Why We Need a Travelers Spinoff

Spoiler alert for Star Trek: Picard Season 2 finale.

As fans of Picard know, the second season’s finale included a highly memorable cameo from none other than Wesley Crusher, who had gone back in time to recruit Kore as a Traveler. It was a pretty amazing moment, and one that begged the question – what if there were a Travelers spinoff? Here are a few of the reasons why that’s something that, in my humble opinion, absolutely needs to happen.

Wesley’s story arc

Wesley’s decision in the Next Generation episode “Journey’s End” to leave Starfleet for a future with the Traveler nicely wraps up one chapter of his life. At this point, he has reached the age where he needs to start making authentic decisions for his future, rather than simply following the path he and others have always assumed he’d choose. And he clearly does that when he decides to take a leap into the unknown with the Traveler, bringing his first story arc to a conclusion.

But this crucial decision is also the beginning of a whole new story arc for Wes. What will life as a Traveler be like for him, and what kind of person will he become as a result of that decision as he moves forward into adulthood? These are questions that have remained unanswered for decades. We have no clue what happened to Wesley after his departure (at least if we’re talking alpha canon), and to me, that has always felt like a loose end that needs to be tied.

More Kore, please

Interestingly, Kore’s decision to leave with Wesley brings her current chapter of life to an end, as well. Her first arc is all about learning that her father isn’t who he thinks he is, and choosing to chart her own course. But, also like Wesley, joining the Travelers opens up a brand new world of possibilities, and I’d love to see her character develop as she explores those new roads

Kore is a compelling character who demonstrates a lot of intelligence and compassion. And she’s at a stage in her life where she’s eager to undertake independent adventures. All of this would set her up well to be the lead as a Supervisor in a Travelers spinoff.

The Voyager question

There are a handful of questions Voyager fans love to debate. Why couldn’t Janeway find a way to convince Q to send the ship back to the Alpha Quadrant (preferably something not involving any more “romantic” overtures on his part)? Why didn’t the temporal agents stop the future Admiral Janeway from meddling in the past? And why couldn’t the Traveler bring Voyager home?

It’s true that, after Wesley departs with the Traveler, it’s basically radio silence from them. But just because Starfleet doesn’t have a way to contact him, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a way to contact Starfleet. In fact, I find it highly unlikely that the Traveler couldn’t contact the Enterprise anytime he chose. And given that Wes and Beverly have always had a positive and caring relationship, I also don’t buy that he would never once call home to let her know he was okay.

In addition, since Deanna, Barclay and others n Starfleet know about Voyager’s status in the Delta Quadrant, it seems at least plausible that it would be a topic of conversation on the Enterprise at some point. In fact, in the Voyager episode Pathfinder, Deanna even visits Reg on Earth to help him deal with his preoccupation with the Voyager crew and Starfleet’s attempts to communicate with the ship. And we’re to believe she just doesn’t mention anything about any of that to Beverly during one of their jazzercise sessions? So assuming Beverly is fully aware of what’s going on with Voyager, and assuming Wes potentially contacts her at some point, isn’t a stranded Federation ship something she’d bring up with him, knowing he and the Traveler have the ability to bring Voyager home?

So what happened? Did the Federation think that working with the Traveler would pose some sort of risk, so they chose not to do it? Did the Traveler opt not to help for some reason? Maybe helping Voyager would have thrown off the delicate balance of the flow of time in some way? Inquiring minds want to know! And a Travelers spinoff could potentially address this lingering question.

Story possibilities galore

Given the scope of the Travelers’ abilities – they can traverse vast distances instantaneously, alter space and time, and phase in and out of dimensions – the story possibilities are really endless here. We could have cameos from characters on basically any Trek show, in any time period. We could see the Travelers going in and out of the Mirror Universe. We could continue to see new, previously unexplored parts of the Universe, outside our galaxy. It could be Star Trek meets Doctor Who, and I’m absolutely here for that.

Clearly, Wesley’s appearance in Picard opened the door for an enormous world of storytelling potential. A Travelers spinoff could be something completely new in the universe of Trek, and it could give us some extremely compelling possibilities.