One of my favorite TNG VFX ship battle scenes was this one in which the Riker's alternate future Enterprise-D zooms in vertically from the bottom to destroy the Klingon Bird of Prey. This perspective is different from the usual horizontal plane of battle which was more commonly shown on TNG.
In the scene with Picard and Deanna in the Captain's Ready room, Picard spoke with Riker on Picard's desk monitor. The image of Riker (Season 1, without the beard) was from a different episode. I think it's from "Arsenal of Freedom".
In the flashback scene to the "Encounter at Farpoint" - era. Captain Picard read the orders which assigned him command of the Enterprise. The orders were approved by Admiral Norah Satie.
We met her earlier in the memorable episode, "The Drumhead".