In an episode packed with mysterious revelations, exciting surprises and one cinematic gut punch, Star Trek: Picard’s penultimate episode of season 3, “Võx,” is an absolute homerun of swirling emotions and touching nostalgia — but perhaps most importantly, it’s also just a whole lot of fun.
 
Co-written by Sean Tretta and Kiley Rossetter, it’s an episode filled with one satisfying payoff after another; payoffs that have been cleverly layered into showrunner Terry Matalas’ heartfelt narrative structure all season long. From sly hints about transporters to “bonk, bonk on the Borg” hints about Picard’s assimilated past, the payoffs in this episode run the gamut between those that are surprising, those that were maybe expected and those that will surely leave you reaching for the nearest box of tissues.
 
Included in those story beats is the very cool confirmation of an alliance between the Borg and the faction of ‘evolved’ Changelings who have been at the forefront of the conflict throughout this season. Vadic is gone, but the Queen is back.
 

With all seven original Next Generation cast members gelling on screen again, each with an important role to play in the action, you might think there isn’t room enough in this episode for the impressive Picard supporting cast to continue to showcase their wares as they have all season long — but this episode is as much about the show’s new cadre of talent as it is about the joyous, in-your-face nostalgia at the center of Frontier Day.

And among the most underrated of those performers this season is where this episode fittingly starts, with Ed Speleers once again crushing it (no pun intended) as Jack Crusher, the son of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden)… and perhaps something more.

With the help of Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), it is revealed that the vines we’ve been seeing in Jack’s vision are representative of an innate connection to the “many” that has been buried under his “life of disconnection.” In addition to the dynamic presentation of that beautiful, glowing Borg cube, draped inside an orange nebula, keen viewers will also get their first inclination of the return of Alice Krige as the Borg Queen, as we hear her distinctive, raspy whisper saying, “Jack.”

It’s a fantastic moment and genuinely surprising reveal, despite all the clues of the Borg’s return that have been peppered throughout the season.

But the real star of these scenes is Speleers himself. And for all the talk of potential award recognition for this cast, honestly, the person at the forefront of those conversations should be the young Jack Crusher. The English actor has been a revelation in creating this charismatic character on screen. A character designed to not only be hard to like, but who must necessarily win you over with his personal influence and charm, while also hiding and battling his own internal darkness.

When Jack says, “So how much of me is me?” it’s another great connection to the many conversations taking place this season in which the writers’ room dives into the question of nature vs. nurture and what traits we take from our parents. And what makes us who we are. “He inherited the best of you and the worst of me,” says Picard to Crusher, who laments her own perceived failures in how she guided both Jack and Wesley.

Credit also goes to Sirtis in these scenes, as the counselor gets to the heart of the issue with Crusher, helping to piece together the mystery that Picard’s rewritten DNA from his time as Locutus has been passed on to his son. And more importantly, the counselor is in peak Troi mode when she also must convincingly relay to the parents that their son is now a danger, and Starfleet protocols must be adhered to. It’s a strong, tension building flow that kicks off a cavalcade of fun to follow in this episode.

Of course, once Jack gets a whiff of those “protocols” he immediately uses his new powers to “collectively” get the hell off the Titan and takes a shuttle to get close enough to the Borg Queen to get the answers he seeks and to “show her exactly who and what I am!”

Once on board the cube and face-to-face with the Queen, we get to see what has been staring us in the face all season long, a line so powerful from earlier in the season that it has never stopped echoing through this story: “They have a name for you. Locutus of Borg. The only Borg so deadly they gave him a goddamn name!”

And now the Queen has a name for Jack. He is Võx, the voice itself (as opposed to Locutus, the one who speaks). When we last see Jack he is being fully assimilated to the hive mind as Krige speaks for the Borg and the Changelings in seeking “vindication of both our species. To take everything back from those who live like shattered glass.”

Krige’s performance is so good in her return as the Borg Queen it honestly makes you forget we never actually see her on screen. This trick is a testament to the strong direction from Matalas and the work of his production team, who create an amazing set design inside the Borg cube with dark, murky lights breaking through the illuminated green atmosphere like the stars in the sky themselves. It’s fantastic work.

Equally impressive is the intricate technobabble at the core of the combined Borg/Changeling plan to destroy the Federation. The two factions have worked together to use Picard’s rewritten DNA code to infect the “common biology” inside all of Starfleet’s transporters. This is why a low-level transporter technician was the person replaced by a Changeling on the Titan — and is also why the late Commander Ro was so mysteriously averse to transporting back in “Imposters.”

