Picard, in Ten Episodes

From Farpoint to the final poker game, the 10 episodes across The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard that define Patrick Stewart's captain, and where to stream them.

By Jeff Cameron November 3, 2026 4 min read

Photo: Paramount+

Jean-Luc Picard was a captain who won by thinking. Across seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and three of Star Trek: Picard, Patrick Stewart, who died on 28 October, built a hero whose decisive moments were arguments, hearings and long silences. These are the 10 episodes, in broadcast order, that hold the character together.

They are our picks, and they lean on Picard rather than the ensemble. For Stewart’s wider career, see our career tribute, our guide on where to start with Patrick Stewart and his people page.

The Next Generation

1. “Encounter at Farpoint” (season one, 1987). The two-hour premiere. Q puts humanity on trial, and Picard answers for the species on the bridge of a ship he has barely got to know. Picard’s first argument with Q runs, in one form or another, to the end.

2. “The Measure of a Man” (season two, episode nine, 1989). A Starfleet hearing must decide whether Data is a person or property, and Picard serves as his counsel. It first aired on 13 February 1989. The courtroom suits Stewart: the climax is a speech, not a phaser fight.

3. “The Best of Both Worlds,” Parts 1 and 2 (season three, episode 26, and season four, episode one, 1990). The Borg capture Picard and remake him as Locutus. Part 1 aired in June 1990 and left viewers with a summer to wait. Everything the later films and Picard do with his trauma starts here.

4. “Darmok” (season five, episode two, 1991). Stranded on a planet with an alien captain who speaks only in metaphor, Picard has to learn a language from the inside. It aired on 30 September 1991, and it plays almost as a two-hander.

5. “The Inner Light” (season five, episode 25, 1992). An alien probe gives Picard an entire life on a dying world, with a family and a flute, in the space of minutes. Morgan Gendel wrote it, and its last scene is one of the quietest in the series.

The harder years

6. “Chain of Command, Part II” (season six, episode 11, 1992). Captured on a covert mission, Picard is interrogated by a Cardassian officer who insists he see five lights where there are four. It aired on 21 December 1992. Watch Part I, episode 10, first.

7. “Tapestry” (season six, episode 15, 1993). Q offers Picard the chance to undo a reckless act from his youth, and shows him the cautious man he would have become. First broadcast on 15 February 1993, it is the episode that best explains why he takes risks.

8. “All Good Things…” (season seven, 1994). The finale moves Picard between three points in his life, with Q presiding again. It closed the series on 23 May 1994, and it ends at a poker table, a detail Picard would return to. Paramount+ lists it as episode 25.

Star Trek: Picard

9. “Remembrance” (season one, episode one, 2020). Twenty years after leaving the Enterprise, Picard is living on his vineyard in Labarre, France, having resigned from Starfleet in protest when it abandoned the Romulan relocation. Then a young woman whose face he has seen in one of Data’s paintings comes to him for help, and the series is off.

10. “The Last Generation” (season three, episode 10, 2023). The series finale reunites the old crew on a rebuilt Enterprise-D against the Borg, and ends with Picard pulling out a deck of cards for his friends. A close to the character that answers the finale of 1994.

Before and after

Short on time, watch the two Borg stories back to back: “The Best of Both Worlds” and “The Last Generation.” The 33 years between them are the arc of the character in miniature, from the captain who was taken to the old man who finally gets to choose how his story ends.

The four Next Generation films sit between the series and Picard; our guide to every Star Trek film in order covers them, and our guide to every Star Trek series in order maps the full franchise by market.

Where to watch

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994): Paramount+ · CA, US. UK, AU, NZ: check local listings.
Star Trek: Picard (2020 to 2023): Paramount+ · CA, US; also Crave and CTV Sci-Fi Channel · CA. StarTrek.com lists Prime Video for Picard outside the US and Canada; UK, AU, NZ: check local listings.

Sources

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