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Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 10 Review – The Last Generation

The Star Trek: Picard series finale sticks the landing in every way that matters.

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This Star Trek: Picard review contains spoilers.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 10

All good things must come to an end. Even the things we might wish wouldn’t. Such is the case with Star Trek: Picard , a series that, to put it mildly, struggled to find a coherent identity and purpose during its first two seasons, but which blossomed in its third and did so by finally embracing the very legacy it at first tried so hard to run away from. I’m as surprised as anyone to find myself wishing this story could last just a little bit longer, that we could somehow spend a little bit more time with these people, that we didn’t have to say goodbye to this piece of Star Trek: The Next Generation , grown older alongside us in rich and fascinating ways. 

Look: If you, as a viewer, haven’t been enjoying the purposeful fan service of Picard season 3, you probably aren’t going to like this finale all that much, which aims itself like a laser directly at the heart of anyone who loved The Next Generation and its characters. Yes, there are some narrative hiccups and shortcuts, but if you ask me,  “The Last Generation” sticks the landing in nearly every way that matters. 

The final confrontation with the Borg and the assimilated Starfleet armada is pure spectacle, dotted with the sort of ’90s-style action movie hero moments that exist for no other purpose than simply to delight viewers. (Seven’s captain’s speech to her ragtag new Titan crew! Beverly Crusher’s surprising tactical skill with photon torpedoes! Worf refusing to fight with phasers because swords are just more fun!) Yet, as has been the case for most of the season, the hour’s best moments are its most emotional ones, each grounded in the decades-long relationships between the Enterprise’s legacy crew.

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From Picard’s choked-up inability to express what his Number One has meant to him over the course of their lives together, to Riker’s wordless telepathic goodbye to Deanna and Geordi’s wonder at Data’s enthusiastic embrace of the new emotions he’s only now finally experiencing, these are all moments that carry extra weight simply because these are relationships we’ve spent literal years watching grow. We love these people as much as they love each other, and the result is a climax that feels both utterly earned and deeply satisfying. 

Picard , of course, knows that the specifics of its conclusion aren’t all that important in light of these facts, but it does manage to (mostly) tie up its larger story in a generally solid way. (Certainly, it does a better job here than in either of its previous season finales.) Picard’s willingness to risk becoming Locutus again in order to save his son is the thematically rich stuff that Patrick Stewart lives to play, and seeing him face off with the Borg Queen one last time is probably where this series was always destined to end. Do the specifics of Jack Crusher’s assimilation and rescue—including his sudden ability to throw off Borg control—really work? Not entirely. But Picard leans fully into the cheesy heart of the moment, and Stewart and Ed Speleers sell the heck out of Jean-Luc’s decision to finally choose his son over everything he’s always put before things like family in the past. 

To the episode’s credit, “The Last Generation” also features some remarkably tense moments, despite all of us essentially knowing going into this that there was no way anything irrevocably awful would happen to any of our The Next Generation faves. Yet, at various moments I was genuinely nervous about the fates of several characters, particularly when both Riker and Picard got the whole “tell your loved one how much they mean to you just in case” treatment on the Borg cube. (Riker did it more than once!!) But, thankfully, this isn’t a bleak and gritty sci-fi drama, it’s a warm fuzzy affirmation that love is still humanity’s greatest achievement. (And a story in which its central romance just happens to share a telepathic bond that conveniently allows one to somehow emotionally track the other in a moment of great distress. We love love!) 

Picard Just Changed Star Trek Forever: Terry Matalas on Legacy and a Post-Credit Surprise

Picard Season 3 Finally Reveals the Future of a Beloved Original Series Character

Perhaps the most unexpected part of the Picard finale is how quickly the episode wraps up the threat of Borg invasion . “The Last Generation” clocks in at over an hour’s runtime, but the last quarter of the episode is basically devoted to giving us a last few moments of our faves together and determining what’s next for all of them. (And maybe setting up an unexpected spinoff in the process.) Geordi returns the Enterprise -D to the Fleet Museum, where she’s given pride of place among the other classic Starfleet ships and a proper goodbye from the three men who loved her best. (Which includes a callback to The Next Generation ’s very first episode.) Data’s talking out all his new Big Feelings extremely extensively during sessions with Deanna. The Troi-Rikers are planning what’s likely their first vacation together since their son’s illness forced them to retire to a planet it turns out they both actively hate. And, of course, everyone’s getting totally bombed together at 10 Forward, playing poker and quoting Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar just like the good old days and reminding us all that these are the sort of relationships that, once again, will keep going on long after the series’ final credits roll.

In many ways, Picard’s finale doesn’t feel as much like a definitive ending as it does a “to be continued,” the conclusion of one adventure in the lives of these characters and the start of many others, whether we ultimately see them play out onscreen or not. It’s incredibly heartfelt and lovely, and maybe the best thing any of us could have asked for from this series’ conclusion. If that is, in fact, what it is. Star Trek: Picard may be over, but if the finale’s credits sequence is anything to go by, there’s plenty of story to tell in this corner of the Star Trek universe. 

Jack Crusher, as we all likely expected, ends up in Starfleet, and is assigned to the newly rechristened Titan —now the Enterprise -G, in honor of Picard—under her new captain, Seven of Nine. (Sorry, Enterprise-F, at least that one shot of you last week was a banger!) Raffi’s her First Officer and while there’s no direct confirmation that the two are back together, if hope springs eternal anywhere, it’s probably going to be on this show. But what will inevitably leave everyone talking is the incredibly welcome reappearance of John de Lancie as Q (with predictably incredible outerwear), a twist that not only wipes out his season 2 death but appears to have extended his original obsession with Picard to his son. And I…surprisingly don’t hate it. 

Yes, the one-year time jump to what appears to be happy families between Jean-Luc, Jack, and Beverly speeds us past all the difficult and necessary emotional work it surely must have taken the group to reach this point. (And, personally, I’m taking the utter lack of any mention of Laris as a hopeful sign on the Picard/Crusher romance front, do not judge me.) But it’s such a natural extension of the Picard universe that I’m eager to see where it all might go next. 

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Fandom’s clamoring for a Star Trek: Legacy series, after all. And even if I’d personally rather see Jonathan Frakes get his shot at the captain’s chair—No, Star Trek: Lower Decks doesn’t count—I’m definitely not averse to the idea of a series in which Jack’s established relationships with his father’s former crewmates and BFFs are part of the larger world of his story either. After all, Picard Season 3 has taught me nothing so much that sometimes, impossible things can happen if you want them bad enough. But if this is the true end of an era, and our time with The Next Generation crew is over, I’m grateful this is how they got to go out, and that we all got the chance to be part of it.

Lacy Baugher

Lacy Baugher is a digital producer by day, but a television enthusiast pretty much all the time. Her writing has been featured in Paste Magazine, Collider,…

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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 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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Star Trek: Picard Series Finale Recap: The Next Generation Crew Gets a Fitting Send-Off… But What’s Next?

Dave nemetz, west coast bureau chief.

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Star Trek: Picard signed off after three seasons by giving Jean-Luc and his Next Generation pals the final mission they’ve always deserved… but maybe this story’s not over just yet.

While Seven and Raffi manage to retake the Titan by transporting the Borg-infected crew off the bridge and locking them in the transporter room, Jean-Luc prepares to beam down to the Borg cube to stop the transmitter and find Jack: “Let me bring him home,” he implores Beverly. Riker and Worf volunteer to go with him, and on the Borg cube, it’s oddly quiet and littered with a bunch of Borg corpses, which explains why they need the reinforcements. Jean-Luc sends Riker and Worf to locate the transmitter while he searches for his son, finding Jack wired into the cube and fully Borgified, spouting Borg-approved rhetoric. Jean-Luc says he’s here to bring Jack home, but the Borg Queen interrupts to say Jack is already home… and so is Jean-Luc: “At last, Locutus has returned.”

They send the transmitter coordinates to the Enterprise , and the ship would have to fly into the very center of the Borg cube to reach it, but Data is confident: “My gut tells me I can do this.” (Hey, Data has a gut now!) He pilots them right into the heart of the cube with breathtaking agility as the Borg-infected ships take out Earth’s defense system and start targeting the planet’s most populous cities for destruction. (Plus, the Titan is a sitting duck after the Borgified crew escape and knock out their cloaking device.) Data reaches the cube’s core and finds the transmitter, but to stop it, they’d have to destroy the cube… and everyone on it. A tearful Beverly nods her approval, and Geordi warns Riker and Worf that they’ll only have a minute or so to get off the cube after the Enterprise fires. Meanwhile, Jean-Luc realizes that the only way to reach Jack is to become a Borg himself.

The Borgified youth, including Geordi’s daughter Sidney, all come to their senses now that the Borg have been eliminated, and Jean-Luc proudly gives Jack a tour of the Enterprise bridge. Starfleet fixes all of its ships’ transporters to purge all Borg genetic code, thanks to Beverly’s efforts, and figures out a way to detect Changelings, too. Seven informs Tuvok that she intends to resign from Starfleet, but after seeing the glowing recommendation left for her by the late Shaw (aw!), he promotes her to captain instead. Worf helps Raffi reconnect with her son and granddaughter, and Data now has so many human emotions, he’s boring Troi to tears with them during their therapy sessions.

