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

[Turtletrekker]

Nope. Everything in current Trek happened in past Trek. From conspiracies, to violence as a first resort or used as a threat, or darker stories.

The shows still demonstrate optimism, but it is optimism that must endure and be earned. As Kirk would say, "No, no, Bones, this time we walked out on our own. Maybe we weren't meant for paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through, struggle, claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. Maybe we can't stroll to the music of the lute. We must march to the sound of drums."

Yup.

 

[donners22]

The old optimistic Trek as we know it’s dead. It’s all darkness, a borderline dystopian and xenophobic Federation, characters using violence as the first not last resort, deep-state conspiracies, the whole rotten lot. The entire ‘message’ of Trek 1966-2005 has been ignored, if not deliberately flushed away.

Oh look, another new account popping up to make ludicrous statements about current Trek.

So you've clearly skipped DS9 and Enterprise and missed most of modern Trek for starters. DS9 was riddled with deep-state conspiracies - not least a false-flag attack on Earth in order to impose martial law, biological warfare in an attempt at genocide and our own hero captain being party to an assassination (incidentally, almost no consequences were suffered for any of this - indeed, it helped the Federation win the war, and only modern Trek actually bothered to follow up). Enterprise had a shallow 9/11 parallel, complete with resulting xenophobia and our heroes engaging in torture and piracy. TOS had open xenophobia and racism - hell, a whole movie about a racist conspiracy.

Meanwhile Disco has become mawkishly optimistic and SNW and the animated shows don't have the issues which you mention.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Star Trek characters are not.

Same for Star Wars characters. They must be preserved in amber forever unchanged.

 

[The Commander]

Just to give a personal example... I found most of season 1 and the beginning of season 2 of DISCOVERY under Goldsman, Harberts, and Berg to at least be interesting watching -- with the caveat there was no way it could fit into the pre-established continuity. But when Kurtzman and Paradise took it over, the tail end season 2 fell off a cliff for me. I was out of NuTrek.

Same. I found Season 1 of Discovery quite entertaining (for what it was - a reboot of the TOS era) and at least some of Season 2. But then it turned more and more into Burnham saves the Galaxy and the (constantly hugging and crying) crew of Discoverys lets her get away with everything.

 

[The Commander]

That's on Matalas and the next seasons.

He didn't like the decsision of Picard being a synth at all. But it saved Picard from being assimilated by Jack. ;-)

 

[fireproof78]

and the (constantly hugging and crying) crew of Discoverys lets her get away with everything.

@Richard S. Ta they're playing your song.

 

[Citiprime]

Same. I found Season 1 of Discovery quite entertaining (for what it was - a reboot of the TOS era) and at least some of Season 2. But then it turned more and more into Burnham saves the Galaxy and the (constantly hugging and crying) crew of Discoverys lets her get away with everything.

I know people are gonna argue about how often they cry and hug, but my argument is that it's not so much about the frequency of it but the significance of it. Whether it's 5 times over the course of the series or 30 times, I just think they go to the well of those emotional scenes so much, and sometimes when it's awkward for the situation, that they lose their significance.

That after a while it loses its dramatic effectiveness to show a character breaking down from a situation as a way to show how bad the problem they're going through is, if you've already shown them being emotional over and over again. Because, at that point, it's no longer a commentary on the situation, but something you expect from those characters as part of their personality.

 

[fireproof78]

I know people are gonna argue about how often they cry and hug, but my argument is that it's not so much about the frequency of it but the significance of it. Whether it's 5 times over the course of the series or 30 times, I just think they go to the well of those emotional scenes so much, and sometimes when it's awkward for the situation, that they lose their significance.

That after a while it loses its dramatic effectiveness to show a character breaking down from a situation as a way to show how bad the problem they're going through is, if you've already shown them being emotional over and over again. Because, at that point, it's no longer a commentary on the situation, but something you expect from those characters as part of their personality.

As someone who was mocked for crying I found it more comforting, refreshing and accepting than I ever found in Trek circles.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Do I need to close another thread because it's getting to be All About Disco?

Disco has its own forum, people. Go there.

 

[Dee1891]

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?

I wouldn't say anything. However, given the choice, I would skip Seasons 2 and 3.

 

[God's Starship]

I might recommend season 1, mostly for the android body stuff, Data and Riker's dead kid (and so they can appreciate the jump in quality to 3). Season 2 I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy (and is essentially retconned anyway).

But tbh S3 is fairly standalone so if someone wanted to start there, I wouldn't stop them.

 

[ReddishAlert]

I liked all three seasons of Picard for different reasons. The second was admittedly my least favorite but it had some good things to it.

I’m happy they made it but all three seasons seem a little bit like fan fiction to me just written by different fans. If you wanted a new take season 1 tried something fresh. If you wanted a dissection of Picard season 2 had merits, if you wanted a better send off for TNG than the movies it was that.

I think since I wanted mainly the third thing I can go back and enjoy s1 and s2 more now without feeling so disappointed it hadn’t yet made my particular requirements.

So necessary? I suppose in so far as something could be valued in each. But then I think S1+S2 of TNG are necessary. So what do I know

 

[Quantum21]

Season 1 and 2 were good, season 3 was unnecessary, but it's like having a sugary sweet dessert after the meal.

 

[danellis]

So people aren't allowed to change in your world?

It's been several decades in universe since we last saw these characters, things happened to the characters off screen.

Star Trek characters are not.

Same for Star Wars characters. They must be preserved in amber forever unchanged.

This makes me think of the Kinks song: not so much
"celluloid heroes never really die"

as

"Celluloid heroes never really live"


dJE

 

[Shat Happens]

This makes me think of the Kinks song: not so much
"celluloid heroes never really die"

as

"Celluloid heroes never really live"


dJE

I wish I hadn't spent several hours watching Picard, Disco etc. and used them rewatching the old movies and shows.

Same with Star Wars.

JJ Abrams has to be the cause.