Star Trek: Picard - Teaser Trailer 2

Star Trek: Picard - Teaser Trailer 2

I finally got to see 'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 1 and I had to acknowledge that it wasn't worth the wait, plummeting to the bottom of my all-time list of Trek to steal the lowest spot from 'Enterprise,' which though flawed, still had plenty to please me, even in its first season, which had a very strong start. I've seen it written by some that the first couple of episodes of 'DSC' were the series they would have preferred, and I'd have to say I agree, though upon second viewing, the rest of the season had effectively neutered any goodness I saw in them. All this to say that consequently all anticipation for future Trek productions from the Kurtzman team dropped. It had been:

another cartoon series: *
Section 31: **
Lower Decks: *
Picard: ****
Khan: **
Starfleet Academy: *
more Discovery: ***

And then it became:

another cartoon series: -
Section 31: *
Lower Decks: -
Picard: ***
Khan: *
Starfleet Academy: -
more Discovery: **

Everything dropped a good star downwards and I had little hopes that any new Trek would be appealing to me, a frustrating and demoralising turn of events. However, seeing the new teaser trailer (the second, after the vineyard one?), for 'Picard' has at least made me perk up towards this series. I even had a slight tear in the eye at the end! Yes, it is still melodramatic, focused on some mysterious girl seeking Jean-Luc's protection, with lots of fighting and quick cuts, far from the thoughtful Trek of 'TNG,' but just seeing that combadge again… Seven of Nine making an appearance… and most spectacularly of all, Mr. Data (or perhaps B4), speaking to his former Captain! Wow, if the whole series is a washout, just to see those few seconds makes it worthwhile! I genuinely thought Data would be the last character to ever appear, as Brent Spiner was always saying how he wouldn't play the famous android again, he's too old, but there he sits! Amazing.

It's also special to realise that any time they bring back something like a 'Voyager'-era combadge they've had to manufacture it as new because all the old props from the Berman-era were sold off. Perhaps that's why Seven's eyebrow implant is huge when, as I recall, in the final season of 'Voyager' it was reduced as she regained more of her humanity. This suggests she is either a figment of Picard's fracturing mind (if Irumodic Syndrome from the possible future seen in 'All Good Things…' is still coming into play), has reverted back to being more Borg, or is just a mistake. From the level of detail shown, I don't think it's a mistake. It could be as simple as keeping her as recognisable as the character people remember that they can (though I don't see having a larger implant would make any difference), and it can't be that she's more Borg because the way she speaks and her body language is very much more human, following the route she was going when we last saw her.

These kinds of details are just great fun to have to pore over and wonder on, because it's been too, too long we've had to wait for the 24th Century to return to screens. I still have some slight caution, such as concerns they're going to redesign the famous races like they did with the awful Klingons in 'DSC' - for example, the many Romulans in the trailer (and you can tell they are Romulans by their emotive faces), don't have the pronounced 'V' forehead, which was specific to this era. Granted, in 'Star Trek XI' they didn't, either, but there was some kind of tribute paid to the look by a slight pattern on the forehead. Here, they're completely smooth and the main cast Romulan looks like an Elf from 'The Lord of The Rings'! So I hope I don't end up watching the series through gritted teeth, waiting for the next thing that doesn't make sense, as I did with 'DSC,' but in general I'm actually excited for some new Trek again, and I've long wanted a Romulan character to explore, since the secretive race are about the only main one not to have been properly represented - I just hope that time is given over to such exploration of differing culture and history rather than jumping to the next plot device or action scene.

I can't end on a negative, however - it's just too exciting. It really looks like my era of Trek is back. It's too early to say, as yet, but it does look like Patrick Stewart's assertion that this would be a ten-hour film, might be true! Now it's just a question of having to wait (especially as it's been pushed back from November 2019 to January 2020), and bubble up with the excitement of possibilities: will we see Captain Nog? Captain La Forge? Worf? Dr. Crusher? Quark? Garak? Admiral Janeway? Tuvok? Chakotay? Will this encourage further spinoffs for other great characters? I really believed the 'TNG' cast when they said they hadn't been approached and weren't likely to appear in the series, but it seems this was a ploy to cover them so they could carry on in secret. I don't like it when people outright lie, though I can see they probably felt it was the only way to keep the secret rather than say 'wait and see' which isn't what anyone seems able to do nowadays in our 'instant' culture, but despite all that I'll take their involvement gratefully and forgive them for misleading!

Anticipation Rating: ****