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SPOILER ALERT: This story covers the major plot developments in The Last Generation, the series finale of Star Trek: Picard, currently streaming on Paramount+.
The last time the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation appeared on screen together – in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis – ended in a bitter double whammy: the sudden death of Data (Brent Spiner) and finances Failure of the film, resulting in Paramount quitting making films with the cast. In fact, The Next Generation had been pulled from theaters after a brilliantly successful seven-season run on television.
Two decades later, when Terry Matalas was hired to executive produce the final season of “Star Trek: Picard,” the lifelong “Trek” fan knew he wasn’t just bringing back the entire “TNG” cast, but bringing them theirs as well wanted to provide swan song, which they had never received.
“I wanted it to feel like a real goodbye, like watching Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country made me feel,” says Matalas of the final film to feature the full original cast of Star Trek . “In this case we had 10 hours, so we could do better. We could give each of these characters more and end up with a sense of family that they didn’t have time for in a two-hour film.”
In doing so, Matalas attempted to correct some of the perceived sins of the “TNG” films: he resurrected Data and endowed him with a consciousness that allowed the android to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a full human. And he brought back the Enterprise-D, the starship that was destroyed in the climax of the first “TNG” film, “Star Trek: Generations” in 1994.
“In the truest fanboy sense, I wanted to put the action figure set back on the shelf neatly and safely,” says Matalas. “If it’s the last time we see her, we’ll see her having a wonderful big moment together at the poker table. Don’t mourn the loss of data. The Enterprise-D didn’t crash, it was in a museum. Knowing that there is a bright future for Star Trek and their families. For me as a fan, that felt important to feel like we left The Next Generation there.”
That’s exactly what Matalas did with “The Last Generation”, the exciting series finale of “Star Trek: Picard”: Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) save their son Jack (Ed Speleers) – and the entire Starfleet – from assimilation by the Borg, with Data, Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Troi (Marina Sirtis), Geordi (LeVar Burton) and Worf (Michael Dorn) all helping to save the day. In the final scene, they all toast their success and fortune and play a game of poker, a throwback to the final scene of the Next Generation series finale, All Good Things.
As if that weren’t enough, the USS Titan is renamed the USS Enterprise-G after the battle with the Borg, and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) – the “Star Trek: Voyager” character who appeared on “Picard” from season one 1 – will be promoted to Captain. Jack, a new member of Starfleet, is stationed on the ship along with Geordi’s daughter Sidney (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). Even Q (John de Lancie) – the almighty being who has been a mainstay of “Trek” since the premiere of the Next Generation series Encounter at Farpoint – appears in a post-credits sequence where he is Jack recounts that his exams “have only just begun.”
This certainly seems set up for a “Picard” spinoff series, but in his interview with Variety, Matalas says that wasn’t quite his intention. He also shares the scenes he wanted to film but couldn’t for the finale and his unconventional approach to filming this poker scene.
How much of the final did you have in mind as you built the season?
Actually a very surprising amount. I knew the initial blow to Patrick was that he had to reassimilate himself to face the great trauma of his life in order to save his son. I knew they would be reunited in the Enterprise-D for the last two hours. I knew that Seven of Nine would be captain of the Enterprise. That was a lovely thing to say to Jeri, who was my old friend from back then. I thought, “By the end of the season, you’re going to be captain of the Enterprise.” She said, “Excuse me, what?!” So there was quite a bit. Part of the how and why was why you need the brilliance of a talented writing team to help you get there and figure it all out.
There was a moment in the finale where it seemed like Riker and Worf and Picard or some combination would actually die. Was that really on the table?
No, but I really wanted you to think that it might be because of the drama. I can’t bring myself to kill my childhood heroes like that. I think some creators probably would. It felt like these characters would certainly feel like this is probably our last run. So I really wanted the surprise ending to be a happy ending.
Were there other alternate endings you considered?
There were things we just didn’t have the time or money to shoot. In the very first iterations of the script, we had discovered that Ro Laren had indeed survived and been beamed off their shuttle and was still being used by the Changelings for information. The schedule was already too ambitious, so we couldn’t pull it off. We had a scene with [the Data-based android from Season 1] Soji and Data, who we couldn’t shoot either. We wanted more Voyager people to participate in Seven of Nine’s promotion to captain. It depends on how many cents you have in the piggy bank after building a Borg cube and an Enterprise.
Would the Titan always be renamed the Enterprise?
We had talked about it. We were toying with another name that it could be the Picard. But ultimately, it didn’t feel as real and fitting to the legacy of Star Trek and Seven of Nine as the Enterprise did. And when you see the Titan with that name on its hull, you’re bound to think: Yes, it deserves that name. It just looks so right.
Did you always know you’re bringing back Q after he supposedly died in Picard season 2?
Yes. All the way from Season 2. John is a dear friend of mine. On his last day [on Season 2], I said, “Look, I literally want to take you back to the post-credits sequence for this final season. I won’t have time and I won’t have money, but I guarantee it will be one of the coolest Q scenes and it will tie into Encounter at Farpoint.” And he was like, “I’m in.”
We only had 20 minutes to shoot this scene. Right after we shot the scene where Picard tells Jack he’s Borg, we brought John in in this awesome new costume and we banged on real quick.
You have called At social media that you would like to continue this story with a Star Trek: Legacy spinoff. Have you heard from Paramount or Alex Kurtzman about the possibility of doing this?
Alex and I talk all the time. If it’s something that needs to be done, we want to make sure we don’t rush it. We want to make sure we’re doing it right. There we are, I say shyly. Nothing is developed on it at the moment. But we talk all the time.
One reason I’m asking is that I’ve rarely seen a finale build a spinoff series more fully than this one, with the scenes set on the Enterprise-G. Am I correct in assuming that you wanted this to set off a future show?
Well, not specifically for a spinoff, nice as it is to think about. I really wanted to feel that it could go on, that it was a passing of the torch from last generation to next. I really wanted that. I think that’s the spirit of Star Trek, that they’re going to keep exploring strange new worlds. That’s a sense of hope. So you just want a little taste of what this could be – for it to be a satisfying ending, it had to be a satisfying beginning. Aside from that, of course I want Jack and Seven and Sidney and Raffi and everyone to go on forever. But yes, that was the creative impulse behind it.
Do you know what’s next for you?
Not me. Do you?
i saw your tweet you would like to work on the spinoff TV show Galaxy Quest..
Oh my god, Galaxy Quest is my favorite thing ever. I literally showed it to my kid the other day. It remains one of the most perfect films of all time. And I just lived it! I actually just lived it in every way. So yeah, I said put me in the coach. I know what that is.
The last shot of the cast members playing poker was such a nice reminder of the last shot of All Good Things. Did the actors really play an entire game of poker with the camera hovering over the table?
Yes. To make it a little bit different from All Good Things, I wanted the audience to feel like they’re really with this cast to grant a little wish. So I actually ran the camera for 45 minutes and just let it play. let her be herself I really wanted the audience to immerse themselves in what it’s like to hang out with Patrick, Jonathan, Marina, Gates, LeVar, Michael, Brent. So all those smiles and all those jokes are real. And so we hang on to it a lot longer than you normally would to make sure the smiles and jokes are real. They were all playing some form of poker as best they could, you know, because they like to fool around. When the Blu-ray comes out we might have a longer chunk of it so you can see more.
Do you remember who won the game?
They played so many rounds. But I think they always made Patrick win.
I laugh because I asked Patrick this questionand he said, “I think I won.”
Yeah, I think they rigged it a bit to make him win.
This interview has been edited and abridged.