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Picard's Jonathan del Arco discusses that hug, Hugh’s journey, and inspiration

Credit: James Dimmock / CBS

This interview contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard 's seventh episode, "Napenthe," and has been edited for clarity.

While the character of Hugh has become something of a classic in any Star Trek context, it's easy to forget how little Jonathan del Arco's iconic character appeared on the screen. After all, he's only in two episodes of The Next Generation (and his role in the lackluster "Descent, Part II" is arguably entirely forgettable). The fact is that del Arco's performance in a single episode, "I, Borg," is so iconic that it has resonated with generations of viewers.

Now, in Picard , the Uruguayan-American actor is back in the Star Trek universe playing Hugh, and he's a far cry from the innocent teenage Borg we saw all those years ago. This Hugh (a straight line from where we last saw him in "Descent") is older, wiser, and much, much more jaded. But he's found a purpose in helping his fellow Borg, and new inspiration thanks to his meeting with Jean-Luc Picard.

SYFY FANGRRLS sat down with Jonathan del Arco via video conference to ask him about his thoughts on Hugh's future, that incredibly emotional reunion, and his role in Star Trek: Picard .

You're an activist for LGTBQ+ rights and immigrant rights. What did it mean for you to be able to tell this story right now?

So much. I mean, Alex [Kurtzman is] on the front lines of giving voice to a lot of things, and gay characters or gay actors being a part of the storytelling has always been a part of that aesthetic. And I've been very appreciative of that.

So as a gay man — I'm not playing a gay character, but to be able to play Hugh again with all the things I carry as a gay man and that I can put into my work is a great pleasure.

Credit: Trae Patton / CBS

After Hugh's first episode of Star Trek: Picard aired, you talked about how your original performance was based on your partner, who had recently passed away because of AIDS. Did you draw on those experiences again for this older Hugh, or was it something different this time?

I based [Hugh] on my partner that died, and you know, it wasn't a conscious choice. I was reading the script and I was newly widowed, maybe a year fresh off a loss, and a traumatic loss, because AIDS was not only horrible, but back in the day it was horrible on every level, social, every aspect of your life got ruined.

And when he had dementia, he was such an incredibly open-hearted innocent. And that was the sense of wonderment, and that was the voice I heard when I read the script. And so I played Hugh like him in that state, you know. So he has a lot of personal meaning for me.

It's in a weird way, I have processed my personal mourning of that loss. Obviously it's been 30 years, but in a way, a small amount of him lives on in Hugh and the original Hugh, and even today on the cruise, I'm still signing photos from "I, Borg." They like the new photos, but they still want the old one, you know, of Hugh.

It has a very special place in people's hearts, you know? And I think as an actor, when you tap into something real, that's a real human emotion. It took me this long to share my tricks behind the camera, how I got there emotionally. But I think we respond to that as audiences. We identify with loss. That's why the narrative is so effectual, affecting to people, is that I was using very real things that everyone can identify with, you know?

This time Hugh, to me, was more like myself. I was the survivor. I was a survivor. Right? You live with survivor's guilt, you manage your life, you move on.

The scene where my guys get shot at, I did use a lot of my feelings about having lost a lot of my friends and how incredibly crumbling that is, and psychologically destroying a person. I mean, there's probably the worst thing that could have happened to Hugh was to see people under his watch perish, you know?

Credit: Justin Lubin/CBS

It's a direct line from where we last saw him in "Descent, Part II," where Hugh is so disillusioned.

Yeah. It's ironic. It's ironic because "Descent," which was the one I didn't like at all compared to "I, Borg" — I thought it was just not in the same quality and realm. But ironically, if it weren't for that episode, I would probably never been in Picard , because it really set the stage for our next steps.

I'm sure you've been asked at countless Star Trek conventions what you thought Hugh's future might be. How does where he ended up in Star Trek: Picard line up with that?

I think it's very much in line. I think it's very, very much in line to how we left him in Next Gen , in terms of his sense of responsibility to his community, you know? And it really lines up with my own life, to be honest with you. It's very much who Hugh is, very much.

I fully admit I'd like to be a little bit more brave, as brave as he is, I think he's very brave as a person, and self-sacrificing. I don't think I'm quite at that place. I think he's a self-sacrificing being as evidenced by the scene. So yeah, I couldn't be happier with how he presented.

We got an emotional reunion between Jean-Luc and Hugh, one that was pretty perfect. You said on Twitter that the hug wasn't scripted and you asked if you could do it. Can you talk a little about your thought process there?

Yeah, it was what was a very small part of the script, which is always interesting to me, because sometimes the small parts that are written out have the most potential for interpretation. And I just had a sense about that. It's literally like a quarter of a page in the script where he's getting pulled by the ex-Bs and I show up and we have some niceties with each other and we were rehearsing it.

With Patrick, I was already getting a feeling of, like, I would like to see my dad again, who's been gone for 17 years, and just starting to feel that way about Patrick and seeing Picard again. And Hugh seeing Picard again.

When we were discussing what to do with the scene, Patrick said we need to greet, we should have some kind of greeting or something. And I said, "Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to hug you." And I had in mind that hug you see at international airports when people haven't seen each other in 20 years, you know, that passionate desire to touch the loved one, you know, and both of them so needy of it, right?

