"Star Trek: Picard" – Jonathan Frakes Talks Jean-Luc/Seven Borg Bond, Embracing Gene Roddenberry's Legacy & Evolving Beyond
One of the most definitive moments of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is his assimilation by the Borg in the two-parter "The Best of Both Worlds." Since then, the Trek franchise revisited his trauma multiple points during the remainder of the series' run. The most notable instances were during First Contact (1996) and Picard.
Bringing Two "Star Trek" Icons Together
Jonathan Frakes, who played Cmdr. William Riker in TNG revisited the former Starfleet admiral's link to the collective in the Picard episode "Stardust City Rag" on CBS All Access. It pitted meeting the former captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise with a life-long Borg drone who served onboard the U.S.S. Voyager, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). The director spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about what it meant to bring the two together.
Their Too Brief Meeting
Sure, Picard and Seven weren't the first assimilated nor the last, but they're the two most prominent. The Borg assimilated her as a child named Annika Hanson. She lived most of her life as a drone before Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Voyager freed her. The two had only, but a brief time to empathize with one another about their enslavement. Unfortunately, Starfleet's inactions for the Romulans had a far greater ripple effect. Seven found herself aligned with the Fenris Rangers as a vigilante.
Both Jean-Luc and Seven contrast in their paths. Jean-Luc struggles to make peace with his humanity after what he did as Locutus. Seven gives up on hers after humanity erased any peace she had left. Since contemporary Star Trek predicates more on internal conflicts, Frakes said it conflicts with Gene Roddenberry's original vision.
Frakes credits the current creators and writers for Stewart and Ryan's chemistry and powerful storytelling.
Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek" vs. "Star Trek" of Today
Frakes said allowing the writers to internalize the characters' struggles and building upon the foundation of Roddenberry's original vision creates more compelling TV.
Star Trek: Picard airs Wednesdays on CBS All Access.
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