Watch Second ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2 Teaser With First Look At Q

On First Contact Day in April, Paramount+ released the first teaser for the second season of Star Trek: Picard, and now, on Captain Picard Day, they’ve released the second.

Teaser 2… now with Q

This teaser trailer has actual footage from season two, including our first look at John de Lancie as Q.

[LINK TO REGION-FREE VERSION]

New poster too

Paramount+ has created another Captain Picard Day present:  the first key art poster for season two.

It’s about time

The original teaser along with this new teaser and poster art make it clear that the second season of Star Trek Picard is going to deal with time. The new trailer makes a reference to time being “broken” along with other shots that appear to show our characters in an alternate timeline, and the poster shows a contemporary 21st-century image of Los Angeles, with the city’s iconic freeways shaped into the Starfleet delta.

TrekMovie will have our usual trailer analysis with screencaps for the new teaser, so stay tuned for more. This latest teaser and poster will also be discussed on Friday’s episode of our weekly All Access Star Trek podcast.

The second season of Picard is currently in production in Southern California. As stated in this latest teaser, season two arrives on Paramount+ in 2022. It will also be available on CTV Sci-Fi and Crave in Canada, and Amazon Prime Video internationally.


Find more news and analysis on Star Trek: Picard.

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Looks so great! Even this little glimpse. Can’t wait!

Oh man.

I am just so excited. I told myself I was going to go on blackout if/when the trailer dropped.

I couldn’t help myself, and then… there it all was. Yeah, Bring it on.

I’ll likely tune in for the nostalgia factor of Q alone. Hoping this season becomes ‘must-see’ TV for me, as I thought season one, with the exception of “Nepenthe” was simply ok.

I loved it, although it was admittedly uneven. I did think it was the best Star Trek produced in decades, and I thought Nepenthe was among the finest pieces of Star Trek ever made.

As a season it was OK. Episodically there were a couple of really good episodes, a couple of really bad episodes, and the rest were ok with a few moments each that really shined.

Oh boy. This looks great.

That poster is quite excellent.

So what…. went… wrong? Is this teaser supposed to imply that the Romulans conquered the Federation? Is Picard dressed like Shinzon? Why?

Is Picard really Shinzon? Or has Q turned Picard into Shinzon? Is Q upset that Picard killed his first clone?

I’m sensing a vague issue or two with Picard’s wardrobe.

The badges too. What do they mean? It’s kind of an ambiguous symbol – perhaps a Romulan hybrid?

They looked to me to have stylistic elements of Mirror Universe symbols. (I hope I’m barking up the wrong tree; I’m sick and tired of the Mirror Universe.)

We definitely don’t need any more Mirror Universe

Hope my favorite S31 agent shows up.

Picard’s badge looks like it has a cross. Rios’s badge looks like St Peter’s cross

I’m seeing a story where, like Tapestry, Q shows Picard a world where he made different choices.

“The end of the road not taken” certainly suggests that.

Which would be lazy as we’ve already seen the “It’s a Wonderful Life” trope done (albeit quite well) with Q & Picard.

Do you ever have anything positive to say? At all? Ever?

Yes. I’m positive your comment was a trolling comment.

What about what would have happened had he not resigned from Starfleet?

You can really see the mark of Terry Matalas as the showrunner – on the poster, the teaser, on everything.

And Q looks better than he ever has.

“Is Picard really Shinzon? ”

Oh, the Ben Reilly version of Star Trek. Interesting idea, but did not work out so well for Marvel :D

LOL you made me look that up! (“who is Ben Reilly Marvel”?)

mission accomplished ;)

Hoping for the best

But really, i’m expecting the worst. Streaming Star Trek has been exceptionally bad television.

Agreed, considering the potential here. Going in with low expectations, hoping for a pleasant surprise.

I don’t agree.

I will watch it anyway.

They forgot to add Vin Diesel at the bottom looking over the city with the caption…ONE LAST TIME.

Fast 948: Federation Drift

I heard in F9 they are actually going to space so perfect timing! ;D

Wow! It looks like a season long arc of Tapestry…which is one of my very favorites. I want to squeal with excitement. I won’t because I’m a grown ass man, but damn, I love what I’m seeing here.

I wonder if, as he is in his new Golem form, and questioning his existence, Q shows him a future where he died, and was not resurrected. Showing him that he does have an important role to play in the future. So unlike Tapestry, it won’t show an alternate present, but an alternate future without him entirely.

I love this idea.

That’s not a bad take at all! I like it!

It’s more like Nick Cage in Family Man getting a “glimpse” of an alternate future. So, yes I don’t mean to say it’s derivative of the episode, but in keeping with a similar theme in which different choices lead to different results. Seeing Picard in uniform makes me think that he did not step down from Starfleet in this version.

See… You are excited about that but Tapestry was one of the best TNG episodes the concept of stretching it into 10 just makes me groan. First, it’s a rip off of what they’ve already done (and if it is that’s just more evidence to the theory that Stewart was lying when he said he only came back to do something different) and next, it’s just plain lazy. Putting things in current day LA doesn’t change the “been there done that” vibe I’m getting.

Of course, we could very well all be amazingly wrong. And that is what I am REALLY hoping for…

Sure, you can be cynical about it, or accept that Trek has been around so long that their stories are often told, retold, copied, recycled, and given new spins on old classics. There’s only so many truly original ideas left to tell.

If it’s good, does it matter that it’s similar to an older episode? I don’t think so. The key is to make it good.

Now, if you want to be skeptical that they can make it good, that’s certainly a valid concern.

That is one way to look at it. So yes. I am saying I am skeptical they can make this good. Hell, I’m skeptical they can make it mediocre.

Hah. If you can say anything at all about Picard vs TNG, it’s that it is actually something different (not necessarily good/great, but definitely different). [insert shake head emoji here]

So, redoing the Tapestry episode is different? Ooookaaaaayyyy……

So you have seen season 2 already?…

But, I was actually referring to season 1.

But if Season 2 looks like anything that has come before I would have to say it reminds me of “Mirror, Mirror” – as much as I don’t ever want to return to the mirror universe (what a bore!).

I think it obvious I was referring to the concept of stretching out a Tapestry type of situation over 10 episodes. If you were referring to season 1 then yes. It was different from TNG.

That’s a great idea.
Unfortunately, that means it probably isn’t what they’re doing.

Don’t let being a grown man stop you :)) enjoy life.

Wow. Seems to be a good time being a Star Trek fan.

Does it, though?

Well for some of us at least! 😉

Yeah I been down on it as I been up but I really enjoyed LDS and while DIS had it’s usual eye rolling moment’s last season (the answer to the Burn one of the biggest) being in the 32nd century has given that show a major shot in the arm for me and I think most fans ( for those who didn’t like it or wanted to move forward from the beginning I mean).

I’m still not super excited about next season but this the most I been invested in the show. It only took a 900 year time jump for me to truly care! 😂

Cautiously optimistic is the best I can do, but, yes, a twinge of excitement is building.

I think (or hope) when we get a fuller trailer of season 4 it will get people excited again for Discovery. But when the biggest discussion from the first trailer is about the new uniforms…not exactly a great sign. ;)

All I can say is, growing up watching Sesame Street, Oscar was my soul brother.

Yes.

I don’t love a lot of the new Trek coming out, but I’m glad it’s alive and well– the more that is created, the more chance there will be something great, even if by accident.

In 1987 when Trek returned it took at least 3 years and 75 episodes before there was good consistent Trek back on TV. Even if this takes a little longer, I’m glad it’s back and more shows are getting made. THAT’S what makes it a great time for Trek and Trek fans.

the more that is created, the more chance there will be something great, even if by accident.”

You’d think that. It is reasonable. But Secret Hideout has been bucking the odds. They have gone 0 for 5 with their seasons. And only one, arguably two, episodes of the 62 made registered as mediocre or above. 2 for 62. That’s much worse than TNG’s batting average. And I think they had the worst ratio of good to bad shows of all the series’.

That is obviously debatable. I think a good case can be made the best time could have been the late 90’s early ’00’s. We had movies and a couple of shows out there going on. And while the quality of them was pretty up and down, at least they had some up in that span. Unlike now. Where we have no features and bad shows with mini seasons.

