Ranty Thoughts on ST: Picard, Season 2 So Far

Because our society has turned so negative, I want to open with some statements of affirmation. I'm glad to have new Star Trek. I'm happy to see Picard again and Seven, Guinan, Brent Spiner, and even Q (not a fav of mine), and I like the characters and cast of Picard. I thought the second and third episodes were quite good. Jurati is getting some good chances to shine this season. A lot of people are working very hard on this series just to give us entertainment, and it is somewhat entertaining, and that's a gift (even if we pay a bit to watch it).

All that said, I don't think it's a strong season. I want to focus on one reason why: it's not doing intelligent social science fiction (and ST has always been fundamentally social SF). This is not just a Picard issue, by the way; it's widespread in TV SF today, but I'll focus on Picard here.

(SPOILERS follow for S2 of Picard up to "Monsters" and very light spoilers for S1 and Disco)( Read more... )