A Review of Star Trek Picard and CBS All Access.

[Barry]

 A Review of Star Trek Picard and CBS All Access.
 
Being home for the last couple of weeks, I signed up for CBS all Access, mostly to see Star Trek. With the exception of Star Trek I am disappointed in their package. They future mostly reruns of shows that I’m trying to get away from and had switched to streaming for higher quality. There are a handful of new shows, but just a handful. I was not at all impressed with the three episodes of the twilight zone that I saw. I found them boring and very unimaginative and nothing like the original. There are a couple of other shows but your money is much better spent getting Netflix or Hulu both of which have the original Star Trek episodes.

Honestly, the Hulu Star Trek’s do not look as good as the Netflix. And the CBS all Access Star Trek’s of the original series and next-generation is actually superior to the other two.
 
I did watch Star Trek Picard on my LG TV set directly to CBS All Access that gave me the best image and sound. When I switch to Amazon prime, just to see what it was like, the picture and sound were good but not as good as they were when I watch them directly on CBS All Access.

First the non-spoiler part of Picard, I’ll get to the spoiler part later.
This is not your father’s Star Trek. Gone is the optimism in which Gene Roddenberry saw the future. Gone also is the faith in government and the trust in authority that is all evaporated here. The 10 episodes which run from 45 minutes to 55 minutes each are all connected. As is common today this is not episodic it is one long story. In some ways it is a continuation of the next generation in that many of the stars of that show are referred to or make appearances. But there is no enterprise going from planet to planet. Part of the fun of the original to Star Trek’s was the inter action and dialogue amongst the crew. That, mostly, is not here.
A major plus is the acting. Especially Patrick Stewart everyone on board here doesn’t excellent job in representing their character and bringing the plot forward. And there are large amounts of Easter eggs that might take a second viewing to catch.
  
I did enjoy watching the special effects which are amazing compared to what they used to do on TV 30 years ago, or even 10 years ago.

I give Picard a grade of B, it was good but for me often disappointing and not the optimistic Star Trek that I was looking forward to. And, at times, it was very violent.
 
If you like the show, on You Tube and CBS ALL ACCESS  Wil Wheaton (Wesley) has a 30 minutes show for each on the ten episodes  He brings on the people that were on that weeks show and they discuss the episode. Patrick Stewart is on episode 10.

Big spoiler alert!  big spoiler alert   big spoiler alert

I was disappointed in how they stretch things out. That is, one a new show is introduced it often takes an episode or two to introduce all the players. Here each player gets a hugely long story. As the plot was developing I almost wanted to stop watching after episode five or six and see the last episode.

Many of the previous next-generation stars surprisingly show up here and we are given a history of what they have done in the last 20 years. But some of it is incomplete. For example, and Jerry Ryan who play seven of nine surprisingly shows up and is not quite the character that she once was. She is now a warrior and I wondered why we didn’t get a bigger back story of what had happened to her.

We get to see Ryker and Troy. Sadly, they mean to surprise us but at the very beginning they tell you who the guest stars are so there’s no surprise here, but they are fun to see.

I am disappointed in the end for many reasons and it may sound funny but let me compare this to the movie the Avengers. Here we get to see Data die twice. It was so effective the first time I guess they had to show us the second. (The Avengers did that with Thanos.) And we get to see Picard die dramatically. (As we saw Gamora and Loki die dramatically.) But death is not fatal here and the characters live again.

Brent Spiner has two roles and he is just damn good. He elevates every scene he is in, especially with Picard. Finally, how does Ryker get to save the day in the end?  This is a puzzle on how he got there.
 

[AVSCraig]

I'm watching Picard with the wife too. https://discuss.avscience.com/index.php?topic=2450.msg16311#msg16311

[David Vaughn]

Just watched Episode 1 and about to start Episode 2. I liked the first one but damn is Patrick Stewart old! He sounds so frail. 

[AVSCraig]

Just watched Episode 1 and about to start Episode 2. I liked the first one but damn is Patrick Stewart old! He sounds so frail.

True - but we are all going to get old. So far I like it. 

