Star Trek: Picard Review (2020-2023) – A nostalgic, heart wrenching, unique, fun, classic Star Trek show that no one and especially no Trekkie should miss!

We decided that we needed to wrap up this month on a strong note, especially after last week’s movie…and we got exactly what we needed with Star Trek: Picard! One of us potatoes grew with it and one of us is a newer fan, but we both love Star Trek. Jean-Luc Picard is a favorite character of ours and we could not be happier that they brought him back!

If you have not seen the original Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). We highly recommend watching that first. A lot of this show will not make sense without the background that the first iteration gives. Also TNG is tremendous, so you will have a great time watching it!

We were a bit nervous…what if this new show does not do justice to the characters, Sci-Fi and story writing that we love from the original series? We are very happy to say that while the second season is incredibly weak, the last season more than made up for it!

A few trigger warnings for this show before we dive in, there are depictions of suicide, PTSD, substance abuse, death, explosions and general violence. It is an action Sci-Fi after all so there is fighting. Overall we did not personally find anything to be too gratuitous but it is still important to us that we note these things.

We will do everything we can to not give too many spoilers in this review but there are likely to be some, so please take that into consideration and read cautiously.

The first episode begins with a lot of beautiful shots of space, until we see a familiar vessel travelling through space…the Starship Enterprise! The camera closes up on a window of the Enterprise… until we are inside the Enterprise looking at two of the most iconic Star Trek characters ever created! Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), and Data (Brent Spiner), are playing a game of poker!

Picard and Data banter as they play. Picard looks out of the window and notices that they appear to be close to Mars. This confuses Picard, “This isn’t right.” He turns back to Data to find Data gone. The Enterprise starts to shake, and we see explosions going off on the surface of Mars.

Terrified and confused, Picard remains at the table hyperventilating, as Mars explodes taking the Enterprise with it!

Picard wakes from his nightmare. He lays pensively for a moment before his dog “Number One” comes over to check on him. Number One is an absolutely adorable, sweet, thick and stocky blue Pitbull terrier. He is so damn cute!

Picard slowly gets out of his bed, and moves across his room. It appears that the legendary Jean- Luc Picard, the revered Starfleet captain, has retired and is now living at the family vineyard. Being Trekkies we did wonder what became of his brother Robert, and his family…Robert was the one that took over the vineyard while Picard was exploring the stars in TNG.

He is never mentioned, and we did find that to be strange. He also had a son, Rene. So why wasn’t Rene there? It was a bit a plot hole for us, but it can be overlooked.

The vineyard is bathed in sunlight, and looks almost idyllic. Picard looks weary, frazzled, and shaky as he gazes out and tries to soothe Number One.

Cut to a young woman’s green eyes (Isa Briones). The camera pans quickly to the eyes that she is looking into. An interesting pattern and shade of pale blue. Clearly not human but lovely.

We pan out to see the young woman, and her companion cozied up on the couch. They are having a romantic moment and discussing their lives. They make a cute couple, and everything feels so sweet and optimistic.

This is, of course, quickly shattered by the sudden intrusion of masked individuals beaming into the living room! They kill her lover quickly with a flying knife to the chest before turning to her and grabbing her!

She screams, and struggles. They put an odd device on her face and ask her a bunch of strange questions. “Where are the rest of you!? Where are you from?!”

Confused and frantic she says, “I don’t know!” They hit her, and place a black bag over her head. Once the black bag is on her head…her posture shifts. “She’s activating! She’s activating!”

The young woman manages to kill all three of them with the black bag still covering her face. She rips the bag off of her head and stands. Confused and deeply upset, she drops the phasor that she was holding and removes the devices from her face.

She rushes over to her lover but it is too late. He is no longer with us. Crying, and panicking she gets a sudden vision. The vision is of Picard’s stern face.

We fade back to the vineyard. Picard is walking through the vines with his adorable puppy. They enjoy their walk and head back to the house. Here we meet his two Romulan employees, Zhaban (Jamie McShane) and Laris (Orla Brady). They seem to be caretakers of sorts for the vineyard and for Picard himself.

They briefly discuss the upcoming interview that Picard is going to be doing later that day from his home. They tease him and help him select his suit and tie for the event. They appear to have genuine affection and appreciation for Picard.