I was blown away by LDS(in a good way of course), loved what I’ve seen of Prodigy, I’m cautiously optimistic of SNW( hope Akiva channels “A beautiful mind” rather than “Batman and Robin”). But I’m still meh on Discovery… you can’t have it all I suppose.

Glad you liked some of it. From my point of view, Secret Hideout has been the worst thing to happen to Star Trek since GR created Wesley Crusher. Everything they have made has been bad. Their best result can be categorized as “disappointing”. Honestly, I used to think that bad Star Trek is better than no Star Trek at all. I’m now rethinking that position.

Really, I think Secret Hideout has had their shots and they have gone 0 for 5. It’s beyond time to find someone else to run the franchise.

Oh, don’t get me wrong I’m not a huge fan of Kurtzman. But I do respect what he is trying to do with modern Trek; having a diverse collection of shows to appeal to a wide ranging audience. Whether he truly succeeds is another story.

I think the Berman era is still the best though: TNG, DS9 and VOY are in my top 3. I have long abandoned any hope that Trek will ever be as good as that era. I’ll be content to get ”good” Trek instead of ”stellar” Trek from Secret Hideout. Honestly, I don’t think Trek will ever reach those peaks again of the Berman era.

I am giving Kurtzman a wide berth because he is literally doing everything I’ve wanted to see in Trek since Voyager left. And he does seem to listen to the fans (why we are probably getting Q back among other things).

But yeah, definitely still love and miss Berman’s era of Star Trek. I am happy they are using a lot more canon from that era though.

 But I do respect what he is trying to do with modern Trek; having a diverse collection of shows to appeal to a wide ranging audience.

If you appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one.

So if you do different things,trying to have something for everybody, it results in nobody liking any of it?
Not sure if this kind of logic works.

Well, that’s why they are making several shows aimed at different audiences. Instead of one show trying to appeal to everyone.

Yeah another reason why I am really enjoying the new shows. You don’t have to love EVERY show nor are you suppose to, I don’t really understand why some fans just can’t accept that?

I didn’t think the Kelvin movies were really for me and they weren’t. Of course I still went and saw them but I never felt the movies were aimed at old Trekkie like me, but a new audience. And that was OK! I never had an issue with that, not everything had to be in the style I liked or was used to and still appreciated them for trying to do something different.

But as we know, that wasn’t exactly a universal feeling in the fanbase lol.

But OK, the difference being at the time we ONLY had those movies. It was the only new content we had for literally years. So if you hated them, I can understand the resentment. In this case there are FIVE shows coming. FIVE! It took 6 years to get a second show after TNG and there was NEVER more than two shows at a time.

It’s crazy to me we have so much Trek coming out. We have multiple formats, multiple eras from the 23rd to the 32nd century, shows with iconic characters like Janeway, Pike and Picard or brand new characters completely. And yet people STILL complain.

And its even weirder when people actually do like some of the new shows but because they don’t like ONE of them, they want that one to end. This is the most eye rolling bit to me. Maybe just MAYBE that show is meant to appeal to others that DO like it. Just don’t watch that one and enjoy the ones you do like. That’s suppose to be the point, something for everyone but not necessarily everything for everyone either.

we are basically living in 90s Trek Phase II. All thats missing is Stewart and Mount on the cover of TIME magazine :)

Honestly, we have so much Star Trek to look forward to, more than we ever had. Unfortunately the movie side has waned a lot but they claim another one is coming in 2 years, but I’m very very doubtful of even that. But regardless Star Trek is clearly alive and well, at least for the moment. We’re getting tons of new shows and characters and quite a few old characters back too, probably people we never even expected to see again.

You can certainly not like all the shows or criticize them as I NEVER have an issue doing, but if you’re not happy with ANY of them, then yeah you got 700 hours of classic Trek to keep you busy and maybe that’s all some people will be happy with.

Honestly, if just ONE of their offerings were of fair quality I would be pleased. That was the point, wasn’t it? Have different shows in different styles in different genres? But the not one of them is! That’s the problem. It’s a good idea to have different genres out there. It truly is. But they have so much cross pollination of behind the scenes staff none of the shows has really developed its own voice. Even LDX hasn’t done that. It completely feels like an animated version of Star Trek Discovery.

You read enough of my posts to know I’m not an apologist and that I’m fairly critical of a lot it. THAT said, I do think a lot of is improving even if still not up to the level of how I feel about many of the old shows. And one thing about doing a grand rewatch of the entire franchise it really does give you a perspective of how you feel about one show vs others and I would say the newer shows still lacks in many ways, true. HOWEVER they are improving for me and I really enjoyed LDS. It’s probably the most I enjoyed Star Trek since Enterprise ended.

But you clearly don’t seem to be enjoying any of it on any big level. Reading your pots you seem even more cynical over the shows than when Discovery started. All I can say is maybe next season of Picard will surprise you, but honestly dude, every angle of it seems to be completely negative so I’m guessing you’re just not going to like it. And that’s OK! If not, see how you feel about PRO or SNW when those start up. Maybe one of those will surprise you, maybe SNW since TOS is your favorite show and that’s the closest we’ll probably get to that show. If not, then yeah maybe it’s not for you and to stick with the older shows.

Unless you feel there is potential somewhere but just reading a lot of your posts, especially about Picard lol, I’m not sure if you ever will feel that. But if someone can’t like any of these shows, then yeah.

I’ve always compared being a Trek fan to being a fan of a sports teams. Your teams aren’t always competitive. There are times when they truly suck. But being a fan you watch or at least follow and still pull for your squad. You can even whine and moan about how terrible they are. But you watch anyway because that is what fans do. I feel like my team is terrible and it’s terrible because the owner installed a GM who may have good intentions but none of his trades and signings have panned out. And it is becoming more and more obvious that this GM is not the right man for the job. We still hope he can pull a rabbit out of his hat but the odds are he’s just not working out. And we as fans just have to hope he gets lucky or that the owner will change GM’s.

The more failures Secret Hideout create the more cynical I get towards their work. It is possible that SNW and Prodigy may turn out palatable. The stuff made public about them does have promise. But there has been so much bad stuff made already that I am just not expecting it to be good. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

I’ve always said that he has the right idea. He just seems incapable of assembling quality people to handle the shows. He seems to have a handful of people he likes and they are all involved in multiple shows. I guess that makes him loyal to his people but if the end result is below mediocre, changes need to get made. As I said with all the different shows out there one would think they would hit the mark with one of them. Or even with a few episodes. But they just haven’t. I wouldn’t call the Berman era “stellar” by any means. Those shows did have a lot of bad episodes. But that’s gonna happen. There was a lot of good mixed in as well. I would settle for mediocre from Secret Hideout at this point but we aren’t even getting that.

Five TV shows and an upcoming movie. Yeah, I’d say so.

As long as cars and freeways and highways are not part of the 24th century anymore I’m happy. I hope this is just poster art and nothing more.

There are billions of people in the world, and they need to move around the planet, regardless of the century. Even though transporters and flying vehicles exist, that doesn’t mean road travel simply goes away. Of course there would be cars and highways.

Exactly. Roads have been around THOUSANDS of years, despite the invention of carriages, automobiles, trains, planes, and more. It’s unlikely roads would suddenly disappear just because of transporters, which I can imagine would not be energy efficient for going a few hundred miles.

Ergo, the Argo in Nemesis.

Dumber than the joystick in INS, and that’s saying a lot! They could have at least painted out the tires and made it seem like a hovercraft.

The Argo wasn’t the greatest, that’s for sure. But I gotta say the joystick in Insurrection was easily dumber.

Why? Do you seriously think wheels (one of humanity’s first technological leaps) will be obsolete in 300 years?

Yeah and we seen nonflying automobiles on Earth in the Kelvin universe in STID. It’s always been implied there are still normal cars and trucks in the Trek world, they seem to avoid probably out of budget reasons in the old days to show futuristic vehicles on roads.

This is just my own personal take so I could be wrong but I’ve always got the impression that automobiles were nothing more than a novelty by the 23rd century. This is hardly conclusive evidence but I personally felt that the newer series showing that the road on the Golden Gate Bridge had been replaced by solar panels or something was a deliberate creative choice to imply that there’s no need for roads any more. Maybe there are still cars about but probably not to the extent that is shown in this image. To me the poster would seem to suggest that they are going to be visiting a time period not too far from our own.

