star trek picard khan project

Project Khan

• View history

A funding report about Project Khan

Project Khan was the code name of a late 20th century project involving the creation of augmented Humans . One of the scientists who worked on the project was Adam Soong . This project resulted in the creation of individuals much like Khan Noonien Singh and other genetically-enhanced people , which was one of the causes of the 1990s Eugenics Wars .

The project began on January 2, 1992 , which would have been around the time the Eugenics Wars began, and it ended on June 7, 1996 , which was around the end of the wars .

In 2024 , after Kore Soong hacked into her father's computer systems and deleted almost all his work, one of the few pieces of work left was a confidential funding report for Project Khan from 1996 . As a result, Soong appeared to take a renewed interest in the Project. ( PIC : " Farewell ")

Background information [ ]

According to the show runners, Spock was wrong and that the Eugenics Wars actually happened much later during the 21st century. Terry Matalas: " We discussed endlessly. We came to the conclusion that in WW3 there were several EMP bursts that kicked everyone back decades. Records of that 75 year period, the 90s on were sketchy. Maybe Spock was wrong? No easy way to do it if you want the past to look and feel like today. " In response to Khan's own references to the 1996 date, that they simply have be ignored to make the series more relatable to the present; " Maybe because in 1967 they didn't anticipate the show still going for another 6 decades. " Aaron J. Waltke added: " There's also the ripples of the Temporal Cold War shifting the Prime Timeline in Enterprise — at least until the Temporal Accords put an end to that wibbly wobbliness. " [1]

• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein
• 3 John Paul Lona

How Star Trek: Picard’s ‘Project Khan’ File Can Fix Its Biggest History Problem

The 'Project Khan' file seen in the season 2 finale of Picard could be the first step to fixing Star Trek's biggest history problem.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the season 2 finale of Star Trek: Picard, now streaming on Paramount+.

In Star Trek: Picard fans were introduced to yet another Dr. Soong who happens to look just like Data (or, more accurately, Brent Spiner the actor who played him). In the last scene we see of this character in the past, he’s holding a file called “Project Khan” dated 1996. While it might seem like a quick reference to Star Trek’s most infamous villain, it may actually be the first step to fixing the franchise’s biggest history problem.

The original series’ USS Enterprise encountered the Botany Bay spaceship adrift in the void in the 1967 episode “Space Seed.” There they met Khan Noonien Singh, played by Ricardo Montalban. In the briefing Spock gives to the crew, it’s revealed that from the years of 1992 to 1996, this genetically engineered superhuman—and a group of others just like him—took over the entire Eastern hemisphere and fought a bloody war that killed millions. After the war, he and the other augments were sent into space in suspended animation.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard Complicates Earth's History with Vulcans

At the time when this was written, 1996 was three decades away. During the second wave of Star Trek storytelling, Khan’s reign came and went in the real world’s history. Yet, despite numerous Trek characters traveling back to our present since, the Eugenics Wars—which lead directly to World War III—have never been retconned. They still happened from 1992 through 1996 as far as the in-universe canon is confirmed. However, the Project Khan file Dr. Soong is looking at in the Picard finale is the first reference to the date specified in the original series since.

The next hard date we get comes from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , episode “Past Tense.” Some characters are sent back to Earth in 2024, which is the same year Picard travels to. It’s just two years before the start of World War III. In Star Trek: First Contact , after an encounter with the Borg, the Enterprise travels back in time to the day before humans made first contact with the Vulcans. That date is April 4, 2063, which is “about 10 years” after the end of the third world war. So, that means the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s, allegedly the precursor to nearly 30-year World War III was separated from it by another 30 years.

When the original series prequel Star Trek: Enterprise aired, they did a few episodes about Khan’s fellows, now dubbed “augments.” This storyline was meant to address the inconsistency of how Klingons looked in the original series versus how they came to look (with advanced makeup effects). While it illuminated a lot about their creation and their connection to the sinister Soong family, it did not go into the war or the timeframe of when everything went down.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard Reveals the History Between Q and Guinan

As is typical with these big “Star” franchises, in between installments they turn to their expanded universe to address these problems. Author Greg Cox wrote a trilogy of novels to help “fix” the Khan story, including how Khan knew Chekov in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan , since Walter Koening hadn’t been cast when “Space Seed” aired. In these books, Cox takes a unique approach to the Eugenics Wars. While this book is not canon, it is a blueprint for how future Star Trek tales could make it so.

In the Khan book trilogy, rather than lead their conquered territories openly, Khan and the other augments stick to the shadows. Through puppet governments, lies, and fake disasters to cover up the body counts, the Eugenics Wars were waged in secret. Now, the easier thing to do would be to retcon the dates of the war itself. Yet, with the file folder in Star Trek: Picard it seems that something happened in 1996 with Khan, and Dr. Soong was involved. This may be the first step of Star Trek finally addressing the glaring disparity between their fictional history and our real-world one.

In Strange New Worlds while talking to an alien race about how their divisions could destroy them, Captain Pike shows “historical footage” of the January 6, 2020, riot in the US Capitol as part of a presentation on how World War III almost destroyed humanity. The 1990s may have been problematic for the “troubled history of the future” 1960s Star Trek envisioned, but the 2020s seem to be meshing with their pessimistic vision too well for comfort.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard Gives the Borg the Ultimate Sleeper Agent

Series creator Gene Roddenberry and his fellow Trek storytellers are not fools. They knew that getting into the “history of the future” in the show was a tricky proposition. Thus, since the beginning, various Trek characters noted that the historical records of the mid-20th through mid-21st century are spotty and full of inaccuracies. This detail alone means they could merely hand-wave away any such inconsistency. Yet, putting 1996 on the Project Khan file means that franchise producers Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman are possibly going to address this in a future series, whether it’s Picard season 3 or some other show.

Even so, it’s unclear what Project Khan would be. After seeing the events of Picard season 2, Dr. Soong was likely heavily involved in eugenics projects of the past. So, the file could be details about how he helped created Khan and the other augments. Yet, since the file was dated 1996, it might deal with the creation of the Botany Bay and the hibernation technology. Soong used it to keep his creations alive rather than have them executed for their crimes.

Ultimately, the Project Khan file might just have been an Easter Egg thrown into the Picard season 2 finale by the writers because they’re massive Star Trek fans. Yet, if it does signal a future show or streaming service exclusive movie focused on Khan, the biggest Star Trek history question could finally be answered.

Look for more clues to what Project Khan is in Star Trek: Picard, all seasons currently streaming on Paramount+.

Advertisement

Supported by

‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2, Episode 10 Recap: Q’s Last Gift

The “Picard” crew tries to find its way home.

• Share full article

By Sopan Deb

Season 2, Episode 10: ‘Farewell’

So after all that, all the Jurati-Borg Queen combination had to do was show up earlier and none of the this season’s craziness would’ve happened?

A very funny moment comes when an Excelsior crew member, during the “Picard” finale’s climax, wonders what happened to Rios, who was left behind in the 21st century. Picard snaps, “Stay on task, helm. That’s an order.” That’s essentially how the show’s writers have treated the audience for most of its two-season run. Don’t worry about the things that don’t make sense. Just focus on where the story is going.

In this case, what the story reveals to us is that Q, in his dying moments, wanted to let Picard know that his mother’s death wasn’t his fault. (Why is Q dying? Of what? It’s never explained.) And that the first step to Picard finding love was for him to love himself. It’s a wonderful lesson, except, as Picard points out, there were innocent people who died along the way for a life lesson.

Not that Q cares. And neither does Picard, it turns out, because Picard gives his soon-to-be-deceased tormentor a hug. It’s a touching moment. The thing is, everything we’ve seen in “Picard” has taught us that what is dead will never die. There is no reason to believe that Q is actually dying, in the traditional sense, because no major character dies in this show. This includes even the ones who do, because they’re just brought back later — sometimes with a literal snap of a finger, like our old friend Elnor. (If I was Picard, I might have asked Q for some other people to be brought back to life. “Hey, while you’re at it, instead of bringing back Elnor, whom I’m not that close to, would you mind bringing back Data? Or Tasha Yar?)

John de Lancie did a wonderful job as Q, as he normally does. But the way the character was written this season felt off. If all this was to teach Picard forgiveness, why did Q seem so angry and vindictive earlier in the season? Recall his previous conversations with Soong, where he seemed to imply he wanted to get revenge on Picard.

Odds and Ends

So after all the talk about shifting the timeline with the slightest use of futuristic technology, Rios ends up staying behind in the 21st century with Teresa with centuries worth of knowledge in his head. We find out from Guinan that he didn’t use much of that knowledge. Rios is a better man than me. If I went back in time 400 years and stayed there, I would be known as the inventor of cars, the iPhone, electricity and Twitter.

That was a really lovely return from Wil Wheaton as the Traveler formerly known as Wesley Crusher. I have no idea if this is a one off, or if he’ll factor into next season, when the “Next Generation” cast returns. But Wesley was a character who generally got the short end of the stick in the original “Next Generation.” (The last we saw of him — when he was spotted at Riker and Troi’s wedding in “Nemesis” — he seemed to have returned to Starfleet.)

Soong pulling out the folder labeled “Project Khan” gives us a hint of what next season will be about. We know Soong is an expert in genetics and that the greatest villain in all of “Trek,” Khan Noonien Singh, was a result of genetic experimentation. This looks like a precursor to the Eugenics Wars. Should be fun!

Alison Pill has already said she’s not coming back for Season 3 of “Picard,” and with Rios now dead in the past, I’m wondering how much of the “Picard” crew comes back, if at all. Maybe next season will really be a “Next Generation” season.

What’s up with the transwarp conduit that Jurati-Borg Queen want to find out about? That could also be a hint for Season 3. There are just so many questions about what the Borg have been up to in the past 400 years. Were they hiding from the Evil Borg? Did the previous assimilation attempts not happen? Stay on task, helm! That’s an order!

A farewell to the Watcher, Tallinn, who stays away and watches until she doesn’t. Who had special powers, except for when she didn’t.

Finally, what happened to the F.B.I. agent, Martin Wells? Imagine working your whole life to find out if aliens exist, having your theory confirmed and then … what?

Sopan Deb is a basketball writer and a contributor to the Culture section. Before joining The Times, he covered Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign for CBS News. He is also a New York-based comedian.  More about Sopan Deb

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Even before his new film “Civil War” was released, the writer-director Alex Garland faced controversy over his vision of a divided America  with Texas and California as allies.

Theda Hammel’s directorial debut, “Stress Positions,” a comedy about millennials weathering the early days of the pandemic , will ask audiences to return to a time that many people would rather forget.

“Fallout,” TV’s latest big-ticket video game adaptation, takes a satirical, self-aware approach to the End Times .

“Sasquatch Sunset” follows the creatures as they go about their lives. We had so many questions. The film’s cast and crew had answers .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘star trek: picard’ comic-con teaser shows ‘next generation’ crew back in character.

The team noted that 'Wrath of Khan' is a major influence on the third and final season.

By Aaron Couch

Aaron Couch

Film Editor

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

The  Star Trek family energized Comic-Con with a Hall H panel steeped in nostalgia that also looked to the future.

The panel felt like a potential Comic-Con swan song for Patrick Stewart, who earned a warm welcome to discuss the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard . At the end of the panel, Stewart shared heartfelt gratitude to Comic-Con for supporting him over the years, saying he wanted to thank the Con now because he might not have the opportunity to in the future. In addition to playing Trek  icon Jean-Luc Picard, he has been a Comic-Con fixture with the X-Men films, in which he played Professor X.

Picard season three will find Jean-Luc get a little help from his friends. The main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation , the beloved series that ran from 1987-94, will be returning. That includes Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner — who will not play Data but rather a new character, it was revealed. Wil Wheaton appeared as a new character in season two, and it is assumed he will return in season three.

Related Stories

William shatner on living boldly throughout acting career: "the future is unheralded", 'star trek: lower decks' to end with season 5.

The team showed off a first-look teaser of the actors back in character, with Dorn’s Worf getting the biggest applause. Of the crew, only Stewart and McFadden were in attendance at Comic-Con.

Executive producer Alex Kurtzman said at the beginning of season three, the crew is at different places around the galaxy. “Slowly we see them come together. We wanted to take the time to get to see where they are now,” said Kurtzman. He added that  Wrath of Khan , the 1982 film considered to be the greatest Trek movie, is a major touchstone for this season, which will focus on the mental games between Picard and a singular villain. “She is amazing,” said Kurtzman of the villain, not revealing more details. Khan was teased in season two of Picard when it was revealed Adam Soong (Spiner) was the creator of the superhuman project, code-named “Khan.”

