So, it’s official. Jean Luc-Picard is returning to Star Trek for a new series on CBS All Access. And it won’t be a recast reboot – Sir Patrick Stewart will be the one making it so.
The project will be headed up by Star Trek: Discovery co-creator/executive producer Alex Kurtzman, who will be joined by Discovery writer Kirsten Beyer.
The show will reportedly take place 20 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis and will place Picard in a ‘different time and place’.
Post-Romulus Stress Disorder
This would put Picard in 2399, which is after everything we’ve previously seen on Star Trek. It’s post Deep Space 9, after Voyager and even follows the events of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek redux.
That means Romulus will be long gone by the time the new Picard series begins, and, if you’re a fan of the spin-off comics, you’ll know that the destruction of that planet was significantly connected to Picard.
After Picard resigns from Starfleet, he becomes an Ambassador, just like Spock. And, in fact, in the comic series Countdown, a canon prequel to Abrams’ 2009 Trek reboot, Picard works with Spock to try to save Romulus. Obviously, he fails – and so he’s partially responsible for everything that follows.
Could the weight of Romulus / Vulcan’s subsequent destruction weigh heavily on the shoulders of Jean-Luc? That would definitely explain the ‘different time and place’ – not just physically, but emotionally as well.
A bad case of hives
Of course, if you’ve read the Star Trek: Destiny trilogy (Gods of Night, Mere Mortals, Lost Souls) by David Mack, you’ll know that he has other stuff to feel bad about.
Namely, the Borg invasion of 2381, which saw Picard go properly dark – understandably, considering 40% of Starfleet was amongst the tens of billions of lifeforms who were wiped out by the cyberbastards during their attacks.
Picard, who was once assimilated, went to some unrecognisable extremes during that war. The Borg is a big part of Picard’s identity, so it would be weird if the new show left them out of it completely.
Catching up with Jean-Luc 18 years after that event would be extremely interesting, as Picard tries to align who he was the last time we saw him on screen, with who he’s become.
This certainly fits with what Stewart’s said about the project. “He may not be a Captain anymore. He may be someone who has been changed by his experiences,” Stewart said. “We have no scripts as yet. We’re just talking storylines. It will be something very different, but it will come to you with the same passion.”
There’s more canon material covering Picard’s post-Nemesis existence that could technically form the basis of a new series, but it’s probably a bit too technical / political for a show with the main aim of pushing a streaming service.
That’s The Typhon Pact, covering the threat to the Federation by the formation of an alliance between the Holy Order of the Kinshaya, Tzenkethi Coalition, Breen Confederacy, Romulan Star Empire, Gorn Hegemony and Tholian Assembly. As a premise, it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but if you’re interested in Picard’s role, we’d say you should probably pick up the seven-novel series Star Trek: Typhon Pact.
Some more pulp fiction
But there’s another major element to the announcement that seems to have been overlooked by a lot of people, which doesn’t require you to read a book, just a quote: Patrick Stewart’s feelings towards Quentin Tarantino.
“One of my dreams is to work with Tarantino. I admire his work so much, and to be in a Tarantino film would give me so much satisfaction. So, if he is going to direct something to do with Star Trek and there was the possibility of dear old Jean-Luc showing up again and doing that for Mr Tarantino, I would embrace it,” Stewart said in 2017.
Did this statement provide the Warp drive that propelled the new Picard show forward?
Is the priority to bring Picard back to telly, so he’s on-deck when the Tarantino project is ready to go at Paramount? We can’t imagine many directors turning down an open invitation to work with Patrick Stewart, so it must have been discussed by Tarantino and his producers.
There could also be a canon clue in the hiring of Star Trek: Discovery writer Beyer – the Picard show could cross over with Discovery in an intriguing way.
An interesting discovery
In Next Generation season three episode ‘Sarek’, Picard has to mind-meld with Discovery lead Michael Burnham’s adoptive dad Sarek, in order to save his life.
In doing so, Picard gets all of the old Vulcan’s memories – which would include a significant amount of information about Burnham.
In Next Generation season four episode ‘First Contact’, Picard talks about how Starfleet messed up their first meeting with the Klingons – an event Burnham was directly involved with.
Could this connection be used to crossover the two shows? Trek traditionally uses old characters to transition new series – could this be the first time a new character appears in the return of an old one? Established timey-wimey nonsense could see Burnham showing up in Picard’s future, after all.
Of course, there’s a very real chance that CBS will be keeping things simple and going the other way. Picard’s show could operate as a farewell to the character while introducing a new crew.
Discovery is very much a standalone prequel, albeit one that seems to be increasingly leaning on the nostalgia factor, with season two’s introduction of Captain Christopher Pike and the suggestion that we’ll be meeting a younger Spock.
A Picard series would be the perfect vehicle to bring in a die-hard Trek audience for the first Enterprise-based series since, well, Enterprise (another prequel show).
And, one important thing to note; in 2399, Picard will be 96. If they start shooting it right now, Patrick Stewart will be 78. Unless the rules of television change significantly in the time it takes this thing to get to our iPads, there will be young people on this show, and we’ll be very surprised if they’re not a new Enterprise crew.
But whatever path the show takes, Jean-Luc Picard is returning to Star Trek – and that makes us feel more passionate than a Vulcan during Pon Farr. Make it so, sure – but make it good.
The character deserves nothing less.
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