With the dramatic final episode of season 2, there’s a lot up in the air, so many are excited to see what will happen. From previous teaser trailers, it has already been revealed that the old cast were reprising their roles, and that the series would somehow revolve around a distress call from Doctor Beverly Crusher, but with the new trailer, there’s a lot more information to unpack.
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The trailer offers a good look at each of the beloved characters, with more screen time for each, including an apparently pacifist Worf much to the amusement of fans and TV trope followers. It also revealed the season’s new villain, played by none other than Amanda Plummer from Pulp Fiction. She is set to play Vadic, a mysterious captain of the fantastically designed (though Roddenberry rule-breaking) warship Shrike, and seems to be setting a course for revenge on Picard and his old crew.
What connection this has specifically to the old TNG show is still unknown, but it’s likely it will relate to one of the many episodes of the fan-favorite series. From the trailer, she gives off the impression of a crazed character, but also shares a surprising similarity to Zorg from the cult classic The Fifth Element with a similar haircut and demeanor - a comparison that will either disappoint or excite fans, depending on their opinions on the fairly divisive film.
Most likely due to the showrunners trying to build as much hype as possible, and a fair amount of fan service, Vadic was the only real new face to appear in the new trailer, most of it directed at showing off the old cast of TNG and Picard, but most excitingly one of these faces revealed who Star Trek veteran Brent Spiner was going to play. So far, Spiner has appeared in both seasons of Picard managing to play two different characters with the common link of Data, who he also played.
It was reported early on he would be appearing in season 3 yet again, but as who was left a mystery. This was until his fairly dramatic reveal in the new trailer, showcasing the trademark furrowed brow of Lore - Data’s evil twin android. He first appeared in the season 1 episode “Datalore” and returned for three other episodes of TNG. He was a fantastic villain, the complete counter to Data, with highly unstable emotions and a huge god complex. While Data wanted to become more human, Lore thought he was much superior. What they are planning to do with the nefarious villain of old is not yet clear, but knowing Picard they will likely twist his story slightly, perhaps shifting his character onto their team.
The next familiar face didn’t have as much of an introduction, and for many who are not obsessive fans of the old shows they might have missed his significance. In the short clip, the aged face of Daniel Davis appears, in a Victorian-looking outfit, seemingly out of place next to his modern surroundings. He is reprising his role as the very well-received conflicted villain from TNG, as a character borrowed from another famous story: Professor James Moriarty.
Moriarty appeared as a semi-recurring character in the original show, as a holo-novel character that was given immense intelligence, and eventually gained sentience. He used this to take over the ship, but until now it was not entirely known what had become of him. How big a part he will play in the new season is still unknown, as this might have just been a ploy to raise hype and engage the fans. Two other characters who might have been missed are disability advocate Geordi LaForge’s children, Ensign Signey LaForge and Ensign Alandra LaForge, who will be played by LeVar Burton’s actual daughter, Mica Burton.
As for the plot, not much is known, but from the information gained from the trailer it looks to be a combination of a rescue mission that reunites the old crew, and a life-threatening game of cat and mouse with a mysterious villain hell-bent on revenge. There also seems to be some kind of connection between the now silver fox Worf and Raffi, but again, there is no more information about this yet. Fans will just have to tune in on February 16th to see what new adventures are in store for Jean-Luc, as they venture into the final chapter of his story.
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