The Star Trek fandom is pretty much on the edge of their collective seats awaiting more details and the premiere of Star Trek: Picard since the release of a teaser video in May.
Now, we’re treated to some new information from Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman who teased that we’ll see the legendary Star Fleet officer make his return to space in an unexpected way.
Picard’s Return to Space
According to Kurtzman, he will make his return to the vast reaches of space, but “not in a way that anyone expects.” For fans, this could either be a great sign or not.
Alex Kurtzman spoke to EW about the project and what he said gives us a bit of a picture of how the captain gets back into space after 10 years working the family vineyard in France.
Kurtzman makes it clear that the choice to return to space isn’t one that is solely decided by Picard. Instead, a series of events (which by his quote means that someone or some people are involved) push him to make his return. Kurtzman says, “Events began to unfold that conspire to take Picard back to the stars.”
Then Kurtzman teases us by saying “He will (return to space), but not in a way that anyone expects.”
Next, we’re given another nugget of information. Take it as you’d like. According to Kurtzman, Picard is returning to space to fight injustice.
“Because he’s no longer in Starfleet, he no longer carries the weight of that behind him,…In some ways, it’s easier to be [a great man] when you’re a captain. But it’s an entirely different thing when you don’t have an army behind you. When you want to get something done and fight an injustice, how do you do that when you’re really only one man?”
Picard Taking a Stand?
This wouldn’t be the first time in Star Trek history in which the captain has taken a stand for someone or a group of people facing injustice. One of the most cited episodes, from my own experiences, has been The Drumhead and in it we witness Picard take a stand against injustice.
It happened in the form of racial bigotry. A young star fleet officer’s loyalty and honor was questioned because he was part Romulan. Though he had played no part in what they believe was a terrorist attack on the Enterprise, his character was questioned solely on attributes he couldn’t control, such as his patronage.
You can watch a part of the episode below where the accusations of disloyal against the federation are thrown upon him:
The show’s format was also addressed. Unlike The Next Generation, Star Trek: Picard will be a serialized story at least in its first season. It’s a format used exclusively by Star Trek: Discovery and touched upon in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with the Dominion War arc and Voyager.
One aspect of the interview that has given me hopes for the show was a comment made by Kurtzman. Though Picard is older, the producer claims that he is fundamentally the same, stating: “It was terribly important to us that he remains fundamentally Picard,”
Though what that means exactly could be anyone’s guess…
Any Reunions in Store?
Finally, a question that has lingered in my head for some time is the idea of some surprise reunions for the captain. Will we see some old crew mates make an appearance? At least for now, it’s not being ruled out according to Kurtzman.
First and foremost he wants to make sure that the cameos aren’t done solely for the sake of cameos saying, “What we don’t want to do is just throw in cameos,” Kurtzman says. “There would have to be an incredibly specific story reason [for them to be there].”
So there is at least some hope in a Captian Worf appearance! This is the latest set of updates on a very anticipated series.
Just last week we got our first taste of some of the visuals of the show with a poster release. In it, we saw some interesting hints at not only the direction of the show but also how the Kelvin Timeline might affect the series.
What do you think of all of this? Do you believe that Star Trek: Picard will truly deliver, or will it divide a fanbase that is already facing a deep divide?