Star Trek: Picard

This article is about the 2020 television series. For the title character, see Jean-Luc Picard. For other Star Trek characters named Picard, see List of Star Trek characters (N–S).

Star Trek: Picard
Genre	Drama Science fiction
Created by	Akiva Goldsman Michael Chabon Kirsten Beyer Alex Kurtzman
Based on	Star Trek: The Next Generation by Gene Roddenberry
Starring	Patrick Stewart Alison Pill Isa Briones Harry Treadaway Michelle Hurd Santiago Cabrera Evan Evagora Jeri Ryan Orla Brady Brent Spiner
Composer(s)	Jeff Russo
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	20 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Eugene Roddenberry Trevor Roth James Duff Patrick Stewart Heather Kadin Akiva Goldsman Michael Chabon Alex Kurtzman Terry Matalas Doug Aarniokoski Dylan Massin
Production location(s)	Santa Clarita, California
Running time	45–60 minutes
Production company(s)	Secret Hideout Weed Road Pictures Escapist Fare Roddenberry Entertainment CBS Studios
Budget	$8–9 million per episode
Release
Original network	CBS All Access (2020) Paramount+ (2022–)
Picture format	HDTV 1080p (2.39:1) Dolby Vision
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
Original release	January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23) – present (present)
Chronology
Preceded by	Star Trek: Discovery
Followed by	Star Trek: Lower Decks
Related shows	Star Trek TV series Star Trek: Short Treks
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Star Trek: Picard is an American television series created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, and Alex Kurtzman for the streaming service CBS All Access (later rebranded as Paramount+). It is the eighth Star Trek series, and was launched in 2020 as part of Kurtzman's expanded Star Trek Universe. The series features the retired Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, with each season exploring different aspects of the character and covering issues that come up in the last stage of a person's life.

Patrick Stewart executive-produces the series and stars as Picard, reprising his role from the series Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as other Star Trek media. Alison Pill, Isa Briones, Harry Treadaway, Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, and Evan Evagora also star in the first season, with Jeri Ryan, Orla Brady, and Brent Spiner joining for the second. The series was first rumored in June 2018, and was officially announced that August. It is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Weed Road Pictures, and Roddenberry Entertainment, and was designed to be slower and more character-focused than previous series in the franchise. Filming took place in California, which granted the series large tax credits. Chabon served as showrunner for the first season, with Goldsman and Terry Matalas taking over for the second which was filmed back-to-back with the third. Matalas was sole showrunner for the third season.

Star Trek: Picard premiered on CBS All Access on January 23, 2020, and its first season ran for 10 episodes until March 26. The second season was released on Paramount+ from March 3 to May 5, 2022, with the third and final season expected to premiere in early 2023. The series was met with generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Stewart's performance and the focus on character over action, though some criticized the slow pacing. It has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for its prosthetic makeup. Several tie-in projects have been created based on the series, including an episode of the companion series Star Trek: Short Treks.

Premise

The series begins in 2399, 20 years after Jean-Luc Picard's last appearance in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), and finds the character deeply affected by the death of Data in that film as well as the destruction of the planet Romulus in the film Star Trek (2009). Retired from Starfleet and living on his family's vineyard, Picard is drawn into a new adventure when he is visited by the apparent daughter of Data, one of several new synthetic beings or "synths". Picard fights for their right to exist and gives his life to save them in the first-season finale. His consciousness is then transferred into a synthetic body. During the second season, in 2401, Picard and his companions are living new lives when they are faced by Picard's old adversary Q in the ultimate trial. With Q trapping them in an alternate reality, they must travel back in time to the 21st century to save the future of the galaxy. In the third season, Picard reunites with the former crew of the USS Enterprise.

Episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally released
			First released	Last released	Network
	1	10	January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)	March 26, 2020 (2020-03-26)	CBS All Access
	2	10	March 3, 2022 (2022-03-03)	May 5, 2022 (2022-05-05)	Paramount+
	3	10	2023 (2023)	TBA

Season 1 (2020)

