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‘Star Trek: Picard’: How the Actor Playing Young Guinan, Ito Aghayere, Stepped Into Whoopi Goldberg’s Shoes (EXCLUSIVE)

SPOILER WARNING: This story discusses specific events in Season 2, Episode 4 of “ Star Trek: Picard ,” currently streaming on Paramount Plus .

As even casual fans of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” know, one of the beloved sci-fi show’s most meaningful relationships was between Capt. Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) and the proprietor of the main bar on the U.S.S. Enterprise, Guinan ( Whoopi Goldberg ). The characters mean so much to each other that Stewart moved Goldberg to tears when he invited her to join him on the “TNG” sequel series “Star Trek: Picard” while appearing on an episode of “The View” in January 2020.

The Season 2 premiere of “Picard” wastes little time in bringing Goldberg back as Guinan, with a lovely scene in which the two old friends throw back some strong hooch in Guinan’s bar on Earth, as she attempts to soothe Picard’s wounded psyche.

It turns out that scene wasn’t just an exercise in nostalgia, either. After his reunion with Guinan, Picard finds himself plunged into a horrific alternate timeline in which the Federation doesn’t exist, the Earth is the center of a violent totalitarian empire, and Jean-Luc Picard has risen to power as a ruthless and bloodthirsty conqueror. So with the rest of the show’s main cast — all of whom also retain their memories of how things used to be — Picard travels back in time to 2024 to the point where he believes the timeline diverged irrevocably from its true path.

And that’s how, in Episode 4, “Watcher,” Picard finds himself stepping back into Guinan’s bar, where he comes face-to-face with a young Guinan. As the exclusive clip below illustrates, instead of Goldberg, however, the character is played by actor Ito Aghayere (“Carol’s Second Act”).

In her exclusive first interview about the role with Variety , Aghayere reveals that playing Guinan was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to be a part of “Star Trek” — especially “The Next Generation.”

“I watched all of ‘TNG’ as a kid, primarily because my parents are immigrants, and they’re very conservative,” she said in a Zoom interview. “As a kid growing up, there were very few shows that they would let us watch without having to care what it was about, or understand what it was about.”

She laughed. “I don’t think I told Patrick — as I probably should have — but they thought he looked really smart and intelligent,” she said. “So they were like, ‘Eh, she’s gonna learn something, let them watch it.’ I couldn’t watch ‘Power Rangers,’ but I could watch ‘Star Trek.'”

Rather than pour him a drink, Aghayere’s Guinan is so deeply disillusioned with humanity that she pulls a shotgun on Picard when he reveals he knows she’s a member of a long-lived alien species called El-Aurians. But as much as she enjoyed shooting the scene, as a “TNG” devotee, Aghayere also noticed that it seemed strange that her Guinan does not recognize Picard at all when he steps into her bar.

That’s because in the two-part “TNG” episode “Time’s Arrow,” Guinan first meets Picard in 1893 San Francisco, part of a twisty time-travel plot line that is launched when the severed head of the android Data (Brent Spiner) is discovered after its seemingly spent 500 years buried in a California cavern. So Aghayere said she asked executive producer and showrunner Terry Matalas about why Guinan wouldn’t recognize Picard in 2024 if she’d met him so memorably in 1893.

“I think what Terry does in terms of storytelling when it comes to time travel is just brilliant,” she said at first with a smile. “I don’t think he ever got me a clear answer on it. And I think…” She paused for a long time. “I never will.”

Fortunately, a representative for Paramount Plus did provide a rather head-squeezing answer from Matalas on this question: “Guinan does not recognize Picard in 2024. Fans might be briefly confused by this because she did meet him on Earth in 1893 in ‘The Next Generation.’ The reason that she doesn’t recognize Picard is that he’s traveled from a future in which Starfleet doesn’t exist, and therefore the whole thing with Data’s head in ‘Time’s Arrow’ never happened.” In other words, the alternate reality Picard was too busy conquering and never traveled back in time to 1893, so he never met Guinan then.

Time travel shenanigans aside, Aghayere talked with Variety about how much Guinan meant to her, how she approached playing the role, and what surprising gift cemented her own friendship with Stewart.

When you were first watching “The Next Generation,” what do you remember of your feelings about Guinan and who she was?

Oh, man, I just thought she was so cool. I have to paint a picture of you what it was like back then: I had braces until I was a freshman in college, so I was the epitome of a Black nerd. So watching Whoopi just steal scenes right out from under Patrick Stewart — I love you, Patrick — but just stealing scenes left and right. It just felt so empowering to watch her do that. Looking back now, I just think this woman completely encapsulated the kind of Puck-like quality of [being] both mischievous and omniscient. She wasn’t in that many episodes, so to have such a pivotal impact on the series is quite remarkable. As a kid, every time I saw, “And guest starring Whoopi Goldberg,” I was like, “Yes! She’s back! It’s going to be a good one!”

So given your abiding love for the show and this character, what was your reaction when you first learned it was not only “Star Trek: Picard,” but the role was a younger Guinan?

It was actually quite strange. I found out the normal way: My reps were like, “There’s this role, we have no idea what it is. But it looks interesting, read it.” At the time, my character’s name was Gwen. I had no idea she was Guinan. They were dummy sides — it was a scene that was written that had the same dynamic and the same relationship to the actual scene from the episode, between a person named John and a woman named Gwen. All I knew is that when I read the scene, it felt like I understood her. I understood her bitterness and her disappointment and her fear to hope in the world. That’s what locked me in, just to the story that she seemed to be telling, which resonated with me as a Black woman in America. It felt like a story I wanted to tell.

But did you know it was for “Star Trek,” at least?

I had no idea that it was “Star Trek.” I found out maybe two callbacks in that it was “Star Trek.” It was one of those things where I was like, No way . There are very few moments in an actor’s career where you get to be in the thing that you loved as a kid. Usually those things end — as they should. Unless you’re [auditioning for] “Grey’s Anatomy” and were born in 2000. So it didn’t sink into me until I was doing my final test with producers. It was at that point of the pandemic where my now-husband and I couldn’t be in the house anymore. So I was at Mount Zion National Park in some hotel room with my laptop stacked on top of the suitcase, stacked on top a case of water, doing this really heartfelt scene. I think it was with Terry Matalas, the showrunner. And at that point, in that moment, I was like, this is legit . This is “Star Trek.”

How did that feel?

It was lovely, because the thing about “Star Trek” is that they don’t shy away from delving into really reflective topics that shed a light on the world that we live in. There’s this moment where Guinan lets loose on “John,” and she’s just like, “Your privilege blinds you from my pain.” And it’s just, ahhh — what more can I say, as a Black woman? It just went there for me. So to be able to be with people who are writing about something that still resonates with me as a 33-year-old woman was cathartic. To be able to tell stories that are still relevant in a universe that means a lot to me — it was just unreal.

What really struck me in your performance is that your Guinan is in a much different place than Whoopi Goldberg’s — she’s much more emotionally demonstrative and distraught. How did you work on connecting on what Whoopi had done in the role while differentiating yourself?

Rewatching her episodes, it gave me a lens into the future of who this character would be. In some ways, what I did was reverse engineer what someone has to grow into in order to be Whoopi’s Guinan. What wisdom doesn’t she have access to, what optimism does she not subscribe to, so that she can have a place to go? What does she not know yet that she will come to learn to be the enigmatic, wise counselor that she is in “TNG”?

One of the things that I did was go through all of the different moments through “TNG” where Whoopi’s Guinan mentions things about loss, things about her history, things about her pain. I took note of every moment where she hints at a past pain. That allowed me to strip that down into its component parts. What wisdom do I have now, but isn’t applied in the best way? You know, and I think that’s why this story can happen, because I need the Picard of Whoopi’s timeline to at least get me going along the path of where Whoopi’s Guinan ends up.

