Star Trek: Picard Season 3 was confirmed way back in January 2020, and now that the second season has concluded, fans are wondering when it’ll get a release date. We’re also seeing a major mixup with the cast, which means several characters are leaving, and a host of familiar faces will be making their return. We’ll cover the above topics and what the plot of season three might entail below.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 release date rumors
So far, Star Trek: Picard Season 3 hasn’t gotten an official release date. We also can’t make a good estimate because the previous two seasons have aired at different times of the year. Season 1’s run was from January 23, 2020 through March 26, 2020, and season 2 aired from March 3, 2022 to May 5, 2022.
However, we shouldn’t see another two-year gap this time around. Star Trek: Picard Season 3 was filmed back-to-back with Season 2 and wrapped in March 2022. So, while most fans anticipate it to remain consistent with the previous two seasons with an early 2023 release, we could see it this year.
Season 3 Cast
Shockingly, four main cast members have left Star Trek: Picard after the second season. However, Picard’s former crewmates from the Enterprise-D are joining as “notable guests.” The showrunners were careful to distinguish that these won’t be cameos or smaller roles like we saw with Riker and Troi’s appearance in season one. They’ll be tightly woven into the story, and this will serve as a “proper send-off.”
Departing Cast
These main cast members left at the conclusion of season 2:
- Alison Pill as Agnes Jurati/Borg Queen
- Evan Evagora as Elnor
- Isa Briones as Soji Asha/Kore Soong
- Santiago Cabrera as Captain Christopher Rios
Orla Brady is almost certainly returning for season 3 but likely won’t be a major character. She stated that she’d be taking off her “beloved pointed ears” after filing on season 2 wrapped. However, showrunner Terry Matalas responded on Twitter to a fan asking if we’ll get to see Laris and Jean Luc together in season 3 with, “Yes. But…”
Returning Cast
The list of returning main cast members is rather small:
- Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
- Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
- Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker
Notable Guests
Luckily, fans will finally (hopefully) be getting the nostalgia they’ve craved in season 3 of Star Trek: Picard. The (non-dead) crew members of the Enterprise-D will figure heavily into the story, and all of them will appear at one point or another:
- LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge
- Michael Dorn as Worf
- Jonathan Frakes as William Riker
- Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher
- Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi
We’ll also see Brent Spiner again, but his role hasn’t been revealed yet.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Plot
That is not the Stargazer. 😏
— Terry Matalas (@TerryMatalas) May 7, 2022
We haven’t got a ton of clues as to what Star Trek: Picard Season 3’s plot will entail other than the appearance of the rest of the major characters from The Next Generation. However, showrunner Terry Matalas said that it’ll be “less intimate” and that elements from The Original Series and the TOS movies would be used and specifically referenced the submarine-influenced Wrath of Khan.
We also know that it’s not just actors that returned to Star Trek for Picard Season 3. There are some notable crew that worked on The Next Generation that reunited for Picard’s last send-off. So far, that list includes:
- Ben Betts: Computer Graphics Engineer
- Dan Curry: Visual Effects Producer
- Daren Dochterman: Set Designer
- Doug Drexler: Visual Effects Artist
- John Eaves: Starship Designer
- Monical Fedrick: Graphic Designer
- Alan Kobayashi: Graphic Designer
- Geoffrey Mandel: Production Designer
- Larry Markart: Video Engineer
- Todd A. Marks: Computer Playback Supervisor
- Jim Martin: Production Illustrator
- Karl J. Martin: Art Director
- Michael Okuda: Graphics Designer
I don’t want to get too out there with my predictions, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a TNG-era ship as Picard’s primary vehicle for season 3.
The most solid fact we have about season 3 is that it’ll be the end of Star Trek: Picard and likely the last adventure of the TNG cast. We saw Data’s final demise in the first season, and Q vanished for the last time in the second, so there’s no telling who’ll be left standing when the credits roll on the last episode.
