Aside from Stewart, what actor/actress killed it in S1?

[Seven of Five]

I don't think there is a weak link in the cast, save maybe for whoever played Marissa. I do wish that Raffi and, in particular Elnor has been given more, but hopefully they'll do that next year.

Alison Pill was a very pleasant surprise, so I found I was drawn to the vulnerabilities of her character instantly.
I also loved Santiago Cabrera. Rios was an interesting enough character, but all of his different holograms with different personalities were a lot of fun.

I thought Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis did a lovely job when they were back. I'm sure it was probably Sirtis' best material that she ever had, and she killed it. Their daughter Kestra was a revelation as well.

Brent Spiner as Dream Data was much more interesting than Soong's son, but he played both very well.

Jeri Ryan was a good addition to the Picard cast, playing a new Seven after years of experiences, and not all of that being positive.

 

[Kilana2]

The Riker-Trois were a big and positive surprise.

I would welcome another PICARD book with more background stories for several characters.

 

[Jayson1]

I liked them all but Raffi and Rios were my fav's. Also Brian Brophy. Even though he didn't get to technically play Maddox his gravitas and brilliance somehow made us feel he was there anyways instead of that other actor.

Jason

 

[Anduinel]

Jonathan Del Arco. Hugh was a character I remembered as being a likable part of a very good TNG episode, but he wouldn't have been in my top 25 for characters I wanted to see return. And Del Arco just blew my socks off with his portrayal of an older, more cynical and world-weary, but still infinitely brave and good-hearted Hugh. Good stuff, especially given how little time the character had to make an impression compared to the cast regulars.

 

[Kilana2]

Jonathan Del Arco. Hugh was a character I remembered as being a likable part of a very good TNG episode, but he wouldn't have been in my top 25 for characters I wanted to see return. And Del Arco just blew my socks off with his portrayal of an older, more cynical and world-weary, but still infinitely brave and good-hearted Hugh. Good stuff, especially given how little time the character had to make an impression compared to the cast regulars.

Yeah. He should have lasted longer.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

^
I was thinking that the Borg Nanoprobes could keep him alive,
we have seen frozen Borgs come alive after 100 years encapsulated in ice.... so maybe he will return in s2.

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

My favorites (Stewart goes without saying):

Lulu Wilson was definitely a breakout actor for me.

Frakes and Sirtis were doing a great job. Back when watching TNG I never found Riker very interesting. I liked him but that was it. Troi I always loved, even though the writing often failed her. At the Nepenthe love fest, they were both killing it.

Laris/ Orla Brady

When you express you cannot really connect to several characters in an episode thread, there is inevitably at least one poster who accuses you of just not liking new characters.

Well, Laris and Zhaban were the perfect proof this was wrong for me. The actors, particularly Brady, and the writing made me care for them even when I thought they were just a not very exciting middle-aged couple living with Picard.So I hope we'll see more of them or at least her next season.

Seven of Nine/ Jeri Ryan

I wasn't a huge Voyager fan, but loved her character. I do wish there were a couple more similarities to her old self, small things like (remnants of) speech patterns or vocabulary. That said, I like her new iteration, too, so it's no big deal.
Jeri Ryan did a great job with what she was given and I'm happy we'll probably see more of her.

I think the writers shortchanged/rushed her, e.g. when she had connected with the Borg cube... I man, that was a huge thing for Seven, she said as much beforehand, AND tons of her xB mates were just spaced, and then - whoops, she just reconnects like it was nothing and is all cool. with it

She does need more character development; there were some scenes where the writers seemed more concerned that she would look cool and badass than feeling... real.

Cabreras

Love Cabreras' perforances as the holo dudes and also like him as Rios. It took me a couple of episodes, which was entirly due to his ridiculous introduction scene.

Raffi/ Hurd

It took me longer than most viewers to connect with Raffi, and I think it is because they stuffed her character with too much, with Addiction! BAM! Reproaching Picard! BAM! Ruined career! BAM! More addiction! BAM! Devastating scene with her son! Addiction! And once they let her character just BE... I think in ep 7 or 8... it worked for me. And I've finally gotten used to the JL thing, even though I don't love it. So yes, Hurd is great, I hope the writers will be more... restrained with her character, give her space to breathe. Less is more in this instance.

Jurati/ Pill
Count me among those who are not entirely on the Pill bandwagon. Some of her performances were great, others fell flat or even seemed slightly overacted to me.

I, too, liked Dahj better than Soji. And Sutra was Briones' weakest character.

I like Soji and Elnor ok, but don't think their characters are very interesting.

Hugh/ Del Arco
He gave a very good performance (plus I just love his voice and inflection).

Narek, Narissa, Bedazzled
I thought Threadaway was often weak, and List was mediocre at best.

