Star Trek: Picard and a Remembrance for its Best Performer – The Spool

Patrick Stewart can still act. That is, perhaps, no revelation. But the strongest moment in the series premiere of Star Trek: Picard comes when the show simply gives him a moment to emote, to condemn, to express his distress and regret over the state of the world. When pushed to explain why he left Starfleet, the fire that fueled The Next Generation smolders up, and the ghosts of Picards lost utopia are exercised.

He left Starfleet because of xenophobia, because of isolationism, because of an abandonment of the principals of altruism and mercy and acceptance that undergirded the Federation he knew and believed in. That connection to larger ideas of a once noble people turning its back on those in need, out of a fear for what opening ones doors to the world could invite in not only imbues this story with a real world resonance; its pure Trek. Theres power in one of the great architects of that interstellar community severing his ties when it shrinks from the ideals he holds so dear.

But its not enough to simply linger with a man meditating on his legacy and the institutions that crumbled on his watch. So we need a mystery box. And we need a terrorist attack from a group of synths on Mars that scared the Federation into submission. And we need Romulan refugees resettling in an old Borg cube. And we need Romulan fighters trying to root out and destroy the last of artificial lifeforms. And we need a mysterious young woman half-River Tam and half-Daisy Johnson to seek out Picards help to sort it all out.

Thats allalright. Its naive to expect a modern day science fiction show to rely on the staid, contemplative tone that The Next Generation thrived on. Theres nothing wrong with Dahj (Isa Briones) kicking ass in a hand-to-hand combat scene that makes Kirks karate chops look like childs play. Theres nothing wrong with a wire fu-esque battle between her and a cadre of Romulan attackers that involves dodging phaser fire, leaping grand distances, and gory explosions. Times change, and shows have to change with them, even if it means making allowances for the sort of fireworks that once disappointed fans in Picards jump to the big screen.

Its naive to expect a modern day science fiction show to rely on the staid, contemplative tone that The Next Generation thrived on.

But whats more troubling is how generic so much of the rest of the episode feels. Make no mistake it is a tall order to follow-up to one of the most beloved science fiction series of all time and honor past successes while forging a distinct path for the series at hand. But if you shaved off the serial numbers and took away the Easter eggs, Remembrance could be any other modern science fiction show, with an aesthetic and dialogue and mysteries that suffice, which but dont wow.

The best you can say is that in the early going at least, Star Trek: Picard doesnt feel like fanservice. Sure, Picards dog is named Number One, and he orders earl grey tea, and he has a futuristic safety deposit box full of familiar trinkets. But when the show invokes the past, it does so in service of the story in the here and now.

And yet, thats both a blessing and a curse. Revealing Dahj as Datas daughter adds some emotional urgency to her pairing with Picard. Remembrance makes Brent Spiners guest appearances in the episode more than a fond recollection of everyones favorite android, but rather a touchstone for Picards close relationship with his former protege. For all the flack Star Trek: Nemesis caught, one of its saving graces was the way it suggested that, flesh and blood be damned, Data was Picards son and his family. So by making Dahj a sort of granddaughter to Picard through that bond, she becomes more relevant in the early going, when the show has to be economical about establishing its characters and its stakes.

But at the same time, thats part of the problem. Stewart and Briones do their best, but the on-screen chemistry isnt quite there yet. So the results feel more like Star Trek: Picard drafting on the good feelings of old, even as it seemingly wants to move in a new direction. Fans of the Next Generation will shudder to hear the name Bruce Maddox, the man who tried to have Data declared property, invoked. Still, it feels a tad cheap to have him missing and potentially responsible for some sort of new-fangled biological synthetic that is cloned or replicated or somehow otherwise spawned from Data.

All the while, Remembrance has the same, overly glossy look that the rest of modern Trek does. All the while, we get characters giving tearful statements that tidily deposit their backstories into the narrative, with performances that cant support the psychological weight the show wants to place on them outside of Stewart.

All the while, it offers yet another damn mystery box, where were left to guess who created Dahj and her twin sister, and whether the twins new flirty Romulan acquaintance is part of this apparent terrorist group, and what the true motivation of the synths who blew up Utopia Planitia was. The show apparently doesnt trust that it can muster that sort of intrigue while still putting its proverbial cards on the table.

And all the while, the viewer must cut through clunky scenes that try to establish every piece of this. Little of it is outright bad. Star Trek: Picard is a competent production with a stellar lead performer and enough reverence for the source material not to upset the applecart. But when youre bringing back one of televisions all-time great characters and invoking the legacy of the series that started a new age of Star Trek, its fair to expect better than this solid but less-than-inspired dose of adequacy.

None of it quite matches that one moment of personal truth in Picards interview or the real-life implications of his disdain for what the organization he once loved has become. While Remembrance builds on the strength of Stewarts presence and gravitas, in other moments it becomes just another off-the-shelf science fiction series, albeit one that can harness the history and setting of The Next Generation, The Original Series, and even the 2009 reboot.

In that one scene, though, Star Trek: Picard gives us a glimpse of the show it could be. Remembrance soars when it allows its lead performer to do what he does best and embraces the thematic resonance and introspection that were the hallmarks of his prior series. It sinks when it devotes itself to flash and whodunits and twisty reveals. Only time will tell whether, with so much narrative throat-clearing and table-setting out of the way, the series can set a better course.

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Star Trek: Picard and a Remembrance for its Best Performer - The Spool