The main cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation are now confirmed to feature in Star Trek: Picard season 3 – here’s what their characters were doing in the meantime. Premiering in 2020, Star Trek: Picard offered Patrick Stewart’s Starfleet icon a modern day revival. A soft sequel to Star Trek: The Next Generation the series might’ve been, but only a handful of familiar faces have actually joined Picard’s twilight adventures so far. Star Trek: Picard season 1 included Will Riker, Deanna Troi and Data (sort of), while season 2 has reintroduced Guinan and Q. The absence of legacy characters like Worf and Geordi has not gone unnoticed.
Picard Day has apparently come early this year, as an official announcement from Paramount reveals our missing Star Trek: The Next Generation veterans are beaming back en masse for Star Trek: Picard season 3. Confirmed to appear are Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Worf (Michael Dorn), Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) and someone Soong-ish (Brent Spiner). Even better, these returns will not be one-scene cameos.
As Star Trek: Picard season 3 promises resolution and closure for Jean-Luc’s Enterprise crew (and, possibly, the actors themselves), we’ll surely learn more about where these characters have been since battling a young Tom Hardy in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. What information do we currently possess about every character’s life and career over the past 20 in-universe years?
Following the events of Star Trek: Nemesis in 2379, Jean-Luc Picard remains captain of the Enterprise-E for several years. In 2381, he finally steps down following a promotion to admiral, redirecting his efforts toward the coming crisis caused by a supernova approaching Romulus (as explained in Star Trek 2009). It’s during this period of evacuating citizens that Jean-Luc first encounters future friends from Star Trek: Picard such as Romulan refugee Elnor, and Starfleet officer Raffi Musiker, but when the Federation’s evacuation plan takes a turn for the worse and Starfleet essentially forsakes Romulus, Picard hands over his resignation in an angry parting of ways.
Retired to La Barre in France, where the Picard family’s chateau is located, the Starfleet legend took to making wine alongside his Romulan housekeepers, Zhaban and Laris. He remained resentful of Starfleet, regretful over Data’s Star Trek: Nemesis death, and remorseful that synthetic life forms had become ostracized by the Federation. This is where Star Trek: Picard finds Patrick Stewart’s protagonist at the start of season 1. As seen across the show’s 2 seasons thus far, Jean-Luc successfully reverses the synth ban, exposes the Zhat Vash responsible for sabotaging his Romulan evacuation, and rejoins Starfleet as an admiral at the academy, passing on his wealth of knowledge… before the Borg come a-calling.
There’s more to William T. Riker’s post-Enterprise exploits than improvised jazz and manhandling chairs. As seen in Star Trek: Nemesis, Riker accepts captaincy of the USS Titan after spending years turning down Starfleet command offers, and a snapshot of his Titan tenure is provided by Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2. Under Riker’s leadership, the Titan develops a reputation as a gung-ho vessel always willing to jump into action, whatever the risk. The Titan’s animated antics (which feature the voice of Jonathan Frakes reprising his Star Trek: The Next Generation character) take place within the first two years of Riker’s captaincy, and include rescuing the USS Cerritos from villainous Pakleds, who the Titan crew battle against on numerous occasions thereafter. In a reflective moment, Picard’s Number One does admit to missing the Enterprise.
It’s during his Titan years that Riker becomes a father for the first time, with Troi giving birth to the couple’s son, Thaddeus. Tragically, Thad develops a neurological disease, incurable due to the Federation’s ban on synthetic technology. Around 2391, Riker moves his family to Nepenthe – a planet renowned for its healing properties – in a last-ditch effort to save Thad’s life. Alas, it proves unsuccessful. Riker and Troi become parents again, this time to Kestra, named after Troi’s late aunt. Despite Thad’s death (or perhaps because of it), Riker remains on Nepenthe with his family, retired from active service. Star Trek: Picard‘s season 1 finale sees Riker make a brief return to the front lines in support of his old pal Jean-Luc, captaining the USS Zheng He – apparently Starfleet’s most powerful ship – against the Romulan Zhat Vash.
Worf remains a loyal Enterprise-D crew member until the ship’s destruction in Star Trek Generations, at which point he retreats to Boreth and considers quitting Starfleet altogether. Fortunately, Worf is coaxed back into the fray when rising Klingon tensions require his particular skill set, and Michael Dorn’s character officially joins Deep Space 9 on a full-time basis from season 4 onward, beginning his post-Star Trek: The Next Generation era as Benjamin Sisko’s strategic operations officer for the Bajoran sector. Worf’s stint on Deep Space 9 sees him take command of the USS Defiant on numerous occasions and serve as first officer aboard the Rotarran during the Dominion War. It’s during this conflict that Worf finds love, marrying Jadzia Dax and planning to become a father, before his wife’s untimely death at the hands of Gul Dukat ruins those aspirations. As his time on Deep Space 9 draws to a close, Worf finds a new gig as the Federation’s ambassador to Qo’noS, but Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s big screen adventures draw him back toward his old Enterprise pals time and time again.
Michael Dorn’s most recent onscreen appearance as Worf comes via Star Trek: Nemesis, after which it’s assumed the Klingon resumes his ambassadorial work between the Federation and Qo’nos. According to Una McCormack’s Star Trek: Picard – The Last Best Hope novel (which acts as a prequel to Star Trek: Picard), Worf succeeds Jean-Luc Picard as captain of the Enterprise-E around 2382 – despite his disciplinary black mark for going off-mission to save Jadzia Dax in Deep Space 9. Whether Star Trek: Picard season 3 confirms Worf as Enterprise captain remains to be seen, but such a revelation would undoubtedly represent a thrilling return for both character and ship.
