Right off the bat, let’s be upfront: we’re huge Trekkies over here. Can’t get enough! The Star Trek universe is inarguably one of the most influential franchises in pop culture and sci-fi history, and Star Trek: Picard is no exception.
A fresh, modern, and perhaps more realistic take on Star Trek, Picard reintroduces us to one of the franchise’s most beloved characters, Jean-Luc Picard. Finally, it’s back on Prime Video for a second season, and we’re obsessed. Even better, it’s already been renewed for season three, so we know for sure there’s more to come.
Star Trek: Picard brings us the best of both worlds, with a show that’s new and exciting but also holds a deep respect and reverence for the lore of the universe it’s extending. It offers the moral and existential dilemmas so familiar to Star Trek: The Next Generation fans and makes us question the very nature of what it means to be alive, while offering us a different version of the Picard we’ve known and loved for so many years.
The second season of Star Trek: Picard is especially exciting for fans of the franchise, as it brings back favourites from Star Trek: The Next Generation in the form of Picard’s long-time nemesis, Q, and advisor, Guinan. This season also peppers easter eggs for Next Gen and Deep Space Nine throughout and in the first two episodes alone, we’ve seen a solar system pullback that is a visual callback to the Star Trek: The Next Generation opener from its first two seasons.
Other easter eggs you may have noticed in the premiere episode of season two include the red alert graphic that was first seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (and then throughout Star Trek: Discovery), and the vintage on Picard’s new wine tells us how much time has passed between seasons one and two (roughly a year and a half).
A (very) quick recap of the premise of Picard season one: It’s 2399, and after an acrimonious retirement from Starfleet, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard is now running Château Picard. Then, a young woman named Dahj (played by Isa Briones) contacts Picard. The Romulan secret service is out to get her, and she needs Picard’s protection and assistance as she looks for her missing twin sister, Soji (also played by Brinoes). Briones plays three female androids in the second season of Star Trek: Picard, including Sutra who may look near-identical to twin sisters Soji and Dahj, there are some key differences that might be explained in season two.
The first two episodes of season two are now available to watch on Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand (with new episodes airing every Friday evening), and follow Jean-Luc and his companions as they find themselves trapped in an alternate reality by Q.
Set in the 21st century, they’re fighting to save the world from a totalitarian regime. In this season, Q is up to his old tricks and, as Picard describes it, he and his crew find themselves “deposited in a mad world by a madman.” The all-knowing bartender, Guinan (played by Whoopi Goldberg) appears in this season — with Saurian brandy at the ready, of course — to warn Picard that he has one final frontier yet to come. In the trailer, we see her deliver the line, “Your answers are not in the stars — and they never have been.”
But how did Picard get here?
We first met Picard way back in 1987, when Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered. Over the course of the six-season series, we learn that Jean-Luc Picard was born in La Barre, France, in 2305.
Set in the 24th Century, when the French language has become obsolete, he speaks with an English accent, enjoys Shakespeare, and (as Guinan reminds us when Picard comes to see her) fancies a nice cup of Earl Grey tea, all of which are very English. In fact, season two even sees many callbacks to Picard’s famous line, “tea, Earl Grey, hot,” just in case any of us had forgotten about his distinct British-ness. Though, notably, he does have a tendency to revert to French in times of pressure, for example, when he swears.
From childhood, Picard dreamed of joining the Starfleet Academy and we’ve seen clues that it was his mother who instilled his love of the stars — and was the source of his famous line at the end of the very first episode of Next Generation, “let’s see what’s out there”. He was admitted on his second attempt and after overcoming several ethical and academic hurdles during his cadetship, Picard found his footing and began to excel.
The Picard who fought to uphold the ideals of the United Federation of Planets and the Starfleet by leading with his diplomacy and steering away from violence, now finds he exists as a warmonger who keeps the skulls of his enemies as trophies.
This brings us to Picard season one, which picks up with Picard still grieving Data’s death 20 years after the fact. Data, who is one of the Star Trek universe’s most beloved characters, continues to appear in Picard throughout season one. Season two also sees Brent Spiner (who plays Data) return as another member of the Soong family.
Only time will tell where Picard season two will lead us, but one thing’s for sure: we’re excited to see how exactly Jean-Luc works with his crew to save the galaxy and bring them all home safely. Star Trek: Picard season two is streaming now on Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand, with new episodes dropping every Friday night from March 4 through May 6.