McFadden noted it’s been 20-25 years since the Next Gen cast has played these characters. “Crusher has been all around the universe,” said the actor of her character. “It’s amazing to have a chance to return to a character … and plunge in again. We are different. We’ve evolved as characters. It was really a gift.”

Added the actor: “There are a lot of unresolved issues between Picard and Crusher. Even with the ensemble, there are some of us who haven’t seen each other for years, and others who have been in contact all the time.”

Stewart noted that  Picard was a risk. “We embraced it boldly, and passionately, and with belief — and that is what made all the difference.”

He went on to say, “We carve out new territory in  Picard. … That is the most essential thing to remember. We are breaking boundaries all the time and reflecting life as it might possibly be.”

Back to the Future star Lea Thompson, who is in the  Trek  family as a Picard director , emceed the proceedings.

With no big-screen offering since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond , streaming has been the home to the storied franchise for years, with Paramount+ building a stable of shows akin to what Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm are doing over at Disney+. While Chris Pine’s Trek  crew is plotting a return to the big screen, could there be a Next Generation film in the future?

Stewart said he would be enthusiastic about it.

“Yes, is the answer to that, bluntly. That would be an interesting and exciting and worthwhile thing to achieve,” said Stewart, who previously starred in four Trek films.

Kurtzman, who previously worked on J.J. Abrams’ Trek movie, was more circumspect. “In some ways, season three is that. But, of course. If you guys love it — let’s see what happens.”

With Pine playing a younger Kirk on film, and Ethan Peck playing a young Spock on  Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Stewart was asked who he might like to see play a younger Picard. After a long pause, he offered this: “I find it difficult to answer that question. It would mean stepping outside who I am … he is in here, inside me.” Quipped the actor, who lost his hair young, “I don’t think it has to necessarily be somebody who lost their hair at 19.”

Next up, the team behind the animated  Lower Deck brought out a new trailer, which revealed the series will go to Deep Space Nine, the space station at the center of the ’90s TV series of the same name.

“You might see some friendly faces in there,” said creator Mike McMahan of the episode. The new season debuts Aug. 25.

Season two ended with the cliffhanger of the arrest of Capt. Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), providing fertile ground for season three to tackle.

“We start season three full tilt looking for her. Trying to fix it, trying to make it right,” said Tawny Newsome, who voices Beckett Mariner. “It feels like a movie.”

Few  Trek shows have received as much acclaim out of the gate as Strange New Worlds , which wrapped season one earlier this month. And as the Strange New Worlds  team came out for its panel, Lower Decks stars Jack Quaid and Newsome crashed the stage in a comedy bit asking why they weren’t included.

That’s when Strange New Worlds star Anson Mount revealed there will be a crossover episode with  Lower Decks , with Quaid and Newsome’s characters appearing in live-action.

Strange New Worlds , which chronicles the early days of the Enterprise before James T. Kirk helmed the ship, became an instant fan favorite when it aired earlier this year.

“I did not expect this level of appreciation,” said Mount of the strong response to the show.

Both Mount and Ethan Peck (Spock) started out on  Discovery, and executive producer Rod Roddenberry noted the fan response prompted their own show to get greenlit. “You did it,” Roddenberry told the crowd.

Mount stars as Capt. Pike. The season finale featured a surprise, with Paul Wesley appearing as the new Kirk. As it happened, the Hall H panel corresponded with the actor’s birthday, and the cast surprised Wesley with a Kirk-themed cake. They also led the 6,500-strong crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to a slightly embarrassed actor, who said he made his co-stars promise not to do something in front of the fans.

For Wesley, joining Trek has been a surreal experience, one that involved getting the blessing from original Kirk actor William Shatner on Twitter.

“He didn’t have to do that. … I thought that was such a classy move,” said Wesley, who saw Shatner just two days ago. “His support means so much to me.”

As for season two, Wesley said, “I’m looking forward to viewers seeing a different side of Kirk. Certainly not an alternate-timeline Kirk. But a lieutenant on the Farragut. He’s a younger Kirk. He hasn’t developed into the Kirk we know.”

While the panel began with  Picard , one fan wanted to know if there had been talk of continuing Deep Space Nine  in a similar way. Kurtzman hedged, acknowledging conversations are always happening and that Capt. Sisko (Avery Brooks) is a “critical, critical figure.”

“Conversations definitely have been had,” he said — but they don’t want to do anything without a strong reason.

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Seth macfarlane on why he doesn’t “see a good reason to stop” making ‘family guy’, nicola coughlan spontaneously burst into tears while filming ‘bridgerton’ and ‘big mood’, cynthia nixon recalls scrapped ‘sex and the city’ scene filmed like alfred hitchcock’s ‘psycho’, mayim bialik claims abuse detailed in ‘quiet on set’ wasn’t just at nickelodeon, shonda rhimes says she had to hire security after some ‘grey’s anatomy’ fans “got mean”, eva mendes praises ryan gosling’s ‘snl’ cuban wife sketch: “hanging out with my dad paid off”.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3's Villain Was Inspired By Wrath Of Khan [Comic-Con]

" Star Trek " is having a moment. The half-century old franchise is going through an unexpected Rennaisance period. There's not just one or two popular shows airing on Paramount+ but five. The beloved franchise went to warp speed at Comic-Con today with an extra-long panel delivering new details about all the shows "Trek" fans love. /Film was there to cover it, and the first big news of the day? "Star Trek: Picard" is going the "Wrath of Khan" route.

Rest assured, this doesn't sound like it'll be another "Star Trek: Into Darkness" bait-and-switch. Rather, series co-creator Alex Kurtzman says the new season will take some cues from the classic "Trek" film when crafting its own villain. "Obviously, Wrath of Khan is a massive touchstone for anybody who loves 'Star Trek,'" Kurtzman told audiences in Hall H today, "But I think one of the things that we love most about Wrath of Khan is the mind games between Kirk and Khan and the one-ups-manship. That has been, I think, a real north star for us this season in the villain that we created."

Picard is in for Khan-like mind games

The presence of a Khan-like figure in the third season of "Star Trek: Picard" shouldn't come as a total surprise, as last season's finale included a moment in which Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner) pulls out a paper file titled "Project Khan" with stardates from the 1990s on it. At the time, some "Trek" fans felt the series was set to jump the shark by bringing Khan Noonien Singh, the iconic villain played by Ricardo Montalban in "Star Trek: The Original Series" and "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan," into the mix.

Based on Kurtzman's comments at Comic-Con, "Star Trek: Picard" may have a different plan in mind. "We do have a singular villain this season," the executive producer says. "I won't say too much other than to say that she is amazing." While there's no telling who this villain will be as of right now, recent "Trek" series have also shed some light on Khan's family tree, introducing the decidedly heroic character La'an Noonien-Singh in this year's "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

Also at the panel today, Kurtzman also talked about looking at the series like "a final 'Next Gen' movie," add, "It was really exciting to approach this from a place of...who would these characters be now so many years later?" The showrunner says that the team behind "Star Trek: Picard" very much "wanted to honor the legacy of these extraordinary characters" with the new season.

"Star Trek: Picard" season 3 will debut on Paramount+, but the release date has not yet been announced.

Why 'Star Trek' Kheeps Khoming Back to Khan

The iconic villain still haunts the Federation 55 years after his first appearance.

The genetically-engineered superhuman Khan Noonien Singh first entered the Star Trek universe in the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Space Seed", originally a one-off villain that presented a formidable challenge for the crew of the Enterprise. Khan, and the episode itself, proved so popular that he reappeared, and continues to appear, directly or indirectly in almost all the Star Trek franchise’s movie and television properties. The question is, how does an antagonist who first appeared 55-years ago stand above other threats to the Federation?

Episode 22 of Star Trek: The Original Series' Season 1, "Space Seed" introduced actor Ricardo Montalban as Khan Noonien Singh, one of the first human villains in the series. Rescued by the Enterprise from the 200-year-old derelict ship SS Botany Bay, Khan is wakened from suspended animation. Despite Spock's ( Leonard Nimoy ) research that identifies Khan as a product of selective breeding, an augmented human who had helped conquer a third of the Earth in the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s, the rest of the command crew are captivated by their guest. His true nature is revealed when he coerces Lieutenant Marla McGyvers ( Madlyn Rhue ) into helping him waken the rest of his crew aboard the Botany Bay and take over control of the Enterprise. Kirk ( William Shatner ) eventually takes Khan out, regaining control of the Enterprise. He holds a hearing to judge the fate of Khan and his followers, but in a shocking turn he drops all charges, unwilling to see their potential wasted. He offers Khan a choice: join society as a commoner, or settle on the uninhabited, fertile planet Ceti Alpha V. Opting for the latter, Khan, his crew, and Lieutenant McGyvers are transported to the planet.

RELATED: How 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' Is the Franchise's Most Human Story

Nothing that happens in the episode is believable without Montalban. He infuses Khan with a depth over and above that of a standard villain. He is charming and mysterious, selling his enchantment of the Enterprise crew with more than mere words. He is sly and intelligent, with Montalban's voice invoking a soothing tone atop a hint of malice. You believe Khan is more than a mere man, and you sense an air of authority about him.

And when Khan was brought back for 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Montalban gave the performance of his life, hearkening back to the qualities he brought from "Space Seed" and more. Ceti Alpha V had been rendered uninhabitable due to a cataclysmic event on Ceti Alpha VI, taking the lives of many, including his wife. This Khan was outraged over the loss of his wife, furious that no one thought to check on their welfare, but still calculating, taking control of the USS Reliant and plotting his vengeance on Kirk in cold detail. His thirst for vengeance, and his rage at being thwarted by Kirk, would lead to his death. In bringing Khan back, Star Trek II single-handedly rescued the Star Trek movie franchise that started off with the disappointing Star Trek: The Motion Picture , delivered a fan-favorite entry that to this day tops many lists as the best of the Star Trek films, and brought, "It is very cold... in space" and "KHAAAAAAN!" to the movie-quote lexicon. Whoever didn't know Khan from his first appearance certainly knew, and flat-out loved, Khan now.

But, now he was dead. Short of turning the character into some sort of Federation Freddy Krueger, this great rival of Kirk and the crew was inaccessible. The successful reboot of the franchise with 2009's Star Trek led to hopeful speculation the character would be revived in the follow-up Star Trek: Into Darkness , and he was, but actor Benedict Cumberbatch is no Montalban. Apart from the controversial whitewashing of Khan, Cumberbatch just didn't have the same draw, the same charisma that was brought to the villain by Montalban, disappointing the fan base.

Yet Khan is now so iconic, his legacy withstood the setback of Darkness to open up story possibilities and pique interest in other Star Trek properties, with the mere mention of his name laying a foundation of exposition going in. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has a character named La’an Noonien Singh ( Christina Chong ), security officer, and the name alone has stirred up postulations on how the two are connected. Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard ended with Dr. Adam Soong ( Brent Spiner ) revealing a file labeled “Project Khan”, leading to even more hypotheses, and a subdued hope that maybe this opens the door for an actual encounter between Khan - maybe a clone or other similar augmented warlord — and Picard ( Patrick Stewart ).

The Star Trek universe is filled with a deep history of enemies that have risen to challenge Starfleet. The Klingon Empire, first introduced in the original series episode "Errand of Mercy" and a continual presence throughout Trek history. The Borg, who entered the franchise in Season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation (and the antagonists in Star Trek: First Contact , arguably the best of the TNG films). Gul Skrain G. Dukat ( Marc Alaimo ), the Cardassian that plagued Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . It's easy, though, to make aliens the enemy. There's already an inherent distrust of the unknown, so the mere suggestion that an alien is anything less than noble and honest makes for a quick trip down that rabbit hole. Additionally, time and time again the villains of the franchise are shown to be allies of the Federation when faced with a common threat, or become full-fledged members of Starfleet at some point in the franchise. Worf ( Michael Dorn ), the Klingon Chief Security Officer on board the USS Enterprise-D, or former Borg drone Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan ) all come to mind.

Khan, however, stands alone. His humanness is relatable. His charisma draws you in. His thirst for vengeance a cause for fear. Khan is irredeemable, but you believe in his desire to better the situation for those in his care. He continues to impact the world of Star Trek because Trek needs him to. Khan's history is a known history, and anything that touches on that history is guaranteed to capture the imagination of even the most casual of Trekkers in a way that others simply can not.

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy . We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Star Trek: Picard Finale Recap: One Giant Leap for Mankind (Grade It!)

Dave nemetz, west coast bureau chief.

