The third season of Star Trek: Picard will feature the return of the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and now two members of that returning cast are talking about what we can expect—and when.
Sirtis on TNG’s proper sendoff in Picard season 3
Speaking to Red Carpet News at a UK movie premiere in April, Sirtis gave an update on her work for season three of Picard:
We’ve shot it already… I just got back from two months shooting in LA. It was so much fun to get with my pals again. It’s a great storyline. We have some great guest stars.
Marina Sirtis appeared along with her TNG co-star Jonathan Frakes in the first season of Picard, but she made it clear that for season three, she and her co-stars are not just doing cameos:
We’re in it! We are in it a lot.
Sir Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard; Jonathan Frakes as William Riker; Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi in “Nepenthe”
Marina Sirtis has been critical of the final TNG film, Star Trek: Nemesis, in the past and agreed with the interviewer that getting another go was cathartic, adding:
Well the producers—before we even started filming when they were talking to us about the project—did say that they felt that we hadn’t been given a proper send off in Nemesis. And that they wanted to send us off the right way, which I appreciated because this is something that’s taken up my life on and off since 1987. And I did feel that we were kind of discarded a little bit. But we were definitely cherished on this project.
When the TNG stars were announced for season three, executive producer and showrunner Terry Matalas stated, “It would be an understatement to say that giving these characters a proper send-off is an honor.”
Sirtis also imagined that she could be back playing Deanna Troi in a live-action Star Trek series, picking up on some of the talk about a potential spin-off:
Never say never, right? I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future… There are so many Star Trek shows on right now. I can’t imagine that if this is really successful, that maybe some of the more successful characters might have a spin off. I don’t know. That’s kind of the way Hollywood works, isn’t it?
The actress, who recently moved back to the UK, doesn’t want to be parted from her dogs, so she had only one stipulation: “They have to fly me in a private jet with my dogs… Fly me in a private jet there and back and I’ll be there!”
The cast of Star Trek: Nemesis
Spiner says season 3 is coming next February
Brent Spiner was a guest at FedCon in Bonn, Germany last weekend. When the subject of season three of Picard came up he told the crowd that due to his NDA (non-disclosure agreement) he wouldn’t say much, joking they (and he) could all end up in prison. But Spiner did offer some brief thoughts:
I think it’s going to be a really interesting season. We’ve already shot all of it. I think it’s going to be airing sometime around next February. I don’t know why it’s taking that long, but hopefully, you like it. It’s very different than the other two seasons of Picard.
Spiner has appeared as Data and two new Soong family characters in the first two seasons of Picard, but when pressed, he wouldn’t say what character he plays in season 3.
Brent Spiner at FedCon 2022 (Photo: Sebastian Bittins)
Season 3 music using multiple Trek themes
Post-production on the season is already underway. On Tuesday, Matalas took to Twitter to share his “chills and tears” hearing four different Star Trek themes interwoven into the music.
Listening to a music cue in #StarTtekPicard Season 3 that has themes from four different Treks interwoven… chills and tears. pic.twitter.com/4bjKKKVCFB
— Terry Matalas (@TerryMatalas) June 8, 2022
Special thanks to Sebastian Bittins of Euderion for his photo contribution to this article.
Find more Star Trek: Picard at TrekMovie.com.
I love anyone who’s first priority is making sure their animals are looked after! I never travel without my little guys (they are special needs and elderly, respectively) and would never trust them to strangers, either
Am I the only one who liked season 2? Asking for a friend.
I liked most of the elements but not the chaotic, uneven they were presented. Like with S1: very good ideas but a disasterous overall arc, Sorry.
I liked it. But then, I like all Trek. I just recognize some efforts are better then others. Season 2 was an improvement over season one, which I thought was disjointed.
well put
Wait there has been TWO different Phil’s here the whole time? Which is the one everyone thinks is an idiot? Have I been wrongly accusing someone else of being an idiot? I feel so bad now. :(
LOL
That was a twist for sure. That evil Doppelgänger thing is like a plot right out of TOS.
