Star Trek: Picard (season 2)

Executive producer Heather Kadin revealed in October 2018 that Star Trek: Picard was intended to be an ongoing series rather than a limited miniseries;[13] the producers knew from the beginning of development that star Patrick Stewart was signed on for at least two seasons, and that a second season would definitely be made.[14] Stewart reiterated this in February 2019, saying "we are set up for possibly three years of this show".[15] That September, Stewart said filming for a second season could begin as early as March 2020.[16] Co-creator Alex Kurtzman confirmed a month later that a second season of the series was "already in the works" ahead of the release of the first season.[17]

In early December, showrunner Michael Chabon signed an overall deal with CBS Television Studios to create several new series for the studio, beginning with an adaptation of his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Chabon would remain with Picard as showrunner until he had to shift focus to Kavalier & Clay at some point in 2020, and he would still be creatively involved in Picard as an executive producer from then.[18] A week later, the series was informally green-lit for a second 10-episode season after being allocated $20.45 million in tax credits by the California Film Commission for the production to continue filming in California. This was the most any television series had been awarded by the program since its expansion in September 2014.[5][19] An official renewal was expected once a showrunner for the second season could be confirmed.[19]

In January 2020, CBS officially announced the second season renewal and revealed that Terry Matalas had joined the series as an executive producer to fill the void that would be created by Chabon's departure. CBS had moved Matalas from their series MacGyver to Picard due to the latter being a high priority for the studio. Matalas had been working with Chabon and the second season's writers for "some time" before the official announcement, and he was expected to take over as showrunner once Chabon left. The series was also reported to have an informal green-light for a third season that would be developed at the same time as the second, so the two could be filmed back-to-back.[20] Chabon expressed regret at having to leave the series, but said that he was "every bit as involved" in the development of the second season as he had been on the first, and would be writing episodes for the second season as well as remaining an executive producer.[21] The difference was he would not be running the series day-to-day once filming began.[22]

In March 2020, journalist Marc Bernardin, who interned on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, joined Picard as a supervising producer.[23] By the end of that month, filming was set to begin in mid-June.[7][24] These plans were made before the COVID-19 pandemic began.[9] Executive producer Akiva Goldsman said in May 2020 that if filming could not begin in June due to the pandemic, it would begin as soon as possible after pandemic restrictions were lifted.[25] That September, after a deal was made between major studios and Hollywood unions regarding safety measures for productions during the pandemic, director Jonathan Frakes said filming could begin in January 2021 and added that Stewart was eager to begin as soon as possible;[26] filming began in February.[27] Goldsman and Matalas were confirmed as co-showrunners for the season that April.[8]

Despite the second and third seasons being developed together, Goldsman said they would tell separate stories. The second season's story heavily features time travel and was suggested by Matalas, who was inspired by Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).[28] Before the end of 2019, Chabon and Goldsman met with Stewart to pitch the season's story,[29] and Kurtzman said in January 2020 that the writers were confident in it. Kurtzman did want the option to adjust the story based on responses to the first season,[30] but Chabon said in March that the second season would not be affected by fans who criticized the first season for not meeting their expectations.[22] The full story for the second season was broken by then and writing had begun.[1] One lesson learned during the first season, according to Goldsman, was to figure out the ending of the season before they began filming,[31] and production delays due to the pandemic did allow more episodes to be written and earlier episodes to be subsequently revised.[25] Writing for the season was completed after filming began in early 2021, and Goldsman said it would not be clear if they were successful in crafting the full story until editing was done.[28]

Chabon felt emboldened by the success of the first season to go in some new directions, and said the second season would take advantage of lessons he learned during the making of the first season.[22] Following the first-season finale, Chabon and Goldsman said the second season would not ignore the fact that Picard's consciousness is now in a synthetic body,[32] and that it would further explore the personal lives of the series' supporting cast,[22] the first season's Romulan refugee storyline,[9] and the technology and culture of Starfleet.[33] Chabon added that the USS Enterprise had not been revisited in the first season because the writers did not want to include it in a throwaway moment. He said a full appearance of the Enterprise was being considered for the second season, but a final decision had not been made by the writers by the end of March 2020.[34] In April 2021, Goldsman said the season would continue to explore issues that come up in the last stage of a person's life, and added that the nature of connectedness would be a major theme for the season; the Star Trek: The Next Generation character Q appears in the season because of his deep relationship with Picard, with Goldsman feeling that Q was the most significant relationship in Picard's life.[31] He added in September that Picard would be struggling with his own history in the season, which tied-in with the time travel plot.[28]

Returning from the first season to star in the second are Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, Alison Pill as Agnes Jurati, Isa Briones as Soji Asha, Evan Evagora as Elnor, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, and Santiago Cabrera as Cristobal "Chris" Rios.[5][6] Harry Treadaway did not return for the second season as Narek.[5][6]

In February 2019, Whoopi Goldberg stated that she would like to reprise her Star Trek: The Next Generation role of Guinan in Picard.[35] That July, Robert Picardo, who portrayed the holographic doctor in Star Trek: Voyager, said CBS had expressed interest in him returning for the second season of Picard.[36] In January 2020, while promoting the first season of the series on the talk show The View, Stewart officially invited co-host Goldberg to appear in the second season, an invitation which Goldberg accepted.[12] Chabon rewatched several key episodes of The Next Generation that feature Guinan in preparation for writing new scenes for Goldberg who he called "an amazing actor".[34] By April, LeVar Burton had discussed reprising his Next Generation role of Geordi La Forge on Picard, and said there was a possibility he would appear in the second season.[37] In July, Picardo praised the series and expressed interest in guest-starring in it in the future, but said there were "absolutely no plans" for him to appear in the second season.[38]

After reprising his The Next Generation role of Data in the first season, Brent Spiner said in March 2020 that he would not do so again as he felt that story was a fitting end to the character. He expressed interest in returning for the second season as Dr. Altan Inigo Soong who he began playing in the first season two-part finale,[10] and Goldsman later admitted that Soong was created in part so Spiner could return for future seasons following Data's death.[33] Chabon expressed interest in first season recurring guest stars Jeri Ryan, Orla Brady, and Jamie McShane returning for the second season, respectively as Voyager's Seven of Nine and Picard's Romulan staff-members Laris and Zhaban. He said a relationship between Seven and Raffi that was teased at the end of the first season would be explored in the second.[9] Ryan said in May 2020 that she was returning for the second season,[7] and she, Brady, and Spiner were confirmed as main cast members in April 2021 when John de Lancie was announced as reprising his Star Trek role of Q in the season.[8]

Annie Wersching was revealed to be cast in the recurring role of the Borg Queen in September 2021, taking over the role from Alice Krige who portrayed the character in the film Star Trek: First Contact (1996) as well as the Voyager series finale. Susanna Thompson also portrayed the character in several episodes of Voyager.[11]

Filming was initially scheduled to begin in mid-June 2020,[7][24] but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was instead expected to begin in January 2021.[26][39] In December 2020, Ryan said filming would begin on February 1,[40] but on that date she revealed that it had been delayed again.[41] Production instead began on February 16,[27] in California, after the series received tax incentives to continue filming there for the second season.[5] In April, de Lancie said scenes for the second and third seasons were being filmed simultaneously, and explained that the production was following strict guidelines on set due to the pandemic, with cast and crew members being regularly tested.[42] Principal photography for the season ended on September 2 when filming for the tenth episode was completed. The production then segued fully into filming the third season.[4]

Composer Jeff Russo said in December 2020 that he was beginning to think about the score for the season, adding, "there's a lot going on there".[43]