The first teaser trailer for the Star Trek: Picard series shows us just where Jean-Luc Picard has landed in life some 20 years since we last saw him in Star Trek: Nemesis. But what about the rest of his crew from the Enterprise-D? Will we see any of the main crew members from Star Trek: The Next Generation show up one more time in this new series? Are they all even still all alive? (For the record, the actors who played them all still are).
The best place to look for clues as to where the TNG characters might end up two and a half decades later is the TNG series finale, “All Good Things,” which in fact gave us a glimpse 25 years into the future. While the events of that particular future have already been altered, some things could still end up being true. The TNG finale showed us an elder Picard working his family vineyards, and we now know that came to pass thanks to this new trailer. Based on that classic episode, here’s what we think Picard’s colleagues could be up to if and when we meet them again.
Commander Riker
In “All Good Things,” the future William T. Riker became an Admiral, and also a bit of grumpy old man. He was in command of the Enterprise-D, which has been updated and retrofitted. We already know that this one aspect of his future can’t play out the same, as the Enterprise-D was destroyed in Star Trek: Generations, and the crew got an all-new Enterprise in the next film. But Riker was seemingly mourning the loss of Deanna Troi under unspecified circumstances, hence the bitterness. Could that aspect still play out in the Picard timeline?
Counselor Deanna Troi
When last we saw the Enterprise’s Betazoid counselor, she was marrying her on again/off again love Will Riker in Star Trek: Nemesis, in which the two set off to adventure together on the starship Titan. But the “All Good Things” timeline suggested that at some point during the 25 years to follow, Troi came to a tragic end. With Marina Sirtis more than willing to appear in the Picard series, we doubt her tragic future happens in this timeline; we just don’t have a clear idea of what she’d be up to.
Data
“All Good Things” showed us that future Data had fully incorporated his emotion chip and had become a professor at Oxford. Later films showed us that Data did eventually gain emotions, so that part came true. However, Nemesis killed off the character, although the final moments of the film teased that Data downloaded his consciousness into another identical android named B-4. So we could still see Data, if the producers really want him to appear. As an android, Data doesn’t age, but the very human actor Brent Spiner does. If he does show up, some digital de-aging is going to be needed, which could be super cool… or super weird.
Geordi LaForge
In the “All Good Things” future, Geordi had retired from Starfleet and had become a successful novelist. He’d also married Leah Brahms, his one-time crush from the series. An episode of Voyager showed Geordi not only still in Starfleet, but a captain himself. So there are some contradictions regarding Geordi’s future in the Star Trek canon. The only thing that “All Good Things” said would happen to Geordi that for sure came to pass is that he lost his visor and had ocular implants so he could see. Other than that, Geordi LaForge’s future is far from set in stone.
Worf
“All Good Things” showed us that Worf had become a governor in the Klingon Empire, and had seemingly left Starfleet. In the finale of Deep Space Nine, Worf did end up leaving Starfleet to serve under the Klingon Chancellor as the Federation ambassador, although it is unclear by his final appearance in Nemesis if he still holds that position. It would be interesting to see if Worf has embraced his Klingon roots more than his identity as part of the Federation in the time since he last served under Picard… and if Picard can still manipulate his knowledge of the Klingon honor code to get Worf to help him in times of need.
Dr. Beverly Crusher
“All Good Things” revealed that Beverly and Jean-Luc had actually married after many years of flirtation on the series… and that they’d also eventually gotten a divorce. Beverly was Captain of a medical ship during this time, and although she was separated from Picard they remained on good terms. While we could see Captain Crusher in the Picard series, I have a sinking feeling she might have died during the intervening years, further distancing Picard from Starfleet. Even if she’s dead, though, I wouldn’t put it past the producers to use Gates McFadden in flashbacks.
Picard premieres January 23, 2020 on CBS All Access.
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Images: CBS / Paramount Pictures
