star trek picard season 2 finale review

The 'Star Trek: Picard' Season 2 finale will leave you feeling somewhat shortchanged

It's mostly exactly what was expected, but there was one twist that no one saw coming

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Star Trek: Picard" season 2, episode 10

Here we are then. After nine weeks, this particular journey is at an end and the second season of " Star Trek: Picard " draws to a close. We spoke last week of how it had been confirmed that the third and final season of "Star Trek: Picard" on Paramount Plus was not a continuation of the events unfolding before us now and consequently that left quite a lot to be wrapped up.

Sadly, most of the story threads concluded in a manner that was exactly what we were expecting, with one small surprise however, that we can guarantee no one saw coming. All things considered though, it's still so much better than the first season finale. You can check out our Star Trek streaming guide to catch up on "Star Trek: Picard" for the finale and be ready for season three. Now, on to the episode.

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Following the somewhat lengthy recap that covers the events of the whole of the season, we're right back where we left off last week, with our peppy band of timeline polluters at Château Picard pondering their next move after Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill), who is now more or less fully integrated with the Borg Queen, stole La Sirena and took off, leaving everyone else stranded in La Barre, eastern France, in 2024. But not for long. 

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After a super-speedy conference, they beam back to Tallinn's (Orla Brady) apartment, grab some gear and she and Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart) then beam to the launch site of the Europa mission to prevent the presumed attack on astronaut Renée Picard (Penelope Mitchell). 

This sets up one of the plot threads that we fully anticipate to be tied up, that of the relationship between Jean-Luc and Tallinn-lookalike Laris (also Orla Brady). Since the two are identical in both appearance and attitude, Jean-Luc can resolve his issues with former and transfer his feelings over to the latter with relative ease, which he does. ✓

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), Raffi (Michelle Hurd) and Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) are able to track Jurati's movements from before she stole La Sirena and they beam to Dr. Adam Soong's ( Brent Spiner ) home, expecting to find him there, except he's at the Europa launch site. Uh oh. Instead however, they find his "plan B" for preventing the launch, which is basically a drone attack. And thus begins one of the weakest story elements in this season finale. It also conveniently provides a ticking clock for the Renée Picard sub-plot.

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That's handled by Tallinn and she enters the astronaut building in a stolen uniform and is forced to confront Renée directly. It also fulfills the cryptic prophecy that the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) foretold when she said, "There must be two Renées." And in all fairness, it's not handled too badly. Soong is at the site and getting into a tantrum about not being allowed into the complex despite being a very generous donor to ... the mission? Exactly what, or who, Soong has been making generous donations to, is glossed over. Nevertheless, he's eventually able to catch up with Renée and poisons her by way of a rather nice, peel-away skin graft-of-sorts from his hand that contains a powerful neurotoxin, which he was able to transmit when he shook her hand.

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Except of course it isn't Renée, it's Tallinn, who has expanded the operational area of her ear-camouflaging, holographic cloaking device to now encompass her whole face ... and thus she's able to deceive Soong. Oh, yeah, and the drones have been destroyed, so you know, phew .

The pacing is good throughout and the dialogue is actually very good, in particular between Renée and Tallinn, then between Jean-Luc and the dying Romulan. So far however, there have been no real surprises. The mission launches and, to all intents and purposes, is a success and the authoritarian future has been prevented. As a final gesture of general loathing, all of Soong's work is deleted by Kore (Isa Briones) who hacks in remotely. Watching the launch on television and seething with anger, he gulps down a whiskey and reaches into a drawer, pulling out a file labeled "Project Khan" and dated 1996.

This is of course a direct reference to Khan Noonien Singh, played magnificently by Ricardo Montalbán, first in "The Original Series" episode "Space Seed" (S01, E24) and then again in " Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan " — arguably the greatest movie ever made. (The less said about "Star Trek Into Darkness" the better.) Khan was genetically engineered "augment" and former ruler of more than one-quarter of Earth, from Asia to the Middle East.

In " Star Trek " history however, the augment tyrants began warring among themselves in the mid-1990s. Other nations joined in, to force them from power, in a series of struggles that became known as the Eugenics Wars. Much of this story was exceptionally well told in the vastly underrated "Enterprise" Season 4 three-part augments story arc. 

Eventually, most of these "super humans" were defeated and their territory recaptured, but approximately 90 were never accounted for. Turns out they escaped and stole a DY-100-class interplanetary sleeper ship that Khan named the SS Botany Bay. Set on a course outbound from the solar system , but with no destination in mind, Khan and his people remained in suspended animation until they were discovered in deep space by Captain Kirk some 270 years later.

And it becomes clear that this is less of a throwback to "Enterprise" and more of a set up for " Strange New Worlds ," since it's been decided that one of the USS Enterprise bridge crewmembers is Khan's daughter, La'an Noonien-Singh, played by Christina Chong. Quite how this will be incorporated into the fabric of space and time remains to be seen. Or perhaps it won't be.

