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Season 2 – Star Trek: Picard

Where to watch, star trek: picard — season 2.

Watch Star Trek: Picard — Season 2 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

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.

Cast & Crew

Patrick Stewart

Jean-Luc Picard

Isa Briones

Alison Pill

Agnes Jurati

Santiago Cabrera

Cristobal "Chris" Rios

Michelle Hurd

Raffi Musiker

Evan Evagora

Popular TV on Streaming

Tv news & guides, this show is featured in the following articles., critics reviews, audience reviews, season info.

Star Trek: Picard season 2: story, trailers, release date and everything we know

The stardate for Star Trek: Picard season 2 is March 2022

Star Trek: Picard season 2 release date

Star trek: picard season 2 trailers, star trek: picard season 2 plot, star trek: picard season 2 cast.

Star Trek : Picard season 2 has a stardate! The ongoing mission of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (retired) will resume on Paramount Plus in March 2022.

Jean-Luc will be joined on his sophomore voyages by some familiar faces from The Next Generation era – both friends and foes.

Most excitingly, John de Lancie is back to cause trouble as the omnipotent Q, but we’ll also see returns for the Borg Queen (now played by Annie Wersching) and Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan. Brent Spiner, best known for playing android officer Data, is also back in a new, but as-yet-unidentified, role.

The Star Trek: Picard season 2 plot is set to take the former captain of the USS Enterprise-D where he’s never gone before – our present. He’ll travel back to 2024 to fix a 24th century that’s turned into a “totalitarian nightmare”, and he’s taking Cris Rios, Agnes Jurati, Seven of Nine and the rest of the newly assembled crew of La Sirena along for the ride.

With Picard’s latest adventure approaching Paramount Plus at something close to warp speed, we’ve analyzed Starfleet’s databanks to tell you everything you need to know about Star Trek: Picard season 2.

As a certain former Enterprise captain was so fond of saying: engage!

Spoilers lie ahead if you're yet to watch Star Trek: Picard season 1 . 

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Release date: Star Trek: Picard season 2 will debut for US viewers on Thursday March 3, 2022. It'll stream on Paramount Plus in the US and Amazon Prime Video in other territories.

Story: Jean-Luc Picard and the ragtag crew of La Sirena travel back in time to the 21st century to fix the timeline – with a bit of help/hindrance (depending on your point of view) from the god-like Q, Guinan and a Borg Queen.

Is there a trailer? A new Star Trek: Picard season 2 promo was unveiled in January 2022, in addition to the trailer that launched at September 2021's virtual Star Trek Day event, and two earlier teasers.

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Star Trek: Picard season 2 release date: March 2022

Star Trek: Picard season 2 was originally supposed to go before the cameras in June 2020 – just a couple of months after the first season ended – until Covid-19 put everything on hiatus. Production on the 10-episode run eventually got under way in California in February 2021. 

That delay means we'll have to wait a little longer than we'd originally hoped to see Jean-Luc back in the captain's chair, but our patience will soon pay off.

Star Trek.com confirmed in January 2022 that the Star Trek: Picard season 2 release date is Thursday March 3, 2022 . New instalments of the 10-episode run will be available on Paramount Plus every week and – as with season 1 – the show will stream on Amazon Prime Video the following day.

This is slightly later than the February 2022 launch date announced at September's Star Trek Day event. The tiny hold-up means Picard's second season will overlap for a few weeks with Star Trek: Discovery season 4 , which returns from a brief hiatus on February 10. 

This is undoubtedly good news for Trek fans, however – this brief double hit of boldly going harks back to the glory days of the 1990s, when The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager ruled the stars.

Star Trek: Picard season 2 trailers: see Guinan and Brent Spiner’s latest Trek role 

The first teaser for Star Trek: Picard season 2 was released during the First Contact Day event in April 2021. Alongside numerous Next Generation Easter eggs (including a model of Picard's first starship command, the USS Stargazer) the major reveal was that John de Lancie will be reprising his role as omnipotent superbeing Q. 

"The trial never ends..." So excited to announce that I will be returning to visit my dear old friend Jean-Luc Picard in season 2 of Picard! @StarTrekOnPPlus @paramountplus @CTVSciFi @primevideouk @SirPatStew #StarTrekPicard #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/DOeBT8NkUW April 5, 2021

A more full-featured trailer featuring Stewart, de Lancie and other members of the cast was released on June 16, 2021. It doesn't give much away about the plot, other than suggesting that Picard and company are trying to stop a dark future from coming to pass. 

Time has been broken. #StarTrekPicard season two, coming 2022 💫 #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/OjqarMnFBr June 16, 2021

We learned even more about Star Trek: Picard season 2 in the longer trailer unveiled at Star Trek Day – including a sighting of the Borg Queen...

And Paramount Plus have continued to spoil us, bringing out yet another trailer in January 2022. This one sees Whoopi Goldberg reprising her Next Generation role as Guinan – her request for “some tea, Earl Grey, piping hot” suggests she hasn't forgotten Picard's beverage of choice – and former TNG regular Brent Spiner playing a new character who looks a lot like an older version of Data. The question is, why is he talking with professional trickster Q? 

Star Trek: Picard season 2 plot: Jean-Luc's new mission involves traveling back to 2024

Red alert! Big spoilers for Star Trek: Picard season 1 follow – change course now if you haven’t seen it yet.

Jean-Luc Picard will be a new man in Star Trek – literally. When Picard’s human body succumbed to terminal Irumodic Syndrome, his consciousness was transferred into to an artificial ‘golem’ body created by Dr Altan Soong, the biological son of Data’s ‘father’, cybernetics genius Dr Noonian Soong. Although Soong Jr made it clear that the new body is effectively identical to the old one – it will still age and die, for example – it’s going to have an effect on the way the 90-something character approaches his life. 

“I wanted to know exactly what they had done to me when they saved [Picard]’s life,” Patrick Stewart said in an interview with Gold Derby . “Was there any chance that this might have an impact on Picard’s personality or behaviour? [Executive producers Terry Matalas and Akiva Goldsman] felt it probably wouldn’t, but it lies there as an option should we need to take it. But also there is another human aspect being introduced in season 2, which I am not allowed to talk about. But it’s going to have, I think, quite an impact.”

