John de Lancie wasn’t happy about Q dying on Star Trek: Picard

John de Lancie played the immortal Q since the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Q’s immortality came into question during the second season of Star Trek: Picard when it was revealed that he was dying. That had fans asking how that could happen. John de Lancie, though not happy about Q dying, had more of an issue with how the death happened. Being that this is Star Trek, he thought, according to in interview he gave ScreenRant, that the immortal being’s death should have been delved into more.

de Lancie told Terry Matalas, the showrunner for Picard, that the issue of Q’s death didn’t sit well with him as he felt the audience would be asking how could an immortal being die. So he thought they should have dug deeper and potentially covered what had caused Q’s death because there was a disconnect between what was happening and how it could happen.

The questions John de Lancie had about Q were never answered on Star Trek: Picard

de Lancie was right in that fans did have questions. I was one of those fans. The reasons behind Q’s death were brushed over, and it was just accepted that it was going to happen. We, as fans, were supposed to accept it anyway. It never made sense to me. Perhaps, if the series had explained that Q had, once again, lost his powers or even was going to lose his powers in the future because of the Continuum. it would have worked better.

And just when we had to accept that Q had passed on, he returns in the final episode of the final season of Picard to torment Admiral Picard’s son, Jack Crusher, with the promise of more to come. Matalas had already told de Lancie at the end of season two that he’d figured out a way to bring the character back, but there was really no figuring needed. As Q’s death wasn’t explained, there was no need for an explanation of his reappearance, and the issue was simply glossed over in the short scene de Lancie had with Ed Speleers.

This was one of the only issues I had with the ending of Picard. I wish there had been more explanation about the character’s return and if he’d actually died or simply gone to another plane of existence and talked his way into a return. Perhaps, if we ever get the Star Trek: Legacy series, we’ll learn more.