Hugh hadn't had human contact in that way probably ever, if not for a very long time, certainly since he's been on the Cube. And so yeah, that's what I thought. And then we rehearsed it and our director came back a little misty-eyed, and she goes, "Okay, that's really, really beautiful, we're going to do that." And so we did it and I had a feeling when we shot it, it would be one of those moments, I think I said to the director, "You just shot a classic Star Trek moment." She goes, "Really?" I'm like, "I think you did. I think it's a classic Star Trek moment because of that hug," you know? So yeah, it was great. I'm glad it worked out.

Credit: CBS All Access

It is a classic. Especially because I think Patrick Stewart — who is such an incredible actor — there's such pure joy in his response, which you don't see often from Picard.

Here's what funny. I didn't see that until I watched the clip because I was hugging him and couldn't see his face, so I had no idea what was going on. It's very moving to me as an audience to watch that laugh. He's like, "Oh, you're being loved." It was very powerful. The child is back, we all become children when we are around our parents.

Let's talk about that last scene. We say goodbye to Hugh in this episode of Star Trek: Picard . It's hard to see his death, given what he's been through and how much of a fan favorite Hugh is.

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think that's what makes the great television, and that loss, I think, will be felt by the fans and anyone watching, especially in context to last week's episode, where I get to finally see my dad again, if you will. I think that they did a beautiful job setting the deck up for that moment to happen, because I think the loss will be felt.

I want people to feel what they feel and process their feelings about it, because I'm sure there will be plenty. Because I think when you have characters that are a part of your life for such a long time, and you have ownership of them — I just want them to know that I'm okay, you know? And that I'm very happy with the work, and I feel like we did a great job and the series is great and that they should keep watching it and enjoying it the way I will.

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“it was a devastating day:” how ‘star trek’ actor crafted surprising scene.

'Star Trek: Picard' actor Jonathan Del Arco's Third of Five, whom Picard helped free from his nemesis’ collective 28 years ago.

By Phil Pirrello

Phil Pirrello

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[This episode contains spoilers for  Star Trek: Picard ,  season one, episode seven.]

RIP, Hugh. Jonathan Del Arco’s Third of Five, a former Borg (or “Ex-B”) that Picard helped free from his nemesis’ collective 28 years ago in the classic  Star Trek : The Next Generation  episode “I, Borg,” was killed in “Nepenthe,” the seventh episode of  Star Trek: Picard . And in a tragic dose of irony, the fan-favorite character died aboard that from which he was set free — a Borg cube — moments after helping his liberator escape. 

Star Trek fans are on the verge of obsessive behavior (reference!) when it comes to all things Hugh, and this was not lost on the actor when  The Hollywood Reporter  recently spoke to him about Hugh’s impact on the franchise and how lucky he was to shoot Hugh’s final moments the way he did — which he learned was coming much later than one would expect. 

“I didn’t know until I was almost getting ready to shoot it,” Del Arco revealed. Whereas actors on shows like  Game of Thrones  had more advanced warning on being told when their characters were going to sign off permanently, Del Arco actually liked getting the head’s up when he did. 

“It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know way early because, the moment I did find out — which, of course, I was upset — it actually ended up liberating my work quite a bit. I mean, I was able to prepare — there were phone calls with [executive producer] Michael [Chabon] and everyone early on — but basically, I realized I had X amount of scenes and moments in which to work and do all the things I wanted to do with the character. And take some risks as an actor. And so, in a way, it was helpful, because, like when you know your character is going to die — the way humans know they are going to die in real life — you kind of live for the moment. And that’s what I was able to do building up to the scene.” 

Hugh’s death scene took place on a very emotionally taxing day that brought with it some physical pain as well.

“I got a cornea scratch from the contact lens I was wearing,” Del Arco explained, “so I was basically not supposed to be on set that day at all. But we had to get it done, though I was kind of blind. I couldn’t really see anything.”

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Despite the eye injury and the drama of the scenes, Del Arco said he was able to find comfort in between takes by listening to music. But the scene that arguably proved more tasking on him, however, was that which leads up to Hugh’s actual death — where the Executive Director of the Borg Reclamation Project is forced to silently, painfully, watch the duplicitous Narissa execute his fellow “Ex-B’s” as she interrogates him for Picard and Soji’s location. Tonally, the cold-blooded executions feel more out of a drama like  Schindler’s List , and not  Star Trek , with the former providing a certain historical context that Del Arco tapped into for his performance. 

“The bulk of my research for the show, actually, was on Holocaust survivors. I listened to hours of interviews with survivors, and researched the psychology of survivors — and, having lived through the AIDS crisis, and watching friends die — I used my experience there as well. It was a devastating day to shoot.” 

As emotionally grueling as the scene was, which the actor shot during a seven-hour period, Del Arco gave each take everything he had.

“I definitely had a couple of martinis on the way home,” Del Arco said, jokingly. “I have very few lines in that scene — Narissa has all the dialogue — so I’m mostly reactive. It wasn’t scripted for me to sob at all at that point, but I did it — and every single time we had to shoot that scene, I lost my shit.”

