star trek 6 alternate ending

Star Trek: Voyager's Endgame Failed But The Alternate Endings Could Have Saved It

For any franchise that spans decades, there are going to be high and low points. And many "Star Trek" fans still bemoan the anticlimactic ending of "Star Trek: Voyager." Much of the series was well-received with Kate Mulgrew serving as a splendid Admiral Kathryn Janeway . However, the finale, titled "Endgame," left on a sour note. The show followed the Voyager crew journeying through the Delta Quadrant, hoping one day to make it back home. After all that time, they finally make it, but only about three minutes of screen time is devoted to capturing the emotional climax, making it feel as though something is missing. 

In an alternate timeline, fans may have rejoiced at the ending of "Star Trek: Voyager" had the creative team pursued a different path. And many avenues were open to them, as showrunner Brannon Braga said in a 2001 interview with "Star Trek Monthly,"  "The biggest decision was whether or not we actually wanted them to get home. That was a decision that really came down to the wire." But while they did get home, the way it happened felt like a cheat. Perhaps they could've gotten back home an episode or two earlier so that audiences could see them assimilate back to their normal lives. Many felt like there needed to be a greater catharsis, and several ideas were on the table for making the finale work.

Brannon Braga also considered killing off Seven of Nine

It isn't easy to end a long-running series, as the "Star Trek: Voyager" "Endgame" episode shows all too well. Many of the people who worked on the episode have pondered on what could've been had they pursued a different route. In 2013, Brannon Braga was interviewed by Trek Core where he opened up another possibility for the finale, "I think Seven of Nine should have bit the dust. I think there had to be a real sacrifice for this crew getting home; a real blood sacrifice. Seven of Nine was, for me, designed to be a character that was gonna die tragically. I planned that."

It would've been similar to how Spock (Leonard Nimoy) sacrificed himself, and even though he wasn't human, he made a very human sacrifice. Braga continues that he wrote "Human Error" to set up this plot point where Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) almost dies when she attempts to feel emotions and learns that if she becomes too human, she'll perish. If Seven of Nine had sacrificed herself to bring her found family home, it could've added a much-needed sense of pathos to the finale, and perhaps "Endgame" would be remembered more fondly. 

Then again, maybe it's for the best Seven of Nine survived, or else she wouldn't have appeared in "Star Trek: Picard." Plus, the "Star Trek: Voyager" "Endgame" episode does have some bright spots. It gives Kate Mulgrew a chance to really flex her acting muscles, as she portrays two different versions of Janeway. And any "Star Trek" episode with the Borg is going to be fun. The good thing with "Star Trek" is that a new show is never too far behind if the previous one ends on a bad note.

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Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at ... Read all On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace. On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.

• Nicholas Meyer
• Gene Roddenberry
• Leonard Nimoy
• Lawrence Konner
• William Shatner
• DeForest Kelley
• 251 User reviews
• 86 Critic reviews
• 65 Metascore
• 2 wins & 9 nominations total

• Lt. Valeris

• Excelsior Communications Officer

• Admiral Cartwright

• Chief in Command

• Federation President

• (as Rosana DeSoto)

• Chancellor Gorkon

• Klingon Ambassador

• Klingon Defense Attorney
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• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia Michael Dorn plays Colonel Worf, the grandfather of his regular character Lieutenant Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) .
• Goofs Uhura's lack of knowledge of the Klingon language is at odds with her being Communications officer, since she should at least have some working knowledge of the language of the Federation's greatest rival. She once spent three months effortlessly handling the communications station on board the captured Klingon Bird of Prey in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) , where all the controls were written in Klingon. (The filmmakers argued about this: see trivia.)

[last lines]

[Kirk's final Captain's Log]

Captain James T. Kirk : Captain's Log, stardate 9529.1. This is the final cruise of the Starship Enterprise under my command. This ship and her history will shortly become the care of another crew. To them and their posterity will we commit our future. They will continue the voyages we have begun, and journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly going where no man... where no *one* has gone before.