Main article: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Remembrance"	Hanelle M. Culpepper	Story by: Akiva Goldsman & Michael Chabon & Kirsten Beyer & Alex Kurtzman and James Duff Teleplay by: Akiva Goldsman and James Duff	January 23, 2020 (2020-01-23)
In an interview, retired Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard reveals that he resigned in protest after Starfleet abandoned plans to rescue Romulan citizens from a supernova when rogue synthetics attacked the rescue fleet. Starfleet banned the creation of synthetics after the attack. Romulan assassins attack a young woman named Dahj and kill her partner. This triggers something in Dahj, and she is able to kill the assassins. Experiencing visions of Picard and seeing his interview, Dahj seeks him out. After meeting her, Picard visits Starfleet Archives and finds a painting that features a figure who resembles Dahj. Entitled "Daughter", the painting was given to Picard by his android former lieutenant commander Data. More assassins attack Picard and Dahj, and Dahj is killed. Picard meets with Dr. Agnes Jurati at the Daystrom Institute, who explains that Dahj could be Data's daughter due to an experimental procedure known as fractal neuronic cloning, which results in twin androids with organic bodies. Meanwhile, Dahj's twin, Soji Asha, is working in a Borg Cube that has been reclaimed by Romulan refugees.
2	2	"Maps and Legends"	Hanelle M. Culpepper	Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman	January 30, 2020 (2020-01-30)
Hoping to find Soji before the assassins get to her, Picard investigates Dahj's apartment with his Romulan employee Laris. The latter believes the assassins may be members of the Zhat Vash, a secretive organization with a deep-rooted hatred of synthetics, and helps Picard discover Soji's location from Dahj's computer. On the Borg Cube, called the "Artifact", Soji develops a relationship with Romulan agent Narek while she works on a project to remove Borg technology from former Borg drones. Despite the onset of a terminal illness, Picard asks Starfleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy for a ship and crew to find Soji. She refuses him and refers the incident to Starfleet's security chief Commodore Oh, who discusses it with a lieutenant; this is Narek's sister Narissa in disguise. Narissa led the assassins to kill Dahj while Narek is approaching his target, Soji, with seduction rather than violence. Picard decides to find and save Soji himself and begins to assemble a new crew, starting with his former Starfleet first officer Raffi Musiker.
3	3	"The End Is the Beginning"	Hanelle M. Culpepper	Michael Chabon & James Duff	February 6, 2020 (2020-02-06)
When Picard resigned following the synth attack on Mars, Starfleet fired Raffi. Now she resents him for that, and for not helping her in the subsequent years, and refuses to join him. However, she does find him a freelance pilot named Rios. On the Artifact, the reclamation project's director, the former Borg drone Hugh, allows Soji to interview a Romulan that has been reclaimed from the Borg. This Romulan declares Soji to be "the destroyer" and tries to kill herself, but Soji unknowingly uses her enhanced speed to stop this from happening. Narissa warns Narek not to get emotionally attached to Soji. Oh approaches Dr. Jurati, who reveals her discussion with Picard. Shortly after this, Picard is attacked by Zhat Vash operatives. Jurati helps kill all of them but one, who also calls Soji "the destroyer" before committing suicide. Picard agrees to take Jurati on his mission to find Soji, and the pair transport aboard Rios's ship La Sirena. There they are also joined by Raffi, who believes that Soji's creator Bruce Maddox is on the planet Freecloud and will travel with them that far.
4	4	"Absolute Candor"	Jonathan Frakes	Michael Chabon	February 13, 2020 (2020-02-13)
Picard asks Rios to make a detour to the planet Vashti, where he helped relocate Romulan refugees before the attack on Mars. Picard had befriended a young boy named Elnor and promised to return for him, but abandoned the boy after he resigned from Starfleet. Elnor was then raised by the Qowat Milat, warrior nuns who have sworn an oath of absolute candor. Picard asks Elnor to join his quest; Elnor initially refuses, but changes his mind when Picard is attacked by Romulans who resent Starfleet for abandoning the evacuation effort. Picard and Elnor beam up to La Sirena, where Rios and Raffi are fighting with a local warlord. A mystery ship helps La Sirena win the battle but is damaged in the process. They beam the pilot, former Borg drone Seven of Nine, to La Sirena. On the Artifact, Soji tries to learn more about the Romulans that were assimilated by the Artifact and their prophesied "destroyer". Narek offers to get her information on the Romulans, but the pair have a falling out when he expresses doubt about Soji's past. Narissa gives Narek one week to get information on other synths from Soji.
5	5	"Stardust City Rag"	Jonathan Frakes	Kirsten Beyer	February 20, 2020 (2020-02-20)
Years ago, Seven of Nine was forced to euthanize her close friend Icheb after his Borg implants were ripped out by black market dealer Bjayzl. Now, Seven travels with La Sirena to Freecloud, where Raffi learns that Bjayzl has Maddox captive and intends to sell him to the Romulans. To free Maddox, Picard's crew stage a prisoner exchange with Seven as the bait. Meanwhile, Raffi unsuccessfully tries to reconnect with her estranged son Gabriel before returning to La Sirena. When Bjayzl recognizes Seven, the latter drops the charade and reveals her true intention: to kill Bjayzl and avenge Icheb. Picard convinces Seven not to seek revenge, and Maddox is safely beamed to La Sirena. Later, Seven returns to Freecloud and kills Bjayzl without Picard's knowledge. In the La Sirena sickbay, Maddox tells Picard that he sent Soji and Dahj to the Artifact and Earth, respectively, in order to discover the true motivation behind the Starfleet synth ban. Once left alone by Picard, Jurati confronts Maddox and discusses the fact that they used to secretly be in a relationship together. Jurati then murders Maddox.