I loved the first two episodes, but I felt the story arc from episode 3 onwards was an absolute mess with way too many incoherencies and plot holes. I still can’t wrap my head around how Soong and Renee were important to Q’s plan, or why Borgati coincidentally recruited Soong right after his encounters with Q.
I still can’t understand why Q created an alternate timeline if his goal was to get Picard to address his childhood trauma. What does one have to do with the other?
Temporal paradoxes and deadly tests are Q’s love language.
Renee was important to Q’s plan because it was a means to show Picard an example of the fallacy of using duty as a means to avoid love. (Tallin swore only to ever “watch” Renee, but ultimately the solution of the time crisis hinged upon her breaking that vow and getting directly involved with her, the person she cared most about.)
Soong was just a means to an end when Q started losing his powers and needed another way to execute his plan. (I think.)
Maybe it’s just because I’ve watched a lot (probably too much) television in my life, but I saw it as one of the worst pieces of expensive entertainment ever made. It had all the energy of a CBS procedural with none of the procedure, more money than any fan film with a tenth of the heart. Hard to know if Patrick Stewart’s age or the brevity of the shoot impacted his performance, but there was just nothing interesting about the work he did. Again, to me. If people enjoyed it, good for them. You are probably far healthier human beings overall. (And certainly better than me.)
Oh. You nailed it. I was trying to identify what S2 reminded me of and it was NCIS:LA. It had the same sort of structure of a manhunt / mystery-of-the-week, a team split up to follow different leads while someone stays back at the base to do the Science Stuff, a dangerous antagonist. And the streets of Los Angeles.
What I found strange in retrospect was that Picard’s team never met (or knew about) Kore. Why (and how) would the image/memory of Kore persist over hundreds of years, so much so that Data painted a picture of her, and Adam’s far-distant descendent Alton would create multiple new androids in her image (partly cloned from Data’s neurons?) Who was the original cell donor, if any?
I bagged out on the last two episodes because I thought the season fell apart so badly after a compelling start. I’ll probably go back and watch them before S3 starts, but no burning desire to do so right now and don’t feel like I missed anything.
I liked the first half quite a bit, but the season completely started to fall apart for me in episode 6 and in the end the season didn’t come together and retroactively ruined the elements I did enjoy. The ending was also rushed and it looks like some of the newer elements introduced at the end like the jurati borg and that anomaly won’t be seen again. Easily the worst season of all the new Trek shows for me…and it’s not even close. It’s one of those shows where I actually feel kindve bad for the great cast. They deserved so much better.
I kindve saw the writing on the wall when people involved with the show were hyping season 3, not 2, before season 2 even started airing. And I was right.
I loved it to be honest. It’s probably my favourite season of Trek since DS9 Season 4. My only niggle with it was that it felt like it was written with the intention that it would best watched in a binge instead of weekly releases. But hey, it still rocked!
I liked one episode, which is more than I could say about the first season. So… an improvement, I guess.
I’m half way through it and I’ve enjoyed it.
Like many, loved the first two episodes. Some of the best Star Trek in years. It fell after episode 3 and just kept falling sadly.
I liked episodes 1, 2 and 10, the rest I felt were disappointing filler.
i liked season one better tbh… the starting point and heading of it held together way more than the ones in season 2 did
and for me at least you just can´t buy that away by throwing okudagrams at my nose LOL
Interestingly after watching season 2, I enjoyed season 1 much more as well. At least it was a little bit more focused than season 2.
I really liked it too! It had its issues, but I enjoyed it enough to finish it.
Although it might be because I got into Trek through Discovery (it got me to watch Picard, which got me to watch TNG) so my opinion might be closer to the mainstream audience’s than hardcore trekkies’. (For what it’s worth, I couldn’t stand S4 of Discovery, didn’t enjoy the first two episodes of SNW, and love the idea of a S31 show – apparently these aren’t uncommon opinions with more casual fans)
I absolutely loved it from beginning to end.
I enjoyed it… but it felt (to me, at least) like they were milking 10 episodes out of a three-episode arc.
I enjoyed season 2 a lot! Great character sent of for Q, and Wesley as well.
They brought back the post TNG movie look with an nice update.
Well written, great show.
I have not watched Season 2 yet, not sure why. I never felt like it was “must watch”, even though I am a big Trek fan. I have read on this and other sites, that a person only really needs to watch the first 2 episodes and the last 2 and I can skip all the middle “filler”. Is that true? Interested to hear others’ opinions.
REALLY CAN’T WAIT! Back to my childhood…..one last time….
Yeah Ha!!!! Me too!!!!!
I am rather hopeful for this season, despite season 2 being perhaps the worst Star Trek season ever (I actually thought s1 was all right). It seems like Spiner is aware of the fan reception to PIC so far, so it’s a good sign that he’s saying s3 is different.
The reaction you’re getting at is literally limited to this fan site from what I can tell. On social media, the praise for the season has been overwhelming. But go off.
On various Facebook groups, Season 2 got mostly negative reaction after the firsts two episodes.
Yeah that’s what some said about Nemesis as well lol.
Dude, on Rotten Tomatoes the audience rating score for Picard season 2 is at 41%.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_picard
So will you please stop pretending it’s only this one site where people are negative about it? There are plenty and plenty of places people are quite bitter about it. I guess maybe you only come to this site and ‘social media’.
If you liked season 2, I think that’s great! It’s good for people to like things, and I really wish I felt the same way. However, the idea that PIC s2 completely fell off the rails is a broad consensus beyond just this site. Check out IGN’s review below.
https://www.ign.com/articles/star-trek-picard-season-2-full-review
It’s one thing when you genuinely like something but have a hard time listening to negative opinions over it. Yeah, it’s not always easy. We’ve all been there at some point. So I can understand how frustrating it feels when people are tearing down something you thought was good; especially for shows where it can be season after season. That’s human nature.
But it’s another when you’re in such denial over how negative those opinions are that you want to pretend it’s only this one site of a few dozen posters who apparently has the issue with the show; but it’s supposedly loved and adored everywhere else. It’s not only wrong. it’s disingenuous.
We ALL have the same access to information these days. Anyone can do a random search and see it’s not this site and this site alone that had a problem with the season. It doesn’t mean everyone hated it or even most. But it’s not a small vocal minority group either people constantly try to tell themselves whenever they like something others don’t. I saw the same disillusioned arguments with Discovery too.
I wish I loved the season. I enjoyed season 1..I enjoyed the first half of season 2…but it ended up being just a complete mess and letdown. Like they didn’t even know what they were doing despite having extra time due to the pandemic. Mystery box writing at its worst.
No, I acknowledge that some people loved it of course, but I think the negative reaction is pretty widespread. There was major negative reaction on social media and Trek forums as the episodes were airing. Major review sites also rated it poorly. IGN gave the season a 4 out of 10 and called it maybe the worst season ever of star Trek
For me, this season is the worst season of Star Trek. Before that it was Discovery season one, which I didn’t think was ALL bad, but just too uneven and dark with a lot of silly soap opera plot twists concluding with a very anti-climatic ending to ever want to watch it again mostly. But Picard season 2 is on another level of bad for me. And what’s sad about it is it had some of the best components to make a great season. A time travel and alternate timeline story featuring Q and the Borg Queen?? This is all in Trek’s wheelhouse. How badly can you mess that up? Apparently, very badly.
I think it’s the worst season of Trek as well, and maybe by a wide margin.
I meet no real person who liked it… All of them were trekkies… Yeah one Guy Said it wasn’t all Bad. 10 Said it sucked.
Talking about that “potential spin-off”… A follow-up to PIC could be like that…
Remember Spock training the young cadets on the Enterprise as a training vessel at the beginning of TWOK?
That “honor” should go to Worf, and he’s not very happy looking after those spoiled young brats… That takes a cue from the proposed Worf comedy as well as the Academy show. But don’t get to the classrooms, let’s start right onboard a training ship.
And here we are: Miral Paris, Yoshi O’Brien, Kestra Riker-Troi, offsprings of all three Trek shows of that period and some new characters, and on their first mission they get stranded in the Gamma Quadrant post-Dominion War…
A starship based academy show Would be really cool but I think if we’re getting any sort of academy show it’ll be in the discovery timeline helmed by Tilly.
