Star Trek: Picard killing off Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) was a big mistake. Introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 23, "I, Borg," Hugh was a former Borg drone who regained his individuality with the help of the crew of the USS Enterprise-D. Hugh returned in the Star Trek: The Next Generation 2-parter, "Descent," as part of a collective of Borg led by Lore (Brent Spiner). Hugh's comeback in Star Trek: Picard season 1 was a pleasant surprise, but his abrupt death was a big disappointment.
The Borg-centric Star Trek: Picard season 1 reintroduced Hugh as the administrator of the Borg Reclamation Project. Aboard a derelict Borg Cube controlled by Romulans and renamed the Artifact, Hugh worked to help other Borg drones regain their sense of self. Unfortunately, Hugh was caught in the Romulan Zhat Vash's plot to learn the location of the synthetics' homeworld of Coppelius from Dr. Soji Asha (Isa Briones), who was, herself, a next-generation android. Hugh was murdered by the Romulan Zhat Vash agent Narissa (Peyton List) soon after his heartwarming reunion with Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).
Jonathan Del Arco Explains Why Star Trek: Picard Killing Hugh Borg Was A Big Mistake
Hugh's potential was wasted
In an interview with TrekMovie, Jonathan Del Arco delved into his surprise return as Hugh in Star Trek: Picard season 1, and his feelings on Hugh's shocking and abrupt death. While Del Arco was glad to reprise Hugh, he explained how little Picard's writers gave him in terms of details about what happened to Hugh since Star Trek: The Next Generation. Jonathan also shares his regrets about which Picard actors he didn't have a chance to work with. Read Del Arco's quote below:
I don’t regret it. I don’t feel bad about it. The only thing I regret is I didn’t get to do stuff with a couple of people, Jeri Ryan and LeVar Burton. Those are the two people I wanted to really have an opportunity to connect with as characters. Creatively, those are the two relationships I really wish I’d gotten to do… I mean, not having to have a scene with Geordi, or to even ask about Geordi was completely misinformed to me. I kept asking, “Shouldn’t I ask about Geordi?” Nope…
Hugh and Admiral Picard seeing each other again and sharing a hug - a moment Jonathan Del Arco says he improvised on set with Patrick Stewart - was a highlight of Star Trek: Picard season 1. Hugh also shared scenes with Picard's new characters like Soji and Elnor (Evan Evagora). However, Star Trek: The Next Generation fans, which includes Del Arco, were denied Picard referencing Hugh's friendship with Geordi or more insight about Hugh's friends from the USS Enterprise-D. But this is due, in part, to Patrick Stewart's initial decree that Star Trek: Picard not be a retread of TNG.
Why Hugh Not Meeting Geordi & Seven Of Nine Was Such A Loss For Star Trek: Picard
Hugh could have made a new friend and reunited with his oldest
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) was Hugh's closest friend on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Jonathan Del Arco is right that Hugh not asking Picard about Geordi feels like a glaring omission. In Star Trek: Picard's defense, however, at that early point in the series, producers did not envision the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation reuniting in Picard season 3. Still, killing off Hugh denied audiences and the actors a chance to see Hugh reunite with his friends on the USS Enterprise-D, especially since Picard season 3 was the TNG crew's final battle and victory over the Borg.
Jonathan Del Arco also didn't get to share scenes with Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Picard season 1. Despite Jean-Luc, Seven, and Hugh, three of Star Trek's most prominent former Borg characters, all in the same season of Star Trek: Picard, they weren't all together on-screen. Seven not meeting Hugh at all means audiences lost out on what could have been a cool Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager crossover. Meanwhile, Jeri Ryan and Jonathan Del Arco are also close friends in real life, but they were unable to act together in Star Trek: Picard.
Can Star Trek Bring Back Hugh?
There are always possibilities
Hugh is now dead thanks to Star Trek: Picard season 1. Of course, this is Star Trek, and characters can be brought back by creative sci-fi means if the story calls for it. It's possible that Hugh could be resurrected if Picard's proposed spinoff, Star Trek: Legacy, happens. Hugh could also appear as a hologram or in flashbacks in another Star Trek show set during or after the 24th century, such as Star Trek: Prodigy season 3 (if it's renewed by Netflix), as a surprise in Star Trek: Lower Decks' final season, or in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Hugh's death was short-sighted.
Given the events that followed Star Trek: Picard season 1, especially the return of Star Trek: The Next Generation's cast in Picard season 3, Hugh's death was short-sighted. Hugh in Picard was hardly developed before he was killed off, but his presence was a welcome tether to TNG. Jonathan Del Arco would likely be willing to reprise Hugh if Star Trek comes up with a creative and satisfying means for the former Borg to return. If Hugh does make a Star Trek comeback, hopefully, Del Arco and the fans get the Hugh moments Star Trek: Picard season 1 failed to deliver.
