I do, yes. And I agree with you that this is not fair to either the original characters and their actresses/actors or the fans of those characters. I'm getting VERY strong "These Are The Voyages" vibes here. That one was sold to the fans as a "love letter" as well, just as this one is now supposed to be "a proper send-off". One would think producers would learn from that TATV mistake, but I guess now we're not just making a final episode that has TNG - but also not TNG because we're not making TNG 2.0 - walking all over a show, now we're creating an entire SEASON that does it...
I would have preferred for them to make another season with the characters they established. There was no need for the TNG cast for anything other than maybe cameo appearances. It's been DECADES since the TNG crew essentially split up in Nemesis. Jean-Luc served with these officers for maybe a fraction of his whole Starfleet career. It's beyond me why there is so much obsession around these characters (but then, I didn't grow up with TNG, I never watched it when I was young, maybe this has to do with fannish feelings of "MY CHILDHOOD", idk). TNG had its time. I wish they'd left it be. And I'm saying this as someone who loves TNG.
But, alas, they're doing what they're doing. All I can do as a Sir Patrick fan is buckle up and brace for the hate impact once people realize that this won't be the TNG nostalgia fest they're expecting because the show will still insist on NOT re-hashing TNG, and the other characters will be in places that are just as different as the one Jean-Luc was in at the beginning of PIC.
I agree with you and I did grow up with TNG. The thing is, TNG already had a farewell (and Data had two farewells). So it wasn't that good so they are going to try again 20 years later. It's like an old band that does a farewell tour and then does it again years later because ticket sales were low. They should have just kept it at smaller roles for the remaining cast (Like Riker/Troi in season 1) and left it at that.
