How Star Trek Picard Finale Says Goodbye to Next Generation, Teases Future -- Plus, One Last Surprise

This third and final season of the Paramount+ series reunited Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard with the command crew of the U.S.S Enterprise for an epic battle that ultimately turned out to be against their deadliest foe, the Borg.

They were joined in this final adventure by Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine, a "Star Trek: Voyager" transplant who'd been part of "Picard's" previous seasons, as well as Michelle Hurd's Raffi, Picard's former First Officer who struggled with addiction turned undercover Starfleet operative this season. All were given fitting farewells in this final hour.

SPOILER ALERT: We should hope it's obvious, but the whole point of this article is to reveal how 35 years of stories culminated in one final chapter for the "Next Generation" crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise -- in other words, the series finale of "Picard" will be discussed.

The situation was certainly dire in the penultimate episode, as the Borg had managed to successfully infiltrate via transporter infection all of the young crew members of Starfleet. They'd basically taken over every ship in the fleet. On a more personal level, they'd assimilated Picard's son with Beverly Crush (Gates McFadden), Jack (Ed Speelers).

Jack had inherited some sliver of Borg through Picard himself, who famously was assimilated himself years ago as Locutus, and it was through this that he was lured to a wayward Borg Queen, ready to rise up and not just assimilate, but annihilate.

The episode ended with the original cast, thankful for their gray hair and wrinkles keeping them from being vulnerable to the Borg takeover, discovering that Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) had rebuilt their original Enterprise. The ship itself was not connected to Starfleet's networks, making it safe as well from takeover.

And so it was that at the start of the final episode of "Picard" we got a shot of the "Next Generation" crew on that familiar, iconic bridge. It was a full circle moment, one of many poignant moments among this group who were friends with one another, and in many ways became friends through the television with an entire generation of fans.

This was a battle fought on two fronts, with Picard and his original crew taking on the Borg Cube itself that was transmitting the signal -- using Jack as a conduit -- that took over the entire fleet. On the other side was Seven of Nine, recently promoted to Captain of the U.S.S. Titan upon the death of her Captain Shaw (Todd Stashwick).

With Raffi and a ragtag group of older officers, she managed to take the bridge of the Titan and served as a diversionary force to try and delay the assembled fleet of starships from destroying the Earth. When the Borg decide to shift from assimilate to annihilate, they think big!

In the end, this came down to father and son. It was a heart-to-heart within the Borg collective between Picard and Jack that ultimately led to the Queen's destruction. it was revealed she had decimated just about her entire crew to try and survive. She might have died alone had she not aligned with the Changelings and been able to lure Jack to her.

In the end, though, the answer was love. Picard expressed his love for Jack and with a single hug, the Queen's hold on Jack was severed and the Enterprise was able to stage a daring escape. They discovered that by destroying the core that was transmitting the signal that controlled the fleet, it would cause the Cube to self-destruct. In the nick of time, they found and saved everyone.

Yes, a happy ending for everyone with no brave and noble sacrifices. They'd certainly set up the possibility of several, with William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Worf (Michael Dorn) having joined Picard on the Cube. And then there was Seven with her crew, on the verge of getting killed by their own young crew when the signal finally stopped.

So what next?

Well, as the "Next Generation" bids farewell to their 35 years of adventure, this is still "Star Trek." There's always a next next generation. And so it was that we got both a fitting farewell for the "Next Gen" cast as well as a glimpse of a possible next chapter, should Paramount+ choose to explore it.

The first things we learned in the immediate aftermath of the attack was that Picard, Riker, La Forge and the entire command crew of the Enterprise was pardoned for all their crimes against Starfleet because they saved everyone's bacon ... again!

We also learned that Beverly Crusher was promoted to Admiral and developed a transporter technique that could remove the Borg element that had been implanted into all of the young Starfleet crew members. It also could discern the evolved Changelings -- as that was an enemy not vanquished by this finale. A hint of things to come?

Seven of Nine was prepared to resign from Starfleet only to discover via her former "Voyager" crewmate Tuvok (Tim Russ) that Captain Shaw had actually recommended her be promoted to Captain in her latest evaluation, respecting her sometimes reckless tendencies.

Worf was set to return to the peaceful pursuits he'd been exploring before getting drawn into this conflict. But before he went, he "accidentally" leaked all the top secret commendations Raffi had received while working undercover for Starfleet. Her family thought she'd relapsed and was a junkie. Now, they were eager to reconnect with her, and introduce her to her grandchild.

Data has now achieved just about full humanity, which he's discovered is a lot more complicated than he ever realized. As a result, he's started daily therapy sessions with Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) which go well over their allotted time.

It was played for laughs a bit between Troi and husband Riker, but this is the culmination of Data's lifelong dream, so despite the emotional hiccups, it's a beautiful thing to see that he's actually been able to achieve what he's wanted for so long.

One year later, Picard and Crusher are traveling with Jack to his new command, where it's Picard who is actually treated to a big surprise. The U.S.S. Titan has been rechristened. It is now NCC-1701-G. The Enterprise flies again, under the command of Captain Seven of Nine and First Officer Raffi Musiker. Geordi's daughter Alandra (Mica Burton) is part of the bridge crew, as are several familiar TItan faces.

Jack is just an ensign at this point, but Seven appoints him Special Counselor to the Captain, a role that Deanna first held on the Enterprise. This whole segment feels like it's just waiting for fan reaction to see if we can greenlight the Next Next Generation of the Enterprise crew for their own series.

We even got a fakeout before learning what Captain Seven's word is going to be. "Engage." "Make it so." The camera cuts before we get to hear her say it. And if none of that is enough to entice fans to send out a clarion cry for this to be a show, there was one final surprise in store.

After a poignant farewell moment with the crew at Guinan's bar -- but with no Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) -- that saw them sitting around playing poker and laughing as only old friends can, there was one more familiar face to come.

The final scene of the series checked in on Jack, settling into his bunk on the new Enterprise. It's at that moment he's visited, just as his father was way back at the start of "Next Generation," by Q (John de Lancie).

When Jack said he thought Q was dead, he said humans think too linearly. When Jack called him out for telling Picard that humanity's trial was over, Q said that it was over for Jean-Luc. For Jack, this was just the beginning as he has a significant destiny of his own.

"Star Trek: Picard" Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas has been talking about wanting to continue stories in this era with a "Star Trek: Legacy" series. Could this be the story he wants to tell, with this crew on the all new Enterprise-G? It's all right there, and we have a feeling the fans have already started clamoring for it.