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The final season of Star Trek: Picard starts streaming on Paramount+ on February 16th, 2023. And it sees the long-awaited reunion of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. But before you rejoin your long-lost friends, take a few hours to revisit their best moments from years gone by.
UPDATE: 1/30/23
Paramount+ premiered the final trailer for Star Trek: Picard season three during the AFC Championship game on January 29th. Although the new trailer won’t affect our watching recommendations, it’s still fun to see. Check it out below:
Because the final season of Picard is essentially functioning as the eighth season of The Next Generation, rather than break downthe trailerand dissect all the easter eggs (although I’ll touch on the trailer later), it’s probably better to reacquaint yourself with the crew of the Enterprise-D since it’s been so long since we saw them.
Starting in the third season of Next Generation, the show shifted toward character-centric stories. Each episode featured a particular crew member as the “main character” for the episode. Below you’ll find my recommendations for the episodes that provide the most insightful look into each character.
Unless otherwise noted, all these episodes are available to stream on Paramount+
Jean-Luc Picard: “Tapestry” (TNG 6x15)
Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has a reputation among Star Trek fans as the diplomatic captain who stays above in the safety of the starship while the rest of the crew beams down to the dangerous planet below. Not because he’s cowardly but because he understands the proper place for a captain is on the bridge of his ship.
But he wasn’t always like that, as this episode shows. In “Tapestry,” the god-like Q transports Picard back to a pivotal point in his reckless youth to show him what could have been if he had made different decisions. This story gives maybe the best insight into why Picard is the way he is and also offers a glimpse of a different life trajectory.
Other great Picard episodes from TNG include:
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William Riker: “The Pegasus” (TNG 7x12)
One of the big reasons that Captain Picard rarely joined the away teams during the run of Next Generation was because his first officer, William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), forbade it, citing Starfleet protocols. Riker is the prototypical Starfleet officer, valuing duty, high-performance standards, and attention to detail. He frequently took command of the Enterprise when Picard wasn’t around and proved himself fit to hold the captain’s chair on more than one occasion.
However, a secret has haunted him throughout his entire career. We find out what it is in “The Pegasus,” when the captain of his first command returns with a mysterious and dangerous assignment for the Enterprise.
It’s also worth it to watch the first three episodes of the second season of Star Trek: Lower Decks to see Riker in action as a captain. There’s also a fun Riker sub-plot that spans TNG and DS9 where he discovers a transporter duplicate of himself. Plus, he and Deanna Troi show up in Picard season one episode “Nepenthe” (PIC 1x7).
Related:What to Watch Before ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Season Three
Deanna Troi: “The Loss” (TNG 4x10)
Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) is the ship’s counselor on board the Enterprise throughout The Next Generation. She comes from a telepathic race known as the Betazoid. But since she’s half human, her telepathy is limited to sensing emotions and communicating with full betazoids like her mother. Troi’s quasi-telepathic abilities allow her to sense the emotions of people around her, giving her great insight into how to deal with many situations.
However, in “The Loss,” she loses those empathic powers and struggles with what amounts to humans becoming blind or deaf. And it couldn’t have come at a worse time since the Enterprise is stuck in a particle field, slowly drifting toward disaster.
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Worf: “The Sword of Kahless” (DS9 4x9)
Worf (Michael Dorn) has the distinction of being the character to appear most in all of the Star Trek franchise. He’s a main cast member in two series, The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and until the premier of Star Trek: Picard, Worf was the only character to do so. He appears in a whopping 282 episodes in both series.
Picking just one to highlight his character is difficult. However, The Sword of Kahless is a fun adventure that delves deep into Klingon mysticism and spirituality. It also features Kor, the first Klingon to appear in the original Star Trek in the 60s. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun.
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Geordi La Forge: “Interface” (TNG 7x3)
If you grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, the one thing you knew about Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) was that he was also on Reading Rainbow (at least the actor who played him was). The connection between the two shows is undeniable for many fans.
