star trek picard 3 episode 8

‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3 Episode 8 Recap: Surrender Isn’t an Option

With Vadic lording over the ship, the crew has to get creative to win back the Titan.

The eigth episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 opens with Vadic ( Amanda Plummer ) lording over the U.S.S. Titan , in the wake of Jean-Luc Picard’s ( Patrick Stewart ) failed plan to capture her in “ Dominion .” While the crew has been through a considerable amount of bad situations ever since Picard and William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) came aboard, on the surface this one looks like it may be insurmountable. Especially as Vadic toys with them like a cat with her prey, taking away their eyes, ears, and the very road ahead of them, in an attempt to root out Jack Crusher ( Ed Speleers ). However, Vadic and the deadly Changelings aren’t their only threat either, though Geordi La Forge ( LeVar Burton ) is quick to unplug Data-Lore ( Brent Spiner ) to mitigate any future tampering the android may attempt.

In the sick bay, Beverly ( Gates McFadden ) and Picard attempt to access the security system, but Vadic has already effectively locked everyone out of the Titan . Recognizing that he is at a unique vantage point, Jack uses his newfound ability to enter the mind of an engineering officer out in the corridors. While Sidney ( Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut ) may not be able to see his glowing red eyes, Jack does overhear her thinking “what is he doing?” Jack puppets the officer down the corridor, looking upon the bloodshed left behind by the Changelings, but the episode is cut short by the officer getting killed—which seems like quite the shock to Jack’s system too. Beverly and Picard look on in concern, blissfully unaware of just how different their son is. Over the intercom, Vadic reveals that she intends to execute someone on the bridge unless Jack gives himself up in a timely fashion.

Back on the bridge, Seven ( Jeri Ryan ) and Shaw ( Todd Stashwick ) are still failing to meet eye-to-eye about how to handle the situation, with Seven insisting that she wouldn’t change a single decision that she made that led them to this scenario because she doesn’t believe in “trading lives.” When Shaw, once again, makes a point of calling her Hansen, Seven is quick to correct him. Their lives may be hanging in the balance, but she’s still determined to make him respect her. When Jack fails to make an appearance on the bridge, Vedic announces that he has ten minutes to arrive, or she’s going to start killing crew members at ten-minute intervals. To Jack’s credit, this threat does make him attempt to leave sick bay, but Beverly won’t let him go, especially not when Picard is confident that even if he did turn himself over, Vadic would just destroy the ship anyway.

RELATED: 'Picard' Season 3 Showrunner Terry Matalas Breaks Down Episode 7, Romance Potential, and Vadic's Backstory

Since the start of the life-or-death situation, Jack’s been teetering on the edge. He’s desperate to sacrifice himself for the people risking their lives for him, but no one will let him take the easy way out. Compounded by the fact that there is something very wrong with him—which seems to be growing more apparent by the minute—he finally breaks down in front of both of his parents. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he points out that he’s always been a talker because it distracts him from feeling different. Before he even gets the words out, Beverly and Picard both agree to listen to whatever it is he has to say, though she does scan him to ensure he isn’t having hallucinations when he starts talking about being able to see through other people’s eyes. Initially, they don’t believe him, but Sidney jumps in to admit that she has experience with his ability, since he had taken over her body to save her life.

Jack explains that he thinks he might be able to take back control of the Titan by taking over the body of one of the officers on the bridge, and Picard explains that with the right override code, they might be able to get through to retake the ship. With one minute left on Vadic’s countdown, Jack jumps into the body of Lt. Mura ( Joseph Lee ). Unfortunately, Vadic swiftly thwarts their plan, cancelling the override code, and speculating that Jack has taken over the lieutenant’s body. Understandably, Jack is shocked that Vadic is even aware of what he is able to do—and his shock is just about as palpable as Seven and Shaw’s as they look on at the scene unfolding.

With her patience running thin, Vadic makes good on her promise to execute someone. After Jack’s attempt to play hero, Lt. Mura becomes one of the two potential victims, alongside a teary-eyed Ensign Esmar ( Jin Maley ). But after a show of making Mura talk about his son, Vadic executes Lt. T'Veen ( Stephanie Czajkowski ) without hesitation, forcing Seven to relay across the intercom who has been killed. Now that she has proven that she isn’t bluffing, Vadic once again taunts Jack that she will continue killing crewmembers until he turns himself over.

Since the Changelings took Riker hostage in Episode 6 , fans have been waiting for the long-awaited reunion between him and his wife Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis ). The wait finally came to an end in “Surrender,” on board the Shrike where Deanna is tending to Riker’s wounds. He may be older than he once was, but he can still take a punch. It’s sweet to see the two of them banter with each other, just like old times on The Next Generation , but it’s even sweeter to see Deanna tease him about only knowing to call her “Imzadi,” the Betazoid phrase for “beloved.” The conversation shifts quickly to the issues that still exist within their relationship, with Riker reflecting on the way he felt as he stared down death in the Nebula. He tries to brush off some of it with his classic charm, which Deanna notes the Changelings that came to their home also possessed. Though, she does point out that even though she can’t read Changelings the way she can others, she could still tell that the Changeling!Riker wasn’t him.

Later on, when hope begins to wane that they won’t be rescued from the Shrike , Deanna accuses Riker of giving up, just like he gave up when Thad died. He counters that accusation by calling out the way Deanna tried to use her abilities to dull his pain, effectively removing the last connection he had with Thad. They manage to bridge their issues with each other when Deanna admits that she hates where they’re living and desperately wants to return to city living. Swept up in the grief of losing their son, it becomes apparent that they both had misconceptions about each other, because Riker also hates living on Nepenthe. Their reconciliation is interrupted by the arrival of Worf ( Michael Dorn ), who has come to rescue them! Worf’s reunion with Deanna is hilarious, as he lays it on thick and reflects on how she inspired his personal growth and change to pacificism—much to Riker’s chagrin. The trio head back to where Raffi ( Michelle Hurd ) is examining Picard’s body, and she reveals that the Changelings didn’t need Picard’s entire body, they just needed one part of it. Of course, it was the part of his brain that was infected by the Iruomodic Syndrome. Which creates a whole host of new theories about why they wanted that and Jack.

Back on the Titan , Sidney points out that in order to crack into the system, they would need more time than is humanly possible for anyone to accomplish—especially with such a short window of time to do it. This prompts Picard to think of the one non-human individual who could compute the code they need that quickly. Picard, Beverly, Jack, and Sidney make their way to engineering where Geordi and Alandra ( Mica Burton ) are. After a quick confirmation that neither party are Changelings, which includes Picard calling Geordi’s taste in wine “pedestrian,” they get to work on a plan to free Data from Lore’s clutches. Picard suggests lowering the partition between the two personas, but Geordi is quick to caution that doing so may cause Lore to replace Data, thus permanently deleting everything that makes Data who he is. In order to make this work, Geordi explains that he needs time, which Jack is more than willing to buy them.

As Geordi begins to lower the partition, “Surrender” heads inside of Data’s mind, where Lore is taunting him about how, once the partition is fully lowered, he’ll get rid of him once and for all. Instead of fighting, like Geordi implored him to do, Data is instead going through all of his old memories, even though Lore is mocking him for being sentimental. Lore’s chip on his shoulder becomes more and more apparent as he mocks Data for showing off all of his memories. The main source of pain seems to lie within the fact that he believes he was abandoned, while Data was showered in all the friendship the galaxy could offer.

Data begins passing off a handful of memories to Lore, including memories of Tasha Yar ( Denise Crosby ) and playing poker with the rest of the crew of the Enterprise , before lighting upon one final memory of his beloved cat Spot. Spot, he explains, taught him how to love and is the last part of him that he has to give. As Lore takes Spot, Data begins to vanish, and—back in engineering—Geordi reports the tragic news that it looks like Data is losing. However, this was far from surrender, this was Lore’s way around the protocol that doesn’t allow him to harm anyone. Instead of deleting Lore, like he was trying to do to Data, Data instead recognized that memories held value to Lore and, with each memory he handed over, he was making Lore more and more like himself. In the end, just as Soong planned, Data and Lore become one.

Jack’s plan for buying them time comes in the form of a plan that could only come from the son of Jean-Luc Picard. He heads up to the bridge and presents himself to Vadic—with a catch. He has a detonator in his hand and, if Vadic doesn’t release the bridge crew, Jack intends to blow himself up to ensure Vadic can never win. With a glib remark he tells her there’s no point in resisting, he means business. It’s a bluff that Vadic falls hook, line, and sinker for. Instead of going with the rest of the crew to safety, Seven hangs back on the bridge, which Vadic notes as a “fitting” decision. In an attempt to keep Vadic focused on him, Jack starts prodding at her about his gifts and what she wants with them. In turn, Vadic speaks to Jack’s loneliness and claims that his “calling” to help people with his mother may actually just be guilt. Guilt for what? She goes on to ask him if he’s “heard them” after years of silence, and she even brings up the red door. Vadic's taunting comments prompt more unanswered questions, unfortunately.

Data comes back online just in time to save the day. As he switches the comms back on, Riker makes contact with the Titan —revealing that they’re on their way back from the Shrike . Data informs Vadic that he has taken back control, snarking about “monologuing protoplasms,” and turning things over to Jack to pull off the rest of his plan. Jack grabs Seven and pulls her into a force field created by the metallic ball he was pretending was a detonator. Data opens the evacuation hatch, sending Vadic careening into the icy clutches of space where she shatters into a million little pieces. With Vadic defeated, Shaw lets Seven make the call to blow up the Shrike —taking out at least one part of the Changeling threat.

Once Deanna comes aboard the Titan , she is struck by a feeling that there is an “all-consuming darkness” on the ship, which is quite clearly a reflection of whatever is happening to Jack. That assumption is later confirmed when The Next Generation crew—all together at last—convene in the ready room to discuss the dire situation they find themselves in. Before this somber note, there is a lot to smile about, as Geordi and Data have a sweet reunion in engineering, complete with this new version of Data being able to say contractions and make jokes, and Deanna and Beverly reunite, like barely any time has passed. There’s even a hilarious bit where Worf discusses all the heads that he has cleaved from necks over the years which he thought about sending to the crew.

