While fan reaction to Season 2 of ‘Star Trek: Picard’ was somewhat mixed––some enjoyed the time-travel adventures, others found the storyline meandering and unfocused––Season 3 promises to deliver more nostalgic thrills for those who spent their years watching ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’.
Star Trek: Picard’, which features Patrick Stewart as the venerable former Captain (now Admiral) Picard as he deals with new adventures and threats past, present and future, has not been shy in keeping connective tissue with the 1980s and 1990s series, even as it charts its own course.
Former ‘TNG’ stars Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis guest-starred in Season 1 as Will Riker and Deanna Troi, while Brent Spiner’s Data (and other characters brought to life by the actor) formed a key part of the storyline for that season.
Last year, though, we learned that more of that show’s cast will be back to see their old commander.
Frakes, Sirtis and Spiner will all return, joined this time by LeVar Burton’s Geordi LaForge (former Chief Engineer of Picard’s Enterprise), Gates McFadden’s Dr. Beverly Crusher (who had an established connection to Picard before serving on the ship) and Michael Dorn’s Worf (a Klingon raised by humans who was Chief of Security on board for years).
And it’s not just the ‘Next Generation’ crew who will be showing up: we can also expect a return from sentient holographic character Moriarty (the Sherlock Holmes villain who matched wits with Picard and a Holmes-curious Data on the series), played by Daniel Davis.
Outside of the returning actors, the new trailer also confirms the casting of Ed Speleers, who plays someone traveling with Crusher, who has a key role in the new season when they’re targeted by a new alien menace.
(Center) Amanda Plummer as Vadic on the Paramount+ original series ‘Star Trek: Picard.’ Photo: Trae Patton/Paramount+.
The biggest threat this time comes from Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer), who appears to also have a personal grudge against Picard. And when the venerable Admiral answers a distress call from Beverly, he ends up on the USS Titan, formerly Will Riker’s ship. It’s currently under the command of a Captain played by Todd Stashwick, with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) as his First Officer.
Returning from the regular ‘Picard’ cast is Michelle Hurd’s Raffi Musiker, who has her own mission and a mystery to ponder. Who wants to bet it might tie-in with the other characters’ story?
From the looks of this new trailer, the season promises to close out the show with a bang––more than one, in fact, teasing plenty of starship action, peril and a warm reunion (mostly) for the old crew.
‘Star Trek: Picard’s third season starts on February 16th on Paramount+
Filming for that third season kicked off almost immediately after the second wrapped, but despite that, there wasn’t a lot of footage on display aside from the general sizzle reel that kicked off the panel.
Stewart appeared worryingly confused by some of the questions – to kick off, he didn’t realize he was being asked one and he couldn’t recall how Season 3 starts. Producer Alex Kurtzman was quick to intercede, commenting that it was Stewart who enforced the mandate that ‘Picard’ not be a cameo-heavy ‘Next Generation’ retread and that it had to “earn” the cast’s return.
With the various characters scattered across the galaxy, the initial chunk of the new season will play like a heist film as Jean-Luc rounds them up. Stewart was clear that they didn’t want to rehash old dynamics, but instead play the drama of the characters as they are now.
This season will feature a female villain that Kurtzman likened to Khan from classic ‘Trek’ movie sequel ‘Star Trek II’ in terms of head games and admitted that the storyline gave him “goosebumps’.
Oh, and while this was a strictly TV panel, Stewart did admit that he would be interested in returning to play the character in more ‘Trek’ movies, but there are no specific plans for that just yet.
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It was the turn of the ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ team next, as executive producer Mike McMahan was joined by voice cast members Jack Quaid, Noelle Wells, Tawny Newsome and Dawnn Lewis.
As expected, it was a much more raucous affair, the actors getting into their “Trek beef” but revealing how close they’ve become as collaborators and how frustrating it was not to record together during the pandemic.
Dawnn Lewis put things on a more emotional track, sharing how she’d met and been mentored by ‘Trek’ icon Nichelle Nichols in her younger days.
A new trailer for Season 3 screened (you can watch it above), featuring plenty for eagle-eyed fans to obsess over. And, as the final sequence suggests, one whole episode will be set at Deep Space Nine. Justice for ‘DS9’!
Season 2’s cliffhanger – which saw Captain Carol Freeman (Lewis) arrested after being accused of setting off a bomb on an alien planet – will be resolved relatively quickly, according to the gang.
