Ladies and gentleman; THAT is how you do Star Trek; good night!
Just kidding of course, but I have to say that this season of Star Trek: Picard has been a clinic on how to produce great science fiction and to revitalize a franchise. After the lukewarm second season, showrunner Terry Matalas has really gone back to the roots in bringing together what works in Star Trek; good callbacks and great storytelling.
As Trekkies we don’t ask much, just give us an invigorating story that invites us to dive into the character relationships and plot points. After all, that’s what franchise creator Gene Roddenberry envisioned as his original plan for his “Wagon Train To The Stars”. After that it really doesn’t matter how the show looks as long as we are engaged (maybe a bad pun?)
After seeing the first 3 episodes, it is clear that the writers went back to form in crafting the villain “Vadic” (Amanda Plummer). She doesn’t appear to be a traditional world or universe ending villain and instead uses her intellect to pick away at her nemesis JL and the rest of the Titan crew. Plummer’s portrayal of Vadic reminds me a lot of Khan but even more sinister. She appears to have no interest in ending lives of the crew but perhaps looks to them as a toy or something of amusement.
WARNING FOR SPOILERS
The one issue of this season is not really an issue so much as a question as to why Admiral Picard had no knowledge of his son Jack Crusher. Surely, He would have heard something from his former shipmates or through other Starfleet channels. I don’t believe its missed I just think there was an oversight somewhere at least according to how the episodes have unfolded. However, looking at the expression of Picard is seems like he had an intuition after first seeing him that he didn’t share even with Riker.
I’m very hopeful for what is head of us on season 3. It is a shame that this will be the final season as the series has finally come into its own. I’m still a little troubled with how story elements from season 2, including the Borg alliance, wasn’t mentioned in the current season. I believe we will have a conclusion of the Picard storyline and it will give rise to other opportunities and spin-offs. Even with the budget cuts recently announced by Paramount I think Star Trek remains its main focus and revenue stream. After all it was Star Trek Discovery that launched the entire enterprise. Lets hope for more Trek and more seasons of the other shows Lower Decks, Prodigy, Strange New Worlds. Even with Discovery ending the future is bright for Trek.
