By Malachi Ward
I got a chance to see the first three episodes of the new Picard show! Some brief, spoiler-free thoughts are below…
Overall I felt very good about the kickoff to the new series. The Next Generation is the Trek series closest to my heart, so I’m particularly invested in Star Trek: Picard handling the titular character and the continuation of Starfleet’s story. When a Trek movie isn’t all that great it doesn’t bother me much, and even if a show like Discovery blows it, I’d be more annoyed at the missed opportunity than saddened by the offense. But if they messed up Picard I’d kinda take it personally, so I’m happy to report that (so far, at least) the new show gets things right.
Star Trek: Picard isn’t especially bold in it’s approach, and doesn’t take any big narrative or stylistic risks. In addition to the story not being too showy, the characters are also built from familiar archetypes – as a viewer we know pretty quickly what their arcs will most likely be. I’m not expecting any true surprises from this series. That might all sound like a criticism, but I count all of these qualities as strengths. The story is functional but sturdy and natural. The characters might be familiar, but they are likable. I know where they are headed, but I look forward to watching that story unfold.
One of the biggest reliefs, evident right from the beginning, is that the showrunners have wisely chosen to pace and structure the story in a more traditional way. Star Trek: Picard isn’t overstuffed, throttling ahead as fast as possible in the hopes the audience won’t have time to realize how threadbare or nonsensical the dramatic conflicts actually are. (I’m going to mildly attempt to not compare Picard to Discovery too much, but that is reflective of my mindset, so I won’t try too hard.) Jean-Luc is presented with a mystery, and through a logical progression of events must come to terms with how important the ramifications of this discovery are, and accept the lengths to which he must go to make things right.
Though I liked the trailers for the show, I was concerned that the series might mischaracterize key elements of Trek mythology, or introduce a retcon or status-quo shift that didn’t fit with what we know about Trek. So far they’ve dodged those bullets. I was worried they would make the Federation out to be taking a severe moral downturn, but Picard’s disagreement with the Federation makes sense – both parties behave in a way consistent with past actions. The state of the Federation, the Romulans, and the bits and pieces we see of other cultures flow very well from where we last saw them in the franchise. There are hints at potential retcons and status-quo changes that might be problematic, but we’ll have to wait and see…
Picard himself is set up on an interesting journey. They characterize how he feels about his place in life in a compelling but refreshingly understated way, and of course Patrick Stewart gives a great performance. The new cast is also fantastic, and by the end of the screened episodes I was surprised at how invested I was in this group. Just as the plot unfolds naturally, the characters exude their motives, weaknesses, and personalities effortlessly. Like most Star Trek, there are a couple of slightly clunky moments (Among other minor nitpicks, there’s a bit with the new captain’s EMH (no, not that EMH) that doesn’t quite work for me, but that’s a quibble about execution more than a flaw in the premise) but overall the biggest strength of this new show is the assembled characters.
There is, of course, some fan service. As far as fan service goes it’s mostly pretty good, and there isn’t a ton of it. I don’t think it needed three Earl Grey bits, but otherwise I wasn’t groaning.
That’s all I’ll say for now. I apologize for writing so generally about Star Trek: Picard, but I really wanted to avoid giving anything away. I’m sure we’ll follow up with a more in-depth spoiler-filled look at the show when it officially airs.
