The Official Star Trek Thread

[Middle-aged Europe]

I remember the first season of Picard as a pretty uneven, mixed bag. They did the "quiet drama" episodes reasonably well (e.g. the pilot episode or the Riker/Troi one), but as soon as they aimed for action-adventure stuff they quickly collapsed to current Discovery levels of stupidity. Maybe that shows that TNG - or a TNG spin-off for that matter - was never supposed to be an action show.

It's a shame what this once proud franchise has come to since it had been revived with the launch of Discovery a couple of years ago. First and foremost, CBS probably should have looked for more capable writers and showrunners. The Mandalorian, The Expanse, The Orville... they're all waaaayyyy better than this trainwreck. By now even the formerly much-maligned "bastards childs" of Trek, Voyager and Enterprise, look like friggin William Shakespeare.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Review episode 12:

That last episode has been a slight improvement over the long, tedious stretch of the six weeks that came before. That's not saying much although it seems Discovery is a bit better when it not tries to be "meaningful" (it tends to become boring and painfully self-indulgent then) and instead focuses on a mindless action plot like it now did with this "Die Hard in Space"-like episode. In a way this makes Discovery the polar opposite of Picard, also see my mini-review of that show in the post above. Maybe that's because Picard has an actor of the caliber of Patrick Stewart who can turn even the sh**ttiest script into Charles Dickens.

[Tender Branson]

Star Trek: Picard season 2 has commenced filming, according to new showrunner Terry Matalas. The show's first season took place twenty years after Star Trek: Nemesis, the final film to feature the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with Picard quietly mourning the death of Data after a crisis caused him to resign from Starfleet. A young woman with a direct connection to Data brings Picard out of his self-imposed exile to hop around the galaxy once again.



The show's second season has been delayed multiple times due to the pandemic. Unlike the other current Star Trek shows, which shoot in Toronto, Star Trek: Picard is produced and shot in Los Angeles, which has been ravaged by the virus over the last few months. Series star Jeri Ryan recently hinted that production would finally get underway soon, buoyed by the news that Patrick Stewart has been vaccinated.

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-picard-season-2-filming-confirmed

[7,052,770]

Please don't put the "fate of the galaxy" at stake again. I don't know why recent Star Trek has to focus so large.

[Tender Branson]

Please don't put the "fate of the galaxy" at stake again. I don't know why recent Star Trek has to focus so large.

Yeah, they could settle for something completely different this time.

But the „fate of the galaxy“ thing happened often before as well, with the Borg trying to assimilate everything and Picard being responsible for the destruction of the galaxy in the All good things ... double episode ending of TNG.

[RI]

why

[Progressive Pessimist]

Well, at least we'll get some Red Letter Media videos where Mike and Rich rip the show apart again.

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

I heard rumbling that the Robert Picardo was gonna make an appearance (appearances?) for season 2. That'd be fun.

I need to give season 1 a watch again. It's been a few months, but I remember finding it really dull & unexplanably 'off'

[Antonio the Sixth]

I still haven't watched season 1 because I was still in the process of finishing TNG when it came out and I'm now working my way through the TNG-based movies (I've watched the first 3 and honestly enjoyed all of them... I feel like Generations and Insurrection get far too much hate), but I'm really excited for this. I love the TNG characters so much, and the idea of meeting back with them so many years later is fascinating.

[Lumine]

I really hope they can get the pacing right this time, Season 1 lacked coherence and balance and could have certainly been better.

(Really hoping to see Q returning at some point)

[Tender Branson]

I really hope they can get the pacing right this time, Season 1 lacked coherence and balance and could have certainly been better.

(Really hoping to see Q returning at some point)

It wasn’t incoherent.

It was something totally new after almost 20 years of nothing on TNG.

Everything made sense after the last (10th) episode was over, even the situation with Picard himself - which was not all too different with what happened to Spock in a movie once ...

Obviously, technology has changed and filming styles have, but it’s still more balanced and coherent than the „Discovery“ crap.

In at least half of the show you get the sense that it has something to do with TNG and Star Trek, while Discovery was just a perversion and rape of the Star Trek genre.

And yes, bringing back Q (maybe female ?) or Guinan would be cool.

[Tender Branson]

I still haven't watched season 1 because I was still in the process of finishing TNG when it came out and I'm now working my way through the TNG-based movies (I've watched the first 3 and honestly enjoyed all of them... I feel like Generations and Insurrection get far too much hate), but I'm really excited for this. I love the TNG characters so much, and the idea of meeting back with them so many years later is fascinating.

