The future of Star Trek: Picard isn’t set in stone yet.
On Wednesday, entertainment website Trek Central posted a tweet claiming that series star Patrick Stewart and executive producer Akiva Goldsman confirmed in the new issue of SFX Magazine that Star Trek: Picard is ending with season 3.
Stewart, who plays Jean-Luc Picard in the show, was quoted telling the magazine that he’s currently preparing to shoot a few more episodes of the currently-filming season 3 of Star Trek: Picard, and is “weeks away from wrapping the series.”
Goldsman, however, seemingly implied that the show will continue beyond season 3, telling the magazine that more familiar faces ― in addition to Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) and Q (John de Lancie) ― will be appearing in the show “by the time these three years are done.”
It appears that the way Stewart’s comment was worded, especially the British actor’s interchangeable use of “series” and “season” (where the former is used in the U.K. in the manner the latter is used in the U.S.), has made some fans believe that Star Trek: Picard is indeed wrapping up with season 3, which is not necessarily correct.
In fact, SFX Magazine replied to Trek Central’s tweet to clarify that its recent issue didn’t confirm the conclusion of Star Trek: Picard.
Huh? It doesn’t say that? It says ‘god knows what the future will bring’…
— SFX magazine (@SFXmagazine) January 26, 2022
In a couple of follow-up tweets, SFX Magazine pointed out that Stewart is English and that he might have mistakenly used the word “series” instead of “season.”
Yes, every series has to wrap eventually. Then they do another series. Or ‘season’, if you want to be particular…
— SFX magazine (@SFXmagazine) January 26, 2022
Well, he is British… 🇬🇧🖖
— SFX magazine (@SFXmagazine) January 26, 2022
While Paramount+ has yet to confirm or deny the impending conclusion of the series, it wouldn’t really be surprising if Star Trek: Picard ends with season 3. For one, the show got fast-tracked for a season 3 renewal last September and was later revealed to have started filming at the same time as the show’s upcoming season 2. Furthermore, when Paramount+ announced a number of season renewals last week, Picard was one of the few ongoing Star Trek series that didn’t get a season pick-up.
The possibility of Star Trek: Picard ending so soon may disappoint some fans, but the show was never intended to run for several seasons. Back at New York Comic Con in 2018, producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin told TrekMovie that the plan was for the series to run for just a few seasons, as it’s unlikely for Stewart to commit to another seven-season show like Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Also, with a number of Star Trek projects waiting for other series to wrap up — such as the long-known-about Michelle Yeoh Section 31 series — it won’t be shocking if Star Trek: Picard ultimately ends with season 3 to give way for new Star Trek shows.
Star Trek: Picard returns to Paramount+ for its second season on March 3rd, with new episodes dropping weekly on the streamer every Thursday.