The End Is The Beginning

DVD, Star Trek: Picard S1 (The End Is The Beginning)

No one could accuse them of rushing this series along, it's taken the great spacefarer and explorer Jean-Luc Picard three episodes just to get into space! But I don't mind that so much, because although I'm not finding anything compelling about the series at this point, beyond an interest in what's going to happen, neither am I appalled or put off, and on this second viewing the story crystallised a little better: for example, I didn't previously twig the connection between the android attack on Utopia Planitia and the reversal of the decision to provide relief for the refugee Romulans. We're gifted a flashback to the day Picard resigned from Starfleet and see his and Raffi's conversation outside Headquarters where he informs her of what happened. For me this was the best and most interesting part of the episode, and (aside from Data's cameos), the best moment of the first three episodes. Why is that? Because it's Picard, Admiral (even though he seems to have the four pips of a Captain, unless I'm mistaken), and we get an even better presentation of the uniform - it's so good to see the beloved Captain (or Admiral), in later Starfleet uniform than was worn in the 2370s, and it's also great to be reminded that this rescue armada was being developed two years prior to the actual event of the supernova in 2387 (sense!). Sure, I would have preferred the grey-shouldered unis of the 'TNG' films as I feel they could easily have been around six years post-'Nemesis,' but the 'latest' variant looks good, especially the braid that underlines Picard's command red. It's a flat colour, too, without texture, harking back to the 'Voyager' days, contrasting with the contemporary style of 2399 when the series is set.

It's just… it's so agonising because what draws me to the scene is the Trek of it all: Starfleet officers wearing uniform and talking regulations and holding a PADD… It's the Trek I want to see, not some outsider perspective that follows a group of troubled individuals. I'm drawn to the heroic, positive vision of the 24th Century and each new piece of the puzzle brings further doubt on the efficacy of the world we're supposed to have then. I think the idea was to mirror our current events about the UK exiting the European Union, but I just don't get the reality of the entire Federation and Starfleet refusing help, even to a former enemy, especially to a former enemy! If we'd had more details about the Romulans turning on their former allies of the Dominion War, if we'd heard that they had gone to war or had perpetrated terrible acts on member worlds, something that could suggest reason for our people to refuse help, it would make some sense out of the situation, and throwing out the good character of the central organisation of Trek merely to express displeasure at present day political decisions is like sabotaging the very thing you're trying to present. And I really don't like that. It's not like we see the Federation do a u-turn and end the season respecting Romulans and working towards an induction into the Federation, just as it's all well and good giving us broken characters that need to find a place and a purpose, but you need to show signs of redemption for it to truly feel like Trek.

I don't want to get ahead of myself and preempt the final episode, but we never see these characters achieving that. We can say they came together and have a new role as a crew on this odd ship, but that's one of those problems with serialised storytelling: you don't get resolution until the very end (and the massive build-up to get there, so far, has always made the finale a major letdown), and even because this series is supposed to go for three seasons we likely won't get there until the final episode of the final season, if then. There's an impression of people who are refusing to fit in, refusing to see what's happened to them and learn from it and just generally not behaving in the manner that humanity is supposed to from Roddenberry's own plans for 'TNG.' That's a big problem because although we saw plenty of outsider characters or those with personal issues to overcome, both outside Starfleet and within it, we did see development. I always think of Dr. Bashir on 'DS9' who many people found as arrogant and annoying as Chief O'Brien did working with him in the early seasons, but we saw him settle down over time. We don't have the time for that in these short seasons that cover only one main story, we don't get those episodes like, I don't know, 'The Wire' or 'Rivals' where we see different sides to Bashir and come to like him. And characters that didn't change much, like Quark and Odo, weren't human or Starfleet and they did change, but in subtler ways, their nature bending towards the values of their Starfleet friends. One of the best things about latter 'Voyager' was Seven of Nine's progression from troubling rebel to a firm member of the crew's family.

