Star Trek Forgets One Of Its Most Important Characters
A notable Star Trek character who should have an important role in a current series has been noticeably absent throughout the show
This article is more than 2 years old
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is almost over, and the tenth and final episode of the series is set to air on May 5th. Throughout the series, Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard has had moments of his childhood and family passed uncovered. However, within these flashbacks (via ScreenRant), there has been one glaring omission, Jean Luc’s older brother, Robert.
Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jean-Luc Picard and his older brother Robert were often estranged. The pair finally reconciled in Season 4 of the show in the episode dubbed Family. Jean-Luc’s life in Starfleet was oft the source of Robert’s resentment, yet Picard has failed to look into how Robert and Jean-Luc operated as children. Throughout Season 2 of Picard, Jean-Luc has discovered his mother’s battles with mental illness and how his father, who he had seen originally as abusive, was in fact protecting his mother, and the family as a whole. But alas, there is no Robert Picard in Star Trek.
However, whilst ScreenRant does go into detail about the Star Trek pothole created by having an absent brother in the family backstory, they do note that Robert Picard is mentioned in passing throughout the show. This makes his omission all the more puzzling, why is it that if the character exists within this narrative world, he has no bearing on Jean-Luc’s past?
Perhaps that is a question that may be answered in the season finale, but Robert Picard is not the only Star Trek: Picard omission. The third and final season of the show is set to bring back many familiar favorites from the days of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but Wil Wheaton’s Wesley Crusher will not be among them.
The incoming return of Star Trek: The Next Generation heroes will likely give the third season of Star Trek: Picard, a massive shot in the arm. In spite of Wil Wheaton’s absence in this next season and Robert Picard’s absence in season two, there is much to be celebrated over at Paramount Plus with what they have produced thus far. This latest season of Star Trek: Picard has gone down well with critics, Rotten Tomatoes report that the average critic’s score for the film is a staggering 92%. As well as this, once season three of the show wraps up, reports suggest that the Jean-Luc Picard story will come to an end with a feature film.
Whilst the likes of Robert Picard being absent from Jean-Luc’s backstory to Wil Wheaton’s exclusion from Star Trek: Picard Season 3 may irk many of Star Trek’s fans, Paramount will likely see the critical response and their plans for a feature film as cause enough to plow ahead on their chartered course without any alterations. After all, the Star Trek world is constantly expanding with new series, reboots, and prequels it should come as no surprise that sometimes story beats from shows and stories gone by may be altered or retconned to fit the purpose of where the story is headed in the present moment.
