This week brings the first season finale for Star Trek: Picard. Executive producer (and director of the finale) Akiva Goldsman has offered up a tantalizing tidbit. Plus, there’s a new clip for you to watch.
Someone not going to make it?
On his appearance on the official Star Trek: Picard Podcast. Akiva Goldsman offered this little preview for the season finale, “Et In Arcadia Ego, Part 2”:
As hopefully is the case for all good beginnings, everything is in motion, all the critical players are on the board. And now we are going to see what we like to see, which is who wins, who loses, or in this case: who lives and who dies?
Season finale clip
CBS released a new clip from “Et In Arcadia Ego, Part 2,” introduced by The Ready Room host Wil Wheaton.
And if you want more of Wil Wheaton and Picard discussion, check out the episode nine recap from The Ready Room featuring guest star Isa Briones (Soji).
New episodes of Star Trek: Picard are released on CBS All Access in the USA Thursdays at 12:01 AM PT/3:01 AM ET. In Canada it airs Thursdays on CTV Sci-Fi Channel at 6PM PT /9PM ET and streams on Crave. For the rest of the world it streams Fridays on Amazon Prime Video. Episodes are released weekly.
Keep up with all the Star Trek: Picard news at TrekMovie.
If anyone dies, my bet is on Rios & Jurati.
I suspect Soji will die. In the episode 10 preview clip, Picard says to Soji “Show them you’re not the enemy, show them you’re not the Destroyer”. I think Soji will do the Spock “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one” and sacrifice her life for the other synths. Possibly by suicide. Data as well sacrificed his life for Picard. Like father, like daughter.
The only character I know for sure lives is Picard. But he might die and have his mind transferred to the golem, like Roger Korby.
Really, any of the characters might die, including Seven. The death that would anger me the most would be Seven’s, so I hope that doesn’t happen.
Who won’t die: Picard, Soji, Seven. Everyone else is up for grabs.
I’d narrow that down to Picard & 7. Soji is artificial and really cannot die. She can just upload or be rebuilt. Especially if one microscopic neuron is all that is needed…
Data, Saga, Lal, and Dahj have all died. That suggests that Soji is capable of dying as well.
I guess they “died” in the same sense that my old 1976 Honda CVCC ‘died’. It’s more like ceasing to function than death. Data blew to bits. But other times he ‘died’ and came back. Why? Because he was never alive to begin with. He was a robot. Think some organic being’s disembodied head would survive for a few hundred years? Data is the C-3PO of Star Trek.
Guessing aloud: Rios dies, becomes holo-Original Rios. A.I. Soong is Lore, will escape. And Picard dies, with his mind transferred into an android body. He can never return to the Federation, due to the synth ban, must go on the run. Lore becomes his antagonist.
The finale is making me a little nervous here. They seem to be setting up for Picard’s death and the Gollum becoming the receptacle for his mind. Could this mean a recast Picard character or a Gollum that looks like Picard? Maybe it’s a Red Herring stringing us along for something unexpected? Either way the show hasn’t really earned Picard’s death yet so I hope this isn’t it, he’s not sick or symptomatic so this doesn’t feel necessary.
Let’s put it this way. Akiva Goldsman is helming this one, so I don’t have my hopes up. I suppose poor Elnor would be first up to die.
I’m not optimistic. I’m sure Goldsman just loves the idea of “AI Soong” being Lore. Ugh.
Maybe Picard will look like the abomination that is the golem at the moment! Now THAT would be horrifying!!
If Seven dies, I’ll stop watching.
I might stop as well. Whenever a show kills off a character I liked I stop watching it. This Picard show has some really great moments, but some really bad moments as well. Why pay for something that angers me?
Totally agree with that, VZX.