Then comes the biggest twist, by far. Kore has been sitting in a library while she hacks in and mercilessly deletes all of her father's work. Having completed her task and exacted her revenge, she collects her stuff, packs it into her bag and casually makes her way outside into the late afternoon sunshine where she's greeted by ... of all peopl ... Wesley Crusher.

And why not. It's great to see Wil Wheaton capitalizing on some Paramount-paid "TNG" nostalgia, why should all everyone else have all the cash fun?

So, here's what we know. In "The Next Generation" episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" (S01, E06) experimental engine modifications throw the Enterprise to the edge of the known universe. A mysterious alien, known as the Traveler from another plane of existence, is making his way through our galaxy, peacefully observing all lifeforms. By disguising himself as a human, he is able to get passage on different starships and in this instance, onboard the USS Enterprise. During this escapade, the Traveler and Wesley become good friends.

Seven years later, cadet Crusher resigns from Starfleet Academy after the Traveler — this time posing as a villager on Dorvan V — accompanies him through a vision of his deceased father who tells him that his destiny lies somewhere other than with Starfleet and that he should not follow in his footsteps in "The Next Generation" episode "Journey's End" (S07, E02). (By the way, here's our take on the best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes ever.)

The Traveler promises to mentor Wesley as he begins his journey to another plane of existence. That said, Wesley attends the marriage of William Riker and Deanna Troi in "Star Trek: Nemesis" in a lieutenant junior grade dress uniform in 2379, suggesting that he had in fact become a Starfleet officer at some point. Regardless of how "Star Trek" canon chooses to interpret all of this, Wesley approaches Kore and explains how he can guide her. Turns out, the Travelers are the ones behind the Supervisors. "My colleagues and I, we dispatch those we call supervisors to help ensure the proper flow of time," says Wes. 

"Two paths are before you. The first one leads to a perfectly normal life. The second ... that path leads to everything else. And it offers a chance to give your life purpose and meaning," he continues and it works because without any real hesitation, she joins him. And we won't see Isa Briones in Season 3 because she posted on Instagram that her involvement with "Picard" at least, was at an end.

 Back at Château Picard, Seven and Raffi finally get their act together, share their feelings for each other and kiss, so we can check that box now too. ✓ But then we get to the very best part of this episode, the final exchange between Q (John de Lancie) and Jean-Luc. It's beautifully written, nicely explains the events of the last 10 episodes without spoonfuls of exposition and the performances, from de Lancie in particular, are outstanding.

As we eventually discover — and we'll come to shortly — the Borg were facing an extinction level event and so called for Jean-Luc. But, as we saw in the very first episode of this second season " The Star Gazer ," Jean-Luc tried to activate the self destruct on the USS Stargazer, but the Borg Queen was already Agnes Jurati — because of time loops and stuff like that. Behind the scenes, Q does his Thanos thing and all key member of the cast are unwittingly transported to an alt-history timeline. This is crucial so they can pick up the actual Borg Queen who a) helps La Sirena Six navigate back to 2024 but also b) has to be present so Jurati can merge with her and fulfill that pesky time loop.

The importance placed on the Europa mission is, in essence, to prevent Dr. Soong from offering his solution to the world's problems and thus creating the authoritarian state. We learn later that "they found a way to heal the ocean and clean the sky using an alien organism that Renée discovered during the Europa Mission." What a very handy organism indeed.

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A second chance at all of this was Q's parting gift to Jean-Luc before he died. So it's not quite like Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "Tapestry" (S06, E15) or "All Good Things" (S07, E25 & 26) in that they were more like glimpses of alternative outcomes. This is a full on chance to change the future, by not destroying the USS Stargazer, saving the galaxy one more time and even establishing a line of communication to the Borg — in fact, changing the Borg forever. Perhaps this was all meant to happen and Q ensures it does. Perhaps he should've worked in cooperation with the Travelers.

The important thing is that this effectively delivered in the best way possible. Q doesn't explain his roadmap — although it's arguable if he'd done that, then he and Jean-Luc wouldn't have had to exchange blows in the vineyard. But we're given enough for both of us — the viewers and Jean-Luc to work out for ourselves. It's even been speculated on social media that perhaps this All New & Improved Borg could be the ones who find and repair V'ger.

Nerd Note: According to Memory Alpha , La Sirena (a Kaplan F17 Speed Freighter) was "slower, but more maneuverable, than a 23rd century Romulan Bird-of-Prey." We saw in "Star Trek IV" The Voyage Home" the captured Bird of Prey, referred to as HMS Bounty reach warp 9.3 before beginning to shake apart. So, would Queen Agnes have reached the Borg in the Delta Quadrant in under 377 years? Taking USS Voyager's projected journey time back to the Alpha Quadrant of 23 years, give or take (at warp 9.975) then yes. The events of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" take place in 2270, so that leaves, very roughly, 246 years for Voyager 6 to fall into a black hole and "emerge on the far side of the galaxy" and into the "machine planet's gravitational field." So, yeah…it's entirely plausible.

