Star Trek: Picard's Showrunner Reveals The True Purpose Of The Show's Ending, And It Actually Makes Me Optimistic About A Follow-Up
Patrick Stewart is talking about a movie script being written for Jean-Luc Picard, and there are theories it's a continuation of Star Trek: Picard. While those rumors swirl, Terry Matalas, the co-showrunner of that show, is talking about the true meaning of the series finale. Matalas' reasoning for it may discourage some about the odds of a Star Trek: Legacy series ever being made, but it makes me even more optimistic it'll happen.
Matalas was one of many Star Trek creatives who took part in Trek Talks 3, which raised over $100,000 for the Hollywood Food Coalition. Matalas, who has assured fans that Paramount+ is aware of the calls for more adventures in the 25th century, talked about the Picard series finale and the wild post-credits scene. Q appearing to Jack Crusher seemed like the perfect way to set up to a follow-up, but according to the co-showrunner, that wasn't the intention:
You know it’s interesting because the end of the show, that last scene – although it is a setup for spin-off – it wasn’t designed to be a setup of spin-off… The right ending for the Next Generation is passing the torch to the next Next Generation. And without doing that, it wouldn’t feel right. So that was watching – literally – their children go off on the Enterprise and paying off Seven of Nine’s wonderful arc from Borg to captain of the flagship. That just felt like a proper ending.
The showrunner crafted a finale that was, as he said, more of a send-off to Star Trek: The Next Generation crew than the Picard series itself. While most TNG members remain active in Starfleet duty at the end of the series, it's easy to see the "torch passing" moment in renaming the Titan the Enterprise G and putting Seven of Nine under its command.
Of course, some readers might wonder why Terry Matalas would include a final scene that brought Q back from his death in Picard Season 2 if he didn't have the intention of making an upcoming Trek series. Matalas further explained his reasoning by talking about conversations he had with Michael Dorn and the overall story-telling of Star Trek as a franchise:
I think what’s interesting about a series that has been on the air for so many decades is the evolution of things. Michael [Dorn] and I were talking, what if we did more? You think, what’s the Klingon Empire like [in the early 25th century]? The last time they were an allegory to the Russians kind of, and now? What would they be up to and what does that mean for Worf and what does that mean for Alexander? So what’s so great about this kind of very, very long format – the fact that Leonard Nimoy played Spock for how many years? I mean, that’s incredible. I don’t think you ever really need to fully say goodbye to any of these characters or storylines. I think it’s that’s what’s so special about what we’re doing.
As Terry Matalas said, the story of Star Trek never really ends. So, while we may not have a continuation to watch with a Paramount+ subscription anytime soon, there will always be ways for those adventures to carry on. Additionally, there's no shelf life on when the franchise could revisit Seven of Nine on the Enterprise G. Given Jeri Ryan's emotional speech after her win for bringing back the character, she'd likely be up to return for future adventures.
Star Trek: Picard's Todd Stashwick Just Clarified A Big Seven Of Nine Moment That Completely Changes My Perception Of Captain Shaw
Star Trek has a loaded plate in terms of upcoming programming. Strange New Worlds Season 3 is in production, a Section 31 movie is going into production before the end of January, and Starfleet Academy is also in development. Add that to the production of Star Trek: Lower Decks' upcoming season, and it doesn't seem like Paramount+ is interested in extending the number of shows in development beyond that.
With that said, who knows what the situation will be in a couple of years should more shows leave? Maybe Star Trek: Legacy may one day happen, though not necessarily kick off with the story of Q and Jack Crusher going on some adventure. We'll have to see what the situation would be when the time comes and cross our fingers for potential stories told elsewhere along the way.
Star Trek: Picard is available to stream in its entirety on Paramount+. CinemaBlend will keep an eye out for any chance of a continuation happening in the meantime ,and, of course, keep a close eye on all the exciting Trek stuff already on the way.
