While the events of Star Trek: Picard season 3 complicated the matter, it would have made sense for iral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) to seek medical help from the Ba'ku, a group of ageless colonists he defended in Star Trek: Insurrection. It was first suggested Picard could one day suffer from the neurological disorder called Irumodic Syndrome in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series finale "All Good Things," though that was only a possible future. Over two decades later, at the beginning of Picard season 1, Jean-Luc was confirmed to have a deteriorating brain issue, assumed to be Irumodic Syndrome.

Jean-Luc's terminal diagnosis hangs over much of Star Trek: Picard season 1 like a dark cloud, as the Starfleet legend slowly unravels until reaching a critical point in the two-part season finale "Et in Arcadia Ego." Picard is able to save the young synth Soji (Isa Briones) and her people from a Romulan attack before his organic body expires. Picard's consciousness was ed into an advanced artificial body called a golem, giving him a new lease on life. However, Picard may have been able to at least delay his biological demise had he given a thought to the region of space called the Briar Patch.

Star Trek: Insurrection’s Briar Patch Could Have Cured Picard In Season 1

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The Briar Patch is a volatile region of space established in Star Trek: Insurrection. Within the Briar Patch was an idyllic planet inhabited by the Ba'ku, a group of benevolent, deceptively simple people. It's eventually revealed that the atmosphere of the Ba'ku planet has healing and regenerative abilities that renders its inhabitants effectively immortal. Picard fought to keep the Ba'ku on the planet they considered home, with significant resistance from Starfleet. It only makes sense that the Ba'ku would be willing to repay Picard with an extended shore leave on their planet.

The very notion of what the Ba'ku planet potentially represented to the Federation - which was fighting for its survival in the calamitous Dominion War - was abruptly dropped after it was revealed Starfleet was being manipulated by the villainous Son'a. With the nefarious forces taken out of the equation, revisiting the moral quandary the planet represents would have been an interesting storytelling avenue for Star Trek: Picard to explore in its early days. However, it was eventually revealed that the Ba'ku would not have been the solution to what was really ailing Picard.

Picard Season 3’s Borg Retcon Means Insurrection’s Briar Patch Couldn’t Save Picard

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While the Briar Patch could have potentially been a solution if Picard had actually suffered from Irumodic Syndrome, Star Trek: Picard season 3 revealed that was never actually the case. Picard's degenerative brain issue was due to a biological alteration made to him when he was Locutus, the assimilated spokesperson of the Borg. That same alteration was ed on to his son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), where it was utilized by the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) in an attempt to create a new evolution of the Borg, though she was ultimately thwarted by Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D.

Picard's death in Star Trek: Picard season 1 and subsequent transfer to a synthetic body remains one of the show's most controversial plot points. And yet through some very clever retcons devised by Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas, that point of contention became a crucial part of what is arguably one of the best Jean-Luc Picard stories ever told. Revisiting Star Trek: Insurrection could have been an interesting diversion, but Star Trek: Picard season 3 found a much more satisfying angle on Jean-Luc's ailment.