NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard season 3 episode 10, "The Last Generation"
Though Star Trek: Picard came to an end with the April 20 series finale, it actually looks like this is just the beginning for the newly christened U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-G (formerly the U.S.S. Titan).
There's a lot to unpack from the series finale, so let's jump into it.
How does the Enterprise-D crew save the galaxy?
At the end of episode 9, the Borg Queen's ultimate plan of revenge was revealed. The Changelings and the Borg had been working together to add a hidden pattern in transporters that could connect all young people to the Collective.
Using a signal to all of the ships in the fleet, the Queen could use Starfleet's new ship-link technology to put the entire fleet at her disposal. No more Borg assimilation, this was about evolution. Her goal was to destroy the space station that protected earth and then launch an attack. Once that was done, the Borg could control the galaxy. Jack (Ed Speleers) was the "voice" of the signal, so the only way to disconnect the signal was to disconnect Jack and destroy the ship.
Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the original Star Trek: The Next Generation crew — Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Worf (Michael Dorn), Data (Brent Spiner) and Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) — are on the Enterprise-D, the only ship not connected with the rest of the fleet because of its antiquated technology.
Picard, Riker and Worf beam aboard the Borg cube to find Jack and the source of the signal, but soon it looks like once the signal is disconnected, the ship will explode and they'll all die. Picard plugs into the Borg hive to get a message to Jack. Meanwhile, the young crew members aboard the rest of the ships in the fleet are killing anyone who hasn't been assimilated, and the space station eventually falls.
Just when it looks like the end is nigh, the Enterprise-D team manages to blow up the source of the signal thanks to Data's fancy flying. Troi locates the away team and off they fly, escaping the Borg ship just in time. As soon as the signal stops, the young crew members return to normal and the fleet stands down.
How does the Star Trek: Picard finale tease a spinoff?
After Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the Enterprise-D save the galaxy once again, all is well in the universe. The crew meet at Ten Forward and play a game of poker, the way they did back in the good old days.
Raffi (Michelle Hurd) has been promoted to First Officer on board the Enterprise-G, with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) as the new captain and Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) as an ensign and the captain's special counselor. Sidney LaForge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) is still at the helm, too.
It would have been possible to bring the show to an end after revealing that everyone has a happy ending, but that would have been too easy. Instead, the show leaves the door open — and by "open" we mean the finale blew the door off the hinges so there’s no closing it now — for more.
Every Star Trek captain has a catchphrase. From "engage" and "make it so" to "punch it," it has become a tradition among captains, especially new captains. Toward the end of the episode, Raffi reminds Seven that there's a very long history of every captain's first official act of command. "Writing the opening line to your legacy," Jack adds, adding pressure. The bridge eagerly awaits Seven's catchphrase, but the scene cuts away before she can say it.
But that's not all. In a mid-credits scene, Q (John de Lancie) shows up. Evidently Q didn't die in Picard season 2; the powerful being decries the inability of humans to think beyond the confines of linear time. Q informs Jack that while his father’s trial has ended, Jack’s trial has just begun.
All this signals a grand new adventure. After all, Star Trek: The Next Generation began and ended with Q, so it's only fitting that he is there at the end of Picard to kick off something wholly new that features the "new" ship and the "new" crew.
It's even more promising knowing that the Enterprise-D is intact and waiting for an adventure, and so too are the members of the crew. After reuniting in Picard season 3, the TNG cast seems all too willing to return to the fold and a potential new show featuring the Enterprise-G crew battling Q is the perfect way to integrate them into the story.
With his many powers, it's entirely possible for Q to snap his immortal fingers and manifest any member of the TNG crew anywhere he pleases, which is a fantastically brilliant tool when it comes to telling stories. Q can send anyone backwards or forwards in time, and he can also summon anyone from anywhere — alive or dead.
Furthermore, we'll go out on a limb here and mention the one key absence from season 3: Jack's half brother, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who made a brief cameo in season 2. Wesley became a mystical Traveler and hasn't been seen or heard from since he left three decades prior, so it would be very fitting to have Wesley arrive to help his brother combat Q’s merry mayhem.
We don't know what the future holds for the crew of the Enterprise-G, but it's safe to say that Paramount Plus and showrunner Terry Matalas have something planned. Matalas told Entertainment Weekly after the finale aired that "Jack’s got a lot to do, let me tell you." So it looks like the continuing mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise will continue.
You can watch the entire Star Trek: Picard series right now on Paramount Plus.