The episode’s director, Doug Aarniokoski, was concerned for his actor — especially since Del Arco gave 100 percent even when he was off-camera. And while he appreciated the director’s mindfulness there, Del Arco was “superstitious that that energy was going to go away, that level of performance, so I wanted to ‘stay in the zone.’ And then we shot the remaining final two scenes.” Del Arco also remarked how grateful he was that the production scheduled his scenes in sequence, so that his death would be his final one, as some shows do not always accommodate that. 

What wasn’t fun, Del Arco admits, was ultimately having to say goodbye to a character he has played for almost 30 years — he was the only  Next Generation  guest star actor to be asked back (so far) to be on  Picard . 

But being able to complete his character’s arc was among Del Arco’s favorite experiences of his time in  Star Trek . 

“Another that really stands out for me — and I know is sort of one of the iconic scenes in  Star Trek  history, a favorite of fans — is the one with me and Sir Patrick [Stewart] in [Picard’s Ready Room] from ‘I, Borg,’ where Hugh recognizes him as Locutus. And another would be reuniting with Patrick [on  Picard ] for our first scene together in years. I’ll always cherish those and my friendship with Patrick.”

New episodes of  Star Trek: Picard  are available Thursdays on CBS All Access.

How 'Star Trek: Picard' Director Jonathan Frakes Crafted That Surprising Scene

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Jonathan Del Arco Shares a Message With Fans

The actor sat down to discuss the latest episode

SPOILER WARNING : Make sure you're caught up on the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard.

Actor Jonathan Del Arco, who played Hugh in both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard , talks about Hugh's climactic moment in the most recent episode of Star Trek: Picard and shares a message for the fans.

Star Trek: Picard streams on CBS All Access in the United States,  in Canada on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and OTT service Crave, and on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories.

Hugh (pronounced "Hue"), formerly Third of Five , was a former Borg drone who was rescued by the USS Enterprise -D in 2368 . Once again joining the Enterprise to fight against rogue Borg led by Lore in 2370 , by 2399 he had come to serve a prominent position as a part of the Borg Artifact Research Institute , identifying as an xB like those aboard the Artifact .

• 2 Newfound individuality
• 3 After the Enterprise -D
• 4 Working with the Romulans
• 5.1 Appearances
• 5.2 Background information
• 5.3 Apocrypha
• 5.4 External links

The Borg scout ship, where Hugh was found in 2368

Hugh was found in the Argolis Cluster at the crash site of a Borg scout ship .

Hugh himself was critically injured, and was brought back to the Enterprise -D for medical attention by Dr. Beverly Crusher under protest from Captain Picard . Upon arriving on the Enterprise -D, Hugh was placed in the brig and kept under guard at all times. He had trouble adapting to his new environment, having been cut off from the resources of the Collective for the first time in his life. Where there had been millions of voices in his head, there was now only his own. Dr. Crusher eventually nursed him back to health, and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge found a way to nourish the drone similar to the regeneration alcoves on a Borg ship.

Captain Picard saw this as an opportunity to destroy the Borg once and for all. He ordered La Forge and Lieutenant Commander Data to devise a method to destroy the Collective through an implanted program or file in Hugh, much as Data had done to a Borg cube through Captain Picard (as Locutus ) two years earlier. Dr. Crusher did not agree with this course of action, because they were talking about exterminating an entire race – even if it was the Borg.

Newfound individuality

Hugh examines Livingston in Captain Picard's ready room

As Hugh spent more time with the Enterprise -D crew , he learned many things. La Forge taught him that Humans did not want to be assimilated into the Collective, which contradicted what Hugh had been taught by the Collective. La Forge gave Hugh his name, through a mispronunciation of the word "you", and became Hugh's first ever friend. Guinan , who originally wanted nothing to do with Hugh, taught him that resistance was not futile. Guinan's homeworld had been destroyed long ago by the Borg, but the fact that Guinan was still alive was proof of her lessons to Hugh.

Picard eventually confronted Hugh. Hugh immediately recognized Picard as Locutus, and Picard took the role of Locutus while talking to Hugh, to simulate the authority that Hugh was used to. However, La Forge, Guinan, Dr. Crusher, and other members of the Enterprise -D crew had had a profound effect on Hugh. When Picard reminded him that resistance was futile, Hugh replied that resistance was not futile. When Picard told Hugh that La Forge would be assimilated, Hugh stated that La Forge did not wish to be assimilated. When Picard said that this was irrelevant, Hugh specifically said that he (as Hugh used the word " I " rather than "we"; his second use of a singular pronoun) would not assist in the assimilation of La Forge. Picard was stunned that a Borg drone would say such things.

