Thus far in the lead-up to Star Trek: Picard Season 2, the big Star Trek alum returns that have been highlighted are John de Lancie’s Q and The Borg Queen (played this time around by 24’s Annie Wersching), and rightfully so. However, there’s one other familiar face that we’ve known would be popping up in the Paramount+ series’ next season for a long time: Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan. Well, a new Picard trailer has dropped, and it finally gives us our first taste of what we can expect from the Star Trek: The Next Generation fan-favorite.
While Whoopi Goldberg wasn’t part of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s main cast, she was arguably the show’s most important recurring actor, with Guinan appearing in 29 episodes across five seasons (starting with Season 2’s “The Child), as well as the movies Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: Nemesis. Then in January 2020, Patrick Stewart invited Goldberg to reprise Guinan in Star Trek: Picard Season 2, and she graciously accepted. Two years later, this trailer has revealed that Jean-Luc Picard will reconnect with his close friend when he and the other main cast members are thrown back in time to 2024. In addition to the trailer, Paramount+ also released a still of Picard and Guinan’s reunion.
As Star Trek: The Next Generation fans will remember, Guinan is an El-Aurian, a species with a long lifespan. And much like the relationship between The Doctor and River Song in Doctor Who, Jean-Luc Picard and Guinan had their first meetings with one another had different points in their personal timelines. For Guinan, she first crossed paths with Picard in the Season 6 two-parter “Time’s Arrow,” which saw the show’s main characters traveling back to San Francisco in 1893. So technically 2024 should mark Guinan’s second interaction with Picard from her perspective.
However, even ignoring Whoopi Goldberg’s older age compared to when we last saw her as Guinan, the character knowing about Jean-Luc Picard’s fondness of Earl Grey tea and mentioning of how his answers “were never” in the stars has me wondering if this Guinan is the main one we followed along with during Star Trek: The Next Generation’s run, and was somehow transported back in time. Keep in mind this Guinan is dressed in her usual attire, whereas her 1893 self was wearing period-appropriate clothing. Whether that’s the case or not, while it’s possible we may only see Goldberg’s Guinan for an episode or two of Star Trek: Picard Season 2, this latest preview makes it clear she’ll play an integral role in her friend’s latest journey.
The rest of this Star Trek: Picard Season 2 trailer covers the same kind of beats we’ve seen in past previews, from some of the main characters noticing how they’ve suddenly changed (like Seven of Nine no longer having her cortical implant) to learning how life in 2024 differs from the late 24th century. On the latter aspect, at least Santiago Cabrera’s Chris Rios is getting the hang of things after breaking free from custody. It’s also worth a reminder that although a different version of Brent Spiner’s Data died in Picard Season 1, the actor is sticking around in Season 2 as Altan Inigo Soong, hence why we he's around for the 2024 shenanigans.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 premieres March 3 on Paramount+, and it was announced earlier this week that Season 3 has begun production. To find out which of your favorite shows are currently airing, look through our 2022 premiere schedule.
