Star Trek: Picard wasn’t perfect and I’m not a huge fan of turning the titular captain into some kind of synth, but by and large it was a fun ride. The highlights were reuniting with The Next Generation characters like Riker, Troi and Data, whose past connections with Picard made for some moving scenes. Work is currently underway on the second season and fans are eager to find out which familiar faces will be returning this time. Already confirmed are John de Lancie as Q and Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan, but now we know some further additions.
De Lancie has been offering tidbits of Picard news in Cameo videos, including an interesting hint that the second and third runs are being shot back-to-back. But he also revealed some other Trek stars involved in the upcoming episodes, saying:
“I am back into the Star Trek Universe. I am doing Picard right now with – of all people – Mr. Picard. So, that’s been great fun. It’s been great fun to see Patrick, to see Brent [Spiner], and to see Jonathan [Frakes]. I am going to be working with Jonathan coming up here in a couple of weeks. So, it’s great fun.”
It’s possible that Frakes’ involvement in the second season will be limited to directing an episode or two, but if he’s on set it’s a no-brainer to have him appear in a small role as well, especially after he was so warmly received as Riker last time. Spiner’s involvement is a little more mysterious, though. Data died (for real this time) at the end of season 1, so you might assume that the actor will be reprising the role of Inigo Soong.
In another video, however, De Lancie said:
“I am on the next season of Picard. And Sir Patrick and I have had a whole bunch of scenes, which we thoroughly enjoyed working with each other. I have got one coming up with Data on this coming Tuesday. So yeah, we are moving along.”
De Lancie may have simply misspoke here as Data is by far Spiner’s most recognizable character. Then again, Q does have incredible powers and with him around anything can happen. We also have hints from the trailer that the new season may feature time travel and alternate timelines.
My fantasy is for an episode traveling back to the TNG-era Enterprise. This would be a nice echo of the amazing Deep Space Nine outing “Trials and Tribble-ations,” which saw the DS9 crew digitally inserted into The Original Series footage.
In any case, we’ll find out soon enough what’s in store, as Star Trek: Picard season 2 will debut on Paramount+ in early 2022.
Published: May 27, 2021 10:04 am