10 Most Intense Star Trek Cold Opens

4. The Last Generation

The finale episode of Star Trek: Picard serves as a culmination of that show's arc and also as a fitting end to, as Picard himself says, a story that began over 35 years prior. Jean-Luc's dealings with the Borg, seemingly completed in Star Trek: First Contact, come back to haunt him as the Enterprise-D rushes toward the Sol System.

This cold open began with a great surprise. Walter Koenig returned to Star Trek for the first time since Star Trek: Generations, this time playing Anton Chekov, President of Earth. Echoing the words of another President over a century earlier, he warns all approaching ships to avoid Earth at all costs. On screen, after a nod to The Next Generation's opening credits, the Enterprise-D crew grimly face the truth: no one is coming to help them.

Picard sets the stakes, ordering that the Borg must be destroyed, no matter the cost. They have his son, they have the younger officer in Starfleet, and they have the fleet. As the Galaxy-class ship faces off against the Cube, dwarfed by it, it seems as though this cavalry has no hope. 

They look set to complete their mission regardless. The pacing, music, and performances all combine to create one of the tensest scenes in Picard, as well as one of the most intense cold opens in the Star Trek universe.