New Short Treks episode teases surprising storyline for Star Trek: Picard

The final episode of the second season of Short Treks, “Children of Mars,” aired on CBS All Access the other night, and it suggested an unexpected plot direction for Star Trek: Picard, the character’s new solo show set to air at the end of this month. The episode follows two schoolmates — Kima (Ilamaria Ebrahim) and Lil (Sadie Munroe) — who work through their rivalry and comfort each other when news breaks that their respective parents were among the victims of an attack on Mars.

During the episode, Kima and Lil stop in front of a monitor to watch a report about Admiral Picard (Patrick Stewart) reacting to news of the attack. Above his head, a ticker scrolls by that reads, “Rogue Synths Attack Mars: 3000 Estimated Dead.”

What are “Rogue Synths”? That likely refers to synthetic lifeforms. The android Data, Picard’s old friend from Star Trek: The Next Generation, was a synch, as is his brother B-4 (who’s currently staying with Picard on his vineyard). Have the androids banded together to rise up against the Federation?

Or it could be that Borgs are to blame. Sure, they’re classified as cyborgs and not technically synthetic life, but as SyFy Wire points out, they are connected through a hive mind and have cybernetic implants, so maybe that’s close enough? We’ve seen several Borg, as well as glimpses of Data and B-4 — in the trailer for Star Trek: Picard, so it really could be either one — or a combination of the two — who have attacked Mars.

Also of note is that this is still “Admiral Picard” we’re talking about in this short. That means Picard is still with Starfleet when this attack happens, although he’s been retired for years when his new show starts. The attack is likely part of what makes him decide to retire.

Given Picard’s experience dealing with both androids and the Borg, we’re possibly looking at a major plotline for Picard when it hits CBS All Access on January 23.

In other Trek news, director Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) confirmed at the Television Critic’s Association winter press tour that he is still writing the script for Star Trek 4. “It’s exciting because Star Trek has such a special story about exploration and empathy, and diversity and humanity at its best, and creative problem solving,” Hawley said. “It was never designed at its origin as an action series. It was always about humanity having to fit into the universe, and solve problems through diplomacy and outsmarting their opponents, so I’m excited to get back to that.”

"With Fargo and Star Trek, I’m excited to just tell a great story well. I’m sure when I get into the filmmaking of it, I’m always trying to innovate and finds ways to create emotions in the audience that they don’t expect, so we’ll have to see. I am writing it and I have my own take on it, so we’ll see where it ends up."

Hawley also confirmed that he’s writing the script for the movie without any cast members from previous films attached, which is odd because we’ve seen reports that Chris Pine is returning in the role of Kirk.

Finally, he also said that Paramount hasn’t talked to him about the possibility of a Quentin Tarantino-directed Star Trek movie, something that’s been rumored for a long time. “I went in and chatted with my friends at Paramount about what they were looking for, and then some ideas I had. We developed a more specific idea that they seem to like.”

Lots happening in the Trek universe. Let’s see how Picard goes down and come back to the rest of it in due time.

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