After the emotions of the reunion settle, Data points out that they haven’t brought up a certain aspect of the conversation and Deanna explains that she thinks whatever the Changelings have planned for Frontier Day is directly tied to Jack. Picard notes that whatever is wrong with Jack has been growing stronger, seemingly linking it to the quickly approaching event. Deanna goes on to say that the darkness isn’t in him, so to speak, but rather around him, though there is some sort of ancient voice inside him that isn’t his own. Neither of which sounds like a good thing. As the episode draws to a close, Deanna says she wants to meet Jack.

Jack is rather apprehensive about letting Deanna inside his mind, but she does get through to him. She asks him about the ominous red door—the talking door—and Jack admits that he has no desire to open it because he’s terrified of what might lie on the other side of it. Deanna urges him that it’s time to open the door. Together they go inside the creepy, darkened corridor with the intention of opening that door. But whatever lies on the other side won’t be revealed until next week.

With only two episodes left, the focus now shifts to whatever is about to unfold during Frontier Day and how it’s all linked to Jack. Based on the context clues that have been dropped throughout the past few episodes, it would seem that there’s something about the nature of his conception that may be influencing everything—and maybe, collectively, it’s bigger than just the Irumodic Syndrome.

The first eight episodes of the final season of Star Trek: Picard are streaming now on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Picard Recap: The Gang Is Back Together!

Star trek: picard.

Who is Jack Crusher? It’s a question we’ve all been asking since this season of  Star Trek: Picard  began, but it’s one of those weird enigmas where the more we find out, the more questions we have. We know Jack Crusher is Jean-Luc Picard’s son and that he inherited his father’s Irumodic Syndrome and his mother’s medical skills.

But that’s all just surface-level stuff. The question of who Jack Crusher  really  is ties into the season’s narrative arc as we try to figure out the big answers: Why are the new and improved changelings after him? What do Jack’s superpowers mean?

I don’t think Jack Crusher is a changeling, though that’s the obvious conclusion. At the end of “Dominion,” Vadic says she wants to take Jack away to where he belongs, and the first thing that comes to mind is the Great Link. But then again, Odo (presumably Worf’s contact within the Great Link) told Worf that Vadic and her crew were a rogue element. That would mean Gross Face Person isn’t a Founder, and Vadic doesn’t report to the Great Link, making everything even more complicated. Who’s pulling all the strings?

Sure, this means even more questions, but it also makes me reasonably confident in saying that I don’t think that Jack Crusher is a changeling. That being said, something weird is happening with him, and it’s not Irumodic Syndrome. He and his father may have something else entirely that’s been misdiagnosed, but why does any of this matter? While it’s not frustrating in terms of storytelling, I am usually pretty good about putting the pieces together and coming up with a theory that makes sense, and this season has me stumped.

The Titan crew doesn’t have any more of an idea of what’s going on. Before they can figure out what Vadic, Captain of the USS Titan, wants, though, they have to regain control of the ship. The only way to do that? Unleash Commander Data on Vadic’s lockouts.

The issue, of course, is that there’s a partition between Data and Lore. If Geordi takes it down, there’s no telling what might happen. Honestly, for a while there, I thought we would be forced to watch Data sacrifice himself  yet again , and I was so upset. Data doesn’t always have to be the one who gives of himself to save others. He deserves to live, too.

It’s always nice when you get a reminder of just how good of an actor Brent Spiner is, especially when he plays opposite himself. And he was really the heart of “Surrender,” as we watched him slowly give his memories to Lore — a Sherlock Holmes pipe, the Tasha Yar holo, Spot, a deck of cards. To the viewer and those on the outside looking in, Data seems to surrender. But thankfully, he has his own strategy and emerges triumphant. And with that, the tide is turned.

Before Data manages to right the ship (quite literally), things are looking pretty dark. Vadic executes a crew member, and Jack Crusher heads to the bridge, seemingly to surrender (the running theme of the episode is also its name, who knew!) but really to buy Data time to overpower Lore and take back the ship.

On the Shrike, Will and Deanna finally have a heart-to-heart, and we understand how much of a toll the last few years have taken on them. The rapport between Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes is amazing, and they feel so right together onscreen. Even when they’re arguing and talking about difficult topics like Thad’s death and their grief, it still feels comfortable and full of love.

They don’t have to wait too long to contemplate their fates because Raffi and Worf arrive on the scene in a cloaked shuttlecraft to save the day. The reunion between Worf and Deanna was an absolute  joy , especially because I was sure the writers would gloss over the fact that these two were in a relationship when  Star Trek: The Next Generation  ended. But no, their reunion had me absolutely screaming (and was genuinely sweet, heartfelt, and funny).

On the Shrike, the team finds Jean-Luc’s body (the one stolen from Daystrom Institute) and discovers that the parietal lobe — where Irumodic Syndrome is located within the brain — is missing. Things are looking weirder, and they continue on that trajectory as Data retakes the ship, Vadic and her brethren are killed (Vadic’s last line, “Fucking solids!” was  classic ), and the crew finally gets the reunion we’ve all been waiting for.

I don’t know if I can accurately describe here how much the interaction between Geordi and Data meant to me. Considering I learned what it was to be a friend to others through the example these two set, the privilege of seeing them interact once again was one of the best parts of the entire season (and it’s been a damn good season, let’s be clear). I could live an entire lifetime in this scene’s warm blanket of emotions.

So where do we go from here? That’s the question. Deanna notes that there’s something dark surrounding Jack. Not that he has darkness or evil within himself, but there’s something around him. And she’s going to find out what it is. She takes Jack’s hand and enters his visions with him. She’s going to lead him through the red door in his mind, and hopefully there will be answers on the other side.

Captain’s Log

• ALL SEVEN OF OUR CREW ARE AROUND A TABLE AGAIN. I HAVE BEEN WAITING DECADES FOR THIS.

• Okay, but really: Does everyone hate Chateau Picard wine? Shaw, Worf, now Geordi. It makes me think I should just keep the bottle I have as a souvenir, never to be opened.

• “My name is Seven of Nine.” Jeri Ryan is our queen, and I will hear no arguments.

• Data’s death scene in the first season of  Star Trek: Picard  is one of the best I’ve ever seen, and I’m so glad they brought Data back while still honoring that.

• Shaw’s insistence that Seven should have blown the turbo lift was interesting, but I agree with Seven when she says, “We don’t trade lives.”

• Where is Kestra? I know she’s probably old enough to be on her own at this point. I hope she’s back at the house (which apparently they all hated, a jab at the season-one writers?)

• I’m glad Tasha Yar got to be part of this reunion in her own way. It feels right.

• star trek: picard

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Star TRek: Picard

‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3, Episode 8 Recap: Consequences Abound

Jean-Luc breaks Data in case of emergency. Vadic makes a move.

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By Sopan Deb

Season 3, Episode 8: ‘Surrender’

Much of this season of “Picard” revolves around familial relationships, particularly parenting. There’s how we choose to do it (Beverly). The consequences of avoiding it entirely (Jean-Luc). The weight of keeping our children safe (Geordi). How we grieve (Riker and Troi.)

It takes being captured on a brutal enemy’s ship for Riker and Troi to finally have an impactful conversation about their marriage and the loss of Thad, their child. Riker wanted to bathe in his grief as his lone remaining connection to Thad. Troi wanted to protect Riker from that pain using her Betazoid abilities, which has the unintended effect of pushing a wedge between them. Riker wanted to cocoon himself, which was unacceptable to Troi.

In their prison cell, they are honest with each other, as married couples should be. It turns out their grief is a prison unto itself. They disagree on how to grieve, but it shows the strength of the foundation of their relationship that they can finally talk like this. (Another indication: We learn that a changeling came to Riker and Troi’s home pretending to be Riker, which Troi snuffed out right away.)

“You can’t skip to the end of healing,” Troi says.

And then she embraces him, as a loving spouse would, rather than as the ship’s counselor we’ve come to know for decades. Troi also informs Riker that she doesn’t like their move to the intergalactic suburbs. Fair enough. Been there.

This was just about the only scene that worked for me the entire episode in a season that has otherwise been great. When Worf shows up to rescue Riker and Troi, he gives a campy, borderline romantic speech about how he is now sensitive to Troi, which Riker notes is “inappropriate.” He’s right! It was weird!

When things seem bleakest for the Titan, Jack has a deus ex machina at the ready: He is a living Professor X with Cerebro capabilities. He can control others’ movements, read their minds and see through them — although we don’t know why. It’s a handy tool when your ship has been overtaken. (Parenting looms over small moments of the season, too, as when Jack quips to Vadic that Beverly taught him “better manners than that.”)

But it’s hard to separate this from the fact that none of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for another disastrous planned hatched by Jean-Luc in last week’s episode , which caused the crew to lose control of the Titan to begin with. Captured on the bridge, Shaw lectures Seven about the consequences of our actions. Jean-Luc placed the ship and its crew — once again — in great danger with a foolhardy plan to bait Vadic in last week’s episode. Now we see the consequences: T’Veen (Stephanie Czajkowski) is executed, a crew member that 100 percent died in a needless way.

Speaking of Shaw: The writing of his character this season has been all over the place. It undermines his character, despite a strong performance from Todd Stashwick. When Vadic moves to execute one of his crew members, Seven tries to intervene and sacrifice herself. Shaw, the captain, holds her back, telling her there’s nothing she can do. This seemed out of character compared with the Shaw we saw earlier in the season — the rule-following captain who prioritizes the safety of his crew.

Shaw strikes me as the type of person who would have offered to sacrifice himself, rather than interrupting Seven’s attempt to do so. Just moments before, Shaw upbraids Seven for not blowing up the turbolift with him inside to keep Vadic from taking over the ship. When T’Veen is executed, Shaw barely reacts. Given his emotiveness throughout the season, that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Even so, this episode seemingly brings an end to Vadic, who is sucked out into space, and the Shrike, which is blown up by the newly emboldened Titan crew. As Vadic, Amanda Plummer played an excellent villain, but she deserved a better death — assuming it is a death — than to be so easily outsmarted by Jack. (Not to mention: What was Jack’s plan exactly? What if Vadic hadn’t moved the rest of the crew to another room?)

