Support NeoGAF

[ManaByte]

All seven Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members reunite for ten episodes being treated as the fifth TNG movie to give the crew the "Undiscovered Country" send off they never got thanks to the wet fart known as Star Trek: Nemesis.

Since you last saw them:

Picard died of Irumodic Syndrome and a long-lost Soong gave him a synthetic body.

Riker & Troi left the Titan and retired on a remote planet with their daughter.

Worf is still a member of the House of Martok, but is the most affected by the Dominion War of the crew.

Geordi remains in Starfleet and his daughters from All Good Things... appear in the series.

Data is still dead. Spiner is playing Lore. This is the first time since Descent, Part 2 in 1993 that Lore has been acknowledged (outside of a gag in Lower Decks). He was ignored in both Nemesis and Picard S1 because the writers of both never watched TNG.

Beverly has left Starfleet and is operating like Doctors Without Borders travelling around providing medical help to needy planets. The series begins with her and a SPOILER character finding something that kicks off the story.

Reviews:

 

[FunkMiller]

Right, well. We'll see. The first two seasons are utter fucking tripe, but the change in the people behind the camera gives me some hope for this.

If they get rid of all the wishy washy, emotional, spiritual crap that never belonged in Star Trek, and return to the thoughtful, scientifically oriented, hard(ish) sci-fi that the show should be, then maybe it will be redeemed.

TNG remains one of my absolute favourite shows of all time, so I'm going to give this a chance. But the second someone treats Picard like a stupid old man, starts going on about how they are connected to the universe from the depths of their soul, or we get one fucking sequence where highly trained Starfleet officers start acting like over-emotional, gushing fuckwits, who belong in a Netflix teen drama , I'm out.

 

[AJUMP23]

Two seasons of the worst Star Trek ever is what came before.

You convinced me to watch ManaByte I hope you are satisfied.

 

[ManaByte]

 

[DeafTourette]

Is that LeVar's real life daughter?

And the man barely aged aside from the gray!

 

[ManaByte]

Is that LeVar's real life daughter?

And the man barely aged aside from the gray!

Yes.

 

[ManaByte]

Titles/Synopsis for the first four parts:

Ep 1: The Next Generation

Spoiler

After receiving a cryptic, urgent distress call from Dr. Beverly Crusher, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard enlists help from generations old and new to embark on one final adventure: a daring mission that will change Starfleet, and his old crew forever.

Ep 2: Disengage

Spoiler

Aided by Seven of Nine and the crew of the U.S.S. Titan, Picard makes a shocking discovery that will alter his life forever – and puts him on a collision course with the most cunning enemy he’s ever encountered. Meanwhile, Raffi races to track a catastrophic weapon – and collides with a familiar ally.

Ep 3: Seventeen Seconds

Spoiler

Picard grapples with an explosive, life-altering revelation, while the Titan and her crew try to outmaneuver a relentless Vadic in a lethal game of nautical cat and mouse. Meanwhile, Raffi and Worf uncover a nefarious plot from a vengeful enemy Starfleet has long since forgotten.

Ep 4: No Win Scenario

Spoiler

With time running out, Picard, Riker and crew must confront the sins of their past and heal fresh wounds, while the Titan, dead in the water, drifts helplessly toward certain destruction within a mysterious space anomaly.

 

[DeafTourette]

Season 3 is meant to be the "Undiscovered Country" for the TNG crew ... Not a carbon copy of ST:TNG

 

[ManaByte]

 

[Forsythia]

My body is ready to hate-watch this.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Yeah, I'm still not gonna. These new Star Trek shows are fucking horrible, why do people still watch this?

 

[ManaByte]

Yeah, I'm still not gonna. These new Star Trek shows are fucking horrible, why do people still watch this?

I don't know. Maybe look at the reviews in the OP. And RMB HATES NuTrek but watched this three times already.

 

[Drizzlehell]

I don't know. Maybe look at the reviews in the OP. And RMB HATES NuTrek but watched this three times already.

Honestly, the only review that could possibly convince me to give this a try is RedLetterMedia's, though I doubt they're gonna bother with any more nutrek at this point.

 

[Dr. Claus]

I don't know. Maybe look at the reviews in the OP. And RMB HATES NuTrek but watched this three times already.

As we all know, his opinion is key in thinking this show is "good".

Feels more like damage control and wishful thinking from you, similar to how you were in the Rings of Power thread.

I will give the first episode a try, but if it even *touches* the same tired shit that all NuTrek tends to be, I will drop it again. Not going to bother wasting time with something poorly written by mindless slacktivists who never understood what made Trek what it was.

