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Star Trek: Picard Series-Finale Recap: Captain’s Log, Final Entry

Star trek: picard.

Star Trek: Picard  began as a series partly dedicated to giving Jean-Luc Picard, the aged but unbowed former captain of the  Enterprise , a late-in-life shot at returning to the stars and partly as a torch-passing exercise that surrounded Picard with new characters (a kind of next generation, you could say). Across three seasons, that mission didn’t so much drift as grow in scale. This third and final season has extended the autumnal adventures to almost all of the original cast of  Star Trek: The Next Generation  (while keeping Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd around from the preceding  Picard  seasons) and making the torch-passing theme even more explicit by bringing in Picard’s previously unknown son, Jack Crusher, and a pair of Geordi LaForge daughters to boot.

That’s a lot to ask of any series, much less one that has to give the beloved  TNG  characters the proper send-off (maybe?) they were denied by the less-than-beloved  Star Trek: Nemesis.  And, by and large, the season has shouldered that burden well. The  TNG  characters have all had their moments in the spotlight as the show reassembled the team, Ryan’s Seven of Nine and Hurd’s Raffi have had plenty to do (as did Todd Stashwick’s Captain Shaw, RIP), and Jack has proven to be a charismatic addition when he could have felt like an interloper shoehorned in to bring down the cast’s median age.

But does this final episode stick the landing? Pretty much, yeah. “The Last Generation” both brings the season-long story — which began as a confrontation with the Dominion before that dread foe essentially handed over villain duties to the Borg — to an exciting conclusion and gives the original cast a nostalgic valedictory moment while also leaving the door open for future adventures.

As it opens, however, any possibility of a happy ending seems unlikely. Federation President Chekov (not that one but his son) issues a dire warning that the Federation’s younger generation has been assimilated, and there’s little to be done about it, but in the words of his father, “There are always possibilities.” Picard and the crew are not an easily dissuaded bunch, and recognizing, as Data puts it, they “are the cavalry,” they come up with a plan.

Sure, it’s a desperate plan, but a plan nonetheless: Head to Jupiter, board the Borg vessel, and shut down the beacon that allows the Borg to do what they do. (And hopefully rescue Jack in the process.) For Picard, it’s personal. The Borg have his son (whom he’s come to like quite a bit despite a messy start), and he’s been plagued by their threat for over 35 years. For everyone else, it’s, well, also pretty personal. If this is truly a last stand, it’s a last stand against an enemy with whom they have a long, nasty history. The newly emotional Data sums it up as they approach: “I hate them.”

No one knows that better than Seven, of course, who leads a party to reclaim the  Titan.  She and Raffi will play a crucial role in the confrontation that follows, but it’s the newly reunited  TNG  crew that drives the action. And, in classic  Trek  faction, that means breaking into smaller groups. Picard, Will, and Worf head into the cube. (“And I will make it a threesome,” Worf says, by way of announcing his intentions.) Their farewell is one of the episode’s first heart-tugging moments. Could this be the last time these characters see each other? The look on Deanna’s face as Will walks away says it all.

On the cube, they find a lot of rotting Borg drones but little action. Then it’s time to split up after another wrenching farewell scene in which Picard can’t bring himself to tell Will how much he means to him. “You know that I know. Always,” Will says, letting him off the hook while making the scene that much more intense, with Worf’s own final words about Klingon’s not knowing the words “defeat” and “farewell” providing poignant punctuation.

When Picard reaches Jack, it’s worse than he feared. His son appears fully Borgified and the Borg Queen (voiced by Alice Krige and looking more like a nightmarish H.R. Giger creation than ever) looms over him. She’s mostly interested in mocking “Locutus,” calling his arrival a homecoming. The Borg Queen also announces that assimilation is old news. The new Borg goal is evolution. And it looks like that plan is working out for them. Thanks, unwittingly, to Jack, Starfleet is now filled with unwitting hybrids walking around with Borg DNA just waiting to be told what to do.

But despite the odds stacked against them, our heroes prevail via a series of pretty good fight scenes that mix aerial combat, a hand-to-hand battle with Borg drones, some fancy flying from Data, and a battle for Jack’s soul. The latter involves Picard plugging himself into the Borg network and selling Jack on the pleasures of life outside the Borg cube, despite the possibility of loneliness and fear. Picard’s pitch includes freely expressing his emotions (never an easy thing for the captain), including his feelings for his son. “You are the part of me that I never knew was missing,” he says. Later, they hug. (This episode just does not let up on big emotional moments. Will’s farewell to Deanna, if anything, hits even harder: “I’ll be waiting. Me and our boy.”)

Star Trek  is a franchise dedicated to following intriguing science fiction concepts wherever they lead, but it’s also one in which occasionally love saves the day, and the Borg Queen’s dying shout of “No!!!” shortly before her cube explodes signals that this is one of those  Star Trek  installments. (Even Seven’s in a hugging mood when the Borg control lifts from the  Titan  crew.) It’s a happy ending for all, and the tableau of everyone posing on the  Enterprise  bridge (an image that includes Will and Deanna embracing and Worf asleep) could be a fitting end to the series.

But there’s more to be done. That includes giving the  TNG  crew some more time together and setting up future adventures. Will’s log reveals that Beverly has developed a method to eliminate Borg DNA and scan for Dominion holdouts. Tuvok, the real Tuvok, is still alive, it’s revealed. Seven learns that Captain Shaw actually liked and respected her, even recommending she be promoted to the rank of captain. Data is still sorting through his new emotions with a lot of help from Deanna, who’s a little distracted planning a vacation during the latest of their marathon sessions. But, essentially, all is well.

One year later, the long good-bye continues as Will, Picard, and Geordi put the  Enterprise  D to bed. A bit later, Picard and Beverly escort their son to his first Starfleet assignment aboard … the  Enterprise ? Rechristened in honor of Starfleet’s fabled flagship, the  Enterprise  is now under Seven’s command, with Raffi and Jack by her side. That looks like a setup for a whole new series featuring this crew. (I would watch.)

We’re not done: Over drinks and a stirring recitation of one of Brutus’s speeches in  Julius Caesar  from Picard (“There is a tide in the affairs of men”), the  TNG  crew spends the evening in each other’s company, reflecting on their time together before, in a nod to “All Good Things …,” the original  TNG  finale, a game of poker breaks out with Picard enthusiastically participating. It’s an indulgent moment that calls on decades of accumulated affection for these characters, and boy does it work. It feels like a fitting farewell, albeit one that suggests all good things, or at least all good shows, don’t always come to an end. They just kind of lay around waiting for someone to pick them up again.

Captain’s Log

• Hello! No, I am not your regular  Picard  recapper (though I did cover the first season). I’m just filling in for the excellent Swapna Krishna, who was unexpectedly unable to cover this episode.

• This episode pretty clearly sets up a Seven/Raffi/Jack–focused series and that’s a pretty exciting prospect. Ryan is, of course, already a  Trek  legend and her reprise of Seven has broadened the character and confirmed she has a range we never saw on  Voyager . Hurd was always a  Picard  highlight and Ed Speleers has fit right in when Jack could easily have been the series’ Poochie.

• If there is a series, please, please find room for the “Ma’am, I’m just a cook!” guy. He’s great.

• Over the end credits, there’s one last surprise: Q is back and ready to put Jack to the test. Nothing really ends or dies with this franchise, does it? (Okay, except for Ro Laren, Capt. Shaw, etc., etc.) After a first season partly dedicated to putting Data down, he’s back and the Data who wanted to die got hand-waved away. Now Q’s mortality, a big part of the second season, is out the window. It’s inconsistent, but is any going to complain, particularly after a season this strong?

• That said, the sudden transition to a mostly different supporting cast hasn’t been without some awkwardness. Whither Laris?

