PICARD Season 3 Episode 9 BREAKDOWN - Ending Explained & Every Star Trek Easter Egg

Our Star Trek: PICARD Season 3 Episode 9 BREAKDOWN is here!

In Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 9, all the stops have been pulled out, and this basically isn’t a TV show anymore, but instead, a full-blown Next Generation movie. If you guessed some of the twists and turns in this season, that’s okay, because it’s the sweet nostalgia for TNG that’s gonna get you in the end.

Edited by Harriet Lengel-Enright, Randolf Nombrado, and Brianna McLarty

#StarTrek #Picard #EasterEggs

As Deanna tries to get Jack to open the red door in his mind, we hear the song “I Can’t Stop Crying, Over You.” [clip] This track is by Will Grove-White, and though it has an old-timey jazz feeling, it was, in fact, composed and recorded in the 21st century, and even was on the Fleabag soundtrack. Jack makes it seem like this song was something he remembered from Beverly’s playlist, which means if Jean-Luc liked this song — that might mean he was a fan of Fleabag.

[CLIP]

Deanna urges Jack to talk about the vines in his visions, saying they’re almost like neurons. This foreshadows a similar scene later in the episode where Jack is talking to spoiler alert–you know who.

Doug: Oh yeah, because back in episode 8, Vadic said that thing about how it was appropriate that Seven of Nine was there to learn the truth about Jack, so…

Yeah, but, let’s not go there yet…

Doug: And you know, Jack keeps talking about longing for connection, and you know, he’s able to like control people for short periods of time, like his own mini-Jack collective

Okay. You know what, actually, the spoiler is right at the top of the episode. Let’s just do it.

Doug: COOL

High five.

After Jack tries to avoid opening the red door, we get a memory of him going to the “crimson arboretum” on Raritan IV when he was a young child with his mom. “Crimson arboretum” is a reference to the “red forest” in 12 Monkeys, the big mystery box for that Terry Matalas show, while Raritan IV is a planet that the Stargazer visited at the beginning of Picard Season 2.

Doug: Oh so, like is this the nice Alison Pill Borg then from that season?

No. Not at all. [obi wan that doesn’t count] Actually, back in episode 4 of Picard Season 3, we were explicitly told to think of the Jurati Borg as separate, when Shaw said:[ “Forget all that weird shit on the Stargazer…the real Borg are still out there.”] Plus, Raritan is mostly a reference to Raritan, New Jersey, where Terry Matalas grew up, and also the site of the Raritan laboratories in 12 Monkeys.

[CLIP]

Anyway, after the red door does get answered, Troi runs away as fast as she can, and we later learn what she saw:

Doug: It’s the Borg. I knew it.

Yes we see a Borg Cube and we hear the Borg say [“we are the Borg.”]

As Picard and Beverly reel from the news, we hear quotes from the TNG classic “The Best of Both Worlds,” in which, Picard says, chillingly:

[C LIP]

Throughout the episode, we learn that the season-long obsession with Jack is all because his DNA contains organic Borg code, which can activate other people who have similar organic Borg code in their bodies. As Geordi later explains:

When we learn about Jack’s organic Borg transmitter status, the graphic on Geordi’s screen is that of a very specific diamond. This image has been teased in the Picard Season 3 credits since the first episode, and way back in episode 4, “No Win Scenario,” Jack was even fiddling with a straw in Ten Forward, turning it into a red diamond shape. On Twitter, Jörg Hillebrand noticed this a few weeks back, and wondered if Jack could be making this shape subconsciously, which of course, he is.

Doug: But how come Jack never noticed this before? How come he’s only now able to like control people’s bodies like a Borg Prince?

He is a Borg Prince and I’m glad you asked! In the past, Borg have assimilated people by putting nanoprobes into their bodies, but the idea that they modify someone’s body on the genetic level has been a part of Star Trek canon since “The Best of Both Worlds.” Geordi and Data reiterate that here when Geordi says:

[CLIP]

And Data says that the stuff in Picard’s old body that the Changelings stole was…

[CLIP]

[CLIP]

Doug: Okay, yeah, so it’s like a good old-fashioned TNG episode where Geordi and Data are explaining crazy things to us. Still doesn’t explain how Jack could like, assimilate people without nanoprobes. It’s not like some random officer on the Titan has some weirdo dormant Borg genetic code…

[FrenkMelk]

THAT. WAS. EMOTIONAL.

