Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Finale - "The Last Generation"Star Trek: Picard season 3 revisited an unofficial rule established for Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home that seemingly saved the Starfleet careers of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Captain Seven Of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in the process. In Star Trek: Picard season 3's finale, Seven led the USS Titan-A against a Borg-assimilated Starfleet, buying time for Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D to rescue his son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), and destroy the Borg. This ended the Borg and Changeling alliance's assimilation of Starfleet and saved the Earth.
At the start of Star Trek: Picard season 3, Picard and Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) attempted to hijack the Titan to rescue Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). When Picard's initial plan to convince Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) to change course failed, he was covertly assisted by Seven Of Nine, who was Shaw's First Officer. The cantankerous Shaw spends the majority of the season reminding Picard and Seven that they've likely thrown away their careers through their actions. And yet in the wake of the Borg/Changeling attack on Frontier Day, things didn't quite work out that way, for which there's considerable Starfleet precedent.
Picard's Crew & Seven Of Nine Were Saved By Kirk’s Star Trek Movie Rule
At the beginning of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Admiral James T. Kirk and his loyal crew are preparing to return to Earth and turn themselves in for Kirk's theft and destruction of the USS Enterprise in the previous film, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. However, the Earth was besieged by a giant, mysterious alien probe. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) determined the probe was trying to communicate with the long-extinct humpback whales. Kirk and friends time-traveled to the 20th century to retrieve a pair of whales, saving Earth.
Starfleet and the Federation ultimately dropped all charges against Kirk's crew, except for Kirk's disobeying of a direct order, for which he was demoted to Captain and given command of the newly christened USS Enterprise-A. It's pretty clearly a 25th-century adaptation of this unofficial rule that saved Picard and Seven for their gallantry in saving Earth from the Borg-ified Starfleet. Captain Tuvok (Tim Russ) informed Seven that Starfleet dropped all charges toward Picard and his crew for hijacking the Titan. Seven being promoted and granted command of the rechristened USS Enterprise-G even echoes Kirk's reward.
Why Picard’s Enterprise Crew Deserved Their Happy Ending
Except for a handful of supporting characters who didn't quite make it to the finish line, Star Trek: Picard season 3 featured a rousing, joyous ending. None of the main crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation were killed off, instead enjoying a long epilogue after their final battle with the Borg where they got to express their love for each other and play poker. It's a perfect ending for an outstanding season of television, easily one of Star Trek's best.
It makes sense that Picard and his friends would get off easy as Star Trek: Picard wrapped up. These characters have never been about suffering or wallowing in pathos; they have always been about the best humanity is capable of, hyper-competent space adventurers who became an unlikely family over four decades. Star Trek: Picard may have gone the sentimental route in the end, but it was absolutely the right choice. Meanwhile, it may not be officially in the Starfleet rulebook, but Picard and Seven of Nine earned laurels, not punishment, for saving Earth just as Kirk did in Star Trek IV.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 is available to stream on Paramount+.