• Is this the last time we’ll see the  TNG  characters all in one place together again? Another reunion seems unlikely, but then  this  reunion seemed pretty unlikely. If it is the end, it’s a warm, affectionate send-off. If not, let’s hope the next reunion strikes as deft a balance between nostalgia and adventure.

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How ‘star trek picard’ showrunner terry matalas captured the series finale’s most important scenes.

The writer-director talks the high stakes of the finale, the emotions that flowed on set, and his dreams of continuing the story with a new series.

By Phil Pirrello

Phil Pirrello

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[This story contains spoilers for Picard season three’s final episode.]

Star Trek Picard ’s third season finale takes the Next Generation crew back to where it all began — though showrunner Terry Matalas was too busy capturing its key scenes to take in the wonder of being on the bridge of the Enterprise-D nearly 30 years after TNG went off the air.

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During the heartstring-tugging climax, the Enterprise literally swoops in above Picard and Jack to save the day, and it was during post-production on the making of this cinematic moment where all the creative intentions and goals Matalas had hoped to achieve for season three coalesced into one frame. 

“I didn’t think we would pull it off,” Matalas tells The Hollywood Reporter. “But when the visual effects came in, and once Stephen Barton’s incredible score was added, seeing the Enterprise appear above the characters like that, that’s when I let myself consider the possibility that, ‘Hey, I think maybe we did it.’”

But getting to see the crew where they began, back on their Next Gen flagship – on a very expensive set for a brief amount of time – involved some logistic pressure. 

“The studio was all for it,” Matalas explains, “but it just came down to time and money. They were like: ‘You have to find a way to pay for it.’ But it was one of the first ideas I had; it was part of my initial pitch to Patrick. The appearance of the ship was part of the pitch to LeVar and to the rest of the cast, in that during the last two hours we would be on the Enterprise-D. So right from the moment that the season started, we were figuring out how to build that in time for the finale.”

Helping production designer Dave Blass and his crew ensure that the set would be completed on time were TNG veterans Michael and Denise Okuda. They and Blass’ team consulted the original TNG bridge’s blueprints to physically re-create the set. Once it was completed, there was very little time for anyone – including lifelong Trek fan Matalas – to bask in the glow of what would become a fan-favorite accomplishment. 

Also on Matalas’ mind was finding the best way to start the episode after episode nine, “Vox,” ended with the Enterprise warping off to once again save Earth. (Picard’s order in that scene – “Set a course for Earth, maximum warp” – is Matalas’ homage to the exact same line Stewart says in the 1996 feature Star Trek: First Contact ). “Last Generation” starts with the first few seconds of The Next Generation ’s famous opening title sequence: A brief flight through space, toward a bruise-colored streak of nebula, before a blinding star fills the frame with white. But the script originally had a different scene.

“What was scripted, actually, was to reprise the first shot of Picard from the TNG series premiere [‘Encounter at Farpoint’],” Matalas remembers. “It was going to be Picard walking up to the D’s observation lounge windows, stepping forward into the shot, and then we were going to transition from that to modern day Picard. But the cost of using that footage and up-resing it proved prohibitive. But I still wanted, by the time we were changing it all, to honor Next Gen . So we thought: ‘Well, what if we use that famous space shot from the titles, only we continue on with it and reveal the Enterprise?’ And it worked.”

“Initially, I wanted to have Walter on camera for that scene. We were going to see President Chekov on the viewscreen deliver that message,” Matalas says. Sadly, the production ran out of time for that. “But, later on, when we were in post, we agreed it would still be amazing and powerful to hear him.” 

Also powerful was seeing the Enterprise get its own “hero moment” on par with those of her crew: In order to rescue Picard and his son, Data pilots the Enterprise on a Death Star-esque trench run through the Borg cube’s vast, jagged interior. 

“That’s all CG. The ship looks like the model in some shots, especially like the smaller, more-detailed model [ TNG ] used after season three, but that’s a testament to our brilliant visual effects team led by Jason Zimmerman and Brian Tatosky.” 

The VFX team could not use ILM’s previous CG version of the Enterprise-D created for brief shots in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations feature film, so the production had to build a new one from scratch. While no models were used, the team did, however, get a chance to reference a physical piece of the Enterprise for their digital recreation: The saucer section model that famously crashes on the planet Veridian III in Generations. (Ironically, Geordi La Forge salvages that crashed saucer section for his friends’ “Last Generation” mission.)

“That was actually the most fun I had [shooting] on the bridge,” Matalas says. “Shooting Beverly at tactical, firing phasers, and seeing Geordi in the Captain’s chair, and Marina and Brent back at their usual stations – all of that was very exciting.”

It was another moment that proved stressful.

“Shooting the initial reunion, when they first walk on to the bridge, that I felt stressed. Because I knew if I had messed that up, it would have risked ruining it for fans,” says Matalas. “But that great emotional moment Marina has as Troi, when she can sense her husband is in danger, or Brent’s great performance asking the crew to trust his ‘gut’ for the first time – those were the moments that were most exciting for me.”

As exciting as the aforementioned action is, Matalas and his writing staff made sure the emotional drama was always fueling such scenes – never superseded by them. Especially a short but compelling beat aboard the soon-to-be-destroyed Borg cube, where Riker has a very “this is it” moment in the form of saying his goodbyes to his wife, Troi. It’s another powerful dramatic turn from Frakes this season, but according to Matalas, it was also a scene that the production raced the clock to get. 

Time and family – what we leave behind and how it shapes what lies ahead – are at the forefront of both “Last Generation” and season threeas a whole, with those thematic auspices culminating in one more final showdown between Picard and his nemesis, the Borg Queen. 

“It was always going to be the Borg Queen,” Matalas explains. “From the initial pitch, to the story break in the writers room, we had to have her because if the show is going to be about what you pass on, this idea of one’s legacy, then a key piece of Picard’s is the role she has had in it. And if we’re going to do a story about Picard as a father in that way, then it had to lead to the Borg Queen in another way, as in: ‘Hey, I’m a parent, a mother, too, aren’t I? I have a maternal stake in this as well.’ Only it’s one with an evil motivation to it. It’s also a generational story in that Jack is the key to the evolution of the Borg. Sort of an unintended consequence of what happened to Picard as Locutus.’”

As for what will happen to Picard, Jack, and the rest of the Enterprise crew in terms of more adventures featuring them on Paramount+ , that remains surprisingly ambiguous – especially given the critical and ratings success of Star Trek Picard season three. (Recently, Picard entered the Nielsen Top 10 Streaming Shows for the first time – a Trek first.)

“I am very, very grateful that the fans want to see more of this very special and talented cast – so do I. At the moment, Star Trek Legacy is just a pie-in-the-sky wish of mine. There is nothing like that in development, currently. But one day, I hope. It would be an amazing thing to do.”

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Star Trek: Picard episode 10 recap: An incredible season finale

Our spoiler-filled Star Trek: Picard episode 10 review

- Episode 10 (of 10), 'Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 ' - Written by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman - Directed by Akiva Goldsman ★★★★★

Spoilers follow .

Narek flees from his synth captors and meets with Rizzo, who has been hiding out in the ruins of the Artifact. Narek loads up on explosives and heads out, followed closely by Elnor. Meanwhile, Picard is still imprisoned in Coppelius Station, and tries to convince Soji to stop the beacon, which she's currently helping to build. In Soong's lab, we're reminded of his plan to download a human consciousness into a synthetic body. And on the grounded La Sirena, Rios repairs the ship's engines by simply imagining them being fixed, using a device given to him by Saga, the synth Sutra and Narek murdered. There's a lot going on in this episode.

Narek turns up at the La Sirena and tells Rios, Elnor, and Raffi about the synths and their beacon, and how allowing it to be completed will result in all organic life in the galaxy being eliminated. They reluctantly agree to help him. Elsewhere, Soong watches a recording of Saga's last moments, realising Sutra was involved in her murder. He confronts her, angered by her actions, then knocks her unconscious. Pretending Narek is their prisoner, Rios and the others gain access to Coppelius Station. Soong spots them, but after being stung by Sutra's betrayal, he's now on their side.

