Star Trek: Picard - Season 1 Review
(I originally wrote this shortly after the finale of Star Trek: Picard's first season, just to share my general opinions of the show at that time. I still stand by what I said.)
Pros:
- It's great we finally get a series that isn't a prequel again, after two consecutive Star Trek shows set pre-TOS.
- Very good to see the state of the galaxy post-Nemesis and post-Romulan Supernova. The details of what has happened in the time since then feels fitting for what we know up to that point.
- All returning characters are great and their interactions feel natural. None of them felt out of character, and what differences there were from their previous appearances felt reasonable given the circumstances.
- Returning characters and plot elements were used sparingly and only appeared in ways that felt appropriate, nothing really felt like it was only added for the sake of nostalgia.
- Picard's new crew were largely very good, with each having a unique background and story that complimented Picard and his own story arc, and each character felt like they grew in a realistic way over the course of the series.
- The general aesthetic of the show felt like a logical advancement from what was seen during and after the TNG-era TV shows and movies.
- It's great that the Romulans actually got character development for what might be the first time in the history of the franchise, and we actually get to see new elements of Romulan customs, traditions and mythology.
Mixed:
- The story was overall very hit-or-miss. Picard's personal story and his motivations felt well thought out and consistent with his established values, but the Romulan half of the story tried to introduce way too many plot elements at once and took way too long to actually resolve any of them. These two halves also took too long to actually come together, and the resulting story when they did was very predictable.
- Narek was a good villain, but the rest of the key villains in the series all felt very one-note.
- The connections to the Borg seen throughout the series were interesting, but severely underdeveloped. For a series where a derelict Borg Cube serves as a central location, the Borg and xBs play surprisingly very little role in the story overall.
- While having swears can make the show feel more grounded overall, they often felt overused to the point where it almost seemed as if the series had a quota of one swear per episode at least, no matter how awkward it sounded.
Cons:
- Way too many returning characters were killed off. There are better ways to raise the stakes and generate powerful emotions than randomly killing off popular characters.
- The intense gore was completely unnecessary. I can live with blood and death, but seeing a character screaming and writhing in pain as their eye is ripped from its socket was definitely not necessary.
- The magic repair tool from the finale was just kinda stupid.
Overall Thoughts
Star Trek: Picard was an entertaining show. It had some genuinely excellent moments, though it wasn't without its fair share of stupidity and nonsense either. I don't think it lived up to my original expectations, but I still enjoyed the show for what it was overall. It definitely has room to grow and could easily turn into something great in the next season.