Still at Château Picard, Rios declares he's staying ✓ and Q says his final farewell, which is all rather emotional, and as we've mentioned, is in considerable contrast to how he was behaving at the beginning of the season. Then we're whisked away back to the bridge of the USS Stargazer just moments before the self destruct completed its countdown. Jean-Luc cancels the order and Queen Agnes reveals herself.

Only now do we discover what this was all about. Apparently, it's a "galactic event" presumably like a gamma ray burst, or possibly a supernova. These things happen, we fully understand that. Or at least gamma ray bursts and supernovas happen, the jury's still out on triquantum waves. And it would be OK, even a novelty, if this hadn't been an integral part of the last two seasons of "Star Trek: Discovery." But here's the thing, Aaron J. Waltke, Executive Producer on "Star Trek" Prodigy" tweeted after the finale had aired, "Boy oh boy, there are things I wish I could show you about the upcoming seasons of #StarTrekProdigy today, of all days."

And in fact, Seven says, "I believe we have just witnessed the creation of a transwarp conduit, but unlike any I've ever seen before." 

"But…created by who?" Asks a puzzled Jean-Luc. "Even with our collective knowledge, that answer remains elusive," Queen Agnes responds, with little sign of any emotion. "But you know more…" Jean-Luc insists. "What you see is a piece of the puzzle whose final image is unclear, but is tied to a threat. One which requires close observation. We request provisional membership in the Federation so that we may remain here, a guardian at the gates," Queen Agnes replies, this time perhaps showing the smallest of signs of the former doctor's personality.

Nerd Note: Jean-Luc can't hear the Borg anymore (as he used to be able to following his assimilation) after getting his new synthetic body replacement at the end of last season, so instead he relies on Seven when he needs to.

Put all that together and what we have is an inadequate, unsatisfying ending to "Picard" Season 2, but one that now deliberately links to events in the animated "Star Trek" spin-off show that's aimed primarily at children; perfect if you watch "Prodigy," less so if you don't.

Once this is all solved, the Borg harmonize the fleet's shields with their own and massive spike in neutrino emissions focused on the center of the quadrant have been diverted, it's basically a matter of closure. Queen Agnes, who seems to have taken some fashion advice from David Warner's character in "Time Bandits," goes back to the Borg fleet and the impressive gathering of Federation starships, complete with Elnor, makes it's way back to Sector 001.

We learn from Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) that Teresa eventually died of old age and Rios slightly younger, in a Moroccan bar fight, over medical supplies. Thus the single best new character given to us from this spin-off show will no longer appear in any more. And the very last, very predictable event is that Jean-Luc tells Laris how he really feels about her. ✓

All in all, it's a very mixed bag. Still, it's better than the first season and perhaps this will fare better upon a more condensed rewatch. Without any doubt, Q's dialogue and performance was the highlight, even if it was in stark contrast to his earlier behavior. Plus questions remain unanswered, as they tend to do when you muck about with the timeline. What happened to former FBI Agent Wells (Jay Karnes) for instance? Was he eradicated when Q did his Thanos thing?

Rating: A very generous 6/10

The entire second season of "Star Trek: Picard" is now available to watch on Paramount Plus as is the first episode of "Strange New Worlds." Season 4 of "Star Trek: Discovery" is also available to watch now on Paramount Plus in the US and CTV Sci-Fi or Crave TV in Canada. Countries outside of North America can watch on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel.

Paramount has confirmed that its streaming platform will launch in the UK and Ireland on June 22, available both as a standalone service and as part of the Sky Cinema subscription for the UK cable provider.

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When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.

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Den of Geek

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Episode 10 Review – Farewell

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 ends as it lived: Frustrating, occasionally nonsensical, and buoyed by a great cast.

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The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Episode 10

Star Trek: Picard wraps up its second season with a finale that is as uneven and frustrating as many of the episodes that have preceded it. From its rushed final mystery to the literal deus ex machina that sends Picard and friends back to the future, there’s a determined air of tying up loose ends for most of the hour, but little in the way of true emotional payoff (or even basic explanation) for the bulk of what we’ve seen this season. 

The manufactured “Two Renees” mystery is solved almost as quickly as it was invented last week and ends with Tallinn sacrificing her life while wearing another woman’s face so that Soong can kill her, even as the real Renee happily blasts off into the stars. A noble sacrifice to be sure, but one that feels as much as though it’s about allowing someone who looks like Laris to die in Picard’s arms as it is about Tallinn and Renee’s relationship. (Though the scene between the two women is actually surprisingly moving and well done.)  

Q returns, just in time to explain everything to Picard and use the last of his fading powers to snap everyone back to their own time and reveal that he did it all because he just wanted to help Jean-Luc live his best life. 