We flash-forward to a year later, as Jack nervously prepares for his first Starfleet posting. He’s been assigned to the Titan … which has been rechristened the Enterprise-G ! Seven is the captain, with Raffi as her first officer, Jack as “special counselor to the captain” and Sidney onboard as well. (“A bunch of ne’er-do-wells and rule-breakers, really,” Jack notes with a sly smile.) The Next Generation  gang gets drunk at a bar together, and Jean-Luc toasts with a quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar . (“We must take the current where it serves, or lose our ventures.”) They clink glasses, and then Jean-Luc pulls out cards for a game of poker! The old friends laugh as they play a few hands, with Jean-Luc taking home a big pot: “I’ve come to believe that the stars have always been in my favor.” And as the cards are dealt, the camera pulls overhead, just as it did in the Next Generation series finale.

Whoa… once you’re recovered from all of that, Trekkies, give the Picard series finale a grade in our poll and then beam down to the comments and tell us: Would you watch a Jack Crusher and Q series?

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Bring on #StarTrekLegacy.

I wasn’t entirely a fan of more Borg when we had Borg last season, even if a bit different, but overall it was a near perfect send off while also setting things up nicely for a spinoff that they hopefully confirm soon. The Anton Chekov name was a nice touch.

Very Satisfying! I enjoyed the series!

This was so exceptional! I want Star Trek: Legacy!!!!

Well done. All we needed was a Sisko appearances

Oh, that woulda been great.

Shaw! I want Shaw to somehow be alive. Q! Can’t you help???

Loved season 3 overall but a couple of things bugged me. 1) Laris should´ve had a closure scene in the finale. 2) Why did Vadic communicate with the Borg Queen in such a nasty way (cutting her hand)?

So apparently we will indeed have a Picard season 4 but focused on Jack with nice cameos from Patrick Stewart and friends. It would be nice if Jack gets to meet his brother Wesley.

The point about Laris is a good one. All it needed one was just one more midcredit scene of them reuniting maybe. But I think they probably wanted to leave open possible reconciliation between Beverly and Jean Luc? To be honest I was hoping for it until I realized Laris is still out there.

They’ve backtracked a bit on the final season though and said they could come back to Picard at a later date. It just is planned and meant to be. I just am glad we got to see enough of Seven of nine and was happy with where she ended her arc. I was a bit scared considering after she got left behind but I should’ve had faith. The show runner has always seemed to be a huge a fan of her and done right by her.

Terry Matalas is the best thing that could´ve happened to Trek Universe. Let him helm more and more projects.

At the very end, Jack had a wedding photo of Picard and Beverly on his nightstand. Apparently they completely forgot about poor Laris.

Was that a wedding photo? They were both very young in that picture; and in reality it looks like it might have been the actors at an Emmys ceremony. back in the day.

It was obviously a picture of Gates McFadden and Patrick Stewart from some event in the 90s.

Correction, that image is from 1988. No idea why that images makes people believe, they got married.

I don’t think it means we will see a season 4 of Picard. I think there is a chance it transitions into another Star Trek series (either Legacy , which it was confirmed it isn’t in devopment, but doesn’t mean it won’t or another series) especially how Q was at the end of it.

I loved this ending and this season so much. It was amazing to see the big “D” get to do all the things I wanted it to do during the series. It wasn’t “perfect” but it was perfect.

Very nice to have that tip of the hat to Anton Yelchin – he did make a fine Chekov on J.J. Abrams’ movies!

We need to know Seven’s command line. Very mean to tease us like that… she and the crew on the Enterprise G better return! Really enjoyed this season and most of the OG crew got better storylines than in 7 years of TNG – especially Troi and Crusher! But Patrick Stewart really is looking a bit old for this action!

Yeah, most of them look great but Sir Patrick is really showing his 80+ years, bless him. Lol. My wife thinks Q is hot, now.

Really loved this season. This season and Strange New Worlds has proven they can get New Trek right when they try hard enough. Walter Koenig playing the voice of “Anton” Chekov in honor of Anton Yelchin made me tear up a bit. A true class act there.

Agreed! Nice touch.

I absolutely loved. It really managed to make me feel similar to what I felt when I watched the original series finale of TNG. Very satisfying and thank god they didn’t kill anybody of. I didn’t know I needed the episodes to end with my favorite Star Trek crew once again seated at a round table, playing poker.

Thank you Terry Matalas and the whole cast and crew, what a wonderful gift. See you soon.

Wish we could’ve seen Wesley one last time.

Agree 100%. I find it hard to believe Wesley never met his brother and has not visited his mom is 20 years.

Or at least done a drive by & saw them, but not lets them see him.

Agreed. I was holding out hope for a Wil Wheaton cameo. TNG was always my favorite and Picard is my hands down my favorite captain. That last episode was near perfection. Great to see all those characters together for a final ride.

96.74% gave the finale and A (87.46%) or a B (9.28%). Verrrryyyy impressive, Terry Matolis.

What a great end ( well hopefully not) Thankfully they had the time to give it the ending it deserved. Having been a trek fan for over 50 years, TNG has always been my fav..Hats of to cast and crew. Now lets see the Enterprise G, Boldly return to our screens with captain 7 and her crew

It was great until the final scene. I thought he died. He rui Ed it for me.

What a massive improvement over the first two seasons. Amazing what comes of getting somebody in charge who actual respects what came before. (Retconning Q’s death was a perfect way to end things.)

Wow. That was so perfect. I knew the OGs would be playing poker at the end. Looking forward to the (hopefully inevitable) spin-off with Seven and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise G!

Surprised when they were in 10 Forward Guinan wasn’t tending bar instead of having a mention.

Finally Deanna had something to do besides sit next to the captain’s chair and offer advise. Didn’t know she could navigate a star ship.

Is Seven officially Captain Seven or they call her that out of respect to her service to Star Fleet?

Since this is on streaming and shouldn’t have a time limit per episode like the previous episodes with 45 minutes they could have added a few minutes to fill in the gaps in the plot like Laris missing at the end and use the time to make the last episode a 2 parter if the series ever goes on commercial TV.

Keep Q out of any future Trek shows!!! He’s the single most disgusting reason why I didn’t take to Next Gen. Until the Borgs came, anyway. This ressurecting the dead trick is also soooo old that it really deserves to be put to rest in the Trek universe. Permanently!

This season was so good I almost forgive Akiva Goldsman for ruining Batman. ALMOST.

And this episode should be made available to all showrunners – this is how you end a series.

One of the most recognizable and popular video games of all time is Tetris.

I felt so disappointed with S1, S2 was a little bit better, and S3 ruined my childhood and TNG series. The only good and the best thing about S3 was the return of Q. Did anyone really think he would “die”? lol

This was absolutely THE BEST season out of the 3 seasons of Picard! It is what it always should have been!! I loved this season! Wish they would do more. I totally agree with the commenter above saying Terry Matalas should helm more Star Trek projects. He absolutely hit it out of the ballpark with this! Oh and 1 more thing about Terry Matalas. I LOVED all the easter eggs from his TV Series 12 Monkeys! That was an absolutely amazing show also! You guys should definitely check it out!

1 thing I was really hoping for was the Kate Mulgrew would return as Admiral Kathryn Janeway. They kept name dropping her during the season and I was certain she would be in the finale. I guess they couldn’t work it out. It was Awesome to see Tuvok tho!! Hopefully they will do a spinoff of Voyager with Jeri Ryan, Kate Mulgrew, Tim Russ(Tuvok) and the rest.

A+++ to this entire season!!!

The return of Mulgrew as Admiral, this time; Ryan as Captain of the ex-Titan became Entreprise, Russ’s Tuvok as Janeway’s/Seven’s counselour would be great. But please, no more Chakotay or Harry Kim!

I was surprised by the snubb of the Doctor, though the whole 3 seasons. I mean, I’m pretty sure that Robert Picardo would have been happy to be called so what’s happened behind the scene? As for Mulgrew, it seems that she was stuck to Prodigy even if Picard and Prodigy are produced by Krutzman. But yes, I’d like seeing her return in a show.

I despise all the NuTrek for being mostly dumb(ed down) and hip. But Picard S3 was excellent. Yes, they overdid it with the nostalgia at times and yes, the finale did not quite live up to expecations (whatever does ?) but still. Even with its flaws, it was excellent !

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Series Finale Recap: Saying Farewell

In the end, the final season of “Picard” was a worthy send-off for the “Next Generation” crew.

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By Sopan Deb

Season 3, Episode 10: ‘The Last Generation’

“What began over 35 years ago ends tonight,” Jean-Luc Picard says, standing on his favorite bridge and glaring at his most distasteful enemy. It recalled his “The line must be drawn here!” from “First Contact.”

