Star Trek: Picard is bringing back the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation for its third and final season, which kicks off in February. We have a few newly released photos featuring some of those stars.
Crusher’s new look
Paramount+ has released the first three episodic images for season 3 of Star Trek: Picard. The first comes from episode one and it features Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher.
Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
While there are some hints of the Starfleet jackets from the TOS-era movies in Dr. Crusher’s outfit, Beverly is no longer in Starfleet, at least at the beginning of season 3. It has previously been revealed that the season will start with Dr. Crusher in the very first scene, where she is working for an organization akin to Doctors Without Borders and her ship comes under attack (which can also be seen in the trailer below). Speaking about getting the first scene of the season in her interview with Den of Geek Magazine, McFadden says, “I loved the very first scene. I mean, to me, that was so much fun to get to do that. To be active and fighting. I loved it!” In the same interview, McFadden spoke about how she approached the role of Crusher in season 3:
As an actor, you can’t help but bring the changes in you into that performance. We have all become closer over the years, and so to have a chance to act again together in the same roles… it was extraordinary to me that it could even happen. It was really quite wonderful to be looking into Patrick’s eyes or Jonathan’s and know that there’s so much love, as well as laughter and bonding, between all of us.
Two officers walk into a bar
The second image is also from episode one and it shows William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) meeting with Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) in a bar, both out of uniform.
Jonathan Frakes as Riker and Patrick Stewart as Picard
This scene can also be glimpsed in the NYCC trailer where Riker tells Picard they need a ship. The image reveals some little details, like small Starfleet flags, indicating this bar is somewhere in the Federation, and they’re drinking Swaford Single Malt Whiskey, which is a fictional recurring Easter egg in various TV series that have been produced by season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas—including season 2 of Picard.
In the same Den of Geek feature, Jonathan Frakes talks up Terry Matalas’ approach to bringing back the TNG cast:
He really gets Next Gen. Without blowing too much smoke up Terry’s ass, he’s a wonderful writer. And the stuff he gave me to do was exciting. I know that Gates felt the same way, and I think LeVar [Burton] did, too. Terry wrote Riker in conflict with Picard, which I thought was quite exciting.
Back in uniform
The final shot is from episode 2. It shows Riker and Picard back in uniform on board a ship, given the ship models behind them, this is on the USS Titan-A, the main ship for the season.
Jonathan Frakes as Riker and Patrick Stewart as Picard
Both Riker and Picard are wearing new 25th-century Starfleet uniforms; Riker is still a captain and Picard an admiral. All three episodic photos first appeared in the latest Den of Geek Magazine, which also has a publicity photo of Stewart in a different, new uniform on the cover.
Picard cover story for Den of Geek Magazine
Coming on Feb 16
The third and final season premieres on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023 exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., with new episodes of the 10-episode-long season available to stream weekly on Thursdays.
Picard streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S.A. It is distributed concurrently by Paramount Global Content Distribution on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories, and in Canada it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
“she is working for an organization akin to Doctors Without Borders”
It’s sad that even in the 25th century physicians don’t have a greater choice of bookstores.
It took me way to long to get this! LoL
Ha!
Good one!
+1
👍
Whatever other social media interaction is used to promote a comment.
Apparently there a energy shortage in the 25th century. EVERY scene is lit too dark. It almost pulls me out of the story. I’m getting sick of this with many modern TV shows. Its annoys me more than shaky cam. Not saying it should be lit like TNG was (or the Orville is) but maybe take a page form Star Trek: First contact. Perfect medium between overly lit sit scenes and too dark scenes.
I agree, it is a strange choice and probably done in an attempt to make it seem “edgy” which is completely unnecessary if your writing is up to par.
Totally agree with this.
I had the same (first) reaction. Everything is too dark. The background, the lighting, clothes too.
The main reason TNG was lit that way was because the pace of production was much faster and it wouldn’t allow for too many lighting setup changes. So, they had a base flat lighting scheme and only made minor changes to the lighting for close ups and medium shots, or for special scenes. Now, there’s a much longer amount of time afforded to each episode, and the directors have much more freedom, so they can be more laser-focused on the lighting. It’s not so much about being edgy as it is about allowing the director and DP to guide the viewer’s attention to specific parts of the screen.
TNG was lit differently throughout its run, and the earlier episodes tended darker shade from what I could tell. I noticed watching Season 2 debut episode and next one or two at least, of TNG, they lit bridge darker and shadows were deeper.