“It’s rough, but we start season three full tilt looking for her,” Newsome says. “Trying to fix it, trying to set it right. I love the scrappiness, I love episode one of season three because our Lower Deckers are just like, ‘We gotta save the captain!’ This feels like an epic adventure. It feels like a movie!”
With ‘Lower Decks’ time on stage complete, it was the turn of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ the latest addition to the TV ‘Trek’ family.
(L TO R) Ethan Peck as Spock, Anson Mount as Pike, and Dan Jeannotte as Samuel Kirk of the Paramount+ original series ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.’ Photo: Marni Grossman/Paramount+.
The spin-off ‘Discovery’ starring Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike commanding the USS Enterprise in the days before Kirk has been a success for Paramount+ so far.
But before things could get going properly, ‘Lower Decks’ voice duo Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome stormed the panel to reveal that ‘Strange New Worlds’ and ‘Lower Decks’ will have a crossover!
In this special crossover episode, featuring both live-action and animation, fans can expect to see Ensign Beckett Mariner, voiced by Newsome, and Ensign Brad Boimler, (Quaid), joining the Enterprise in season two of ‘Strange New Worlds’. The episode will be directed by ‘Trek’ veteran Jonathan Frakes. How it’ll work is anyone’s guess at this point, but it sounds like it could be ‘Roger Rabbit’ meets ‘Star Trek’…
Paul Wesley in ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.’ Courtesy of Marni Grossman/Paramount+
And it sounds like ‘Strange New Worlds’ will be pushing to do more high concept episodes in Season 2 than just that crossover. It’s not a show that has been afraid of playing with form and story, so that makes sense.
We can also expect to see more of the nasty reptilian aliens the Gorn, who were the unofficial Big Bad of Season 1.
Wesley – who was celebrating his birthday and was sung a rousing ‘Happy Birthday’ by the crowd talked up the James T. Kirk we met in the finale. “We only saw Kirk for a handful of scenes in that episode. I’m excited for people to see this younger version of Kirk,” he said. “There’s more levity, and it’s exciting to see that. He’s growing into the character we know, not an alternate reality captain like we saw in season 1.”
But don’t worry if you’re a fan of Anson Mount’s luxurious hair – neither he nor it are going anywhere just yet as the show has a few years to go before catching up to Kirk’s era in command.
Finally, Kurtzman was asked whether ‘Deep Space Nine’ would get the revitalization treatment following the ‘Next Generation’ (in ‘Picard’) and Classic ‘Trek’ eras (in ‘Strange New Worlds’). He told the crowd not yet, since the producers didn’t want to just pull on threads of the past for novelty’s sake.
‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ is due to return to Paramount+ on August 25th, with ‘Star Trek Picard’s final season and ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 2 due next year.
Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard in ‘Star Trek: Picard.’ Season 3 is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in early 2023.Jonathan Frakes as William Riker in ‘Star Trek: Picard.’ Season 3 is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in early 2023.Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi in ‘Star Trek: Picard.’ Season 3 is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in early 2023.Michael Dorn as Worf in ‘Star Trek: Picard.’ Season 3 is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in early 2023.LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge in ‘Star Trek: Picard.’ Season 3 is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in early 2023.Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher in ‘Star Trek: Picard.’ Season 3 is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in early 2023.Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine in ‘Star Trek: Picard.’ Season 3 is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in early 2023.
A new full-length trailer for “Star Trek: Picard” debuted at San Diego Comic-Con and it was full of surprises. The series, which follows Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in retirement, will feature two characters from past series. Jean-Luc Picard’s “dead” crew member Data (Brent Spiner) as well as “Star Trek: Voyager’s” Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) appear.
The latter shows up to Picard’s vineyard, where the venerated Enterprise captain has retired from Starfleet. “What the hell are you doing out here, Picard?” she asks. “Saving the galaxy?”
Isn’t that what he does? The trailer lays out more of the story we can expect from the season. Picard meets a young woman with special powers who comes to him for help. So he does what he’s good at: assembles a new crew (including Michelle Hurt and Santiago Cabrera) and returns to space.
As for Data, we see his disassembled body. But at the very end of the trailer, we see Picard playing chess with … Data.
“I don’t want the game to end,” Picard says.
“I can see that, Captain,” Data replies.
During the panel, showrunner Michael Cabon revealed more familiar faces will be popping up — including Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker and Mirina Sirtis as Deanna Troi.
“Star Trek: Picard” is set to premiere on CBS All-Access in 2020.
