Spoilers So, what do we think of Season 2 now that it's done?

This isn't worth it. I had a whole long post that I typed, but... not today.

 

Yearp. Same here.

 

Good post. Much appreciated.

I think we as viewers (and reviewers) don't know, or cannot know, the countless bumps that PIC/DISCO encountered during filming due to COVID. Roads that could not be taken. We should take that into account when grading the seasons. Especially the live action shows. LD & PRO do not have those problems and have been very good IMHO.


Still, I thought the S2 opened very strongly and closed strong (for the most part). I enjoyed it.

 

I caanot recall if I have posted this here or not yet, but here are the top streaming shows for March & April.

March:

https://www.businessinsider.com/top...rd-2022-4?op=1#3-star-trek-picard-paramount-7

Picard 3rd (of 9). Rotten Tomatoes score 90%.

Show, RTS, Times more in demand than avg
9. Our Flag Means Death, 90%, 27.1
8. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, 89%, 27.2
7. Ted Lasso, 94%, 27.6
6. Titans, 86%, 28.2
5. The Witcher, 81%, 28.6
4. The Book of Boba Fett, 68%, 29.0
3. Star Trek: Picard, 90%, 32.0
2. Stranger Things 4: 93%, 35.1
1. The Mandalorian, 93%, 36.6

Only the Mandalorian & Stranger Things beat Picard. Only those 2 plus Ted Lasso had better RT scores.

I'd say that was pretty good.

 

April:

Picard 6th. RT score dipped to 86%.

9. Young Justice, 95%, 24.9
8. Titans, 86%, 26.0
7. The Witcher, 81%, 27.2
6. Star Trek: Picard, 86%, 31.4
5. The Mandalorian, 93%, 34.2
4. Moon Knight, 87%, 34.2
3. Our Flag Means Death, 91%, 38.9
2. Bridgerton, 82%, 39.5
1. Stranger Things 4, 93%, 47.8


https://www.businessinsider.com/top...on-2022-5?op=1#6-star-trek-picard-paramount-4

 

May. Last episode aired May 5th. 9th is a drop, but considering only 1 new episode aired in May, pretty good.

9. Star Trek: Picard, 86%, 27.3
8. Bridgerton 82%, 28.5
7. Wandavision, 91%, 28.6
6. Ozark, 82%, 29.6
5. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, 98%, 30.9
4. Moon Knight, 86%, 32.3
3. Our Flag Means Death, 91%, 34.6
2. The Mandalorian, 93%, 37.4
1. Stranger Things, 92%, 83.3

 

All in all, it is hard to describe Picard as a failure with those viewership numbers (and good RT scores).

I get it had issues, and was not everyone's cup of tea, but describing it as some kind of failure/terrible show is bonkers.

 

I think both seasons feel the same to me, and wouldn't mind watching any of them, the series looks expensive to make and despite the mixed bag from every episode its still a fun, dumb adventure show. It sets the dilemma up and off to the finish line, characters could get more background and development but it is saga based and the ride is satisfying. A plus for me are these stories are not condescending and anyone could watch these things without doing homework. Romulans are set up to have bumpy heads and others have nothing at all and NOT ONE character especially the doctor doesn't have an out of character moment and wince and make stupid faces questioning why one Romulan look different from the other. No bogus virus things which complicates the matter even more than the explanation. I found this with the Borg as well, improvements never seem to draw attention to itself I can watch it without figuring why the hell this was done.

One more thing I appreciated, not only from PICARD, but from the other shows, it looks as if the showrunners are listening to the criticisms, just the ones which doesn't appear to make disrespectful attempts to rewrite TOS or TNG. No more going back to alter the well, just tell their stories giving me the impression these are new characters and THEY ARE NOT FROM TOS nor TNG, a new universe where these characters have new beginnings and of course new endings. STRANGE's Pike will not share the same fate as my Christopher Pike in the series I love TOS, and this Picard will have something special for him like my Picard had in TNG. Separate universes with separate fates, the showrunners are doing a decent job with the talents they have.

 

I am sorry but the title of the show is Picard yet he does almost nothing, I realize as we all are getting old but still have him more involved in the show other than simple rhetoric. I am only a few episodes into season 2 but my gripes are mounting up. Who wrote such bad scripts? They do not have enough energy to keep someone alive or to heat the ship for warmth but have enough to engage a cloaking device? Absurd episode. Can not take a phaser in the past but a 23 century tricorder is ok? I am in hopes it gets better. Star Trek Discovery is well written, The newest Enterprise with Pike in strange new worlds is excellent but Picard is a little league team compared to world series champs to the other two!

 

So you created an account here just to bitch about the Picard show for your very first post? How about, ‘Hi, I’m TigerShart_RT, and it’s a privilege to join this forum and be part of the group’ ?

 

You've never heard of the "Picard speech"?

That's his thing mostly.

 

I'm just getting started with season 2, finally. Picard seems to notice something amiss with his familiar old frenemy Q, even making an observation that he isn't well. I'm curious to see how that will turn out for Q's character.

Kor

 

I think as you say there's some sense in regarding Season 2 as the middle part of a trilogy. Season 1 picks up the pieces from TNG/TNG Movies + ST09, while Season 3 is going to somehow push the story of the cast of TNG forwards.

I also agree that Season 2 is the most Picard of the two seasons we've had so far because the stakes are so personal. Season 1 is about the Federation, Nemesis/Data etc. but it's Season 2 that really digs into the mans' soul.

Like most middle parts of a trilogy also there is a sense of running on the spot in Season 2, as well as a sense of clearing the decks (Rios/Seven/Raffi) in time for the Season 3 party. Part 2 of a trilogy is always the hardest to get right I feel, with Part 1 being setup and Part 3 being resolution whilst Part 2 often just meanders around and at times tests the patience of its' audience.

The only trilogies I can think of where this isn't the case would be the original Star Wars trilogy or The Godfather.

What I do like about Season 2 is that it is at least a different beast to Season 1. Rather than indulge in TNG callbacks and nudges it indulges in Trek history generally. As well as that the Picard/Jurati/Rios parts are very strong. Where I felt it fell down was in the writing between Seven/Raffi, the weird recasting of Spiner/Briones in roles which were analogous to their Season 1 roles in a way that just didn't land at all and what finally (for me) turned out to be an utter waste of Q.

How a Season long story that's about death, loss, suicide, mental illness and the terrors of modern fascism that recontextualises and advances the concept of the Borg whilst simultaneously commenting on real world 21st Century injustices can be described as dumb is beyond me.

 

If this is the way it plays out, then -- at the end of it -- it'll all look like it was designed to go this way. It's harder to see in general when you're in the middle of it. But I suspect you're right.

My go-to trilogy, the one I know Terry Matalas is a huge fan of, is Back to the Future. I've been a fan of it since I was a kid. I'm possibly a bigger BTTF Fan than I am a Trek Fan. Part II is my favorite but I'll be the first to admit that it's the most chaotic. Maybe that informs why, decades later, I like DSC Season 1 so much; and somehow why still like PIC Season 2 as much as I do, despite being critical of it.

 

Right down to bringing in Lea Thompson.

 

Because it's not TNG.