Star Trek: Picard season 3 marks the third and remaining voyage for Patrick Stewart’s iconic captain, and I am happy to log that it follows the prime directive for a Star Trek present: It is actually good. Make it so!

Picard season 3 streams on Paramount Plus within the US from Feb. 16, with new episodes following each Thursday (it is on Amazon Prime Video across the globe). Even in simply a few seasons, the present has fallen into one thing of a formulation. Captain — sorry, Admiral — Picard is attempting to get pleasure from his retirement on his winery when he is galvanized into motion by a mysterious message for his eyes solely. Alongside the best way, he shortly encounters a former Trek star now reworked right into a badass killing machine, for some purpose. And a well-recognized baddie emerges in a brand new and far scarier type.

Following a couple of crowd-pleasing cameos in earlier instalments, season 3 completes the reunion of the traditional forged of The Subsequent Technology. Patrick Stewart is joined by the remainder of the forged of the beloved Nineteen Nineties Trek collection during which we first met Picard and crew, and it is a pleasure to see them again in motion. Who would not benefit from the japes of Stewart’s Picard and Jonathan Frakes’ Will Riker bunking collectively on a rogue mission? And followers who had been on the fence about new Trek can bathe within the nostalgia of the distinctive Subsequent Technology font, or the TNG theme blaring over Easter egg-packed closing credit.

Alternatively, the present refuses to take the simple path imagining a future for the beloved characters. You would possibly wince at Gates McFadden’s Beverley Crusher John Wick-ing aliens with a phaser rifle, and no one actually wants Jean-Luc Picard sporting leather-based jackets and saying “fuck.” However there is a real sense that life has occurred to those folks. They have not simply been preserved in a transporter buffer for 30 years ready to be beamed down the identical method we used to know them. Seeing Riker’s cockiness tempered by tragedy, or Picard dealing with a mistake he by no means knew he made, is heartbreaking — however, y’know, in a enjoyable method.

It isn’t excellent, after all. Although she kicks off the collection, Crusher is shortly upstaged by the brand new character she brings along with her. And having watched the primary half of the 10-episode season, I observed that a number of the crew nonetheless have not turned up in any respect. However judging from the episodes I’ve seen, I’ve religion they’re going to be handled in attention-grabbing and respectful methods. It is notably nice to see Worf kicking ass and being humorous with out ever being the butt of the joke. 

Acquainted faces do not simply present up for the sake of it, for a crowd-pleasing back-slapping lap of honor. There is a notably compelling cameo a couple of episodes in that drives the story and challenges Picard to face an unsightly facet of himself, Stewart sinking his enamel into his portrayal of a 30-year-old grudge. That exact cameo (no spoilers) additionally reminds us that old-school Trek did in reality develop its characters and their flaws. Traditional Trek was greater than able to complicating their lives, and did not at all times ship comfortable (or predictable) endings.

Picard presents a problem to old-school followers, however that is good. The present is not consolation viewing, or a nostalgic rehash. It genuinely justifies its existence, transferring ahead the characters and the Trek universe. 

The season begins with Crusher as much as no good, calling in Picard and Riker (and Jeri Ryan’s Seven of 9, getting back from earlier seasons) for a less-than-legit mission into deep house. Picard should face each his private demons and a horrifyingly highly effective new enemy (performed with guffawing depth by Amanda Plummer) as his crewmates previous and new uncover one thing far larger than they ever imagined.

This storyline is probably probably the most “Trek” the present has been to date, unfolding on an precise Starfleet starship with characters sporting uniforms and every little thing. It even options that fan-favorite TNG aspect: a dickhead rival officer (y’know, a Jellico kind) who’s lower than enamored of the Enterprise fam’s adventurous spirit.

However it’s all introduced updated from classic Trek’s mission-of-the-week format with ongoing storylines, season-long character arcs and lashings of drama. It is nice to see that the actors and characters all have one thing occurring moderately than simply waving tricorders and pushing buttons every week. That mentioned, there is a component of manufactured drama, as in all of the new-generation Trek exhibits (Discovery and Unusual New Worlds). Quite a bit will rely in your tolerance for characters trapped in life-or-death conditions stopping for a heart-to-heart chat, or having a heated argument on the bridge when the crimson alert ought to be focusing their minds on the scenario.

And why is every little thing so darkish? Engineering, divert some energy to the rattling lights!

General, although, Picard has turned out to be a completely participating Star Trek revival. It is greater than an train in nostalgia, greater than a field of Playmates motion figures pulled out of the attic with plastic phaser equipment popped again of their palms. Season 3 does not simply reunite the much-loved crew, it truly offers the actors one thing to do — probably confronting extra character growth and emotion than they ever did within the unique. Picard might not observe the comfortable formulation of classic Star Trek, however we’ve got Unusual New Worlds for that. As a substitute, for all its nostalgia, Picard retains boldly moving into a very powerful route of all: ahead.