What is something you wanted to emulate physically from Whoopi’s performance as Guinan?

I think Whoopi had this beautiful stillness to her work. I took that to be that to come from a place of confidence and an ease with which she exists in her body. She sits in the center of herself, in each moment. You never see her fidgeting. You never see her move around. I wanted to use that. I think that is key to who this person is, but in 2024 Guinan, I think that stillness is used as a weapon. It is the precursor to a threat, to an attack. It is aggressive. It’s not out of a place of ease, it’s out of a place of, “I’m going to gauge what I need to do to protect myself.” It is selfish in many ways. It’s not giving in the way that I think Whoopi’s Guinan is.

Did you get to meet Whoopi?

I didn’t because of the pandemic. There were so many stops and starts with closures and people getting sick, so pretty much no one shot anything in sequence. It was a lot of bouncing around. I think they’d hoped at one point that it could work out. I’m still holding out hope. I think eventually we’ll make a connection.

You did, of course, meet Patrick Stewart since all your scenes were with him. What was that like for you?

He is such a generous actor, on and off the screen. One of our first scenes together, besides having to go there calling him out on his privilege as Jean-Luc, I also had to pull a shotgun on the man and look calm doing it. And, I mean, he has a “Sir” in front of his name. He was just ready for it. He was like, “Bring it! Bring it!” And such a sweet soul.

A friend of mine had told me he really likes this yeast thing, Marmite. Because I have family in the U.K., I know it, and I hate it. It’s awful. But it’s hard to get here. I was at a store and I saw it and I was like, I wonder if it’d be cheesy to get him like a little jar of Marmite? It’s so random — why would some random person you’re working with just hand you a jar of Marmite? And so, the first time we met, we’re outside and I have this jar of Marmite in this bag. I’m like, “Patrick, you don’t know me. But here’s the Marmite.” He lost it! He was like, “Oh, my goodness, Marmite! I love this stuff! Who told you?” That was how we started. He just brought this joy. He doesn’t have to be kind and warm and generous. And he does. It was just thrilling.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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‘Star Trek: Picard’: Ito Aghayere on Tackling an Iconic Character & Relationship

Spoiler Alert

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for  Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Episode 4 “Watcher.”]

Still in Los Angeles’ past, Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) gets a blast from his in the latest episode of the Paramount+ series.

After  Star Trek: Picard kicked off its second season with Picard visiting his old friend Guinan ( Whoopi Goldberg ) at the 10 Forward in his timeline, he sees her again in “Watcher,” only this time it’s a younger version, played by Ito Aghayere , and she has no idea who he is. Though she doesn’t have their history to fall back on (yet), Guinan trusts Picard enough to help him on his path to fix the timeline and find the Watcher.

Taking on the role is “nerve-wracking, especially as a fan, and intimidating” Aghayere admits to TV Insider. “I love Guinan. I love Whoopi’s Guinan, and she was such an icon to me growing up. And so to be able to step into this role is such a privilege and you hope that you’ve done the role justice to all the people who love this show as much as you do.”

Aghayere tells us more about playing the iconic character.

When did you find out the role was Guinan? During the audition process, after you got the part? It seems like something they would’ve really kept secret.

Ito Aghayere: Oh, yeah, kept secret for a while. There were many rounds of auditioning for the role. I didn’t find out until the last round essentially, right before I had to meet with producers. The whole time I’m thinking it’s just this woman whose name is Gwen talking to this random guy, a mysterious stranger named John, and he’s trying to get her to take a chance on a community that she’s lost faith in, and so that’s what drew me to the role, honestly. Then I found out that it was Guinan. I was just bowled over.

Nicole Wilder/Paramount+

Did you study anything from Whoopi’s performance, whether in the Season 2 premiere or on The Next Generation , while preparing?

I am a TNG fan because I grew up with very sweet and quite protective immigrant parents, and it was one of the few shows that they were like, “We don’t get it, but it seems fine. Go ahead and watch that.” So as a kid, I remember Whoopi in that role and I remember even though she was only in a couple episodes, maybe 20 or 22 episodes across the seasons, every time she stepped into a scene, she completely stole every scene and was just so enigmatic but cool and had this very Puck-like mischievous quality about her.

Stepping into this role as an adult, her performance was my guiding light. She showed me what this character would end up as in this future, and so I had the great opportunity to strip down and deconstruct to the person that this character is 400 years before that.

Have you talked to Whoopi about playing Guinan?

No, I haven’t, kind of a result of the pandemic. There was a lot of delays in shooting and everyone who shot on the second season, it was staggered in a way that kind of made it almost impossible to sync up schedules, especially with Whoopi being a talk show host. So I didn’t get to meet her, but I have my fingers crossed eventually we’ll cross paths.

Trae Patton/Paramount+

Talk about working with Patrick Stewart and figuring out your characters’ relationship because you’re playing a Guinan who has never met Picard, while he’s playing a Picard who has all this history with your character.

Working with Patrick was just surreal. I’ve heard so many incredible things about him as an actor and as a person and to be able to take up a role that he has so much history with as Captain Picard was a gift because a lot of it is on him. He has all the relationship with me. I know nothing as my character and because he’s just so naturally affable and so warm and generous as a person, it just made it so beautiful to be able to, in between takes, in between holding a shotgun to his face, dish about the latest news that we’ve read about politics or something or just talk about theater and kind of do the things that we would do if we weren’t our characters in the moment that we’re shooting. So he was such a treasure to work with because of that. Because he brings such natural relationship and a desire to kind of imbue everything with a positivity and a joy that the natural relationship that he has with Guinan of 2400 kind of seeped in and won me over as Guinan from 2024.

There was a light-heartedness to the way Guinan reacted to Picard in the beginning.

Yeah, I think so, and I think there are elements of Whoopi’s performance that I really borrowed from in regards to her natural sense of humor about things. While she has this deep kind of ancient wisdom from her many centuries of living, I think that my Guinan also has that humor. She might not have the wisdom and maybe the ability to have grace for people and for the world that she finds herself in that we see in Whoopi’s Guinan, but one of the things I definitely borrowed from is that sense of humor that Whoopi brought to the character and in that opening sequence, where at first he’s just a crazy guy in my bar and in my way, and I just need to get him out. Then things get serious.

Guinan slowly and reluctantly starts to trust Picard.

Yeah. It’s funny ’cause I think that one of the beautiful things about playing this role is that even just reading the first few sides that I got when I was auditioning for it, I had a sense that the writers were trying to tell a bigger story. There’s so much layered in these two people who seemingly don’t know each other, and I think that that’s indicative of their relationship hundreds of years later with Whoopi and Patrick. You see that sense of, “OK, here we go. We’re gonna do this and we’re in it together.” I think there’s glimpses of what their relationship will be in those moments where he does win her over, but then she pulls back and she’s still guarded and she still withholds. There’s a little bit of a question mark at the end: Is she going to leave? Is she gonna give up on the world that has hurt her?

Speaking of that question mark, based on what we’ve seen of her, what are the chances he changed her mind about leaving?

If today was her last day on Earth, I think perhaps it could very easily be for her that this is the last good deed that she’s gonna do on Earth. There is a big chance that this is the send-off for her, as in this is the last thing I’m going to do for anyone in this place that I no longer believe in. But I think the last thing that Picard says to her is what puts everything into question. It’s about faith. And the thing about faith is that if you knew that it was assured that you would never be hurt again, it wouldn’t be faith to believe in that world, in taking that journey and taking that leap. Faith requires uncertainty.

And so I will be enigmatic about that answer and just say that I think Picard’s last words to her throw everything into question because I think up until that moment, she was just willing to do one last good thing for a world that didn’t really give much to her. And then it’s the question of will you have faith for something more, even in the midst of seeing nothing that could prove that? Is it possible you might hope for something different? That remains to be seen.

