Making it so: ‘Picard’ manages a ‘Next Gen’ reunion in newest ‘Star Trek’ season

Now, in the third season of the Paramount+ series, folks from “Next Gen” turn up.

“I had lived nearly 35 years since I first put on the captain’s uniform,” Stewart says. “There is no doubt that in that time, the world has changed…and I have changed, too. I’m not the same person I was then. I wanted the series to show the impact of those years and how much one might change and whether fears become greater or less.”

In the new season, Picard gets a message from a long-lost friend, forcing him to recruit allies from various “Star Trek” generations. Among them: characters played by LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd.

“We were faced with a unique opportunity to do one last season telling a Picard story – a very personal story,” says Executive Producer Terry Matalas. “But how better to end that journey than to look back at the beginning and bring his friends and family from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’? There’s a very strong sense of conclusion to that particular storyline.”

When Picard encounters his former crew, he finds changes. Dorn’s Worf, for example, is now gray. “He’s the silver fox,” Ryan says.

“My little ego said, ‘I don’t want to be old,’” Dorn explains. “But he has always been looking and searching for who he is. And we came up with where Worf is. You have to take a risk. You have to trust the people…and that’s where I was – really happy with everything that turned out.”

Gates McFadden, who plays Dr. Beverly Crusher, was pleased her character was more active. “She was a more matronly character between the second and third season,” she says. “I felt it took several years to get back to the way I had first been told the character was.” In the “Picard” outing, she’s more active and, as she says, “more kickass.”

Stewart changed his opinion about “Picard” because he saw how it resonated after the first season. “It was largely effective, I felt, because of its examination of the nature of change, of growth,” he says. “And growth, whether it’s up or down, that is the world that we live in.”

When Gene Roddenberry created the first “Star Trek,” he wanted it to mirror and comment on contemporary society. In “Picard,” season three, “there’s collaboration,” McFadden says. “People can disagree with what to do, but somehow they collaborate…faster than our Congress. It’s not only optimistic, but it gives us tolerance, inclusion and collaboration.”

Adds Hurd: “Things are challenging. If we didn’t sort of adjust in that way, we wouldn’t be holding that mirror up, because we have a lot of work to do. I think that’s part of why we evolved.”

While Stewart is open to a fourth season (one hasn’t been announced), he was entirely clueless about the “Star Trek” world when he was approached about doing it.

“I had to turn to my kids and ask about it,” he says. “Of course, they raved about it. I would find they were watching this thing on television with these guys in colored T-shirts. I knew nothing about it. As time went by, I began to see that ‘The Next Generation’ cast, crew, producers, writers, directors were creating an expansion of Gene’s world and that has continued until today.”

Alex Kurtzman, one of the leading creative forces behind the “Star Trek” universe, says “each show is a gateway drug to another show. Kids get excited and they grow into the next iteration of it. They discover ‘Discovery,’ which makes them discover ‘Lower Decks,’ which makes them discover ‘Strange New Worlds’ which makes them discover ‘Picard’ and now we have an ecosystem that’s starting to feed itself.”

Stewart says “there are doors left open still” if producers want to do a fourth season of “Picard.” Nonetheless, producers were determined to give the “Next Gen” cast a proper sendoff.

“It felt like, after ‘Star Trek: Nemesis,’ there wanted to be one more final story,” says Matalas. “We were faced with a really unique opportunity to do one last season telling a Picard story, first and foremost, a very person story. But how better to end that journey than to look back at the beginning and to bring his friends and family from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation.’ There’s a very strong sense of conclusion to that particular storyline.”

“Star Trek: Picard” airs on Paramount+.