6	6	"The Impossible Box"	Maja Vrvilo	Nick Zayas	February 27, 2020 (2020-02-27)
Narek realizes that Soji has the same nightmare each night, and plans to use this to find where she was created. Struggling with the guilt of murdering Maddox, Jurati has sex with Rios. To board the Artifact without causing a diplomatic incident with the Romulans, Picard asks Raffi to procure official clearance from the Federation. Raffi, drunk and high following her son's rejection, convinces an old Starfleet acquiantance to provide the clearance. This allows Picard to beam aboard the Artifact and reconnect with Hugh. Due to Narek's manipulation, Soji begins to discover that her identity was recently manufactured, and he guides her through the Romulan meditation practice of Zhal Makh to explore her dreams: she is able to identify clues hinting at the place she was created. Narek tells Soji that she is not real, and attempts to poison her with radiation. This activates her self-defense mechanism which allows her to survive. Soji runs into Picard, and Hugh helps them transport to the nearby planet Nepenthe. Elnor beams aboard the Artifact to help Hugh cover their tracks.
7	7	"Nepenthe"	Doug Aarniokoski	Samantha Humphrey and Michael Chabon	March 5, 2020 (2020-03-05)
When Jurati was approached by Oh, the latter used a Vulcan mind meld to reveal the horrifying potential consequences of allowing synthetic life like Soji to exist. Jurati agreed to help destroy her, and ingested a tracking device. Narek now uses that to track La Sirena until a guilt-ridden Jurati takes an injection that places her in a coma and stops the tracking. Elnor's attempts to protect Hugh on the Artifact are unsuccessful when Narissa fatally wounds Hugh. Before dying, Hugh gives Elnor a device to signal Seven of Nine's vigilante group, the Fenris Rangers. On Nepenthe, Picard reunites with his old friends and colleagues William Riker and Deanna Troi, whose son Thad died after the medical procedure he required was banned as part of the synthetic ban. Riker, Troi, and their daughter Kestra give shelter to Picard and Soji until La Sirena arrives. Troi and Riker can see Soji's pain following Narek's betrayal, and help Picard begin to earn her trust. The family also try to help Soji come to terms with being an android, and are able to help identify the location from her dream.
8	8	"Broken Pieces"	Maja Vrvilo	Michael Chabon	March 12, 2020 (2020-03-12)
Picard and Soji beam aboard La Sirena, and Rios has a panic attack when he sees Soji. When Jurati wakes up she offers to turn herself over to Starfleet, and after meeting Soji she chooses not to harm her. Rios tells Raffi about his Starfleet captain, who murdered two people on Starfleet's orders before committing suicide. Raffi also pieces together that the Romulans discovered a warning from a past civilization about the horrors of evolved synthetic life, and the Zhat Vash sent the half-Romulan Oh to infiltrate Starfleet and instigate the Mars attack as part of their anti-synth plan. The people Rios's captain murdered were synths from Soji's homeworld, and one of them, Janna, looked just like her. Hearing this activates memories for Soji and she plots a course for her home, still followed by Narek. On the Artifact, Seven of Nine arrives to help Elnor fight the Romulans. She connects with the Cube and the Borg drones that are in stasis on it, but the Romulans kill all of the drones by releasing them into space. The Romulans then abandon the Artifact and prepare to invade the synth world.
9–10	9–10	"Et in Arcadia Ego"	Akiva Goldsman
Part 1: Using a Borg transwarp conduit, La Sirena arrives at Soji's homeworld, Coppelius, several days before the Romulan fleet. Narek arrives and attacks, but is interrupted when the Artifact follows them through the transwarp conduit as well. A planetary defense system in the form of giant orchids drags the three ships to the planet's surface, and Picard requires medical attention following the crash. Jurati discovers his terminal illness, and Picard reveals it to the rest of the crew. After finding Elnor and Seven alive in the wreckage of the Artifact, the crew travels to the settlement where Dahj and Soji were created. They find Maddox's partner (and the son of Data's creator) Altan Inigo Soong with a colony of synths, including Janna's twin Sutra. Sutra uses a mind meld to see the vision Oh showed Jurati, and believes that it is a message to synthetic life from higher beings willing to destroy organic life. Soong, Soji, and the other synths support Sutra's plan to call these beings before the Romulans arrive. Picard disagrees, and is taken prisoner. Part 2: Narek convinces Raffi, Rios, and Elnor to help him destroy the synths' beacon. Jurati frees Picard and the pair escape to La Sirena, which Picard flies to confront and stall the Romulans. Narissa targets La Sirena with the Artifacts' defenses, but is stopped and killed by Seven of Nine. Soong discovers that Sutra worked with Narek to convince the other synths to agree with her plan, and he incapacitates her. Soji foils the attempt to destroy the beacon, and activates it. Picard begins to succumb to his illness, but Jurati prolongs his life long enough for him to distract the Romulans until a Starfleet armada arrives in support, led by Riker. This gives Soji the choice to turn the beacon off herself, which she does, and the Romulans retreat. Picard dies after Jurati and Soong transfer his consciousness into a device holding Maddox's copy of Data's consciousness. Picard says goodbye to Data before awaking in a synthetic "golem" body. After the Federation lifts the ban on synths, Picard and Soji set off in La Sirena with Rios, Raffi, Jurati, Elnor, and Seven of Nine.