Yeah you could be right but I never got the impression ALL cars were gone either, just not the main transportation device humans use anymore. But Star Trek has always kind of skirted around this issue because if everyone was flying around in shuttles you would think you would see thousands of them covering the Earth skies every day with a planet of 9 billion people on it. Sort of like the scene from Back to the Future 2 where there are literally sky highways for flying cars.

And yet when you see shots of Earth in the 23rd or 24th century, you would see a few obligatory ones flying through the air which implied that’s not how most people get around. I imagine transporters are a lot in use as well, but its not like everyone has one in their home either where they can transport to work and back. And I remember Sisko once saying he had to save up for credits to transport to a certain place. My guess there are transporter ‘centers’ or something. Or maybe many travel via high speed underground trains? I always imagined there could be a global system of trains speeding everywhere underground but just in my head of course. ;)

And of course the poster itself could just be closer to present day period. The images that were leaked a few months ago looked like something in the 21st century even if a few decades from now.

Yeah I wouldn’t say that I got the impression that all cars were gone just that they were uncommon. You’re right Star Trek has skirted round the question a little so we’re all going to have different takes on the subject and there’s obviously a lot of creative freedom for them to do whatever they want in with regards to this. It’s things like the Golden Gate Bridge, Paris and his obsession with ancient automobiles, Kirk not knowing how to drive in ‘A Piece of the Action’ etc that make me think that traditional cars are pretty rare in the 24th Century.

Of course there is evidence that could go the other way as well though. I mean we had the argo in Star Trek Nemesis and there were clearly still roads in Star Trek 2009, obviously Kirk had a motorbike and his stepfather kept a classic car and were there automobiles shown on the streets of San Francisco in Into Darkness? There was certainly a lot of flying cars but there might have been some traditional automobiles as well I can’t quite remember. Either way though I still think that the poster is depicting a much earlier time period. In fact I recall there being some locations photos that I think you mentioned were posted on Reddit which I won’t elaborate on the specifics of here but as I recall there was speculation that they implied the show would visit some earlier points in the timeline.

Edit: We did have Malcolm Reed confirm that at least as late as the 22nd Century there was a British Royal Navy so that’s another antiquated form of transport that persisted quite far into the Star Trek future.

Yeah that’s what I was talking about when I said ‘leaked images’ and that they showed what looked like a mostly present day Earth, just maybe a few decades later. I’m GUESSING those images were to take place before WW 3 happened since it looked pretty contemporary and we saw Seven and Raffi on a modern day looking bus. So that’ s probably what the poster is hinting at.

But if it is farther along in the future, it still doesn’t rule out cars. And yeah now thinking about it, at least in the KU we see both regular automobiles and flying cars as we saw young Kirk driving before it went off a cliff in 09 and then the Section 31 agent driving to the hospital to see his daughter in STID. So they both clearly exist, but driving on land is probably not very common for most.

As far as Reed and still being part of the Navy, yeah also true, they still use boats as transport. In fact we saw a yacht like boat going under the Golden Gate bridge in Starfleet headquarters BOTH the 22nd and the 32nd century (Discovery seem to have used the same image as well as a nod to Enterprise).

So I don’t think any form of transportation is now completely obsolete in any era, but yes probably not typical either like today.

If you saw the ad on the side of the bus, there was an image of a ship like first Enterprise model from TMP – the one that was basically a ring ship. I think it was an ad to go to Mars. So… when could that be?

It’s a mission to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.

We actually haven’t seen that much of Earth in Star Trek. Most episodes that took place on Earth were at Starfleet Academy – which is kind of like a massive university campus – so not seeing cars isn’t that surprising. But outside of STA and San Fran, we just really haven’t seen much, so it’s quite possible there are cars all over the place (electric I would imagine). The most we’ve really seen was in Into Darkness, where there were cars all over the place in San Fran. Then again, that was the Kelvinverse, so it’s not directly translatable to the Primeverse.

That being said the Kelvin Universe is canon and it’s aesthetic has clearly influenced the new shows so I accept that there could be plenty of road vehicles. I think they’d be very different to what we have now though, I get that impression from how Trek has previously portrayed the characters perception of them. Tom Paris has an obsession with automobiles and other 20th century memorabilia but most characters give the impression that they’re a relic from days gone by. We all still see horse drawn carriages but how many people use them as a primary form of transport?

In any case though I agree, we’ve not seen much of Earth in Star Trek so if somebody decided to show lots of cars in the 24th Century they still could. I just think that given that cars and highways are not something we associate with the franchise that it’s pretty clear the poster is alluding to time travel and a visit to a more contemporary setting for at least one episode.

I suspect the roads and cars are a sign that something has gone wrong in time. It certainly doesn’t look like an appealing future.

De Lancie looks great — really cool.

He does look good – he did a turn in Breaking Bad a few years ago, he looks better now than he did then.

I love the fact no one cares that Q looks older. We just want him back! And I’m soooo happy to see him in that trailer! It feels like classic Star Trek again! :)

They did exactly what I was hoping. Making him old by having him “match” Picard’s aged look. In TNG he’d usually appear mimicking those around him, in most cases that meant wearing a Starfleet uniform.

Have they confirmed this in the trailer? Don’t get me wrong, I and I suspect most fans agree with you that this is the best way to go in terms of explaining the aged appearance of a supposed immortal being but it’s not the only approach. Maybe they’ll just ignore it like Red Dwarf does with Rimmer or it might be linked to Q’s role in the series. De Lancie has indicated that this will be a different depiction of the character that recognises the time that has passed. 20-30 years is the blink of an eye to a godlike entity so perhaps from Q’s perspective a much longer period has elapsed and this is his way of demonstrating that.

I think the fact that he comments on Picard’s age and immediately appears as an older Q hints at this. Yes, the trailer could be combining moments to form this scene, but I think the message of “Oh you’re old? Well then I will be too” is being clearly pushed here because they know fans will wonder why he has aged so much. Already it’s an active discussion on id*ot twitter.

I mostly stay away fromTwitter these days! I’d agree that the footage we’ve seen is selectively edited and there’ll be more to the scene. I’m also onboard with the idea that Q alters his appearance to mirror Picard and I hope that we might briefly see a de-aged De Lancie before he clicks his fingers and transforms himself. I just don’t think that the trailer actually confirms that this is the route they’ve taken even though I agree it’s the most logical path to follow.

Well, Q already did so in ‘All Good Things’, right? Not doing it here, would be a canon break.

I’m guessing it will be a de-aged Q at first, and he makes himself look older later as most of us assumed would happen (as seen in All Good Things…). But they haven’t done the CGI yet, so they edited it for the trailer to just hear him from Picard’s POV.

Looks like the present day LA skyline to me, though I admit I only can recognize a couple of LA buildings – it’s not exactly the most iconic skyline out there. But the rest of the low rise buildings in the city certainly don’t look futuristic either.

Okay I’m pretty hyped. Excellent trailer!

Not a huge “Q” fan, but damn if deLancie isn’t NAILING IT as the universal trickster!

I’m not one of those people who loves to hate Q — I just hate him — but I have to say that deLancie looks fabulous and seems to still have the character at his fingertips.

There is something delightful in a low budget Trek kind of way about them hanging out in a future Downtown LA with freeways.

If Star Trek Picard does take place in the 21st Century, and more specifically in the 2020s, that places it at the same time as DS9’s Past Tense, when Sisko and Bashir were trapped in a sanctuary city.

They’re not likely to address it, though.

Remember when Voyager showed up in 20th century earth, in the year 1996 when the Eugenics wars was suppose to be a thing….yeah they didn’t address that at all either (to the ire of many fans including me) so no I wouldn’t expect Past Tense to be referenced as well.

Indeed. To their credit they did try to explain that, and novels were written about it.

I remember there being novels written about it by Greg Cox I think but when did they try to explain it onscreen?

Not on screen that I’m aware. Unless there were references to it in Terra Firma and Demons.

The novels are not canon though. I never read the books personally but I did like the concept of reinterpreting historical events and conflicts to be part of a secret eugenics war.

Indeed

Who’s to say all of the wars fought since the 90s haven’t been orchestrated by genetically engineered supermen? The name ‘Eugenics Wars’ may be a retronym – a term used by future historians, but not used today.

