Spoilers Are the first two seasons of 'Picard' unnecessary?

I remember when people used to talk about TNG, some would say you can skip the first two seasons. Or they would give you a list of episodes to check out from the first two seasons (e.g., "Measure of a Man," "Q Who," etc.) and say you can skip to season 3.

If you were trying to get someone to give Picard a try, would you tell them to skip the first 2 seasons? Is it the equivalent of seasons 1 and 2 of TNG, and something that you could write off as unnecessary?

 

Supposedly Matalas wanted season 3 to be it's own thing, called Star Trek: The Last Generation. He clearly and deliberately retconned certain plot points from 1 and 2, so I doubt he was a fan.

It's kind of like an anthology. Each season is quite different with weak continuity between them. I guess that makes watching them as essential as watching any TOS episode, because that was basically the same.

 

No, they're not unnecessary and Season 2 is still entertaining in a more disposable kind of way.

EDIT - There's soft reboots between seasons and stuff abandoned or going dormant, but the character beats and important plot threads carry on through all three seasons.

 

I would rewatch season 3 definitely, season 1 maybe. But season 2 I don't think I will watch again.

 

They're only necessary if you wanna know more about Raffi's and Seven's background, and what the Trois hated on Nepenthe

 

Necessary for season 3? Not really. Season probably works better without them.

 

I liked all of them, but they are pretty much independent, the only thing that might confuse someone skipping season 1 is Picard having a new body.

 

I don't think they are necessary to watch before season 3. You just need to read a brief summary to be caught up on Picard.

 

Is any season of television necessary?

To answer the question given, in the course of the series, I’d say yes. Seasons one and two offer up texture to where Picard, Riker, Troi and Seven are and introduce Raffi.

If I want to be contrary, and I sometimes do, I could argue that season three is unnecessary. It’s the outlier here based on cast and storytelling. But honestly, you could have left the series at the end of any season and had a compelling ending to the tale on its own.

 

If all you are interested in is watching season 3, don't bother. There are only a small number of plot points that need to be known before starting that can be learned from other sources.

That said, season 1 is worth watching for its own merits. It has problems, but it is unfairly maligned. The first season offers an earnest exploration of trying to make a difference when someone is of advanced age, and it does so by pushing more into harder science fiction that the rest of the series. I would also argue that all the best acting is in season 1, especially in episodes 6-8. Jonathan Del Arco was masterful.

 

One thing that would really suffer without watching Season 1 is Raffi's presence in Season 3. She's clearly treated as an already established character, but she'd really just hang in the air without any connections to the rest of the cast unless one already knows her history with Picard and Starfleet from Season 1. And while it's not necessary for following Season 3, but having watched Season 1 makes it easier to understand why Picard is already acquainted with Seven. Altan Soong and his work with Data's legacy also feels really randomly tacked on unless one has already watched Season 1.

But everything being said, I would still recommend Season 1 because of its exploration of Picard's character as well as its thematic arc of portraying him as a Fisher King whose giving up and hiding from the galaxy reflects a Federation that has similarly lost its way, with him having to find his faith again before he could help the Federation do the same and return to what it was meant to be. One could even argue that the way the Rikers help him realize that works to thematically and emotionally set up the reunion in Season 3 by conveying the message that Picard can only truly be himself with his crew and friends at his side, working together as a team as opposed to him trying to force through his will by himself.

 

Depends on what you mean by "necessary." If you want to know if you need to be familiar with the first two seasons to follow season 3, then no. In fact, the third probably works better if you haven't seen the other two since all contradictions and inconsistencies with the first two present with the third won't jump out at you.

However, the first two seasons are, IMO, better than the third. First especially. That should make them "necessary" to watch. At least to the extent any TV show can be considered "necessary."

 

None of it is necessary.

 

The first two seasons are Picard. Third season drops most of what made the show unique in favour of changeling buckets worth of fan service.

Starting with that and you'd think Raffi was some lost soul Worf picked up along the way. (Do Picard, Raffi and Seven even share a scene, just the three of them?) You'd figure Laris was just Picard's pretty housekeeper. No menion of Elnor. Or Queen Jurati. No Soji or her meeting Data. Or scene where Worf is told Q is dead and laughs.

Seems Matalas/whoever really didn't want any of that. And so much of it was doable.

 

Season 1 is alright until the end. Season 2 is just a mess. I'd be happier if they didn't exist.

 

I don't even know why they put Laris in season 3. Her brief appearance was even stranger by its inclusion.

 

Was happy to see her for all of five minutes.

 

It's always nice to see Laris, but yeah, her scene in the S3 premiere was odd and really didn't fit with the rest of the season at all. It's basically a redux of the final scene of the S2 finale where Picard has decided he's through with the past and wants to start "looking forward." Which tonally clashes with the rest of S3 which is all about looking back to the past.

 

Even Season 1's ending wasn't that bad and Season 2 had a better ending than the other seasons (S3's finale was good clean fun but still a mash up of fanwank and homage to Star Wars).