Patrick Stewart Gets Serious And Evan Evagora Gets Hugs From Whoopi For ‘Star Trek Picard’ Season 2

| December 22, 2021 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 43 comments so far

Star Trek: Picard season two will be released in February. We still don’t have the exact release day, but while we wait there are a few tidbits out there to catch up on for the returning series headed by Sir Patrick Stewart.

Patrick Stewart getting serious for Picard

In a new profile with the digital magazine Mr. FeelGood, Sir Patrick talked about how at 81 years old he has been feeling young again, and along the way he has also been tapping back into his serious side for Picard:

I blame Ian McKellen for turning me into a child again. Actually, there have been a number of actors in my life who have probed the mischievous child in me. Ben Kingsley did it to a great degree, and we got into trouble at the Royal Shakespeare Company for doing that kind of thing on stage. There was once an official protest by all the other actors in the company, that they had to control what we were doing because it was disruptive. And my friendship with Ian has, in many respects, brought back the better aspects of my childhood. But I’m trying to learn to be a grown up. And in the last six months I’ve been choosing my serious Picard, as I play Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek. I have seriously been trying to commit myself to how to be a leading actor, because I never ever thought of myself as such.

(Photo: Kurt Iswarienko/Mr Feel Good)

Evagora talks Goldberg and challenges of pandemic production

Returning for season two will be Evan Evagora as the Elnor, the Romulan sworn protector of Jean-Luc Picard. Following last month’s re-confirmation by Michelle Hurd that Whoopi Goldberg will be reprising her role as Guinan, Evagora opened up a bit in a Cameo video of his own, saying:

I can’t believe that Michelle let the cat out of the bag about Whoopi. I will say one thing… Whoopi is so kind and so lovely. I will say this, with masks and gloves on, all I did is want to hug her. She gives the best hugs.

The actor also talked about working with John de Lancie, who is reprising the role of Q for season 2, saying: “That man is as charming, as kind, and as funny as you think he is.”

Evagora avoided giving any spoilers for Elnor in season two, but did say:

I get to play with my sword again, which I was really happy about. And I really just want this season to air so we can all just talk about it and so you can enjoy it all. 2020 was a really tough year for everyone. Filming this year has had its challenges and its ups and its downs, but it was a pleasure as always.

Evan Evagor with Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, Alison Pill, and Patrick Stewart in season two trailer

Production designer shares insights and hints

This week production designer Dave Blass explained on Twitter he is going to start counting down the (roughly) ten weeks until the premiere of Star Trek: Picard season two by rewatching the ten episodes of season one, and revealing little tidbits along with way. In a thread from Tuesday, he explained why there is so much empty space inside La Sirena, while showing off some of the ship’s concept art.

He also showed off how the variable warp nacelles on Rios’ ship work.

Blass also dropped some hints about Chateau Picard and what we can look forward to in February.

Russo back on the scoring stage

Last week composer Jeff Russo shared an image of the penultimate recording session for the season two score of Star Trek: Picard. Russo and his musicians are able to record again at the Sony Scoring Stage after having to record the score for Discovery season four remotely.

 

Season 2 confirmed for Prime Video internationally

In case you missed it, earlier today TrekMovie reported that Amazon has confirmed that they will be streaming season two of Picard starting in February in all the same territories where they currently have season one available.

Season 3 has the guns

Believe it or not there is also some stuff for season three. We have previously reported on how showrunner Terry Matalas has been showing off a new mystery Starfleet ship that will be a major feature for season three, which is currently in production. In an image from late last month, Matalas showed off the ship’s armory, including a rack of phaser rifles.

ICYMI: Star Trek Day Season 2 trailer

Here is the season two trailer released in September.

 

Find more news and analysis from Star Trek: Picard.

SHARE TWEET PIN SHARE

Related Articles

43 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

So excited.

I enjoyed S1. It was a great (sort of) sequel to Nemesis. I can’t wait to see the Trek shenanigans Q is up to in S2.

Ikr, s1 was like a no expense spared sequel to Nemesis. who in their right mind would’ve looked to the stars and dreamed that could ever be!

and s2 be like the Q movie everyone was screaming for on message boards and in TOFC/Communicator letters page back in the late 90s

Can’t wait! For a Star Trek series first season, it was a solid effort, and was interesting and captivating, even if a couple elements of the storyline were hit and miss.