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“Must it always have galactic import, universal stakes, celestial upheaval? Isn’t one life enough?” Q laments dramatically when asked why he’s decided to do any of this. “You ask me why it matters? It matters to me. You matter to me. Even gods have favorites, Jean-Luc. And you’ve always been one of mine.”

Spoiler alert: I guess I am a monster because honestly, I laughed out loud. On paper, this sounds like it should be some wild Star Trek: The Next Generation fanfic, but as it plays out onscreen here it feels like nothing so much as an excuse. A deliberate attempt to appeal to fan nostalgia and lean on the great chemistry between Patrick Stewart and John de Lancie (which is, admittedly, incredible!) and use the intersection of both to give the mess of this season an emotional depth and meaning it has in no way earned. 

The thing is, Q and Picard have always had a disturbingly obsessive relationship with one another, so it does make a certain amount of sense that Q also seems to think that being overtly abusive and cruel is the way to convey your affection for someone. And I fully buy the complex and messy emotional strings that hang between them. (That hug! The final mon captain at the end!) But the problem is that Q’s “plan”, such as it was, is deeply stupid and full of holes. 

If it was always about forcing Picard to confront his childhood demons, why involve Renee Picard and the Europa mission at all? Why fight so hard to bring about the dark space Nazi future? Why involve Soong or free Kore? What was the point of any of this? Anyone who has spent literally five seconds with Jean-Luc—let alone stalked him for decades—would know that this was a man who was always going to put the key back in its hiding place because he believes the needs of the many (the future he is keeping in place) outweigh the needs of the few (his own psyche/childhood/dead mother). Duh?? There are four lights!! 

In the words of the great Mugatu, I feel like I am taking crazy pills. What was the point of all this? 

Part of the problem is the idea that whatever dark memories were banging around Picard’s head were so paralyzing that they crippled his life in some significant way in no way reflect his actual arc as a character. Did they keep him from being a leader? Making difficult choices or empathetic decisions? Forming real and lasting emotional bonds with others? Sympathizing with former enemies? Well, no, because he’s done all these things before. We’ve seen him. There’s a whole show about it. 

Basically, whether this season works for you or not is largely going to hinge on whether you think this extended sojourn into Picard’s childhood trauma tells us anything particularly new about the character or his story. And I’m not sure that I think it does. (I also truly cannot believe they went the entire season without ever mentioning the dead brother??) Mostly because, other than apparently now being willing to go for it, romantically speaking, with Laris, there’s not a lot of evidence that this physical and metaphorical journey truly changed him in any significant way. Do you feel like this Picard is a substantially different man than the one we saw in “ The Star Gazer” ? I don’t think that I do, and that makes me truly question what in the world all this was for. 

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I think I’d feel better about it all if Picard were more clear that this season isn’t actually about Jean-Luc at all, it’s about Agnes . She’s the one who undergoes the significant emotional journey, who has to visit the past in order to be irrevocably changed into something that can save the future, even though it means she has to take a long way round to get there and substantially alter her understanding of herself in the process. (Not to mention rip off a climactic scene from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie.)  But the show isn’t called Jurati , so they had to come up with a reason to connect her arc to Picard? That’s truly the most charitable read I can give any of this. 

Anyway, Rios decides to stay in the past because literally nothing matters when it comes to the timeline anymore, and I’m honestly relieved about it because Picard has never really known what to do with this character, and his presence this season was little more than an afterthought anyway. Elnor is alive and well because we’ve changed the future (Agnes is a Borg!) but not that much, Guinan apparently knew all along about Picard meeting her in the 21st century and couldn’t say anything, and Raffi and Seven kiss and reaffirm their relationship. (Which actually is also the first time I think they’ve kissed onscreen? Anybody?)

It looks like Adam Soong is going to follow up his genetic experiments on children by becoming involved in the creation of Human Augments (a.k.a. The project that ultimately produces Khan ). Oh, and Wesley Crusher apparently grew up to become a time-traveling Supervisor and recruits Kore to join his secret team of guardians protecting the important figures of history. I really hope this isn’t some sort of weird hint at another possible franchise spin-off because wow keep it . 

As we look ahead to Picard ’s third and final season, it’s difficult to know what we’re meant to be taking away from this series or the stories it’s trying to tell. The series’ second season was remarkably different from its first, but it ends with many of the same themes of togetherness and found family , despite the fact that most of these characters’ relationships didn’t significantly change in any way this year. (And that we’ve said goodbye to two of the main cast for good.)  Picard has a girlfriend now (maybe?) and has (apparently?) made peace with a lifetime’s worth of guilt. What that all has to do with the Next Generation crew returning next season ? Your guess is as good as mine.

2.5 out of 5

Lacy Baugher

Lacy Baugher is a digital producer by day, but a television enthusiast pretty much all the time. Her writing has been featured in Paste Magazine, Collider,…

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In Star Trek: Picard ’s season two finale, our major questions are answered within a confident episode that practices some well-worn finale trends to mostly satisfying effect.  

