InStar Trek: PicardThe Final Frontier Is Parenting

If you’ve slept on the new Star Trek shows for the past few years, you’re missing out on a great show full of wonderful performances, wit, slick space action, and most importantly, heart. But you’re in luck because right now is the perfect moment to jump back in. For those who watchedThe Next Generationin childhood, there’s a good chance you now have a family of your own. And guess what? Season 3 ofStar Trek: Picardis here to talk to you — specifically you, dad — about what it feels like now that the next generation has grown up. Debuting onParamount+in February 2023, the latest season ofPicardhas already received rave reviews — and currently holds a score of100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Why is the series getting such a positive response? Well, other than just stating the obvious and saying it’s very good, there might be a generational reason. Unlike some of the other new Trek shows, the main cast ofPicardis literally your parent's Star Trek, or more specifically, the Star Trek you probably watched with your parents when you were a kid.

Most of the Star Trek cast you might remember from the ‘90s — Jonathan Frakes as Riker, Gates Mcfadden as Dr. Crusher, Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Buton as Geordi — these people are in their 70s. Or, in the case of the lead actor, Patrick Stewart, 80 years old. The baby of the bunch here is Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine, originally fromStar Trek: Voyager, who is 55. Refreshingly, inStar Trek: Picardthe adults are talking.

但是,这并不是90年代怀旧为了of coddling aging millennials or younger Gen-Xers. The storyline ofPicardin the third season challenges our nostalgia because these characters have grown and changed in ways that reflect real life. When showrunner Terry Matalas approached the shape ofPicardfor the latest season, he wanted to explore a “kind of relationship has Picard not had.” And that relationship was fatherhood.

“He's had many surrogate children, but not his own,” Matalas tellsFatherly. “As a real father, one the things you know is, when you the good things you’ve passed on to your children, and you see all the bad, too. And it’s powerful. It’s really powerful because it makes you want to be a better person.”

In Episode 2, “Disengage,” we learn that Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) have had a son in the interim betweenThe Next Generationand this series. That son is Jack Crusher, played by Ed Speleers, a character who is here to shake up the status quo of Trek, and possibly, take the franchise forward. (Assuming a spinoff show happens after this season ofPicard）.杰克有一个优势,但他并不是一个糟糕的年代eed, per se. While Matalas hints that the stakes are high in this season, this is still the uplifting Star Trek that many fans fell in love with. And, for dads who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, that means this is also a story about family.

Part of what makes the new season ofPicardunique in the pantheon of action-adventure sci-fi thatalsohappens to be about dads is that the writing doesn’t shy away from hard conversations. In episode 3, “Seventeen Seconds,” Riker and Picard butt heads over Riker’s trauma over losing a son. Picard has never had to face this before, and even though he’s older, has never connected with his former “number one” over issues of parenting. Meanwhile, Riker is openly struggling with his failures as a husband and a father to his daughter, Kestra. The audience isn’t supposed to root for any of this dysfunction, but rather, we’re invited to unpack it in a very Star Trek-ish way: Here’s the problem, how can we make this better?

“I feel like stories of fatherhood have always been part of Star Trek, at least in the Star Trek that I love,” Matalas says. “I think back toThe Wrath of Khanor Kirk forgiving the Klingons for the death of his son inStar Trek VI. I think about Spock’s father Sarek, and how their story was set up inThe Orignal Seriesand ended inThe Next Generation, in that beautiful moment in which Spock mind-melds with Picard and is able to see that his father loved him. Come on. There’s nothing better!”

The latest season ofPicardhas nail-biting sci-fi action that is on par with some of the best classic Trek films, likeThe Wrath of Khan. But, unlike any Star Trek before it, this is a ten-hour family story; the story of the surrogate family ofThe Next Generationcrew finding each other again, but also their very real children, and how those children are not plot devices to create drama. In real life, as in Star Trek, children will replace us. Even in the 25th century.

Star Trek: PicardSeason 3 is streamingon Parmaount+.New episodes drop on Wednesdays. Newcomers can start with Season 3 and not be confused at all.