Star Trek: Picard

It's better than Discovery.
Yeah. I like Sonequa Martin-Green. But we see way too much of her solving any/all problems, no matter how implausible her character (or the problem) might be. And all before TOS! Spore drive? Where in hell did that come from and why is it gone? TIme travel? You can pull an entire starship forward into time with a fancy spacesuit. Really?
 
Yeah. I like Sonequa Martin-Green. But we see way too much of her solving any/all problems, no matter how implausible her character (or the problem) might be. And all before TOS! Spore drive? Where in hell did that come from and why is it gone? TIme travel? You can pull an entire starship forward into time with a fancy spacesuit. Really?
You don't mean Michael Burnham has the "Wesley Crusher Syndrome"? ;)
 
It's worth watching for Jeri Ryan alone. But otherwise not as bad as many make it out to be. I don't know what people were expecting. I'll try to rewatch before season 2.

NO. They completely screwed it up.

What we got in Picard was exactly what I had expected, because after seeing the horrible writing, illogical stories and identity politics shoved into Discovery, I knew that Picard was going to be similar. Remember those interviews with Kurtzman and Chabon before the Picard series started airing? The ones talking about it being a slower pace, a "retrospective look at Picard in his emeritus years." Well, that was clearly a lie.

What I wanted, and what MOST fans wanted, was a continuation of The Next Generation. Bring back most of the original TNG cast, have a lighthearted family-friendly show on an Enterprise starship in space, and continue exploring new worlds and new civilizations, with the same atmosphere and tone as the original TNG series back in 1987. In other words, a focus on solving external problems through peaceful means, instead of always resorting to unnecessary war, violence and bloodshed.

What we got was an alternate timeline with a depressed and angry Picard, where everyone blamed him for everything going wrong in the universe, on an R-rated show using the F-word multiple times per episode, with plenty of blood and gore like people's eyes being ripped out, on a non-Federation ship in space, and a storyline revolving around how the Federation was evil. Dark, pessimistic, dystopian tone throughout the entire series, same as Discovery. Jeri Ryan portraying Seven of Nine was shown in the same way, acting depressed and angry, drinking alcohol to make herself feel better.

This was on top of the stories again not making sense, and the characters making illogical decisions, which is a result of incompetent writers and producers. And CBS just renewed those same people for 5 more years, which goes to show how out of touch they are with their fanbase.

Originally, Patrick Stewart said in interviews that this would be a different Picard from the one we knew. Now John de Lancie is saying that this will be a different Q as well. I can see the writing on the wall. Bringing back old characters for nostalgia does absolutely nothing if the characters themselves don't act the same.

Yeah. I like Sonequa Martin-Green. But we see way too much of her solving any/all problems, no matter how implausible her character (or the problem) might be. And all before TOS! Spore drive? Where in hell did that come from and why is it gone? TIme travel? You can pull an entire starship forward into time with a fancy spacesuit. Really?

Agreed. There's a constant argument made by those who love modern Star Trek, whether it's Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, etc. The argument is that people like me are the problem. That if I don't like the new shows, it's because I never liked Star Trek to begin with, or that I never knew what it was all about. Either that, or I'm against diversity and inclusion.

For me, I didn't care about Sisko being the first black captain, or Janeway being the first woman in command. Do you know why? Because the stories were well-written and the actors knew how to act their parts properly. There was a certain gravitas in play, like the actors were cast correctly for their respective roles, so whenever any one of them spoke, you took their words seriously, and hence we all ended up accepting everyone, regardless of their gender or race, and we all forgot about traditional stereotypes.

To these people, I argue that you should watch ANY of the original 5 live-action series, TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise. There's a CLEAR difference between those shows and what we're getting now. Even ignoring canon issues and plotholes, the older shows had slower pacing, were more philosophical and intellectual, and it wasn't just one person (or the captain) always solving every problem that came up. Some episodes focused specifically on the other cast members, like Data, O'Brien, Neelix, Hoshi or Dr. Phlox. For the most part, the stories were shown in a way that never outright said who was good or evil, who was right or wrong -- both sides in a conflict had their views and arguments presented, and despite how the story played out on-screen, by the time the episode ended, it was usually the viewer who was left to decide on their own which side they agreed with.

Even the theme songs of the older Star Trek shows were better and more memorable.

If you didn't like the older shows, because they made you think too much, or you found them slow and boring, then obviously you would love the new modern take on Star Trek. But most of the original fans liked Star Trek because of the way it used to be, not the way it is now.

I'm not in the minority here and I know there are many other people who agree with me, because I've seen numerous YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of subscribers who upload videos arguing the exact same points that I've been making. Maybe it's a silent majority in agreement, but it is a majority nonetheless.

As for me, I'm done with modern Star Trek. I watched 3 seasons of Discovery and the entire first season of Picard, hoping it would get better over time. It didn't, and in some ways, it actually got worse. I'm not watching any more.

That said, I will continue re-watching the older Star Trek shows, especially TNG, to remind myself of how Patrick Stewart used to be and how the Picard character used to act. Though I will admit, my positive memories have been somewhat tainted by the way he's acting now unfortunately (both on-screen and in public).

I will gladly take the worst or the most boring episode of any older Star Trek show (even These Are The Voyages), over the most exciting episode of any modern Star Trek show.
 
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Don't forget the Star Trek Section 31 supposed to come out sometime later this year!:hungry:hatsoff
Not necessarily. COVID delays have pushed production of all the ST shows. This article is now saying 2022 at the earliest. If they stick to a yearly release of Discovery, we might not see Section 31 until after season 5.
 
I noticed "I Claudius" on Amazon Prime and started watching. It's a Masterpiece Theater mini series from 1976. About 4 episodes in, a young Patrick Stewart shows up as a major character. This is well before Dune. His acting style never changes, but here he has a head full of curly hair.
 
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The first I remember seeing Patrick Stewart was in “Excalibur“. I’ll have to check my PBS app.