Even in the Next Generation, the Denouement makes All the Difference

Photo by Gage Skidmore

Star Trek : The Next Generation never really mapped out the planned denouement like its original predecessor. Still, the Next Gen was able to hit the spot on multiple occasions, and here’s a few of my favorites.

All Good Things…

It’s just not possible. The crew of the Enterprise D goes forth into the future and falls apart at the seams. At least, that’s what we learned in the alternate timeline that Picard lived in All Good Things…But why not, they are human beings just like the rest of us.

On the other hand, Picard was never really with the program. A father figure leading his children on a momentous journey, the captain forgot to form relationships with a crew that craves his patriarchal approval. Of course at series’ end, he sadly realizes the absenteeism of his command, and trying to finally make amends, he crashes the poker game. But the disconnect doesn’t really hit him until he looks over his crew and understands all that’s been missed.

“I should have done this a long time ago,” Picard laments.

However, Picard’s nature knows that looking back only serves us if we choose the prospects of the future over the failures of the past. “So, five card stud, nothing’s wild and the sky’s the limit,” Picard begins his new journey.

What’s left to do but Engage…

Yesterday’s Enterprise

I’m going to cheat a little bit here, and say there are two denouements. The first takes place on the bridge. The crew gallantly wages an assault and tries to fend off the Klingons as the Enterprise C meanders its way into the time rift. Thus, the ultimate success of the mission realized, we find a very different Picard and get a glimpse of what Shinzon tried to impress upon Picard in Nemesis. “If you had lived my life, and experienced the suffering of my people, you'd be standing where I am,” reasons the fated clone.

In this case, we see a Picard hardened by war and taken over by a resigned fatalism. Starfleet service and the human condition means the probable outcome of this conflict must diminish the preciousness of individual life. So when given the chance to surrender to save a crew he would die for in any timeline, the captain has no problem deferring to the reality of the moment. “That’ll be the day,” Picard defers to the darkness, and the summation comes across clearly.

If even Jean Luc Picard can succumb to his environment, any of us can. But then Guinan comes in and runs the counter argument.

Tasha Yar doing her bit to save the galaxy, the bartender knows the score “Tell me about Tasha Yar,” she implores Geordi, and we understand what happens when the better angels befall us.

The Inner Light

Picard always wanted a family, and he actually got one in an episode that continues to resound. But even though Picard’s alt-life only lasts twenty minutes, we feel the rich, vast depth of the inner desire Picard has always longed for. In fact, a denouement wasn’t really needed and we’re perfectly satisfied by the unraveling of the mystery that this episode spun.

We got one anyway, though, and amazingly, the wrap-up did it without saying a word. Picard pulls out that flute and beginning to play, we soar. However, it’s not just about us.

The notes escaping the constraints of the ship’s structurally integrity, the melody plays the long game. This enlightened race will live on, and no better ambassador could have been found than the Captain of the Enterprise D.

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