Picard Season 2 Review

Picard Season One already had a shaky start with an unpaced narrative. And certainly a more regressive version of 'Star Trek' than the last established 60 or so decades of TV and Film entries. The Star Trek traits of problem-solving, optimism, and the complexity of diplomacy, tact, and revision of previously held assumptions were always, questioned with debate, logic and heart. It was basically what the TNG Universe was all about. Not on this Ship Captain! Season 2 kicks off with the action, where Picard is summoned by Starfleet to rendezvous at the bequest of a mysterious old adversary the Borg. With tensions high, the encounter proves explosive. With a dire fate for those all those on board. Until snatched at the last minute by Q ( Again played delightfully by (John De Lancie) and where he traps them in an alternative dark history version of Picard’s Starfleet Life. So ensues a plan for Picard and his crew (from Season 1) from to travel back into the past and correct what went wrong in a modern-day Earth setting. Picard and crew must ensure ,a launch mission of one of Picard’s ancestors, that will usher in the familiar history of Starfleet we all know and love. All the while Picard must struggle with repressed memories of a past trauma ( his lost Mother ),just put in for good measure. So the plot is one we have already explored and better written in past film and tv Star Trek entries.You could almost excuse them as homages to popular story plots of Star Trek canon. From 'The Voyage Home', to 'First Contact'.And sometimes its fun to spot the member berries. (The crew slingshots around the sun to travel back in time? The Borg Queen is back?Uh, punk rocker with a boombox on the bus…?Oh.. and ‘Khan’ anyone?) The only difference here, they seem to be in the hands of far less talented writers, who really don’t want to be hemmed in by the constraints of plot logic. ( Surely a necessary mandate with any Sci- Fi). Another difference they seem to have no working knowledge of established characters(namely your title character Picard himself). When first announced, it was a mix of initial excitement, and then trepidation that Patrick Stewart would revisit his role , of Jean Luc Picard. A role in his prime he portrayed with elegance,dignity, and authority and ideals of the series personified with The Next Generation. However now any scene with Picard, seems a lost mess, with none of Stewart's power performance that made his character what it is. Or even assured dialogue to work with. The season really only sees him contending with his past, in flashbacks while the action seems to happen around him. Episode 1 of season 2 to be fair , seems like it will be an enjoyable romp. And Brent Spiner always seems to be having fun as 'Scientist Soong' as the main villain in thwarting our crew's mission.There are some highlights,but the season descends into a series of multi-episode side missions that, in the end, are pointless (the heist-style infiltration of the big NASA ball comes to mind ), and a series mission climax that just ends with ultimately just two people taking in a room .One touching note at the series end, is finally resolving Q and Picard's relationship over the years. The series does leave you feeling that some are best left forgotten, or better to just leave well alone,and revisit them as classic reruns, so you can remind yourself as to what good shows and characters are at their peak. So what next? Well, Season 3 has already been filmed. With a promise of the original TNG crew and cast to return. Hopefully, they are written with the care they deserve.