Why Star Trek: Picard didn’t squander Captain Rios’ potential

Star Trek: Picard wrapped season two on May 5th.

When Star Trek: Picard’s second season came to a close on May 5th, the finale set up the exits for several of the main cast members, although, we didn’t know it at the time. It was fairly obvious that it would be difficult for Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill) to disengage herself from the Borg Queen and for Captain Rios (Santiago Carbrera) to return from 2024 so their depatures were solidly established. And while some fans think this will be a good thing for season three of the series which will return with several of the cast members of Star Trek: The Next Generation, some feel Picard writers/producers may have squandered the potential of its main cast members.

In a recent Collider article, the writer wrote about how Rios was written to be a romantic figure, but romancing someone from another timeline is against the Temporal Prime Directive. The writer also asked how, when Rios had just gotten his life back together in the future, he would abandon that for an uncertain life in 2024.

"And it’s a particularly strange decision considering Rios’ introduction to 2024 was being cared for in an underground, illegal clinic, incarcerated by ICE, and certain death until Seven and Raffi rescued him. It’s impossible to think that someone from a utopian future, where race is hardly an issue, would welcome being racially profiled in the bigoted and dystopian 21st century."

Star Trek: Picard isn’t set in a utopian future.

There were more than enough problems to go around in the first season of Picard, proving utopia was a myth. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is proving that as well, and although the future looks a lot better, it’s certainly not perfect. And while Captain Rios was subjected to cruelty in 2024, he also found love, and staying in the past offered him an opportunity he wouldn’t get in his time. A chance to make a real difference, a chance to shape the future, as it were.

When Picard began, Rios was adrift, not really knowing what to do with himself, and though he found purpose helping Picard and even returning to Starfleet, there was still something missing. He never would have considered staying in 2024 if he thought his life was everything it should be.

And as far as his potential, how many of us actually get the chance to help rewrite history? Rios lived in the future, but he couldn’t change it. The past, however, that held his true potential.