Insurrection was one of the best movies ever.

Hippie people against Trumpist degenerates, who then lost and needed to be re-integrated into society.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I still haven't watched season 1 because I was still in the process of finishing TNG when it came out and I'm now working my way through the TNG-based movies (I've watched the first 3 and honestly enjoyed all of them... I feel like Generations and Insurrection get far too much hate), but I'm really excited for this. I love the TNG characters so much, and the idea of meeting back with them so many years later is fascinating.

Insurrection was one of the best movies ever.

Hippie people against Trumpist degenerates, who then lost and needed to be re-integrated into society.

I have qualms with the quasi-anprim subtext, but it's just that, subtext. There are people who read way too much into it and claim like the whole movie is anti-technology when it's clearly not. The most it can be read as saying is just "sometimes it's nice to take a break from that stuff and live in the moment" which is a fine message imo. Plus there's the timeless moral of being willing to call out your own government when it's betraying its value. That one is one I can easily get behind.

The best movie is definitely First Contact though.

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

I really hope they can get the pacing right this time, Season 1 lacked coherence and balance and could have certainly been better.

(Really hoping to see Q returning at some point)

It wasn’t incoherent.

It was something totally new after almost 20 years of nothing on TNG.

Everything made sense after the last (10th) episode was over, even the situation with Picard himself - which was not all too different with what happened to Spock in a movie once ...

Obviously, technology has changed and filming styles have, but it’s still more balanced and coherent than the „Discovery“ crap.

In at least half of the show you get the sense that it has something to do with TNG and Star Trek, while Discovery was just a perversion and rape of the Star Trek genre.

And yes, bringing back Q (maybe female ?) or Guinan would be cool.

Discovery > Picard

[Calthrina950]

I don't have CBS All Access (and I'm not interested in getting it), and therefore, I haven't seen Star Trek: Picard directly. However, I did watch Mr. Plinkett's review of the show's first season on YouTube, which was hilarious (as all of his reviews are) and revealing. It seems like they're repeating many of the same mistakes which were made with the TNG movies, Star Trek: Enterprise, the Abramsverse movies, and Star Trek: Discovery. However, I've also read that it has received high critical praise from other quarters. We'll see how it goes moving forward.

One thing is for certain though. The Star Trek franchise, three decades after the death of its creator, is continuing to rapidly expand, as there are three series currently airing now (Discovery, Picard, and Lower Decks), and at least three other series (Prodigy, Strange New Worlds, and Section 31) in the planning stages. This parallels the major expansion which Star Trek's rival franchise, Star Wars, has undertaken over the past decade since Disney acquired it in 2012.

[vitoNova]

Voyager is the best ST of all time and Captain Janeway is one fine mother F.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Mr. Plinkett's

Oh, you mean the guy who started the insane hate mob against the Star Wars prequels with his bad-faith, disinformation-laden, grotesque excuse of a "review" of The Phantom Menace, which led to two perfectly fine actors getting their careers and lives ruined, George Lucas selling off his creation to Disney (with all the mediocrities it has churned out since), and an entire generation of fanatical morons who are still, to this day, unable to give these movies anything resembling a fair shake?

Yeah, you'll forgive me if I don't care what this piece of sh*t has to say.

[Calthrina950]

Mr. Plinkett's

Oh, you mean the guy who started the insane hate mob against the Star Wars prequels with his bad-faith, disinformation-laden, grotesque excuse of a "review" of The Phantom Menace, which led to two perfectly fine actors getting their careers and lives ruined, George Lucas selling off his creation to Disney (with all the mediocrities it has churned out since), and an entire generation of fanatical morons who are still, to this day, unable to give these movies anything resembling a fair shake?

Yeah, you'll forgive me if I don't care what this piece of sh*t has to say.

Well, I'm not someone who absolutely despises the Prequel Trilogy; in fact, there are certain aspects of it which I enjoy. But I'm not an apologist for it either, and I like Plinkett's reviews just for the humor and entertainment value. And which two actors are you referring to?

[Middle-aged Europe]

Unless they manage to straighten out some of the problems of Season 1, I don't hold much hope for this show anymore.

Much of the "Kurtzman-era" Trek sucks in fact and it can't hold water to contemporary space opera competition like The Mandalorian, The Expanse, or (despite its flaws) The Orville. The new season of The Orville will in fact premiere in international markets next week and I'm certainly looking forward to it more than I do with regards to either Discovery or Picard at this point.

