RED ALERT! This roundtable discussion contains spoilers for the entirety of Star Trek: Picard, including the series finale, “The Last Generation,” available for streaming on Paramount+ now.
Following The Beat’s midseason roundtable and the conclusive episode of Picard, “The Last Generation,” we got the crew back together for a final conversation on the season and the series. Warp me!
What did you think of the Picard series finale?
Dean Simons: It was fine. Corny as hell in places but had some great moments. Also some frustrating aspects. Overall I came out hoping to see things continue.
That said, the actual ending itself had all kinds of nonsense – one of which has me asking: What on earth is a counselor to the ship’s captain?
Kelas Lloyd: It had some great moments, particularly Data’s personhood being recognized as everyone chose to trust him; that bit with him and Geordi was really great. I also appreciated how calm the ‘away team’ was about it potentially being their time to go.
On the other hand, Riker and Troi making fun of Data, the way the whole leaving-the-collective was so easy, how there was no tie-in to Jurati’s borg when it would have made sense, and how we got tender and/or silly moments with all the het couples but not the single gay couple bothered me, on top of a few other things.
Rebecca Oliver Kaplan: Dean, don’t you feel like he’s in a similar role as Troi in TNG, but with his extra-legal expertise instead of Betazoid abilities (although we don’t know if there are lingering effects from his Võx-ification). He is on Seven’s left-hand side just as Troi was on his dad’s left.
Kelas, that’s a great point about Data. I’ve enjoyed the exploration of personhood in Star Trek. I love episodes like Star Trek: Voyager’s “Author, Author” that explore the legal concept of personhood, but also episodes that highlight the social aspect of it as well. I also wanted to see more Seven and Raffi. I appreciate Matalas listening to fans and rethinking his decision not to include more of their relationship this season.
George Carmona 3rd: I feel like they stuck the landing and left room for the New Next Generation. It was visually stunning, especially being one of the lucky few to see it on an Imax screen. Was it perfect, no, but it did cross the finishing line better than the last two seasons. There were some great acting moments that really had me thinking this was going to be the end for a few of our favorites. Overall it was a satisfying and enjoyable close to a series that most of us thought we would never get to revisit outside of books after the poor performance of Nemesis.
What did you think of Picard season 3 as a whole?
Dean: A fun ride, uneven at times. Not certain it should have been called Picard season 3 though.
Also, the reveal that the big bad was the Borg grated. The Changeling angle made me think a more complex conspiracy was at work. When it was revealed that it was the Borg all along – while it made total sense and was well constructed, felt rather unimaginative.
Kelas: It’s a nostalgia trip filled with missed opportunities and questionable themes and ideas. Picard reacted to almost everything with fear and ego, and yet only Shaw questioned him. You could feel the absence of Raffi, Elnor, and Rios especially here. And yes, Raffi was in this season but didn’t really interact with Picard at all. Like Dean said, I don’t think it should have been called Picard season 3 when it discarded much of what the previous 2 seasons had and did. It’s a TNG mini-series with Voyager cameos and a single Picard cameo.
George: I agree, it was a fun nostalgia trip with some great callbacks to the franchise, but I did miss characters like Elnor and Laris, there could have been some great interactions between Worf and Elnor or Laris and Beverly. I did love Vadic and Shaw as part of the ensemble.
How did you feel about Picard as a series?
Dean: Picard overall – taking into account three seasons, rather than just season 3 – I liked (though season 2 was a mess). I liked seeing Picard back and trying to take on different threats despite not being as young as he used to be. The mix of old and new characters was a neat bridge to a hopeful future of continuation of that timeline. I am glad they didn’t bring the whole TNG cast back until season 3 so we could get more of a focus on Picard himself.
I have some misgivings about season 3 – in particular, it largely junking or ignoring newer characters but at least Rafi made it through all three seasons and got an arc.
Kelas: I have very mixed feelings. Geordi, Worf, and Data came out on top and I have positive feelings about what they got and their characterizations. I appreciated how Picard was more flawed in this than in TNG and it was good… when he had people he cared about calling it out, like in seasons 1 and 2. I feel like on the disability front it was disappointing, though, between the awful treatment of his mother and the way they dodged Picard being disabled by stuffing him a new body. I also was very displeased by how casually they just ditched the new characters. Elnor would have fit so well in s3. BorgJurati would have made for a more complicated, fascinating end bit. I’m also personally disappointed that we got all the TNG crew, 2 VOY [with two proposed ones being cut] and yet again nothing DS9 aside from being in the Chin’toka system at one exciting point that had no payoff. Finally, my biggest issue is how very small the series felt after s1. It was focused on the Federation alone. S1 at least had Romulans and the exBorg, but then the threats became small and personal, and it felt like a loss.