Picard decided that he could not send Hugh back with the file that would destroy the Borg. He offered Hugh asylum on board the Enterprise -D, but Hugh said that the Collective would not stop looking for him until they found him. Hugh agreed to go back to the crash site, and to be taken back into the Collective, to protect the Enterprise -D from harm. ( TNG : " I Borg ")

After the Enterprise -D

Hugh's newfound sense of individuality proved to be almost as deadly to the Collective as any file stored in his memory could be. His experiences on board the Enterprise -D were spread to other drones, and eventually Hugh's cube fell into a complete state of disarray. The Borg's sense of shared identity had been disrupted, and they were no longer able to function. The Collective disconnected Hugh's ship from the hive mind and left the cube drifting in space until 2370 , when it was discovered by Lore , Data's brother . Lore took advantage of the confused drones and assumed leadership of the group. He brought order to chaos, and allowed the drones to maintain their individuality but was able to control them. Lore "promised" to create the Borg crew in his image, running tests on various drones, leaving them with awful injuries.

Hugh disapproved of Lore's leadership, finally realizing that Lore had no clue how to keep his promise to the drone crew, and while Lore had acquired a ship and had built a base on a remote planet, Hugh took a group of drones underground and became a leader himself. Hugh and the drones loyal to him assisted the Enterprise -D crew in rescuing Picard, La Forge, and Troi and recapturing Data from Lore. ( TNG : " Descent ", " Descent, Part II ")

Working with the Romulans

Hugh eventually became an " xB ", as former Borg drones were called, with most of his implants removed; he also became a Federation citizen .

By 2399 , he had been named executive director of the Borg Reclamation Project based at "the Artifact ", a derelict Borg cube controlled by the Romulan Free State . While serving the project, Hugh became disturbed by the dismissive treatment of his fellow xBs after they were severed from the Collective. He clarified to Soji Asha that xBs had by now become the most despised people in the galaxy , seen either as property to be exploited or hazards to be warehoused – or both, in the case of the Romulans. However, it was also Soji who impressed him with her empathy toward a recently severed Romulan xB, when she spoke to him in Romulan even though he was still unconscious. Soji stated that she was merely putting Hugh's own ideas on the treatment of xBs into practice. Soji's act of respect netted her Hugh's permission to interview the xB Ramdha , which he had previously denied her because of Ramdha's fragile state of mind. Although initially pleased with Soji's progress, Hugh's concerns were ultimately validated when the mentally disordered Ramdha became hysterical and attempted suicide , which was only narrowly averted thanks to Soji. ( PIC : " The End is the Beginning ", " The Impossible Box ")

Jean-Luc Picard arrived at the Artifact sometime later looking for Soji, meeting Hugh again for the first time in nearly thirty years. Hugh showed Picard the facilities in which he helped the xBs attempt to reclaim their lives after the removal of their implants, believing that as an xB himself, Picard would be an advocate for better treatment for former Borg.

Hugh knew that a Romulan spy, Narek , had arrived at the Artifact two weeks before Picard, trying to find out about Soji, and offered Picard his help without hesitation. When Soji's android abilities were activated and she fled from Narek and the Zhat Vash , Hugh took Picard and Soji into the old cube's queencell and used its spatial trajector to teleport them to Nepenthe , while Picard's sworn protector, a young Romulan named Elnor , remained behind with Hugh to cover their escape. ( PIC : " The Impossible Box ")

Hugh was interrogated by Narek's sister, Narissa , who coldly had the xBs executed when he refused to give up Picard's location; she only refrained from killing Hugh herself because of the treaty with the Federation. Hugh felt that he had failed the xBs, and ultimately decided to deny the Romulans the cube by activating the queencell. However, as this was a treaty violation as well as an act of insurrection, Narissa now felt justified in killing him, and mortally wounded him with a knife thrown into his neck.

Hugh's final words

Before he died, Hugh told Elnor that he needed an xB to activate the queencell, and thanked him for letting him briefly be a "hopeful fool" again. ( PIC : " Nepenthe ")

Appearances

• " Descent " (on display)
• " Descent, Part II "
• " The End is the Beginning "
• " The Impossible Box "
• " Nepenthe "

Background information

Hugh was played by actor Jonathan Del Arco . Hugh's designation used the ordinal "Third," while the Star Trek: Voyager character Seven of Nine used the cardinal "Seven." The concept behind Hugh was used by the creative staff of Voyager in the form of One . He stated on Twitter that his species was Human. [1]

The name "Hugh" is a pun, as it sounds like the English word "you," conveying the message of individuality. In the original German TV frame, this pun was only partially transferred, as he was consistently called "Du" ("You" in English). In repeated airings, as well as on the DVD , the name was changed to "Hugh." In the Italian version the pun was transferred: the Borg was called Thug, as it sounds similar the Italian word "tu" (you). In the Japanese version, the you/Hugh pun did not make sense and he is instead given the name "Blue." In the Czech version, the pun was transferred by calling him "Tim" which is very similar in pronunciation to the Czech word "ty" meaning "you". In the French version, Hugh is called "Lou".

As Hugh's character was written before the expanded information about the Borg revealed in Star Trek: Voyager , which states that all Borg are assimilated and do not reproduce as suggested in the episode TNG : " Q Who ", there is no canon mention of who Hugh was before he was assimilated, nor any attempts to reassert this identity after he was freed from the collective as is seen in all Borg characters who are liberated from the hive mind. In keeping with this, he continues to be known simply as Hugh even as long after his liberation from the Collective as of 2399.