• Crazy credits At the beginning of the end credits, the signature of each of the principal cast members is written one by one as a final send-off for their characters.
• Alternate versions The Blu-ray release from 2009 is the first home media release to include the 110 minute theatrical version instead of the 113 minute special edition seen on all previous DVD, laserdisc, and VHS releases. The Blu-ray is also the first release to present the movie in its proper 2.40:1 aspect ratio instead of the opened up 2.00:1 ratio seen on previous releases.
• Connections Edited into Star Trek: Generations (1994)
• Soundtracks Theme From Star Trek TV Series Music by Alexander Courage

User reviews 251

• David_Frames
• Jun 21, 2005
• How long is Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country? Powered by Alexa
• What is 'The Undiscovered Country' about?
• Who returns from previous "Star Trek" movies?
• In what year does this film take place?
• December 6, 1991 (United States)
• United States
• Startrek.com
• Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country
• Knik Glacier, Chugach State Park, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
• Paramount Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $30,000,000 (estimated)
• $74,888,996
• $18,162,837
• Dec 8, 1991
• $96,888,996

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 50 minutes
• Dolby Stereo
• Dolby Surround 7.1

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Screen Rant

Captain picard meets riker’s replacement in star trek: nemesis deleted ending.

Star Trek: Nemesis had a deleted alternate ending where Captain Picard met a new First Officer when Riker became Captain of the USS Titan.

• Star Trek: Nemesis had a deleted alternate ending that revealed the new First Officer of the USS Enterprise.
• Commander Martin Madden is introduced as the replacement for Captain Riker.
• The alternate ending also shows Captain Picard trying out his new Captain's chair and launching the Enterprise on a new mission.

The final Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, had a deleted alternate ending where Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) met the new First Officer of the USS Enterprise-E who replaced Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Star Trek: Nemesis ' theatrical cut ended with the death of Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and Captain Picard realizing that an aspect of Data lives on in his imperfect android brother, B-4. However, a longer and different sequence was filmed that wrapped up other plot points in Star Trek: Nemesis , such as who takes over for Riker as Picard's new Number One .

YouTube user i542net uploaded Star Trek: Nemesis ' deleted alternate ending, which introduces Commander Martin Madden (Steven Culp), the new First Officer of the USS Enterprise-E . The outgoing Number One, Captain Riker, meets Madden and pranks the new First Officer. In addition, Captain Picard tries out his new Captain's chair and launches the Enterprise on its new mission to go "where no one has gone before." Watch it below:

All The Good Things In Star Trek Nemesis

Riker's replacement in star trek: nemesis isn't canon, steven culp went on to appear in star trek: enterprise.

Since his scene was deleted from Star Trek: Nemesis, the character of Commander Martin Madden isn't official Star Trek canon , and he didn't end up replacing Captain Riker as Captain Picard's new First Officer on the USS Enterprise-E. Worf (Michael Dorn) was the one who stepped up to become Picard's new Number One, and the Klingon went on to succeed Jean-Luc as Captain of the Enterprise when Picard was promoted to Admiral. Star Trek: Picard season 3 alluded to how the Enterprise-E was lost under Worf's watch , something the Klingon insists was not his fault.

Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) also left the USS Enterprise-E after Star Trek: Nemesis, leaving only Picard, Worf, and Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) from the original Star Trek: The Next Generation crew.

Although he didn't officially appear in Star Trek: Nemesis, Steven Culp joined the cast of Star Trek: Enterprise season 3 as Major J. Hayes , a member of the MACO space marines. Hayes and the MACOs were assigned to the NX-01 Enterprise to combat the Xindi threat. Hayes and the Enterprise's armory officer, Lt. Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) often butted heads, but Hayes was killed by a Xini after appearing in 5 Star Trek: Enterprise episodes. Given the poor reception of Star Trek: Nemesis from critics and audiences, perhaps Steven Culp dodged a bullet by not appearing as Commander Martin Madden.

Star Trek: Nemesis is available to stream on Paramount+.

Source: YouTube

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Patrick Stewart Reveals Alternate Star Trek: Picard Ending

A fter two intensely rocky seasons, Star Trek: Picard managed to deliver a third season that pleased just about everyone and even won over the show's biggest haters. Part of fans' enthusiasm for this Paramount show is that the series managed to stick the landing, bringing things back full circle with an ending where Picard plays poker with his crew (something we last saw him do in the TNG finale "All Good Things." However, as Time reports, Patrick Stewart revealed in his memoir that the show almost had an alternate ending that would involve Picard receiving a mysterious female visitor.

