Spoilers Star Trek: Picard General Discussion Thread

[fireproof78]

I think I must be in the minority of Trek Fandom.
I get excited about any new Trek coming along and have enjoyed all of the shows and movies immensely.

You're in the minority of those who post online. I feel like the vast majority are just going to watch it, enjoy it, and move on. Those who post online, even for those who enjoy it, feel the need to defend it, or those who don't enjoy it, but enjoy past Trek, feel the need to find the reasons why it doesn't match up.

I think long gone are the days of just enjoyment. Now everything requires justification.

 

[Commander Troi]

I think I must be in the minority of Trek Fandom.
I get excited about any new Trek coming along and have enjoyed all of the shows and movies immensely.

You and me both. Gimmee gimmee!

 

[marillion]

I think I must be in the minority of Trek Fandom.
I get excited about any new Trek coming along and have enjoyed all of the shows and movies immensely.

Then I'm in the minority too. I will concede that a couple of the TOS and Next Gen movies fell flat for me, but I don't hate them at all.

 

[hellojane]

I didn't see it mentioned but the magazine also has short blurbs about where each character, other than Picard, is at the beginning of the season. Most of it I think everyone knows but this is what each says just in case:

• Geordi- Still in Starfleet and has a family that includes two daughters
• Crusher- Not in Starfleet anymore, but still a doctor, and her life hasn't played out the way she thought it would
• Worf- Not a captain of a ship in Starfleet but he still does have ties to Starfleet and has been on his own journey
• Riker- Active reserve Starfleet captain
• Troi- Retired at home with Riker and raising their daughter and that we'll hear how she feels about being retired

They also mentioned "we'll have to see" in regards to Brent Spiner.

 

[Timofnine]

I liked Picard seasons 1 and 2, but if Terry Matalas makes a truly *amazing* season 3, how will he explain not making this kind of amazing thing happen in the first two seasons? We could have had *three* amazing seasons if he would have started off with this mindset, vision and fan orientated yet still main stream reinvigoration of the 24th century franchise.

 

[fireproof78]

I liked Picard seasons 1 and 2, but if Terry Matalas makes a truly *amazing* season 3, how will he explain not making this kind of amazing thing happen in the first two seasons? We could have had *three* amazing seasons if he would have started off with this mindset, vision and fan orientated yet still main stream reinvigoration of the 24th century franchise.

I mean, there were a number of factors working against that. One, they were uncertain around Stewart's attitude towards playing the character, and not wanting to be "in uniform." Two, there were massive schedule adjustments made due to COVID restrictions and protocols affecting filming and availability. Finally, Terry had other commitments in Season 2 that also took his time and attention.

How this season shapes up is anyone's guess, but this idea that they just flipped a switch and said "Oh, now we will care about the fans!" is ignoring pretty much all the history leading up to actually doing this revival of TNG, rather than actively avoiding that.

 

[Danja]

I mean, there were a number of factors working against that. One, they were uncertain around Stewart's attitude towards playing the character, and not wanting to be "in uniform."

Sir Patrick didn't want this to be TNG S8 (he'd played the character for seven years and four feature films). Alex Kurtzman and Secret Hideout had to make a TON of concessions to get him on board.

Can you blame the man for wanting to do something new?

 

[fireproof78]

Sir Patrick didn't want this to be TNG S8 (he'd played the character for seven years and four feature films). Alex Kurtzman and Secret Hideout had to make a TON of concessions to get him on board.

Can you blame the man for wanting to do something new?

I am of the strong opinion that wanting to do something new, even inside a familiar property, is not something to be dismissed easily. While I get the strong affinity fans for their own version, or the one they grew up with, I'm not someone who holds to that, at least in fiction. So, I completely applaud Stewart willing to do something new, as well as willing to bring the crew back in when he realized it was something he wanted to do.

 

[NCC-73515]

The press is gonna see 6 episodes starting today, and the Hollywood premiere on Feb 9 will show 2 episodes.

https://twitter.com/TerryMatalas/status/1618771785838919680
https://twitter.com/TheTrekCentral/status/1618625168057798658

 

[The Wormhole]

They also mentioned "we'll have to see" in regards to Brent Spiner.

We already know from the trailer

Spoiler

that he's Lore.

 

[Lord Garth]

I liked Picard seasons 1 and 2, but if Terry Matalas makes a truly *amazing* season 3, how will he explain not making this kind of amazing thing happen in the first two seasons? We could have had *three* amazing seasons if he would have started off with this mindset, vision and fan orientated yet still main stream reinvigoration of the 24th century franchise.

He wasn't there during the first season, so "blaming" the first season on him is disingenuous. Michael Chabon was the Showrunner during the first season. And I happen to think the first season of PIC is one of the best seasons in all of Star Trek. And definitely the best of New Trek.

As for the second season... the portion that Terry handled, the first half, was great. The second half, which Akiva Goldsman handled, I don't blame entirely on Terry Matalas other than to say I think he should've been paying closer attention and shouldn't have been so hands-off while he gave Goldsman the wheel so he could pay more attention to developing Season 3.

I currently rank the live-action seasons of New Trek like this:
PIC Season 1
DSC Season 4
DSC Season 1
SNW Season 1
DSC Season 2
DSC Season 3
PIC Season 2

 

[James Cole]

Doug Drexler just made a Facebook post confirming the Titan's captain is named Liam Shaw and that the ship was launched in 2402.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I liked Picard seasons 1 and 2, but if Terry Matalas makes a truly *amazing* season 3, how will he explain not making this kind of amazing thing happen in the first two seasons? We could have had *three* amazing seasons if he would have started off with this mindset, vision and fan orientated yet still main stream reinvigoration of the 24th century franchise.