Having lost Agnes Jurati ( Alison Pill ) and La Sirena to the Borgified Jurati’s quest to create a new collective, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) and his crew fight the clock to prevent Adam Soong ( Brent Spiner ) from interfering with Renee Picard’s ( Penelope Mitchell ) vital mission to Europa.

Tallinn ( Orla Brady ) determines the best way to help Renee is to go to the launch site and ensure her continued survival. After all, the departing words of the Borg Queen asserted that one Renee must live and another must die. Tallinn thinks this means she will ultimately have to sacrifice her own life if it means saving Renee’s, but Picard takes issue with that assessment and ultimately follows Tallinn through her transporter to the Europa mission’s launch site.

At the site, Soong is trying to gain access to the room where Renee is waiting, alone, for launch, using his financial influence and a bit of aggressive negotiation to get his way past the mission’s organizers. Tallinn, through a bit of costume work, is successful at that goal first and comes face-to-face with Renee. This moment is a profound one for Tallinn, as she has been watching over Renee for the younger woman’s entire life, and now her watch is coming to an end if one believes Tallinn’s assertion that she will sacrifice her own life.

Tallinn spills the beans to Renee about her life being in danger and devises a simple plan to foil Soong’s plans. Predictably, Tallinn’s handy camouflage technology – the tech she uses to hide her Romulan ears as seen in “Monsters” – allows her to assume Renee’s features and adequately fool Soong. When Soong thinks he has poisoned Renee and leaves her for dead, he actually poisoned Tallinn. The dying Romulan makes her way to Picard for her final breaths as the pair watches the Europa mission take off successfully.

Not knowing that Soong would be at the launch site, Cristóbal Rios ( Santiago Cabrera), Raffaela Musiker ( Michelle Hurd ) and Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan )beam to Soong’s office to try and stop him. He isn’t there, but his backup plan is: a series of explosive drones that are programmed to intercept and stop the launching rocket. Thanks to some ingenuity by Raffi and expert piloting skills by Rios, the drones are stopped.

Our major complaint about this episode is that this little side quest is as cut-and-dry as it sounds.  Honestly, this episode could have gone without this drone complication, as it just seems like a way to find something for the aforementioned trio to do while more important things are happening elsewhere, and we must ask what does it add to the episode? A chance for Rios to show off his unrealistically adroit drone piloting skills? To put it another way, nothing of consequence would change if this sequence was removed from the episode.

“Absolve yourself. Or the only life left unsaved will be your own.” A dying Tallinn to Picard

In any case, the entire crew (sans Tallinn) reunite back at Chateau Picard, safe in the knowledge that their mission to ensure the launch of the Europa mission was successful – but also knowing they are stuck in 2024. In a profound moment for Picard, he places the skeleton key, the one he found during the battle for the Picard estate, back to the place where young Picard ultimately finds it and uses it to unlock the door to his mother’s room. Consider this: in this moment, the elder Picard has the option to try and prevent that horrible loss of life from happening – perhaps by hiding the key somewhere else and thus changing the course of history – but he resolves himself and chooses to let history run its course. What a brave and selfless act.

This act does raise some questions, however. Picard indeed returns the key to the place he found it the night his mother took her life. But earlier in the season, Picard noted how that skeleton key migrated all around the house when he was growing up, so the reasoning for placing the key where he did loses a bit of rationality. It isn’t guaranteed the key will be behind that brick when that fateful night comes. In any case, the symbolism is there.

As this is such an important moment for Picard, we wish this scene played out a bit more. As it is, we see Picard reflect only briefly on the momentous act of returning the key. Alas, the moment comes and goes, but this isn’t even the most important scene to play out in the chateau, as Picard finds Q waiting for him in the observatory. How or when Q got there is anybody’s guess. Finally, the pair have a chance to talk about the season’s events, and this exchange turns out to be the most remarkable part of the episode.

Q praises Picard for returning the key to its resting place instead of destroying it. Picard’s question to Q is: why this trial? And moreover, why Q’s interest in Picard at all? Q admits he is dying, something Picard already gathered based on their previous interactions. But beyond just dying, Q is dying alone , with no one to be with him in his final days. In a remarkable act of compassion, Q wanted to avoid that same fate for Picard, as the admiral was always resistant to forming relationships thanks to the emotional baggage his childhood caused. So, Q’s goal all along was the make Picard see how letting go of that baggage is vital – but of course, he couldn’t just tell Picard that; the man had to experience the journey, with all the trials and tribulations that came with it.

“Humans. Your griefs, your pains, fix you to moments in the past long gone. You’re like butterflies with your wings pinned. My old friend… forever the boy who with the errant turn of a skeleton key broke the universe in his own heart. No more. You are now unshackled from the past.” – Q to Picard

Yes, this is a touching moment and a remarkable conclusion to a rivalry that began more than 30 years ago. But Q has one last surprise in store for Picard: he can bring the admiral and his crew back to the future, but at the cost of his remaining life force. This is a slightly jarring promise; whereas we were led to believe Q had lost his powers entirely, he actually is merely “weakened” and still possesses substantial god-like abilities. In their final farewell, Picard asserts to the dying being that he isn’t actually dying alone, and hugs him. Q’s last words to Picard are the same parting words he said to the then-captain in “All Good Things”: “See you… out there.”

