Star Trek: Picard should end with a final appearance from Q

Star Trek: Picard should bring John de Lancie as Q to usher in the series finale.

Regardless of whether or not you like Star Trek: Picard, it’s fair to say many think the show shouldn’t go much beyond a third season. Patrick Stewart is days from his 80th birthday and planning a long-term series around a man in his 80’s isn’t exactly the smartest move. Stewart has had a distinguished career and has made fans of Star Trek, X-Men, and American Dad appreciate his grand talents for literal decades. He’s done it all as an actor and especially in Star Trek. The only thing left for him to do it feels like is to appear on The Orville. This is all to say he’s earned the right to go out with a great ending. Stewart has done more than enough to deserve a proper ending. How should the series and character end? With John de Lancie’s final appearance as Q.

Q is as pivotal to Star Trek as Picard is, after all, Q was the first-ever villain introduced for Star Trek: The Next Generation. He’s so interwoven into Picard’s tale that you can’t end Picard’s adventure without bringing to a conclusion de Lancie’s Q.

Imagine the series ending, Picard looking out through a porthole somewhere on the deck of the Enterprise-F (or G, or H) as Q beams in. Q could taunt his old nemesis, mocking him for his aging and inability to survive the greatest challenge of all; life. After some light banter, it’ll dawn on Picard why Q is there. Not to say goodbye to Picard, but to welcome him to an eternity of exploration as a member of the Q-Continuum.

Picard could scoff, “Even you can’t pull off that kind of move.”

To which Q could saunter and exclaim, “Jean-Luc, I’m insulted. I can do anything.”

The final shot could be of Will Riker, Beverly Crusher or even Wesley Crusher walking into to retrieve Picard for some reason, only to find his quarters empty, save for a lone note.

The idea behind is to write off Picard, Stewart, de Lancie, and Q all at once. Their run on Next Generation was as poetic as it was entertaining. They deserve to have a conclusive ending, one that writes them off forever into a legendary finale. This could be achieved rather well by Q essentially revealing to Picard that this whole time Q was actually here conducting a long-form tryout of sorts. A tryout to see if Picard was the kind of being that could join the Continuum.

A final note to end what should be Stewart and de Lancie’s tenure in the universe. A little look into how the mysterious Continuum works and a truly amazing way to end the run of one of the greatest Starfleet captains ever.