The latest episode of TrekMovie’s All Access Star Trek podcast features the first part of an extended interview with Star Trek: Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas. In addition to discussing his long history with Star Trek—going back to his early fandom and beginning his Hollywood career working on Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise,—Matalas offered a lot of insights into what it took to convince the powers that be to change things up a bit for the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard by bringing back the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Carefully avoiding any major spoilers, Matalas offered some key context to what has already been revealed along with adding some more depth to our understanding of what we can expect. Below are some of the highlights of the podcast discussion.
TNG’s Undiscovered Country… not Wrath of Khan
Matalas is a lifelong Star Trek fan and a particular fan of the Star Trek feature films. As he explained his vision for season of Star Trek: Picard, he drew a parallel with the final TOS-era movie:
I had always felt like the Next Generation characters never got their due finale. Nemesis didn’t feel like the end. I was always hoping they were going to get their own Undiscovered Country where we got to see them in a high-stakes adventure. Each one of those characters plays a major part and ties up arcs that go back 30 years.
During the San Diego Comic-Con panel, executive producer Alex Kurtzman drew a parallel to another classic Star Trek film when describing season 3’s villain. Matalas added some nuance to the comparison to Wrath of Khan during the podcast:
I think what Alex was referring to is the spirit of a somewhat larger-than-life antagonist who you just want to watch… I would say the other aspect is there are space battles and so I think the spirit of Wrath of Khan of what Alex was talking about was trying to outsmart your opponent, which is definitely plays a part. But no, we’re not we’re not promising Wrath of Khan. It’s very different in that way. It actually ties into some storylines in some mythology from previous Star Trek incarnations.
While there are movie parallels and comparisons to season 3 of Picard as a sort of final TNG movie, Matalas acknowledged that the focus was to make the season work for television. To illustrate this point, he brought up a recent comment from The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke:
[Kripke] said “Stop describing your season as a season-long movie” and he’s absolutely right… You can’t just take a two-hour script and just spread it out. He’s talking about momentum. You have to have to design it for television. They have to be ten chapters. So “movie” is not quite really the right word when we say [season three] is the last Next Gen movie. It is, it is the spirit of that, but really it’s a 10-hour miniseries that has the highest cinematic value of a feature film. I would say the last two hours are a movie. [laughs]… they are quite big.
Season three Riker poster
It’s all about the TNG characters… starting with Beverly
Picking up on the idea of a miniseries, Matalas talked about how even if it is serialized, the episodes can and should still have their own identity. The showrunner also explained how the structure allows for in-depth character stories for the TNG crew:
I think what happens in the streaming world and sometimes in serialization is, that they all kind of start to blend together… So, in the case of season 3 there is an episode identity… A lot of these characters, when you’re serialized, you get to go deeper into them. There’s a relationship story in season 3 with Riker and Troi that is not something you would not be able to do had the show just been episodic. They’re put into a situation where they you really get to the core of what makes them great.
He noted how this allowed for more character development than seen in the four TNG feature films. For example, it appears Gates McFadden’s Dr. Crusher plays a key role in season 3:
I would say certainly Beverly Crusher takes a back seat in those Star Trek films. And the pitch for season 3 was always the first person you see is Beverly Crusher… in an unexpected way, because it’s been 25 years and no one’s really the same person after that amount of time. But it was just a great jumping-off point… I always felt that [Beverly] was a giant portion of his life, his best friend Jack Crusher. I always loved that mythology and those relationships. And so if you’re going to do the final story of Captain Picard it feels like that would play a big part.
Patrick Stewart has said there is some “tension” between some of the TNG characters. Matalas offered a bit more about how making a show for a modern audience means you will see some conflicts you didn’t see with the crew back during the TNG series:
You will see conflict with some of these characters. And to me, that’s just great drama. There is a moment where Riker and Picard have a very strong disagreement about tactically what to do in a specific situation. And I love it. I love seeing the later part of a chapter where Riker was a protégé of Picard. What happens if those roles are switched in a way that Riker has to make a call that Picard does not agree with? I want to see those conversations.
Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher in season 3 poster
Legacy characters almost included Naomi Wildman
Matalas has previously said that we’ll see more legacy characters, and during the podcast, he explained how these kinds of moments are all part of crafting the season as a whole:
We mapped it. I think the key is: we know the moves, now what are some of the chapters that we desperately want to tell. Like there are little things. There’s a Next Gen character that I desperately wanted to bring back. But I did not want to do anything that wasn’t organic. So there’s so much discussion. You just can’t move forward on your first script until you know exactly how the series finale is going to end…
He also offered an example of how sometimes the plan changes, revealing a character who almost made it into the season:
This is not a spoiler because it doesn’t happen–but Naomi Wildman. There was a moment where there’s a specific thing that’s happening, what if they had to turn to a grown-up Naomi Wildman and it was a very, very intense three weeks in the room because it was a great story. And had you had 13 episodes, you were going to do this one, and it was going to be great if you could produce it because it was rather expensive. And so that’s hard.
Season 3 character poster for Seven
Not forgetting the remaining Picard characters… including Laris
Bringing in the main cast of The Next Generation meant the series had to say goodbye to a number of the characters introduced in the first season of Picard, but not all. Matalas talked a little bit about Seven (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) in season 3:
Seven of Nine, her arc is one of my favorite things. Raffi has a really unexpected, terrific arc. We kind of reinvented her a little bit because in Picard, she’s sort of wanders it in her place in the world in those first few seasons. And season 3, we pick her up in a pretty great place. And she has many scenes with one particular legacy character that are—You just want it to be its own show. It’s so good.
He also confirmed that Laris (Orla Brady) will appear as well:
You will see Laris in season three… She is not a huge part of the season, but Orla Brady is wonderful. In fact, my favorite Orla scene is this one scene in the first episode of season three.
Most importantly, the showrunner says the final season remains true to the core of the series, with a focus on telling the story of Sir Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard:
This season starts very personal. But even if this was the last Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, it would have started exactly this way. So it starts personal, but that’s not to say there aren’t very high personal and–I don’t want to say galactic–but galactic stakes. There’s still a high-stakes aspect to this. So, it’s not This Is Us in space. It starts as personal for Picard as it could possibly ever be.
Season three Raffi poster
A new ship… but didn’t forget about Enterprise
Ships are always major characters in Star Trek, and season 3 of Picard will be no different. In the past Matalas has made no secret that season 3 is set on a new Starfleet ship, which uses the season 2 USS Stargazer sets. Recently there has been a lot of discussion about season 3 featuring featuring a USS Enterprise, possibly even different Enterprises. During the podcast discussion, Matalas didn’t offer spoilers but drew an important distinction:
We spend the most time on one ship this season that is not the Enterprise. That does not mean you won’t get your Enterprise fixes that you’re looking for. But [the main setting] is a ship that’s a bit of an underdog. It is not the Stargazer. It’s lit a bit differently. The Stargazer had a gloss to it and was lit up. This is a little bit more in the spirit of a of a movie. I wouldn’t say darker, but it has just it has a different feel to it than season two.
USS Stargazer set (Dave Blass)
Listen to part 1 of our interview
Here is the full part 1 of our extended interview with Terry Matalas. The second part will be released on Friday on the latest episode of our All Access Star Trek podcast. [Interview starts at 19:13.]
Find more Star Trek: Picard at TrekMovie.com.
I’m thinking the other ship is the Titan, especially since Jonathan Frakes is bleeped in the Lower Decks commentary after mentioning the Titan.
I’m thinking the same as well. Riker is back on the Titan. Maybe Boimler #2 will be its captain. ;)
What about a new Defiant?
It would be fun to see a live-action Titan, though I would assume it would look slightly different than what we saw in Lower Decks as it would have gone through a couple refits if still in service in 2401/2402.
Captain Worf on the Enterprise.
Right, Frakes spoiled (in a Lower Decks episode commentary) that the Titan is being used in another Star Trek show, and he would only know if he were directly involved in the project, so it’s difficult to imagine it would be anything other that STP3. The comment is partially bleeped out, but Frakes clearly states “The Titan is–,” followed by Mike McMahan’s reaction: “Frakes is dropping spoilers for other Star Trek shows!”
