Breaking down the new Star Trek: Picard teaser trailer

After much talk and speculation, we got to see an almost three-minute preview of the upcoming Star Trek: Picard series. As trailers go, this was a great one, leaving many more questions to answer than solved.

First, the trailer did tell us when the new show would premier, which was great, because before the debut of the trailer yesterday at New York Comic Con, we only knew that it would be “sometime in 2020.” Now we have a definite date — January 23, 2020.

The trailer starts on the Picard ancestral vineyard. Mr. Data and the admiral are both in their standard TNG uniforms, and Data offers him a paintbrush so he can “finish.” We also get to see glimpses of some sort of attack, then Picard wakes up. And he … pets the bulldog, Number One.

A few minutes later, we see Picard talking to Dahj, who is the character in the show, which pushes the story forward. For details on who is who, check out this article.

Next scene, we see the skyline of San Francisco in the 24th Century (wow). It looks like the Golden Gate Bridge has been converted to a massive solar collection station. Perhaps they don’t need bridges since cars can fly.

Anyhow, Picard goes to Starfleet Headquarters — we get to see an incredible hologram of the Enterprise-D hovering over the main lobby. Like something you’d see at the Smithsonian. “Look up at this historical artifact, people!”

Poor Jean-Luc! He has to spell out his last name to the guy at the front desk to get a visitor’s pass. This must mean he hasn’t been back for a visit for a long, long time.

Datas

A whole bunch of Datas. But for what purpose? Fascinating! Courtesy of CBS

As he walked through, we see glimpses of different things, most importantly, are an odd collection of pale-skinned humanoids with yellow eyes! These individuals had tattoos on their foreheads. I think these must be the fistful of Datas that Starfleet created to send to the next galaxy, Andromeda. It was rumored that Starfleet had considered sending an envoy to another galaxy for some time, but knew that it was beyond a human’s lifetime. Dr. Soong’s machines could make it there.

We cut quickly to an office where Jean-Luc is lecturing someone, perhaps Commander, Starfleet. We don’t know. Another fun mystery!

But after he leaves her office, we get to see a cool shot the visitor’s badge he wore. The reverse Starfleet delta is pretty cool. I wonder this will be available to order sometime soon at startrek.com.

Cut to a moment with Picard and someone (played by Oscar-nominated actor David Paymer) by a fire. Picard says that he wants to go back out into the cold (of space).

We then cut to a scene where Picard walks up to living quarters, built in front of a very familiar rock formation… the Vasquez Rocks, where Kirk fought his old academy Finnegan in “Shore Leave,” and later the Gorn in “Arena.”

the Vasquez Rocks

The Vasquez Rocks. Courtesy of CBS

Anyhow, Picard meets with Raffi Musiker, who asks him about the “secret, unauthorized, rescue mission.” Picard later meets with Dr. Agnes Jurati who tells him she is going with him. We get an interesting look at her lab, which appears to have a torpedo in the center. This reminds me both of the plans for the Genesis device in Star Trek II and the casket of Spock in Star Trek III. It also could be something random, or something with no reference to any past Trek series.

Picard talks about needing skill and courage, and we see a montage of images, first Elnor, the Romulan warrior, then Chris Rios. But then we see a Borg cube, which has a portion glowing. This could be because it’s under attack, or perhaps it’s regenerating. Who knows!

The Borg

A Borg Cube… glowing blue in a few spots. Could mean many things. Courtesy of CBS

As Picard says, “the past is already written,” we see a gruesome scene where a lab worker lays dead, and a torso of a Borg hangs. An experiment gone wrong?

Next, we see Seven of Nine holding someone who has died. Who is it? What happened?

Seven say it ain't so

Seven — say it ain’t so! Courtesy of CBS

Then we see Rios captaining a ship, with Picard, Raffi, Dr. Jurati, and probably Hugh on the bridge. This ship is not Starfleet issue.

Next, we see two ships targeting and attacking a TOS-era Romulan warbird, which looks very much like the first one we ever saw. Wow!

Romulan warbird

A “TOS-era” Romulan Warbird. Could this mission be unofficial for the Romulans also? Courtesy of CBS

Then we see Picard in the middle of a swordfight, followed by some high-fives, another look at the Borg cube, a shot of Dahj — then a mysterious Romulan woman telling an agent of some sort to get the information from her. We assume it’s Dahj since she’s kissing the agent in the next shot.

A few more exciting items… Hugh sneaking and Seven shooting two phaser rifles.

But then we see a retired Riker in his kitchen. His son tells him that Jean-Luc Picard is there for a visit. Hmm! Will this son of Will and Deanna be named Tommy, as he was in the novel “Q-Squared,” by Peter David? We’ll have to find out!

Troi hugs Picard. Hugh leads Picard and Dahj though some dark corridors. Then we see a space battle. I am not familiar with those ship designs, but they look sleek!

Riker and Picard sit on a deck at a small pond. So nice! Picard says that he is glad Riker isn’t going to talk him out of this adventure.

Riker

Riker sure was happy to see his old boss. They didn’t show it, but I’d bet you 500 bars of gold-pressed latinum that Riker swung his leg over the bench to sit down next to Jean-Luc.

We get a who lot of action, and a bunch of questions that unless you’re Patrick Stewart or Alex Kurtzman himself, the only way to figure this out is to watch the show, on CBS All Access in January. If the ten episodes are an hour each, the Picard show will be like getting five, two-hour TNG films. I can tell you that I am excited!

One last thing — the icon on Picard’s jacket. There’s been a lot of speculation on what that might be. I’d wager a guess that it’s something that Chris Rios gives to all crewmembers either at the start of the mission or at the end.

The mysterious icon

The mysterious icon on Picard’s lapel stirred up much debate and interest. Courtesy of CBS