Vadic also leaves with a secret: What’s the deal with Jack? Why is he Professor X? What’s up with the red door?

I don’t have a great theory. But Troi says that there’s a “darkness” around Jack and a voice inside him that is “ancient and weak.” “Ancient” is an interesting hint. The Pah-wraiths perhaps? They would have had good reason to link up with changelings after what happened in “Deep Space Nine.”

Odds and Ends

I lied. One other part of the episode worked for me: seeing the original cast back together in one room for the first time all season. While the episode seemed rushed, this was the moment we’d all been waiting for as we head into the final episodes of the season.

Data co-opts Lore’s brotherly resentment and uses it against his evil twin. Historically, Data has often had difficulty reading the room . But in this case, he diagnoses Lore’s jealousy and uses it to mold a whole new version of himself. It’s arguably the most human Data has ever been. Data seems to revel in Lore’s misery when he says, “We are me.” It’s possible that our favorite android has developed the ability to experience schadenfreude. (Also, some fun fan service when Data offers up his memories to Lore, such a Tasha Yar sighting.)

Some of the behavior of this new contraction-using Data seemed silly to me, particularly when he “greets” the Titan and calls himself a “friendly positronic pissed-off security system.” If New Data is a combination of Data, Lore, B-4 and Lal, where would that language even come from? It seemed forced, just to get a laugh from the audience. But Data also seems to have a new purpose now: Instead of trying to find out what it means to be human, he’ll now contend with how to handle aging. (Data’s old friends should probably be more suspicious about Data than they seem. Lore has repeatedly shown up in their lives, and he seemed within seconds of taking over the android body entirely. How do they know that Data isn’t actually Lore taking advantage of their need to have their old friend back?)

A commenter last week asked a question for which I don’t have an answer: A big part of the plot seems to concern what the changelings will do with the corpse of Jean-Luc, given that he is slated to speak at Frontier Day. But why would Jean-Luc still speak at a big Starfleet celebration when he is a fugitive?

The Titan blows up the Shrike. I’m sure there’s no strategic advantage to examining a superior changeling ship’s technology when many of them have taken over Starfleet, but we digress.

Vadic orders members of her crew to go find Jack. She has control over a good portion of the Titan. No one thinks to look for a doctor in sickbay? According to Beverly, Vadic didn’t have control of bridge consoles, so how did she have control of the ship? Why wouldn’t she spend her time trying to take command of the most essential section of the Titan?

Sopan Deb is a basketball writer and a contributor to the Culture section. Before joining The Times, he covered Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign for CBS News. More about Sopan Deb

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Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 8 Sets the Stage for a Grand Finale

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 moves into its final act with a desperate fight for the Titan. Here's CBR's review of the season's eighth episode.

Star Trek: Picard has officially entered the home stretch, with the core Star Trek: The Next Generation cast reunited and ready to take on the Changeling conspiracy together . After scrambling to get the season's opening antagonist Vadic on board the USS Titan for a face-to-face showdown with Jean-Luc Picard and his allies, the season's eighth episode delivers the inevitable payoff. Titled "Surrender," the episode is a top-to-bottom crowd-pleaser that knows when to lean into the fan service while advancing the overarching story ahead of the series finale.

After seizing control of the Titan, Vadic tightens her authority by systematically wiping out any Starfleet opposition scattered around the starship. With the bridge crew at the Changelings' mercy, Jack Crusher devises a plan to retake the ship while Geordi La Forge makes a risky decision to rescue Data from his evil twin, Lore. Meanwhile, Will Riker and Deanna Troi have problems of their own, held captive on board the Changeling warship and forced to confront changes in their relationship .

While the preceding episode felt occasionally forced and contrived to bring Vadic face to face with the protagonists, "Surrender" follows this up to provide a more tense and earned confrontation. Amanda Plummer takes full advantage of the increased prominence, leaning into Vadic's strengths as an antagonist who truly revels in the sadism and cruelty that she inflicts. This episode is Picard at its tensest and most merciless and makes the most of its pacing and unpredictability of its villains.

If the preceding episode gave Levar Burton a fitting and emotional showcase, "Surrender" offers a similar spotlight for co-star Brent Spiner . The positronic android that houses both Data and Lore's consciousnesses is at war with itself, and Spiner has a field day playing the two androids against each other before taking a different turn by the episode's conclusion. Seeing Picard and his crew's reaction to seeing their old friend fight for his life makes for one of the most emotionally resonant moments of the entire series.

RELATED: Star Trek Introduces Its Newest Ship: Jack Crusher and Sidney LaForge

More to the point, "Surrender" fulfills the promise of Picard Season 3 by reuniting the main TNG cast. This season's measured, deliberate pacing to maneuver its characters into position makes sense for a more organic story, but it is bittersweet knowing that there are only two episodes remaining in the entire series. Eight episodes deep, it still feels like Picard Season 3 is only gaining momentum, with so much story left to explore and a decreasing amount of real estate to deliver its grand finale.

Picard Season 3 has been a veritable cornucopia of satisfying character moments and Easter eggs to the breadth of the Star Trek franchise. "Surrender" resets the board for the epic showdown with the Changeling conspiracy, with the fate of the United Federation hanging in the balance. Perhaps the biggest compliment that can be paid is a desire for more episodes to sit and enjoy the moment as the crew stands together again, but Picard Season 3 never really had any intention of slowing down as it moves forward, engines at full power.

Created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman, and Terry Matalas, Star Trek: Picard releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Picard – Season 3, Episode 8

Where to watch, star trek: picard — season 3, episode 8.

Watch Star Trek: Picard — Season 3, Episode 8 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

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Cast & crew.

Patrick Stewart

Jean-Luc Picard

LeVar Burton

Geordi LaForge

Michael Dorn

Jonathan Frakes

Gates McFadden

Beverly Crusher

Marina Sirtis

Deanna Troi

Critics Reviews

Episode info.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 8 Review: The Old Crew Is Together Again

Spoilers follow.

How admirable that the showrunners of "Star Trek: Picard" waited until the eighth episode of the series to finally unite Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn , and Brent Spiner together in the same room. The episode, called " Surrender ," ends with Picard, Riker, Troi, Dr. Crusher, Geordi La Forge, Worf, and a new-and-improved version of Data all gathered around a conference table — just like on " Star Trek: The Next Generation " — to reconnoiter and figure out what to do next. 

The sight of these characters back on the job was accompanied by some treacly, nostalgic music, natch, which is mildly irritating. Also, I could have gone without a few weepy lines of dialogue about how great it is to be together again; did none of these characters come to resent their old coworkers? But overall the moment felt more natural than one might expect. It was a "nostalgia moment" that felt earned and organic. Thank goodness "Picard" took the time to put everyone in place out in the galaxy before slowly bringing them together. When Picard begins asking his "crew" for suggestions, it makes sense that everyone falls back into place with their dialogue and their dynamic. 

This moment comes at the end of what might be considered the "action climax" of this season. "Surrender" will feature a hostage situation, several notable deaths, a dramatic noncorporeal face-off, and a cliché line of action move dialogue spoken right before a villain is dispatched. The plot takes a breather while tensions run high.

Data vs. Lore

The noncorporeal confrontation mentioned above was between Data and Lore, both played by Spiner. As previously explained, Altan Soong constructed an android body made to look like a 74-year-old man, hoping that an otherwise-immortal android could experience old age. Into said body, Soong shunted in the consciousnesses of Data, Lore, B-4, Noonien Soong, Lal, and presumably others. For the purposes of this episode, only Data and Lore are important. Geordi La Forge (Burton) knows that Data's powerful android brain could wrest control of the U.S.S. Titan's computers away from the villainous Vadic ( Amanda Plummer ), but to activate him would be to invite the evil Lore to delete Data and take over his body; he already tried in the previous episodes. At Picard's urging, Geordi activates him anyway, hoping Data will dominate. 

What follows is an abstract conversation between Data and Lore. The latter, having no ethics or compunctions about killing off Data begins stealing his memories and throwing them into the ether. Tasha Yar ( Denise Crosby ) makes a brief cameo during this sequence, appearing in a memorial projector that Data kept on "Next Generation." Eventually, Lore sucks up every last one of Data's memories, eager to take control of his own android body once again. Data argues, in a brief moment of philosophical introspection, that a human character is constructed of their memories. In stealing Data's, Lore essentially became Data. It's rushed and a little thin, but it seemed at least a modicum of thought went into it. 

This was Data's second resurrection, incidentally. In the first, a particle of his body was somehow salvaged from the explosion at the end of "Star Trek: Nemesis," and cloned (?) into a brand new android brain that somehow contained all of Data's memories.

Riker and Troi

Even in Trek's world of multisyllabic technobabble, this was farfetched. This time around, enough time was taken explaining this new golem body that it was easier to accept beyond a mere plot contrivance.

Data emerges from the conflict a new man, happy to be a 74-year-old with weak knees and a crick in his neck. Also, he seems to be able to fully feel now. 

An additional emotional climax is provided by Riker and Troi (Frakes and Sirtis), now a married couple still smarting after the death of their son years earlier. While being held prisoner on board the Shrike, they talk about how they never found a way to properly grieve. They talk out their problems, apologize, and both admit that they hate living in a cabin in the country. Troi admits she wants to move back to the city. This odd moment of domestic strife is weirdly welcome. It provides a strong character moment for Troi who, up until now, hasn't appeared much in this season. Troi also has the pleasure of reuniting with Worf (Dorn) whom she briefly dated, and she will play a part in unlocking the mind of Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). Troi, it seems, was granted the dignity of not being a mere bit player.

She, Riker, Worf, and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) will also salvage the organic body of Picard that the evil Changelings want for reasons that have still not yet been explained. 