Also, in another Lower Decks episode commentary, McMahan mentions that he was limited in how he could use Okona (who appears as a DJ at a Starfleet party) because that character was also being used “by another Star Trek show.” Therefore it’s a good bet this is the mystery legacy character we’ve heard so much about.
I don’t know about Okona showing up in Picard (though hey, anything can happen). The first time we heard anything about Thadiun Okona returning for any of the current shows, it was well before even his fleeting Lower Decks S2 appearance last year, from original actor Billy Campbell himself, who said he was reprising the role for Prodigy.
…But no, we’re not we’re not promising Wrath of Khan… Thank God. Please showrunners, as great as it was back in 1982, please stop going back to that well, and its premise. It’s bone dry.
Anyway, I like the way Matalas describes the season. This show has screwed me twice in a row though, so I’ll believe it’s great when I actually see it, not before. As I’ve said here so many times over the years, I’m cautiously optimistic.
I agree. Trek has myopia with regard to Khan. They need to step away from using him as a benchmark.
It is still a benchmark but not because it was a revenge movie. Because it was a GOOD movie. They constantly misinterpret what made that film good. Some of it can’t be repeated at this point but they seem to think what made it was a really good villain with a revenge complex. No! That wasn’t it! There was WAY more to it and the big bad seeking revenge was just an element to drive the other really good elements in it.
So use WoK as a benchmark for what makes a movie good. NOT as a template to make a story that involves a big bad seeking revenge.
Agreed. Frustratingly, ST3 is also a very good movie — the most underrated IMO — but since its story structure doesn’t have the straightforwardness of WoK, it gets left behind a lot.
I have to say from what i understand of Pic S3 and have some knowledge off – it really is going to honour legacy trek, from the writing, visual canon, musical score etc. The key aspect to this is the backroom staff, who have done everything they can to ensure it goes beyond expectations. It might be hard to believe, but you will see! Just a shame it couldn’t be released in 2022.
Yes move on from freakin WOK already!!!! You can tell the comparison Kurtzman made about it bothered Matalas. I like Kurtzman but my god, I wish he can stop with WOK already. He was the guy who wrote STID as part of a homage to that movie and still getting slammed for it today. It’s time to let go.
“It’s bone dry.” Hallelujah, and amen.
I’ve heard show people from Secret Hideout say the right things for years. And every time it turns out they are full of crap. No one should have any reason to believe them now. Even to be “cautiously optimistic”. That rope has no slack. It’s gone. The saying is “fool me once…” but I’ve been fooled 9 times now. No more.
You just love speaking for everyone, don’t you? Why isn’t it enough for you to speak for yourself?
You just love not understanding what is said, don’t you? Why not just leave alone what you don’t understand or swallow your pride and ask for clarification of things you aren’t understanding?
Not usually commented upon, but Plummer’s Chang was just as captivating to watch as MontalKhan. Both were interesting characters played by fantastic actors.
All I can say is that these pre-release teaser interviews have politicians beat, hands down, when it comes to being full of sound and fury but saying nothing. It’s like TWOK, but it’s not TWOK. It’s not the Big-E, but it is the Big-E. Laris is there, then she’s not. Who ultimately knows?
If the season is a critical or commercial flop, everyone will renounce their words, just as Marina Sirtis did for NEMESIS.
All one can do is wait and see.
It sounds like Laris will just be in the first few episodes to wrap up her story line, but, per usual, probably not involved in the big adventure once again. They have really squandered the potential of that character unfortunately.
There will be an Enterprise (maybe even two), but just not the main hero ship in the story. Again, just based on what he’s suggesting.
But agreed, ultimately we can only wait and see.
It was mentioned some Season 3 stuff was shot during Season 2, I imagine that’s the Laris stuff.
No one on production said the hero ship was the Enterprise. Terry and Kurtzman are also two different people, they view it differently.
They’re just walking the line to try to generate excitement without giving anything away. Not an easy task until a trailer drops.
It’ll be the “they didn’t listen to us” excuse any hyped project gets that ends up being a critical and/or commercial failure.
I have no particular love for Stuart Baird, but the cast eviscerated him, particularly Sirtis. I have no idea if the almost 20 years worth of stories are actually real or just apocryphal and have become “truth” simply because they were repeated long enough and the cast are friends and don’t want to contradict each other.
