Oh no, not Philadelphia, anything but Philadelphia! Written and directed by top shagger Terry Matalas, there really isn’t anything to add to his credits. At least other than what I already have throughout this third season of Star Trek: Picard. Or the eighth season of TNG, whichever you prefer.

In the wake of Jack running off to see Alice Krige, though with Jane Edwina Seymour’s body, the crew previously of the USS Titan have hopped ship to something with the designation NCC-1701D. It’s probably some old dirty ship with carpets. Meanwhile, the lesbians stay and fight the young people who’ve been Borgified and are doing what all Borg do, procreate. The completely Borgified Starfleet, which was mid-Frontier Day parade. You know how this works, it is a series and season finale: All the big bits are happening here.

So while the Titan is flown by a chef with confidence issues, the crew of the USS Enterprise D heads to Jupiter after not taking Sinatra to Mars in season 1. Sat just in the gaseous cloud of Jupiter is a black cube with green RGB lighting, because even Borg know which side the “PC Master Race” bread happens to be buttered, with the signal transmitted by Jack’s fully Borgified form he’s under the watchful gaze of a truly battered Borg Queen. A Borg Queen who has, with the help of Picard’s DNA, allowed the Borg to evolve, not just assimilate.

I feel useless because Matalas and the team behind Picard’s third season made a brilliant end to the show. Well, a brilliant end to TNG anyway. If I have to get my nitpicks with the season out of the way early, it would be the statement recently that Starfleet hadn’t seen The Borg in 10 years. The same Borg that had a Cube in season 1 that was decommissioned and being de-Borgified, and the same Borg that in season 2 had the Queen played by the fantastic Annie Wersching. Or are we not including a literal Borg Cube two years before this and a literal Borg Queen a year ago as The Borg?

I could go on about how you don’t need seasons 1 and 2 to enjoy Picard’s third season, but beyond the relationship with Laris which was binned off after “The Next Generation,” nothing else really matters. Sure you’ll miss that Jean-Luc Picard is more Data than Data this season, but realistically there was about as much emotion in that as dropping a ham and egg sandwich. What should have had me in tears had me bored, while Captain Liam Shaw’s death had me sobbing. That alone is enough to discredit season 1.

“The Last Generation” is a beautiful culmination of the many stories throughout the TNG lore and this season of Picard itself. From Walter Koenig (sounding a lot like René Auberjonois for a second) playing Anton Chekov, Pavel’s son and Starfleet President, to Worf having a phaser in his Bat’leth the whole time. Some of it is simply fan service that works, and the rest of it is almost entirely pitch-perfect writing that shows what happens when you get a good showrunner in to tell an actual story. I don’t love it all, but I certainly enjoy a very large amount of “The Last Generation.”

I will say that I don’t love the “you’ve created the transportable ‘beam me up’.” It seems like a line you’d hear in a lampoon of Star Trek rather than Star Trek itself, which could be down to the scene being serious and the line very much not being that, but it didn’t so much land as it hit the floor at speed. Yes, there is the very American humor thing with the chef-pilot, but that’s on him not reading the room, not Seven wise-cracking as they clear the bridge of the Titan of teenagers and 20-somethings. She is still serious after that too.

Since we’re on the topic of somewhat out-of-place humor, “and I will make a threesome” certainly would have qualified. It would have if it weren’t from Worf and it is a second or two of the classic “Different cultures clashing” trope.

Though speaking of tropes I think it is odd to have Bill of all people ask Jean-Luc why he’d know how a Borg Cube is laid out, especially given the whole events of “The Best of Both Worlds.” I get that it is a catch-up line for the audience, something to remind us “Maybe he knows because his mind remembers these things subconsciously.” What I’d argue is that if you’re watching “The Last Generation,” you’ve probably seen the very best of a show called The Next Generation.

None of these episode-centric nitpicks get to why it is so good though. The reality is, despite what else could be said to blow smoke up Matalas, things were set up and they are paid off. For example, you have Bill and Worf doing the action stuff with Picard himself doing the emotional “I love you son” scene. However, once it is understood that the crew left behind (Geordi, Bev, Deanna, and Data) have the choice of saving their friends or saving the universe, Bill is again muttering something about his Imzadi. The only word Deanna ever taught him.

That’s just the little things, you also have Picard coming to peace with his Borg past, putting it behind himself, and returning to the collective for one reason only, his son. When the Cube is destroyed you have Sidney feeling all of that remorse as she points a phaser at Seven. Then at the end, as we’re tying all the knots in our lovely little bows and as Seven offers her resignation to Tuvok (the real one), you have her report from Shaw prior to the whole adventure played, and in that he not only calls her Seven, he suggests her promotion to Captain.

I genuinely hate beating this drum despite how often I do it, but there is more emotion and love in the moment-to-moment segments of Picard season 3 than in the prior two. Right down to Data finally feeling human and realizing it is just as painful to be human as it was in the want to be human too, and most importantly, “I miss that voice.”

It has been almost two years since this season began airing (give or take 3 months), and we’ve still not received the announcement of (speculatively) Star Trek: Legacy or whatever it is called. I’ve lamented Raffi’s part in the series and I’ve not been too kind to Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher either. However, the adventures of the ship previously to have NCC-80102 now brandishing NCC-1701G could be, shall we say fun? Captain Seven, Raffi as Number 1, and Jack as special counsel, with Helmsman Sidney La Forge. Despite the modern ship interior, I want to see it.

“Oh but why is it the Enterprise? They aren’t the best of the best.” The Enterprise isn’t the flagship of the fleet anymore, or at least that is the implied fate of the name Enterprise. Which admittedly, I think works. Without the pressure of being the fleet’s flagship, commanded by a long-time officer within and outside of the fleet, all being the rogues of Starfleet in general, I think it works. It at least works more than I think it does for Discovery given that is a ship that is supposed to have pressure but in fact, had too much emotion in the crew to get any emotion out of someone watching.

“The Last Generation” is the culmination of several seasons, some movies (even some of this very show) and ultimately, it is as close to pitch-perfect as you are going to get of them together. Including the reference early on that recreates the opening of TNG’s title sequence. Patrick felt like he finally gave a damn about good writing, the crew acted their damnedest, the casting was near perfect (though it would be given half of them returned), and I fell in love with Captain “dipshit from Chicago.” The only technical issue of the episode was some ropey CGI in the Borg Cube and the fact that Jack thinks too linearly.

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Star Trek: Picard "The Last Generation"

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Wrapping up so much with so little.
• Brilliantly paced.
• Patrick and the cast act as if they care about the script.
• Seven's promotion to Captain is nothing short of perfect.

Cons

• Slightly ropey CGI.
• The odd line here or there.