In the last scene of “All Good Things” — the two-part series finale of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which aired in 1994 — Geordi La Forge and other USS Enterprise officers sit at their regular poker table, discussing an alternate future that Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has seen where they “all changed and drifted apart.” Fast forward almost 30 years, and Geordi has already undergone significant onscreen changes in that he’s no longer wearing his trademark VISOR. By now, he’s long since traded it in for ocular implants, which allows us to see more of LeVar Burton, also known for hosting “Reading Rainbow” and playing Kunta Kinte in the original “Roots” TV miniseries.
While he won’t be wearing the old VISOR again, Burton described the opportunity to slip back into the rest of Geordi’s wardrobe as a “gift,” saying:
“You have to remember, we didn’t think this was ever going to take place. This is like, ‘Wow.’ It’s been a couple of decades since we’ve donned these costumes and played these characters again. And the opportunity to do that with the additional 20 years of growth and development and the richness that we have mined in our personal lives, to be able to bring that to this experience, to these characters in this season of ‘Picard’ is a pretty rare gift.”
Burton also teased some potential conflict between Geordi and his fellow “Star Trek: Next Generation” veterans, saying they “obviously have a lot of love and respect for each other, but they live different lives now.” He concluded by saying, “I think that part of what Geordi’s character brings is that reminder that we have a lot of history, but my priorities have changed.”
“Star Trek: Picard” season 3 premieres on Paramount+ on February 16, 2023.