Summary
- Star Trek: Picard season 3 allows Jean-Luc to have a family, something the Star Trek movies denied Kirk.
- By working through his childhood trauma, Jean-Luc develops a healthier relationship with his son and Beverly.
- Modern Star Trek shows challenge the idea of lonely captains, giving them lives beyond their Starfleet careers.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 gave Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) something that the Star Trek movies never gave to Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Picard season 3 reunited Jean-Luc with his USS Enterprise-D crew for another galaxy-saving adventure. In one of the season's most surprising reveals, Picard discovers that he has a son with Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). Now an adult, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) swoops into Picard's life, bringing back old memories, fears, and regrets for the former Enterprise captain.
James Kirk, too, got the chance to meet his adult son, David (Merritt Butrick), in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but their relationship was short-lived. David's mother, Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch), chose to raise David alone, intentionally keeping James out of his son's life. Not long after Kirk and David reconciled in Wrath of Khan, David was tragically killed in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Kirk never got the opportunity to get to know his son, a privilege that Jean-Luc Picard now has. Despite the fact that Beverly Crusher did not tell Jean-Luc about Jack, the three now have the opportunity to be a family.
