Spoiler warning: The below story discusses the ending of Picard Season 3.
Star Trek legend Patrick Stewart has revealed Picard Season 3’s original ending... and it turns out, the idea came from Stewart himself.
Amid a wonderful essay in TIME about his return to the role of Jean-Luc Picard, Stewart confirmed that he had originally agreed to just three seasons of the Star Trek spin-off, with a rather touching ending.
“What I’d like to see at the end of the show […] is a content Jean-Luc,” he explained. “I want to see Picard perfectly at ease with his situation. Not anxious, not in a frenzy, not depressed. And I think this means that there is a wife in the picture.”
Stewart revealed that as the years passed since his appearance in Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002, the lines between the actor and Picard had become blurred.
“If I have found true love, shouldn’t he?” he asked.
Stewart married his wife, Sunny Ozell, back in 2013, and had since decided it was time for Picard to find love, too. The final scene they came up with would have confirmed this… but it still left a little to the imagination.
“The writers came up with a lovely scene,” he revealed. “It is dusk at Jean-Luc’s vineyard. His back is to us as he takes in the view, his dog at his side. Then, off-screen, a woman’s loving voice is heard: ‘Jean-Luc? Supper’s ready!’”
Who was that voice? That never would have been confirmed. However, Stewart’s real wife Sunny would have made her Star Trek debut.
“Is it Beverly Crusher’s voice? Laris’s? Someone we don’t know? It isn’t made clear,” he said. “But Sunny was set to record the lines. Heeding his wife’s call, Jean-Luc turns around, says to his dog, ‘C’mon, boy,’ and heads inside. Dusk fades to night, and Picard fades into history.”
However, that ultimately wasn't how the season ended, instead closing on a shot of the crew having drinks, sharing a toast. Stewart partially takes the blame for the change; at the very end of Season 3’s production, Stewart was forced to fly back to New York before filming the scenes, and he was assured they would be in touch to finish it off…
“But I never got a call,” he revealed.
“When I made a few inquiries, I kept getting put off,” he added. “Finally, someone told me, ‘The studio doesn’t want to do it. It’s too expensive and they think it’s unnecessary.’ Unnecessary? I thought it was crucial to the completion of Picard’s arc. But so be it: the TV series ended with the toast, which is a warm, emotional send-off to my favorite Starfleet crew. Either way, you now know of my original intent.”
That said, does Stewart want more Picard?
“Never say never,” he added. “I am gently pushing Paramount to let us do one single Picard movie. Not a Next Generation movie, as we have already done four of those. This would be an expansion and deepening of the universe as we’ve seen it in Star Trek: Picard. I’ve discussed this with Jonathan, Brent, and LeVar, and they are all game. Jonathan is my first choice to direct it.”
Want to read more about Picard? Check out what we thought of Picard Season 3 as well as showrunner Terry Matalas on why Picard’s story had to end this way.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
