The first season of the series ended with the title character, who received a new life, which felt more than a little manipulative, but it doesn’t matter. Patrick Stewart remains a big company in the lead role even in his changed state, after a finale that essentially exchanges one big death for another.
Season Two rediscovers Jean-Luc Picard reconnecting with celebrities, including Upie Goldberg as Guinan and John de Lancy as K (before the letter indicates anything else), the latter driving the plot. They are joined by the rest of Jerry Ryan, among others, to add to the roots of The Next Generation.
Yet the narrative unfolds at a very leisurely pace in the first three episodes and involves Picard and his unlikely crew traveling back in time to the 21st century to thwart an existential threat. Although there is a long history of this, including past stays in Trek mythology, the confusion with Terminator-style timelines is one of those science fiction wrinkles that risks exploding.
Picard, however, remains perhaps the best-selling title under the banner of Star Trek, which Paramount, in its desire to provide mandatory content for its streaming service, essentially caught on. The list, piloted by producer Alex Kurzman (to most of Akiva Goldsman), now includes Star Trek Discovery, Short Trails, and the animated series Prodigy and Lower Decks. Another live game rooted in the original series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, is expected in May.
This is very bold for an AARP-compliant franchise, even before Paramount recently announced plans to try to revive theatrical films with Chris Pine and the company that manages the bridge.
Picard’s latest mission – a return to the past in an attempt to build a brighter future – is thus inadvertently representative of the location of the Trek franchise. And while seeing Stewart at the helm is a reward in some ways, the producers are relying too much on this goodwill with a season that three hours later feels like he’s barely out of a dry dock.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 begins March 3 on Paramount +.