Star Trek: Picard Season 3: Revisit These TNG and DS9 Episodes to Prepare for Jean-Luc's Final Mission

PICARD AS LOCUTUS OF BORG

Jean-Luc Picard experienced a major trauma when he was kidnapped and assimilated into the Borg collective – but a lot of people won’t let him forget it (if he ever could). The pursuit and attempted intercept of the Borg resulted in one of TV’s best season-spanning cliffhanger episodes (Commander Riker’s “Mr. Worf – fire,” with a fade to black). It also culminated in one of the worst off-screen battles, in terms of casualties, known as Wolf 359; the fight’s fallout still generates ripple effects on Picard. Riker, for example, keenly recalls the terrible choice he had to make between trying to save one individual versus the crew. Others remember how the 40-ship fleet at Wolf 359 was turned into a graveyard of decimated ships, thanks to an assimilated Picard’s Borg aid.

PICARD AS LOCUTUS OF BORG (cont'd.)

Only the aftermath of Wolf 359 is seen on TNG, but more is revealed on Deep Space Nine — along with the resulting resentment of Picard. (Benjamin Sisko was the first officer of the U.S.S. Saratoga, and he was hostile to Jean-Luc when he explained how they’d previously “met.”) Resistance may still be futile, if other battle survivors encounter Picard in the synthetic flesh.

EPISODES TO WATCH: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 3, Episode 26, “The Best of Both Worlds, Part I”; Season 4, Episode 1, “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II”; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season 1, Episode 1, “Emissary”

THE LORE OF LORE

Picard Season 3 trailers already have revealed that Brent Spiner will be back, this time resurrecting the part of Lore, Data’s evil “twin” brother. You might well question exactly how, though, given that Lore was dissembled and left for “dead.” So while we wait for Picard to address that point, it couldn’t hurt to do a quick refresh on what we know about Lore, his origins and his lies. “Datalore” in TNG’s freshman season takes us to the spot where Data was first found near the base belonging to roboticist Dr. Noonian Soong, the “father” of the androids, and depicts the first attempt to reassemble — and then abandon — Lore.

THE LORE OF LORE (cont'd.)

In “Brothers,” after two years of floating in space, Lore is reactivated once again. In “Descent, Part II,” Lore reveals an alliance with the Borg – never a good thing – before his off switch is flipped once more. The return of Lore usually gives Spiner a chance to really chew the scenery, but it doesn’t bode well for anyone on Picard. What will Lore be like without his emotion-chip lunacy? Does he still want to destroy the Federation via a Borg team-up?  

EPISODES TO WATCH: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 1, Episode 12, “Datalore”; Season 4, Episode 3, “Brothers”; Season 7, Episode 1, “Descent, Part II”

MORIARTY MADNESS

Certain shipboard wishes and commands have to be worded very, very carefully, otherwise they inevitably backfire. Case in point: Never tell a ship’s computer to create an adversary that can defeat Data! Geordi La Forge might have meant for the challenge to exist only within the bounds of a holodeck program, or only the Sherlock Holmes character Data was playing within that program, but the computer took the request quite literally and served up an incarnation of the fictional detective’s most cunning nemesis. We know from the trailer that Daniel Davis is reprising his role of Moriarty on Picard, although, as with Lore, the question might be: how? It took quite a lot of effort to defeat and finally exile the menacing mastermind (who, despite being a hologram, had become sentient and wanted to exist beyond the end of the program, exit the holodeck and explore the galaxy). The big question, though, is: After he was stuck in a shuttlecraft simulation, did that program and its memory enhancement survive the destruction of the Enterprise and continue to run all these years? And if so, is Moriarty aware of the passage of time, (and maybe less-than-pleased with his lot in life)?

EPISODES TO WATCH: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 2, Episode 3, “Elementary, Dear Data”; Season 6, Episode 11, “Ship in a Bottle”

PICARD AND CRUSHER

Hardcore fans get to enjoy lot of ‘ships on Star Trek — and we don’t mean the Enterprise. Picard/Crusher have been on the verge of couple-dom from the start: oozing charm and chemistry when they first appear on-screen together in the pilot, discovering their attraction in “The Naked Now,” and having regular breakfast “dates” throughout the series. A temporary telepathy link in “Attached,” however, makes the pair closer than ever, privy to each other’s deepest fears and secrets, including the depths of their feelings for each other, and what kept them apart. (Her marriage to his best friend.)

PICARD AND CRUSHER (cont'd.)

While it might be a disappointment that the captain and the chief medical officer do not get together on-screen during TNG’s run (although Picard does try, bless him), we get variations of their love story in that show’s series finale (divorced in an alternative future) and tie-in fiction (married with a son in novels like Death in Winter and Paths of Disharmony). Picard wrestles with his fantasy of having a family throughout the series and films, including in “The Inner Light,” “Bloodlines,” and Generations — and even tries to have a relationship or two away from the Enterprise — but could Crusher be his endgame?

EPISODES TO WATCH: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 1, Episode 2, “The Naked Now”; Season 7, Episode 8, “Attached”; Season 7, Episode 25, “All Good Things”