Even Sir Patrick Stewart’s acting cannot redeem this moderate spin-off series, argues TV Critic Christopher Hodges
When Sir Patrick Stewart appeared at the 2018 Star Trek convention, fans of the franchise knew that something big was happening. Now in his late seventies, the knighted acting veteran announced that he would be reprising the role of Jean-Luc Picard, the spacefaring captain of Star Trek: The Next Generation and its subsequent movie spin-offs. The last time we saw Picard was in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis, which concludes with the tragic self-sacrifice of Commander Data (Brent Spiner). This was perhaps the only compelling moment of the film. By most accounts (myself included) it is considered, well, awful.
For many fans, Nemesis was the unfortunate conclusion to what had been a 15-year journey. Unsurprisingly, when Star Trek: Picard was announced, many fans rejoiced. However, some were sceptical. The looming question was this: Do we really need more Jean-Luc Picard? Yes. Kind of.
Stewart’s Shakespearean leanings come to the fore
Star Trek: Picard is a show with good intentions but a flawed execution. In early episodes, we are promised a meditation on the life of the retired star-ship captain. For the most part, we are given this. Confronted with past mistakes and trauma, Picard begins to unravel. We are given insight into the mind of an ageing idealist, with an unsurprisingly brilliant performance by Stewart. In Picard’s tirade against the false accusations perpetrated by the hawkish FNN news network (a thinly veiled parody of Fox News), we see a glimpse of what questions Star Trek could be asking of the 21st century: What place does an optimist have in the modern world? Stewart’s Shakespearean leanings come to the fore, and we are given the impression of a Lear figure who just can’t let his old-school mantle of moral authority dissipate in his old age.
But then the show becomes a space opera, and any attempts at being cerebral are dropped. An unfortunate symptom that has plagued Star Trek since the 2009 movie reboot is that all Star Trek spin-offs must now be, for some reason, fast, gritty, and action-packed. What begins as a small and considered plot of Jean-Luc Picard seeking closure turns into a galaxy-spanning action romp. I, of course, understand that there must be some movement: we can’t just watch Sir Patrick Stewart sitting in a French vineyard for a whole season (although I probably wouldn’t mind). But equally, Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek was never conceived as a cavalier tale of action and adventure. That corner is squarely filled by Star Wars.
All Star Trek spin-offs must now be, for some reason, fast, gritty, and action-packed
This analogy also applies to the new characters. In his rogue vigilante attempts to preserve the legacy of Commander Data, Picard teams up with, well, a rogue vigilante. Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) is a PG-15 Han Solo with his own Millenium Falcon. He’s a lone-wolf with wisecracks and Camus-esque reflections on the bleakness of mortality due to his own dark past. He’s the sort of person you’d aspire to be when you were fourteen.
Each actor puts in a great performance, yet they are given so little depth
The pattern holds with each new crew member that is introduced. While Picard may not be as maudlin as its sister show Discovery, each character is still forcibly given a tragic backstory. Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) is the rough-around-the-edges lieutenant with issues surrounding alcoholism and motherhood. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) is the socially awkward scientist dealing with a personal loss. Each actor puts in a great performance, yet they are given so little depth that we are ultimately left with only sketches of characters, rather than memorable character studies. As for returning faces, it is difficult to discuss their reappearance without treading into spoiler territory. All I can say is that yes: characters and locations from the previous series do indeed return. However, outside of chasing the nostalgia-buzz, there is little reason for their inclusion.
Overall, Star Trek: Picard is an amusing space adventure that can kill ten hours of time. However, it ultimately bottles its premise and conclusion. Characters that we long said goodbye to return not for re-exploration, but for the re-treading of old territory. What could have been an earnest and necessary coda to the story of Jean-Luc Picard instead becomes an expansive and unnecessary foray into further escapades. Without the acting chops of Sir Stewart, this show would resemble a half-baked Star Wars for a slightly older audience. But even with him, Picard is Star Trek without the big questions. One gets the impression that even with the boon of an added nostalgia factor, the writers at CBS are still uncertain how to write Star Trek for the current century.
Rating = 3/5
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