I don't really know what I'm saying: we need time for these characters to develop and become the best they can be, but we don't have the time, I think that encapsulates it. There's also an impression of arrogance with them that they defy the good humanity and positive Earth that they no longer feel part of. If it had been just one character like this then it would have been good to see the effect Picard had on them for change, but the modern attitude is that people aren't broken, they're just being whatever they will be, which is at odds with the idea that everyone has their place in the 24th Century, no one is in want, don't even understand that word. Yet Raffi is filled with bitterness and anger, envious of Picard's life at the chateau as if discontented with the place she lives in - I think she even called it a hovel! Does she appreciate the beautiful natural backdrop where she lives? Does she appreciate anything? She drowns her troubles in smoking drugs (snake leaf, she calls it), defiantly picking leaves and smoking it in front of Picard (who doesn't seem to show any concern), and drinking to excess (and we're not talking synthehol - I'm not even sure that exists in this version of Trek!), moans that Picard never got in contact with her, yet when he did make contact he asked her not to 'hang up' in the previous episode, as if that's what he expected, as if he'd tried before. It's almost like the drink and drugs have affected her mind and judgement… She's also very proud, joining the mission, but not joining the mission, pretending she has her own reason for a trip to Freecloud, the tipoff for where Bruce Maddox may be.

I'm sure this is all very accessible to non-Trek viewers as it's the kind of character you would see in contemporary drama, but I don't watch Trek to see it parallel gritty, nasty, bleak real life (or a part of it, anyway, the part that filmmakers seem most drawn to!), I want to see redemption and intelligence defeating negativity. Captain Rios is a similar character - we meet him slumped in a chair on the Bridge (not the Captain's Chair so that Picard can walk by it wistfully, longing to sit in it as the 'TNG' theme plays quietly), a piece of shrapnel sticking out of his shoulder. We don't find out why or how it got there, it's all part of the mystique, the setup to tell us the kind of man he is. Trouble is, the best introductions of characters show what they're capable of, and here, just like Raffi, he's smoking a cigar and later drowns his discontent in a bottle. He also shows contempt for his holographic servants, for that's all they are. Are we saying these aren't sentient beings? They're much more realistic and human than the archive lady in 'Remembrance,' modelled after Rios himself, except with different accents. Synthetics banned, holos allowed? It wasn't a bad misdirection when the English-voiced EMH greets Picard and leads him to the Bridge, but the sense of fun and hilarity coming from these people once again denies dignity to characters - they are clearly little more than tools. It's like 'Voyager' never happened and humanity's response to the Doctor's return has had no effect on holographic nature at all! Either they needed to be less personable and more obviously just an extension of the ship, or they needed to be treated with some respect and not dismissed as Rios does.

It doesn't make Rios look a particularly appealing chap and while there is a certain amount of entertainment to be garnered from the multiple Rios-alike holograms through the season (especially one memorable scene featuring all of them later on), and it does show that we're well ahead of earlier 24th Century tech when you can have so many holos on a non-Starfleet ship, it's also played up for comedy that wouldn't look out of place in a series about the Ferengi. You need some lightness, granted, as the series, for all its inspiration from 'TNG,' is quite heavy and can't escape the portentousness that dragged 'Discovery' down in both its first two seasons, but achieving it without laughing at a character or demeaning them in some way is necessary to show you know how to write good Trek. They also fall into the trap of going down the mythological path to try and bring wonder and suspense and atmosphere. I'm talking about not just the Jhat Vash, the Romulan secret police inner sanctum cult, or whatever it is, but the Romulan mythology about some person called the Destroyer, whom a mentally troubled Romulan woman (Romda - when I first saw her I though it might be Robin Curtis or even Susanna Thompson, but it wasn't), accuses Soji of being when she goes to speak with her, all highly melodramatic (though the Tal Shiar agents share this belief).

At least it's coming from a disturbed person, one who sits with bizarre Romulan tarot cards, so it's not like they're endorsing such things. She's one of the 'disordered' as Soji calls her, who was aboard the last ship to be assimilated by this Borg Cube they're on. The Imperial Scoutship Chenor, though something went wrong and caused the submatrix to collapse, apparently. Can't get a good submatrix these days. I remember thinking how much there was to take in on first viewing and it did help to watch it again, but it's still a lot of exposition and setup and they try to inject tension and drama into scenes of conversation by having that hovering camera, the frame bobbing up and down as if you're aboard a naval ship, or spying on the action with a pair of binoculars from a distance. It may work fine for Jason Bourne films where there is supposed to be a tension running through all the time, but they're only a couple of hours long and this story doesn't need to maintain such an impression for ten episodes! If there's action then fine, play with the camera if you must, but if it's an ordinary scene of people talking it's what they're saying that should be drawing you in, not the unsettling directing style. One of the things I loved about the vast majority of Trek was that it was clean and stable and the shots were well chosen to present the drama in the best way, but too many films and TV rely on handheld shots so much, another reason that watching modern stuff feels uncomfortable compared to the relaxing, reassuring Trek of old.

