In 2020, Star Trek finally returned to the late 24th Century, the era I’d been hoping to see more of for almost twenty years. Picard’s final season is now here, so I hope you’ll follow along with my episode reviews and theories while the season is ongoing.
Here on this page you’ll also find an archive of all of my other Picard content, including episode reviews for Seasons 1 and 2, theories, discussion, and more.
Season 3 Episode Reviews:
You can find all of my Season 3 episode reviews right here.
Star Trek: Picard Episode Review – Season 3, Episode 6: The Bounty
“The Bounty feels like an episode that was made for fans…”
Star Trek: Picard Episode Review – Season 3, Episode 5: Imposters
“A thrilling ride from start to finish…”
Star Trek: Picard Episode Review – Season 3, Episode 4: No Win Scenario
“After Seventeen Seconds had been fantastic across the board last week, I felt the quality dip slightly this time…”
Star Trek: Picard Episode Review – Season 3, Episode 3: Seventeen Seconds
“Practically every moment was tense, exciting, and thoroughly enjoyable…”
Star Trek: Picard Episode Review – Season 3, Episode 2: Disengage
“I don’t think it’s the best episode of the series or anything, but it feels like there’s the potential to consider it a solid addition…”
Star Trek: Picard Episode Review – Season 3, Episode 1: The Next Generation
“The Next Generation feels like a solid start…”
Season 3 Theories:
As Season 3 progresses I will be updating my theories, so stay tuned!
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theories – week 6
“I think this could be a big week for the story…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theories – week 5
“There are several big changes to the theory list this week…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theories – week 4
“In terms of mysteries, the story is just getting started!”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theories – week 3
“We’ve netted several theory wins already!”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theories – week 2
“Despite a retirement and two confirmations, the theory list continues to grow…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theories – week 1
“Everything technically remains in play…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theories – week 0
“I’ve already concocted a handful of theories about Picard Season 3…”
Season 3 Buildup:
I wrote several articles and columns in between Seasons 2 and 3. You can find them here.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2: What went wrong?
“Unwatchable garbage…”
Five more episodes to watch before Star Trek: Picard Season 3
“On this occasion we’re going to add five more Star Trek episodes to the list!”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 – final trailer thoughts and analysis
“It didn’t have any big tease or reveal to really punch through and sell me on the notion that this is going to be an unmissable season of Star Trek…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 – Death Predictions
“I can’t shake the feeling that someone significant is going to be killed before Season 3 is done…”
What to watch to get ready for Star Trek: Picard Season 3
“If nothing else, all of these stories are good fun, and worth re-watching for any Trekkie who may not have seen them in a while!”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 – hopes, fears, and expectations
“This is Picard’s last chance…”
2022: A great and terrible year for Star Trek
“Pull back the curtain and I’m afraid it was a tough year for Star Trek…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theory – the super-synths, part 2
“Today I’m updating one of my big Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theories…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theory – the “rogues’ gallery”
“Like Marvel’s HYDRA or DC Comics’ Legion of Doom, perhaps [spoiler] has managed to create their very own rogues’ gallery!”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theory – who is Captain Vadic?
“We have enough evidence to put together a few theories about who she could potentially be…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 – Comic-Con trailer thoughts and analysis
“The trailer shown off at New York Comic-Con looked action-packed and exciting…”
What happened at Star Trek Day 2022?
“Star Trek Day was… okay.”
There are two unannounced Star Trek projects being worked on. What could they be?
“These are the Star Trek projects that seem to be the most likely based on what we’ve heard through official and unofficial channels…”
What can we expect from Star Trek Day 2022?
“I’m glad Paramount is doing this, and I’m glad the event will be free to stream on the official Star Trek website…”
Star Trek at Comic-Con 2022 – thoughts and impressions
“We got a lot of Star Trek news to process over the weekend…”
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1, 2, and 3 theory: the super-synths
“Having touched on this theory briefly the other day I wanted to give it a full write-up…”
Ten 25th Century Star Trek concepts
“If it were up to me, the early 25th Century would probably be the main setting that I’d want to use for the majority of new Star Trek projects…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 theory – what happened to Q?
“As Trekkies and as fans who’ve followed Q’s journey over the span of more than three decades, it definitely feels like there’s a missing piece of the puzzle…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 – thoughts on the casting situation
“Today I wanted to take a peek behind the curtain and talk about some production-side announcements…”
Paramount’s cack-handed marketing strikes again…
“The halfway point of [Star Trek: Picard] Season 2 was not the right time for this announcement…”
Season 2 Episode Reviews:
You can find all of my Picard Season 2 reviews right here!
