10 Star Trek Production Secrets Behind These Cliffhangers

Locutus of Borg came about from two different directions. First, the producers and writers knew that they were bringing the Borg into the Next Generation. While Redemption had originally been slated as the end of the third season and beginning of the fourth, it was pulled forward. A speaker for the Borg was required so that the crew had someone to interact with rather than the bodiless voice of the Collective.

The second reason for Locutus's creation was a directive from Paramount Pictures itself. Throughout the third season, negotiations between the company and Patrick Stewart had continued to the point where the studio worried it may never be resolved. Therefore, an ending had to be written that would see Picard removed from the show.

The closing moments of the Best of the Both Worlds are frequently cited as some of the most tense in television history, along with being one of the greatest cliffhangers ever made. There was a large degree of honesty in the actors' performances in that scene as none of them truly knew what the next season would bring to the show. Thankfully though, Stewart signed on and Locutus was saved from the Collective in the second part of the story.