Picard Season 2 Trailer Breakdown: Boldly Going Into The Nightmarish 21st Century
Star Trek Day 2021 brought a new trailer for season 2 of "Star Trek: Picard," which is flying across space right now, on its way to you via Paramount+ in February 2022. The trailer gives us our first official glimpse at Annie Wersching's Borg Queen and a whole lot more.
Is there a time travel plot this season? Does Q snap his fingers? Yes on both counts. Let's proceed through the new "Picard" season 2 trailer in a calm and orderly fashion.
A Man Who Chose the Stars
The trailer begins with a voiceover that questions whether Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), a man who seemingly "chose the stars," has been seeking or running. It looks like he's in an old greenhouse on his family estate, the Château Picard vineyard in France. He bends down to pick up a shard of glass, holds it up, and examines its rose design. What's the significance? Your guess is as good as mine.
The Trial Never Ends
Soon, Q (John de Lancie) shows up. We knew he would be coming back this season, but this trailer makes it clear that Q is not just back for a cameo. It looks like he is integral to the plot and sets it all in motion. He looks older, which seems strange for someone who's essentially a god, but presumably the show will explain this away as him matching his appearance to Picard's.
Q asks Picard, "Do you recall what I said, Jean-Luc, when last time we parted ways? The trial never ends." This is a callback to the final episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," which brought the series full circle to its premiere, "Encounter at Farpoint," where Q first held his kangaroo court, putting humanity on trial.
A Totalitarian Nightmare
Picard says, "Q, I'm way too old for your bulls**t," and Q responds by snapping his fingers. Cut to Hong Kong, where we see recognizable city landmarks like the International Financial Centre, with flying cars zooming past them. Cristóbal Rios (Santiagos Cabrera) says, "Guys, we've got big problems." Something has moved them — through time, it seems.
Picard then spells out the plot of season 2 in no uncertain terms. "Q went back in time and turned our world into a totalitarian nightmare." We see Picard at a Nuremberg-esque rally. He almost looks more like General Hux from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," and if that influence is there, it wouldn't be the first time "Star Wars" has bled into "Star Trek."
The juxtaposition of Hong Kong with this imagery seems intentional in light of what's been happening in the real world with democracy in that city.
Time Has Been Broken
Next, we see Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine. She touches the part of her head where Borg hardware used to be and explains, "Time has been broken." We get a glimpse of Evan Evagora's Romulan, Elnor, and Picard says he'll get them home (to the proper present?) together.
There Are Ways of Traveling in Time
Picard touches his own portrait on the wall and tells his small crew, or time-traveling team, that the only way to heal their future is to go back and repair the past. If only fixing the real world was that easy. Good thing there's a quick workaround in the fictional "Star Trek" universe.
Didn't you get the memo? Picard says "There are ways of traveling in time."
The Borg Queen Returns
Now come the money shots, with the Borg Queen sliding onscreen like a character who's been tucked away in the freezer drawer in the "Star Trek" morgue for the last twenty years. Annie Wersching is the third actress to take on the role of the Borg Queen, an antagonist who last reared her ugly head in the series finale of "Star Trek: Voyager" in 2001.
Seven of Nine, a veteran of that show, herself a deprogrammed member of the Borg collective, understandably backs away from the grim, ashen visage of the resurrected Borg Queen. There's a precedent already in "Star Trek" canon for the Borg using time travel (specifically in "First Contact"), so that must be why ol' Queenie here is instrumental to Picard's plan.
The Earth of the 21st Century
We see Alison Pill's Dr. Agnes Jurati, then the trailer welcomes us to "the earth of the 21st century." Wait, isn't that where we're living? Isn't "Star Trek" supposed to boldly go where no one has gone before? Yes, but it's also been known to take the occasional voyage home.
It looks like Seven of Nine and Michelle Hurd's Rafaella will be playing buddy cop, or at least commandeering a cop car. Rafaella gives Seven crap for her driving abilities, or lack thereof, quipping: "You can pilot a starship, but you can't drive?"
On the Count of 3 (Days)
Picard gives the season some countdown stakes, saying, "We have three days before the future is changed irrevocably." Then, we get some rapid-fire shots, with Picard sporting a tuxedo and Q snapping his fingers, apparently on the ground in 21st-century Earth.
The most significant shot would appear to be Dr. Jurati and the Borg Queen getting up close and personal. If Picard and company are keeping the Queen prisoner, using her to time travel, it's a safe bet that she'll be trying to manipulate them and maneuver her way out of captivity.
There Is a Light
The trailer ends on a hopeful note, with Picard sounding like the lyrics of a U2 song, saying "there is a light," even in "the darkest of circumstances." Do you think Picard and Bono would get along? Or would he delete the U2 songs that automatically downloaded onto his Apple device?
In the midst of a totalitarian nightmare, "Star Trek" still wants to instill hope. "Picard" is just one of five "Star Trek" shows orbiting Paramount+ at present, but this series appears to be the one that is the most overt right now in its aspirations to give sociopolitical commentary, the way the franchise has done in the past.
Cristóbal Rios asks Picard where he's taking them and he replies, "Home."
"Star Trek: Picard" is coming home to Paramount+ for a second season in 2022.