Since the season two debut of Star Trek: Picard, Paramount+ has released a few promos that offer clues about the upcoming season. This includes an online clip from episode two, a “This Season on Star Trek: Picard” promo on Paramount Plus, and a 30-second online promo. Some of the footage has been seen and analyzed before, so we will break down what’s new, and include links to the videos at the bottom of the article.
A meta Q
A big question for season 2 of Picard is the motivation of Q, who appeared at the end of episode one, popping Picard to an alternate version of his chateau after he had ordered the self-destruct of the USS Stargazer. The episode two clip appears to pick up right after that, with Q telling Picard “this is home,” even if everything has changed into some darker version of the home he knows.
When Picard asks about the fate of the crew of the USS Stargazer, Q gets meta, replying, “How quaint, how provincial, how yesterday’s enterprise,” revealing “there is no Stargazer” and indicating they are now in a different timeline or universe.
Of course, this evokes the TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” when Picard and the USS Enterprise-D were thrown into a darker alternate universe, although in that case Q was not involved. Guinan (who also appeared in the season 2 premiere of Picard) revealed an ability to sense the changes in the timeline in “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”
From TNG “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”
An angry Q
Things soon pivot in the clip when Picard says he is no longer Q’s “pawn,” with Q replying, “You are more than just a piece, you are the very board upon which this game is played.” Picard says he is too old for Q’s games, and the superbeing turns angry and says, “Old, yes. How unfair time is. So many wrinkles. So many disappointments.”
And in the Paramount+ promo, Q can be seen telling Picard, “We’re never too old for second chances” and “This is not a lesson, it is a penance.” The title of episode 2 is “Penance.”
A dark world
The alternate universe Q throws Picard and his crew into has been featured in previous promos, but there are a few more elements to see. In the “This season” promo, Q points to the hexagonal grid, which appears to be shutting down above Picard’s chateau, asking, “you like the skies here?”
There is also a shot of Q smiling next to a Cardassian skull with a hole in the center. A Klingon and an unidentified alien skull can be seen as well.
And in the 30-second promo, there is a brief shot of a Borg skull in a split screen of Seven without her implant.
In the 30-second promo, Seven can be seen in a split screen with one shot of her from episode one and one in the alternate universe with an unknown character played by Jon Jon Briones (Isa Briones’ father). She says, “We are at a fork in the road, two futures.”
Picard briefs Seven, Elnor, and Raffi, saying: “Q… he went back in time and turned our world into a polluted, totalitarian nightmare.”
We have previously seen shots of Picard at a large rally in the alternate future, but the new 30-second online promo shows that he and Seven will be on stage when a caged Borg Queen is brought up to the stage.
Venerating a new Soong
As Picard gives his briefing, the promo cuts to the alternate San Francisco Bay with a large holographic statue of “Adam Soong.” The statue, in the likeness of Brent Spiner, holds a globe in his hands.
The Queen points to LA
As explained by Picard, “To save the future, we must repair the past.” And this is where the Borg Queen comes in. Annie Wersching plays the Queen from the alternative universe, and in the “This season” promo, Seven explains how the Queen can help, saying, “We aren’t the only ones that recognize that time has been broken.” The Queen identifies the point of divergence: “a single change in Los Angeles 2024.”
Escape to LA
To get to the Los Angeles of the past, the crew has to get off Earth to slingshot around the sun in La Sirena, as seen in previous trailers. But the latest gives us a nice shot of the alternate Starfleet Steamrunner and Nova class ships in pursuit.
Adam Soong and Q
The alternative universe’s venerated Adam Soong appears to be the latest version of the Soong family to be played by Brent Spiner. This Adam Soong appears to be a pivotal figure in 2024 Los Angles.
John De Lancie has been seen interacting with Spiner in previous promos, this time we get some key dialogue as Q hands Adam Soong a vial of blue liquid and tells him, “I want you to remove an obstacle.”