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 2, Episode 10: Farewell
“It was the best episode since the season premiere, but that’s damning with faint praise…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 2, Episode 8: Mercy
“Mercy spent much more time on what I consider to be the season’s more interesting story…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 2, Episode 7: Monsters
“Monsters feels not only like a disappointment, but an episode that could potentially be a weight around the neck of the entire season…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 2, Episode 6: Two of One
“I kind of feel ‘catfished’ by Picard Season 2…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 2, Episode 5: Fly Me To The Moon
“Fly Me To The Moon had some interesting elements in the mix, but they came in a framework that didn’t always excite or enthrall me…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 2, Episode 4: Watcher
“A solid mid-season offering that moved several key storylines along…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 2, Episode 3: Assimilation
“It was an explosive episode, but one that’s difficult to judge conclusively until we’ve seen more…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 2, Episode 2: Penance
“Overall, I had a great time with Penance…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 2, Episode 1: The Star Gazer
“One of the best episodes of live-action Star Trek that I’ve seen in a long time…”
Season 2 Theories:
I wrote a theory list during Season 2 that I updated weekly.
Star Trek: Picard theories – Season 2 finale
“This week we’re going to conclude my Season 2 theory list…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 9
“When the story is so unpredictable… who knows what could happen?”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 8
“Some of my big theories are rapidly running out of road, and this week three have been debunked outright…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 7
“With three episodes remaining, the theory list has grown again…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 6
“Two of One raised some interesting points from a theory-crafting point of view…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 5
“There has been a fair amount of movement on the theory list…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 4
“There was plenty to enjoy in Watcher – and the episode has gifted us a few new theory ideas to boot…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 3
“I’m hoping that the exciting start to the season will continue…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 2
“We have a lot of theories in play at this early stage, but there’s plenty of time for more to develop over the next few episodes…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 1
“There are certainly some theories that now seem very unlikely, but for now, all of them remain in play…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 0
“Because news, information, and teasers have trickled out about Picard Season 2 over the past couple of years, I have a few theories already…”
Season 2 Buildup:
I wrote a number of articles in the run-up to Season 2, discussing various aspects of Season 1, previewing and speculating about the story of Season 2, crafting theories, and breaking down and analysing the various pre-season trailers and teasers.
Et in Arcadia Ego: What went wrong?
“That’s the real tragedy of Et in Arcadia Ego: the way it makes eight genuinely wonderful episodes feel worse in retrospect…”
Twelve Star Trek episodes to watch before Picard Season 2 arrives!
“I thought it could be fun to pull out twelve stories from Star Trek’s past that might just be useful background viewing for Season 2 of Picard…”
Whoopi’s “whoopsie” – what might it mean for Star Trek: Picard?
“On a recent episode of The View, Goldberg made controversial remarks about the Holocaust…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 theory: He didn’t do it!
“The writers of the franchise have been very keen to bring mysterious elements into Star Trek…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 – thoughts on the new trailer
“It was an exciting, action-packed trailer that showed us just enough of the new season to jump-start the hype train…”
A whole host of Star Trek updates and renewals… but trust in ViacomCBS is still hard to come by
“While these announcements are exciting, I can’t bring myself to fully board the hype train, not until we have more information about how and when these shows are going to be made available…”
The pros and cons of filming back-to-back
“The interesting thing about Picard Season 3 being so far along in its production is, of course, that Season 2 has yet to be broadcast…”
What will the Discovery decision mean for Picard, Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and the rest of Star Trek?
“Will Trekkies around the world be able to enjoy any new Star Trek in the months ahead? Or will we see repeat after repeat of the Discovery mess?”
Star Trek theory: Q the saviour
“What I like about this theory is that everything feels like it fits together…”
Captain Proton? No thanks…
“Out of everything in Star Trek, is Captain Proton the one thing you want more of?”
The new Star Trek: Picard trailer… oof.
“The trailer showed off what are really two of my least-favourite Star Trek story tropes, and in its aftermath I’m finding it hard to remain as excited for the season as I was…”
Star Trek Day roundup!
“Star Trek Day shone with passion and positivity, and that’s just what the franchise needed as it marked its fifty-fifth birthday…”
Star Trek Day 2021 predictions
“I’ve got a few ideas for what might be coming our way when Star Trek Day kicks off…”
Ten great Star Trek starship designs
“Over more than half a century, Star Trek has featured many different designs of starship…”
Star Trek news roundup!
“In the last few weeks there have been several of these smaller news stories…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 theory – World War III
“Although the Third World War has been an integral part of Star Trek’s fictional history for more than thirty years, that’s about the extent of what we know…”
Does Q age?