This was ostensibly a reference to the Federation’s longstanding battle with the Borg, but it also applies to “The Next Generation” franchise. (The show began airing in 1987 and 35 years ago would be 1988.) And if this is the last time we see these characters, that’s OK. Not because this season of “Picard” wasn’t a strong one. Quite the opposite, in fact: It was quite good and recaptured everything that made “Next Generation” what it was.

The characters all used special skills to work together and save humankind. Some of the dialogue was campy. There were plot holes. And there were classic “Star Trek” tropes, like Jean-Luc nonsensically going to the Borg cube, when he was likely the least physically capable of the old crew in fighting off the Borg.

But overall, this season was a worthy send-off for the crew. It wasn’t perfect, but neither were the show or any of the movies. But it was worth doing. The story justified its existence, advancing each of the main characters and filling in some gaps.

And it confirmed one last time that “The Next Generation” was greater than the sum of its parts. That might have been why the first two seasons of “Picard” didn’t work as well. Jean-Luc wasn’t the best character he could be without his old friends. The chemistry wasn’t as fluid, and the story wasn’t as deep.

In the finale, we learn a bit about what the Borg have been up to, though I remain baffled that no one brings up Jurati or the whole Good Borg thing from last season . (Maybe it was for the best.) There was no collective left — only the Borg Queen remained, she claimed, though we know from last season’s events that this isn’t exactly true.

It was Jack who found the Borg Queen, at least in her telling. She speaks in a way that is contrary to what we’ve known about the Borg: She says she was lonely and that the Borg were left to starve. (This kind of undercuts the Borg’s whole message of being the perfect beings.) But now, the Borg want to evolve rather than assimilate, and Jack is the perfect partner to do that. (In order to survive, the Borg Queen, I think, resorted to Borg cannibalism. Yikes! Hope those drones won Employee of the Month or something.)

The Borg and the changelings came to an agreement in which the changelings would be the Borg’s vehicle to carry out some villainous plan to help them procreate. Aside from an ill-fated revenge that they didn’t really need the Borg for, I don’t know what the changelings really got out of this alliance.

Elsewhere, classic Star Trekking happens. Worf and Riker fight off some baddies on the cube. Beverly uses her now finely honed combat skills to fire weapons. (It’s somewhat amusing that Geordi refurbished the Enterprise D for display at the fleet museum and also included a loaded torpedo system. Thank goodness he went above and beyond!) Data shows off his lightning fast piloting skills, assisted by his newly acquired gut instinct.

Beverly is faced with an impossible decision: Blow up her son and save the galaxy, or, uh, don’t. I loved that Geordi is the one who asks her permission, because he now understands a parent’s love for a child. And when it comes time to fire on the beacon, Geordi really, really doesn’t want to do it.

Jean-Luc finds another solution. He assimilates himself so he can get in contact with Jack in the Borg collective. Jean-Luc isn’t human, of course. He is an android — apparently, he can just plug himself in to the network like a flash drive. Jean-Luc tells Jack that he is the missing part of Jean-Luc’s life. (Patrick Stewart plays this perfectly.)

Jean-Luc is finally able to admit to himself how lonely he was outside of Starfleet, and that Starfleet merely covered up that loneliness rather than filling it entirely. Jean-Luc gives his son something he’s craved his whole life: approval and unconditional love. And Jean-Luc also won’t let his son go. He offers to stay in the hole with him so they can climb out together, and Jean-Luc gets to be the father he never knew he wanted to be.

Eventually, Jean-Luc pushes Jack to unassimilate himself and turn against the Queen. And that’s that: The universe is saved again. Our thanks to the crew of the Enterprise for the umpteenth time.

The episode ends in the only appropriate way for the “Next Generation” crew: They sit around and toast one another. Jean-Luc quotes Shakespeare, and then they whoop and play cards just like at the end of “All Good Things…,” the series finale of the original “Next Generation.”

The end wasn’t perfect, but it was proper. And that’s about all you can ask from a season like this. I don’t need any more — I want the Enterprise D crew to Costanza it and leave on a high note. They’ve earned it.

Odds and ends

Somewhat amusingly, Jean-Luc does not express any concern for or otherwise mention Laris throughout this season , another example of the team behind “Picard” trying to erase the first two seasons of the show from existence. But Laris, for her part, actually appeared in the season premiere and, one could argue, help put the events of the reunion in motion.

I keep thinking about that scene early this season with Riker and Jean-Luc at the bar, when Riker has to defend the honor of the Enterprise D. We didn't know it then, but that foreshadowed the whole season.

I would have liked to hear more about what Worf has been up to since the events of “Nemesis.” At the end of “Deep Space Nine,” Worf was named an ambassador to Qo’noS. In “Nemesis,” Worf somehow just becomes a member of the Enterprise crew again with little explanation. In this season, it is implied that Worf helped destroy the Enterprise E — more detail would have been nice.

The “Worf as comic relief” thing, as when he fell asleep on the bridge immediately after he helps to save civilization, also wore thin. But there is a fun callback in the last scene of the episode: Beverly saying Worf should have another glass of prune juice. A warrior’s drink!

Pavel Chekov’s son, Anton, being president of the Federation was a nice touch. Anton is likely a reference to Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the rebooted feature films beginning in 2009. He died in 2016 as a result of a car accident .

When Seven and Raffi figure out a way to transport assimilated crew members off the bridge using phaser rifles, it’s quite the deus ex machina. That technology would’ve been helpful all season!

That was a funny moment when the cook is ordered to pilot the Titan. He didn’t even finish flight training, why is Seven making him take the wheel? Have Raffi do it! (Within minutes, the cook executes complicated evasive maneuvers, so that must have been some training.)

At first, I found New Data to be jarring but after a couple episodes, this version grew on me. When he says he hates the Borg, you can see the Lore side of him burst through. It’s a fresh take on Data and Brent Spiner pulls it off.

That was a nice bit of wordless acting from Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis when Riker heads down to the cube for yet another mission with Jean-Luc. The swashbuckling Riker gives the slightest of smiles, as if to say, “You know who you married. You know why I have to do this.” And Troi reluctantly agrees. Later, when Troi tells Riker he will only have a minute or so to save Jean-Luc once the Enterprise fires on the Cube, he responds again with cool confidence in a near death situation.

There will certainly be some disappointment among fans that Kate Mulgrew did not reprise her role as Admiral Janeway this season. The events in “Voyager” presumably are the reason the Borg cube was in such terrible shape when Jean-Luc beams aboard. Given the multiple references to Janeway and what was happening on Earth, it would have been nice to have gotten a glimpse of her. (And man, how gnarly does the Borg Queen look now?)

Ah, there’s Tuvok, offering Seven her own ship. As Vulcan as ever.

In the grand scheme of things, this is still only the second most successful attack by the Borg on Earth. Sure, they get to Earth, bring down the planetary defense systems and attack cities directly, all while using Starfleet ships. But in “First Contact,” they actually went back in time and assimilated all of Earth before the pesky Enterprise crew initiated a do-over. And honestly, if Jean-Luc and his merry band hasn’t been able to rescue Earth from Evil Jack, they could have just done what they did last season or in “First Contact”: Go back in time. It’s easy!

Troi gets to drive the Enterprise D again. It went better than it did last time, when she crashed it.

Beverly is an admiral now? What a promotion, considering the decades she spent out of Starfleet running a rogue operation. I wonder if Riker, Geordi or any of the others were like, “Hey, what about us?”

Ed Speleers did an admirable job as Jack Crusher. It’s not easy to go toe-to-toe with Patrick Stewart, but Speleers fits in seamlessly as Beverly and Jean-Luc’s son. (While we’re here, what’s up with Jack’s brother, Wesley?)

I hope all of you stuck around for the post-credits scene. Q is still alive! Of course he is. We don’t acknowledge last season around these parts.

Sopan Deb is a basketball writer and a contributor to the Culture section. Before joining The Times, he covered Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign for CBS News. More about Sopan Deb

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'Picard’ Season 3 Showrunner Terry Matalas Breaks Down Episode 10, Fatherhood, and That 45-Minute Poker Game

He also spoke about bringing back Walter Koenig for President Chekov and that insane post-credit scene.

After three awe-inspiring seasons, Star Trek: Picard came to an end this week with a series finale that will go down as one of the most satisfying and soul-stirring endings to ever grace television screens . Its success is largely owed to Season 3's showrunner Terry Matalas , who brought together an exceptional team of writers and creatives to bring into reality a vision that became a fitting send-off for the beloved cast of The Next Generation .

Ahead of the finale, Collider had the opportunity to once again sit down one last time with Matalas to discuss how they pulled off that surprising Q ( John de Lancie ) post-credit scene, the 45-minute poker scene in 10 Forward, that pivotal moment between Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) and Jack ( Ed Speleers ), how they arrived at Deanna ( Marina Sirtis ) and Riker's ( Jonathan Frakes ) telepathy saving the day, the Star Trek: Voyager reunion between Seven ( Jeri Ryan ) and Tuvok ( Tim Russ ), bringing back Walter Koenig to voice President Chekov, and so much more.

COLLIDER: Season 2 really felt like the last time we were going to see Q, so I was thrilled that the legacy continues on. Can you talk about bringing him back and how he's essentially Jack's problem now?