Khan had control of over forty countries. Can you think of anyone in the last 3 decades that managed to take control of a quarter of the planet? And in just a few years? The world today is still in a bad place in many ways but it’s still pretty hard for one country to take over of another without a global response to it, much less 40 of them

It could be that the United States had not yet entered the Eugenics Wars at the time the VOY crew visited the past, much like it had not yet entered World War 2 until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Consequently, what was happening overseas in the 90s with Khan had no effect in the States, until it eventually did.

IIRC, the Eugenics wars were over by 1996, same year Voyager showed up.

And guys you know what I’m saying. A lot of people wanted to actually SEE and hear about the war and how it shaped world history after that since it’s been so baked into Trek canon for nearly 30 years at that point. People were curious to know what the Eugenics Wars would have looked like or dealing with its aftermath if you didn’t want to show the war itself. They brought a ship back in literally that period that could do something with it….and it was totally ignored. Not even a line about it.

Because clearly they wanted to avoid it. If Janeway in the same episode can recall Los Angeles being turned into a coral reef after sinking into the ocean due to a massive earthquake that wouldn’t happen for several decades later, then surely someone can recall the massive global war the world just endured fighting off a group of authoritarian genetic supermen with millions dying in the process. I’m sure that’s something everyone would still be talking about even if it just ended.

An acknowledgment would have been welcomed for sure.

Exactly. That’s all I mean. Of course I get why they probably wanted to avoid it, but they could’ve acknowledged it at least a little. Pretending like it never happened felt wrong to me but that’s my opinion only.

Indeed.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! You’re talking as if you expected the Voyager writers to actually care about the Trek universe. The same group of writiers who, according to Ron D. Moore, had no plans whatsoever for B’lana when he joined the writing staff.

LOL savage Ometiklan, savage!

And I really like Voyager, but yeah there were definitely ‘issues’ to say the least. That can’t be denied.

It is also possible that Starling changed history when he found the timeship in 1969.

Indeed. I broached that possibility in another reply :)

Apparently someone in the art department put a model of the Botany Bay in Sarah Silverman’s character’s office to acknowledge the Eugenics Wars had just happened. I’ve never been able to find it, but I definitely remember reading that at the time.

Speaking of Sarah Silverman. Trek’s greatest mistake in history, not making her an permanent cast member after that.

Indeed.

If not a permanent cast member they could have at least given her a recurring role.

I just realized something of significance about Future’s End and the Eugenics Wars; the timeline in Future’s End was an alternate timeline in which Braxton was a homeless old man. At the end of the two-parter he returns as a Starfleet officer in his prime and tells Janeway that he didn’t experience the previous timeline. That paradox might explain why the episodes did not reference the Eugenics Wars; they didn’t happen in that timeline.

You know, that works. It would’ve been a great idea if that was just part of the story line that an alternate timeline was created and the Eugenic Wars simply never happened. They could’ve even debated keeping history that way but of course the Prime Directive would’ve raised it’s ugly head at some point.

So its not like they couldn’t come up with an alternative instead of just avoiding it completely.

I suspect that might happen in the second season of Picard. According to canon, World War 3 began in 2026. If the season takes place in that year or later, it may be Picard’s mission to ignite WW3 after someone else prevented it from happening, resulting in the alternate timeline we’ve seen in the trailer.

WW3 HAS to happen, or else the whole of Trek canon becomes invalid.

It is the most likely explanation for why they might be traveling to the present or near-present day.

Wait, seriously? WW 3 was suppose to start in 2026?? I always thought it was suppose to be 20-30 years later. Doesn’t First Contact take place about a decade after that ended? And that’s only two years after the Bell Riots.

I always always say this, we all want Star Trek’s future but none of us wants its past. ;D

22nd-24th century Earth seems pretty serene, progressive and peaceful.

But late 20th-21st century Earth sounds like what life would be like if Mad Max, Blade Runner and Judge Dredd all made a baby together.

Indeed. And since Trek has to remain always contemporary, it means that Earth in 2021/22 has JUST come out of the global COVID-19 pandemic only to be catapulted into a world war a mere five-six years later.

Trek has to not only adhere to its fictional canon, but also to what happens in the real world.

Five-four years later, right

IF Picard season 2 takes place in the 2020s (ideally AFTER the Bell Riots when sanctuary districts have been abolished), it would be funny if Picard saw a picture of Sisko as Gabriel Bell like Nog did in Little Green Men…

Great trailer! “The very end of the road not taken!” Reminds me so much of my own life, once again…

The poster somehow reminds me of “Tomorrowland”… Fitting…

So I recognized Klingon, Vulcan, Bajoran, and Ferengi flags on the stage where Picard was giving an address, alongside one other alien one and the Federation/Starfleet ones. Are all four of those species members of the Federation at this point?

I hope that the season isn’t fully set in the past (i.e. our near future) or an alternate timeline — I’d really like to see how the 24th (or now the 25th?) century is playing out…

(The alternate timeline being the Mirror Universe would probably be the one and only thing that would make S2 a pass for me.)

I got those too, does anyone recognise the blue square one to the left of the Federation flag?

That’s the Tellarite flag.

Oooooh man, that was such a joy! It’s so great to see Q back and it looks to be a time travel/alternate timeline story (which we all guessed awhile ago) but so happy to see weird/trippy Star Trek back!

Even more exciting it takes place in my city L.A. For whatever reason L.A. doesn’t get a lot of interest in Star Trek (even though pretty much all the classic shows and films were made here) and the last time it was fully displayed was in Future’s End on Voyager. So that alone has me more giddy!

HHAHAHAHHAHHAHA
I’m sold. The best part of this series will be you explaining how this story now set in the past (but minus any real stakes for the characters since Q can snap his fingers and they all have unlimited technology) is awesome while I lament that they totally ignored all the potential with the Borg and AI in the future.
Maybe they’ll have some wagon train to the Stars with some exploration, conflict and high stakes with primitive starships and we’ll end up on the same page!

I think Akiva Goldsman said they were going to just avoid the Pacard/Golem thing a few months ago which is REALLY eye rolling since no one seems to be in love with it so why DO it if you’re not going to explore it? I’m hoping Q snaps his fingers and just put Picard back in his old body and call it a day.

But can’t wait for the rest!!

I’m pretty sure we will get more A.I. stories though in Discovery with Zora becoming conscious and having direct control of the ship. That interest me more personally anyway, especially being in such the far future, so it should just be more commonplace in general.

I never understood the point of the golem. It’s convoluted and unnecessary. “All Good Things…” specifically called out Picard’s condition as being one that might never manifest itself with symptoms, so “Picard” basically manufactured a problem none of us were really begging to be solved.

I know, just so utterly stupid. I try NOT to be as hard on these writers as others here but a lot of their decisions seem to be done just for twist sake and nothing beyond that. There was just no reason to do it and now people are questioning if the ‘real’ Picard is dead or not?

I wouldn’t say that reason alone is why Picard is currently my least favorite show in the franchise…but it didn’t help either. That said still very excited for next season. But I also remembered how excited I was for first season too.

The irumodic syndrome was just window dressing. They didn’t manufacture a story because they felt that they must address this plot thread they were just lucky in that they had a major canon point that they could pin their narrative to. Had they had wanted to tell a different story then I’m sure they would have just ignored it or waived it away with a throwaway line of dialogue.

Throughout the season Jean Luc has an arc that addresses the decline and feeling of obsolescence that can be common for many in old age culminating in him being revitalised by the epiphany that he can still be relevant. The point of the golem therefore is to serve as a literal depiction of Picard’s figurative rebirth. I get why people don’t like it, the writers clearly didn’t give much thought to the ramifications of what they did they just wanted a visual metaphor. Personally I thought it was a little too on the nose but I get what they were trying to do and I don’t think it’s too necessary to dwell on it or ‘correct it’ on season 2.

Maybe this is just me but I find it a little cringeworthy when Star Trek has to go out of its way to explain things like why Klingons looked differently or why a character never previously discussed their siblings onscreen so I don’t really need Q coming along and clicking his fingers to retcon the previous season. The whole golem thing was clumsily done but I think it was pretty clear that they went out of their way to say that this is still the same Picard we’ve all known and loved over the years in a body that from his point of view feels exactly like the old one minus the neural condition. I’m happy for them to move on with a new story and unless they always planned to address the metaphysical questions then I’m fine with them being ignored or sidelined.

