Star Trek: Picard‘s third and final season has been an enthralling, thrilling, and emotional ten-part swan song for The Next Generation cast, that slowly and carefully reunited the crew — and their beloved ship — for one last showdown with their greatest enemy. Given how disappointing the second season was, it’s been an amazing turnaround, which is a relief: it’s not only the capstone to this show, but 35 years of Star Trek stories.
1. A Cornered Animal is the Most Dangerous
I was worried this finale wouldn’t be long enough after the penultimate episode’s huge turn that the Borg had orchestrated the season’s events, and secretly assimilated Starfleet with the vengeful Changelings’ help. Turns out that wasn’t a cause for concern: as catastrophic as the takeover was, the Enterprise crew discover the Borg never truly recovered from the damage Voyager inflicted on them, and that the Queen has been cannibalizing her drones to survive, so essentially, they just need to recover Jack and blow up the cube transmitting the command signal. Still easier said than done, but it means the bulk of the Queen’s forces were already dealt with, and further explains why she was so willing to cooperate with the Changelings.
This scales events down to the intimacy of Jean-Luc having to rescue his son, which speaks to the ultimate failure of the Borg: they are so cruel, and cold, that they could not imagine a father loving a son so much (even one he barely knows) that he’d be willing to relive the trauma they inflicted to save him, or to die along with him. It could’ve been hokey, but Patrick Stewart and Ed Speleers absolutely sell it; the way Picard bellowed at the Queen was a shocking burst of emotion from our thoughtful admiral, and him telling his son he too once felt alone and undeserving of love — paying off all that weirdness in season two — was incredibly moving. All in all, the Enterprise crew prove themselves to be the platonic ideals of parenthood and true family, in opposition to the false connection the Borg believe in.
2. Everyone Gets Their Turn
One of the issues with the Next Gen movies was how no one apart from Picard and Data were given anything interesting to do. While Data understandably took a backseat this season (with him being dead and all), it still felt like a conscious decision to avoid that by having Riker and Worf accompany Picard to the Borg cube, while Data stayed to pilot the Enterprise – it was almost as if they were saying “Thanks Data, but you already sacrificed yourself once, and it was depressing.” Riker and Worf’s camaraderie was hilarious (especially when Will discovered how heavy the Klingon’s sword was), and it was a joy to see Data experience, well, the joy of navigating the ship inside the cube; it was also terrific to see what Beverly’s learned in the intervening years (no wonder she’s recommissioned as an admiral), and Troi take the helm to retrieve her husband. Geordi certainly drew the short straw, but he already rebuilt the ship!
3. Riker Finds God (Maybe)
Earlier this season, Riker told Picard how, despite the vastness of space, he never saw anything during his adventures to convince him there might be a higher power or an afterlife, which made the death of his son Thaddeus all the more difficult. Here, believing the Enterprise would not be able to locate and transport him out before the cube exploded, he declares Deanna will see him and their son again soon. (Poor Kestra.) It was an interesting turn, even if it was only phrasing, especially since Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was a wholehearted atheist who believed religion would die out by the time of his show’s setting – if it needs to be said, not all atheists are logical, just as not all religious people are irrational, and it’s only natural a non-religious person like Riker would suddenly express hope in the afterlife to defy his apparent fate.
4. So What About…
The conspicuous absence of Jurati’s Borg from season two’s time paradox was justified for several reasons, including the simple fact this is the TNG crew’s final adventure, so they had to be the “cavalry.” Showrunner Terry Matalas has stated they considered bringing back many more characters for the finale, including Soji, who would’ve finally met her “father” Data, but they didn’t pan out for logistical reasons; however, seeing as he’s hoping for a spin-off (more on that next), these could always happen another time – barring any future guest appearances, it’s Jean-Luc’s story that has come to a close, not those of the other characters. So on that note, it was very odd we didn’t see Laris again, given (last we knew) she’s still Picard’s partner – yes, we’re all adults here, but only seeing him hang out with his old flame Beverly, with not even a mention of her, was rather close for comfort.
Continued below5. The Endless Final Frontier
The episode heavily sets up a possible spin-off, which Matalas has tentatively named Star Trek: Legacy, with Seven of Nine as captain of the Enterprise-G (formerly the Titan), Raffi as her first officer, and Jack as special counselor (he is, as always, humble enough to acknowledge he may be a nepo-baby.) It’s cool that the Enterprise doesn’t always have to get bigger, although I admit I fully expected the Titan to be renamed the Picard – I know Jean-Luc would’ve hated that, but it would’ve brought the show in line with Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, and Prodigy, and could’ve meant they didn’t need to rename it.
To top it all off, during the mid-credits scene (a first for a Trek series if I recall correctly), Q appears much to Jack’s (and our) surprise, succinctly explaining how he’s still alive by expressing disappointment that humans still think too linearly. It’s only natural Q would take an interest in Picard’s half-Borg son (it’s entirely possible he still has psychic powers), but above all, it’s a reminder (as Q said on TNG‘s final episode, “All Good Things…”) that the trial never ends, and as long as there is Star Trek, there will always be something, or someone, to test the Federation, and let their commitment to a universe without war, disease, poverty, or bigotry shine.
Bonus Thoughts:
– Walter Koenig, the original Pavel Chekov, makes a voice cameo at the start as his character’s son, President Anton Chekov. Anton’s name is a nod to the beloved Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, and more poignantly, the late Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the Kelvin timeline movies.
– I expected the Borg Queen (voiced again by Alice Krige, but played physically here by Jane Edwina Seymour) to look even worse, given how skull-like her face looked whenever Vadic communicated with her via her flesh.
– Between misusing the word “threesome,” and immediately taking a nap after the day is saved, Worf continues to be the coolest old man ever.
– Portable beam-me-ups: whatever will they come up with next?
What a ride it’s been. Congratulations to Sir Stewart on officially retiring from the role, and may he (and all of you) continue to live long, and prosper.
