Ever since Patrick Stewart surprised and delighted Star Trek fans by revealing that he was returning to the role of Jean-Luc Picard for a full-fledged series, we’ve been theorizing about what form this might take. From interviews with the cast and creatives, we’ve learned that Picard’s going to have been strongly affected by the destruction of Romulus and that he may not have captaincy of a ship at this point in his life. But now we’ve got the character breakdowns for the other major players in the show and they’re pretty revealing.
Perhaps most interesting is that the characters described sound a bit morally ambiguous. For example, joining Picard on his new adventure will be Connie. She’s a mercenary pilot who’s fleeing a death sentence on her home planet, which might well be for the murder of her husband. We also have Lawrence, described as “a handsome man .. who has a dodgy moral compass. Being a capable and enthusiastic thief, his loyalties are questionable.” Then we have K’Bar, a teenage Romulan with lethal martial arts skills who’s entirely devoted to Picard.
Another interesting aspect is that Picard’s bringing along a character called Dr. Noonan, described as an expert in the same kind of positronic brain that Data had back on Star Trek: The Next Generation. This might be linked to the final character revealed in these breakdowns: Dr. Smith. He’s a ship’s hologram who’s been programmed to learn but prevented from becoming self-aware and has difficulties dealing with people’s emotional reactions.
They’re an interesting bunch and the fact that quite a few of them are a long way from the generally noble upstanding crew Picard commanded aboard the USS Enterprise may hint that his current mission is less than noble. It would be very interesting if one of the most thoughtful and peace-inclined captains in the show’s history realized he had to accomplish something that appeared morally wrong, and had to assemble just the right crew to do it. So, kind of a Star Trek take on Suicide Squad.
Whatever the case proves to be, these are fascinating details that give us our first real glimpse into what this mysterious show might eventually prove to be.
