# Star Trek: Picard discussion thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529 "2019-06-14T22:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/461 "2020-04-07T22:15:26Z")
They also have “Short Treks”, which don’t IMO have a great batting average but are easy to finish for the completist. And although it’s not Trek, if you have CBSAA I highly recommend _The Good Fight_! ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/462 "2020-04-08T00:37:25Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > Interest piqued. I actually got goosebumps from that trailer. And I thought my Trekker tendencies died when they made STD. > > We won’t pay for CBS All Access, but we will find a way to watch at least the first few episodes. I’m sorry to say I’m quite disappointed. We watched the first 4 episodes, but it is so dark and dystopian that we just can’t see watching any more. For those who yearn for the optimism of TOS and TNG, you are not alone. But I don’t think anyone in Hollywood who would bring it back has the clout to produce a series that goes against the hopelessness of the culture. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/463 "2020-04-08T01:40:35Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > I’m sorry to say I’m quite disappointed. We watched the first 4 episodes, but it is so dark and dystopian that we just can’t see watching any more. > > For those who yearn for the optimism of TOS and TNG, you are not alone. But I don’t think anyone in Hollywood who would bring it back has the clout to produce a series that goes against the hopelessness of the culture. Have you watched _The Orville_, formerly on FOX but now on Hulu? Lots of TNG writers and directors involved, and even the same music composer IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/464 "2020-04-08T03:03:05Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Have you watched _The Orville_, formerly on FOX but now on Hulu? Lots of TNG writers and directors involved, and even the same music composer IIRC. And Jonathan Frakes directed an episode or two and Marina Sirtis makes a guest appearance (among others). ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/465 "2020-04-08T03:33:14Z")
Yes, the show’s creator tried to get CBS to let him make a Star Trek show but they declined, so it’s basically unofficial Trek from people who are more into the spirit of the '90s era shows. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/466 "2020-04-10T00:06:40Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Have you watched _The Orville_, formerly on FOX but now on Hulu? Lots of TNG writers and directors involved, and even the same music composer IIRC. Yes, really enjoying it and I did think that it had surprisingly good music on top of it all. > [@Biffster](#): > > And Jonathan Frakes directed an episode or two and Marina Sirtis makes a guest appearance (among others). I spotted a few actors who’d already starred somewhere else in Star Trek, I even wondered if the appearance of a beagle was a reference to Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/467 "2020-04-11T23:43:15Z")
Well, I just watched the entire series. What a disappointment. It was a show that aspired to be mediocre and never reached that level. The final episode was awful. First you had the machina ex machina magic machine. :rolleyes: Then, like in most episodes, they telegraphed what was going to happen. People acted stupid because it was in the plot. Then they topped it off with the most annoying trope in science fiction. The “oh, were so sad he has died, oh, wait, now he’s back.” It took less than 15 minutes, too. And it was used with a complete lack of imagination, plus it set things up so that everything was reset, so any sadness over the death is just cheap manipulation. The entire show was poorly designed. In the second episode, Picard spends ten minutes to discover what we knew at the end of the first. That scene should have been two minutes, max; it’s tedious to watch the mountain laboring and producing nothing. And the fan service. :rolleyes: “Oh, look, it’s X” _Star Trek_ was never particularly good at showing character depth, and this was no exception. “Maudlin” only begins to scratch the surface. I was unimpressed, but stayed with it because people were saying the ending made it all work. So it was a big disappointment to find the ending had more cliches than a barrel full of monkeys (not to mention the characters made no sense). And the soundtrack was awfully mixed. We had to turn the volume up to hear any dialog, and quick turn it down whenever music played. I’m on a free trial for CBS All Access, and this makes me certain not to renew it. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/468 "2020-04-11T23:49:17Z")
Before you cancel, watch _The Good Fight_! The brand new (fourth?) season premiere is all about an alternate reality in which Hillary Clinton has been president for three years, and it is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/469 "2020-04-12T00:03:44Z")
I liked it. I don’t get what people were upset about with the ending. From the fuss I thought the whole thing would be a dream. Picard just got a miracle cure, which is a common trope in fantasy: Buffy, Superman, Gandalf and many others have found death to be a temporary condition, like a bad flu. And Picard’s illness was just a side point to the main story. I liked seven of nine, the action was cool, and the pacing was decent. I also liked the super synths briefly glimpsed at the end. The writers must have either read Alistair Reynolds or seen _Last Exile._ ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/470 "2020-04-12T00:24:46Z")
Just because temporary deaths are common doesn’t make them good. It might make them worse. It was when BSG went downhill for me. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/471 "2020-04-12T00:28:13Z")
I guess it’s a matter of taste, but it didn’t bother me at all. I figured they’d want a season 2. And it wasn’t like him dying was a key plot point. They could have written the whole season unchanged without the brain illness. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/472 "2020-04-12T00:32:25Z")
I wonder if he’s the _same_ Picard from TNG. This seems to derive more from a ENT-DISC-Kelvin timeline than from a TOS-TNG-DS9-VOY timeline. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/473 "2020-04-12T02:32:13Z")
I still liked it well enough not to be totally disgusted, but I wasn’t fond of the conclusion of the episode. ---
**Author:** ![ElderSign](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eldersign/32/8263_2.png) [@ElderSign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElderSign)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/474 "2020-04-26T13:13:04Z")
I gave this series a C. Too many Chekhov’s guns which weren’t used, unlikable characters, bad plots, etc. Felt far-fetched and convoluted. I liked the acting for the most part. The criticism about Picard not acting like Picard is unfounded, however. He’s old now and lost his Starfleet identity. The bigger issue is how Data’s message can be correct about appreciating the finite life, yet in the very next scene, we have The Golem. From the technical standpoint, I feel this was pushed to 10 episodes, when it could have been told in 5, so the writing team made a bunch of index cards and scribbled a maze on their whiteboard to add a bunch of red herrings and characters arcs. I mean, episode 2 was inserted in-between 1 and 3 afterwards. They felt the need to tell, not show. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/475 "2020-04-26T13:47:00Z")
> [@ElderSign](#): > > I gave this series a C. Too many Chekhov’s guns… I thought this was some kind of Star Trek trope I’d somehow never heard of. Turns out it’s Anton Checkhov, not Mr. Checkhov. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529.md?page=23)