TERRY MATALAS: Where better to end than at the beginning, right? It was an honor. It felt right to go back to “Encounter at Farpoint,” that while humanity's trial was over for his father, it now begins again for his son. And it was almost as if, like that moment at the end of “All Good Things…” when Q goes to whisper about, “There's a thing you should know, Jean-Luc,” and then he's like, “Ah, you'll see.” Maybe that was about Jack.

It was an idea I had, actually, right when I started developing it, and I told John [de Lancie] about it on his last day, and he was like, “Absolutely, I'll come back. It would be amazing.”

Oh, I love that. I also really loved that the crew was essentially saved by Deanna and Riker's telepathy, which I talked about loving that aspect. Can you talk about the writers' room and arriving at that decision for that being the rescue plan?

MATALAS: We knew we needed a way for them to find each other. I’m trying to remember if it was [Christopher Monfette], or who came up with that idea, which is so beautiful. And it's also a way to sort of put to bed that Deanna-flying-the-ship bit, as well, in this wonderful rescue. The impetus for it was, I always had this image, and I drew it on a whiteboard – and I didn't think I'd ever be able to pull it off – which was, Picard and Jack and the Enterprise D flying over them. That was a moving moment I wanted to do as a director, and I built it into the script. I was like, “No, I want the shot, I want the shot,” and everybody's like, “Okay, we'll be able to do it.” I was like, “I'm not gonna be able to pull this off,” and visual effects is like, “Oh, I think we could do it.” And then I was like, “There's no way.”

And so, it was like, how can we get to that moment? And it was also an emotional moment, too, because it comes off of the line, Jack saying, “I'm not alone,” and it truly was his family coming to rescue him at that moment. It was a culmination of all those ideas of the family truly together, and that love conquers all, truly, and it's the love of that, and the end of that arc for the Rikers is what manages for the Enterprise to find them.

That leads in so perfectly to my next question, which is, we've talked about how fatherhood is Picard's final frontier, and coming face-to-face with his willingness to sacrifice himself for Jack. It's this beautiful moment, but I'm curious for you as a director, can you discuss framing that scene and pulling all of that emotional poignance out of it?

MATALAS: Well, it all comes down to that scene. If that scene doesn't work the season doesn't really work. It's about a child looking for connection but doesn't realize the connection he really needs is his father. And it really isn't until that moment that that willingness to sacrifice himself for his son in that hug, that sort of snaps the kid out of this strange Borg euphoria.

It was all there, but really, it comes down to Sir Patrick Stewart and Ed Speleers in that moment, for both these phenomenal actors who just get there on their own. You don't have to do very much as a director because they're just that good.

Ed gives a real tour de force performance in the scene.

MATALAS: He really does.

I swear, every time he cries, he gets me crying. But I am curious to know what went into the design of the Borg costume because it's so badass.

MATALAS: That is genius costume designer, Michael Crow. You know, who comes from Marvel, who worked on [ Avengers: Endgame ], to Hawkeye . He has all those chops, and I gotta tell you, his Võx costume, I wasn't even prepared for how amazing it was. He had been crushing it all season with those Starfleet jackets, with the Changelings, and he had thrown some concept art for Vox that was stunning, but we had no money to put together something as stunning as that. The next thing you know, Ed is walking out with this fully realized feature film-quality, full-on Borg costume that is as good as anything any feature film with a spectacular budget can pull off. And that's Michael Crow. And that wardrobe department deserves every Emmy there is to have for it. It's incredible.

Absolutely, I completely agree. I love that throughout the season, there are these seeds leading to the fact that Seven is going to become a captain. I love the delivery of that moment with the Shaw, the report that he gave before any of this stuff even happened.

MATALAS: Yeah, before. Good catch, thank you.

Yes, it's so important. Can you talk about that scene and bringing back Tuvok? This is really a Voyager reunion in a much bigger way than seeing him as a Changeling.

MATALAS: That scene, actually, is one of the few scenes that chokes me up. I love his “resignation denied” moment. I also like that what it says about Shaw is, even with his aggressions that he had towards her, he always knew how amazing she was, and had intended to– Well, first of all, he handpicked his first officer and was intending to give her this incredible promotion to captain even before this whole adventure. And I think that that helped solidify, in her mind, her place here, in ways. For as much as she disrespected Shaw, she respected Shaw as what he was as a captain, strategically, and for his crew, not necessarily for how he treated her. He is a complicated man. It was something that we always knew we wanted to do, and Todd [Stashwick's] performance is so, so wonderful, and her reaction is so genuine and perfect in that moment.

One of the other things that I quite like about it is, Stephen Barton does this thing where he takes the Titan theme and the Voyager theme and plays them both on top of each other, and it works. It's almost like the two themes were written to complement each other, it's incredible. So listen for that.

Definitely. Speaking of bringing back characters and listening, what went into creating President Chekov and getting Walter [Koenig] to come back to voice the role?

MATALAS: I really wanted to honor one of the original series’ actors in this if this was gonna be my last bite of the apple at Star Trek entirely. I really wanted one of the original series’ actors to appear. Initially, I wanted to get him on camera, and I ran out of time and money to do that. There's a lot of things– we could talk about that too. But we were able, luckily, to do this great voiceover warning not-to-approach-Earth moment with him, and he was so wonderful.

I love in this episode that Worf initiates a hug, which is like such a novel concept, and it's a great moment. Is he going soft as he's getting older, or is this a testament to the bond that he has formed with Raffi?

MATALAS: I think it's specifically reserved for Raffi. You know, he's been rejecting hugs all season. He rejects it from Beverly, he rejects it from Riker and Troi. I think this is his lone wolf and cub, I think there's something special about Raffi for him that it’s unique, this bond that he cares about. Yeah, that moment gets me choked up as well. I quite like that moment. They have a really unique chemistry.

And despite all of the emotional stakes of this episode, there are also a lot of really funny moments. I was curious if you had any favorite moments because there's Worf always with the one-liners.

MATALAS: I quite like when he comes to rescue them, Frakes and Marina, and he's like, “I've counted the days…” Mostly because those three have such incredible comedic timing. Frakes giving him the look and saying, “Inappropriate,” and Marina giving side-eyes to both of them is just– if you know these actors in person, you know how much of it is genuine in them. It's fantastic. That scene works better than it has any right to work.

Oh, definitely. I really love in this episode, the nepotism joke, and that whole Picard-Crusher family scene at the end. But I was curious, specifically, how fast was Jack's expedited time in Starfleet? Do you have a number in mind?

MATALAS: I don’t. You know, it's one of those things that you have to ask yourself, does it make a whole lot of sense or does it make emotional sense? Probably makes more emotional sense for the story than it does narrative sense, and fans can debate about it for the rest of–

Hey, it leaves plenty of room for a novelization or a comic book down the line.

MATALAS: Absolutely.

I actually had a really in-depth question for you from my friend Mike Chen who actually writes the Deep Space Nine comics for IDW.

MATALAS: Oh yeah, Mike!

I love Mike. He was talking about how in a lot of ways, the season feels like the last hurrah to the ‘90s era Trek , kind of as a whole. And with the Borg playing a big role in both The Next Generation and Voyager , and then the Changelings in Deep Space Nine , was that part of your thought when you were bringing these two major villains together and culminating it in this major revenge act?

MATALAS: In a way. They're the best of both of those, so why wouldn't you use them in a final big, giant, epic conclusion? They are the coolest of the two, so definitely in that regard.

And then looking back at Season 3, and the series as a whole, what are you proudest of bringing to this franchise and the story that has been told here?

MATALAS: I think I'm really proud of bringing them all back together by the end, and introducing this sort of next generation of them all. I'm really proud of Seven and Raffi as Captain and First Officer of the USS Enterprise, with Jack Crusher and Sidney LaForge, and Alondra LaForge on board. I'm proud of the cinematic quality that we were able to pull off with this story, with the music and the visual effects. I'm proud that there's a feeling at the end of hope, in reunion and family, with these characters, that it's not morose, nd left with a sense of mourning that anybody died. So I think that's probably how I feel.

I definitely appreciate that aspect of this. This left me feeling so happy, I've already rewatched it three times. I also really love that final scene we get before the post-credit scene with the crew playing poker together, which is just this beautiful bookend to like The Next Generation ended. So for my last question, I was curious to know what was it like filming that day on set? Did it feel a certain kind of way?

MATALAS: I wanted the audience to feel like they were really in that poker game, and really get a sense to feel like what it's like to hang out with this cast, to feel the genuine laughter of this friendship that they've had for decades. So I let the camera roll for 45 minutes, and that camera just moved around that table. I think we'll probably put a lot of it on the Blu-ray.

So that's all real. Those laughs, those smiles, all those are just– they're genuine. None of that's acting, aside from the last line. That was always part of the plan, we built that into the schedule to be able to pull that off. So that's quite wonderful, but I knew I had to end with that shot. That was the right way to end with them.

