(theme music playing)
- You know, I was thinking
about what the captain told us all about the future.
About how we all changed and drifted apart.
(theme music playing)
- I believe, however, this situation is unique.
- I should have done this a long time ago.
(theme music playing)
Live now, make now always the most precious time.
Now will never come again.
- Sometimes I think the only reason I come here
is to listen to these wonderful speeches of yours.
- [Picard] The sky is the limit.
- [Narrator] When the news dropped that most
of our favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation stars,
would be joining their old captain for Picard season three,
there was a legitimate surprise across the fan base.
While we've had small glimpses
of Riker, Troy, Data and Guinan,
there was an understanding
that the new Star Trek Picard series
would not be getting the band back together.
But thanks to season two executive producer
and co-show runner Terry Matalas,
not only will we get to see most of the main crew,
but they won't be cameos either.
In fact, from what we have uncovered,
we believe the return of our favorite bridge crew
is going to happen a whole lot sooner than anyone believes,
and they are going to have a bigger impact
on the storyline than anyone expects.
Matalas who will be the lone showrunner
for Picard season three has promised the final season
of the show would be a proper sendoff to the TNG crew.
But we are on to you Terry.
We know you have something unexpected up your sleeve.
We've been paying close attention to everything Matalas,
Patrick Stewart and Akiva Goldsman have been saying since
the unexpected announcement,
and we'll reveal everything we know
about what we might see on the road ahead,
which includes a theory on why we believe
the original TNG crew will actually save the future.
So you don't wanna miss this episode.
And make sure you stay tuned until later in the show
to see how to get this awesome shut up Wesley,
TNG inspired graphic design
from the amazing artists at mixedtees.com.
And if you haven't already subscribed to our channel,
please do so now, and give us a thumbs up
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- We are dangerous.
- Make it so.
- Sir?
- (Beep) do it.
- [Narrator] We were as shocked by the news as you.
Not just that they would bring nearly
the whole TNG crew back,
but also because they announced it
in the middle of season two,
instead of at the end of the finale.
What we are realizing is
this is likely more magician slide of hand
than oops, we didn't have a choice.
This is 12 Monkeys, Time-travel Guru, Terry Matalas,
and he's been teasing us
with little things most people don't notice all season.
But we'll get back to that in just a second.
First, it's important to realize
that bringing the TNG crew back for real
is a wildly different narrative
than we received at the beginning of the show.
Co-creator Akiva Goldsman said Picard would not be a sequel
to The Next Generation.
The message coming out of the writing room
during Picard season one, was that the show was a hybrid
of The Next Generation and Star Trek Discovery.
Patrick Stewart refused to return
unless Picard was totally different.
He said they were making a point
not to bring back any legacy characters
that didn't organically tell this story.
Otherwise they'd keep joking it's just The Next Generation.
I guess they forgot to tell Star Trek veteran producer,
Terry Matalas, about this
when he joined the show for season two.
With showrunner Michael Chabon out after season one,
Goldsman and Matalas took the helm,
and the nonsense that Picard
isn't a TNG sequel likely left with him.
Perhaps it was the excited fan responses
to Data, Riker and Troy in season one,
or that Guinan and Q dominated all
of the news leading up to season two.
But at some point, someone realized
that no matter what else happens,
Jean-Luc Picard is eternally tied to what happened
during seven seasons of TNG, as well as four movies.
So if we don't see a Ressikan flute during season three,
there will be hell to pay.
- This is not threat.
This is an opportunity.
- [Narrator] And if you were also looking forward
to the TNG reunion, thank Terry Matalas,
who is not only taking over
as the sole showrunner for season three,
but was also a big part of both Star Trek Voyager
and Enterprise.
According to Picard production designer, Dave Blass,
on Twitter, Matalas is responsible for making this happen.
- Quadruples your sex drive.
- Or more. - Or more.
(soft piano music)
- I didn't want to frighten you.
- [Narrator] So why did he do it, and what is his plan?
According to Matalas on Twitter,
it's because TNG deserves a proper sendoff.
And good news to longtime fans is that he said
it's going to be a labor of love,
so you know he's working hard to make sure it's done right.
And this includes the crew.
According to Blass, 13 of the original artists
who helped bring star Trek: The Next Generation
to life will also be working on Picard season three,
and he promises fans are going to be blown away.
So what are the fans going to be blown away by?
We have a theory for how we will actually see
the TNG crew integrated into Picard.
- Sir, I protest.
I am not a married man.
- [Narrator] But before we break that down,
we need to explain a few important things we've learned
about the crew's return,
as well as this important Wesley Crusher message
from today's sponsor.
- Hello, ladies.
- [Narrator] When the world learned the TNG crew
was coming back for Picard season three,
one notable name was missing.
As was pointed out on wilwheaton.net,
a lot of people, way more than ever imagined,
expressed dismay that Wesley
isn't part of the crew's return.
