Star Trek: The Next Generation cast teases reunion in Picard season 3

The third season of Star Trek: Picard is heading to Paramount+ next month. This show began by reintroducing us to Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in retirement, and then slowly integrated him back into the thick of things. That included him getting to know a new cast, but the upcoming third season is all about his old crewmates from The Next Generation: Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher), Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), Michael Dorn (Worf), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Jonathan Frakes (William T. Riker) and LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge) will all appear. Jeri Ryan, who played Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager, will also return.

That’s a lot of nostalgia, and the actors seem eager to get at it. During the Television Critics Association winter press tour panel for the show, McFadden praised the team for writing a fresh story for Dr. Crusher that includes some action scenes. “I love kicking ass, first of all. I always wanted to do more action,” she said. “There’s a much bigger range this season.”

As for Worf, Picard will pick up with him where TNG and Deep Space 9 left off. “Worf has always been searching through TNG and DS9 for who he is. That’s something we wanted to bring to this series,” Dorn said. Also he has white hair now, something that Dorn at first resisted but eventually came around to. “You have to take a risk. You have to trust the people.”

Star Trek: Picard cast and crew open to a fourth season

Picard season 3 is set to the be show’s final outing, and with so many old faces returning, it’s hard to imagine the series outdoing itself. “What better way to end the journey than to look back at the beginning, and bring some Next Gen friends?” asked showrunner Terry Matalas. “The storyline has a strong sense of conclusion.”

That said, it’s not impossible that the show could return. After all, the 82-year-old Patrick Stewart is willing. “There’s still enormous narrative potential for what we’ve been doing, and doors are left open,” he said.

"What excited me about working on the show was, and it was Alex [Kurtzman] who said this, I had lived 35 years since I put on the Captain’s uniform. There’s no doubt in that time, the world has changed. I have changed too. I wanted the series to show the impact of those years that have passed, how much one might change, and whether fears become greater or less. Right now, with the condition of the world, my fears are high. So I wanted that to be incorporated. Terry and [co-creator] Alex Kurtzman did it brilliantly."

Alex Kurtzman has been in charge of the Star Trek universe for a while now. He too isn’t writing off the possibility of more Picard. “That being said, anything is possible.”

The third season of Star Trek: Picard premieres on Paramount+ on February 16, 2023.

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h/t SyFy Wire, The A.V. Club