Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x10 - "The Last Generation"

[Spike730]

Why was it necessary to attack Spacedock? Surely there must be Borg drones there too. And whatever happened to quantum torpedoes?

What was Seven even trying to achieve? We've heard all season long in dialogue and by TPTB what an underdog the Titan is. And then she's going to battle 200+ more advanced vessels?

Likewise the TNG crew went up against a massive cube without a plan. It was only due to the Borg Queen's idiotic need to explain her plan to Picard that they survived.

So let me get this straight. Jack Crusher after willingly going to the Borg Queen which allowed her to set her plan in motion killing hundreds/thousands, doing some Locutus-cosplaying and doing absolutely nothing to save the day gets rewarded with a Starfleet commission?

Thank good Starfleet has its priorities straight. Introducing a new shinier Starfleet combadge mere hours/days (?) after that catastrophe. Speaking of costumes: Picard, La Forge and Riker were still wearing the same clothes one year later. And apparently there wasn't enough budget left for correct admiral pips for Beverly.

I laughed in utter disbelief when they revealed the Enterprise-G. Most moronic fanwank ever.

Season 3 very hard tried to undo everything big the previous two seasons did. They brought back the Borg as enemies and resurrected Data and Q.

Nice to have Walter Koenig back but I think grandson would've worked better.

In the end I'm just glad that they didn't kill off anybody of the TNG main crew. The show ended with them playing poker just like in "All Good Things" which I very much prefer as the end of TNG.

 

[DaveyNY]

Not that it matters to any of the series going forward, but STO started in the year 2409, and is now in 2411. The Odyssey-class Enterprise-F (now in its Yourktown refit state) is still in service in that timeframe in-game. With the end of Picard, the F has been decommissioned, and we now have the Constitution III-class Enterprise-G in the year 2401. The issue for those that play and like the game, is that STO doesn't line up with the canon series in this regard anymore.

STO has adjusted their timeline before, they will probably just do it again.

There's so much time jumping going on in the game now that it won't really matter.

 

[StewMc]

Wasn't there something ages ago where Walter Koenig said he had recorded a voiceover for Picard? I'd forgotten all about that till now.

 

[Isolar]

Don't get me wrong... I thought the whole of S3 of Picard was a fun story and it was great to see my childhood heroes in the saddle one last time. But as somebody who would say that TNG was "my" Star Trek growing up... I think SNW has been the superior series of the Paramount+ Treks and don't understand the love for Matalas' version of it.

For me, I really loved seeing those actors play off each other again. They were given outstanding dialogue and gave great performances together.

 

[Captain_Amasov]

STO has adjusted their timeline before, they will probably just do it again.

A lot of that was background stuff, or stuff that doesn't really appear in a lot of stories directly, the Enterprise-F does and it would be a lot of work (voiceover work and such) to change that. I guess they're just gonna have to shrug their shoulders and say they're an alternate universe now.

 

[Sci]

As with the rest of this season, "The Last Generation" is just a little bit too fan-wanky, but in spite of that it holds together fairly well, it makes dramatic sense, and it's pretty thrilling all the way. While it's not the final fate I would have preferred for the TNG crew, seeing them all together playing cards again, in echo to the final scene of "All Good Things...," was a nice touch. 8/10.

 

[DaveyNY]

The Dev's pretty clever, I'm sure They will think of something to adjust to the changes for the game.

 

[Lord Exor]

One would guess that the virus infected Queen probably was unable to maintain her cube beyond cannibalizing it to survive.

The neurolytic pathogen severed her connection with the rest of the Collective. Any errant cubes like the one in Prodigy would be beyond her influence and ability to track down and exploit.

 

[theonering]

For me, I really loved seeing those actors play off each other again. They were given outstanding dialogue and gave great performances together.

I don't disagree. I think the point I'm trying to make is that I just don't get that "I want to watch it all again" feeling that I got with SNW.