Coming to think of it, the best villain, imo, was Beetlejuice. (Forgot the actress' name.) OTT writing (at least as OTT as Narissa), yes, but I had the feeling this actress could have sold anything to me; it's a pity they used her for a on-off character. (Who would have been unredeemable anyway, to me.) She certainly wasn't less cardboard than Narissa, so yeah, take that, Peyton List.

 

[Lorcan Kelly]

Cabrera was my favourite of the new cast.

 

[Thomas Elliot]

It's a tie between Harry Treadaway and Evan Evagora.
Treadaway has a lot of screen presence. He delivery of the lines and emotion was great. He played deviousness and sincerity very well.

Elnor was kind of cheap, in that it was an easy way for audiences to like the character. He was like Baby Yoda in a way, with the innocence. But Evagora really sold the emotional moments. I felt nothing when Picard died. The actress for Raffi was good, but still, I just didn't quite believe in their friendship. They had decent chemistry and she became very likable, but it that scene didn't really get me.
But when Elnor started bawling...that felt real. And that's a testament to the writing and the actor.

Soji's growing on me but, somehow, I liked Dahj better.

Wait, I thought I was the only one who liked Dahj over Soji.

 

[donners22]

Cabrera is outstanding.

I liked everyone in the cast save for Evagora; I'm not sure how much of that was him, and how much was just the weakness of the character.

 

[Orac Zen]

Stewart goes without saying, so in no particular order:

Jeri Ryan. I've always thought Seven could have been an appalling character if played by a lesser performer, but Ryan was and is superb. She was as outstanding as ever.

Marina Sirtis. She had some godawful material to work with back in the day. Given much, much better stuff she was equal to it, and then some. That pause before she opened the door to Thad's room was perfect, and - in light of the real-life tragedy she's so recently dealt with - heartbreaking as well. Wonderful stuff.

Lulu Wilson was brilliant as Kestra. She had some really good material to work with and she was spot-on. All else being equal she should have quite a career.

Orla Brady sold Laris completely. Enjoyed the hell out of that character, and her performance was a big part of that.

Isa Briones created three distinct characters and did so particularly well (even if Sutra was ludicrous - more the writing than her). Jonathan Del Arco was terrific.

Everyone else was okay. I don't care for Jurati at all but Alison Pill's performances are enjoyable. Didn't care for Treadaway or List, which is as much a function of how poorly written and one dimensional their characters were as anything else.

 

[JamesRye]

Marina Sirtis was great - brought a tear to my eye.

 

[Terok Nor]

Where to start? So many good actors in this show!

Santiago Cabrera, Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Jeri Ryan, Orla Brady, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Lulu Wilson, the list is endless.

I will say I preferred Isa Briones as Dahj. Something about Soji hasn't clicked for me and obviously Sutra was so badly written she should've had evil written on her forehead. Evan Evagora didn't get much to do as Elnor but I liked what I saw.

The weak links of the season were Harry Treadaway, who is a good actor, but somehow always plays characters I don't like. People will say Peyton List but I'd say it's more the character than the acting that was the problem. I still ended up enjoying Narissa though. Especially once we found out her motivations.

 

[AlanC9]

I think this show has one of the strongest ensembles of any Trek series. I'm going to single out Hurd, just because a hot mess like Raffi is so difficult to pull off credibly.

It's funny... in this "peak TV" era there are more shows in production than ever before, and yet the caliber of actors has, if anything, increased. Where are all these actors coming from?

 

[Reanok]

I really liked Marina Sirtis tour de force portrayal of Deanna Troi in Nepenthe. And Jonathan Frakes and Lulu Wilson was one of my favorite things about the first season.Also Brent Spiner Playing Data and Soong in this season. I think Isa Briones did a good job playing 4 different android characters. Also the actors who portrayed Laris and Zhaban. Also Jeri Ryan and Evan Evagora did a good job with their roles in season one.

 

[Phily B]

Carbera, Frakes, the kid who played Kestra and Hugh

 

[Danja]

Evan Evagora and Jeri Ryan, definitely.

Peyton List was a great villain. Hope she comes back next season.

 

[Anduinel]

I will say I preferred Isa Briones as Dahj. Something about Soji hasn't clicked for me and obviously Sutra was so badly written she should've had evil written on her forehead.

I felt much the same in preferring Dahj to Soji, and it think it comes simply from the fact that Soji is a much more passive character. Dahj displayed some agency and had some urgency tied to her reveal. Until her brief dalliance as The Destroyer, Soji was a character we mostly just watched lead around everywhere.

 

[Shenanigans]

I think Patrick Stewart had the worst performance. His facial expressions seemed incongruous to the situation at hand on several occasions.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Brent Spiner.