However, since Geordi is blind, he couldn’t even read the same way you and I did in the 20th century. But that didn’t stop him from flying the Enterprise in the first season of The Next Generation or becoming chief engineer for the rest of the series. His blindness, and the apparatus he uses to see, come into play in “Interface,” where Geordi must find his missing mother.
Geordi is great, but don’t take my word for it:
Related:Classic ‘Reading Rainbow’ Series Will Return, But Without LeVar Burton
Beverly Crusher: “Remember Me” (TNG 4x5)
Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) is nothing like Bones McCoy, her counterpart Enterprise chief medical officer from the original Star Trek. Instead of a gruff and coarse man, she’s a caring and charismatic widower with a young son on board a starship. And even though Gene Roddenberry hated the character after the first season and replaced her with Katherine Pulaski for the second, Crusher returned in the third season and stayed throughout the rest of the series. In “Remember Me,” we get a glimpse of Beverly’s handling of an emergency situation when the rest of the Enterprise crew start going missing from the ship.
More great Trek stories staring Beverly Crusher:
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Seven of Nine: “Scorpion” (VOY 3x26, 4x1)
Fan-favorite borg character Seven of Nine did not appear in Star Trek: The Next Generation. We didn’t meet her until the season finale of the third season of Star Trek: Voyager. However, she is a main cast member in Star Trek: Picard (one of the few to make it all the way to the third season), so it’s only fair that we give her due. And to do that, rewatch her premier appearance on Voyager, “Scorpion.” This two-parter not only serves as Seven’s character introduction but also marks a turning point in Voyager as the ship meanders into Borg territory. In which it remains throughout the remainder of their journey home from the Delta Quadrant.
Seven more Seven of Nine stories:
Related:What We’re Watching: Let’s Watch ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ Again to Remember Janeway
Tasha Yar: “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (TNG 3x15)
The first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation was a rocky affair, both on-screen and off. To make a long story short, the drama drove away Denise Crosby, the actress who played the Enterprise-D’s first security chief. And the way they wrote her off the show was as hokey and meaningless as the rest of the first season. However, Tasha Yar did make a return of sorts in the third season of TNG in this alternate universe adventure featuring the Enterprise-D’s immediate namesake predecessor, the Enterprise-C.
This episode also paved the way for the introduction of Yar’s half-Romulan daughter later in the series. And while there’s no official indication that Tasha Yar or her daughter will return for the last season of Star Trek: Picard. Something in my bones tells me it’s a good idea to get reacquainted with them…just in case.
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Wesley Crusher: “Journey’s End” (TNG 7x20)
If you’ve been watching Star Trek: Picard up to this point, you know that Beverly’s son Wesley (Wil Wheaton) makes a cameo appearance at the end of season two. While I’m not going to get into spoilers, and we haven’t heard any rumblings that he’ll return in season three–nothing’s impossible. Although, it’s worthy to note that Wil Wheton has stated he will not return for season three. But, he would say that if it were true or not to keep any potential surprises intact.
Given the nature of his cameo, it’s probably best to check out his last appearance on The Next Generation (he had a non-speaking cameo in the final Next Gen film Star Trek: Nemesis) to give you an idea of where they took the character.
Related:You Should Still Buy Blu-Rays and DVDs, Here’s Why
Data: “The Measure of a Man” (TNG 2x9)
Unfortunately, Data isn’t in the final season of Star Trek: Picard (that we know of). The franchise has ended his story twice now (I’ll leave it there to avoid spoilers). But since we’re watching character-centric Next Generation episodes, I can’t just leave Data out. It just feels wrong.
If you want to get to know your favorite Android from the 90s all over again, there’s no better episode to watch than the second season’s “The Measure of a Man.” In this episode, Data’s rights as an artificial life form are put on trial when an up-and-coming cyberneticist wants to strip him down to his wires to uncover the secrets of his creator and make a whole race of Data duplicates.