Hugh appears in the Shatnerverse novel Avenger , where his group of Borg are able to save the resurrected Captain James T. Kirk by removing the Borg nanites that were damaging his system after his rebirth.

Hugh meets the crew of the USS Enterprise -E in the novel Greater than the Sum , where he sacrifices himself to help the Enterprise stop a new group of Borg created by the evolution of a Borg cube and the assimilation of Admiral Kathryn Janeway .

Hugh appears in the Star Trek Online (STO) expansion "Delta Rising" as a leader of the Cooperative . The Cooperative is a faction of liberated Borg drones whose mission is primarily to free more drones from the Collective. While the Cooperative shares the Collective's goal of achieving perfection, they do not force it upon anyone and any Borg they liberate is free to choose what they want to do afterwards, including returning to the Collective. As Icheb was removed from the game following his death in Star Trek: Picard , Hugh was removed as well.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Millennium , it is mentioned in an alternate timeline that Hugh and Seven negotiated a treaty between the Borg and the Federation in 2390 .

External links

• Hugh at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Hugh at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• 1 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)
• 3 Daniels (Crewman)

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Star Trek Designing Starships: Deep Space Nine & Beyond Review: a Deep Dive Into Shuttlecraft of the Gamma Quadrant

Robert Beltran Is Officially Returning to Star Trek as Chakotay on ‘Prodigy’ + More Casting News

Robert Beltran Says He’s Returning to Star Trek in ‘Prodigy’

Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating talk ‘Enterprise’, their relationship with Star Trek in 2023 and their first live ‘Shuttlepod Show’

John Billingsley Talks Life Since Star Trek: Enterprise, Going to Space and Turning Down Lunch with Shatner and Nimoy

Here’s Our Best Look Yet at Hugh’s New Look in Star Trek: Picard

Leading up to the premiere of Star Trek: Picard in less than a month, we now have our best look yet at the former Borg drone Hugh’s new look in the series.

First seen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “I, Borg,” Hugh is once again played by actor Jonathan Del Arco in Star Trek: Picard . He now appears without his cybernetic components that were part of his look previously — aside from a few stray pieces peeking through his flesh.

Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh in Star Trek: Picard (TVLine/CBS All Access)

(image via TVLine )

In addition to his featured role in “I, Borg,” Del Arco also played Hugh in TNG’s sixth season finale “Descent” and the seventh season premiere “Descent, Part II.”

Hugh, as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation (CBS)

The first season of Star Trek: Picard  will debut on January 23, 2020  on CBS All Access and will be available in more than 200 countries and territories on January 24, 2020 through Amazon Prime Video. The series will star Patrick Stewart as he returns to the role of Jean-Luc Picard, alongside Isa Briones , Santiago Cabrera , Michelle Hurd , Alison Pill , Harry Treadaway and Evan Evagora . The series will also gueststar  Star Trek: The Next Generation alum Jonathan Frakes (William Riker), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Data/B4), Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh the Borg) along with Star Trek: Voyager ‘s Jeri Ryan (Annika Hansen/Seven of Nine).

Stewart, along with Star Trek Universe chief Alex Kurtzman ,  Michael Chabon , Akiva Goldsman , James Duff , Heather Kadin , Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth will act as executive producers on the first season of the series.

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Short Treks . Connect with us at  @TrekNewsNet on Twitter , @TrekNews on Facebook , and @TrekNews on Instagram .

Karl Hamann

December 24, 2019 at 4:48 pm

Looking forward to this! Happy New Year to all Trekkians!

January 17, 2020 at 8:29 pm

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“The Last Flight of the Protostar, Part I“ After many episodes of searching, the former crew of the Protostar are reunited with their precious...

• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired May 9, 1992

The Enterprise finds a lone Borg drone, separated from the collective, and brings him aboard. The drone begins to reassert his individuality, but his presence causes differing levels of fear... Read all The Enterprise finds a lone Borg drone, separated from the collective, and brings him aboard. The drone begins to reassert his individuality, but his presence causes differing levels of fear and sympathy from various crew members. The Enterprise finds a lone Borg drone, separated from the collective, and brings him aboard. The drone begins to reassert his individuality, but his presence causes differing levels of fear and sympathy from various crew members.

• Robert Lederman
• Gene Roddenberry
• René Echevarria
• Brannon Braga
• Patrick Stewart
• Jonathan Frakes
• LeVar Burton
• 23 User reviews
• 11 Critic reviews

Top cast 21

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard

• Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

• Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge

• Lieutenant Worf

• Dr. Beverly Crusher

• Counselor Deanna Troi

• Lieutenant Commander Data

• Third of Five …

• Ensign Gates
• (uncredited)
• Crewman Nelson
• Crewman Garvey
• Crewman Martinez
• Ensign Kellogg

• Operations Division Ensign

• Science Division Officer
• Crewman Diana Giddings
• Command Ensign
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia In a 2002 TV Guide Magazine commemorating the 35th anniversary of Star Trek (1966) , I, Borg ranked 5th among the greatest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) .
• Goofs In the scene in which Geordi names 3rd of 5 "Hugh", 3rd of 5 asks, "Do I have a name?" Rather than, "Do we have a name?"

