Picard – Season Two, Episode One
This past Thursday, the second season of Picard began on Paramount +. The series is about the life of Jean-Luc Picard, years after he’s left Starfleet and The Next Generation. The first season was enjoyable, but not fantastic. It had a weird synthetic life storyline that seemed to meander a bit, but the show wrapped up nicely and introduced us to a great set of new characters, as well as some familiar faces.
If I had one complaint about the first season of Picard, it is the show didn’t feel Trek enough. The confidence and optimism that I so associate with Picard was not there. Instead, he was a broken, old man, who didn’t have a place in the world anymore. And maybe this was a more realistic take on the character, but for Picard is almost Holy. He is the epitome of doing the right thing and being the best version of yourself you can be. Season one seemed to be missing that element of the character, although glimpses of it did emerge throughout the season.
I sat down to watch season two with tempered expectations. I knew that Whoopi Goldberg was running as Guinan, at least for an episode, as well as John de Lancie as Q, which seems to serve as the antagonist/mischief maker the he did so in previously in The Next Generation. Those two additions to the cast gave me hope that the show would channel a little bit more of the old Next Gen spirit and after watching it, I feel like it does.
The first episode of Picard, season two, was simply… amazing. It was what I always wanted in a Picard show and I felt the tone of the show was way more in line with my expectations than what the first season presented. The characters (including the new crew from the first season) seem happy or at least content in their lives. Picard has his dignity restored, but is still mulling some life choices, as we all seem to do as we age.
The show brings back the The Next Generation uniforms and ship designs, and boy is there ship porn. If you love starships than this episode is for you.
I got into Star Trek about ten years ago, when there was no Star Trek on TV and quite frankly, it didn’t look like there would be any Star Trek on TV anytime soon. Thankfully, Discovery was enough of a hit to give us a variety of Star Trek shows, all of which have been enjoyable in their own rights. With that being said, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed anything as much as I enjoyed this episode of Picard. It was simply that damn good. I’ll admit, my love for the character makes me biased, but if you like Star Trek or Jean-Luc Picard, you owe it to yourself to give this new season a chance.
