Star Trek: Picard season 1 had its flaws, but there were many good things about how it updated the story of Patrick Stewart’s TNG character.

The acclaim for Star Trek: Picard season 3 went a long way to rehabilitating Patrick Stewart’s Star Trek spinoff, but Picard season 1 still has a lot of good things going for it. Prior to Terry Matalas’ Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion season, Picard seasons 1 and 2 were tonally uneven and had some serious pacing issues. There was also a harsher edge to the spinoff, particularly in Picard season 1, that felt more akin to Star Trek: Nemesis than the optimism of TNG.

However, beneath the harsh exterior of Star Trek: Picard season 1’s graphic violence and f-bomb dropping Starfleet admirals is a decent story for Jean-Luc. The ending of Star Trek: Picard season 3 simply would not have had the same impact if the first season hadn’t allowed Jean-Luc to confront the demons of his past in the Borg Collective. It’s just one of many positive elements of Picard season 1 that prove Alex Kurtzman, Michael Chabon, Terry Matalas et al. set out to give Jean-Luc a fitting conclusion.

10 Star Trek: Picard Season 1, Episode 1, “Remembrance”

The pilot perfectly sets up Jean-Luc’s new life.

Star Trek: Picard season 1, episode 1, achieves a lot in a single hour of television. It establishes where Jean-Luc is at this stage of his life, from his ailing health to the reasons that he left Starfleet. Brilliantly, it neatly ties into the potential future shown to him by Q (John de Lancie) in the original Star Trek: The Next Generation finale. Diagnosed with irumodic syndrome and living out his retirement in the Picard family vineyard, Jean-Luc gets a new mission to return a favor to an old friend and make sure that their sacrifice was not in vain. It’s a solid season opener that demonstrates how much thought went into the journey that Picard would have had in the intervening decades since the events of Star Trek: Nemesis.

9 Orla Brady as Laris

Irish Romulans are the best Romulans.

One of the best additions to Château Picard was the two former Romulan intelligence operatives who now help to make the Picard family wine. Laris (Orla Brady) made an instant impression, handling security at the vineyard and clearly having a close bond with Picard. It clearly outlined Picard’s closeness to the Romulans following the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. The chemistry between Orla Brady and Patrick Stewart was clearly strong enough to convince the writers to pursue a romantic plotline between Laris and Jean-Luc in Star Trek: Picard season 2.

The Federation abandoned their principles, but it made perfect sense.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Dominion War established that Starfleet and the Federation can make extraordinary sacrifices to preserve their utopia. Star Trek: Picard season 1 took this a step further by exploring how Starfleet and the Federation would respond to a devastating terrorist attack. The devastation of the Utopia Planitia Shipyards not only left Starfleet with a vastly reduced armada, it also hardened their views on both synthetic life forms and their ongoing mission to rehome Romulan refugees in the wake of the supernova disaster. Starfleet’s redemption arc is another underlying storyline across Star Trek: Picard‘s three seasons, and it’s set up beautifully in season 1.

7 Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine

The Star Trek: Voyager star was perfect for Picard.

While the controversy over the brutal dispatch of Icheb is justified, Jeri Ryan’s storyline as Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Picard is an affecting one. Teaming up Picard and Seven is great because it demonstrates the hypocrisy of Starfleet’s position. Jean-Luc Picard was welcomed back with open arms after his time in the Collective, while Seven was left in the cold. Picard was, therefore, a perfect mentor for Seven, bringing her back from the fringes to coax out the hero she was always supposed to be. Seven’s relationship with Raffi (Michelle Hurd) also felt more fitting than the ill-advised romance with Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) in the final season of Star Trek: Voyager.

6 Hugh Borg and the xBs

It was one of Star Trek’s most interesting Borg stories in decades.

The concept of the rehabilitation of Borg drones, and the scientific coalition between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire was fascinating. The Artefact Cube and the return of Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) was one of the most interesting Borg stories since “Unity” in Star Trek: Voyager season 3. The xBs were tragic figures, as the ban on synthetic life forms and lingering prejudice against the Borg made it difficult to fit back into society. This was brilliant foreshadowing for the assimilation of everyone in Starfleet under the age of 25 in Star Trek: Picard season 3, hopefully meaning that the surviving xBs will be able to live far more fulfilling lives in Star Trek‘s post-Borg future.

5 Isa Briones as Soji Asha

Data’s daughter brilliantly continued his legacy.

Playing twins Soji and Dahj Asha in Star Trek: Picard season 1, Isa Briones was a fitting successor to Brent Spiner’s dual roles as Lt. Commander Data and Lore in Star Trek: The Next Generation. She also had strong chemistry with Patrick Stewart, as the old Starfleet legend and young synthetic woman worked together to expose a huge Starfleet conspiracy. Created by Bruce Maddox (John Ales) and Altan Soong (also Brent Spiner), Soji and Dahj were specifically designed as the next generation of the technology used to build TNG‘s beloved android. Saving Soji became Picard’s way of honoring the sacrifice that Data made to save his own life at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.

Star Trek: Picard Actor On Making Soji Different From Data & Playing Multiple Roles

Star Trek: Picard tasked Isa Briones with playing multiple roles in seasons 1 and 2, and she explains the process of differentiating her characters.

4 Riker and Troi’s Life on Nepenthe

Star Trek: Picard, season 1, episode 7, “Nepenthe”

The lives of Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi-Riker (Marina Sirtis) are idyllic but belie a gut-wrenching tragedy. The tragic death of Troi and Riker’s son Thaddeus is a further disappointing example of Star Trek: Picard season 1’s bleak tone, but the scenes of the Riker family at home provide a welcome injection of warmth. It’s comforting to know that Picard remained firm friends with Will and Deanna after they left the USS Enterprise for the USS Titan. The Will Riker pizza party is a much-needed change of pace that updates viewers on some more of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s beloved cast.

3 Tamlyn Tomita as Commodore Oh

Commodore Oh was a fascinating Star Trek villain.

Romulan/Vulcan hybrid Zhat Vash operative Nedar (Tamlyn Tomita) became one of the most successful of Star Trek‘s Commdores. Her fear of artificial intelligence, and her infiltration of Starfleet drastically changed the course of Federation history. While Commodore Oh’s fears may have had some foundation, the way she went about enacting her plan to avert the rise of AI made the lives of the Riker-Troi family and the xBs more painful as a result. Oh was a fascinating villain with compelling motivations, and it was alarming to discover for how long she was able to work within Starfleet.

2 Captain Riker to the Rescue

Star Trek: Picard, season 1, episode 10, “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part II”

One of the most thrilling scenes in Star Trek: Picard season 1 is when Captain Riker rides to the rescue in command of the USS Zheng He and a fleet of Starfleet ships. It’s the punch-the-air moment that the melancholic Picard finale needed. It was also finally a chance to see Riker in the center seat, something that he had repeatedly avoided in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Picard established Will’s role as a Captain-at-large, ready and willing to save the universe whenever he was required. Riker would return later that year, when he and the crew of the USS Titan saved the USS Cerritos in the Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1 finale.

1 Data’s Death Fixed Star Trek: Nemesis’ Biggest Mistake

Star Trek: Picard made Data’s death matter.

Data’s death in Star Trek: Nemesis was abrupt and felt like a cheap callback to the sacrifice of Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The story of Star Trek: Picard season 1 made Data’s death matter, as Jean-Luc fought to make his friend’s sacrifice mean something. In the season 1 finale, Picard helped Data finally die, and allowed the android to finally experience humanity’s final frontier. It was a perfect way to give meaning to a moment that never had the dramatic impact that Star Trek: Nemesis failed to achieve.