With the first year’s main story arcs about a the Romulan Zhat Vash’s efforts to wipe out all Synthetic life and the reclaimed Borg Cube (now crash-landed on the Synthetic homeworld of Coppelius) now seemingly done and dusted, Star Trek: Picard season 2 is primed to seek out all-new worlds – and civilisations.

“Despite 178 episodes of TNG [The Next Generation] and four feature films, there are events coming up in season 2 that have never been seen before,” Stewart teased at First Contact Day.

It’s clear that not everything will be new, however, now that we know Q is back in Jean-Luc Picard’s orbit. A member of the omnipotent Q continuum , the mischievous character cropped up regularly in The Next Generation (and spin-off shows Deep Space Nine and Voyager) to make life as awkward as he could for Starfleet. He always took a particular interest in Picard, having put humanity on trial in TNG pilot ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ – an arc that was only partially resolved in series finale ‘All Good Things’. 

It looks like Q will be continuing his self-convened legal proceedings in Star Trek: Picard season 2. “Do you recall what I said, Jean-Luc, when last we parted ways?” Q asks Picard in the latest season 2 trailer. “The trial never ends.” Not only do we learn that Picard and Q haven't met in the more-than-two-decades since Jean-Luc's days on the Enterprise-D, we know that the former Starfleet officer is “way too old for [Q’s] bulls**t.”

“Q's arrival is, as it often was, is unexpected,” said Stewart. “But it also comes at a shattering moment in the episode. And I do mean a shattering moment. Whether it's directly connected to Q or not, I'm not sure, but there is significant trauma. And in fact at the moment, I'm working on how the trauma of this moment hangs around Picard for quite a substantial part of the episode and then – there [Q] is.”

“In the same way that we have tried to do with Picard himself, Terry Matalas and I don’t pretend that the interstitial years [between The Next Generation and Picard] didn’t happen,” executive producer Akiva Goldsman told the Hollywood Reporter . “Obviously, chronological time is less relevant to Q. But we definitely chose to follow suit when it came to him, so as we tried to evolve the other characters, the same is true of Q. This is a show of a different time with actors of a different age. We’re now talking about the issues that come up in the last [stage] of your life. We wanted a Q that could play in that arena with Picard.”

Goldsman also described Q as a “trickster god” and expanded on the importance of Picard’s relationship with Q. “There’s a lot of discussion in [Star Trek: Picard] season 2 about the nature of connectedness,” he said. “Q’s kind of a great lightning rod for that because in some ways he’s one of Picard’s deepest… not deep in the same way that Riker is or Beverly Crusher was but in its own [way, a] uniquely, profoundly deep relationship.”

Picard's relationship with Q may be deep, but it's also problematic. In the Star Trek: Picard season 2 trailer that debuted in September 2021, Jean-Luc says that "Q went back in time and turned our world into a totalitarian nightmare,” amid scenes of a drastically changed 24th century. Seven of Nine – now without the residual Borg implants on her face – points out that “time has been broken”. Picard adds that, “The only way to heal our future is to go back and repair the past.”

This means a trip back to 2024, where Picard and his newly formed crew will have “three days before the future is changed irrevocably” – and Seven of Nine will have to take a crash course in driving a car. 

Perhaps the biggest surprise unveiled in the Star Trek: Picard season 2 trailers is that Jean-Luc's route back to the 21st century involves the Borg Queen – though it's yet to be revealed whether this is the Borg Queen from Star Trek: First Contact, the one presumed dead after Voyager's return from the Delta Quadrant, or some other incarnation. It could just be that we're guilty of thinking in [merely] three-dimensional terms...

Whichever Borg Queen it is, time travel is familiar territory for Star Trek, the most famous examples coming in Star Trek 4 (where Kirk and crew travelled back to 1980s San Francisco) and First Contact (where Picard fought the Borg in 2063). Expect plenty of culture clash comedy/drama as Jean-Luc and his highly sophisticated 24th century companions get used to slumming it present-day Earth.

One major difference between Star Trek: Picard season 2 and its first year is that this time Jean-Luc – now long-retired from Starfleet – has his own crew. We probably shouldn't be surprised, then, if the new season feels more of an ensemble show, with more time devoted to Cris Rios, Raffi Musiker, Soji Asha, Dr Agnes Jurati, Elnor and Seven of Nine. Integrating all of them – and new characters – into the narrative will be one of the new season’s hardest missions.

“It has to be focused on Picard but have room for all the other characters,” season 1 showrunner Michael Chabon told the Hollywood Reporter . It’s never going to be just a show about the crew of a starship that's part of Starfleet and everyone's wearing uniforms and they're flying around, encountering alien life and weird planets. Those are the challenges we face going into season 2, and I'm so excited about the story we’ve come up with.”

And for any viewers who were left underwhelmed by the season 1 finale, the production team have hopefully found a solution going into Star Trek: Picard season 2. 

“Figure out the end earlier!” Goldsman said when the Hollywood Reporter asked what the team had learned from their first year. “If you’re going to do a serialized show, you have the whole story before you start shooting. It’s more like a movie in that way – you better know the end of your third act before you start filming your first scene.” 

Surely that's good advice for every screenwriter.

Star Trek: Picard episode 1 recap Star Trek: Picard episode 2 recap Star Trek: Picard episode 3 recap Star Trek: Picard episode 4 recap Star Trek: Picard episode 5 recap Star Trek: Picard episode 6 recap Star Trek: Picard episode 7 recap Star Trek: Picard episode 8 recap Star Trek: Picard episode 9 recap Star Trek: Picard episode 10 recap

Star Trek: Picard season 2 cast: Q, Guinan, the Borg Queen and other returning characters

This is the crew manifest for Star Trek: Picard season 2 as it stands:

• Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
• Alison Pill as Dr Agnes Jurati
• Isa Briones as Soji Asha
• Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker
• Santiago Cabrera as Cris Rios
• Evan Evagora as Elnor
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
• John de Lancie as Q
• Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan
• Annie Wersching as the Borg Queen
• Brent Spiner as a new member of the Soong dynasty

The show was always built around the star power of Sir Patrick Stewart, and we don't expect that to change second time out. He’ll be joined in the Star Trek: Picard season 2 cast by his regular La Sirena crew: Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker), Santiago Cabrera (Cris Rios), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Alison Pill (Dr Agnes Jurati), and Isa Briones (Soji Asha). Star Trek: Voyager veteran Jeri Ryan will also be back as former Borg Seven of Nine.

