The Picard Series Finale Leaves The Door Wide Open For Star Trek: Legacy
This post contains spoilers for the series finale of "Star Trek: Picard."
Season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard" was largely about legacy, so it's no surprise that showrunner Terry Matalas wants to create a spin-off series called, well, "Star Trek: Legacy!" The series isn't official and hasn't been confirmed, but Matalas has said it's within the realm of possibility if enough people tune into "Star Trek: Picard" to justify another series. It's all up in the air and a matter of conjecture, but there has been some fan desire for a spin-off featuring Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Captain Shaw (Todd Stashwick), so who knows?
Matalas made sure to lay the groundwork for a potential spin-off in the series finale of "Star Trek: Picard," setting up a show that would follow the next crew of the shiny new Enterprise, the Enterprise-G. Helmed by Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), the ship could boldly go once more. The third season of "Picard" was quite a ride, giving fans a nice goodbye to the characters of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" while also introducing us to the next next generation, like Jack Crusher (Ed Speelers) and Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). If "Star Trek: Legacy" is as compelling as "Picard," it could be one heck of a show.
The U.S.S. Nepo Baby
In the finale of "Picard," Seven of Nine tries to resign from Starfleet after the horrors of fighting the Borg queen and the Changelings, but Tuvok (Tim Russ) refuses her request and instead gives her a promotion and a new assignment. Based on the recommendation of the late Captain Shaw, who is apparently dead for good after being mortally wounded on the bridge of the U.S.S. Titan, Tuvok gives her command of the Enterprise along with a crew of familiar faces. Her No. 1 is none other than her ex-girlfriend Raffi (Michelle Hurd), while Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher's son, Jack Crusher, will be her special counsel. Ace pilot Sidney La Forge, daughter of Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), will serve as the ship's pilot. Other members of Seven's previous crew on the Titan are there as well, and there's always potential to bring back some of the other characters from "Picard." Worf (Michael Dorn) could drop in to check on Raffi, Geordi could always show up to say hello to his daughter, and who knows — we could even see Gates McFadden show up as Beverly again because of Jack's role in things. (Also, she's interested!)
There's a long history of the children of Starfleet officers going into Starfleet themselves, and there's no shortage of nepotism babies across the franchise, but it will be interesting to see how "Legacy" would contend with featuring the children of Picard, Crusher, and La Forge without relying too heavily on their parents' exploits. The good news is that Jack and Sidney have great chemistry and a potential romantic arc, which could be a lot of fun to explore.
But what about Shaw?
Poor Captain Shaw died doing what he hated (putting up with the nonsense of the Enterprise crew), and it's a real shame that he's not going to be able to join Seven of Nine on a potential "Legacy" show. The two had a fantastic back-and-forth on the Titan in "Picard" and were a big highlight of the season. It would have been fun to see how their relationship changed now that Seven seems to have earned Shaw's respect. Shaw is pretty darn dead, however, and the events of the "Picard" finale seem to cement that he's dead for good. But this is "Star Trek," after all. How many times has Data (Brent Spiner) died now, again? It's extremely unlikely that Shaw uploaded his consciousness anywhere to be put into one of Dr. Soong's fancy new bio-android bodies like Picard, but there is one potential avenue for Shaw to return, and it showed up in the post-credits sequence.
Q (John de Lancie), the interdimensional trickster god of "Star Trek," is apparently back, appearing in the credits sequence after everything was neatly wrapped up on "Picard." He shows up to talk to Jack, essentially revealing that he's going to be bothering the Picard bloodline for all of eternity and that his "death" in season 2 wasn't all that permanent. While bringing Q into "Legacy" feels a little silly, it would be one way to get ridiculous with things and potentially undo any canon that restricts moving forward, like bringing Shaw back to life! Besides, there's nothing funnier than Shaw finally getting a break from adventures, only to be brought back into an even more ridiculous adventure. Hire me, Mr. Matalas!
Looking forward to the future of the Enterprise
Seeing Seven of Nine at the helm of her own ship was a wonderful moment for any fan who has followed her from her earliest days on "Star Trek: Voyager," and it would be a blast to see how she handles leadership with such an interesting crew. After all, her second-in-command is her ex-girlfriend and that alone makes things complicated. Add in the fact that Jack just went from being Picard's son-on-the-run to some kind of Borg Antichrist and now he's just Jack again, and you've got worlds of built-in drama. There's also the idea that this truly is a new era for Starfleet following Jack and the Borg's psychic possession of all of the young Starfleet crew members and the subsequent events, because they're going to have to start anew. There were serious casualties, and the flaws in Starfleet were laid bare, which means they will have to rebuild stronger than they were the first time around.
Right before the maiden voyage of the Enterprise-G, Riker refers to the date as "Stardate 1," insinuating the epic scale of both the Borg event and everything going forward. When Seven is ready to take the ship out of space dock, Raffi and Jack ask her what her definitive commanding phrase will be, referencing Picard's "Engage" and a list of other Captain catchphrases. Right before she says it, however, the camera cuts away. Talk about a cliffhanger! The whole scene sets up the central themes for "Legacy" and a taste of what the show could feel like, leaving fans content with the endings for "The Next Generation" crew but still wanting more. Let's hope it happens.
All three seasons of "Star Trek: Picard" are now streaming on Paramount+.