While the above dramas were taking place, "Picard" engaged in its proper "action movie" climax. In the previous episode, Vadic took control of the bridge of the Titan. In this one, Vadic lines up all the bridge officers as hostages and offers to murder them off one by one until Jack Crusher surrenders himself.

Vadic no more

Sadly, one of the ever-present background characters, Lieutenant T'Veen (Stephanie Czajkowski) , won't make it out alive. (Luckily, Vadic does not target the show's nonbinary character, Ensign Kova Rin Esmar (Jin Maley).) It's a shocking death. During the hostage crisis, the stern Captain Shaw (Todd Stashwick) remains snippy toward Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), pointing out that her tendency to break rules had led to ruin. Shaw's continued status as the sole pessimist on "Picard" remains unblanched and wholly appealing. 

Vadic, thanks to a complex coordinated effort, will eventually be blown out into space through an on-bridge airlock that wasn't mentioned before. It seems to this nitpicking Trekkie that having an airlock on the bridge of a starship is a massive design flaw, but whatever. Vadic is sucked out into the vacuum of space where she freezes, drifts into the hull of her own ship, and shatters into thousands of pieces. Nitpicking Trekkies may point out that a Changeling like Vadic may be able to survive such an ordeal, but in terms of an action movie death, it will do. Importantly, Vadic will be gone from the story. Prior to Vadic's death, Seven got to bark out "Get off my bridge," a line she cribbed from Captain Janeway on "Star Trek: Voyager." 

With two episodes to go, it's a relief to see Vadic gone. It means that the season's climax will not be hand-to-hand combat, another starship battle, or any act of dull, revenge-based action movie violence. Trek is not an action franchise, and "Picard" looks poised to conclude more intelligently. 

The stupid "Space Jesus" notions introduced last week , however, still linger. But there may be time to turn things around.

'Star Trek: Picard' season 3 episode 8 reunites the TNG crew for upcoming finale

We've had eight episodes setting up the series finale and quite where this story is going no one is really sure.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Star Trek: Picard" Season 3, episode 8

After this one, there are just two more episodes of "Picard" left. How exactly will it all end for this particular collection of "Trek" characters? Oh, and for the record, it should absolutely positively end here. An additional legacy spin-off show, the idea of which has been bounded around on social media of late, is truly a terrible idea. For the love of Lazarus, move on and create new characters that we can all watch and enjoy.

Of course, the big "Star Trek" news of late is that the new spin-off show will be set at Starfleet Academy, so it looks like we are going to get new characters after all. As long as it doesn't turn out to be a younger, edgier version of Trek, akin to the parody of the same idea and shown in the magnificent "Stargate SG1" episode "200" (S10, E06), then everyone should be happy. So, fingers crossed.

So far in this third and final season, the primary plot isn't anything groundbreakingly new and it's still quite formulaic. Jason Bourne Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) is basically Dahj (Isa Briones), Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is still Jean-Luc Picard, Brent Spiner is still Brent Spiner, the crew gets a bit of help from a few old friends, all of Starfleet is threatened, et cetera . So, if the foundational framework remains mostly the same, then the exterior decor, so to speak, becomes all the more important. And that is basically what's carrying this show. Thankfully, it's not terrible.

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The fun elements of the cast reunion continue with the focus on Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) — sci-fi's best husband and wife team since Maureen and John Robinson or even Ellen and Saul Tigh from "Battlestar Gallactica." Although, given what we saw and heard during the events of " Nepenthe " (S01, E07), it feels like many of their issues have been shoved into their lives by way of lazy writing. That said, the single best thing about this episode is that Marina Sirtis has finally begun to revert back to her native Tottenham accent. She's originally from N17 dontchaknow and in Norf London it's pronounced Bay - uh -zoid.

Lore wasn't kept around much either, and now with Vadic (Amanda Plummer) having met a demise worthy of inclusion in the "Final Destination" franchise, the old "Next Generation" crew is gathered altogether for the final two hours of this series. In essence, that makes the finale much like a two-part season conclusion now that we've spent eight weeks establishing some sort of background. It might have been nice if Lore had been given an Evil Twin Mustache™ or at the very least a Band-Aid to slap on his forehead, thus distinguishing the good from the bad ... but you can't have everything. 

Rumors abound as to what exactly what's wrong with Jack, ranging from the fact that Beverley was made pregnant after Jean-Luc had joined the Collective so there could be an as-yet unknown Borg tech connection, to potential involvement by the Remans, and even to the fact that Jack doesn't know he's a changeling and that the real Jack is dead or a prisoner somewhere. 

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Either way, the third season story arc hasn't really progressed very far, all things considered, and we continue to be bombarded with throwbacks, fan service and Easter Eggs, although its certainly the right time of year for that. 

At the time of writing, the press had not been given advance screeners of the final two episodes, but "Picard" writer Cindy Appel tweeted that "Eps 9&10 of #StarTrekPicard are so thrilling, emotional, EPIC, that the writers kindly request you clear the area around your couch so as not to accidentally punch your toddler or emotional support pet."

In that tweet, she also revealed that writer and showrunner Terry Matalas would be taking the helm of the penultimate episode entitled "Vox" and the series finale entitled "The Last Generation" is only the second show for which he's sat in the center seat. That said, he's been around "Star Trek" his entire professional career, so it's certainly going to be intriguing. 

It also sets up Deanna nicely towards the end since she's probably Starfleet's most valuable single asset. There are changelings everywhere hellbent on causing chaos who can only be distinguished from humanoid lifeforms by an empath. Those, combined with Jack 'I've-got-an-alien-evil-consciousness-inside-me' Crusher, makes for a tailor-made crisis for Counselor Troi if ever there was one. 

If there was a category at the MTV Awards for Most Easter Eggs in a Televised Drama, this show would win hands down. But there have been some nice touches, much like the holograms onboard La Sirena, which were genius. The running gag that no one likes Château Picard wine is also very nice, but we're a little surprised that Lore didn't make reference to torturing Georgi in "Descent, Part II" (S07, E01). The cloaking device was utilized again and since that's been sparingly used, it remains effective. 

Vadic has been something of a deliberate misdirection, a little like the Renée Picard thing was last season and the threat to Frontier Day feels like the whole Seb-Cheneb thing from the first season , we certainly haven't seen as much of Raffi as we'd like, but hopefully the lose threads will get tied up in an effective manner. We've said it before and we'll probably say it again in the next two weeks, but it's just a damn shame that this wasn't the first season of the Jean-Luc Picard spin-off. That way, it might not feel quite so formulaic. 

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"Star Trek: Picard" and every episode of every "Star Trek" show currently streams exclusively on Paramount Plus in the US. Internationally, the shows are available on  Paramount Plus  in Australia, Latin America, the UK and South Korea, as well as on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. They also stream exclusively on Paramount Plus in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Canada, they air on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on Crave.

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When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.

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Den of Geek

Picard Season 3 Episode 8 Easter Eggs Bring Star Trek: TNG Full Circle

The Titan crew is at their lowest point yet, but Star Trek: Picard has some easter eggs to save the day.

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This Star Trek: Picard article contains spoilers.

The easter egg game is afoot! As was true with Picard ’s easter egg bonanza from a few weeks ago, episode 8, “Surrender,” uses callbacks and references in such a way that you can’t actually figure out how the plot would work without this stuff. We know that the final two episodes of Picard season 3 will surely be packed beyond belief with references and Trekkie surprises, but for now, in “Surrender,” the references pack a punch because they make the plot happen.

Here are the best easter eggs and references in episode 8:

Vadic Smoking on the Bridge

Although it’s possible this isn’t an intentional reference, Vadic smoking one of her dusty shapeshifter cigarettes on the bridge of the Titan might be a shout-out to The Wrath of Khan . In that movie, at the very start, there are signs on the bridge of the Enterprise that say “no smoking.” The Titan bridge also uses a pretty heavy amount of TOS bridge sound effects, so there’s definitely a classic vibe to this unorthodox opening.

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Vadic Is Like Khan, But Not From The Wrath 

As Vadic threatens to crew with all the ways she can mess with the environmental controls with a “tap of my finger,” TOS fans should be reminded of Khan in “Space Seed.” In that episode, Khan took over all ship functions from engineering and sucked all the air out of the bridge.

Riker and Troi, Imzadi Reunited 

Troi mentions that she really wished she’d taught Riker another Betazoid word other than “Imzadi.” We learned this word meant “beloved” way back in “Encounter at Farpoint,” but throughout The Next Generation it really did seem like Riker used it way more than Troi — including the transporter duplicate Thomas Riker in “Second Chances.”

Troi and Riker also talk about the death of their son Thad, which was established in the Picard season 1 episode “Nepenthe,” as was Riker’s hobby of making pizza, hence Troi’s joke “good in bed, bad at pizza.”

Picard’s Secret Codex Is Very Familiar

As Jack tries to hack the body of a Titan crewmember, we see that Jean-Luc Picard still loves using “Picard Alpha-Tango” as the base of his go-to password. In First Contact , Jean-Luc used the password “Picard 47, Alpha Tango” twice in two different contexts: once to unlock a message from Starfleet and again to set the self-destruct for the Enterprise-E . Here, we learn his security override is “12-11-Picard Alpha Tango 75.”

Kestra Riker-Troi 

Riker and Troi talk a bit about their daughter, Kestra, and Will worries that if they die she will “have lost everyone.” One might wonder where Kestra is at this point. The answer it seems is that Kestra is already in an “early admissions program at Starfleet Academy.” Picard showrunner Terry Matalas confirmed this detail just before this episode aired. Really! Don’t worry about Kestra! She’s fine!

Troi mentions that she misses “Raktajino lattes.” Raktajino, is, of course, Klingon coffee, first mentioned in the Deep Space Nine episode “Dax.” Captain Benjamin Sisko absolutely loves drinking it.