I have to say I didn’t like the Golem because it made me think about how impossible it will be for me to get my own new body. And that is more important than what it means to Picard. Which I know is weird!

I don’t think that weird. I mean ageing and our mortality are key themes for the season so there’s a valid case for saying that they undermine that and make Picard’s experience less relatable to us by using the cheat of transferring his consciousness into a new body.

It’s such a shame that ALL of the TNG actors are available and I’m sure would love to join this show but the opportunity is wasted. Picard is one of my favorite characters BUT STILL the magic of TNG was the ensemble of all of the characters TOGETHER! Wasted opportunity

Remember first season they acted like Picard was the only one from TNG showing up and we ended up with quite a few characters back from Riker to Data. So I wouldn’t be completely shocked we’ll get a few more again, they are probably just keeping them a surprise until we get a bit closer to the season. There were quite a few denials from cast members they knew nothing about Picard and had no involvement in the show….until they did. ;)

But I agree, I too miss how amazing the TNG cast was. Rewatching TNG for the last two months has been a reminder how great the characters are and the chemistry they shared together. TNG became very popular because how loved fans became of the characters. I love these people to death and probably still my favorite cast to this day even if TNG itself is not my favorite show.

My guess is that whichever TNG actor doesn’t appear in Season 2, will at the very least have a cameo in the Season 3 finale which likely will be the series finale.

I feel exactly the opposite. To have the entire cast parade through each episode one by one, or even appear together, is not what I want. A Picard show with a guest star here and there is perfect.

It must not be “all are back and everything is like 20 years ago”. But I think every star trek fan would agree, that of ALL shows, even if we love single members, some more, some less, it were the CREWS that made the thing running and not one member. In regards to this; If that was THE thing, I would expect a story that is about finding THAT THING again somehow. I’m sure the writers could create exiting storys of the tng members finding slowly back together and finding back the unique SPIRIT that made it so special. It’s about how they are interacting with each other. But not interacting with no matter who, no, people love this BAND/TROUP /CREW.

Picard has a crew, it’s not a one-man show. It’s just not the same crew he had on the Enterprise years ago.

That exactly the point! In TNG a real family was grown together. In the show AND ALSO behind the cameras in real life! These people really love each other and you can feel that love on and off screen. Yea now you can go and say “doesn’t matter, it’s important that someone’s there, no matter who, they’ll fill up the “family-member-gabs”. But I, and I think many others feel differently about that.

Disagree. What I found interesting about the origonal premise was that idea that Picard, as an aging past his prime and very much former Starfleet had some good oral history left in his final days. The idea that the aged crew would just pull the Enterprise E out of the fleet museum and head off on a couple more adventures was an obscenity of a contrivance……and yet, here we are. The show runners are going to do what they want to do, but if the Ex and her kid, the Klingon and Engineer don’t show up, I’m not going to be bent about if if the new cast gets fleshed out in their place.

Well he didn’t say anything about the Enterprise E he just said he would like to see more of the characters, which I’m guessing is the feeling for the majority of TNG fans.

I know we had this conversation before but I don’t have a single issue who they bring in. just as long as they are relevant to the story. Yeah it would be contrived to see them all on the same starship again like its 2370 again, but if most of them are still working in Starfleet (although the irony is everyone we seen thus far is out of it) then its not that hard to bring whoever you want, from TNG or otherwise.

I never bought this idea the show was going to be some kind of Picard only journey. It’s no way that was going to completely fly and they knew it. He’s the central figure but of course they are going to show others because thats how EVERY franchise works, especially today. Technically the Star Wars sequels wasn’t about Luke, Han or Leia directly and yet they managed to stick in every major character from the OT minus Darth Vader. They even got Lando and the freaking Emperor back in the last one. That’s how these things work.

Q being back should be the least surprising thing considering he’s an omnipotent being that can exist anytime and anywhere and still a VERY popular character in the fanbase. Of course they brought him back. They found a way to bring Data back, even if it was only in a dream state. Once he showed up its only a matter of time before the others do since they are actually alive.

Actually they did manage to stick in Vader as well, remember Kylo Ren was worshiping his burned masked. So while he wasn’t physically present, his spirit and remains technically were.

Well I stand corrected. You’re right, at least Vader was mentioned. And Anakin Skywalker was also heard at the end of ROTS.

But that’s what I don’t get. SW fans don’t seem to have an issue when old characters constantly popping up in the new movies or shows. They expect it. Now sure, like every story, fans still want a legitimate reason for a character to be there and not just thrown in for fan service (like say the Emperor ;)) but I never hear ‘so and so’ shouldn’t show up again’ like on these boards.

But clearly the people working on Trek now see it VERY differently or we wouldn’t have had Pike and Spock on Discovery all season on a ship neither were assigned to. And for the record I was AGAINST that idea initially but hey, it worked. It really really worked lol. So I’m happy to see whoever they bring back personally because everything they have done so far has worked for me at least. So bring on whoever I say! But not a huge issue if they don’t bring on many others either, but fans like to see favorite characters return. It’s literally why the Pike show is happening now.

John de Lancie looks good for 73. Some actors actually look better with age and I think he is one of them. He now has more of a haunting, mysterious look that he didnt have before as much.

Thats the best Star Trek Poster since the Star Trek Into Darkness poster (good poster, meh movie)

the TNG movie EVERYONE was wanting!

It’s still utterly bonkers Q hasn’t been in a movie yet.

But Federation destroying one note villains like Shinzon, Krall, Nero and Khan 2.0…yes please bring more of that. 🙄

Why for most fans the movies will never be on the same level of the shows

Good Lord the villains in the last 4 films were terrible. They just can’t do it right. No idea what the problem is. The weak villains bring down the JJ movies for me. I can’t stomach to watch them anymore.

The poster is interesting; we’re looking at Downtown Los Angeles from the southeast. They’ve literally moved mountains for it, however.

We were overdue for a “characters come back to present day” story

Woo hoo….Federation Freeways.

Still apprehensive about Q being so heavily tied into this. Time will tell, I suppose.

Actually, I’d not mind a copy of that poster, being a LA native. Any thoughts on how to score one, TM?

Find a hi-res image and make yourself one on Vistaprint. Relatively simple and not particularly expensive.

Freeze-framed the UFP shot and among the flags you see the Klingon Empire, Bajor, and the Ferrengi Alliance. Are they all part of the Federation in this scenario?

(also noticed that the seated dignitaries are all at least 6 feet apart)

Dude, if Bajor is NOT part of the Federation by now WE #&%@ RIOT!!!!!!

But it would be crazy if both the Klingons and Ferengi’s joined the Federation and both former enemies! That would be pretty cool!

I love Picard and all things Star Trek.

Why do I get the feeling that Q reappearing might be what finally gets Picard to utter an f-bomb?

He would do it in style and of course use the M(!!)-bomb in french ;-) like he did it early in TNG!
Or maybe it’s time for a colourful metaphor. Kirk and Spock also know how to drop an f-bomb with style.

In all honesty that trailer didn’t do much for me. Which is indeed out of character because in the past the trailers have at least created interest in the season.

The problem is it seems to be dealing with two things that just don’t pique my interest. Q and timey whimy stuff. For me, the time travel trope has just been done to death. So unless it’s a fascinating take on the genre then I feel like it’s best to leave it along. Plus, the presence of Q strongly suggests no stakes whatsoever. All he needs to do is snap his fingers and everything is repaired in a flash. Not trying to be negative here… Just speaking the truths as I see them.

You’re not wrong here, Q’s the supreme being of no consequence. He’ll do his thing, and at the end of the episode/sesason, it’ll all be okay.This trailer has a lot of people waking up, and like after a night of binge drinking, are trying to recall just what did happen last night. I’ll predict right now that Guinan is going to show up and tell Picard “someting ain’t right here”. Anticlimatic moment of Season two is in the books.

I absolutely wouldn’t put that Guinan moment past them. So far the only things in this new Trek that have the hard core fans happy is when they bring back old things from past shows. I’m sure the group at SH are aware of this.

