The first season of Star Trek: Picard is over, and like many, I have mixed feelings about the way it ended. While it was nice reminiscing with some classic The Next Generation characters, the overarching narrative just wasn’t terribly engaging. In particular, the final twist in which Picard’s medical condition is resolved in an extremely strange way left me scratching my head in confusion. Oh well, onwards we go.
Season 2 of the show is currently in development at CBS and planned for 2021 (Coronavirus permitting). Everyone involved is typically tight-lipped at the moment, but we do now have one confirmed piece of information.
According to showrunner Michael Chabon, Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine will return, and be in a relationship with Michelle Hurd’s Raffi. At first, Chabon wouldn’t spill the beans. When asked in an Instagram Q&A if he could tell us if Seven of Nine would return, he said:
“I can, but I’m not supposed to… I want to say yes, but people keep telling me not to. So, no.”
When pushed a little further and asked specifically about whether we’d see more of her relationship with Raffi, he cracked:
“I hope that I don’t get in trouble for saying… yes. If I do get in trouble, it’s your fault!”
That Raffi and Seven of Nine are into one another was hinted at in the closing shots of the season 1 finale, where we saw them sharing a drink aboard the La Sirena while holding hands. Longtime Trek fans will know that the Star Trek: Voyager producers had intended that Seven of Nine be gay in that show, but that the network wasn’t keen on the idea. They settled for leaving her sexuality ambiguous, though times have changed and the character can now be depicted as originally planned.
Either way, with the show’s status quo now finally established, I hope that the second season of Star Trek: Picard improves upon the first. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a disaster by any means, but seeing so much untapped potential was frustrating. And c’mon guys, bring back Worf already.
