Star Trek: Picard: Season One - BLU-RAY

Good series that I wanted to watch without paying for membership that I wouldn’t use

Fans of Star Trek: the Next Generation rejoice! This is Picard. It is 20 years later. He is older, a civilian, still more inclined to think his way through problems, less able to employ physical solutions, but still the same characterization. Picard lives and believes the ideals of Star Fleet even though Star Fleet itself has backed away from them. And he still deeply misses his best friend, Data. But this series is not The Next Generation. New plot lines and a new crew (most of whom are ex-Star Fleet.). Characters from The Next Generation appear only if and when they fit the new story lines. (It was nice seeing Riker leading a fleet while he lounges comfortably in the captain’s chair). By the way, Seven of Nine from Voyager becomes a principal character as the series progresses.). Picard is also more character driven then action driven; although there is plenty of action. The principal protagonists are Romulans: but one of the good guys is a sword wheeling, martial arts specialist straight out of some Romulan version of Kung Fu. This first year is delightful. I highly recommend it. Reading the comic book mini series is not necessary for understanding TV series, but it does fill in back story.

Good story lines for Star Trek fans. Good sound and image quality.

The first three or four episodes of "Star Trek: Picard" are pretty slow-moving and full of exposition. There's a large conflict, I feel, between "fan service" and telling a complex, adult story. And they have to explain what Picard's been up to for 20 years--since the events of the "Star Trek: Nemesis" film. That means a metric ton of exposition that sometimes feels like watching homework, even to someone like me who read the "pre-Picard" novel they put out to make the exposition process easier. Once the main story really gets rolling, however, there is a lot of good stuff going on right up until the ending--which seems to contradict the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The casting choices of the "new" characters includes a lot of non "sci-fi" actors who seem somewhat lost in the shadow of Picard and leery of the "Star Trek" experience. You will see three members of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation in "Picard," plus some former Borg you will likely recognize.

The first episode felt as if it were edited to end within a certain length of time, as the story did not feel as fleshed out as it could have been. Dahj easily finds Picard on his vinyard...? The first episode should have been a director's cut or a two-parter as Dahj's existence/abilities left the viewer feeling confused; and do not say that was the intent. The following episodes are Trek worthy. The Blu-ray itself is light as far as extras are concerned. I got the blu-ray with an expectation of deleted scenes, short Treks (of which there is one) and behind the scenes footage and/or documentary style hidden camera-on-set coverage which I do not see. As I said, light. And, Elnor needs more screen time. Borrow a copy from someone who owns one, or have a watch party with your friend who has paid for CBS All-Access.