With just hours until the Europa Launch, Picard and the crew find themselves in a race against time to save the future.

Over seven seasons of The Next Generation, four movies and one run of Picard, we’ve been used to Jean-Luc saving the day in the nick of time, but the second year of his eponymous show suggested that he’d lost his touch. Those who have stayed the journey will be delighted to know that the show sticks the landing, with more than a couple of lovely moments.

My issue with this season has been the muddled storytelling, the lack of urgency and spending too much time on filler. The goodwill towards the show and its characters is there, but ultimately this is the plot of a movie that has been pumped up and stretched to a 10-episode run, and it just doesn’t have the content. Episodes 1, 2, 5 and 10 cover most of the story, the rest being fairly disposable.

To succeed in their task, the crew of La Sirena are reminded that there must be two Renées – one who lives and another who dies. Tallin is one step ahead of us and fulfils her destiny, teaching Jean-Luc one final lesson to give him clarity. Seven, Raffi and Cris deactivate the drones designed to bring down Renée’s rocket, Brent Spiner has a great time as the increasingly obnoxious Soong and we get visit from a familiar character or two.

What adds to the sparkle of this episode is the number of special moments for Star Trek fans and a couple that left a tear in my eye. The story ends pretty much where we expected it would, though with a couple of surprises, and the stage is set for the third and final season.

Verdict: By no means perfect, this is a far superior ending than the season looked likely to deliver, shifting it from ‘I really wouldn’t bother’ into ‘definitely hang in there’ territory. 8/10

Nick Joy