“What matters for this discussion is that Q can assume any form he chooses…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 – new trailer thoughts & analysis
“The mysteries of Season 2 deepen…”
Five of my favourite Starfleet uniforms
“Aesthetic, colour, and costume style are very much subject to personal taste, and I know there can be a range of opinions on all of these things…”
Star Trek: Picard + Star Trek: Discovery crossover theory – “the true final frontier”
“There was a line in the Picard Season 2 teaser which stood out to me…”
Gates McFadden’s recent comments on Star Trek: Picard
“In a way this is a pretty big spoiler…”
Star Trek: Picard – Six USS Stargazer theories
“So let’s consider a few possibilities for how the USS Stargazer could be included in Season 2 of Picard…”
Star Trek’s “First Contact Day” event – roundup and impressions
“With so much going on, and so many amazing reveals, it’s hard to know what to talk about first!”
Some Star Trek updates for 2021-22
“These announcements were interesting, and I feel reasonably confident now that we’ll see three Star Trek shows this year instead of the two I had been expecting, so that’s fantastic!”
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 finally enters production!
“It seems as though the long-delayed second season of Star Trek: Picard has officially entered production, with filming commencing in California…”
Star Trek: Picard + Star Trek: The Next Generation crossover theory: Lore
“In short, this theory connects Data’s brother Lore to the Zhat Vash, the faction introduced in Star Trek: Picard…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 1 – one year later
“As we hit the first anniversary, I thought it could be a good moment to look back on my remembrances (ha! get it?) of the show as well as what the first season achieved, what it did well, and where it came up short…”
Preliminary Star Trek: Picard Season 2 predictions
“Season 1 left several big mysteries behind, and while some may be addressed it seems as though Season 2 will see Picard and the crew move on to new adventures…”
End-of-Year Awards 2020
“Welcome to the first annual End-of-Year Awards! These are the best (and worst) entertainment events of the year…”
Axanar, Discovery, and the fan community coming back together
“There is room within a fandom like Star Trek for Discovery and Axanar to coexist…”
Star Trek: Picard + Star Trek: Discovery crossover theory: Control and the Romulans
“While Star Trek: Picard Season 1 was ongoing earlier in the year, I postulated a number of theories about what was going on in the show. One theory that I had related to Control – the artificial intelligence from Star Trek: Discovery Season 2…”
Unsolved mysteries from Star Trek: Picard Season 1
“The series set up a number of mysteries, and while many of them were completely resolved by the first season finale, some weren’t…”
Has Star Trek: Picard’s first season finale set up the plot of Discovery’s third season?
“Many of my theories during Star Trek: Picard Season 1 didn’t pan out, and this may simply be another that falls by the wayside!”
Ten character ideas for Star Trek: Picard Season 2
“Season 1 surprised me by bringing back several characters that I would have never expected. With that in mind, here are a few picks for characters it could be fun to see return…”
Star Trek: Picard Season 1 theory roundup!
“In a way, part of the fun of theory-crafting and speculating is knowing that you won’t always get it right… and boy oh boy did I have some seriously wrong theories!”
How does Commodore Oh affect other Star Trek stories?
“There are two possibilities for how the presence of Commodore Oh could be interpreted…”
Season 1 Episode Reviews:
I reviewed every episode of Picard Season 1 – and the Short Treks episode Children of Mars – within a few days of their UK broadcast.
Short Treks (Star Trek: Picard) review – Children of Mars
“It’s difficult to tell a compelling story in less than eight minutes…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 1: Remembrance
“After hitting “refresh” for what must’ve been the hundredth time, Star Trek: Picard Season 1, Episode 1 was there! I was one click of the mouse away from Remembrance, and finally being back with Jean-Luc Picard for the first time in eighteen years. A lot has happened in my life since, and as Sir Patrick…
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 2: Maps and Legends
“After Remembrance had been so stunningly good last week, I was hoping that Maps and Legends would manage to be just as enjoyable…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 3: The End is the Beginning
“Mysteries continue to deepen in Star Trek: Picard, and The End is the Beginning has certainly left us with more questions than answers at this point…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 4: Absolute Candor
“After the first three episodes set up a lot of story points and mysteries, Absolute Candor felt like the first episode so far to begin the task of exploring and unravelling them…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 5: Stardust City Rag
“Jonathan Frakes returned for his second and final stint as director this season, and I really enjoyed what he brought to the table…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 6: The Impossible Box
“The Impossible Box gave me that same feeling of “wow, what have I just watched” that I got during Remembrance at the beginning of the season. It was everything I’m looking for in an episode of Star Trek in 2020…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 7: Nepenthe
“Where last week’s episode, The Impossible Box, was an edge-of-your-seat wild ride, Nepenthe was a quieter affair, but intensely emotional. Simply processing everything that happened will take some time…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 8: Broken Pieces
“With only two episodes left after Broken Pieces, we couldn’t really head into a two-part finale with too much backstory left unexplained. Now was the moment for Star Trek: Picard to explain how its various elements would come together…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 9: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1
“Every Star Trek series – and every season of every series – has had duds: episodes which misfired, told bad stories, or for various reasons failed to hit the mark…”
Star Trek: Picard review – Season 1, Episode 10: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2
“When I think about the season as a whole, Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1 is by far the worst episode, and while Part 2 went some way to rectifying that, and did manage to pull out a passable end to the story, it wasn’t an especially great episode either, with some definite low points…
Season 1 Theories:
During Season 1 I wrote a number of theories, and I updated my theory list after each episode had aired. I got a lot wrong – but I also made a few correct predictions!