Though the story was easier to follow, namely that the Mars Shipyards were responsible for building the vast fleet required to take the tens of millions of Romulans that were to be saved, I was still unclear on certain things. The big mystery is why, as Raffi believes, would the Tal Shiar want to destroy the very thing that was to save their people, as she thinks they were behind the androids' attack on Mars which killed tens of thousands of people. I still don't understand why that happened and I've seen the whole season! Hopefully, going through it with a fine tooth-comb for these reviews will make all clear. We learn that Picard was actually playing Poker with Starfleet when he put forward the ultimatum that they accept either his plan to rescue the rescue mission, or his resignation - I always knew gambling would get him into trouble, it seems the sky isn't the limit after all! It was an ignominious end to what was probably the greatest Starfleet career ever: we have the ENH (Emergency Navigational Hologram), running through a list of his accomplishments when trying to point out to Rios Picard's qualities, and it was lovely to hear. Chief contact with the Q Continuum, Arbiter of Succession for the Klingons, saviour of Earth in the Borg invasion, Captain of both Enterprises-D and -E, and to cap it all, worked alongside the 'great' Spock (why not throw in a reference to the most famous Vulcan of all? Although a shame he couldn't have said worked alongside James T. Kirk because that was probably kept secret by Picard).

From this we get new information on Picard. If he'd said Captain of the Enterprise-D-to-F then we'd have known the lifespan of the E, but it must still have been going strong when he resigned in 2385, which is good to know. But it does make me wonder who became Captain after Picard? There was no Data, the obvious choice, and Worf, though his contribution as Ambassador to the Klingons was cruelly overlooked in 'Nemesis,' would have been unlikely to take command because of the reprimands on his record (killing Duras in 'TNG,' choosing to save his wife instead of a key Dominion defector and failing the mission in 'DS9'). Perhaps Geordi, as we know he was 'supposed' to go on to command a Galaxy-class starship, going by 'Voyager' episode 'Timeless.' Or maybe something outlandish like having Dr. Crusher succeed in her command track dream? More likely it would have been a new character, but it's amazing how much speculation you can pull out of one simple quote. But once again it just makes me long to be within Starfleet bulkheads, aboard a starship that is part of that august organisation, and that's not what they're doing, they deliberately wanted to do something different, but as I've said before, everything they do is different and while they could get away with one series against the norm in a menu of series choices, I think most Trekkers, if they're anything like me, want Trek that feels like Trek!

Not to say there was no Trek nature to this episode at all. As well as the delightful return to Starfleet uniform for the flashback (and it's not a dream this time!), and the wonderful list of Picard's achievements from the ENH, the very finale moment of the episode also served up a large dose of pleasure when, as the 'TNG' theme swells behind him, Picard gives the immortal command: "Engage!" and the little band are off on their travels. It may be a slim and single breadcrumb to follow that Bruce Maddox is on this planet and may be the man to talk to, and it certainly isn't a very clear mission for Picard, but there's an air of optimism as only the start of a new journey can give, and best of all we see the starship (which had yet to be given a name by this episode), warp off properly, all straight lines and a flash at the end of it! That's all I want! Things that correspond to how Trek is supposed to be! It's simple. Except it's not, and I can't say that I'm drawn to any of the characters. Even Picard is so hard to recognise through his strained voice - I wish, in a way they'd managed to alter it to make it sound like the normal commanding tones back in 2385 to emphasise the difference fourteen years makes to a person, but equally that might have detracted because you'd be wishing he spoke like that all the time. It's just hard to hear a once rich and powerful voice so weak and feeble.