Ready for the interview he walks into the interview feeling prepared. He is confident that they will not bring up his “separation from Starfleet.” Well…they said they wouldn’t bring it up anyway…

So of course, what do they do during the interview? They bring it up! The interviewer is unbelievably rude, and not only brings up Starfleet but shoves Admiral Picard into a corner. If you know Jean-Luc Picard, then you know that he was dedicated to Starfleet.

He would only leave Starfleet under the most dire of circumstances. Starfleet was a huge part of his life and his identity. Leaving Starfleet was, of course, a heartbreaking, traumatizing and overall crushing decision for Picard to make.

We do not want to give away what precisely happened, but we will say that we think Picard made the right choice. Starfleet has definitely lost its way and while Picard is far from a perfect person, he is one of great conviction and morality.

This “reporter” if you want to call her that, backs Picard into a corner and gets an emotional outburst from him, as a result he abruptly ends the interview. We felt so angry for Picard here. We love Picard, but even if we didn’t, this reporter’s behavior is appalling.

Trying to get some peace back after the awful interview, Picard is sitting with Number One outside when the young woman from earlier appears!

Her name is Dahj (Isa Briones), she has a mysterious past and a connection to Picard that confuses them both. Dahj explains the attack that occurred at her apartment just days before, and is seeking refuge with Picard.

Picard allows her stay at the Chateau, but he is very curious. Who is this young girl? Why does she look familiar? How are they connected?

Later that night Picard has another vivid dream about Data. We should really give you guys more information on Data, but hopefully you have seen TNG as well as the original movies and already know why he is so important.

Data (Brent Spiner) is an android. Not just any android. The most sophisticated, intelligent, wonderful android to ever exist. People have tried to replicate him and while they have gotten close…no one can. (He does have a “brother” named Lore (Brent Spiner), made by the same creator but that’s neither here nor there).

He was a wonderful person who had a Pinocchio complex. He was fascinated with humanity and wanted to be more human. He worked hard at it too. We love Data for who he is, but we also love that Data is always trying to learn and grow as a person.

He is always striving to be better, and to do better. We potatoes are big on growth and self-improvement. We feel that there is always room for growth, and while it can be difficult, the work is worth doing. Data is one of our all-time favorite characters in the Star Trek universe and when he passed away…we were upset. But we digress!

Back to Picard’s dream, Data is out in the vineyard painting. Picard walks up to him and gets a close look at the painting. Data hands Picard the brush…Picard abruptly wakes the next morning. He has seen that painting before!

Dahj is worried that she could bring danger to Picard so she decides to leave early that very morning without a word. Concerned about Dahj but distracted by his dream, Picard visits his storage facility in search of the painting.

He finds the painting he is looking for…painted by Commander Data before he passed away. The painting is of Dahj…and the painting is titled: “Daughter”!

We are going to wrap things up a bit here. Picard delves deeper into Dahj's enigmatic origins, and he realizes that her very existence is intertwined with a dangerous conspiracy that spans across the galaxy! Determined to protect her and uncover the truth, Picard embarks on a perilous journey, gathering a diverse new crew of allies along the way!

The first season continues down this vein. Trying to solve the mystery that is Dahj (Isa Briones) and Soji (Isa Briones), and answer MANY questions. How could Data…an android have created a daughter that looks and behaves almost entirely like a human? Data struggled with that himself…so how did he do it? When did he do it? Why is Dahj and Soji in danger? Is she an actual android or something else entirely? So many questions!

The first season of Picard is a fun roller coaster! We loved seeing some of our favorite characters! We have to give a shout out to Will Riker (Jonathon Frakes) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis)! We had a lot of fun with it, and while it was a bit predictable at some points we still had a good time watching it. We wish we could say the same for the second season.

The disappointing second season of Star Trek: Picard is an odd one! The first season was so promising…but the second season not so much. It suffers from a long, convoluted and poorly executed time travel story.

Time travel is pretty par for the course for Star Trek…but the second season is a chaotic mess of inconsistent character arcs, nonsensical plot twists, and contrived subplots. All of the fun, and intrigue of the first season is just not there.

Picard is meant to be going through a lot of personal growth and healing throughout this season, but it falls short and does not make sense. It does not fall in line with the original series and what we already know of Picard.

It felt like the writers were trying to write a whole new back story for Picard without considering the fans. We do want to give a nod to the portrayal of PTSD, at least for the representation, but even that does not feel as well done as it could have been.

