Aside from a few wobbles, Star Trek: Picard delivered what it promised. We got to see Patrick Stewart’s beloved Captain Jean-Luc Picard return for more adventures, reuniting with several The Next Generation buddies along the way. But the show’s new characters were no slouches when it came to keeping up with the veterans. I particularly enjoyed Isa Briones’ Soji, Michelle Hurd’s Raffi Musiker and Harry Treadaway’s scheming Romulan secret agent Narek.
But now it’s sounding as if Narek’s story is done, as Patrick Stewart has made comments that indicate that Treadaway isn’t part of the upcoming second season. Speaking with Gold Derby, he said:
“We have a dazzling group of actors. No matter who I find myself playing a scene with, it is interesting, unusual, challenging, and always exciting. And every one of us is back. Well, I think we may have said goodbye to Harry Treadaway, which I am disappointed about because I enjoyed working with him so much.”
That’d be a real shame, as Narek’s complex villain was one of season 1’s best elements. In comparison with his two-dimensional sister, Narek’s guilt, cunning and emotional conflict was a highlight of whatever scene he was in. On top of that, we didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye.
There was a lot going on in Picard‘s season 1 finale, but many fans noted that Narek just kinda disappeared from the plot. Showrunner Michael Chabon owned up to this on social media, admitting:
“Yeah. Narek. We know, we know. A casualty of the editorial process, alas. The intention was for him to be taken into Federation custody.”
I liked Picard, but there was a sense throughout the show that it’d been very quickly rushed through development. There were a few undeveloped subplots, big character moments that never went anywhere and the cure for Picard’s degenerative brain disorder was… well, let’s just say eyebrows were raised across the Trek community.
My hope is that the COVID-19 lockdowns will have given the writers time to refine their scripts for season 2, hopefully resulting in much tighter plotting and major characters not just disappearing from Star Trek: Picard.