Normally I’d agree but think Star Trek II. At the time in III as a kid (ironically both were out by the time I could watch them) of course they had to bring back Spock (and I loved III, IV and VI). In III of course they had to make the Ent-A look like the 1701 refit. But now… I think of the DC comics written without Spock and realize a) it cheapened his death in II b) prevented movie era Trek from moving on and expanding the story. Having Kirk on the Excelsior in the DC comics now I find was fantastic. Saavik coming into her own as a Romulan-Vulcan hybrid would have made a better “next generation” than Data in my opinion and we would have got to keep all the cool ships, uniforms of the movie era.
Give me 5 minutes with you alone to change your mind on VI =D
I agree with you about the DC comics. Those were some fun issues. I’ve always liked the older comics – even the Gold Key ones – for their ability to “take the ball and run with it.” I mean, what about Ilia continuing to serve on the Enterprise in the first Marvel run (or at least in the newspaper strips… memory escapes me ATM!?
Heck, I even liked the Star Fleet Academy series from the ’90s Marvel Trek line because it has unique, original characters in the Star Trek universe. Good stuff.
I wouldn’t stop watching (the Star Trek universe has more than enough popular characters they can bring onto this show) but yes it would be a HUGE disappointment to me if they did. Seven is just too important and popular a character to kill off and I think they know that, so not too worried. I’m hoping her story is just getting started on the show.
No you won’t. No need for melodrama.
You know what, I’ll stop watching too. Of course that has more to do with the fact that it’s the season finale rather than me ever stop watching Star Trek.
They killed Kirk, and I still watch.
They turned The Sisko into a literal god, and I still watch.
For me to stop watching Star Trek religiously, they would need to write lousy shows like VOY and ENT (although season 4 of ENT had some great moments). I’m enjoying the hell out of DIS and PIC, and I loves me TOS, TAS, TNG, and especially DS9.
Even if they kill Picard, I’ll still watch. I love Star Trek and what it represents. IDIC and hope for the future.
I’m a huge fan of both VOY and ENT, but I get your point! IDIC indeed!
I’d love an option to remove the music from TAS. I can’t stand it – not even the opening. I honestly think it affects my opinion of the entire thing.
To this day I’ve never seen a single episode of TAS. Always said I would give the show a try but never interested me enough.
Well I for one am glad they don’t use time travel to reset and provide Picard a reset which is what these writers usually try to do when they wrote themselves into a corner. Picard is still the guy who on his watch lost the Ent-D to a 150 year old BOP, went off into isolation to ignore his “friends”, lost Mars and the Romulan rescue fleet and then became the ultimate hypocrite on engineering perfect AI life (anything to make that possible including semi programming of robots with emotions to build his rescue fleet while having no issues with the Prime Directive and eugenics ban to prevent the engineering of organic life) to the point you have to wonder if he misses the order and simplicity of Locutus. The TNG Federation is also shown to be a bureaucratic mess with private citizens picking up the slack (even with ‘expensive’ starships. Still sad though that they abandoned the TMP/Best-of-Both-Worlds implication that there was something special to the organic condition (imagination, drive, emotions) but that’s the new TNG Trek so bring on the perfect fully imaginative androids and holograms that can do everything with super strength, mind melds, don’t have to breath, don’t need kids, live forever, etc.
You are on a kick! Please add that he replaced the tyrannical Romulan rulers when a natural ally would have been the Remans who revolution is unceremoniously squashed, blaming an entire people for the actions of the few.
@Cmd.Bremmon did you not post this exact comment on an earlier thread?
No, I am pretty sure this is the first time I expressed I am relieved they didn’t do the time travel reset button which is always nonsensical (if you can reset why not go back in time and stop WW2? WW3? Destruction of the Ent 1701? Destruction of the Ent-D?
I really try to evolve my thoughts to not become boring while not becoming someone who is all like “Riker serving Pizza, this is awesome because it has the name STAR TREK and a character named Riker in it”. For example I’ve come to accept that Starfleet will be living starships that beam themselves down as invincible holograms that live forever. That might be fun to watch a couple times however non-relatable it is. Maybe then they panic when it turns out dilthium crystals can’t be regenerated more than 10000 times or something. Or face off with the advanced living networked Borg cubes. Or do these starships network themselves and become the fully AI Borg?