All three seasons of Star Trek: Picard are streaming now on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Picard – Season 3, Episode 10

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Watch Star Trek: Picard — Season 3, Episode 10 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

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The final episode of Star Trek: Picard is upon us. The series finale “The Last Generation” lands on Paramount+ this Thursday, April 20th and we have some brand new photos and a sneak peek for you. The episode is written and directed by series showrunner Terry Matalas .

Check out photos from the episode and the sneak peek below.

Episode Description:

In a desperate last stand, Jean-Luc Picard & generations of crews both old & new fight together to save the galaxy from the greatest threat they’ve ever faced as the saga of The Next Generation comes to a thrilling, epic conclusion.

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard reunites the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner as Data/Lore, Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Michelle Hurd as Raffi, along with Amanda Plummer as Vadic, Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw, and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher.

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How to watch Star Trek: Picard season 3 in the UK and elsewhere

Make it so.

Star Trek: Picard season three is imminent – but is this Sir Patrick Stewart's last outing as the much-loved character?

The spin-off, revisiting The Next Generation captain Jean-Luc Picard, first premiered in early 2020 – and season three is set to be a grand reunion of TNG 's finest following previous guest appearances in the series from the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Wil Wheaton and even John de Lancie as Q, Picard's iconic adversary.

Frakes, Sirtis and Spiner are all back for Star Trek: Picard 's final season, along with LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge , Michael Dorn as Worf and Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher.

Expect to see Jeri Ryan return as Seven of Nine for season three, too, along with Picard 's regular cast members such as Michelle Hurd and series newcomers Mica Burton, Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, Ed Speelers and Amanda Plummer, who plays this season's main villain Vadic.

But will this be Jean-Luc's last mission? It was widely believed that season three would mark an end to Picard's story – but Sir Pat himself has hinted that "there is still enormous potential for matters in what we can do and there are doors left open and we didn't close all of them".

If you're interested in a little bit of insight into what you can expect from Star Trek: Picard season three, check out our review (which has some minor plot spoilers) here . Meanwhile, here's the all-important information about where you'll be able to 'engage' with the show as it returns to screens and streaming services...

How to watch Star Trek: Picard in the UK

Amazon's Prime Video is still (one of) the UK homes of Star Trek: Picard , and you can also now watch all episodes on Paramount+ following its launch in the country last summer.

Season three premiered on both services on Friday, February 17 – just hours after its debut in the US. After that, new episodes will continue to drop on Friday mornings.

If you don't already have access to Amazon Prime, you can either choose between the monthly membership, which costs £8.99 , or sign up for an entire year at £95 , which works out at £7.91 per month.

If you want to try before you buy, you can give Amazon Prime a whirl for free first, if you've not had the service before.

Other benefits – as well as a host of original content including upcoming adaptions of Daisy Jones and the Six and The Power – include live sports coverage on Prime Video (such as selected Premier League men's football fixtures), plus premium delivery options, early access to certain sales, and various other perks which vary slightly from country to country.

The Amazon Prime trial period lasts for 30 days, during which time you'll need to cancel your subscription if you don't want to continue. Please note that after that period, you'll be charged.

Meanwhile, Paramount+ is home to the vast majority of Star Trek content – it's where you'll now exclusively find Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – as well as shows like The Man Who Fell to Earth , Your Honor , Mayor of Kingstown and Yellowstone.

How to watch Star Trek: Picard elsewhere

For those of you in the US, as Star Trek: Picard 's first episode of season three is already available on the Paramount+ streaming service, where new episodes premiere on Thursday nights.

Sign up for Paramount+

If you're in Canada, then you'll need streaming service Crave, which is also home to shows from HBO, Showtime and Starz, as well as an extensive catalogue of movies.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 is streaming on Paramount+ in the US and UK, and is also available on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. New episodes will launch weekly on Thursday nights in the US, and Friday mornings in the UK.

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TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those.  Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK's biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations.  As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world's oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending). 

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Kate (they/she) joined Digital Spy in 2011 after studying journalism at Salford University, and has 15 years' experience as a writer and editor. They have previously worked at organisations including the BBC and Metro, and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester. 

During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor. Kate's team were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022.

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Star Trek: Picard - Season 3

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Streaming, rent, or buy Star Trek: Picard – Season 3:

Currently you are able to watch "Star Trek: Picard - Season 3" streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel or for free with ads on Amazon Prime Video with Ads. It is also possible to buy "Star Trek: Picard - Season 3" as download on Amazon Video, Apple TV.

In season three, a desperate message from a long-lost friend draws Starfleet legend Admiral Jean-Luc Picard into the most daring mission of his life, forcing him to recruit allies spanning generations old and new. This final adventure sets him on a collision course with the legacy of his past and explosive, new revelations that will alter the fate of the Federation forever.

10 Episodes

S3 e1 - the next generation, s3 e2 - disengage, s3 e3 - seventeen seconds, s3 e4 - no win scenario, s3 e5 - imposters, s3 e6 - the bounty, s3 e7 - dominion, s3 e8 - surrender, s3 e9 - võx, s3 e10 - the last generation, where does star trek: picard rank today the justwatch daily streaming charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. this includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. this includes data from ~1.3 million movie & tv show fans per day..

Streaming charts last updated: 01:18:27, 14/05/2024

Star Trek: Picard is 815 on the JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts today. The TV show has moved up the charts by 255 places since yesterday. In the United Kingdom, it is currently more popular than What Do Artists Do All Day? but less popular than Unnamed Memory.

Videos: Trailers, Teasers, Featurettes

Streaming Charts The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

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Star Trek: Picard

At the end of the 24th century, and 14 years after his retirement from Starfleet, Jean-Luc Picard is living a quiet life on his vineyard, Chateau Picard. When he is sought out by a mysterious young woman, Dahj, in need of his help, he soon realises she may have personal connections to his own past.

Picard investigates the mystery of Dahj as well as what her very existence means to the Federation. Without Starfleet's support, Picard is left leaning on others for help, including Dr Agnes Jurati and an estranged former colleague, Raffi Musiker. Meanwhile, hidden enemies are also interested in where Picard's search for the truth about Dahj will lead.

Completely unaware of her special nature, Soji continues her work and captures the attention of the Borg cube research project's executive director; Picard seeks others willing to join his search for Bruce Maddox.

The crew's journey to Freecloud takes a detour when Picard orders a stop at the planet Vashti, where Picard and Raffi relocated Romulan refugees 14 years earlier. Upon arrival, Picard reunites with Elnor, a young Romulan he befriended during the relocation. Meanwhile, Narek continues his attempts to learn more about Soji while Narissa's impatience with his lack of progress grows.

The La Sirena crew begins an unpredictable and lively expedition on Freecloud to search for Bruce Maddox.

Picard and the crew track Soji to the Borg cube in Romulan space, resurfacing haunting memories for Picard. Meanwhile, Narek believes he has finally found a way to safely exploit Soji for information.

Cast & Crew

Patrick Stewart

Jean-Luc Picard

LeVar Burton

Geordi LaForge

Michael Dorn

Jonathan Frakes

Gates McFadden

Beverly Crusher

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Episode list

Star trek: picard.

S1.E1 ∙ Remembrance

S1.E2 ∙ Maps and Legends

S1.E3 ∙ The End Is the Beginning

S1.E4 ∙ Absolute Candor

S1.E5 ∙ Stardust City Rag

S1.E6 ∙ The Impossible Box

S1.E7 ∙ Nepenthe

S1.E8 ∙ Broken Pieces

S1.E9 ∙ Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1

S1.E10 ∙ Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2

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Published May 13, 2024

Last-Minute Reinforcements Are a Starfleet Tradition

As seen in Discovery's confrontation with the Breen, Starfleet's penchant for arriving with support in the nick of time has endured into the 32nd Century.

StarTrek.com

When four Federation vessels arrived to back up the U.S.S. Discovery -A during a confrontation with a Breen dreadnought in Star Trek: Discovery ’s " Erigah ," the impromptu armada proved that Starfleet's penchant for last-minute reinforcements has endured into the 32nd Century.

Let’s look back on some of Star Trek 's most exhilarating starship entrances from across the franchise's celebrated history.

10. "Beam Them Aboard, Chief!"

"The Die is Cast"

Held captive on a Romulan warbird in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's " The Die is Cast ," Garak and Odo can only stand by as a joint Tal Shiar and Obsidian Order fleet is ambushed by scores of Jem'Hadar fighters near the Founders' homeworld. The two successfully retreat to their runabout, but Jem'Hadar ships follow and quickly knock out the small Starfleet vessel's shields and warp drive.

Garak and Odo resign themselves to their fates… at least until the U.S.S. Defiant swoops past their forward viewports and dispatches the nearest Jem'Hadar pursuers. Although the combined Romulan-Cardassian fleet is lost, the Defiant beams Garak and Odo out of danger and escapes back to the Alpha Quadrant.

9. "A Pakled Party, and I Wasn't Invited?"

"No Small Parts"

In the classic Star Trek: Lower Decks episode " No Small Parts ," the Pakleds surround the U.S.S. Cerritos — which the Pakleds erroneously refer to as the Enterprise — and begin to pull the Federation vessel apart. Ensign Beckett Mariner sits in the center seat and braces to order the crew to abandon ship, but Ensign Brad Boimler detects another starship approaching.

