Well if I were going to do a callback to my favorite episode, the last element I’d use is how a phaser blast disintegrated someone.
I mean, they were compared to all the shapeshifters we'd seen before them. They were a liquid state in their natural forms and could interact and communicate with eachother by touch/merging their forms.
Even if they do a call-back (why am I saying "if"?), Terry's going to do a call-back to a better-liked episode. "Aquiel" isn't it. There are the shape-shifters from TUC. The Comaloids, I butchered that spelling and am too lazy to look it up right now, but that's what Martia refers to herself as.
Nope, we have not. We've had mostly interesting aliens like the Kelpians and Kwejians and various remade call backs like the Gorn who decided to farm their makeover to Ridley Scott. We might see some more at a later date, but I very much doubt it will be in this show. Its something for other shows to do. Picard's Season 3 most certainly is a callbacks/farewell tour at least competently packaged.
Really? Which one? Me, I'm totally down with the mother of Geordi's kids being Aquiel Uhnari, so if there's been ONE callback to that episode, I guess I can hope for another!
But neither of his kids have the head ridges https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Esmar There was also one on the Stargazer https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Kemi