Based on what's known about Star Trek: Picard season 3, Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) won't meet Soji (Isa Briones), the daughter of Data (Brent Spiner), and this missed opportunity is tragic. LeVar Burton joins the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation reassembling for Picard season 3. But while the actors will be back together, not every character will be. Brent Spiner is playing Lore, not Data, who died in Star Trek: Nemesis. Meanwhile, Isa Briones won't be back for Star Trek: Picard season 3 at all.

Data and Geordi La Forge are perhaps the most beloved best friends in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the franchise dropped the ball with them in their most recent appearances. Geordi didn't factor into Data's sacrifice and death in Star Trek: Nemesis, and because he wasn't part of Star Trek: Picard season 1, La Forge also didn't get to say goodbye to Data's spirit the way Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) did. Geordi joining Star Trek: Picard season 3 is bittersweet, in part, because Data won't be there. The evil Lore is no substitute no matter his being physically identical to Data. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Picard season 1 gave Data offsping and family, but Soji also isn't part of the final season.

Related: TNG's Series Finale Set Up Geordi's Daughters In Picard

Geordi & Data's Family Not Meeting In Picard Season 3 Is A Tragedy

Data Geordi

Unless Star Trek: Picard season 3 has surprises in store, which is possible, Geordi won't get to meet and work with Soji as it stands. This compounds the fact that Soji, her late twin sister Dahj, and the rest of the synthetics on Coppellius were built from Data's positronic neuron, but none of them got a chance to meet their 'father,' either. Geordi interacting with Soji, who has clear elements of Data but is much more human - essentially what Data always strived to become - could have been magical and heartwarming. It would also have helped make up for Geordi and Data not being able to reunite in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

Another missed opportunity is Soji working with Geordi's daughters, Alandra (Mica Burton) and Sidney (Ashley Sharpe Chestnut). Star Trek: Picard season 3 is a La Forge family affair, which rounds out Geordi's life after TNG denied him the chance to have a romance and family on-screen. Soji working with Alandra, who is a Starfleet engineer like her father, and Sidney, who is the helmsman of the USS Titan-A, could have built friendships that would have echoed Data and Geordi. It would have been a perfect embodiment of Star Trek: Picard season 3's theme of passing the torch to the 'next generation,' and it's perplexing why it's not part of season 3's story.

Can Data Appear In Star Trek: Picard Season 3?

Star Trek Picard Nemesis Data Death

Is there a chance Data could be resurrected in Star Trek: Picard season 3? The inclusion of Lore in season 3 is curious because it dangles the possibility that Data could somehow return in Lore's body, eliminating the evil android for good and giving TNG's beloved hero a new lease on life. How that could work, and whether it would ruin the poignant farewell Data got at the end of Picard season 1, would be the big questions. Yet the return of Data could be something Star Trek: Picard season 3 is secretly going to build towards.

There's also the possibility that characters not billed as part of Star Trek: Picard season 3's cast may appear in cameos regardless. This means that there's a chance Soji could be back after all to potentially meet Geordi and his daughters. It would be a great moment if that happens, especially if Data is also resurrected so that he could meet his 'daughter,' at last. Yet a mere cameo is also a poor substitute for Soji and Geordi La Forge working together like he and Data in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

More: Picard Season 3's Lore Could Resurrect Data

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 premieres February 16, 2023, on Paramount+.