Season 2 (2022)

Main article: Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
11	1	"The Star Gazer"	Doug Aarniokoski	Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas	March 3, 2022 (2022-03-03)
Retired admiral Jean-Luc Picard rejects the romantic advances of his housekeeper Laris, a year-and-a-half after the death of her partner Zhaban. After giving a speech to a new class of cadets—including his former ward Elnor—in his role as chancellor of Starfleet Academy, Picard visits his old friend and bartender Guinan to talk about his life-long avoidance of romantic relationships. In deep space, Captain Chris Rios and Dr. Agnes Jurati of the USS Stargazer investigate an anomaly that broadcasts a request to negotiate entry into the Federation with Picard. They are joined by Seven of Nine, a vigilante flying Rios's old ship La Sirena, and a fleet of starships including the USS Excelsior which has Elnor and Picard's old first officer Raffi Musiker on board. When Picard arrives, a Borg ship emerges from the anomaly and transports their Queen onto the Stargazer. The Queen begins assimilating the entire fleet, prompting Picard to initiate the Stargazer's self-destruct. After the explosion, Picard wakes up in a version of his home and is greeted by the extra-dimensional being Q, who has returned to test Picard again.
12	2	"Penance"	Doug Aarniokoski	Story by: Michael Chabon and Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas and Christopher Monfette Teleplay by: Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas and Christopher Monfette	March 10, 2022 (2022-03-10)
Picard learns from Q that he and his companions are in an alternate timeline where humanity has formed the xenophobic "Confederation of Earth", systematically eradicating or enslaving alien races. Picard, the Confederation's greatest military commander, has been granted the honor of executing the last Borg Queen by Seven of Nine, who is the President of the Confederation and married to the Magistrate. The group reunite and learn from the Borg Queen that they can prevent the Confederation's formation by travelling to Los Angeles in 2024, which they can only do with the Queen's help. Agnes, Raffi, and Elnor take control of communication and transporter systems in Confederation headquarters while Seven and Picard buy time at the public execution. As the crowd and the Magistrate grow concerned with their stalling, the others complete their objectives and Picard, Seven, Agnes, Raffi, Elnor, and the Queen are beamed to Rios's ship. They are preparing to initiate time travel when the Magistrate and security officers beam aboard, shoot and wound Elnor, and prepare to execute them all for treason.
13	3	"Assimilation"	Lea Thompson	Kiley Rossetter & Christopher Monfette	March 17, 2022 (2022-03-17)
Seven distracts the Magistrate long enough for the group to overpower and kill him and his officers. The ship comes under attack, and the Queen takes advantage of the situation to directly connect herself to the ship's computers. She destroys their pursuers and slingshots the ship around the sun, creating a wormhole to 2024. She tells Picard that they must find "The Watcher" in Los Angeles who knows what Q changed to cause the new timeline. The ship crashes near Chateau Picard in France, and the Queen diverts all power to sustain herself. Elnor dies of his wounds, and Raffi angrily blames Picard before departing with Seven and Rios to start searching for the Watcher. Rios's transporter malfunctions and he is knocked out, waking up in a clinic that secretly treats undocumented immigrants. Before he can leave, immigration officers raid the clinic and arrest both Rios and his physician, Teresa. Rios's communicator is left behind. Despite Picard's warnings, Agnes connects her mind to the Queen and learns the exact location of the Watcher before she can be assimilated, impressing the Queen.
14	4	"Watcher"	Lea Thompson	Story by: Travis Fickett & Juliana James Teleplay by: Juliana James & Jane Maggs	March 24, 2022 (2022-03-24)
Picard and Agnes learn from Agnes's connection to the Queen that the change to the timeline they must prevent, to avoid the dark future of the Confederation, will happen in three days time on April 15, 2024. Picard transports to the location Agnes learned from the Queen, and finds a younger version of Guinan who does not know him and is planning to leave Earth after growing disillusioned with humanity. Seven and Raffi search for Rios, who is processed by ICE and sent to a sanctuary district on the U.S. border. They are able to track the bus that Rios is on with the help of Agnes, who tricks the Queen into improving La Sirena's transporter systems. After Picard reveals his name and explains that he is looking for a watcher, Guinan leads him to someone who is also known as a "Supervisor" that is acting as a "guardian angel" for someone on Earth. The Supervisor, who resembles Laris but appears human, teleports away with Picard. Meanwhile, Q approaches a woman who is working on the planned Europa spaceflight mission. He is surprised to discover that he is unable to change her destiny.
15	5	"Fly Me to the Moon"	Jonathan Frakes	Cindy Appel	March 31, 2022 (2022-03-31)
The Supervisor introduces herself as Tallinn and explains to Picard that she is tasked with protecting his ancestor Renée Picard, the woman whom Q had targeted earlier, because Renée plays an important role in the future. Q approaches Dr. Adam Soong, a disgraced geneticist who is desperate to find a cure for his daughter Kore's terminal genetic illness. In exchange for a vial of medicine that can save Kore's life, Q requests Soong's help dealing with Renée. Seven and Raffi break Rios out of ICE custody. Back on La Sirena, the Queen taps into the ship's communications to broadcast an emergency call and lure a policeman onto the ship. Agnes shoots the Queen to prevent her from assimilating the policeman, but the dying Queen injects Agnes with Borg nanoprobes. Picard knows that Renée is destined to find a sentient organism on Jupiter's moon Io and it is essential that she does not back out of the Europa mission. To monitor her at a pre-flight gala, Agnes infiltrates the event to hack the system so they can all attend, but the Borg Queen's consciousness is lurking within her mind.
16	6	"Two of One"	Jonathan Frakes	Cindy Appel & Jane Maggs	April 7, 2022 (2022-04-07)
With the Queen's help, Agnes gives Picard, Tallinn, and Rios access to the gala. There Picard is confronted by Soong, who alerts security that Picard is dangerous. Agnes and the Queen cut the lights and create a distraction by singing a jazz cover of "Shadows of the Night". The resulting rush of endorphins allows the Queen to take full control of Agnes's body. Q, having taken the role of Renée's therapist, stokes her insecurity with text messages, and she begins to flee the party. Picard finds her and persuades her to go through with the mission by talking about his mother, who also loved the stars and also had mental health struggles. Soong sees Renée and Picard walking together outside and attempts to run over Renée with his car. Picard pushes her out of the way but is hit by the car and knocked unconscious. After returning home, Soong deliriously rants at Kore; she investigates his research and learns that she is the only one to have survived of many apparent clones he created. At Teresa's clinic, Tallinn decides to enter Picard's mind to help him wake up from a memory that his mind is fixated on.
17	7	"Monsters"	Joe Menendez	Jane Maggs	April 14, 2022 (2022-04-14)
Inside his mind, Picard relives part of a memory from his childhood where his apparently abusive father Maurice chased Picard's younger self and his mother Yvette through the house. Tallinn helps Picard realize that his mother was actually struggling with mental illness and Maurice was just trying to protect her and Picard. Picard wakes up from his coma and Tallinn reveals that she is actually Romulan and possibly Laris's ancestor. Picard theorizes that Q may have a personal stake in his "trial" and asks Guinan to summon Q using an El-Aurian ritual; the ritual fails just as FBI agent Martin Wells enters the bar and arrests them based on surveillance footage of Picard using his transporter. Rios secretly brings Teresa and her son onto La Sirena, confessing that he is a time-traveler. Raffi and Seven discover that the ship's computers have been sabotaged with Borg encryption codes and begin tracking Agnes. They find a bar where she smashed a window and realize that the Queen is trying to create more endorphins in Agnes until she has enough power to assimilate more people and become a new Borg Queen.
18	8	"Mercy"	Joe Menendez	Cindy Appel & Kirsten Beyer	April 21, 2022 (2022-04-21)
Wells tries to make Picard and Guinan confess to being aliens. He separates them, and Guinan is visited by Q who explains that he is dying and that the "trial" is a final attempt to give his own life meaning. He notes that all humans are stuck in the past, and Guinan uses astral projection to share this message with Picard. Wells reveals that he encountered aliens when he was a child and thought they wanted to kill him, but Picard explains that these were Vulcans who only tried to erase his memories. Wells is forced to release Picard and Guinan after the FBI dismisses him for conducting an illegal investigation. Meanwhile, Raffi and Seven find the Queen collecting car and phone batteries to modify Jurati's body and make it capable of assimilation. She attacks them, but Agnes is able to force her to stop and leave. After learning about her true nature, Kore leaves her father with help from Q. The Queen persuades Soong that he can save his legacy by helping her steal La Sirena, thereby enabling her to conquer the galaxy. Soong provides her with a squad of mercenaries to convert into Borg drones.
19	9	"Hide and Seek"	Michael Weaver	Matt Okumura & Chris Derrick	April 28, 2022 (2022-04-28)
The Queen, Soong, and the drones beam to La Sirena while Picard, Tallinn, Raffi, and Seven beam to Chateau Picard. Agnes's consciousness blocks the Queen from the ship's systems until Seven and Raffi arrive. They try to use the ship against the Queen, but she mortally wounds Seven. After they send Rios, Teresa, and her son to safety, Picard and Tallinn escape from Soong and the drones in the tunnels beneath the chateau. Picard recalls his mother having a mental break while they were playing hide-and-seek in the tunnels when he was a boy, after which she ended her own life. Discussing this with Tallinn helps Picard come to terms with it. Soong corners them, but Rios beams back and forces him to flee. Agnes persuades the Queen to change her ways and build a new Borg collective through cooperation rather than assimilation, truly becoming a new Borg Queen. The new Queen heals Seven by adding her to the collective, and then departs in La Sirena for the Delta Quadrant, leaving a message for Picard: there must be two versions of Renée, one who will fly the Europa mission and one who will die.
20	10	"Farewell"	Michael Weaver	Christopher Monfette and Akiva Goldsman	May 5, 2022 (2022-05-05)
Despite Picard's protests, Tallinn interprets the Queen's message as her needing to sacrifice herself to save Renée. She uses a holographic disguise to thwart Soong's attempted murder of Renée, and dies in Picard's arms while Renée departs on the Europa mission. After his failure, Soong returns home to find that Kore has deleted his digital files, though he still has a physical file labeled "Project Khan". Kore is recruited to join the Travelers by Wesley Crusher, and Rios decides to stay in the past with Teresa. Q and Picard discuss the purpose of the trial, with Q hoping that Picard has learned to let go of the past and accept love. Q then uses the last of his power to send Picard, Seven, and Raffi back to the Stargazer in their own timeline, where Elnor is alive. Picard recognizes that this Borg Queen is Agnes, whose collective has detected a new trans-warp conduit that they offer to monitor as provisional members of the Federation. After reuniting with the older Guinan and learning about Rios's life in the 21st century, Picard returns to his chateau and asks Laris for a second chance at being together.

