Warning: this article contains spoilers for the final episodes of "Star Trek: Picard" and "Star Trek: Lower Decks."

During the epilogue of Star Trek: Picard, Seven of Nine (Jerry Ryan) is promoted to captain and takes command of the newly named USS Enterprise-G, eager to begin a new mission of exploration. As she sits in her captain's chair for the first time, Seven prepares to give the order to take her ship into warp. The bridge crew leaned forward, full of anticipation, eager to see what she would say. Starfleet captains seem to have a different "different phrase" when ordering the warp engines to engage, and Seven will announce his identity to the crew by choosing his own. However, in a very precious twist, the series cuts to black before Seven can say anything.

The idea that a starship captain needs the phrase "go warp" is a new notion brought about by fans who recognized that Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart), back in Star Trek: The Next Generation, had a tendency to utter the word "Get involved." This was, in the context of the show, a reasonable thing to say, since warp engines were involved. Other characters have also said "engagement" when sitting in the captain's chair, but "Star Trek: Picard" has turned the word into something that belongs exclusively to Picard. "Star Trek: Picard" took a random moment and turned it into a "thing."

At the end of Star Trek: Lower Decks (here is our review of the fifth and final season of the series as a whole), a similar moment hangs over the newly promoted Captain Ransom (Jerry O'Connell). He actually loudly announces that he needs his own phrase for warp engines. The Lower Decks writers, however, seem to feel that Seven's pick-a-phrase moment from Picard was a bit forced and contrived. This is clear, given the exasperated response Ransom receives from Lieutenants Beumler (Jack Quaid) and Mariner (Tony Newsom). As they point out, you can't really "pick" a phrase. It would be better if it happened organically.

Throughout Star Trek, the other captains said multiple colloquialisms to warp their ships, including "Hit it" and "Let's hit it." The last of those stages used by Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) in the 2009 Star Trek movie, and it may have been the first time a Starfleet captain ever "requested" his own engine order phrase. As the years passed, some Trekkies began to feel that "Engage" was Picard's personal line and that other captains would prefer to give the same command in their own idiom. "Engage" never belonged exclusively to Picard, but the word became so closely associated with the character in the minds of fans that other captains were (unofficially) banned from using it.

Hence the concerted effort by the Picard writers to give Seven of Nine its own catchphrase.

The problem with the scene is that it feels a little ham. Picard never expressly chose "Engage". It sort of organically happened during his command. Picard never, in any kind of self-conscious way, said that "engagement" would be his identity-making conversation. Again, it just happened.

As such, when Captain Ransom says he wants his own colloquialism, Beumler and Mariner roll their eyes. "I think that will happen naturally over time," Mariner notes. “Yes. You don't want it to sound forced," adds Beumler. However, redemption, being a brash and boisterous character, really chooses his own phrase. Of course, Beumler and Mariner absolutely hate his choice.

One suspects that the Lower Decks writers didn't like the Seven Out of Nine scene at the end of Picard, or at the very least thought the moment was a bit off. Captains are formal creatures who give orders and expect to be followed. They often don't care about how "cool" they look when they want to start their boat's engines. One cannot choose a nickname for oneself and should not force "engagement" to be. Just let it happen. Let it flow from the image.

Star Trek: Lower Decks is now showing in its entirety on Paramount+.