Yay or Nay?: Picard (TV Show)

So originally, today’s review was going to be on Charlotte Bronte’s second novel after Jane Eyre, Villette. I’ve decided to save that for a later day in February, since it’s the month of love, and I have a bunch of classics that I cannot wait to share with you, which surround either how to tell a great love story (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall), or how to butcher it (Wuthering Heights).  But, since I’m a trekkie— and I’ve been looking forward to the premiere of the show for a long time, I’ve decided to write this week’s review on the spin-off Star Trek: The Next Generation show, Picard. 

And I’ll be honest, when I started watching it, I wasn’t sure if I liked it. Mainly because it’s pilot episode is quite slow and is often confusing, and even for me, out of character for some of the characters. The story is rather shown to you— rather than told, and I say that because there’s been quite a bit of time (20 years in fact) in this show since our beloved Captain Picard has led the Enterprise, and thus, a lot has happened since then. Rather than give the viewer a quick catch-up, you catch up as you watch (and yes I realize how confusing that seems). 

The Story

Captain Picard is now retired from Starfleet, living a quiet life on Chateau Picard running their vineyard. Living with two friends and aids (who I understood to be Romulan, surprisingly), Jean-Luc Picard has difficulty coping with a tragic event that happened 20 years ago, which included the sacrifice of his dear friend, Lieutenant-Commander Data. When a young girl comes to him saying that she believes she’s in danger, and believes to have known him from years ago, Captain Picard is thrust into a world of secrets, ghosts of the past, and left threads from 20 years ago. 

This was my go at describing the story without spoilers, and it’s the most accurate that I can get at. At first glance though, it seems like a mundane story, but I can assure you that it is anything but. While it starts out slow, I am quick to judge, but by the end, I was thoroughly intrigued. 

My Thoughts 

The whole show has a kind of melancholy feel— a depressing feel. Picard is certainly grieving and it shows. At least int he pilot episode. It was a little strange for me since it seemed to clash the Bladerunner-esque atmosphere of both obviously, Bladerunner and the new Star Trek movies together. Comparing that to the original Star Trek: TNG show, it’s a big shift. It’s not unwelcome, looking back on it, but if you were expecting this to be the nice, clean, and everything gets solved at the end of each episode, this is not it. It is a darker version of this show— a more serious version, and of course, with a focus on Captain Picard rather than the original cast and crew. I suppose the world building was a little strange for me— as I said, just because in the original show as well, Earth was not the focus too many times. It has all the bells and whistles of a typical sci-fi world you see in the movies, but there’s not much explaining done. Perhaps that will change in later episodes. 

What I think makes this show is the story and its good characters. As usual, Patrick Stewart is amazing as Jean-Luc Picard, and even more so portraying a nuanced, aged, and struggling Picard. The “secretive girl” he runs into, Daj’s actress, is even better, playing a confused, scared girl who realizes her life isn’t necessarily what she believed it to be. I do wish we got to see more of her in the pilot, but she did a good job. Although I do believe her arc moved rather quickly without her having the natural reactions (not to spoil, but for those who have seen, you’ll understand what I mean). 

By the way the episode ended, it seemed like this is going to take a pretty dramatic turn, and that the old “enemy” of the Federation, the Romulans will have a larger role in the show than they did previously. I find this to be really interesting, especially considering that they (to my knowledge) weren’t as developed in the original show. It’s not much to go on so far, I know, but this show does seem to have promise, and I’ll be watching the second episode this week! 

My Rating 

So far, since I can only go on the pilot episode, I’ll tell you to give it a watch! It’s a yay! But I do hope that doesn’t change. 

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐(4 Stars) 

Check it out! 

~Meghan