The Reason Star Trek: Picard Kept Geordi's Wife Anonymous (For Now)

Trekkies will be able to tell you that Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), the nerdy engineer on the Enterprise-D in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," rarely had luck in his relationships. In the episode "Booby Trap" (October 30, 1989), Geordi notoriously fell in love with a holographic reproduction of Dr. Leah Brahms (Susan Gibney), the designer of the Enterprise's engines. In the episode "Galaxy's Child" (March 11, 1991), however, Geordi got to meet the real Leah Brahms, and she was not happy when she learned about the holographic duplicate Geordi had been flirting with. What's more, she was already married, certainly halting any romantic aspirations Geordi carried. 

It seems, however, that their lives would eventually intersect romantically. In the show's final episode, "All Good Things..." (May 23, 1994), audiences saw a flash-forward to an alternate future wherein Geordi was married to Leah. They also had three children named Alandra, Bret, and Sidney. Geordi had retired from engineering and became a novelist.

The future in "All Good Things..." was, of course, mere postulation, and many of the events depicted in that future did not come to pass. Trekkies know this because they were able to catch up with the "Next Generation" characters in real-time, thanks to the most recent season of "Star Trek: Picard" (February through April 2023). In that season, Trekkies got to see what really happened to Geordi. It seems that he did not become a novelist, but stayed in Starfleet to curate a specialized starship museum. He did, however, still have children named Alandra (Mica Burton) and Sidney (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). 

Dr. Leah Brahms, however, was not mentioned in "Picard." Was Geordi still married to her in this version of things? Showrunner Terry Matalas intentionally left that vague. He admitted as much in a Reddit AMA in 2023.

It seems that the primary reason Leah Brahms was not named in "Star Trek: Picard" was directly because of "Star Trek: Legacy." 

Even before the final season of "Picard" had finished airing, Matalas famously took to social media to announce that he had sneakily inserted a backdoor pilot into it and that his new series — not picked up or even pitched to Paramount yet — would be called "Star Trek: Legacy." "Picard" would end with the introduction of the Enterprise-G, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) would become its captain and Sidney La Forge would sit at the helm. Matalas had a setting, a cast of characters, and even the seeds of a new story. In retrospect, it's astonishing how much of "Picard" was devoted to a Trek series that would never be made.

Matalas was aggressive about his idea in public and encouraged his fans to engage in hashtag and letter-writing campaigns encouraging Paramount to pick up his new show. Paramount, sadly, didn't take the bait. In 2024, a lot of "Star Trek" is drawing to a close, and Matalas took a job running the "Vision" TV series for Marvel. The future of "Legacy" is unlikely. 

Because "Legacy" would feature Sidney LaForge, it's likely that Geordi would occasionally appear, as would Sidney's unnamed mother. It turns out, in Matalas' version of things, it was not Dr. Brahms. When it came to the exact identity of Geordi's wife, Matalas was coy, saying:

We didn't identify so that we could tell that story in a future 'Legacy' tale. But LeVar did have a name in mind. But it is not a character you've seen before." 

Some fans immediately, in a snarky fashion, suggested that it was Dr. Leah Brahms from the Mirror Universe.

"Picard" noted that Geordi had two daughters, Alandra and Sidney. Fun trivia: Mica Burton, who played Alandra, was LeVar Burton's real-life daughter. 

Not only was there no mention of Dr. Brahms in "Picard," but there was also no mention of Bret, said to be applying to Starfleet Academy in "All Good Things..." It's possible that Geordi did have a son named Bret and merely never mentioned him, or even that Bret had died before the events of "Picard," but it's more likely that Matalas, thinking ahead to "Star Trek: Legacy" wanted to leave his storytelling options open. 

It's also possible that Geordi is married to a woman named Leah in the "Picard" timeline, as he only ever referred to his wife by her first name in "All Good Things...." It's a little nit-picky, but it's possible Geordi is married to a different Leah. Matalas was sure to communicate, though, that Geordi's wife wouldn't be a legacy character, familiar to Trekkies. He was going to invent an all-new character. Trekkies, you may officially cease your speculation. 

Matalas likely won't let slip what Burton's suggestion was for Geordi's wife's name, as he may still be holding out hope that "Legacy" will come to be someday. We will, instead, wait until a certain creative statute of limitations expires — let's say seven years — before Matalas or Burton finally reveals their original idea. 

Until then, we'll have to satisfy ourselves with "Starfleet Academy."