When he died last week, Patrick Stewart left behind a legacy of astonishing variety and impact. An accomplished thespian with credits on the British stage, he became a global star for his work in television and film. No matter the role—from Captain Ahab to a talking ram—he brought the gravitas, nobility and wry humor of a fine Shakespearean actor. In the blockbuster “X-Men” franchise, he portrayed the team’s telepathic leader, Professor Charles Xavier—a role he will reprise in this year’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” his final screen performance.

But his most iconic role of course was Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who he originally portrayed on the television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987-1994). Stewart took the job believing that the show would soon be cancelled, but the cerebral and dignified Picard was a hit with audiences thanks to his masterful performance. Writing about his early days in the role in his 2023 autobiography, Making It So, Stewart noted: “I should play Jean Luc, I realized, as if he were a character in ‘Henry IV,’ which is about brave men.”

Over the course of his career, Stewart played Picard in over 200 episodes of television and four feature films. Fans generally agree that the best of these films is “Star Trek: First Contact” (1996), directed by Jonathan Frakes and written by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore. In “First Contact,” we see an unusually emotional and conflicted Picard, allowing Stewart to utilize the full range of his acting talent. The film is a rip-roaring sci-fi adventure, but its true power lies in Picard’s story of healing and letting go. 

Continuing a storyline from “The Next Generation,” the film sees Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise in conflict with the alien Borg: a race of cyborgs who assimilate other species into their hive mind, enslaving their minds and bodies with nightmarish technological implants. Several years earlier, Picard was captured by the Borg and made one of them. It was only through the heroic actions of his crew that he was rescued and regained control of his mind. Now he is haunted by nightmares, while fury and fear rage beneath his stoic facade. When the Borg invade the Federation (the interstellar, multi-species republic that the Enterprise serves), Picard is ordered to stay out of the conflict, his superiors worried that his traumatic experience will make him a liability. The Enterprise races to the rescue and ultimately defeats the Borg.

But the Borg have a more nefarious plan: They create a portal into the past and return to the mid-21st century to stop humanity’s first contact with an alien civilization. This was a pivotal moment in human history: not only the birth of the Federation, but the moment when humanity turned away from warfare and division to come together in harmony and explore the stars. The Enterprise pursues the Borg into the past, intent on saving their future.

While there, part of the crew must work with Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), the man who invented faster-than-light travel and made first contact possible. Meanwhile, Picard and those still on the ship realize that they have been infiltrated by the Borg and their manipulative Queen (Alice Krige). They engage in a desperate standoff to save the ship as more and more crew members assimilate into the Borg.

Throughout all of this, Picard wrestles with his own desire for revenge, which drives him to make increasingly questionable decisions. Usually the emotionally reserved anchor of the crew, Picard becomes an unlikely loose cannon. The film draws explicit comparisons between him and Moby-Dick’s Captain Ahab, who is damned by his relentless quest for vengeance. “Star Trek” imagines a future where humanity has overcome bigotry, greed and warmongering to create a more enlightened society. But even in this enlightened age, humans are still human, with all of our natural fallibility. 

While most of his crew is too loyal to defy him, it comes down to a woman from the comparatively less-civilized 21st century, Lily (the great Alfre Woodard), to show him the light. “It’s so simple,” she says, cutting through his rationalizations. “The Borg hurt you and now you’re going to hurt them back.” Through Lily, Picard realizes that the truly “enlightened” thing to do is let go. He goes from being willing to sacrifice any number of lives in his quest to stop the Borg to being willing to sacrifice himself in order to save one friend.

This is a compelling arc, made all the more so thanks to Stewart’s performance. He truly does play Picard like a role out of Shakespeare, with all of the solemnity and emotional complexity that entails. In Stewart’s hands, Picard was brilliant, courageous, thoughtful: the kind of leader you would follow anywhere. But he also played the character’s flaws with poignant humanity. “First Contact” allowed him to do both.

“Star Trek: First Contact” is streaming on Paramount+ and Kanopy.

John Dougherty is the director of mission ministry at St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Pa., moderator of America's Catholic Movie Club, and author of Finding God in All Films: A Contemplative Approach to Watching Movies. You can find more of his work on his Substack, Roll Credits.