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Rios tosses a bomb hidden in a soccer ball at the beacon, but Soji catches it and throws it to safety before it has a chance to destroy it. In orbit, the Romulan fleet finally arrives, led by Commodore Oh. She orders the fleet to sterilize the planet as Picard – who escaped captivity with a little help from Jurati – pilots the La Sirena. Just as the Romulans are about to scorch the planet, Jurati has a brainwave. She uses Saga's repair tool to create thousands of clones of the La Sirena. Oh orders the fleet to attack them instead, buying enough time for Starfleet to arrive with a fleet of its own.

On the crashed Artifact, Seven of Nine kills Rizzo before she has a chance to engage its weapons and help the Romulan fleet. Above, Will Riker, who has returned to Starfleet as an Acting Captain, orders the Romulans to stand down. On the planet below, Soji completes the beacon and giant centipede-like machines (presumably sent by the 'higher beings' who created the Admonition) begin to spill through a portal. But Picard manages to convince Soji to stop it, saying if she does she'll become the 'destroyer' the Romulans said she would be. The portal snaps shut as the beacon is shut down, taking the machines with it. The Romulans stand down and warp away. Picard thanks Riker for always having his back.

Picard collapses. The brain condition his doctor warned him about has become critical, and he dies. Or does he? He wakes up in a strange house, with Data sitting across from him. They're inside a quantum simulation, Data says, and he has a favour: he wants Picard to shut his consciousness down, because dying gives life meaning. Picard wakes up, his mind transferred to a synthetic body designed to look and age exactly like his old one. He removes the device keeping Data's consciousness active, and we see a vision of him aging like a human, and dying peacefully with Picard by his side. The crew of the La Sirena gathers on the bridge and heads off into space, ready for more adventures in season two.

Verdict: There have been some dips in quality throughout Picard, but they really nailed the finale. This is as thrilling, emotional, and visually spectacular the series has been. The scenes between Picard and Data were beautifully written, and seeing Riker leading a Federation fleet was a stirring moment. Picard's mind being transplanted into a near-identical synthetic body was a bit of a shock, but it does mean he's fit and healthy for another season – and we'll definitely be watching it whenever it arrives.

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• We see a riff on the famous Picard Maneuver in this episode. This risky battle tactic saved Picard's old ship, the USS Stargazer, from a Ferengi attack: an event recalled in the TNG episode The Battle (S1E9).

• Data says he downloaded his memories to B4, a prototype Soong-type android that looked exactly like him, but had none of his personality or individualism. He appeared in the movie Star Trek : Nemesis.

Star Trek: Picard is available to watch on CBS All Access every Thursday in the US, and every Friday on Amazon Prime Video internationally.

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Star Trek Picard Season 3 Episode 10: Series Finale Release Time and Recap

Star Trek: Picard season 3 may be the final frontier for Jean-Luc Picard and his one-time crew. Here's everything you need to know before the series finale airs this week!

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This post contains heavy spoilers for Star Trek: Picard

The first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard had an admirable, if not altogether successful, goal. Rather than just play on nostalgia, the series caught up with Jean-Luc Picard 20 years after Star Trek: Nemesis and teamed him with a new crew. While the adventures in both seasons certainly had their feet in classic The Next Generation storylines — as Data, the Borg Queen, and Q all played major roles — the series wanted to take Picard into a new, undiscovered country.

But for its third and likely last season, Picard has pulled out all of the stops, bringing back the cast from TNG . The result has been a rousing adventure in the mold of The Original Series movies, in which an aged crew find themselves on the run from Starfleet to face a threat only they can stop. Layered in with compelling new characters and surprise returns from characters long gone, the final season of Picard has been the perfect blend of satisfying nostalgia and surprising character development.

As we head into the season 3 finale, here’s everything you need to know to prepare…

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When Does Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 10 Come Out?

The final episode of Picard season 3 releases on Paramount+ at 12 am PT/3 am ET/8 am GMT on Thursday, April 20. If you watch the series on Amazon Prime Video in the UK, you will have to wait until the morning of Friday, April 21.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Recap

A lot has happened this season on Picard . Here’s a refresher to get you up to date as we head into the finale:

The Next Generation Crew Is Back!

The big hook for this season has been the return of Picard’s crew from the USS Enterprise-D. While Raffi Torres, Picard’s Commanding Officer during his final years as captain and a main character during the first two seasons, stuck around, Cristóbal Rios, Agnes Jurati, and the other new members of Picard ‘s cast saw their stories end in season two.

Instead, this season is all about getting the old ’90s band back together, slowly and piece by piece, as they uncover a Changeling invasion within Starfleet. The first to reunite are Picard and Riker, the latter of whom is looking for a distraction from his troubled marriage to Deanna Troi. When Dr. Beverly Crusher, who has been working in the far reaches of space with her son Jack and has cut off all contact with her friends for over 20 years, sends a distress call to Picard, he and Riker don’t hesitate to find her.

Along the way, the trio cross paths with Worf, Geordi, Troi, and Data, albeit in very different places than when we last saw them. Despite his willingness to spill blood in spectacular fashion, Worf now seeks a path of enlightenment and inner peace, much to the shock and dismay of Riker. Geordi has reached the rank of Commandant and serves as curator of the Starfleet ship museum, when not doting on his daughters Alandra and Sidney, both of whom serve in Starfleet. And although Data has died (twice!), Riker, Raffi, and Worf discover a third Soong positronic model.

An earlier version of the lifelike android body given to Picard after his death at the end of Picard season one, Data’s new body experiences aging like a human. And rather than fill his memories with just those of Data (leading up to Nemesis , at least), Alton Soong programmed it with the personalities of himself, B4, Data, and Lore. The result is initially a multiple-personality version of Data, before settling into a more human Data, one that can use contractions and tell better jokes.

In addition to these main characters, Picard season three has brought back other figures from ’90s Trek . Seven of Nine continues to be a main character, having left the Fenris Rangers and broken up with Raffi to re-join Starfleet, where she currently serves as Commanding Officer aboard the USS Titan. Seven’s Voyager shipmate Tuvok makes a brief and chilling appearance on a viewscreen as she and the others investigate an invasion within Starfleet. The season’s penultimate episode even caught up with Admiral Elizabeth Shelby, last seen as the ambitious officer looking to take Riker’s place in the TNG two-parter “ The Best of Both Worlds .”

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But the biggest surprise of the season has been an appearance by Ro Laren , now a Commander in Starfleet Intelligence. Ro was one of the more exciting additions to the Enterprise Crew, a strong-willed Bajoran who often clashed with Riker and Picard. Ro left Picard’s command by pulling a phaser on Riker, betraying Starfleet, and joining the resistance group the Maquis, making her an unlikely figure to show up again in a Starfleet uniform, especially in the middle of a Changeling invasion. However, her appearance gives Ro and Picard a chance to air their grievances and put things right, before Ro sacrifices herself to allow Picard to escape with Jack, the target of the Changelings.

Who is Jack Crusher?

Well, that’s a loaded question, isn’t it? When we first meet Jack Crusher, he’s simply introduced as Beverly Crusher’s younger son, named after her late husband (Beverly’s older son Wesley made a brief cameo at the end of Picard ‘s second season, as a Traveller who recruits Kore Soong). But Jack’s English accent and tactical brilliance are enough to get Riker to look past Jack’s thick head of hair to recognize him as Picard’s son. And after enough nudging from Will, Picard recognizes it, too.

The revelation forces Picard to question Beverly’s decision to hide a son from him, which she justifies by reminding him of the constant danger that is Jean-Luc’s life. However, it appears that Jack has received a number of qualities from his father, including the Urimadic Syndrome that seemed to kill Picard at the end of season one.

