10 Star Trek Episodes That Hit Different Now
1. Where No One Has Gone Before
The first season of The Next Generation is an oddity. Overall, the tone and pace were evidence that all involved were finding their feet, with the characterisation of Picard, Riker, and the rest a little muddled. Where No One Has Gone Before may not be one of the stronger episodes of the season, despite some stunning visuals, and the introduction of the Traveler plot, but there is now a scene that stands about above the rest.
As the Enterprise finds itself on the edge of the known universe, the crew's thoughts start to become reality. Picard turns a corner and finds himself facing his mother, now an old woman, offering him tea. At the time, this was a heart-warming scene, touched with a little sadness as she vanishes when Picard looks away.
If we go forward to Star Trek: Picard's second season, the audience now knows that Jean-Luc's mother never got to be an old woman. She dies by suicide, an act for which Picard blamed himself for much of his life. While there has been much critique of the way this storyline was handled in the show, it adds a little context, and tragedy, to this earlier episode.
This was not simply a visit from his mother as he remembered her - this was a wish fulfilled, that she grow to old age, loving him, and smiling. If anything, the later revelations serve to make this episode heartbreaking.