The U.S.S. Titan — or, according to the Pakleds, "another Enterprise " — sails in with its phasers and photon torpedoes ablaze, causing their confused foes to depart in a hasty fashion. Captain Riker's Titan even comes away from the encounter with an additional officer, as Boimler accepts a promotion and is transferred over to Riker's command.  

8. "Might We Be of Assistance?"

Star Trek Nemesis

With Praetor Shinzon intent upon deploying his Scimitar 's devastating thalaron-based weapon against Earth in Star Trek Nemesis , Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise -E put up a valiant struggle in the face of their opponent's overwhelming firepower. Two additional Romulan warbirds decloak, seemingly reducing the Starfleet vessel's odds of survival… at least until Commander Donatra announces her intention to ally with the Enterprise -E and openly oppose Shinzon.

Although the two Romulan ships are eventually incapacitated, they take a toll on the Scimitar and provide valuable humanitarian aid to Picard’s ailing crew once the Praetor’s vessel is vanquished. This newfound rapport with the Romulans ultimately plays a key part in Picard’s future dealings involving the proposed evacuation of Romulus.

7. "Who's to Say We Aren't a Federation Armada?"

"A Quality of Mercy"

In " A Quality of Mercy ," the stunning first season finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Captain Christopher Pike partakes in an alternate future in which he avoids being wounded in a training accident. Opposed by the Romulan Praetor's flagship and its accompanying armada, the U.S.S. Enterprise is weeks away from any Starfleet support.

Luckily, the ever-resourceful Captain James T. Kirk utilizes a shuttle to retrieve dozens of robotic mining craft to bluff their way through the situation. Hostilities prove inevitable, but the unmanned Federation haulers divert enough incoming fire to grant the Enterprise the ability to escape. A declaration of war and severe injuries inflicted upon Spock demonstrate to Pike what could happen if he dodges his own fate.

6. "I'll See If I Can Get the Klingons' Attention."

"All Good Things..."

In Star Trek: The Next Generation 's iconic series finale " All Good Things… ," Jean-Luc Picard experiences an alternate future in which he travels into Klingon space aboard Captain Beverly Picard's U.S.S. Pasteur . In search of any signs of a temporal anomaly, the Pasteur 's unsanctioned mission draws the ire of two Klingon warships that greatly outmatch the medical ship's shields.

An attempt to surrender fails, and only the equally unauthorized appearance of an upgraded U.S.S. Enterprise -D saves the day. Commanded by Admiral Riker, the Enterprise -D beams over the Pasteur 's survivors and sets course back to the Federation. Jean-Luc Picard convinces Riker to reconsider, and the Enterprise -D returns to help seal an anti-time rupture and prevent it from consuming the galaxy.

5. "Our Destiny Has Arrived."

"Battle at the Binary Stars"

Drawn to the outermost borders of Federation space by T'Kuvma in Star Trek: Discovery ’s "Battle at the Binary Stars," the U.S.S. Shenzhou faces off against a Klingon fleet that has assembled to heed the sacred call of the Beacon of Kahless. A task force overseen by Admiral Brett Anderson warps in to back up Captain Georgiou's ship, but T'Kuvma has orchestrated the entire situation as a ruse.

Initially seen as a way to even the odds, Starfleet's reinforcements actually play into T'Kuvma’s ploy to start a war between the Federation and Klingons with the goal of uniting the Great Houses behind him. Although T'Kuvma perishes in the battle's aftermath, the skirmish results in the devastating war that he wished to ignite.

4. "We're Basically a Hotel Now."

"Disengage"

Star Trek: Picard 's " Disengage " finds Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, Jack Crusher, and a severely wounded Beverly Crusher trapped on board the S.S. Eleos XII as Captain Vadic's malevolent Shrike bears down upon it. Ensnared by the Shrike 's tractor beam and unable to break free, the Eleos XII 's capture seems inevitable.

However, Commander Seven of Nine persuades Captain Liam Shaw to intercede, and the refit U.S.S. Titan -A races into position between the two ships. This severs the tractor beam and allows them to rescue the four passengers from certain death. The relatively small-scale triumph ends up paving the way for a far greater achievement, as the Federation ensemble tracks clues which unearth Vadic's plot to infiltrate Starfleet and the Borg Queen's own insidious plans.

3. "Captain, I’m Sorry We Were Late."

"Sacrifice of Angels"

Resolved to wrest Deep Space 9 from Dominion hands, several Federation fleets converge on a Dominion armada twice their size in Deep Space Nine 's " Sacrifice of Angels ." As the lead ship, Captain Benjamin Sisko's U.S.S. Defiant is pummeled by enemy fire and its shields are pressed to the limit.

Fortunately, Commander Worf bursts into the fray with Klingon reinforcements which dive through the Dominion formation. Bolstered by their allies, the Defiant 's crew members propel their vessel on a daring charge through the Dominion lines and become the only starship to reach Deep Space 9 before the Dominion's own reinforcements can emerge from the wormhole. With help from the Bajoran Prophets, the Defiant denies the additional Dominion forces entry into the Alpha Quadrant and retakes the pivotal space station.

2. "Fly Her Apart, Then!"

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

As Captain James T. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise -A are rattled by incoming fire from General Chang and his Klingon Bird-of-Prey in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , Captain Hikaru Sulu orders his crew to push the U.S.S. Excelsior 's warp drive to the limit.

Sulu's starship arrives on scene in time to split Chang’s attention, and the Excelsior follows the Enterprise -A's lead in a coordinated strike on the cloaked enemy vessel. The Excelsior 's heroic intervention supplies Captain Kirk with enough time to expose the conspiracy to scuttle the Khitomer Conference, thus paving the way for the Khitomer Accords and a lasting peace between the Federation and Klingon Empire.

1. "It's the Enterprise !"

Star Trek: First Contact

A Federation fleet intercepts the Borg in the Typhon Sector, but the cube's powerful weapons and regenerative technology leave death and destruction in its wake. As the Collective approaches Earth, Commander Worf readies the heavily-damaged U.S.S. Defiant for ramming speed in an effort to prevent the Borg from assimilating the planet.

Worf's helm officer suddenly calls out the arrival of another starship, quickly identifying it as Captain Jean-Luc Picard's U.S.S. Enterprise -E. The flagship's appearance boosts morale, and Picard harnesses his lingering connection with the Collective to pinpoint a weak spot on the cube for the remaining Starfleet vessels to target. The Borg ship explodes, momentarily ending the most immediate threat to Earth and handing the Federation a victory in Star Trek: First Contact 's Battle of Sector 001. 

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Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance writer, author, and consultant who has contributed articles to StarTrek.com, Star Trek Explorer, and Star Trek Magazine, as well as to Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com. Learn more about Jay by visiting JayStobie.com or finding him on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms at @StobiesGalaxy.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, South Korea, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In addition, the series airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada and on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

In addition to streaming on Paramount+ , Star Trek: Picard also streams on Prime Video outside of the U.S. and Canada, and in Canada can be seen on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. Star Trek: Picard is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

'Star Trek: Discovery' season 5 episode 7 'Eirgah' is the best yet of this final season

So, just to clarify, Moll and L'ak are chasing the ultimate power in the universe, to trade it so they can, in essence, elope..?!

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Star Trek: Discovery" season 5, episode 7

Almost immediately, we're treated to the return of Commander Nhan (Rachael Ancheril), who we last saw in the episode " Rubicon " S04, E09, just like we called a couple of weeks ago with episode 3, "Jinaal." And you know, this new episode, entitled "Eirgah," starts off strong and actually holds our attention throughout. In short, with just three more episodes remaining until the end of " Star Trek: Discovery " forever and ever, we actually get a pretty good installment. 

Yes, it seems the writers aren't quite sure what to do with Captain Rayner's character, and that was always a danger. Callum Keith Rennie is an actor of the highest caliber, and a reoccurring B-character was never going to be worthy of his talent. And so we seem to continually walk the very thin line between a basic, two-dimensional character and someone who teases the tiniest hint of Mariana Trench -like depth.

Regardless, we are at least given a little more insight into his background, and, of course, it leaves us wanting so much more — though his character is so disappointingly clichéd at times, you really have to wonder how Raynor actually made it through Starfleet and ended up with his own command in the first place. 

Related:   Watch the bittersweet trailer for 'Star Trek: Discovery's final season (video)

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Another interesting observation is the mention of the USS Mitchell, clearly a nod to the actor Kenneth Mitchell, who popped up a number of times in "Star Trek: Discovery" playing various roles, but who tragically died from complications of ALS back in February . Possibly an indication of when this scene was actually filmed, which seems really rather recent, but it's a small matter. 

Arguably the most important issue to focus on here is that Malinne "Moll" Ravel (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) are in fact chasing the ultimate power in the universe, to trade it ... so they can, in essence, elope? It's less of a romantic gesture and slightly more of a staggeringly irresponsible and breathtakingly selfish thing to do, don't you think? 

