Picard's Showrunner Wasn't Sure Patrick Stewart Would Agree To A Star Trek: The Next Generation Reunion
It's taken a bit of time for "Star Trek: Picard" to circle back to the series that started it all. Fans of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" naturally expected "Picard" to serve as a reunion of sorts, bringing Patrick Stewart's Picard and his Enterprise crew back together for some 25th Century adventures. But with the exception of old friends like Data (Brent Spiner), William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), the past two seasons of "Picard" have been all about the titular Starfleet admiral and his new crew.
Executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman were likely keen to explore new territory, which was probably the best decision. But with "Picard" moving into its third (and final) season, showrunner Terry Matalas naturally wanted to end things on a high note. That meant bringing back the original "Next Generation" cast for one last adventure. It felt like a natural progression for sure — but even so, Matalas wasn't sure how Stewart himself was going to receive the pitch.
'After a bottle of wine, we were off to the races'
Matalas spoke to SFX (via CBR) about his decision to turn season 3 of "Picard" into a "Next Generation" reunion — as well as his reservations with pitching it to his leading man. Matalas became showrunner shortly before season 2, and learned then that Kurtzman and Goldsman "were always thinking about each one of these seasons being a different story." When it came time to start building out the story for season 3, Matalas knew he wanted to go big. "I had certainly always wanted to do one final Star Trek: The Next Generation adventure, but wasn't certain that Patrick would be up for it," he continued. In hindsight though, he needn't have worried: once Stewart sat down to hear the pitch, it seemed to be smooth sailing:
"I sat down with Patrick at his dining room table and took him through what I thought was the final story of Picard, and some arcs that I felt needed to be paid off for his character and some relationships and some storylines and, after a bottle of wine, we were off to the races."
Clearly, Matalas got his wish in a major way. While this could potentially be the last we see of Picard, at least fans will be treated to a reunion before it all ends. Season 3 of "Picard" will see Stewart reunite with Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, LeVar Burton, and Gates McFadden for their first adventure in 20 years — and it may never have happened if Matalas hadn't presented his own idea to Stewart himself.