Well he'd be able explain it for the first season at least by having no involvement with it. Michael Chabon was showrunner in season 1. Matalas didn't take over until season 2.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Glad to see Season 3 getting good press in SEX magazine!...

Meh, they used to place the head in a far more ambiguous position.

They'll follow the herd. If the Fandom Menace

Fortunately my youtube feed doesn't have such nonsense.

Youtube tried to get me into a "where marvel went wrong" video, the first 10 seconds asserted that phase 4 had been a flop. Stopped it there and checked - A quick look at the box office dismissed that, putting it ahead of phase 1 and about equal with phase 2 on a budget:revenue basis.

Then the comments were full of "go woke go broke" and other nonsense. It's like a whole separate world devoid of reality.

I'm not a fan of Trek movies in general, and I really did not like Into Darkness, but I accept it was a financial success. On the other hand I did like Beyond, one of the top films out of all 13, but it was clearly disappointing for the studio.

There seems to be a

It's a shame, there's tons of enthusiasm on youtube shows about Star Wars and the MCU, spending hours talking about hidden mafesto references etc. The only stuff I see on youtube that doesn't seem to be some alt-right clickbait are tedious "top ten times Data used a contraction" or similar episodes. Give me a Film Theory on modern Trek, or an Erik Voss fronted show with Jörg Hillebrand's spots from an episode as they come out weekly. I find it keeps the enthusiasm alive through the week.

That Said I see CinemaSins has just sinner Generations, I usually find their critiques rather good natured. I guess it must be lunchtime* soon.

* I often tell my kids "It's not lunchtime yet Mr Kim, I'll let you know when". Maybe one day I'll convert them.

 

[gvn2fly]

Well he'd be able explain it for the first season at least by having no involvement with it. Michael Chabon was showrunner in season 1. Matalas didn't take over until season 2.

I don't even think he really "took over" in season 2. Articles stated he was co-showrunner with Akiva Goldsman and Terry left season 2 early to start working on season 3. Terry is sole showrunner in season 3 for the first time.

Also, Patrick Stewart was adamant that he did not want a Starfleet show in season 1. He had to be convinced into even wearing the uniform for the flashback scene. So, even if Terry had been involved in season 1, unless he was able to convince Patrick, who was only willing to come back if the show featured Picard at a low point in his life outside of Starfleet, this kind of story was not possible anyway.

 

[gvn2fly]

I think I must be in the minority of Trek Fandom.
I get excited about any new Trek coming along and have enjoyed all of the shows and movies immensely.

That's pretty much me since after Discovery started. I wasn't excited for Discovery after the JJ movies, but ended up giving it a chance when it came out and enjoyed it and have enjoyed every new show after that. Not saying I think every show is perfect - both Disco and Picard especially have had various problems but I still do enjoy them.

 

[gvn2fly]

I'm sure Picard Season 3 will be that good... BUT...

If it really turns out to be the case: The stragglers won't actually care about how good it is. William Shakespear could come back from the dead, Gene Roddenberry could come back from the dead, The Great Bard & The Great Bird could write something spectacular and it could be directed by an also-resurrected Stanley Kubrick, and with that kind of All-Star Talent, they'd still find a way to complain for exactly four reasons:

1. It was made in the 2020s, not the 1990s.
2. It doesn't line up 100.0% with what they want.
3. Canon. Always canon. The more minute, the more important.
4. They'll follow the herd. If the Fandom Menace (Doomcock, Midnight's Edge, MechaRandom42, etc. ) says it's bad, and everyone else in those circles says it's bad, they'll follow the herd, and echo the echo chamber. "It sucks!" "Have you seen it?" "No! And I don't need to!"

If it's good, it doesn't matter. If it's legitimately bad (as in for real reasons, and not what I listed above), it doesn't matter.

I don't think 100% will be won over. If I like it, I'll be happy if 67% are won over. Fandom is like politics. It's not about the unanimous, it's about the majority (half) and the super-majority (two-thirds). Once you have the super-majority, you're golden.

I've seen people on twitter say they are going to hate all modern Trek no matter what. Well, that's their choice. Those Fandom Menace folks have a product to sell and and it's that everything is bad and now how it used to be..and complaining about things becoming woke..and that's pretty much it.

 

[eschaton]

I don't even think he really "took over" in season 2. Articles stated he was co-showrunner with Akiva Goldsman and Terry left season 2 early to start working on season 3. Terry is sole showrunner in season 3 for the first time.

It's also worth noting COVID scrambled their plans for Season 2 to some extent which still isn't 100% clear.

Like, Michael Chabon said - in an interview - that he had already written two scripts for Season 2 in February of 2020. He strongly inferred the entire season's writing was already done.

Ultimately, Chabon got story credit for the season opener, and no script credits. It's clear his scripts were pulped. And COVID-19 making the production impossible is the only reason I can think if they'd do this.

 

[Tuskin38]

Yeah, the reason why all the characters were paired off on their own adventures most of the time was because of Covid restrictions.

 

[StewMc]

IIRC it was the second episode that Chabon received a story credit on. Which makes me wonder, presumably then the original plan for Season 2 still involved the alternate timeline storyline somehow? Or it could have just been as vague as the idea of the captured Borg Queen in some other situation.