****BORG-CUBE SIZED SPOILERS!!!****
Last week, the new CBS-All Access Star Trek series “Picard” (streaming in “early 2020”) debuted a new trailer at San Diego Comic Con that promised a few more familiar faces than previously hinted.
Some of those familiar faces include Star Trek: Voyager alum “Seven of Nine” (played by a seemingly ageless Jeri Ryan) as well as a digitally de-aged “Data” (Brent Spiner). Seven seems a lot more ‘human’ than we last saw her on Voyager 18 years ago.
Given that Picard’s second officer Data was blown to bits in the last Next Generation feature film “Nemesis” (2002), there has been speculation over whether the Data we see in the trailer is really Data. Perhaps he’s a holographic recreation of Data, or maybe he’s been physically resurrected using one of the other two inert Soong-type android bodies (Lore and B-4) as vessels for Data’s mind.
“Picard” trailer breakdown.
The following are my interpretations/theories/hunches about the images in the “Star Trek: Picard” trailer. However, opinions/theories can and will vary. If you’d like to share yours, please feel free to comment below, and I will try to reply as soon as possible.
Picard goes to Starfleet Academy to seek help in protecting the mystery woman. Starfleet HQ is shot on location at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California, which is right across the street from Disneyland.
I know that particular location very well, since my wife and I go there every year for WonderCon: WonderCon 2019 in Anaheim: Star Trek, Superheroes, cosplay and Wam-Bam, Thank you, Shazam!
The cadet uniforms appear to be reminiscent of the bright red cadet uniforms worn by Starfleet Academy cadets in JJ Abrams’ “Star Trek” (2009), the first of three films made by Abrams’ “Bad Robot” production company. This fits, as Alex Kurtzman was a cowriter and producer on the three Bad Robot-produced Trek feature films, as well as “Star Trek: Discovery.” The overall aesthetic of both “Picard” and “Discovery” are more in keeping with the Bad Robot Star Trek movies than the TNG TV series.
Vasquez Rocks, in north Los Angeles County, located in the town of Aqua Dulce (“Sweet Water”), between the suburbs of Santa Clarita and Palmdale. This rocky locale was used in many Star Trek productions, dating all the way back to the original series (“Arena” “The Alternative Factor” “Friday’s Child”) as well as TNG (“Who Watches The Watchers?”). It also doubled for Vulcan in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986) and “Star Trek” (2009).
In the trailer, Picard wanders a desert world, possibly Vulcan (?) where Romulan refugees might have resettled following the destruction of their homeworld in 2009’s “Star Trek.” The destruction of Romulus no doubt created a massive refugee crisis, of which Picard may have played a role. This is (presumably) related to the reason he was forced to resign or retire early from Starfleet.
If there are indeed Romulans resettled on Vulcan, it’d be an ironic fulfillment of the dream of the late Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) from the two-part TNG episode, “Unification” (1991).
Picard, ever the diplomat, formally greets a young katana-sporting Romulan (Evan Evagora) aboard a ship.
Is she some sort of Borg/Romulan hybrid? Maybe a human-Borg offspring of Chakotay and Seven of Nine? Or maybe she represents something wholly other. Whatever she is, she is of galaxy-wide importance for some reason.
To be honest, I’m a little nervous by the implicit “Chosen One” story in the trailer. It’s a tired, overused sci-fi/fantasy trope. But of course, I prefer to first see “Star Trek: Picard” before I judge. Maybe there’s a new spin on it?
Speaking of the Borg, Jeri Ryan’s “Seven of Nine” (or possibly going by Annika Hansen these days?) pays a visit to Jean-Luc, and in a much more human manner asks, “What the hell are you doing out here, Picard? Saving the galaxy?”
Wee lastly see what appears to be a fully-reassembled Commander Data (who was obliterated at the end of 2002’s “Nemesis”) playing card games with his former captain. Picard tells Data, “I don’t want the game to end,” to which Data drily replies, “I can see that, Captain.” We see some subtle CGI de-aging used on actor Brent Spiner, which makes him look a bit closer to his appearance of 20 years ago.
Jean-Luc’s melancholy manner in the scene leads me to believe that this version of Data is most likely a hologram of Picard’s sacrificed shipmate. Or he could also be an actual physical reincarnation of Data, using the inert bodies of either Lore or B-4 to carry Data’s surviving consciousness… like downloading one’s old settings into a new phone. For this scene, I’m guessing he’s a simulation.
There are also confirmed guest appearances from Jonathan Del Arco’s individualized Borg character of “Hugh” (“I, Borg,” “Descent” parts 1,2), and Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), along with his ‘Imzadi’/wife, Commander Deanna Troi-Riker (Marina Sirtis). I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Le Var Burton’s “Geordi La Forge” makes an appearance, or even John de Lancie’s “Q.” Despite my welcoming of these actors and their characters, my concern is that this new series (specifically titled “Picard”) might become awash in Next Gen nostalgia, and end up as more of a retread instead of its own thing.
We saw something like this last season with “Discovery” and its inclusion of classic TOS characters Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Number One (Rebecca Romijn), and Spock (Ethan Peck), as well as a nicely revamped version of the original starship USS Enterprise itself. The confused, technobabble-heavy plot of Discovery’s second season was often easily overshadowed by the beautifully reimagined Enterprise and its smartly recast crew. Whenever the Enterprise and her characters were onscreen they had my full attention, often at the expense of Discovery itself. I’m not against the notion of guest appearances from previous Trek characters, but too many all at once could turn “Picard” into a Next Generation reunion cruise. Such appearances should be used judiciously. However, with some restraint, perhaps we could see other smartly-used cameos from “Deep Space Nine” or “Voyager” as well. We’ll find out “in early 2020″….