We also want to give a nod to the attempts they make in the second season to shine a light on some very real social issues that we are dealing with today. We felt that this was very in line with Star Trek as a whole, but again, it was not as well done as it could have been. They focused strongly on some issues, and quickly glossed over others. There was a lack of understanding of how a lot of our social issues are interconnected in many ways. We appreciate the effort and were pleased to see it! But it still fell flatter than it should have.

They do introduce more new characters and a few old ones! We enjoyed seeing more familiar faces! Particularly Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg, and Ito Aghayere)!

But the newer characters fail to make the second season more thrilling. They come across as shallow and underdeveloped. They lack chemistry, which as any Trekkie knows is CRUCIAL to a good Star Trek series. They do not possess the emotional depth and quality that we potatoes have come to expect from Star Trek.

Also, while we love a good callback or reference to the original series, and the movies, they relied far too heavily on that! As a result they sacrificed originality and innovation for the sake of nostalgia. Nostalgia is not a bad thing! We love some nostalgia! But it does not make up for the poor and lazy writing that permeates throughout the entire second season.

The storyline of this season is something that they would have done in a single episode, maybe a maximum of 2 episodes in the original TNG. It felt drawn out, dull, and exhausting. It was strange to feel confused, annoyed, and bored all at the same time. We were weary and so glad to be done with it and move on to the final season!

The third season….is AWESOME! It overshadowed the first season easily and the first season was respectable! We liked it! It also corrected some of the silliness of the second season by simply not acknowledging a lot of it. This made us laugh a little bit, but we could not blame them. The second season was so off the rails…but we absolutely loved the third and final season!

It is everything that a Trekkie would want. It embodies Star Trek, honors the fans, and brings the original cast back together! There are some new characters introduced as well, but the chemistry that the original cast has is truly amazing and a big part of what made TNG so fantastic.

The story feels like a true Star Trek storyline. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and her…son (Ed Speleers)? (If you know, you know), are in trouble and reach out to Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) for help. What follows is a dramatic, engaging, action packed, emotionally intelligent, authentic, charismatic story. It’s just such a damn good time!

For us it completely made up for the slog that the second season was. The film making was noticeably superior, as well as the CGI! We have to tip our hats to the production team, show makers, writers, wonderful actors, and more for ending the series on so damn well. It was epic, and we adored it!

We do wish we got more of what the third season gave us. But they wrapped up the series so wonderfully that we cannot complain too much.

We really do not want to give anymore of the last season away, it is far too fantastic and we want you wonderful people to check it out! Once again though, to get the full effect, we would highly recommend watching (or re-watching) Star Trek: The Next Generation first to get the initial character introductions and backstories for the main characters you’ll see in Star Trek: Picard!

If you are into a great action Sci-Fi mystery thriller that has its ups and downs but ends so strongly you are completely captivated, enthralled, and wanting more then this is the T.V. series for you!

If you are interested in watching this wonderful series it is only available on Paramount+!

We give Star Trek: Picard 4 Romulan Ale’s out of 5! We had to dock at least one point for that second season…

The Star Trek: Picard Drinking Game

Take a sip anytime:

1.     Anyone says "Engage"

2.     Anyone says "Make it so"

3.     You see a character from another generation of Star Trek (Other than TNG)

4.     You see a familiar face from TNG (drink only at their first appearance)

5.     You see the Enterprise

6.     Picard says "Tea, Earl Grey..."

7.     Anyone mentions "The Federation" or "Starfleet"

8.     Anyone mentions Data

9.     You see a Borg cube

10.  Anyone says "Romulan"

11.  Anyone says "Tal Shiar"

12.  Anyone says "Zhat Vash"

13.  Picard makes a speech or does a motivational speech

14.  Anyone says "Open a channel"

15.  Anyone says "Borg"

16.  Anyone mentions The Enterprise

17.  Picard lectures or steamrolls

18.  There's a cheesy moment

19.  Anyone says "Q"

20.  Picard has a flash back

21.  There's new or unseen alien tech

Hardcore Mode:

·       Anyone says "Picard"

·       Anything goes wrong

What did you think?? Did you like the show? Did you hate it!? Is this a nostalgic show for you? Are you a Trekkie?! Do you have suggestions for other shows we should consider watching?! Let us know your thoughts here in the comments and always remember to be safe and drink responsibly!