The Picard finale was a great affair, but it could have been even bigger! Here's some of the cooler ideas that didn't make it in!
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3
Star Trek: Picard had a rough go in its first two seasons. Having Patrick Stewart back as Jean-Luc Picard was a great idea, with Star Trek fans excited to see the return of the iconic captain.
However, the first two seasons were muddled. Seeing a broken Picard looking old as he faced a Romulan plot was hampered by a confusing storyline and a lack of engaging side characters. Season 2 had the return of Q, yet it also suffered with a time travel plotline and a rushed finale.
Season 3, however, was what Star Trek fans had always wanted: A full-on reunion of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast on a grand adventure. It was everything fans could hope for, from the action to the character arcs, and it wrapped it all up nicely. As it turned out, the finale could have even more crowd-pleasing moments for the fandom!
A quick Season 3 recap
First, a quick recap of Picard season 3: After getting a distress call from his former love, Beverly Crusher (Gates McGadden), Picard goes searching for her. He enlists Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) as he encounters Jack (Ed Speelers), the son of Picard and Beverly.
The convoluted story soon pulls in the rest of the TNG crew: Worf (Michael Dorn), Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) and even manages to rebuild and resurrect Data (Brent Spinner). They also team with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) as they board the U.S.S. Titan commanded by Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick).
The crew soon uncovers a conspiracy of the Changelings to infiltrate the Federation, seemingly to strike back for the end of the Dominion and nearly being wiped out. That includes the death of Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) and Tuvok (Tim Russ) replaced by a Changeling.
The crew soon uncovers the more horrifying truth: The Changelings are working with the Borg, spreading a virus through the transporters of Starfleet to affect those under a certain age. At a signal during a Federation event, every Federation officer under the age of 30 is instantly turned into a Borg drone and leads a full-scale attack on the Federation, with Jack captured by the Borg Queen.
Luckily, the crew has a major ace up their sleeve: the old Enterprise-D, which Geordi has secretly been rebuilding for decades. They use it to attack the Borg vessel, destroying it and the Queen, ending the Borg threat once and for all.
The aftermath takes place a year later, with Seven, now captain of the newly rechristened Enterprise-A, and Jack and Raffi in her crew, while the TNG gang is seen playing a last poker game.
One would think that would have been more than enough of a finale, but there were a lot more crowd-pleasing moments planned!
What would have been in the Picard finale?
First, one wild idea came from Armin Shimerman, saying Michael Dorn wanted him to cameo as a Ferengi (not Quark), who Worf would go to for information only to behead. Maybe we were lucky to avoid that.
The other details on the finale come from an interview showrunner Terry Matalas conducted with Movieweb where he shared some great ideas and appearances they couldn't work in:
- Ro would have been discovered to still be alive in the dungeons of the ship Intrepid along with Tuvok and others captured by the Changelings.
- Among the various Starfleet personnel at Founder's Day would have been Harry Kim, now a captain.
- Likewise, Kathryn Janeway would have been there to see Seven promoted to Captain but the producers held back for worries it would interfere with Janeway's appearance in the Prodigy series.
- Patrick Steart's autobiography revealed he wanted the final scene to be Picard at his villa, enjoying a quiet life before heading into his house.
There are some deleted scenes on the Blu-Ray that include Crusher and Picard talking about Jack, with Crusher admitting she held onto him because of how Wesley left to become a cosmic being, as well as Worf finally revealing to Riker what pushed him to a pacifist life.
Matalas said a key reason for these cameos and ideas not coming to be was the budget needed to recreate the Enterprise-D set, with the line producer saying, "Are you out of your f*****g mind with these things? You're not Avengers: Endgame.' So, they had to go."
It's a bit of a shame we didn't get these moments to make the Picard finale even sweeter, although what we got was still a blast for TNG fans!
Star Trek: Picard streaming on Paramount+.