• Share on Facebook
• Show more sharing options
• Share to Flipboard
• Share on LinkedIn
• Submit to Reddit
• Post to Tumblr
• Share on WhatsApp
• Print This Page

Jean-Luc and the Star Trek: Picard crew are racing to save the future of humanity — but it might require some personal sacrifice.

As Thursday’s Season 2 finale opens, Jean-Luc and Tallinn are puzzling over Agnes/the Borg Queen’s declaration that there must be two Renées: one who lives, and one who dies. While Seven, Raffi and Rios try to stop Soong, Tallinn transports to the site of Renée’s launch — and Jean-Luc goes with her. He sees a look in her eye, and he can tell she’s planning to sacrifice her own life to save Renée’s. But she pushes him away: “I don’t need saving. I never have.” Inside Soong’s lab, Seven, Raffi and Rios just find a recording of Soong’s voice — he’s actually at the launch site, too — along with a squad of robotic drones poised to take Renée’s rocket out of the sky.

Tallinn dons a flight suit and sneaks in with the other astronauts, cornering Renée and telling her she’s in danger… and that she’s been watching her for her entire life. Raffi manages to hack into Soong’s drones, and Rios flies them into each other, destroying them and neutralizing that threat. But Soong gets to Renée at the launch site and touches her skin with a fatal neurotoxin, bringing her to her knees. Jean-Luc cradles her in his arms as the rocket launches, but the dying Renée reveals she was wearing a hologram disguise. It’s actually Tallinn! She encourages Jean-Luc to forgive himself for his mother’s death before succumbing to the neurotoxin.

It starts to dawn on Rios, Seven and Raffi that they’re stuck in this timeline now, but Rios seems happy with Teresa and her son. (Plus, Seven plants a kiss on Raffi!) But as Jean-Luc walks through his chateau and places that old key behind a brick so his future self can find it, he’s greeted by a beaming Q. The trickster god thinks now that Jean-Luc has accepted his fate and forgiven himself, maybe he can find love. Q is “moving on,” aka dying, and he doesn’t want Jean-Luc to end up along: “Even gods have favorites, Jean-Luc. And you’ve always been one of mine.” He has one final surprise: He can send them back home to the future —although he can’t resurrect Elnor, like Raffi wants. Rios decides to stay behind with Teresa in the past, though, and he exchanges warm hugs with the crew as Q says a final goodbye to Jean-Luc: “Farewell, mon capitaine.”

They end up back on the Stargazer bridge as they were in the premiere, under fire from the Borg Queen. Jean-Luc cancels the auto-destruct and tells his crew to cease fire, directly addressing the Borg Queen. She takes off her mask — and yep, it’s Jurati. She explains that a nearby space anomaly is about to release enough energy to wipe out the whole sector, and she took control of the ships to harmonize their shields to counter the blast. Jean-Luc puts Seven in charge, and she orders the fleet to allow the Borg to control their ships. The shields are harmonized, forming a protective force field — and hey, Elnor is on the Excelsior ! (Rios staying behind opened up a spot for him after all.) The anomaly fires off a massive blast of energy, but the force field absorbs it, and it ends with no harm done. Agnes the Borg Queen requests membership in the Federation to watch over it, though. This is an episode of unlikely alliances, isn’t it?

Jean-Luc shares a drink with Guinan, who points out she has a photo of Rios and Teresa up in her bar. They formed a medical charity together, and her son grew up to use alien technology to clean up the planet’s ecosystem. Rios eventually died in a Moroccan bar fight, she reports: “His last breath was into a cigar.” Jean-Luc and the crew toast “to family, because that’s what we are, after all.” But he has some unfinished business: He heads back to his chateau, where he finds Laris. She restored his greenhouse, but he doesn’t want to look back. “Better to look forward,” he says as he asks her for a second chance — and the two hold hands.

Alright, Trekkies: Give the Picard finale a grade in our poll, and then beam down to the comments to share your thoughts.

Cancel reply

33 comments.

Email * Your email address will not be published. We will notify you when someone replies.

Well, that was a surprise. Wesley Crusher making an appearance.

Hi Steven.. not really a surprise.. he did go with the Traveler to learn at the end of Next Generations.. since he was interviewing actors especially Patrick Stewart in an ET kind of way.. I figured they’d plug him in there somewhere.. I just hope they show us at least one episode of Kore NEXT YEAR in season 3.. so frustrating

It was solid…I will always love Patrick Stewart in this role and he made this finale work…I hated the project khan reference, stop always going back to khan star trek… I was shocked by Wesley Crusher though it was a little too much fan service, and who knows where that’s leading. how do they ever explain Rios disapearance to starfleet, Picard just Yada Yadaed it. I must say, I new Rios was staying as soon as I saw his protrayor show up on the premier of the flight attendant lol, I saw that and said well I guess thats a wrap for rios…I’m glad they thinned out the herd for all the returning tng characters next season.

Project Kahn was, I’m sure, a reference to Adam Soong’s descendant Arik, who on Star Trek: Enterprise would create genetic augments like Kahn. Bit of foreshadowing…

So very pleased to see Wesley although would have enjoyed more interaction with Wesley and Picard. Really enjoyed this!

I really enjoyed the season finale! The conclusion wrapped things up nicely, even though we lost Agnes and Rios . Overall, I was completely satisfied with season.

A key point was missed: Seven was given a FIELD PROMOTION by Admiral Picard. That’s a huge deal in my book (and rightly deserved). While I thought the first part of the season was bad, they made up for it in the last 2 episodes. The finale may be the only one I watch multiple times.

No, she was given a field commission which is temporary. “A field commission (or brevet) refers to either a Starfleet commissioned officer holding a higher rank temporarily, or, in some cases, personnel from outside Starfleet temporarily being granted a Starfleet rank for the purposes of completing a specific mission.”

WOW. I bet that was a shocker to people that Wesley made an appearance. I love it though. I know his character was very divisive with fans but I enjoyed his time on TNG. I thought it was interesting why he wasn’t announced as a returning character for season 3 but now I know why.

When I was younger, I really hated Wes. But once they had him quit Starfleet and go do his thing, I really came to like his story arc. And Wil Wheaton seems like a cool guy in real life, so I have come to appreciate Wesley.

This show is garbage… i laughed so hard at the Khan file… the timeline is completely ruined but yes lets act like all is well. Season 1 is better compared to this. Q just wanted a hug??? Crusher protects timeline but ignores all that happened.

How is the timeline ruined? Rios was always supposed to stay in the past. The rest returned after fixing the mess Q and Borg Queen Annie caused with Renee the Europa flight. This all led to Picard accepting his future and planting the skeleton key for himself to find.

Q showed a very human side of himself to Picard right at the end of his lifespan. It wasn’t just about Q feeling lonely at the end, he wanted to connect with others, Picard, in his own way. Bringing Elnor back showed his compassionate side.

Have to agree! And they totally wasted the potential in the characters of Elnor and especially Rios. Gave them nothing of any import to do the whole season and then killed off Rios at the end. Why even bother introducing them in S1? The storyline was a mess, and worse, boring – like, how are we supposed to believe Picard was so affected by his mother’s death and his role it in? There was no significant evidence of that in TNG. And to base the whole season on him ‘learning to love’? Ack. I saw a review that suggested the real story of import was Agnes’, and I think I agree.

Of all the major characters in TNG Wesley was the only one who was written off never to be seen or heard from again. He just went off with a traveler and never mentioned again.

It was nice to give him a conclusion or ending arc. And an ending for Rios.

and again people wondered why he wasn’t in the season 3 cast announcment and now we know why

We can still use his hologram/AI. He can still show up from time to time.

He won’t be credited as hologram if the show uses CGI.

Nobody is discussing this, but Allison Pill was FIRED from Star Trek: Picard before the season 2 finale. Take a close look at Agnes/Borg Queen in those scenes about the Stargazer. Her face was motion-captured and CGIed over the physical performer’s face. The slightly out-of-focus blurring around her head was a dead give-away. I wonder why the producers fired her. Probably she asked for more money.

No, she wasn’t fired. Her character arc ended, just as Rios’s did, which is why neither Allison Pill nor Santiago Cabrera will appear in the final season. Hell, it’s probably the only way they can *afford* season 3!

That’s silly.. she was there for the finale.. she had to do the voice and she did the performance.. they made use of cgi cause she was not human anymore

None of that is true. She was in the season finale. She simply will not be part of season 3. No controversy. It’s storyline dictated.

A worthy ending to an interesting, if offbeat season. Not easy to do as there are many examples of failures.

An often uneven season, but I don’t regret spending time with it. Now, what do we have to do to get a Seven and Raffi in the Fenris Rangers spinoff?!?

As much as I liked it, I think seeing Tallinn with RED bloodshot eyes had me blinking. Because Romulans have green blood.

Good call; it didn’t even occur to me at the time.

It was a Soong neurotoxin.. it’s possible he created one that couldn’t be fought off or is Tallin half human.. since the toxin was created for a human..

I despised season 1. Two was good but was both rushed and many parts didn’t make any sense. Rios dying at an old age in bar fight with a cigar as his last breath was ridiculous.

I never liked Spiner other than Data. His douchebag behaviour on social media has a striking resemblance to that of Shatner. I doubt he put much effort in playing an arsehole. It’s natural for him. The fact Soong will be responsible for Khan and others was actually a good twist. But surely the world would have shut him down given what he did to sabotage the Euro mission.

Q suddenly has his powers back? How did he know Picard was going to succeed in [the current] timeline?

The onscreen romance and kiss between seven and Rafi just didn’t make much sense. Neither did using Borg tech to keep her alive, at least not in the same locations as before.

Using alien technology to clean up the ocean? How do you explain that without altering the future.

And poor Whoopie Goldberg. She sounded so out of breath. She’s obese and that’s not good. It was difficult to hear and watch her speak.

But anyway, there’s reasons for all, but the reasons aren’t good. It’s just bad writing.

Next season we know Picard will die. What a waste of that new body of his.

I’m sorry but I was frustrated with Season 2, having to wait every week for an episode.. I’m 70 I binge watch my shows.. I rely 2024 could have been done in half the time, move on to something else.. I know this was a Love/hate relationship with the show.. and we havevtovwait for season three next year?? It’s only April.. I probably won’t watch it..

Well, if you didn’t want to watch it weekly, you could have just waited 6 weeks and watched it all at once. We don’t ALL need to be on your viewing schedule, do we? . Personally, I kind of like having the intervening week to think about an episode and chat with others (though more so for rich shows like Better Call Saul than more popcorny fare like Star Trek).

I just finished watching Voyager and TNG and this is not that. It feels like it is trying so so hard. I was glad to see the “real” Guinan at the end. That young one was very miscast. Also I loved the guest spot by Wesley.

I had mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s a solid cast, and Patrick Stewart shows his characteristic generosity towards his fellow actors. (I wonder if it was his idea for Picard to delegate during the crisis at the end; it’s refreshingly un-Star Trek.) It was particularly good to see Orla Brady and Annie Wersching. John de Lancie was excellent, as were Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd, and Sunny Ozell musical number was a treat. . On the other hand, the last episode was just not very well written. You just sat there and watched the writers contrive ways to pull the expected triggers. It was largely rote: characters thanking each other in a smarmy way for teaching them things, which came off as self-congratulatory on the part of the writers, and characters’ natures reduced to That Traumatic Incident in their past. It ain’t that simple. . And logic seemed to have gone out the window. For example, when Picard et al. get back to the present, they’re still in the ship where Picard had activated a self-destruct. He decides to cancel it on the assumption that Agnes as the new Borg Queen will be on the side of the angels. Okay, fine, but if the Borg are in fact benevolent in this changed timeline, why is Star Fleet lined up against them, and why did Picard order the self-destruct? Turning it the other way around, why did the Borg Queen of the original timeline ask for Picard by name? Unlike Agnes, she had no reason to. . And why does Guinan need to explain to Picard that Renee somewhat improbably found the solution to climate change while in space? Picard would have known that, since that’s what happened in the timeline he came from, and blocking her from doing this was what changed things. (I wish that she hadn’t said that “His last breath was into a cigar,” which, just like a bad song, is the kind of thing that sticks in your mind when you don’t want it to.) . And … Well, enough of that. Nice ending, with Picard showing the gentle tact that seems so natural to Patrick Stewart.

I like Picard and Laris together. I hope they live happily ever after by the series finale next season. While I used to want Picard and Beverly together, he has more chemistry with Laris. Aside from those two being together, the only things that I liked about this series so far has been the brief cameos by the original TNG cast. Unfortunately, this show seems to want to kill them all off.