It was confirmed at September's Star Trek Day that Seven will come face-to-face with another former member of the Collective, as the trailer introduced the latest iteration of the Borg Queen. Annie Wersching (Tess in the The Last of Us videogame) takes over the role from Alice Krige (Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Voyager) and Susanna Thompson (Star Trek: Voyager).

In addition to the returning John de Lancie as Q, there are some other The Next Generation veterans heading back to the Final Frontier.

The first is Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan. 

Stewart formally invited his former co-star to join the Star Trek: Picard season 2 cast during an appearance on Goldberg’s US TV show, The View . “It was wonderful having you, and we cannot wait to have you with us again one more time," said Stewart.

.@SirPatStew officially invites @WhoopiGoldberg to join season two of #StarTrekPicard: “It was wonderful having you, and we cannot wait to have you with us again one more time.” https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/mxOtyJxF63 January 22, 2020

Officially the bartender in Ten Forward, the Enterprise-D’s bar/relaxation area, Guinan (a centuries-old El-Aurian) was Picard’s confidante. She also had little time for Q, so it’ll be intriguing if they end up colliding with each other in the new season.

And although Brent Spiner said he'd played the android Data for the last time in Star Trek: Picard's first season – “I wouldn't really entertain the idea of doing [Data, an ageless character] again because I just don't think it would be realistic,” he told TV Guide – he is back in season 2. So who's he playing?

“I can tell you I'm not Data,” Spiner told Inverse . “I know they haven't revealed much about me being in the show. I can tell you I'm a member of the Soong family. And, that I'm not playing a character I've ever played before.” 

In the words of Data himself, this is "most intriguing". 

Alongside his most famous role as the Enterprise's resident artificial human, Spiner has also played Data's android ‘brothers’ Lore and B-4 – as well as their creator, Dr Noonian Soong and his 22nd century ancestor, Arik Soong. He also appeared in Star Trek: Picard season 1 as a new member of the family (and AI expert), Dr Altan Inigo Soong. 

So who is this mysterious new character? We're ruling out a new model android, because if Spiner's too old to play Data, he's too old to play another robot. But could the character be Altan's human brother in the Picard era, a new person in the new, alternative, dystopian 24th century, or a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparent (approx) living in the 21st century? The latest trailer certainly suggests the latter and – seeing as both Picard and Soji (one of Data's daughters) have connections to Data – they'd surely have an interest in meeting an ancestor.

As for the rest of the Next Generation crew, the one star certain to return is Jonathan Frakes – though not necessarily on screen. He confirmed to TrekMovie that he’s back to direct a pair of Star Trek: Picard season 2 episodes, but claimed that he wasn’t sure whether he’d be back on screen as Captain William Riker after his memorable appearances in the debut season. 

The time travel element of the story may make make bringing the Next Generation cast harder this time out, but if Riker does return, it’s a safe bet Marina Sirtis will be back as his screen wife, Deanna Troi.

But what about Worf, Geordi LaForge and Dr Crusher?

Thanks to the amount of time the role requires in the make-up chair, Michael Dorn said he’d only be up for returning as the Federation’s resident Klingon, Worf, if it was really worthwhile.

“I’m only interested in if it’s something really interesting,” he told Inverse . “If the character was a major part of the franchise or whatever the show is. He’s not just going to show up, beat somebody up, and then go home.”

While Worf’s status is ambiguous, two cast members have seemingly ruled themselves out of a return.

In April 2021, LeVar Burton told Whoopi Goldberg on The View (via TrekMovie ) that, “I can say unequivocally that I am not doing season 2 of Picard” – though it’s important to add that he hasn’t ruled out an appearance as Geordi La Forge in a future season.

And there’ll be no return (yet) for Gates McFadden – which means that Star Trek: Picard season 2 won’t be able to explore the status of Jean-Luc’s will they/won’t they relationship with Dr Beverly Crusher.

“I’m not in the second season,” she told TrekMovie . “I’m sad that I’m not. I’m disappointed because it would have been so much fun to just work with those people. But we’ll see. I have no idea…”

But don’t give up hope just yet, because this could be a clever deployment of smoke and mirrors. Marina Sirtis claimed she wasn’t going to be in the first season of the show and look what happened there…

Star Trek: Picard season 3 has also been confirmd

Star Trek: Picard season 2 won't be the end of Jean-Luc's story – the show's Star Trek Day panel confirmed that a third season has been given the greenlight by Paramount Plus.

StarTrek.com confirmed in January 2022 that season 3 is currently in production, and it's likely to be the show's last. "The plan was always three,” co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman told TrekMovie .

Star Trek: Picard season 2 showrunner: there's a change at the helm

According to an interview in Variety , Michael Chabon won't be as heavily involved in season 2 of Star Trek: Picard as he was in the first. While he's shifted much of his attention to a Showtime series based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, however, he will continue to give notes to the writers. 

"I’m still an executive producer on Picard," he said. "I’m writing two episodes. I was there breaking the second season, all the way through. I was engaged, I think, to exactly the same degree as I was on the first season."

Terry Matalas, a veteran of Twelve Monkeys and MacGyver will take over as the Star Trek: Picard season 2 co-showrunner, alongside the returning Akiva Goldsman.

Star Trek: Picard will be available to watch from February 2022, on Paramount Plus in the US and Amazon Prime Video in the rest of the world.

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Star Trek: Picard - Full Season 2 Review

“all bad things…”.

Full spoilers follow for Star Trek: Picard Season 2.