Third of Five : We are Borg.

Guinan : Aren't you gonna tell me you have to assimilate me?

Third of Five : You wish to be assimilated?

Guinan : No, but that's what you... things do, isn't it?

[the Borg nods]

Guinan : Resistance is futile?

Third of Five : Resistance is futile.

Guinan : It isn't. My people resisted when the Borg came, to assimilate us. Some of us survived.

Third of Five : Resistance... is not futile?

Guinan : No. But thanks to you, there are very few of us left. We're scattered throughout the galaxy. We don't even have a home anymore.

Third of Five : What you are saying... is that you are lonely.

Guinan : What?

Third of Five : You have no others. You have no home. We... are also lonely.

• Connections Featured in Trek Nation (2011)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews 23

• dirtyspamer
• Apr 14, 2010
• May 9, 1992 (United States)
• Official site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 46 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Star Trek: Picard - What To Know About Hugh, The Former Borg Drone

Hugh is unlike other Borg, and his part of the story in Star Trek: Picard seems like it'll be important.

By Phil Hornshaw on March 26, 2020 at 10:41AM PDT

Star Trek: Picard 's first season is now complete , and through its 10-episode run, it sees several Trek characters return, both from The Next Generation and other series. Jean-Luc Picard 's second officer aboard the Enterprise, Data , has already been shown to have a big influence, and Star Trek: Voyager 's former-Borg crewmember, Seven of Nine , plays a role in Episode 5 , " Stardust City Rag ." In Episode 3, " The End is the Beginning ," we saw another returning character from previous shows: Hugh, another former Borg who appeared on The Next Generation.

Hugh's presence on Star Trek: Picard was a pretty big deal. He and Jean-Luc shared the experience of being part of the Borg, but were eventually freed from the Collective. And Hugh and Picard shared another bond because of their experiences aboard the Enterprise. In a big way, Hugh changed Picard's perceptions of the Borg, and their meeting on TNG had profound effects on the way the Federation interacted with the cybernetic beings in later encounters. Picard might have destroyed the Borg for good, if not for Hugh.

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Now Playing: Star Trek: Picard Episode 3 "The End Is the Beginning" Breakdown & Easter Eggs

Regaining Individuality

Picard first met Hugh in TNG Season 5, in an episode called "I, Borg." The Enterprise discovered a crashed Borg ship, with four of its five inhabitants dead. Hugh, then designated Third of Five, survived, and Picard chose to beam him aboard the Enterprise. Dr. Crusher saved the Borg's life, and Picard and the crew began to formulate a plan.

They knew the Borg would not leave any drone behind and would eventually return to find Hugh and the other Borg from the ship, to either reclaim them or destroy their bodies. Knowing that, Picard figured that it might be possible to send Hugh back with some kind of computer virus that would infiltrate the Borg Collective and, potentially, destroy it. He put Data and Geordi La Forge on the job of creating the virus, while Crusher continued to nurse Third of Five back to health. In the meantime, La Forge started spending time with the drone to study it and figure out how he might create a Borg-killing virus.

Things changed, though. The more time Crusher and La Forge spent with Third of Five, the more they started to consider him a person, rather than just another Borg drone. Cut off from the Collective, Third of Five started to develop individuality. Eventually, La Forge and Crusher named him "Hugh," and Hugh started to consider La Forge his friend. Even Guinan, who hated the Borg for attacking her people's planet and nearly wiping them out, found herself struggling with the idea of using Hugh as a weapon after meeting him.

With more and more of the crew questioning the morality of the plan to commit what was essentially genocide against the Borg, Picard finally felt he had to meet Hugh--and discovered that the young Borg was, in fact, an individual, and deserved to be treated with the respect that Picard and the Federation afford all life. Picard offered to let Hugh stay with the Enterprise crew, but Hugh opted to return to the Borg Collective, fearing the Borg would pursue him and threaten the Enterprise if it couldn't locate its missing drone.

Corrupted By Lore

About a year later, in Season 6, Picard and the Enterprise encountered some Borg who were attacking colonies and Federation outposts. Immediately, it was clear these Borg were different from the Collective the Enterprise had encountered in the past. They cared about their comrades, referred to themselves as "I" instead of "we," and generally gave signs of being individuals, rather than just pieces of a hive mind. Picard had speculated when Hugh returned to the Borg Collective that his individuality might get transferred to other Borg, and that that could be just as destructive to the hive mind as the virus the Enterprise crew had tried to create. Turns out, he was pretty close to correct.

In "The Descent" and "The Descent II," Picard and the crew discovered that this particular group of Borg was led by Lore, Data's evil twin android brother. After Picard, La Forge, and Deanna Troi were captured by Lore and his band, Will Riker and Worf discovered another group of Borg who had broken away from Lore's. Among those Borg was Hugh, who explained that, yes, his individuality had spread and thrown his Borg Cube into chaos.

