STAR TREK: PICARD 3×01 “The Next Generation” Review

Review

You may have already read my thoughts on the first six episodes of season 3 but today I’m taking a closer look at the premiere, “The Next Generation”. Written by showrunner Terry Matalas and directed by Doug Aarniokoski, the episode resets the playing field for what is an incredible adventure to follow.

Our adventure starts with the reintroduction of Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), last seen in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. Now living on the fringes of Federation space, she operates under the radar, seemingly bringing medical aid to those outside the reach of Starfleet. There she works with Ed Speleers mysterious character, but more on him next week. When a mysterious ship catches up to her, Beverly reaches out to her old captain and sets in motion all of the events for the first half of the season.

Season 3 starts big and starts strong. The action on Beverly’s ship, the Eleos, is exciting and well choreographed. It’s also shrouded in enough mystery to carry the viewer through the rest of the episode. As I said in my overall first impressions, season 3 is going to drip feed the audience with information and that’s exactly what’s happening here. The attack on the Eleos leads us to Picard, who leads us to Riker and the Titan and brings that crew to the Ryton System.

It’s a simple point-A to point-B moving of the chess pieces. But with all the action going on around it “The Next Generation” does its job succinctly. As season premieres go, it’s certainly characteristic of what to expect from the other episodes I have seen so far.

In terms of returning characters, the premiere brings a trio of familiar TNG faces. Picard, Riker and Crusher. Though the three never share the screen it is still undeniably exciting to see more legacy characters returning. What you’ll see here and across this season is a story that strives to organically reintroduce and weave in faces from the past. Rather than simply place them together for the sake of nostalgia we are truly catching up with them 20 years later.

“The Next Generation” also introduces a number of new characters. Aside from the aforementioned Speleers, we get our first meeting with the bridge crew of the Titan and its captain, Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick). At this point we’re really only scratching the surface of who they are. But it’s clear no character, legacy or otherwise, will take precedence over another.

This episode also kicks off an intriguing sub-plot for Raffi (Michelle Hurd). Now working for Starfleet Intelligence she is currently undercover on M’Talas Prime (get it?) and working with a mysterious new handler. It’s great to see Trek handling multiple plot lines so easily. what, at first, seems disconnected will become important down the line so pay close attention.

We’re also looking to the premiere to set the tone for the season. “The Next Generation” has a classically Trek sense of drama and comedy. With so much action in the script it calls for a strong sense of drama and high stakes. All of which arrives on screen perfectly intact. Peppered throughout are lighter moments which cut perfectly through the tension. Following Beverly’s distress call, Picard meets with Riker at Ten Forward on Earth in a moment which sees both Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes at their most whimsical.

Fans of The Next Generation who have yet to acclimate to the current era of Trek may struggle with the heavily serialised nature of the storytelling. But for those able to look beyond the classic, episodic nature there is so much to enjoy.

Verdict

A brilliant season premiere. It effortlessly lays the groundwork for what is to come by inciting one hell of a mystery for the legendary Admiral Picard and his returning friends.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