Thus ends Q’s foreseeable involvement in Star Trek , and we must say his final plan – his final trial – for Picard was quintessential Q. Even though his methods appeared more sinister than usual, his message to Picard about letting go of emotional baggage is an excellent sentiment for the audience . Who among us can’t take Q’s lesson to heart?

We have to wonder: when did Picard pass Q’s trial, the trial that began in “Encounter at Fairpoint” to prove that humanity is not a savage race? Was it when Picard returned the key to its resting place, thus ensuring his pained childhood still happens (in which case our aforementioned critique about that scene is more valid)? Q does say “bravo” when Picard does this. Or was the trial over when Picard hugged Q, as the admiral showed compassion for a superior being even in the aftermath of such sacrifice and hardship? Or perhaps the trial really does never end? This answer will likely be debated for some time to come.

In any case, Picard and crew (sans Rios, who predictably opts to stay in 2024) are snapped back to the bridge of the Stargazer , where they face, once again, a Borg entity trying to get into the ship’s systems. Our heroes are wiser about what is going on, though, and they know who the person is inside the Borg mask: Jurati. There’s a good reason she is trying to take over the Stargazer and other ships in the Federation fleet: a transwarp portal of some kind is opening nearby, and only the combined strength of the fleet’s shields can stop a burst of energy from wreaking havoc on the entire quadrant. Interestingly, Jurati, for all the knowledge she has amassed in her travels, does not know who is opening the portal, but the fleet springs into action anyway.

Picard recognizes that in Rios’ absence, Seven, the ex-Borg, is the most qualified person to captain the Stargazer in this moment, and grants her a battlefield commission. Thus, Seven suddenly gets the Starfleet commission she wanted ever since returning from the Delta Quadrant. Placing her trust in the Borgified Jurati, Seven orders the fleet to follow Jurati’s lead and block the energy discharge from the portal. The move is successful, leaving a massive gateway in space needing to be guarded against whatever was trying to get through. Jurati, asking for provisional membership in the Federation, offers the massive Borg ship to guard the gateway.

So, the major question left from this finale involves this mysterious gateway. Who made it, and why? Jurati calls it “a piece of the puzzle whose final image is unclear, but is tied to a threat.” That’s pretty vague. In an episode that answers all the season’s remaining questions, this thread is peculiar. Is there a plan in season three for this gateway? We’ll put money on us seeing this portal again in some way.

With the day saved, our heroes return to 10 Forward on Earth, where Guinan ( Whoopi Goldberg ) apologizes for not being able to tell Picard sooner about the events witnessed in this season, and thanks the older man for “setting her straight” back in that downtrodden part of her life. She also explains what happened to Rios, Teresa Ramirez ( Sol Rodriguez ), and her son, Ricardo ( Steve Gutierrez ) as they lived the rest of their lives in the 21 st century. The two adults headed their own medical movement, Mariposas, which is Spanish for “butterflies,” delivering goods to people who needed them. The name of their company is a neat full-circle reference to the butterfly imagery we’ve seen the entire season.  

More importantly, Ricardo grew into a person of great intellect and leadership. He was able to utilize the microorganism brought back from Europa by Renee to clean the Earth of its pollution and climate change-related environmental damage. While it’s a bit convenient that Ricardo of all people was the one to do this, it’s certainly a happy ending for the trio and helps explain why Renee’s mission was so important to history.

Picard isn’t quite done with the aftermath of his adventure, as he learned a valuable lesson from Q and opts to take advantage of it. He returns to Chateau Picard, where Laris ( Orla Brady ) is actually getting ready to leave until Picard makes the move he couldn’t make back in the season premiere. The episode ends with a strong hint that the two are striking up a relationship. Call us crazy, but knowing about this burgeoning relationship now, is it possible the paper Picard is writing on in the season three cast announcement is a wedding invitation?

While we appreciate the tone this season ends on, we have to say the last shot of the episode – the camera pulling back from Picard and Laris to the sky above the chateau – is jarring. It appears to be a completely CGI shot (besides the actors) of iffy quality, and the room Picard and Laris were standing in just seconds before was not the same room the last shot shows. It’s a strange continuity break that takes away from the tone the episode’s final moments are trying to present. So, in this way, Picard did not stick its season two landing.  

Let’s touch on how this season left two other characters: Adam Soong and Kore ( Isa Briones ). Remember, Kore had stormed out of her father’s house in “ Mercy ” when she learned she was just another of her father’s vain experiments. Well, she has some retribution in store for Adam. Working from a library, Kore hacks into her father’s computer using a Microsoft HoloLens and deletes everything on it – presumably his entire life’s work. Adam notices this as it’s happening, and understandably is distraught. With his work gone, and nothing left to lose, Adam immediately takes out an all-too-conveniently placed file folder with an ominous name from his desk: Project Khan.

