In the first season of Star Trek: Picard, we learned that Admiral Jean-Luc Picard had resigned from Starfleet in protest after the destruction of Romulus, and was living at his family’s vineyard in France. But he found himself once again putting on a uniform for a rescue mission, and assembling a new crew including freelance pilot Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) and his ship La Sirena, his former Starfleet first officer Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd), Dr. Agnes Jurati of the Daystrom Institute (Alison Pill), a young Romulan boy named Elnor (Evan Evagora), and old friend Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). But Picard was ill, and by the end of the season he had succumbed to his brain disease, but not before Picard’s consciousness had been transferred into a new synth body, and he was ready to join his new crew for another adventure on La Sirena.

The second season picks up about 18 months later. Rios is now the captain of the USS Stargazer, where he is joined by Dr. Agnes Jurati. Picard is now Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, and is giving a speech to the new graduates, which includes Elnor, Starfleet’s first Romulan cadet, and Raffi has ensured that Elnor is assigned to her command. The USS Stargazer is called upon to investigate a subspace anomaly, but a broadcast coming from the anomaly is demanding to speak only with Picard. As Picard boards the Stargazer, he is reunited with Seven of Nine, who now commands Rios’ La Sirena. When they discover a Borg ship within the anomaly, things quickly escalate, and the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) beams aboard the Stargazer. In order to prevent her from taking over the whole fleet, Picard activates the self-destruct, but instead of blowing up, when the crew awakens, they now find themselves in a very different, darker timeline, where instead of the Federation, they find themselves part of a xenophobic authoritarian regime ruling over the Confederation. Picard’s old nemesis Q (John de Lancie) has returned, putting Picard and his crew in another one of his nefarious games, informing Picard, “The trial never ends…welcome to the very end of the road not taken.” The only way they can save the future is by repairing the past that Q has changed. They must travel back in time 400 years to 2024, figure out what Q changed to cause this polluted totalitarian nightmare, and prevent it. But first they’re going to need some help from the Borg Queen to travel back in time.

I wasn’t really a fan of the first season of Star Trek: Picard, but this second season definitely won me over. By having the characters travel back to modern times, it sort of grounds things a little more—though there is still plenty of action, space battles, phaser blasts, and sci-fi tech throughout the season. There is a common theme this season, and that is love. The season kicks off with Picard confronting why he has remained alone all this time, knowing that he has feelings for Laris (Orla Brady) but failing to act on them. The other characters also have their own emotional and more vulnerable arcs this season—Raffi’s motherly relationship with Elnor, Seven’s past with the Borg, Rios’ attraction to a 21st century single mother he meets when he first arrives, Agnes’ loneliness and the connection she feels with the Borg Queen, and so on. The season also explores Q confronting his own mortality and reasons for why he hates Picard, Adam Soong (Brent Spiner)’s desperate attempts to cure his ailing daughter, and a young Guinan (Ito Aghayere) meeting Picard for the first time. Whoopi Goldberg also makes an appearance as present-day Guinan, plus there’s another fun TNG cameo.

In addition to the exciting, action-packed and dramatic sequences, the season also has a surprising amount of humor and fun moments. This is especially noticeable as the crew first reunites in the darker timeline, and must play along with their new identities. Then as they head back to the past and deal with 21st century tech and society. Even the Borg Queen manages to crack a couple jokes! There is also a really fun heist-like sequence as the crew try to sneak into a gala. As usual, the series also mixes in a bit of social commentary, such as Rios getting picked up by ICE shortly after he arrives in 2024.

The second season also delves deep into Picard’s past as he recalls his traumatic childhood. Though as he confronts and learns about his past, he realizes that it may not be quite what he was led to believe. Throughout the season we see this with many of the characters, especially those from TNG, where the series will expand upon what we already thought we already knew about these characters, looking at interesting new aspects of their pasts. This second season also really allows Alison Pill to shine, showcasing her comedic timing, her singing ability, and even gives her a chance to be more villainous.

The second season’s ten episodes play out like one continuous story. Each episode usually ends on some big reveal or cliffhanger, making you eager to see what happens next. It was great to be able to binge the entire season without having to wait a week between episodes. The only downside was the “previously on” before each episode, which are kind of pointless when you’re binging—it would have been nice to have a way to turn those off.

CBS Home Entertainment has released this second season of Star Trek: Picard on Limited Edition SteelBook Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD. I was sent the DVD version for review, which looks very good, with a picture quality that is far better than just “watchable”. However, it just lacks that slight extra clarity of an HD release. The audio track is excellent, providing clear dialogue, and making nice use of the stereo and surround channels to provide a fully-immersive experience. This is especially noticeable during the action sequences, such as the chaotic opening scene as the Borg Queen attempts to take over the fleet, and the sound of blasters can be heard coming from every direction.