I thoroughly enjoyed the finale and the season. I believe I liked Season 1 better because I really dislike time travel and parallel worlds, but this being Star Trek, it’s come to be expected. I give it a solid A. So glad that Elnor made it, after all. Watching Star Trek Picard has been much like seeing an old best friend after 20 years and picking up right where you left off. Also – huzzah for Q and Wesley Crusher!

Most Popular

You may also like.

Picard Season 3: Plot, Cast, Release Date, and Everything Else We Know

Star Trek: Picard returns in 2023 for its third and final season on Paramount+. Here's what to know!

Star Trek: Picard is about to enter its third and final season; from the looks of it, it will be a good one. Picard promises a full cast reunion from The Next Generation and will bring back some of the old series’ most sinister villains.

Picard already stunned audiences in its first season when it reinvented the Star Trek universe while paying homage to Patrick Stewart’s iconic performance as Jean-Luc Picard. It created an entirely new cast of compelling characters and managed to hide some surprising old ones along the way. Though the balance between new story and old is usually maintained, Star Trek: Picard seems to be tipping the scales with a full reunion this season.

Season 3’s new enemy, Vadic, played by the legendary Amanda Plummer ( Pulp Fiction ), is still very much in the dark. But if anything can be gleaned from the Star Trek: Picard teaser trailer , she’s a powerful force that inspires fear even in the heart of Captain Picard. The show’s creators said the story for the third season was inspired by a Wrath of Khan -type conflict, so the audience should be prepared to see the crew of the Enterprise – or the Titan as it were – face their most dangerous challenge yet.

Star Trek: Picard: The Plot

In season 2 of Picard , Q (John de Lancie) shows us a cruel binary future in which the Federation is replaced by a cruel, domineering human society where humanity strives to wipe out all other alien races. We learn that the existence of Earth as we know it hinges on Picard’s ancestor discovering the first form of sentient life. But geneticist Adam Soong (Brent Spiner) seeks to foil this plot in pursuit of power over the human race. When Soong when defeated and the future is saved, Soong pulls out a folder that has the words “Project Khan” written on it.

Related: Star Trek: Picard's Gates McFadden Worked on David Bowie’s Labyrinth

While we aren’t certain about Khan’s origins, we do know that he, and his augmented human followers, were involved in the Eugenics War. What Picard did in season 2 may have prevented the racist human Confederation from existing, but it may have inadvertently caused the creation of one of Star Trek’s deadliest villains.

In season 3 of Picard , we know that Amanda Plummer’s Vadic is meant to be the central enemy , but her origins remain a mystery. It’s possible that Doctor Soong’s “Project Khan” may have set off a chain of events that created Vadic. Her need for revenge against Picard could be the result of something done long in the past during season 2. Or it’s possible she could be an augment herself; some failed side effect of the Eugenics war who learned that her twisted existence was caused by some mistake Picard made while time traveling.

Picard ’s season 2 journey into the past could have also altered familiar characters. Doctor Adam Soong’s descendant would eventually experiment with the design of a positronic brain, thus creating Data and his evil brother Lore. We saw in the trailer that Lore has returned, but we don’t know how or why. It could be that Captain Picard might need the most devious minds in the universe to help him stop this threat. Lore is also uniquely positioned to understand the research of Adam Soong and his descendant. Picard may have reassembled Lore in order to help him fight Vadic. It’s also possible that Vadic found Lore and sent him after Picard.

Star Trek: Picard: The Cast

As we said earlier, this season of Picard will feature a huge reunion of the cast members from The Next Generation . As always, Patrick Stewart will play Jean-Luc Picard , but this year, this cast will also feature LeVar Burton as he returns as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, and Brent Spiner back, not as Data, but as his evil twin Lore . Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis will also return to reprise their roles as Will Riker and Deanna Troi, respectively.

Related: Star Trek: Picard Season 3 to Explore Trek's 'Criminal Underbelly'

This season’s cast will also include a few surprises. Daniel Davis will appear, starring as TNG’ s villain Moriarty. In the old series, La Forge and Doctor Pulaski created Moriarty in the Holodeck as a computer-generated puzzle capable of defeating Data. During an accidental power surge, Moriarty became real and served as another of the Enterprise’s most dangerous evil geniuses.

Two excitingly new castings in this season of Picard come in relation to LeVar Burton’s character. Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut ( Cruel Summer ) and Mica Burton ( Critical Role ) will be joining the cast. Chestnut will be playing Ensign Sidney La Forge, eldest daughter of Geordi La Forge and helmsman of the U.S.S. Titan, and Mica Burton (LeVar Burton’s actual daughter) will play Ensign Alandra La Forge, Geordi’s younger daughter who works alongside her father.

Release Date

Star Trek: Picard is set for release on Paramount+ on February 16th, 2023.

The Biggest Star Trek Questions Answered By Picard

"Star Trek: Picard" saw fan favorite Patrick Stewart come back to the franchise, returning to the role of Jean-Luc Picard after more than 20 years. But fans expecting a reprise of "The Next Generation" were in for a rude awakening when the show debuted in 2020, as it featured a more downtrodden Picard assembling a rag-tag group of heroes for a personal mission outside the law. The second season saw John de Lancie reprise the character of Q, while the third and final season gifted fans with the "TNG" reunion they wanted, bringing back the entire cast of the 1987 series to give them a proper send-off.

During its three years, "Picard" did more than just tell new, thrilling stories centered on the beloved Enterprise captain. It also resolved a number of plot threads that were left dangling at the end of "The Next Generation," and with former Borg drone Seven of Nine added to the cast, it also addressed a few questions fans had after the conclusion of "Star Trek: Voyager." With a broad range of stories that tied back to old episodes from just about every incarnation in the franchise, "Picard" has managed to tie up plenty of loose ends. So secure all shuttle bays and prepare for warp speed, because we're exploring the biggest "Star Trek" questions answered by "Picard." Spoilers ahead .

Wesley Crusher tied up three loose ends

The Season 2 finale of "Picard" answered a trio of long-standing "Star Trek" mysteries. But first, a history lesson: In a classic "Star Trek" episode from 1968 we met interstellar agent Gary Seven, who's involved in 20th century affairs. Decades later, in "The Next Generation," we met another mysterious alien known as the Traveler, a being with psychic abilities who informs Captain Picard that Wesley Crusher is a special child with a unique destiny. 

In the "TNG" episode "Journey's End," the Traveler returns to help Wesley uncover latent psychic powers of his own, and the two depart together for parts unknown. Unfortunately, despite a brief cameo in "Star Trek: Nemesis," we never learned anything more about Wesley's destiny, what his abilities meant, or what happened during his time with the Traveler. Little did we know that it was all connected to Gary Seven.

In the "Picard" Season 2 finale, all three questions are answered when Wesley returns, this time in the year 2024. He says he is now a traveler of space and time, and that he and his colleagues are responsible for dispatching "Supervisors" — like Gary Seven — to ensure the proper flow of time. He has arrived at this point in the past to recruit a new Supervisor, and his selection is none other than Kore, the genetically engineered daughter of Adam Soong (the ancestor of Wesley's old friend Commander Data).

We happened to mobile holo-technology?

For the first few seasons of "Star Trek: Voyager," the holographic Doctor was confined to sickbay and the holodeck. But in the two-part episode "Future's End," Captain Janeway and the crew have a time-traveling adventure that ends with them acquiring a piece of technology from hundreds of years in the future. This small, autonomous holographic emitter finally allows the ship's Doctor to move about unfettered through the ship, and even off of it, sometimes going on away missions. 

While using a piece of futuristic technology violated all kinds of Starfleet protocols, it was simply too useful not to use. But the question remained: What would become of it after Voyager got back to Earth? Would the technology be confiscated for study, locked away to avoid polluting the timeline, or worse, would it be destroyed, forcing the Doctor back into a holodeck?

In "Star Trek: Picard," we learn what became of the technology, with Season 3 showing Worf and Raffi using one to deceive a group of underworld thugs. Though it's not said how widespread the use of the technology is, the fact that it's used at all says that at least Starfleet Intelligence counts it as a valuable tool. It also likely means that nobody from the 29th century — the time period it originates from — has come looking for it, perhaps suggesting that the mobile emitter's existence in the 24th and 25th centuries was not a problem for the timeline.

Did Picard and Dr. Crusher ever get together?

During "The Next Generation," Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher danced around their romantic feelings for one another, but at the end of the Season 7 episode "Attached" it was hinted that they might finally pursue a relationship. Unfortunately, despite the series finale "All Good Things" showing a possible future where the pair had been married (and divorced), the four films to feature the "TNG" crew never followed up on their romance.

Doubling down, the first two seasons of "Star Trek: Picard" continued to leave the status of Picard's relationship with Crusher a mystery, and even teased a romance with a new woman. But when Season 3 debuted in 2023, we finally got concrete answers. In the season's second episode, "Disengage," we learn that Picard and Crusher did indeed become lovers not long after the events of "Star Trek: Nemesis," but things didn't quite work out. And the reason why is that the good Doctor became pregnant: She feared for the life of her son, who she worried would become an ancillary target for his father's greatest enemies.

That son, Jack Crusher, became prey for Changeling agents, and he is later revealed to be crucial to their plot to destroy the Federation. During the third season, Picard, Crusher, and Jack reunite after saving the quadrant on Frontier Day, and they endeavor to become a family. 

Did Ro stay with the Maquis?

Ro Laren was introduced as a disgruntled Starfleet officer in "The Next Generation." She became a protégé to Captain Picard in the episode named for her, "Ensign Ro." Joining the series as a recurring regular, Ro helped shake up the status quo. There were even plans for her to lead the spin-off series "Deep Space Nine," but actor Michelle Forbes declined and left the franchise, returning only for a single episode at the tail end of the show's seventh season.

In that installment, Ro was sent on a mission to infiltrate a terrorist group called the Maquis, but she wound up joining them instead. The episode left her fate unknown, and it's later said that the Maquis were all wiped out in a Dominion offensive. Had Ro Laren met her end? Well, in the "Picard" Season 3 episode "Imposters" we finally find out what happened to her.

According to Ro, she surrendered to Starfleet at some point after joining the Maquis and did time in prison. Eventually, she was recruited into Starfleet Intelligence, becoming one of their top operatives. In the episode, she comes aboard the U.S.S. Titan to get Picard's help in exposing a Changeling conspiracy, only to find herself the target of assassins. At the conclusion, Ro sacrifices herself, colliding with an enemy ship to allow Picard and the Titan the chance to escape.

A new hope for Hugh and the Borg

First introduced in the "TNG" episode "I, Borg," Hugh is a wayward Borg drone who gets nursed back to health by Picard and his crew. They briefly consider using Hugh as a living weapon against their greatest foe, but they reconsider after Hugh begins to exhibit his own personality and instead return him to the Borg collective. He turns up again in the Season 7 episode "Descent, Part 2," where we learn that Hugh's sense of self corrupted the Borg consciousness. The episode ends with Hugh stepping up to become the leader of a new rogue faction of Borg rebels, but the franchise left that plot thread hanging.

In the first season of "Picard," audiences were given a surprise when Hugh returned. Decades after we last saw him, Hugh serves as the Executive Director for an initiative called the Borg Reclamation Project, run out of an abandoned Borg cube, and whose goal is to de-assimilate drones to help them regain their individuality. As a former Borg drone (or xB) himself, Hugh also fights for the rights of his brethren and advocates for them to be re-accepted into their societies.

When the android Soji becomes involved with the project, Picard comes looking for her at the Borg Reclamation Site, leading to a tearful reunion between Picard and Hugh. Sadly, Hugh is killed while trying to help Picard escape during an attack from Romulan villains Narissa and Narek.

Did Maddox ever succeed at building an android?

All the way back in Season 2 of "The Next Generation," a now-iconic installment titled "The Measure of a Man" introduced a Starfleet scientist named Bruce Maddox, who was attempting to create more androids just like Commander Data. Initially an antagonist who attempts to force Data to undergo a dangerous procedure to learn about his inner workings, Maddox eventually comes to accept that Data is an individual with the right to his own bodily autonomy. Unfortunately, the only update audiences would ever get on Maddox's work came in the Season 4 episode "Data's Day," where Data addresses a letter to him to help in his work.

Flash forward to the first season of "Picard," where some answers regarding the fate of Maddox were finally given: Audiences were in for a shock when they discovered that he was at the center of the story. According to Daystrom Institute researcher Dr. Agnes Jurati, Maddox eventually succeeded in using Data's twin B-4 to help him construct a new wave of artificial life forms. Alongside Altan Soong, the son of Data's creator, Maddox established a research station on the remote planet of Coppelius and built an entire artificial race of androids. 