Season 3

Main article: Star Trek: Picard (season 3)

The third and final season is expected to premiere in early 2023. Jonathan Frakes and Terry Matalas directed for the season.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Star Trek: Picard characters

• Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard:
  A former Starfleet admiral who previously commanded the USS Enterprise. Picard retired from Starfleet in protest when the Federation chose not to aid the Romulans when their planet was destroyed. He is diagnosed with a terminal illness in the first season, as the writers wanted to discuss relatable issues that people face at the end of their lives, and he dies at the end of the season. Picard's consciousness is transferred to a synthetic body, which led to widespread discussion by fans and critics regarding whether the synthetic version was still the same person. Co-creators Michael Chabon and Akiva Goldsman both felt he was the same character, but other commentators disagreed. More than a week of debates on the Star Trek wiki encyclopaedia Memory Alpha regarding whether a new wiki page should be created for the synthetic version of Picard ended with both versions being kept in the same page. By the second season, a still-retired Picard has been named chancellor of Starfleet Academy.
• Alison Pill as Agnes Jurati: a former Starfleet doctor and expert on synthetic life who joins Picard's mission.
• Isa Briones as Dahj and Soji Asha: twin androids with organic bodies created as the daughters of Data. Briones also portrays Sutra, an earlier android, as well as Kore Soong, the daughter of Dr. Adam Soong in 2024.
• Harry Treadaway as Narek: a Romulan agent sent to seduce and spy on Soji Asha.
• Michelle Hurd as Rafaella "Raffi" Musiker: Picard's former Starfleet first officer who struggles with substance abuse.
• Santiago Cabrera as Cristobal "Chris" Rios: a former Starfleet officer and the pilot of La Sirena. Cabrera also portrays the emergency holograms aboard La Sirena.
• Evan Evagora as Elnor: a Romulan refugee whom Picard abandoned as a boy and was raised by the Qowat Milat, a sect of all-female warrior nuns.
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine: a former Borg drone and crew member aboard the USS Voyager who became a member of the Fenris Rangers vigilante group.
• Orla Brady as Laris: Picard's Romulan housekeeper who develops romantic feelings for him. Brady also portrays Tallinn who is a Supervisor like the Star Trek: The Original Series character Gary Seven.
• Brent Spiner as Data: Picard's former android lieutenant commander. Spiner also portrays Data's secret human brother Altan Inigo Soong, as well as his ancestor, Dr. Adam Soong, in 2024.

Production

See also: Production of season 1, season 2, and season 3

Development

In June 2018, after becoming sole showrunner of the series Star Trek: Discovery, Alex Kurtzman signed a five-year overall deal with CBS Television Studios to expand the Star Trek franchise beyond Discovery to several new series, miniseries, and animated series. One of these new series was reported to star Patrick Stewart, reprising his role of Jean-Luc Picard from the series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman (who worked on the first season of Discovery) were attached to the project. When CBS had first approached him about making more Star Trek series, Kurtzman included a series featuring Picard on his wish list as he believed the character was the greatest Star Trek captain. This was despite Stewart having previously said that he did not want to return to the franchise.