Time travel is always tricky, especially here with Guinan and Picard, and there’s the question of whether this has changed canon. Or is it maybe that she needed to meet him in order to be on the path that we eventually see her on? Where do you stand?

There is a question of timelines, right? What timeline are we in? What happened with the rift? What has been thrown into question because of this rift in time? I think that there is gonna be part of this story that people will discover does call attention to the origin story of these two people that was never in TNG, that’s never investigated in that regard with the exception of that episode where they go back to the 18th century.

But then I think the answer to what this moment means, what this episode means for their relationship in the future, has to do with the timeline that they’re in. Perhaps something about them meeting will change the outcome. They’re in a timeline where the world ends up in a Confederation, what does it mean for Picard’s question of whether or not Guinan will have faith and will continue to do the work that she needs to do in order to change the course of events? That I think could have impact on her timeline. Whether it has impact on the timeline that we are familiar with from TNG remains to be seen.

'Star Trek: Picard': What's Going on With Q?

They’re trying to keep one thing from changing, but what else may have changed that we don’t know?

Exactly. It’s a little bit of a butterfly effect. I think this season is in such good hands with Terry Matalas, who was one of the writers and showrunner for 12 Monkeys , which was all time travel and one of my favorite sci-fi shows besides TNG , and he has created so much mystery and intrigue in the way that he’s weaving all these different timelines together. I’m really excited to see how the threads come together.

Speaking of knowing what you’re in, can you say if we might see you again?

I cannot. [ Laughs ] Because I am a fan, I have a huge respect for not spoiling anything, and I want people to enjoy where this is going and be on it for the ride.

Star Trek: Picard , Thursdays, Paramount+

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Ito Aghayere Says It’s ‘Mind-Blowing’ To Step Into ‘Iconic’ Role Of Young Guinan In ‘Star Trek: Picard’

The actress' new role is a full circle moment for her..

When Ito Aghayere read for the role of Gwen , she had no idea that her life would change in a blink of an eye. A few weeks later, the actress found out that she would be playing a young Guinan on Star Trek: Picard , which is currently streaming on Paramount Plus .

In the season 2 premiere of Picard , Whoopi Goldberg , who played the original Guinan, and Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart , reunite in Guinan’s bar “10 Forward” on earth. But following their chat, Picard finds himself in an alternate timeline in which the Federation doesn’t exist and instead is replaced by a dystopian autocratic government.

It’s now 2024, and Picard walks into Guinan’s bar, where he comes in contact with a young Guinan.

“Once I found out, I was like, ‘That makes sense,’ and then I freaked out. I was running around the house, saying, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, but I didn’t know until maybe two rounds of auditions,” the 29-year-old exclusively tells GRAZIA USA of the big reveal.

Landing the role of young Guinan was a dream come true for Aghayere, as she watched the sci-fi series growing up .

“It’s kind of wild because you don’t often as an actor get a chance to be a part of a show that you watched as a kid. It’s not often that that happens,” she notes. “One of the things I really love about the franchise is that Star Trek doesn’t shy away from delving into today’s issues, and they do it in a nuanced way.”

In fact, some of the plot lines have a bigger meaning that can “make you think” about the world in a different way. “There are certain aspects of the world this season that are reminiscent of the world we’re in, so it’s really exciting and just mind-blowing to be able to step into this role,” the Carol’s Second Act star admits.

The cherry on top of it all is that the brunette beauty gets to be a familiar face to young girls who turn on the television and see her playing an important part. It all comes full circle, as Aghayere admired Goldberg when she tuned into the series.

“As a Black woman, there were very few sci-fi shows growing up where I could see someone that looked like me,” she says. “It’s pivotal to be able to do that and play the same role that I loved. I think it’s such a gift to be able to do that on this show that continues to do that in regards to representation. It was hard not to fan girl every time I got on set, which was so familiar to me.”

“It’s the reason I got into telling stories,” she says of representing more people on-screen. “For me, what is so impactful about being able to continue to work as an actor and as a Black woman is that I know that there are other girls who are growing up where it is normal to see Black people of all skin types and colors on TV. I think that is the full circle moment I continue to have as an actor of color, and it’s becoming so ubiquitous. And I want more of that — for it not to be a big deal that there is a Black woman on TV because Whoopi kind of paved the way and so that is what I can do .”

Unfortunately, the Logan Lucky alum wasn’t able to meet Goldberg in real life because of COVID-19, but she was able to collaborate with her via different producers “to figure out what the characters would look like .”

“It was really awesome to go back through the character she built, the character that she built from the ground up and looking at her mannerisms and the stories that she told on the show and how she stole every scene throughout TNG [ The Next Generation ]. She’s an inspiration,” she shares.

Despite having a stacked resume — she has been on Broadway and was a former White House intern — the Hollywood star is looking forward to fans seeing the story come to life.

“As an actor, I am a little bit perhaps nervous about finding out [what people think], but as a fan, I hope that I do justice,” she declares. “It’s a gift, partly because this opportunity doesn’t often exist. It is a completely new show, but because of that, you’re building from the ground up, which is a different kind of exciting journey. But being able to go back to something you experienced as a kid and look through all of the episodes with different eyes to see and create the backstory of a character that you love is something I don’t take for granted.”

For more information about Star Trek: Picard , click here .

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Actor Ito Aghayere on Embodying Young Guinan on ‘Star Trek: Picard’

Jeanine is a Writer, Actor, member SAG/AFTRA, AEA, Podcast host,…

Paramount+’s Star Trek: Picard takes us to the year 2399, when Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) encounters a whole new galaxy of time-traveling adventures. Ito Aghayere plays young Guinan, a role originated by Whoopi Goldberg in the original series. Ito Aghayere is a gifted actor whose Broadway debut was in the Tony Award-nominated play Junk at Lincoln Center Theater. Aghayere has been working in TV and Film and has her MFA from Columbia University. Earlier this week BGN spoke with Ito Aghayere about what it was like to take on such an iconic Star Trek character.

How has your theater background impacted your work in television and film?

One of the things that theater brings is this sense of reverence for the written word of a playwright’s work. It takes years if not decades to formulate an idea and to craft it into this interactive experience for both the audience and the players. I think that that level of reverence is not often translated to TV and film because it moves so fast. The reverence I have for the art of writing, particularly the kind of writing in Star Trek: Picard , is something that I bring to each role I take on. When I first read the script, I didn’t know that it was Star Trek. I just read something that impacted me deeply. And I was like, “Oh, I need to tell this story right now.” I engaged with it as I would engage with a play. And I felt moved by what was happening between the characters.

What was the audition process like, and how did you feel when you landed the role?

There were several rounds of callbacks, so I didn’t know the role was young Guinan until maybe a couple of days before my last audition with producers. Up until that point, I was just like, “It’s this girl named Gwen, and she is being hassled by this guy named John.” When I discovered it was Guinan’s origin story, essentially, I mean, to put it frankly, I flipped my sh*t. You don’t often as an actor get the chance to act in something that you watched as a kid. That role was iconic. Whoopi was in maybe 22 episodes out of multiple seasons, and she stole every scene that she was in. That character had such a positive impact on me — a Black nerd when I was a kid, with braces till I was a freshman in college. It wasn’t cute. To have an opportunity as an actor, 20 years later, to play a role I was already familiar with and create a backstory is just the privilege of a lifetime. And then to work with such incredible people, some of whom worked on the original show? Amazing.

What was that like working with Sir Patrick Stewart?

