Star Trek: 10 Episodes You Must Watch Before Picard Season 3

10. Hope And Fear - Star Trek: Voyager, S4EP26

A curveball entry to this list but it would be unfair not to touch on the returning Seven of Nine.

Including Hope and Fear comes down to the character exploration and a particular arc that runs through the episode. It may at first appear to have a tonne more in common with season one of Star Trek: Prodigy but for Seven there are some key conversations here that lay the foundations for her appearance in Picard.

Hope and Fear raises the question as to whether Seven will be welcomed back in the Alpha Quadrant. In the episode, she seriously considers remaining behind. This is a pre-cursor to Seven's actual experience with Starfleet when she does set foot on Earth following Endgame, which is referenced during her time on 21st Century Earth in Picard's second season.

Season one saw Seven as a member of the Fenris Rangers and season two raised that question of acceptance in Starfleet once more. Ultimately Farewell, the season two finale, would see Seven taking command of the USS Stargazer to close down a galaxy-threatening temporal anomaly, and season three will place her in Starfleet as the first officer of the new USS Titan-A.