I could watch a show that is simply Jean-Luc Picard and Data playing poker in Ten Forward on the Enterprise for the rest of my life, but that’s not the modern state of Star Trek. It’s just Jean-Luc’s dream and the opening sequence of the first episode of the series.
1. Starfleet
When Jean-Luc awakes from his dream, he’s at home, at his vineyard, Chateau Picard, along with his seemingly new right-hand man, or dog, Number One. With some quick moving, creative exposition, and expert villain creation, Jean-Luc is preparing for an unwelcome interview; one that will question him about the anniversary of the Romulan Supernova, which left an entire species without a home. In typical Picard fashion, he left the Enterprise to rescue the Romulans, unbeknownst to him, at the expense of the deaths of thousands of Federation citizens at the hands of synthetic lifeforms. As a result, synthetics are banned, Romulans become refugees, and in the words of Jean-Luc, he leaves his life’s work because, “it was no longer Starfleet.” Starfleet has always been an idyllic, futuristic entity, and, sadly, it’s become a reflection of our modern times. Picard reveals his people abandoned those they swore to save, and “it was downright criminal.” Picard couldn’t live with himself being part of Starfleet’s actions, so he left.
2. Romulans
The emotional, war-like cousins of the Vulcans are obviously going to feature prominently in this series, and we get to see a bit of them in this first episode in the form of assassins, as they attempt to capture Dahj, a synthetic who believes herself to be human. She seeks out Jean-Luc’s assistance after she is attacked. In his typical warm, inviting, non-judgemental style, Jean-Luc welcomes a scared Dahj into his home and attempts to help her figure out why she’s been attacked. After some time, and a visit to what looks like a Starfleet assigned storage unit, (Captain Picard Day banner has been saved for posterity!) it seems likely Dahj is Data’s daughter. Or as much of daughter as she can be to Data. For some reason, the Romulans seem hell-bent on destroying Dahj, and are successful after she and Jean-Luc lead them on a chase through what looks like Starfleet Command in San Francisco. But, she doesn’t show up on any cameras, so there’s no evidence of her presence, or her destruction. The episode ends with Dahj’s twin, I’ll get to more of that in a moment, on a Romulan reclamation ship; which appears to be a Borg Cube. Borg! So Romulan motivations are not made clear just yet, and it appears they’ve abandoned the grey, extreme shoulder padded uniforms we’ve come to expect as their usual style. RIP
3. Humanizing artificial life forms
Jean-Luc heads to the Daystrom Institute and meets with Dr. Agnes Jurati who basically reveals it’s impossible to create a synthetic lifeform, especially one made out of flesh and blood. And in the most Jean-Luc Picard way every, he tells Dr. Jurati he just had tea with one. Earl Grey, of course. In the doctor’s words, any android of this nature would have to be made in pairs…and an android of this type would have to be made from Data. Star Trek has consistently addressed the question of what it means to be human, and it frequently addresses it best through its artificial life forms. This episode reveals Data made the ultimate sacrifice; we find out he gave up his life to save Jean-Lucs, and it’s obvious Picard has not forgotten this loss, or his friend. When Jean-Luc reveals to Dahj that he believes she may be an artificial life form, she balks and talks about her memories, her family, her parents, her childhood. All of the things that make us human. We cling to those things that make up our identity, our memories. The things that make us who we are — human.
4. Don’t make Patrick Stewart run
Yes, this warranted an entire category. Please, please, please, don’t make Patrick Stewart run. I know it’s 2020. I know what the state of television is right now. I know people like action, but come on. I know he had a running double; that much was obvious. Did Jean-Luc ever run on Star Trek: The Next Generation? Not that I can recall. He faced down the Borg standing tall. So please, no more running. Jean-Luc is the thinking person’s captain. Let the other characters run. Picard can sit and continue to compare his military maneuvers to Dunkirk.
5. Random Thoughts
The opening for the show seems similar to the opening for Discovery and I don’t care much for it. I do like the old school openings of Trek shows and this is wildly different visually and musically. I think there is a Next Gen musical tease at the end. I’ll have to verify next episode. I’m hoping for some more Number One appearances, but I’m not sure Jean-Luc will make it back to his Vineyard if he’s out making the universe a better place. There are other fan service elements I’m excited for like Troi and Riker as well. All in all, it’s just comforting the hear Patrick Stewart’s voice again and to know Jean-Luc Picard is back in action, boldly going.
