It’s been a little over two months since the first teaser trailer for Star Trek: Picard revealed the return of Q to the franchise — and now we’ve got our first look at footage from the show’s upcoming second season, including actor John de Lancie himself back in character!

Released today by Paramount+ to coincide with the calendar equivalent of Captain Picard Day, the first episodic footage from Star Trek: Picard Season 2 sees the La Sirena crew in a world wholly unfamiliar to them — with ol’ JL himself (Patrick Stewart) lamenting “What the hell is happening here?” along the way.

Just as his frustration reaches its peak, the voice of Q (John de Lancie) shocks him alert, revealing the return of the recurring Next Generation trickster being — possible the first time Picard and Q have seen each other since the events of “All Good Things…” so many years ago.

“Welcome, my friend,” narrates Q, “to the very end of the road not taken,” as the imagery from the upcoming season shows the La Sirena crew in strange locations and strange costumes, with even Cris Rios (Santiago Cabrera) and La Sirena itself seemingly drafted into some kind of alternate Starfleet’s service.

Picard seems to be wearing some version of this uniform and delta badge as well, when he arrives home to find Q waiting for him.

“Time has been broken,” says a female narrator who sounds very similar to Romulan infiltrator Commodore Oh (Tamilyn Tomita), which appears to be the cause of all these unexpected changes to our cast and their lives — and in the case of Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), she wakes up in an unfamiliar bedroom to find herself without that signature Borg implant above her left eye… and what may be a wedding ring on her finger.

We also get glimpses of Elnor (Evan Evagora) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) with new hairstyles, on the run through a dark and dingy back alley…. with a dead body behind them.

Picard and Raffi also appear to take place in some kind of conference presentation at Starfleet Command, where flags from many Alpha Quadrant races are on display — and where both former officers appear back in uniform.

Both Picard and Raffi appear to be in “dress uniform” variants off the 2399 uniform design we saw as season — with formal “flaps” on the jackets, along with colored piping down the seams — so perhaps the two have been re-instated back to service after their Season 1 adventure…. or perhaps this is yet another impact of “broken time” on our heroes.

Besides those highlights, there are also glimpses of the rest of the Star Trek: Picard cast, including Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill), Soji Asha (Isa Briones), and Picard’s Romulan housekeeper Laris (Orla Brady).

Soji appears in white on what seems to be Earth, wearing the two-ringed symbol of her synthetic creation, along with a blue pin with an unusual symbol on it.

Finally, the crew seems to find a way to come together — despite their crazy situation — in a final moment from the trailer, as Picard promises that he’ll find a way to get them all home.

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While the trailer may be the biggest news of the day, it may not contain the biggest Star Trek: Picard mystery of the day, as Paramount+ has also just unveiled this new teaser poster for the show’s second season…. featuring an unexpectedly-modern vista of the Los Angeles skyline and surrounding freeways.

What could this 2021-esque depiction of southern California mean for Picard and the La Sirena crew? We’ll have to wait until 2022 to find out.

Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Blu-ray

Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Steelbook

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Blu-ray

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Steelbook