Be careful what you wish for. What other lesson can we take away from this second (and also penultimate) season of Star Trek: Picard, which – let’s just say it up front here – might just be the worst season of Star Trek ever produced. Next Gen Year 1, take the party outside.

Look, when Patrick Stewart was announced to be returning to his iconic role of Jean-Luc Picard a few years back, it was more than any Trekkie could’ve hoped for. Captain Picard would finally get the ending he deserved! But now we’re two seasons into that ending, and it sure doesn’t feel like Jean-Luc, or any of us, have deserved this.

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Images

Season 1 of Picard was a mixed bag to be sure, as the series (and Stewart himself) sought to put a parsec’s distance between the title character and his Next Generation days. No uniforms, no starships, no Enterprise crew – these were more or less the mandates that enabled Stewart to return to space. Sure, there was some good stuff here and there, but the result was often a dour, dark, and just kind of confused affair.

And so Season 2 seemed to be attempting a course correction right out of the gate, with the opening scene of Episode 1 set on a starship in the midst of a battle. The first season’s cast – the Picard Squad – were mostly reconfigured into more likable, familiarly Star Trek-ian versions of themselves, even while Jean-Luc himself seemed to have a new lease on life. He’d accepted a role back at Starfleet Academy as Chancellor and was even circling a potential romance with Orla Brady’s Laris, a fan-favorite character from the prior season.

What's the best Star Trek series currently?

Oh, and TNG staples Q (John De Lancie) and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) were back in recurring roles. But again, and Q would know this better than anyone, be careful what you wish for …

After that fun Season 2 premiere, things began to take a turn for the tropey, if still enjoyable. Q’s meddling sends the Picard Squad to a dark, alternate universe? Check. The crew slingshots around the sun to travel back in time in an attempt to fix the timeline? Got it. Fish out of water hijinks ensue? Mmhmm. The Borg Queen is back… again? Yeah, that too. Uh, punk rocker with a boombox on the bus…? Checkkkkkk.

It’s as if the production, in reaction to Season 1’s distancing from the Treks that have come before, slingshotted too far around the storytelling sun to accommodate all the things we’ve loved about the franchise in the past. Unfortunately, as it unfolded, Picard Season 2 began to feel like nothing but a greatest hits album, and not just that, but one of those albums where it’s all covers of your favorite songs.

It seemed clear from the start that the writers wanted to undo a lot of what they were stuck with after the prior season. Core characters like Isa Briones’ Soji and Evan Evagora’s Elnor were effectively written out of the proceedings (though Briones would get yet another new character to play eventually, her fifth at this point). Brent Spiner’s fairly unremarkable Dr. Altan Soong was replaced with yet another Soong, this time the kind of screechy, hysterical, and sloppy Adam Soong (played by Spiner again). And even the budding relationship between Raffi (Michelle Hurd) and Seven (Jeri Ryan) that was hinted at in the Season 1 finale is in the post break-up stage when we rejoin them here.

That said, it was nice to see the gang again as the new season began, with characters like Santiago Cabrera’s Captain Rios and Alison Pill’s Agnes Jurati coming across as more likable versions of their Season 1 selves. But as the characters landed in the past, and it became clear that they were not heading back to the future , as it were, anytime soon (in an apparently budget-saving move), a sense of running in place overtook things. This included some characters heading out on multi-episode missions that, in the end, accomplished nothing. The heist-style infiltration of the big NASA ball comes to mind, where there’s a whole rigamarole about sneaking into this event. But ultimately the mission seemed to accomplish very little (and certainly didn’t require the whole Squad). But hey, at least everyone got to wear tuxes and fancy dresses.

As for Picard himself, I take no pleasure in saying that at times this season, Stewart seemed frail and perhaps over-taxed. Who knows what’s really going on behind the scenes, but the man is 81 years old. When we hit mid-season and got two episodes in a row where Picard was unconscious for most of one hour and then spent much of the next sitting in a chair, one had to wonder whether or not the legendary actor just needed a break.

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Teaser

Picard’s arc this season certainly had promise, and it works to a degree as the show digs into his childhood and the mental health struggles of his mother. Are these difficult memories, locked away so tightly that even he doesn’t fully remember them, the reason why Picard grew into the guarded, emotionally distant man that he was often portrayed as? The show seeks to tie his budding romance with Laris, and apparent inability to commit to that relationship, to the mysterious past that is slowly revealed over the course of Season 2’s 10 episodes. But it hits a wall in part because Laris herself is given such a short shrift, introduced in the premiere as she is and then basically shoved aside until the final moments of the finale.

Instead, Brady spends most of her expanded role this season as Tallinn, a Romulan “supervisor” charged with guarding Renée Picard, a family member of Jean-Luc’s from the 21st century. In a very TV-ish “identical twin from Texas” scenario, Tallinn inexplicably looks exactly like Laris, and is also a callback to the Gary Seven character from the Original Series episode “Assignment: Earth” (which itself is basically recreated in the Picard Season 2 finale). It’s a lot, and as the season wore on it increasingly seemed like the disparate story threads just couldn’t be tied together in any kind of satisfying way in the end.

As far as Guinan and Q go, the younger Guinan of the past, played by Ito Aghayere, brought a spark to the season whenever she’d show up, but she also never really felt like Guinan. And De Lancie’s Q is just adrift throughout with no clear direction, alternately devilish and funny, and sometimes, I dunno, faux scary? It is Q’s overarching story, which is supposed to be the entire reason why the events of this season take place, that seems to make the least sense. And hence, the season itself ends with a big shoulder shrug. And yeah, we’re talking Next Gen Season 3, late '80s shoulder pads.

In the end, it’s as if the stage has been cleared for the promised reunion of the Next Generation cast in the third and final season. How far things have come from Season 1 in that regard, eh? Rios stays in the past to be with his new love and her son. Jurati is now a Borg Queen who has lived for centuries, but also a nice Borg Queen. Briones’ latest character just leaves for the byways and highways of the galaxy with… Wesley Crusher, in a wasted and puzzling cameo. Presumably Elnor will be shipped out on the Excelsior in Season 3 to make way for Riker, Worf, Troi, and the rest. None of these character arcs feel particularly earned, alas, and more just an “ends justifying the means” situation.

