Star Trek: Picard Season 3 was the perfect capstone to Patrick Stewart's revival series, so it's a surprise to learn the finale wasn't planned to end the way it did. Stewart recently revealed the planned ending to the series they never shot, and frankly, I'm glad it never saw the light of day. The original ending for Picard would've been a terrible idea, and it's a hill I'm willing to die on.
For those that missed it, Stewart recently revealed the original ending ahead of the launch of his memoir, Making It So. Stewart explained that the original ending was supposed to feature Picard and his faithful pitbull (a breed requested by the actor) back at his vineyard, looking happy. A woman would then call him for dinner, but the woman would be voiced by his actual wife, Sunny Ozell. As such, audiences would never know whether or not Jean-Luc returned home to Laris or reconciled with Beverly Crusher in matrimony.
The scene only fell apart because Stewart requested a production change regarding the filming timing, due to his traveling, and the show's producers ultimately opted not to go that route. I'm eternally grateful that didn't happen in place of Picard's current ending, because the other one sounds like it would've created a ton of trouble.
Picard's Final Scene Would've Left A Nagging Question For No Reason
While Star Trek: Picard Season 3 didn't exactly confirm Picard and Beverly Crusher's romantic status, it definitely left the suggestion that they were very good friends and co-parents again, if not full-blown lovers. We still don't know with certainty whether Picard is with her, or if he remained with Laris, but the door is wide open for fans to speculate with the given information to make their own choice. They can even choose to believe that Picard never married again, which I'd personally lean toward at his advanced positronic robot-bodied age.
This unfilmed ending would've confirmed that Picard shacked up with someone, but without providing answers for who it would be. Using the voice of Patrick Stewart's real-life wife would've only complicated the matter further, as canon-respecting fans would have trouble believing her voice sounded like either Laris or Crusher. So then, the ending of Picard would be that he left both women and started with someone entirely new?
A Picard-Only Ending Scene Would've Felt Empty
Star Trek: Picard took two full seasons of giving its lead character key moments of solitude, so I don't think a final scene of him at his vineyard would've added much for fans. What viewers wanted was what Season 3 delivered, which was to see Admiral Picard back together with his crew from The Next Generation.
Having all those characters absent from the ending would've been a mistake, especially after seeing how the season played out. While the poker game that was a callback to the original ending of Star Trek: The Next Generation wasn't the absolute final scene of the series, it was one of the most iconic moments of the season. From that point on, it was all about scenes teasing the story of what could happen to characters in the story beyond the final credits, which was the right call.
Patrick Stewart might've preferred that quieter ending, but I can't in good conscience agree with him. Thankfully, we don't have to worry about it, and can obsess instead about Q returning from the dead, and any prospective adventures that surface. I wouldn't have wanted to endure years of conversation about who Picard ended up with, nor would I have been invested in it. Thank goodness for the actor's trip to New York, and that the show's creatives ultimately decided the scene was unnecessary.
Stream all of Star Trek: Picard right now with a Paramount+ subscription. Season 3 is great, but it's not the only great series fans who missed out on the new wave of Trek should watch. Look at what's available right now and "boldly go" into an unexplored series.