And so because that pesky traveler has decided
to keep Mr. Crusher all to himself.
Oh my.
Mixedtees.com created an homage
so that all trekees will never forget.
- Shut up, Wesley.
- Shut (beeping) Wesley.
- [Narrator] click the link in the description below
to check out this shut up Wesley homage,
made by the amazing artists at mixtees.com.
Get 20% off your purchase by using coupon code thepopcast.
The link is in the description below.
The question people want to know is,
what will Worf look like?
Matalas was asked via Twitter if Worf was going
to look like the controversial Discovery Klingons.
He responded that Worf would look like Worf.
So no one should expect any surprises there.
The real question is what Worf story we'll get.
At the end of Deep Space Nine, Worf leaves the space station
to become the Federation ambassador
to the Klingon home world,
yet in Star Trek: Nemesis, he's suddenly back
in his star fleet uniform, serving on The Enterprise
as if DS Nine never happened.
DS Nine fans might be able to rejoice
as Matalas indicated there may be some examination
of how the Federation coped following The Dominion War,
which we know little about.
Matalas also dropped an interesting comment
about Dr. Beverly Crusher when a fan commented on her.
He said, "You're going to see Beverly, all right.
You're not ready."
So expect the unexpected from Crusher.
Much to the may of many fans,
we don't believe she'll be Picard's love interest,
as he's all about Laris and her Romulan ways,
but, we'll see.
Brent Spiner has already shot down any chance
we'll see Data again moving forward,
but his voice was definitely heard in the teaser.
- [Data] Adulation is not an act of preservation.
It's addition.
- [Narrator] We'll have to check closely for contractions
to see if perhaps we'll be getting the return of Lore,
but it could simply be that he continues
to play Adam Soong for the rest of the show.
At this time, very little is known
about Geordi, Riker and Troy,
but Matalas has promised starships galore.
So don't be surprised if you see a few of these faces
in a shiny new Enterprise at some point.
and as if things couldn't be more interesting,
Matalas threw out the maybe GIF
to fans asking if we could see cameos
from other star Trek shows like DS Nine.
So what is about to happen?
Remember when we said Matalas was doing a slide of hand
by dropping the TNG crew bombshell
in the middle of Picard season two?
His reasoning was that they had
to keep everything a secret for 10 months,
but he was afraid they couldn't keep it secret any longer.
Fans were confused because
if they are coming back for season three,
then this is news you drop at the end of the finale.
It makes no sense to tease it
until the middle of the season,
unless you can't wait until
the end of the season to drop the news,
because the crew is going to show up
before we get to season three.
- I will not play the fool for Q's amusement.
- Stay with us here because it's Patrick Stewart
that confirms the suspicion we've had
since we found out they were filming seasons two
and three together.
Stewart revealed in an interview with Deadline
that everything happening in Picard season two will come
to a climax during Picard season three.
This leads us to believe
that season two will end in a cliff hanger
When combine the fact that filming
for both seasons happened back to back,
and the climax doesn't even occur until season three.
We are definitely going to be left hanging
when episode 10 of season two concludes.
And here is how we believe that cliff hanger is going to go,
and why the sneak peak TNG dropped happened
in the middle of the season.
We know Q has been the proverbial bad guy
up until this point.
But we think Matalas wouldn't be that pointed.
It appears that Q is helping Soong,
and in some way, changing the timeline.
But we will soon learn that Q was actually trying
to help Picard the whole time.
Picard and his crew will be unable to stop the event
that changes the timeline,
and Q will be unable to help.
We will learn that Q is powerless to help Picard
in his greatest moment of need.
Nearly powerless and waning, Q says to Picard,
"Time may be eternal Jean-Luc,
but it seems as though not for me.
All good things must come to an end.
Goodbye Picard, I'm going to miss you.
You had such potential,
but you always did need a little help."
And with that, Q will snap his fingers one final time,
instantaneously bringing Riker, Worf,
Geordie, Deanna, and Beverly into existence.
They will be confused and older
than the last time we saw them.
Q will fade away as the TNG crew pulls itself together
around Picard.
The last scene will be of Picard looking over both his old
and new crews before he says, "Let's go save the future."
Season two will end and season three will set up
for the sweeping conclusion of Picard
and the next generation stories.
Season three of Picard will be a true finale
for everything related to star Trek: The Next Generation.
What do you think?
Are you excited to have the TNG crew back?
What do you think is happening to Q?
Do you think Q is behind all of this,
or is he trying to help Picard?
Should they have brought Wesley, O'Brien or Barkley back?
What cameos would you like to see
from other Star Trek shows?
Let's talk about it in the comments below.
- Didn't mean I was gonna let you go it alone.
I'm supposed to sit around in the woods making pizza
while you have all the fun?
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Until next time.
- Oh, men's true boy to the war has gone
in the ranks of death, you will find him.
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(theme music playing)