Compared to others on this list, significantly less is known about the life and times of Beverly Crusher after Star Trek: The Next Generation. Gates McFadden’s character transitions from Enterprise-D to Enterprise-E, remaining part of Picard’s crew all the way through to Star Trek: Nemesis, which offers little indication as to her future. Having said that, a deleted scene from the 2002 misfire would’ve confirmed Dr. Crusher’s departure from the Enterprise after receiving a well-earned promotion to chief of Starfleet’s medical division. Though her farewell moment found itself languishing on the cutting room floor, it’s a logical career move that probably did happen at some point between Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek: Picard. Though Beverly Crusher doesn’t feature in Star Trek: Picard‘s first two seasons, her absence confirms nothing ever came of The Next Generation‘s teased romance with Jean-Luc – and that’s an angle Gates McFadden’s comeback in season 3 must address.
Marina Sirtis’ Deanna Troi makes several cameo appearances in Star Trek: Voyager, aiding fellow Enterprise alum, Reg Barclay, in the Pathfinder project to bring Janeway’s crew home. She and Barclay team up with Voyager’s holographic Doctor to save the engineer who programmed him. Predictably, Troi’s remaining endeavors follow Star Trek: The Next Generation closely mirror those of her husband, Riker. Upon finally marrying Picard’s right-hand man in Star Trek: Nemesis, Troi relocates to the USS Titan alongside him. In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, Troi is shown sitting right next to her spouse on the Titan’s bridge, gritting her teeth through jazz and questioning why Riker has been accumulating contraband Romulan ale on the sly. Soon after, Troi gives birth to Thaddeus and Kestra, makes the move to Nepanthe, and settles into a quiet life away from Starfleet. Though she warmly receives Jean-Luc’s surprise visit in Star Trek: Picard season 1, Troi doesn’t join Riker in battle aboard the USS Zheng He, remaining behind at the family homestead.
LeVar Burton’s Enterprise helmsman/engineer, Geordi LaForge, appears consistently throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation and its cinematic spinoffs, and was last spotted toasting Data’s noble sacrifice in the final scenes of Star Trek: Nemesis. Six years later, the destructive supernova from J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot is threatening Romulan space, prompting the Federation to begin planning a full evacuation of territories in the danger zone. As revealed by the Star Trek: Picard – Countdown comic book, Geordi LaForge is promoted to commander and placed in charge of the Utopia Planitia ship yards on Mars, tasked with constructing a massive fleet of evacuation vessels. Geordi’s efforts are scuppered by the super-secret Romulan Zhat Vash cabal, which launches a terrorist attack on the Martian facility, framing synth workers as the culprits. The truth of the tragedy isn’t fully uncovered for another 14 years, when a certain Jean-Luc Picard digs up the ugly conspiracy.
Star Trek: Picard neglects to explain what Geordi LaForge does next, but since LeVar Burton’s character is name-dropped by Zhaban in season 1, Picard’s trusted lieutenant obviously survived the Utopia attack. Whatever happened to Geordi thereafter remains a mystery, but Star Trek: Picard season 3 should probably acknowledge some lingering trauma after he barely survived such an notoriously bloody event.
Brent Spiner’s Data perished in the final moments of Star Trek: Nemesis, sacrificing himself to protect both his beloved captain and the planet Earth. Though the 2002 movie teased B-4 might become Data 2.0, Star Trek: Picard hastily backtracked on this storyline, revealing the replacement android couldn’t quite cut the synthetic mustard. Data’s legacy would continue nonetheless, with Bruce Maddox and Altan Inigo Soong (the son of his original creator, Noonien) creating a series of “children” from Data’s neural remnants. Hidden from the synth-averse Federation on the planet Coppelius, these androids included females based on Data’s vision of a daughter, meaning Star Trek: Picard‘s Soji is, effectively, the offspring of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s famous, cat-loving android.
Because of the, er… data Data transferred into B-4 before his destruction, the character’s consciousness remains alive in Star Trek: Picard season 1, and is permitted one final conversation with a nearly-dead Jean-Luc. Data convinces his former captain to let him rest permanently, believing the finite nature of human life is what makes it so valuable. Because Data’s Star Trek: Picard death was intentionally conclusive, it’s not clear whether Brent Spiner will actually reprise his most famous role in season 3, or whether he’ll continue to play various members of the Soong dynasty.
Whoppi Goldberg’s Guinan is not currently among the names confirmed for Star Trek: Picard season 3, but since the El-Aurian bartender pops up in season 2 – and is considered a main character from Star Trek: The Next Generation – she’s more than worthy of inclusion. Whoopi Goldberg is a busy woman, so Guinan only appears sporadically through Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s later timeline. She survives the destruction of Enterprise-D in Star Trek Generations, but doesn’t appear again until Riker and Troi’s wedding ceremony in Star Trek: Nemesis. At some point over the next 22 years, the El Aurian ceases her journey through space (likely when Picard leaves the Enterprise, since it was he who personally brought her aboard). Guinan returns to Earth, ages herself to avoid offending any sensitive mortals, and picks right back up at the very same bar she tended 400 years prior. The establishment in question? 10 Forward Avenue, Los Angeles.