A return to 10 Forward
The Borg Queen offers advice on where Picard and the crew can start in the past, saying, “There is someone there to help…” And with that we see Picard beam down outside the 2024 Los Angeles alley where Guinan’s same 10 Forward bar appears to be.
In episode one, Guinan’s bar was in a “Historical District,” so it’s possible she was there in 2024, given that El-Aurians are very long-lived, plus we know Guinan visited San Francisco on Earth in 1893 (“Time’s Arrow“).
From TNG “Time’s Arrow”
The Watcher, the white-eyed people… and Laris
The Queen’s voice-over continues: “…seek The Watcher.” And with that, we get two shots of Picard in a 2024 park in Los Angeles interacting with people with white eyes.
And later in the same promo, we get a shot of Laris (Orla Brady) in a 2024 Los Angles setting, possibly a hospital, with those same white eyes.
Orla Brady is seen again in the 30-second promo, but without Laris’ Romulan ears. She is holding a device in a split-screen with Laris at the chateau from episode one.
Rios gets busted… and kissed
In the “This Season” promo Picard’s voiceover says, “Everything we do here has consequences.” And with that we see Rios being handcuffed along with someone else in a white coat, possibly a doctor. Rios also has an injury on his left hand.
Rios (with same bandage) gets booked by “Castaic Deport,” which could be for the LA County Sheriff’s facility in Castaic, CA. “Deport” could indicate that Rios might be caught up in the immigration system.
Later, Raffi, and Seven break Rios out of a prison bus.
Rios gets into some other action as well, briefly getting a kiss from an unknown character.
Dressed up… and going down
Rios (without bandage) and Raffi are both dressed up for an event with space-themed decorations. He says, “Twenty-first-century Earth is so intense.”
In a suit and wearing a contemporary earpiece, Picard says, “We have to find a way back… no matter what it takes.”
The 30-second online promo shows a split screen with Raffi tending an injured Elnor, and Rios and a woman (possibly Laris) attending Picard, still in the same suit but now on the ground.
Jurati in red
Agnes Jurati can also be seen on the streets of LA in a red dress holding her shoes.
The 30-second promo shows a split screen of Jurati and the Borg Queen, with Jurati in this red dress looking determined and leaving what appears to be an injured Seven behind her. It’s possible that Jurati is being manipulated or controlled by the Queen.
Agnes can be seen again in this dress, running on top of some cars.
Soji gets a gift
Soji Asha can also be seen briefly in the contemporary setting, opening a gift box that emits a vapor.
Another flashback?
There is another quick shot of what looks to be related to some of the flashbacks of Picard’s childhood in episode one. A woman (probably Picard’s mother) is being dragged away.
More shots
Here are a few more shots from the 30-second promo, starting with a kid in 2024 LA holding a toy spaceship split-screened with La Sirena.
Picard holding an old key, split with shots of Chateau Picard.
Split of Elnor in the dark timeline and Jurati on La Sirena holding a shotgun.
THE VIDEOS
The first thing to look at is a clip from episode two (“Penance”) featuring Q and Picard, which was shown at the end of The Ready Room (starting at 32:11).
The second video is a new 30-second promo for season 2 released online by Paramount+.
And finally, there is a “This Season On Picard” promo that is currently only available on Paramount+, shown at the end of episode one, and on startrek.com.
New episodes of Star Trek: Picard premiere on Thursdays on Paramount+ in the U.S. and on Fridays where Paramount+ is available around the world. In Canada, it airs on CTV Sci-Fi Channel on streams on Crave on Thursdays. Picard is also available on Fridays on Amazon Prime Video around the world.
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I’m calling it now: Agnes Jurati will go back in time and become the Borg Queen.
Yeah, I don’t think it’s gonna be Annie Wersching (who’s been cast as the Borg Queen in the alternate timeline) under that mask. There was a point where I thought it sounded like Jeri Ryan doing the Borg Queen’s voice.
