Star Trek: Picard‘s second season was delayed by COVID-19, but things seem to be back on track as production is scheduled to start in just over a month from now on February 1st. The rookie run wasn’t without its problems, but aside from a couple of rubbish episodes in the middle and the questionable decision to make Picard a synth in the finale, I enjoyed it. The show was a real nostalgia trip for The Next Generation fans, reuniting the titular captain with Riker, Troi, Data and former Borg Hugh. Season 2 sounds as if it’s going to continue in a similar fashion and we now have a decent idea of at least one new crew member.
Last January, Patrick Stewart appeared on The View, which is hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, who played enigmatic bartender Guinan on The Next Generation. During the show, Stewart invited Goldberg to reprise the role, and now it seems like she’s doing just that.
In an interview with SFX Magazine, the actress was asked about Star Trek: Discovery and gave a telling answer about what she’s filming next, saying:
“No, I haven’t seen [Discovery] – but I did watch the first season of Picard, which was great. From time to time, I talk to Patrick [Stewart] about Star Trek. Hopefully, I will be joining their cast for a little while next year. I’m very excited about that.”
Making this almost a dead cert is that scribe Michael Chabon mentioned writing Guinan scenes in an interview last year when he said:
“I’ve gone back to rewatch some of the more key Guinan episodes from Next Gen, the major Picard and Guinan moments. She’s such an amazing actor; I can’t wait.”
It’d be interesting to see where Guinan is so many years after The Next Generation. Though she looks like a regular human, she’s actually an El-Aurian, a very long-lived race that was almost wiped out by the Borg. Guinan, like other El-Aurians, can also sense alterations in space and time, which may be a clue that the rumors of John de Lancie’s Q coming back are also correct.
With Star Trek: Picard about to go back before the cameras, we should get confirmation of some of this soon. Let’s hope for more Next Generation characters, too, especially Worf!