Star Trek: Picard excited many longtime franchise fans with the news that Season 3 will bring back most of the cast of The Next Generation. The season provides the opportunity for the cast of one of Trek’s most acclaimed shows to get one final adventure. According to star Marina Sirtis, it’ll even solve a big complaint that fans, and even some stars, have had for years.
As Paramount+ subscribers wait for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Marina Sirtis caught up with Red Carpet News TV about the upcoming episodes, and Sirtis spoke about conversations she had with the producers and her past feelings about the original Nemesis sendoff:
Well, the producers – before we ever started filming, when they were talking to us about the project – did say that they felt that we hadn’t been given a proper sendoff in Nemesis. And that they wanted to send us off the right way, which I appreciated because this is something that’s taken up my life on and off since 1987. And I did feel that we were kind of discarded a little bit, but we were definitely cherished on this project.
Star Trek: Nemesis has its fans, I’m sure, but it isn’t the most critically-acclaimed movie of the franchise. It’s far less acclaimed than The Next Generation, which might be why Marina Sirtis had her issues with it being the goodbye of sorts to the cast. Sirtis has since returned in Picard Season 1, alongside co-star Jonathan Frakes, and she will of course reprise her role as Deanna Troi in Season 3.
Star Trek: Picard does seem like it’ll give The Next Generation stars a proper sendoff, especially after executive producer Alex Kurtzman confirmed they’d each get a good deal of screentime in the final season (via TrekCore). Their screentime does mean less for a chunk of Picard's original cast, many of whom won’t return for the final season. The Season 2 finale gave some of those characters natural exits in the story, while those that remain, like Raffi and Seven, are confirmed to be in the upcoming season.
While nearly all of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s main cast appears in Season 3, there is one key player who won't be along for the ride. Wil Wheaton got to return as Wesley Crusher at the end of Season 2 in a role that solidified his place in the universe's canon, but sadly, none of that meant he's in the final season. Wheaton did speak to CinemaBlend and revealed that he knows a little something about the final season, and noted fans of TNG should be satisfied.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 is headed to Paramount+, likely in 2023. There’s plenty of new Trek to enjoy in the meantime, so be sure to keep that subscription active and maybe even binge some of TNG while waiting.
