Gates McFadden's Favorite Memories From The Next Generation Reunion On Star Trek: Picard

The primary function of the third season of "Star Trek: Picard" was to activate the nostalgia glands of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fans. Showrunner Terry Matalas constructed a story that was centered very specifically on uniting Patrick Stewart with Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, and Gates McFadden. Additionally, the series created a plot conceit that allowed for the reconstruction of the Enterprise-D, the "Next Generation" ship that was destroyed in "Star Trek: Generations" in 1994. In the show's penultimate episode, the entire cast strode on board an impeccably recreated Enterprise-D bridge set and took the same stations they once occupied decades previously. Was it a contrived, corny moment? Yes. Did it stab many Trekkies directly in the wistfulness part of their brains? Also yes. 

The cast also appreciated the reunion, as they hadn't all been gathered since the production of "Star Trek: Nemesis" in 2002. Several of them came back to "Star Trek" a few times in the intervening years, but "Picard" was the first time they were all together at once in 21 years. 

McFadden, who plays Dr. Beverly Crusher, was especially happy to be together with her old castmates again. By "Picard," the character had gone from a matronly chief medical officer to a weapons-toting, freelance distributor of contraband medical supplies. She has her own starship, the Elios, and runs her noble underground business with her twentysomething son Jack (Ed Speleers). 

In a recent interview with Variety, McFadden recalled meeting her co-stars again, and how bizarre and wonderful it was to be "back in action." A long-running job that started in 1987 is, it seemed to her, merely continuing. 

The action of the third season of "Picard" is actually kicked off by Dr. Crusher, as she fires weapons into the bodies of infiltrating masked monsters. Because she was there from the first scene, one might assume that McFadden was on set for most of the third season's production. As such, she was in the unique position of greeting each of her co-stars as they were called in one by one. She begins the show on the Elios, and then is rescued from an attacking villain and brought on board the U.S.S. Titan-A, a Starfleet vessel. The next actor on the call sheet was Michael Dorn, who plays the Klingon Worf. McFadden recalled well meeting with him, saying:

"I remember the day Michael Dorn came in and I was shooting that first scene on the Elios. And I was having so much fun because it was an action scene, which I love. I love anything with movement. And then Michael walks on. We had seen each other. We talk to each other all the time. But we both just hugged each other and we're like, 'This is so cool!' That's the one I remember the most, because he was the first one I actually saw."

After that, the moments just continued for McFadden as more and more of her old co-workers re-entered the story. The first portion of "Picard" season three saw Jean-Luc (Stewart) and Captain Riker (Jonathan Frakes) rescuing Dr. Crusher from a tight spot. As such, she had several scenes where the three of them were united on the bridge of the Titan. During one of those moments, McFadden had a sudden attack of self-awareness and found the rush of good feelings to be her favorite moment of working on the show.

McFadden described the scene warmly, reminding the interviewer that the "Picard" shooting conditions, still adhering to COVID protocols, didn't allow for much "messing around." She loved working with actors she admired for their professionalism, although seems to regret that she couldn't socialize more raucously. Regardless, she loved that she could be together with them again:

"[T]here was this moment when Patrick, Jonathan, and I were on the bridge of the Titan. And we were like wow, we are all in uniform and doing this. I mean Patrick had been doing this, but for Jonathan and me, it was special. It was really special. And then, of course, when everybody came on. I love these people. They're terrific actors. But people forget it was during COVID. So we always had our masks on, and because the sound was so good, we couldn't talk. We didn't have our own little trailers outside where we used to cause havoc. We were much more behaved."

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" didn't have a reputation for silliness on set, necessarily, although one can look up any number of silly outtakes from the 1980s and 1990s. One might want to check out a YouTube channel called "Star Trek INTakes," wherein an editor named Ryan cuts some of the funnier "Star Trek" outtakes back into the fabric of the episode. The results are very funny, and do reveal a degree of jocularity on the show. 

"Picard," it seems, was more serious than that, but the actors enjoyed themselves nonetheless.