Good news if you liked the unhinged vibes of Picard’s season 2 finale: if this new trailer for the third and final season is anything to go by, that vibe is continuing strongly.
Paramount just wowed New York Comic Con with an explosive new trailer for Picard’s final season. While our previous looks have focused on the nostalgia-laden return of The Next Generation’s primary cast — Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Michael Dorn as Worf, and LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge — this new trailer does that and actually teases what this season is actually going to be about.
Turns out it’s an entirely new threat to Starfleet, rather than any continuation of those wild hanging threads we saw in season 2’s finale — Amanda Plummer guest starring as Vadic, captain of an alien vessel called the Shrike, that is hunting Picard and his friends for mysterious reasons. Vadic is a very dire threat indeed, considering the amount of Starfleet officers being shot and what looks like a good chunk of its HQ imploding. But dire stakes require the biggest heroes possible, and Jean-Luc is bringing back his friends to rise to the occasion… although some look more willing to be there than others.
They’re not alone, either. In a lovely twist, given that Geordi himself appears to be one of those less-than-willing accomplices, two more LaForges will appear in the series. Ensign Sidney La Forge, Geordi’s eldest and the conn officer of the U.S.S. Titan will be played by played by Sharpe Chestnut, while Ensign Alanda La Forge, his youngest, will be played by Burton’s own daughter, Mica Burton.
Away from sentiment and into the absolutely bonkers territory however is two more major reveals at the climax of the trailer. Brent Spiner, one of Picard’s most regular returning familiar faces, is back once more, but this time somehow as Lore, Data’s evil android twin brother that was seemingly deactivated “for good” in the TNG season seven premiere, the second part of “Descent.” In an even wilder twist? Also menacing Picard one more time is Holographic Doctor Moriaty.
Yes. The fictional holodeck character who appeared in “Elementary, my Dear Data,” and “Ship In a Bottle.” And yes, it’s actor Daniel Davis returning in the role. What a bananas thing.
We’ve got time to process it, at least — Star Trek: Picard returns to Paramount+ one final time starting February 16, 2023.
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