Just please don’t ruin Worf. He’s not a punchline.
… Well. Actually… Sometimes He is…
Yeah, and it almost always sucks when he’s used that way. DS9 really did that character justice and the movies (save FC) didn’t really do anything with him, I’m just dreading what the new regime will do with the character (“Well, we’ve gotta do an in joke about that 10 minute video of Worf being denied — the fans will love that!”).
I shall give the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard a try. I hope for a kid-friendly, computer-generated series that would serve as interquels within the four Next Gen movies as well. Hopefully, it would called either The New Enterprise or The Next Enterprise or The Continuing Mission(s) or The Mission Continues or The Missions Continue or The Ongoing Mission(s) or The Next Mission(s).
The Third Generation
“Interquels.” Angels and ministers of grace, defend us.
Hamlet, Act I, Scene 4
Program complete, enter when ready.
I really really want to be excited about season 3, but season 2 was so utterly bad I still have no motivation for next season at all, even though they are bringing back my favorite cast in the entire franchise.
But hopefully what Sirtis is saying is right. I mean it can’t be as bad as Nemesis, can it? Wait, Picard season 2 was in many ways worse because at least Nemesis was only 2 hours of bad, not 8 hours like Picard. But I want to be a positive fan who generally loves most of the franchise so my mind can be changed of course. I’m hoping when they show that first cast photo from the season it will give us a buzz we haven’t felt in over 20 years!
And a Picard spin-off is 100% inevitable at this point. It’s only a matter of what and when. Would love to see a few TNG characters as part of it which there probably will be too since they got rid of practically every new character from first season minus Raffi. Still say a Stargazer show starting Captain Rios would’ve been perfect but blame season 2.
A Stargazer series with Captain Seven won’t do? Personally, I’d watch a spin off of Rios in the 21st century, but that would be quite a departure from established Trek formula….
‘To boldly work a 9 to 5 and raise a family,’ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Shame, as Rios is the only character here i’ve actually liked.
Oh yeah a Captain Seven Stargazer show would definitely work great too! I just don’t know if her being made Captain was temporary or not because how can someone be made a permanent ‘Captain’ if they are not even in Starfleet? But yeah, this is one of the m-a-n-y reasons season 2 was so bad lol. But if they stick to that, I won’t be complaining. ;)
As far as a Rios show in probably what would be in WW 3 since that starts in 2026, sure interesting but since they already told us when and how he would die, a bit less so for me. And yeah it will probably be too much of a departure. But would be up for a mini-series!
It’s not out of the question though. A Noonian-Singh descendent in SNW, the project Khan tease at the end of Picard season 2 and the fact that Kurtzman seems to have a thing for that particular character could all point to a potential Eugenics War series in which the likes of Rios, the new Guinan and whichever Soong that Spiner was playing in the last season could all appear. That might seem a little far fetched at the moment but stranger things have happened with Trek…
You know, I have to admit, laying it out that way, it may not be a bad idea!
But I still rather see that as a mini-series. I don’t think we need five seasons of it. And knowing the brain trust running these shows today, they are just going to make it worse since keeping to past canon is a very difficult thing for them it seems. The fact we are talking about moving Eugenics wars up a few decades kind of says it all.
I’d agree a mini would be best but I think it would be a much more interesting Khan show than Ceti Alpha V. I’d be nervous of course, it’s impossible not to be given their cavalier attitude to canon but I’m an optimist and a glutton for punishment so I’d definitely get onboard with it. I’d even be down with them retconning Rios’ death. Nobody ever really dies in Star Trek and with Wesley and the travellers/watchers in the mix now anything is possible.
I’m less enthusiastic about a Stargazer show. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love a 25th Century Starship series and I’m more than happy for Seven to lead a show, I just don’t have any particular affinity to that incarnation of the ship. I personally think that if they want to have a show based around the Stargazer then base it on the OG. That won’t happen for a while but eventually they will cast a younger Picard to tell that story, probably in a way that completely contradicts established canon ;). In the meantime I say give Seven Voyager or a brand new ship if they want to have her lead a new series.
