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Star Trek: Picard - First season
A couple of weeks ago, I saw the final episode of the first season of Star Trek: Picard. I must admit that there is plenty to say. I am 55 years old and I can remember that Dutch television always started with Star Trek on Sunday mornings in 1971. I thought that it was fascinating, and that thought has always remained. Later, when Star Trek: The Next Generation arrived, I had to get used to the new bald captain. I'm more of a Kirk fan, but Picard also managed to convince me. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was the absolute highlight for me. The seven-year lasting epic about the space station led by Benjamin Sisko, portrayed by the brilliant Avery Brooks (Spenser: For Hire). Unfortunately, the less original stories and scripts of Voyager resulted in small cracks in my love for Star Trek. These cracks became giant holes due to Enterprise.
Due to the passionately made fan series Star Trek Continues - which I really recommend, you can find it on https://www.startrekcontinues.com/ - my love for Star Trek was revitalized. When Star Trek: Discovery arrived, I once again sat down with anticipation. For me, the first season was a bit too awkward. I had to get used to the more realistic visual space effects. It was very intense and mostly it was very dark. Completely different from the Star Trek I remembered. But after the second season, I was hooked. The creators have done their best and tried to create a solid storyline that also connects to the original series. And they've succeeded. It's been a while, and for now, we're waiting on the third season.
And then all of a sudden Picard arrived. Naturally, the arrival of this series was announced a while ago, and I regularly browsed the internet to find spoilers. I couldn't find anything. But how fun is it really, if you know exactly what is about to happen?
In the meanwhile, three months have passed and the first season has finished. I've managed to think of all the positives and negatives of the series. Is Picard back? Or should I say "Does Patrick Stewart still have it?". He is not the first actor to return to a character from his younger years. And I must be honest, I think he looks fairly fragile. Due to the cracky voice and his declining mobility, he is no longer the man he was. And the same applies to the other veterans from Star Trek: The Next Generation who make an appearance. The exception is Jerry Ryan as Seven (Star Trek: Voyager), but she is a couple of years younger.
The Romulans, who are quite important to the story, look like angry elves. Their ears hurt just by looking at them. Seven has turned into some kind of freedom fighter, a role that I think doesn't fit with the well-organised ex-Borg of the USS Voyager. The starships used to be in the spotlight, and now they're mostly ignored. Especially in the final episode, the ships are - just like in Star Trek: Discovery - hardly visible, it's just too busy and dark. A Trekkie wants to take in every detail, up until the rivets. And what appeared to become a beautiful dramatic ending, eventually turned into a happy ending with the potential for more.
Is all of it bad? No, obviously it isn't. The pace of the series is good and because of that, it's easy to watch. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger and apparently hopeless situation. But every next episode that hopeless situation is solved rather quickly, and then the next challenge arises. The main story is rather simple and thus it's easy to follow. Picard's character is the same, and that's exactly how it should be. The ship upon which he and his crew travel is manned by a cigar-smoking captain (Santiago Cabrera, Merlin) and his copy-holograms. For each state of mind, there is one. A good find. Seven takes on an unexpected role in an ancient Borg Cube. That was the highlight for me. A true goosebumps-inducing moment and something that should be expanded upon. The rest of the crew consists of various interesting characters that are worth getting to know better.
To summarize, a decent addition to the Star Trek universe. It's definitely not the worst, and there's a lot of potential to grow and places to go where no one has gone before.
Follow Star Trek: PicardDue to the passionately made fan series Star Trek Continues - which I really recommend, you can find it on https://www.startrekcontinues.com/ - my love for Star Trek was revitalized. When Star Trek: Discovery arrived, I once again sat down with anticipation. For me, the first season was a bit too awkward. I had to get used to the more realistic visual space effects. It was very intense and mostly it was very dark. Completely different from the Star Trek I remembered. But after the second season, I was hooked. The creators have done their best and tried to create a solid storyline that also connects to the original series. And they've succeeded. It's been a while, and for now, we're waiting on the third season.
And then all of a sudden Picard arrived. Naturally, the arrival of this series was announced a while ago, and I regularly browsed the internet to find spoilers. I couldn't find anything. But how fun is it really, if you know exactly what is about to happen?
In the meanwhile, three months have passed and the first season has finished. I've managed to think of all the positives and negatives of the series. Is Picard back? Or should I say "Does Patrick Stewart still have it?". He is not the first actor to return to a character from his younger years. And I must be honest, I think he looks fairly fragile. Due to the cracky voice and his declining mobility, he is no longer the man he was. And the same applies to the other veterans from Star Trek: The Next Generation who make an appearance. The exception is Jerry Ryan as Seven (Star Trek: Voyager), but she is a couple of years younger.
The Romulans, who are quite important to the story, look like angry elves. Their ears hurt just by looking at them. Seven has turned into some kind of freedom fighter, a role that I think doesn't fit with the well-organised ex-Borg of the USS Voyager. The starships used to be in the spotlight, and now they're mostly ignored. Especially in the final episode, the ships are - just like in Star Trek: Discovery - hardly visible, it's just too busy and dark. A Trekkie wants to take in every detail, up until the rivets. And what appeared to become a beautiful dramatic ending, eventually turned into a happy ending with the potential for more.
Is all of it bad? No, obviously it isn't. The pace of the series is good and because of that, it's easy to watch. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger and apparently hopeless situation. But every next episode that hopeless situation is solved rather quickly, and then the next challenge arises. The main story is rather simple and thus it's easy to follow. Picard's character is the same, and that's exactly how it should be. The ship upon which he and his crew travel is manned by a cigar-smoking captain (Santiago Cabrera, Merlin) and his copy-holograms. For each state of mind, there is one. A good find. Seven takes on an unexpected role in an ancient Borg Cube. That was the highlight for me. A true goosebumps-inducing moment and something that should be expanded upon. The rest of the crew consists of various interesting characters that are worth getting to know better.
To summarize, a decent addition to the Star Trek universe. It's definitely not the worst, and there's a lot of potential to grow and places to go where no one has gone before.
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