Swapna's Newsletter, Star Trek: Picard edition

Welcome to the special Star Trek: Picard issue of my newsletter! The third season of the show premieres on Thursday, February 16, and the thing I've been asked most is "what episodes should I rewatch before the premiere?" The snarky answer is "All of Star Trek: The Next Generation," but let's face it, you're here because you don't have that kind of time. 

While I have seen the first six episodes of the season, I compiled this list before that. There are no spoilers; it's just based on what's been publicly released about the third season (also known as The Next Generation, season 8).

A few things: First, it assumes you're familiar with The Next Generation characters but need a refresher. It also assumes you've seen the first and second seasons of Star Trek: Picard. If you haven't, you don't need to watch them to understand the third season. I'll include a quick summary of the first and second seasons of the show at the end of this email.

If you're looking for my coverage of Star Trek: Picard season 3, you'll find my:

• Episodic recaps at Vulture

• Features at StarTrek.com

• Discussions at Desi Geek Girls (we're beginning this week with a pre-discussion of a few of these episodes and will be back with Season 3, Episodes 1 and 2 in a few weeks)

Now, onto the episodes! This is a pretty barebones list, but I think it gets the job done.

Episode List

Star Trek: The Next Generation

"Encounter at Farpoint, Parts I and II""Datalore""Elementary, Dear Data""Best of Both Worlds, Parts I and II""Family""Brothers""Ship in a Bottle""Tapestry""Descent, Parts I and II""Attached""Inheritance""All Good Things, Parts I and II"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

**"Tacking into the Wind"**

Movies

Star Trek: First ContactStar Trek: Nemesis

**If you're planning on watching Deep Space Nine at some point but haven't yet, skip this one. "Tacking into the Wind" is necessary to understand Worf's character, but is HUGELY spoiler-y for the series.**

Refresher for Star Trek: Picard, seasons 1 and 2

To be clear: This isn't the full plot of either of these seasons. This is only the relevant information based on what is publicly known for season 3. The season is designed to mostly stand alone.

In the first season of Star Trek: Picard, we discover that after a rebellion of synthetic life that led to the destruction of the Utopia Planitia shipyards on Mars, all artificial life has been banned. But Dr. Bruce Maddox, as seen in The Next Generation's "Measure of a Man," apparently continued research on artificial life in secret, trying to build another Data.

Jean-Luc is retired from Starfleet and living at his family home in France with two Romulan companions, Laris and Zhaban. He tries to protect a young woman, Soji, who may be Data's daughter, created by Maddox. He contacts an old friend, Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd), who worked with Jean-Luc after a supernova threatened the Romulan homeworld. She fell victim to her addictions, but manages to get Jean-Luc in contact with the captain of a ship. As they try to find and protect Soji, the team encounters Seven of Nine, a Fenris Ranger trying to bring justice to a lawless part of the galaxy. As former Borg, Seven and Jean-Luc have a unique bond.

Along the way, Jean-Luc and Soji take refuge with William Riker and his wife Deanna Troi. They've left Starfleet and settled on a planet with their daughter Kestra. They had a son, Thaddeus, who died, and it's affected them all greatly. 

"All Good Things" showed a future where Jean-Luc is suffering from Irumodic Syndrome, a degenerative illness. That's affecting him now, and he doesn't have much time left. Picard meets a colony of artificial life, created by Bruce Maddox and Dr. Altan Soong, Noonien Soong's son (who created Data). Picard manages to prove that Romulans were behind the synth rebellion, but then he collapses and dies. However, Altan Soong is able to transfer Picard's consciousness into a synthetic android body that the good doctor had actually made for himself, sacrificing his chance at furthering his own life to save Picard. Yes, this means Picard is now an android. No, it doesn't mean he'll live forever, the body is designed to age naturally.

In the show's second season, Admiral Picard is back in Starfleet. This new crew is thrown back in time as Q tries to help Jean-Luc come to terms with the trauma of his past.

[CW: Suicide]

His mother committed suicide, and Jean-Luc has repressed that memory.

Because of that, he's never been able to truly commit to a relationship. After he processes that trauma, he returns to the present time and connects with Laris, who he's been falling for since Zhaban died. Raffi and Seven also come to terms with their off- and on-again relationship and re-commit to one another.