But could see everyone just fine of course. Now they seem to be going for inky blacks and black shadows.
Seasons 1 and 2 were directly edited on film, and had a different director of photography from Seasons 3+. From season 3, they transferred film to tape and did the edits solely on tape.
If they had more time in the new show one might think they would aim for a more realistic look. Characters would almost certainly light their ships where they could see what was going on, aside from the obvious scenes where they had power loss and needed flashlights or mood lighting for dinner.
Agree. And it’s a real shame because the production design and new uniforms are really cool. Wish I could actually see them!
l agree ! So dark and too much backlighting (generating excessive lens flares). It makes our mind focus on the background and the extras more than the protagonists.
It’s keeping things in line with the E-D lighting from Generations. I recall early there was a scene where Troi enters Picard’s quarters and he asks if there is anything he could do for her and I was thinking in kind of an MST3K kind of way, “Yes! You could turn up all the damn lights!”
At least for that movie, as I understand it, the low lighting levels were designed in part to hide the cheapness of the TV series sets they were using.
I agree so completely. That was one thing that I hated about getting rid of the Enterprise D. When they went to the “E” ship, EVERYTHING afterwards was too dark
Hi everyone, it’s just 3 pictures. And one of those three is in a bar.
Check the trailer.
I mean I don’t have a problem with a dimly-lit bar. We also don’t know where Crusher is in the first picture. The third picture seems to be on a Starfleet ship and indeed looks quite dark. But this has been the “default” style for several years.
Crusher might be on the medical ship that is attacked in the trailer. If it’s a former Starfleet vessel perhaps it’s a bit of rough shape?
Star Trek: Turn Off The Dark
Of the new era Treks, it seems only Strange New Worlds has found the happy middle ground between the blindingly bright of the Abrams bridge and this dark and dour Discovery and Picard lighting.
“There. Are. NO. LIGHTS!!!”
Generations was my happy place for cinematic lighting.
I always appreciated that the alien nature of the station allowed for DS9 to have moodier and more unusual standard lighting most weeks.
Even the space scenes are too dark (and blurry, and contrasty, and messy etc)
That was the genius of Frakes directing. I agree with you.
say what you will about the kelvin movies but they were shot beautifully lens flare and all
So Starfleet changes uniforms every year now.
And apparently has multiple uniforms and com badges in use at the same time… it’s like they are doubling down on the TOS notion of different ships having different emblems, which SNW is apparently sticking with, and now extending that concept to the entire uniform as well… so, not exactly “uniform” after all…
Can’t believe this is only a little over two months away! I’m so excited for it, just seeing them again makes me smile
Agreed. Riker and Crusher both look fantastic! I am very stoked for this show!
I had a thought about PIC that maybe someone here could help me with.
Didn’t 7 say to Raffi that once VOY got back from the Delta quadrant she wanted to join starfleet, but they rejected her becasue of her borg-ness, even though Janeway personally vouched for her? So this refusal came after countless times of 7 being crucial to VOY’s overall success in getting home, her many good deeds onboard, and her being very much more than just another Borg and proving that time and time again. Cuz remember, her entire arc was her figuring her way back to her humanity, with a little help from the Doc along the way.
So then after that we’re told that she becomes a murdering vigilante instead, on a quest to get revenge with her newfound emotions…or whatever her motivations were. The fenrious rangers…the venerous rangers…the something rangers. Remember when she shot up that bar?
So now, AFTER the murder, after all that rampaging, Starfleet…. decide to let her in? In the trailer she has a uniform on, I think by the looks of it she’s in command of the Stargazer.
So….what? How? Maybe i missed something.
I think the bar incident is off-the-record?
I think you’re exaggerating the murdering vigilante part lol. She killed one person who was torturing and killing former Borg for parts. The Rangers was actually helping and defending people, not murdering anyone. They were just doing it on their own in parts of the galaxy the Federation wasn’t in.
Ok, so maybe she just blew that Jay woman to smithereens in that one episode of season 1. Well… 2 if you count euthanising Icheb. 4 if you count the two people who were working in that lab that were extracting his implants. 6 if you count Jay’s two hench-women at the bar. Not bad for one episode.
IDK, I personally would consider murdering anyone a serious crime, regardless of who that person was. That’s why we don’t just pat people on the back and say thanks to those who kill someone who has happened to have killed another person. Murder is murder.
