Since it was announced that Patrick Stewart would be reprising his role as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard, the actor has been very vocal that he wants the show to draw parallels to the tough world we are living in now. But when recently asked if he would like the series tackle a pandemic-themed plot in Season 2, Stewart said that he wouldn’t approve anything like that.
“I would not encourage that,” Stewart, who also serves as an executive producer on the series, said in an interview with CBC Radio’s The Current. “This (ongoing COVID-19 pandemic) is a disturbing and frightening and sad time for many thousands of people and I would feel uncomfortable if we were to make this a theme of the second season of Star Trek. It is too sensitive, too upsetting, too frightening, I think than some of the other issues that we have dealt with, which are much more of a political nature.”
In the same interview, Stewart shared his thoughts on how the global health crisis has been handled by leaders of nations and revealed how he thinks Jean-Luc Picard may have responded to the pandemic differently.
“Well, Picard would have acted very much quicker than either the U.S. government or the U.K. government did,” said the actor. “There were good examples around the world of how best to handle this dangerous and difficult situation, and it wasn’t taken up, and I think that Picard would not have hesitated in finding, if not solutions, at least ways of minimizing the risk and the danger to individuals.”
Plot details about Star Trek: Picard Season 2 are scarce, but it was previously revealed that the show’s sophomore run would feature the return of Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan. It’s not yet clear, however, whether Goldberg is going to be a series regular or will simply be a guest star. In any case, fans are definitely excited to find out what Guinan has been up to since her last Star Trek appearance.
Star Trek: Picard, which ended its freshman run last month, is available to stream on CBS All Access in the U.S. and internationally on Amazon Prime Video. A release date for Season 2 has yet to be announced.