George: When it was first announced I had mixed feelings. Happy to see Picard on screen, but after the erasure of the Star Wars books when that franchise was acquired by Disney I was worried the same would happen to the Trek books that take place after the events of Nemesis, and sadly that happened. Dozens of books and years of new Trek lore went out the window, but they were able to soothe some of my hurt feelings with new characters and disrupt the status quo of what we would expect from the Trek universe. Individually each season had great starts expanding the universe of Trek and its characters, but with the exception of the third, couldn’t stick the landing.
Are you interested in seeing the story continue in the 25th Century?
Dean: Hell yes.
Kelas: Potentially. I’d want something deeper than Picard season 3, though.
Avery Kaplan: Yes, but I’d prefer the continuation to be a Star Trek show instead of a Star Trek movie. I think it made sense to make Picard season 3 more cinematic, but now I’d like to see the G on more episodic (and at least sometimes lower-stakes) missions. It can return to movie-level missions later!
Kelas: Also longer seasons, please, for the love of everything, so there’s time for real character, relationship, and world development.
Rebecca Oliver: I miss the 22-episode seasons, to be honest. I think we spent a lot of the season getting everyone together, so there wasn’t really time to call Picard on his bullshit or explore the new characters enough. I do agree about the s1 & 2 cast being better at calling Picard out, but I think that Shaw made some effort at pointing out that most of Picard’s “saving the day” is after he’s endangered it. I do think all three seasons have been deconstructing what were thought to be his triumphs, and showing them as faults: his failure to connect with others, his mishandling of situations like Ro and Hugh, the fallout of Wolf 359, his inability to bring meaningful resolution to the Romulan conflicts, his failure as father figure, etc.
I just want my lesbian show on the Enterprise-G. I love the idea of rewriting the rules of Starfleet. In reality, the men have never followed the Prime Directive, and I’m ready to see a woman get to be a rule breaker too.
Kelas: Shaw definitely tried, but I felt like Picard couldn’t care less what Shaw thought, and the deconstruction fell apart at the end when he gets everything – the big damn hero moment, his son, a new Enterprise, etc. But yes please let us have more queer space things, especially with Discovery ending.
George: Always. This last season laid the ground for some interesting plot threads, like a new threat with the rouge Changelings to reconstructing the Fleet and the emotional recovery of an entire generation of Starfleet personnel, and we still don’t fully know the full political landscape of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, where are the Klingons and Cardassians? Or with a reason to go to the Gamma Quadrant, new opportunities to get back to exploring.
Kelas: I would kill for Garak to be the shadowy second of the Cardassian leader, while married to Bashir.
Did you have a favorite character this season?
Dean: Worf. Worf. Always Worf. Seeing him become more at peace within himself yet still be a hilarious badass made him fantastic. And his almost paternal partnership with Rafi added extra icing to the Klingon cake.
Kelas: Worf, Geordi, Data, and Raffi, whoops. Worf grew on DS9 and it was great to see he’s still had a journey. He felt like he’d truly lived and grown in the years between. Geordi having a family and being protective of them was neat, but I really liked his discussion of his relationship with Data and then being reunited. Data’s quest to become more human reaching its endpoint was satisfying. And Raffi getting her family connection back felt good; I’m glad she’s back with Seven and I did enjoy her relationship with Worf as well.
Avery: I was a big fan of Seven, Raffi, Worf, and Data this season. Since I think Kelas and Dean have covered the rest pretty well, I will say I found Seven’s arc this season very well done. I think it’s bullshit that she has to fight for her name but as someone who has had to do the same, I found it cathartic to watch her overcome the challenge. I’m hoping we get to see the spotlight on Captain Seven and First Officer Raffi (who I assume will get back together romantically as well) aboard the Enterprise-G.