[David Vaughn]

True - but we are all going to get old. So far I like it.

I liked the first two episodes, but didn't care for #3 that much. I'm sticking with it until the end though...I'll watch it all this week. 

[AVSCraig]

I liked the first two episodes, but didn't care for #3 that much. I'm sticking with it until the end though...I'll watch it all this week.

My wife love that the guy that plays the pilot in the 3rd episode is the same actor from Salvation. Loved that show ! 

Streaming through the Oppo 203 from my laptop looked much better. That said, this luddite has finally broken down and bought a streaming device . 

[David Vaughn]

My wife love that the guy that plays the pilot in the 3rd episode is the same actor from Salvation. Loved that show !

Streaming through the Oppo 203 from my laptop looked much better. That said, this luddite has finally broken down and bought a streaming device .

What did you end up ordering?

[AVSCraig]

What did you end up ordering?

A Fire TV Stick 4K. Cheap enough and free shipping with Prime ( we are using every " free 30 day trial " we can right now ) ! 

[David Vaughn]

A Fire TV Stick 4K. Cheap enough and free shipping with Prime ( we are using every " free 30 day trial " we can right now ) !

Only problem with the "sticks" is they don't have a lot of memory or processing power. I prefer the "puck" versions (I use a Roku Ultra," which does HDR and 4K (No Dolby Vision...which on a projector, doesn't mater). I was able to pick it up for $79.99 a couple of years ago. I bought one for my daughter at Christmas for $49.99--a hell of a bargain!

[AVSCraig]

Only problem with the "sticks" is they don't have a lot of memory or processing power. I prefer the "puck" versions (I use a Roku Ultra," which does HDR and 4K (No Dolby Vision...which on a projector, doesn't mater). I was able to pick it up for $79.99 a couple of years ago. I bought one for my daughter at Christmas for $49.99--a hell of a bargain!

$ 49.99 was my cut off. So we will see. It probably won't get used much once the free streaming ends. I have a massive movie backlog on disc. This is just temporary during the Great Corona Panic of 2020 ! 

[claw]

A Fire TV Stick 4K. Cheap enough and free shipping with Prime ( we are using every " free 30 day trial " we can right now ) !

You can also install the Apple TV+ App to the Fire TV Stick.  Its free preview is only 7 days. 

But if you purchased an Apple product like an iPhone after September 1, you can get a free subscription to Apple TV+ for a year.

And of course your Amazon Prime subscription gets you free Amazon Prime Video.  If you didn't watch The Expanse series on SyFy, Amazon has all seasons in 4K.

[David Vaughn]

You can also install the Apple TV+ App to the Fire TV Stick.  Its free preview is only 7 days. 

But if you purchased an Apple product like an iPhone after September 1, you can get a free subscription to Apple TV+ for a year.

And of course your Amazon Prime subscription gets you free Amazon Prime Video.  If you didn't watch The Expanse series on SyFy, Amazon has all seasons in 4K.

I've got to convince my wife to watch The Expanse with me. We watched about 20 minutes of the first episode and she didn't care for it. How many episodes does it take to "hook" you?

[claw]

I've got to convince my wife to watch The Expanse with me. We watched about 20 minutes of the first episode and she didn't care for it. How many episodes does it take to "hook" you?

Probably around the fourth episode.   

[AVSCraig]

The Fire TV Stick 4K is working great. Upscales shows to 4K. Works just fine for shows - and under $50.00 !

[David Vaughn]

Finally finished the first season last night and I agree with a lot of what you said Barry. Spiner was excellent in every scene he was in and he and Stewart together was very emotional and the highlight of the series. I also agree that the story was very protracted and dragged a bit.

SPOILERS BELOW!

What I didn't like was making one of the characters a drug addict...was that really necessary? As for your question about Riker, he was in the "Reserves" and once Picard left his home, he asked to be reinstated (that's how I took it to be). It was great seeing the old gang back together again. As for Seven of Nine, yes, her character had changed (along with her sexuality...really? Was that necessary?) 

As you, I'd give the show a "B" with some of the episodes getting A+'s and others a "C."