Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: Gates McFadden, jeri ryan, Jonathan Frakes, paramount, patrick stewart, star trek, Star Trek Picard, Todd Stashwick, youtube

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Premiere Available for Free on YouTube

To give "Star Trek" fans out there a chance to check out the new season, Paramount+ released Star Trek: Picard S03E01 for free on YouTube.

To give presumably jaded Star Trek fans another shot at Picard, Paramount+ released the season three premiere, "The Next Generation," available for free on YouTube. When the episode starts, we find Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), the former chief medical officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and out of Starfleet, trying to fend off an attempted incursion on her vessel the SS Eleos alongside Jack (Ed Speleers). After she is shot, she sends an encrypted message to her former captain, now Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)

Upon encrypting it, Jean-Luc tries to make sense, especially the part about not trusting anyone, including Starfleet. He recruits his former Enterprise first officer commander, now Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), into the fold. The two board the U.S.S. Titan-A with Jean-Luc's mutual contact in Seven of Nine, now Cmdr. Annika Hansen (Jeri Ryan). She introduces them to Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick), who is not really one to "rock the boat" as far as the Starfleet brass is concerned.

As Picard and Riker try to divert the Titan's course to rescue Beverly, Raffi (Michelle Hurd) finds herself not serving onboard a vessel but working in Starfleet Intelligence (aka Section 31), trying to unravel a conspiracy before it's too late. Given how much the Federation tends to cut the nose to spite the face, she'll go through the motions of how difficult it is to work with her handler. Executive producer Terry Matalas is showrunning the final season, succeeding Michael Chabon from season one and Akiva Goldsman from season two.

Star Trek: TNG Reunion in Picard

Everything comes full circle as the bulk of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast reunites. We've already seen Frakes and Marina Sirtis (Troi) return in season one. Brent Spiner (Data) played multiple roles since season one and will return as his twin Lore, last seen in the final season of TNG. While Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) returned for a cameo in the season two finale, we don't know if he'll do the same in the current season. Until then, we know, aside from the aforementioned actors, that Sirtis, Michael Dorn (Worf), and LeVar Burton (La Forge) also return along with TNG guest star Daniel Davis (Moriarty). New episodes of Star Trek: Picard stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

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