Conclusion: There are two things I truly liked in the whole series – first is Seven Of Nine’s arc through the series – I don’t like that she got so side-lined in season 3 but what little she had was good. And the other thing is the Borg Queen/Jurati storyline in season 2.
More thoughts behind the cut…
3×10 wasn’t as bad as I feared it might be. There was never any question that the Borg wouldn’t be defeated, given what we know of the future as shown in Star Trek: Discovery. And because I didn’t for a moment think that TPTB would kill off Picard, Jack, Riker or any fan favorite or anyone who actually matters, so all the action was just going-through-the-motions with a lot of noise but little suspense.
As a whole, Star Trek: Picard the series I feel is rather pointless. I don’t feel it brought anything really new to the table and I don’t like what it says about having a child and a family and being a parent as being the only things that truly matters, and not having a kid is Picard’s one true regret in life. As if his life would have had no meaning if he hadn’t fathered a child, however accidentally that happened. Very heteronormative and old fashioned message. And the new characters are ignored in favor of the old characters – just fuck off Laris, Zhaban, Elnor, Soji, Jurati… nobody really cares about you. Too bad Kestra, nobody remembers that Troi and Riker have a daughter, not even Troi and Riker. Only their dead son matters. Fuck off Ro Laren and Shelby, we brought you back just to kill you off as quick as we could. Too bad Raffi, you only got you stick around for season 3 because of your relationship with Seven Of Nine and we couldn’t be bothered to do anything with that either. You’re new so you don’t count. Instead let’s bring in Brent Spiner to play umpteenth time his old characters and their familial relations, that’s new and interesting! And let’s kill off Q, only not really! And while we’re at it, let’s make the sets and special effects all so dark that people can’t see what’s going on and want the characters to go on a hunt for the light switch instead!
So many nods to Star Trek nostalgia big and small that it was just too much, and not enough of new stuff. At first it was fun, but after the first several episodes it started to feel calculating and sort of cynical instead of fan service. Like the TPTB weren’t able to think of anything original, and just recycled things from TNG and even the TOS movies.
Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher did a great job with his material, especially in the later episodes, but he was totally miscast – he’s much too old for the role. Jack Crusher is supposed to be what, 21? 22? at the most. But Ed Speleers is 35 years old, and looks it. Some actors can pull off that kind of age difference between their real age and their character’s age, but Ed Speleers isn’t one of them. And honestly, I kinda feel like it would’ve just worked better had the character been over 30.
Todd Stashwick was great as Captain Liam Shaw, but Shaw is a completely innappropriate character for a Starfleet captain. He’s too much in the middle of his own Borg trauma and taking it out on other people and being loud about it too. Apparently at some point after TNG, Starfleet stopped believing in counseling, people deserving having their trauma treated and their captains needing to be stable officers who have worked through their traumas. Which doesn’t feel very Star Trek and Starfleet to me.
There are two things I truly liked in the whole series – first is Seven Of Nine’s arc through the series – I don’t like that she got so side-lined in season 3 but what little she had was good. And the other thing is the Borg Queen/Jurati storyline in season 2. Jeri Ryan, Annie Werching and Alison Pill all turned in excellent performances. I’m glad to have these stories and performances, even if I feel the series as a whole is rather pointless – but entertaining enough.
But, really – the best thing about the series to me is that Seven Of Nine is now the Captain of the new Enterprise (IMHO it should’ve stayed TItan. But iconic character for an iconic ship. I can live with that.). I’d love to see a new tv show showing her adventures as the Captain of the Enterprise! Just, make it episodic, please!! And please please I BEG you – turn on the lights!