The First Duty Starfleet Museum, Saluting Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
As mentioned in my posts on San Diego Comic Con 2019 (see the three prior entries to this one), there was a collection of artifacts, props and costumes from both “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987-2002) and the new “Star Trek: Picard” series (2019) at the Michael J. Wolf Fine Arts Gallery, in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego. The exhibit is also expected to tour at the annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas next week (and I will be there, too).
I’ve included a few more pics here than I did in my previous Comic Con post, since this post is all about the new Picard series:
This ship was seen in the S1 episode “The Battle”, as well as a model in Picard’s ready room aboard the Enterprise-D. The ship was mentioned many times throughout the course of the series.
The USS Enterprise-D (1987-1994), which was destroyed after fatally wounded in a Klingon attack in “Star Trek: Generations” (1994). The surviving saucer section crash-landed on the surface of the planet Veridian III.
From left to right, Commander Data (Brent Spiner), Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Commander Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton), Commander Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart).
It is confirmed that we will see Data (in some form), as well as Riker and Troi, in “Picard.” Other appearances may follow.
The flute (a nonfunctional prop) was the sole artifact launched into space aboard an alien probe from the extinct planet Kataan. The probe implanted a lifetime of memories into the brain of a temporarily unconscious Captain Picard. These memories allowed him to live an entire life as an iron weaver named “Kamen” on the long-dead world. This life was as ‘real’ to Picard as his life aboard the Enterprise… he even married and had children. He awoke from that virtual lifetime a changed man.
The uniform is of the same kind used in the first 5 seasons of “Deep Space Nine” and all 7 years of “Voyager.” Redesigned costumes for “Generations” were rejected at the last minute, so the DS9 costumes were used instead. Many shots of the film see characters wearing both the new uniforms as well as their uniforms seen in Next Gen.
The single-piece jumpsuits from the first two seasons were replaced with two-piece uniforms designed by Robert Blackman. The two-piece uniforms were mainly seen only on the male characters, as the women on the series still wore variations of the single-piece versions. Sexism in space…
Picard’s certificate into the “Speed of Light” club, first achieved aboard the starship USS Leondegrance, NCC-2176 (the name is a reference to the King Arthur legend). The Leondegrance has a very similar aesthetic to the sharper-angled 23rd century starships seen in “Star Trek: Discovery”, particularly the USS Shenzhou, formerly commanded by Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh).
Preparing to enter orbit of Star Trek Las Vegas…
Next week, it’s off to Vegas where I hope to get more information on both “Picard” and the new Discovery “Short Treks” to air later this fall. I also hope to nab a couple of interviews for this site, including a follow up with Aron Eisenberg (whom I had the pleasure of interviewing last year for this site). Hopefully our schedules will allow us time for a decent sit-down, as they miraculously did last year. Fingers crossed..
So stay tuned until next week, as I set a course for the strange (not so) new world known as “Star Trek Las Vegas 2019.”
Engage….
Great breakdown of the Picard trailer, really looking forward to the series! Nice pictures of the museum’s spaceships, sect, awesome!
Thanks, Paul!
I’m off to the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention next week, where I hope to get many more pics, as well some interviews too.
Brilliant, will look forward to seeing news on that!
The fact that Picard is by largely the same team that brought us Discovery and the Abramsverse movies (neither of which I’ve enjoyed) worries me a lot. I grew up with TNG and adore the character of Jean-Luc Picard; I would hate to see them screw this up.
On the other hand, that is a damn fine trailer. A friend of mine who’s never been a Trekkie saw it and was so impressed she started watching TNG for the first time in her life. If the show lives up to its promise, it could be something special.
My hope is that it’s not just some “the Borg are coming back” story. That would be very dull — the Borg have been done to death. But the destruction of the Collective at the end of Voyager could have presumably left a nation of freed drones without a home or leadership, and that’s a plot thread that could be very interesting. Perhaps Seven and Hugh are the leaders of this new nation of freed Borg?
I do find it interesting that the first trailer seemed to hint at a Romulan-focused story, whereas this one is all Borg, all the time. This could either be a worrying sign of an unfocused story direction (or an attempt to bait and switch the fans), or a hopeful sign of a complex story that’s not what we’re expecting in a good way. Depends on how cynical you want to be, I guess.
Overall, this trailer has definitely moved me much more towards optimism, but I still feel some trepidation. I just really want this show to be good.
Right there with you.
Some parts of it worried me (the ‘chosen one’ trope, for one), but overall I find a bit more cause for optimism.
I don’t mind a “chosen one” story if it’s done well. It is a bit of an odd choice for the more rational minded Star Trek (would make more sense if this was Star Wars or something), but I’ll keep an open mind on it.
Of course, this attitude may be influenced by the fact that I turn into a teenage anime girl with hearts for eyes whenever Isa Briones is on screen. Not seen her in anything else, but damn she is gorgeous.
Great breakdown. Wasn’t Vulcan also destroyed in the 2009 Trek?
It was, but only in the newly established “Kelvinverse” timeline, so it still exists, as long as the new Picard series is still set in TOS/TNG’s prime universe.