WARNING: The article contains spoilers about the final episode of Star Trek: Picard titled "The Last Generation." Read at your own risk.
As we've witnessed throughout the final season of Star Trek: Picard, they brought back several actors from past Star Trek shows to reprise their respective roles for special guest appearances such as Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes), Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy), and many more.
The final episode was no exception as it featured cameo appearances from The Original Series actor Walter Koenig (as the voice of Federation President Anton Chekov), Tim Russ (as the real Tuvok), John de Lancie (as Q), and Alice Krige (as the voice of the Borg Queen).
However, as it turns out, the finale was supposed to feature more cameo appearances from familiar characters in Star Trek history as revealed by showrunner Terry Matalas in a roundtable interview with Screen Rant.
He revealed that characters such as Kathryn Janeway, Harry Kim, and Soji were originally going to make appearances in the final episode. Forbes was also supposed to return as Ro Laren and reveal that she actually survived the accident at the end of the fifth episode.
"There were characters I really wanted to see again. In the original finale script, it was a giant movie that we were building on a television time schedule... But there was a scene with Soji and Data that we could not afford to do and bring back another actor," Matalas said.
"There is a scene in which they found Ro Laren in the dungeons of the Intrepid with Tuvok and that she had survived we weren't able to pull off. Harry Kim had appeared at one point. We wanted Kate Mulgrew to be part of Seven of Nine's promotion."
It is unfortunate to hear that these plans did not end up happening since a lot of fans would have been delighted to see them in the series even for just a cameo, especially Janeway, who has been name-dropped several times throughout the season.
Despite that, there is still a possibility that those aforementioned characters could return in a potential spinoff that they set up during the final episode. If ever they push through with that idea, perhaps that could be their leeway to bring them back into the fold.
Also Read: Star Trek: Picard Finale Brings Back The Original Series Actor for Special Cameo
All episodes of Star Trek: Picard are available to stream on Paramount+.
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