 

[ManaByte]

Though I’ve taken pains to keep an open mind, Discovery made my brain bleed, filled as it is with emotionally unstable characters that couldn’t pass a Starfleet psych exam much less get assigned to starship duty, most of them paralyzed by childhood trauma. And the first two seasons of Picard were painful, a mix of poignant moments and graphic violence, connected by recycled plots, and wrapped in wildly unnecessary retcons of the Trek canon. Far from optimistic and hopeful, its vision of the future was dreary, chaotic, and at times downright gruesome—a world that few of us would ever aspire to live in. It was, in a word, dreadful.

The third season of Picard is the kind of Star Trek I never thought I’d see again.

It’s the real deal—authentic, gripping, and deeply heartening. It respects the history of this franchise without simply feeling like an exercise in nostalgia. It’s been hand-crafted by people who love and understand classic Star Trek as well as anyone—people who have honored that legacy even as they’ve refreshed it for today’s serialized storytelling format.

 

[jshackles]

I'm assuming since Raffi and Seven of Nine are there, that this has some sort of continuation from the first two seasons. I made it about six episodes into season one before giving up. I'm glad for the people that are excited for this, but I'm not gonna watch it.

 

[ManaByte]

I'm assuming since Raffi and Seven of Nine are there, that this has some sort of continuation from the first two seasons. I made it about six episodes into season one before giving up. I'm glad for the people that are excited for this, but I'm not gonna watch it.

There’s no plot continuation. You don’t need to watch those seasons at all.

 

[jshackles]

There’s no plot continuation. You don’t need to watch those seasons at all.

If this is really supposed to be the TNG's cast "Undiscovered Country" sendoff, or like a movie (as your thread title suggests), why are these two character in it if there is no continuity?

 

[ManaByte]

If this is really supposed to be the TNG's cast "Undiscovered Country" sendoff, or like a movie (as your thread title suggests), why are these two character in it if there is no continuity?

Seven is just first officer on the Titan and people are saying there are other Voyager and DS9 characters in it. Raffi’s subplot is with Worf and Worf wasn’t in the previous seasons at all.

 

[Wildebeest]

Season 1 I watched and got some enjoyment out of it. Season 2 was like when the medical machine that pings starts to flatline and nobody is there to do anything about it. I understood it as much as they wanted to do a Star Trek IV type thing, but there was just no verve to it.

 

[badblue]

He was ignored in both Nemesis and Picard S1 because the writers of both never watched TNG.

 

[Dr. Claus]

There’s no plot continuation. You don’t need to watch those seasons at all.

No plot continuation at all. You know, except for where characters are, what happened to Q, what happened to Picard, etc.
Seriously guys, there is no continuing plot! /s

 

[RavageX]

I think I will continue to avoid this. Having the TNG crew is tempting, but I don't want to see them ruined. I feel that most are blinded by the hope of something great, something that resembles what we grew up with....but I feel it is a DECEPTIVE LIE.

 

[ManaByte]

They’re not even using the Picard theme anymore. Just the blue TNG text on a starfield with the episode title and thee Star Trek fanfare. And holy shit the soundtrack is amazing.

Watched BOBW the night before last and the episode opens with Picard’s log from that playing on Beverly’s computer. Riker showed up big time. There’s an Enterprise D was fat joke. Love how Geordi runs the fleet museum in his old age and how Picard wanted his ready room painting to be there.

Earth stardock is still gorgeous and its been too long since we’ve seen it.

 

[ManaByte]

The end credits theme is the First Contact theme and the TNG theme.

 

[Nico_D]

Well the showrunner is the man who gave us the masterpiece tv show that is 12 Monkeys. So there's hope.

 

[wipeout364]

I just read this review which doesn’t seem as positive.

 

[ManaByte]

I just read this review which doesn’t seem as positive.

The episode is out. Engadget was trolling for clicks or pandering to the outrage crowd who already decided they hate the season without watching it.

 

[ManaByte]

Well the showrunner is the man who gave us the masterpiece tv show that is 12 Monkeys. So there's hope.

Todd Stashwick from 12 Monkeys is the Captain of the Titan-A.

 

[nush]

I'm diving in!

 

[DeafTourette]

I'm watching on my way to work!

 

[ManaByte]

Loved the Crash LaForge bit.

 

[nush]

Wow, it's actually... good.

 

[ManaByte]

Wow, it's actually... good.

I’m going to cherish these 10 weeks because we may never get this again.

 

[Thaedolus]

Didn’t realize this premiered, will check out

 

[ManaByte]

Someone has played Portal.

 

[Dr.D00p]

Spoiler

Captain Shaw is as big an asshole as everyone suspected he'd be...

...but I suspect he'll come good, in the end.

