by Iain Robertson

*Contains spoilers for episodes 1-9*

To coin a phrase, it’s been a long road, getting from there to here. After seven seasons and 178 episodes of The Next Generation, four movies, two previous seasons of Picard (one decent, one best forgotten) and over 35 years, the story of Jean-Luc Picard – the galaxy’s least French-sounding Frenchman – and crew finally reaches its conclusion.

While the Original Series crew had The Undiscovered Country, allowing them one last adventure together before flying off into the sunset, Picard and co. had so far been denied that. After finishing the series on a high with 1994’s All Good Things, they returned for four movies of variable quality, finishing with 2002’s underwhelming Nemesis. It was an ignoble end for arguably the most popular of Trek’s assorted crews. For nearly 20 years, it looked like the Next Generation would go out with a whimper, rather than the rousing finale granted their predecessors.

When Star Trek: Picard was first announced, it was a chance for a redemption of sorts. Sure, we were told that it was a sequel to, not a continuation of, The Next Generation, there was an all-new cast, and that Patrick Stewart wasn’t interested in a reunion just for the sake of a reunion.

Cut to a few years later, and we get either season three of Picard or – if you prefer – Season Eight of TNG since that’s what it’s essentially morphed into. And it’s been glorious. Like The Undiscovered Country before it, this is a series that acknowledges the passage of time and how the years have changed these characters. Picard and Beverly, after years of will-they-or-won’t-they, finally did, and then she not only ghosted him for 20 years, but she gave the formerly child-averse captain a son. Riker and Troi are a long-married couple, with all the complications that brings. Worf is finally at peace with himself (although still, fortunately, a fan dismembering people with cool-looking swords). The once hopeless with women LaForge is married with two daughters. And as for Data, well, he’s finally got what he always wanted – humanity, of a sort – even though he had to die for 20 years to achieve it.

It feels like a natural conclusion to these characters’ journeys, and one that it would be impossible to tell without the passage of time which has allowed them to reach here believably. The actors have obviously relished playing the growth they’ve been afforded, with Jonathan Frakes, in particular, a revelation. His portrayal of Riker is a career-best, the kind of performance that – if they didn’t routinely ignore Trek – would likely see him in contention for an Emmy.

For those of us that have been on this journey with them, this season has been an emotional rollercoaster: from the sheer joy of seeing these characters again (some of whom we’ve not seen in 20 years) to various reunions, Picard’s confrontations both angry and otherwise with both Riker and Crusher and especially the greatest reunion of all – the return of the Enterprise-D. Showrunner Terry Matalas is as much a fan of this era of Trek as anybody and knows how to use nostalgia to maximum effect. He’s occasionally been a bit heavy-handed with it (did we really need to know that Kirk’s body was recovered and kept in cold storage?), but for the most part, the decisions have been spot-on. Whether it’s the clever deployment of fan-favourite characters such as Ro Laren and Tuvok (by the way, look for a great voice cameo at the beginning of this episode) or the OMG moments when he’ll casually throw in the Enterprise-A or Voyager, this season’s been a gift to fans.

That’s not to say there aren’t minor quibbles (not to mention Attack Tribbles – sorry, we couldn’t resist). Occasional plot details don’t quite hold up to scrutiny – like the stupid idea of assembling the whole of Starfleet in one place (which is just asking for trouble) or Geordi recovering and restoring one of Starfleet’s most famous starships (which last time we saw it, lest we forget, was the dictionary definition of ‘insurance write-off’) without anyone, including its former captain knowing. But like the best Trek movies – when it’s this entertaining, you get so swept up in it that you can forgive the occasional slight lapse in logic. Likewise, Crusher aside, the three main female characters – Troi, 7 of 9, and Raffi feel a bit underused, and Amanda Plummer’s villain, Vadic – great performance aside – never feels like a fully-developed character (unlike Todd Stashwick’s Captain Shaw, the greatest new Trek character in ages).

So, we come to the finale. The Borg have returned and – through complicated plot machinations involving Picard’s corpse, Jack, a group of pissed-off Changelings, and transporters, have assimilated every young Starfleet officer (bloody Millennials), now control the fleet and are poised to destroy Earth. And the only thing standing in their way are Picard and co. on the resurrected Enterprise-D. Obviously, the Borg don’t stand a chance.

While the return of the Borg was somewhat predictable (seriously, did anyone not guess that it was them behind everything?) it’s fitting that they show up for the end of Picard’s story. With the possible exception of Q (who showed up last season), they’re Picard’s ultimate nemesis – and one whose abduction still haunts him over 30 years later. And while they still lack the menace of their early appearances (blame Voyager for overusing them, not to mention them showing up in various guises throughout the first two seasons of Picard), this is the best they’ve been used since First Contact. It’s great to have Alice Krige back as the Borg Queen (her voice, anyway, it’s not her in the costume). The traditional Borg scenes, though, are the weakest parts of the episode. Their newer incarnations onboard the Titan – where 7 and Raffi are desperately trying to retake the ship – are scarier: a combination of their evolution and that the Borg are formerly characters we’d come to know throughout the season.

Among all the Federation-threatening terror being unleashed, the episode still finds time for what this season has done best – finding great moments between characters. Whether it’s Riker exchanging quips with Worf while fighting the Borg, or sharing meaningful looks with Troi; a fantastic moment between Troi and Data at a particularly perilous point; or the whole of an extended epilogue, the episode – as with the show itself – never forgets that first and foremost, we’re here to watch these characters. We’ve shared their lives since the late ‘80s, and whatever adventure they’re on, ultimately, we’re here to see them.

But as one journey ends, another begins. Terry Matalas has been open in his desire to produce a sequel series, provisionally titled Star Trek: Legacy, following the continuing journey of some of the cast from this season, as well as other characters from ‘80s and ‘90s Trek. This season and this episode, in particular, are designed as a backdoor pilot of sorts (which hopefully will be more successful than when Gene Roddenberry tried to do the same thing back on The Original Series’ Assignment: Earth). And the setup here – particularly in a mid-credits scene – is so blatant it’s like he’s almost daring Paramount not to give him a show. Let’s hope they do, as it’s a tantalising prospect (much more so than the already-announced Starfleet Academy show and Section 31 movie) and on the evidence here, he’s more than capable of delivering. After all, he’s just given us the best season of Trek in over 20 years.

Finally, then, we come to the man at the centre of it all – Picard himself, Patrick Stewart. In all likelihood, this is his Trek swansong. He’s expressed a desire to do another Next Generation movie, but barring that unlikely possibility, this is probably it. Let’s not beat about the bush here, he’s the best actor to ever appear on Trek, let alone lead not one, but two series, and we’ve been extremely lucky to have both him and Jean-Luc Picard – one of Trek’s greatest characters – all these years. And regardless of what you think of Picard’s first couple of seasons, having him back has been a gift. To him, the cast, Terry Matalas, and everyone else involved in bringing us this season, thank you for making it so.

Star Trek: Picard streams on Prime Video.