Star Trek Picard: Ranking All 10 Episodes From Season 1

Playing on the theme of moving on from the past, "The Impossible Box" is one of the best installments of Star Trek: Picard and an excellent followup to the TNG film Star Trek: First Contact.

While it has been said numerous times that Star Trek: Picard is not a true sequel to Star Trek: The Next Generation or its film franchise, "The Impossible Box" rightly picks up Jean-Luc Picard's story thread from First Contact and delivers a satisfying conclusion.

One of the very best films in the Star Trek Universe, First Contact's biggest flaw is that it failed to fully resolve Picard's feelings of anger and violation after his experience with the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds, Parts I and II". "The Impossible Box" uses the running theme of change and the passage of time to finally provide Picard closure, revealing the Borg on the Artifact to Picard as the victims he always perceived himself to be. Star Trek: First Contact features Picard killing numerous members of his own crew because he believes they cannot be saved after assimilation, but here he is finally able to sympathize with the Borg. Not only that, the mass de-assimilation and reclamation of the XBs serves to illustrate that even the Borg can move forward and carve out futures for themselves, something Picard struggled to do himself over the past 20 years.

Picard's reunion with Hugh is also cathartic, presenting a friendly face in place that amounts to Picard's worst nightmare. The hug Hugh and Picard share is especially welcome after numerous preceding episodes in which Picard is met with hostility and anger.

"The Impossible Box" expertly weaves 30 years of Star Trek lore into the present, using an old enemy to provide Picard a new perspective and advance his characterization. Star Trek: Picard is a study of Jean-Luc Picard the man, the "Impossible Box" reintroduces that man to the personification of his demons and the audience to a classic Trek villain, and succeeds in improving both.