That Time Worf Dated Troi

When Worf comes to rescue Will and Deanna, we hear the Jerry Goldsmith “Klingon Theme” and then Worf launches into a very emotional speech to Deanna. This references the fact that Worf and Deanna briefly dated on TNG following the events of the episode “Parallels.” In fact, in the alternate future in “All Good Things…” Deanna’s death in that timeline had driven a huge wedge between Worf and Riker. In the current, “real” TNG / Picard timeline, Worf and Riker are now both slightly older than they were in that future, and, of course, Deanna is alive.

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Cloaked Shuttle Emerson

Raffi and Worf have a cloaked shuttle zipping around outside of the Titan . To be clear, they’re using the same cloaking tech stolen from the Bounty back in episode 6. (Again, this has been confirmed with showrunner Terry Matalas.)

Geordi Hates Picard’s Wine, Too

Throughout the season, various characters have thrown shade on the wine made at Jean-Luc’s family vineyard, Chateau Picard . In this episode, a memory of Geordi saying the wine was “too dry” is the latest example of a character not liking the wine. (FWIW, in real life, the wine is quite good. )

Data and Sherlock Holmes

When Lore and Data face off against each other in a kind of positronic mindscape, we’re hit with several references to Data’s love of Sherlock Holmes right away. Not only do we hear dialogue from the TNG episode “Elementary, Dear Data,” but we also see Data’s Holmes hat, as well as his pipe. In addition to Moriarty in “The Bounty,” this is the second episode of Picard season 3 to reference Sherlock Holmes in a huge way.

Tasha Yar, Spot the Cat, and Data’s Other Memories 

Throughout the rest of the episode, we see Data seemingly “give up” his memories to Lore, which includes several references to TNG , including:

• A TNG -era Tricorder.
• A deck of playing cards, which Data says represents the “many games of poker” he played on the Enterprise , referencing various episodes, including “Cause and Effect,” “The Best of Both Worlds,” and “All Good Things…”
• A hologram of Tasha Yar, from the episode “A Measure of Man,” which also references “Skin of Evil” and “The Naked Now” — the moment that Tasha discovered that Data was “fully functional.”
• Spot! Data’s cat appeared in various TNG episodes beginning with “Data’s Day” and was last seen in Nemesis .

“Monologuing Protoplasms”

While not a direct reference, Data’s dig about “monologuing protoplasms,” feels like the kind of thing someone might say in Ghostbusters . Just me? Either way, it’s a hilarious moment, which sets up Vadic’s death when she says…

Vadic’s Death and Her “Fucking Solids” Final Words

Throughout DS9 , Changelings used the word “solids” pejoratively to describe anyone who wasn’t a shapeshifter. The fact that she is so exasperated in her moment of defeat that this is all Vadic says is both really dark and oddly funny at the same time. Best Star Trek villain death line ever?

Data Using Contractions 

In “Datalore,” it was established that Data’s programming did not allow him to use contractions, a fact which was brought up again in “Future Imperfect.” Now that Data has evolved, Geordi is stunned to hear him use a contraction in Picard .

The Entire TNG Bridge Crew in the Conference Room, Together

We haven’t seen the “big seven” lead actors from TNG all in the same room together in Star Trek since the film Nemesis in 2002. This means it’s been 21 years in real life and 22 years in the Trek canon.

Troi Senses Jack Crusher’s Red Door

The final moments of the episode promise to take us through the “red door” in Jack’s mind, with Troi at his side. Though not explicitly a Trek reference, the idea of the “red door,” and the mystery around it, is vaguely reminiscent of the “red forest” in the series 12 Monkeys . That SyFy series was produced by Matalas and featured several actors who we’ve seen this season, including Kirk Acevedo (Krinn), Aaron Stanford (Sneed) , and of course, Todd Stashwick (Shaw) .

In that series, the mystery of the “red forest” turned out to not be exactly what the audience expected, meaning in the coming weeks, as Picard comes to its conclusion, we should be ready for a similar twist with the red door. Plus, after Picard is over, science fiction fans may want to binge a sci-fi series that they haven’t seen, and if you slept on 1 2 Monkeys , it might be the next best thing.

Ryan Britt is a longtime contributor to Den of Geek! He is also the author of three non-fiction books: the Star Trek pop history book PHASERS…

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SNEAK PEEK – Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 8 “Surrender”

Titled “Surrender”, Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 8 seems to get straight to the point. Picard’s third and final season stars are in a difficult place. However, will we see Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) and friends be able to retake their starship? With only three episodes left, the stakes are very high for the series. The plot is coming together, and time is running out for the heroes and villains of this high-tension story. Deborah Kampmeier directs this episode, while Matt Okumura is the writer.

The official synopsis, see below, tells us what might happen. Therefore, it does make me wonder if we’ll learn more about Vadic’s (Amanda Plummer) masters. Her mysterious boss is a very interesting plot point. However, we know nothing about them. The Frontier Day event is fast approaching in Star Trek: Picard , yet the real villains have not yet revealed themselves.

“Vadic forces Picard to make an impossible choice: deliver what he can never give or watch his crew perish. T heir only salvation lies in the mind of an old friend and old foe. “ Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 8 “Surrender” – Official Synopsis

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 8 – Preview Pictures

This week’s preview pictures give us something we’ve been wanting. Finally, we see Jonathan Frakes back in Star Trek: Picard . He’s been absent, mostly. While yes, he did appear last week, he is technically not the real William T. Riker. However, this week also brings the first proper episode with Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi . She’s the last star of Star Trek: The Next Generation to join back up. Technically, she has appeared before via video links and flashbacks—also, her appearance at the cliffhanger ending of Episode 6.

The preview pictures also imply something obvious. This is the Titan crew retaking the bridge and ship. You can easily see the look that Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) gives Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick). It seems like the crew of the Titan is still separated around. While Vadic and her goons hold the bridge, other characters are spread around the ship. An example of this is Doctor Crusher (Gates McFadden) still in the medical bay. Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) can still be seen here as well.

Returning to Shaw and Seven, the pair seem to share the look of them planning a counterattack. One of Star Trek: Picard Season 3’s soundtrack titles is “Get off my bridge”, and another is “Battle on the bridge”. Both of these suggest some serious events taking place on the bridge of a starship. Therefore, It makes sense with Vadic on the bridge that some action will kick off. I’m all for this. Hopefully, we will see it in Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 8 .

Shutting Down The USS Titan-A

So you thought earlier episodes of Star Trek: Picard were dark? Well, I think this week’s Ready Room clip sets a new bar, in my opinion. Captain Vadic basically executes the crew of the USS Titan. While Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) locks out Data/Lore (Brent Spiner), Vadic shuts down the ship from the Titan’s bridge. Therefore, if I had to guess, expect to see some bridge retaking scene in this episode. Regardless, seeing young Ensgins being gunned down in the corridors is rather dark. It shows us Vadic is not messing around.

Episode Trailer

Notable absent from material for Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 8 are both the characters of Worf (Michael Dorn) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd). It’s entirely possible they could be back in this episode. We knew from Episode 6 that Worf vowed to seek and find William T. Riker. However, we’ve not heard anything from the pair since. Hopefully, this episode answers this question. It would also make sense to have the entire TNG cast reunited at the end of episode 8. Therefore, giving us the reunion just in time for the final two episodes.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3  airs on Thursdays via Paramount+ for those in the United States. Additionally, on Crave and the CTV Sci-Fi channel for viewers in Canada. However, new episodes air Fridays via Amazon Prime Video in international regions like the United Kingdom. Paramount+ also streams the episodes in select locations, such as Italy, Germany and France.

More From Trek Central

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🔥 – SNEAK PEEK – Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Ep 5 “Imposters”

🔍️ – REVIEW: Star Trek: Picard “No Win Scenario”

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Focusing on some key storylines to tie off loose ends before the finale elevates well-intentioned but shakier material.

Star Trek: Picard , and frankly, most modern Trek, works best when its episodes have focus. Especially in the era of serialization, writers seem to feel the need to include an avalanche of characters and subplots each week, which can leave episodes feeling bloated and aimless. Season 3 of  Picard  has its heap of characters to service, and several narrative irons in the fire, to where it threatens to tip over at any minute. 

But “Surrender” gains strength from zeroing in on a few key storylines that command the hour. Vadic ( Amanda Plummer ) has taken over the  USS Titan . Jean-Luc ( Patrick Stewart ), Beverly ( Gates McFadden ), and others must decide whether to turn over Jack (Ep Speleers) to her band of baddies or try to regain control through other means. Meanwhile, Data ( Brent Spiner ) wages an internal war with his brother Lore, while Geordi ( LeVar Burton ) tries to help him from outside. And Will ( Jonathan Frakes ) and Deanna ( Marina Sirtis ) use their imprisonment aboard the  Shrike  as a chance to resolve their issues while they hope for a rescue. 

None of these story threads is amazing. But each has the time to breathe, develop, and eventually feed into one another in a way that’s satisfying, even compared to episodes with better individual elements that nonetheless end up overstretched or underbaked. 

The strongest of the three is the Riker family summit. In a postscript to  “No Win Scenario,”  Will and Deanna break down the emotional walls between them that emerged in the aftermath of their son’s death. Will admits to feeling numb from the loss, not to mention violated, when his wife encroached on his mind to try to relieve his hardship. Likewise, Deanna admits to some regrets but also confesses the weight of grief she carried from everyone around her at the time. 

The emotional exposition at play is blunt and a bit clumsy. But as with many of season 3’s shortcomings, even when the scenes aren’t perfect,  Star Trek: Picard’s  heart is in the right place with all of this. Fortunately, even twenty years later, Frakes and Sirtis have such incredible charm and chemistry that it helps paper over any ham-handed writing. 

[A]s with many of season 3’s shortcomings, even when the scenes aren’t perfect,  Star Trek: Picard’s  heart is in the right place with all of this.

And the rescue and reunion from Worf ( Michael Dorn ), with amusing nods to his bond with Deanna, adds to the triumphant feeling of the emotional breakthroughs at play. The bright spots shine brighter when the creative team devotes time to sketching out these key interpersonal moments amid the larger stakes of the episode. 