Yes, Baird cut too many character moments, but screen time that could have been left for some of those moments were eaten up by idiotic stuff like the dune buggy chase. That scene was included because Stewart pushed for it.
It was a stupid movie but if it had made a ton of money in the box office, no one in the cast would have said a word about the film or director. Had the movie been just as bad and it was directed by Frakes, no one would would have said a word about the director being at fault.
” You can’t just take a 2 hour script and stretch it out ”
That sounds promising as that’s exactly what Season 2 was.
Also
” You have to know how it ends before you write the first episode ”
Also promising as a lot of Nu Trek feels like the last two episodes are
desperately trying to tie everything together at the last hurdle.
Surely the point of a finale episode/two-parter is to tie everything together into a conclusion, no?
Yeah, I kind of sensed a dig at the season 2 writers, maybe even himself with that first comment. It is always better if a person can acknowledge their shortcomings and try to work to better them instead of putting on blinders and not seeing what is right in front of everyone.
Who knows maybe a Refit Titan with Seven serving aboard as commander, i kind of get the feeling she won’t be aboard the Stargazer.
So Matalas seems to acknowledge that there was some disjointedness between the episodes in the previous seasons. I think this was more obvious in season 2 and probably covid is partly to blame for it. This is sounding good so far, lets hope they end with a bang rather than a whimper.
Not a lot of people liked nemesis but most of us have accepted it and moved on.
Not sure the current showrunners realize the danger of “reopening old wounds” as McCoy would have said.
This is a story that would have been better left alone. The Undiscovered Country only worked because it was at the “sunset” of the voyages of the Enterprise. Not 20 years and 20 sunsets later.
I don’t disagree, that’s always a risk. But I will say, and it’s my opinion only, I thought they did a great job bringing back most of the TNG characters the last two seasons and didn’t feel forced or awkward. Nepenthe really showed you can bring back these characters and do it in a way that feels like time has really moved on but the relationships and chemistry are still there. I think it was proof you can bring them back 20 years later and still feel relevant.
Of course it will all come down to whatever the story will be, but I think if the cast camaraderie is still there, it’s going to be a great reunion for fans to have those guys back. But yes, it could still suck unfortunately.
Nepenthe still suffered from some meaningless F-bombs uttered by characters who had never used such language before, included just for the sake of it, just because they could. Otherwise, the episode was of course wonderful.
That has nothing to do with the characters though, just writers trying to be edgy. ;)
And I did notice they toned that down a lot in season 2. I know there were some F bombs, but I can’t specifically remembered who said them.
I really don’t understand the issue people have with F-bombs or any other swearing. It is 2022 – people swear in their daily life and conversations. That is how people talk. Tell me you haven’t used the F-word with coworkers, your friends, etc.
<Raises hand> I never use the F-word, or the S-word, period; with family, friends or co-workers. (Or myself; for stub-my-toe levels of frustration, “dang it!” works fine.) As I was raised, that register of language was simply unacceptable, and I still wince inwardly when *other* people use it in professional contexts. –I will admit I’m quite the outlier in this respect.
Certainly not with my co-workers at work! And even outside of work I try to keep such language curbed. You never know what weenie might be around to complain about it. This is my job we are talking about! But my close friends? Sure. No problem. Strangers I just met? No way. There is a time and a place.
I work with one other guy and in ecommerce. The F word is part of our lexicon.
As I said… There is a time and a place. For your group it sounds like it is both. There are other situations where it just isn’t. My work environment is one where it just isn’t. I suspect most are.
Per usual, he’s saying all the right things, so I want to be excited, but then I remember how excited I was for season 2; oddly listening to him hype that season as something special and unique. And it did feel that way, the first two episodes at least before taking an utter nose dive.
