by Nick Ferro, Contributing Writer
Star Trek: Picard has been a roller coaster ride of emotion and frustration. As I said in my review of Season Two, both the first and second seasons are acceptable but ultimately lackluster, with moments bordering on bad in my estimation. In fact, after re-reading my Season Two review, I feel that Past Nick was a little too kind to what I have come to see as a real low point for the franchise. That brings us to Season Three, the final season, a season that promised the return of the entire bridge crew of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D, news that should have made any Star Trek: The Next Generation fan excited. But with the good comes the bad, and it was also announced that Season Three was filming simultaneously with Season Two, which, to me, felt like a double-edged sword. After seeing Season Two, I was filled with worries. How could they possibly know where to course correct any and all of the bad habits that Season Two put on display? Without critical review and audience reactions to Season Two, could we be sure that they weren’t going to once again throw together another four-hour story stretched to fit a 10-hour episode order? There were so many questions rattling around in my brain, but still, it’s Star Trek, and I will wholly admit to a biased opinion: I love it, and no matter how bad it gets, I am always going to give it the benefit of the doubt.
The name of the hour, in regard to how Star Trek: Picard Season Three was received, is Terry Matalas, who is just one name in a growing list of Star Trek producers who are evolving this generation of Trek into something to rival Trek of the ‘90s. Between Matalas, Mike McMahan, Paul Gadd, and Aaron Waltke, we have finally found a group of talented writers and producers who happen to not only love Star Trek, but who aren’t embarrassed by that fact. My biggest complaint about this new run of Trek shows that started with Discovery and Picard’s first season, is that the people behind the scenes like Trek, but were always trying to make it more like Star Wars, wanting it to be full of adventure, space battles, and blaster fights, have a darker, grittier tone, and make the characters curse and have sex, and since it’s behind a pay wall, make it rated R! That of course has lessened, and almost vanished in the last couple years, with the smash hit Strange New Worlds, the hilariously irreverent yet faithful comedy Lower Decks, and the delightful Nickelodeon kid’s show Prodigy. We come to Star Trek for magic, to laugh, to cry, to care, because we need that… wait… sorry! (I’ve been going to the theater a lot) Star Trek shows us a future of hope; it gives us morality plays that hold a mirror up to our real-world problems and says, “Do better, work together, build a future you can be proud of.” Matalas and company clearly understand the balance needed to be new, modern, and exciting, while still also delivering on the original promise that Star Trek had to offer.
I am beyond thrilled to report that after a year of optimistic trepidation, Star Trek: Picard Season Three, the final season, is almost a complete 180 from the first two seasons. Every element that made me dislike Seasons One and Two has been transported into space. I was so thoroughly in love with this season that I have completely given it a pass for falling into some traps that the first two seasons fell into (looking at you, Episodes Six through Eight). I will once again reiterate: I am quite biased when it comes to Star Trek. I have the tendency to become emotionally compromised when presented with well-placed nostalgia bait or emotionally manipulative scenes. That being said, I am also not in the habit of giving too much leeway to something that disappoints or angers me, and I cannot stand story continuity errors. This was the first season where, after watching each episode, I immediately wanted to watch them again. By the time the season was complete, I had seen each episode no less than three times. As much as I enjoyed it, though, be warned: This is not a season that will offer any real new ideas. It is creative, but never strays too far from nostalgic comfort. It is not bold or daring; the stakes are high, but you will never really feel fear or a sense that our heroes won’t find a way to solve their current predicament. But none of those things really matter, because at its core, Picard Season Three is a swan song for our favorite characters and for TNG as a whole. It is a chance to say hello again to old friends, as well as old concepts and themes that made TNG the success that it was in its heyday.
The cast of Season Three is outstanding. The only full season holdovers from previous seasons are Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Michelle Hurd as Raffi, and Patrick Stewart as the titular Jean Luc Picard. Joining the cast full time are the original bridge crew of TNG: Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi-Riker, and Brent Spiner as many characters. I won’t go into depth on Spiner’s involvement, as he always has unique roles to play, and his involvement this season plays into a large part of the mystery. This group of incredibly talented actors came together as though their show hadn’t ended 30 years ago. I am sure part of their chemistry comes from their real-life friendships as well, but their ability to mesh on screen as a team is no less than the same magic it was in 1993 during the original TNG run, or in their final appearance together in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis.