I’m not super tied to a Stargazer show either. I think for most people, it was the ship they happen to present in the season and of course being connected to Picard’s original ship. But yeah I would take another Voyager ship over it in a heartbeat. Or another Enterprise lol. But I think everyone knows that probably won’t happen because of SNW. I still think we will see one next season now thanks to the TNG cast being back. Could be wrong, but really hope I won’t be. ;)
For me though, I just want another 25th century show more than anything. I never needed a single TNG character back for it. I didn’t need it with Picard coming back, but it was a great addition of course. And I had accepted every idea that was presented in Picard, it just didn’t work out very much in the end. Probably why they have the entire TNG cast back next season, but I suspect that would’ve been the case if CBS or Kurtzman got their way from the start and just did a TNG revival show.
Hopefully next season will be good and be a jumping point to something else down the line.
To be fair I do get that it’s the starship setting rather than the specific vessel that fans are clamouring for. That’s the reason I put it out there for discussion though as it’s clear the producers do look at fan feedback but sometimes you get the impression that they get fixated on a specific aspect without addressing the real problems. I agree on the Enterprise, I’d love a 25th century show on it but I accept it’s not a realistic expectation while SNW is still on air. I’d be shocked if an Enterprise is not the mystery ship that Matalas has been teasing for season 3 though.
Oh yeah fully agree. It’s definitely a starship setting. I actually said that when the first episode of season 2 aired. You can feel just how excited people were because we were back to Starfleet officers doing Starfleet things on a Starfleet ship again. And of course the producers KNEW that too. That’s why they set up the first episode and threw most of the cast back in Starfleet. It’s why every nugget of info about season 3 is assuring fans it’s going to be lots and lots of starship porn! LOTS!!!!!!!
So not surprised at all. There are people who really want to see the universe expand and find different premises and settings to do it. But I’m guessing those are in the minority. The overwhelming majority just want to see more Starfleet officers in cool uniforms on a sleek and shiny starship exploring planets or raising shields to confront the Romulans. And it’s nothing wrong with that, that’s what Star Trek is end of the day. And it’s exactly why after we got DS9, they never did anything that dramatic again and instead did VOY and ENT which went back to basics. People complained it was too much of the same stuff, but the network was just giving something most fans really wanted; especially more casual ones.
And twenty years later they are back doing the exact same thing with SNW! The circle is now complete lol. Because as you say they DO listen to feedback and 90% of that feedback is saying just put more legacy characters on cool Starships and we’ll be happy to subscribe. Next year, all five shows will be ship based and three of them based on a ton of 23rd and 24th century legacy characters from multiple shows.
If they did an Eugenics war show, I know people will watch, but the majority would just prefer another show set on an Enterprise hundred times over.
TO SUMMON THE FUTURE
Rios helping to bridge from now to the future, great idea.
I would watch a Stargazer show, but it would need a real hook beyond being a legacy sequel featuring Seven. They’d need to be on a very specific mission like DS9 or Voyager that doesn’t let the show become a retread of TNG/SNW.
And I have to admit that I’m less excited about this blander version of Seven of Nine, she has retained very little of what made her so fascinating to watch in the past. It has never felt like a good evolution of the character to me.
I think that Worf show that Michael Dorn was pitching for so long could be a Picard spinoff.
I joked when it was announced they were all coming back that maybe Dorn will finally get his show! I mean it would be perfect. We know they are going to replace Picard with another show eventually. Worf is hugely popular in the fanbase obviously and many want to see him as a Captain. It’s a total no-brainer where to take the next show and if they want to anchor it with another TNG character.
But it probably means they won’t do it. ;)
I’d like to see the Deep Space Nine characters again, at least those who weren’t killed off or whose actors died irl. I never bought the idea of them not being cinematic. That show was firing on all cylinders once Worf joined the cast. It was utterly fantastic.
Oh yeah definitely want to see DS9 characters and Matalas did hint we may see some of them and more VOY characters in another article so fingers crossed.
And DS9 is my favorite Star Trek show bar none! TNG is my second so I would be in heaven in if they get season 3 right!