Talking of weak and feeble… Agnes Jurati makes her comeback, and she makes much more of a speech than Picard ever did when trying to encourage Rios that there's still Starfleet within him, through and through. It's the kind of melodramatic entreaty that was far too common in 'DSC,' and would be more appropriate for 'Dr. Who' than Trek as she opens wide her eyes and flings out an emotional barrage of reasons she should tag along. None of which include the fact she was 'very' close to Maddox and she's been implanted with some kind of mind meld that will get her to kill the man. For Commodore Oh is not a Vulcan as Picard claims… Or is she? I get confused, again. I could really have done without Jurati, she's the least appealing of a fairly unappealing bunch, and what's more she doesn't seem to even know that the Federation doesn't deal in money any more! What was that line in 'First Contact' when Picard tells Lily Sloane they don't use money any more and instead work to 'better ourselves' and humanity? Clearly Jurati doesn't know about any of that because she says she doesn't care how much it costs to go, where they're going or how much the pilot charges, to which Rios responds he's expensive! Okay, so maybe we could take it as some form of barter she's talking about, but that wouldn't make any more sense than money since they have Replicators so no one has any need, right? Unless society has actually reverted to former ways and the currency economy is back up and running?

That was probably the low point of the episode, although the disgusting suggestiveness between the sibling Romulan spies, Narek and… that other one I can't recall the name of. If they're looking to do things that haven't been done in Trek, true, there aren't many avenues left to pioneer, but such forbidden facets of degraded characters are not what I want to see on my Trek, even if they're only suggested, and only by the villains of the piece. I suspect 'Game of Thrones' has something to do with the moral turn in what's acceptable to show in drama as we spiral ever downwards. I must admit I was so surprised by it on first viewing that I assumed the 'brother' and 'sister' designations were merely nicknames said in fun until in other episodes it's unequivocally stated that they are definitely siblings. There's further suggestion of Narek and Soji's intimate, yet casual association, but if it's supposed to be a secret then it's not a very well protected one since when he shows up at the door of her Quarters we see a very busy corridor and gangway visible outside, so unless it's perfectly reasonable and common for men and women to meet up in each other's personal spaces there I suspect the secret's out. I also wasn't crazy about the attack on Picard's chateau, a bunch of black-clad Romulan agents charging in with fully-powered rifles and easily overpowered by an old human and his two middle-aged Romulan housekeepers! (Of course they aren't just housekeepers, they're superheroes!). Are we supposed to believe Loris and Joban are former Tal Shiar or some other form of agent? Did Picard know what they were capable of? He doesn't seem surprised by their acrobatics (and we're back in Bourne territory again, which is just weird to watch - modern Trek loves it's martial arts combat, it's so bizarre!).

One interesting facet did emerge from the aftermath of the encounter, as while they hold one of the agents captive (with good old-fashioned rope tied to a chair - really futuristic there!), and he refuses to talk (and what were they likely to do, turn him over to Starfleet - big scare!), Loris says he's a stubborn northerner like Joban. Since they both share the (mild), forehead ridges which Loris doesn't have, it's easy to take this as an offhanded explanation for why some Romulans have bumpy-heads and others are flat. That's all you need, just a nod to the audience to acknowledge the difference, and that's what should have been done with the Klingons back in 'DSC' Season 1 - I guess they are learning after all! We're not actually told the pair were in the Tal Shiar, rather it's a similarly subtle line when Loris tells Joban 'we're not like them any more' when he goes to punch their captive in the face. We also learn Romulan rifles don't have a stun setting, which sounds unlikely because they seem the kind of people that would want as many options as possible, though it was supposed to be something of a lightener for Jurati's entrance into the scene - it's also part of the preparation for her to be a murderer later on, when here she seems so shocked by it and is all wide-eyed and horrified. It could also show that she was being manipulated as her natural tendencies aren't toward violence, but we'll get to all that eventually.

A more pleasant introduction to the season is to have Hugh, a character who was only in a couple of 'TNG' episodes (and his last appearance was in the less than great final Borg story of 'TNG,' 'Descent'), proving memorable in his debut in 'I, Borg,' either the beginning of the emasculation of the Borg as a terrifying unstoppable foe, or the Trek ability to turn even the nastiest villain into a potential friend through education, sympathy and support. I didn't used to like him as he was so weedy, but over the years I came to appreciate what was done there, so I was intrigued to hear of his part in 'Picard.' As it turned out he didn't have a great deal to do, perhaps his line to Soji in this episode about there being none more despised in the galaxy than ex-Borg (or 'xBs' as they like to label them on this series), was his best moment as it has so much resonance from him. But, but, but… if you hadn't followed the promotion of the series and its attendant publicity photos, you probably wouldn't know who he is or get even the hint that he'd been on Trek before (actor Jonathan Del Arco also showed up as another character on 'Voyager' and I always assumed that would be his final contribution to Trek), since he looks nothing like the pasty-faced full Borg in 'TNG' and his name isn't even mentioned until they're talking to Romda in the room of the 'disordered' like something out of 'Frame of Mind'! Even then it's just dropped in, in a line, it's not very clear, so maybe they were trying not to put off new viewers with too much information?

