Star Trek Picard Returns with less crap, right?
Star Trek Picard Episode 1 and 2 are very enjoyable with only a couple of reservations. I think my expectations were really low for season 2 of Picard on Paramount+, and I was pleasantly surprised, because the 12 executive producers (!!) and 14 different writers (!!!!) listened to feedback from season one. Watch the opening credits and count the number of producer credits if you don’t believe me. You know there’s a writing and creative issue when even Patrick Stewart and his limo driver receive a producer credit, but I guess it doesn’t really matter, because Alex Kurtzman waded through it all and served up something really worthwhile in episode 1 and 2.
With season 2, Picard TV has established characters and good character dynamics, plus all the other stuff you need to make a continued series successful. Patrick Stewart is in rare form and he does a great job with the script, but only some of the pals return in season 2, with most getting sidelined or written out entirely. For one, Isa Briones has very little to do because the android story is pretty much over and she’s not the center of the show anymore, but they still throw her a bone and give her a few lines of dialogue anyway. Her love interest Narek is also completely written out. Worse still, Jamie McShane’s character Zhaban was killed off so his wife Labbis could have “Feelings” for the 98 year old Picard. Do we really need a Picard love story at this point?
20 different millennial executives over at Paramutt are wondering why this guy has never been married or had kids and they can’t figure out why. It’s just a mystery to these guys and they need to write endless pages about in order to rationalize why Picard is single. Maybe he simply doesn’t want a family, guys. Maybe he’s happy with his career and his pals and he’s good. Nope, that doesn’t work for these guys.
The onus for season 2 is Picard’s love life and his mommy. I was actually okay with Picard looking uncomfortable as Labbis tried to jump his bones, but the mommy storyline is just waiting to be flamed. As I said, no man can be single and independent, so something must have happened to Picard as a boy to make him into an introverted career dufus. This kind of writing just reeks of non-fans who want to “explain” things to be cool, not celebrate the character and allow him to grow (naturally). Now, the door to this trauma hasn’t been completely blown open, but flashbacks in episode one show Picard’s mommy being dragged away and in serious danger, and later in the same episode a mysterious masked Borg character starts talking like Picard’s mommy. I don’t even know what to say about this stupid plot point, but I’ll just enjoy the awesome main plot for now, while I wait for further developments.
Overall, episode 1 and 2 have a really great main story and an even better pace. All the gross stuff, darker imagery, and adult story aspects all have been toned down, for the better. There’s more Star Trek in this Picard series, plus better CGI and more action, but it’s paced out with great character stuff between Raffi, Elnor, and Angus. The 12 producers are all in with the new characters, so there’s no Jonathan Frakes or Marina Sertis to be had, but Seven has joined the cast and does some good work. The writing overall has not disappointed (yet), and the story about Picard and his pals in Q’s timeline hellhole is a great one. I love alternate timeline Star Trek stories and this one does not disappoint (so far), and it’s really fun to watch the good guys sneak around undercover in this totalitarian jerkfest. My favorite parts of these two episodes have to be the return of John de Lancie, as well as the whole new timeline storyline, and this distracted me from the stupid stuff.
