**This review may contain minor SPOILERS**
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After two seasons of not giving the audience what they hoped for when “Star Trek: Picard” was announced, the final season finally delivers almost everything they can hope for, wrapped in an epic, cinematic package.
The plot is quite simple on the surface, as we find the characters starting off on what seems to be just a rescue mission before it all cascades into something much more cataclysmic. While portions of the story are predictable, there are quite a few twists and turns that are fairly surprising. (Although the end credits drop a ton of hints that are useless without the context.) The season is shot to resemble a movie and at times feels like one, especially the first few episode arcs. Despite the strong buildup and some moments that will give fans goosebumps, the ending doesn’t quite stick the landing as things get too cliche.
The show dropped many of the characters that have been around since the beginning (Rios, Jurati, Elnor, Soji), and brings in the main cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” It takes some time to bring them all together, but once they do all those years of friendship and working together click and recapture the magic. There are some fantastic character interactions, and many of the actors get a chance to do some serious acting and perform some emotional moments that TNG never gave them a chance to do. New this season is the character of Jack. Ed Speleers does a great job of making him charismatic and endearing in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, despite making a strong impression early, the bad guys suddenly lose all their steam late in the series and the villains become a bit more one-note.
The show looks great, with some amazing shots of ships and nebula and other cosmic sights. There are tons of easter eggs to not only TNG, but many of the TOS era films. There are a few moments where it’s clear the budget dried up, but it’s worth it when you see the stuff they spent the money on.
Finally course-correcting and giving fans the TNG follow-up they’ve been wanting, “Star Trek: Picard” delivers in its final season, with complex plot, great character interactions and an intriguing new villain that had potential to be one of the franchise’s most memorable.
**** out of *****