Think you might be right…
Yeah the mask on the borg Queen definitely makes one think they are hiding someone. I don’t know though if it’s Agnes, Seven, or even Picard’s mother. She was being dragged away at one point. I know it appears it might be Picard’s dad but what if the memory is wrong somehow? Ultimately all the cards are still on the table.
I thought about it bring Picard’s mom, but we know, from “Where No One Has Gone Before,” that she lived to be an old woman.
I feel like that can be reasonably handwaved by just assuming that he was picturing what he thought his mother would’ve looked like had she not died early.
Can’t be a worse theory when people were predicting Soji would be the new Borg Queen in season one. ;)
It’s Burnham, obviously…..
The Klingon, borg and even a female Cardassian skull in alternate Picard’s study do a good job of adding to the totalitarian nature of this alternate universe. You definitely get the vibe this isn’t the same universe or even the same Picard. Although I don’t know if we will get to see evil Picard. My guess is we will just know of him through the things our Picard witnesses. Like that at least one character gets to have a romantic connection with a person from 2024. It almost wouldn’t be Star Trek without it! I am more curious as to the one event that changed the timeline. Did Adam Soong “save Earth” from this event? Or is it more if a he caused it and saved people from it?
Didn’t we see a skull collection in Discovery in Lorca’s room too, who turned out to be from the mirror-universe? A nod? Maybe the mirror-universe itself is the result of an alternate timeline, once split from the prime-timeline?
ADAM Soong. Interesting name. Maybe the first Soong who started it all? We also had “Altan Inigo Soong” which sounded like “Alter Ego” (the other me).
I think the main point of Altan Inigo was that it was AI Soong. Alter Ego sounds like a bit of a stretch.
I saw a bag of Fritos around 9 seconds in. What could it signify? Ferengi involvement perhaps?
When the lead actors start to into have a say with story input, things start to become skewed. Shatner bringing horses into Generations simply because he himself is an equestrian. Stewart, who in real life suffered abuse as a child wanting to integrate that issue into the childhood of Picard.
This is what happens when one plays a character over a span of decades. You finally abandon the profile of the original character’s makeup, and start letting your true nature come through in the performance. By the end of his long run as Kirk, we were basically watching Captain Shatner in the uniform. Same now with Stewart.
All TV shows, if they’re wise, write to the actors’ strengths. And Picard having an abusive father doesn’t really contradict what’s been seen before. If anything, the seeds were already planted when his brother seemed to be following in their father’s footsteps. He was exceedingly harsh to the point of cruelty in “Family.”
That’s a fair point, Eric. To follow that thought, a lot of over-achievers in life became that way due to growing up with an abusive parent. Nothing was ever good enough, so they pushed to become successful by anyone’s standard.
Although, that would tend to undermine the “Tapestry” episode. It posits the idea that by not being stabbed through the heart, Picard’s life never came into focus and he drifted through life. A real overachiever like the young Picard we’re describing, would not have been dissuaded in pursuing success if he wasn’t stabbed. No one event would have thrown him off course. He was already programmed to go after his “first best destiny”.
It’s all about saving Sisko (Gabriel Bell) in the end.
I think the Borg/Borg Queen is actually Q. See the way they said “Picard” is the same inflection Q uses
Great to see John de Lancie again, but whew boy, that Yesterday’s Enterprise line is a groaner. I mean, I used to think Zephram Cochrane’s ‘astronauts on a star trek’ line was the corniest it could get… but we got competition now.
Q outright referencing the name of an episode is a very Lower Decks move. ;)
This season is shaping up to be something truly twisty and trippy Trek again, which is the Star Trek I love. I also think this is the kind off stuff some fans wanted to see in a TNG film with elements like Q, Borg, alternate realities, etc all coming together. Now we might be getting it in a ten hour length season instead.
I’m really excited about this season now and the first episode was better than every episode than last season for sure; but still remain optimistically cautious, at least for a few more episodes.
