2. 'Farewell' (Picard)
“Farewell” closes out Picard’s second season with a string of emotional grace notes that make it an unexpectedly rich holiday pick. At its center is Picard’s long-delayed reckoning with his childhood trauma and his ability to let himself be loved, framed against the backdrop of saving the timeline.
The heart of the hour is Picard’s final goodbye to Q. Instead of another adversarial showdown, Q reveals that this entire trial has been an act of twisted, but very real, care; he wanted his friend to learn to forgive himself before it was too late.
For those fans invested in their relationship over the years, seeing Q touch Picard's face was enough to warm the hearts of those watching. However, Q takes the emotional moment even further and says, "You matter to me. Even gods have favorites, Jean-Luc, and you've always been one of mine."
Picard then reciprocates as the friends prepare to part ways at the end. Q tells Jean-Luc it's time for him to go, and the former captain of Enterprise says with a smile, "But not alone. Isn't that the point of all this?" Picard then emotionally embraces his friend, and the tears well up in Q's eyes. At long last, both realize just how important they each were to one another.
Their tender parting, transforms decades of antagonism into a story about being seen and loved at your most broken, which is exactly the sort of emotional catharsis that lands hard during the holidays.