This would be perfect in so many ways. And I could see Meaney getting on board for that, a small role but a huge part, so to speak.
My crazy theory is that the Borg Queen turns out to be Beverly. I think it'll be someone we know. Matalas has said we've only seen the back of the head so far. So, it seems to be setting up a reveal. And some of the voices Jack heard sounded like Beverly. Those are in story reasons but there's also out of story reasons, mainly Jack's culpability. As it stands, you can blame Jack for all deaths and damage that occur due to the assimilation of Starfleet. He made it possible by running to the Borg queen. In contrast, JL was abducted and assimilated, so he gets a pass. But Jack ran to the Queen, making it possible. Now, we know from interviews that the story ends in a happy place. That doesn't seem possible if Jack either is guilty of causing the assimilation or dies to fix his mistake. But if he ran to the Queen because he thought she was his mother, it gives him an out somewhat. Of course, the big question is, if the Queen is Beverly, how has she been on the Titan and now Ent-D? I'd guess some weird combination of a Changeling controlled by a portion of the Queen still under Beverly's control. But I don't know why she wouldn't have her doppelganger tell Jack et al what was going on. So, my brain is probably overthinking this, but I suspect some sort of weird revelation when we see the Queen's face!
While I don't think this is particularly likely - I think you have a point that not seeing the Borg Queen front on could be indicative of something different. While the Borg being the main enemy isn't a surprise, doing something to mix it up with the Queen could be a way to make us go "oh...". (Maybe it's future Janeway! )
Ha! Yeah, I'm not entirely sure how likely it is myself! I do think there will be a surprise reveal of some sort. And it being one of TNG crew would make it more shocking. But we'll see!
Since the Enterprise-D was restored to full flight operational status, it's a good bet that the rest of the ships at the museum are fully functional as well. I can see at some point in the last episode, they are pulled into service since they are now networked to the rest of the fleet. Either for battle, or some sort of use until the fleet can be rebuilt. *Though with how massive the Starfleet Museum is - Isn't there other staff stationed there?
In episode 9, Geordi indicated that the Ent-D was the only functional ship that wasn't networked with the fleet. From that you can infer that the other museum ships are not functional and/or networked with the fleet. Mostly likely, not functional.
The other ships are not functional, they are museum pieces. The Ent-D is the only functional ship because it was Geordi's special side project. Presumably yes.
I suspect the other Museum ships have been fully "restored" – the Enterprise-A doesn't seem to have any of the hull damage from the end of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Voyager lacks the ablative armour generators from "Endgame". But while Geordi probably makes it a point of pride that the ships are in a state where they could be easily reactivated relatively quickly if necessary, if they needed to be relocated under their own power for example, they likely have no antimatter or weapons as standard.
I mean, of all the TNG main/recurring cast, everyone has been back except for Pulaski, Tasha (character dead), Barclay, and O'Brien. JLP, Riker, Data, Geordi, Worf, Troi, Beverly, Wesley, Guinan, Q, Ro, and Hugh. That is 12 by my count. Gotta go for a baker's dozen, right?
Not really "Wild Speculation", more of a Random Thought: WIth 24th/25th century lifespanes, in theory Scotty could still be with us, and helped Geordi restore the Enterprise-A.
Pretty sure that would have been restored long before Geordi was even born, never mind running the museum.
Some wild after season speculation: - Melty Face wasn’t the Borg Queen but an even more sinister adversary, to be revealed in Star Trek Legacy - Jack Crusher will take the name Picard - Captain Shaw holds the key to saving the universe. Seven will usa a Klingon time crystal, to extract him from the point in time, shortly before he got killed… - Sydney and Jack will become a post Borg couple - The remaining romulans attacked and occupied a class M planet near the Neutral Zone, when the fleet was incapacitated during the Borg attack. - Q is in fact mirror Q from an alternate universe where humanity lost it’s trial - Chakotay is teaching at the Akuchi Moia sanctuary - Datore will have an identity crisis, leave Starfleet and join the Fenris Rangers
So, I was right about the G In retrospect it's obvious that they refitted the Titan to have a new design for another Enterprise. It was really kinda shyamalanesque to watch another Enterprise all the time without knowing it By the way the Pakled are precogs. They knew they were dealing with another Enterprise