Patrick Stewart personally pitched a different ending for Star Trek: Picard that would have focused on the Star Fleet captain’s domestic life.

According to Patrick Stewart, the series almost ended with a scene set during dusk in Picard's vineyard. His character would be hanging with his dog (the triumphant return of the canine Riker!) and taking in the view when he'd hear an unidentified female voice calling his name and saying, "Supper's ready!" At that, Star Trek icon Picard would tell his dog, "C'mon, boy," and head inside, and in this alternate ending, that would have led us to the credits.

At this point, we can hear the Star Trek ‘shippers hard at work speculating who the woman is supposed to be. It could be Beverly Crusher, which would make sense because so much of Picard 's third season revolves around their interpersonal drama and whether they would get back together. It could also be Laris, the Romulan servant-cum-bodyguard that Picard seemed to have feelings for right up until he didn't (hey, what were you expecting with a series as uneven as this one?).

However, one thing that complicates these Star Trek ‘shippers' speculation is that it wouldn't be Gates McFadden (who plays Beverly Crusher) or Orla Brady (who plays Laris) who recorded the line asking Picard to come inside for supper. Instead, it was going to be Sunny Ozell, best known as the real-life wife of Patrick Stewart. It would arguably have been very fitting to have Stewart's wife call him inside because it's kind of a meta moment where Stewart himself is called away from the Star Trek franchise and back to his own life. 

Fortunately for Star Trek fans everywhere, this alternate ending was dropped quicker than you can say "allamaraine," and we ended up with the crowd-pleasing ending of Picard once again settling down to play poker with Riker and the rest of his crew.

Unfortunately, this ending would have made Star Trek: Picard’s overall narrative much harder to follow and understand. After all, fans already have to swallow the idea that Picard more or less ditched Laris so that he could return to his "will they or won't they" relationship with Beverly Crusher (albeit with the knowledge they now have a son together). If this alternate ending was filmed, fans would have to deal with the idea that after his many misadventures (including dying and returning to life), Picard ended up with a completely different woman that we know nothing about.

The closing scene of Star Trek: Picard may be the last time fans get to see Patrick Stewart as part of Starfleet , but it’s a satisfying way to exit the franchise gracefully.

Fortunately for Star Trek fans everywhere, this alternate ending was dropped quicker than you can say "allamaraine," and we ended up with the crowd-pleasing ending of Picard once again settling down to play poker with Riker and the rest of his crew. The implication is that Picard and the crew are finally going to make more time to spend with one another and play a bigger role in each other's lives. But if the producers had really ended the show with Picard shacking up with a heretofore unknown woman, it might have driven remaining fans away even faster than the second season did.

The post Patrick Stewart Reveals Alternate Star Trek: Picard Ending appeared first on GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT .

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Star Trek: The Motion Picture Ending Explained: Something Bigger Than The Cosmos

The late author Douglas Adams succinctly wrote in his 1979 novel " The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ," that, "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." Adams wrote science fiction stories with the vastness of time and the cosmos in mind, albeit for a comedic effect. In one of his novels, characters could travel forward in time to the very end of the universe and find that a restaurant had opened near the point of universal collapse so that the wealthy could witness it as part of an evening's light dinner entertainment (repeat visits were possible through a complicated temporal something-or-other). For Adams, the infinity of time and space was fodder for humor, as he would insert the mundane into any potential moments of awe. 

The same year "Hitchhiker's Guide" was published, Paramount produced "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," the first feature film to be based on the low-budget sci-fi series that hadn't seen TV screens since 1974, and hadn't been seen in live-action since 1969. Taking aesthetic cues from Stanley Kubrick's " 2001: A Space Odyssey ," "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was "Star Trek" writ large. No longer constrained by rinky-dink television budgets, the feature film was now permitted to depict the show as massively as it always felt. For instance, the U.S.S. Enterprise was luxuriated over in a four-and-a-half-minute sequence that many people now find risibly indulgent. 

But the length and scope was the point. "Star Trek," in the best of cases, brushed up against some of philosophy's larger questions. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" had ambitions no smaller than to unlock the meaning of life and humankind's place in the heavens. 

