Star Trek: Picard EP calls final season a passing of the torch

Star Trek: Picard will finish its final season next year.

With Star Trek: PIcard wrapping up next season, there are big plans underway with the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation returning and a never-before-seen villain promised. But though we are saying goodbye to the series, executive producer Terry Matalas doesn’t see the end as an ending. And, in fact, when stopping by the Inglorious Treksperts podcast, he had a lot to say about what’s next.

The executive producer sees Season 3 as “a passing of the torch from one generation to the next.” He referenced Dr. Leonard McCoy’s (DeForest Kelley) appearance on the first episode of The Next Generation, Encounter at Farpoint, saying he loved that moment, presumably because that was a way of handing the reins of Star Trek over to the TNG cast. He also felt the same when Spock appeared on TNG in “Unification” and “had that arc with Picard.”

"“The tapestry feels much richer when that happens. I think there are opportunities to tell the story of the next generation that crosses with the last.”"

Who is Star Trek: Picard passing the torch to, though?

When Matalas referred to telling the story of the next generation, it’s not certain who will be part of that generation. It’s possible he’s talking of a spinoff that will possibly include Michelle Hurd and Jeri Ryan, which has been hinted at more than once. But he didn’t clarify if there is another series already lined up.

Perhaps the torch-passing will be more evident in the final season of the series. For all we know, the next generation might not have anything to do with Hurd or Ryan. It could be something that is established as the episodes as they release next year.

Matalas said in the same podcast that there were other Star Trek characters returning in the next season of Picard that weren’t related to The Next Generation. So it’s possible one of those characters will pick up the torch and take it into the next series.