And not without precedent as Q said “all good things must come to an end” in the TNG finale
Well I always thought Yesterday’s Enterprise should have been a two-parter and now it seems like we are getting a 10 hour variation of it.
And I always thought they should have saved the “Yesterday’s Enterprise” script for the feature film crossover with TOS and TNG.
Just picture Kirk at the end telling Picard they’re going back through the rift to sacrifice themselves to restore the timeline. It would have had the same emotional punch as Spock’s death in TWOK.
Agreed, it would have made an awesome and much more credible first crossover film than Generations.
I plan to binge-watch PIC Season 2 when the whole thing is available, so I haven’t seen the first episode yet and I’ve stayed away from the other article because, y’know, spoilers. Curiosity got the better of me and, well, I see there’s a fair number of potential spoilers in this article too ;)
I’m still going to try to avoid reading too much info until Season 2 has finished and I’ve had the chance to watch it all, but since it’s great fun to speculate, here goes:
Completely wild guess: Q and Adam Soong assassinate one of the villains of the impending World War 3 — either Colonel Green or a “rising star” politician. Pre-emptively preventing WW3 would be a pretty good motive for Soong to be convinced to do it. Picard appears to be undercover as a member of a security detail, possibly at a political schmoozing event or similar major gala. As I’ve suggested before, Picard & co save the villain’s life (presumably Soong was going to poison him); if they don’t do this, WW3 doesn’t happen, but the human race never “learns the right lessons either” (since WW3 and its aftermath was the catalyst for that), resulting in the dark alternative timeline.
It could, of course, be something completely different. Maybe those “white-eyed Watchers” are actually undercover Vulcans on a recon mission, visually recording everything. If that blue liquid somehow reveals their alien appearance, Soong may publicly expose them, causing a lot of paranoia about aliens, “alien infiltration of Earth” etc, and resulting in a xenophobic fascistic future.
Both scenarios could credibly result in Adam Soong being regarded as one of the heroes of human history, hence that giant holographic statue. You can imagine Q playing on Soong’s vanity as another incentive to motivate him.
It’s funny how they choose a promotional action screen grab of Jurati / Allison Pill, and it’s clearly a stunt person. LOL
It is a striking image, though. In the times I’ve seen the promo, that shot of the red dress against the bland background running atop a row of cars was pretty arresting. I guess they didn’t have time or money to do face replacement on the shot as of the promo
The trailer actually makes me slightly nervous because I’m worried the season could become a convoluted mess. I’m also not sure I really want to spend what looks like an entire season in an alternate universe. However,the season did get off to a good start, so here’s hoping it holds together.
It’s beginning to look as though I was correct that the Stargazer (and the events which took place on it) weren’t real. Perhaps a fabrication by ‘Q’? In any event, it’s obvious that Season Two is going to be quite a ride, with lots of twists and turns! No ‘touchy-feely Trek’ ala Discovery; this is going to be exciting!
Split of Elnor in the dark timeline and Jurati on La Sirena holding a shogun.
It’s “SHOTGUN.” Come on guys, this isn’t Lucasfilm. Get it together.
Q seems genuinely angry at Picard for something, rather than merely indignant at being “disrespected”. Maybe at some point something happens in the future that is so dramatic that it even affects the Q Continuum & results in the death of Q’s son, and if Picard had negotiated with the Borg instead of killing the Borg Queen (along with himself & everyone else on the Stargazer) it would’ve altered the calculus of future events; thus, Q is forcing Picard to experience the consequences of someone else making a poor decision similar to his own in the past…
Those white-eyed people look uncannily like The Watcher from “Marvel’s What If…?”
Half expecting Deadpool to randomly show-up & wink at the camera at some point.
Since no one has nitpicked this yet: Why does the female cardassian skull have a blue patch? The blue we have seen before is make-up, not a natural cardassian feature.
Unless the hole is a bullet hole and they just filled it with something blue for some reason?
Because we have better things to do with our lives
Such as replying to 6 day old comments…