While developing ideas for the short form companion series Star Trek: Short Treks, Kurtzman and his team developed a story that would have featured Nichelle Nichols reprising her role from Star Trek: The Original Series as Uhura. The short would have seen a young Picard visit Uhura in hospital and receive a mission related to the Borg. The short did not move forward, but it led to discussions of a short starring Stewart as an older version of Picard. The team soon decided that they had enough material to pitch a full series focused on the character to Stewart. Kurtzman and Goldsman contacted the actor before January 2018 to discuss this idea, and met with him along with Discovery writer Kirsten Beyer at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Stewart took the meeting with the intention of turning the project down, but after Beyer convinced him to reconsider he agreed to read a four-page document outlining their ideas. At that time, Goldsman invited novelist Michael Chabon, a friend, to work on the project as well and the four ultimately produced a 35-page document that they sent to Stewart. Stewart asked to meet with the group again in March 2018, where he expressed his approval of their pitch. Stewart said the pitch felt like "something very unusual, and I was intrigued". While deciding whether to join the project, Stewart asked Kurtzman that the series be "so different" from previous Star Trek stories, "both what people remember but also not what they're expecting at all, otherwise why do it?"

On August 4, 2018, Stewart made a surprise appearance at the annual Las Vegas Star Trek Convention to officially announce the series and confirm that he would star in it. He explained that after last portraying the character in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis, he felt his role in the franchise "had run its natural course", but in the years since he was humbled by stories of the impact the character had on the lives of fans. He was now happy to bring back Picard's "comforting and reforming light [to] shine on these often very dark times". In addition to starring, Stewart was also set to executive produce the series alongside Kurtzman, Goldsman, Chabon, Discovery's James Duff, Heather Kadin of Kurtzman's production company Secret Hideout, and Rod Roddenberry (the son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) and Trevor Roth of Roddenberry Entertainment, with Beyer as supervising producer.

"It is a show with a nearly 80-year-old actor playing a 94-year-old man who is if not in the final stages of his career, in the latter stages of his career, who has a period of great dismay and disillusionment in his immediate rear view, who has allowed himself to let ties that were formerly very important to him slip or fade away, and who has now re-engaged with the greatly changed world in which he finds himself... It was not ever going to be The Next Generation Part Two."

—Series co-creator and first season showrunner Michael Chabon on the story the writers and star Patrick Stewart wanted to tell

The series was initially expected to premiere in 2019. Kadin revealed in October that it was intended to be ongoing rather than a limited miniseries, and said that its release dates would not overlap with Discovery or any other new Star Trek series. Kurtzman added that the Picard series would be "its own thing", later elaborating that where Discovery is "a bullet", the Picard series is "a very contemplative show" with its own rhythm and more of a real-world feeling. CBS CCO David Nevins confirmed in December 2018 that the series was intended to debut on CBS All Access at the end of 2019, after the full release of Discovery's second season and several Star Trek: Short Treks shorts. Stewart revealed a month later that the series would consist of 10 episodes, and reiterated that the intention was for it to continue for multiple seasons, adding in February that "we are set up for possibly three years of this show". A production listing in March gave the series' title as Star Trek: Destiny, which CBS had trademarked in 2018. However, the official title was announced to be Star Trek: Picard at CBS's upfront presentation that May. At that time, Kurtzman said the series was being "shepherded" by a larger creative team rather than having a traditional showrunner.

Chabon was named sole showrunner in June, working on the day-to-day production with Kurtzman and Goldsman. A month later, the series was scheduled to premiere in January 2020. It was reported to have a budget of $8–9 million per episode. In October, Kurtzman said a second season was "already in the works". Chabon signed an overall deal with CBS Television Studios in early December to create several new series for the studio, which meant he would be exiting as showrunner of Picard in 2020. He remained an executive producer and writer for the series. CBS officially announced the second season a month later and revealed that Terry Matalas had joined the series as an executive producer to fill the void that would be created by Chabon's departure. Goldsman and Matalas took over as co-showrunners once Chabon left. The series was also reported to have an informal green-light for a third season that would be developed at the same time as, and filmed back-to-back with, the second. This was to save costs and simplify scheduling, and was officially confirmed in September 2021. By then, CBS All Access had been expanded and rebranded as Paramount+. Goldsman said the producers had discussed a three-season plan and a five-season plan for the series, but would ultimately keep making it as long as Stewart was happy to do so. In February 2022, Goldsman confirmed that the third season would be the last. Matalas served as sole showrunner for the third season.

Writing

Kurtzman's mandate for the series was that it be a psychological character study about "this man in his emeritus years". He noted that it was rare for a television series to star an actor of Stewart's age. Goldsman said the series would not be a direct sequel to The Next Generation and would be more character-focused than that series, describing Picard as "slower, more gentle, more lyrical" than previous Star Trek stories. He contrasted Picard with Discovery by describing the latter as a sci-fi action-adventure series while Picard is a sci-fi drama series that tells dramatic stories within an otherworldly setting. Stewart was assured by the creative team that the series would not be "jokey", and compared Picard to when he reprised his X-Men role of Professor X in the film Logan (2017), where he was the same character but the franchise's world and tone was "blown apart".

Goldsman said each season tells a separate story, but he saw the three seasons as being "of a piece". Matalas elaborated that the series was a three-part story about Picard, with each season exploring different aspects of the character. In addition to having different stories and themes, each season also has a different tone and visual approach. The first season finds Picard deeply affected by the death of his android colleague Data in Nemesis, and Kurtzman saw it as a redemption story for the character who must face the consequences of his choice to abandon Starfleet and the Romulans following the destruction of the planet Romulus in the film Star Trek (2009). The second season continues to explore issues that come up in the last stage of a person's life, especially Picard's past relationships, and other elements of his life that have been preventing him from moving forward. Goldsman felt that the first season was about resurrection and the second season was about redemption.

