Star Trek: Picard – The Last Generation and Season Three – TV Review

TL;DR – They stuck the landing.   

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this episode.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

The USS Enterprise-D

Star Trek: Picard Review

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard has come to an end, and more like any season so far, this felt almost like Star Trek: The Next Generation season 8. There was a little concern coming into the start of the season as to whether they could make it more than just a nostalgia fest. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of nostalgia on offer here. But there is also a lot of heart. In today’s review, we will first look at whether they stuck the landing with the final episode and then at the season and maybe the series as a whole.

So to set the scene, in Võx, we discovered the terrible secret that Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) had been holding so tight that even he did not know, he is The Borg. Or at least he had inherited some of the DNA changes The Borg made to Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). This made him reach out to the voice in his head … The Borg Queen (Alice Krige/Jane Edwina Seymour) herself. Which sets in motion The Borg’s final plan to trigger the Borg DNA inserted in all the young officers and remotely assimilate them using Jack’s ability, and it works. The fleet is taken over, most of those not assimilated are killed, and only Spacedock stands between The Borg and the extermination of Earth. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode, and season, as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.     

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Star Trek: Picard – The Next Generation – TV Review

TL;DR – A beautiful start to the final season.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this episode.

Commander Seven of Nine

Star Trek: Picard Review

I have enjoyed the first two seasons of Star Trek Picard, even though they have been very uneven. But I did have some hesitations coming into Season 3 because it felt like the show was dumping most of its supporting cast to give The Next Generation crew one last run. Was this nostalgia going to be a lovely swan song for the final season or an anchor to drag it all down? Well, this first episode makes it feel like it is not the latter.

So to set the scene, we open in the 25th Century as we zoom through a nebula to the SS Eleos XII, where Captain Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) is under attack from unknown assailants. After dispatching them but gravely wounded, Beverly sends an encoded message to Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), a man she has not spoken to in 20 years. Jean-Luc needs to go help his old friend, but how else are you going to do that by bringing in some help from old friends in the form of Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for the show.

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Countdown – My Personal Top 25 Episodes of Star Trek

TL;DR – We count down my favourite episodes of Star Trek that span the whole gamut from 1966 to 2020   

Countdown

Well, today at the time of writing it is May the 4th and I feel compelled to write about Science Fiction. However, I have spent a large chunk of the day trying to find an angle to look at its namesake without much luck, so when in doubt fall back to something you love. Well, there are few things I love more than Star Trek, at since that is a science fiction show and it is even has a ‘star’ in the title, I thought what the hay, I’m 50% of the way there.

So today I am going to count down my favourite 25 episodes from across all of Star Trek’s run, which at the time of writing is everything up to the end of Season One of Star Trek Picard but not including The Animated Series simply because I have not watched them and they are not really considered canon but maybe (that is a whole pandora’s box for another day). This means we have 743 episodes across eight series (The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Short Treks & Picard). Bringing them down you just a top 25 was a hard job with a lot of amazing episodes just missing out. Also, I should point out that this is my list if you have a favourite episode that didn’t make it on here let me know which one it was in the comments below. Well without further comment, let’s dive in

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TV Review – Star Trek: Picard – Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 and Season 1

TL;DR – Not every part of the final episode landed, but the promise is so much more

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Star Trek: Picard – Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review – It is time to come to the end and the first season of Star Trek Picard has drawn to a close, it was a show full of warmth and promise but also a hint of sadness. Like someone taking one last look at the old neighbourhood before moving one. With this in mind, I approached the final episode with a little hesitation and now I have seen it that felling was not entirely unmerited. Well then, let’s dive in and have a look at the final episode before having a look at the entire season.

So to set the scene, at the end of Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1 we were in a very perilous place with everything about to unravel. Picard (Patrick Stewart) had been taken hostage by the synths that had finally discovered the meaning behind the Zhat Vash prophecy and were using the death of one of their own as a pretence to steam straight ahead to the destruction of all organic life. On the Borg Cube, Seven (Jeri Ryan) and Elnor (Evan Evagora) chat not realising that they have an uninvited guest in the form of Narek (Harry Treadaway). But there might be one ray of hope because Agnes (Alison Pill) might not be who she says she is. Now we will be looking at the episode and the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Star Trek: Picard – Remembrance

TL;DR – This is a wonderful start and the best thing I can say is that I want more as soon as possible

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Star Trek: Picard – Remembrance. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review

Oh boy, if there is one thing I have been excited about this year it has been getting a chance to get my eyeballs on Star Trek: Picard. Well now it is here and I couldn’t be happier. For so long there has been this almost fear that you can’t go past Nemesis in the timeline, well now we have and it’s about time.

So to set the scene, it have been 20 years since the death of Data (Brent Spiner) during the events of Star Trek: Nemesis and the pain still wears heavy on the heart of  Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) who has now retired from Starfleet to run his family’s vineyard in France. He is burdened by his past, his losses and failures like with Romulus. Meanwhile in Boston, Dahj Asha (Isa Briones) is enjoying an evening when masked figures beamed into her apartment killing her boyfriend and interrogating her. But just when all is lost, something inside her is triggered and a killer is let lose. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Star Trek Short Treks: Children of Mars

TL;DR – An emotional gut punch as you watch it all unravel  

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Short Treks: Children of Mars. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review

Can you tell a compelling and heartfelt narrative in seven minutes with very little dialogue? That would actually be quite a challenge but today we get to look at an episode that does just that as it builds to a moment that breaks you.

So to set the scene, we open in on April the 5th, First Contact Day, a day of celebration but for two girls living in San Francisco it is a day of sadness in part. For Lil (Sadie Munroe) her dad (Jason Deline) is stuck working on the Mars Orbital Facility and can’t make it downwell to see her. On the other side, we have Kima (Ilamaria Ebrahim) whose mom (Joy Castro) also works on Mars at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. In a moment of sadness, Lil accidentally knocks over Kima on the way to the shuttle pick up making Kima late for school and then it all spirals in from there.    

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