Star Trek Actors & Showrunner Hilariously Mock A Picard Low Point

Published Oct 15, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT

John Orquiola is a TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises.

Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, and showrunner Terry Matalas hilariously mock one of the low points in Star Trek: Picard season 2.

Matalas shared co-showrunner duties on Star Trek: Picard season 2 with Akiva Goldsman. Mainly set in 2024 Los Angeles, the scene in question took place in Star Trek: Picard season 2, episode 6, "Two of One," which Jonathan Frakes directed. "Two of One" ends with the evil Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner) running over Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) with his car.

• 

• 

Terry Matalas was a guest on Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner's Dropping Names... And Other Things podcast, where the trio reminisced about Adam Soong's vehicular homicide attempt on Jean-Luc Picard. Spiner and Frakes specifically raised it because they knew it was one of Matalas' least favorite beats in Star Trek: Picard season 2, and their takedown of the scene is hilarious:

Jonathan Frakes: “Wait, it violated your sense of truth?”

Terry Matalas: “It violated my sense of decent storytelling and character.”

Brent Spiner: “Well, I didn’t write it.”

Terry Matalas: “Think about it: what are the great Star Trek moments? Well, there’s Kirk: ‘Khaaaaaan!’ There’s the Borg. And then there is when Brent Spiner hit Patrick Stewart with a car. I think you just wanted to hit Patrick with a car.”

Brent Spiner: :”Well, that’s the only note I gave. ‘I would like to hit Patrick with a car…’ while wearing a tuxedo.”

Terry Matalas: “I wanna look cool doing it.”

Watch Terry Matalas on Dropping Names... And Other Things:

Earlier in Star Trek: Picard season 2's "Two of One," Adam Soong confronted Jean-Luc Picard at a NASA gala, before the ancestor of Data's creator decided to try to murder the elderly admiral with his luxury automobile. Matalas is right that the attempted homicide was absurd; even though Spiner was playing a different character, to the audience, it still reads as Data trying to run Picard over with a car.

To be fair, "Two of One" also had some shining moments as well. Allison Pill, playing Dr. Agnes Jurati under the thrall of the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching), sang Pat Benatar's "Shadows of the Night" in a showstopping number. Patrick Stewart also had a lovely scene where Jean-Luc counsels his ancestor, Renée Picard (Penelope Mitchell), encouraging her to pilot an historic space flight.

Star Trek: Picard season 2 is generally considered the weakest of the series, with season 3 acclaimed as not just Picard's best, but arguably the single finest season of Paramount+'s Star Trek shows. Matalas took the reins as Picard season 3's sole showrunner, and wisely consulted Star Trek: The Next Generation's actors on their characters to deliver what Frakes and Spiner affectionately call "TNG season 8."

Terry Matalas' success with Picard season 3 led to him executive producing VisionQuest for Marvel Studios. However, Star Trek is forever dear to Matalas' heart, and he would return to the final frontier if Skydance called. For now, it's great fun to see Terry, Brent, and Jonathan trade stories about Star Trek: Picard's highs and laugh about its lows.

Star Trek: Picard is streaming on Paramount+