Our first scene filmed together wasn’t chronologically the first thing in the episode. I had to, essentially, have had the whole arc of the episode in my mind. It was very nerve-wracking for me to meet him because I was like, “If he’s this very standoffish, hard-to-read kind of guy, this will be hard.” Patrick Stewart couldn’t have been more the opposite of what I feared. He just imbues this generosity when he works with you, and I wasn’t ready for that. Sometimes people who have been in the business for a long time, especially when they’re in their 80s, may need to keep their guard up, create distance. I understand that. Do you. But he wasn’t like that at all. He’s been around the block, and yet he was so welcoming. He didn’t have to be as kind and as warm and as endearing as he was. He wanted to see who young Guinan was, and there was so much nostalgia. In the first moments that we had together, he was like, “It’s you. It’s you.” And I was like, “I guess it is me.” 

What’s been the most surprising aspect of playing this character for you?

How accessible she feels to me as an actor. There are certain roles that if you originate the role, you create it from the ground up. You create her mannerisms, her tics, her physicality for yourself, and there’s a sense of organic oneness as the actor shapes the role from the inside out. This character was a little bit more outside in for me. Once I knew I was playing young Guinan, I connected with her angst. The most surprising part of stepping into the role of Guinan has been just how familiar she feels. It might have to do with the fact that like as a kid, I loved Whoopi as Guinan. So I didn’t expect that it would feel so good to fill her shoes and to embody young Guinan in my own way. That was kind of a delightful surprise.

How has the process of transitioning from New York actor to LA actor been for you?

My now husband and I were in a bi-coastal relationship. He lived in LA; I lived in New York. When I moved out to LA for this show that I was working on with CBS, Carol’s Second Act , he was already here. So I didn’t have as hard of a time as he did coming out here. We went to grad school together at Columbia. He’s a writer and had a much harder time establishing himself here for the first year, but I had the benefit of him doing the groundwork. We created a working group here for any artists who just want to show their work. During COVID it got really hard, but my community has definitely supported me. And finding a good church community that’s about love, justice, and creativity were vital. It’s been really rewarding to feel like what I found in New York can be cultivated here.

What right now is bringing you the most joy? 

I’ve been volunteering at the Saint Francis Center. It’s this kitchen that provides a lot of meals, food boxes, and grocery boxes for the unhoused community in LA. With everything that’s going on in the world, I’ve found a lot of peace in the chaos by choosing to serve in ways that require me to turn off all the chaos. That’s been anchoring me.

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Jeanine is a Writer, Actor, member SAG/AFTRA, AEA, Podcast host, Producer, CEO VisAbleBlackWoman Productions, Certified Health Coach and Conscious Dance facilitator. Jeanine's mission, centering Black women's stories to preserve our legacies.

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: Who’s That Bartender?

This week brought a character with a deep history in the “Star Trek” universe. So it seemed odd that she was almost totally unrecognizable.

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By Sopan Deb

Season 2, Episode 4: ‘Watcher’

The first half of the premiere season of “Picard” started off with a strong premise. The latter half of the season was where the storytelling began to get off track. There were clumsy plot decisions that seemed designed to justify earlier ones, at the expense of making sense on their own.

After the fourth episode of the second season, I fear we might be headed down a similar path.

Mostly, I had trouble getting past Young Guinan.

Let’s posit some things: Let’s accept that Q somehow has changed the timeline so that it makes sense that Guinan would not recognize Picard in 2024. (This despite Guinan having met Picard in one of the most well known “Trek” episodes, “Time’s Arrow,” already in the 19th century.) Or that this is part of a different timeline , such as the one established by J.J. Abrams’s “Star Trek” in 2009.

I’m not quite sure how this would happen, but timeline plots are always fuzzy. And one can suspend disbelief if the storytelling is good enough. There’s also Guinan’s history with Q, which goes unaddressed here.

The Young Guinan that is presented to Picard here is a totally different Guinan than the one we’ve seen for decades in “The Next Generation,” to the point that it was a total distraction. Why would Guinan, who immediately realized something was off in the classic episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” not realize something was amiss in this timeline? El-Aurians have a special intuition, we’ve been told. They’re known as “listeners” and Guinan wants to do none of that here.

There’s also Young Guinan’s defeatism. In this timeline, Guinan is pessimistic, bitter and unwilling to help Picard until much later. Historically, that hasn’t been Guinan’s jam. She’s thoughtful, reserved — even mysterious.

Given Whoopi Goldberg’s schedule, the show was probably unlikely to get her to reprise the role beyond the one cameo she had a few weeks ago. But she has played an iconic role in “Trek” lore — to completely shift what has made the character so beloved over several decades felt rushed and unearned.

Right from their first conversation, when Young Guinan tells Picard, “I don’t know you. I don’t want to know you,” it was clear that we weren’t dealing with the same friendly bartender we’ve come to know. That she would threaten a polite, well-meaning Picard with a gun was even more surprising. She even calls Picard “old man,” which was an especially strange line, given that Guinan is significantly older by hundreds of years, something she references herself later in the episode.

Even getting to Young Guinan is a journey in itself. As the episode begins, we follow Seven and Raffi’s quest to find Rios and encounter more unmistakable political commentary. Deportations without due process. A government bureaucracy hostile to immigrants. (There’s a point where a doctor references Immigrations and Customs Enforcement holding detainees longer than they should, and Seven suggests that the government is deserving of a subtle comparison to the Borg.)

Picard goes with Jurati to visit Chateau Picard. We learn that Picard's ancestors, during World War II, hid from the Nazis in the tunnels below the residence, and that the residence itself was used as a base for the Nazis. It’s an interesting bit of back story to introduce for Picard’s lineage and will hopefully get explored more in the — ahem — future.

Here Picard deduces that Jurati has a sudden particular fascination within the number 15. (Fun reference here: Jurati says, “Look at you, Dixon Hill,” a callback to a fictional detective that Picard used to play on the holodeck with Guinan .) Picard is likely more attuned to these signs anyway, as a result of what he went through on the “Next Generation” episode, “Cause and Effect,” when Data realizes the repetition of the number three had relevance in preventing a catastrophe and bringing Kelsey Grammer into the “Trek” universe .

The most fun reference of the episode — and possibly the whole series — comes when Seven and Raffi are riding the bus and a man with spiked hair is playing a boombox at an unreasonably loud volume. Seven demands he stops and the guy apologizes — a different outcome to the same scenario in “The Voyage Home,” when Spock neck-pinches a similar guy .

Later, Seven and Raffi give “Trek” fans one of the first car chases in the history of the franchise. ( Remember the one with Picard driving in “Nemesis”? OK, never mind.) I have no idea how Seven was able to drive a car so well, but then again, Scotty once was able to come up with transparent aluminum on the fly on a 1980s Macintosh .

The Borg Queen tries her best to manipulate Jurati, which makes sense. Jurati, as brilliant as she is, is the crew member who is most susceptible to mind games. (Note that she murdered someone in the first season, partially as a result of manipulation.) This seems to be a developing plotline this season: Will Jurati succumb to the temptations of the Borg, where she doesn’t need to be emotionally in touch with herself? Where she can focus on being ruthlessly efficient?

Jurati’s coordinates lead Picard to Guinan In Name Only, who is upset by the privileged few holding much of the world’s resources and “killing the planet,” she says. She is on her way to leave Earth until Picard talks her out of it.

When Guinan asks Picard his name, he responds, “If I say more, I risk compromising your path.”

“You might’ve thought of that before you started harassing me in my bar,” Guinan retorts. This is a fair point. Picard knows Guinan has (had?) special abilities. Why tell her some things and not others? He’s compromising her path regardless, and he also did so in “Time’s Arrow.”

As has sometimes happened in “Picard,” the plotting here completely disregards the character histories. Guinan tells Picard that as a dark-skinned being, she doesn’t have the luxury of being patient with humankind, another unsubtle comment on the world we live in. (It felt a bit forced here.)

