10 Times Star Trek Rewarded Audiences For Sticking With It
4. Star Trek: First Contact
Ronald D. Moore and Michael Piller both spoke about the long-term effects that Best of Both Worlds had on Captain Picard. They described his assimilation by the Borg as the most traumatic thing that had ever happened to him, as by using his knowledge, the Borg obliterated the Starfleet armada at Wolf 359. There is a final moment in the second part of the story where Picard simply looks out into space.
The following episode, Family, sees the man breakdown in front of his brother, revealing how much pain he is in because of his experiences. However, after this, his time as Locutus is barely mentioned again, bar his dealings with Hugh.
Star Trek: First Contact is in many ways a direct sequel to the earlier story. Star Trek was now experimenting with serialized television in Deep Space Nine, so the idea of revisiting the worst of Jean-Luc's enemies made perfect sense. Finally, the audience could see how Picard the man would deal with the Borg, should he encounter them again. In summary, it does not go well.
He is consumed by hatred and the thirst for revenge, needing some very blunt slaps of reality to come out of it. The audience had never seen Picard act like this before, so even after seven seasons and a movie, there were still aspects to this character that they could learn about. And, largely thanks to Patrick Stewart's performance, First Contact remains the best of the Next Generation films.