Jean-Luc Picard‘s character arc has spanned nearly 40 years, with Patrick Stewart first appearing as the Starfleet captain in 1987’s Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Stewart, as well as starring in all seven seasons of TNG, also appeared as Picard in multiple Star Trek movies. If you’ve watched all the Star Trek movies in order, you’d know that Picard’s last appearance was in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. By the time we meet the Star Trek character again, this time in his solo Star Trek series Picard, he is still reeling from the events of Nemesis as well as the destruction of the planet Romulus.
At this point, the Star Trek captain is retired, but the arrival of Data’s synthetic “daughter” changes everything.
Over three seasons of Picard, we watched the Star Trek The Next Generation cast member embark on one last adventure, but in an interview with Time magazine, Stewart admits that he wasn’t entirely satisfied with his character’s ending.
“The third season came off magnificently,” he said. “But its final scene, in which the reunited crew is gathered around a table with drinks, sharing a toast, is not how it was originally supposed to end. I had a different idea, which I brought to the writers a few months before we wrapped the series.'”
“‘What I’d like to see at the end of the show,” he told them, “is a content Jean-Luc. I want to see Picard perfectly at ease with his situation. Not anxious, not in a frenzy, not depressed. And I think this means that there is a wife in the picture.”
“You see, the line between Jean-Luc and me has grown ever more blurred,” he added. “If I have found true love, shouldn’t he?
The writers came up with a lovely scene. It is dusk at Jean-Luc’s vineyard. His back is to us as he takes in the view, his dog at his side.
Then, off-screen, a woman’s loving voice is heard: ‘Jean-Luc? Supper’s ready!'”
“Is it Beverly Crusher’s voice? Laris’s? Someone we don’t know? It isn’t made clear. But Sunny was set to record the lines. Heeding his wife’s call, Jean-Luc turns around, says to his dog, ‘C’mon, boy,’ and heads inside. Dusk fades to night, and Picard fades into history.”
As one of the best TV series characters of all time, we can see why Stewart hoped for Picard’s ending to go in a different direction. But who knows? Here’s what we know about Star Trek Picard season 4. Or, if you’re after a different kind of sci-fi, here’s everything we know about Avatar 3.