'Star Trek': The Story of the Most Daring Cliffhanger in 'Next Generation' History

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...fhanger-803642

Ron Moore, Jonathan Frakes and more reveal how writing themselves into a corner for "Best of Both Worlds" changed Trek forever: "All of us were quite thrilled they had the balls to leave Picard on the Borg cube."

In June 1990, many Trekkies considered the crew of the Enterprise-D pretenders to the throne.

Star Trek: The Next Generation was closing out its third season, and it was still struggling to step out of the shadow of Kirk's (William Shatner) Enterprise. That was about to change thanks to a daring cliffhanger pulled off in an era of television in which shocking deaths and major plot twists weren't par for the course.

When "Best of Both Worlds: Part I" aired 25 years ago this week, it was truly jarring to fans. The season three finale saw the return of The Borg, the seemingly unstoppable villain introduced a year earlier. The Borg captured Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and transformed him into Locutus of Borg, a de facto spokesperson for the collective consciousness. The episode ended with Picard's No. 1 Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) giving shocking order ("Mr. Worf, fire.") and the screen cutting to the words "To be continued...", something it had never done.

Written by Michael Piller and directed by Cliff Bole, "Best of Both Worlds" is arguably the most influential arc in Next Generation history. Along with "Best of Both Worlds: Part II" and its aftermath episode "Family," the story introduced layers of psychological complexity, bold storytelling and emotional depth the show had not yet explored.

[king of comedy]

That was a great episode.

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Star Trek's 'Best Of Both Worlds' Changed The Franchise Forever