Patrick Stewart Explains Why Watching the ‘Picard’ Finale Was ‘So Emotional,’ Teases ‘Star Trek’ Return
variety.comAdam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in “The Last Generation,” the series finale of “Star Trek: Picard,” currently streaming on Paramount+.
When Patrick Stewart first met with producers Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman in 2017 to discuss the possibility of returning to play Jean-Luc Picard again on a new “Star Trek” series, Stewart famously did so as a courtesy to explain that he had absolutely no interest in revisiting the world of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” “I explained to them all those elements of ‘Next Generation’ which belong in ‘Next Generation,’ and why I didn’t want to go near them again,” Stewart told Variety in a January 2020 cover story.
When the producers noted that the show could show a much different Picard, one who’d changed over the two decades since the events of the final “TNG” movie, 2002’s “Star Trek: Nemesis,” Stewart became intrigued, and signed on to do three seasons of “Star Trek: Picard” — but without the rest of the “TNG” cast.
While a few “Trek” alumni did pop up on “Picard,” however, it wasn’t until Season 3 that Stewart was finally convinced that it was time to bring back the full cast of “The Next Generation”: Jonathan Frakes’ Riker, Brent Spiner’s Data, LeVar Burton’s Geordi, Marina Sirtis’ Troi, Michael Dorn’s Worf, and — crucially — Gates McFadden’s Crusher, Picard’s on-again-off-again unrequited love.
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