Star Trek Picard: Season Three – Review
I was intrigued when I first heard about the Picard series. I really enjoyed Star Trek: The Next Generation but I was not sure what to expect from this series.
Overall, I have enjoyed the series. Picard has been its best when it has drawn together various threads of the Star Trek mythos. The first two seasons were good but the third season took this to a new level.
The rest of this post will contain spoilers. This is your warning.
The third season of Picard is basically three interconnected subplots coming together to tell one epic story.
The first part begins with a distress call from Beverly Crusher. Her and her son are being hunted by aliens, especially a massive ship called the Shrike. Picard receives the call, gathers up Riker and they make their way onto the USS Titan, the starship Rider used to be the captain of. They find the Crushers attempt to rescue them This becomes a deadly cat and mouse game that almost ends with the destruction of the Titan. In the midst of this, we find that Jack is not only Crusher’s son, but also Picard’s.
Interconnected with this is the revelation that Starfleet has been infiltrated by the changelings, a race that played a primary role in the Dominion War of Deep Space Nine. However, these changelings have evolved and are not discovered as easily as the old ones. This causes everyone to doubt everyone else. But are the changelings the real bad guys? While we are trying to figure out that, we find out that Jack Crusher has some special powers.
All of this comes to a conclusion as the mysteries are pulled away and we find out that the changelings are minions of the Borg. The Borg Queen to be exact. When Picard was assimilated way back in TNG, something in him was permanently changed. This was passed on to his son Jack, which explains his powers. It is also the reason why Jack is being hunted. Jack is the key to the Borg Queen’s plan to destroy Starfleet and the Federation.
I would not say that this season was perfect. A number of the episodes were rather clunky. Transitions from one part of the plot to another were sometimes rough. It felt like they were telling too much story in too few episode. Although I prefer this to too little story over too many episodes.
However, whatever imperfections were in this final season of Picard were made up for in the sheer scale of nostalgic delight. Picard Season Three is basically a love letter to Star Trek fans.
There were so many connections to all corners of the Star Trek stories. Many of the first episodes of this season paralleled the movie, The Wrath of Kahn. It included characters from Star Trek: Voyager and the bad guys from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
It especially was a tribute and in some ways a sequel to The Next Generation. It was a reunion of much of the old Primary crew, even bringing them together onto the Enterprise. Reunion shows can often be cheesy but this was done well. It celebrated the best of the past but also explored the changes that have happened since we saw these characters last.
I do need to say that my favourite character in this season was Worf. I have always liked the character but this was the best version of Worf that we have ever seen. Both the actor and the writers understood the assignment.
The premise of The Next Generation was to explore what was happening a generation (or more) since the time of Kirk’s Enterprise. In many ways, this was the Next Generation of the Next Generation. It included not only the son of Picard but also the daughters of LaForge.
The series finale ended with not just a celebration of a beautiful reunion but a hint of a possible future. The USS Titan is renamed the USS Enterprise. The captain of the newest version of the Enterprise is Seven of Nine, and among her crew are Jack Crusher and Sidney La Forge. Will this be picked up as a series? I certainly hope so!
As a long time Star Trek fan, I was definitely pleased with the conclusion of Picard. There were so many Easter eggs for the major fans and good entertaining story for those less familiar with the mythos. This is a great time to be a Star Trek fan. This did for the Next Generation what Strange New Worlds does for the original series.
