'Star Trek: Picard' Teaser Asks Why Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard Left Starfleet

The legendary Patrick Stewart returns to the Star Trek universe to bring the beloved Jean-Luc Picard out of retirement in Star Trek: Picard. The first Star Trek: Picard teaser finds the former Admiral living his days in his family's vineyard and no longer a part of Starfleet. But what exactly caused him to retire? The teaser hints at a tragic event 15 years ago that will be explored through the upcoming CBS All Access series. Watch the Star Trek Picard teaser below.

Star Trek Picard Teaser

The brief teaser trailer takes us on a sun-dappled tour of the Picard family vineyard in France, as the camera lazily follows an unseen man wandering through the fields and boxing up bottles of wine. But there's a mysterious undercurrent to this beautiful vineyard commercial. A woman speaks over the trailer, saying, "15 years ago today, you led us out of the darkness. You commanded the greatest rescue armada in history. Then, the unimaginable happened. What did that cost you? Your faith? Your faith in us? Your faith in yourself? Tell us, why did you leave Starfleet, Admiral?"

In the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation, we flashed forward to a retired Picard working on his family's vineyard. Star Trek: Picard, which takes place 18 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, picks up from there and hints at something dark and tragic in his past that caused him to abandon his life as a Starfleet admiral. But what could it be?

The vineyard has become a recognizable setting for fans, first appearing in "Family," the season 4 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Picard takes a vacation to Earth after being rescued from assimilation by the Borg. Though a peaceful, idyllic location, the vineyard finds itself the setting for some deep, dark emotions, as Picard struggles with PTSD and breaks down in a powerful show of emotions that gives a glimpse at the human beneath the stoic captain in command of his crew.

There's mention of the vineyard again in the film Star Trek: Generations, which is set before the future scenes in the finale, in which we we learn that Picard's brother and nephew who worked at the vineyard burned to death in a fire. Could that perhaps be the tragic event that caused Picard to quit all those years ago? Or is there something more sinister at play? We'll find out soon enough.

The show also stars Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, Evan Evagora, Alison Pill, Harry Treadaway, and Isa Briones. 

Star Trek: Picard is coming soon to CBS All Access and other platforms, including Amazon Prime.