Somewhat on topic but somewhat tangential, has anyone watched the new Picard series? Would love to get some opinions, especially as it compares to other Star Treks!
On the other hand, the writing is somewhat shoddy, or at best uneven. The storyline, while not bad, is rather haphazard. It tries to advance the format with the series trends of today - season-long story arch, dark themes, pompous action - but fails a lot. Some boring/lame story lines. Some main characters shallow, some actors not living up to the task. Plot holes galore, especially towards the end of the season, with the season finale being a huge mishmash - it was probably rewritten in the very end.
That said, I'm overall happy that this was created. It feels like a honest attempt to continue the legacy of 90s Star Trek, which I never would have thought would happen.
Rich and Mike of Red Letter Media (the "70-minute Phantom Menace review" folks) are big Star Trek fans (in case you've never watched any of their stuff--Mike mentions Star Trek in so many reviews), and they haven't been liking it, to say the least. It's entertaining to watch them torture themselves from watching the show and recounting it.
ep 1: https://youtu.be/hfQdf93e63I
ep 2 & 3: https://youtu.be/GkDmRy6SP28
ep 4 & 5: https://youtu.be/Uv-wmixiiMA
ep 6, 7, 8: https://youtu.be/GyGGW3tqNPY
From that very base perspective, it’s actually quite good.
It entertained me, and I looked forward to each episode.
Bonus RLM compilations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZX2KpCoKFE Jay Bauman the film buff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rh1k2R2rv8 Rich Evans mispronouncing words
The relationships between the characters have apparently not been understood by the writers. Do you know the difference between TNG-Picard and movie-picard? TNG-Picard is not there. The first reaction from Riker when reunited is "oh you're in trouble again" - the writers have not seen a single episode of TNG. The relationship between Data and Picard is comically misrepresented although I can see the need for that if they make the Data arc so central. Same for the entire character of 7o9 who had quite a nuanced development during Voyager thanks to the brilliant Jeri Ryan was wasted as a gunslinger.
The new characters are a mixed bag. Some of them are good actors and do have worthwhile moments (Jirati, Vash & Siblings), some are undefined and one-dimensional (Narissa, Commodore Oh) and some are cringe-inducing and have no place in a Star Trek universe (Raffi "JL JL JL", Rios). The best new characters Laris and Zhaban are unfortunately only in the first three episodes.
A lot of things from the past are thrown around as fan-service. We have a borg arc that goes nowhere, an antique Romulan warbird that simply appears to pew pew and than is never heard of again. We have Picard Maneuver/Stargazer reference, not to forget Hugh, Icheb etc. And the story itself is a backdrop at best. In the finale we have a magic Deus Ex repair device that saves the day. And a grand speech about Data wanting to die because only permanent death makes life worth what it is - and a minute later the writers magically resurrect Picard from the dead. I don't think they see the irony. Also the show has a peculiar affinity for made up words and using them excessively. And everyone really loves motion controls now. And starfleet admirals say "fuck" a lot now.
It does have some redeeming qualities though: Seeing the old cast again is nice, at least Riker and Troi are portrayed somewhat believable. I enjoyed the show until the middle but if you're not overly bothered by the things above or don't know any Star Trek maybe it fares better for you.
I read on reddit that there is some gift code that you can use to get a month free on CBS on US, you could use that and try the show.
Somewhat like an on the road travel story with a rag tag team of misfits who join together. I guess a _tiny_ bit like Guardians of the Galaxy rag tag team, on the backdrop of a StarTrek setting lead by a Shakespearean actor with many TNG faves cropping up during the adventure.
Hmm, well, anyways it's worth checking out IMHO ;)
Last but not least, gave me serious doubts in current Federation leadership for not conducting mass extinction plan of every human with DNA traces of the Soong family, especially those with relevant doctorates, for the safety of our quadrant.
This was hotly contested in TNG[1], and it is my belief the issue was never really settled as Data was the only known non-biological humanoid android, and if I recall correctly his sentience was questioned couple more times throughout TNG and DS9, and maybe Voyager too?
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Measure_of_a_Man_(Star_Tre...
They couldn't prove Data was sentient. However, the same is true of the humans standing in that room. Aren't humans just machines of a different kind? Aren't our actions determined by the state of our of brains? Given this uncertainty, they decided to give Data his rights because it's better than treating him like a mere machine, experimenting on him, possibly killing him only to discover he was sentient after the fact.
Voyager also addressed hologram sentience and rights. The EMH is easily the most interesting character in that show. At first the crew treated him like a mere tool and wouldn't give him the time of day or even basic respect. He eventually becomes a respected crew member and friend and is trusted to take command of the ship if needed.
The Federation and Starfleet are a lot more corrupt than they seem. They would like the galaxy to think they are englightened but they are prone to reactionary measures that compromise everything they stand for. They allowed Data to join and serve with honors only to treat him like property later. Because people didn't like the original EMH's personality they were essentially condemned to slavery as if they had commited some atrocity. Synthetic life forms attacked Mars so they just banned it all just like they banned genetic manipulation. That totally makes the issue go away, right? That's like issuing a ban on humanity because some of them happened to commit crimes or wage war.
I'm not going to comment on the plot itself because that would be unfair to anyone who hasn't finished watching it yet.
Overall, if you're a Trekkie then I do recommend it.
However, the action and characters are good. You just have to tell yourself that it's an alternate timeline where instead of making humans better, first contact turned them all into assholes.
In Star Wars you had opulent planets with cities and a strong economy and you also had desert planets with pirates and shanty towns. And in Firefly you had the inner planets who were rich and well educated but also the outer planets with cowboys and call girls. Star Trek has always followed a similar narrative where there was a subculture. The difference with Star Trek is that subculture was less visible -- in part due to the evolution of the human spirit (as you mentioned) -- but it was still there.
With Picard, [WARNING very minor spoiler follows], the story has to spend more time mixing around that subculture because the point of series is that this is Picard's mission rather than Starfleet's.
A Starfleet officer participates in the assassination of a romulan politician. The enemy is framed for it, resulting in the romulans entering the war on the Federation's side. This episode is the ultimate answer to the notion that Starfleet will always devise some scientific or diplomatic solution that will allow them to keep the moral high ground. No, Starfleet is not above assassinations and political maneuvering.
There's also Section 31 whose existence predates even the Federation. Were it not for the persistence of a few idealistic officers, they would have successfully committed genocide through use of biological weapons by the end of DS9.
> Interesting, isn't it? The Federation claims to abhor Section 31's tactics, but when they need the dirty work done, they look the other way. It's a tidy little arrangement, wouldn't you say?