The Ultimate Test

Story: The Star Gazer

Written By: Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas
Series: Star Trek: Picard
Year: 2022

Sigh. 

So I took a long break from Star Trek, because Discovery, Picard, and Lower Decks all just didn't appeal to me the way Trek used to.  I wasn't in love with Disco's third season, but really it was Picard that I think bummed me out the most. I wanted that show to work so much. I figured at the very least, they had a character I admire in the lead. But Stewart doesn't really want to play Picard again.  He was playing essentially a different character. To be fair, he started playing a different version of Picard in the films...but he is just clearly doing a different guy than he did in TNG.  And I don't think I like this new guy.  Now he's a robot too.  I can't stress enough how much the way the first Picard season played out turned me off.

But with my new found access to Paramount+, I decided to jump back into modern Trek, and Disco's fourth season was a nice surprise. I don't love it like my classic Trek shows (it's no DS9 or TNG), I found myself pleasantly surprised that it felt like a modern take on Star Trek and it worked.  More so than previous seasons of that show or any other modern Trek season.  So time to dive in to Picard's second and third seasons...and holy crap what a whiplash.

This was not good.  All the problems of earlier Disco seasons and Picard's first season are here. It's dark and and feels cynical. I don't think I like any of the characters.  I mean due to their legacy I like Picard and Seven, but Picard is basically just Stewart playing some version of himself now, rather than the stoic thoughtful character I loved.  But Jurati? Rios? Raffi? That Lord of the Rings elf Romulan?  Laris?  I don't care for any of them. And they are trying this weird will they/won't they romance with Picard and Laris feels icky...Stewart is so much older and it just seems gross to me.  But as Stewart always used to tell the writers on TNG, he wants the captain to fight and fuck. Now he is an Executive Producer so I guess he gets his way. 

There is a scene here with Guinan in which she doesn't really offer up much beyond "hey look! Guinan! Running a bar! Called 10 Forward! I GET THAT!" I suppose she tells Picard to look within or whatever.  Also there are weird hints of Picard;s mom that makes me think they are going to screw that up somehow.  

The plot involves some crazy green space anomaly which calls for Picard specifically. He arrives on the new Star Gazer, which is currently captained by Rios, asks the anomaly what it wants and the Borg come out of it, the Borg Queen beams aboard and starts to take control of the ship and the whole fleet standing by.  Picard orders a self destruct and wakes up in some weird darker version of his home...and then Q arrives to offer Picard his latest trial. I'm not looking forward to it...but I will power through to get to my TNG crew returning.  

NEXT TIME: Alternate Timeline