Geordi.
I must admit,
in the nanosecond my body de- and then reconstructed,
I debated the virtues of a curt, professional handshake
or an uncomfortable, but long overdue, hug.
When Picard was announced,
it was very clear that Picard was not Next Gen
and would not go there.
And then that changed.
So, I guess it's true,
once you let go of something, if you surrender it,
it can, and oftentimes does, come back to you.
And this is certainly one of those times.
I thought this ship had sailed, and then the phone rang.
We may have lost one friend in battle,
but we have gained another.
Data.
I love working with LeVar.
He's so excellent on these shows.
And it was beyond a pleasure to be with him.
A reunion for Star Trek: The Next Generation
was going to be nostalgic,
but we didn't want to do things for nostalgia's sake.
But at the same time, there are things in the world
you would want to see.
I've been here before.
- This is— - The Fleet Museum.
Every legendary starship.
This is their final resting place.
The Fleet Museum was a really awesome character update
for Geordi, I feel like, because now he has a new title,
he's been promoted, he's in charge of things,
he's really the head honcho.
[Picard] Geordi!
We set it up early in the first episode.
It's one of the first things Picard says.
I want to give it to Geordi. He will love it!
With all the characters going into Season 3,
it was like finding great organic ways
to catch up with these beloved characters.
And Geordi, being this lover of history,
it just felt like he was the obvious choice
to be kind of the gatekeeper there
that's overseeing these things and caring for them.
To be the keeper of the flame
for these machines, for these amazing starships.
I like that as part of his canon.
In better circumstances, I would gladly geek out with you
over the marvel of maintenance and engineering
that this ship is.
Thank you.
We tried to pepper in Easter eggs,
and occasionally the cinematographer would be like,
"Okay, does there have to be 400 things on his desk?"
And we're like, "Yes, there does."
LeVar's first day on set,
we did this scene where he's at the desk,
and there's a scene in First Contact
where he's talking with Zefram Cochrane and he's like,
"You're standing here and you have your all up like that."
And Doug Drexler had sculpted the statue
and we had that on his desk,
and LeVar walks in, and just the fact that we had that
and we had all these little details from his quarters,
he was like, "Oh my god, you got that thing!"
And he came up and gave me a big hug, and I'm like...
That was my introduction to LeVar Burton,
was him hugging me on the set.
- Just awesome. - Amazing, right?
- Appreciate that.
- Oh, so cool. - Yeah, so cool.
You know, I was on that set for all of a half hour,
so I don't feel like I got an opportunity
to really explore and to find all of the things
that production design put in there.
They went above and beyond in terms of filling it
with things that would makes sense,
that would have meaning to Geordi.
It felt like a great way to honor Star Trek
and the history of Star Trek, specifically Geordi.
We shift down, then kick hard into warp nine, yeah!
Come back fighting! Whoo-whee!
Can we do it, Geordi?
Ask me after it's done, sir.
It's very interesting to see original TNG Geordi,
who's kind of young and figuring things out
and going on these adventures with his friends and his crew
to having adult daughters
and really having to weigh what's more important,
his old family or his new family.
You've just knowingly put my daughter in grave danger.
Geordi, I did nothing of the kind.
Working with my dad is actually really fun.
This is our first job together.
We kind of waited until both of our careers—
well, specifically mine, was more separated from his
before we started to do work together.
And so now we actually get to really
enjoy being on set together.
He did cry the first time he saw me in a Starfleet uniform.
Acting with my daughter, acting with Mica, is—
You know, I always expected that it would happen.
I'm really thrilled that is has happened
with this franchise, with this family.
To have her work with, in essence, her aunts and uncles.
I mean, these are people that have known her
since before she was born.
And to see her come into her own in this company
is particularly fulfilling.
My heart is full.
When I first met Mica,
I didn't know that was his actual daughter.
She was just introduced to me as Mica,
so I was like, "Hi, Mica, nice to meet you."
It wasn't until, I think...
Jonathan Frakes actually told me,
"No, no, no, that's his real daughter."
That's his daughter, I'm playing their daughter,
and they welcomed me into their family.
I went to their house for Thanksgiving.
I don't know, I actually feel like an honorary Burton,
if you will.
I really am grateful to Terry Matalas and the writers
for making this storyline a priority.
I mean, it does fit, doesn't it?
The next generation from The Next Generation.
And as a family, we're just thrilled.