I think I just have a major problem with that plot point for the character. It’s not like seven was being hunted down by Jay, or was acting in self-defence or trying to protect anyone in that moment. She held her at gun point, with TWO guns pointed at her, and extracted her revenge on her for what she did to Icheb.
It makes me think of the character in a different way. Say, for instance, if she was in command of The Stargazer and someone, or an organisation, kidnaps and kills Raffi. Would she order her crew to just hunt that person down and wipe them out to extract her revenge? I know I’m being facetious, but the character does now officially have that trait to their persona. And I’m just not sure anyone with that trait should be trusted to command any authority.
I must add…I know she’s done SO much good as a character and that’s important, but still. Killing a defenceless person, whoever that may be, at close range just doesn’t sit right with me for someone who will be in a leadership role in the coming season. Just my two cents.
No offense but you’re still stretching. You’re basically taking one episode and implying this is who the character is now. And you act like Seven is the only that has killed people in Star Trek lol. It’s a show where the Captains have ordered the destruction of entire ships at times even if it’s their last option.
If you don’t like how Seven is being portrayed on Picard, understandable, but Picard wouldn’t have promoted her to Captain of a starship if he thought she was a deranged murderer. And he knew what she did because he was around.
No offence taken. But I maintain it is who the character is now. That’s my point. No, off-course she’s not just murdering random people every episode. That’s not what I was saying. My point is that it has now been established that as part of her new character traits since VOY, she has the capacity to follow her emotions to the point that she intentionally tracks someone down and blows them up even though they were not directly threatening her or putting anyone in immediate danger at that time.
And yes, plenty of people in Star Trek have killed people, but I can’t ever remember any main – morally “good” – character ever beaming to a location to kill someone and then just moving on, without it ever having any impact on their storyline in terms of guilt, regret etc.
That’s probably why most people overlook that moment, because the story just moved along and it was never mentioned again. She murdered the baddie and that was that, revenge – check! But in Star Trek, as you mentioned, it’s presented as a last option, a kill or be killed scenario. Take them prisoner and try them for their crimes.
That’s one of the great things about Star Trek IMO. Despicable character’s like Gul Dukat get to go around being evil while our heroes figure out ways of dealing with them that isn’t just “I’ll kill him now while he’s defenceless at a bar somewhere guys, cuz he’s evil”. The good remain good because they do not become what they are fighting against.
Also we have to remember that we’ve only seen her in 15 new episodes, and most of them were her aimlessly wandering around LA with Raffi in the past trying to figure out how not to be in the past. So one ep of murder is not insignificant.
OK fair enough. I still have no problem with it personally but I understand your point!
Picard probably has more pull than Janeway. Plus, Seven has now saved the galaxy twice since she last applied to Starfleet.
Pull with who? Hasn’t PIC established that Jean-Luc is a bit of a joke to Starfleet, and a relic well past their prime? I think about the interviewee from that first episode, the time he asked the CNC to be re-instated for one final mission in the second episode and the she called him a “once great man, desperate to matter” and said Starfleet was no longer his home, as well as the receptionist who had no idea who he was beforehand. How he has to dial a friend, aka Riker, for help instead of going through official channels. He quit Starfleet becasue in his words it “was no longer Starfleet,” so they essentially turned their back on him. He has no clout and that has been well established, whether we like it or not.
I cant really remember season two all that well in terms of his relationship with Starfleet officially, and I’m aware that they just changed the game up entirely, but it’s all still there in canon.
EDIT – I just remembered the start of season 2 where he was giving his address to the graduates. I had forgotten he was doing the Starfleet academy thing at that point before the timey-wimey Q stuff. Maybe all was forgiven after the events of the last ep of season 1 and new golem Picard was obviously given a new chance by Starfleet so he could have a new pull there I guess.
Picard gave her a field commission at the end of last season.
Ah, ok. I forgot this. There it is, the in-show “reason” behind it. Thank you.
It was a ridiculous reveal anyway, considering that Icheb was allowed in Starfleet… and that Picard wasn’t kicked out for being Locutus… nor was Tuvok after being assimilated… nor was Janeway… nor was B’Elanna… just Seven. It was arbitrary and out of synch with Star Trek, like most of Star Trek: Picard.
Anyone know how much writing Matelas did on Season 2? Because it was pretty bad.