All of these details are uncovered in an extremely satisfying “research at a console” scene between Data (Brent Spiner) and La Forge (LaVar Burton) that harkens back to the pair working through problem after problem in their heyday on the Enterprise-D, and it could not be any more fun. Armed with this new information, the Titan does the only thing it can: try to get to Frontier Day and convince anyone that will listen about what is really happening.

As for Frontier Day, it is as advertised! Scores of amazing starships all convening at Spacedock in the Sol Sector and ready to launch the “living construct”… uh, I mean, the “automated Texas-class ships”… no, wait, it’s the “Fleet Formation” mode this time. Yes, it’s the “Fleet Formation” mode that has been hinted at during the course of the season and it is designed to allow every ship in Starfleet to operate as one.

Or as Elizabeth Dennehy says in her long-awaited return to Star Trek as Admiral Elizabeth Shelby, “an impenetrable armada. Unity and defense. The ultimate safeguard.”

(And regardless to the similarities of the previous “controlled, automated, friendly fire” starship story lines seen at the conclusion of the most recent seasons of both Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Lower Decks, the story here is executed extremely well, with the added bonus of the actual assimilation of Starfleet personnel taking place simultaneously.)

Sadly, the truncated return of Shelby doesn’t really work in this context, especially when she seems to be quickly killed off; however, hearing Riker (Jonathan Frakes) channeling his “Best of Both Worlds” persona and caustically commenting on her decree as “right from the mouth of Admiral Elizabeth Shelby,” and then Picard lamenting the irony of her endorsing “something so Borg-like” does seemingly make it all worthwhile…

…and there’s always a chance she was a Changeling just playing along, and getting caught in the crosshairs of the assimilation, right? Right?!?

In the end, of course, Picard’s plea to the Frontier Day attendees has no affect, and the assimilation of Starfleet begins, but because of some more amazing technobabble about the Borg’s genetic transporter code not propagating in a species beyond a certain point of development, it only affects the younger crew members — in humans, those under the age of 25.

(And while I’m absolutely convinced that this is not a statement from the old school Star Trek voices on this production team subliminally telling viewers that only legacy Trek can truly save the day… I’m also convinced many people will see it as such.)

Regardless of whatever coded message is hidden in that story element by Unimatrix Matalas, it’s a fun one, as the likeable crew of the Titan that we’ve had the good fortune to see in action this season suddenly starts being assimilated. First Lt. Mura (Joseph Lee), then Ensign Esmar (Jin Maley), then Alandra La Forge (Mica Burton), and then — along with the chilling proclamation that “We are the Borg” — Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). That last one was hard to take.

In need of a plan, the veterans on the Titan make a run for it, eventually finding themselves all rerouting to a sub-level maintenance corridor to try and board a repair shuttle, an idea courtesy of the old starship grease monkey himself, Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick), who recognizes the unaffected “99 Delta” maintenance channel used by the Excelsior in their ill-fated attempt to escape the assimilated fleet.

With no time to even catch their breath on the maintenance level, the crew are quickly pinned down by phaser fire, leading us to the cinematic gut punch we’ve been dreading. With Geordi working to open the hatch to the repair shuttle for everyone to make their escape, it’s down to Shaw to hold off the attack as one by one he calls out his shipmates to get to safety.

The parallel to his own experience as a young engineer on board the USS Constance at Wolf 359, which was so eloquently acted by Stashwick in “No Win Scenario,” is clear. Shaw is not getting out alive as the dipshit from Chicago is mortally wounded getting everyone on board that shuttle. Everyone that is, except Seven (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd), who stay behind to try and save him. The move from Seven to stay for Shaw (and of course, the move from Raffi to stay for Seven) speaks volumes and gives the captain one final chance to tell his Number One that “it’s not my ship anymore. It’s yours. You have the conn, Seven of Nine,” finally acknowledging her true self by using her chosen name.

It’s a satisfying end to both characters’ ongoing arc that has seen them hit various highs and lows with each other throughout this season, all while Shaw struggled with processing his own internal assimilation of how the Borg changed his world view. The moment also serves as a dynamite set-up for the season finale with Seven and Raffi together again, working from inside the Titan to try and stave off the Borg/Changeling attack.

Incredibly, with those integrated payoffs and inspired story beats behind us, it’s time for the moment every Next Gen fan has been waiting for. The return of not only the original TNG seven, but the return of the Galaxy-class USS Enteprise-D, in all its “analog” glory.

