Why Star Trek: Picard's Michelle Hurd Thinks Fans Will Be 'Giddy' When Season 3 Arrives

Michelle Hurd's Raffi looking at Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Picard
(Image credit: Paramount+)

Now that Star Trek: Picard Season 2 has wrapped up, there’s only one more season left to go in this Star Trek TV show’s run. Season 3 is expected to arrive to Paramount+ subscribers in early 2023, and as far the main cast goes, so far Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard is only being accompanied by Michelle Hurd’s Raffi Muskier and Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine. However, Picard Season 3 will also feature a huge Next Generation reunion, and that’s just one of the reasons why Hurd thinks Star Trek fans will be “giddy” when this final batch of episodes arrives.

It’ll presumably be a while until specific Star Trek: Picard Season 3 plot details are shared with the public, but participating in a Twitter Spaces stream with Jeri Ryan to talk about Picard Season 2 (via TrekMovie), Michelle Hurd teased what’s to come in the final season, saying:

First of all, I think our Star Trek family is going to be really excited about this third season. It’s really delicious. And there are more twists and turns… Maybe fans are anticipating some twists and turns, but there’s a bunch of them there… The players who are coming to play with us–each time somebody walked on set it was like a historic moment. Everybody would come onto the soundstage and we were just so excited to welcome back these individuals. And the stories that Jeri and I get to explore are incredibly exciting and action-packed and emotional. I think it’s just going to give you guys a lot–it’s not even like Easter eggs. We’re just gonna be putting some stuff straight out. It’s in your face. I think you guys will be as giddy as we were shooting it.

It was announced in early April that Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, LeVar Burton and Michael Dorn would all be back for Star Trek: Picard Season 3. Frakes, Sirtis and Spiner have already appeared in Picard (Spiner had an expanded role in Season 2 as Adam Soong), but this will be the first time we’ve seen McFadden’s Beverly Crusher, Burton’s Geordi LaForge and Dorn’s Worf in a film/TV setting since 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. It sounds like Michelle Hurd had a great time working with the Next Generation alumni, while for Jeri Ryan said “it was like going to work and having a play date every day” because she’s been friends with these actors for years “through conventions and things like that.” So between the reunion aspect and these “twists and turns” Hurd mentioned, she’s confident that Star Trek fans will have a blast watching Season 3.

However, with the return of some familiar Star Trek faces comes the departure of others. Starting off, Alison Pill and Santiago Cabrera confirmed that they would not appear in Star Trek: Picard Season 3, which makes sense given that Agnes has become a new kind of Borg Queen, and Chris decided to stay in the 21st century. We then learned that Evan Evagora and Isa Briones will not be back for Season 3 either, with Evagora having played Elnor and Briones having primarily played Kore Soong in Season 2. Wil Wheaton, who briefly reprised Wesley Crusher in the Season 2 finale, also won’t be participating in the Picard Season 3 festivities, though he is in the loop on what’s happened and echoed Michelle Hurd’s thoughts on what’s coming.

As soon as any more concrete details for Star Trek: Picard Season 3 come along, including the specific premiere date, CinemaBlend will pass them along. For now, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is early into its run, and there are other upcoming Star Trek TV shows to look forward to later this year and beyond.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.