The jury will probably be out for quite a while on whether or not the second season of the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Picard was a creative success; the response to the show has definitely been in a love-it-or-hate-it mode, with very few critics choosing to stay in the middle ground. The return of Q, the time travel plotline, the on-the-nose “fascist future Earth” and the equally on-the-nose warnings that this, rather than Star Trek’s more inclusive future, could be where we’re headed if 21st century society is any indication… if there’s something that the second season of Picard may not have been in many places, it’s, in a word, subtle. (Of course, the argument could also be made that, after the past few years of real-life plot developments
The soundtrack opens with a more active, strident reading of the show’s established theme tune, before transitioning to a pair of wonderful orchestral tours-de-force, “Look Up” and “Let’s See What’s Out There”. The musical tone gets darker as the timeline takes a sudden shift, and here we run into one of my first complaints about this soundtrack. One of the highlights of the early part of the season was the revisiting of the sinister Borg theme from Star Trek: First Contact, here appearing in the show as the musical signature for the Borg Queen. And…those great new takes on that theme are nowhere to be found here. (It’s almost quoted – but not quite – in “Build Back Better Borg” later on in the album.)
The darker, more contemplative vibe continues, with some highlights including “Family Secrets”, “A Taste Of Freedom”, and “The Journey Inward”. Somewhere around “Build Back Better Borg”, the emphasis returns to action. The absence of the Borg theme becomes really baffling here, because the theme from Star Trek: First Contact itself is quoted in “Second Chances”, and Goldsmith’s theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (which Russo has decided is Picard’s theme) is quoted in “Guardian At The Gate”.
The end of the album is rounded out with music from the Europa Mission shindig, including the band’s instrumental cover of “Fly Me To The Moon”, and yes, from Benatar to the Borg-Queen-to-be, “Shadows Of The Night” sung (surprisingly well) by Alison Pill. Two different takes on the end credits music close things out.
It’s already known that Russo is handing the composing duties off to Stephen Barton and Freddie Wiedman for season three, which will apparently be heavy on quotations of The Motion Picture theme (and Blaster Beam!), so this is his last hurrah for Star 
Trek: Picard. What I liked about this season’s music – as heard in the show – was that Russo did a magnificent job weaving legacy themes into his own work, musically putting this season in the greater context of Star Trek mythology as a whole. My singular beef with the album is that, for whatever reason (including the less generous running time as compared to the season one soundtrack album), as a pure listening experience, it doesn’t reflect the amazing job its obviously talented composer did with that.
- Season 2 Main Title (1:59)
- Look Up (1:21)
- Let’s See What’s Out There (3:54)
- The Pressure of Legacy (1:12)
- Penance (3:03)
- Seek The Watcher (5:06)
- Best Laid Plans (4:49)
- What’s My Full Name? (2:44)
- Disappointment In Leadership (4:24)
- Family Secrets (2:05)
- Your Ancestor (1:07)
- A Melancholy (2:29)
- A Taste of Freedom (3:54)
- Maximum Security Function (1:20)
- Lies Upon Lies (2:22)
- The Journey Inward (3:12)
- The True Monster (3:05)
- My Spaceship (1:30)
- Deepest Truth (2:32)
- My Truth (2:55)
- Build Back Better Borg (4:53)
- Opening the Door (4:06)
- Honoring the Deal (3:41)
- The Travelers (1:36)
- Where You Belong (3:03)
- Guardian at The Gate (3:43)
- Second Chances (3:13)
- Fly Me To The Moon (1:42)
- Shadows of the Night (featuring Alison Pill) (1:28)
- Season 2 End Credits (201) (0:54)
- Season 2 End Credits (209) (0:53)
Released by: Lakeshore Records
Release date: April 29, 2022
Total running time: 84:15
