Star Trek: Picard Star Patrick Stewart Hints at Season 2 Storylines

Star Trek: Picard begins production of its second season in February, and star Patrick Stewart is eager to get back to work. He expressed his joy at returning as Jean-Luc Picard during an interview with Gold Derby, though Picard lives a changed existence after the show's first season. The former Enterprise captain would be dead if his friends hadn't transferred his consciousness into a synthetic "golem" body. During the interview, Stewart hinted at what's to come from the next season of the CBS All Access series. That included touching on how Picard's new body might affect the character and hinting at another change in his life.

"That's a question that I brought up with [co-creator Akiva Goldsman[ and [showrunner Terry Matalas] when the three of us were having a script discussion," Stewart says. "I wanted to know what, exactly, they had done to me when they saved my life, and was there any chance that this might have an impact on Picard's personality or behavior. They felt that it probably wouldn't, but it lies there as an option should we need to take it. But also, there is another human aspect being introduced into season two, which I am not allowed to talk about, but it's going to have, I think, quite an impact."

But beyond its characters, Star Trek is often about a bigger picture that reflects our real world. Stewart touched on how that big picture is changing in Picard's second season.

"There is a strong element of a better future in all of the Star Trek versions there have been I'm sure it will be present in the animated version when we see it," Stewart says. "But it's undergoing a bit of a transformation at the moment as we're working on Season Two of Picard. The world around us is not as calm, patient, democratic as it has been. There are issues that are very contemporary. Now don't think for one moment, because Alex and Akiva would could me if they thought I was saying this, we are not tuning in to European politics or North American politics at all, but there is a sense in which things have gone wrong, and they need to be put back on track again. I hope that that will have a beneficial impact on our audience at home when they watch it. We don't lecture to people. We tell stories. That's our job. But I hope nevertheless there is a sense coming through, and I'm sure it will, of we have issues, and we have problems, and there is unfairness in the world, and we have got to resolve this if we can.

Star Trek: Picard begins production on its second season on February 1st.