[Tender Branson]

Unless they manage to straighten out some of the problems of Season 1, I don't hold much hope for this show anymore.

Much of the "Kurtzman-era" Trek sucks in fact and it can't hold water to contemporary space opera competition like The Mandalorian, The Expanse, or (despite its flaws) The Orville. The new season of The Orville will in fact premiere in international markets next week and I'm certainly looking forward to it more than I do with regards to either Discovery or Picard at this point.

You are too sceptical about Picard.

It was well done and makes sense from start to end.

Anyway, Orville should be interesting. I didn't even knew it would premiere soon.

[Tender Branson]

Unless they manage to straighten out some of the problems of Season 1, I don't hold much hope for this show anymore.

Much of the "Kurtzman-era" Trek sucks in fact and it can't hold water to contemporary space opera competition like The Mandalorian, The Expanse, or (despite its flaws) The Orville. The new season of The Orville will in fact premiere in international markets next week and I'm certainly looking forward to it more than I do with regards to either Discovery or Picard at this point.

You are too sceptical about Picard.

It was well done and makes sense from start to end.

Anyway, Orville should be interesting. I didn't even knew it would premiere soon.

Orville 3.0 will not premiere next week.

Definitely not until the end of the year.

The thing with next week is just something Disney-related, where they offer Seasons 1+2.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Unless they manage to straighten out some of the problems of Season 1, I don't hold much hope for this show anymore.

Much of the "Kurtzman-era" Trek sucks in fact and it can't hold water to contemporary space opera competition like The Mandalorian, The Expanse, or (despite its flaws) The Orville. The new season of The Orville will in fact premiere in international markets next week and I'm certainly looking forward to it more than I do with regards to either Discovery or Picard at this point.

You are too sceptical about Picard.

It was well done and makes sense from start to end.

Anyway, Orville should be interesting. I didn't even knew it would premiere soon.

Orville 3.0 will not premiere next week.

Definitely not until the end of the year.

The thing with next week is just something Disney-related, where they offer Seasons 1+2.

Ah, my mistake, I must have misremembered it.

You are too sceptical about Picard.

I either like a show or I think it is way too flawed. In the case of Picard it's the latter.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Mr. Plinkett's

Oh, you mean the guy who started the insane hate mob against the Star Wars prequels with his bad-faith, disinformation-laden, grotesque excuse of a "review" of The Phantom Menace, which led to two perfectly fine actors getting their careers and lives ruined, George Lucas selling off his creation to Disney (with all the mediocrities it has churned out since), and an entire generation of fanatical morons who are still, to this day, unable to give these movies anything resembling a fair shake?

Yeah, you'll forgive me if I don't care what this piece of sh*t has to say.

Well, I'm not someone who absolutely despises the Prequel Trilogy; in fact, there are certain aspects of it which I enjoy. But I'm not an apologist for it either, and I like Plinkett's reviews just for the humor and entertainment value. And which two actors are you referring to?

Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best. Look them up if you're so inclined - they went through hell.

I'm not accusing you of anything, to be clear. My beef is just with Plinkett (and really with his whole ilk of reviewers). But anyway if you didn't like it, that's totally fair. To each their own.

[politicallefty]

I really enjoyed Picard overall. I only got a few episodes into Discovery before I lost interest and I say that as someone who's seen every episode of Star Trek prior (except TAS). I may eventually take the time to work through it. Discovery made too many changes that were really bad. One of the worst superficial changes was having Klingons without hair. One of my biggest objections to Picard though?:

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

It's far darker than everything prior leads you to believe. The Federation, particularly Earth, is supposed to be utopia. It's fine to dial things down a bit, but they might've gone too far.

Also, as someone that loved Voyager, I can't forgive what they did to Icheb just to shoehorn Seven in.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I really enjoyed Picard overall. I only got a few episodes into Discovery before I lost interest and I say that as someone who's seen every episode of Star Trek prior (except TAS). I may eventually take the time to work through it. Discovery made too many changes that were really bad.

See TAS. See TAS now. In many ways it was a fourth season of TOS with better special effects. It's a shame that the force field belt on TAS never made it to any other Star Trek series. It was a clever addition that took advantage of what they could do in animation and they made good use of it and explained it sufficiently to make it believable and not overpowered.