SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
While it has moments of brilliance and excellent performances, Jean-Luc Picard’s return feels far too serialised and piecemeal, and lacks that vital Star Trek spark.
If there’s one franchise that all modern directors and showrunners don’t quite get, it’s Star Trek. Given the sorts of shows that find enduring popularity with audiences today, perhaps the temptation to follow suit is far too powerful for these people to resist. After all, what can a show set in an idealistic utopia where fear, poverty and all other nastiness have been erased offer us today? Modern audiences are gluttons for punishment, and we relish some blood, grit and sweat in our science fiction. The first season of Star Trek: Picard suffers for it, with an alarmingly dark tone based on the notion that suspension of disbelief would be required for us to accept a world that isn’t like our own; that is to say, a world where something isn’t always going wrong. While it’s certainly better than other recent Star Trek shows, it still falls far short of giving its titular character the return he deserves.
What we get is a world twenty years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, and twelve years after the destruction of Romulus in a supernova as depicted in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot (if this means nothing to you, abandon ship now, because prior knowledge is most definitely required), where an attack on Starfleet’s shipyards by synthetic lifeforms has prompted the United Federation of Planets to ban all synthetic life. Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, whose plan to evacuate Romulans threatened by the supernova was crippled by the shipyard attack, resigned in protest over Starfleet’s abandonment of the Romulan people, which he views as unforgivable moral bankruptcy. When a young woman named Dahj (Isa Briones) seeks him out following an attempt on her life by the Romulan secret police, Picard enters the fold once again alongside a ragtag crew to figure out how she, the synth attack and the Romulans are linked.
Naturally, they’re all linked via a sinister conspiracy in a show where there’s simply too much trouble in paradise. Picard’s intense disillusionment with the institutions he once served is essentially par for the course when it comes to contemporary TV, as is its depiction of refugees and minority persecution. The writers might have been forgiven for this gritty take on Star Trek had they actually taken the opportunity to say something substantial about them. However, the progressive commentary the franchise is known for is conspicuously absent, so we have grit being added just for the sake of it. Previous shows have already managed to add grit to this franchise with greater success. Deep Space Nine found a better balance between its darker subjects of war and genocide with lighter episodes that had no bearing on overarching season plotlines beyond the vital task of developing its cast of characters. It’s a rare case where we’re sorely in need of filler.
It’s a show serialised and chopped up into awkward bits. There are moments where it does feel genuinely like Star Trek, but interspersed between those moments is a mishmash of generic modern science fiction influences. The roguish Han Solo types, exotically dystopian locales and giant fleet battles are all signs that these people behind Picard would be better suited at the helm of a sci-fi series of their own making where these things fit in. It’d probably be better than imposing an awkwardly skewed vision of what they think this franchise should be on the rest of us.
The cast are something of a saving grace, though it takes the writers half the season to actually bring them together. There are some intriguing characters, and the interplay and chemistry between them is leagues ahead of other recent Star Trek shows. Patrick Stewart is excellent as always, delivering on the fiery conviction of the Jean-Luc Picard the fans adore so much, even as the character has grown older and weaker physically. Alison Pill and Santiago Cabrera add some extra punch as ship’s doctor Agnes Jurati and captain Chris Rios; Pill effortlessly communicates Jurati’s discomfort with having to acclimatise to space travel, while Cabrera not only plays a roguish captain with a fascinating backstory, but several other comic-relief characters whose identities should not be spoiled. Some of its cameos are sure to delight; Jonathan Frakes’ Will Riker and Marina Sirtes’ Deanna Troi ensure the series reaches a high point with “Nepenthe”, a seventh episode that’s quieter, more emotional and more reflective than the rest of the season.
Although the main plotline is resolved with a certain degree of care by the end of the season, Picard struggles to make room for all of its characters and with completing their respective story arcs. Evan Evangora, who plays Romulan swordsman Elnor, does his absolute best for an otherwise interesting character relegated to fight scenes and standing around, while Jeri Ryan’s sporadic appearances as Seven of Nine from Voyager also leave something to be desired. She benefits from being a character with a cause, but the main intent behind her presence in this show seems to be to attract fans of Voyager to boost viewing numbers rather than because she fits the story. To cap it off, the series villains are laughably boring. It’s difficult to buy into this drama when Picard’s foes can’t ever seem to match the fearsome reputations the writers have devised for them.
I refuse to climb on the bandwagon of hate that some Trekkies have attached themselves to, though I can understand where some of the criticism is coming from. Ultimately, one thing is clear: those looking for the triumphant return of Patrick Stewart’s beloved character will likely be a little disappointed. While Picard is perfectly serviceable science fiction with decent production value on the surface, and a few leagues ahead of other recent Star Trek shows, it’s cut down by the tendency to sacrifice clarity of vision in order to conform to the current science fiction zeitgeist and to the viewing habits of modern audiences. Trek’s contribution has always been unique, and while the setup for the second season does seem promising, the people behind this show need to shift focus to make it so.
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