It’s time again…for the last time…to take a look at Star Trek: Picard.
The original Next Generation crew had just gone to get the Enterprise-D. The Borg controlled Starfleet armada was starting to make its attack on Earth. President Anton Chekov has told everyone to stay away from Earth, which means no other planet in Starfleet is coming to their rescue. The Titan-A has been turned back over to Commander Seven of Nine. They figure out using the cloaking device to attack the armada to distract them so that the Enterprise can take on the Borg, who has a conduit on Jupiter. Picard, Riker and Worf beam onto the Borg ship to find the tower that is emitting the Borg message, and to rescue Jack. Picard finds Jack and the Borg Queen alone. She tells Picard that the Borg have now evolved instead of assimilated and plan on taking this route with everyone. Riker and Worf find the emitter, but want to rescue Picard which could be a suicide run. The reason is that LaForge, Crusher, Data and Troi have discovered the emitter from Riker’s data, but realize the whole Borg ship will be destroyed. Picard, by this point, has connected himself back up with the Collective to reach Jack. And he does just in time. All four on the Borg ship are beamed back onto the Enterprise while the ship explodes. The assimilated Starfleet officers are released of being Borg, and Earth is saved!
In the epilogue, the crew is absolved of all accusations of crime. Seven is commissioned as a captain by Tuvok (the real Tuvok). Dr. Crusher is now Admiral over all of Starfleet medical. The Enterprise-D is finally put in its proper place at the fleet museum. A jump to one year later has Jack in Starfleet uniform, with both Admirals Crusher and Picard escorting him to his assigned ship. It is revealed that the Titan-A has been recommissioned as the Enterprise-G in honor of the crew. Captain Seven of Nine is in command of the ship with Raffi as her Number One. Ensign Jack is to be the special counselor to the captain, and with Sydney LaForge at the helm.
The series and episode ends with the senior staff gathered at the Ten Forward bar. They are about to close with a toast from Picard, but end up playing some hands of poker to close it all out. But, is it all done? After credits roll we find Jack unpacking in his quarters with a figure suddenly appearing. Q is back acknowledging that death isn’t really death and that Jack is now on trial…
With that, here’s our thoughts on the series finale!
Music
Mr. Daps: ” This is perhaps one of the best Star Trek scores ever produced for an episode. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It captured and enhanced the moments and helped propel them forward in ways that made sense. To put simply, this week’s music was a gift.”
Murray: “This was another stellar score that made it feel like a film. The icing on the cake was the soundtrack at the end with the poker game. It was that great Star Trek movie finale song that rounded out this whole show.”
Design
Mr. Daps: “I loved the design this week. From details about the Enterprise-D, the other ships of the fleet, to the Borg Cube, things just looked awesome and cinematic. The effects that accompanied all of these ships were really quite impressive as well. All in all, this was an incredible episode design-wise.”
Murray: “I messaged Mr. Daps during the Borg ship destruction scene about the Enterprise-D flying in and flying out. That was an iconic moment in all of Star Trek history and perfectly executed by the effects team. To see that ship come up to Riker, Picard, Worf, and Jack was incredible. The other interesting moment I quite liked was a the fleet museum and to see how large the D was compared to the other ships. They really took their time and did their homework for it.”
Story
Mr. Daps: “This story had everything I could have ever hoped for in it. It wrapped up so many story loops in a satisfying way. The most prominent was obviously the conclusion of the Picard and Borg story that has been a major part of Star Trek since The Best of Both Worlds in 1990! There were plenty of special moments for the fans in this episode but overall, it was a really good story that was told an incredible ride that it took the viewer on.”
Murray: “This was a grand finale. It really hit all the right pacing and emotions. I had hoped that they wouldn’t skimp on the epilogue and they did not. It was just the right amount of a conclusion to defeat the Borg, and just a good amount of focus on the crew at the end to see where they went from there. It was definitely a second part of a two parter, which might be the only critique I have of it. Not really a bad critique, but to point out how this story went.”
Hit or Miss?
Mr. Daps: “This is easily the biggest hit for me that we have had since starting Two Captains Log. I daresay, this might be some of the best Star Trek to be released since Star Trek: First Contact in 1996. It was a solid story, with fantastic moments, a beautiful score, an iconic ship, and also very effectively passed the torch to a new crew. It was very much taking some of the best moments of Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country and running with them to create a new send off for The Next Generation crew of the Enterprise. This, and the episode before, I would have loved to have seen on a big screen! If the opportunity ever arises (again), I will most certainly be trying (again) to do so! This was a phenomenal episode and perhaps one of the best, if not they best, in Star Trek history. I loved it!”
Murray: “I am still riding high from this episode. It was that closure we needed with the Next Gen crew. It had that feeling from Star Trek 6, though maybe a little less sentimental. And to have a way of continuing on with the legacy of the next next generation. It was all that I wanted from the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I feel like I originally had it with ‘All Good Things…!’ So hats off to the actors and crew, this was a Star Trek for the books!! Oh, and in case it wasn’t obvious this was a stellar hit!”
