Star Trek: Picard — Hits and misses

Star Trek: Picard attempted to go where almost no Star Trek has gone before: incorporating foundation laid by the episodic The Next Generation into the story-arc (read: “space opera”) trend that’s all but taken over modern science fiction.

I wrote “almost” because Enterprise went for an arc with its Xindi War storyline. But in doing so, it was using characters who were still relatively new to the Star Trek universe, not beloved characters from more than three decades earlier. (Has it really been that long?)

Predictably, there are some hiccups along the way. But Picard mostly succeeds, with more hits than misses.

The misses

In a word, pacing. The show starts too quickly and ends almost too abruptly. The first three episodes could have been condensed into one, and the whirlwind finish could have been drawn out for a little more suspense. As a storyteller, I know the importance of grabbing an audience quickly, and Picard doesn’t do that. It relies largely on our established connection to the main character to keep us interested.

It can afford to do so because, well, it’s Star Trek. But it’s sloppy and unnecessary. Star Trek: The Motion Picture did the same thing with its seemingly interminable prologue — and it’s still being criticized for it four decades later. Picard doesn’t step in it that badly, but if this had been a new series involving characters we didn’t know and love, would we have continued watching? I suspect many would not have.

Despite the slow start, I found myself wishing that Picard would have developed a deeper connection with Dahj early on. Most of his emotional tie to her is expressed in her connection to Data, and I wanted to see something a bit more explicit here: a scene where, perhaps, they bonded more personally. A minor quibble.

It was never entirely clear to me whether Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) makes a certain fateful decision because she’s convinced or compelled to do so. It’s a muddled bit of storytelling that could have been cleared up by more precise storytelling. I wanted to like the Jurati character but found her annoyingly wishy-washy, especially for someone supposedly so accomplished in her field.

Samaire Wynne pointed this one out: In an early episode of TNG titled The Naked Now, Data moves at superhuman speed to replace the isolinear chips in Engineering. But Soji, though more advanced and clearly capable of superhuman fighting ability, apparently lacks this skill when working to assemble a piece of technology in the final episode. Or is she, subconsciously, holding back?

The new cast members were, for me at least, less interesting than the TNG-era characters who made guest appearances. Isa Briones turns in a strong performance as Soji, but my favorite was Santiago Cabrera as Captain Rios — and, in a fun twist, a handful of holographic alter-egos. He’s not Robert Picardo, but he does a kind of cigar-chomping twist on Han Solo.

Which brings me to another quibble: Picard needed more humor. It was a key element of most Star Trek series, but in the latest incarnations of Trek, it’s been sublimated to sense of gravitas that can feel stiflingly heavy. That’s especially in the self-important Discovery, but also, at times, here. The weighty musical score exacerbates the problem at times. Perhaps they could bring in William Shatner (who’s still very funny) or Seth MacFarlane from The Orville for some pointers.

The hits

First, it’s not Discovery. It feels like the producers have learned something about putting together a more cohesive, character-driven story, which is a very good thing. I’ve struggled to get through the first two seasons of Discovery, which I’ve watched only because they carry the Star Trek imprimatur. Still, Discovery doesn’t feel like Trek to me — not even as much as the often-flawed J.J. Abrams movie trilogy. This does. It’s not exactly the same as TNG, but it feels like a different perspective on familiar themes and characters. Ethan Peck will never be Spock to me, but Patrick Stewart will always be Picard.

The biggest hit is, in fact, Stewart as Picard, which is no surprise. But kudos, also, to the writers for taking us on a deeper exploration of Picard’s character, particularly his emotions and his connection to Data. This works so well precisely because Picard doesn’t typically wear his emotions on his sleeve, and because Stewart did such a remarkable job of crafting the character in the first place. We got a few glimpses into his feelings during TNG, most notably in The Inner Light (the flute episode), which many — not coincidentally — consider the series’ finest hour.

Star Trek has dealt with aging characters before, and has always done so with aplomb. Kirk’s use of reading glasses in The Wrath of Khan comes to mind. But Stewart’s handling of Picard’s aging and awareness of his own mortality is nothing less than masterful. He’s not entirely the same self-assured captain he was in TNG, but he’s anything but a doddering fool, and he can call on that old confidence and ingenuity when it’s needed most.

Stewart’s good friend Ian McKellen captured Gandalf perfectly in The Lord of the Rings, and Stewart himself comes across almost wizardly in Picard. He doesn’t have a staff or magic, but he has a few tricks up his sleeve and (most importantly for a wizard) the wisdom to know when to use them. Most of the time. As for LOTR, one new regular — a young Romulan played by Evan Evaroga — seems to be channeling Legolas, perhaps even a bit too much. Even his name, Elnor, is decidedly elven.

The Picard-Data connection is explored very nicely, with Brent Spiner taking a turn in multiple roles. Picard’s formerly hidden, or suppressed, emotional side is brought out by his now-kind-of-deceased android lieutenant commander. It’s a touching undercurrent throughout the season that taps into one of the most potent themes explored in TNG: What makes us human? The addition of the Borg to the equation adds to the complexity of that exploration and makes the season even more interesting.