 

[xandaca]

Nothing special so far, but it is only the first episode. The first episode of S2 was decent and soon descended into an abject fustercluck, so this could go either way. It's still all dark mood lighting - wouldn't everyone in Starfleet ships have permanent eye strain living in barely lit environments? - with the plot appearing to be more Abrams-Trek superweapons, pointy giganto-ships and terrorist attacks on the Federation, with a soupcon of skulking around degenerate nightclub environments and silly mystery box naming conventions ('red lady', 'hellbird', etc.). I'm hoping they go into more detail as to why Beverly Crusher would disintegrate an unconscious person at point-blank range when her defining character trait has always been a deep empathy for suffering and devotion to protecting life at any cost (Riker said it didn't seem like the Beverly he knew, so really hope that's not the end of it). On the plus side, Frakes is as great as expected and I liked Picard's conversation with Laris - at this point, anything approaching normal conversation between two people in New Trek is to be savoured - and the soundtrack is decent until you realise all its noteworthy cues are recycled. Not awful, but not very good either. Were I asked at this very early point whether I expect the show to exceed low expectations based on what has been shown, the answer would be a solid 'no'. It is very early, though, so hopefully later episodes will have more to offer than the usual mix of forced nostalgia and edgelord darkness.

Also, the opening shot panning past everything you could possibly remember about Beverly Crusher (she brought two theatrical masks along with her, because reasons!) was unintentionally very funny.

 

[ManaByte]

rly Crusher would disintegrate an unconscious person at point-blank range when her defining character trait has always been a deep empathy for suffering and devotion to protecting life at any cost (Riker said it didn't seem like the Beverly he knew, so really hope that's not the end of it).

That’s explained like two seconds later when they reveal who she was protecting.

 

[xandaca]

That’s explained like two seconds later when they reveal who she was protecting.

Not really. She could have had the guy beamed back to his ship, put in one of the stasis pods or in the brig. Protecting her son does not automatically equate to murdering an unconscious adversary, particularly for Beverly. Maybe you know more than I do since you've been stanning the show for ages, but as far as this episode alone goes it appears wildly excessive and diametrically opposed to the core of the character.

 

[ManaByte]

Not really. She could have had the guy beamed back to his ship, put in one of the stasis pods or in the brig. Protecting her son does not automatically equate to murdering an unconscious adversary, particularly for Beverly. Maybe you know more than I do since you've been stanning the show for ages, but as far as this episode alone goes it appears wildly excessive and diametrically opposed to the core of the character.

Go FAFO with a bear cub and see how nice mama is.

 

[xandaca]

Go FAFO with a bear cub and see how nice mama is.

Killing an unconscious person is already recognised in this century as anti-humanitarian and against any civilised nation's code of acceptable military conduct. The ethically advanced humans of the 25th century, particularly those professionally trained for service on a Starfleet vessel, should not be exterminating neutralised threats just because a loved one is on board. Many Enterprise crewmembers had family on the ship, that wouldn't give them free reign to murder every potentially dangerous prisoner just because. If there are mitigating circumstances to be revealed in a future episode, as loosely hinted by Riker, then fine: as far as what has aired so far goes, no.

 

[ManaByte]

 

[ManaByte]

 

[Forsythia]

So it's actually good? When is it going to pop up on Prime?

 

[LordOfChaos]

Two seasons of the worst Star Trek ever is what came before.

I didn't think season 1 was as godawful as Discovery. Season 2 was shite though.

Strange New Worlds has promise, but my favorite "Trek" show remains The Orville!

 

[gaming_again]

I didn't think season 1 was as godawful as Discovery. Season 2 was shite though.

Strange New Worlds has promise, but my favorite "Trek" show remains The Orville!

Orville S1 and S2 were so, so good.

I thought S3 was dreadful. I fell asleep during the finale and didn't even bother going back to it. What the fuck happened?!

The only good point was Charlie, who has the most perfect face I've ever seen on TV.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Orville S1 and S2 were so, so good.

I thought S3 was dreadful. I fell asleep during the finale and didn't even bother going back to it. What the fuck happened?!

The only good point was Charlie, who has the most perfect face I've ever seen on TV.

The most perfect? She's pretty enough but that's a big sentence, I wouldn't think it's eyebrows there by a galaxy haha.

I was kinda glad she was offed, not bad to look at but her character was annoying. Oh yeah she thinks in 5 dimensions unlike the rest of us but her whole shtick is hating Isaac.

 

[gaming_again]

The most perfect? She's pretty enough but that's a big sentence, I wouldn't think it's eyebrows there by a galaxy haha.

I was kinda glad she was offed, not bad to look at but her character was annoying. Oh yeah she thinks in 5 dimensions unlike the rest of us but her whole shtick is hating Isaac.

She was a terrible character but I’ve honestly never been more smitten by somebody not irl. And she’s so tiny.

 

[ManaByte]

Spoiler

Captain Shaw is as big an asshole as everyone suspected he'd be...

...but I suspect he'll come good, in the end.

He's awesome.

And yes his name is a reference to Robert Shaw in Jaws.