Star Trek: Picard – Remembrance Review

After watching the previews for Star Trek: Picard, I was wary as to just what the series would be about. It appeared to be more concerned with rehashing the greatest hits of Jean-Luc Picard’s time in the Trek universe and less with charting a new story. Hell, there was a giant cube spaceship that looked a hell of a lot like a Borg Cube – and I am firmly of the opinion that the world of Star Trek would be just fine if we never see another Borg again. As a Trekkie, I was worried that Picard would turn out to be just another messy attempt to capture the heyday of Star Trek. After watching “Remembrance,” I have to say that I’ve never been so happy to have been completely wrong in my initial assessment of a series.

There’s a lot I loved about the premiere episode of Picard, but what stood out the most to me was its decision to focus on character over plot. Sure, there was exposition, setting up the season arc (a refreshingly simple base story of finding and rescuing Isa Briones’ Soji from the hands of Harry Treadaway’s Romulan villain Narek), but the main thrust of the episode was exploring just who Jean-Luc Picard is at this point in his life. This older, wiser, and yes, more jaded, man is the same one we knew back in his prime, but he’s also clearly different. One of the most glaring problems with Star Trek characters over the years has been the refusal to let them truly grow beyond their initial characterization.

Only the best of Trek has been able to overcome this hurdle (that would be Deep Space Nine, the syndicated series that broke the traditional Trek mold and has come to be regarded by many critics as the best of all the series – a belief I hold as well). In this first episode of Picard, the show lays all its cards on the table early with regard to its titular character. He’s still as honor-bound as ever, but he has turned his back on the institution he willingly – and proudly – served for decades; the institution that his friends and family died while protecting. He’s also an old man riddled with guilt – guilt for the failure of his plan to save the Romulans from their sun going supernova, but perhaps even more importantly, guilt over the fact that his friend and officer Data gave his life to save Picard. Yes, those prophetic dreams were plot devices to get Picard to realize just who Dahj was, but they were also a psychological window into what is eating at our dear Admiral: There’s a part of him that doesn’t think he deserved Data’s sacrifice.*

*While I don’t know if the show will get more into this particular angle, I sincerely hope it does. Data’s role in Picard’s life has been central to the exposition for the series, and it’s entirely possible the writers drop it once they turn to the space battles and rescue mission, but compounding Picard’s sense of duty with regard to Soji with his own overpowering guilt would take what could become a rather formulaic “gunslinger gets a gang together for one last score” tale into something deeper and more resonate. We all know Patrick Stewart would act the hell out of it, and I truly hope they keep giving him chances to dig into Picard’s fragile psyche throughout the season.

So, we’ve got a lead character who has retreated to a rather solitary life running his family vineyard following the perceived betrayal of the institution he sacrificed everything for, who refuses to discuss the circumstances around his retirement from said institution, and who is having a string of guilt laden dreams. That certainly sounds like the perfect person to come out of retirement and go on a rescue mission into the heart of enemy space.* What could possibly go wrong?

*One thing I want to learn a bit more about is the remaining Romulan stronghold – the ship that appears to be a decommissioned Borg Cube, which would explain the future appearances from Seven of Nine and Hugh. From Picard’s friends/household staff, we know that he’s not seen as an enemy to some Romulans, but it’s entirely possible that isn’t the universal feeling toward the former Admiral. He was the only voice of reason, the person who convinced Starfleet to try to save their enemy, which is an incredible legacy to have. But his rescue mission ultimately was largely a failure due to the actions of a rogue team of synthetics – something outside of his purview, but something he was much more ambivalent about than I suspect many surviving Romulans would appreciate. We know that Soji is in danger because she is a synthetic surrounded by Romulans who presumably hate her kind for ruining their chance at rescue. But we don’t know how these surviving Romulans feel about Picard. That reveal should be interesting.

It’s clear why Patrick Stewart was enticed to return to this character after over two decades away. This version of Picard already has more depth than any past version of the character we’ve seen (hell, Data has more depth in this series so far than he did at any point in the past – excellent work from Brent Spiner in his limited appearance). We know Picard, but we don’t know him. He speaks French (with an atrocious accent, but at least he speaks it), he has an adorable dog named Number One, he’s working in his family vineyard. He’s depressed but can’t or won’t acknowledge it. He’s, as he says late in the episode, just waiting to die. This isn’t the Captain Picard we’ve spent years with. This is Jean-Luc, a tired old man. But we know the spark of adventure, that sense of right and wrong, is still lingering under the malaise. We know he’ll shake of the ennui of his life in France and saddle up once again. But before that happens, we get to settle into the life of this version of Picard. It’s a wonderful choice on the part of Kirsten Beyer, Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Alex Kurtzman, and the entire Picard team.

Also a wonderful choice? The casting of Isa Briones as Dahj/Soji. A relative unknown, she’s a hell of a find for the series. The Dahj arc in the episode is not an easy one – the character goes from being blissfully unaware of her origins to turning into a synthetic Terminator. It’s something that could easily have come off as cheesy or plain ridiculous, but Briones’ measured performance sold the fear and uncertainty that lay underneath Dahj’s recent discoveries. I found myself wholly disappointed when Dahj died after the rooftop battle. For a character to make such a strong impact after only a handful of scenes says an awful lot about the skill of the actor brining her to life. I’m intrigued to see what Briones does with Soji, who one presumes will have a different trajectory than her twin sister.

All-in-all, “Remembrance” is one of the better series pilots I’ve seen in my time as a TV critic. Sure, having a known character leading the series helped make things move a bit more smoothly than having the audience come in cold, but I’d argue that the writers had an even more difficult job introducing this new Picard to the masses. Not everything about the episode worked (that CGI leap Dahj took on the roof was pretty ridiculous, and the introduction of Narek was a bit heavy handed compared to some of the other character introductions in the episode), but the episode worked far better than it had any right to. Bringing back fan favorite characters for another go is historically a fraught exercise. So far, Picard is managing to avoid the pitfalls while managing to build on audience expectations. Let’s see if it can keep that up.

Final Thoughts:

— I’m an Allison Pill fan, so it was nice to see that she was given a role beyond just “scientist who wants to return to her old research, despite the dangers.” There are a number of interesting directions the writers can take Jurati in, but I suspect she’ll serve two main functions: a source of knowledge for Picard as he attempts to determine the next moves with Soji, and a source of help/support for Soji once she is found. She’s arguably the only person – outside of the mysteriously missing Dr. Maddox – who can deal with the scientific questions that will arise on the coming rescue mission, which is a great place to be for a character.

— I suspect Picard might not be for every Trek fan. Those expecting something in the same vein as The Next Generation are likely going to be disappointed, as nothing about this premiere indicated that this show will have that same sense of wonder and drive for exploration at its center. Instead, Picard appears far more concerned with mining the mental and emotional state of Picard in light of the massive disappointments and loss in his life, while also giving us a western-tinged tale of the old gunslinger getting back in the game for one final fight (I know I mentioned above that this show is more than just that – and it definitely is, with its focus on character over flash). The series also appears to be using a season arc model rather than the traditional Trek episodic model (for comparison, Next Generation was an episodic series while the later seasons of DS9 were built on season arcs), which is something I fully support. Using a season arc allows writers to craft a longform coherent story, while building characters along the way.