Whereas this assessment avoids spoilers, the primary six episodes of Star Trek: Picard season 3 had been screened.
The third and closing outing of Picard brings an all-new, all-different taste to the desk than both of the 2 seasons that preceded it. Deliberately cinematic in tone, scope, rating, and content material, this season is loaded with starship motion. Nevertheless the easiest a part of this season is, unsurprisingly, the characters, whether or not they’ve simply been launched or have been occupying area in your thoughts for the previous three many years.
Disaster Level: The Subsequent Technology
Whereas the forged of Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology did get a number of big-screen outings, Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas has been very open about his want to make this closing outing for the collection similar to the cinematic conclusion that Star Trek: Nemesis did not ship.
On this, the season succeeds. That is thanks particularly to the rating by Stephen Barton, which is impressed by the Franchise’s nice film composers, like Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner.
The season additionally possesses an general Trek “movie-style” sensibility. As illuminated by the Star Trek: Decrease Decks episodes “Disaster Level” and “Disaster Level 2: Paradoxus,” the Trek “movie-style” sensibility is distinct from the Trek “TV-style” sensibility.
However Decrease Decks pokes loving enjoyable at these cinematic tropes, utilizing them to comedic impact. Against this, Picard season 3 pays loving homage, incorporating them with out irony. Whereas I don’t wish to spoil the shock of those cinematic Trek components, suffice to say they are going to be instantly apparent to these with even a passing familiarity with the Franchise’s movies.
Reuniting the D Crew
It would come as no shock that seeing the forged of TNG portraying these characters once more is deeply satisfying. That is true whether or not we’ve seen them extra lately, like Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) or in the event that they’ve been absent since Nemesis, like Physician Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Worf (Michael Dorn), and Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).
Naturally, Brent Spiner continues to ship a collection of compelling performances throughout all three seasons of Picard as numerous variations of each the Soongs and their experiments. And Picard alums Jeri Ryan (Seven of 9) and Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker) are each welcome returning roles.
The commonest criticism of this season you’re more likely to see is that it depends on “member-berries” for its attract. In different phrases, reuniting the bridge crew of the Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E is merely a nostalgic cash-in. This isn’t a good critique of the season, which each builds on the continuity established by current Trek exhibits (particularly the superb and justly influential Decrease Decks) and provides nearly all of the returning characters compelling characters arcs.
Reserving the TNG reunion till Picard season 3 signifies that the present’s closing season has a really completely different sensibility than the 2 that got here earlier than. Moreover, it allowed the primary and second seasons to deconstruct Picard, inspecting his character on a private and particular person stage that had by no means been attainable when the crew of the D/E surrounded him.
Nevertheless, Picard has “earned” this final reunion. And actually, who doesn’t wish to see the TNG crew get collectively one final time?
“It’s the Titan!”
Along with the returning characters, Picard season 3 additionally deftly introduces a complete bunch of recent characters, together with the bridge crew of the USS Titan-A. Whereas they might have comparatively little display time, the Titan-A’s bridge crew delivers a efficiency that makes a compelling argument for a derivative that includes this subsequent era of Starfleet officers.
THREAD! Meet THE BRIDGE CREW of the USS TITAN!
Beginning with: Ensign Sidney LaForge – Helm. Not like her sister, Alandra, she did not wish to construct ships, she needed to fly them. pic.twitter.com/sqUxb6P03b— Terry Matalas (@TerryMatalas) February 4, 2023
This contains Lt. T’Veen (Stephanie Czajkowski), Lt. Mura (Joseph Lee), Ensign Esmar (Jin Maley), and Ensign La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). In the meantime, Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) is bound to go away everybody speaking.
Like lots of the new characters launched in Picard seasons 1 and a pair of, these Starfleet officers should undertake extra adventures of their very own. Hopefully it received’t be lengthy earlier than a brand new Trek collection set on this time interval launches, permitting us the possibility to see extra of all of those newly launched and potential-filled characters.
Picard season 3
Final however not least, any assessment of those episodes could be remiss to not point out the unhinged efficiency delivered by Amanda Plummer as Captain Vadic. This antagonist is an instantaneous traditional who ranks with the likes of Trek film villain performances comparable to Normal Chang (Christopher Plummer) and the archetypical Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban). Yeah, I mentioned it. Combat me.
The primary episode of Picard season 3 shall be obtainable for streaming on Paramount+ starting on Thursday, February 16th, 2023, with new episodes following every Thursday.
