^
Looking forward to it. I really am.
Episode 9 has probably been the worst for me. I just could not hold my attention to it and had to split it into four parts.
Most of Season 2 I have enjoyed. It’s a decent show. It shakes things up and has clear repercussions. It feels like it matters. It’s great to see the Borg pushed into new places. Pill is an absolute treasure and has blown me away this season. Likewise the actor playing the Borg Queen. Whenever they are on screen together, they sing.
Picard himself has suffered I think for not having a strong pairing this Season. It could have been Renee. It could have been Q. It could have been Soong. It could have been not-Laris. It could have been Guinan. But they give him the lot.
I feel like Raffi and Seven, Rios’s Romance, Jurati and the BQ… there has been some very tight writing… but Picard feels too scattered in his own show. He doesn’t feel like the centre of the narrative to me and the narrative he does have is unfocused.
If I may be so bold as to list a few ways I would have ‘fixed’ it, just as a mental exercise, I’d buddy up Picard with a De-Powered Q and play on the odd couple trope. They can’t stand each other on the surface, but they do have a strange affection for each other and as we know, they have chemistry. There's tension between them. History. But potential, huge potential, for lighter moments too.
In my perfect Season 2, Q and Picard would be paired up throughout. Q’s journey would be one of humility in the face of death. Strip layers off him over the season and get to the core of who he is. Also soften the relationship over the story. Finally, genuinely, Episode 10 and they have a ‘moment’ (I’m already spoiled so I know to some extent that does happen).
Loads of Renee, no Soong. She seemed a good character for the episode she was in, but I love NASA type Fall All Mankind stuff. Focus in on Gemini. A season of capers involving 24th Century humans, a depowered God, and the Borg Queen in Mission Control. At the centre of it all is Renee’s struggle with her own doubts and depression. That would be the way into Picard’s memories too. They explore depression together and come out brighter at the end.
Have La Sirena fake up some ID and money in the replicator. Get everyone to better places in the story quicker. Have Raffi and Seven come in as consultants on Gemini. Get the story to Renee and make her and Picard the centre of it…
I also feel they rushed out of the Confederation too early maybe? They could have had an extra episode there and spent more time blending in badly.
Um.
Sorry to go on. Just thoughts really. I thought Season 1 was a bit aimless, but generally alright. Season 2 has been a step up for me. None of the above is to imply that the writers suck or whatever, just random thoughts on what I might have done.
It’s all good though. I’m watching a lot of Star Trek these days. Still haven’t seen SNW 03, PRO or DSC Season 4, but I’ll get on with one of them after I finish E10. I’ve heard a lot of good things.
Additional - I think I might have found the Picard/Mother thing more compelling had I not spoiled myself. That’s my fault.