Alex Kurtzman: Picard will be “a more psychological show”

In a recent interview Alex Kurtzman discussed all things Star trek, including what will make Star Trek: Picard stand apart from the crowd.

If you are a enthusiastic member of Trek Nation and not among the idiots who now despise everything about the franchise due to Star Trek: Discovery, then this has been a pretty good last couple weeks.

The Discovery second season finale delivered on its promise and has sent the show, and the franchise as a whole, into completely uncharted waters. Great news about the progress of the upcoming Star Trek: Lower Decks animated series was reported and everyone enjoyed celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek.

And if all that wasn’t enough, Star Trek: Picard officially began production which means it is that much closer to arriving on CBS All Access.

Even though Patrick Stewart and the rest of the new additions to Star Trek lore are now in front of the camera, there is still a whole lot that is still unknown about the new series. We know it sees Jean-Luc Picard in the later years of his life, dealing with the fallout from the destruction of Romulus, as was seen in 2009’s Star Trek. We also know the first season will be 10 episodes, with Stewart saying the first season is more like a 10-hour movie than a television show.

However, what we don’t know far outweighs what we do, including what the actual title of the series is, which is not Star Trek: Picard.

And no one at Trek Central is being very informative, least of all Alex Kurtzman.

Kurtzman, Emperor of the Trekverse, refuses to drop but the most effusive hints about the series and what fans can expect.

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The most recent example is from an interview Kurtzman did with the Los Angeles Times. The wide ranging interview touched on just about every Star Trek project currently in development, including Picard. Do you think he could have dropped the official name of the series? Or maybe what roles some of the recently announced additions to the cast will be playing?

Nope. Instead he talked about how Picard will be a more of a deliberate, contemplative look at a Starfleet captain as he enters the latter years of his life.

"“The mandate was to make it a more psychological show, a character study about this man in his emeritus years. There are so few shows that allow a significantly older protagonist to be the driver.“What happens when circumstances have conspired to not give him the happiest of endings? Hopefully, it’s a reinforcement of [‘Trek’ creator Gene] Roddenberry’s vision of optimism. He’s going to have to go through deep valleys to get back to the light.“It’ll be very different than ‘Discovery.’ It’ll be slower, more meditative. It speaks to the rainbow of colors we’re playing with in all these different shows.”"

To quote a certain Vulcan, fascinating.

Look, I’m all for trying to keep the plot details of Picard close to the vest. Why spoil what is sure to be a very highly anticipated series debut? But do you think they could at least let us know what the title of the series is? Is that too much to ask?

Star Trek: Picard, which is what we might still call the series even after we find out the real title, is set to arrive on CBS All Access later in 2019. Keep it here on Redshirts Always Die for more news as it happens.