Casting

File:Patrick Stewart Photo Call Logan Berlinale 2017 (cropped).jpg

Patrick Stewart reprises the series' title role from previous Star Trek media

With the series announcement in August 2018 came confirmation that Stewart would star as Picard. At the start of March 2019, Santiago Cabrera and Michelle Hurd were both set to co-star in the series, with Cabrera being one of the most sought-after actors during the 2019 television pilot season and choosing this series over other offers. Later that month, newcomer Evan Evagora was cast in another series regular role. In April, Alison Pill, Harry Treadaway, and Isa Briones joined the cast. Characters for the new cast members were announced in July, with Pill as Agnes Jurati, Cabrera as Cristobal "Chris" Rios, Hurd as Raffi Musiker, Treadaway as Narek, and Evagora as Elnor. Briones portrays several androids, including Dahj and Soji Asha.

While developing the series, the creative team discussed not bringing back any other characters from The Next Generation to allow Picard to stand alone and not become reliant on nostalgia. Part of this was to allow newcomers who had not seen the previous series to enjoy Picard. However, the writers wanted to be respectful to longtime fans of Star Trek and felt they were missing opportunities by not including certain characters, so they decided to add some returning guests who organically served the new story. Several actors from previous Star Trek series were announced as guest stars for Picard in July 2019, including The Next Generation's Brent Spiner as Data, Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, and Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, as well as Star Trek: Voyager's Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine. In January 2020, Stewart said it was his hope that all of the main cast of The Next Generation would appear on Picard before the end of the series, while Kurtzman said if Michael Dorn reprised his Klingon role Worf in Picard he would appear as he did in The Next Generation and not be changed to match the new Klingon designs in Discovery. At that time, Whoopi Goldberg agreed to appear in the second season of the series as her The Next Generation character Guinan.

In June 2020, the entire main cast of the series was confirmed to be returning for the second season, except for Treadaway. In April 2021, Ryan, Spiner, and first season guest star Orla Brady were revealed to also be main cast members for the second season, with John de Lancie appearing in the season as his Star Trek character Q. That July, Voyager's Robert Duncan McNeill revealed that he had been in discussions to reprise his role as Tom Paris in both seasons of the series, but scheduling conflicts had prevented this. In April 2022, the main cast of The Next Generation were confirmed to be starring in the third season with Stewart: LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Dorn, Frakes, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Sirtis, and Spiner. Another Next Generation star, Wil Wheaton, appeared in the second-season finale, reprising his role as Wesley Crusher, but did not return for the third season. After the second-season finale's release in May 2022, Ryan and Hurd confirmed that they had returned for the third season, but Cabrera, Pill, Evagora, and Briones revealed that they did not.

Design

Several members of the design team from Star Trek: Discovery returned for Picard, including production designer Todd Cherniawsky and creature designer Neville Page of Alchemy Studios. Christine Clark served as costume designer. Acknowledging that the series would be set further in the future than any previous Star Trek film or series, Kurtzman explained that the production was aiming for a "grounded" approach rather than having things like "crazy floating skyscrapers and all the cliches of science fiction". The opening title sequence was created by Prologue, the company that created the Discovery opening sequence.

Filming

The series was filmed at Santa Clarita Studios, California, under the working title Drawing Room. It received large tax credits from the California Film Commission for the production to take place in California, rather than in Toronto, Canada, where Star Trek: Discovery is filmed. Filming for the first season took place from April to September 2019, with location shooting around California, including at Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez Valley to depict Picard's French vineyard, at long-time Star Trek filming location Vasquez Rocks in the Sierra Pelona Mountains in Los Angeles County for Raffi's home, and in the Malibu area for the planet Coppelius.

Despite reports that the second and third seasons were intended to be filmed back-to-back, the producers were just planning to film the second season on its own when the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact film and television productions in early 2020. Due to the scheduling requirements for the series, the subsequent pandemic-induced delays meant the second and third seasons did need to be filmed back-to-back. Filming for the second season began in February 2021, with some third-season scenes being filmed at the same time. Location filming took place around Los Angeles for the second season, which is mostly set in that city during the year 2024. Filming for the season ended in September, with the production then segueing fully into filming the third. The two seasons had one of the largest television series crews at the time with more than 450 crewmembers. Filming for the series wrapped in March 2022; Stewart stated that continually filming the series for nearly 14 months was "thrilling and exciting much of the time", but also difficult for the actor who was in his 80s.

Visual effects

Visual effects for the series are provided by Pixomondo, DNEG, Crafty Apes, Ghost VFX, Gentle Giant Studios, Technicolor VFX, and Filmworks/FX. with Jason Zimmerman returning from Discovery as visual effects supervisor. Pixomondo worked with the series' production design department to help flesh out their designs into 3D assets, and then shared those assets with the other vendors. For the first season, these digital models included the Borg Cube, La Sirena, and the Romulan ships.

Music

Star Trek: Discovery composer Jeff Russo was revealed to be composing the score for Picard in July 2019. Russo's relationship with Star Trek began as a fan of The Next Generation, and he asked Kurtzman if he could work on Picard after seeing Stewart's announcement of the series at the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention. Russo wanted his music to remain truthful to previous Star Trek scores without repeating them, and especially wanted to avoid his music for Discovery. Russo felt that Picard was a more intimate story and wanted to take a more personalized approach by featuring more solo instrument performances than he did for Discovery.

Russo wrote several iterations of the main theme for the series before settling on a more emotional and stirring version. It is bookended with a piccolo, which Russo felt sounded similar to the fictional Ressikan flute that Picard played in the Next Generation episode "The Inner Light". The second season features an "up-tempo rearrangement" of the main theme. Additionally, Russo used Jerry Goldsmith's theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) to connect to The Next Generation, as that series used Goldsmith's theme for its main title, and he also referenced Alexander Courage's original Star Trek theme to "evoke the idea of Star Trek in general".

A soundtrack album for the first half of the first season was released on February 7, 2020, followed by an album for the full season on April 3. An album for the second season was released on April 29, 2022.

