Patrick Stewart Realized Next Gen Was A Big Deal During A Hilarious Star Trek Fan Encounter

For a generation of Trekkies, "The Best of Both Worlds" was perhaps one of the most frustrating experiences we could have had. In the first of a two-part episode, a species of bloody-minded cyborgs, the Borg, attack the Enterprise and kidnap Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). Using their malevolent technologies, the Borg implant machines into Picard's face, erase his individuality, and assimilate him — and all his knowledge — into their collective. He was renamed Locutus, and his knowledge would be used to conquer Earth and assimilate the whole of humanity. "The Best of Both Worlds" came early enough into "Star Trek: The Next Generation" that some fans postulated Stewart's potential removal from the show.

The final scene of the episode saw Locutus, addressing the U.S.S. Enterprise directly, stating that their lives are pretty much over. The stalwart Captain Riker (Jonathan Frakes), while looking the cyborg version of his former captain right in the eye, gives his weapons officer the order to attack. Cut to black. "To Be Continued..." Part I of "The Best of Both Worlds" aired on June 18, 1990. The second part wouldn't come until the beginning of the next season in late September. The cliffhanger ending was almost too much to bear. For many Trekkies, the summer of 1990 calcified "The Next Generation" as a legitimately classic TV series. It was no mere flash-in-the-pan.

It also, it seems, provided Stewart with proof that his program was an actual phenomenon. In his new autobiography "Making It So: A Memoir," Stewart recalls a moment while driving around Los Angeles when he received an angry message from the next driver over. The fan's comments were hilarious but meaningful.

Many Trekkies will likely point to season 3 of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" as the year the show finally hit its stride, and "The Best of Both Worlds" was the climax that confirmed that notion. The first two seasons of "Next Generation" were a little rocky, and there was still some doubt as to whether or not Gene Roddenberry's spin-off would make the same cultural impact as the original "Star Trek," or if it would be marked down as a minor oddity in the vast canon of American sci-fi TV. Even Stewart had doubts ... until the summer in question. He wrote:

"This same period is when I fully grasped how popular our show had become. Given that the first part of 'The Best of Both Worlds' aired on June 18, 1990 — with the galaxy on the cusp of being Borgified — and the second on September 24, we had left viewers with quite the cliffhanger. Would Picard and the Enterprise crew find a way to escape the Borg's grasp? A lot of viewers were irritated with us for leaving this question unresolved."

Then a driver pulled up. Stewart continued:

"I got a taste of just how much one day when I was driving in L.A. As I waited at a red light, a car pulled alongside me and the passenger window opened. The driver leaned across his front seat to yell at me, 'You have ruined our summer!'"

Finally, it seems, Stewart encountered a fan in the wild. Not only that, but it was an angry fan reacting to a specific plot point in a recent episode. Surely Stewart had encountered "Hey, it's Captain Picard!" guys in the past, but they weren't necessarily watching the show. 

For the first time, Stewart saw that people were paying attention.