But to keep it positive you can tell how much these characters mean to him and he really wants to give them the send off most of us felt they didn’t get in Nemesis. And I’m excited Beverly is going to have a major role. I have a feeling her and Picard will end up together by the end but if not, that’s fine too, as long as we see that relationship explored in some way; friendship or otherwise. It really bothered me she wasn’t even mentioned in the first two seasons, one of the most important people in Picard’s life and was the ONLY relationship he had with someone on the Enterprise from his Stargazer days. McFadden has said in the story she hasn’t seen Picard in over 20 years, ie, since Nemesis probably. So its going to be great to see what brings them back together after all this time.It’s nice to shine a light on those two that the films sadly just ignored. It sounds like one of the things Matalas is correcting so this is a good sign IMO.
I love TNG and those characters to my core, so I really want to be excited about this. If this was the first season and not the third, I would be bouncing off the walls as I imagine most fans would. Now it’s kind of a wait and see.
Actually, from what was said about S2 in advance, I wasn’t very excited at all. Time travel again plus an old diminished Q wasn’t very compelling at all for my interests given I really liked S1.
This season really does sound more exciting.
I thought season 1 sounded very exciting too. They both did lol. But I love time travel stories and was excited to see Q back so I was hoping we get a really interesting story out of it like a ten hour All Good Things or Tapestry…we didn’t.
Hopefully this one we will be good.
I’m still finding it hard to get past the ‘meh’ feeling.
Nemesis was such a disappointment, a near death experience for the franchise.
I had such high hopes for both seasons of Picard, that I want to be hopeful but am hearing our eldest’s advice to wait until the season is over and then decide whether or not to watch it.
One thing that gives me hope that next season will actually be good is due to a guy named Robert Meyer Burnett. I don’t want to assume you know who this guy but he is a pretty known personality in the fanbase because he did a few Trek productions including making some of the TNG and Enterprise features for their Blu Rays. He’s a massive TOS fan but liked all the spin offs through Enterprise.
But he’s VERY critical of everything NuTrek, from all the Kelvin movies through the shows, including SNW. I been watching him for years basically out right destroy anything that has the name Abrams or Kurtzman on it. And that includes the first two seasons of Picard.
I only brings it up because I saw a video of his a few weeks ago where he said he was given the opportunity to watch the entire season of Picard season 3 and he says it’s the return of TNG in all the best ways possible. He delivered so much praise of the season some people think he was bribed…or blackmailed lol.
This is a guy who I think has only partly praised anything in NuTrek before by saying Star Trek Beyond was only ‘half trash’.
So for him to like the season as much he says has made me more excited about it. I can still not like it but if you can change one of the biggest haters of all things NuTrek minds on a show he has said isn’t even real Star Trek, maybe there is some hope for the more reasonable people like us.
It’ll be good to finally have a solid season of Picard, which this looks to be. I just wish they weren’t jettisoning the first two seasons’ characters in the process, because some of them pulled me in even though the storylines were ill-conceived. The fact that they’re keeping Raffi, the show’s least likable and enjoyable character, while not bringing back the far more interesting Agnes, Kore, Soji, Rios, Elnor, and Tallinn, is inexplicable. She and Seven have no chemistry at all as a couple and she’s poorly written compared to the others. Many reviews have pointed this out throughout the past couple of years, which the producers must surely be aware of. Why are they so bound and determined to pretend Raffi is popular? Gretchen, stop trying to make “fetch” happen.
I am in rare agreement with you on this one — great post!
Thank you. Maybe there’s hope for this world yet. :)
:-)
…whereas I like the character of Raffi, who showed that Picard could have a relationship with a first offer different from his relationship to Riker. (They hinted at that with the deleted “Commander Madden” scene in NEMESIS, but Madden was way too bland a character, and his appearance too brief, to really go anywhere with it.)
I agree it’s unfortunate they dropped the other characters, particularly Jurati, Elnor, and Soji, although I blame season 2 for that. Laris will be back. Tallinn and Kore? Good riddance; they were part of the disjointed season 2.
I think Raffi could’ve worked had they tried to make her seem like someone from the 24th/25th century and not some sassy streetwise cop from the 21st century. I guess they just told Hurd to do her Law & Order thing.
I mean just watch the scene from season 2 where she quickly disarms a mugger. You’re a time-traveler, Raffi! At least take a second to look at the antique gun before taking it apart.
Bad direction.
Raffi had a lot of character potential in Season 1, so I hope they’ve gone back to that with Season 3. Did she ever make up with her son? How does she reconcile going back to Starfleet after the organization cast her aside?
