John de Lancie Spells Out The Return of Q in Season 2 of STAR TREK: PICARD: ‘You Don’t Have Much Time, Old Man’

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede If there’s one letter in the alphabet that Jean-Luc Picard wishes could be stricken for all eternity, it’s clearly “Q.” But Q, the unforgettable thorn-in-the-side character played by John de Lancie, is returning to torment Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, yet again. The hows and whys of Q’s re-emergence will start to become clear with the debut of Season 2 of STAR TREK: PICARD, Thursday, March 3 on CTV Sci-Fi Channel and Crave. Like Picard himself, Q – a mysterious extra-dimensional being who possesses immense power over time and space – was first introduced to audiences on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (which also is available on Crave). But as de Lancie acknowledged in a virtual roundtable interview, the Q in STAR TREK: PICARD is a very different Q than the one who debuted 35 years ago. “The way I’m playing it now is a lot less whimsical,” de Lancie said. “It would be kind of unseemly, at this age, to be trying to recreate what was done years ago, and the writers didn’t want that. They very, very specifically did not want that.” In fact, de Lancie recalled that he found himself in a bit of a “tight spot” when he was first pitched for the show. “When I went in to have a talk with Terry (Matalas), who’s one of the executive producers, in a sort of humorous way, I said, ‘you’re not putting me back in those tights again, are you?’” de Lancie said. “And he said, ‘no, no, no, no, no.’ So I said, ‘okay, I’m willing to listen a little bit more now.’ He really wanted me to understand that they did not want to go over old ground. So this is a new Q – well, not a new Q, it’s just that the situation is different. The stakes are higher. What Q needs Picard to go through now actually affects Q, too. So Q’s stakes are higher as well. It’s a different look. If you consider this, dare I say, a diamond, and you’re cutting different facets, it’s yet another facet. And, I think, an interesting one.” In the past, Q had the air of a schoolyard bully when dealing with Picard. Q would toy with Picard, sometimes seemingly just for pleasure. Hints of those pre-existing elements come flooding back in their first reunion scene in STAR TREK: PICARD, but even so, Picard senses right away that something is different. “Hopefully there’s a little bit of that kind of sparkle still there – so yes, I am mad, bad and dangerous to know,” de Lancie said, referring to Q. “But this time I don’t even have the time to screw around too much. Time is of the essence. That’s what you’re getting in this show right now, at least for me. Like, we got to do this, and we got to do this now. And you (Picard), in particular, have to do this now, because you don’t have much time, old man. You don’t have much time.” Speaking of time, de Lancie was asked that if Season 2 of STAR TREK: PICARD is the last time he ever plays Q, is he happy with the way the loop closes? “Well, it’s always the last time. Every time I finished the show, it was the last time. When I finished Farpoint (a.k.a. Encounter at Farpoint, the first ever episode of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION), it was the last time,” de Lancie said. “I am happy that I got another whack at it. I finished an episode not too long ago, and there was a scene that was very satisfying. There’s a continuum to all of this, that I’m now becoming more comfortable with. Playing this role, I guess, it becomes a little bigger than you. I do my little part, and then I have so many people who seem to be interested, who add their parts to it. And I don’t just mean the crew and the cast, I mean from the point of view of those who watch and listen. They add a little bit of themselves to this character. So it’s … it’s wonderful.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv