The inaugural season of Star Trek: Picard brought together a misfit crew to aid the beloved Jean-Luc Picard. With their help, the retired Starfleet admiral unraveled a conspiracy that endangered the very soul of the United Federation. Season 2 is poised to up the ante, as the reality-shaking Q resurfaces to menace Picard and completely rewrite history. Returning to join Picard in Season 2 are the swashbuckling pilot Chris Rios (Santiago Cabrera), increasingly human android Soji (Isa Briones), and stoic Romulan warrior Elnor (Evan Evagora). Together, the crew will attempt to save reality from Q's temporal tampering before it's too late.

In a roundtable interview attended by CBR, Briones, Cabrera, and Evagora explained how Picard Season 2 will go deeper into their characters' journeys. The trio also teased how they and the Star Trek Universe will be affected by Q across the season's time-bending adventure.

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Briones enjoyed singing "Blue Skies" at the end of Picard Season 1 to the dying Data and appreciated being a prominent part in giving such a beloved character an emotional sendoff. She hinted that Soji will likely not be singing in Picard Season 2, unfortunately. Evagora's Elnor has undergone changes of his own since the first season. He's no longer quite the young, stoic warrior monk but is now attending Starfleet Academy as its first full-blooded Romulan cadet, learning the ways of the United Federation of Planets.

With the slight time jump between seasons, CBR asked how it was for the actors to fill in the unseen history in the interim. "I think the moment Elnor left Vashti, he was opened up to this world of possibilities that he didn't know existed before," Evagora observed. "Right now he's at Starfleet Academy and exploring a new side of him that he didn't even know he had. He's discovering all these new things. He's the first Romulan to ever be accepted into Starfleet, and hopefully, he's not the last. He's really breaking down all those preconceived ideas everyone had about Romulans and Romulan culture."

"What I love is that the audience has gotten to know these characters, so there's a different starting point," Cabrera added. "They're more invested in these characters and saw a lot of things land differently. There's more of a feeling that they know these people and we do as well, so it's great when the group comes together. It's also great because you have more stories and can dig in deeper, with more places to go. You want to find new colors and layers in this new storyline. I think we definitely found some fun stuff in Season 2."

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Picard Season 2 has Briones' father Jon Jon Briones play a major role, and Briones found the prospect of having her father on set "very exciting." Briones noted that she has worked directly with her father on television before, playing his character's daughter on a season of American Crime Story. Despite this previous experience, she found her father's performance in Picard surprising. In keeping other surprises about Picard Season 2 under wraps, the cast remained tight-lipped on any potential interactions their characters may have with Q throughout the season. However, Evagora hinted that "Q has an impact with every single character" through his omnipotent influence and power.

In Picard Season 1, Rios ran his starship with an entire crew of hologram variants of himself, each with their own distinct personality. Cabrera still found the actual, living Rios to be the most fun version of the character to portray, though he enjoyed exploring the different facets of the character through the virtual proxies. Cabrera feels that Season 2 "hits the ground running," which he particularly appreciated rather than having to handle introductions. Cabrera teased that Season 2 will showcase "a different side of Rios" from what audiences have already seen, with "an arc that will have a payoff in the end." Briones echoed Cabrera in relishing Season 2 going deeper with its character arcs, while Evagora was happy to reunite with his friends on the cast and crew after a year of lockdown at home in Australia.

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A substantial portion of Picard Season 2 brings its characters to Los Angeles in the year 2024. Cabrera saw the setting as both fun to play in and an opportunity to "shine a light on what's really happening in the world we live in today." Cabrera wanted Rios "to have something unique" in comparison to the more established Star Trek characters, especially as Rios was not introduced right away in Season 1.

Briones shared that in the year since Star Trek: Picard premiered, she has personally had many meaningful interactions with fans of the series and the wider Star Trek franchise. Briones appreciates adding more representation to the beloved sci-fi property through her performance as Soji. "This is a big part of why I do this," she remarked, "to tell these stories, touch people and make sure they feel seen in this world."

Created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek: Picard Season 2 premieres March 3 on Paramount+.

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