Little is known about her time with the organization, but their track record isn’t great. The Tal Shiar is known for vicious behavior towards anyone who dares to defy the central Romulan government. She learned several skills like forensic analysis and medicine in the Tal Shiar that would be helpful in her second life as a housekeeper. She also made some connections in that organization that would define her life.
Laris’s handler in the Tal Shiar opened her eyes to the Zhat Vash, an ancient order of Romulan matriarchs who operated behind the scenes of the secret police. Her son Zhaban became Laris’s husband after a traditional arranged marriage ceremony. Zhaban also worked for the Tal Shiar and served Picard as a housekeeper. Together, they provided security forthe retired Captain Picardand worked to ensure he could live out his later years in peace. Zhaban worked out the eventual interview with Richter that compels Picard to give up his retirement. Zhaban died during the story ofStar Trek: Picard, leaving Laris with a new role in the story. She begins pursuing Picard romantically, only to be rebuffed. After some soul-searching,Picard asks for asecond chance and the two begin a relationship. It hasn’t developed much since then, but the third season could depict their romance in further detail.
Laris in the Alternate Timeline
Star Trek: Picardfeatures a short-lived alternate timeline that was created by Picard’s longtime nemesis, Q.Q’s alternate timeline existsentirely as a guilt trip designed to force Picard to reckon with his previous choices. In that timeline, Laris lives a very different life. Instead of working as Picard’s housekeeper, she remains part of Romulan culture and spends her time fighting for her people. Laris stays married to Zhaban. They’re the twin leaders of the Free Romulan Movement, a tribe of freedom fighters who work to oppose the Confederation of Earth. In Q’s timeline, Earth keeps Romulus under its thumb. It’s the bad timeline’s answer to the United Federation of Planets. Through one slight change, Q shifted the lives of everyone in the universe.
Q created his alternatetimeline by preventing the work of Dr. Renee Picard. Jean-Luc’s ancestor discovered an alien microbe that became crucial in preventing human extinction. Since she didn’t get to save the day, humanity was forced to turn toward a disgraced scientist named Adam Soong. With Q’s forewarning, Soong was able to claim credit for saving the world. His philosophy, “a safe galaxy is a Human galaxy,” became the main thesis of the Confederacy of Earth. Instead of bridging gaps, establishing peaceful relationships, and working with everyone to seek a better tomorrow, the Confederacy is a human supremacist organization. The Confederacy held Romulus in cruel bondage, forcing its strongest citizens to rebel. Laris and Zhaban are the heroes of the resistance, but their stories don’t end well. Both Laris and Zhaban are killed at the gates of Romulus, along with most of their fellow resistance fighters. It’s a tragic fate.Picard is saddened bythe revelation, which possibly contributes to his eventual romantic pursuit.
Laris isn’t the most important character in theStar Trekfranchise, but she plays an interesting role in Picard’s life. A lot ofthe plot ofPicardis about the title character overcoming the strange elements of his life and career. His inability to hold down a long-term relationship is one of those difficult traits, and it took a character like Laris to partially break him of that phobia. Laris may look like a dull addition to the franchise, but she means a lot toPicard. She’s more than just a housekeeper. She’s a freedom fighter, a dedicated warrior, a former secret police officer, and an important new love interest for Picard.
