Star Trek: Picard was originally going to be a Borg spin-off, according to Jonathan Del Arco

Star Trek: Picard was originally going to be a Borg spin-off, according to Jonathan Del Arco

As a die-hard Star Trek fan who’s spent countless hours navigating the final frontier, I must say, the revelation about Picard’s Borg roots was both thrilling and nostalgic. The thought of Picard facing off against his old nemesis, the Collective, added an extra layer of tension that made the series even more captivating.


Star Trek: Picard featured a significant presence of the Borg throughout the series, given that they were one of Admiral Picard’s [Patrick Stewart] most formidable adversaries. Consequently, confronting the Collective once more, which had transformed him into Locutus, added depth to the series. Interestingly, the extensive appearance of the Borg was due to the original plan for a spin-off series centered around the Borg, before Patrick Stewart agreed to star in Picard.

Jonathan Del Arco, who portrayed Hugh in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Picard, shared his experiences on Picard and how he became part of the series with Trekmovie. Interestingly, Del Arco revealed that he had discussions with Alex Kurtzman, executive producer James Duff, and another writer regarding the show, and it was Duff who expressed a strong desire to create a Borg spin-off for the series.

James was the showrunner on The Closer and Major Crimes and a very dear friend of mine and Jeri [Ryan]’s, and he had been hired to come very early on, one of the early executive producers and writers of a spin-off of Star Trek. We didn’t know what it was. There was no Picard yet. It was a spin-off of Star Trek. Alex Kurtzman, James Duff, and I believe maybe one other writer was involved at the time, and James really wanted it to be a Borg spin-off. That’s why he talked to Jeri and I, and really started talking to them about it being this Borg storyline. And somewhere within that he discussed it with us maybe a year before it even happened. And they didn’t have Patrick yet. So I think then they went and made the pitch to Patrick. But had Patrick not done it, some kind of show about the Borg would have happened. It would not have been Picard, it would have been a show about the Borg. And you can even tell how heavily Borg-influenced it was. So the Borg was really the the kernel, from what I understand of of the beginning of that idea.

Jonathan Del Arco

Despite the Borg being a formidable adversary, I doubt a spin-off series centered around them would have been successful, even though Jeri Ryan was considered for the role. This potential show might have featured Two former drones, Seven of Nine and Hugh, as the main characters. It could have revolved around their efforts to liberate more Borg drones or perhaps their ultimate goal of defeating the Borg once and for all.

Although I adore Hugh from The Next Generation and Ryan’s performance as Seven of Nine is consistently impressive (though we haven’t seen Star Trek: Legacy yet), it’s hard to imagine an entire series centered around the Borg would have been successful. Maybe I’m too narrow-minded, but the Borg has always been a recurring element in Star Trek shows, not the main focus. A show where every episode revolved around them might have been overkill.

Read More

2024-09-28 00:23

Previous post Phillip Schofield confesses he will ‘never work for ITV again’ despite I’m A Celebrity rumours as he calls Ant and Dec his ‘best friends’ following This Morning exit