Picard Season 3 reviewed

 

It is difficult to understate just how popular Star Trek- The Next Generaiton was in 1987. Most of us had only seen the original series in re-runs but now we had a series of our own and over seven seasons this crew became very familiar to us. The third season of Picard is very much what people probably expected from the first two and  continuing the series’ evolution towards a more standard presentation. They’ve even done away with the lengthy, arty title sequence replaced by a no-nonsense metallic logo in space and a familiar musical motif. In a culture obsessed either with youth or staying young it feels groundbreaking though for a show incorporating plenty of action adventure to be led by much older characters still willing to engage at the centre of the action.

 

Spoilers following the break…

 

Right from the first episode you know we’re watching a gradual reunion of most of the key Next Generation cast and while you may smile at the coincidence that pulls them together you will also enjoy the excitement as they do so. There is no hanging about this time, within minutes of the opening episode the cheekily called `The Next generation`, Picard is in space, along with Riker after receiving a coded distress call from Beverly Crusher from whom he’s not heard in over twenty years. Beverley (I can never hear that name without imagining it spoken in Patrick Stewart’s sonorous tones) is in trouble, pursued by bounty hunters. Egged on by the always less stringent Riker, Picard pretends to be inspecting the new USS Titan which turns out to have Seven of Nine onboard and the three of them engineer a course change to go to Beverley’s aide despite the ship’s Captain Shaw is having none of it.

When Picard and Riker take a shuttle and board the smaller ship they find Doctor Crusher in medical stasis while a young man who claims to be her son is the only other passenger. You can of course see where all this is headed but its a lot of fun to have Picard and Riker on a mission behaving in a way that their younger selves definitely would not approve of! The sequences on Beverley’s ship are very tensely directed while Ed Speleers makes a lively debut as the cavalier but committed Jack Crusher. It’s no surprise to anyone, except Picard himself, that in a scene which could come from any soap opera Jack is actually his son. This works better than you might imagine resulting in some interesting scenes even if its all a bit rushed due to the deadline facing the ship. Not a word is spoken- just a look from Beverley is enough though amusingly Riker has realized earlier.

The whole cast are great but at the centre of it all Patrick Stewart brings his classical and instinctive prowess to bear on scripts that offer him strong material. Every choice he makes works so well and if his voice and appearance may seem a little frail there is an inner strength too. And I think the actor himself would deflect such praise citing that this is an ensemble piece of which he is only a part. This may be true but it is impossible to imagine anyone else centring a show like this.

Old Star Trek as I remember was rarely about the people. There’d sometimes be a character trait that might be referred to again but generally everything reset allowing the episodes to be shown in any order. Nowadays television drama has changed allowing broader character development and even- gasp- proper arguments. For seasoned Next Generation aficionados there is something odd about seeing Picard and Riker arguing but it makes for great drama and allows the actors to cut loose more than they ever could in the parent series. This applies too with the excellent scenes involving Picard and Jack, a real estranged father / son dynamic evolving thanks to Patrick Stewart and Ed Speleers and a script that treats both characters with equal respect. One wonders had Wesley Crusher been more like Jack than the smart kid they wrote him as if he would have been more popular.

There’s also a sub plot bubbling with Raffi working undercover for a mysterious handler to trace stolen weapons tech. Taking place in a series of clubs and bars, this strand tries to inject a grittier edge into proceedings with Michelle Hurd still a vital part of the series’ appeal. This is a character on the edge in a manner that seems a long way from the regimented Trek of yore yet it works very well.  That her handler turns out to be Worf allows for some levity to creep in. Essentially taking the poker faced opposite role that Data used to have in the old series, this Worf is a matured, less rash individual playing to Michael Dorn’s timing. Just one look can top a scene! The rapport between the two is excellent as well.

Episode 4 mostly focuses on the Titan’s dilemma as the ship sinks into one of those anomalies of which Trek is especially fond. Even the word `anomaly` makes me nostalgic!  Teamwork eventually overcomes this seemingly terminal fate though Its perhaps a stretch to have Jack come up with the solution considering who else is on board but the writers tie it up neatly with flashbacks to Picard’s encounter five years ago with some cadets eager to hear his stories. This is such vibrantly presented material you can even overlook the somewhat perfunctory demise of the Changeling infiltrator who might have been used to amplify the tension even more. I like the way too that the narrative keeps circling back to Picard’s Borg experience too.