I'm so crushed that we're 9 weeks in and there's only one damn episode remaining. I want this to carry on interminably.

[ronnyandernie]

I like that Giordi is basically a dad who is semi-retired and is restoring old cars in a space garage. Maybe he hangs out w/ Tom Paris

[shawnmcvey]

This season has been a complete 180 from season 1. It's a love letter to TNG in the best way possible.

[triton]

I'm not a very emotional person when it comes to nostalgia, but knowing that the Ent-D was behind the bay 12 door before seeing the sillouette, the crew walking onto the bridge, and the Ent-D powering up and warping all made me shed many tears. TNG was a big part of my childhood and to this day, I think the Ent-D was the best Enterprise ever built. To see it back in action all these years later is something that warms my heart.

[vnxodxv]

Vadic's execution of a crew member in the prior episode was not random - she purposely killed an older Vulcan rather than a younger member who would be assimilated.

[jrd]

Small tidbit during an episode of voyager titled “dark frontier” seven was taken back to the Borg queen where she was told “traditional assimilation” didn’t work on humanity and the Borg would use a virus that they would use to infect humanity slowly and by the time they figured out, it would be too late. This is exactly what we are seeing during this episode. I thought that was cool Easter egg

[BasedF-Pilot]

This has been the most emotional episode of trek I can remember, maybe ever. Matalas is a Saint sent by the Trek gods to save us all from Kurtzman.

[tiffanysmith]

Those last 10 minutes were undeniably the best trek nostalgia ever. I teared up

[danknight]

Not afraid to admit that as a 49yo man, seeing them all on the bridge of the Enterprise D again made me cry. This season has been sensational. The TNG crew putting the recent Star Trek shows in their place.

[romigithepope]

“Let history never forget the name… Enterprise” In a few moments, all the hope and positivity from the 80s and 90s Trek came flooding back.

[krissyt-rutf]

Love the “Picard maneuver” as he sits in the captain’s chair despite not wearing the old uniform.

[NoeChannel]

Yay! I made it into the video! ❤🎉😂😅. I'm the Vulcan crew guy who got assimilated and walking the hallway! It was super cool to work the show. Im a big fan and I love following your work here on Screen Crush!

[tamlynhart]

I cried like a baby and cried again watching this recap. I just LOVE this whole season so much! RIP to Captain Shaw. He was such a great character and a welcome addition to the story with his acerbic wit and irreverence for the past heroics of Picard and Riker. We need more of his type in Star Trek.

[aceman]

The CBS Set crew had a lot of help from the Enterprise D Bridge Restoration Project as well, who are the custodians of the Original TNG bridge set and its original blueprints. The Bridge set itself is on tour and shows up at Conventions.

[LightningStrm]

There was a person that announced during the "Synchronization Technology" speech that the "USS Pulaski" was online. It's right after Shelby says "Demonstrate our newest technology, Fleet Formation" then it happens. I was pretty proud of hearing that myself before seeing any videos about it online.

[MusicOverMyHead]

I don’t know how you manage to get these videos out so fast. At this point I look forward to your videos just as much as the episodes themselves.

[KyMirabel]

In Best of Both Worlds II, they mention that there have been DNA changes in Picard's parietal lobe, the same part of the brain removed from the stolen body of Picard.

Also, Jack seeing the vines in the transporters in one of the earlier episodes foreshadowed he was sensing the code in the transport beams.

The red door could be a callback to First Contact and the red door Picard walks through in the final act to confront the Borg Queen.

[pacman_]

Majel Barrett as the computer's voice was a nice touch

[MAFion]

Here's a couple more: We had a USS Pulaski among the ships (Diana Muldar retired from acting long ago). And the USS Gilgamesh (an easter egg to Picard's story in "Darmok"). It was awesome to see Shelby return. I'd love to see O'Brien still. There's hope yet.

[kerimbozkurt]

I am happy to see Dr.Pulaski honored ❤

Also, they should check the holo decks, I wonder if Lt.Barclay still hangs out there…