Voyager VI: The Undiscovered Country

They briefly recount the film's story: It has been years since the Enterprise crew was assembled. A mysterious space cloud, hundreds of light years across, is slowly drifting toward Earth and swallowing up any starships or space stations it happens to run across. It has no definite shape and is not communicating. Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) is re-assigned to the starship Enterprise, currently commanded by Capt. Decker (Stephen Collins), and ordered to take it out to the cloud to investigate. The entire cast of the original show joins in, as does a bald, stoic Deltan named Ilia (Persis Khambatta). The Enterprise is able to penetrate the cloud and sail inside. They find chamber upon chamber of what might be machines, but it is difficult to comprehend. Whatever the cloud is, it's far beyond human understanding. A lot — a lot  — of " Star Trek: The Motion Picture " is devoted to scenes of the Enterprise floating through the cloud. 

In order to communicate with the humans on the Enterprise, the cloud abducts Ilia and replaces her with a robot-like clone that speaks as its emissary. The robot clone explains that the cloud is called V'Ger and that it aims to return to its maker. Students of science fiction will perhaps recognize that V'Ger was once of Earth origin. 

To skip ahead a bit V'Ger was the bowdlerized name of the Voyager 6, a fictional NASA probe launched from Earth a century before. It was initially just a machine, sent out into the cosmos to retrieve information and return it. Something unexplained happened to the Voyager 6 in the ensuing century, and it grew to contain all knowledge in the galaxy, growing to enormous size in the process. It was now fulfilling its mission to return its findings. 

The sexual politics of The Motion Picture

It's worth noting that a lot of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" has been devoted to a certain degree of romantic and sexual tension between Ilia and Capt. Decker. Ilia is a Deltan, which causes a few of her crewmates to raise their eyebrows. Ilia makes mention of her vow of chastity, a curious thing to announce on the bridge. According to the novelization of the film written by Gene Roddenberry, Deltans are known to be highly sexual and have intercourse quite freely. In order to curtail fraternization, Deltans take their vow before entering the Academy. Although Ilia was replaced by a robot clone, Dr. McCoy ( DeForest Kelley ) notes that Ilia's brainwaves were replicated as well, leaving her lust and her love for Decker intact. 

The robot — and by extension V'Ger — seems to be experiencing love for the first time. Also lust. V'Ger is, after a century, finally going through a form of cosmic puberty. Sex is most certainly one of the film's central themes.

At the conclusion of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," Kirk and company have found the original V'Ger probe at the heart of the cloud, deciphering its name and discovering its purpose. V'Ger, having felt love, wants to know more, as love and lust, it seems, are the final components of the universe that V'Ger needs to make sense of everything. Decker, declaring his love for Ilia, steps onto a platform, and V'Ger begins to physically absorb him. It's a beautiful, almost spiritual experience. Ilia, feeling the love as well, steps onto the platform with him, and the pair ascend. In a flash, the entire massive V'Ger cloud explodes into the universe. It now knows everything.

Childhood's end

After the cancelation of "Star Trek," the show was put into eternal syndication, and it was only then that it found its massive audience in reruns. "Star Trek" gatherings, then conventions, became common, and Gene Roddenberry, as well as the cast, would attend to kibitz. It seems that during this period, Roddenberry finally came to realize the more expansive themes of "Star Trek." Audiences reacted to the show's multiculturalism and optimism about the future. The Prime Directive assured us that "Star Trek" was an anti-colonialist show, and the technology depicted was our friend. The Enterprise was not a battleship, but an exploration vessel. The show, Roddenberry figured after the fact, was meant to be utopian. 

As such, when it came time to make "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," it stood to reason that it would reach far. Roddenberry, ever the free-love hippie, wanted to tell a story where all facets of the universe could come together, scraping the outer edges of the cosmos, and then extending beyond. V'Ger had been traveling for an unspecified time (a time-warp is implied) and knew all the facts it could know. What it lacked, naturally, was heart. Human beings, and their capacity for love, was the missing element of the universe. Our existence, Roddenberry argued, was a vital element holding everything together. 

V'Ger finally learned to love and experienced the glories of sex. Its explosion was, essentially, a galactic orgasm, as if V'Ger was going through puberty. It was the end of its childhood and a passage to a higher plane. V'Ger is, of course, a symbol of humanity as it is seen in " Star Trek ." Like in "2001: A Space Odyssey," the cosmos is our next step of growth. We pass into the stars, and we are no longer children. 