She really did. They jettisoned al of that when they remade her entire person for season 2. Again… Odd creative decisions are being made that I fully expect to continue into season 3.
I liked Rios and his holograms. Seemed to me like an interesting jumping off point for a new show. But I agree… They retained the wrong characters from the previous Picard seasons. This fits with SH history of making bad creative choices.
One thing I haven’t thought about, but we may be getting a trailer next month on Star Trek day! I know there is the big fan convention coming next week and expect to hear a lot more news on it from the cast, but I suspect we’re getting a full sized trailer on September 8th probably along with Prodigy. That’s basically around the corner now.
You might be right, but if there is a big new trailer coming, I think next week’s Vegas con makes more marketing sense in terms of a big splash then the sort of “inside baseball” Star Trek Day thing.
Could be true but I can’t remember the last time they premiered a trailer at a convention. All the ones I can recall anyway has been either on Star Trek/First Contact Day or Comic Con. Or just the cold release on the internet without any fanfare. None of the Picard trailers were released at a convention but at several comic cons and/or on the Trek event days.
Is there a trailer you can recall them releasing at a convention? The new shows I mean? Hey I would LOVE to be proven wrong lol.
You might be right. Let’s see what happens.
By the time this series finally premieres, Matalas will have told us everything that happens in every ep. The dude needs to pipe down for a bit and not keep giving so much away. Kurtzman and CBS marketing need to shut him down for a bit until they start the real multi-month marketing push for the series around the holidays.
Yeah, you’re not wrong.
He’s clearly excited for us to see it, but yeah. I love spoilers and speculation as much as the next guy but I really want to be surprised as well.
I’m terrified…..
So sick of “galactic stakes”. IMHO, Wrath of Khan and Best of Both Worlds were simultaneously the best thing and worst thing to come to Star Trek. The problem is that most of the time they are trying to retread those amazing “episodes” and end up with lesser imitations that merely are “been there, done that”. Gave up on Discovery early. May try again to see if I’m missing something. With the exception of the Gorn retcon—I feel SNW is nailing it by giving us what Trek has been missing for awhile (wonder, exploration, optimism, ideas/morality plays with action). Meanwhile Trek films and miniseries keep running retreads of the “big bad unstoppable villain(s) and shows like Disco (from what I hear) keep elevating every storyline to “saving the galaxy.”
“Big” and “Frog” both have just one “g” in them.
True, but then again, there’s more than one lion…
Lol, yep
This frog so big, he needs more ‘g’s. ; )
You hit it on the head. That is the problem with both the movies and now the big serialized stories. The movies are more obvious, they feel they have to be ‘spectacles’ with these grand stakes and ubervillains to the point people start to feel bored by it. That was both the problem with Nemesis and then Beyond, it was the same thing once again. They think that’s the only way to get non-fans to sit through a Star Trek film I guess, but I wish they would give them more credit. One of the biggest Trek films didn’t have a villain at all nor required massive shoot outs, Enterprise being destroyed or exploding planets. That was TVH! It was a low key but a very Trek-y story that is still considered one of the best movies in the entire franchise with huge box office.
The serialized stories always have to go big too but it can be done right, ala, DS9! PIC and DIS have not been anywhere close to that level of writing unfortunately. I still don’t get it, you only have 10-13 episodes a season and yet half of them still feels like filler.
SNW works because yeah, it’s what Star Trek has been doing best for 50 years, telling one off weekly adventure stories and the stakes can be low or high. It doesn’t mean serialized stories can’t work but like you said even when they do, it’s always about war or the end of the galaxy. It’s very hard to tell a more somber story that way for some reason.
I’m hoping whatever the Picard spin off show will be, it will go the direction of SNW and just tell more standalone stories again in the 25th century. Again, LDS, PRO and now SNW just proves these types of stories are more in their wheelhouse even if you don’t love all those shows and why they seem more popular in the fanbase than DIS and PIC.
The thing is: DS9 was NOT fully serialized. Apart from early S6 and late S7, the Dominion arc remained in the background, only to be visited by two- and three-parters. The rest of the show was still good old episodic Trek.
