Star Trek: Picard: Season 1 – Series Review
Follow Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Distributor: DFW
Episodes: 10
Duration: 50 min (per episode)

Star Trek: Picard: Season 1 – Series Review

Site Score
8.0
Good: Story, Acting, Special features
Bad: Totally different vibe than the original
User Score
9.7
(3 votes)
Click to vote
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Rating: 9.7/10 (3 votes cast)

Fans of the Star Trek universe will undoubtedly argue which is the best series in the franchise. While many often refer to the original and/or The Next Generation as being the ‘best classic’ series, the movies are a different tale altogether. Now, also, with the increasing popularity of the franchise again with Star Trek: Discovery, it seemed inevitable to further expand the universe. This time, however, we do it with a familiar face, as Patrick Stewart reprises his role as the legendary Jean-Luc Picard. With a completely different atmosphere, plot and flow, we once again dared to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Star Trek: Picard starts off with two major events. One is where we see a retired admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) wake up to enjoy the vineyard he now owns. We see a somewhat worn-out figure, still mourning the death of his friend and subordinate, Data (Brent Spiner). Now, however, Jean-Luc is preparing for the first interview he has been willing to do since he left Starfleet behind. We learn more about the attack that has transpired on Mars, where synthetic beings killed their ‘masters’. Due to this, the rescue operation of the Romulan people was also abandoned by Starfleet, ignoring Picard’s pleas to continue the mission. He loses his temper during the interview, making it clear that he has no alignments with the current Starfleet administration anymore.

Secondly, there is Dahj (Isa Briones), who is a seemingly normal smart young-adult, who has gotten a big opportunity. Before being able to properly celebrate, assassins breach her room, kill her boyfriend, and she seemingly gets ‘activated’. She soon finds out she also has a handy set of skills that make her a lot faster and stronger than most beings in the universe. Nonetheless, she also gets a vision where she is directed towards Picard to seek help. She finds her way to him, but things have a dramatic ending for Dahj. Picard then learns that Dahj has an identical twin sister, Soji, who is also in danger. When he finds out they are linked to Data, he makes it the highest priority to make sure he can save her, no matter what it costs.

Those expecting the same format or flow as The Next Generation will be in for a shock. Picard tells one big story, rather than separate adventures with a small red thread running through the events. The ten episodes of the first season are a complete story arc, involving synthetic lifeforms, the ban on them, and the Romulan’s obsession with wiping them out. You get more than enough information to slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together and to speculate on what will happen next. We like this format, and it adds a certain new layer to the now elderly Jean-Luc Picard.

While we don’t want to spoil the experience, we see a lot of cameos or smaller roles being performed by Star Trek veterans who come from different iterations of the franchise. Of course, Patrick Stewart is the central figure, and despite his age, he still plays a believable powerhouse, albeit in terms of verbal strength. Throughout the course of these ten episodes, we see a lot of cast members pass the revue, and all do a formidable job. Many have sufficient experience under their belts, making them adapt to the qualitative climate quite quickly. Several characters, including one of the main ones, are being played by Isa Briones. While she has been used to the spotlight since she was little, her acting portfolio is not that long. That being said, she does an amazing job portraying several key characters in the series.

The Blu-ray edition of the first season comes with several hours worth of extra content. While a lot of these special features are compressed into different commentaries, there are also fun additional story bits, as well as a lot of content about the creative process behind the series. We can see what props were used, how Picard joined brainstorming sessions and even how the Borg make-up was done. Many of these features are about 15 minutes in length each, making them ideal to watch in-between other things, rather than having to wade through a lengthy documentary.

Conclusion

Star Trek: Picard: Season 1 is a very interesting continuation of the life of admiral Picard. The series has properly adapted itself to its main character’s age, making things more believable. As mentioned above, these ten episodes are not separate adventures like it was with The Next Generation, but come together as one big story. Those who loved the original will not necessarily enjoy this series, but even so, the attention to detail, the many known characters and the interesting story resulted in a very qualitative and addictive experience. If you want to see how the Star Trek universe keeps expanding and evolving, we recommend watching this one.

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Rating: 9.7/10 (3 votes cast)
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Rating: -1 (from 1 vote)
Star Trek: Picard: Season 1 - Series Review, 9.7 out of 10 based on 3 ratings
Ibuki


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