The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard is set to premiere in a couple of months, and we’ve got some more details on what will be in store for the upcoming episodes, which will also see the Enterprise-D crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation reunite for some to-be-seen reason.
In a Den of Geek interview with showrunner Terry Matalas and some of the cast, we’ve gotten additional tidbits about what’s in store for us with season three. Here are some of the highlights. Nothing major is spoiled below, but if you want to go into the third season complete blind, you should stop reading right… now!
Beverly Crusher Shoots First
It’s old news at this point that Gates McFadden is coming back to reprise her role of Dr. Beverly Crusher. One thing we didn’t know, however, is that Crusher will be the first character we see in the season. “I loved the very first scene,” McFadden said. “I mean, to me, that was so much fun to get to do that. To be active and fighting. I loved it!”
Episode Titles Are Back
The episode titles will also have a strong TNG feel to them. “I love the old Next Gen font,” Matalas said. “I’ve missed titles on episodes and seeing them and going, ‘Hmm, I wonder what that means …?’” The third season of Picard isn’t the first time we’ll see episodic titles like that in this new tranche of Trek shows—Lower Decks has been doing this all along, first as a parody but more recently as an homage. Having another nod to TNG, however, is not a bad thing.
Serious Work Has Gone Into Making It Sound Like TNG
The TNG vibes go beyond the episode titles. “If we were going to say this is the last Star Trek: The Next Generation film, or 10 of the last Star Trek: The Next Generation movies—because all the episodes are very different—then it needed to sound like that, too,” Matalas said. “And that required Stephen Barton. Then, later in the season, the score gets so massive as the story grows that we had to bring in some help from Frederik Wiedmann, who’s a brilliant composer as well. I grew up with legends [like] Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner. Not to mention Dennis McCarthy and Cliff Eidelman. All those Trek composers have nods.”
The Fallout From DS9 and Voyager Will Be Relevant to the Story
The events from Deep Space Nine also apparently has a big impact on the storyline of the season.
“I think that it’s important to Deep Space Nine fans to feel seen,” Matalas said. “It’s a continuation of Voyager too, of course, with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in our show. If you’re going to be in this time period, there’s such a rich opportunity to honor what came before.”
Star Trek Could Stay in the 25th Century if We Really Want It
The end of Picard’s second season saw Picard, Seven, Raffi (Michelle Hurd), and others returned to the 25th Century. There’s been some speculation that there could be a Trek spinoff series set in that time period, something that Matalas is way in to. “I would love nothing more,” Matalas said. “Please send your letters to Paramount+ and Secret Hideout.”
The third season of Star Trek: Picard premieres on Paramount+ on February 16, 2023.