DSC had its standalone episodes woven into the wider fabric and those worked best for me in S1-3.
PIC is the only fully serialized show that doesn’t do any detours and that’s a nuisance, especially if the arc is not fulfilling its potential in the end.
I agree about DS9 obviously. As you said it didn’t get really serialized until season 6, but it was still done very well when they did do it.
And yeah DIS had standalone episodes, which ironically are probably the ones fans seem to like the most, which I always point out lol. But those were still done inside the bigger story of the season. So yes some standalone but if you tried to watch them completely blind meaning you haven’t watched the other episodes in the season, you would still feel a bit lost. For example, New Eden is great on its own and still one of my favorite episodes from that show, but you would be utterly lost of why any of it mattered if you didn’t watch Brother. And that was only the second one in the season.
I will say you can probably get away with it more with ‘Magic Makes the Sanest Man go Mad’ but it’s still in the context of wondering why Mudd shows up so angry, but it can work on its own. Season 3 and 4 though, it’s much harder IMO.
But if you look at all the serialized stories done so far: DS9, ENT, DIS and PIC, they all basically follow a similar story line of being war based or trying to stop some cataclysmic event from happening. Sometimes both. ;)
The bulk of the first half of S3 of Enterprise were stand alones that also functioned to move the overall story arc along. It even contained one of the best episodes in all of Trek. It basically did not become only the story arc until the final 1/3 of the season. That is how you do a season long arc.
I’d say yes, the spectacles and grand stakes were there in the KU films. But there was more to that in Nemesis. In fact, I would say that the stakes were secondary to the characters in Nemesis. The nature v nurture theme was the story there. And it worked very well. We saw it on two different fronts. Picard and Data had different views of the situation. The Shinzon-Picard thing was very personal. That was as close to the Kirk-Khan situation as any other movie or show got. I think it worked well. But that is better played on a movie screen and less so for a TV show. Those are longer, spread out and need to be deeper than that. And I honestly don’t think Matalas or SH is up to the task. I’d say the odds this season will be better than subpar are hovering around 5-1.
soooooo you would rather have a show about nothing happening? Just a bunch of episodes about the regular routine life on a starship recording gaseous anomalies? Or maybe the secret love life of the crews?
C’mon, he didn’t anything like that. He made it abundantly clear what he was suggesting:
He can’t make it any clearer. He’s just asking for traditional Star Trek stories that doesn’t involve someone throwing red matter in the core of a planet or Section 31 muderbots trying to wipe out all biological life from the galaxy. But more stories fans been raving about with SNW and what most of Star Trek has done in most of the older shows before.
Nailed it, Tiger2.
Besides I said “with action” and loved both Khan and Best of Both Worlds. But every story doesn’t need to be a replica: to have a big, bad, snarling wolf or unstoppable adversary. And not all the stakes need to be “it will destroy the entire universe.” Gets boring after awhile. And it turns our human heroes into superhero demigods, which is not the point of “the human adventure is just beginning.” How often do mere mortals save the entire universe?
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!
Message, Spock?
Happy birthday!
“And the pitch for season 3 was always the first person you see is Beverly Crusher…”
“You will see Laris in season three… She is not a huge part of the season, but Orla Brady is wonderful. In fact, my favorite Orla scene is this one scene in the first episode of season three.”
“It starts as personal for Picard as it could possibly ever be.”
OK, big prediction time and I’m calling it now: Season 3 starts with Picard’s wedding as he marries Laris. BUT the first shot of season three is Beverly, obviously at a wedding, smiling as we hear some traditional wedding line like, “Do you take this man to be your husband?” The camera pulls back from Beverly, and we see Picard and Laris standing up front, hand in hand. The next reveal is that the entire cast is present (sans Data, of course). And, viola, everyone is back together again to kick off season 3. Then we head off to some canon-based planet where a young clone of Riker is secretly training to take over the universe….
OMG, I laughed so hard at the last line. Sadly you can’t rule it completely out considering some past seasons. ;)
Maybe the Riker clone is on what’s left of Rue Pente…..after all, nobody really knows…
There’s your TUC tie in.
…and ANOTHER version of Doctor Soong is the person officiating the wedding service.