The Data story rises and falls in much the same terms. The internal struggle between Data and Lore for control of Hybrid Data’s mind is a foregone conclusion. No matter the convenient graphical battle between the good blue dots and the evil red dots on the display, any concern about Lore taking over as the dominant personality plays like false jeopardy. Likewise, the theme of Lore accepting Data’s memories but inadvertently accepting Data’s identity in the process is trite but well-intentioned. And the dialogue laying bare all of these points varies between the tin-eared and the downright cheesy. 

And yet, it’s hard to deny the charms of seeing Spiner act opposite himself once more. “Surrender” doesn’t play fair, as Data summons all manner of symbols of long ago: from his Sherlock hat and pipe, to his memorial for Tasha Yar, to none other than Spot(!!!), replete with a testimonial about how his little furry friend taught him how to love. The embrace and resolution between the good twin and the evil one are pretty thin but gain force from its callback to their last encounter in  The Next Generation . And providing room for Geordi and Data to have their own mini-reunion as they recount what each means to the other helps some clunky emotional material land with more force than it otherwise could. 

The weakest of the three stories is the broader effort to retake the ship from Vadic. We already did the moral dilemma of whether to turn over Jack to the bad guys in order to save the rest of the crew in  “Disengaged,”  so there’s not much juice left in that orange. In lieu of added substance, “Surrender”’s content to throw in more cryptic hints about Jack’s budding psychic powers, which now allow him to fully possess people. Eight episodes in, and it’s time to put the cards on the table for Crusher Jr. rather than continuing to hint and hint and hint into oblivion. 

This is also a disappointing swan song for Vadic. One might naively assume that, with her backstory and motivations  finally explained , she might get to be more of a character now. Nope! She’s back to nothing but preening and taunting, with a mannered performance that feels less and less suited to the moment the longer her scenes linger.  The Wrath of Khan  remains one of Star Trek’s cinematic high points. Still, it’s also ruined scads of otherwise interesting villains as the franchise has continued to chase that scenery-chewing, bravado-filled dragon ever since. Sadly, Vadic is no exception. 

Thankfully, all three of these subplots, when given the time to bloom, come together nicely and provide a satisfying conclusion. Unfortunately, the episode tips its hands a bit too much when Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) declares that to overcome Vadic’s lockout of the ship’s systems, they’d need someone who can compute at an incredible level. Nevertheless, here comes Data, gifted with a new sense of sass and the ability to overcome Vadic’s digital locks on the  Titan ! 

[T]he structure of an outing like “Surrender,” the willingness to stop and focus on a few key plots and allow them to build toward one another, helps even mixed material sing when it’s done right.

If that weren’t enough, here comes Worf, Raffi ( Michelle Hurd ), and the Riker family to distract their captors and take down mooks in the hallways with suitable flair. Finally, here comes a high point for Seven ( Jeri Ryan ), standing firm against these invaders on her ship. And here comes Jack Crusher, conspiring with his parents to blast Vadic and her interlopers into the vacuum of space while protecting Seven and himself via a personal force field. “Surrender” weaves these disparate parts of the episode together, producing a more satisfying whole. 

Frankly, that climatic triumph is the natural endpoint for the episode. Vadic cracking into a thousand pieces after crashing into the bow of her own ship is a visually cathartic defeat of the main antagonist to date. The immediate danger has been conquered. The threat to Jack that started this whole kerfuffle is neutralized. Taking a moment to bask in that, to let the characters exalt in their triumph, would help the importance of this victory land. 

Instead, “Surrender” lurches on, a bit aimlessly, for another ten minutes or so. The show needs to set up that there’s still a grand threat to Frontier Day that our heroes must figure out. The show needs to continue teasing some answers about Jack’s condition (which increasingly seems like a Charlie X/Gary Mitchell-type situation) with the help of Deanna. And most of all, the show needs to put all the  Next Generation  vets in a room together before the fireworks begin. 

I’m not made of stone. It is undeniably rousing to watch the crew of the  Enterprise-D  gather around a long table once more. But here again, the dialogue is so unnatural and exposition-laden that even the chemistry of seven people who worked together for years seems to falter. More to the point, their big scene comes in a narrative no man’s land. It’s not quite a postscript to the major events of  this  episode, and not quite a prelude to the undoubtedly bombastic endgame still to come, which makes the reunion ultimately feel pleasant but a bit hollow. 

Still,  Star Trek: Picard  continues to set a commendable course. Not every storyline clicks. Not every personality clash works. But the structure of an outing like “Surrender,” the willingness to stop and focus on a few key plots and allow them to build toward one another, helps even mixed material sing when it’s done right. 

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Troi: You’ve changed. I can feel it. Riker: In the nebula, I came face to face with bleakness. Permalink: In the nebula, I came face to face with bleakness. Added: April 06, 2023

Troi: Though your beard has gone from brown to gray to blood red. The face of an old man who can still take a punch. Almost. Riker: I’ve missed you, imzadi. Troi: Imza…I should’ve taught you another word. Yintoru? Riker: Yintoru. What does that mean? Troi: Baby of immense size. Permalink: Baby of immense size. Added: April 06, 2023

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• May 17, 2024 | Inside How ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Transformed A Toronto University Library Into The Eternal Archive
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• May 14, 2024 | IDW Celebrating 500th Star Trek Comic With Big Era-Spanning Anthology

See Captain Sisko Meet A Familiar Face From ‘Picard’ In Preview Of ‘Star Trek’ #20

| May 14, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 10 comments so far

This week IDW’s ongoing Star Trek series continues the 6-issue “Pleroma” storyline with part 2 of the new arc that delves into the issues of divinity that have arisen since Sisko’s return from the celestial temple. Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing co-write the series with art by Megan Levens ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Starsigns ). We have covers and a preview of issue 20.

Star Trek #20

Having revealed their true godlike identity, T’Lir is relying on Captain Sisko to help repair Kahless’ damage to space-time and save their species from extinction. Despite the Prophets’ eerie warning that Sisko is forbidden at the Pleroma-a meeting place for god-level species at intersecting space-time coordinates-he and his crew head to the Utopia Planitia Federation Shipyards for a retrofit to the  Theseus  in preparation to boldly take on the unknown. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure from Section 31 approaches Lily with a mission, claiming the Federation’s future is in her hands..

Cover A by Megan Levens

Cover B by Taurin Clarke

RI cover by J.J. Lendl

Setup/credits:

Five-page preview:

Star Trek #20 available Wednesday

Star Trek #20 arrives on May 15. You can order issue 20 or upcoming issues at TFAW . Or pick up individual digital editions at Amazon/comiXology .

The new “Pleroma” arc continues through the summer. You can see covers for the next two issues arriving in June and July below…

The J.J. Lendl retailer incentive covers for “Pleroma” fit together to make a stained glass-style piece of art. Each cover features different “gods” from Star Trek history. You can see how all six Lendl covers fit together below…

Six covers by J.J. Lendl for “Pleroma”

Star Trek annual coming in July

The 2024 annual issue of the Star Trek series arrives on July 3. You can pre-order the digital edition at Amazon/comiXology . Here is the synopsis and cover:

With no one but himself to blame for his brother’s sudden escape during the Klingon Day of Blood, Lieutenant Commander Data sheds his Starfleet uniform for an ensemble inspired by none other than Sherlock Holmes to track down Lore’s whereabouts… and figure out what sinister plans he’s been scheming. With the one and only Miles O’Brien as his Watson at his side, there is no mystery that Detective Data can’t solve!

Cover A by Rachael Stott

Star Trek collection

Last month IDW released a hardcover collection of last year’s “Day of Blood” crossover of their ongoing Star Trek and Defiant series. The release collects Star Trek: Day of Blood , Star Trek: Day of Blood–Shaxs’ Best Day , Star Trek 2023 Free Comic Book Day issue, Star Trek issues #11–12, and Star Trek: Defiant issues #6–7. You can order now at Amazon for $27.99 or get the Kindle eBook version for $9.45 .

Keep up with all the Star Trek comics news, previews and reviews in  TrekMovie’s comics category .

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Wait, Shaw doesn’t geek out on meeting Scotty?

Honestly I don’t think Shaw would be a fan of Scotty’s admitted penchant for inflating repair times as he mentioned in Relics and in the movies.

Shaw described his career as pretty boring before the events of Picard Season 3. If they give him too much action in this comic, could undermine that.

We need a Shaw / Titan-A show/cartoon/comic/podcast whatever

All the Shaw. 24/7. Please. What an enormous mistake knocking him off at the end of the season. He could have easily carried a very successful Titan series. Just a big waste of a terrific character and actor playing him, thrown away in favor of an ephemeral nostalgia squirt in service of an outgoing cast. Bah.

Why not a TV show? I want the Captain Shaw Chronicles. Start from his time at battle of Wolf 359 and go all the way to his days on the Titan. We know how the character ends, but we can still see how his journey was until he reached that end point.

Great to see the classic Connie.

Yes indeed! I’m sure Utopia Planetia had one there as a momento of their distinguished past glories. Arguably the most famous line of ships in Starfleet history.

Shaw should be court-martialed for that line about ignoring orders from Starfleet Command. And “we don’t have time to help a god. Oh nevermind, I wasn’t actually saying you were a god or that I cared”

What terrible writing

Also, “spent most of time, poking holes” – just like in PIC S3 !! Engineer my skidplate, guess he can only be useful when there’s an emergency that requires HIS specific skills, and no one else. Otherwise, he pawns it off to that vulcan assistant of his.

It had me at the “2001” reference.

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Review: Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 8 “Labyrinths”

Star Trek: Discovery delivers an intriguing, introspective episode with a thrilling journey to a fantastic new sci-fi setting, all as our protagonists get to the Progenitors’ doorstep.

After discovering the final clue is housed within a roaming space-based library, Discovery travels to the Badlands, an iconic location known to long-time Star Trek fans. Greeting them as they arrive at the grouping of plasma storms and stellar turbulence is Hy’Rell ( Elena Juatco ), the caretaker of the Eternal Gallery and Archive, a facility that houses the largest collection of historical and cultural artifacts in either the Alpha or Beta Quadrants. Hy’Rell issues instructions on navigating the region’s dangerous storms and offers a cryptic warning about honoring the wishes of the archive’s caretakers, but that’s not something we’ll have to worry about from our heroes. On the other hand, the Breen, who are hot on Discovery ’s trail, are another story.