So what was this all for? What did this extended trip to the year 2024 really give us in the Picard lexicon? Has it really been worth it to bring back Stewart for this? I truly hope Season 3 is amazing and we get one last Trek from Stewart and the TNG gang that makes this all a distant memory. But as this season has proven, you can’t just snap your fingers like Q and make good TV…

Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• I got nothing.

Season 2 started off in a good place, looking to amend some of the missteps of the show’s freshman year. But in attempting to embrace and celebrate the things that fans love about Star Trek, the show fell into the trap of regurgitating old concepts. Picard’s central arc focused on him unlocking the dark memories of his childhood and how those mysterious events of his past helped make him the emotionally guarded man he is today, and while this is an interesting development in the character’s story, it never quite gels. Meanwhile, the majority of the Picard Squad were seemingly doomed to run in place throughout the season, biding their time until they were written off the show entirely.

More Reviews by Scott Collura

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How Star Trek's Most Underrated Villains Wreaked Havoc From Deep Space 9 to Picard

Star Trek enemies like the Borg and Klingons have been a thorn on the Federation's side, but only one underrated villain has caused the most damage.

• The Dominion is a powerful alien empire in Star Trek that challenged the Federation like never before.
• While the Klingons, Romulans, and Borg evolved over time, the Dominion remained a second-tier villain.
• Star Trek: Picard's third season saw the Dominion return strong, with a complex plot and characters.

Star Trek has always featured compelling villainous aliens, many of whom have arcs and collective journeys as rich as any individual character. The Klingons, for instance, have gone from the Federation's greatest foes to fierce allies and antiheroes. The Romulan Empire similarly underwent rapid disintegration in the late 24th century and re-unified with their genetic cousins, the Vulcans, in later seasons of Star Trek: Discovery . Even the Borg changed over the course of the franchise, as individuals like Seven of Nine escaped the Collective and threats like Species 8472 proved more than they could handle. That dedication to their organic development has helped make them truly memorable foes, not only in Star Trek , but in pop culture as a whole.

One villainous species tends to get a little lost in the shuffle, however. The Dominion -- a powerful alien empire controlled by shape-shifting Changelings -- proved to be one of the deadliest foes the Federation ever faced. They launched a war against the Alpha Quadrant during the final seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, forcing Starfleet to join forces with traditional enemies like the Romulans in the face of the common threat. Despite that, the Dominion itself is often relegated to second-tier villain status. Star Trek: Picard's triumphant third season successfully returned them to the spotlight, and reminded fans how terrifying they could be as antagonists.

The Dominion Were Designed as an Existential Threat

The complete history of the klingons in star trek's next generation era.

Deep Space Nine cemented a big transition for the franchise, moving away from Gene Roddenberry's beliefs in an absolute utopia. A Federation devoid of conflict was no place to tell compelling stories, which The Original Series solved by presenting solely external threats in its planet-of-the-week format. Star Trek: The Next Generation successfully broke out of that mold, though its early seasons were plagued by problems caused by the infamous "Roddenberry Box" forbidding intrapersonal conflicts among the crew. The incursion of the Borg in Season 3, Episode 26, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I" definitively broke the Box, with Will Riker taking command of the Enterprise amid constant head-butting from his de facto Number One, Elizabeth Shelby.

As The Next Generation continued to explore the story potential of protagonists with differing opinions, Deep Space Nine fully committed to the dark side of the 24th century. Set aboard a rickety former mining station near the planet Bajor, it looked for drama within the limits of the Federation's power, and how characters like Captain Benjamin Sisko have to sometimes make compromises for the greater good. The Dominion proved to be the perfect fulcrum for that as a technologically advanced fascist theocracy, ruled by the Changelings who condition their subjects to worship them as gods. Besides their technological advantages, the Dominion's military forces are truly terrifying.

The ground troops are genetically engineered constructs known as the Jem'Hadar; they are bred to be soldiers and physically dependent upon a chemical called ketracel white to ensure their absolute loyalty. Their commanders, administrators and tactical advisors are a species known as Vorta, who are preternaturally cunning and built to influence foes with honeyed words before unleashing the Dominion's full forces on them. Worst of all were the Changelings themselves, who could perfectly imitate anyone they wished and who would abduct key personnel and replace them with duplicates to sow distrust and discord. On top of all that, they had a vast empire of slave labor at their command, and with the Bajoran wormhole providing a conduit to the Alpha Quadrant, they potentially had the ability to overrun the Federation in a manner of days.

The Dominion Pushed the Moral Limits of The Federation

The complete history of vulcans in the federation era of star trek.

The Dominion were designed the way they were in order to push the Starfleet characters -- specifically Sisko -- into making compromised choices for the sake of survival . That included below-the-belt tactics such as mining the entrance to the wormhole to prevent any ships from getting through, and Section 31's use of biological warfare to infect the Changeling collective with a fatal virus. The most telling moment came with Season 6, Episode 19, " In the Pale Moonlight ," in which Sisko has a hand in forgery, duplicity and murder in order to bring the Romulans into the war.

It is perhaps Star Trek's darkest moment, and a canny exploration of the franchise's famous adage, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Sisko's efforts bore fruit, and the united Alpha Quadrant was finally able to push the Dominion and its allies to the point of capitulation at the end of Season 7. But the cost was terrible, with millions dead and vast regions of the Alpha Quadrant devastated by war . The Dominion retreated back to the other side of the wormhole, and Odo -- a wayward Changeling who helped convince his people to halt the fighting -- returned to the collective to help end their distrust of "the solids."

As antagonists, they worked incredibly well, thanks in part to a slow build-up that left their origins and motives in the dark until they were well into their infiltration of the Alpha Quadrant. They provided the ideal crucible to test the Federation's principles under fire. While Roddenberry's bright future survived, it emerged with scars that never quite healed. Not even the Borg could top the Dominion as foes, and fans have even gamed out a hypothetical conflict between the Dominion and the Borg, with more or less even odds on which species will prevail.