After a deadly attack by Synths, however, the Federation banned the creation of artificial life, and Maddox became convinced that it was part of an elaborate conspiracy. In his attempts to expose the perpetrator, Maddox became a target, ultimately being killed by his own assistant under the coercion of a Romulan agent.

Seven's future in the Alpha Quadrant

Following the introduction of Seven of Nine in "Star Trek: Voyager," the ex-Borg drone struggled to accept her re-emerging humanity. Over the course of her four seasons on the show, Seven often expressed a reluctance to return to the Alpha Quadrant with the rest of the crew, unsure of how she would be treated as a former Borg, and uncertain if she'd ever belong. Unfortunately, due to the rushed series finale "Endgame," audiences never learned if Seven ever found a place to belong in the Alpha Quadrant. It would take more than two decades before fans found out what happened to her, and their first glimpse of her in "Picard" probably wasn't what most Trekkies had imagined.

When we first come across her in "Picard," Seven is a rogue agent working with the Fenris Rangers, a group of peace-keeping outlaws on the fringes of Federation space. It seems that when she first returned to the Alpha Quadrant, she'd been denied entry into Starfleet based on her Borg physiology. After adventuring with Admiral Picard, Seven eventually re-applied to Starfleet, and with the help of both Picard and Admiral Janeway, she secured not only entry into the service, but was granted a commission as first officer of the U.S.S. Titan under the command of Captain Liam Shaw.

In the emotional conclusion to "Star Trek: Picard," following Shaw's death, Seven is promoted to captain and given command of the Federation flagship, the U.S.S. Enterprise-G.

What became of all those Enterprises?

Over the years, the final fate of the various Enterprises has been left up in the air, bar the odd destruction seen on screen. But in Season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard," we learn what's happened to four of the starships named Enterprise. Most of that is thanks to the inclusion of the Fleet Museum, which is under the command of Commodore Geordi La Forge.

While we already knew from dialogue in "Star Trek: Enterprise" that the original NX-01 Enterprise sat in the museum, we see it here for the first time. "Picard" reveals that the ship received a refit, which added a secondary hull. But beyond Captain Archer's NX-01, we also get a glimpse of Kirk's Enterprise-A, which is on proud display at the museum. It must have been sent there after being decommissioned following the events of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."

That's not all, though. In addition to learning that the Enterprise-E was confirmed to be (or at least very likely to be) destroyed while Worf was in command, we also see the return of the Enterprise-D. After crashing on Veridian III in "Star Trek Generations," it seems the surviving saucer was salvaged and given the star drive section of another, similar ship. It was then restored by Geordi La Forge, who resurrected it for one final mission to take down the Borg in the series finale of "Star Trek: Picard."

Did the Borg survive Captain Janeway?

Since their introduction, the Borg have remained the most terrifying adversary on "Star Trek." Once Captain Picard got done with them on "TNG," they re-appeared in the 1996 film "Star Trek: First Contact," and they later showed up in "Star Trek: Voyager," serving as the villains in the two-hour finale. In that story, a time-traveling Admiral Janeway arrives from the future with a plan to get the ship back to the Alpha Quadrant years earlier than it would have otherwise, but doing so will force them into a showdown with the Borg Queen.

At the close of the episode, future Janeway infects the Borg with a deadly virus that wreaks untold havoc on the Queen and her army of drones. Untold is the right word, too, because audiences were never informed about what happened next. Were they damaged just enough so that they couldn't stop the Voyager from returning home, or were they wiped out completely? The epic third season of "Star Trek: Picard" finally answered that question.

As it turns out, the Borg were decimated by Janeway's virus, though the Queen herself managed to survive by using the life force of the few remaining Borg to sustain her. Decades of loneliness gave way to hope, however, when she learned of Jack Crusher, the son of Picard who inherited some of his father's Borg-altered DNA. In the end, her plan to rebuild the Borg failed, and she was defeated once more by Picard and the Enterprise crew.

The fallout from the Dominion War

Arguably the biggest open question left at the conclusion of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"  was what became of the vaunted Dominion. A vast empire ruled by shapeshifting Changelings in a distant part of the galaxy, their emergence into the Alpha Quadrant led to a sprawling interstellar war that saw just about every major "Star Trek" power fighting for survival. But when the dust settled, and the Dominion were defeated, many fans were left to wonder what actually became of them. Though "Star Trek: Picard" didn't provide all the answers, the creators did at least give an update on the Founders of the Dominion.

"Picard" Season 3 introduces the Changeling villain Vadic, a prisoner of war held by Starfleet and used in gruesome experiments aimed at creating living weapons. When Vadic escapes her imprisonment at the hands of the clandestine Starfleet intelligence agency Section 31, she leads a splinter group of shapeshifters on a vengeful quest to destroy the Federation, forging a bold alliance with the surviving Borg Queen. While Vadic is defeated by the end of the season, the fate of the Dominion itself in the Gamma Quadrant is still left to be pondered.

Khan gets an origin

Played by Brent Spiner in "Picard," Adam Soong is the apparent first in a lengthy line of geniuses that would ultimately lead to the creation of the android Data, who Spiner played on "The Next Generation." It seems that in the year 2024, Soong was a visionary scientist experimenting with genetic engineering, at first appearing to be developing treatments to cure his daughter Kore of a debilitating disease. It's later revealed, however, that Soong is a eugenicist, and he has been attempting to create the ideal human specimen using artificial means.

Over many decades, Soong cooked up numerous artificially-created people in the form of a series of "daughters," almost all of whom died before the age of four. With each new experiment, Soong perfected his methods and became certain he could eventually accomplish his ultimate goal. After his daughter Kore abandons him and much of his work is destroyed, a final stinger reveals one secret, apparently incomplete project that Soong has been working on called Project Khan. 

The implication is clear: Adam Soong is at least partly responsible for the creation of the villain Khan Noonien Singh, the diabolical tyrant who fought the Eugenics Wars in "Star Trek" lore. Paired with new information gleaned from the pilot episode of "Strange New Worlds," it would seem that Khan's creation played a role in what began as the Second Civil War, became the Eugenics Wars, and ended in World War III.

A final resting place for Captain Kirk

If the "TNG" movies made any mistakes, it was the death of Captain James T. Kirk in "Star Trek Generations." A controversial move at the time to kill off one of the franchise's most beloved characters, even the actor himself, William Shatner, never wanted Kirk to die. The last we saw on-screen, Kirk's body was left buried under a pile of rocks on Veridian III, a pretty undignified end for such a legend, and fans have often wondered if that was really his final resting place.

Not long after "Generations," of course, Shatner himself co-wrote a novel that resurrected the character, in a story that saw his body exhumed and used to bring Kirk back to life. Decades later, something strikingly similar was shown in "Star Trek: Picard." 

In the episode "The Bounty," Riker, Worf, and Raffi sneak aboard the Section 31 facility Daystrom Station, where the organization keeps its most top secret assets. While walking its corridors, fans were treated to a veritable goldmine of Easter eggs, and one of them was the body of James T. Kirk. Eagle-eyed fans were even able to decipher a wall-panel graphic that claimed Kirk's body had been recovered from Veridian III with the goal of using it as part of something called "Project Phoenix," suggesting that Section 31 may indeed be trying to resurrect the legendary hero.

Discovery Season 5 is Taking a Huge Swing With Star Trek Canon

Get out your space history books.

Why do so many Star Trek aliens look like humans? The real-world explanation is that way back in 1964, Gene Roddenberry said the format of Star Trek would focus on stories that took place on “parallel worlds.” This didn’t mean Trek was an alternate universe-hopping show, but that allegorically, the people encountered by the Enterprise were humanoid, thus making the stories easier to write and understand (and, from a budget perspective, easier to make). But there’s an in-universe explanation for this, too.

In 1993, Star Trek: The Next Generation devoted an episode to answering this big question. And now, 31 years later, Star Trek: Discovery is doubling down with a Season 5 storyline that serves as a direct sequel to that story. Here’s what this means and why it matters. Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episodes 1 and 2.

The return of Star Trek’s Progenitors

The Progenitor’s message in the Next Generation episode “The Chase.”

At the end of Discovery Season 5, Episode 1, “Red Directive,” we learn that the data the crew has been assigned to protect is connected to discoveries made by a Romulan scientist in the year 2369. Season 5 happens roughly 820 years after that date, but as Kovich (David Cronenberg) tells Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), this information has been kept hidden for centuries. Why?

Well, in “The Chase,” Picard, Crusher, and the Enterprise-D crew — along with representatives from the Cardassians, Klingons, and Romulans — discovered an ancient message coded within DNA that revealed everyone descended from the same ancient aliens. The Progenitors, as their message explains, “...seeded the primordial oceans of many worlds, where life was in its infancy. The seed codes directed your evolution toward a physical form resembling ours.”

Captain Burnham is floored by this information, which makes sense since she’s originally from the 23rd century, and her pre-time travel adventures in Starfleet predate Picard’s by about 100 years. But Burnham’s ignorance of the Progenitors isn’t because she and the Discovery crew are time travelers. There’s another reason why this has all been classified.

Discovery’s new God-mode tech

Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is racing to find the most powerful Trek tech of all time.

The fact that most humanoid-looking life in Star Trek descended from an ancient alien species isn’t a new revelation to longtime Trek fans. Even Original Series episodes “Return to Tomorrow” and “The Paradise Syndrom” hinted that several species originated thanks to some kind of organized panspermia . What is new is that the technology the Progenitors used to create life on thousands of worlds has been found.

In Discovery’s “Red Directive,” the journal left by the Romulan scientist is just the first piece of the puzzle. The larger mission is to find the technology the Progenitors developed millions of years ago, and so Discovery has revealed the most powerful technology in all of Trek canon to date. In The Wrath of Khan , we got the Genesis Device , a tech capable of instantly terraforming planets. In Voyager’s “Year of Hell,” the Kremin weapon ship pushed entire planets out of the spacetime continuum, altering history in the blink of an eye.

But those examples of super-tech were unstable. What’s interesting about the ancient Progenitor tech is that it obviously works . Discovery’s imperative to find the tech is classic Trek: if the ability to seed life on a planetary scale falls into the wrong hands, the galaxy could be changed forever. In the grand tradition of Star Trek, the biggest superweapons aren’t planet-destroying superweapons, but something that could redefine and rewrite life itself.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 airs on Paramount+.

• Science Fiction

The Star Trek Origins Movie Is Officially Moving Forward, But I Have Two Serious Concerns About It

I f you have a Paramount+ subscription , you know full well how the Star Trek franchise has been thriving on TV again for many years now. Streaming has allowed the shows like Discovery , Picard , Strange New Worlds , Prodigy (which is now housed at Netflix) and Lower Decks to be made, and there are more upcoming Star Trek TV shows on the way, as well as the Michelle Yeoh-led Section 31 movie . However, not the franchise’s theatrical film side of things, we haven’t seen anything since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond , but apparently that’s about to change. Paramount Pictures is officially moving forward with that Star Trek origins movie that was reported about earlier this year , though after hearing this news, I can’t help but have two serious concerns about it.

During the Paramount presentation at CinemaCon today that CinemaBlend attended, it was mentioned that this Star Trek movie, which will be directed by Andor ’s Toby Haynes and written by Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ’s Seth Grahame-Smith, is set to begin production later this year and is expected to be released sometime in 2025. Beyond that, no other details were revealed, so the only other thing we know about this project is that it’s set decades before the events of 2009’s Star Trek , i.e. the movie that kicked off the alternate timeline which follows Chris Pine’s James Kirk, Zachary Quito’s Spock and more.

Therein lies my first concern with this origins movie: exactly how is this going to function as a prequel? Not to get too nerdy, but the point of divergence between the Kelvin timeline and the main Star Trek timeline occurs when Nero’s ship’s came back in time to the former reality, which also happened to be the same day James Kirk was born. Everything before that day happened the same way in both timelines, including the events of the TV show Star Trek: Enterprise . So because that series chronicled Starfleet’s first deep-space exploration and ended with the formation of the United Federation of Planets, what origin is there to tell?

The main thing I can think of at the moment is we’d learn how Starfleet and the United Federation became the powerhouse forces they are by the time the 2009 Star Trek movie begins. But even setting aside the fact that this doesn’t need to be classified as a Kelvin timeline exclusive-story since again, such events would have happened the same way in both realities, would this make for a compelling enough cinematic event? With talent like Haynes and Grahame-Smith behind it, I hope so.

My second concern with this Star Trek origins movie is what this means for Star Trek 4 , i.e. the Star Trek Beyond follow-up. We’re coming up on 10 years of this project trying to get off the ground, with various behind-the-scenes creative talent boarding and exiting it, including director Matt Shakman, who left to helm The Fantastic Four . It seems like Star Trek 4 can’t catch a break, and I’m worried that this origins movie will result in it being shelved for good.