We can confidently say the Eternal Gallery and Archive is the most striking place we’ve visited this season. It’s an ornate, magical, seemingly infinite space that contains countless books – actual physical books. It almost feels like a location found in a fantasy world like Harry Potter , and for our money, it’s a refreshing locale from other science-fiction places we’ve visited in this show.

Captain Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin-Green ) and Cleveland Booker ( David Ajala ) beam aboard the archive, but they are drawn to different places. Burnham wants to find the original manuscript for Doctor Marina Derex’s book and get the final clue to the Progenitors’ tech, while Book ventures into an examination room to inspect an artifact from his late homeworld, Kwejian, something Hy’Rell thought he’d be interested in.

“Is your name really Book?” “Uh, yeah.” “How fun to have a book visit me in the library for a change.” – Hy’Rell and Book.

The artifact ends up being a cutting from the World Root, the massive, planet-wide network of tree roots formerly found on the ill-fated Kwejian. Book is clearly emotionally impacted by holding a legitimate piece of his culture, especially since there is so little of his culture left after the DMA destroyed his planet in season four. Hy’Rell lends the artifact to Book, on the condition Book reports on his and the artifact’s experiences someday. That’s all we get out of this small subplot in “Labyrinth,” as Book returns to Burnham to find the captain sprawled on the floor, apparently a victim of a mindscape concocted by Derex as a test for anyone who wants to obtain her clue.  

Trapped within her mind, Burnham finds herself once again in the Eternal Gallery and Archive, but one devoid of all characters except a familiar face: Book. But this Book is a manifestation created by Burnham’s mind, which gives Ajala a chance to play around outside his normal character. For what it’s worth, this episode, what with its dual roles for Ajala, is perhaps the best showcase for him this season so far.

What does Burnham need to do in the mindscape? The setting itself is worth pondering first, as Mindscape Book tells Burnham the archive is the most important place in her life because it’s the site of her current mission, and the mission always means the world to her. That’s all well and good, but what next?

The captain first assumes she needs to scour the history section of the library for books about the Dominion War, as Derex lived during the war and wanted whoever found the Progenitors tech to be an agent of peace and learn from past mistakes. This objective proves incorrect, and Burnham’s next reason she needs to find her way out of the maze-like library, given that the name of Derex’s book is Labyrinths of the Mind . But even this objective proves wrong, and Burnham, with time running out until the mindscape shuts down and kills her, finds herself deflated.

With her life soon coming to an end, Burnham becomes introspective and reveals some of her inner thoughts and feelings to her sole friend in the mindscape. She confesses her mind probably picked Book to show up in the mindscape because she wants to mend things with her ex-lover, but that the mission – especially, this mission with the Progenitors – always comes first.

“Maybe I should go even more psychobabble here, and admit that if I don’t complete this mission, then I don’t know who I am.” – Burnham, in her self-reflective monologue to Mindscape Book.

Burnham’s thoughts about her mission in life, triggered by the potential discovery of why she and everyone other sentient in the galaxy came to be, are illuminated for not only the audience but herself. She confesses she doesn’t fear death, but she fears failing and disappointing those who matter to her. She hates the ever-present fear of not living up to her potential, and it makes her feel “small,” “weak,” and “ashamed.” She admits she should have shared these feelings with the real Book to help him understand why she pulled away from him.

This spontaneous counseling session meets the condition set by Derex for those who pursue her clue: understanding oneself and being truthful about one’s goals and emotions is essential for someone who wants to discover and manipulate the force of life and death in the galaxy. Thus, Burnham passes the final test in the trail to the Progenitors tech, tests that were designed by the tech’s studiers hundreds of years ago to protect it from unworthy discoverers.

Before being pulled out of the mindscape, Mindscape Book shares where the last puzzle clue resides within the Eternal Gallery and Archive, as well as a hint about how to access the tech’s final destination – although we the audience aren’t privy to that information. Interestingly, Burnham later admits that while Primarch Ruhn ( Tony Nappo) probably wouldn’t figure out how to access the tech’s location, she signals Moll ( Eve Harlow ) might. What could this barrier to the final tech be?

Exiting the mindscape, Burnham finds the situation deteriorating quickly at the archive and its surrounding space. The Breen have shown up at the oasis in the Badlands and are aiming to steal the clue from Starfleet, whatever the cost. Moll, recently widowed by her and L’ak’s botched escape plan in the previous episode, is helping the Breen reach the Progenitors tech – but her influence on the masked antagonists proves more impactful than Primarch Ruhn would prefer. More on that in a hot second.

As the Breen attack the library, the Discovery dances across the Badlands trying to evade capture until Burnham, Book, and Doctor Hugh Culber ( Wilson Cruz ), who was called on site after Burnham’s incapacitation, are ready to flee the library. Competent commanding by Gen Rhys ( Patrick Kwok-Choon ) means the away team is rescued in the nick of time, ready to stop the Breen from continuing its attack on the innocent Eternal Gallery and Archive.

Burnham has a tough choice: give the Breen the clues she has procured up until now or leave the library at the mercy of the massive Breen dreadnaught. The captain quickly makes a copy of the now-complete map leading to the tech’s destination, and beams the original map clues aboard the Breen vessel.

Then, in a bit of tricky quick thinking, the Discovery spore-jumps out of the Badlands and leaves a brief explosion of warp plasma and debris behind, leaving the Breen to assume the ship was destroyed. (This was a neat trick in theory, and a pretty cool sight in practice, but wouldn’t the Breen notice the inconsistent amount of debris left from the warp plasma explosion and a vented shuttle bay compared to the mass of an entire Crossfield­ -class ship?) In any case, Discovery jumps 22 light years away from their goal, so it seems there’s a bit of a journey left – and the Breen are only six hours away.

The Breen ship is soon subject to a staffing change – one implemented by Moll at the tip of a Breen weapon. Using Ruhn’s ferocity and blinding focus against him, Moll persuades his Breen crew, including Lieutenant Arisar ( Dorian Grey ), who we assume will be important because he is name-dropped in this episode, to turn on the primarch. Landing the killing blow on Ruhn herself, Moll asserts herself as the new de facto leader of the Breen ship, with the goal of getting her new crew to the Progenitors tech first – tech that could potentially bring back their scion, L’ak. Even with a head start on the last part of the trail, Discovery will soon have to contend with a desperate Moll out for revenge, backed by one chonker of a battleship.

We were quite fond of “Labyrinths,” as the episode’s heart shown through brightly amid an awesome new location and striking plot beats. Returning to the Badlands now realized in all its modern-era VFX glory, was a neat bit of fan service. That, combined with a charming, stunning library that serves an important mission within the Star Trek universe, meant this episode was frequently eye-catching. But the lesson from this episode – that self-knowledge requires examining one’s feelings and motives – is timeless, and fits perfectly with this season’s mission to illustrate how to be as good a person as possible. After all, only a person of utmost value will control the ability to create life and possibly reverse death.

Two episodes are all we have to wrap up this season… and let’s not forget this show. In episodes nine and ten, we are super-curious if Discovery was able to plan well enough after its cancelation announcement to give these characters the sendoff they deserve, never mind being able to juggle a satisfying ending to a fascinating season-long plot. It’s going to be a tough landing to stick, but if “Labyrinth” is any indication, this show is in competent hands heading to the end.

Stray Thoughts:

• How did Hy’Rell “see Discovery coming” to the Badlands if the ship spore-jumped there from its previous location?
• Hy’Rell notes the archive has been in the Badlands for almost a century, but earlier Tilly asserted the archive changes location about every 50 years.
• Who else forgot Discovery had a cloaking device? That upgrade was part of the vessel’s refit after getting to the future.
• How long before Star Trek Online adds the Breen dreadnought, with an ability called Shield Tunnelling?
• Jett Reno ( Tig Notaro ) mentions she used to repair comm buoys for Hysperians. Hysperians were seen in Lower Decks ’ “ Where Pleasant Fountains Lie .”

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+ , this season stars Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Saru), Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), David Ajala (Cleveland “Book” Booker), Blu del Barrio (Adira) and Callum Keith Rennie (Rayner). Season five also features recurring guest stars Elias Toufexis (L’ak) and Eve Harlow (Moll).

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Prodigy , Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Lower Decks , and more.

You can follow us on X , Facebook , and Instagram .

Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

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10 star trek episodes & movies that prove peabody award is deserved.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 - Everything We Know

Best star trek: ds9 episode from each of the show’s 7 seasons, 14 episode details you missed in star trek: tng's “the measure of a man”.

• Star Trek's diverse cast and uplifing themes make it deserving of the prestigious Peabody Award for promoting empathy and understanding.
• Iconic Star Trek episodes such as "The Inner Light" and "The Visitor" showcase timeless storytelling and emotional depth that resonate with fans.
• The series continues to reflect on important social issues through episodes like "Far Beyond the Stars" and "The Measure of a Man," exploring themes of humanity.

Over the course of its near-60-year history, Star Trek has produced some truly phenomenal stories that prove the franchise deserves its recent Peabody Award win. According to the official website for the Peabody Awards, the purpose of the awards is to "elevate stories that defend the public interest, encourage empathy with others, and teach us to expand our understanding of the world around us." As part of the 84th Peabody Awards, the entire Star Trek franchise won the 2024 Institutional Award, which celebrates programs that have an enduring legacy and impact.

Since Star Trek: The Original Series began in 1966, the franchise has always celebrated the best of humanity, with its diverse cast of profoundly empathetic characters. The primary mission of the Starship Enterprise and her crew has always been exploration, and the United Federation of Planets is a peaceful coalition of peoples from all over the galaxy. Star Trek won the Peabody Award "for its enduring dedication to storytelling that projects the best of humanity into the distant future," and few franchises embody the spirit of the awards so well, as evidenced by these 10 Star Trek episodes and movie.