If I had to pick one standout this season, it would have to be Burton. He is given less to do than I would have hoped, but what he does with the material helps elevate the season higher than the show was previously able to achieve. The way he shows concern for his daughters, or the heartbreak in his voice describing the loss of his best friend, left me close to tears with the conviction of his performance. I would be remiss though if I didn’t call to light two other excellent performances: McFadden and Dorn. After hearing some behind the scenes interviews, I absolutely love that McFadden took a large role in molding Beverly Crusher into almost a brand new character. Dr. Beverly still feels authentic to the character we knew, but the believability of who she has become after 20 years is only emphasized by the conviction of her performance. Dorn was also able to bring forth an almost brand new character in Worf, as he also has grown considerably over 20 years. However, in his case, the writers decided that Worf would be the comic relief of the series, as he had some of the most hilarious lines that have all become memeable. Sometimes when a character is turned into comic relief, it’s a bad thing, but Dorn owns it and brings the balance of serious and silly, and owns the funniest moment of not only the entire Picard series, but maybe even the franchise.
Joining the original crew are some new faces as well. Todd Stashwick as Captain Shaw is my second MVP of the season. He is immediately a character, due to his sheer disrespect toward Picard, Riker, and Seven, that collectively the audience hated. Anyone watching live was anxiously anticipating the moment when his character would be blown out of an airlock. But not only does he not get blown out, but he manages to become the show’s most lovable curmudgeon that most people would describe as, “He’s a butthole, but he’s, our butthole.” His monologue in Episode Four is where you learn the reason for his abrasiveness. He starts his story quiet, and builds to an enraged climax, prompting him to end with the apology, “At some point, asshole became a substitute for charm,” which left me fighting back tears. You quickly learn that he is a full-blown character, not a caricature of a stereotype we’ve seen so many times before. Stashwick is the perfect embodiment of this character, and deserves all the accolades.
In addition to Shaw, we are introduced to several new characters, but the two that have the most potential for future endeavors are Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) and Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). I really liked Sharpe Chestnut’s performance as the youngest daughter of Geordi La Forge; however, I felt that the writers cut a few too many corners with her character. For one, if you took a drink every time she name-dropped her father, you would have at least one drink per episode, which isn’t a lot, I guess, but for name drops it feels excessive. A couple aspect of her character that are handled well are her relationship with Seven of Nine, and the chemistry she shares with Jeri Ryan.
Jack Crusher is the obvious new focal point of any future Star Trek shows — he is incredibly charismatic and earnest, yet they built the character to be flawed enough that he is able to have an arc worth watching. There is a moment in Episode Two that concerned me that he was going to be another stereotypical young, brash character who bucks against the norms of society and rebels at every chance. But once again like with Shaw, the writers proved me wrong by showing that Jack can learn from his mistakes and take feedback, and is willing to listen to his mother or others with more experience. He is young and capable of inspiring others, but hasn’t quite earned it yet, so there is plenty of room to grow. Speleer’s portrayal of all of these traits and emotions shows that he is very capable of handling such a complicated role.
The last new character I want to showcase is the villain of the series Vadic (Amanda Plummer). Plummer, whose father played the villain of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, continues the family tradition of being a scene-chewing and -stealing powerhouse! She is so deliciously evil in the first few episodes, and downright terrifying in Episode Eight. Her character’s backstory is tragic, yet you actually don’t feel a ton of sympathy for her, due to how much joy she gets out of being so capital E evil. She is truly a delight on screen from start to finish.
The story structure of this seasons is handled with a lot more care. In Seasons One and Two, the first two and last two episodes are all you really need for the story, with the middle six being all over the place and unfocused. In Season Three, that is not the case. It opens with a four-episode arc that uses Episode One as an introduction to the problem, Episode Two to introduce us to our villain, Episode Three to develop our characters and help us realize they are in the midst of a Star Trek problem, and Episode Four to resolve that problem and wrap up with a tidy log entry to make my Trekkie heart swoon. It is excellently paced, and if watched back-to-back, is a perfect little mini-movie full of adventure, excitement, and most of all, Trek stuff. They may have been a bit heavy handed on the Wrath of Khan references in this arc, but to use a Tamarian style metaphor, I was “Leo, his hand pointing at the TV,” for every single reference. Episode Five is a great bridge episode that takes act one and kicks off the remainder of the season long story. That episode is also a wonderful standalone, with a returning character from TNG. I won’t spoil who it is, but I will say that I was over the moon excited to see them return. The catharsis that they share with Picard, bringing closure to a major conflict set up in TNG’s final season, had a smile on my face as I was also wiping away the tears.