But by the time we get to the ninth episode of the season, we learn that it’s not Urimadic Syndrome that Jack got from his dad. Throughout the season, we’ve seen Jack exhibit strange behaviors, including glowing red eyes, the ability to control minds, and visions of red vines and a red door. Despite many theories about Jack’s visions, it is finally revealed that he has been infected by the Borg in the form of a biological implant passed on from Picard after his conversion into Locutus.

The USS Titan

Although we do get to see the Enterprises-D and -F, most of the season has taken place aboard the USS Titan-A, under the command of Captain Liam Shaw . Fans will of course remember the Titan as the ship captained by Riker after he left the Enterprise. While Riker took the Titan on many a jazz-themed adventure , Shaw runs a much tighter ship.

So, when retired admirals Picard and Riker try to convince Shaw to investigate Beverly’s distress signal in the early episodes, he flatly denies them. Fortunately for the sake of our series, Shaw is not the only person with authority on the Titan. Commanding Officer Seven of Nine (or Annika Hansen, as Shaw insists on calling her) helps Riker and Picard turn the Titan toward Beverly’s location, entangling Shaw in an adventure he’d really rather not take.

Although he is never, ever happy about it, Shaw fully embraces his part in saving Starfleet, even going so far as to stay with Raffi and Seven to stave off Borg-infected members of the Titan’s crew, long enough for Picard and company to escape. That last decision costs him his life and, in his final dying moments, Shaw turns command over to now Captain Seven of Nine.

The Changelings and the Borg

Through much of the series, the primary villain has been Vadic, captain of the Shrike. Along with a crew of aliens in suits resembling plague masks, Vadic relentlessly pursues anyone harboring Jack Crusher, gleefully chipping away at their defenses until they finally give her what she wants.

Along the way, we learn that Vadic was one of several Changelings captured by Starfleet and experimented on during the Dominion War. The experiments have left Vadic deeply traumatized, but have also helped her and the other Changelings to evolve. Where Starfleet developed a “blood test” to identify Changelings in the Dominion War (as seen on Deep Space Nine ), these newer Changelings blend in more perfectly and can navigate Starfleet undetected. Using their skills, the Changelings have infiltrated places of power within Starfleet and stolen the human remains of Jean-Luc Picard from the top-secret Daystrom Station.

But as committed as the Changelings certainly are, they are just means to an end. They were working in conjunction with a larger threat, the Borg. With the kinder, gentler Borg seen at the end of Picard season two revealed to be a mere offshoot, the true Borg have returned with a nefarious plan. Not only do they control Jack Crusher, but they have used Picard’s body to write a genetic code into all of Starfleet’s transporter data. Simply put, anyone who beams up or down gets secretly infected with biological Borg DNA.

On the upside, this infection only affects people under the age of 25, whose brains haven’t fully developed. On the downside, that’s most of the crew of ships in Starfleet. When the Borg launch their attack, the newly assimilated crewmembers easily take control of the ships, effectively turning Starfleet into a new Borg fleet

Frontier Day

The Borg wait to launch their attack until Frontier Day, a Federation Holiday commemorating the long road that began when the NX-01 launched . Frontier Day gathers together all of the ships in the fleet, giving viewers a good look at the Enterprise-F and other surprises. Starfleet chose Frontier Day to reveal its new networking technology, which links together all the ships in the fleet as a synchronized attack force.

Of course, when the Borg launch their attack, Frontier Day changes from a continuation of Starfleet’s mission to its end. Not only are the Borg able to commandeer all of the ships (and destroy those they cannot), Starfleet’s new technology makes it easy to exert control over ships not taken over by its drones.

With the Titan-A under Borg control, Picard and his cohorts escape via shuttle to a secret project in the Ship Museum. Geordi reveals that after Starfleet removed all of its technology from Veridian III, the planet seen in Star Trek: Generations , he had access to the saucer section of the Enterprise-D. For decades, Geordi has been restoring the D to its network television glory, leading to a fantastic sequence with Picard and company once again standing on its beige and carpeted bridge.

Will the D be enough to turn the tide against the Borg? Can Picard and Beverly rescue their son from his infection? Will it all come down to Chief O’Brien saving the day?

We’ll find out when the finale of Picard releases on Paramount+.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

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Star Trek: Picard – Season 3, Episode 10

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SNEAK PEEK – Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 10 “The Last Generation”

The series finale of Paramount+’s Star Trek: Picard series is here. The third and final season culminates with an episode titled “The Last Generation”. Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 10 has the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew reunited with the USS Enterprise-D one last time. What originally started as a look at Jean-Luc Picard’s (Sir Patrick Stewart) life has become a nostalgic field trip with the original team. Are we excited? Yes! Trek Central has preview images, trailers and more.

Star Trek: Picard’s finale episode will be an hour long. According to Terry Matalas, the showrunner, it’s a “very full hour” of Star Trek . Perhaps we’ll get more cameos from Star Trek legends? We know Tim Russ might return as Captain Tuvok, hopefully, the real one this time. How about other Star Trek legends, though? Who else might help Jean-Luc Picard defeat the Borg once and for all? Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 10 is written and directed by Terry Matalas.

“In a desperate last stand, Jean-Luc Picard and generations of crews both old and new fight together to save the galaxy from the greatest threat they’ve ever faced as the saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation comes to a thrilling, epic conclusion.” Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 10 – Official Episode Synopsis

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 10 – Preview Pictures

For the final time, we have preview pictures for Star Trek: Picard . Sadly, these are not the most groundbreaking in terms of a preview. However, it does make sense. The show’s creatives are careful not to spoil what is coming up in the finale episode. It makes sense, but all Star Trek fans are eager to see something. Regardless, there are some fantastic shots of William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Mr Worf (Michael Dorn) and Jean-Luc on the USS Enterprise-D bridge. Only four pictures in total, I am afraid.

We can also see Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and Mr Data (Brent Spiner) at the front of the bridge, working at their consoles. Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) seems to have been told to stand next to Worf. Sadly it seems like Crusher has no dedicated station on where to stand. If only the producers had decided to recreate the upgraded Star Trek: Generations bridge. Then there would be an extra set for Crusher. I guess she could sit at the back. Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) assumes her old chair by Picard.

The Ready Room – Preview Clip

Last week’s The Ready Room after show has given us a sneak peek at Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 10 . We’re thrown back into the action as The Next Generation crew commands the USS Enterprise-D. I question why they returned to Earth, given that a fully-fledged Starfleet armada is just waiting there. However, it does appear that the crew did call for help. Mr Data (Brent Spiner) mentions how emergency hails have gone silent. So maybe we won’t see a giant fleet v fleet scene this week?

Recent Star Trek seasons have had a habit of ending seasons with giant fleets coming together. Many fans have pointed out how this season’s final plot seems similar to other Star Trek shows. Specifically, the fleet’s being taken over. For example, Star Trek: Prodigy recently ended its first season with a fleet battle. Star Trek: Discovery also ended its second season with a rogue fleet. Have people been watching Battlestar Galactica on repeat or something? I joke, of course, but you can see it.

The Borg appears to have been hiding in plain sight—the USS Enterprise-D ventures to Jupiter, where a Borg vessel seems to be hiding. You’ve got to wonder how Starfleet did not detect this beforehand. Though perhaps a transwarp conduit has only recently appeared here or something. I’m sure there will be some technobabble explanation that Star Trek will provide like always. Can we also appreciate how cool it looks to have the Enterprise-D coming out of warp once again? Seriously, it’s a fantastic model of the famous ship.

Episode Promo

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 10 marks the end of the Star Trek: Picard series. It’s been a long road, but we’ve finally got there. It’s a bittersweet ending, as the third season finally allowed the show to find its feet. However, I wish it would stop taking jabs at the past two seasons at various points. Regardless of how it goes, this will be a very jam-packed episode. The finale episode of the series has a lot of things to do. It will need to conclude the series, but also the episode and season plot line as well.