Don’t let it control you, Jean, er… Soji.
I wrote this on a previous thread, and I still think it could be true: Rios is the one who will be replaced. He will survive as a machine-man surrounded by his Holos. However, the Romulan assault will destroy the technology on the planet. Picard’s aging will continue in Season 2 and 3 – still a very challenging role! – and he will pursue the same relief as Rios but Soong will be his nemesis – always promising everlasting life but not giving away the juice.
Just a thought.
I’m uncomfortable with the implication from Avika Goldsman’s comment that:
Who wins = Who lives
Who loses = Who dies
and his assertion that this is what the audience wants to be resolved in a finale.
First, as we’ve seen elsewhere, a conscious and voluntary sacrifice/death can be a victory (e.g. Pike’s acceptance of his future).
Second, Trek has been historically it’s best when understanding of the other, and embracing IDIC, leads to a Win-Win outcome (e.g. Saints of Imperfection). Enemies become allies without victors or vanquished.
Third: Now Goldsman may not have been absolutely making the equivalency that I’ve written out above, but it’s disquieting that he is still describing/framing the task of the writers as bringing the story to a ‘heros win / antagonists lose’ resolution in the finale.
Again, he seems to have lost sight of the ‘each character the hero of their own story’ idea. I’m finding this a major and recurrent blindspot when I listen to the Star Trek Picard podcasts on Deadline. I really suspect that this may be one of the key axes for fan dissatisfaction.
It seems, for examples, that it would have been very possible to have the characters of Narek and Narissa be sympathetic within the context of their own culture and mission rather than psychopathic. It would have also made the vast amount of screen-time they’ve had more compelling.
They could have been the Gareks of this story. It’s such a lost opportunity, these antagonists could have joined a long history of intriguing Trek opponents that can be brought back again and again because they motivations and actions make sense from their story.
Instead, it’s been difficult from the start to see how either of these characters could hold interest for this season, let alone into future ones. So, we basically assume they ‘will lose/die’ from the 3rd episode on.
I do note that Dr. Agnes Jurati has been a bit more of a mixed character. I very much think that the writers have done better with her, although she’s been controversial.
I know that there are some strong voices here and on other boards that see Jurati’s murder of Maddox as voluntary, irredeemable and unexplainable. Likewise, her apparent siding with Soong and Sutra to help the androids is also viewed as a fatal moral error.
However, we don’t fully know how much control she had over her actions towards Maddox vs compulsion. Certainly, we saw that the EMH found she had symptoms of a psychiatric emergency which would be evidence of a profound conflict within her mind. As well, we don’t really know Jurati’s intent in working with Soong, and whether she was hoping just to maintain some control/influence over events. We’ve seen main characters taken over by aliens or the Borg and redeemed, or even accepted for doing the right thing within their own moral code. So, we have yet to see the necessary evidence to judge Jurati.
All to say, that this approach seems to provide more interesting ground for a Trek story than the question of “who wins and who loses”.
Excellent post!
“Conscious and voluntary sacrifice/death can be a victor”
Yes! This is why Pike and Admiral Cornwell came out as among the best characters introduced recently in my opinion. I’d go so far as to say that while I love ST III, IV and VI that Nick Meyer was right they should NOT have brought back Spock, it cheapened his sacrifice in II and prevented Saavik from coming into her own and allowing for a movie era next generation that would have served the Trek audience better than TNG.
“Each character the hero of their own story’
Yes! Excellent point on Garek. Sisko when the blew up the Romulan ambassador and Section 31 too. Especially for Picard given the controversial grey area AI can be, instead they’ve tried to force a black and white narrative that rejects even previous Treks (TMP with V’ger and Best of Both worlds needing organic qualities) and the consequences of engineered life equating completely to life. Though be careful, Kahn in ST:II was awesome because while the thought he was bringing order to the galaxy he was still evil. Into Darkness sucked because they made Kahn sympathetic (poor Kahn, Starfleet stole his family) while making Starfleet evil. I still think you can let bad guys be bad guys especially in movies. But you are again right, for miniseries you don’t need to be so absolute like the films!
