“The dreams are lovely. It’s the waking up that I’m beginning to resent.”
Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: Picard”
SPOILERS AHEAD!
It is fascinating to me how the world of pop culture continually tries to label science fiction fans as either “Star Wars” or “Star Trek” people.
When I was growing up in the 1970s and 80s, most of my space fantasy-loving friends seemed to like both properties. I know I did.
It was a different time back then. “Star Wars” didn’t really have a lasting halo outside of the original three movies released during that era.
The reality is that by the time the late 80s rolled around, “Star Wars” had sort of faded from the cultural zeitgeist.
On the other hand, the three seasons of Gene Roddenberry’s 1960s-era “Star Trek” TV series proved to be a top ratings producer in syndication. I loved watching those reruns on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 10:30 p.m. on KMTV, and later, on KPTM when that station started broadcasting in Omaha (check out my 2016 blog post “Phasers Locked” about the original series).
The popularity of the original series resulted in a number of novels, toys, comics, and an animated series.
There was also the successful string of theatrical movies from Paramount Pictures featuring the original crew.
Like many of you, I consider “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” to be one of the best science fiction movies of the 1980s (check out my 2017 blog post on the “director’s cut” of that movie — which aired on ABC in the 1980s — for more of my thoughts on “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”).
In addition, Bridget and I consider 2009’s “Star Trek” reboot (directed by J.J. Abrams) to be among our favorite movies of the past 20 years.
On Sept. 28, 1987, Paramount Television brought a brand new “Star Trek” series to the small screen with “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
Like the original series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” is definitely a show of its time — especially as it regards the overall look and feel. The show — and its spinoffs — largely defined science fiction in the 1990s.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was a departure from William Shatner’s roguish Captain Kirk. His Shakespearean sensibility was at the heart of TNG’s seven seasons and four feature films.
Here we are — nearly 26 years after “Star Trek: The Next Generation” bid adieu to the small screen — with a brand-new “Star Trek” TV series focusing on Picard’s life after Starfleet.
The first episode of “Star Trek: Picard” debuted on CBS All Access (in the United States) on Thursday, Jan. 23.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going in.
I’ve had trouble staying invested in “Star Trek: Discovery” on CBS All Access, so I was a bit skeptical going into “Star Trek: Picard.”
The first episode of “Star Trek: Picard” is titled “Remembrance.” A few minutes into that episode and I knew the series creators had crafted something special.
Show runner Michael Chabon (who wrote the terrific literary novel “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay”) wrote a 40-page “treatment” for the series which proved to be an attractive lure to get Patrick Stewart back into the fold. Chabon talks about the process during the first episode of “Ready Room” (which gives fans behind the scenes information on the series):
The opening moments of “Remembrance” find Picard and Data playing poker in the crew lounge Ten Forward on the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D (which was destroyed in the movie “Star Trek: Generations”). The musical strands of Bing Crosby’s “Blue Skies” waft over the scene.
The dream sequence has a nice way of tying this new series to adventures past. Picard tells Data, “I don’t want the game to end.”
His words are both sentimental and haunting, possibly foreshadowing somber things to come.
The episode finds Jean-Luc overseeing operations at Chateau Picard in La Barre, France. Fans of TNG won't be surprised see the character living life as a vintner in his later years.
It is a wonderful way to start off the series, and serves as a nice juxtaposition to the typical “Star Trek” environs.
Picard has a pet pitbull he calls “Number One” — a loyal companion in an otherwise listless life.
The story shifts to a girl (likely in her late teens) spending time with her boyfriend in Boston. Her name is Dahj (Isa Briones) and she has just been accepted to the Daystrom Institute of Advanced Robotics.
Dahj's world is turned upside down when three black-clad figures “beam” into her apartment, kill her boyfriend, attach some sort of electronic device to her forehead, and declare “she hasn't activated yet” as they pin her down on her coffee table.
One of the men (through his dark mask) asks, “Where are the rest of you? Where are you from?”
Dahj is utterly confused as they put a hood over her head, but a moment later she kicks into gear and takes down her attackers with a series of martial arts heroics and gun work that would make Sydney Bristow proud.
