Star Trek Picard and Strange New Worlds

[Syt]

I guess in the end I'm generally happy that they decide to shake up the status quo like that (and we still haven't seen what happened to the Borg past 24th century, or in the 32nd Century (Discovery's era). It's not much different than Klingons making peace with the Federation, the Dominion War and its fallout, or Romulus being destroyed in a cosmic event in that regard. It's always a bit strange and new at first when some very familiar and comfortable pillars of a sci-fi or fantasy setting are knocked over like that, but it also opens up new possibilities for future writers. Let's be honest: what else was there really left to do with the Borg after all the previous shows that wouldn't have been a rehash of something familiar?

[FunkMonk]

So uh this new Strange New Worlds show is getting good buzz from reviewers. Supposed to be a callback to classic episodic Trek. I guess we'll see this Thursday.

[viper37]

I guess in the end I'm generally happy that they decide to shake up the status quo like that (and we still haven't seen what happened to the Borg past 24th century, or in the 32nd Century (Discovery's era). It's not much different than Klingons making peace with the Federation, the Dominion War and its fallout, or Romulus being destroyed in a cosmic event in that regard. It's always a bit strange and new at first when some very familiar and comfortable pillars of a sci-fi or fantasy setting are knocked over like that, but it also opens up new possibilities for future writers. Let's be honest: what else was there really left to do with the Borg after all the previous shows that wouldn't have been a rehash of something familiar?

The Klingons were antagonists, rivals for the Federation, but I wouldn't describe them as evil and a menace the way the Borgs were.

[Josephus]

So uh this new Strange New Worlds show is getting good buzz from reviewers. Supposed to be a callback to classic episodic Trek. I guess we'll see this Thursday.

New thread or do we talk about that here?

[FunkMonk]

So uh this new Strange New Worlds show is getting good buzz from reviewers. Supposed to be a callback to classic episodic Trek. I guess we'll see this Thursday.

New thread or do we talk about that here?

I figured this was the general Star Trek thread

I haven't watched it yet anyway. Maybe later today. I did see the finale to Picard and it was cringeworthy.

[Syt]

The finale of Picard was better than I expected. I thought it generally wrapped things up "well enough", though looking at the season in full, I feel the story could have been told more efficiently and engagingly in half the runtime, though.

[Syt]

Really liked SNW. Kinda happy they skip a lot of exposition on the characters which is common in pilots. Also, Anson Mount is still awesome as Pike.

[FunkMonk]

Really liked SNW. Kinda happy they skip a lot of exposition on the characters which is common in pilots. Also, Anson Mount is still awesome as Pike.

Yeah I'm really digging it too. Feels like real Star Trek to me

[Syt]

Really liked SNW. Kinda happy they skip a lot of exposition on the characters which is common in pilots. Also, Anson Mount is still awesome as Pike.

Yeah I'm really digging it too. Feels like real Star Trek to me

I just thought that it was surprisingly dark, as kind of epilogue to Picard.

SPOILERS: Rios decided to stay behind in 2024 and in SNW we see that basically everything went to shit shortly thereafter. (True, he manages to live to old age, but I suppose he may have thought more than once, "If only ... "

[Syt]

More SNW spoiler: Btw, it was fairly on the nose that Pike at the start of the episode watches The Day the Earth Stood Still, and then basically re-enacts the plot on the alien planet.

[Syt]

TrekCulture's Ups/Downs video on SNW verbalized something that I guess made the episode good to watch: the cast seemed incredibly comfortable with each other. Sometimes in new shows it can take a bit for a cast to gel. TNG was probably the most obvious case (though the un-fun, stodgy "we're so ethically advanced" Starfleet of early episodes was also a design decision). But this crew comes together quite quickly and easily. And it also helps that they're going for more of a TOS feel - covering serious topics on a macro and personal level - but also having a much lighter tone than Discovery. I enjoy Discovery overall, but it has a tendency to go all in on the melodrama. The last two seasons have tried to lighten the mood a bit (and especially loosening up Michael a lot), but it often comes across as a bit dour.

A few final thoughts on Picard (spoilers, I guess?):

I'm fully ok with the story premise as explained in the final episode, and the "one final adventure" kind of motivation behind it. Q dies, one of his few friends is Picard, so he chooses to lead him on a final chase, and help him repair and come to terms with his childhood trauma that held him back emotionally. That's sweet, and sort of a continuation of the episode Tapestry. Most of the character interactions were great. I liked Rafi/Seven, I liked Rios/Teresa, Picard coming to terms with his past (and playing quite well off James Callis), meeting Renée, young Guinan etc. Alison Pill/Anne Wirsching as Jurati/Queen were awesome. Brent Spiner (mostly) did a good job with what he was given. Isa Briones as Kore gave a good performance. And I loved bringing in Wesley, last seen in the background in ST Nemesis. Tying in the Travelers with the Watchers? Sure! All good stuff. (I'd love a Wesley/Traveler spin off with adventures across time, Sliders or Doctor Who, style.  ) I expected Q and Seven have some dialogue, since they met on Voyager ("How's your son?"), but I can take or leave it.

But it all felt so needlessly drawn out and often badly paced, with some actually padding and filler in the series. The whole bit with Agent Wells - what was the point? Elnor dying served no purpose except to provide Rafi with some trauma to work through. The ICE subplot helped give Rios/Seven/Rafi some more stuff to do than they otherwise would have, but - on the whole - didn't add a whole lot. Sure it made 2024 look a bit more shitty, but the rest of the episodes don't pick up that thread again. Actually, besides those episodes, most of the problems of that era are told, not shown.

Q's bit at the end - it doesn't always have to be saving the galaxy, sometimes it's ok to just save one person. FULLY AGREE (and I feel esp. Discovery leans way too heavy into the galactic crisis trope), but then why set all this up as seeming much bigger? (And arguably, not fixing one person's trauma would lead to a galactic crisis, so ...) The ending, i.e. what Jurati's Borg (presumably a separate collective from the OG Borg) want ... I guess she can't reveal that she's assimilated Jurati who traveled through time and made new, better Borg right away, esp. with her old self still on the ship, but I guess she could also been a bit clearer from the start as to what she was trying to accomplish. ANYWAYS. This all could have been done in half the time, as said before, trimming A LOT of fat.

I am disappointed that several characters have been written out now - Rios and Jurati (both of whom I really liked). Would have liked seeing more of Captain Rios, but I also guess his style would be perhaps a bit too similar to Pike on SNW now. Kore could have made a decent addition to the crew, but yeah - give her something bigger and better. I suppose they're making some room on the roster for Season 3, and the return of the old main cast. I just hope that the show will have more meaningful plot to fill its runtime, and not stretch it out to breaking point.

[Josephus]

So....Seven's a lesbian?

[Syt]

So....Seven's a lesbian?

I think bi, based on her Voyager history. Or maybe her dating Chakotay made her realize she'd rather be with women.

[HVC]

Strange new worlds is good. At least one episode in.

[Josephus]

Strange new worlds is good. At least one episode in.

Seems like, hopefully, they may go with individual episode stories, as opposed to one long story arc (Discovery/Picard). Which I think is good. I like the arcs, but it's also good to have individual stories.