Why Raffi Musiker From Star Trek: Picard Looks So Familiar
Raffaela "Raffi" Musiker had a complicated relationship with Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart), her commanding officer, during Paramount+'s "Star Trek: Picard." The former lieutenant commander was called back into service by Picard after a 14-year absence from Starfleet (and a time period that she described as "one long slide into humiliation and rage"). She had originally left Starfleet after the organization rejected her plan, which she and Picard had devised to get a group of Romulans to safety and away from a developing supernova after their rescue armada was destroyed during an attack on Mars. Picard resigned in protest, leaving her alone in the wake of his choice. She suspects that other higher-ups had turned down the plan. She bitterly quits and subsequently becomes addicted to snakeleaf.
Musiker carries a grudge against Starfleet — but she still helps Picard out when he comes to her for assistance in finding Bruce Maddox (John Ales). She ends up taking part in the search for Maddox and even enlists old colleague Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) in the mission.
The actress who played Raffi has a number of high-profile roles under her belt. Here's why her face might look familiar to you.
Michelle Hurd got her start on soaps, then recurred on Malcolm & Eddie
Per her IMDb page, Michelle Hurd has been acting since 1989. Small parts and walk-on roles in TV shows like "The Cosby Mysteries" and movies like "Rude Awakening" led Hurd to her first regular role, that of Dana Kramer on the NBC soap opera "Another World." She would play Dana from 1991 to 1997, and during that period she would take on recurring roles and guest spots on other shows and in film. She also appeared in a number of commercials, including a 1996 ad for Kellogg's Crispix.
Notably, she would appear on the Dick Wolf police drama "New York Undercover" for five episodes as A.D.A. Reynolds, and took guest-starring roles on "The Practice" and "Law & Order." Hurd's next role would be on the UPN series "Malcolm & Eddie." She played Simone Lewis on the show for eight episodes, which aired from 1997 to 1998. She also had a minor role in the Harrison Ford/Kristin Scott Thomas movie "Random Hearts" in 1999.
She was Monique on Law and Order: Special Victim's Unit
1999 also marked the first year Hurd portrayed Detective Monique Jeffries in NBC's "Law & Order" franchise. Monique was streetwise and savvy, a nice counterpoint to her partners, Detective Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters) and Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer). Hurd would play the character for the entire first season of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." After 25 episodes, she left the show during Season 2 and began taking work on other projects. Monique appears briefly in the first episode of Season 2 of "SVU," where the audience is informed that she's been transferred to the vice squad (this after being busted down to a desk job) in the wake of her sleeping with a suspect.
Hurd has never spoken out about why she left the series, and she hasn't returned to "SVU" for any guest turns. Regardless, her career continued onward and upward. She was a regular in the single-season Showtime drama series "Leap Years," and recurred three times on the ABC sitcom "According to Jim." She popped up on the teen soap "The O.C.," the original version of "Charmed," and Fox's drama "Bones" before landing her next regular role.
ER led Hurd to Gossip Girl and the Glades
That's Michelle Hurd on NBC's storied medical drama "E.R." as Courtney Brown. Brown was a television news producer who developed a romantic relationship with Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) during the show's 13th season. She became Weaver's final love interest, and the two left Chicago together so Brown and Weaver could pursue work at a news station in Miami together. Hurd appeared on the show six times before departing with Innes.
Hurd also recurred on The CW's "Gossip Girl," where she portrayed fashion industry figure Laurel for six episodes. Stints on CBS' "CSI: Miami," "Blue Bloods" and "The Good Wife" led to another six-episode run on a teen soap, this time The CW's "90210" reboot. There, Hurd portrayed Rachel Gray, an event planner and Holly Strickler's (Megalyn Echikunwoke) mother.
Hurd's next big role was on A&E's crime drama "The Glades," where she was a regular for all four seasons. Hurd played Colleen Manus, the regional director for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and one smart and tough cookie who must keep her charges in line. She hired Jim Longworth (Matt Passmore) a loose-cannon cop from Chicago and the show's protagonist, who left his previous post in disgrace. The show was canceled in 2013 (via the Hollywood Reporter).
She was a thorn in Daredevil's (and the Punisher's) side
After guest roles on Fox's "Raising Hope" and Freeform's "Pretty Little Liars," Michelle Hurd appeared on four episodes of Lifetime's telenovela "Devious Maids" before snagging two entirely unique supporting roles.
That's Hurd as tough-as-nails DA Samantha Reyes on Netflix's "Daredevil." Hurd appeared six times on the show and also crossed over to Netflix's "Jessica Jones" as Reyes. Samantha prosecuted Frank Castle's (Jon Bernthal) murder case and found herself battling in court opposite Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) to send Castle off to prison. Though on the surface she may seem to care about law and order, her ultimate goal is to put away Frank before he can tell the world that she had a hand in a massacre that killed his entire family — though her intent was to kill Ray Schoonover, aka The Blacksmith (Clancy Brown). Ultimately, Castle is found guilty, but her victory is hollow — someone knows that she's an accomplice, and has begun threatening her family. Schoonover subsequently has her shot to death after she confesses her complicity in the case to Foggy and Matt.
She was Ash's sweetheart on Ash vs Evil Dead
Next up for Hurd was the second season of "Ash vs Evil Dead." She portrayed Ash Williams' (Bruce Campbell)'s high school girlfriend, Linda Bates-Emery. When Ash returns to his hometown of Elk Grove, Michigan, he learns that Linda never left the place and has set up shop there. Though Ash and Linda still have some chemistry going on, it turns out that Linda has married another member of their graduating class (and a victim of Ash's bullying), Sheriff Thomas Emery (Stephen Lovatt). Thomas and Linda have a teenage daughter, Lacey (Pepi Sonuga).
Ash's return brings nothing but havoc into the family's lives, ultimately resulting in Lacey and Thomas' death and possession. And yet, Linda stays by Ash's side, ultimately becoming a part of the team holding the rest of the world at bay and keeping an angry mob from imprisoning Ash for his multiple crimes. Though Linda survives the massacre and appears to get back together with Ash at the end of the season, Linda is nowhere to be seen during Season 3. No one mentions her name or discusses what happened to her, and Ash proceeds to pursue other women.
Hurd, meanwhile, popped up in Fox's version of "Lethal Weapon," and as Renee Grover for eight episodes of CBS' "Hawaii Five-O" reboot. Her next role would make her even more of an action legend.
She made a home for herself on Blindspot
Aside from "Picard" and her role as Maxine Bludso in the horror film "Bad Hair," Michelle Hurd's latest and most notable role has been that of the villainous Major General Ellen Briggs, aka Shepherd, on the NBC drama "Blindspot." Hurd appears in 27 episodes of the program over the course of several seasons.
Shepherd is an army veteran who's an old associate of Kurt Weller's (Sullivan Stapleton). Her ultimate goal is to bring evil down, and her belief in the aims of the terrorist organization Sandstorm is complete. It doesn't matter who dies and when, as long as the organization has mopped up corruption. If that means deploying chemical weapons in a crowded area, so be it.
Understandably, Briggs must be brought to justice, and it's up to Weller to play a convincing enough double agent so his colleagues can disrupt Sandstorm's plan to blow up several federal buildings with a rocket. It's up to Weller and his colleagues, such as William Patterson (Ashley Johnson) and the show's main protagonist, the amnesiac Jane (Jaimie Alexander), to keep this from happening. Ultimately, her plan is put down, and Shepherd is killed by Jane.
Hurd, meanwhile, continues to build quite an interesting and diverse career, which continues to this day.