Probably the best first season of a Star Trek series since DS9.

Much better than DS9, actually. It was close to perfect, with the only tremendous real flaw the moustache-twirling Romulan character.

I wish we could have learned more about the machine race the Romulans were so scared of. In my own head canon this was the race responsible for upgrading V’Ger. Also it was never really explained how visions of Data could have been seen by the Romulans 1000’s of years ago.

This whole secrecy ploy around Whoopi Goldberg coming back as Guinan is silly. Patrick Stewart asked her to be on the show, and she accepted, while on national television!

Good point!

Agreed. i thought this was a done deal already. Michelle mentioning this didn’t shock me in the slightest.

Personally I hope this isn’t Guinan from the future but rather Guinan living in the 21st century and Picard and crew encountering her during our time period.

Even though I thought season one royally sucked by the end, I am still excited for season 2 thanks to Q! Just please be better…much better. And happy to hear Guinan is back. I still think we are going to get more character surprises too. Still like to see someone from DS9 already.

As for season 3, PLEASE let the ship be an Enterprise! You know what we want. ;)

Can we see Worf and the Enterprise E refit. I guess they don’t want it to be TNG 2.0. I also want to see Geordi. I miss Data the most, even if i understand Spiner not wanting to do the character anymore. He still had the perfect death in Nemesis its the one thing the film did well. And season 1 of Picard did poorly. I liked what they did with Seven in Picard season 1 but i still think they used Hugh poorly. And the Romulan subplot was bogus, just really bad. The one with the guy in love with his sister and at the same time in love with a robot or something. That was crap.

We agree on practically everything here. I been wanting Worf on the Enterprise two minutes after it was announce Picard was coming back to Star Trek. We may not get it, but I DO think we will at least see the Enterprise again. It’s just odd we wouldn’t see one at all. Even in Generations, they stuck Kirk on the Enterprise B.

The Romulan subplot honestly had the best potential and just completely squandered. They were messing around with a Borg cube and their planet was wiped out, I expected to see something major come from all of it and it ended up trying to stop murderbots from another galaxy. It would’ve been fine if the execution was better. The show just didn’t really stick to landing IMO.

But I see a few here really liked the season which is great. I only wish I felt the same.

you know, i agree, the technical/surface plot did end up being a letdown after all the buildup. but i read somewhere (probably here) that the season was meant as a long goodbye to Data that we never got in Nemesis. So, when you look at it that way, the scene with Picard and Data saying goodbye in the virtual room was the ending, and that was stuck to perfection. so, i loved S1, I am guessing because of that (and other character and emotional threads that it wove well–like Seven/Icheb/Hugh/xBs).

Yeah it practically had no landing at all. Who were the machine race the romulans were so afraid of? Where do they come from? How is it a vision that is 1000’s of years old had visions of data in it? There were SO MANY unanswered questions that left me unsatisfied.

Just imagine you’re a Pakled, then even La Sirena is an Enterprise!!

Very true lol.

I agree with you on DS9, always ignored.

The Ent E refit with Picard taking 10 minutes scenic tour with Geordi to Goldsmith suite

Well we did get a slight reference to DS9 with the reckoning tablet being seen in the teaser trailer. I can’t imagine they just put that in there for no good reason.

I’d love for the Enterprise-E to return, even if it is brief. But if an Enterprise shows up via all this time travel stuff, my money is the Enterprise-D appears.

Honestly, if Matalas wasn’t on board I wouldn’t be looking forward to season 2 and 3.

Season 1 was a major let down, only Nepenthe is a home run. I tried to rewatch the full season recently and just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Getting back to Matalas, because of the superb 12 monkeys, go watch it now if you haven’t, I have complete faith in him. He understands complex plotting and nuanced characters. It could all go pear shaped again I must admit, but I’m confident it won’t. It’s going to be a least decent, I just have that feeling.

I haven’t watched SyFy in years, but I loved the original movie which I think was about 25 years ago. So do you highly recommend this series? Do you know if it is streaming anywhere? Thanks

Yes I highly recommend the series, so do others around here(they might chime in)
Most importantly it sticks the landing. The final moments had me in tears, so powerful and perfect.

No idea if it’s still streamed. You’ll have to do some research.