Now to be fair, when this origin story’s existence was revealed, it was mentioned that Star Trek 4 was still in “active development’ and is intended to be “the final chapter of the series.” So on face value, Paramount reportedly intends to give this version of the USS Enterprise crew a proper farewell, but given how many attempts to move Star Trek 4 forward have failed, will prioritizing the Star Trek origins movie will once again result in the other movie falling by the wayside? At this point, if Star Trek 4 does get made, it’s not coming out until well over a decade after Beyond . Is it even worth being remotely optimistic about its chances anymore?

As a longtime Star Trek fan, I’ll end up seeing this origins movie regardless, but these concerns will keep weighing on my mind until more information comes to light. Naturally we’ll pass along any major updates that come in, but for now, you can look through our 2024 movies schedule to stay on top of the cinematic entertaining coming out later this year.

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Apr 15, 2024

Michael Ansara Broke Barriers in Hollywood and Star Trek

For Arab-American History Month and Ansara's birthday, we're looking back at the life of the Commander Kang actor and those who followed in the Star Trek universe.

StarTrek.com

A series as representative of the present as it is of the future, Star Trek has been a trailblazer in showcasing the diversity in our own world without capitalizing on its stereotypes.

Actors such as Nichelle Nichols and George Takei, to Sonequa Martin-Green and Shazad Latif, have proven that Star Trek started and will always include multiracial communities while giving them their own distinct narratives. As we celebrate Arab-American Heritage Month, I am able to reflect on my own background as a Lebanese-American woman and recognize representation from this exact community within Star Trek . With a history of promoting diversity, it is no surprise that a significant Klingon Commander — in three separate series no less — is a notable member of the Arab-American community.

Michael Ansara, a voice and screen actor from the mid '40s to the late '90s, played the Klingon Commander Kang in The Original Series , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek: Voyager . He can be seen in full Klingon garb in The Original Series' " Day of the Dove ," DS9's " Blood Oath ," and finally Voyager ’s " Flashback ."

"Day of the Dove"

The Lebanese and Syrian Ansara is originally from a small village within the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, and eventually immigrated with his family to America to pursue a new life. His father George Ansara was born in the states while his mother Cyria Sarah was born in Syria.

In America, Michael began to pursue an acting career that would lead to many pivotal roles in film and television. He's largely known for playing some of our favorite villains, stepping out of Klingon prosthetics to play roles like Killer Kane in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Mr. Freeze in Batman: The Animated Series . Eventually, he earned himself a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, paving a new road for this community of actors and their ability to book roles beyond aggressive and politically-charged stereotypes.

Although Ansara's success and popularity within both the Hollywood and Star Trek communities brought notoriety to Arabs (though not all American) in a creative space, there are several other instances throughout the Star Trek franchises that also lend a hand.

"Dr. Bashir, I Presume"

In Deep Space Nine , actor Alexander Siddig plays Dr. Julian Bashir, the Chief Medical Officer of space station Deep Space 9 and the U.S.S. Defiant .

Alexander Siddig, whose original stage name was Siddig El Fadil — a shortened version of his birth given name — was born in Sudan. Siddig spent most of his life in England and made his first television debut in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia . It was from there that he was cast onto Deep Space Nine, and through that role, joined Ansara on the list of Arab actors from Trek who broke out of racial type-casting.

"Investigations"

In a less focal but equally interesting role played by an Arab, Star Trek: Voyager cast the actual King of Jordan, King Abdullah II, as a science officer in the episode " Investigations ."

While the role was uncredited, it can be seen listed in King Abdullah II’s IMDB page. While a seemingly random casting, it is common knowledge that King Abdullah II is a well known fan of the franchise. So much so that since 2011, he has been the primary investor in a Star Trek theme park that is to be built along the Gulf of Aqaba in Jordan. While the project is currently on hold, they have not announced official plans for a cancellation.

Star Trek Shows Muslim Fans an Inclusive Future

Star Trek has also, on multiple occasions, given an in-universe nod to the Arab culture and community through both filming locale and starship epithet.

In 2016's Star Trek Beyond , the massive, spherical "snowglobe" of Yorktown, as Bones called it, was filmed in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Filming in Dubai allowed this beautiful sequence to be canonically characterized with images from a modern Arab society, normalizing the culture and environment rather than encouraging a stereotypical portrayal of its land.

In another modern example of influence from Arabian culture, Star Trek: Picard 's Cristóbal Rios, a former Starfleet officer, is mentioned to have served on a starship called the U.S.S. Ibn Majid . While easy to overlook, Ibn Majid is a reference to the name of a historically significant Arab navigator and cartographer. He was often titled the "Lion of the Sea," and some scholars claim that he is the navigator who aided in the journey of Vasco da Gama — the first European to sail to India.

Star Trek exists in a world where the Federation is a collaboration of all races, species and walks of life. It's significant to recognize that their namesake ships hail not after just Westernized fleets, but of important figures from around the world. U.S.S. Ibn Majid ’s existence amongst the Federation's history brings light to the accomplishments of Arab culture.

While, of course, there is a long road to traverse to achieve complete representation without misrepresentation when regarding both Arab-Americans and Arabs portrayed in American society, Star Trek has undeniably laid their own stone in that path. As the franchises continue, so will the notion that in Star Trek , the future looks like us.

Get Updates By Email

This article was originally published on April 21, 2020.

Alexa Carlucci (she/her) is the daughter of a Trekkie, an assistant at CBS, and is in no way connected to Amazon.

"Star Trek: Discovery" makes a case for Michael Burnham as the last great Starfleet captain

Our "discovery" protagonist was never going to have it easy. the start of her last run solidifies her greatness, by melanie mcfarland.

Michael Burnham's " Star Trek " journey was destined to be among the franchise's toughest and most complex. Some of us knew this from the moment Sonequa Martin-Green was cast to play her, especially Black women who are sci-fi geeks. We have never been few, but until recently, we were far less visible than we are now.

To some, this visibility symbolizes everything that has supposedly gone wrong with this franchise and others. The reach of " Star Trek: Discovery " goes even further by assembling a truly inclusive cast that blew apart the original series' longstanding heteronormativity.

All this further angered culture war trolls and self-appointed arbiters of what is so-called "real" "Star Trek." These people have a vested interest in downvoting any such divergences from what has gone before.

Mainly it was — as it continues to be — the purists who wrote off "Discovery" as "not Trek" during  its first season in 2017 . Looking back from its final season — and from the perspective of Burnham's 900-year journey — we can say that despite how its thematic shading looked to us then , "Discovery" never abandoned Gene Roddenberry's optimism . It has simply evolved its interpretation.

In the first season, not even Burnham would believe this to hold true. A human raised on Vulcan by Spock's  father, Sarek, and as his sister, Burnham earns her first officer role through superior conduct and logic, divorcing herself from sentiment.

Burnham's smug sense of rectitude gets her superior officer killed. She is charged with mutiny, stripped of her rank and sentenced to life in prison.

From there, she stops a rogue galactic A.I. from annihilating the Federation and leaps nine centuries into the future (thereby largely freeing herself and the show from restrictive canon) to find a universe where Starfleet as it used to be is a dream, and the Federation and its ideals are broken.

"Discovery's" swansong season finds Burnham in the year 3191, with enough of the Federation's trust to take on a highly classified mission alongside Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), who has already earned the same commendations as Kirk and Picard. His reputation precedes him, in other words. Their quest relates to a Picard-era discovery that Starfleet fears can be used to eradicate all humanoid life in the universe.

"Discovery" never abandoned Gene Roddenberry's optimism. It has simply evolved its interpretation. 

Their success should place her on par with the greats, an honor that showrunner Michelle Paradise and the show's co-creator Alex Kurtzman have been driving toward all this time.

Some indicators of that goal aren't as obvious as others, like the sequence in which Rayner defies Burnham during an away mission, trusting in his overconfidence instead of her strategic acumen. His snap judgment endangers a planet's civilian population, leaving her to fix the crisis he has created.

Women watching this — especially Black women, I would wager — might have experienced a slight rage triggering in their soul that was mollified by Burnham pulling the very Obama-esque move of asking Rayner to replace her trusted friend Saru (Doug Jones) as her first officer. (The job was coming open, anyway; Saru is shifting into diplomacy mode and getting married.)

This is the move of a great leader. Then again, like Kate Mulgrew's long underappreciated Captain Janeway, it may not be appreciated by the fandom for many, many years.

Burnham's arc contradicts what we know about the great Starfleet captains profiled in this franchise, most of whom are white and male.

Burnham's arc contradicts what we know about the great Starfleet captains profiled in this franchise, most of whom are white and male, though if that were the extent of what differentiates her from the rest, it would barely be worth mentioning.

Records of their histories come to us as snippets of dialogue from secondary characters or contextualizing conversations from what the official logs have to say about past missions. We hear about who served under whom, granting legitimacy to the likes of, say, Christopher Pike to claim the captain's chair long before Anson Mount made us ecstatic to see that happen.

Burnham's path to the helm's command begins with what should be a life- and career-ending mistake. It's constantly defined by humility and doubt. No one is harder on Burnham than she is on herself — and nobody takes as many risks with their career or reputation to keep their crew alive. Her optimism is one guided by the hope that all obstacles can be overcome and all outcomes are possible, including for herself.

Despite all of this, it will take a lot of convincing for some people to consider Burnham among the top ranks of Starfleet captains in those occasional fan polls that tend to place Jean-Luc Picard or James T. Kirk in the top positions, though Captain Pike has offered stiff competition since "Strange New Worlds" first aired.

But our relatively newfound love of Pike and that show wouldn't be possible without "Discovery" venturing into the unmapped asteroid field that is the public's willingness to boldly go back to a dormant franchise in a wildly disunified era.

This doesn't merely refer to the role of "Discovery" introducing Mount's Pike, in addition to launching every other new "Trek" spinoff along with the streaming service currently known as Paramount+ . It did all this along with shouldering the more precarious mission of serving as the franchise's vanguard in a cynical age.

If you love "Lower Decks" and "Strange New Worlds," this is in part due to the producers' listening to the fandom's programming desires accordingly. Notice, for example, how unlike the first season of "Picard"  is from the third . Initially, "Picard" tried to do something different with the beloved character. It ended his adventures by reassembling the band for the spectacular last ride their films denied them. The new "Star Trek" series have a goal of delivering something for everyone, including kids. "Discovery" helped its custodians figure that out.

We need your help to stay independent

And if you love "Discovery," its devotion to showcasing those who long felt unseen in this franchise may kindle that affection. "Discovery" gave us an Asian woman as a Starship captain in Michelle Yeoh's Philippa Georgiou and a happily married duo to root for in Wilson Cruz's Dr. Hugh Culber in Anthony Rapp's Paul Stamets.

It introduced Tig Notaro in its second season as Jett Reno, a decision for which everyone should be grateful. The third gave us the franchise's first transgender and non-binary characters in Ian Alexander's Trill Gray and Blu del Barrio's Adira Tal.

Through it all, we have also entirely fallen for Mary Wiseman's Sylvia Tilly, a woman who also knew a few things about self-doubt and, therefore, values being understood.

What some would cite as humanizing traits, others might write off as maudlin, along with the fact that Burnham was able to experience a fully realized love affair that began with a partnership of equals with a courier named Booker (David Ajala).

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter , Crash Course.

It's only one of the many ways that "Discovery" is consciously disparate from "Star Trek" as we have long known it, daring to change everything from the look of the Klingons to its star character's role in igniting a war between them and the United Federation of Planets.

That was then. Hundreds of years after that moment, Captain Burnham has figured herself out, proving to the many who doubted her that she deserves to be there.

She has traveled the longest road through imposter syndrome of any Starfleet captain — most of a millennium, actually — and we have witnessed every major moment that forged her. Burnham may never win the major "Star Trek" popularity contests for favorite captains, but without a doubt, she's the last great one we may ride with in this universe.

New episodes of "Star Trek: Discovery" stream Thursdays on Paramount +.

stories about "Star Trek"

• "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" considers the weight of Khan's wrathful legacy
• How "Strange New Worlds" uses Rebecca Romijn's Number One to place prejudice on trial
• "Pike made jambalaya": How "Strange New Worlds" Captain Pike expresses care and diplomacy with food

Melanie McFarland is Salon's award-winning senior culture critic. Follow her on Twitter: @McTelevision

Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Related articles.

Screen Rant

Star trek: picard season 2 ending explained (in detail).