Plot twist:
That young Riker clone turns out the be another double (or should I say triple?) of the transporter accident, this time stored in the transporter buffer for 30 years.
He’s saying the right things and we never got to see a season of Star Trek with him in full creative control from start to finish, so I remain cautiously optimistic.
I just hope it isn’t the dumpster fire season two was.
I hope there is some jokey dialogue implying season 2 was all a dream … a ghastly, maddening hallucination. *snaps fingers*
Maybe Picard finds out after almost 30 years he was the whole time in the Nexus…
Will Picard wake up with Q in the shower?
Better yet, he wakes up with Ilia in the shower.
Twice the bald. Twice the sonic action!
Perhaps Nemesis didn’t feel like the end because it was designed to serve as both an end and a set up to do more.
Personally I think Nemesis was a very appropriate final TNG thing. This upcoming reunion show doesn’t really feel to me like it was necessary at all. But I’m a tad bitter because I liked Rios and wanted to see more from that character. They opted for lesser characters. I’m not interested in Raffi, especially after they changed her from S1 to S2 and I was not a fan of where 7 went so at this point I’m really not caring about her at this stage. I’m honestly more interested in her story that led her to her Fenris Rangers days.
At any rate, I’ll still check it out but I’m not expecting to be impressed by any means.
Originally I liked the idea of Seven and Raffi, relationship wise. That little sneak peek tender moment at the conclusion of Season 1was promising. Season 2 was mostly the two of them working together and arguing about/discussing their relationship. Surely in the six middle episodes the writers could have found the time to really give us an emotional glimpse, some real tender moments, to make us care about the arguments they were having? I think we got one or two, but that wasn’t enough to make the relationship between them seem believable.
I’m torn on Rios. Like Raffi, he’s another character I think started strong in Season 1.When Season 2 begins, he’s rejoined Starfleet, he’s commanding a new starship with a legacy name. I did like his 21st century storyline, he at least had chemistry with Theresa, and I enjoyed Guinan catching Picard up on Rios’ life in the season finale. As much as I’d love to see Rios in Season 3, kicking ass with Worf and Riker, they did at least tie up his story. It’s not the way I would have tied it up; having to say goodbye to Theresa and her son, after bonding with them, would have set up some really great stuff for him in Season 3. Then there’s Isa Briones … I mean, she was Soji in one episode, then randomly turns up as a Soong science project in a few episodes. Using the Wesley Crusher/Traveler tie-in to resolve the Kore character was, in my opinion, a disservice to Wil Wheaton and Briones. Personally, I think a better use of Wheaton’s cameo would have been him showing up to help a weakened Q send everyone back (then we could have been treated to Picard reuniting with Wesley). There was no reason for Kore – I would have preferred to just see Soji reunited with Picard, Elnor, Seven, and Raffi in Ten Forward at the end of the finale. I’m also bummed we’re not getting Elnor in Season 3 … I mean,imagine a situation where Worf has to mentor this young Romulan in Starfleet.
I’m excited for so much for Season 3, Terry Matalas seems like he’s got the pulse, but it’s too bad they couldn’t expand the third season to 13 episodes. The extra space would have meant proper send-offs for Soji and Elnor, and possibly Rios. My only fear for Season 3 is they will try to cram too much into ten episodes like they did with Season 1.
I’m liking the TUC direction we’re headed. Make it so Terry.
Gosh, now that some time has passed season 2 feel’s like a completely bizarre fever dream. Just Crazy.
I’m cautiously optimistic, but also fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Let’s hope third time is the charm 🤞🏽.
what if Beverly was season 3’s villain?
You know, that actually is not a bad idea. And it doesn’t have to be Crusher. What if one or two of them were convinced of something or disagreed on a course of action taken by Picard and believed it so much they had to do something against Picard? I know this is vague but I think that has strong potential in the right hands.
I’m delighted that Laris will feature in season 3. I’m a bit disappointed that she wont have a major part to play though. I think using her Tal Shiar know how could be useful to Jean-Luc in the heat of battle. Either way I’m delighted to see Orla Brady back. She is a great actor and Laris is one of the best new characters to feature in Star Trek.