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"Oh, darling, let's go and visit Risa, the pleasure planet, for our honeymoon," purred Moll as she gently shifted under the bed sheets, her skin enjoying every moment of contact with the luxury one-billion-thread Vulcan cotton. 

"We could do that," he replied, his arms still wrapped around her. "But don't forget, absolutely everyone in the galaxy is dead, so we'd have to make our own Samarian Sunsets..." he added almost as an afterthought. 

But enough of all of that. There are a number of reasons, many beyond the obvious, as to why this is a pretty good episode. The obvious ones include the fact that this episode didn't rip off any decades-old sci-fi that the millennial scriptwriters have only just discovered, so you know, that's always a plus. It happens, sure. It's like discovering the music of T-Rex for the first time, 20 years later, then trying to form a band, aged 13½, believing beyond any doubt that you have a rock-star future ahead of you, basically by copying their songs. The difference is, you were prepubescent, no one in the band could actually play an instrument — and the writers on "Discovery" are Paid Professionals.

Interestingly, this episode is the first major directorial role that Jon Dudkowski has had, and frankly, it shows a lot of promise. He too, we suspect, has studied the work of the legendary Vince Gilligan, and some of the camera angles and edits reflect this. The problem with all of Nu-Trek is that a ton of different directors are hired to come onboard and churn this stuff out. " Picard " was practically a case study on how not to production line principal photography as quickly as possible. Because every director has their own style and when you have a minimum of say, six different styles, more often than not, it jars, making the show inconsistent and harder to enjoy, ultimately driving a wedge between the viewer and the experience. 

"Discovery" too suffers from the same problem, but if they'd given Dudkowski the whole season to direct, well, we might have had better episodes, and certainly a more consistent experience. Having the same showrunner isn't the same as having the same director, and having a variety of such notably different styles, in this instance, is a bad thing. Each episode should be a labor of love, and, as such, in a show where the season is only 10 episodes long, both the season and the show would really benefit from being seamless. 

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Of course, quite how much actual control Dudkowski had we'll never know. But this installment definitely benefits from good dialogue, good pacing, some creative cinematography and even little touches like how Burnham is never quite given the chance to use a catch phrase, lame or otherwise. And that self-aware-style of writing has been noticed and appreciated.  

The fifth and final season of "Star Trek: Discovery" and every other episode of every "Star Trek" show — with the exception of "Star Trek: Prodigy" — currently streams exclusively on Paramount Plus in the U.S., while "Prodigy" has found a new home  on Netflix.  

Internationally, the shows are available on  Paramount Plus  in Australia, Latin America, the UK and South Korea, as well as on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. They also stream on  Paramount Plus  in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Canada, they air on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on Crave.

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When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.

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‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Debuts On Nielsen Streaming Top 10

| May 10, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 42 comments so far

Star Trek: Discovery has arrived for the first time on Nielsen’s top streaming chart. It is the third Paramount+ Star Trek show to make the list.

Top 10 Disco

The Nielsen Top 10 original streaming program chart for the week of April 8- 14 in the USA was just released, which covers the first full week following the 2-episode season 5 debut of Discovery on April 4th (with “Red Directive” and “Under the Twin Moons”). Discovery ranked at number 10 on the original programs Top 10 with 257 million minutes viewed. It’s the only Paramount+ show to make the chart that week, with most of the chart featuring shows from Netflix, with the top spot going to Amazon Prime’s Fallout (starring Star Trek: Prodigy’s Ella Purnell).

Nielsen just started tracking Paramount+ shows in 2023 so we don’t know how season 5 is doing relative to previous seasons. Last year the second season of Strange New Worlds and the third season of Picard both appeared several times on the chart . With the lowest market share of the tracked subscription streaming services, Paramount+ only has had a handful of original shows make their way into the Top 10, including Halo and some of the Taylor Sheridan-produced shows including 1923 , and Special Ops: Lioness , starring Zoe Saldaña (which was just renewed yesterday for a second season).

Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham and Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner in “Under the Twin Moons” (Marni Grossman /Paramount+)

Bonus video – making “Under the Twin Moons”

Here is a behind-the-scenes package about the location shooting for episode 502.

The fifth and final season of  Discovery  debuted with two episodes on Thursday, April 4 exclusively on  Paramount+  in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and Austria.  Discovery  also premiered on April 4 on Paramount+ in Canada and will be broadcast on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. The rest of the 10-episode final season will be available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Season 5 debuted on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

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Discovery’s not so terrible after all, I see.

Glad to see so many people checking out Discovery. They can make up their own minds from there. It will be interesting to see if Disco gets a few more episodes in that top ten.

I’m actually surprised by this but certainly good news. I’m enjoying the season for the most part but still feels like people have moved on or no real passion for it. It’s very odd but at least it’s being watched and does feel like more are enjoying the season as a whole. It’s become a season of the 24th century greatest hits so it’s more fun for me lol.

DSC will likely find new viewers after it’s complete. Other than Trek, I wait for seasons to be complete before I watch them. I think that it might be the best way to watch a serialized show like DSC.

final season bump….god i hope this doesn’t “embiggen” Kurtz and Co. as a sign that we really like DSC and to have Tilly be the lead in Starfleet Academy.

The irony for me is I thought this would get huge views in the beginning because it was the final season and people were raving about the first episodes. I honestly thought we would have another Picard season 3 situation. But it feels like the total opposite for what is a generally decent season so fa and no one is really talking about it.

And I’m not a Discovery gusher, far from it lol. I think the show has been mostly awful but I don’t pretend my opinion is a consensus either. I am mostly enjoying this season though even with some of the same issues I always had with it.

I don’t know what you mean that no one is talking about it. I see plenty of positive comments here and on other sites as well. Much more than in previous seasons. Which is great news. I have really enjoyed this season. The writing has been solid. The acting has been wonderful. I love the addition of Callum Keith Rennie to the cast. I am hoping that this leads to him being in Starfleet Academy series. I think the role of a tough Academy professor would be a great way to go.

I am happy that Discovery recovered from a difficult start. Fuller’s ideas were good on paper but did not translate well onto the screen. A big misstep with the look of the Klingons really hot the series hard. I am certain that if the Klingons were not changed from what we know, people would have been less hard with the show. But that is just my opinion. But there is a lot of negativity anyway, here and on other websites.

I have really enjoyed the show. Love having it set so far in the future to try something new. At least they tried different things. Some worked, but some didn’t. That is the fun of TV.

I just mean compared to the past seasons it’s very low discussions. The last episode got under 30 posts and the show is done after 3 more episodes That’s probably the lowest I ever seen it for a review thread.

Oh yeah the show did a lot of Head scratching things in the beginning. Some I just have no idea why lol

I mean, they’ve got their scripts and the show starts filming in the next few months. We can’t say with absolute certainty that Tilly is the lead, but how this season of DSC is received won’t change it.

Of these, “Shogun” is still the one I really want to see.

Very encouraging news.

This is an important metric to have confirmed, and it makes sense that the show has had strong ratings considering the rash of new series it helped spawn and the lengths Paramount Global was willing to go to to claw back international rights. It’s just caught up in the reality of streaming – by year four an original streaming show is old news and more likely to be replaced than renewed.

I find Discovery to be remarkably mediocre but I’m still happy to see it succeed and I wouldn’t dream of talking anyone out of enjoying it who is.

Fair play. I had thought that most of the established audience had walked a view supported by how few comments it seems to be getting on sites such as this one. Looks like I was wrong. Well done Discovery and if people are enjoying it and want to see more Trek then great. Imagine the numbers though had it stayed on Netflix…….

These are USA-only figures, and Discovery was never on Netflix there.

Thanks for clarifying.

Real numbers will be reflected in merchandizing. TOS and TNG were successful in this realm. Kevin timeline and Kurtzman Trek, I think it’s nonexistent.

In fairness, that’s not just a Star Trek thing. It seems like shows don’t get merch anymore, unless it’s a smash mega-hit, as with Stranger Things.

One caveat… While they’re on the chart, the metric Nielsen is using for the chart (minutes viewed) shows Discovery performing below the numbers for Strange New Worlds season 2 and Picard season 3. And, technically, they have more episodes to achieve a higher (possible) number than the other 2 shows, if it was in theory drawing in new viewers willing to give the entire series a chance and binge it.

But that’s fine. Engagement is engagement, it has a Paramount+ show, even with its competitive handicap, in the top 10.

It shows how Star Trek has fallen from the cultural zeitgeist though. I mean, everyone is talking about Fallout and the numbers dwarf anything Paramount + can achieve.

In other words, in principle no different from when DS9 and Voyager were not getting talked about as much as The X-Files or The Phantom Menace.

Star Trek is a niche. TOS, TNG and the JJ films crossed over to some mainstream success and every series since TNG has flirted with it on occasion. But Star Trek is not Game of Thrones or Stranger Things or Star Wars. It’s popular in its own lane and Paramount has found ways to make lots of money from it, which keeps it going strong for us. This has always been the case, so there’s no point in trying to spin this into more naysaying. It achieves nothing we haven’t already known (and not cared about) for decades.