Thanks! Just found the complete series in Blu-Ray on Amazon for $30…ordered it!

I would also recommend the series of 12 Monkeys as well. In fact I’d go as far as to say that it is probably the best time-travel series ever made and yeah as a result like Dvorak I am also very hopeful with Matalas’s involvement in Picard. Everyone needs to watch 12 Monkeys.

Yep us 12 Monkeys fans have to stick together, the dozens and dozens of us!

I rewatched 12 Monkeys a month ago and I forgot how great it was. I only saw it when it first ran and over a four year stretch. It was a lot more fun to binge watch it in just a few weeks and can keep up with all the crazy turns a lot easier.

Really hope Matalas can do with Picard after how great he made that show and happy he’s doing both seasons now.

…thanks for this. Never watched the 12 Monkeys series, just the film.

Good to hear! Thanks!

It’s streaming. We have it on Amazon Prime in Canada, but I can’t say who has it elsewhere.

12 monkeys and Matalas’ demonstrated ability to tightly structure coherent plot and character arcs are sincerely the only reason I have any enthusiasm for the upcoming seasons.

Just found it on Amazon on Blu-Ray for $30 (complete series). Thanks!

yes, adding my voice to 12 Monkeys, the show. Up there with reimagined BSG as an all-time great, imo. i believe it’s available for purchase (e.g., on Amazon), not sure it’s included in any US streaming services. I am actually keeping it on my DVR from the original run still! lol.

Another fan of 12 Monkeys here, but I will warn new viewers that the 1st season feels like a cheap knock off of the film. From season 2 onward, it builds its own mythology and that’s where it really takes off for me.

Good to know. So many series these days require patience for them to build up before they start getting good — The Man in the High Castle and Invasion, for example.

To be honest I still couldn’t get into Invasion.

I can’t wait for Picard season 2 & 3! Picard is the new Trek show I enjoy the most, and seeing the love that Matalas and Blass seem to bring has my hopes high for the next two seasons. There’s also a great joy seeing some Trek vets of past working on this show and being so excited about it. The Okudas, Doug Drexler, John Eaves, and others. So good to see

Guess Patrick and Ben were pranking their costars and audience by pretending to be each other on alternate nights

…going into this season with an open mind. S1 was ‘ok,’ I thought, some decent bits as well as some cringe-worthy moments (eye-patch Picard, evil Vulcan Admiral with ridiculous sunglasses). Very uneven writing. Not thrilled Picard is actually a geriatric synth now, but *maybe* the writers will do something interesting with it. As with “Nepenthe,” which I thought to be the stand-out episode last season, I imagine the episodes with legacy characters like Q, Guinan and ?? will most please this aging nerd. And please, no more cut n’ paste Federation ships. Like others have said, unfortunately I find no compulsion to re-watch season 1.

I’ve zero compulsion to watch it once. It sounds truly awful.

I’m not saying there wasn’t some ridiculous choices in season 1, but when you realise its a study of regret, at least for Picard’s character arc, I found it more enjoyable. Think what if Picard had to live with his choices in Tapestry. He is full of regret from having his bluff called over the Romulan Evacuation mission and has been forgotten and left to rot writing history books on the side lines. A shadow of the man he once was. This colours his actions through the whole season. Most people I’ve read from the internet tend to miss this and lose it in the rush of androids and incestuous Tal Shiar factions

Please please pleaseee take us back to the proper modern Starfleet with no DSC or SNW set redresses and most importantly, no COPY/PASTE ships

Since Picard is shot in California while DSC and SNW are shot in Canada it’s unlikely they will share a lot of sets.
Ironically, this was done a lot in the later TOS movies when they ran concurrently with TNG. They often didn’t even make an effort to hide that those were set redresses even though the two periods were almost a century apart in universe.
As for the copy/paste fleet, I think it has been stated that those shots had to be done in a very short time and that explains the rather simple setup.

I hope this season is a bit more even-keeled than S1; sounds like they have things planned out a lot better this time around. And I hope Elnor gets some actual development too. He’s had such a different upbringing from the Federation crew, so it’d be nice if he got to be more than exposition swordboy. (Not that I don’t love the sword, but character first, please.)

I wonder whether Christobal Rios will still be in Season 3 with “La Sirena” when it is announced in this article that there will be another starship. I would muss him badly.