Star Trek: Picard season 2 ended with an epic finale that bid poignant farewells to major characters and saw a hopeful new beginning for Jean-Luc.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard' s Season 2 Finale - "Farewell"

The season 2 finale of Star Trek: Picard   saw Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his motley crew set Star Trek's timeline back on the right path while simultaneously bidding farewell to a few major characters, including Q (John de Lancie). Picard 's season 2 ending also set up potential new threats for Star Trek: Picard season 3 that may be linked together.

In 2024 Los Angeles, Picard and his friends ensured that the Europa Mission piloted by Renée Picard (Penelope Mitchell) launched as history intended. Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd), and Cristobal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) stopped Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner) from using his drones to shoot down Renée's spacecraft, the Shango, from Orbit. Meanwhile, Tallinn (Orla Brady) fulfilled the prophecy left behind by the hybrid of the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) and Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) that there must be two Renées: one who lives and another who dies. Once the Europa Mission was saved, the final stage of Star Trek: Picard season 2's finale involved Q returning our heroes to 2401 and the Borg crisis introduced in Star Trek: Picard season 2's premiere, which saw an unprecedented new friendship formed between Starfleet and the Borg.

Related: Picard: Star Trek Finally Delivered On First Contact's Borg Tease

Star Trek: Picard season 2's finale was a satisfying ending with genuine, heart-tugging moments as the series and the Star Trek franchise concluded the stories of some of its main characters - as well as dropping a couple of big surprises. While the main storylines were resolved, Star Trek: Picard season 2's ending also created some big questions that will hopefully be answered in season 3, which is going to be the final season of Star Trek: Picard .

How Tallinn's Renee Sacrifice Helped Picard Fix Star Trek's Timeline

The Borg Queen's riddle -  "To succeed, there must be two  Renées: One who lives, another who dies"  - had an answer so obvious that Picard himself quickly solved it. Jean-Luc realized that Tallinn planned to sacrifice herself in Renée's place to fulfill the Borg Queen's prophecy. After Tallinn talked Jean-Luc out of stopping her, sure enough, the Romulan Supervisor used her face-swapping technology to impersonate Renée so that Adam Soong could poison and kill her. But for Tallinn, giving her life for Renée Picard was the fulfillment of her mission to protect Renée and ensure her all-important role in preserving Star Trek's timeline. Tallinn also finally got to speak to Renée after watching her from afar all her life so that the Romulan guardian angel got to express the love she felt for her Picard.

The Europa Mission's success meant that Renée does discover the mysterious microorganism that proves vital to the future. This directly assured that Star Trek's Prime timeline proceeded as it must and prevented the alternative track that led to the rise of the Confederation of Earth. Later in Star Trek: Picard season 2's finale, Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) tells Jean-Luc that the adult Ricardo Ramirez (Steve Guiterrez) uses the microorganism Renée brought back from Jupiter's moon, Io, to clean the oceans and environment. Tallinn sacrificing herself for Renée was the final part of the puzzle that restored Star Trek's timeline to its proper course. 

Picard Season 2 Is The End Of Q (But The Resurrection Of Elnor)

Star Trek: Picard season 2 was, ultimately, Q's final act, and the omnipotent being revealed to Picard that all of it was designed to help Jean-Luc move past his lifelong trauma of blaming himself for his mother, Yvette's (Madeline Wise), suicide when he was a young boy. Jean-Luc also hid the skeleton key back in the wall of Chateau Picard so that he can find it again centuries later. To Q's logic, changing the timeline to the Confederation was meant to show Jean-Luc the worst possible outcome of a Picard who chose not to feel love. While Picard and his friends were focused on changing the timeline back to its proper course, Q's real intent was always to provoke Jean-Luc to face the truth of his mother's suicide and forgive himself, at last. By giving Picard this absolution (although he certainly didn't make it easy for Jean-Luc), Q hoped that this act toward his favored human would give his own existence some meaning.

Related: Picard: Why Renée's Europa Mission Changes The Future

Q is dying (or "moving on" to a new plane of existence), and his final farewell to Jean-Luc was truly touching. Q confessed that Jean-Luc was always one of his favorites and the two adversaries parted with a hug as friends since Picard also knew that Q has been an important part of his life for over thirty years. Q apparently had enough power left to bring Picard, Seven, and Raffi back to the future and, with Rios choosing to remain in 2024, he also had sufficient energy for "a surprise, a gift" by resurrecting Elnor (Evan Evagora) in 2401. Elnor's sudden death early in Star Trek: Picard season 2 was a traumatic event for Raffi and Jean-Luc, the Romulan's parental figures. But Elnor is now back, alive and well, as a Starfleet Cadet with a, hopefully, bright future ahead of him. Meanwhile, Q's poignant parting with Picard indicates that this is John de Lancie's swansong as Q in Star Trek.

The Borg Finally Joined The Federation

The Borg Queen and Dr. Agnes Jurati becoming one and the same was one of Star Trek: Picard season 2's most shocking outcomes and, arguably, its best storyline. As many Trekkers guessed, Jurati was indeed the masked Borg Queen who attacked the USS Stargazer in Star Trek: Picard season 2's premiere. However, the Borg Queen's takeover of the Stargazer wasn't out of malice but in order to save the future. A galactic event that was going to wipe out entire planets is what brought Agnes, the new Borg Queen , to 2401 and she summoned Admiral Picard because she needed "a friend" who would believe her that she meant to save the galaxy. After Q time-traveled Picard back to his present-day, the Admiral realized what was really happening and prevented the Stargazer from self-destructing. True to her word, the Borg Queen joined forces with Starfleet to stop the galactic cataclysm.

Star Trek: Picard season 2 is the most sweeping revamp of the Borg since their creation in Star Trek: The Next Generation . Influenced by Agnes Jurati's compassion and humanity, the Borg Queen has been changed and joined Agnes in setting out to build a better Borg Collective. To continue their alliance, the Borg Queen requested her race receive provisional membership in the United Federation of Planets, and she chose to remain at the transwarp conduit created by the incursion as "the guardian at the gates." Essentially, the Borg have finally become allies of the Federation , eliminating one of the galaxy's greatest threats and explaining why the Borg no longer menace the Federation in Star Trek: Discovery 's 32nd century. However, the Borg Queen (or "Agnes Borgrati" as some Trekkers have dubbed her) also warned that she doesn't yet know who created the transwarp conduit or why, hinting at a threat still to come that may be the focal point of Star Trek: Picard season 3. Meanwhile, Alison Pill won't be in  Star Trek: Picard season 3 but Annie Wersching could continue as the Borg Queen regardless.

Seven Of Nine Joined Starfleet, At Last

With Captain Rios absent because he never returned from 2024, Admiral Picard gave Seven of Nine a "field commission" to command the Stargazer during the Borg Queen's crisis. This effectively means that Seven has joined Starfleet, a happy outcome and an optimistic new purpose for the reclaimed Borg. Earlier in Star Trek: Picard season 2, Seven , who was made human by Q changing the timeline, confessed to Raffi that she was enjoying people not fearing her because she was a Borg. Seven also told her significant other that when the USS Voyager returned to Earth, Seven was rejected from Starfleet because she was a Borg. Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) defended Seven and nearly quit Starfleet in protest but Seven opted to leave Earth and become a Fenris Ranger.

Related: Picard's Admiral Janeway Reveal Would've Changed Star Trek In 2 Ways

Seven's existence since she came to Earth aboard Voyager has been sad and lonely, but meeting Raffi and becoming part of Picard's makeshift motley crew has been the light at the end of the tunnel for her. Seven also realized she could be a leader since her evil alternate timeline counterpart, Annika Hansen, was President of the Confederation of Earth . Of course, the Borg Queen restored Seven back to being a Borg, and it's not clear yet what, exactly, Admiral Picard's field commission translates to for Seven of Nine. Ideally, Seven could replace Rios as Captain of the Stargazer, which would continue her habit of inheriting Cristobal's ships as she previously took over La Sirena when Rios returned to Starfleet. However, Seven and Raffi's love story seems solid and, at long last, Starfleet is part of Seven of Nine's future in Star Trek: Picard .

Rios Staying In 2024 Raises Big Timeline Questions

Cristobal Rios may have surprised Picard and his friends by choosing to stay in 2024 but Star Trek: Picard 's audience could plainly see this was the direction Rios was heading. It was obvious Chris had fallen in love with Dr. Teresa Ramirez (Sol Rodriguez) and Rio was shockingly nonchalant about violating the timeline to show Teresa and her son, Ricardo, that he was from the future. Rios' rationale that he "never really fit" in Starfleet made sense and tracks given his character's history, and Chris found a greater purpose and genuine happiness being part of Teresa and Ricardo's family. As Guinan told Picard in 2401, Rios and the Ramirez family founded a medical company called Mariposa, and Ricardo used Renée Picard's discovery to heal the environment and the oceans.

And yet, Rios' happy ending directly conflicts with Star Trek's canonical timeline. Just 2 years after Picard's visit to 2024, World War III begins and lasts for 30 years. As Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) showed the people of Kiley 279 in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' series premiere, World War III 's nuclear conflagration leads to the deaths of 30% of Earth's population, every capital city destroyed, and a global catastrophe. This is something Picard and all of his friends knew yet no one raised World War III's inevitability to Rios when he opted to stay. Given the nightmare about to occur beginning in 2026, Rios' happy ending as described by Guinan conflicts with what's known about World War III. Further, it's hard to believe that Rios and his found family somehow protected the future timeline considering Chris' reckless actions throughout Star Trek: Picard season 2. Regardless, Rios remaining in 2024 seemingly marks Santiago Cabrera's exit from Star Trek: Picard since his character's story has come to an end.

Wesley Crusher's Cameo Ends His TNG Story And Starts Kore Soong's Destiny

The surprise appearance of Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) in Star Trek: Picard season 2's finale confirmed that Wesley is a Traveler, one of the cosmic beings that defy time and space in the Star Trek universe. Further, Wesley dropped another surprise that the Travelers recruit and oversee the Supervisors, like Tallinn, who are charged with protecting key figures in the timeline. This effectively retcons the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Assignment: Earth," and explains that the Travelers brought Gary Seven (Robert Lansing) to outer space and made the human into a Supervisor. Wesley also recruited Kore Soong (Isa Briones) into the Travelers, just as the Traveler recruited the young Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Related: Picard's Adam Soong Reveal Risks A Star Trek Story Problem

After discovering she was the only survivor among Adam Soong's genetically engineered 'daughters,' Kore wiped all of her father's files and research to ensure he can never repeat his experiments. Yet this left Kore without a future of her own, which Wesley understood when he came to Earth to make her a Traveler. Kore Soong now takes her place as a cosmic being but it's unclear whether she will return in Star Trek: Picard season 3. It's also not known whether Isa Briones' other character, Soji, will return. Soji was left behind with the Deltans on Raritan IV in Star Trek: Picard 's season 2 premiere and she wasn't part of Picard's crew celebration at 10 Forward in the finale. However, Wil Wheaton has indicated that he won't join his former TNG castmates in  Star Trek: Picard season 3 so it may be Kore who joins Picard's motley crew in Soji's place since she is now a Traveler and will have been one for 400 years by the time Picard season 3 happens.

Picard Gets A Happy Ending With Laris

At the end of Star Trek: Picard season 2, Jean-Luc gets his heartwarming happy ending with Laris (Orla Brady). The Romulan threatened to leave Chateau Picard for her own "adventures" when she saw Jean-Luc was unwilling to open his heart to her but Laris gladly gave Jean-Luc "a second chance" after he changed from his experiences in Star Trek: Picard season 2. Q forcing Jean-Luc to face his buried memories of his father Maurice (James Callis) and his mother's suicide finally freed Picard of the guilt he harbored his entire life. Jean-Luc essentially chose to close the most important part of himself as penance for his role in Yvette's death and, instead, Picard prioritized matters of galactic import as if repeatedly saving the universe would balance his lifelong pain and regret.

The question is: What happens next for Jean-Luc and Laris? Will they marry in Star Trek: Picard season 3? Or will they just be a couple for the remainder of Picard's life? Star Trek: Picard season 2 set out to address the biggest question about Jean-Luc: why he chose to remain alone and, as wildly convoluted as it was to get there, the question has been definitively answered. Whatever becomes the final test for Picard and his returning friends from Star Trek: The Next Generation in Star Trek: Picard season 3, Jean-Luc is poised to face it with his true love, Laris, by his side.

Does Adam Soong's Project Khan Set Up Star Trek: Picard Season 3?

