In Star Trek: Picard, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has finally found love with Laris (Orla Brady), but Jean-Luc's romance with Anij (Donna Murphy) in Star Trek: Insurrection was forgotten. Captain Picard met Anij when stopped a plot by the Son'a and Starfleet Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) to forcibly relocate her people, the Ba'ku. The Son'a and Dougherty wanted to control the Briar Patch, a region of space with restorative properties, essentially a Fountain of Youth.
Star Trek: Picard season 2 set out to definitively answer the question of why Jean-Luc Picard chose to not have a lasting romantic relationship. The answer turned out to be repressed trauma from his childhood where the young Jean-Luc blamed himself for the suicide of his mother, Yvette Picard (Madeline Wise). Once Jean-Luc faced his buried memories and reconciled them, he finally became ready to accept Laris as his partner. But 25 years prior to Star Trek: Picard season 2, Jean-Luc seemed quite ready to pursue a romantic relationship with Anij in Star Trek: Insurrection, yet there was never any follow-through on what happened between them.
Why Picard's Star Trek: Insurrection Romance Was Forgotten
At the end of Star Trek: Insurrection, Captain Picard promised to use up the short leave he'd accumulated to spend with Anij. Yet she was not mentioned in the next film, Star Trek: Nemesis, or ever again. The logical reason is that Star Trek: Insurrection underperformed at the box office, and it wasn't nearly as well-received by critics or audiences as the previous hit film, Star Trek: First Contact. Anij's romance with Picard was a casualty of Star Trek wanting to move on from Insurrection's relative failure. Although, ironically, an even bigger failure awaited in the form of Star Trek: Nemesis.
Jean-Luc's love story with Anij was one of the bright spots of Star Trek: Insurrection, however. It had been years since Star Trek: The Next Generation viewers had seen Captain Picard so smitten by a woman, and for moviegoers, it was Jean-Luc's lone romance in a Star Trek film. The romantic and chivalrous side of Picard was a memorable sight, but it wasn't seen again until the very end of Star Trek: Picard season 2. But Star Trek will likely never follow up Insurrection since decades have passed in the real world and the actors have aged, whereas Anij is essentially locked into a kind of immortality thanks to the Briar Patch.
Could Insurrection's Briar Patch Could Have Solved Picard's Problem?
In Star Trek: Picard season 1, Jean-Luc was dying of Irumodic Syndrome, and the show's solution was to kill Picard to be reborn in a synthetic body that's identical to his old body, only without the lethal brain disorder. Could Star Trek: Insurrection's Briar Patch have been a better solution than turning Picard into an android? Yes and no. The Briar Patch could likely have healed Jean-Luc's Irumodic Syndrome, but it opens up the question of whether he would have to remain permanently in that region of space to stay healthy.
Utilizing the Briar Patch also would have forced Star Trek: Picard's creative team to address Star Trek: Insurrection and Anij. Moreso, the question of what eventually happened with the Briar Patch and whether the United Federation of Planets ever harnessed its energies to benefit billions would have to be answered, and that seems to be a non-starter. 25+ years later in Star Trek time, Jean-Luc and the franchise simply moved on, and he's finally found love with Laris in Star Trek: Picard. There's likely never going to be closure for what happened between Picard and Anij in Star Trek: Insurrection.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 premieres Thursday, February 16, on Paramount+.