The season’s ten episodes are spread across 3 discs, which are placed on trays in a standard sized DVD keepcase, covered with a glossy carboard slipcover. The discs contain over 90 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes, plus deleted scenes and a gag reel. The behind-the-scenes featurettes are really well done and provide an extensive and detailed look at the characters, ships, story and technology of the second season. My one gripe is that the deleted scenes are a bit hard to find, buried under the Episode Selection menu—you wouldn’t even know they were there unless you selected to watch a particular episode that contained them. It would be nice if they would also list these under the discs’ main Special Features menus.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (7:54:22)

• All 10 episodes of the second season:
  “The Star Gazer”, “Penance”, “Assimilation”, “Watcher”, “Fly Me to the Moon”, “Two of One”, “Monsters”, “Mercy”, “Hide and Seek”, “Farewell”
• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• Deleted/Extended Scenes (9:28)
  Collection of 10 deleted/extended scenes from four of the season’s episodes. Deleted scenes can be found on each disc under the Episode Selection menu. Select from:
  • “Assimilation” (2:41) 3 scenes
    Raffi tries to comfort a wounded Elnor; Dr. Ramirez arrives at the clinic; Raffi blames herself for what happened to Elnor.
  • “Fly Me to the Moon” (3:18) 3 scenes
    Q questions his waitress about the meaning of her life; the team steals the identity of some gala-goers; Q seduces Dr. Soong into doing his dirty work.
  • “Monsters” (1:18) 2 scenes
    Young Jean-Luc watches his mother being dragged off; Raffi and Seven try to figure out what Jurati is up to.
  • “Farewell” (2:11) 2 scenes
    Even though all hope of getting home seems lost, the team comes up with a plan to save the future; the group tells Picard they have neutralized the drones.
• The USS Stargazer (18:29)
  The filmmakers discuss the process and level of detail they went through when designing the brand new starship, the USS Stargazer, its layout, controls and more. Includes early designs and concept artwork, timelapse footage of the build, and interviews & footage from the design conference calls. Participants include production designer Dave Blass, executive producer Terry Matalas, concept illustrators Doug Drexler & John Eaves, Thomas Marrone of Cryptic Studios, supervising producer Jason Zimmerman, graphic designer Michael Okuda, Chris Keiler of Twisted Media, computer playback supervisor Todd Marks, construction stage foreman Bill Slonecker, and star/executive producer Patrick Stewart (“Jean-Luc Picard”).
• The Chateau (15:24)
  The cast and filmmakers discuss the design of Picard’s Chateau, the challenges of building a new Chateau on a soundstage for season 2, changing the look for the different time periods, building various props such as the skulls, and more. Includes concept artwork, design photos, tours of the set, and interviews with production designer Dave Blass, property master Jeff Lombardi, lead creature designer Neville Page, prosthetic designer Vincent Van Dyke, and star/executive producer Patrick Stewart.
• The Trial is Over (12:04)
  The cast and filmmakers discuss the character of Q dating back to his introduction in the pilot episode of STTNG, “Encounter at Farpoint”, his relationship with Picard, and bringing back the character. Includes clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with co-creator/executive producer Alex Kurtzman, executive producer Akiva Goldsman, and stars Patrick Stewart & John de Lancie (“Q”).
• Rebuilding the Borg Queen (11:11)
  The cast and filmmakers talk about designing a new, unique version of the Borg Queen, the make-up process, and more. Includes concept artwork, production photos, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with lead creature designer Neville Page, prosthetic designer Vincent Van Dyke, make-up & prosthetic s department head James MacKinnon, supervising producer Jason Zimmerman, and actress Annie Wersching (“Borg Queen”).
• Picard Props (12:06)
  Property Master Jeff Lombardi takes viewers on a tour of some of the props created for the second season, including the Borg Slayer oil painting, the new comm badges, tactical helmets and armor, Q’s business card, Soong Dynamics’ syringe/vial, drones, wristbands, Romulan multi-tool & tricorder, PADDs, Seven’s toolbelt, weapons, brandy bottles, and more.
• Picard Passages (24:59)
  The cast and filmmakers talk about how the season delves into Picard’s past and discovering it was not what he thought it was, his connection with Laris, the loving relationships of the season, the characters, and more. Includes clips and interviews with executive producer Akiva Goldsman, star Patrick Stewart, Orla Brady (“Laris”/“Tallinn”), Michelle Hurd (“Raffi Musiker”), Evan Evagora (“Elnor”), Jeri Ryan (“Seven of Nine”), Alison Pill (“Dr. Agnes Jurati”), Annie Wersching & Santiago Cabrera (“Cristóbal Rios”).
• Gag Reel (3:55)
  Laugh along with the cast as they flub their lines, deal with misbehaving props & noisy disruptions, crack each other up, and just have fun on set.

Final Thoughts:

I found this second season of Star Trek: Picard to be even more enjoyable than the first. While there’s still plenty of action and excitement, the season focuses more on the characters and relationships. The season brings back some more familiar STTNG faces while also expanding and evolving the main crew that was established in the first season. CBS Home Entertainment’s DVD release looks and sounds great (though I’d still opt for one of the 2 Blu-ray releases) and includes a solid selection of bonus material. The season comes highly recommended for any Star Trek or sci-fi fan, especially those of TNG.