I won’t dispute the absurdity and dramatic difficulty of having an omnipotent (or effectively so, from the human perspective) character on the show — and I say that as a Q fan — but I don’t think Q’s presence implies an absence of stakes. Particularly insofar as DeLancie’s performance in this trailer gave me the sense that less-often seen serious, dangerous, mercurial Q will be present — the one with a more alien and unpredictable otherness about him, with a god-like flippancy about the fate of mere mortals (albeit a fondness for the one called Picard). Or, to put it another way, sure, he *could* snap his fingers and fix anything. But would he? What would motivate him one way or another? Isn’t it disconcerting, from Picard’s perspective, to be a toy to him? How would Picard convince him to snap those fingers? (In “All Good Things” he helped Picard, but he merely put Picard in a position to save the day — he didn’t do it for him.) As much as I love the prankster Q who deflates the solemnity of serious sci-fi around him, this Q is interesting too..

As for the timey-whimy, yeah, I’m pretty skeptical there too.

Or, to put it another way, sure, he *could* snap his fingers and fix anything. But would he?”

Of course he will. He toyed with the idea of putting Picard and his crew in danger but he NEVER meant business. Ever. Then it became obvious that Picard was his pet and would never ever allow anything to happen to him. So much so that in All Good Things he not only did he let Picard ask him questions that he outright answered but later when Picard still wasn’t getting it (even though the audience easily was) he basically just rolled his eyes and went, “screw it. Jean-Luc, here is exactly what is going on.” No stakes. Picard figured nothing out on his own.

And then you have the issue where Q just isn’t menacing when he is being serious. He works best when he is a clown. That might work for a 45 minute episode once a season. But over a full 10 episode story arc? I suspect his act will start to wear quite thin indeed if that is how they go. So really including Q is a very tough obstacle and I just don’t think the Secret Hideout band of writers are good enough to come up with something that works.

Maybe when I see it I’ll be shocked at the imaginative path the writers took. 00 does come up on the roulette wheel sometimes….

It’s unlikely Q is joining the crew so to speak. He says he’s doing 6 episodes over 2 seasons. He’ll just be a catalyst to move the story at times.

“He toyed with the idea of putting Picard and his crew in danger but he NEVER meant business. Ever.”

Nope. Later retconning notwithstanding, he brought the Federation to the Borg’s attention long, long before it would have otherwise happened. Sure, he saved the Enterprise-D from that initial encounter (with what was it, 18 dead?), but true to “Q Who”‘s ominous ending, his little fit of pique over not being indulged in “joining the crew” had grave consequences that echoed throughout the in-universe narrative — hundreds of thousands of dead, if not more; fleets destroyed; etc — and years of Star Trek narrative — from the Battle of Wolf 359 (RIP Jennifer Sisko) up through First Contact, at least.

I love Q-the-clown too — he nicely deflated TNG’s tendency towards self-seriousness — and certainly that take on the character became the prevailing one. (Picard’s Borg-hatred should have colored his relationship with Q more than it did, I think.) And while I wouldn’t put Chabon et al in the same bucket as the other Secret Hideout people, I share the skepticism. But you can’t reasonably say that there have never been consequences from Q’s actions. In a lot of ways, he’s like a god from Greek mythology — his silliness can occasionally (when the writers have the nerve) have profound, world-breaking consequences for mere mortals.

Well said. I look forward to see-ing more of the Q-Who/Tapestry Q. Q teaching lessons is the best Q.

But… Nothing happened to his pet JL Picard. Sure, he doesn’t care about unseen people. Hell, Picard seemed to barely care about them in that episode. And he did send them back with a snap of his fingers. It’s also possible that everything from that excursion (save for the Borg becoming aware of the UFP) went back to the way it was before Q sent them there. Those crewmembers could very well still be on board. So the Borg battles were a result of Q’s meddling but there are plenty of things in Star Trek that kill lots of people. It happens. There were entire colonies wiped out in TOS, for example. Had nothing to do with Q. It was from other dangerous stuff out there. But Q seems to care for Jean-Luc personally.

I think the producers found that he did indeed work better when he was clowning around and things weren’t entirely serious.

Well he has put them in danger. Q Who made that clear. As Logician pointed out, you can probably blame Q for Picard getting assimilated and Worf 359 because he made the Borg aware of them sooner. Now you can also argue the Borg was coming eventually, all Q did was jump start something sooner, but it’s pretty weird to say he never put them in danger when people literally died in Q Who itself.

But I don’t disagree that Q isn’t TRYING to get humans killed or anything. He’s NOT a villain, he’s an antagonist, so there is a difference. But to say there aren’t any stakes is not completely true either.

And of course what I find interesting about this situation is we are assuming it’s Q who directly causes the situation Picard and the others appear in when we don’t really know. Sure its probable, but we don’t know yet. It reminds me of Q-Less when Sisko and others assumed all the weird things were happening on the station due to Q and he had nothing to do with it. It was a nice way to subvert expectations. Maybe they are doing it again.

The only way I think this might work is if they put some severe limitations on Q for some reason. If things go downhill, and he is incapable of snapping things back, then things can be dire indeed.

That said, something tells me nothing like that will be in this at all.

well you just trashed “all good things” LOL

It deserved it. It was a very weak episode as a regular episode. As a series finale, it was just awful.

And yet you loved Nemesis! We all have our opinions but sometimes it feels like down is up. ;D

True. But, you know in 27 years it’s the first time I’ve heard All good things sucked. *shrugs*

Yeah ML31 is the only person I ever heard that thought it sucked lol. Sure I heard people call it overrated in the past but never straight up ‘it was bad’.

But it just goes to show no matter how much something is loved (or hated) on a planet of 7 billion people, you’re always going to find someone to go against the grain.

I would argue you need to expand your circle. Of the people I personally know most of us did not like than did. (There are a couple of acquaintances who did like it) Small and anecdotal but if I went by that I would say the consensus was AGT was not well received.

I wouldn’t say I “loved” Nemesis. It did have it’s flaws. But overall it was actually a pretty good Trek film. In fact, it served as a much better finale for the TNG crew than AGT ever could.

Regarding AGT… I am not the only one who was unimpressed. Back when it aired some of my old college pals who were Trek geeks as well got together that evening and watched it as a group. The rule was none of us say anything while we were watching and we discussed after. All 4 of us were completely underwhelmed by it. It wasn’t until later that I saw how well received it was and I was just amazed. To this day I don’t understand what makes that show any better than the most pedestrian episodes of the rest of the series. I finally rewatched it last year for the first time and my opinion didn’t change. Everything I remembered about it remained.

But then, a lot of people seemed to enjoy The Big Bang Theory too. That’s usually the sort of thing I keep running back to to help wrap my head around it.

See, and yet AGT is one of my favourite episodes (the list also includes Tapestry, Time’s Arrow [I know], I Borg and Family). I didn’t love (fan favourites.) The Inner Light or Darmok.

To each their own. :)

Amazing trailer! Let’s see Annika fighting the Sheriff of Nottingham in Sherwood Forest! A full season of “Q-pid!” Time is broken so we finally get to see Picard in tights like Errol Flynn again! This is gonna be brilliant!

I love the gleam of menace in Q’s eye when Picard says his name. Or is it love?

Wow wow wow! I love this trailer. I like it! One thing, Picard, if now he is Gollum, why is he exhausted? If Seven woke up without the Borg Implants, someone or something changed the timeline. I have the feeling, and the optimistic joy, that we will meet Archer and hopefully T’Pol and some of the others. My dream will be, if Archer/Future Guy trying to bring Trip back, he made a change in the Timeline.

Also thinking about Discovery. I really enjoy all Star Trek time travel episodes and movies. Can’t wait to watch Season 2, all the upcoming shows!!!

Maybe the timeline change has returned him to his human body?

Did anybody else notice that Seven seems to be wearing a wedding ring?

Cautiously excited by this trailer! Let’s hope Picard S2 is far better structured and written than the extremely uneven S1. I know the grit loving hipsters will groan, but also hoping they took criticism of S1 to heart, and cut out the violence and F-bombs, so Picard can be watched (and enjoyed, and hopefully have thoughts provoked) by ALL age groups, like it used to be. Trek at it’s best mixed adventure, exploration, great characters and morality plays. And it could be watch by the entire family. Nothing square about that, it takes talent to write and know what lines shouldn’t be crossed… Fingers crossed for a truly great show! X

To follow up a season with SO many loose ends with a time travel arc seems to be a huge cop out. Where are the ramifications of everything that happened??

