IR TV Review: STAR TREK - PICARD - EPISODE 1 (“The Next Generation”) [Paramount+-S3]
In moving past the build and deconstruction of what Seasons 1 and 2 of "Star Trek: Picard" showed, the progression from existential to reservation to almost acceptance in Season 3 is about taking a path. Jean Luc Picard is content now but there will always be something gnawing at him. The first episode of Season 3 entitled "The Next Generation" obviously speaks to the integration of Picard's most well known crew (and likely his downfall -- since there is the crux of why he left Starfleet). The tease starts with Beverly Crusher in trouble but the plot structure of it speaks to something else that might be addressed as the season goes on. Will Riker is again at his former captain's side almost like he is on a field trip. However the reasoning and the backdrop seems a little unsteady.
Riker is a powerful man and yet something seems amiss. Crusher is an interesting entry point since at the end of last season we saw Wesley Crusher show up as a Traveler building at another point in the timeline so something is likely off. Rafaella (Michelle Hurd) and Seven (Jeri Ryan) are still in play but they are at two different functionalities and head spaces. Of course the premiere episode is just supposed to set up the gist of the season. The introduction and first parts of this season come off much more cinematic, both in the credits approach, but also the gliding elements of the ships that feel more like early 80s Trek, not just with a sense of scale but also the idea that loss is coming.
There is also a playfulness in some of the acting, including one scene with Riker, Seven and Picard doing a simple maneuver on the bridge of a ship that seriously takes your breath away because it points to something. The best Trek does this if it can follow through. The creators likely learned in a way from the textured episodic storytelling that "Strange New Worlds" did last year. Now "Picard" Season Three may not work that way but there is hope. B
By Tim Wassberg
