Star Trek: Picard season three included most of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation but left out some major characters from the first two seasons.
Only two characters from the original first two seasons of the series remained—Seven of Nine and Raffi although, Laris did return briefly in the first episode.
Some fans had a lot to say about characters being left out, especially Elnor as he and Raffi had grown close. But some characters sufficiently ended their arc so it was understandable why they didn’t return. Unfortunately, though, three characters from season one and two were left hanging in the balance when season three debuted.
Laris
Yes, she was included in the first episode of season three; however, Admiral Picard was supposed to meet her after he’d finished helping Dr. Beverly Crusher. After that episode, we never heard from Laris again. Picard didn’t try to reach out to her nor was anything said about where things would go between the two of them.
Picard discovered he had a son with Dr. Crusher so some fans assumed he would reestablish a relationship with her, but the ending of the series didn’t seem to point in that direction. Though the pair had wonderful chemistry, there was not even a hint of romance. But it was understood that Picard loved Laris. If that was the case, how could he spend an entire mission, a dangerous mission at that, without even mentioning her to his friends and former crew? This was a definite loose end that needed to be tied even though showrunner Terry Matalas thought leaving it open ended would benefit fans of the Picard/Laris romance as well as fans of the Picard/Dr. Crusher romance.
Elnor
Elnor had a promising start in season one of Star Trek: Picard, even becoming a surrogate son for Admiral Picard. Along the way, he also grew close to Raffi who was proud of him for becoming the first Romulan to attend Starfleet Academy.
Season two of Picard saw Elnor getting killed and leaving a grief-stricken, angry Raffi behind. She grieved him the entire season, but Q, in one of his last acts as a kinder version of himself, restored Elnor to life. And that’s where things ended with him.
There was no reconnection with Raffi. We don’t know if he returned to Starfleet Academy or if he and Raffi stayed in contact. It would seem like they would, but during season three of Picard, he wasn’t mentioned. Granted, more of the focus was on Raffi establishing a relationship with her son and grandson, but it was disingenuous to never mention Elnor at any point during the final season.
Soji
After season one, Soji essentially disappeared. At the beginning of season two of Picard, she was on a mission to teach people more about synthetics, and Isa Briones played a different role as Adam Soong’s daughter. But, once again, Soji was another character who didn’t bear follow-up.
No one mentioned her, and even though she could have been a big help in season three when the Changelings infiltrated Starfleet, she wasn’t included. She could still be teaching about synthetics even though Picard jumped a year into the future, but it would have been nice to have her part in Picard’s first season journey, the one that brought him back to space, acknowledged.
The return of The Next Generation characters required that some original characters from Picard’s season one and season two not be included, but these characters’ arcs ended abruptly. And we’re left with questions only the showrunners can answer, which likely means we’ll never know what happened to Laris, Elnor, and Soji.