10 Star Trek Moments You Never Saw Coming
2. I Am Locutus Of Borg
Patrick Stewart was, with Levar Burton, potentially the most seasoned actor to appear in Star Trek: The Next Generation. At this point in the franchise, the idea of a captain not seeing out the duration of the show was unthinkable, as this was many years before Gabriel Lorca would command the USS Discovery. Thanks to the actions of Q, the Federation, and the audience knew about the existence and power of the Borg, so when they finally entered Federation space in The Best Of Both Worlds, sh*t officially got real.
What no one was expecting was how quickly they would overpower the Enterprise-D, board her, and kidnap the captain. Riker quickly assumes command, ordering a rescue mission to get the captain back. Bear in mind, no one knew anything about assimilation at this point, so they had every hope of finding Picard, whole and intact.
It is Worf who spots him, covered now in tubules and cybernetic parts. As he turned to face the camera, the audiences' eyes popped out of their heads. This, followed with the introduction, by name, of Locutus of Borg, made for one of the most shocking, out of nowhere twists that the franchise had ever pulled off.
Longest.
Summer.
Ever.