It turns out that since taking over the Fleet Museum, Geordi has been resurrecting the remains of the Enterprise-D: rebuilding the trashed saucer section, reclaimed from its Star Trek: Generations crash on Veridian III, and replacing the drive section with the secondary hull of the USS Syracuse.

The reveal of the ship couldn’t be any more special. From the classic spotlight shots of the hull to the pumping TNG fanfare music, it’s a moment to behold, and it’s made even more special when the crew enters the darkened bridge beautifully lit by only the LCARS screens circling the set. As the overheard lights slowly come up, one bank, then another, the bridge of our youth, of all of our youth, is slowly, patiently revealed. The emotion and tears are real — turns out a whole bunch of us do indeed want “the fat ones.”

Though he may have preferred the Enterprise-E, “She is perfect, Geordi,” says Worf, echoing the thoughts of everyone watching at home. It’s the last functional ship in the fleet not tied into the new automated fleet system.

If you weren’t already completely destroyed by the tactile beauty of this reintroduction of the Enterprise-D, when Picard asks the ship’s computer to “initiate system reactivation procedures,” any semblance of emotional control is completely lost when we hear the ship’s computer voiced by Major Barrett Roddenberry once again: “Authorization acknowledged. USS Enterprise now under command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.”

It’s history in the making as Riker then declares, “We’re the crew of the USS Enterprise. But more than that, we’re your family. … Jean-Luc, wherever you go, we go.” And with a simple, hearty “Engage!” from Picard, he sinks comfortably into his chair alongside the rest of us, like it was somehow 1990 again.

MOMENTS OF STASHWICK

We think Todd Stashwick and his portrayal of USS Titan captain Liam Shaw is destined for Trek icon status — each week this season, we’ll be highlighting one one of the character’s (and actor’s) best moments.

We will be saluting the greatness of Captain Shaw in this episode for seemingly the last time. His heroics on the day have been detailed above (and in all of our prior Picard Season 3 reviews), so there is no need to rehash them here — other than to say, it’s pretty great that it was the grease monkey captain who helped navigate our TNG heroes to safety, while making the ultimate sacrifice and clearing the way for one final, touching acknowledgement of Captain Seven of Nine of the USS Titan.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

• Jack Crusher’s memories take him to the arboretum on Raritan IV, the planet on which we last saw Soji Asha in the Picard Season 2 premiere.
• The USS Titan has a dedicated ship’s counselor office, as indicated on the door label outside the cabin in which Troi and Jack merge minds.
• Beverly says there hasn’t been any sign of the Borg in over a decade. Not counting the dead cube Artifact seen in Picard Season 1, the last time the franchise encountered ‘active’ Borg — chronologically speaking — was in Star Trek: Prodigy’s “Let Sleeping Borg Lie,” set in 2384.
• The organic Borg modifications in Picard’s brain explain why the Enterprise captain could still hear ‘Borg radio’ during the events of Star Trek: First Contact.
• The Borg Queen brings what seems to be remnants of the Unicomplex through a transwarp conduit when arriving to Jack’s location; the interior of the Borg structure is still in ruins thanks to Admiral Janeway’s neurolytic pathogen which disabled the Collective in “Endgame.”

• Starships in the current Federation fleet — displayed on several monitors throughout the episode — include the USS Okuda (NCC-74107), the USS Drexler (NCC-97626), the USS Mandel (NCC-72210), the USS Tourangeau (NCC-60113), and the USS Trumbull (NCC-72370) — all named for notable Star Trek contributors.
• Other ships listed include the USS John Kelly (NCC-97944), USS Hikaru Sulu (NCC-92420), USS Cochrane (NCC-86516), USS Sutherland (NCC-91800), USS Ganymede (NCC-80107), USS Callisto (NCC-90109), USS Venture (NCC-75306), USS Akira (NCC-62497), USS Huygens (NCC-90104), USS Thunderchild (NCC-63549), USS Resnik (NCC-97945), USS Firesword (NCC-64290), and many others.
• The USS Syracuse, the Galaxy-class ship which contributed its secondary hull to the reborn Enterprise-D, was first listed in a screen graphic in “Eye of the Beholder.”
• Approaching Frontier Day formations, comm traffic identifies the USS Pulaski, likely named for one-time Enterprise-D chief medical officer Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur).
• This isn’t the first time transporters have been used to manipulate a transportee’s genetic structure; Dr. Pulaski was restored from old age in “Unnatural Selection,” Picard and crew were reduced to teenage appearance in “Rascals,” Neelix and Tuvok were merged in “Tuvix,” and more.
• Geordi makes a sardonic mention of the Enterprise-E being unavailable for the rescue mission, leaving everyone looking to Worf: “That was not my fault,” says the Klingon. It’s a funny moment, though one that makes clear the story of the Enterprise-E’s end won’t be told this season.
• Another great moment from Ed Speleers is this soliloquy, which could portend the role he will play in the upcoming season finale. This is yet another great, unique take on that Borg in new Star Trek: “Funny. I’ve always known the world was imperfect. Broken systems. Wars. Suffering. Violence. Poverty. Bigotry. And I always thought if people could only see each other, hear each other – speaking one voice, act in one mind together – who knew a little cybernetic authoritarianism was the answer? But the Borg they don’t feel, don’t care? But I do. So how does the factor into this?” How indeed?