 

[firehawk12]

Don't get me wrong... I thought the whole of S3 of Picard was a fun story and it was great to see my childhood heroes in the saddle one last time. But as somebody who would say that TNG was "my" Star Trek growing up... I think SNW has been the superior series of the Paramount+ Treks and don't understand the love for Matalas' version of it.

This is basically how I feel. I'd rather have more SNW-like shows if they had to be tied to certain characters or continuity.

 

[The Commander]

If the series is set in 2401, and even if Sydney is just fresh out of the Academy, that would make her c. 21 and born about 2380, but Alandra is older, so did Geordi already have a kid by Nemesis.

That's possible. Geordi's familiy was not mentioned in Nemesis but they could have already existed.

 

[thribs]

A lot of that was background stuff, or stuff that doesn't really appear in a lot of stories directly, the Enterprise-F does and it would be a lot of work (voiceover work and such) to change that. I guess they're just gonna have to shrug their shoulders and say they're an alternate universe now.

It was always an alternate universe. The stuff was never canon

 

[Scionz]

In 1994 I watched "All Good Things..." on my Parent's TV in a living room. I was 11 years old.
Now, 29 years later, I own that house. I'm 39 years old. And I got to watch "The Last Generation" in the same room.

Life is beautiful. And that is the crux of my review. I just got done with the episode. 10/10. Loved it. The perfect ending. But instead of going through all the (many) points I liked, there is one thing I want to bring up that this ending did right I've written about it before.

Death is horrifically overused in fiction nowadays. Particularly within the last 15 or 20 years. Maybe it reflects boomers coping with aging, or some long term dark place our society has moved into since 9/11, but death has creeped into comic books, TV shows, movies and books to to a degree that is both overwhelming and unhealthy.

Death in fiction is cheap, stupid and lazy. Writers do it to tug at emotional cords that everyone shares. We're all mortal. We all live. We all die. Maybe we're afraid of it, or maybe we've expressed loss. So they yank at that to engender an emotional reaction. But all it does is cynically turn a character into a prop. to advance other character's stories.

The Walking Dead became entirely about who was going to die "this season".
MCU movies have become since Infinity War a watch for character deaths.
Comics are killing more characters than ever before.
Even once really compelling written fiction have taken to stunt-murder to shock the audience.
Succession just killed their lead two weeks ago (albeit, this one kind of made sense given how the series started).

Need I go on?

Death represents the end of possibility of a character. But the temptation for writers is so high because its so easy. People go into these final episodes or conclusions of trilogy's expecting someone to die. Who is expecting someone to be offed in GotG3? *raises hand*. Five bucks says its Drax.

All season, wisely and to their immense credit and everlasting gratitude, Star Trek Picard's writers avoided this trap. And the last episode rightly reminded viewers that life matters more than death and life is full of possibilities worth exploring. That life is joy and that should be celebrated, for as long as it lasts.

I, like many people, walked into this Episode expecting Picard or Worf to die. But it didn't happen, and I know why now. Because Matalas and his team smartly realized that it would have been fundamentally stupid to repair the mistake of Nemesis after 20 years of breaking up the family in a tragedy (Data's death) by bringing it back together in an epic story, finally bringing and humanizing Data, bringing back the Enterprise D, only to snap all the action figures of these characters in half in our face an episode later. That would have been fucking with us. What purpose will it have surved? To make us sad about loss? How about tears of joy instead. And that's what Matalas and co. chose.

Every note with the ending, from the reveal of the Enterprise G, to Captain Seven, to the final poker game's slow and extended pan around the crew of the Enterprise D, to the after credits scene is just about a long road that started in 2365 ending in 2402 with everybody (mostly) living happily ever after, after a lifetime of trials.

I think Matalas and co knew this too. They dangled the "Picard dies", "Worf dies", "Riker dies", "let's make the audience feel loss" bait in our faces, and then threw it in the fire.

