Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: Deanna Troi, Marina Sirtis, star trek, Star Trek Picard, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Terry Matalas

Star Trek: Picard Showrunner on Marina Sirtis' MVP Deanna Troi Moment

Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas discusses Marina Sirtis' Deanna Troi & her MVP moment that saved the day when it was needed most.

The Star Trek: Picard finale, "The Last Generation," stuck to its epic landing as the previous season three episodes have. One who emerged particularly late but who was worth the wait was Marina Sirtis' Counselor Deanna Troi. The character, until the last few episodes, was largely regulated to a flashback sequence and a video conference. She certainly wasn't alone in being late to the party as LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner's respective characters in Geordi La Forge and Data emerged in the second half of the season. Showrunner Terry Matalas opened up on how Troi saved the day, particularly in the finale. The following contains spoilers.

How Star Trek: Picard Saved Troi's Best for the Last

As we started the episode, we discovered Geordi spent the last 20 years restoring the U.S.S Enterprise-D at the Fleet Museum on Altan Prime. The tactical advantage is the aging relic of the Federation isn't connected to the current fleet, which was compromised by the Borg in their "presumably" final attempt to take Earth once and for all. In their scans, they discover their place of operations on Jupiter, which is also where Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart) and Beverly Crusher's son Jack (Ed Speleers) is located, assimilated, and under the influence of the Borg Queen (Alice Krige). Jean-Luc, Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Worf (Michael Dorn) form the away team to rescue Jack and locate the beacon while the remaining crew is on standby.

As the father is reunited with his son, Jean-Luc tries to appeal to Jack's humanity as the Queen hovers menacingly. Riker and Worf locate the beacon to relay to the Enterprise as Data makes the conscious decision with his "gut feeling" to do the trench run to the core where the beacon is located despite Geordi's initial objections. As things fall into place for our heroes, the Enterprise still has trouble locating the away team before the resident counselor, commander, and human-Betazoid takes over helm control using her empathic abilities and link to Riker to locate the away team and Jack to beam back to the Enterprise before escaping the Death Star…I mean Borg cube.

"We knew we needed a way for them to find each other. I'm trying to remember if it was [Christopher Monfette], or who came up with that idea [using Riker as a telepathic beacon], which is so beautiful," Matalas told Collider. "And it's also a way to sort of put to bed that Deanna-flying-the-ship bit, as well, in this wonderful rescue." The bit he's referring to was in 1994's Generations when Troi took over helm controls before the saucer section crashed into Veridian III due more to it being propelled from the explosion due to the ship's warp core breech and the crew's survival becoming dependent on the separation procedure than her piloting. It's also important to note that she became certified as a commanding bridge officer in the season seven episode "Thine Own Self."

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