Seven and Rafi are able to be transported out of the car to save Rios. The poor police officer, who might be wearing a body cam, is shocked by her suspects disappearing out of thin air. (The revelation that aliens can teleport will surely cause a stir on Earth.)

Finally, after more clamoring, Young Guinan finally agrees to take Picard to a face-to-face meeting with The Watcher, who ends up being Laris. Plot twist!

Ultimately, this episode left me feeling shortchanged. It was disappointing that Guinan’s entire purpose ended up being to set up Picard with The Watcher, after an entire episode of her resisting Picard’s entreaties — especially given her history with Picard. That bartender in 2024 could’ve been anyone.

It certainly wasn’t Guinan.

Sopan Deb is a basketball writer and a contributor to the Culture section. Before joining The Times, he covered Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign for CBS News. He is also a New York-based comedian.  More about Sopan Deb

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“I don’t know you, old man!”

'Picard' showrunner reveals the time-meddling reason behind Star Trek's new Guinan

New timeline. New faces. New memories?

Star Trek has recast a fan favorite. In the new Picard episode, “Watcher,” Jean-Luc Picard shockingly encounters his oldest friend in 2024. But this person has no idea who he is. Longtime fans of The Next Generation might be confused by this turn of events, but luckily, showrunner Terry Matalas has the answer. Spoilers ahead.

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Guinan (Ito Aghayere) takes Picard (Patrick Stewart) to meet “the Watcher” at the end of the episode.

Picard meets 2024 Guinan

In Picard Season 2, Episode 4, Jean-Luc beams to the coordinates Anges Jurati stole from the Borg Queen’s mind in Episode 3. And once he’s there, he finds himself in a very familiar Los Angeles bar, Ten Forward. Just like in the first episode of Season 2, Picard meets a version of Guinan; only this time, she’s several centuries younger.

The Picard team did not try to digitally de-age Whoopi Goldberg for this scene, but instead, they cast actress Ito Aghayere as the 2024 version of Guinan. Pre-existing Trek canon established Guinan as a traveling El-Aurian, an alien who slowly ages. Both The Next Generation and Picard never reveal precisely how old Guinan is, but she’s several centuries old in all iterations, including in this new 2024 version.

In “Watcher,” Jean-Luc finds Guinan packing up her bar, getting ready to leave Earth forever. She’s been hanging around on Earth for a while and easily passing for a human, which was previously seen in The Next Generation's two-parter “Time’s Arrow.” This leads to one huge question most Trekkies might have: If Guinan has lived on Earth since at least 1893, why doesn’t she recognize Picard from that TNG time travel adventure?

Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) and Picard (Patrick Stewart) in the TNG classic “Time’s Arrow Part 2.”

Why Guinan doesn’t know Picard

In “Watcher,” Guinan tells Jean-Luc, “I don’t know you, old man!” Even when Picard tells her his name toward the end of the episode, she’s familiar with his name , but she still doesn’t actually remember him.

Assuming this is the same character who lived in San Francisco in 1893 and remained on Earth after that point, you might think she should remember Jean-Luc. In “Time’s Arrow,” Picard and Guinan experienced a pre-destination paradox in which Guinan actually encouraged him to lead an away mission to make sure he was sent back in time to meet her in the first place. Picard then went back in time and hung out with Data, Guinan, and Mark Twain (Jerry Hardin).

But now because the future timeline of Starfleet has been wiped-out, none of that happened. Inverse reached out to Picard co-showrunner Terry Matalas, who explained it like this:

“This Guinan wouldn't remember Picard because in this alternate timeline, the TNG episode "Time's Arrow" never happened. Because there was no Federation, those events did not play out the same. No previous relationship exists. However, she still was likely traveling to Earth and, as we know, she hung around a bit. So this Guinan is different. But she, of course, can sense something is off. She's going through a kind of time-sickness thanks to Q's meddling with the timeline.”

Matalas didn’t hint at any more of what Q is doing to the timeline. But, like in “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” Guinan feels some kind of alteration to the timeline, even though she doesn’t express it the same way she did in TNG . This time, Jean-Luc confronts her with something she said to him in an alternate future, which makes her become disoriented and nauseous.

Throughout TNG and the film Generations , El-Aurians have had a unique relationship with time perception, making them kind of the Trek equivalent of Time Lords from Doctor Who . That said, we never really have known the extent of Guinan’s powers.

With a younger Guinan back in the mix, it’s possible some of the oldest questions we’ve had about the enigmatic bartender could be finally answered. Then again, in some ways, this version of the character is entirely new.

Picard airs new episodes on Paramount+ on Thursdays.

This article was originally published on March 24, 2022

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See Whoopi Goldberg reprise her beloved Star Trek role as Guinan on Picard

The cohost of The View originated the role on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Editor at Large for Entertainment Weekly, host of Outlander Live! on EW Radio, and Mark Harmon enthusiast. Yes, I know the guacamole is extra.

The latest trailer has dropped for the upcoming season of Paramount+'s Star Trek: Picard , and it comes with a visit from an old friend. Somebody prep the Earl Grey!

Whoopi Goldberg is back as Guinan, the role she originated on Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1988 to 1993. But before she helps Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) understand the change in time, she's going to need some piping hot tea.

"Your answers are not in the stars," she says to Picard. "And they never have been."

The trailer also features a lovely view of downtown Los Angeles and a little boy who gets an unwanted face massage. And what's in that ampule, Q ?

Goldberg's starring role on Picard seems to hearken back to a 2020 appearance by Stewart on The View . "I'm here with a formal invitation, and it's for you, Whoopi," Stewart said at the time. "Alex Kurtzman, who is the senior executive producer of Star Trek: Picard , and all his colleagues, of which I am one, want to invite you into the second season."

"I've said this on the show before, but Star Trek was one of the great experiences, from the beginning to the end," Goldberg said, who appeared to choke up. "I had the best, best, best time ever."

The season 2 cast of Picard includes Alison Pill, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, Annie Werschling, Jeri Ryan, Isa Briones, Evan Evagora, Michelle Hurd, Orla Brady , and Brent Spiner. On the season, Picard and his crew will travel to the past in an attempt to solve the ills of the 21st Century.

Picard will begin its second season on Thursday, March 3. New episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays. The series is already in production on the third season.

Watch the season 2 trailer below.

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'Star Trek: Picard' Season 2 episode 4 'reintroduces' a favorite character

Instead of saving the whales, this season contains an unmistakable political element, which reflects what needs saving in this decade.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Star Trek: Picard" season 2, episode 4

The second season of "Star Trek: Picard" on Paramount Plus continues to enthrall and this week's installment was no exception. 

La Sirena has crashed into the vineyards of Château Picard in La Barre, eastern France; Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) and Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) are with the rescued disembodied head of the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) while Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) is now in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) are trying to locate Rios. Finally, poor Elnor (Evan Evagora) is still dead.

Picard and Jurati enter the Château and we're treated to a new chapter of Picard family history. The writers have found an opportunity to squeeze in lots of nice, new details of the all-important Picard family residence. The vineyard and surrounding grounds are in fact deserted and run down as Jean-Luc explains the site was used during the second World War as a regional command post for the German army, but has remained empty since then. Apparently, it has remained in the family however, which would explain how such an amazing piece of real estate could still be empty in this day and age. (By the way, if you need to catch up on season 1, check out our Star Trek: Picard streaming guide .)

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This is just one, beautifully written, part of a much more interesting journey into Picard's past and previously unknown elements of his character. So far, it's making this second season so much more enjoyable than the previous attempt. It's interesting to note that Lea Thompson also directed this episode in addition to last week's installment.

