Re: Star Wars / Star Trek Discussion (SciFi In General)
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 4:29 pm
Maia and I finally watched Picard (well, we just finished the first season and will be starting on the second season tonight) and I have to say that despite all the negative commentary — on here and some other places — we absolutely loved it!
Was it different than other Trek shows? Yeah, but it was still Star Trek at its core, just it focused far more on individuals (without any of them being a "Mary Sue" or "Gary Stu") and their complexities than space exploration. Really, that's what the show was about: people are complex and at what point does artificial life because "real life" and get the same rights as any other being in the Federation?
I really like the new "crew" (and I put crew in quotes because none of them are officially Picard's crew, they're just there because they share similar goals and interests, and are loyal to Picard himself), especially Raffi and Rios. Those two are just cool and work well together; additionally, it was a nice surprise to see that Rios is genuinely a nice guy unlike the majority of private ship captains you see in sci-fi who're jerks, or at least start out as jerks and eventually warm up. I also liked how Rios' ship was clean, tidy, and in great condition. It was nice to see someone who actually cares about their surroundings and takes pride in keeping an orderly ship, which is different from most sci-fi where captains in his position have ships that are dirty and practically falling apart.
(NOTE: I realize that Starfleet ships are usually in pristine working order, but those usually have medium-to-large crews who're overseeing the management of every little detail to keep up with Starfleet regulations. A private ship captain has no such requirements and generally has a much smaller crew, if any at all.)
I like Elnor (he's young, brash, and way too eager to help, but somehow it works for him without being annoying) and it was nice to see Seven-of-Nine again (without her ridiculous catsuit from VOY), among other characters from TNG such as Riker, Troi, Hugh, and Data (in an off-beat sort of way).
The EMH, ENH, EEH, and EHH that Rios has — that look all like him, but each have a ridiculously over-the-top stereotypical accents, such as the EEH being Scottish and making no sense when he speaks — are absolutely hilarious, especially in the scene where they're all together and Raffi is trying to get them to be coherent for a moment so she can gain some useful info to help Picard.
I never found the show preachy or attempting to drive home a socio-political message. Maybe I somehow missed it, but I was watching pretty carefully and just waiting for some nonsense "woke" drivel to seep in, but it never happened... or at least, I didn't notice it, which would mean that Star Trek was being as preachy as it's always been by hiding messages within its narrative without beating the audience over the head.
I didn't notice the show being dark or dystopian (as some have claimed). Was it quite as hopeful and optimistic as most of the previous shows? No, but the underlying theme was still far more optimistic than other sci-fi available and most shows in general. If you look at what's offered on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crave, Hulu, and most other streaming platforms... almost all of it is exceptionally dark, depressing, and full of crime, drug runners, murder, and rape, or it's just cheap horror. So comparatively-speaking, Picard was a breath of fresh air.
Is this my favorite Star Trek show? No, but mostly because I don't have a "favorite" since all of them (I haven't watch Strange New Worlds yet, so I can't realistically comment on it) have good and bad points in their own way (yes, even Discovery had a few good parts in it) and how much I enjoy each really depends on a number of factors, some of which are beyond the scope of any of the shows themselves.
Honestly, the most depressing thing about the show was seeing how old everyone's become because in my head they still look like they do in TNG or at least some of the earlier TNG films, like First Contact. Patrick Stewart in particular looks really old (because he is!) and it's a little sad.
I'm a bit worried about Picard season 2 and how they'll match the same impact that season 1 had. In some ways, I'd have preferred that Picard be a limited series and instead ended with Picard's death as it would've been a fitting send off for him. At the very least, it would've been far better than the way Kirk died in Generations, which was ridiculous and quite frankly, insulting to the character.
Was it different than other Trek shows? Yeah, but it was still Star Trek at its core, just it focused far more on individuals (without any of them being a "Mary Sue" or "Gary Stu") and their complexities than space exploration. Really, that's what the show was about: people are complex and at what point does artificial life because "real life" and get the same rights as any other being in the Federation?
I really like the new "crew" (and I put crew in quotes because none of them are officially Picard's crew, they're just there because they share similar goals and interests, and are loyal to Picard himself), especially Raffi and Rios. Those two are just cool and work well together; additionally, it was a nice surprise to see that Rios is genuinely a nice guy unlike the majority of private ship captains you see in sci-fi who're jerks, or at least start out as jerks and eventually warm up. I also liked how Rios' ship was clean, tidy, and in great condition. It was nice to see someone who actually cares about their surroundings and takes pride in keeping an orderly ship, which is different from most sci-fi where captains in his position have ships that are dirty and practically falling apart.
(NOTE: I realize that Starfleet ships are usually in pristine working order, but those usually have medium-to-large crews who're overseeing the management of every little detail to keep up with Starfleet regulations. A private ship captain has no such requirements and generally has a much smaller crew, if any at all.)
I like Elnor (he's young, brash, and way too eager to help, but somehow it works for him without being annoying) and it was nice to see Seven-of-Nine again (without her ridiculous catsuit from VOY), among other characters from TNG such as Riker, Troi, Hugh, and Data (in an off-beat sort of way).
The EMH, ENH, EEH, and EHH that Rios has — that look all like him, but each have a ridiculously over-the-top stereotypical accents, such as the EEH being Scottish and making no sense when he speaks — are absolutely hilarious, especially in the scene where they're all together and Raffi is trying to get them to be coherent for a moment so she can gain some useful info to help Picard.
I never found the show preachy or attempting to drive home a socio-political message. Maybe I somehow missed it, but I was watching pretty carefully and just waiting for some nonsense "woke" drivel to seep in, but it never happened... or at least, I didn't notice it, which would mean that Star Trek was being as preachy as it's always been by hiding messages within its narrative without beating the audience over the head.
I didn't notice the show being dark or dystopian (as some have claimed). Was it quite as hopeful and optimistic as most of the previous shows? No, but the underlying theme was still far more optimistic than other sci-fi available and most shows in general. If you look at what's offered on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crave, Hulu, and most other streaming platforms... almost all of it is exceptionally dark, depressing, and full of crime, drug runners, murder, and rape, or it's just cheap horror. So comparatively-speaking, Picard was a breath of fresh air.
Is this my favorite Star Trek show? No, but mostly because I don't have a "favorite" since all of them (I haven't watch Strange New Worlds yet, so I can't realistically comment on it) have good and bad points in their own way (yes, even Discovery had a few good parts in it) and how much I enjoy each really depends on a number of factors, some of which are beyond the scope of any of the shows themselves.
Honestly, the most depressing thing about the show was seeing how old everyone's become because in my head they still look like they do in TNG or at least some of the earlier TNG films, like First Contact. Patrick Stewart in particular looks really old (because he is!) and it's a little sad.
I'm a bit worried about Picard season 2 and how they'll match the same impact that season 1 had. In some ways, I'd have preferred that Picard be a limited series and instead ended with Picard's death as it would've been a fitting send off for him. At the very least, it would've been far better than the way Kirk died in Generations, which was ridiculous and quite frankly, insulting to the character.
