Breaking down that surprise cameo to close out Star Trek: Picard season 2

Star Trek: Picard ended its second season with a surprise cameo. (Spoilers)

Star Trek: Picard ended its second season with a surprise cameo from a member of The Next Generation. Spoilers lay ahead, so if you don’t want to have the season finale ruined, stop reading, as we will be discussing a major character’s return to the franchise. Albeit so briefly.

At the close of the episode, after everything has settled, Kore Soong (Isa Briones) is seen in the 21st century and is approached by a man she’s never seen before. This man is none other than Wesley Crusher, played by Wil Wheaton. Wesley, however, no longer goes by that name and is simply one of the Travelers who venture through space and time exploring.

Wesley offers a spot to Kore to travel with him, and she accepts, though he notes that her safety is not guaranteed.

It’s a nice nod to the Next Generation, who saw Wesley get pitched a spot with the Travelers in a near-identical way. It brought Wesley’s trip full circle and gave fans a neat little peek into his life.

Also, considering that Wheaton himself said he wasn’t joining the third season of Picard, it’s interesting to see if that was a fakeout by Crusher, or if it this was the plan all along. It’s also possible this was a late addition to the season finale, as a way to get Wheaton involved.

With Wil Wheaton back that leaves only one name not attached to Picard from The Next Generation.

With Wil Wheaton being a part of Picard’s second season, we have now seen all of Star Trek: The Next Generation core cast apart from Picard to some degree over the three-season series arc. Well, almost the main cast. The majority of fan-favorite and iconic characters from the series have popped up. That just leaves one name left unattached to some degree;

Denise Crosby, who played Natasha Yar in season one of The Next Generation, and later her half-human, half-Romulan daughter Sela.

While it’s not realistic to expect every major guest star from The Next Generation to get a shot at reprising their roles, one would hope that Crosby, who was a main player in the first season, would get a shot.

It should be noted that one other major name, Diana Muldaur who played Dr. Katherine Pulaski in season two, also hasn’t appeared on Star Trek: Picard, she seems less likely. She’s in her early 80s and has been seemingly retired from screen acting for nearly 30 years.

That makes Crosby the last viable name to appear on Picard after all of the other actors and actresses have.

Hopefully, we’ll see her in some form come Picard’s final season.