I think there’s a decent chance that we will get a Worf show but I think it’s more likely to be based on the pitch that Kurtzman spoke about a while back rather than the premise put forward by Dorn.
Worf was my favourite character on TNG, but anyway I don’t think he should ever become a Starfleet captain. Picard wrote in his files, Worf should consider leaving Starfleet, Sisko wrote in his files he should never become a captain. Not everyone is designated to be a leader.
Alright, here’s my guesses on “great guest stars”…. 1) Admiral Janeway, 2) Ro Laren, 3) Miles O’Brien, 4) the original EMH
Would love to see everyone on that list!
I would add Diana Muldaur, Dr. Pulaski did appear in 20 TNG episodes after all. I would also like to see Patti Yasutake return as Nurse Ogawa.
I’m surprised they were even able to get 4 films in the TNG series when Insurrection underperformed, and Nemesis flopped. And Generations mostly coasted on the popularity of the show, and the novelty of having its first film and Bill Shatner. They had one run away hit with First Contact. I don’t think they ever captured the essence of the show on film. I disagree on not having their send off though that was All Good Things. All Good Things was their Star Trek VI. They had one good movie. They had 7 seasons. Not everything lasts forever.
It’s just more proof Star Trek belongs on TV than movies. For some reason when they make a movie it has to involve a villain and lots of explosions. I don’t get it but there it is.
I like most of the movies including TNGs (Nemesis the only one I think is truly awful) but they dumb them down so much they are rarely at the level you find a solid episode. It probably explains why I haven’t loved a single film since First Contact. Pretty depressing lol.
Some things are just better on TV and not trying to translate everything for the masses.
I wish Star Trek would take a hint from Pixar. In the last Pixar movie I saw, there was no villain at all, only people who had hurdles to take, some tumbled but in the end everyone came through. That was more satisfying than seeing a villain fall.
Pixar is a great example but I wish they would just take a page from Star Trek itself. There are over 800 episodes of Star Trek. Some certainly have your stereotypical villain (and yes certainly in Picard and Discovery) but the majority doesn’t have a villain at all and are considered some of the best Trek in the franchise. Or if they do have a villain, it’s not always trying to blow up or take over the Federation. Stories like Drumhead is a great example. But that would feel waaaaay too nuance for movies I guess.
I don’t know where they got it in their heads it has to be someone creating the highest stakes possible in every movie but it is tiresome now. The irony is it started with Khan of course in the second movie but that was such a personal and smaller story. He mainly just wanted Kirk dead and because what happened to him on the planet. But he wasn’t trying to take his anger out on the entire Federation.
But by the time we get to the 09 movie we now have characters like Nero who not only want Spock to suffer over Romulus but now wants to destroy every Federation planet in the process. It just got to the point it’s destruction porn and overkill.
They can’t send off TNG fast enough. Can’t we use the spore or quantum slipstream drive or something to speed this along? Can we fast forward the holodeck recreation?
Sure would have been cool to have the TNG cast have to help robo-Picard escape the Borg that were farming the Fed for tech and now wanted him given he is more advanced than V’ger where AI=organic life.
Why not give these excellent actors/actresses a great adventure?
But that’s ok, detoothing the Borg and making them want to just suddenly be friends of the UFP after centuries of acts of genocide across the galaxy, that’s pretty TNG I’ll give you that. Kind of flies in the face of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine too but bad political analogies told as boring unexciting stories I guess can be considered the roots of TNG.
Spiner: “[Season 3 will be] very different than the other two seasons of Picard.”
Oh, you mean it will be good?
FWIW, Frakes also was at FedCon, and when a fan asked if we’ll see the relationship of Troi and Riker, he said “in fact, that relationship is pivotal to season 3”. So, whatever you’ll make out of it, that’s some food for thought. ;-)
Wow nice! I always love seeing the Troi’s front and center. A bit more excited now at least. Thanks for the info!
What will be the four Trek themes I wonder? PIC, TNG, VOY, DS9 ?
There was some James Horner Trek music in the teaser for season 3 so I can imagine some of that used in the season as well.