As I mentioned, Episodes Six through Eight are where the show starts spinning its wheels a bit, in a mini arc that could have used some editing. There is a lot of detail I would like to go into, but they would be considered spoilers, and I really don’t want to give too much away. Let’s just say it starts with an episode that was too much of my least favorite story telling trope: Tell, don’t show, particularly with the Sidney/Geordi La Forge relationship. I give them a minor pass because Episode Six is so jam-packed with story and information that to make it solely a La Forge episode would be a bold choice in a show called Picard, so they had to share time with the Jack and Picard arc, which also mirrors Sidney and Geordi. It’s not that this was bad — it’s just that I wanted so much more. I think we should be willing to give them a pass in this instance, because for once it doesn’t feel like this was their only chance to expand on these characters. I have a strong feeling we will see Geordi and Sidney again, and what they set up here has me very excited.
This arc also introduces a red herring that I am very willing to spoil, because knowing it’s a red herring will allow you to enjoy the episode more. In the trailers they show Professor Moriarty (played by Daniel Davis from the Sherlock Holmes episodes of TNG). His inclusion in the trailers led to a rabbit hole of speculation and theories for what amounted to be a fun cameo and nothing more. I don’t begrudge the show for using him, but I do like to take any chance I can to be annoyed at marketing teams for spoiling cameos and making those cameos misleading. Episodes Seven and Eight focus on Vadic’s backstory, which is pretty interesting but ultimately disappointing, only because, again, something that could have been an entire season of fun is condensed into one-and-a-half episodes. This second block of episodes, although fine in a vacuum, in the grand scheme of things is a waste of story time. I would have much rather they had taken Episodes Six through Eight and found a way to shorten them into one or two episode so that we could have more time living in the story set up for episodes Nine and 10.
Nine and 10 act as one long movie finale, which is to me, and many long time Trek fans, a perfect 90 minutes of television to conclude the adventures of the crew of the USS Enterprise D. I’m sure by now you have realized that I am not going into too many specifics. I really feel not knowing the details will allow you to make up your own mind and enjoy this season as I did. All I am willing to divulge about the two-part finale is that it is an amazing closure, and more than fans of Star Trek could have thought possible after the last several years. Every story thread introduced is paid off, the secrets and twists that occur along the way make sense to the overall story, the villain’s plan is both creative and terrifying, character moments are served, and the manner in which the conflict is resolved allows for everyone in the cast to play a part in a satisfying way.
One criticism I have seen and will agree with is that you will love it or hate it based on this one major element: How much did you like Seasons One and Two of Picard? If you are like me and feel mostly negative, then you will not have a problem. But if you love them, this season will actively anger you, as the writers clearly did not care if they ret-conned, erased, or disregarded what came before in Picard. We are all used to it now, but this is the Halloween (2018) of Star Trek. It’s pretty much saying, “Don’t worry about anything that happened after Star Trek: Nemesis; it’s not important at all. That being said, the show manages to hit all the right notes for me, as I have no intention of revisiting Seasons One and Two again. Another criticism I’ve seen is the overall fan service and nostalgia baiting that the detractors have felt this season was. It is there, but there is a difference between cynical nostalgia for the sake of it and nostalgia from a place of love and reverence. This is definitely the latter, and I appreciate the writers’ restraint, as it could have been much worse.
Are there some moments and jokes that don’t land? Of course; no show is perfect. But boy does Matalas come close! I will be forever grateful that after 30 years since the finale of TNG, and 20 since the last time this cast was all together, I was able to see them do what I love so much, one last time. Some will complain that there are no stakes or consequences, or take issue with how it is a happy ending. I don’t care; it stays true to what Star Trek: The Next Generation is. I personally believe that we already got the perfect ending for TNG in the “All Good Things” finale. It could have ended there, and I would have been happy as a clam. After the movies and first two seasons of Picard, it was time for another try at an ending, and how do you top “All Good Things?” Well, the answer is you don’t, but this was as close as I ever thought possible. Some have called Season Three of Picard, Season Eight of The Next Generation. Matalas, in an interview said he sees it more like Star Trek 11. For me, it truly is the best of both worlds!
Score: 9/10
Star Trek: Picard is currently streaming on Paramount+
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