Matalas was primarily involved in Episodes 1-3, and then turned the reins over to Akiva Goldsman.
He’s trying to distance himself but he’s still responsible for that stinker of a season.
Officially, Matalas has writing credits on episode 1 & 2. However, Akiva Goldsman (who many fans seem to blame for how bad they think season 2 is) also has writing credits on episode 1 & 2. The only other episode credited to Goldsman is the season finale. Neither Matalas nor Goldsman have writing credits on any of the middle episodes.
It has been reported that Matalas “left” in the middle of season 2 to focus on season 3, but it is unclear whether that was during production (i.e. after the show had already been written) or during planning of the season. It seems unlikely to me that they would develop season 3 before they even knew where season 2 would end up. So I find it more likely that he was involved in developing the whole of season 2 and then did not stay to oversee the actual production because he was preparing season 3 at this point.
Season 2 is a big contrast to season 1 in that Michael Chabon (co-showrunner during season 1) had writing or co-writing credits on the majority of the episodes. It seems that the co-showrunners of season 2 only wrote the season opener (Matalas and Goldsman) and finale (Goldsman), but took a much more hands-off approach for the rest of the season. I wonder if Goldsman was already busy with Strange New Worlds so they both didn’t give season 2 their full attention.
Based on interviews that Matalas has given with this website and others, my understanding is that he handed over the reigns on Season 2 before writing was completed.
Like I said before, I find it hard to believe that they would start writing season 3 before having mapped out season 2. Then again, the show has basically reset itself every season and hasn’t really followed up on much from the previous season. So it’s not entirely impossible.
On the other hand, it makes sense from a marketing perspective to try and distance Matalas from season 2 given that many fans seem to have reacted quite negatively to it.
The flags suggest the bar is somewhere in the federation. …the bar is Ten Forward in LA.
I think the bar is featured in the trailer scene where Picard is eating by himself and is approached by Starfleet officers. I think you’re right about the bar Picard and Riker are meeting in. I doubt they would discuss anything clandestine in a bar that would be frequented by Starfleet officers in Los Angeles.
The ships in the background……
Could those be the pieced-together “little ships” from First Contact?
I doubt it. Those appear to be the Starships Titan.
Ah, thanks.
Ready to see who is captain of the Titan and Enterprise-F.
My hope is for Ezri Dax for the Titan.
Ezri would be a weird choice, given that she wasn’t in the command division, and never showed any interest in command.
Why wouldn’t Ezri change her focus as she integrated her past hosts
Her season on DS9 was just the beginning baby steps to mastering her situation without any preparation for symbiosis.
In the Relauch novels, she moves to command and becomes what many fans consider the best female captain ever in the franchise. Seriously, many of us want Captain Ezri Dax, whether on the Aventine as in the books, or another ship.
The relaunch novels do a fantastic job of explaining why and how Ezri became Captain of the Aventine. Although I doubt they would use the same explanation on PIC, I don’t think it would be a huge leap. I mean, Jadzia frequently commanded the Defiant during seasons five and six of DS9. Also, if there is a DS9 connection/character in the upcoming third season of PIC, that character is likely strongly connected to Worf.
I never liked that in the novels. It felt like Ezri was just trying to be Jadzia instead of being herself. It also kind of implied that counselling was somehow a less worthy career than command. I would much rather see Ezri use her lifetimes of experience to become the best counsellor in Starfleet, instead of just captaining a starship.
My wild guess is that it is Thomas Riker and Frakes is playing dual roles. (Probably not)
I’d like to think Thomas Riker survived after the Federation declared war on the Dominion/Cardassia but somehow I doubt it. Ditto with Ro.
Ro at least has a shot. She could have ended up in a Federation prison before the Dominion wiped out the Maquis. Riker was in a Cardassian prison, and it is unlikely that the Dominion bothered to honor Dukat’s plea deal with Sisko.
Crusher’s jacket is so freaking good.
i’d love a computer animated show about riker and the uss titan in the vein of sw the clone wars
What prompted Beverly Crusher to leave Starfleet? Was it the Federation’s withdrawal from helping the Romulans after the synths attacked Mars? Or perhaps she tried to intervene and help Will and Deanna’s son and was sanctioned/drummed out? I’m hoping it was neither, and the they have created a solid backstory that has nothing to do with what we’ve seen so far.