LeVar Burton teases return of Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: Picard season 2

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The first season of Star Trek: Picard wrapped up last month, but CBS had ordered a second season before a single episode had even aired, meaning that we've got more Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in our future. Development on the second season has been underway for some time, and it stands to reason that the new season could see a few more familiar characters returning to the franchise.

Star Trek: Picard was never going to be Star Trek: The Next Generation 2.0, but it did feature a few TNG characters, notably Data (Brent Spiner), Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Troi (Marina Sirtis). We already know that Whoopi Goldberg will be returning as Guinan in the second season, but LeVar Burton recently spoke with Entertainment Tonight to tease that Geordi La Forge might be back as well.

How do I say this without getting in trouble? I think that is reasonable to assume that those people are still a part of Picard’s life and — sure, what the hell — yeah, absolutely!

LeVar Burton added that it's likely that we'll see more TNG characters before Star Trek: Picard comes to an end, but "probably not all at the same time, although, you know, never say never." In addition to Geordi, TNG main characters who haven't yet appeared on Picard include Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), Worf (Michael Dorn), and Wesley (Wil Wheaton). Burton played La Forge throughout all seven seasons of TNG, as well as reprising the role in STAR TREK: GENERATIONS, STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT, STAR TREK: INSURRECTION, and STAR TREK: NEMESIS, as well as an episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

Star Trek: Picard showrunner Michael Chabon has previously dropped a few hints about the second season, saying that it will be "different in some ways" as well as go in "directions that we didn't see in season 1." As the series has been quite successful, Chabon says that the team feels "emboldened" moving forward.

Season 1 was in many respects about learning how to make “Star Trek: Picard.” Both in a production sense, but also in terms of storytelling and who our cast is, how these characters end up forming surprising links and attachments to each other. It’s in a way that I think was probably true back with “TNG” and what I was talking about — everyone agrees, once Riker grew the beard, the show got better. It was because they learned what they had. Going forward, we’re only going to be doing more of what we did, with greater confidence and with a greater sense of what this show feels like when it’s firing on all engines.

It was expected that production on the second season of Star Trek: Picard would get underway this summer, but the COVID-19 pandemic has obviously thrown any schedule out the window.