Thinking about it, the episode synopsis may hint at some surprise cameos. We know there are some still to come in Star Trek: Picard , it seems. However, who could actually appear? Notice the synopsis says, “crews both old and new”. Could this mean we’re about to get another generation of Star Trek to come to save the day? Seriously, all we need is Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) to show up to help out. She dealt with the Borg well last time.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3  airs on Thursdays via Paramount+ for those in the United States. Additionally, on Crave and the CTV Sci-Fi channel for viewers in Canada. However, new episodes air Fridays via Amazon Prime Video in international regions like the United Kingdom. Paramount+ also streams the episodes in select locations, such as Italy, Germany and France.

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Counselor Troi's 10 Best Star Trek: TNG Episode, Ranked

Every counselor troi love interest in star trek: tng, troi was star trek: picard season 3 finale’s true hero by design.

• Counselor Deanna Troi's potential as a character was often overshadowed by poor storylines and objectification in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• Troi's storylines frequently revolved around her love life and sexuality, with her intelligence and skills being undervalued.
• Marina Sirtis, the actress who portrayed Troi, expressed disappointment in the character's portrayal and hoped for more compelling storylines.

This article contains references to sexual assault.

Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) had the potential to be one of Star Trek: The Next Generation ' s most interesting characters, but she often got saddled with the worst storylines. Throughout all seven seasons of TNG, Troi served as the counselor on the USS Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). In addition to her skills as a counselor, Troi could also sense the emotions of those around her, thanks to her Betazoid abilities inherited from her mother, Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett Roddenberry). Deanna's empathic abilities proved useful on numerous occasions, but TNG didn't always know how best to use them.

When Counselor Troi did get to be the center of an episode, the story often revolved around her love life or her sexuality. Troi didn't even wear a Starfleet uniform until Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, and the show often placed value on her looks over her intelligence, skills, and abilities. Many of her TNG storylines were not only a disservice to Deanna Troi as a character, but also to Marina Sirtis as an actress. Some episodes, like TNG season 6, episode 14, "The Face of the Enemy," proved that Sirtis could deliver when the material was good. But overall, Counselor Deanna Troi deserved better than these 5 storylines.

The mistreatment of Counselor Troi didn't end with Star Trek: The Next Generation , as Shinzon (Tom Hardy) violates her mind in Star Trek: Nemesis, which was essentially a telepathic sexual assault.

Marina Sirtis's empathic Counselor Deanna Troi had some great moments throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation's seven seasons.

5 Counselor Troi Almost Gets Forced Into An Arranged Marriage In Star Trek: TNG's "Haven"

Star trek: the next generation season 1, episode 11 - "haven".

Star Trek: The Next Generation' s "Haven" introduces Deanna's mother, Lwaxana Troi , who arrives on the USS Enterprise-D to prepare for her daughter's arranged marriage. At a young age, Deanna had been promised to Wyatt Miller (Robert Knepper), and his parents have decided to enforce the match. As Deanna and Wyatt try to get to know one another, Deanna struggles with her lingering feelings for Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes).

Wyatt had been dreaming of another woman for much of his life, and upon seeing this woman on a plague ship encountered by the Enterprise, he transports over to spend his life with her. Deanna has very little say in any of the decisions made about her own life in "Haven" and she just kind of goes along with everything that happens. Although Lwaxana seems willing to support her daughter in whatever decision she makes, the elder Troi encourages Deanna to go through with the wedding.

4 An Alien Entity Forcibly Impregnates Counselor Troi In Star Trek: TNG's "The Child"

Star trek: the next generation season 2, episode 1 - "the child".

Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2 gets off to a rough start with the disappointing "The Child." When an alien entity impregnates Counselor Troi, Deanna again gets very little say in what happens regarding her own body. When the USS Enterprise-D's senior officers meet to discuss Deanna's unexpected pregnancy, the men all speak about the situation as though Troi is not in the room. She finally declares that she is going to have the baby and puts an end to the men's arguing.

The pregnancy proceeds rapidly and causes Troi no discomfort, and the eventual birth is also painless. Deanna then gets to know her child, only for the young boy to later reveal himself to be a "life force entity" who was curious about humanity. The entity leaves the Enterprise, as Troi mourns the loss of her child. Troi is put through this emotionally traumatic experience for no real reason , and the fact that she was impregnated against her will is completely glossed over.

Due to the 1988 Writer's Strike, Star Trek: The Next Generation was short on scripts when season 2 went into production, and the script for "The Child" was left over from the proposed Star Trek: Phase II television series that never happened.

3 Counselor Troi Falls For A Sleazy Negotiator In Star Trek: TNG's "The Price"

Star trek: the next generation season 3, episode 8 - "the price".

When several delegates board the USS Enterprise-D to bid for the rights to a supposedly stable wormhole, Counselor Troi falls for one of the negotiators, Devinoni Ral (Matt McCoy). The two quickly fall into a passionate love affair, but Troi grows uncomfortable when she learns that Ral has been hiding his empathic abilities from the other delegates. There is something offputting about Ral from the beginning, making it seem out of character for Deanna to fall for him so quickly.

Deanna Troi's true love may always have been William Riker, but she had her fair share of romantic relationships before marrying Will.

Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "The Price" also contains a bizarre scene featuring Counselor Troi and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) exercising in skin-tight clothing and discussing their sex lives. Not only does the scene feel out of place for Star Trek, but it also reduces the two main female characters to objects of male desire. Troi reveals Ral's secret in the end, but the episode never makes clear why she fell for him in the first place.

2 An Alien Visitor Assaults Counselor Troi's Mind In Star Trek: TNG's "Violations"

Star trek: the next generation season 5, episode 12 - "violations".

When a delegation of telepathic Ullians arrives on the Enterprise, the crew members begin experiencing vivid and violent hallucinations. Counselor Troi is the first to experience this, as she recalls a memory of a romantic encounter with Commander Riker that quickly turns violent. In the "memory," Riker begins to force himself on Troi before he morphs into one of the delegates named Jev (Ben Lemon). After the telepathic encounter, Troi falls into a coma. While investigating the incident, Riker and Dr. Crusher also experience frightening visions, but theirs do not include sexual assault.

The multiple assaults on Troi, in particular, feel gratuitous.

Near the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "Violations," Jev assaults Troi again, even throwing her across the room when she fights back, before security arrives to take him into custody. "Violations" is an uncomfortable episode with no real mystery, as Jev is obviously the villain from the start. Plus, the multiple assaults on Troi, in particular, feel gratuitous, especially considering everything else she has experienced throughout TNG.

Marina Sirtis herself has expressed disappointment regarding the way Troi was sometimes portrayed and wished she would have gotten more compelling storylines. Sirtis returned as Deanna in Star Trek: Picard and finally got to help save the day in Picard season 3.

Deanna Troi was always meant to be the true hero in the finale of Star Trek: Picard season 3.

1 Another Alien Takes Advantage Of Counselor Troi In Star Trek: TNG's "Man of the People"

Star trek: the next generation season 6, episode 3 - "man of the people".

When the USS Enterprise-D transports Ambassador Ves Alkar (Chip Lucia) to peace talks, he strikes up a quick friendship with Counselor Troi. When Troi begins acting strangely and aging rapidly, Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher confront Alkar. Alkar reveals that he has the ability to channel his negative impulses and emotions into another person he views as a "receptacle," which allows him to remain clear-headed in negotiations.