Dr. Adam Soong was soundly defeated in Star Trek: Picard season 2 after he failed to stop the Europa Mission and Kore purged his lifetime of research into his genetically engineered daughters. Yet Soong had one last shocking trick up his sleeve: a secret file marked "Project Khan." What does this mean? Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) fled Earth in 1996 and is floating through space aboard the S.S. Botany Bay in Adam's present-day of 2024. Khan's descendant, La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong), is part of the USS Enterprise's crew in the 23rd century of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , several years before Khan is revived by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner).

But what is Adam Soong's Project Khan? One possibility is that it's the eugenics technology that gave birth to Khan Noonien Singh. Given Adam's age, he could very well have been one of the young scientists that created Khan, to begin with, since it's never been established if Khan was born or grown in a lab. Star Trek: Picard season 3 could, shockingly, delve into the origin of Khan. Further, Adam Soong, who feels he was robbed of his future, may intend to turn himself into a genetically-engineered 'superman.' Adam may well be the threat who created the transwarp conduit that the Borg Queen warned about. After all, Brent Spiner is listed among the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast returning for Star Trek: Picard season 3 but Spiner isn't playing Data, who is dead. Perhaps Adam Soong is returning as the main villain of Star Trek: Picard season 3, with Brent Spiner as the ultimate enemy taking on all of his old TNG castmates.

Next:  Picard's Massive Borg Change Is Perfect For Star Trek

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is available to stream on Paramount+.  Star Trek: Picard Season 3 premieres in 2023 on Paramount+.

Den of Geek

What Modern Star Wars Needs to Learn From Star Trek

It doesn't take the wisdom of a Jedi to see that Disney needs to take a page out of Star Trek's book to put Star Wars back on top.

• Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Linkedin (opens in a new tab)
• Share on email (opens in a new tab)

Way back in 2002, the excitement for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones diminished somewhat. Late Night with Conan O’Brien sent Triumph the Insult Comic Dog to mock the fans lined up for the premiere, resulting in a segment in which comedian/puppeteer Robert Smigel launched nerd jokes at the assembly.

Most of the jokes were pretty obvious, including the last bit, in which a man cosplaying as Mr. Spock gained the knack for cursing and walked up and down the line with his middle finger extended. But while the perceived Star Wars vs. Star Trek rivalry has become an old toxic cliché at this point, the fact is that the two franchises don’t actually overlap very much in terms of their core missions. Trek favors optimistic philosophical inquiry and Wars emphasizes fantasy and adventure.

In fact, in their decades-long history, Star Wars and Star Trek haven’t actually directly clashed all that often (although the early ’80s of Wrath of Khan followed by The Empire Strikes Back was undoubtedly a golden age for sci-fi movie nerds), and the two franchises rarely enjoy success at the same time, with the Star Wars movies usually debuting during a dry point for Star Trek , and Trek dominating television while Wars flounders.

Except for now. In the past few years, both Star Wars and Star Trek entries have hit theaters and televisions on a regular basis. And while the two franchises have had their respective highs and lows, Trek has hit a stride with Strange New Worlds , Lower Decks , and Picard ‘s third season while Wars has mostly been on a downward spiral in popularity and quality (except for Andor , of course) following the first two seasons of The Mandalorian .

Ad – content continues below

Of course, history shows the scales could tip the other way at any moment, but for those of us who want both franchises to do well (full disclosure: this author is far more of a Trekkie than a Wars fan), there are a few lessons that Wars could take from Trek ‘s recent success to bring the galaxy far, far away back to its former glory.

Serve More Than One Kind of Audience

Okay, before getting angry and going straight to the comments, there are absolutely examples of recent Star Wars entries that aren’t entirely focused on one kind of fan. Andor eschews much of the core fantasy element of the franchise for a more adult spy drama, while Young Jedi Adventures is aimed squarely at a new generation of fans. Meanwhile, the anthology series Visions lives up to its name by presenting radically different takes on the universe from fresh perspectives.

However, it’s also true that the majority of recent Star Wars output – Mando season 3, Ahsoka , Obi-Wan Kenobi , parts of Boba Fett , both Tales animated series, The Bad Batch , etc. – is pitched directly at a specific kind of fan with love for and extensive knowledge of the Prequels and The Clone Wars animated series. Those fans tend to be millennials of a certain age who grew up with those films and, unfortunately, almost nobody else. So while some viewers cheer when Bo-Katan becomes the lead of The Mandalorian because they know her history with the Darksaber and Mandalore, others despair that the Western/ronin motifs faded away for The Clone Wars lore. It’s not just that the latter fans have no attachment to these characters. It’s that The Mandalorian and its spinoffs don’t really work to ingratiate The Clone Wars characters to those unfamiliar with them, instead aiming the storytelling directly at those nostalgic for The Clone Wars days.

To be sure, Star Trek has its own arcane references, as the opening shot of Picard ‘s premiere shows or the name “ Sybok ” coming up on Strange New Worlds . However, the most recent crop of Star Trek shows work because they aim for a wide range of audiences.

Prodigy is a kid’s show that picks up on plot threads from Voyager but primarily deals with a group of young aliens from different cultures learning to work together. Discovery is all big adventure and operatic emotion for fans whose introduction to the franchise was the J.J. Abrams movies. Strange New Worlds features classic characters from The Original Series and a return to philosophical conundrums, while Lower Decks makes in-jokes for long-time fans.

With the announcement of a Rey movie , Star Wars is taking steps in the right direction by making something for younger fans who grew up with the Sequel Trilogy , while The Mandalorian & Grogu is positioned to bring back to the big screen the Western aesthetic Original Trilogy fans loved so much from the first two seasons of the show. However those movies turn out (if they come out at all), the franchise would do well to remember its audience doesn’t consist of just one type of fan.

Star Trek TV creative head Alex Kurtzman said it best when talking about that universe’s approach to catering to different types of fans: “Our biggest thing has honestly been we don’t ever want our  Star Trek  shows to feel repetitive. We don’t want you to think that by watching  Discovery , you shouldn’t watch any of the other shows because you’re getting everything from that one show. Each show is different,” Kurtzman continues. “So for us, it’s not about doing one show that pleases everybody because that’s the surefire way to please nobody. It’s more about doing a bunch of different shows that speak to specific sections of the demographic.”

Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

Be Careful With Nostalgia

However, while Star Wars would do well to build on the worlds of all three trilogies, it should not simply focus on nostalgia. Yes, that does sound like a laughable suggestion from a Trek perspective, given the third season of Picard . However, Picard worked because it used nostalgia in exactly the same way that Star Wars fans rejected. When Luke Skywalker tosses the lightsaber at the start of The Last Jedi , he appalled many older fans of the Original Trilogy.

And yet, that’s very similar to how Star Trek treated Jean-Luc Picard in the widely-acclaimed final year of his solo series. While the first two seasons leaned too hard into tearing down the one-time paragon, the third season found the perfect balance. On the USS Titan, Picard showed signs of the leadership and wisdom that made him great on The Next Generation , but he also showed maturity and a willingness to learn. Throughout the third season, characters such as Geordi and Ro Laren aired reasonable grievances with Picard. And by hearing them and admitting his faults, faults that once made TNG audiences cheer, Picard grows into a more interesting character.

It was a pitch-perfect send-off that also gave way to the potential future of the franchise, with a new Enterprise christened and ready to set off on a new voyage. And it did what the Sequel Trilogy hoped to do: effectively passed on the torch to a new generation of Starfleet officers.

Contrast that treatment of Picard to one of the least controversial callbacks in recent Star Wars history. When Rey and Finn board the Millennium Falcon in The Force Awakens , they’re greeted by Han and Chewie, back to being the scoundrel smugglers they were in Episode IV , zero growth or change on display besides their age. Sure, Han will later briefly apologize to Kylo Ren for his failures as a father, but that’s never expressed visually on screen. And as nice as it is to see Harrison Ford call up the charisma that makes him great, his older Han is a cypher, just one more callback to the original Star Wars in a movie that plays like a cover song.

If Star Wars intends to build out its universe on the bones of the Skywalker Saga, then it needs to acknowledge that its popular characters have to grow and change over time. Rian Johnson had the right approach with Luke in The Last Jedi , whether certain fans warmed to the character’s new status quo or not. Of course Luke had to change, grow, and embrace new lessons, that’s how characters work, especially when the mission was clearly to pass the torch to the next trio of heroes. It’s too bad The Rise of Skywalker went back to playing the hits and embedding its next generation of heroes in a Star Wars story that had already been told countless times before.

Don’t Be Precious

For as much as it’s important to respect the growth of legacy characters over time, it’s also important to remember that these franchise are fundamentally fun and silly. Sure, we all have deep feelings about the interior lives of Morn from Deep Space Nine and Dexter Jettster from Attack of the Clones , but, you know, one is a Cheers nod and the other is a classic hash-slinger. So lighten up a bit.

Star Wars has certainly poked fun at itself with the Family Guy Blue Harvest episodes and Lego Star Wars specials. But the unaired Star Wars Detours still stands as a missed opportunity to indulge in the nerdy stuff while showing the funnier side of all that lore. If that’s a name you haven’t heard for a long time, Detours was a collaboration between Lucasfilm and the Robot Chicken team, resulting in the same irreverent but knowing humor of the latter show. Although the team completed 39 episodes, the series was “paused” in 2013 with none making it to air.

Many Star Wars fans consider Detours a lost grail, a feeling only increased by the success of Star Trek: Lower Decks , which makes fun of every single part of Trek lore, from the franchise’s tendency to set episodes in nondescript caves to the strange relationship between the reboot movies and the rest of the show. Absurd things that Star Trek would rather forget, including dumb merchandise and reusing actors for major roles, appear in Lower Decks .

Lower Decks has a great voice cast and strong storytelling beyond its gags, but it also works because the humor rewards people obsessed with Star Trek . There’s a communal aspect to getting a joke about Kzinti posture or cheering whenever Kurtwood Smith or J.G. Hertzler make a vocal appearance. It turns what could be one of the most toxic parts of fandom into something celebratory.

It could definitely be argued that certain Star Wars fans are perhaps a little too hung up on taking “the canon” seriously. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could also have a laugh about it every once in a while? Lower Decks shows that making fun of its universe is just another form of love.

Do a Musical

Quick, what’s the best Star Wars song? It’s probably “Yoda” by Weird Al Yankovic , maybe “The Saga Begins,” right? Something by Nerf Herder? The Yoda “Seagulls” song?

Now, what’s the best official Star Wars song? If we’re not counting the legendary John Williams scores, the possibilities get slim right away. I’m sure there are some real “jizz” music fans out there, but it doesn’t have the wider appeal of, say, a musical.

Look at the critical acclaim Star Trek received with its musical episode “ Subspace Rhapsody ” from the second season of Strange New Worlds . In that episode, an alien transmission forces the crew to sing out all of their thoughts, resulting in unlikely musical numbers, including Klingons doing their best BTS impression.

Even those who didn’t love “Subspace Rhapsody” (this writer, for example) have to admit that the episode did a lot to push the franchise into new territory with a completely different flavor of storytelling, all while highlighting a cast that includes Tony-nominated and Grammy-winner Celia Rose Gooding. “Subspace Rhapsody” further proves that Trek can handle a wide range of genres.

As a space opera, Star Wars lends itself to the over-the-top emoting that makes for a great musical. And while horrid entries, such as “Jedi Rocks” from the special edition of Return of the Jedi and “I’m Han Solo” from Kinect Star Wars Dancing , still haunt the nightmares of fans, it’d be nice to see the galaxy far, far away pull off something this bold in the future.

Return of the Good Sci-Fi

While it’s true we’ve largely favored Trek over Wars here, the fact of the matter is that the success of and shortcomings of the other are only temporary. Wars seems poised to right the ship by putting a Mandalorian movie in theaters, hopefully returning the focuse on breakouts Din Djarin and Baby Yoda. Moreover, Paramount seems to have nothing but terrible ideas in store for the future of Star Trek , including canceling Lower Decks , learning too heavily on the Section 31 corner of the universe, and making a wrongheaded origin film .

To be clear: neither franchise is inherently better than the other, and both have to deal with boardrooms whose pursuit of money can lead to terrible storytelling decisions. But some of the best entries in either franchise have come when one universe learns from the other, as demonstrated by the adventure-heavy Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and the philosophically-rich Andor .

Latest TV reviews

Spy x family code: white review – a radical genre pivot for a beloved anime, the sympathizer review: four robert downey jrs. set the tone, star trek: discovery season 5 episode 3 review – jinaal.

So as the fortunes of each franchise continue to change, we can only hope that the creatives behind our favorite stories will learn from each other. That’s the only way we’ll get more great art, whether we have to boldly go to find it or search a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!