Of course, this name should perk up the ears of any Star Trek fan. Khan was a major villain in The Original Series episode “Space Seed’ and the TOS movie that bears his name. By showing Soong with this folder, what this episode is seemingly implying is that Adam is responsible, in some way, for Khan when the genetically altered villain was rising to power in the 1990s amid the Eugenics Wars . The folder Soong takes out is a “confidential funding report” dated June 7, 1996. This could help explain why Soong’s reputation was already damaged when we first meet him in “ Fly Me to the Moon .” We don’t think we’ll necessarily find out what Soong is planning by returning to his previous work on Khan, but the tease is exciting. And continuing a theme revisited over this season, this episode helps shed some light on a rarely discussed topic in Star Trek lore.

And speaking of shedding some light on Star Trek lore, we learn a bit more about the Watchers, the people like Tallinn who are assigned to protect and observe certain individuals or species across the galaxy to ensure their survival and success. In a scene that would have made a great post-credits tease if Star Trek did such things, Kore, after nuking her father’s work, gets a mysterious message that tells her to come to a park to meet someone.

When she gets there, who happens to meet her? Wesley Crusher ( Wil Wheaton ). Talk about an out-of-left-field cameo. Wesley explains that he is a Traveler (a storyline described over a few The Next Generation episodes) and that the Travelers are the ones who dispatch Watchers and help keep the tapestry of the universe from unraveling. This is a welcome reveal, as knowing who sends Watchers around the galaxy has always been a point of interest ever since we met Gary Seven in “Assignment: Earth” back in 1968.

Wesley has taken in interest in Kore, although the reason why isn’t exactly clear, and it’s for this reason this cameo doesn’t exactly work for us. Kore is a person who has never felt safe anywhere thanks to her medical condition, and that mindset apparently lends itself well to being a Traveler, but surely there are plenty of other people who also don’t feel safe in their lives. What makes Kore so special?

Wesley invites her to join the club, and she agrees. Like the reveal of Soong’s work on Khan, we don’t think Kore’s involvement with the Travelers will be elaborated on in future Picard episodes; rather, this conclusion serves two purposes: 1) it’s a happy ending for someone who suffered a great deal of emotional trauma thanks to her father, and 2) in typical season finale style, it’s an opportunity to shock the audience with a surprise cameo.

As a season finale, “Farewell” certainly does the job. It adequately answers just about all of our remaining questions, questions that the show started asking in the season premiere. With that in mind, kudos to this season’s behind-the-scenes architects for crafting a story that offered both intense interpersonal conflicts and wider galactic-scale storytelling. One last remaining question we have is what exactly was afflicting Q. How or why a seemingly omnipotent and immortal being started dying is curious, but perhaps this answer is best left to mystery. After all, the nature of the Q is mysterious unto itself.

“Farewell” is also a prime example of this season of Picard taking stock of Star Trek lore and exploring it where it could. In just this episode alone, we gain some small measure of insight into the Travelers, Watchers, and Khan; elsewhere in the season, we saw references to pre-First Contact Vulcan observers, the return of the Stargazer in a way that was thematically important to Picard’s life, some vital details of the Q-El-Aurien conflict, and a million other small references that show Picard ’s producers clearly know their stuff. This alone made this season of Picard fascinating to watch.

More importantly, however, this season gave us incredible insight into Jean-Luc Picard himself. Thanks to episodes like “Monsters” and “Mercy,” we can never look at the character the same way again, which is a pretty cool experience after watching Jean-Luc Picard for more than 30 years. While the pacing of this season wasn’t always consistent, and there were some questionable narrative decisions that took us out of the immersion from time to time, we’re thankful Picard is as retrospective as it was.

The adventures of Picard certainly aren’t over yet, and we’re amazingly curious to see what season three brings to the table besides the promise of a full-fledged, season-long The Next Generation reunion. Not that there isn’t plenty of Star Trek to watch until then…  

Stray Thoughts:

• We want to praise Orla Brady’s fantastic acting when her character realizes Tallinn’s fate is sealed. It’s a subtle but powerful reaction, and we can’t help but feel for her.  
• Tallinn gets into Renee’s room way too easily. She clearly wears the wrong ID badge, which doesn’t seem to concern the security guard she has to walk past.
• Soong gets angry that pre-launch quarantine procedures mean he can’t get “five minutes of face time” with the astronauts, and the mission organizer crumbles quickly and allows him in. But there are quarantine procedures for a reason, most important of which is the safety of the astronauts from external contaminants. Flashing some money around shouldn’t allow Soong access, no matter how angry he gets, and the mission organizer should know that.  She should have simply suggested a phone call to Renee, or a socially distanced meeting. Instead, she places the entire mission in jeopardy because Soong started to get annoyed.
• When Raffi first discovers the drones, the timer has three minutes and forty-five seconds left. Later, when the drones actually launch, the timer reads three minutes and thirty seconds. Was Raffi able to increase the timer duration and buy more time to hack the drones, or is this a major continuity error?
• Astronauts are usually seated and ready to go in their rockets a couple hours or more before launch. Such is not the case for Renee, who seemingly only must get into the rocket mere minutes before liftoff.
• How does Soong rationalize Renee surviving his neurotoxin? He obviously doesn’t know he actually poisoned Tallinn. He must think poorly of the Europa mission’s flight protocols if the mission organizers allowed an obviously sick Renee to board the rocket.
• Soong doesn’t keep backups of his data? Are we meant to believe all his work is gone?
• Why doesn’t Kore assume Wesley is a lunatic and just walk away from his crazy-sounding pitch?
• When we last saw Teresa and Ricardo before this episode, Rios had just left them in L.A. while he beamed back to Chateau Picard. In this episode, we see them back with the rest of the crew at the chateau. Why exactly did they come back from L.A. to Chateau Picard?
• The planets and star systems labeled on the Stargazer ’s viewscreen when we first get a look at the transport portal are: Inferna Prime , Vega , Maxia , 61 Cygni , Altair , Arcturus , Benzar , Draylax , Sol , Wolf 359 , Yadalla , Calder , and others.
• Beyond the obvious reason of Raffi and others learning Q brought Elnor back to life, why would Elnor, a brand-new graduate from Starfleet Academy, be the one who answers hails on the Excelsior ?
• The First Contact theme makes a nice reprisal during the scenes in 10 Forward as Picard and crew celebrate the end of their mission.
• This episode sure does gloss over what Tallinn said to Renee to get her onboard with the latter’s plan to save her life just before the launch. We have to wonder: does Renee stay quiet for the rest of her life about her run-in with Laris?
• We’re just noticing this in this episode, but doesn’t Renee, played by Penelope Mitchell, look a lot like Picard’s mom, played by Madeline Wise? Kudos to this show’s casting director for keeping an eye on family lineage.
• Tallinn awkwardly mentions in “Monsters” that her camouflage tech needs an eight-hour cooldown, but such a strange requirement never came into play.
• As this episode showed the last interaction between Picard and Q, was the lack of trial imagery a missed opportunity? We have to figure the show’s architects considered it, but opted not to. We’d be curious as to why.
• Jurati’s 400-year-long journey recruiting Borg for her new collective would be a great subject of tie-in media.
• Wasn’t it remarkably foolish for Guinan to include a picture of Rios in 10 Forward? She was counting on Picard not observing the photo. If he had, that would have major implications for the timeline. Guinan sure got lucky on this one.
• The final second of this episode shows a quick flash of light as the camera is looking out at space. Is this an innocent little visual effect, or is that hinting at something else, possibly Q-related?

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Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

May 5, 2022 at 8:13 pm

I’m a bit of a wreck right now so I’ll try to make this coherent.

I can’t praise John de Lancie’s performance this season enough. He did such a great job. It’s some of his best work as the character. A different plane of existence for Q, maybe? I hope he’s not gone for good, but the two farewell scenes were amazing. I lost it when Picard told Q he wasn’t alone and embraced him.

Of course, I’m not sure how Q would be alone if there were still a Continuum. Or if he still had a son. Which begs the question…what happened to them?

An omnipotent being who believes he’s immortal suddenly begins to feel as if his existence is coming to an end doesn’t go to his compatriots and ask, “Hey, guys, I kinda thought we were immortal but I’m feeling a little weird. Any thoughts?”

There’s no dialogue to address where the Continuum is, why Q is “moving on” and why they allowed a 400-year change to the galactic timeline that impacted countless civilizations.

Isn’t the Continuum supposed to look after stuff like this? Did they just decide to hand that job over to the Travelers?

So Q saved Picard and crew from the self-destruct and put them in an alternate timeline that he caused so that Picard could get over his commitment issues?

* Field commissions usually only last as long as a crisis. Seven may not last long in that chair.

* When Picard orders everyone not to resist the Borg, did not a single captain out there think, “Oh, no, he’s Locutus again!”?

* Agreed that Guinan was terribly irresponsible for keeping that photo of Rios.

* How much did Rios change the future by staying in the past? What was supposed to happen to Ricardo? Yeah, it’s great he cleaned the oceans. Was that before or after WWIII which is supposed to begin in a couple of years? In 40 years, Zefram Cochrane is going to fly his ship and make First Contact. Does none of that happen?

May 10, 2022 at 9:45 am

There’s no reason for Picard’s relative from the Picard line to have any resemblance to his mother, who is a Picard by marriage.

May 10, 2022 at 10:03 am

Excellent review. Great insight and clarification, we needed it, a lot happened and too much for a single “dialogue scene” to explain it all. Your article will help “The Next Generation” of trekies whom may have missed all the references to previous movies and episodes.

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