Alkar only uses women as his "receptacles," taking advantage of them and viewing them as expendable, all while showing no remorse for his actions. Picard and Crusher eventually devise a way to save Troi, leaving Alkar to suffer and die alone from all of the emotions he channeled to others. Alkar is truly one of TNG's most despicable guest characters, and the storyline again reduces Troi to an object of male desire. With several unfortunate storylines, Counselor Deanna Troi often deserved better on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

• Marina Sirtis

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• June 30, 2024 | Catch Up On ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ With Season 1 Recap And Season 2 Preview
• June 30, 2024 | Watch: Season 1 Of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Available For Free On YouTube In USA
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Mike McMahan Talks “Amazing Sendoff” For ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ In Season 5, Hints At Potential Spinoffs

| June 27, 2024 | By: Aaron Bossig 14 comments so far

Paramount+ recently announced the upcoming fifth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks will be its last . Fans who have appreciated the show’s fusion of animated humor and Star Trek tropes are frustrated it is coming to an end, but the creator and showrunner is now offering a glimmer of hope.

The ending of a chapter…

Lower Decks executive producer Mike McMahan sat down with the team at The ‘Verse podcast to set expectations for the big wrap-up of the series. McMahan’s excitement over the upcoming season is apparent even as he restrains himself from revealing specifics about specific plotlines. Acknowledging earlier comments that he had a plan to take Lower Decks years beyond Season 4, McMahan went into Season 5 knowing the future of the show was uncertain and he couldn’t count on resolving story arcs years later. A balance had to be struck between crafting a satisfying single season and consciously wrapping up the whole series. As he said to The ‘Verse :

“The ending of season 5 it is the ending of a chapter that I knew I wanted to do. There are things that happen in it… I’m being very careful… that are sort of setting up spinoffs and setting up backdoor pilots. There’s characters I’m introducing that you’ll see clearly I wanted to do more with.”

Despite his high expectations for season 5, Mike McMahan shares in the the audience’s disappointment that Lower Decks is seemingly at its end. With each season’s poster art sequentially honoring a Star Trek movie, it’s suggested that Lower Decks had ambitions of going ten seasons. McMahan tempers that expectation, insisting that it was “a miracle” Lower Decks got the five seasons it did (and that miracle was one he attributed to fan support). He did, with trepidation, tell The ‘Verse that there’s still more to the Lower Decks story:

“Season 5… like, I almost couldn’t believe it would be the end, because these characters don’t feel like they’re ready to resolve for me. So like, season 5 feels like an amazing sendoff, but it certainly feels like… it feels like the end of a chapter, not the end of a series. I would always be into doing more seasons, movies, comics, novels…”

Continuing a Star Trek series through comics and novels is a long tradition, one Lower Decks has already embraced . Returning for new seasons or a movie is a more interesting proposition for Lower Decks , however, as its animated nature would make it much easier and cheaper to revive than one of its live-action counterparts. Indeed, it was suggested that Lower Decks could find itself in a Prodigy situation, where finding a different distribution channel might mean the difference between having a show and not. McMahan acknowledged the possibility , but chose not to weigh in on the likelihood:

“I don’t want to get into any of that. Listen, I don’t wear a tie, and that’s tie questions. What I would say is, these characters are like my heart and soul. I put all of myself into this show, I really really love it. And I’m always down to make more if the cards align.”

Conceptually, an animated show would be easier to bring back after a hiatus due to fewer practical concerns. There are no sets to rebuild and the actors aging is never a factor. McMahan did make references to Futurama and Family Guy , two other animated series that were brought back for new seasons under very similar circumstances.

From the Lower Decks season 4 finale (Paramount+)

Holding nothing back in season 5

Not everything McMahan has said about the next season has changed following the cancellation. Season 4 ended with the cliffhanger of D’Vana Tendi returning to Orion, seemingly leaving Starfleet behind. While some fans feared this would signal the character leaving the show, McMahan insists that is not the case , and that Tendi will continue to be a big part of season 5. In addition to promising more Tendi and T’Lyn, he suggested other classic Star Trek characters might appear:

“Pretty cool stuff with Tendi… There’s some cool stuff with T’Lyn… I got to work with some pretty cool legacy actors.”

Podcast hosts Lucas Longacre and Norm Felker fondly recalled the inclusion of Deep Space Nine actors Armin Shimerman, Nana Visitor, Chase Masterson, and Max Grodénchik on Lower Decks . McMahan is proud of the strong love for earlier Trek, and of Deep Space Nine specifically, and insists that Lower Decks wants to open its doors to the veteran actors if the show can offer their characters something both new for the actor and respectful of existing fandom. He explained:

“It’s tricky because, whenever we have legacy actors, I don’t want them to just pop in and be like ‘Hey, it’s me! Bye-bye!’ I want to expand them even just a little bit.”

McMahan is careful when bringing back legacy characters, like Armin Shimerman’s Quark in season 3. (Paramount+)

Crafted by Trekkies, for Trekkies

Whether discussing the past, present, or future of Lower Deck s, McMahan asserts that the show found its niche by giving Star Trek fans something new wrapped in the humor of something they already love. The basic structure of Star Trek allows for a great deal of variety and innovation in what stories are told and how those stories can be framed. This was what sets Lower Decks   apart while still being unquestionably part of the legacy Star Trek universe. McMahan credits Gene Roddenberry for setting up the structure that let other shows follow:

“I think Gene Roddenberry created this really brilliant format. Not just the stuff he worked on, the type of storytelling as like a methodologically appealing thing for television and movies. He really, really nailed it.”

Though new stories in established universes always run the risk of upsetting canon, the balance McMahan spoke of earlier is what he credits to Lower Decks’ almost universal popularity with longtime fans. The audience wants something new, but they tend to not want to see what they already love being “undone.”  Even taking a new look at classic worlds, now a part of the Star Trek universe for decades, the same feel has to be kept. Using just one example from DS9 , McMahan told The ‘Verse :

“We don’t want to homogenize anything. We like the idea of everything having its own kind of cultural impact and weirdness. So you’ll see in the background of our Ferenginar episode, there’s still Ferengi females who are just naked and walking around.”

Extra care is taken not to “undo” the worldbuilding done by earlier series (Paramount+)

The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks is set to arrive on Paramount+ later in 2024, but the streaming service has not yet set a release date.

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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Can’t Wait. BRING IT ON!

Please give the Lower Decks crew *their own* send off. Don’t bring in a million cameos and make it some rehash of a previous Trek. Respect your own new characters enough to finish their story on this series, on their own terms.

This has never been something Lower Decks had a problem with so Im sure they’ll be fine on that front

It would be hilarious if the Lower Decks finale pokes fun at the Enterprise finale.

Crisis Point 3 – The Search for a voyage home to the final frontier: the undiscovered country.

Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds are my two favorites of the new Trek things. I love Lower Decks so much, was so disappointing that it was canceled. Could keep going for years.

CBS doesn’t really have an animated sitcom, do they? Maybe they’d like to give that a try. Or Hulu for the opposite reason, they have a lot of animated sitcom stuff.

“The audience wants something new, but they tend to not want to see what they already love being “undone.”

This is why I’m a fan of both Mike McMahan and the Hagemann Brothers. They’re adding to the Star Trek story, not trying to change its history. I’m a fan of canon and what I wanted since 2016 was a continuation of the universe in the 24th/25th centuries, post nemesis.The animated shows filled that void. And yes, S3 Picard too.

I’m really hate to see it go, it’s the only modern Trek show I’ve consistently enjoyed.

Crossing my fingers that they at least got to make an hour-long finale.

Lower Decks was some good silly fun, but do we really need more? Rather than more animation, I’d love to see the characters return in live-action, even in a drama (with comedic undertones).

this show i was so skeptical of when it was announced and by the 3rd episode it had won me over and now its one of my fav ST shows and definitely the best of the new Paramount+ shows. its hard to spark that tone of ‘laughing with’ and not ‘laughing at’ and LDs does that perfectly.

I like the idea of a movie (or movies) using the South Park direct-to-stream “Specials” format. Maybe they need to dump the stupid Section 31 Yeoh garbage and just make an animated short series with clone Boimler and Mariner.

Season 1 left me excited for Season 2. Season 2 left me incredibly hyped for Season 3. Season 3 left me cautiously optimistic for Season 4. Season 4 left me ambivalent about Season 5.