This is not the first Peabody Award that the Star Trek franchise has won. In 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, episode 12, "The Big Goodbye" won a Peabody, in part for setting "a new standard of quality for first-run syndication."

Star Trek Actors & Executive Producers React To Peabody Award

Star Trek was honored with the Peabody Institutional Award, and Star Trek creatives and actors, including William Shatner, react on social media.

10 "Face The Strange"

Star trek: discovery season 5, episode 4, star trek: discovery.

With a classic science fiction premise, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange" sends Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and her new First Officer, Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), jumping through time. The USS Discovery has been trapped in a time loop thanks to a Krenim time bug, and Burnham and Rayner must work with Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) to find a way out of their predicament.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange" celebrates the series' past, present, and possible future.

In Star Trek: Discovery' s past, Captain Burnham encounters herself from Discovery season 1 . Specialist Burnham, Starfleet's first mutineer, trusts no one, and she immediately lashes out at her future self whom the younger Michael thinks is a Changeling. After a brief fistfight, future Burnham renders her past self unconscious with a Vulcan nerve pinch. Burnham then uses her knowledge of the USS Discovery's crew members to convince them she's from the future. "Face the Strange" is an incredibly fun episode of television that shows just how much Michael Burnham has changed throughout Star Trek: Discovery 's five seasons.

9 "The Last Generation"

Star trek: picard season 3, episode 10, star trek: picard.

Star Trek: The Next Generation already had a great finale in "All Good Things...," but the final adventure for the TNG crew in Star Trek: Nemesis was lackluster. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his USS Enterprise-D crew reunited in Star Trek: Picard season 3 to face off against a threat from the Borg and the Changelings. After they saved the galaxy one final time, Picard and his friends sat down for their traditional game of poker .

Star Trek Picard Season 3 Ending Explained (In Detail)

Star Trek: Picard season 3's finale concludes the story of TNG in grand style and sets up the next generation's legacy, along with a big surprise.

With the introduction of Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) as the son of Picard and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Star Trek : Picard season 3 told a story of legacy and acted as a passing of the torch to the new generation. With the return of several beloved characters and the introduction of some great new faces, Star Trek: Picard season 3 was a nostalgic tour-de-force that ended on the perfect note with its series finale, "The Last Generation."

Despite the perfect setup for a spin-off featuring the newly rechristened USS Enterprise-G, Picard 's long-rumored Star Trek: Legacy seems like a long shot at this point.

8 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

"they like you very much, but they are not the hell 'your' whales.".

In Star Trek's most lighthearted film, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew travel back in time for a fun romp through 1980s San Francisco. After the darker storylines of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home takes a lighter approach, closing out the movies' unofficial "Genesis Trilogy" with a storyline that centers around finding humpback whales to bring back and save the future.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home has a timely ecological message and is an endlessly joyful watch.

As Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and the crew attempt to navigate the 20th century, they hilariously misuse curse words and stumble into and out of trouble. Kirk enjoys a flirtatious chemistry with Dr. Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks), who travels back to the future with the crew and later joins a Starfleet science vessel. In the end, Kirk and his crew rescue two whales, George and Gracie, and save Earth from certain disaster. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home has a timely ecological message and is an endlessly joyful watch.

After returning to his own time, Kirk is demoted from Admiral to Captain and given command of the newly christened USS Enterprise-A.

7 “Ad Astra Per Aspera”

Star trek: strange new worlds season 2, episode 2, star trek: strange new worlds.

When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Number One, Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), is put on trial for lying about being a genetically enhanced Illyrian, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the USS Enterprise crew rally to her defense. In a powerful Star Trek courtroom episode , Number One opens up about the oppression she faced as a young girl and says she joined Starfleet because she believed in its mission.

Number One's belief in Starfleet is not just felt by fans but echoes into Starfleet's future, as Star Trek: Lower Decks ' Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) joined Starfleet because he was inspired by Una's Starfleet recruitment poster.

Una's attorney and childhood friend, Neera Ketoul (Yetide Badaki) , argues that Una could be seen as seeking asylum by joining Starfleet. Although the judges do not overthrow Starfleet's ban on genetic engineering, they do side with Neera and Una, allowing Number One to go back to her position on the Enterprise. “Ad Astra Per Aspera” highlights the goodness of the individuals within Starfleet and the Federation even when the organizations themselves sometimes falter.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 ended with an epic cliffhanger and here's everything known about when it will be resolved in season 3.

6 "Darmok"

Star trek: the next generation season 5, episode 2, star trek: the next generation.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation' s "Darmok," Captain Picard finds himself stranded on a planet with a Tamarian Captain named Dathon (Paul Winfield). Because of the Tamarians' complex language of metaphors, the two Captains cannot understand one another. Picard grows increasingly frustrated as he tries to understand his companion, and the two slowly begin to form an unspoken bond.

Dathon and Picard work together to defend themselves against an alien beast on the planet, but Dathon is fatally wounded. After Picard is rescued by the Enterprise, he has learned enough to communicate with the Tamarian ship and he shares the story of Dathon's sacrifice. Not only does "Darmok" show Picard at his best , but it also tells a simple and classic Star Trek story that celebrates the importance finding common ground.

5 "Far Beyond The Stars"

Star trek: deep space nine season 6, episode 13, star trek: deep space nine.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's all-time classic "Far Beyond the Stars", Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) is transported to a vision where he is Benny Russell, a Black 1950s science fiction writer for a magazine called Incredibles Tales . Russell imagines a story of a Black captain who commands a space station called Deep Space Nine. The other staff members of Incredibles Tales, played by the rest of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's cast , and they all love and support Russell's story.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' s "Far Beyond the Stars" was directed by Avery Brooks.

The magazine's unseen publisher, however, refuses to print a story with a Black protagonist. Meanwhile, a young hustler named Jimmy (Cirroc Lofton) is shot and killed by two white police officers, and Benny Russell is beaten when he protests. Captain Sisko later wakes up on DS9, deeply moved by his vision of life as Benny Russell. With its depictions of racism and violence against the Black community, "Far Beyond the Stars" remains one of Star Trek's most socially relevant episodes even today.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had an astonishing run of episodes across seven seasons, but which of its 173 episodes best represent each season?

4 "The City on The Edge Of Forever"

Star trek: the original series season 1, episode 28, star trek: the original series.

In one of Star Trek's most heartbreaking episodes , Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) must follow Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) through a time portal and prevent history from being irrevocably changed. As Kirk and Spock interact with the locals of Depression-era New York City, Kirk begins a romance with a soup kitchen operator named Sister Edith Keeler (Joan Collins).

Although the aired version differs from the original story written by Harlan Ellison, "The City on the Edge of Forever" is considered Star Trek 's greatest episode.

Spock soon learns that Edith Keeler must die to prevent an altered timeline in which the Nazis won World War II. Despite Kirk's love for Edith, he sacrifices her to ensure the proper future is restored. Throughout Star Trek: The Original Series , Captain Kirk gained a reputation as a ladies' man, but his romance with Edith Keeler felt different. "The City on The Edge Of Forever" took the time to develop their relationship, making its inevitable end all the more tragic.

3 "The Visitor"

Star trek: deep space nine season 4, episode 2.

"The Visitor" is another seminal Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode that begins with Captain Benjamin Sisko apparent death, which leaves his son Jake (Cirroc Lofton) heartbroken . However, Captain Sisko has actually become trapped in subspace outside the normal flow of time. Over the next several years, Sisko visits his Jake, gives up his writing career and becomes obsessed by finding a way to save his father. As a grown man, Jake (Tony Todd) chooses to sacrifice his own life to bring Captain Sisko back.

The Visitor" is a resonant portrayal of a son's love for his father.

The elderly Jake injects himself with a lethal hypospray dose while his father is present, hoping that it will return them both to a time before the accident. As Jake hoped, his death restored Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's timeline and returned Captain Sisko, who understands the magnitude of Jake's sacrifice. With powerhouse performances from Tony Todd, Cirroc Lofton, and Avery Brooks, "The Visitor" is a resonant portrayal of a son's love for his father, and it remains one of Star Trek's most emotionally powerful episodes.

2 "The Measure Of A Man"

Star trek: the next generation season 2, episode 9.

In one of Star Trek: The Next Generation's most celebrated episodes, a trial is held to determine the rights of the android Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner). Anyone who has watched TNG up to this point knows that Data clearly has his own kind of humanity, making it grating every time Dr. Bruce Maddox (Brian Brophy) refers to the android as an "it." Maddox eventually comes around, thanks in part to a powerful speech delivered by Captain Picard .

"The Measure of Man" was one of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Here are 14 details you missed.

With its conversations on what it means to be human, "The Measure of a Man" is quintessential Star Trek. As Picard eloquently points out, Data exemplifies the kind of new life that Starfleet seeks out, and claiming him as property would set a dangerous precedent. This landmark Star Trek: The Next Generation episode belongs to Data and Picard, but Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) also excels in the difficult job of testifying against his friend.

1 "The Inner Light"

Star trek: the next generation season 5, episode 25.

"The Inner Light" has long been considered one of the finest hours of Star Trek: The Next Generation , and with good reason. With its creative and powerful Star Trek story, it's no surprise the episode won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. When the USS Enterprise-D encounters a strange probe, Captain Picard wakes up as a villager named Kamin on the planet Kataan. Picard then lives Kamin's entire lifetime, while only minutes pass for those aboard the Enterprise.

With a captivating, but nuanced performance from Patrick Stewart, "The Inner Light" remains a Star Trek classic.

As Kamin, Picard marries a woman named Eline (Margot Rose), has children, and then, later, grandchildren. Jean-Luc learns of a previously unknown alien culture who preserved their story within a probe to be found by someone centuries later. When Picard wakes up back on the Enterprise, he shares the story of the people of Kataan and reminisces about his time as Kamin. With a captivating and nuanced performance from Patrick Stewart, "The Inner Light" remains an all-time Star Trek classic.

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are all available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is available to stream on Max.