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Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation have been patiently waiting for the return of their favorite characters since the first season of Star Trek: Picard. It seems the promise (real or imagined) of finding out what happened to characters such as Beverly Crusher and Geordi La Forge has finally been realized. This time it seems that the old favorites are back and hopefully this time around they will be more than just some fan-service cameos.
Editor's Note: This article was last updated on December 31 with the latest clip from the season.
When Is Star Trek: Picard Season 3’s Release Date and What Streaming Service Is It On?
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will release on Paramount+ on Thursday, February 16, 2023. This release date is an exclusive date for the residents of the United States. All ten episodes will be released weekly on Paramount+ without any scheduled disruptions. As of the time of this writing, there has been no official announcement on when or where the series will be released internationally. If Paramount+ continues its usual pattern there will be a day lag before it releases on Paramount+ in other countries and on companion streaming services such as Crave in Canada or Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom.
Watch the Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Trailers
The first teaser trailer has been released in celebration of Star Trek Day. The trailer is a short one-minute trailer, but it contains some exciting tidbits for the show to come. The excitement is the fact that our favorite crew members are back. We get our first looks at Geordi, Worf, and Beverly but not so much about the plot. The main theme is that whenever you have a united crew, hope still survives.
An additional sneak peek was released revealing the names of the cast for the upcoming season. This sneak peek shows Picard looking through his old uniforms before suiting up beside Number One for one last “good old-fashioned road trip.” The question is where are they headed on this road trip?
The next trailer was a hefty two-minute and thirty-four-second teaser trailer that confirmed the presence of Lore, Vadic, and other long-term enemies of Picard's former crew. It seems like the villains of the Star Trek: The Next Generation series are coming together to form their own 'injustice league' against the now-reunited crew.
This was followed by a sneak peek into one of every Star Trek fan's greatest moments, the ship reveal. As of now, Seven of Nine is the commander of the USS Titan, one of the most powerful ships in all of Star Trek canon. This looks shows the old crew honoring their bond to Jean-Luc and coming together for one last adventure into the great unknown.
More recently, in an episode of The Ready Room, an aftershow for the whole Star Trek franchise hosted by Wil Wheaton, Paramount released a new clip from Season 3. Here's the full episode (you can jump to 28:50 to directly watch the clip) and for international viewers, the same is available on the Star Trek website:
Who Is in the Cast of Star Trek: Picard Season 3?
So far what we know of season 3 mostly revolves around the cast, and it is as much of an all-star Star Trek cast as could be asked for. We have veterans of Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and even returning characters from Star Trek: Picard. Sir Patrick Stewart will return as Jean Luc Picard, Michelle Hurd returns as Raffi Musiker, and Jeri Ryan will return as Seven of Nine. Star Trek: Picard veterans Alison Pill (Agnes Jurati), Santiago Cabrera (Cristobal Rios), and Isa Briones (Soji) will not be returning. This makes a distinct step away from some characters built up in the previous two seasons and a step backward in time.
This step backward in time takes Star Trek fans almost 20 years into the past, back almost to the cast of Star Trek: Nemesis. We this the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) is back. Both Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis are coming back as William T. Riker and Deanna Troi. From there on out we have the confirmed return of new old faces such as Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Burton as Geordi LaForge, and even Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher. These are only the confirmed returns, and more have been rumored or wished upon.
Actress Denise Crosby has teased the return of Tasha Yar, the ill-fated security office in the first season of The Next Generation. She also has played the villain Sela, who was in both The Next Generation and Star Trek Online. We don’t know how she will be returning, but Crosby said that “You will see Tasha Yar, but I'm not going to tell you how.” Fans are also hoping that Colm Meaney will return as the veteran Miles O'Brien and give the fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine some well-deserved recognition.
What Do We Know About Star Trek: Picard Season 3?
No official synopsis has been released to describe the upcoming season, but a few tidbits can be gleaned from the array of cast statements and sneak pieces as well as other parts of the continuity. There is supposed to be an entirely new (or perhaps best described as unknown) villain for season three. Some speculation was that Sela will be one of the primary villains. She was quite potent in her few Next Generation appearances and the games have entire lore built up with Sela as one of the primary antagonists. This is still just conjectured at the moment, however.
What is sure however are the events of the previous seasons (that's your last spoiler warning). In the first season, we came to know Soji as Data’s daughter and how the destruction of Romulus started a chain of events that ultimately caused the outlawing of all synthetic life. Picard found himself in the middle of that interdimensional kerfuffle and died in the process. Now Picard has a synthetic body and his old nemeses Q (played by John De Lancie) and the Borg Queen (played by Annie Wersching) returned. After a fun jaunt through time back to the 21st century, we see Picard come to terms with his past and how he came to be who he is. Dr. Jurati also joined with the Borg Queen and created a collective that is friendly to the Federation, once again uniting with Picard in the present. This leaves Picard missing a few key allies. Either way, we have seen some progress. Seven of Nine has returned a Starfleet uniform and Picard seems to be well again. It seems he is going back to his own crew’s roots.
Producers Rod Roddenberry and Alex Kurtzman are returning for the final season as well as writer and producer Terry Matalas.
What Is the Future of Star Trek: Picard?
Simply put there isn’t a future for Picard. This is the final season for Picard and there have not been any spin-offs announced. Between the aging of the actors and the large amount of content we already have in that period, this seems to be the last time we will see a lot of these characters.