We learn he's the man behind the Reclamation Project on the Cube, calling himself the Executive Director, although there does seem to be some friction between him and the Romulans who don't exactly snap to attention so it's really unclear how this whole project is working. It seems he's there to recover the former Borg and says the Romulan view is that they are property to be exploited or a hazard to be warehoused. We still don't know why the Cube was severed from the Collective (and just from the start with that roll into the Cube with ominous music, it feels so much like 'Star Wars' and the Death Star, even the music was reminiscent of the Sith or the Emperor's theme - where is the Trek fingerprint, why rely on other franchises for inspiration?), but it could be that due to the madness of the Jhat Vash, seen later in the season, that the Borg didn't want their drones infected by such things, in which case why wouldn't they have blown it up as we've seen them do before? It's also claimed that all the disordered (the mentally troubled xBs), are Romulan, which supports this hypothesis of Jhat Vash rejection, but the statement that these are the only Romulans ever assimilated, according to Hugh, is patently wrong since we've seen Romulan Borg before! Orum, from the 'Voyager' episode 'Unity' is one ex-Romulan/ex-Borg that immediately jumped to mind, unless Hugh meant they were the only ones on this Cube. That's more likely.

It's still worrying that the Tal Shiar can act on Earth with impunity and Picard thinks they have the complicity of the Federation, which seems completely ridiculous, even given he had a falling out with their policies! A high ranking official must have allowed the Mars attack to go forward to end the rescue mission, but I still don't have a clue why. Was it all to set people against the synthetics so even at the cost of saving Romulan lives the Tal Shiar or Jhat Vash would go to that trouble? And was Oh in charge then? And is she actually Vulcan? And did they include smooth-foreheaded Romulans in order to have the 'twist' of a Vulcan actually being Romulan? Because it has been done before, you know! I know it's a bit silly to pick on this, but I'm going to anyway: I didn't like that she wore sunglasses when she met Jurati (who seemed to be listening to the Kaseelian opera used in 'DSC,' I think the one about the disgusting singer who kills herself after her performance in a horrible act that represents the worst example of euthanasia or suicide). For one thing Vulcan eyes are inured to the harsh desert climate of their homeworld (unless you believe 'DSC' where it's full of lakes and forests, bizarrely!), and even if she is Romulan they are of the same genetics. But most importantly it looks silly to have a 24th Century character wearing shades! That extended to the wardrobe of other characters, with Picard sporting jacket and belted trousers as if Patrick Stewart had just walked in off the street (that has to be a stipulation for his involvement in the series, I bet!), and even Rios wore some kind of fisherman's jumper and I half expected him to don a cap (I think the Scottish Emergency Engineering Hologram actually did wear one, or was it the Hospitality Hologram - we haven't seen them yet).

These are things that make it feel less Trekky as if they don't want to be associated with the spit and polish of rules and regulations (not that they paid much attention to those things on 'DSC'!), and though they're only minor issues compared to character and story, they only emphasise the distance between this and other 24th Century Trek. We get our first sight of Rios' ship in the episode and it couldn't look more like something from 'Star Wars' if it tried, right down to the red and white or silver markings, the shape (podracer!), the lack of recognisable Federation starship conventions. I don't hate it, it's not bad, but we don't even get an idea of how Rios came to own it. Was it stolen? He seems like a rugged, roguish Han Solo anti-hero type, and this gaggle of disparate characters coming together feels more and more like the 'crew' of the Millennium Falcon. Somehow that disturbs me, because as much as I love those original 'Star Wars' films I don't want my Trek to ape them, the things I like about each franchise are the polar opposite for the most part. We're supposed to feel sorry for Rios, I think, with the angry discussion he has with the ENH in his Quarters where we find out he was the Executive Officer of a heavy cruiser in Starfleet, the Ibn Majid, except he was there to see his Captain brutally killed and it's scarred him for life. What about counsellors? What about due process and rehabilitation? All Starfleet officers have gone through tough times, but they're Starfleet, they come through it, and that's the inspirational side that's missing from modern Trek. We're seeing characters who are broken, fair enough, but they have no reason to be broken in the Trek world, especially if they live on Earth or have their own ship, it doesn't gel with what we know. Unless the great civilisation has foundered, a cancer allowed in, with the Mars attack and subsequent response to ban all synthetic life only the start of a radical new fall, which is depressing and disappointing after their values were tested so harshly in the Dominion War and they weren't found wanting.