More fiction needs to do this, not just for the sake a franchise or future episodes, but for society. A society reflects how it sees itself through it's creative works. Star Trek Picard is really the first series in a long, long time that gives its audience PERMISSION to believe in the happy ending after a long struggle, rather than cry in their pillow at terrible loss.

I'm sad the Next Generation is finally over only in the sense of I could watch them forever. But like Michael Jordan's last game winning the NBA Finals (which I saw), I actually don't want anymore of these characters. This is the good ending for them. The best ending. All Good Things wasn't an ending because we knew Generations was on its way. Nemesis was a bad ending that was arguably in the opening years of Hollywood's obsession with killing characters for shock value.

This was Matalas' and co's line in the sand on that. This was them recognizing how much of a creative failure death like that truly is. I'm just so thrilled with it.

There will never be another crew like that of the Enterprise D, nor a cast like the TNG cast. They lived the noblest of lives and the cast gave some of the finest performances in American television history in a saga that may never be equaled in its scope and time.

To paraphrase Captain Picard in "Transfiguration", we are privileged to have witness it.

 

[Orac Zen]

OMG. That was so very nearly perfect.

...and then fucking Q. Why? Just why???

Coherent thoughts to follow.

 

[Captain_Amasov]

It was always an alternate universe. The stuff was never canon

Yeah I know, it was just nice when the history up to this point lined up.

 

[SolarisOne]

SEVEN OF NINE. IS CAPTAIN. OF THE ENTERPRISE.
RAFFI. IS FIRST OFFICER. OF THE ENTERPRISE.
That's rates a ten all by itself. Jack basically being third officer is a bit much for an Ensign, but I don't mind that he's in Starfleet.

Q is gonna mess with Picard's son now, huh? Neat. I was wondering if Q was actually dead or if he was lying to Picard. Guess it's the later.

I liked all of the old school effects they used for the D. I also liked how nimble they portrayed the ship, something they really couldn't do back in TNG itself.

The character work was solid.

I hope. I SO hope the Collective itself is gone. We know that there are Borg individuals in the far future, per Lower Decks, but as long as they're not space zombies anymore (I HATE zombies), IDGAF.

That mid-credits scene (I was wondering if they were gonna Marvel the ending up. I was right.) just SCREAMS spin-off. I'm here for it, if it's more episodic and has DS9-level character writing.

 

[Tuskin38]

STO has adjusted their timeline before, they will probably just do it again.

There's so much time jumping going on in the game now that it won't really matter.

A lot of that was background stuff, or stuff that doesn't really appear in a lot of stories directly, the Enterprise-F does and it would be a lot of work (voiceover work and such) to change that. I guess they're just gonna have to shrug their shoulders and say they're an alternate universe now.

m
They’ve said in the past that they’ll ignore any big contradictions to STO main story. They’re adapting things on a case by case basis.

 

[Tuskin38]

Neat. I was wondering if Q was actually dead or if he was lying to Picard. Guess it's the later.

Watch the scene again. Q is dead, this is just him before he died.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Renaming the Titan the Enterprise was a big huge fan wankt that fell flat on its face. I bet it was done so there’s a Legacy series they’ll have an Enterprise for it.

I liked when the Ent-D flew threw the Death Star, uh, I mean the Borg Cube! That was cool fanwank.

I really enjoyed the finale 10/10 though I had some small things that bugged me like Jack joining Starfleet. I’m not sure why.

Nice to see Seven become captain though I’m not sure I buy Shaw recommending that at the point where he seemed to be just prior to the season opener. I thought it was fitting that Tuvok was the one that promoted her. Janeway would been better but Tuvok was still a good choice.

the poker scene was nostalgia bait but it felt appropriate so I’ll let it slide.

 

[GulBahana]

Doesn't that cheapen season 2 having Q appear again? Maybe they figured the fans wouldn't care because that season wasn't popular.