She has a vision of Picard, flees her apartment, and manages to track him down in France.
Upon meeting the girl, Picard has a renewed sense of purpose in life. It’s a mystery that 1940s-era detective Dixon Hill (a character Picard liked to play on the Enterprise’s Holodeck) would have found worthy of investigation.
We soon learn (during a broadcast interview with a news reporter at the chateau) that Admiral Picard left Starfleet after the tragic events surrounding the “Romulan supernova.”
Years before the events in “Star Trek: Picard,” Starfleet learned that the Romulan sun was going to explode. Picard called for a massive relocation of 900 million Romulans. He believed they had “a profound obligation to help.”
Critics questioned whether the Federation should dedicate resources toward helping its oldest enemy. The rescue efforts were ultimately approved and Picard left the Enterprise to command the rescue armada — 10,000 warp-capable ferries.
Picard compares the efforts to Dunkirk in World War II.
Unfortunately, a group of “rogue synthetics” (androids) hacked Mars’s defense net, which wiped out the rescue armada — completely destroying the Utopia Planitia Shipyard.
Because of the actions of the “rogue synthetics,” Starfleet has banned androids.
Because of the actions of the “rogue synthetics,” Starfleet has banned androids.
The only reason I mention this information in detail is because it serves to illustrate why Picard has the life he has at the vineyard.
Picard believes banning synthetic life forms was a mistake.
This information ties into Picard’s past experiences with Lt. Commander Data, as well as with the girl Dahj — who we later learn is an advanced synthetic (with an uncanny resemblance to a girl in one of Data’s oil paintings, titled Daughter).
Every so often I pull up the HD versions of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” on Apple TV and watch an episode before bed. A few weeks ago, I happened to watch the episode “The Offspring” (which first aired March 13, 1990).
(I mainly watched it because it was next in the queue after one of my favorite episodes “Yesterday’s Enterprise”).
In “The Offspring”, Data creates an android in his own likeness — a girl named Lal.
As I was watching “Star Trek: Picard,” I was happy that I serendipitously watched that episode from 1990. It seems like a number of the ethical and existential questions posed in that episode will be explored in the new series.
It is nice to see Jean-Luc Picard back in fine form. A number of interesting things happen in the first episode as Picard looks into the origins of Dahj.
There is a fun sequence where Picard visits the Starfleet Archive Museum in San Francisco. While there, he looks at his “quantum archive” (only he has access to it, and it’s locked in stasis).
Obviously, there are a lot of little “fan service” moments in his personal archive, including the “Captain Picard Day” sign that appeared in the 1994 episode “The Pegasus.”
But the fact that he’s looking at the archives to find a possible clue regarding Dahj’s identity makes the moment of “fan service” relevant to the overall story.
That’s the genius of the first episode of “Star Trek: Picard.” It is deftly crafted and takes a light touch approach that works brilliantly.
Ultimately, Dahj is killed at the hands of Romulan agents at the end of “Remembrance,” but we learn she is one of a pair of twins. We briefly see the twin (Soji) at a Romulan Reclamation Site.
By the way... why the hell is the “Romulan Reclamation Site” a Borg Cube???
One of the questions people will inevitably ask is whether “Star Trek: Picard” can be enjoyed by people who weren’t fans of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” It’s a relevant question considering the fact that there are subtle nods to the past series and movies.
I would say that fans of all stripes can enjoy it, but I think the show is far more layered if you have a familiarity with the characters and some of the backstory.
I would say that fans of all stripes can enjoy it, but I think the show is far more layered if you have a familiarity with the characters and some of the backstory.
I’m just happy to see Jean-Luc Picard back in action. While the character might have seemed like a “benign old codger” (as he described himself at the beginning of the first episode), he shows that he’s as dependable as a hot cup of Earl Grey tea.
At one point in “Remembrance,” Picard’s Romulan assistant Zhaban (Jamie McShane) encourages him to “be the captain they remember.”
Not only does he show himself to be the captain we remember, he reminds us that he’s the captain we need.
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