Despite that, their footprint in the franchise is much smaller than other major antagonists. They returned to the Gamma Quadrant after the war, and essentially vanished with the series finale of Deep Space Nine. With its sister series Star Trek: Voyager focusing on the Borg , and the follow-up Star Trek: Enterprise taking place centuries before the opening of the wormhole, there was no convenient way to resurrect them. The franchise simply moved on, and the Dominion was left collecting dust on the shelves.

Picard Gives The Dominion the Comeback They Deserve

How deep space nine elevated the ferengi from jokes to serious characters.

The latter-day Star Trek renaissance provided an opportunity to do something special with the Dominion. Picard Season 3 depicted a dying, vengeance-obsessed Borg queen pairing up with a radical faction of Changelings to take another run at destroying the Earth. They replace key Starfleet members and sabotage the transporters aboard most of its starships by infecting those who use it with a subtle hormone that allows the Borg Queen to take control of them remotely. The complex plot sees Picard and the reunited crew of the Enterprise-D work to uncover the truth before the sinister coalition springs its trap.

Beyond the cleverness of the plot and its borderline horror-movie premise, Amanda Plummer's Changeling Vadic cements herself as an instant fan favorite. She and her cohorts were captured and experimented on during the Dominion War, rendering them traumatized and filled with hate. Plummer always excels in eccentric roles, which feels like a being who hasn't quite mastered the art of humanoid emotional expression. She's manic, mercurial, and extremely bad at hiding the depths of her hatred.

While Vadic meets her just fate before seeing her plans come to fruition, her presence lingers in the series' final few episodes, to the point of outclassing the Borg Queen herself. She also gives a face to the Changelings, who were usually by definition disguised as someone else. Their representative (known only as "female Changeling") was presumptuous and cold, which forms a stark contrast with Vadic's onscreen villain. It demonstrates the effects of their defeat on the Dominion's self-styled god-rulers.

Picard helps the Dominion demonstrate a viable arc over time, in the same manner as the Klingons, the Romulans and the Borg. Fans can see how the loss has affected them as individuals, as well as the political fallout from it all. Vadic belongs to a splinter group rather than the bulk of the collective. It gives them the depth and sense of continuity they need to rightfully join the ranks of elite Star Trek villains . With Picard opening the door to further appearances, and with other antagonists suffering from decades of overuse, an extended return could help define the future of the franchise.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Picard are both streaming in their entirety on Paramount+.

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery brings back picard season 3’s portal weapon with a twist.

Star Trek: Discovery introduced an updated version of the portal weapon used by Vadic in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

• A handheld portal weapon featured in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premiere is a portable version of a Vadic's Star Trek: Picard season 3 technology.
• Moll and L'ak use the portal weapon against Captain Burnham, setting the stage for an action-packed galactic treasure hunt.
• Uncertainty surrounds the fate of Section 31 in Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd century.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 1 - "Red Directive" A new version of the portal weapon from Star Trek: Picard season 3 made an appearance in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. In Picard season 3, a portal weapon was used by Vadic (Amanda Plummer) and her renegade Changelings in their attack on the United Federation of Planets. The Changelings stole the experimental technology from Starfleet's Daystrom Station and used it to destroy a Starfleet Recruitment Center as a precursor to a much larger attack. Vadic's powerful warship, the Shrike, was also equipped with a portal weapon that Vadic used in a battle against the USS Titan-A.

With Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd-century setting, technology has improved significantly since the 25th century of Star Trek: Picard . Although the Federation of the far future was nearly destroyed by the Burn, they managed to hold onto and continue to develop much of their technology. Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and her crew, for example, regularly use advanced personal transporters, phasers, and programmable matter. Discovery season 5, episode 1, "Red Directive" reveals that even the non-affiliated couriers of the 32nd century have access to advanced technology, including a handheld portal weapon.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Star trek: discovery makes picard’s portal weapon portable & handheld, moll & la'k use a handheld portal weapon against captain burnham..

Star Trek: Discovery's season 5 premiere sends the USS Discovery on a galactic treasure hunt in a race against two couriers, Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis). After Moll and L'ak raid an 800-year-old Romulan ship, they find a traditional puzzle box containing a book that could lead to the creators of humanoid life, introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Chase." Captain Burnham and her team arrive just after Moll and L'ak have taken the artifact, but not before they have made their escape. The two groups exchange phaser fire, but Moll and L'ak possess more advanced weapons.

In Star Trek: Picard season 3, Vadic used her portal weapon to send the Titan back into a dangerous nebula and to send the Titan's photon torpedoes back at them, causing massive damage.

When Captain Burnham tells the two couriers to hand over the puzzle box, L'ak pulls out a small disc and tosses it at Michael. As Moll and L'ak make their escape, the disc explodes, creating a portal and a massive hold in the deck of the Romulan ship. Burnham is sucked out into space, but her programmable matter suit deploys just in time. Moll and L'ak's portal weapon works a bit differently than Vadic's and, thankfully, only delays Michael, but it remains to be seen what other unique tech the two couriers may possess. See Moll and La'k's portal weapon in the clip below:

Does Section 31 Still Exist In Star Trek: Discovery’s 32nd Century?

Could section 31 have survived the burn and the near-collapse of the federation.

The portal weapon used by Vadic in Star Trek: Picard season 3 was housed at Daystrom Station, a Starfleet black site where Section 31's most dangerous technology was kept off-the-books. The weapon Moll and L'ak possess do resemble those of Section 31. Although Star Trek: Discovery explored the Section 31 of the 23rd century in its first two seasons, the show has not acknowledged whether Section 31 exists in the 32nd century. Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) joined Section 31 in Discovery season 2, but her upcoming film, Star Trek: Section 31 , will take place in the early 24th century, also known as Star Trek's "lost era."

One of the most mysterious characters in Star Trek: Discovery , Dr. Kovich's (David Cronenberg) exact role remains unclear, leaving the possibility open that he could be involved with Section 31 or its 32nd-century equivalent.

