The second season of Star Trek: Picard is… well…. eventually going to happen, but while everyone in Hollywood is still working off-set, the cast and leadership team behind the show are still plugging away at getting things ready for whenever it’s safe to turn the cameras back on.

Over the past couple of weeks there have been a few tidbits about the still-gestating sequel season that have come to light from interviews, and we thought it was time to round things up in one easy-to-beam-down delivery!

Speaking this week to IndieWire, Picard producer Akiva Goldsman talked a little about the state of Season 2’s story development, and how things are going in the writers room — now led by Enterprise and Voyager vet Terry Matalas.

“[I have a call] with Terry Matalas, and Kirsten Beyer, and Michael Chabon, and we will be bashing through some [story] continuity issues we are having between episodes three and four in the script phase.

We have [a writers] room that is up and running; we have broken the season. We are closer to halfway through the scripts than not. We really loved doing it and we feel really lucky to do it and we feel kind of like Season 1 was ‘getting ready,’ and now Season 2… let’s go!”

While Data’s ethereal existence came to a final end in “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2,” after years of Brent Spiner’s resistance to revisiting the android character, the series introduced another Spiner role in the two-part finale: the never-before-seen son of Dr. Noonien Soong (also played by Spiner).

His gold-faced alter ego may be gone, but leaving Alton Soong alive and kicking at the end of Season 1 was a plan, said Goldsman, to allow Spiner to return to the Star Trek fold should the story head back in his direction.

“We wanted to feather in the possibility of more [appearances from Brent Spiner], and we knew we were letting Data go.

We knew that the [Alton] Soong character had been in our head canon when it came to the season anyway, but we want more Brent — and we wanted to create a platform for which there could be more Brent in ensuing seasons.”

Finally, the producer also teased a greater role for Starfleet in the second year of the show, the familiar Federation armada that was largely absent from Picard Season 1.

“We knew that bringing in that fleet [in ‘Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2’] was a little bit of a promise, and so we tried to be thoughtful about it.

Especially as we go forward, we’re going to start making statements about the world of Starfleet — at least technologically — if not socially and culturally. These are the things that are likely to get a little bit more play than they did [in Season 1] in what was essentially a story about [Picard] outside of Starfleet.”

On the TrekGeeks ‘Feeding America’ fundraiser livestream last week, Next Generation alum Jonathan Frakes spoke a bit about his apprehension about returning to the role of Will Riker for Picard, but in the end enjoyed his time back on set — and hopes that perhaps he’ll return to Starfleet duty once more before the series concludes. [via TrekNews.net]

“I was wary if we had gone to the well to have Riker show up again because he had just said he had left Starfleet. I think between Akiva [Goldsman] and [Michael] Chabon] and Alex [Kurtzman], they really wove it into the story… and I hope we see him again.”

Off-screen, the longtime television director also confirmed to SyFy Wire what has been long suspected — that he’ll be heading back to set to helm more episodes of Picard next season… and will be heading off to Strange New Worlds to contribute to that show’s freshman season as well.

“I can’t wait to get back with Sir Patrick. It was wonderful to have Jeri Ryan on the show, and Brent Spiner and Jonathan Del Arco from our timeline. And I’m looking forward to whatever the brilliance Michael Chabon and Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman bring to the table. I haven’t seen any scripts yet, but I’m chomping at the bit.”

“I’ve been asked to direct [‘Strange New Worlds’], and I’m looking forward to it very much.

I’ve had great experiences with all three of them. Anson and I worked through finding Captain Pike. And Ethan and I worked through finding who Spock was. And the mantle of Spock, in particular, was so complicated and so emotionally taxing and was such huge shoes to fill, and Ethan felt it.

Rebecca and I have a long relationship from back on ‘The Librarians,’ and we have a fabulous working shorthand, so it will be great getting back to the floor with three old friends.”

Picard star Patrick Stewart told the Los Angeles Times that the first season of the show as so much work that he barely had time to get to know his new castmates — and took until the January 2020 press tour until they were able to relax together.

“There was no socializing [between the actors] for the first five months — we were shooting. When we came to the end of the series, we had promotional activities to engage with and we were traveling together on airplanes and got to know one another so much better.”

Now that Stewart and the Picard on-screen crew have had that off-screen bonding time, the actor expects that to help expand the depth of their performances in the next season of filming.

“This is going to be a new element in Season 2, that there is a lot of mutual respect everywhere. If you know you can take risks, and there is a network around you that if you crash land, they will catch you, it’s a wonderful feeling. That’s how I feel now. I feel safe.”

The ever-observant fans over at The Trek Collective continue to keep an eye for new behind-the-scenes images, and last week they pulled together an enormous collection of never-seen photography, on-set imagery, and concept art from Star Trek: Picard’s first season — along with a few snippets of interviews from the set designers and set decorators that brought year one to life.

Head on over and check out the massive roundup at The Trek Collective.

Keep checking back here for the latest Star Trek franchise news!