If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that I’m a huge fan of Star Trek. I’ve written previously about growing up watching the Original Series in reruns and going to see The Motion Picture with my father; the show and the optimistic future it depicts for humanity has been a touchstone throughout my life, one that I’ve leaned on throughout the years whenever I needed a lift.
It’s hard to describe the level of excitement I had when Star Trek: The Next Generation burst onto the scene back in 1987. Up to that point, the only new content had been the movies featuring the original series cast; while they had been excellent (especially the one with the whales), the idea that the show would be on weekly instead of once every couple of years was incredible. I wasn’t entirely sure what do to with a new crew, though, but it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with them and the new Enterprise, even if it did initially look rather ungainly when compared to the original.
Fast forward to 2023: the final season of Star Trek: Picard has just concluded, and along with it, pretty much all of the character arcs that were begun back in 1987. I won’t spoil anything on the off chance that you haven’t seen the show yet other than to say it was pitch-perfect; the final episode had me both in stitches and in tears… and wanting more. Much more. Until I saw the entire Next Generation cast back together again, I had no idea how much I had missed them; it was like visiting with family members you don’t get to see as often as you would like, but when you do see them again, you pick up right where you left off as though no time had passed at all.
If this is truly the last time we’ll see them together again, I’ll be sad but also incredibly happy to have been on this ride with them; I can’t believe it’s been 36 years since I huddled around the tube television at my parent’s house to watch the dawn of a new era for Star Trek. I can only hope the next 36 years are just as amazing…