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Riker's Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode Count Revealed
Jonathan Frakes reveals Will Riker’s episode count for Star Trek: Picard season 3. Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard returned to Star Trek fans’ screens with 2020’s Picard season 1. Now in Picard season 3, fans finally get a proper TNG reunion, as main cast members Frakes, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton and Marina Sirtis all return to the Trek fold.
As fans learned thanks to the trailer released at New York Comic Con, Picard season 3 sees the former Enterprise captain and his crewmates being called back together over a new and dangerous threat from space. It’s safe to say that Stewart’s Jean-Luc will be the center of all this action, but when it comes to the rest of the TNG cast, it’s hard to say how much each is actually involved. But fans at least know they can expect plenty of Will Riker, as Frakes himself just revealed his involvement level in season 3 (via TrekMovie.com):
How Picard Season 3 Can Continue Riker's Story
When fans saw former Enterprise first officer Will Riker in Picard season 1, he had seemingly settled down to a life of leisurely pizza-making with his bride Deanna Troi. But the action soon called Riker back as the season 1 finale saw him swooping in as leader of a Starfleet armada to rescue Picard and company. Much like Picard himself, it seems Riker can’t resist the pull of the stars, no matter how old he becomes.
But though Riker may still be his old familiar self in some ways, it’s already been teased that Picard season 3 will show a different side of the character. Specifically, the season sees Riker and Picard coming into conflict – something that would have been unthinkable on TNG. This conflict evidently arises because Riker is no longer Picard’s first officer, and is now in a position to challenge and even contradict the wishes of his former captain. Going from Frakes’ new remarks, it also seems like action-hero Riker will be in order in Picard season 3, which makes sense as Riker was always meant to be the more traditionally action-oriented character on TNG, in contrast to Stewart’s cerebral Picard.
Could Riker Get His Own Star Trek Spinoff?
If Paramount+ wishes to continue mining TNG nostalgia for streaming content, it might make sense for them to choose Riker as a character to focus on. Frakes seems to enjoy playing Riker, and focusing on him would make it easier to craft an action-oriented show, as Frakes even at 70 can still do a certain amount of physical performing (it’s certainly easier for him than for the much older Stewart, who frankly seemed to struggle during his brief action moments in Picard season 1).
There is however an argument to make that Riker would not be the most interesting character to pull from the TNG cast. Fans might indeed prefer a Worf-centered show or one focused on Geordi La Forge. Those characters may have richer possibilities than Riker, a character who sometimes seemed like an afterthought on TNG, and is not as big a fan-favorite as some others. Star Trek: Picard season 3 beams on to Paramount+ on February 16, 2023.