DS9 and VOY did fine in the TV ratings.

My point is, none of the new Star Trek shows can be breakout hits locked behind Paramount +

Now, if Disney or Amazon or Netflix had the rights, it’d be a bigger success than it has already shown itself to be.

Voyager is surprisingly popular on Netflix still.

DS9 barely clawed its way back to #1 syndicated drama in 1999 after a couple years of playing second fiddle to Xena and Hercules in a rapidly shrinking and less relevant first run syndicated market. It was under-publicized and no publications outside of sci-fi mags and TV Guide gave it the time of day after the 30th anniversary.

Voyager was on the struggling #5 network, usually 5th in its timeslot, even falling below WWF Smackdown! as the top rated show on UPN. If it weren’t for 7 of 9 it too would have been totally ignored, and even then you could hardly accuse it of commanding a huge chunk of the zeitgeist outside of hardcore Trek fandom.

And that was enough for us, and we still got TNG movies and Enterprise greenlit at that level of niche success. Trek viewer demos were desirable, and erosion was evident but not as bad due to loyalty. The Trek shows were the bigger fish in rather small ponds. I’m under zero illusion that they’d have lasted as long as they did if broadcast on a big four network with higher performance benchmarks.

I see very little difference between that situation and where things stand today, except that now viewership is highly fragmented with so many streaming services and people being able to easily choose when and how they watch thousands of shows and movies. Star Trek shows are consistently breaking through that and on a smaller streaming outlet where they have more value to their owner. If you want to point to what Trek would look like if it breaks out even bigger and is scrutinized and popularized, just look to the JJ films and the debate that still rages about how faithful they are to what makes for good Star Trek.

Netflix’s model is to binge-consume and move on, and shows get buried there and the conversation tends to die down fast. They also don’t usually last more than 4 seasons, so again, being a bigger fish in a smaller pond is better for Trek. There’s no guarantee a Netflix deal would mean season 6 of Disco and Lower Decks (based on their history, season 5 would have been highly unlikely) or Star Trek: Legacy being greenlit. We’ve had two 5 season runs of new shows, 6 series and a tv-movie greenlit, reliable press coverage from Internet outlets including magazines that wouldn’t have given DS9 this much attention 30 years ago. I don’t know what definition of “breakout hit” will satisfy you, but I really don’t think it’s necessary to achieve.

Star Trek is in the top ten series in a streaming space of infinite content. To the degree that anything is in the cultural zeitgeist, Star Trek is still in the conversation.

To be fair, it’s lucky to sneak in. Star Trek Picard squeaked into the top ten with 400 million minutes vs DISCO at 257 million minutes.

So, not exactly a smash hit performance.

Considering the sheer volume of streaming content produced, this a big deal.

I don’t know if any pre-streaming Trek TV series were ever in Neilsen’s top ten.

And the whole “but Marvel/Star Wars/Harry Potter/whatever else is more popular than Trek” has always been the case, and I suspect it always will be.

Even in the Berman days, Trek did well – but it was never insanely popular with general audiences. I don’t think it needs to be.

TNG and DS9 were often top 10 shows in the syndicated charts. It would take a bit of a deep dive to see how that would correlate against the ratings for the network shows, it’s not exactly apples to apples.

But just based on number of viewers, “All Good Things…,” TNG’s highest rated episode by a long shot, would have ranked #2 the week it aired, behind Roseanne. “Emissary,” the highest rated episode of Star Trek (and I believe any drama) in syndication history would have been #5 the week it aired. These are major outliers.

“Caretaker” was Voyager’s highest rated episode – it managed to rank 22nd in the charts that week. “Parallax” was 45th.

Star Trek rules a comfortable niche. One that can be harnessed for some well-viewed premieres and finales and stunts now and again, and #1 box office debuts, but it’s not popular on the same level as many other über franchises – the public has affection for it, but it’s never going to be Marvel. And that’s as okay now as it’s always been. It’s always going to be better to be king of a smaller castle than vying for attention at a bigger one.

I don’t have anything to add, but I want to echo y’all’s sentiments 100%.

Let’s be honest here: You’re cherry-picking Picard’s best result. During a different week, PIC made it into the Nielsen Top 10 with 276 million minutes viewed, which isn’t so far off what DSC made.

Very interesting and surprising to me since Discovery is not MUST SEE TV for me – but it perhaps shows that the show has developed its own audience outside of the legacy fans who read this website and who are older and long-time fans of the franchise.

Maybe it doesn’t have quite the numbers of Picard or SNW which are popular with the grey beards like me, but that is not the audience the show is targeting.

I for one hope the franchise continues for another 60 years and long after my departure from this planet. The only way that happens is for the show to reach out to a younger more diverse audience and that is exactly what Discovery did, especially in the last 3 seasons. Kudos to Kurtzman and the cast and crew of Discovery.

So…? When’s the campaign starting?

What campaign are you talking about?

Save Enterprise.

This is the first season of Discovery, and I have looked forward to each episode. I’ve watched all of the season, as I will watch anything Trek (even the awful “Lower Decks” show), but I never rushed to watch an episode when it dropped. Season 2 for a few episodes – but the AI storyline was brutal, followed by “The Burn” story in season three, which was almost unwatchable.

I’m glad the show has found its footing, but it’s too bad it took seven years (and five-mini season) for it to happen.

I must admit to being a bit shocked by this. I think there is a genuine desire out there for Trek content.

Sadly, I’m feeling the exact opposite. I feel the franchise has been mishandled to the point where barely anyone, collectively, cares anymore. I feel like Trek is neither in demand or relevant these days. It used to be special in the cultural zeitgeist, and it’s just not anymore. And again, I say that with a distinct feeling of sadness. My opinion, of course. Old Trek, still popular. New Trek, overall lack of depth and quality. There are exceptions, but just not what it used to be.

Even though I am enjoying it this season more I actually agree with you. It’s just weird. People are watching it obviously but it doesn’t feel like anyone really cares either. I thought no one was really watching it this season with so little talk about it. Now I think people are watching but mostly because there has just been a serious lack of Star Trek on more than any real excitement for the season itself.

Just kind of going through the motions so to speak.

And I think only hardcore fans like us are really watching at this point.

I’m seeing a lot of moving goal posts as to what constitutes success here.

What do you mean? It seems to be a success in terms of people liking it. I even like it lol. And I said I was wrong about how many were watching it. I thought it was less as well. But just stating the obvious no one is really talking about it either. Only have to look at how many people were talking about Picard and SNW last year to see the difference, especially here.

I been saying this since the first episode it just doesn’t feel to be any real passion about it one way or the other. It just feels like people are watching it because it’s a new season but very little beyond that.

But fewer people are shouting the season sucks compared to previous seasons by this point and more seems to be enjoying it so that’s definitely a success lol.

For me, this has been the weakest season of Discovery so far. It feels like a complete mess. I’ve never loved the series but until this point it at leas felt it improved with every season.

It does seem to be unfocused. It started good, but then became filler. The season seems more suited to being limited to a 3- or 4-episode miniseries.

John de Lancie doesn't think it was expected that season three of Star Trek: Picard would be so well-received

P roducing a television (or streaming) series is a gamble. There's no way to know if the show will be liked enough or watched enough to continue. The chance of cancellation always looms over practically every series (unless it's NCIS or Law and Order: SVU). Star Trek: Picard was always meant to be a three-season series so the producers knew the show was wrapping no matter how well received the final chapter would be. But, according to John de Lancie , in an interview he gave Trekmovie, [ via Comicbook ] he didn't think anyone expected season three to be as good as it was. So, obviously, the fan clamor for a spin-off must have come as a surprise as well.

The way de Lancie describes it, the powers-that-be had already decided on what the next series would be—Starfleet Academy. So there was no opening for Star Trek: Legacy.

"I don’t think that they expected that Season 3 was going to be as good and as well-received. They had already decided on another show. They were already moving in another direction. But it was certainly a really valiant and well-appreciated finale to The Next Generation.”John de Lancie

I find it hard to believe that the producers and the studio wouldn't have known how successful the final season of Picard would be since they were bringing back practically everyone from Star Trek: The Next Generation. That series has maintained its fanbase over the years, and seeing them all together again onscreen was a big draw. It was akin to announcing another movie with the cast. Had season three of Picard unfolded on the big screen, I have no doubt there would have been major numbers at the box office.

If no one was prepared for the success of the final season of Picard, then the door to a possibility of a spin-off shouldn't have even been opened. Though showrunner Terry Matalas has said the series finale wasn't intended to be a set-up for a spin-off, there's really no other way to interpret it the final scene. Q, who supposedly died in season two of Picard, appeared before Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), who just happens to be Admiral Picard's (Patrick Stewart) son with, essentially, a promise of troubles to come. That's quite a big carrot to dangle if there was never any intention of feeding the horse.

As of now, we don't have any news on Legacy, and with Star Trek moving forward with Starfleet Academy, it doesn't seem like it's on the studio's radar at present.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as John de Lancie doesn't think it was expected that season three of Star Trek: Picard would be so well-received .