” ‘heros win / antagonists lose’ resolution”
Yes! Why do you want this total resolution anyway? Don’t you want viewers to keep tuning in because of the unresolved conflicts? Trying to force some absolute narrative I think is leading to some unintended consequences (i.e. engineered AI = life, you can play God, Starfleet should be a bunch of perpetual V’ger type life forms that can beam themselves down and explore forever).
Man Cornwall was one of the most badass admirals Starfleet has ever had.
I still resent that they killed her. Why not a last-minute save. DAMN IT.
Yes! Great character who needlessly died. I’m sure most of us brainstormed a way to get her out of that situation as we watched it unfold. Not a good moment.
But a noble death nonetheless.
Definitely one in the ‘victory through death’ column.
Yes. And she took it like a champ. Great scene.
I feel that I need to add an addendum now that I’ve finally see the Episode 9 edition of the Ready Room with guest Is Briones.
(I was getting a 404 error since last Friday…)
Interestingly enough, when Briones discusses her preparatory work for Sutra she outlines, very credibly, a background for Sutra that makes sense of her behaviour and choices. Briones makes the point that Sutra is unique in her community of Synthetics because she doesn’t have a twin. More, the death of Janna has defined and shaped her, especially as she has only experienced a very small and isolated, almost child-like community.
Wil Wheaton actually cites the ‘every character the hero of their own story’ model for Trek villains regarding Sutra.
But for me, the sad part of the conversation was when Isa Briones acknowledges that we won’t actually see or hear this background on screen.
Yes, there’s been a lot of verbal exposition in this series, but with episode 9 only running 43-odd minutes, a few phrases to connect the dots of Sutra’s motivations and naivety and a moment to let it breathe and sink in would have made all the difference between Sutra coming across as a one-dimensional villain vs someone we can empathize with.
This makes me question their decision to produce 10 episodes instead of 13 and just let these characters moments and b-plots breathe more in the episodes themselves instead of rushing through them to reach the finale.
Except they wasted so much time with the first three episodes. There really was plenty of time to do this in 10.
Let’s hope “JL” pops his clogs along with all the other tedious two dimensional nonenities in this horror story.
Sadly, I’d probably feel even less for “JL”‘s death at this point than I did with Data’s in FC. Seriously – did anyone care one iota for Data’s death in that movie? I felt nothing – and do I even need to mention the mulligan (unused) of B4?
Actually, Data died in Nemesis, not First Contact. But yeah, JL’s as good as toast.
Jurati eats it as part of her redemption. It’s also why Stewart will be sharing his appearance on The Ready Room with her. I thought it was weird that Stewart wasn’t taking that alone. Now I understand why.
Ahhhhhhhhh. Now that’s the most likely scenario
Yeah, I guess it could be Dr. Jurati or Capt. Rios since they totally did it a couple of episodes ago. sex = death
What I wish for the finale is Picard’s mind being transferred into a rebuilt Data, with Brent Spiner doing his great (and funny) Patrick Stewart impersonation rather than Stewart overdubbing the voice.
Let’s all stop for a second and contemplate how despicable it is for a Trek producer to use the idea of who lives and who dies as a bit of enticement for an upcoming episode.
This series is an abomination.
Boys and girls, I hate to be saying this again but we are talking about the guy who wrote “Batman and Robin” here. Did you really think he was gonna have some complex thoughts or ideas about the season finale? I don’t get why they couldn’t have Frakes direct the season finale instead of this hack.
I think one thing is for certain. The sequence of “tragedy” will be the same as it has been with Disco or Picard.
1. We get a nice cuddly scene at the beginning showing us just how much we “care” about the character
2. The person nearly dies but is saved 10mins later
3. The person dies 20 mins later
4. Dramatic music plays
5. We feel nothing.