In a nice set piece, Agnes subconsciously keeps selecting the number 15 at every opportunity and both she and Picard deduce that they have just three days until the future-changing event occurs, since they arrived on April 12. There are only 10 episodes in Season 2, much like the first season, so is three days of adventure and excitement enough to fill out a further six episodes..? How much of the remaining story will be set in the past..? Who knows, or dares to dream.

Immediately upon return after the opening credits, the episode pays respect to the influence of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" by having the same obnoxious, ginger-dyed Mohawk-sporting punk rocker on a bus playing loud music, played once again by Kirk R. Thatcher who, 36 years prior was an associate producer on "The Voyage Home." According to IMDb , the scene was written by Nicholas Meyer to revive a scene that was deleted from his film "Time After Time" that had H.G. Wells encountering a teenager with music blaring from a boom box. The idea of having Spock give the Vulcan nerve pinch was inspired by Leonard Nimoy who had encountered a similarly rude individual in New York City.

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Related:   The first 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' trailer is here

Thatcher asked Nimoy to play the role as he had experience with punk fashion and he adjusted his wardrobe accordingly. He expressed displeasure at the music chosen for his boom box and asked to compose and perform a song that he feel would be more representative of his character. The result was the now-famous "I Hate You." The punk makes another, even briefer cameo in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" standing next to a hot dog vendor. The punk is still carrying a boom box and Thatcher has revealed his character's name is "Krash."

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The pitch for this episode that probably took place at Spago one sunny lunchtime between the showrunner and some power-dressers from Paramount was "the very best of TNG meets Voyage Home" and this is a nice way of paying respect to that epic 1986 movie (in this writer's opinion, the second best "Star Trek" movie after "The Wrath of Khan").

What's interesting is that instead of saving the whales, this season contains an unmistakable political element, which reflects what needs saving in this decade.

Now armed with the coordinates of the "watcher," Picard believes it best that he beam there and attempt to make contact…leaving Jurati alone with the Borg Queen and allowing the inevitable battle of wits to begin.

The coordinates take Picard to an alleyway in Los Angeles and the bar 10 Forward, where — as predicted — he meets Guinan. But, there's a twist we did not see coming ... it's young Guinan, played by Ito Aghayere, rather than Whoopi Goldberg. And thank The Maker the producers chose not to go down the CGI de-aged route a la Luke Skywalker, but chose instead to spend the insane amounts of cash that would've cost on something else.

Related: Best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes

It's good that the watcher-Guinan-reunion wasn't drawn out over several episodes and while the idea of an (almost) ageless El-Aurian was fun, this opens up some very interesting possibilities. One assumes then that this would be where she first meets Picard, before their long relationship onboard the USS Enterprise-D some 341 years from now and before the journey back to 1893 in "The Next Generation" two-part episode "Time's Arrow" (S05, E26 & S06, E01). However, the surprises don't stop there. (In fact, the events of "Time's Arrow" won't have happened because Picard et al returned from the alt-future. Think "Back to the Future part II.")

Aghayere gives a dynamite performance; the dialogue is as expositional as it needs to be without sounding like you've just ordered extra cheese. It's an effective set piece that's as solid as any scene with Catherine Hicks and this is, without a doubt, the single most important message that's ever been in "Star Trek" since "The Voyage Home."

"This place is a pressure cooker," she says, describing the current situation on Earth. "You know they're actually killing the planet?" She asks rhetorically as Picard looks on. "Truth is whatever you want it to be. Facts aren't even facts anymore. A few folks have enough resources to fix all the problems for the rest, but they won't. Because their greatest fear is having less." Tears stream down her cheeks. "They got one tiny ball in the entire galaxy ... and all this species wants to do is fight."

Picard calmly replies that humanity will eventually have its moment — except of course that in " Star Trek " history, we sadly still have to get past the third World War (and a global death toll of over 600 million) before our salvation begins in 2063 with first contact with the Vulcans. Which is a bit of a drag. Has the timeline split because Guinan did or did not do something?

Fun fact: This episode is littered with "Star Trek" Easter eggs and eagle-eyed Jörg Hillebrand has spotted that the license plate on Guinan's pickup is S02 E01, which is the first episode of "The Next Generation" that she appeared in, "The Child."

Meanwhile Raffi and Seven end up in a half-decent car chase through downtown Los Angeles in a simultaneous attempt to avoid the authorities and reach Rios. When was the last time "Star Trek" featured a good car chase?! And no, "Star Trek: Nemesis" doesn't count. Since filming technology has improved so much over the years, together with CGI, the standard of good quality cinematic car chase set piece sequences has risen. The magnificent 1998 movie "Ronin" starring Robert De Niro, Jean Reno and Natascha McElhone set the standard as the very best a suburban car chase can possibly be, without the use of CGI ("Matrix: Reloaded" for example) and while this episode is far from that scale, it's not terrible.

Every story strand from this episode is interesting and none more so than the incarceration of Rios. There's a very meta moment where "Star Trek" shows a second or two of self-awareness.

"What's your occupation?" The disinterested ICE officer asks him through the crisscrossed stainless steel wire of his cage.

"Captain," replies Rios after finally having decided to go down this particular route. "Of the USS Stargazer. You wouldn't know it," he adds. "It's a starship from the year 2400," he continues as he begins to relish the irony. "I'm on an ongoing mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and civilizations," he continues, barely pausing for breath. "But instead I'm stuck back in a particularly primitive past — no offence — trying to correct the timeline so I can, you know… [whistles, mimicking the motion of getting out ] With who, you ask? A ragtag group of misfits including one cybernetic queen that I'm fairly certain is just in it to wipe out all of humanity with her old cohort, a crusty old admiral who, if I understand it correctly, is now a flesh and blood robot. I-I, you know, I can't be sure, 'cause nobody can explain it to me!" he rasps with just enough air left in his lungs at the end for a cheeky chuckle.

Rios is loaded onto a prison bus to be transported to the US/Mexico border while Raffi and Seven have beamed from their stolen police car to a location on the buses route with the aim to intercept it. But, there's still a little left in Picard's and Guinan's story thread.

Turns out she isn't the "watcher." So, she takes him to Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles to someone who can then lead him to the watcher. In an exciting sequence of using temporarily possessed civilians to guide him…he soon finds himself face to face with a non-Romulan, identical lookalike to … Laris (Orla Brady).

But ... the writers room has one last leftover-from-lunch banana-skin-of-slippery-suspense to throw at us before the closing credits...and we cut to Q (John de Lancie) wearing a lab coat — with a mission patch of some sort on it — sitting on a rooftop trying to cause yet more mayhem, but mysteriously failing in his attempt. Roll end credits.

Thus ends another thoroughly enjoyable installment of "Star Trek: Picard" and I do so very hope this thrilling, high standard continues through the rest of this second season. The events of just the last minutes raise all manner of questions

Rating: 8/10

The first four episodes of "Star Trek: Picard" are now available to watch on Paramount Plus and the premiere season of "Strange New Worlds" begins on May 5. Season 4 of "Star Trek: Discovery" is available to watch now on Paramount Plus in the US and CTV Sci-Fi or Crave TV in Canada. Countries outside of North America can watch on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel.

If you want to find more Star Trek shows and movies in both the US and UK, check out our main  Star Trek streaming guide . And if you're looking for something for the Trekkie in your life, our  Star Trek gifts and deals  guide has what you need.

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When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.

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Star Trek: Picard - Guinan

A strange reunion

Spoilers for season two, episode four of Star Trek: Picard to follow!

Picard finds a familiar friend in 2024 Los Angeles.

Star Trek: Picard streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed concurrently by Paramount Global Content Distribution on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

Screen Rant

Picard: every century's version of guinan in star trek explained.

Depictions of Guinan have varied through the 19th, 21st, and 24th centuries, but this Star Trek character has remained a perfect confidant for Picard.

Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: The Next Generation  have provided glimpses into various versions of Guinan throughout the centuries. Played by Whoopi Goldberg, Star Trek 's  Guinan is the iconic, enigmatic, El-Aurian bartender of the Ten-Forward lounge who was introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation  season 2, episode 1, "The Child." Star Trek: Picard  recently depicted a younger Guinan bartending in Los Angeles during the 21st century. This version of Guinan, portrayed by Ito Aghayere, is quite dissimilar to her depictions in Star Trek: The Next Generation , particularly when compared to the character that the Enterprise -D crew met when they traveled back in time to 19th-century Earth.

Guinan's long lifespan, combined with Star Trek 's use of time travel, makes her a character rife with opportunities for reinvention. On Star Trek: The Next Generation , Guinan is established as a member of the El-Aurian species . These humanoid aliens age much slower than humans, so they live for centuries. El-Aurians are also listeners who scatter the galaxy, and they have an acute sense of empathy and an innate awareness of the proper flow of time. After the Borg attacked Guinan's people, she found her way to the starship Enterprise -D, where she became the bartender of the Ten-Forward lounge. Aboard the ship, she became an invaluable asset, providing advice and a sympathetic ear while occasionally aiding the crew on missions.

Related:  Every TNG Character Not Returning For Picard Season 3 (And Where They Are)

Guinan has remained Captain Jean-Luc Picard's oldest and most trusted friend throughout various timelines, centuries, and catastrophes (which is why Guinan returned for Star Trek: Picard ). Viewers first encountered Guinan as a 24th-century bartender on the Enterprise -D, but in Star Trek: The Next Generation  season 5 episode 26, "Time's Arrow Part 1," and season 6, episode 1, "Time's Arrow Part 2," the Enterprise -D crew finds a younger Guinan who has yet to meet or understand anything about the Federation. In  Star Trek: Picard season 2, viewers see Guinan in between these events when Picard travels back in time to the 21st century and asks her for help. Her character is not depicted linearly but is instead shown sporadically, and looking at how Guinan differs in each century builds an even more compelling version of the character in full.

What Star Trek's Guinan Was Like In The 19th Century

The crew from  Star Trek: The Next Generation  time travels   in season 5, episode 26 "Time's Arrow Part 1," and season 6, episode 1, "Time's Arrow Part 2," wherein they meet Madame Guinan in 1893 San Francisco. Guinan was hiding from her father on Earth and spent her time as a socialite who charmed high society earthlings at parties, like the writer Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, with her open-minded ideas and charming wit. These episodes show the youngest version of Guinan, and although she is still an attentive listener, she appears more carefree. This is likely due to her youth and the fact that the Borg had not yet attacked her people. However, when the Enterprise -D crew comes to Guinan for aid, even though she doesn't yet know who they are, she still risks her life to help them.

Why Guinan Was Disillusioned In The 21st Century

In Star Trek: Picard season 2, episode 4, "Watcher," Picard and his friends time travel to the 21st century to find "a Watcher" to help save their timeline. Instead, they find Guinan as a 21st-century Los Angeles bartender. She has become jaded by humanity in this century and is about to abandon Earth. Unlike 19th century Guinan or 24th century Guinan, 21st century Guinan doesn't want to listen anymore. After hearing about so much suffering on Earth, she becomes convinced that there is no saving humanity. While Picard needs Guinan's help fixing the timeline, she also needs his help in believing that there is still hope for the future. Although 21st century Guinan appears to be at her lowest point, she still reluctantly agrees to help Picard.

How Guinan Had Found Wisdom By The 24th Century

By the 24th century, Guinan had explored much of the galaxy, suffered much loss, and finally found a home on the starship  Enterprise -D as the Ten-Forward bartender . While there are a few moments when Guinan must confront some of her inner struggles in the 24th century — as seen in episodes like Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 23, "I, Borg" — she ultimately serves as the crew's confidant. This Guinan is grounded in her belief in humanity and her hope for the future, showing that with time and experience, she learned to become the best version of herself. As she says to Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 26, "The Best of Both Worlds": " When the Borg destroyed my world, my people were scattered throughout the universe. We survived, as will humanity survive. As long as there's a handful of you to keep the spirit alive, you will prevail, even if it takes a millennium ."

Related:  Picard Theory Suggests A Massive Change To Star Trek's Borg In Season 2

Why Guinan Is The Perfect Star Trek Confidant

Now that the Guinan character  has been seen at three different stages of her life, in three different centuries, in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard , the reasons why she is the perfect confidant become clear. Her many lifetimes of experience have allowed Guinan to mature into the wisest and calmest presence on the Enterprise . She has evolved from carefree innocence in the 19th century to angry disillusionment in the 21st century to sage understanding in the 24th century. Guinan's development over the centuries mirrors the stages of growing up, which Guinan has had hundreds of years to experience. Therefore Guinan has the most experience and the most wisdom to share regarding the phases of life.

Due to Guinan's extended El-Aurian life span, any iteration of Star Trek can revisit the character at different centuries and reveal a life that viewers never expected to see her lead and show more of Guinan's skills and knowledge . As seen with her arc on Star Trek: Picard — which is far from over — future iterations of Star Trek may reveal an entirely different side of the character. Despite her many different appearances on Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: The Next Generation , one thing has remained constant: no matter the century, Guinan is one of Picard's most trusted allies.

Next:  Picard: Why Guinan Not Remembering Jean-Luc Isn’t A TNG Plot Hole

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Picard : Whoopi Goldberg to Return as Next Generation ‘s Guinan in Season 2 — Watch a New Trailer

Keisha hatchett, staff editor.

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Another familiar face is headed to Star Trek: Picard in Season 2.

Paramount+ has dropped the official trailer for the upcoming season, which you can check out above, featuring Whoopi Goldberg reprising her Next Generation role as Guinan.

The sneak peek finds Picard turning to his longtime friend for advice after Q presents him with one of his signature enigmatic tests.

See below for a full photo of Guinan back in action.

Goldberg recurred as the beloved bartender in Star Trek: The Next Generation Seasons 2-6, and appeared in the films Star Trek: Generations  and Star Trek: Nemesis .

New episodes of Picard , premiering Thursday, March 3, take the legendary captain and his crew on a journey into the past. Picard must “enlist friends both old and new to confront the perils of 21st century Earth in a desperate race against time to save the galaxy’s future — and face the ultimate trial from one of his greatest foes,” per the official description.

The upcoming season will see John de Lancie reprise his role as Q, the omnipotent shapeshifter who reveled in testing Picard. Plus, Annie Wersching ( Bosch , The Vampire Diaries ) will recur as the Borg Queen, the infamous villain first introduced in the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact (played then by Alice Krige).

The Season 2 cast also includes Alison Pill (back as Dr. Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Dahj and Soji Asha), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Michelle Hurd (Rafaella “Raffi” Musiker), Santiago Cabrera (Cristobal “Chris” Rios), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Orla Brady (Laris) and Brent Spiner (Data/Dr. Altan Inigo Soong).

Are you excited for Whoopi Goldberg’s return in Star Trek: Picard ? Sound off in the comments.

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51 comments.

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Oh boy, a full-on time travel plot. Ambitious, but risky. Some of Trek’s most memorable moments have been time travel adventures, but also its least scientifically plausible. We’ll see how the concept holds up under modern storytelling sensibilities. I suppose it helps that Q is involved. That really lets them do whatever they want and then just literally hand-wave it away.

I like that Q has always had a soft spot for humanity and that his tests always have a purpose.

I had always liked Guinan on the original TNG series but Goldberg’ss acting in this new trailer was stiff and felt uninspiring. I just remember some of Guinan’s memorable speeches to Picard, especially in the episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise”. It’s painfully obvious that the new writers for these rebranded ‘Star Trek’ streaming shows are just as uninspiring as their writing and the acting. They should have left these legacy characters where they were and not have brought them back. Least STD doesn’t use legacy actors who portrayed their characters.