That poster is intriguing. Could we be looking at something akin to The Voyage Home set in the present?

Well, Q is more entertaining than anything in TVH. So it would be better than that film on due to that factor alone. In all honesty I don’t have too much of a problem with re-dos if the original wasn’t good. Well… TVH was pretty horrid. So if they want to try again with Picard and the fun loving Q then I say go for it. It might actually be funny. Something that TVH didn’t have nor has LDX.

You thrive on being a contrarian, ML31, so it is unsurprising that you dislike The Voyage Home.

Yeah, no surprise. Can’t have comedy, fish out of water Trek. Can’t have time travel Trek. Can’t have any new Trek at all, it would seem.

Sure you can have the fish out of water situation. But it has to actually, you know, work. If you do it the characters can’t suddenly become the stupidest people ever. They need to retain who they are even though they are in unknown surroundings. And if you want to be light, then it helps if there are some light situations. There were more laughs in the opening bumper of The Final Frontier than there was in all of TVH.

And I never said they CAN’T do time travel. I just would prefer them not to because it feels like it has been done too many times. Back when TVH came out I was excited to see it. I knew they were traveling back to our present and was very much looking forward to it. But then I saw the film and… Ugh. Back to the Future it wasn’t. (An example of time travel done well).

Regarding new Trek, I did like the Kelvin films. STID was pretty weak but while the other two weren’t masterpieces they were fun to watch. Nothing wrong with new Trek. Nothing wrong with changing things up. The problem is when things go bad. Secret Hideout is clearly the problem with Trek right now.

So just because Secret Hideout has turned out nothing but sub par product doesn’t mean everything new from Trek must be bad. That’s a a terrible assumption to make.

So, I actually agree with you on some things, finally. Back to the Future is a masterpiece and my favorite movie! And Star Trek (2009) and Beyond are pretty darn good.

Though, STID is my least favorite Trek movie. As a die-hard Trekker, it still almost amazes me that I have only seen it one time ever, I disliked it so much.

Does thinking The Wrath of Khan is the best Trek feature film ever make me a contrarian as well? Kinda blows your theory out of the water, doesn’t it?

Kinda blows your theory out of the water, doesn’t it?

Not really.

Then you have a different definition of contrarian than everyone else it seems. Either that or you are unaware that the general consensus is that WoK was the best feature thus far.

Not really.

Yes, really.

On no, it’s the dreaded alternate universe where Picard became a LA traffic reporter! “We’re all backed up on the 101 this morning… 101… 1… 7… 0… 1… something’s not right here…”

I am so stoked for this! As others have pointed out, this kinda looks like a season-long version of “Tapestry,” which was a great episode, and a somewhat fitting theme with Picard “dying” in season 1 (maybe Q will make him a real boy again…).

I also absolutely loved the 12 Monkeys TV series (it was seriously one of the most elegantly plotted time travel show I’ve ever seen… hell it was one of the most elegantly plotted TV show period), so it seems only natural for Terry Matalas to dip back into the time travel well for Picard’s second season.

But 2022 is so far away :p

Yes for us 12 Monkeys fans (the dozens and dozens of us) this is why we are a lot more excited now because Terry Matalas showed just how great a time travel story can be when A. you have a REAL vision from the start and B. proved that it is actually possible to create a multi season serialized story and can click every box in a very satisfying way by the time it’s over. I mean sadly we had 3 seasons of Discovery and 1 of Picard and NONE of them got close to how amazing 12 Monkeys turned out to be. In fact they ended up pretty poorly in general by the end, but my opinion only.

So I’m much more excited now. And if this is two seasons of the same story, 12 Monkeys proved you can go twice that long and not fall into a convoluted head scratching plot hole mess by the end (or what Discovery usually feels like after every season ;)).

So yeah I feel more confident we may get a really good season out of it now. And if you bring back Q just to mess him up, you’re going to have a lot of angry fans, i.e. ‘Khan’ in STID level of angry. Hey that’s one timeline I would love to see Q change. ;D

It kinda makes me sad how few people have seen 12 Monkeys, it really was a fantastic show. I’m honestly shocked that SyFy not only let it last 4 seasons, but allow Matalas to actually finish the story he was telling.

I agree with you entirely re: Picard and Disco very much not sticking the landing with their season-long arcs.

Season 3 of Disco was the most frustrating for me, as there was a lot of promise built-up in the early half of the season. I’m actually okay with the Burn essentially being caused by a heartbroken child losing his family; if anything it’s a far more unique reason than either some nefarious villain or some unstoppable universal force. Unfortunately, the wrap with the Emerald Chain and the rejuvenation of the Federation was horribly rushed. Hopefully we’ll see both more of the Federation rebuilding and followup on the Emerald Chain in season 4.

And the Picard season 1 finale… I’m honestly not sure how you simultaneously drag a finale out and also make it feel rushed? I get there was a lot of ground to cover in the two part finale, but the Federation suddenly lifting the ban on synths, the Zhat Vash just goin away(?), the fact that Starfleet Security had been infiltrated by the Zhat Vash, Jurati now being a part of the crew after murdering someone (and mentioning in the previous episode that she was going to turn herself in), it just kind of all happened. That’s not to even mention Picard’s death and resurrection. It very much seems that Chabon and the writers in general saw Picard as a single season, and thus chose to end it with Picard’s death. But then it got picked up for a second season, and instead of changing things, they basically tacked on his resurrection as a golem. I would have been totally fine if they somehow magically cured his Irumodic – it would’ve still felt like somewhat of a cheat, but nothing like actually having him die, having some truly emotional and moving scenes of people mourning his death, and then the next scene having him just be fine… ugh. At least we got a pretty awesome Riker back in command scene (despite the copy and paste Starfleet ship designs), that moment brought a big smile to my face :)

I honestly think the only reason 12 Monkeys made it to that many seasons is because they had a deal with Amazon who was paying SyFy to air the show basically the same time Syfy premiered it. It was probably enough money to justify to keep it going because it was doing DISMAL ratings by second season. If it wasn’t for Amazon running it it probably would’ve been gone by then.

But yeah an amazing show and in fact I got a long time member here to check it out and he loved it too. It’s one of those cult shows that everyone who watches it swears by it, but doesn’t seem to get the masses interested in it….basically like how Star Trek started out. ;)

As far as DIS and PIC, yep you said it all for me. I don’t know how these shows start off with such amazing promise only to end up wildly uneven and your hands in the air wondering what did you just watch by the time it was over? And I love this line you said:

“I’m honestly not sure how you simultaneously drag a finale out and also make it feel rushed?”

Yeah that was weird thing about Picard. I remember so many of us here complaining by episode 5 more just needed to be happening. It was spinning its wheels for most of the season and then the finale gets here and *BANG*, now they are just throwing in all of the plots at once to the point they literally ignore resolutions for plot lines we watched all season. It’s all just passed over at warp speed. “Oh so the Synths get all their rights back? Just like that huh?” “What happened to the Borg cube?” “Are the Romulans going to face ANY consequences by getting 90,000 people murdered on Mars? Guess not.” “Speaking of Romulans, where did Narek go again???” “Wait Seven and Raffi are what????”

And of course what’s funny its looks like season 2 is going to just keep skipping over.

As far as DIS I actually thought season 3 was generally decent overall. I still don’t like the Burn explanation AT ALL but I agree it’s a nicer reveal then knowing its yet another ubervillain trying to destroy the Federation. Speaking of villains of though, the Emerald Chain had to be one of the weakest villains since the Kazon. Just did nothing for me. But then I liked how they got rid of Osyraa and of course that just stopped them cold. She’s not a Borg Queen.

But there were so many problems with both shows. I’m hoping they both have stronger seasons, but certainly with Picard because that’s an iconic character most of us grew up with. Add Q and yeah. So I’m hoping they get this one right. At least they found someone who has worked with these types of stories but there are still no guarantees.

So I was probably one of the first people here who praised 12 Monkeys the moment Terry Matalas was named as showrunner of Picard season 2. Its just criminal that many people couldn’t watch the show. I think it is definitely the best time-travel show ever made.

I watched a lot of it – I think it was a little more depressing than I was prepared for – whenever that was.

If you didn’t finish watching the whole series, I highly, highly suggest doing so. I honestly can’t say anything more without spoiling it for you…

Yeah true. Maybe if next season of Picard really is good it will get some Trek fans to seek it out at least.