Six Star Trek: Picard theories
“Remembrance, the first episode of Star Trek: Picard, introduced us to a lot of information about some of the events and individuals that have shaped the galaxy since Nemesis. And I got thinking about a few of those points, as well as other story points from the episode…”
Updating my Star Trek: Picard theories – week 2
“Theorising and speculating about a show with so much mystery is all part of the experience of watching it, and thus far I’ve really enjoyed the return to the 24th Century that Star Trek: Picard has afforded us…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 3
“There are so many mysteries that Star Trek: Picard has set up that it’s hard not to analyse every little detail and get lost in theory-crafting…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 4
“It will be funny to come back to this series of posts when the series has ended and we have all the answers – I bet I got far more theories and ideas wrong than I got right!”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 5
“I had a great time with Stardust City Rag, and several new theories have emerged as a result of what we saw on screen in that episode…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 6
“The Impossible Box brought a lot to the table in terms of theory-crafting. With only four episodes left in the first season of Star Trek: Picard, the show still has a lot of mysteries left to unravel…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 7
“One of the best things about Star Trek: Picard is how unexpected much of it has been. Even now, as we gear up for the final three episodes, I still have no idea where the writers will take us…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 8
“We finally saw the “theory massacre” that I’d been expecting for a couple of weeks, as several potentially interesting theories dropped like flies…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 9
“So those are the remaining theories as we head into the finale! It’s patently obvious that they can’t all be right, and we may even see none of them pan out by the time the episode – and the season – is complete…”
Star Trek: Picard theories – week 10
“While it has been great fun to speculate and theorise, it was always going to be the case that most theories didn’t come to pass – and that’s the case for any fan theory, no matter how plausible or well-constructed…”
Season 1 Buildup:
In the run-up to Season 1 I wrote a number of articles previewing Star Trek: Picard and expressing how much I was looking forward to the new series. You can check out all of them here.
Why I’m so excited for Star Trek: Picard
“At the end of the day, Star Trek: Picard is taking the franchise forward in time – to the close of the 24th Century. And it’s the first time in a very long time that the timeline is going to advance. That is already a huge point in its favour…”
What to watch to be ready for Star Trek: Picard
“If you’re new to Star Trek, or haven’t watched any of the older series for a long time, it might be worthwhile to go back and take a look at some of the classics in anticipation of Star Trek: Picard…”
A few episodes you probably won’t need to watch before Star Trek: Picard… or will you?
“There’s a huge number of episodes and films in the Star Trek back catalogue, and figuring out which ones may have some relationship with the upcoming Star Trek: Picard is a bit of a guessing game!”
Star Trek: Picard has red carpet premieres
“Over the last couple of days Star Trek: Picard has had big premieres in Los Angeles and London – which I’ve seen thanks to following the official Star Trek social media sites. Supposedly the first three episodes of the upcoming series were shown to invited audiences…”
Factions of Star Trek: Picard part one – Romulans
“Before the show kicks off I wanted to take a look in a little more detail at a few of the factions that we’re likely to encounter in the new series. This time we’ll look at the Romulans…”
Factions of Star Trek: Picard part two – Borg
“I’m continuing the series I began last time, looking at some of the factions we seem certain to encounter in the new series. Today, it’s the turn of the Borg to be under the microscope!”
Factions of Star Trek: Picard part three – the Federation
“Over the last few days we’ve looked at a couple of the main Star Trek factions that seem certain to make an appearance in Star Trek: Picard. In this article I’m continuing to look at some (hopefully) useful background information…”
Factions of Star Trek: Picard part four – everyone else
“If you’re in the United States, you’ll be able to watch Star Trek: Picard tomorrow, you lucky thing! The rest of us have to wait an extra 24 hours… hopefully I can manage! This is the final part of my series of articles leading up to the release of the new show..”
A couple of others:
Ten things we learned from Remembrance
“Before my memories of the episode fade too much, I wanted to go over a few things we learned in Remembrance…”
Ten things we learned from Maps and Legends
“Despite not quite reaching the same heights as the first episode of the season, [Maps and Legends] was enjoyable nevertheless, and we got a lot of new information that tells us about the Star Trek galaxy in the final year of the 24th Century…”
Star Trek: The Next Generation re-watch – The Measure of a Man
“I enjoyed going back to The Measure of a Man. I wouldn’t like to guess how many times I’ve seen it already; as with most of the rest of The Next Generation and its spin-offs I’ve watched and re-watched it on a number of occasions…”