The use of alumni from TNG and Voyager is welcome and inspired. The reappearance of Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) from I, Borg was a pleasant surprise, and 7 of 9/Annika (Jeri Ryan) played an integral role in the plot. Data, of course, was central to it. Less crucial were Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Troi (Marina Sirtis), whose appearance seemed more like a nod to nostalgia than anything else. Even so, it was satisfying, and I wouldn’t have changed it. I’m a sucker for nostalgia, and it was great to see them again. The story could have been told without them, but it was far more fun with them!

Note to producers: I’d love to see Worf make an appearance, or maybe Guinan, and it would be fun to see Quark from Deep Space 9.

Overall, I’d give Picard 4 stars out of 5. For comparison, I’d give TNG and The Original Series five stars, DS9 4.5, Voyager and Enterprise 4, and Discovery 2. After the slow start, Picard is, indeed, engaging.

Discovery vs. Orville: Where no one has gone before ... and back again

On stardate 1672.1, Captain Kirk was the victim of a transporter accident that split him into two distinct sides of himself. (Actually, this happened in 1966, in an episode of Star Trek called The Enemy Within.)

Flash forward 51 years, and the same thing has happened to Star Trek itself. It feels like the franchise has been caught in a transporter accident and split in two, with the result being one show that expands on the vision and scope of its predecessors, and another that has inherited many of the qualities that made it so much fun to watch.

This year's Star Trek: Discovery and The Orville are both descendants of Gene Roddenberry’s original series, a family of shows that has now evolved beyond next generation.

What’s happened to the Star Trek franchise is kind of like what happens to a rock band when the guitarist and singer have a falling out, and each starts a separate band that sounds a little (but not exactly) like the group they formed together. The result will be endless comparisons, with fans likely enjoying both but, at the same time, many wishing the guitarist and singer could just bury the hatchet and make music together the way they used to.

Now, imagine one of those bands returns to the studio and spends a ton of money recording an ambitious new rock opera, while the other goes out on tour, playing all the old hits and having a little fun at its own expense. The first band is Discovery, and the second is The Orville.

Four episodes in, I’m watching — and enjoying — both. But I’m also, if the truth be told, wishing for a reunion tour.

Discovery is the more focused of the two. So far, it’s zeroing in on a single character, the disgraced but brilliant Michael Burnham, and following a unified story arc that involves a nascent war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. Star Trek started using story arcs, to fine effect, during the 1990s with Deep Space Nine, but before that served up mostly self-contained episodes. It also became adept at introducing us to a large number of interesting regular and recurring characters — who we came to care about because each explored the nature of our own humanity in his or her own way.

Perhaps ironically, this is where The Orville has the advantage in the early going. We’re already painfully aware of the awkwardness between the captain and first officer, who've been through a painful divorce; of the challenges facing the super strong security chief in dealing with her youthful insecurity; and of the family dynamics involving a crew member, his same-sex spouse and their newly hatched (yes, hatched) child.

All very human and all very familiar. They can’t call Seth MacFarlane’s series Star Trek, because CBS owns the rights to that name. But Brannon Braga, who’s created or developed several corners of Roddenberry’s universe, is an executive producer, and the cast includes members who seem a whole lot like Worf and Data from The Next Generation.

Indeed, The Orville is more like that show than it is like Galaxy Quest — the comedic send-up that both spoofed and payed homage to the original — and the humor can be unevern (the sniping between Capt. Mercer and his ex, Cmdr. Grayson, has already started to wear thin). But at least there is humor, which can be hard to find — apart from the stray tribble or a, subdued one-liner — on Discovery. No incarnation of Star Trek has ever aspired to be a laugh-fest, but there’s always been enough humor to leaven the heady, ambitious storylines.

When it comes to special effects, Discovery is light years ahead of The Orville — although it’s odd how sophisticated the technology looks compared to that in the original series, which was filmed a half-century earlier but is supposed to take place a decade after Discovery. Unaccountably, Discovery’s sleek starship with its rotating saucer section looks like it belongs 100 years in Kirk and Spock’s future, not their past. (At least Enterprise, which was set before either series but filmed more than three decades after the original, was designed to look like a bridge between NASA and the Federation.)

The Orville’s sets look like throwbacks to Next Generation or the 1980s movies, even though it doesn’t (technically) even take place in the Star Trek universe — and isn’t therefore bound by any constraints of continuity. It’s not as impressive to look at, but neither are reruns of earlier Star Trek series — which are still just as much fun because of the stories they tell and the insights they provide into our own humanity.

I trust Discovery will delve into some of those insights. The most intriguing human relationship, between Burnham and Capt. Georgiou, was short-circuited by the latter’s death at the end of Episode 2. But the Discovery’s captain, Gabriel Lorca, shows signs of developing into an interesting, multi-faceted character and, given time, here’s hoping others in the crew do, as well. The large amount of time spent developing the Klingons has slowed things down a bit, especially considering the large amount of Klingon dialogue presented in subtitles — which may please Star Trek geeks but frustrate newer fans. (For the record, I’ve seen every episode of every Star Trek series; I don’t know whether that makes me a geek or not, but I still find the subtitles get in the way).

That’s a minor quibble, and I’m not complaining. Two heirs to the Star Trek television legacy are infinitely better than what we’ve had for more than a decade: zero. Still, I can’t help but hope each will learn a little something from the other.

That would make the future — imaginary, visionary or otherwise — even brighter.