Unable to deal with being individuals, they started fighting each other, until Lore found them and gave them a leader to follow. Lore said he'd help the Borg find perfection by becoming wholly artificial like he was, but didn't really know how to make that dream a reality, and so started experimenting on Borg drones with horrifying results. Realizing what Lore really was, Hugh and those like him hid out from the group loyal to Lore.

Eventually, Data defeated Lore once and for all and had him disassembled. Hugh was worried that the Borg would again fall into chaos without a leader, but Picard suggested that Hugh could be the one the individualized Borg followed. That's where the Enterprise crew left them--as a group of Borg who had become something different from the other drones in the Collective.

So Where Has Hugh Been?

We're not sure what happened to Hugh in the years that followed. Picard and the Enterprise crew encountered the Borg Collective again in Star Trek: First Contact, so Hugh's individuality apparently didn't transfer to the entire Borg species, just to those on his particular cube. When we meet Hugh in Star Trek: Picard, he's changed significantly--he's no longer a Borg drone, but instead has been returned to humanity, with most of his Borg implants removed.

Though we don't know how Hugh got from leading a group of Borg individuals to his role on the Artifact, we do know that he used his knowledge of the Borg to help others "XBs," or ex-Borg. He led the Borg Reclamation Project on the Artifact, the disabled Borg Cube that the Romulans studied and salvaged on Star Trek: Picard. His work focused on helping other former drones re-acclimate to society. We also know that, unlike Jean-Luc, Hugh had a hard time adjusting to his life as a human. He suggested that people in society at large didn't trust him because of his former life as a drone.

Hugh's role in the first season of Star Trek: Picard built on the long-running story of Jean-Luc's interactions with the frightening cybernetic race. It also allowed the show to explore the more human aspect of what it means to be Borg. As Jean-Luc said, though the Borg are feared, they're a race of victims--and as Hugh showed, they deserve compassion.

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The 5 Worst Episodes Of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Ranked

In the eyes of Trekkies,  "Star Trek: The Next Generation" may be the greatest TV series of all time . No other show — not "The Sopranos," not "M*A*S*H," not "Manimal" — has come close to the high quality and rich premise of the adventures of the Enterprise-D in the 24th century. Famously, creator Gene Roddenberry took core concepts from his 1966 "Star Trek" series and enhanced them for "The Next Generation," creating an even more aggressively utopian world that was even more forthright about its anticapitalist, anticolonialist intentions. He even instigated a rule among the show's writers that no two characters were allowed to bicker, and no stories could stem from interpersonal conflicts. In Roddenberry's vision, everyone got along at all times.

Writers, naturally hated this idea, as they felt conflict is the best way to create drama. For the first two seasons, Roddenberry, writers, and lawyers all butted heads over the series. It's no wonder that most of the show's worst episodes come from those first two seasons.

Of course, "The Next Generation" had its fair share of stinkers, producing some horribly written, contrived, sexist, racist, or just plain obnoxious episodes. The bad episodes, especially after season 2, are few and far between, but they are certainly not absent. In many cases, one can practically picture the show's writers banging their heads against the wall, trying to come up with something filmable under a deadline.

And we Trekkies always noticed when it was crunch time. As much as we love "Star Trek," we also tend to be its harshest critics, happy to point out plot errors, canonical inconsistencies, or bad character choices to anyone willing to listen. In that spirit, here are the five worst episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," ranked from least-worst to, er, most-worst.

5. Sub Rosa

In "Sub Rosa" (January 31, 1994), Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) goes to the planet Caldos IV to attend her grandmother's funeral. Her grandmother, Felisa (Ellen Albertini Dow), lived in a quaint Irish cabin with, Crusher is shocked to learn, a 34-year-old live-in lover named Ronin (Duncan Regehr). Ronin, however, is said to be a ghost (!) who can only appear to corporeal beings if someone lights an ancient candle. Dr. Crusher, acting under Ronin's ghostly influence, lights the candle and a man from the cover of a Harlequin romance novel appears. He says he's in love with Dr. Crusher and implores that she leave the Enterprise.

There are multiple scenes in "Sub Rosa" wherein McFadden, possessed by a green ghostly cloud, writhes around in sexual ecstasy. There is also a scene later in the episode wherein Geordi (LeVar Burton) and Data (Brent Spiner) exhume Felisa's corpse, only to witness her springing back to life and attacking them with green lightning. The idea of haunted candles, sex ghosts, and lighting-imbued gramma corpses would have been fine elements to include in a Full Moon horror movie from 1986, but in "Star Trek," it feels absurd and odd The episode then tries to use sci-fi to explain all the weird haunting crap by stating that Ronin was an anaphasic alien and that the candle was his energy recepticle. Um ... okay.

"Sub Rosa" is also bad because the ordinarily stalwart Dr. Crusher is so easily manipulated by a man in a leather vest. Dr. Crusher can pursue whatever sex life she wants, but one would hope she'd be wiser than to boink a creepy candle ghost.

4. Angel One

Also known as "the sexist one," the episode "Angel One" (January 25, 1988) takes place mostly on the titular planet, which, it is explained, is a matriarchal society. The women occupy the seats of power, whereas men — physically smaller and weaker in this species — tend to serve in servant positions. The leader of Angel One is Beata (Karen Montgomery), who is stingy with the Enterprise-D's requests to search her planet for a crashed ship. Beata eventually agrees to some investigations. However, she demands to canoodle with Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) in exchange.