Release

Home media releases for Star Trek: Picard

Season	Home media release dates
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
1	October 6, 2020	January 25, 2021	January 13, 2021

The first season of Star Trek: Picard was released on the streaming service CBS All Access in the United States. Like Discovery before it, each episode of the series is broadcast in Canada by Bell Media on the same day as the All Access release, on the specialty channels CTV Sci-Fi Channel (English) and Z (French) before streaming on Crave. Amazon Prime Video streams the episodes within 24 hours of their U.S. release in over 200 other countries and territories around the world; this is separate from Discovery, which is released internationally by Netflix. The deals with Amazon and Bell were made by international distributor arm CBS Studios International. The first season remained on the rebranded Paramount+, where future seasons are being released.

Reception

Viewership

A week after the series premiere, CBS said that Picard had set a new record for the total streams of a CBS All Access original series by its subscribers, with 115 percent more total streams than the previous record set by Star Trek: Discovery. CBS also partly attributed the premiere of the series for the month of January 2020 breaking the service's record for the most new subscribers in a month, helped by the week of Picard's premiere being the second-most new subscribers in a single week for the service.

Critical response

Star Trek: Picard has a 88% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, while Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on reviews from 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

For the first season, Rotten Tomatoes reported an 87% approval score with an average rating of 7.6/10 based on 253 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Anchored by the incomparable Patrick Stewart, Picard departs from standard Starfleet protocol with a slower, serialized story, but like all great Star Trek it tackles timely themes with grace and makes for an exciting push further into the final frontier." Metacritic assigned a score of 76 out of 100 based on reviews from 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Rotten Tomatoes reported a 89% approval score for the second season, with an average rating of 8.05/10 based on 91 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Picard gets some backup from franchise fan favorites in a sophomore season that charts a course towards recapturing more of the classical Star Trek spirit and makes it so." Metacritic assigned a score of 69 out of 100 based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2020	Dragon Awards	Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series	Star Trek: Picard	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Period and/or Character Hairstyling	"Stardust City Rag"	Nominated
		Outstanding Period and/or Character Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)		Nominated
		Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special	"Absolute Candor"	Won
		Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)	"Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2"	Nominated
		Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)		Nominated
2021	Costume Designers Guild Awards	Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Television	Christine Bieselin Clark (for "Absolute Candor")	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Super Awards	Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Series	Star Trek: Picard	Nominated
		Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series	Patrick Stewart	Won
	Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards	Best Special Make-Up Effects in a Television Series, Limited or Miniseries or New Media Series	James MacKinnon, Richard Redlefsen, Alexei Dmitriew and Vincent Van Dyke	Nominated
	Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Dialogue and ADR for Episodic Long Form Broadcast Media	Matthew E. Taylor and Sean Heissinger (for "The Impossible Box")	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Sound Effects and Foley for Episodic Long Form Broadcast Media	Matthew E. Taylor, Tim Farrell, Harry Cohen, Michael Schapiro, Clay Weber, Darrin Mann, Alyson Dee Moore and Chris Moriana (for "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2")	Won
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series	Hanelle Culpepper (for "Remembrance")	Won
	Saturn Awards	Best Science Fiction Television Series	Star Trek: Picard	Nominated
		Best Actor on Television	Patrick Stewart	Won
		Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television Series	Isa Briones	Nominated
		Best Guest Starring Role on Television	Jeri Ryan	Nominated

Tie-in media

Publishing

In September 2019, CBS announced a new novel written by frequent Star Trek author Una McCormack to be published by Simon & Schuster in February 2020. Titled The Last Best Hope, the novel leads directly into the events of the series and introduces several new characters that are featured in the first season. The company also announced a new three-issue comic book titled Star Trek: Picard – Countdown, to be released beginning that November by IDW Publishing. Written by Mike Johnson and Picard supervising producer Kirsten Beyer, the comic is set in 2385, and depicts Admiral Picard's actions during the evacuation of Romulus. A second prequel novel, Dark Veil by James Swallow, was published in January 2021 and follows Riker and Troi aboard the USS Titan a year after Picard retired from Starfleet. Rogue Elements by John Jackson Miller was released in August 2021 and tells the backstory of Cristóbal Rios.

Aftershows

The Ready Room

Main article: The Ready Room

In January 2020, CBS All Access announced that The Next Generation actor Wil Wheaton would host a new season of the Star Trek aftershow The Ready Room, to stream after the release of each Picard episode. Wheaton replaced Naomi Kyle, who hosted the series for its first run after episodes of Discovery's second season.

Official podcast

After the series premiere on January 23, 2020, Deadline Hollywood released the first episode of the Star Trek: Picard Podcast, a weekly podcast sponsored by CBS All Access and hosted by Deadline's senior editor Dominic Patten and genre editor Geoff Boucher. Each episode of the podcast features interviews with the series' cast and creative team.

Audio drama

Simon & Schuster announced an audio-exclusive story, titled No Man's Land, in January 2022. Written by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson, the story is set after the series' first-season finale and follows the characters Raffi and Seven of Nine, with Michelle Hurd and Jeri Ryan reprising their respective roles from the series. Fred Tatasciore, John Kassir, and John Cutmore-Scott also star in the drama, which is set to be released on February 22.

Spin-offs

Star Trek: Short Treks

Main article: Star Trek: Short Treks

When the first season of the Discovery companion series Star Trek: Short Treks was being released in December 2018, CBS CCO David Nevins said there would be more shorts released before the premiere of Picard. In February 2019, Kurtzman said future shorts could tie directly into series other than Discovery. At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Kurtzman announced that the second season of Short Treks would include a "teaser" for Picard set 15 years before the start of the series. Titled "Children of Mars", the short was released on January 9, 2020, and depicts the synthetic attack on Mars from Picard's backstory from the perspective of two school children.

Other

In January 2022, Goldsman said there were elements of Picard that could be explored more in a spin-off series, and Matalas expressed interest in continuing to explore the time period of the series beyond its three seasons. He added that, in his opinion, "Star Trek: Picard is the present day of Star Trek. And what's going on in that particular world is very important to me."

External links

• Official website
• Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+
• Star Trek: Picard at IMDb
• Star Trek: Picard at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)