Star Trek: Picard season 3 review: A sendoff that's much more than a nostalgia trip
The Patrick Stewart-led Paramount Plus series finally finds its stride in its last go-round

Among the upper echelons of sci-fi television, is there a series as beloved as Star Trek: The Next Generation? Maybe. But the classic franchise is on a pretty short list. Some 35 years after the premiere of that show, audiences are apparently no less thirsty for Picard, Riker, and the rest of the Enterprise-D crew, as seen in Paramount Plus’ ambitious legacy series Star Trek: Picard, which reunites those heroes for a third and final season. Though early episodes may struggle to shake the writing and tonal tendencies that bogged the first two batches, Picard season three is, without question, the show’s strongest yet, recapturing a bit of that magic of The Next Generation and nicely utilizing its talented cast.
This time around, the show follows Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) on a mission to rescue an old friend after receiving a distress call from Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). It quickly becomes clear Crusher’s call for help is just a single piece of a larger, more sinister puzzle, and soon Picard is scrambling to reunite his old crew and align with new allies to escape the sights of mysterious new villain Vadic (Amanda Plummer).
In the beginning, Star Trek: Picard struggled with bringing the warm tones and characters of The Next Generation into the icy, harsher landscape of the modern Kurtzman-led Trek shows. This led to something of a clash, with Jean-Luc feeling like a fish out of water in his own series. For this last season, though, Picard veers away from the ensemble cast of new players from the first two seasons, opting instead to recenter its focus around uniting the crew of the Enterprise-D. It’s the best move the show could’ve made. By acknowledging and taking advantage of the strengths of the Next Generation cast, Picard blossoms, finally finding its stride.
Here, the plot-heavy and cynical storytelling feel (ironically) much more in the vein of The Next Generation. Episodes five and six, in particular, bear a remarkable resemblance in both structure and pacing to a famed installment of that famed show. And director Dan Liu’s ability to morph a modern story to fit a traditional form is indeed admirable. It’s bolstered by how Picard’s third season uses sound effects, display graphics, and music queues from the Next Generation, further embracing the idea that many fans are tuning in to catch up with characters they remember fondly from childhood.
That’s not to say that Star Trek: Picard is fan service or simply cashing in on nostalgia. If anything, the series continues to make the kind of bold, unorthodox choices for Picard & Co. that have caused frequent uproar among certain sects of devotees. But those same shocking, at times nihilistic moments are made personal and introspective by the acting chops of Stewart, Frakes, and the rest.