Always fascinating, though rarely immediately understandable, we welcome back Star Trek: Picard 2. Beginning March 3 and running through May 5, Jean Luc and friends bring us ten new episodes on Paramount+. Expect alternate reality and time travel and those nasty Borgs. And, if Episode One is any indication, expect some confusion. Star Trek: Picard 2 begins with an intruder alert on the newest ship in the Federation, the USS Stargazer, built using some Borg technology. Under dire circumstances, Picard orders the auto-destruct sequence. How can there be a Star Trek: Picard 2 without a Picard?
At a cost of $8 million to $9 million an episode, the viewer gets his money’s worth in terms of sets, make-up, costumes, actors, and script. France, San Francisco, and the starships in the year 2401 look amazing. Yet, the post-episode scenes indicate that travel back to the year 2024 is necessary to “fix things.” I may as well stop complaining about confounding alternate realities and time travel because the science fiction writers live and breathe that stuff. Then, of course, Q shows up at the end to perplex us even more as “the trial never ends.” And don’t forget about the talk of love and loneliness, Star Trek: Picard 2 has it all. The breadth and scope of the series is why it is so endearing. The show gets 4.0 Gavels and it receives a 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 8.6/10 IMDb score.
Plot
Romulan housekeeper Laris develops feelings for Picard and wonders why he chooses to be alone. Commander Raffi Musiker of the USS Excelsior wonders the same about her friend, Seven of Nine. Bartender, friend, and advisor Guinan suggests Picard is afraid to explore his heart. Meanwhile, Seven of Nine and Captain Rios encounter a space anomaly. Signals received indicate that this powerful anomaly wants to join the Federation but will only speak to Picard. It proposes to send its Queen to board the USS Stargazer. Unable to stop her, she announces, “we wish for peace but first we require power.” Once again, the Borg are up to no good.
Actors
The main actors from Star Trek: Picard return, so the focus goes to Q played by mischievously by John de Lancie. Did he rescue Picard? What is this “road not taken?” How much power is required by the Borg Queen played by Annie Wersching (Bosch). As Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) warns, “the Borg don’t assimilate, they consume.” By now, these are familiar characters played by veteran actors.
Final Thoughts
SPOILER ALERT: According to reports, Q takes the crew to an alternate reality where the Federation seeks “conquest rather than exploration,” and is known as a “Fascist Confederation” with Picard as its General. Now, that is a switch. Less clear is why 2024 will make things right. Whatever the case, Star Trek: Picard 2 will entertain while teasing the brain.
“The thing about those bad first seasons of Trek shows? They’re always the precursor to a startling turnaround. Sometimes that uptick happens in Season 2, sometimes later. Picard has already made it so.” IndieWire
“A vastly improved season of galaxy-hopping and a sense of a franchise reconnecting with its true self.” Daily Telegraph (UK)
Seemingly, the hard-core Trek critics are on board. The third and final season is already filming so Paramount is betting that the fans will follow.