George: Not so much a favorite character but some favorite relationships. Shaw and Seven are at the top, the first time we see him, like most fans I was in the “F” this guy camp with his dismissal of Picard and Riker and especially his treatment of Seven, but with his Wolf 359 monologue, evolving relationship with Seven working out how to find the saboteur and saving the Titan, to his endorsement of her being made a captain, they were a highlight for me this season. I was also impressed with what they did with Riker and his interactions with almost everyone, Frakes put in work in front and behind the camera. And of course Worf and Raffaela, I can’t think of her as Raffi anymore, if we find out that Legacy was a buddy trek show with these two, I would be beyond ecstatic.
Was there a character you thought was misused, underused, and/or should have been used more?
Dean: Nearly all of the new characters from Picard seasons one and two i felt were thrown to the curb. And I feel sore about Laris not even getting a last scene.
Kelas: Echoing Dean and adding Lore. Elnor was Picard’s surrogate son in a way, so not having him along when Jack’s around feels cheap. Laris, my beloved, got so freaking shortchanged between Zhaban being offed off-screen and then left behind on Earth. I’ll never be cool with how they abandoned Rios instead of bringing his new family to the future. Agnes could have fit into s3 in a very different way instead of the pretty run-of-the-mill blow-it-up solution. And then Lore, oh boy. I could write things about Lore, but in short Data and Lore even touched on it – he never was given affection, a home, a family, a chance. I did like that he was partially the agent of his own destruction, but I guess I kinda wanted more of Data and Co. seeing him for his wounds. Even Vadic got that recognition.
Avery: I want to see more of both the La Forge sisters. While we got to know Sidney a bit better than Alandra, I’d like more of both (together & apart). I’m curious if Alandra was transferred to the Enterprise to fill their need for a Head of Engineering. I was also bummed to see T’Veen die so soon, and am now hoping we’ll at least see her on Lower Decks or Prodigy (if she doesn’t outright take a trip to the Black Mountain).
George: I think we’re all in agreement with the sidelining of the bulk of the La Sirena crew, beyond the potential Jack and Elnor sibling rivalry, what would Picard or Raffi have done if Elnor have been assimilated? Laris would have been instrumental in helping to uncover the Changling conspiracy, and to just have her exit stage right with no explanation of their status after was just bad. And whatever happened to Number One? We saw this dog once and that was it, did the Romulans kill him when they attacked Picard at home?
Dean: Maybe the changelings killed them both off-screen. While season 3 had a decent enough plot over 2, I felt uncomfortable that they junked a lot of the good stuff from seasons one and two just to have all-out fan service for Next Gen nostalgists. I enjoyed the fan service but once the crew was all together it felt like things got silly pretty quickly.
Avery: You do see Number One briefly at the beginning of season 2, so he survived the Romulan attack, at least. And a doppelgänger dog in 2024 LA (in the episode “Watcher”) might suggest he’s more like Gary Seven’s cat Isis, or something.
Tell me all your thoughts on Q.
Dean: He tests me. And not in a good way. Especially when I kind of liked that he had a bit of an arc in season 2.
Kelas: I love Q so much, and I felt like the s2 send-off was beautiful. I get that this ‘return’ is just an out-of-chronological-order thing, also I think his cape is great, but it still feels like it undermines the parting.
S2’s end for him was bittersweet. He said his goodbye, messed with his Capitaine one more time, and set things more or less right. That being said, now that it’s been undermined they better keep using him.
Rebecca Oliver: I basically agree with everything. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. Who doesn’t love John de Lancie? FYI, listen to Marvel’s Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show!. He voices the Vulture. But as for the re-appearance of Q, I would have preferred Wesley or Q’s son.
George: Not a fan. I love de Lancie’s Q and felt they gave him a solid send-off in season 2. To backtrack and bring him back was a mistake, if anything they missed an opportunity to bring in a new actor to play Q’s son or gender swap and continue Q’s legacy alongside this new crew.
Supplementary Log
George: One of the biggest nitpicks is the erasure of the Titan’s legacy to make way for the Enterprise-G. Yes, they foreshadowed a comeback when Jack said he loved the look of the Constitution class, and I love the look of the Titan too, but I’m sure there was another Neo-Constitution class ship they could have refit for the G.
Kelas: It kinda feels like a reflection of the series.
The Titan is no more, here’s the Enterprise-G, the La Sirena crew is scattered to the wind, here are the TNG people.
Dean: Picard is no more – it is now Next Generation.
The entirety of Picard is available for streaming on Paramount+ now.
Read all of The Beat’s Star Trek coverage by clicking here! Plus, stay tuned as we boldly head into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, launching June 15th, 2023 on Paramount+.