We see further evidence of the disrespecting of Picard and all the old Federation values he stands for, when Rios says Raffi warned him Picard was a speechmaker, as if positive traits are under attack and not something admired by this later generation. Even the facts Rios is tattooed and is a drinker and smoker seem designed to appeal to modern audiences who don't want heroes any more (unless they have silly superpowers and wear spandex suits), since previously such disregard for one's own body was unthinkable in Trek. There's a further little insight into the Captain when he argues with his ENH and tells him not to spout 'juvenile Sunday school morality' - yeah, like he'd even know about such things! For one thing it's not juvenile and I did appreciate the comeback from the ENH about sparing him the angsty teenage moral relativism, although that's as far as it goes, it's not like we'd get an actual discussion of moral views on Trek these days, it's far too concerned with appearances, action and mystery twists, just like the Kelvin films were (and may be again, but let's hope not!). I understand he's bitter about his Captain's death, but it makes him and Raffi look bad that they haven't sought help, that they've just allowed themselves to sink into the mire of 21st Century attitudes and doesn't inspire confidence in the writers that they can turn it around (because they couldn't). If Picard was supposed to be a guide to a better way for these lost sheep then it didn't really work out as he's constantly undermined and made to look foolish for believing in such positive messages as we know he always has. And that's very disappointing.

At least we didn't have to see his dog, Number 1, again. He mentions he'll miss him, but there's not even one scene that shows him giving the mutt a last scratch behind the ear before heading off into space! He doesn't even know if he'll be back! The absence of the dog can be accounted for in a couple of ways: I know he wasn't playing ball and so they reduced his scenes, but also if he had been around the Romulans would have had to kill him when they attacked the chateau. It's a big estate and he could be locked up safely in some kennel away from the house, but we never even hear how any of this happened, though Loris mentions the alarm had been turned off. Picard claims he never felt at home there (even in the calm, evening scene as Picard reminisces about the smell of the grape harvest we get shaky handheld cam!), so maybe Kirk was right and he should never have left the Captain's Chair because he certainly seems drawn to space. And it is nice to have the 'TNG' theme come up now and again such as when he first steps aboard Rios' ship, or when he walks past the centre chair and almost sits in it, but knows he shouldn't. So there are slivers of Trek among the bleakness or superhero action scenes (though the super-quick speed of Soji rushing to prevent Romda from shooting herself, was good), and the bitter negativity and the Marvel dialogue, the way Raffi speaks and the words she uses. At least they cleared up another of the Kelvin films' blots by having a code be 'Gorn egg,' as Fake McCoy said he'd done a c-section on a Gorn in 'Into Darkness' when it makes so much more sense for a reptilian species to lay eggs!

I tried to look up Eridani-A and Beta Antares, the names of planets Raffi mentions in her Starfleet meeting with Picard, but only the latter had any previous entry in the 'Star Trek Encyclopedia' as the place Kirk claimed Fizzbin had come from (though that was actually Beta Antares IV so it may not even be the same planet, and even if it was, he invented it himself on the spot so if it is a reference it's actually a reference to nothing - but I quite enjoy such rabbit holes sometimes!). I'd like to point out that it's strange for Soji to be talking Romulan when you'd presume everyone has a Universal Translator as standard, but who knows in a 24th Century where money is mentioned? Who knows anything any more? And if all traditional Romulan houses have a false front door for visitors to go round the back, what would be the point? All the Romulans would know not to go to the fake door! It sounds like the kind of secretive thing they would do, but when you think about it, even though they abandoned logic for emotion it's hard to believe they'd be quite that illogical as a rule. At this stage of the season I felt it was neither going badly, nor well, it hadn't reached the heights it would do, nor the depths, and while I can reiterate that everything that has happened so far could have been dealt with in half of a pilot episode in old Trek money, and that it hasn't exactly shown great precision and direction, it continues to chug along without too great offence. But I still couldn't recommend it other than as a curio for those brought up on Picard and his ilk.

**