The first episode of Star Trek: Picard has sent Trekkies into a whole new galaxy of excitement. Finally, the Trek universe is moving forward and telling new stories of the universe's future, not just making edits to its history. Fans haven't seen time move forward in the franchise since DS9's fateful Dominion War. It's a hard act to follow, for sure, but it's wonderful to see how the Federation has evolved, between that war, the loss of Romulus, and the other crises.
One thing fans actually want to see is more of how TNG characters and plotlines moved throughout time. TNG left quite a few open-ended stories, and Trekkies would love to see them continued. Here are 10 dangling subplots from TNG that Picard could actually wrap up.
The Fate of Data's Legacy
At the end of Nemesis, Data sacrificed himself to save his beloved Captain. However, Data downloaded his memories into his sibling android, B-4. It was implied that either Data could re-awaken in this body, or B-4 would at least be able to grow from and access the person Data was.
Fans already knew that Nemesis couldn't have been the end of him, but how? They need to know the details and Picard totally could fill in those blanks. What happened to B-4? The remnants of his body? There is too much scientific cleverness that could happen in decades and fans need to know about all of it, not leave it up in the air for all eternity.
Wesley Crusher's Journeys
In early seasons of TNG Wesley Crusher was a fairly big deal. He was scouted by a mega-powerful alien species, he beat a genius into Starfleet, and he got the approval of Captain Picard. However, fans reacted... not so well to him and he slowly got phased out of the show. By the end of his involvement, he was nearly kicked out of Starfleet, then quit on his own, and then ended up leaving with the Traveller after hanging out with some Native Americans. Yeah, it was weird.
But, Picard could show what an older Wesley has been up to and how as an adult he's a much less annoying and Mary Sue human. That would be neat.
Jean-Luc and Beverly's Relationship
Throughout TNG, Picard and Beverly had a very flirty, very frustrating relationship. Fans wanted them to get together, but the writers just refused. The only glimmer of them being a real couple was in the finale, where they apparently married and then divorced (which is a depressing way to end a relationship that never started).
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If the writers of Picard love the fans a little more than back in the day, they should really resolve that beloved relationship. Sure, it'll be hard not to disappoint people still, but it was such an important, unresolved part of TNG that Picard needs to address. Jean Luc deserves love just like everyone else.
The State Of The Borg
The last fans saw of the Borg, their largest hub was blown up and Borg were splitting from the collective left and right, finding their individuality. Star Trek: TNG started this revolution with Hugh, but where has it gone in the past few decades? Fans didn't even know how Hugh's group was doing by the end of the series.
If Picard is meeting back up with the Borg, of course everyone should learn the basics of how things have been going for them. Their entire culture (or lack thereof) was completely destroyed at the hands of Voyager and the Enterprise. There has to have been a revolution or two since then and it would be a crime to not go back to the new reality of one of the best villains in Star Trek history.
Sela
One of the most fascinating villains of TNG was Sela, the time-jumbled half Romulan daughter of Tasha Yar. Denise Crosby was a great actress and while her time on TNG was kinda weird, Sela was a great character. She was a person who lived with a lot of anger and conflict in her heart. It's such a waste that she basically disappeared after the Enterprise fooled her once.
Especially since a major conflict in Picard is the destruction of Romulus, Sela should totally show back up. Either as an enemy, or at least in mention. Her tragic life should definitely be something brought up against Picard on how he hurt the Roluman people. Either way, #JusticeForSela.
Picard's Family Relationships
Jean Luc Picard has a very complicated relationship with his family. While his brother and he disagree, they come to an understanding after his time with the Borg. That doesn't make their relationship great, though. Not great enough to end up living together.
Furthermore, where are the other Picards in Picard? If he's running the vineyard, where is his brother? If his brother passed away, where is his nephew? Shouldn't he at least be someone that Picard is in contact with a fair bit?
When he wasn't very interested in the vineyard before, it's weird that he ended up with Chateau Picard all on his own.
Hugh's Journey
TNG had one of its most revolutionary episodes in "I, Borg". It flipped the narrative the writers had going for them about the Borg, that they were a soulless hive of assimilating jerks. Instead, they separated one drone from the others and slowly it started to grow its individuality, foster a personality and really find its humanity. That Borg was named Hugh. In the end, he even sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise, even though he knew the person he was could cease to exist.
The crew ran into Hugh one more time, where he ended up leading a group of individualized, rogue Borg. But it's been a long time since then, and it would be great for Picard to explore Hugh's journey over the years.
The Secrets Behind Soongien Type Androids
Many people built androids and complex synthetic beings before Data and Lore, but only the Soongien type androids were ever as impressive and impossibly human. TNG often explored Data's humanity, history, and capabilities, but no one ever explained why Soong-made androids were so different. Sure, it was implied it was because of their creator's brilliance, but what was that brilliance? How did he succeed where so many others failed?
With Dahj and Soji in existence, it seems fans might finally get some of the answers they've been looking for. And it's about time. Data was one of the best parts of TNG and he always deserves more.
Guinan's Mysterious Origins
Okay, fans know that season 1 probably doesn't include Guinan. However, with Patrick Stewart's offer to Whoopi Goldberg out there, it could totally happen in season 2. All fans ever knew about the character was that she was really old, her species was very old, and they were decimated by the the Borg and harassed by the Q.
There were a lot of implications and stories of hers that could use a lot of explanation. Trekkies would love to hear more about her past and people, especially since they don't even know the name of her race.
Also she could be an easy tie in between the Borg and Q, and to have John De Lacie back would be an absolute treat, too.
The Effects of Picard's Time as Locutus
One of the coolest parts of DS9 was to play off a major event in TNG (the Battle of Wolf 359) and built its main hero off of that. Seeing someone hate the beloved Picard for a decent reason was fascinating.
So, between Picard's emotional anchoring and this Borg stuff, fans should definitely get to see more results of Picard's time as Locutus. It hurt and destroyed a lot of lives for how easily he went back to being a leader and a captain.
It would build up the anguish Sisko felt about Locutus' actions and make the consequences of TNG feel so much larger.