Picard Season 3's Alternate Ending Could Have Given One Star Trek Character Justice

What if Picard had ended like this?

Despite the absolutely triumphant ending of Picard Season 3 , even the most ardent advocate for the entire series would agree that taken as a whole, this Trek spinoff is thematically incongruent. Season 1 told a bold story about the rights of sentient AI, forced to live in secret. Season 2 was a psychological story about Jean-Luc’s trauma, wrapped up in a time-travel romp. And then, Season 3 was a classic Star Trek galactic action-adventure mystery with personal stakes for the entire Next Generation crew. Each of these seasons, essentially, had a different showrunner, Michael Chabon in Season 1, Akiva Goldsman in Season 2, and then, Terry Matalas, with complete control in Season 3. (Though Matalas worked on Season 2, also.)

For most fans, the journey of Picard had an endpoint that very clearly stuck the landing: Seeing the Next Generation crew all together, playing poker, just like in 1994’s finale episode “All Good Things...” That said, it seems that there was one other ending in mind for Season 3, one which Sir Patrick Stewart himself suggested. And, within this alternate ending, it seems possible that one discarded character could have made a big comeback.

On October 3, 2023, Patrick Stewart’s memoir, Making It So , will hit bookstores everywhere. And, ahead of that publication, Time published an excerpt specifically about Picard Season 3, and Stewart’s original conception of how the final episode would actually end.

Picard Season 3 alternate ending

Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard on his vineyard.

According to Stewart, writing in his memoir , here’s how this alternate scene would have played out:

It is dusk at Jean-Luc’s vineyard. His back is to us as he takes in the view, his dog at his side. Then, off-screen, a woman’s loving voice is heard: “Jean-Luc? Supper’s ready!”

Is it Beverly Crusher’s voice? Laris’s? Someone we don’t know? It isn’t made clear. But Sunny [Stewart’s real-life wife] was set to record the lines. Heeding his wife’s call, Jean-Luc turns around, says to his dog, “C’mon, boy,” and heads inside. Dusk fades to night, and Picard fades into history.

For fans of the series Picard, the newer characters introduced in Season 1 and Season 2, were all eventually excised from the core storyline of the series, that is all except Raffi (Michelle Hurd) who played an integral part in the Season 3 storyline. And although Laris (Orla Brady) appeared in the first episode of Season 3, “The Next Generation,” we didn’t see her at all for the rest of the season. So, on some level, this alternate ending, maybe, could have saved the Laris storyline.

The saga of Laris

Patrick Stewart and Orla Brady as Picard and Laris.

Introduced in Season 1, Orla Brady’s feisty portrayal of Laris — basically Picard’s Romulan bodyguard — instantly connected with fans. In 2022, Brady told Inverse that she believed it was the fans' belief in her that gave her an expanded role for Season 2. However, in most of Season 2, Brady didn’t appear as Laris, but rather, as Tallinn, an ancestor of Laris who lived in secret on 21st-century Earth. In the new commentary on the Blu-ray for Picard Season 3 , showrunner Terry Matalas noted that he wished that Tallinn had been Laris, and not the other way around.

So, even within the Picard circles, there was regret that Laris didn’t appear more in both Season 2 and Season 3. Obviously, Stewart’s assertion about keeping Picard’s wife vague could mean that this alternate ending might not have been Laris. But, the ending of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3 certainly indicated that Laris was the person that Jean-Luc was settling down with.

According to Stewart, this ending was never shot, mostly because the production team ran out of time, and it was later determined to go in a different direction. Stewart has gone on record many times saying he did eventually did prefer the ending we got. And yet. Considering everything that Seasons 2 and 3 had set up, it seems that even as a bonus post-credits scene, it would have been great to get a hint that Laris was still around.

Should the rumored Picard sequel series — Star Trek: Legacy — actually happen at some point, it seems like bringing back Laris is a no-brainer. And, even if she doesn’t end up romantically attached to Jean-Luc Picard, this unique Trek character deserves more adventures in the final frontier.

Picard Season 3 is out on Blu-ray and streams on Paramount+. Making It So is out on October 3, 2023.

This article was originally published on Sep. 29, 2023

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