10 Most Re-Watchable Star Trek Episodes
6. Nepenthe
Let's be straight here: not everyone loved Star Trek: Picard. There are several reasons why. Nepenthe, however, is not one of those reasons.
Although STP was most definitely not Season 8 of The Next Generation, this episode came the closest to serving as a sequel featuring the bridge crew. The return of Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis was an absolute delight to watch, with both of them delivering fantastic performances. Sirtis, in fact, delivers what is arguably a career best, taking Jean Luc to task when the need arises.
Kendra is everything one would hope that a Riker-Troi child would be, while the heartbreak of losing Thad feels as fresh to the audience as anything. This is a family that you do not want to see anything bad happen to.
But overall, the episode is light and fun, with everyone clearly comfortable around each other and enjoying the change up in the dynamic. Jean Luc is no longer their captain - which only serves to deepen their connections as friends. Will as a forest baking man, with pizzas topped with bunnicorns, served with the odd glass of red - heaven.
The scene around the dinner table is as close to a classic, Next Generation conference room scene as Star Trek: Picard has yet delivered, with all three settling, if even for a short time, into their old personas.
That closing scene, with Jean Luc and Will sitting on the dock, is as perfect a scene between these two old friends as we have ever seen. Beautiful.