Considering the Burn destroyed numerous Starfleet ships and decimated the Federation in 3069, it seems unlikely that Section 31 would be a priority as the Federation rebuilds. None of the higher-ups introduced so far in Discovery have made any mention of Section 31, even with the multiple galaxy-threatening events the Federation has faced. The black market appears to the thriving in the 32nd century, however, so a covert Starfleet Intelligence organization would likely prove useful. Star Trek: Discovery season 5 could still reveal something about Section 31, but perhaps the black ops organization has become a thing of Star Trek's past.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Preview: Star Trek: Discovery 503 “Janaal”

Following up on last week’s two-episode premiere, Star Trek: Discovery returns for the third installment of its fifth and final season with “Janaal.” The episode is written by Kyle Jarrow & Lauren Wilkinson and directed by Andi Armaganian .

Today, we have a clip along with seven new photos from the episode — featuring Keith Rennie as Rayner, Mary Wiseman as Tilly, Wilson Cruz as Culber, Tara Rosling as President T’Rina, Doug Jones as Saru, Blu del Barrio as Adira and Ian Alexander as Gray Til.

You can check out the new photos below. Please be aware of some minor spoilers.

Official description:

On Trill, Captain Burnham, Book, and Culber must pass a dangerous test to prove themselves worthy of the next clue. Adira reconnects with Gray and Saru’s first day as ambassador is complicated by his engagement to T’Rina.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 castmembers include Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Saru), Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), David Ajala (Cleveland “Book” Booker), Blu del Barrio (Adira) and Callum Keith Rennie (Rayner). Season five also features recurring guest stars Elias Toufexis (L’ak) and Eve Harlow (Moll).

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Prodigy , Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Lower Decks, and more.

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‘Star Trek: Discovery’ S5 Review: Final Season Is Its Best

This season has a brisk pace and the sense of fun that in the past has been crushed under the weight of grave galactic stakes..

Star Trek: Discovery occupies an interesting place in the celebrated franchise. It was the first Trek series of the streaming era, the first to debut behind a paywall, the first produced after J.J. Abrams’ big screen reboot, and the first to put a woman of color in the captain’s chair. Discovery redefined the look and feel of the franchise on television, bringing Trek into the modern world of feature-level photography, effects, and pace of story. It blazed a trail for a new generation of Trek media, like direct spin-off Strange New Worlds and the upcoming Section 31 TV movie. It is also not terribly popular amidst the old guard of Trekkies, nor is it a mainstream hit or a critical darling. Discovery has struggled to find its footing from the very beginning and is still uneven after years of retooling. I do not consider its cancellation after five seasons to be a tragic loss for television. However, Discovery may still have one “first” left to achieve: It may be the first Star Trek series whose final season is its best. 

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(A quick personal note to the handful of Trekkies who just clutched their pearls: Season 4 of Enterprise is not better than Season 3, it merely has more familiar stuff for fans to point at with childlike glee. And you’ve likely already read my thoughts on Picard ’s final season .)

Even as a critic of the show, I have to acknowledge that every season of Discovery has started with a bang. It’s the nature of a serialized, season-long story arc to kick off with something resembling the first act of a feature film, and Season 5 is no different. The opening chapter, “Red Directive,” is a fast-paced space adventure packed with flashy action set pieces. The illustrious Captain Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin-Green ) and her crew are on the trail of Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis), a spacefaring Bonnie and Clyde who have stumbled across a secret with enormous implications for the future of the galaxy. Just like the previous three seasons, this sets Team Disco off on another cosmic scavenger hunt, jumping to a new world each week to find the next clue to the season’s grander mystery. 

Historically, this is where Discovery has run into trouble. While each chapter tends to have its own contained adventure plot or even a classic Trek “message of the week,” they’re rarely that memorable and they advance the season’s overarching storyline without adding much depth. This season, though, has a brisk pace and a sense of fun that, previously, has been crushed under the weight of grave galactic stakes. Paramount has promoted this season as having an Indiana Jones energy to it , and that’s a fair comparison. The characters are enjoying themselves more, and for the first time since Season 2, the story isn’t built around some unfathomable tragedy. T o my best recollection, none of the episodes provided in advance to critics feature any crying. That’s four consecutive episodes, possibly a new track record.

This is not the only way in which Discovery ’s new season throttles back on the show’s occasionally cloying sentimentality. The season premiere introduces a new character, Captain Rayner ( Callum Keith Rennie ), a gruff pragmatist who serves as a contrast to Burnham’s soft-spoken, personable, firmly feminine command style. At first, Rayner appears to be a straw man representing aggro, entitled white male authority, a trope Discovery goes to often. As the season progresses, Rayner acquires some depth and even some likability. It’s fun to watch this grumpy old guy interact with a cast full of characters who are totally in touch with their feelings. Most importantly, Rayner provides something that the series has needed ever since Burnham took command of Discovery: a professional peer with whom to disagree and occasionally compromise. It’s an essential role that her first officer, Saru ( Doug Jones ), has become too adoring and loyal to play. Burnham has earned the devotion of her crew, but watching her gracefully manage dissent only enhances her aura of strength and leadership.

Even though production was wrapped before Discovery was canceled (with additional shooting after that announcement to tie up loose ends), Season Five feels like a finale from the very beginning. A few characters are moving on with their lives, pursuing new interests and relationships. There are more fun, non-intrusive callbacks to Treks past than in the last two seasons, which makes it feel a bit like a victory lap for the streaming era’s flagship show. Above all, there is a sense of ease, as if the cast and crew have finally got their engine running smoothly and can cruise to the finish line. It’s the energy a series possesses at its peak, a point to which fans will often look back and say “They probably should have stopped there.” Barring a significant misstep in its final six episodes, Star Trek: Discovery will never be past its prime, and that’s a distinction its creators can wear with pride. 

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Star Trek: Discovery's New Captain Already Equaled Kirk & Picard

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

• Captain Rayner, like Kirk and Picard, earned the prestigious Grankite Order of Tactics award in Star Trek: Discovery season 5.
• Captain Rayner becomes Burnham's First Officer after disciplinary actions, bringing a gruff demeanor to the optimistic crew dynamic.
• Rayner helps the USS Discovery crew on dangerous missions, proving he genuinely cares about the mission and the Federation.

