Star Trek Debuts Picard’s New Ship and Crew

In last week’s episode of Star Trek: Picard, “The End is the Beginning,” Jean-Luc Picard crossed a significant threshold in his search for answers about Data’s legacy, the twin androids Dahj and Soji Asha. After 14 years of retirement at his château in France, Picard is taking to the stars once again. This time, he couldn’t get Starfleet approval or support. Instead, Picard had to find an unregistered ship and pilot and the crew he’s put together is ad hoc at best. This new crew is anything but Starfleet regulation. SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard‘s third episode, “The End is the Beginning,” follow.

Over the course of Star Trek: Picard‘s first three episodes, the series has shown Picard come to the realization that stepping away from the action those years ago was a mistake. Seeing what happened to Dahj and knowing that her sister is still out there somewhere, Picard has decided to take matters into his own hands. Starfleet isn’t willing to help, but Picard is going “back out into the cold,” as one character put it, to see if he can find some answers.

He contacted his old first officer Raffi Musiker to see if she could get him in touch with a pilot. Raffi wasn’t happy to hear from Picard after all those years as they did not part on good terms, but she agreed to put him in touch with a pilot she knows.

That pilot is Cristobal “Cris” Rios, who owns and operates the La Sirena. The ship’s name is Spanish for “The Mermaid” or “The Siren.” Rios also has a history with Starfleet. He was the first officer aboard a ship that Starfleet has wiped from its records. That experience left him bitter and disillusioned, but from their first meeting, Picard can tell Rios is still “Starfleet to the core.”

Before departing on Rios’ ship, Picard’s life is saved by Dr. Agnes Jurati. Dr. Jurati is the cybernetics and artificial intelligence expert Picard contacted at the Daystrom Institute when he first learned about Dahj’s true nature. Androids like Dahj and Soji have been Jurati’s dream since she began working in the field. She insists Picard take her with him and Picard agrees.

Upon boarding the La Sirena, Picard is surprised to find Raffi aboard. Despite still being angry with Picard, Raffi couldn’t help but look into the disappearance of Dr. Bruce Maddox, whom Picard believes built Dahj and her sister. She put together that Maddox went to a place called Freecloud. Raffi has her own reason for wanting to go to Freecloud, which she refuses to share with the group. She and Rios are old friends, and he lets her hitch a ride.

And so this motley crew departs Earth for Freecloud with Romulan agents on their tail. In the upcoming fourth episode, “Absolute Candor,” they’ll make a stop at the planet Vashti, where it seems they’ll be adding another member to their crew, the young Romulan named Elnor.

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard become available to stream Thursdays on CBS All Access.

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