Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Should Bring Back These Characters
After nearly decades away from the franchise, Patrick Stewart reprised his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard, with the venerable Starfleet officer emerging from retirement to save the Federation both from an old, insidious enemy and its own crises from within. With its first season now concluded, Picard is off to boldly go on new adventures, with Season 1 introducing several surprises familiar faces along the way to herald the admiral's return to his spacefaring ways. Renewed by CBS All Access for a second season before the series debuted this past January, it would make sense for the series to reintroduce even more fan-favorite characters and, like the first season, ones not limited to the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view. Start nowThe first season had largely revolved around Picard's unresolved grief over Data's heroic sacrifice during Star Trek: Nemesis, with his android friend appearing in dreams to his old captain. Setting out to search for a mysterious android woman linked to Data, Picard discovered her working with the reformed Borg drone Hugh, whom he had helped free from the Borg Collective and regain his individual sense of identity. The duo was joined by fellow former Borg drone Seven of Nine who had become an unsanctioned peacekeeper before joining Picard's impromptu new crew. And just before the final confrontation, Picard met up with his old first officer William Riker and his wife Deanna Troi who had both served alongside Jean-Luc aboard the Enterprise.
While Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan has already confirmed she would appear in Season 2, one of the most glaring absences in the first season was Doctor Beverly Crusher, The Next Generation's chief medical officer. Picard and Crusher shared a longstanding sense of visible romantic tension throughout the series, with the series finale of The Next Generation revealing they had been married for a time in an alternate future timeline. Given Picard's medical condition for much of Season 1, it was surprising that he did not share his grave diagnosis with his old doctor friend nor reach out as he approached his own mortality. With Picard having achieved a new status quo, physically, it would do him well to share the news with Beverly and her son Wesley, who had seen Picard as a surrogate father figure on board the Enterprise before leaving for Starfleet Academy.
Other Next Generation characters that would be a welcome sight in Picard Season 2 include Geordi LaForge, the Enterprise's chief engineer, and Worf, the ship's Klingon chief of security before he left to join the crew of Deep Space Nine. Both characters were last seen in Nemesis, and Worf's return, in particular, would offer a glimpse into what had become of the Klingon Empire since the destruction of Romulus and the isolationist policy of the Federation. And while Miles O'Brien is perhaps better known for serving as the chief engineer on Star Trek: Deep Space 9, the character originated on Next Generation and could usher in the return of characters from the latter Star Trek series.
The only other Deep Space 9 characters Picard ever interacted with was Benjamin Sisko, given the two's complicated history when Picard had been assimilated into the Borg Collective and killed Sisko's wife. While Sisko's fate is ambiguous following the Deep Space 9 finale, there are plenty of other characters onboard the space station Picard could meet for the first time, including the Bajoran chief of security Kira and its chief science officer Jax. Given Jax being part of the Trill, which take on different symbiotic host bodies, Jax could be portrayed by a different actor altogether. Similarly, Seven of Nine's inclusion on Picard's crew could bring in characters from Star Trek: Voyager, including her old lover Chakotay and Voyager's captain Kathryn Janeway whom had since been promoted to admiral and interacted briefly with Picard in Nemesis.
There is a whole host of fan-favorite characters that can resurface in Picard Season 2, both familiar faces to the admiral from The Next Generation and characters he isn't directly associated with. Seven of Nine's seamless integration into Season 1 was one of the best elements of the season and could open the door for further team-ups as Picard enjoys his new lease on life to traverse the cosmos once again.
Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera and Harry Treadaway. The first season is available on CBS All Access.
Source: www.cbr.com