Sitting in the Odeon Cinema in London’s Leicester Square watching Patrick Stewart and executive producer Alex Kurtzman introduce the pilot of Star Trek: Picard there were a great many thoughts rushing through my head: which TNG stars would show up right away? What do the Borg look like in this future? How is Seven of Nine going to appear? Will it work? Am I ready to have Picard back in my life after 20 years?
A lot was riding on Kurtzman and producing partners Kristen Beyer, Michael Chabon and Akiva Goldsman to bring us a version of Jean-Luc Picard (Stewart) who reflected the world as it is today but still reminded us on the Captain we all loved in the 80s and 90s.
When the lights went back up at the end of the screening I felt an immense wave of relief and a huge amount of excitement for what was to come as the first episode truly succeeds in bringing the now retired Admiral Picard in to the “present day”.
Subsequent to the screening I’ve been lucky enough to see both the second and third episodes of Star Trek: Picard and will be reviewing each episode individually. But for now here are some of my thoughts on this initial batch of episodes.
It’s clear from the outside as Star Trek: Picard begins that the series’ writers revere Star Trek: The Next Generation. Though this isn’t a continuation of that show or that universe as it was then, the story is still heavily connected to that show and those characters. In fact the overall storyline of Star Trek: Picard season one is more heavily tied to TNG than I had ever expected.
I won’t stray too far in to spoiler territory but the pilot episode, titled “Remembrance,” does an excellent job of catching the audience up on events of Star Trek: Nemesis and what has happened in the intervening years. It’s all cleverly wrapped up in a TV appearance for Jean-Luc to commemorate the anniversary of a huge tragedy on Romulus.
It’s at this stage I realised exactly what Alex Kurtzman was doing, cleverly tying the prime universe in which this series exists to the events which created the Kelvin Timeline of his 2009 Star Trek movie directed by J.J. Abrams.
Within its first fifteen minutes “Remembrance” has brought a new continuity and a multiverse to Star Trek which helps make the franchise much more cohesive and offers up potential opportunities for the future.
It’s also abundantly clear that Patrick Stewart has been heavily involved in the development and creation of the show. His name appears in the opening credits as an executive producer and that credit is palpable on screen. Those opening credits by the way, honour all eras of the character brilliantly.
This new Picard is older but not necessarily wiser. He’s still ready to break with order and tradition in order to do what he sees as the right thing. This emotional streak is what has landed the elder Picard back at his family vineyard, living out his days as a “retired” admiral.
“Remembrance” only alludes to wider issues within the Star Trek landscape, details which are slowly teased out throughout the next two episode and lend themselves to a huge culture shift for the franchise. For those who leave “Remembrance” thinking they’ve worked out much of the storyline will certainly have changed their minds by the end of episode two, “Maps and Legends,” and by the end of third episode “The End Is The Beginning” you’ll be wondering what on Earth could happen next.
There’s an aspect of slow burn to the story which I also had not anticipated. The first episode brings a lot of information to the table by introducing Dahj (Isa Briones) and setting the landscape Picard’s world. The series then gently pushes on the breaks for episode two as it fleshes out the context of historical events and relationships which are not new to the characters but new to us as viewers.
In the first episode alone we’re also introduced to Alison Pill’s Dr. Agnes Jurati and Harry Treadaway’s Narek, Orla Brady’s Laris and Jamie McShane as Zhaban, all of this alongside the return of Brent Spiner as Data. It’s a lot to take in but represents a respect on behalf of the writers that the audience will be able to keep up.
It’s this level of intelligent writing and storytelling which is abundantly clear throughout the three episodes we have watched. Picard’s re-introduction to Raffi (Michelle Hurd) in episode two and the subsequent scenes between them in episode three are emotional and impactful. The writers cleverly give us snippets of their past together to help illustrate how things have changed in the present day and it makes for a well constructed narrative.
Subsequent episodes tease out a number of new and returning characters in mature and constructive manner. After an expected deluge in episode one, episode two focusses a little more on the Starfleet/Federation angle and episode three begins to turn its attentions to the stars and events on a Romulan base of operations.
What I’m trying to say here is don’t expect story-of-the-week episodes like Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is a heavily serialised show which is telling one (possibly) complete storyline across its ten episodes. But serialised is not a dirty word here. Overall I’m impressed and I’m ready to see what the remaining seven episodes have in store.
The production levels on Star Trek: Picard are beyond what I had expected. Let me start with the score by Star Trek: Discovery composer Jeff Russo, on first listen I felt the theme tune didn’t quite carry enough weight, but in subsequent listens I’m very happy to say I picked up on a lot of nods to Picard’s past beyond the classic TNG theme and I’ve grown to love it. The rest of the series’ score is outstanding. It’s mature, it’s sophisticated and it fits the landscape of the series brilliantly.
Set design and costume design feel entirely in-keeping with the world of Star Trek and where the future would have progressed if the TV series’ had all continued to move on from Star Trek: Voyager rather than delve in to the history of the franchise. Much of the first three episodes take place on Earth which gives the show chance to explore locations which feel familiar but look incredibly different to what we might expect and I found that to be very exciting.
There are new Starfleet uniforms, new ships and new technology in abundance but everything feels rooted in the designs first seen on TNG. It feels like the show as a whole is honouring and very much based on what the writers feel that world would look like 20 years later.
Equally as impressive is the visual effects. Star Trek: Picard looks like a cinematic series. This isn’t a cheap looking show by any stretch of the imagination. Uniforms are lovingly crafted, even those re-creations from older series and films. Ships are beautifully rendered. Most importantly the scenes in space are deeply immersive and feel spot on for where Star Trek should be in the modern era.
For more in-depth talk on each of the individual episodes I’ll be bringing you reviews each week. But for now I’ll leave you with the idea that I went in to Star Trek: Picard excited but anxious and I left these three episodes feeling even more excited and not at all anxious about what the future holds. A true success of modern TV.
Star Trek: Picard is set to star Patrick Stewart, Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd, Isa Briones, Harry Treadaway, Alison Pill, Jeri Ryan, Jonathan Del Arco and Evan Evagora. The series debuts on CBS All Access on January 23, 2020 followed by a release on Amazon Prime in the UK and internationally on January 24.
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