One of Star Trek: Discovery's newest cast members, Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), has something in common with two of Starfleet's greatest Captains, James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). In its fifth and final season, Discovery finds Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the USS Discovery embarking on an epic treasure hunt that spans the galaxy. Before the season premiered, several new characters were announced, including Callum Keith Rennie's Captain Rayner . With his gruff personality and old-school approach, Rayner's command style contrasts sharpling with that of Captain Burnham.

Despite their earlier disagreements, Captain Burnham later seeks Rayner out to be the new First Officer of the USS Discovery. Although Saru has enjoyed serving Discovery's Number One, he decides to accept a position as a Federation Ambassador — in part because of his romance with Ni'var President T'Rina (Tara Rosling). As Burnham leads up to asking Rayner, she references some of his accolades, including the Grankite Order of Tactics . This Starfleet commendation is given to officers who are particularly skilled tacticians. Previous recipients of this award include Captain James Kirk, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick).

Captain Rayner is a member of the Kellerun species, who were first introduced on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Captain rayner received a starfleet award kirk, picard, & shaw won, all four captains received the grankite order of tactics..

In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, "Red Directive," Burnham and her crew work alongside Captain Rayner and his ship, the USS Antares, to pursue renegade couriers, Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) to the planet Q’Mau. Moll and L'ak have stolen a Romulan puzzle box that contains the diary of an 800-year-old Romulan named Dr. Vellek (Michael Copeman), who had been searching for the technology the Progenitors used to create life. After a near-disaster on Q'Mau, Starfleet holds a disciplinary hearing regarding Rayner's actions. When Rayner must step down as Captain, Burnham recruits him to be her First Officer, saying she wants someone who will sometimes challenge her.

Star Trek: Discovery has not yet revealed much about Rayner's history, but Michael mentions that he has received "citations for distinguished service" and " awards of valor," in addition to the Grankite Order of Tactics. This particular award has been mentioned before, connected to three different Starfleet Captains. James Kirk received this award sometime prior to his court martial in 2267, as it was mentioned by the computer in Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 20, "Court Martial." Jean-Luc Picard received the award for creating the "Picard Maneuver" when he was Captain of the USS Stargazer . Lastly, Captain Liam Shaw of the USS Titan earned the reward "in recognition of outstanding maneuvers in battle" during his time as a Commander.

Rayner Disrupts Star Trek: Discovery's Family In The Best Way

Like captain shaw in star trek: picard season 3, rayner is a man of a different time..

Despite his gruff exterior, Captain Rayner has already proven himself at least twice by helping the USS Discovery's crew. When Moll and L'ak cause an avalanche on Q'Mau, Rayner followed Captain Burnham's lead and used his ship to save the colony there. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2 , "Under the Twin Moons," Rayner steps in to help even after he has been forced into an early retirement. When Discovery travels to the planet Lyrek as the next stop on their hunt for the Progenitors' treasure, Michael and Saru find themselves facing off against an automated weapons system.

Rayner brings a very different personality to the mostly optimistic family of Star Trek: Discovery .

As Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio) work to save Burnham and Saru, Rayner pops in via hologram to help them find a solution. These actions show Michael that Rayner genuinely cares about the mission and the Federation as a whole. Captain Burnham knows that the journey ahead will be a dangerous one, and she welcomes Rayner's different way of thinking. Much like Captain Shaw shook up the dynamic in Star Trek: Picard season 3, Rayner brings a very different personality to the mostly optimistic family of Star Trek: Discovery .

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery air Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

Cast Blu del Barrio, Oded Fehr, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Eve Harlow, Mary Wiseman, Callum Keith Rennie

Release Date September 24, 2017

Writers Alex Kurtzman

Directors Jonathan Frakes, Olatunde Osunsanmi

Showrunner Alex Kurtzman

Where To Watch Paramount+

Why ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Built Season 5 Around a Classic Episode From a Legacy Series

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 5, Episode 1 of “ Star Trek : Discovery,” now streaming on Paramount+.

By the end of the episode, however, the mission has pushed Burnham and her crew to their limits, including slamming the USS Discovery into the path of a massive landslide threatening a nearby city. Before they risk their lives any further pursuing this object, Burnham demands that Kovich at least tell her why. (MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW.)

Kovich’s explanation evokes the classic “ Star Trek: The Next Generation ” episode “The Chase” from 1993 in which Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) — along with teams of Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians — learn that all humanoid life in the galaxy was created by a single species that existed billions of years earlier, and seeded thousands of planets with the DNA to pass along their legacy. (Along with presenting a profound vision of the origins of life, the episode also provided an imaginative explanation for why almost all the aliens in “Star Trek” basically look like humans with different kinds of forehead ridges.)

Kovich tells Burnham that the Romulan scientist was part of a team sent to discover exactly how these aliens — whom they call the Progenitors — made this happen; the object they’re seeking winds up being one part of a brand new “chase,” this time in the 32nd century, to find the Progenitors’ technology before it can fall into the wrong hands. 

“I remember watching that episode and at the end of it just being blown away that there was this huge idea where we all come from,” Paradise says. “And then they’re going to have another mission the next week. I found myself wondering, ‘Well, then what? What happened? What do we do with this information? What does it mean?’”

Originally, Paradise says the “Discovery” writers’ room discussed evoking the Progenitors in Season 4, when the Discovery meets an alien species, the 10-C, who live outside of the galaxy and are as radically different from humans as one could imagine. “As we dug deeper into the season itself, we realized that it was too much to try and get in,” Paradise says.

Instead, they made the Progenitors the engine for Season 5. “Burnham and some of our other characters are on this quest for personal meaning,” Paradise says. Searching for the origins of life itself, she adds, “feels like a big thematic idea that fits right in with what we’re exploring over the course of the season, and what our characters are going through.”

That meant that Paradise finally got to help come up with the answers to the questions about “The Chase” that had preoccupied her when she was younger. “We had a lot of fun talking about what might’ve happened when [Picard] called back to headquarters and had to say, ‘Here’s what happened today,’” she says. “We just built the story out from there.”

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