Story: Maps & Legends
Written By: Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
Series: Star Trek: Picard
Year: 2020
With the glow of the premiere wearing off, we come to the second installment of Picard...and it is a little less satisfying. There is some clunky babbly dialogue early on with Picard and Laris (his female Romulan friend) as they do some investigation into Dahj which was keeping me from getting too into the episode...but I think what was really putting a damper on my enjoyment is just how dour the Federation and Starfleet have become. I was brushing it aside, for the most part, during the opener...but this time it felt so very much at the forefront and I was finding it hard to ignore.
Picard attempts to get reinstated with Starfleet for a single mission, to find Bruce Maddox and Dahj's sister and piece together the mystery, but he is denied promptly. His interview on TV did him no favors with the brass...but this is also where I began to struggle with some concepts the show is having. The Romulans are being referred to in this show like they were this evil sworn enemy of the Federation...and that just wasn't the case by the end of the TNG era. DS9 had several moments that was building the bridge between the two vast empires. Peace and treaties were on the horizon when that show ended. And despite the darkness of most of Nemesis (a movie that is clearly very integral to the story of this show), it did end with the Romulans helping to takedown Shinzon and help the Enterprise...and offering yet another possible olive branch of peace between the two.
So now this show is trying to pretend they were this longtime mortal enemy and could never ever be trusted, and that Federation worlds were considering leaving over the very idea of helping them? I don't necessarily buy that. The thing that I have so loved about Trek was it's optimistic vision. I am trying to see past that for these new shows, but it is becoming difficult. Cynicism has infected this franchise, and it is kind of a shame. I get that they are trying to reflect our modern world, but our modern world is miserable right now, and so much media is reflecting it. I want Trek to offer me hope that it gets better. This ain't that right now. It's got miserable mass murder events, androids fighting like they were choreographed by an overzealous stunt coordinator, Romulans that have infiltrated high levels of Starfleet, and the Federation seeming less tolerant (despite the fact that it is hundreds of races, they've all decided to become racist against a couple other races?)
Despite this review, this episode wasn't awful. I am intrigued by what the Romulans are doing on the Brog cube, seemingly de-assimilating former Borg. I still think Stewart is great. Most of this episode is set-up. It remains to be seen if the set up is worthwhile. If the show's plot faulters this set-up will end up being far less interesting. But it's the clandestine nature of the show I am finding tiresome. Discovery was bombarded with a boring Section 31 plot in the Second Season. There is a Section 31 show on the horizon (kill me now!), and even Picard has clandestine Romulans that are even more clandestine than the Clandestine Romulans of the previous shows! Kurtzman has a clear boner for all things spy. Somebody put him in charge of an actual espionage show. I so wish to Explore Strange New Worlds again.
NEXT TIME: Assembling a Rag-Tag Crew
Written By: Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
Series: Star Trek: Picard
Year: 2020
With the glow of the premiere wearing off, we come to the second installment of Picard...and it is a little less satisfying. There is some clunky babbly dialogue early on with Picard and Laris (his female Romulan friend) as they do some investigation into Dahj which was keeping me from getting too into the episode...but I think what was really putting a damper on my enjoyment is just how dour the Federation and Starfleet have become. I was brushing it aside, for the most part, during the opener...but this time it felt so very much at the forefront and I was finding it hard to ignore.
So now this show is trying to pretend they were this longtime mortal enemy and could never ever be trusted, and that Federation worlds were considering leaving over the very idea of helping them? I don't necessarily buy that. The thing that I have so loved about Trek was it's optimistic vision. I am trying to see past that for these new shows, but it is becoming difficult. Cynicism has infected this franchise, and it is kind of a shame. I get that they are trying to reflect our modern world, but our modern world is miserable right now, and so much media is reflecting it. I want Trek to offer me hope that it gets better. This ain't that right now. It's got miserable mass murder events, androids fighting like they were choreographed by an overzealous stunt coordinator, Romulans that have infiltrated high levels of Starfleet, and the Federation seeming less tolerant (despite the fact that it is hundreds of races, they've all decided to become racist against a couple other races?)
Despite this review, this episode wasn't awful. I am intrigued by what the Romulans are doing on the Brog cube, seemingly de-assimilating former Borg. I still think Stewart is great. Most of this episode is set-up. It remains to be seen if the set up is worthwhile. If the show's plot faulters this set-up will end up being far less interesting. But it's the clandestine nature of the show I am finding tiresome. Discovery was bombarded with a boring Section 31 plot in the Second Season. There is a Section 31 show on the horizon (kill me now!), and even Picard has clandestine Romulans that are even more clandestine than the Clandestine Romulans of the previous shows! Kurtzman has a clear boner for all things spy. Somebody put him in charge of an actual espionage show. I so wish to Explore Strange New Worlds again.
NEXT TIME: Assembling a Rag-Tag Crew
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