Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: alison pill, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, paramount, patrick stewart, santiago cabrera, Star Trek Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Terry Matalas

Star Trek: Picard Season 3: Terry Matalas Explains Why OG Cast Is MIA

Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas on why most of the show's original cast (Briones, Cabrera, Pill & Evagora) isn't in Season 3.

Of all the praise the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard is receiving, some fans wonder what could have been had original cast members Isa Briones (Soji), Alison Pill (Agnes Jurati), Santiago Cabrera (Rios), and Evan Evagora (Elnor), stuck around and met The Next Generation crew. Season two provided "endings," so to speak, provided they don't make some miraculous finale cameo. "The only downside of Worf and Raffi having such a fun and wonderfully vibrant dynamic is how much it reminds me of the missed opportunities other new Picard S1 characters won't get to have with old TNG characters — imagine Rios and Riker, or Soji and Geordi #StarTrekPicard, " the fan wrote.

Star Trek: Picard's Terry Matalas on Briones, Pill, Cabrera & Evagora Not Being in Season 3

Picard showrunner Terry Matalas was happy to oblige to not beat around a bush about why they weren't retained, leaving a window should his "legacy" spinoff become a reality. "There just isn't time and money for everything. Maybe one day we can do it again," he wrote. Briones played multiple characters in the first two seasons. First, as Dahj, the doomed Synth who helped set things in motion for Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), and second as Soji Asha, her twin who helped see the season one journey to the end. In season two, she's become a goodwill ambassador to Synth-kind at the beginning and later played Dr. Adam Soong's (Brent Spiner) daughter Kore Soong. Upon discovering her father's questionably ethical research and twisted origin, she helped Jean-Luc and company stop Adam's plans to alter the future before becoming recruited by former U.S.S. Enterprise-D ensign and helmsman Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) to become a traveler like himself.

The meek Jurati became the crew's resident expert scientist on Synth life before being assimilated by the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) but managed to retain her humanity while sharing the same body. After solving a galactic-level event, Jurati was written off as just having Borg-related issues to worry about. Rios lived his days as a humanitarian with a doctor and her son doing what he can to presumably not affected the remaining 21st century, and Elnor is actively serving someplace on a Starfleet vessel, presumably NOT on the Titan since we probably would have seen him by now. Evagora is probably the most likely to logistically see a cameo, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The only cast to return from previous seasons is Stewart, obviously, Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Michelle Hurd (Raffi), and Orla Brady (Laris, albeit in a cameo role). Star Trek: Picard streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

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