We can only hope!

This makes me really want to go out and watch 12 Monkeys. I really liked the movie but just never got around to the show. So thanks for the recommendation/glowing praise. Hope it lives up to it.

And one thing I have always appreciated in sci-fi shows/movies is that whatever the rules, whatever crazy premises you set, as long as you stick to those rules and consider the logical consequences of your premise, then I will be happy with you. So, I am hoping to be happy here.

Oh cool! Yeah at least give it a chance, that’s all I can say obviously. But I will say when I watched it, I didn’t PLAN to watch it. Like others I saw the original movie and I was just curious when I heard it was going to be a show. I had planned to watch the pilot basically but wasn’t really interested in watching the show beyond that. I was just curious to see how similar it was to the show itself. But man I was hooked after that pilot and just kept watching from there. But of course its a TV show so there are tons of new elements added you never saw in the movie, but really good ones IMO.

And its not all perfect of course, but its certainly a wildly better written show than what we got in PIC and DIS IMO. It’s not even a question and obviously I say this as a devoted Trek fan.

I’ll echo Tiger2, I didn’t really plan on watching the show either. I figured I’d check it out, since I loved the movie, but so often when a movie is translated to a TV show it ends up just becoming a long-drawn out version of the movie with a ton of filler. Fortunately, 12 Monkey’s was 100% the opposite of that.

While the basic premise of the show is the same as the movie, it goes in a very, very different direction, with a lot more focus on the time travel aspect of the premise.

The aspect of 12 Monkeys that I love the most however, is that Terry Matalas was able to weave an intricate web of twists and turns, but never lost sight of the story he was trying to tell. And in the end, all of the twists and subplots, they all paid off. I honestly don’t think I’ve seen a show that has stuck the landing as well as 12 Monkeys did. I kinda need to rewatch it now…!

Maybe, but not necessarily. Tapestry was about the consequences of Picard getting a do-over and making a single different choice. It’s not clear that that’s what’s happening here (or that Picard is responsible for the differences – which seem to be experienced by his whole crew).

Ok been combing the internet and here are some of the MANY crazy theories out there I seen of how the timeline could’ve been changed:

-Picard never commanded the Stargazer or never commanded the Enterprise after the Stargazer
-Picard not resigning over the issue of the Romulan evacuation plan
-The Borg never ran into humanity or the Federation (hence why Seven not being a Borg)
-Federation actually lost the Temporal Cold War (Captain Archer appearance anyone?????)
-The Hobus Star never exploded and the Romulans manage to finally take over the Federation OR
-The Hobus Star DID happen as before but this time the Federation actually helps them
-Dominion won the war and took over the Alpha quadrant
-Mariner somehow gets promoted to Lieutenant and universe ending paradoxes ensue (OK, this one is mine…still working out all the details though)

Of course I’m prepared for none of these to be true. It’ll probably end up being some Q kid crying over the loss of his mother and the entire universe is changed over it.;)

-“Picard not resigning over the issue of the Romulan evacuation plan” seems to be the one that might be the linchpin. That WAS the turning point in his life and had ramifications on the universe as a whole.

Hmm, I am trying to figure our how that might work as a theme/challenge for Picard season 2? Does Picard not resigning lead to a worse future? So Picard did a good thing in resigning? So, case closed, let’s go home….

Or did resigning lead to a worse future, and thus Picard needs undo his principled stand (attempting to help refugees) and alter the flow of time to probably, but not assuredly, change things for the better? Doesn’t seem to be the Starfleet way, and it would erase all the charater developments and events of season 1 in the process.

Not seeing how either option turns out to be either a moral dilemma or something that Picard would want to do or refuse to reverse. I’m thinking it has to be something else. While I think it could be a good tie into to this “originating event” of “Picard”, I just don’t yet see how it will work for the show/Trek universe.

My guess would be that the event that precipitates season 2’s storyline happens after the conclusion of season 1.

HAHAHAHHAHA
What Picard Season One?!?
The Borg have plans? Picard is now AI on par with organics which potential substantial impact on the future of life in the universe. Does Picard have a soul?
Nope – Earth in the 21st century now LOL
Q will snap his fingers so that they can play holodeck / time travel.
Can’t stray too far from the irrelevance of TNG.
Hahahaha
Anyway….. anyone hear of any shows about explorers on the final frontier facing danger and the unknown with limited resources… Maybe Picard will go back in time and see some of that because you know, that has some real story potential with loads of conflict when you throw out the technobabble and time travel.

As I stated here before…

One regular character dies that triggers the events that lead to Q appearing and the alternate universe that needs to be fixed storyline.

If you haven’t watched 12 monkeys you wouldn’t get the reference, but the statement “Time is Broken,” is a direct lift from Terry Matalas’ previous timey wimey offering.

Trust me, it will be nothing so simple as a single individual living or dying, although it may seem that way at the start.

And, you can also trust Terry Matalas to stick the landing of a time travel plotline no matter how much of a corkscrew ride he takes us on.

Does Q look to be styled like Ba’al from SG-1 to anyone else?

Yeah, I did see a similarity. The actor who played Ba’al recently passed away, maybe it was kind of a nod to honor him.

And… was that a wedding ring? When Seven lifts her hand to where her ‘Borgified’ eyebrow should be.

Oh, so they’ll have to pull a time heist on behalf of the Time Variance Authority to restore the timeline. Neat. Really super neat.

Damn, if I wasn’t thinking the same thing…

Does anyone else see Terry Matalas, but read Telly Savalas, only to then actually picture Belly Savalas?

The end of the road not taken, I personally think Q convinces Jean-Luc to return to Starfleet and if that’s the case it might be enough to win me over.

I would like to see that storyline.

I was a little underwhelmed with Starfleet’s attitude toward Picard in season 1. Yeah, I get that the writers and Stewart wanted to do something different with the character and that is fine and preferred to doing the same old thing, but give the character his due for services rendered!

The man saved Earth and the Federation multiple times and the whole galaxy at least once. And when he puts his service on the line in a time of crisis to try to help billions of refugees, you instead decide to accept his resignation. Where does Starfleet get off being pissed at him for hubris? Still sticks wrong with me.

I would like to see Picard (having regained his sense of purpose and the feeling he can make a difference again) get back to “that chair” (or at least a desk?) where he is again respected by the powers that be and the institutions and can effectuate what is right and just, as befits the character.

Yeah they say they wanted to do something different but it ended up being a horrible generic sci-fi/big bad/big evil plot.

Hopefully, ‘Q’ has decided to permanently erase the storyline/events of season one of PICARD, no matter what ‘time-altering’ shenanigans he gets up to in season two.

I’ve no doubt De Lancie will be as watchable as ever, but just hope that if this involves any of the characters needlessly swearing again, that he instantly sticks a large cigar or party blower in their gob to shut them up, for the sake of the younger audience this time.

In Star Trek canon, World War 3 started in 2026. I wonder if that will play a part of the second season of Picard. In order to preserve the timeline, World War 3 HAS to happen. Has someone changed history and prevented it, so now Picard has to ignite it?
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/World_War_III

Bingo :)

Fingers crossed.

Did anyone notice Seven was wearing a wedding ring? Will we see Chakotay?

Unlikely but you never know. She didn’t have any Borg implants so she’s presumably found herself in a timeline in which she wasn’t assimilated by the Borg. I guess it’s possible she still met and married Chakotey but on the other hand Voyager might not have made it back from the Delt Quadrant without her.

Good points.

Why are we assuming Robert Beltran, who’s shown little interest in Trek post Voyager, is involved when we did see Seven and Raffi cozying up with each other at the end of season one?

I think that relationship will be explored in this season but I don’t think that’s who she’s married to bearing in mind that she’s apparently in an alternate timeline in which she’s likely never met Raffi.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this storyline developed after the positive response to Nepenthe. As in fans responded well to Troi and Riker. This story gives the showrunners an organic way to bring in TNG cast members, (hopefully) in a meaningful fashion. Like all other Trek series and seasons, I go in with an open mind. I expect some eps to soar and others to well, go CLUNK! Doesn’t matter. I’ll gleefully watch, anyways, so that I can earn the right moan about a specific episode.

A nice philosophy to watching Trek – I definitely feel the same.