Worst mistake ever to bring Goldberg on to the show. Lost me as a viewer.

Worst mistake ever? You make it sound like they cast Bill Cosby or something. I feel like most true TNG fans have a soft spot for Guinan, and for good reason.

Guinan was everything to the crew that Troi should have been. . Loved her and can’t wait for this.

Why do I get the feeling that WD doesn’t realize that Whoopi has been a part of Star Trek since 1988?

Either that, or whatever grudges he has against her (whether they are racial, gender, or politics-based) would also apply to half of the other actors in Hollywood too, but he’s chosen to focus his prejudices on Ms. Goldberg for whatever reason?

Star Trek is based on tolerance and diversity. If you’re not a fan of those, you really don’t understand the franchise.

Not to mention her character has a timeless friendship with Picard. Wasn’t it something like 18th Century England when they first encountered one another?(At least to her?). She waited a generation to be aboard his ship and for him to be born and reunite with him. Time stuff works so weird haha.

as it was mentioned she recurred from seasons 2 to 6 and also was in the first and last next generation

Would bet cash that his issue is that she’s liberal.

The entire cast of Star Trek shows are liberal which is true to the characters they play too.

I’d be careful with that whole “entire cast of Star Trek shows are liberal” comments. Marina Sirtis (Troi) showed her true colors on twitter last year when she came out in defense of not only Piers Morgan, but defended Prince Andrew against the s** trafficking allegations. I would hardly call a royalist who defends a man’s rantings, railings, & attacks against a black woman AND defends a pedo****, a liberal.

Sirtis has been very vocal about her anti-Trump and anti-Brexit feelings. The only thing she agreed with Piers Morgan about was Harry & Megan—and she prefixed that agreement with “What is the world coming to? I agree with [Piers Morgan]” So yeah, she’s pretty unabashedly liberal.

For whatever reason I can’t reply to Simon’s comments so my follow up goes here:

She agreed with a man when he said a woman was lying about her mental health. She defended a pedo****. Being anti-Tump and anti-Brexit does not automatically equate to liberal. JKR is very vocally anti-Trump and she is most certainly NOT a liberal.

“Hey ⁦⁦@tedcruz⁩, lefty liberal here holding her OWN Bible. Didn’t have to borrow one like the president.” -@Marina_Sirtis Jun 2, 2020 . But sure, @Web you *definitely* know her politics better than she does herself. SMH.

The husband is a HUGE fan of Whoopie’s daytime show, only him and he never misses an episode, but he never watches scifi stuff. I am the one that read every scifi short story and novel since the beginning of the genre way back when up to the 80’s and a real scifi tv junkie. There might be other things at play with that comment, here. Peace, Man/Everyone! Super cool the Guinan character is back. With everyone rushing around, it was always fun for a take-a-deep-breath character.

OP doesn’t like Whoopi Goldberg and you basically call him a racist. Newsflash: people are allowed to dislike actors without it being about race. People like you who make unsubstantiated claims of racism are as big a problem as racists themselves.

@Ellen – The OP has not provided any explanation for why tons of other former ST actors have returned to Picard but somehow Whoopi doing so is “the worst mistake ever.” You may theorize it’s a simple matter of “dislike,” but there’s no particular reason why that guess should be any more accurate than other explanations offered—especially given the OP’s evident rancor.

People often hide racism under thinly veiled criticism because they don’t want others to see them for what they are.

@Snow: So very true. You see it here quite often. There is one female poster here who gets bent out of shape if there is one gay character or if an interracial relationship is depicted. I don’t understand these people. But hey, I have given up trying to do so.

And u were the most important viewer according to you .. LOL

Seven of Nine looks like she kicks serious butt this season

“Video not available”.

check youtube

Thanks – found it😀

Aahhh! That just made me more excited than I thought I would be

Love that Guinan will be back! Whoopi playing Whoopi? Looks like it will be a great season.

❤ EGOT winning Whoopi… anywhere is always better with her unparalleled talents on display!

She’s not really an EGOT. Her Emmy is actually a *daytime* Emmy. Those are a joke and don’t really count.

Bitter, party of one!

Apparently those ‘joke awards’ matter to show biz historians (and every performer/crew talent who was ever nominated and/or won). But thanks for your condescending opinion, Amanda. How is it up there in the ivory tower?

Happy to see Guinan again. Let’s learn more of Guinan’s past and give her some powers. She was supposed to have powers in the original.

Whoppi back as Guinan? I’m in. I loved the first season of “Picard.” Looking forward to this season.

Awesome, can’t wait!

Didn’t Patrick Stewart appear on The View and invite Whoopi to appear on Picard? IIRC, she quickly said yes to him.

Yes, I watch The View every weekday and remember that episode well. Whoopi was giggling while the audience (they had one in studio that day) applauded wildly and chanted in encouragement. Whoopi and Sir Pat are longtime genuine buddies in real life, too.

Yes, I was watching that day as well.

They already had me sold on Season 2 with Q. I’ve always loved his character. :D I needed nothing else. Guinan is a bonus. Huzzah!

Agree completely.

So excited! Both Q and Guinan are back!

I hope they will expand on the relationship between Guinan and Q. The two have an unspoken history I would love to see explored.

I’m hoping we learn about their history as well as more about Guinan’s past. I’m truly excited to see her again with Picard.

I’ll admit this looks intriguing. I just hope it’s better than the disappointing first season.

to each hir own I guess….with the exception of that ‘Casino Boogie Nights’ episode, I thought S1 was solid…it was definitely JEAN-LUC 2.0 without being TNG 2.0 (which I wouldn’t have minded)

Yay for more Laris! What about Zhaban? Be good to see both of them featured more prominently in season 2.

Agreed! I loved Laris & Zhaban together. Laris & Picard have a special friendship as well, like chosen family. Here’s hoping they’ll be around for more than one episode.

Heck yes..What took so long? Guinan has always been a mystery character in the Star Trek universe. From a wise, long living race of star seekers forced to do so when their homeland was destroyed. Not to mention the mysterious connection that is still unspoken between Picard and Guinan. How are they related? She has always been like his physical subconscious mind in order to reach a solution in a crisis. An unspoken language between the two of them. Bravo! Brava! Writers hop to it. “Make It So!”

Much more excited about Guinan than Q! . And you can never have too much of Seven of Nine kicking ass.

Thrilled! LOVE Whoopi & Guinan was my favorite character on TNG after Picard. They work together so well, especially the mystery element of their past. Look forward to see where Picard 2 goes with this.

Star Trek Picard season 2 it’s not about race.

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‘star trek: picard’ season 2 trailer shows return of whoopi goldberg as guinan.

Check out the first look at the beloved character's return to the franchise.

By James Hibberd

James Hibberd

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Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg returns to the Star Trek universe in the official season two trailer for Star Trek: Picard .

Below is a first look at Goldberg’s Guinan as she counsels Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) after he’s plunged into an alternative timeline by the powerful Q (John de Lancie):

In the new season, Picard and his crew take a “bold and exciting new journey: into the past. Picard must enlist friends both old and new to confront the perils of 21st century Earth in a desperate race against time to save the galaxy’s future — and face the ultimate trial from one of his greatest foes.”

Guinan was first introduced as a recurring character in Star Trek: The Next Generation .

The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. For season two, Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Terry Matalas, Patrick Stewart, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Doug Aarniokoski and Dylan Massin serve as executive producers. Goldsman and Matalas serve as co-showrunners.

Other castmembers include Alison Pill, Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Orla Brady, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera and Brent Spiner.

Picard season two premieres Thursday, March 3, on Paramount+. New episodes of the 10-episode season will drop weekly.  

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