Synopsis: Picard destroys humanity, then saves them just in time for Voyager.

Memory Alpha Summary: The End

Review:  When lauded series get ready for their final episode, there is often a palpable tension amongst fans expecting to be blown away.  The stress for the writers to send things off with a satisfying bang has to be enormous.  And while this is certainly not the best series finale in television history, it’s quite solid and a worthy sendoff.

Having Q back was a must, and they got it right.

Having the episode center around Picard was a must, and they got it right.

Bringing back O’Brien and Tasha were solid ideas and the plot as written successfully allowed for it.

The touches with the past were done with great care.  Data’s babbling, Picard forgetting Worf isn’t security chief, and a subtle nod to Admiral Satie all showed how much care was put into this.  It was also nice to see future Geordi making fun of the technobabble.  “Captain, we’ve got a problem with the warp core, or the phase inducers…or some other damn thing.”

While there are a couple of continuity issues (even allowing for the fact that there was purposeful discontinuity between the three time periods), the major plot hole is that when the Pasteur created the anomaly, it should have only appeared for a brief time in the future, gotten smaller, and then disappeared (if it should have appeared at all).  Rather, it is shown getting bigger in the future as well, which goes against what Picard learns later.  However, it’s a minor quibble in what otherwise is a very well written episode.

Hearing Q say “all good things must come to an end” is as poignant a line as ever.

It’ s only fitting the show ends with one final poker game and Picard joining the senior officers.  The final line feels appropriate without being overly cheesy.

So, five-card stud, nothing wild… and the sky’s the limit.