I rewatched the finale of STAR TREK: PICARD last night because I was confused by how unmoved I was on my first viewing. I’m a very recent NEXT GENERATION convert, I didn’t love the show in its initial run, but during lockdown, I binged the whole series and finally got it. And what made it ultimately work was the relationships between the characters.
So the first two seasons of PICARD (which tried, like most modern TREK, to turn the franchise into an action series) left me mostly cold. But this third and final season leaned SO heavily into TNG fan service (bringing back the entire crew with the exception of Wesley Crusher…. Poor Wil Wheaton) that, especially knowing it was the end, actually worked for me (I confess to crying a few times). Except for one, common gripe I have with 21st century genre fiction, which ended up being the centerpiece of the whole story.
I think my beef is that out of nowhere, Star Trek decides that Picard's true strength lies in being a father, which to me is a slap in the face of the character's entire history and legacy. It's just the latest in a line of modern pop culture bows to mainstream "live laugh love" sensibilities.... Batman, Superman, Iron Man, James Bond, Black Panther, and now Jean-Luc Picard.... it's not enough that they saved the world / universe time and time again, their legacies are inadequate unless they've sired an offspring. This is not a slag against parenthood... it's against patronizing storytelling.
Prior to the finale, I’d have bet my paycheck (which, granted, is not a lot of money) that the show was going to end with Jean-Luc Picard making the ultimate sacrifice and dying to save the universe. They even had a number of “goodbye” scenes that certainly made it seem that way. But instead, in the ultimate confrontation with the Borg, Picard simply tells his assimilated son that he’s “the piece of me I never knew was missing,” and the power of love severs the tie with the Borg, allowing the crew of the Enterprise to destroy the threat and everyone lives happily ever after. Yawn.
Picard didn’t have to die. But the ending of the TNG finale, “All Good Things….” was (*to me) a far, far more satisfying conclusion than this was. To make the end of this character's 30-plus year story all about a character we just met? Nope.
As always, your mileage may vary (particularly if you yourself have kids).
Originally posted on social media, April 26, 2023
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