• Despite its ethereal look in this episode, the bridge of the Enterprise-D was a complete set build — from ceiling to floor — led by Star Trek: Picard production designer Dave Blass and art director Liz Kozlowski.
• This episode marks the first on-screen appearance of the Odyssey-class USS Enterprise-F, which was designed for the long-running Star Trek Online MMORPG game. (It was briefly shown in a screen graphic in “The Next Generation” during Raffi’s research on “The Red Lady.”)
• Picard references a Vulcan research academy called Keslovar as a potential treatment location for Jack. But the young man sees it as “a prison where they can mind meld and lobotomize the Borg from me.” We know Tuvok previously assisted Seven with stabilizing her Borg neural patterns via a mind meld in the episode “Infinite Regress” (referenced this season in “Dominion”), so it will be interesting to see if this comes into play in the season finale.
• The Borg Queen’s workshop on producing a Latin name for Jack included “Regenerati” (“rebirth”) and “Puer Dei” (“the child of God”).
• When Data asks Picard early in the episode if he would like him to “say something comforting,” it feels like the Data we have known and loved for decades, but a few scenes later we see the Lore-effect coming through in his newfound humor when he tells Geordi, “I hope we die quickly!” These moments are such a great evolution for the character. (An evolution also seen when he beautifully comforts Picard with a simple hand on his shoulder, which is embraced and appreciated by his friend and mentor. An incredible moment.)
• I seriously hope Elnor (Evan Evagora) was on leave from the USS Excelsior when it was destroyed in the Borg attack; we last saw the young Romulan assigned to the ship in Season 2 of Picard. (Also… with luck he isn’t off being assimilated right now!)
• The secret of Hangar Bay 12 was first referenced by Alandra La Forge as a potential option to her father in the episode “The Bounty.”
• Seven of Nine’s words of introduction to Data are “the robot’s right,” which, of course, is accompanied by an off-beat quizzical look from the updated synthetic.

• Elizabeth Shelby made her actual return to Trek as a captain in the Lower Decks episode “An Embarrassment of Dooplers,” though that episode did not feature actor Elizabeth Dennehy — here making her first reprisal of the character since 1990’s “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II.”
• Shoutout to Troi highlighting that “Jack, Alandra, Sidney… they’re our family, too,” knowing it’s going to take every trick in the book to get all of them through the season finale unscathed. 
• Picard’s joke about the Enterprise bridge carpet — filmed more than a year ago — is the perfect predicator of the social media faux-outrage regarding the lack of carpets on the Stargazer and Titan sets.
• The late Majel Barrett Roddenberry voices a Starfleet computer voice in this episode for the first time since the 2009 Star Trek film.
• Alice Krige returns to her role (in voice form only) as the Borg Queen for the first time in a live-action production since the Star Trek: Voyager finale in 2001. She previously voiced a hologram of the Borg Queen in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2’s “I, Excretus.” 
• Michael Dorn makes his 280th appearance in an episode of Star Trek as Worf, extending his record tally for the franchise. 
• The final two-episode block of Season 3 is directed by Terry Matalas, who previously directed four episodes of his show 12 Monkeys.
• This episode was written by Sean Tretta and Kiley Rossetter; Tretta co-wrote both “Disengage” and “No Win Scenario” this season while it’s Rossetter’s first Trek credit.

Sometimes an episode is all about the execution, and in “Võx,” we get a perfectly executed episode that helps us link and connect many of the season-long mysteries, while also setting the table for one final go-around in this fantastic season.

Jim Moorhouse is the creator of TrekRanks.com and the TrekRanks Podcast.
He can be found living and breathing Trek every day on Twitter as @EnterpriseExtra.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will conclude with “The Last Generation” on April 20 on Paramount+ in the United States and on CTV Sci Fi Channel and Crave in Canada — following the next day in the UK, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The series is also available on Amazon’s Prime Video service in most other international locations.