It was hard on the Star Trek: Picard cast to lose characters between seasons 2 and 3

O ne of the most jarring, but successful gambits that Star Trek: Picard pulled off was the re-introduction of the Next Generation cast in season three. Every major actor returned to the franchise in either season two or three, save for Denise Crosby. While characters like Q, Wesley Crusher, and Guinan all returned in season two, most of the bridge crew returned in season three.

Will Riker, Data, and Deanna Troi popped up in season one, but all three returned in season three, followed by Beverly Crusher, Worf, and Geordi La Forge. Bringing together the core crew of the Next Generation, with Jean-Luc Picard at the center of it.

Yet, to bring in all of these characters as regulars and stars of the third season, means the core group of seasons one and two would have to go. Which is exactly what happened. Four key actors from the first two seasons, Santiago Cabrera, Allison Pill, Isa Briones, and Evan Evagora were all dismissed after season two.

The loss of so many core characters caused havoc with the emotions of the cast, namely Michelle Hurd, who had joined the cast in season one as Raffi. Hurd, who recently went on the D-Con Chamber Podcast with Star Trek: Enterprise stars Conner Trinneer and Dominic Keating, revealed that the change in the cast was a jarring experience, saying (via ScreenRant )

Then we get to second season, and sort of about the last month or so, we’re just kind of sensing things are changing. You know actors don’t get any information. We know nothing… And we just started to sense or hear through the grapevine that there might not be everybody coming back… It started getting kind of sad and emotional on our set. And then when we started finding out who was staying and who was going, it was really… It’s awful. It was awful…

It's worth realizing that all this was in the span of a week or two. Picard shot both of its final seasons back to back, meaning that one day Pill and Briones are on set, while the next you have Gates McFadden and Michael Dorn. It's a jarring experience.

It's worth noting that Hurd did praise the veteran Star Trek actors, who seemingly brought nothing but good energy and professionalism with them. Still, it's worth acknowledging that it's hard to see people you've grown close with over the years be replaced by others.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as It was hard on the Star Trek: Picard cast to lose characters between seasons 2 and 3 .

Star Trek Legend Jonathan Frakes to Direct New Sci-Fi Series

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Star Trek: The Next Generation legend, Jonathan Frakes, is set to bring a new sci-fi universe to television, as it was recently announced he would direct a new show based on the works of Arthur C. Clarke.

Per Variety, Frakes will produce and direct all six episodes of the new sci-fi series, Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime . The new show is based on the series of novels written by Paul Preuss, a collaborator of Clarke's, which takes inspiration from characters and places from Clarke's short stories. Preuss will also be involved as a consultant for the show. David Cormican and Dwayne Hill are set to executive produce and will serve as showrunners for the series. Production on the show is expected to begin near the end of the year.

“The Star Trek Universe Is in Very Good Hands” Jonathan Frakes Bids Farewell to Star Trek: Discovery

In an interview with CBR, Star Trek legend Jonathan Frakes talks about taking the director's chair one last time for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5.

Frakes, who is no stranger to directing science fiction, expressed his excitement for the project and his love for the series of novels. " When the materials for Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime were presented to me, I couldn’t help but devour them ," Frakes said. "When asked if I wanted to direct what I read —my answer was a resounding and immediate ‘Hell, yes!’ Working on such a tremendous piece of IP from the mind of another sci-fi legend (who is also a contemporary of the true #1 Gene Roddenberry), will be both an honor and a dream for me ."

Jonathan Frakes Has Been Directing Sci-Fi For Decades

In addition to playing William T. Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation , Frakes has proven himself a talent behind the camera as well. He directed two of the Next Generation movies, First Contact and Insurrection, as well as directing many episodes for current Star Trek . He directed episodes for Star Trek: Picard , Strange New Worlds , and Discovery . He recently reprised his role as Riker in the third season of Picard , which saw the emotional farewell to the Next Generation crew. He has also appeared as Riker in the animated comedy, Star Trek: Lower Decks .

Jonathan Frakes Teases Upcoming Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Murder Mystery Episode

Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes will direct a new Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode, calling it "the best episode of television I've ever done."

Frakes directed two of the best episodes of Picard season 3, "Seventeen Seconds" and "No Win Scenario", the latter being some of his finest work in the director's chair. Frakes brought out the best from the cast, particularly from Todd Stashwick who has an incredible scene revealing why he is so antagonistic towards Picard, and captures a true sense of dread that overtook all the crew onboard the ship. Executive producer for Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime, Lucas Vivo Garcia Lagos, expressed his excitement for bringing Frakes on board to direct alongside other notable collaborators. "These books, along with the incredible characters and storylines, have been with me since my adolescence; I have always believed this IP has all the necessary elements to become a major blockbuster. By uniting the collective talents of Preuss, Cormican and Hill with Jonathan Frakes at the helm, we are confident we have assembled the perfect team to realize the cinematic vision we all share for this iconic property."

There is no official release date for Arthur C. Clarke's Venus Prime yet.

Source: Variety

Star Trek: Picard

Retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard is drawn back into action when a mysterious young woman seeks his help, triggering a journey that leads him to confront the ghosts of his past. As he assembles a new crew to uncover the truth behind a dangerous conspiracy, Picard navigates a galaxy that has changed significantly since his days aboard the Enterprise.

'Star Trek: Prodigy' Season 2 Review: How Could Paramount+ Let This Show Go? 

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Editor's note: The below review contains major spoilers for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2.

The Big Picture

• Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 is a thrilling and heartwarming continuation of the series, featuring time travel and strong character development.
• The animation and storytelling are top-notch, with themes that resonate with both children and adults.
• The series deserves more recognition and attention for successfully capturing the essence of Star Trek and its endless potential.

A year after Star Trek: Prodigy was cancelled at Paramount+ , the series has delivered one of the best 20-episode runs of television in recent memory with its long-awaited Season 2 premiere. It’s hard to believe that the home of Star Trek would let Season 2 — which is, by all rights, a love letter to the entire franchise, past and present — go to another streamer. Now Netflix will reap the rewards of the flawless, exhilarating storytelling it delivers, which will keep audiences on the edge of their seats. With its second season, Star Trek: Prodigy has taken the very best parts of a nearly sixty-year-old franchise and infused them with vibrant joy, hope-punk optimism, and fresh perspectives. Whether you’re a seven-year-old experiencing Star Trek for the very first time, a millennial who was raised on Star Trek: Voyager , or a die-hard Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, there’s something for everyone spread out across this season, and it will be a crying shame if these characters’ stories end here.

Season 2 picks up shortly after the close of Season 1, with Dal ( Brett Gray ), Jankom Pog ( Jason Mantzoukas ), Rok-Tahk ( Rylee Alazraqui ), Zero ( Angus Imrie ), and Murf ( Dee Bradley Baker ) adjusting to their new lives in San Francisco as official Starfleet cadets. Some of them (namely, Rok-Tahk) are thriving within the structured educational system, while others (unsurprisingly, Dal) are struggling to find their strengths. Dal is also still reeling from the loss of Gwyn ( Ella Purnell ) as she embarks on her quest to prevent Solum’s future civil war. Dal and Gwyn remain the heart and soul of Star Trek: Prodigy and neither distance nor time travel chaos nor promotions bring an end to their sweet flirtations.

Admiral Janeway’s ( Kate Mulgrew ) quest to find Chakotay ( Robert Beltran ) continues throughout the season, and it honestly delivers one of the most satisfying storylines for these characters by paying off seven seasons of their dynamic from Voyager . Whether you wanted Janeway and Chakotay together romantically or preferred for them to remain just friends, you’ll be happy with how their reunion and the preceding antics are handled. With Hologram Janeway in Season 1, Star Trek: Prodigy felt like a spiritual successor to Voyager , but Season 2 is closer to a true continuation of that series, as Dal and his team are assigned aboard USS Voyager-A with Admiral Janeway at the helm and the Doctor ( Robert Picardo ) in sickbay.