It is the case that the middle episodes, five and six, tread some water, perhaps necessarily so after all the tension of the first four. I’m not too convinced though by the Diestrum Institute’s interiors which seem too self-consciously arty for a high security facility. Perhaps all the fancy lights are for the visitors! The Titan crew’s entry though is too easy and to find that Data is what they’ve been looking for while adding some more nostalgia seems to suggest that the entire Galaxy centres around former crew of the Enterprise!

Episodes 7 and 8 are terrific and set mainly on the Titan. You have to admire the way this scenario is strung out yet remains riveting because you’re never sure what will happen next. The timing of the story beats and the lengths to which they keep the viewer waiting for a way out keep the viewer completely engaged. Essentially a hostage scenario it plays out with increasingly stretched tension and a fantastic performance from Amanda Plummer whose justification of her aims sets doubts in the viewer’s minds. She is a real asset to this season as the sinister Vadic, surely one of Trek’s most memorable antagonists. It must be difficult to add to the huge pantheon of villains that the genre in general and Trek in particular has built up but she is definitely up there.

Vadic’s litany of Star Fleet’s misdemeanors casts the status quo in a new, disturbing lights. All good villains should be able to enable us to understand why they are taking the action they are and this is a great example. It suggests that the authorities had lost their way long before the Changelings invaded. This distrust of big organizations plays into a lot of real life concerns and as articulated by Varic makes an interesting moral argument. We also get so see perhaps the most reasonable conflict ever depicted as Data and Lore struggle over control of the body both inhabit. Anyone feeling a little lost amidst the darker hues of this story and all that swearing can take comfort in this very Trek like resolution which allows Data to prevail simply by handing over precious memories to Lore.

The final two episodes are essentially the Next Generation film we never got twenty years ago with a heroic final mission for our reunited crew. They are packed with nostalgic moments yet also driven by the urgency of the peril to whole of Star Fleet. The Changelings turn out to have been working with the Borg enabling a climactic scenario  which all of the younger personnel – whose signatures have bene sneaked onto transporter relays- are assimilated leaving only the older Star Fleet officers with free will. Handy when you have a ship full of the old Next Gen crew! So in a move that goes against prevailing trends it is the older people who have to save the day and why not!

Having brought them together piece by piece it would of course be a shame for them not to find themselves back on the bridge of the Enterprise D. This is exactly where they end up in a scene that will warm the hearts of old Next Generation viewers complete with Picard declaring that the thing he’s missed most is the carpet!  This scene brings back so many nostalgic tingles but importantly the series has earned it. I've not studied the detail but it looks to me like an exact duplicate of the bridge set from the 80s. It does seem less busy and much lighter than the darker modern bridge sets and their many lighted panels. Once in this familiar location the cast are quickly able to who rekindle that heroic bonhomie to undertake a daring mission directly at the Borg cube in a riotous sequence that calls to mind Star Wars as much as it does Star Trek. Its like seeing your favourite band reform and for them then to unveil an amazing new song! It is quite mad and utterly brilliant!

Everyone plays their part and its especially pleasing that Beverley is now as good a weapons officer as she is a Doctor! The expressions on everyone’s faces when she demonstrates these skills is a lovely light moment amidst the jeopardy. Not that the new generation are forgotten- indeed it is Jack’s assimilation into the collective that Picard seeks to unravel both for practical and personal reasons. As there should be, there are moments where you think some of the regulars won’t make it through. This season has done this sort of thing very well managing to keep us guessing till the final second and episode ten achieves some of the most exciting sequences ever to go out under the Star Trek banner. Underpinning it all though is a father trying to save a son while two opposing values of how life should be lived are at stake.

Enjoyable though the first two seasons of Picard are, it is season three that provides the Next Generation send off fans have always wished for. More than a footnote it is a vital chapter in the lives of these characters and the show is very lucky that all the main cast still able and willing to recreate their roles. Though it has modern touches- and more expletives than we’re expecting- this is Star Trek at it’s most faithful. Retooled for the modern age perhaps but holding onto the values that always made it as much a philosophical show as it is a thriller. I’ve not been this appreciative of a Star Trek series or film since Next Generation’s imperial period  and this series suggests that the franchise as a whole is in good hands to go boldly into the future.