The idea of "Angel One," I think, was to depict a society in which women were in charge, and reveal that it was better run than any ol' patriarchy we might have here on Earth. Or perhaps it was meant as a topsy-turvy metaphor for the mistreatment of women by flipping the script on traditional gender oppression. The problem is that Beata is depicted as horny and unwise, while Angel One's matriarchy is intolerant of traditional marriages and men's rights. It feels gross, self-pitying, and ultimately, yes, sexist.

"Angel One" also reeks of Gene Roddenberry's tendency to create male porno scenarios in space . A planet of sexually assertive women who want to pluck and devour the men of their choice? One can grasp how Roddenberry might see that as self-insert fiction.

There is also a subplot about a rampant virus on board the Enterprise, but who cares? I forgot that subplot was part of "Angel One" and I've seen the episode multiple times.

3. Cost of Living

Also known as the "Auntie Mame" episode, "Cost of Living" (April 20, 1992) looks away from the show's main characters to focus on the relationship between Deanna Troi's mother Lwaxana (Majel Barrett) and Worf's son Alexander (Brian Bonsall). Lwaxana is there to marry a stuffed-shirt diplomat she doesn't care about, and keeps eschewing her own wedding prep to spend time with an eight-year-old boy. She takes him into the holodeck where they watch jugglers and bathe in mud (which looks unsettlingly like pudding). The multicolored head in a bubble is played by Dustin Diamond.

Alexander loves spending time with Lwaxana, as she encourages him to break rules and live for the moment. This is horrible advice, given that Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) has been working very hard with Worf (Michael Dorn) and Alexander to develop a mutual respect, discipline, and a healthy father/son regard. Lwaxana's advice, for however fun it might sound, is undoing all that.

Lwaxana may be a force of nature in "Star Trek," but here, she's more annoying than anything. One can see her not listening to or giving practical advice, and brushing off her own daughter in favor of ludicrous Cirque du Soleil shows. The episode meanders through a miasma of bad parenting and ultimately says that it's okay to loosen up sometimes, parenting be damned. Then there are the multiple scenes of Lwaxana in a mud bath with Alexander, which are simply unpleasant. In the future, it seems, the ultimate luxury is to sit around in a vat of oobleck.

2. Code of Honor

Also known as "the racist one,"  the episode "Code of Honor" (October 12, 1987) was misguided from the start. In the episode, the Enterprise visits the planet of Ligon II looking for a vaccine, only to encounter a culture devoted to, well, a strict code of honor. They respect physical strength and fighting prowess, and have complex customs devoted to exchanging respect. In early versions of the script, the "Star Trek" writers envisioned the Ligonians as reptilian beings that abide by the rules of feudal Japan. When the episode was finally shot, the Ligonians were all played by Black actors and dressed in a sci-fi version of 1940s tribal African garb.

The visuals and ideas were a throwback to dated Hollywood tropes, and even some of the showrunners hated how it was turning out. The episode's original director was fired partway through production, perhaps because of his decision to make the Ligonians into dated caricatures. "Star Trek," as mentioned, frequently aspires to be anticolonialist, but the old-fashioned costumes force audiences to think of painful depictions of "darkest Africa" in colonialism-forward Hollywood movies from generations ago. Congratulations, "Star Trek," you did the opposite of what you should have been doing.

Additionally, the titular code of honor is based on old notions of sexism, while the plot featured the kidnapping of Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) because she's pretty. Yar and a Ligonian name Yareena (Karole Selmon) eventually have to fight to the death in a risible cage match that had been seen in multiple episodes of the original "Star Trek." In addition to everything else, "Code of Honor" is a snore.

1. Shades of Gray

"Shades of Gray" (July 17, 1989) served as the "Next Generation" season 2 finale, by which point the show had run out of money. A writers' strike had shortened production on the season , forcing it to top off at 22 episodes instead of the usual 26. Because of this, a lot of the season's scripts suffered and the finale had to find a way to cut some corners.

The solution was that most insulting of endeavors: a clip show. I understand that in the days before streaming, reruns were catch-as-catch-can, and many viewers may not have seen every single episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Nevertheless, trying to pad out an episode with clips from previous episodes still felt cheap. What's more, when scenes were presented out of context like in "Shades of Gray," they wouldn't make sense to the casual viewer anyway. It was misguided and desperate.

The premise of the episode is fine enough: Riker is scratched by an alien planet that gives him a strange virus. He falls into a coma, so Dr. Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) has to stimulate his cerebral activity to keep the virus from reaching his brain. She inserts needles into Riker's skull, causing him to have flashbacks to earlier scenes from the series.

"Shades of Gray" is notorious for its cheapness and it frequently tops lists of the worst "Next Generation" episodes. Having rewatched it recently, it doesn't emerge any better than it did in 1989. It's still just a clip show. What's more, the acting is terrible, with every character playing up every scene to the extreme, forcing the episode into a melodramatic territory that almost feels like parody. This is nobody's favorite episode for one basic reason: it sucks.