As we prepare for Star Trek: Picard to premiere tonight on Paramount+, Collider’s Steve Weintraub spoke with Patrick Stewart, who plays the titular Jean-Luc Picard, and Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher) about the third and final season. During their interview, Stewart and McFadden talk about reuniting with their Star Trek: The Next Generation family for a “dangerous and emotional” third season, how the world and their characters have transformed, and the ways showrunner Terry Matalas, stayed true to the Star Trek theme.

After the divisive first two seasons of Picard, Season 3 is being hailed as a fantastic tribute to fans, bringing back beloved Next Generation characters with new storylines and continuations. Also reprising their roles alongside Stewart and McFadden are Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, and Brent Spiner as Lore. They join Season 2’s Jeri Ryan as Star Trek: Voyager’s Seven of Nine and Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker.

Picard Season 3 isn’t just about bringing back familiar faces, the show is also introducing fans to new talent, including Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut and Mica Burton as Sidney and Alandra La Forge and Amanda Plummer as the villainous Vadic. Others joining the fray are Todd Stashwick (12 Monkeys) as Captain Shaw of the USS Titan, and new series regular and associate of Beverly Crusher, Ed Speleers (Outlander).

Check our conversation with Stewart and McFadden in the player above, or read the full transcript below. For even more on Star Trek: Picard, you can read what Maggie Lovitt has to say in her review, which says Season 3, “…feels like the start of something new and exciting review.”

Image via Paramount+

COLLIDER: I’ve seen the first six episodes of Season 3, loved them. It’s fantastic seeing everyone together again. I don’t know how much you’re allowed to actually say, so what have you been saying to people about what Season 3 is about?

PATRICK STEWART: Well, Season 2 was very much left in suspense. Those problems there have got to be dealt with, which is what, largely, Season 3 is about. It’s dangerous and violent and emotional, and it was engaging to be able to act those scenes.

GATES MCFADDEN: And for Dr. Beverly Crusher, it’s a huge leap. It’s a wonderful way to begin because she’s being hunted, and has been for quite a while, and running, and not understanding exactly what’s going on. But for her to actually say to Picard, “Trust no one,” and the fact that after all these years of no contact, that she still goes, “Well, that’s my last hope.” You know, there’s something powerful in whatever that relationship is that she would call on him like, “I need help.” So, I think that starts something.

And, of course, we find out, also, there’s another reason that she’s wanted to be in touch with him for a long time, but because of this danger… And she had good instincts about it. So, it was a really fabulous comeback, having not seen people and that she’s been running her own ship and doing it all, you know, that was fun.

Image via Paramount+

One of the things I thought (showrunner) Terry [Matalas] did a great job with is that he’s nodding to the past, he’s including things that fans are going to know, but it never feels like fan service.

MCFADDEN: Perfect.

I’m curious if you could talk about that, that if you’re a fan, there’s a lot there.

MCFADDEN: I agree, I think he was really cognizant of that, and he was saying this is an Easter egg, you know? This is something that we’re putting in there.

I loved it actually. There’s a line that Crusher says at one point – I can’t give it away – but it really harkens back to the whole Star Trek theme. It was very moving to me. It’s the birth sequence, but I thought that was beautiful. I loved all that Terry did on it. I thought the writers did a beautiful job with all of the characters, including the new characters. Just exquisite.

Image via Paramount

For both of you, it’s been 20 years, I believe, since everyone has done the roles together and it might not have ever happened again. So, what did it mean to both of you to be able to do this one more time with the group of you?

STEWART: But it’s not one more time. It’s new. It’s different. 20, 25 years have gone by. I’m a different person. Gates is. All of us are, and so are those characters that we play. And the world has been transformed. They worked out ways in which the planet and the galaxy can be affected by what’s going on elsewhere. And so although it’s the same title, still Star Trek, and although we have the same names, we are living in a different world from the one of Next Generation.

MCFADDEN: We are close as a group, and we all feel like a family, literally, with each other’s lives. But to be able to be acting in scenes again, on a spaceship, to me, that was fantastic because it just felt so easy to know that we’re different characters, but when I lock into those eyes, those are eyes that I know and love, and that adds just a depth to it that’s wonderful. That’s beyond character, even, it’s just humanity and it’s our lives. We are different, we’re acting roles that have evolved, these characters have evolved, but it’s fun.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 premieres on Paramount+ tonight. For more on Picard Season 3, here’s our interview with LeVar Burton & Jonathan Frakes .