Star Trek: Prodigy

A group of enslaved teenagers steal a derelict Starfleet vessel to escape and explore the galaxy.

‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Turns Wesley Crusher Into the Doctor

Across the first handful of episodes, Dal and the team face some pretty dire time-travel mayhem that sees Gwyn nearly erased from existence and the terrifying Loom threatening to eat up a host of timelines. For a series that is aimed at seven year olds, Star Trek: Prodigy is incredibly smart about how it introduces the concepts of quantum realities, temporal mechanics, and everything else that comes with jumping across timelines, jettisoning through wormholes, and coming face-to-face with the evil versions of Janeway and Chakotay in the Mirror Universe. But perhaps the most exciting wibbly-wobbly thing that Season 2 does is finally turn Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) into a roguish time traveler , following through on that Star Trek: Picard Season 2 tag that felt like it was going to get lost to time itself.

About halfway through the season, Wesley is revealed to be “the entity” that has been guiding Dal and the team (but specifically Murf) through their time travel antics. He's like Star Trek’s answer to Doctor Who , complete with a world-weary attitude that comes from being burdened with the knowledge of every timeline’s triumphs and tragedies, an upbeat sense of humor to combat that emotional baggage, and a healthy dose of mommy issues. This may actually be the best version of Wesley Crusher we’ve encountered thus far, and it’s made even better by how incredibly realistic the animation is. His character feels real in ways that the series has yet to successfully render Janeway and Chakotay; almost as though Wesley Crusher has jumped between not only timelines but the lines between live-action and animation.

Following her introduction in the back half of Season 1, Asencia ( Jameela Jamil ) proves to be a rather formidable foe for Gwyn. Not only does she ensure that Gwyn barely exists by toying with the timelines, but she also capitalizes on her own knowledge of how things will play out to gain insurmountable power and control on Solum, which threatens to destroy not just Gwyn and the Voyager’s new crew, but the whole of the Federation and their timeline. It’s quite fun to see a villain, who is remarkably similar to one of the young heroes, prove to be such a true threat . The fact that she is able to best even a Traveler like Wesley really underscores just how difficult she is to defeat this season. This plotline also allows for some really beautiful followthrough on Gwyn’s dynamic with her father ( John Noble ) that was first introduced in Season 1, and it heals the wounds left by how terribly he treated her.

Characters Remain At the Forefront of the Storytelling in 'Star Trek: Prodigy' Season 2

Star Trek: Prodigy ’s overarching plot for Season 2 is fixing the broken timelines and ensuring that everyone returns to their rightful place in time, but it also ensures that each character’s individual subplots are given ample time to develop and evolve as the cast grows up before us. At the end of the day, the series is about a ragtag bunch of teenagers who have been thrust into political turmoil and the daily dangers of Starfleet and the Federation, but it’s still a teen drama with all of the dressings of one.

Zero’s subplot is one of the most compelling arcs in Season 2 . From the first episode, Prodigy introduces the Medusan’s desire to be like those around them: able to feel and experience all of life’s little pleasures. There are a lot of throwaway lines about wishing they could know what touch feels like, some of which are met with empathizing from the Doctor, while other moments are just pining for those connections. Early on in the season, Zero forms an unexpected connection with the newcomer Maj’el ( Michaela Dietz ), a young Vulcan aboard Voyager-A who becomes a quick ally to the former crew of the Protostar. By Episode 8, Zero gets their chance to experience life as a caporal being when the crew arrives on a mysterious planet occupied by fellow Medusans. Zero gets a few episodes to fully enjoy all of life’s little pleasures within this body before tragedy strikes, forcing them back into their metallic container. Fortunately, they receive a much-needed upgrade that allows them to still feel touch (including Maj’el’s). The entire plotline feels so very Trek, as it grapples with themes of existence and what makes for a fulfilled one. It’s heartening to have a series aimed at a younger demographic that is so unafraid to tackle such larger-than-life themes with so much heart.

Another notable subplot is Chakotay’s. When Dal and co. finally come to his rescue, he’s been marooned for roughly a decade, in a very “New Earth”-style situation, and he’s very closed off and hardened by what he’s faced. As with everyone who encounters the former crew of the Protostar, Dal and his friends inject a much-needed dose of hope into Chakotay’s life, which pushes him to reflect on things. This plotline also allows Prodigy to explore grief through the loss of Chakotay’s first officer, Adreek ( Tommie Earl Jenkins ), which further forces him to face the situation head-on and process how it might affect the relationships around him. And because Season 2 relies heavily on bouncing around through different timelines , it also means we get to enjoy storylines where Chakotay doesn’t make it off Solum and how that affects Janeway; how Dal and co. are processing the loss of Hologram Janeway; and what it might be like for Chakotay to face off against a truly evil version of himself (courtesy of the one and only Mirror Universe).

How Does ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Season 2 End?

There is no guarantee that Star Trek: Prodigy will receive a much-deserved third season ( or a seventh season ), which doesn’t make sense considering how incredible Season 2 is. Despite ending with a tease about what might lie ahead for these characters, the final episode feels like a bittersweet goodbye . It features a beautiful montage of some of the best and brightest scenes from across the two seasons, as the timeline is knit back together, and crisis is averted, and it’s a tear-jerker, despite being a joy-filled moment.

With the time travel chaos in the rearview mirror, Admiral Janeway has new plans for her band of proteges . She, alongside Chakotay and the Doctor, summons the newly minted Starfleet ensigns to the shipyard to see the brand-new U.S.S. Protostar that has been deemed “only suitable for exploration.” Luckily, she’ll fly in a new pilot program that Janeway is putting together, and we’re looking at the crew who will become a “beacon of light” wherever they travel, much as they have been a beacon of light to this franchise for the last three years. While Dal has spent forty episodes envisioning himself as the captain of his own ship—just as he was aboard the Protostar—he comes to realize that his true place is as the first officer to Captain Gwyndala. It’s a natural progression from the dynamics first laid out in the premiere, and a perfect reflection of an era of Star Trek first established by Voyager .

Star Trek: Prodigy begs the question: what is Paramount doing with the Star Trek IP, if they aren’t going to wholeheartedly embrace the series that are doing Star Trek best? It may be a series aimed at children, but aren’t they the future of all franchises? Shouldn’t we be investing in them, capturing their interests, and leading them into the storied halls of a franchise that has so much to offer? Prodigy isn’t the only Star Trek property that’s been left with a giant question mark above its future. It’s unclear if Paramount+ ever intends to follow up the masterpiece that was the final season of Star Trek: Picard , but at least Star Trek: Prodigy delivers a moment that fans were desperately hoping to see. As the final episode of Season 2 draws to a close, Wesley takes Janeway’s advice and drops in to see his mother, Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden ), who introduces him to his baby brother, Jack Crusher. It’s a beautiful moment that really underscores how well Prodigy has striven to connect all the various Star Trek series in unexpected ways.

This may not be goodbye for good, but Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 certainly feels like a goodbye for now. However, we part ways knowing that these kids are out there spreading the joy they’ve brought for two seasons, and at the end of the day, this franchise has always had endless potential. Whether it returns for Season 3, in a novel or comic, or ten years down the line in live-action, Star Trek: Prodigy has delivered top-tier storytelling that deserves to be remembered as some of the best this franchise has to offer.

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 sees Dal and co. face off against timeline-eating monsters and reunite with beloved characters from Star Trek: Voyager.

• Season 2 balances the nostalgia of bringing in more Star Trek: Voyager and The Next Generation characters with the cast of Prodigy.
• The animation feels even more elevated compared to Season 1.
• The plot comes to a natural conclusion while leaving the door open for future adventures.
• The storylines deliver so much: heartbreak, grief, love, friendship, and the core themes that make this series one of the best.

Star Trek: Prodigy is streaming now on Netflix.

Watch on Netflix