Growing up in the 90s, TNG, DS9, and Voyager were shows that were often on, though none of them ever captured my imagination like Star Wars did. To me, Star Trek just felt boring and stuffy.
But when the first season of Discovery hit and I liked it a lot! Season 2 was even better. Discovery was definitely not stuffy.
When Star Trek: Picard started a few months ago, I gave it a go too. And I really liked it! From distant vague memories and also memes, I knew enough about who Picard, Data, Riker ("hey it's the guy who sits in chairs weird!") are. I was born a few months before TNG went to air but it ran long enough that I definitely do remember it being on (though, to be honest, the only episode that even seemed familiar was Parallels). My wife is three years younger than me, but she had no idea what the heck was going on or who these people were. So I talked to some friends who told me to use an episode guide and skip as much as season 1 and 2 as possible, which I did and then followed it up with the 4 TNG movies.
Anyways!
This show starts off terribly. Q became one of my favourite recurring characters but this was not the way to introduce him or set up the show. He's far too whimsical, especially in his first appearance, and doesn't really reflect what the show will be like. It doesn't really introduce any of the characters well either. And that's the problem with the first few seasons, it's not the bad episodes, it's the boring episodes, which are compounded with the fact that you, as a viewer, don't really care about any of these characters yet. Eventually you do, which helps the bad/boring episodes be more tolerable. At this point I'd be down for watching Data, Riker, Worf, etc do whatever even if it is boring, since they're such great characters. The only character I felt was wasted was Troi. The writers didn't seem to know what to do with her. The episodes that focus on her tend to be the worst in the series. She didn't really seem to be much of a councillor too. I'm sure I'm not the first person to suggest this, but Guinan was better at Troi's job than she was. Beverly seemed to fair much better, and I was glad to have her back in season 3.... though the worst episode I saw was the season 7 episode where she starts banging her grandma's boytoy (who is a ghost). What the hell.
I feel like this might be the most wildly inconsistent show I've ever seen. But Yesterday's Enterprise, Best of Both Worlds, Chain of Command, All Good Things, etc are so good, my only complaint is they could have worked well as multi-episode arcs, especially Yesterday's Enterprise. Sometimes the show moved on from things really quickly, things I would have liked to seen followed up on. What happened with the crew of the USS Bozeman? Those people are living in the future now, are they still in Starfleet? How are they adjusting? I want to know!
Random thoughts:
-Season 2 sucks for getting rid of Crusher. Instead we get some lady who's mean to my boy Data?! No thank you!
-Maybe because I ended up skipping a lot of season 1 and 2 but Wesley never bothered me that much. But I felt like his end was unsatisfying. For such a pivotal character in the first 4 seasons of TNG, it sucks to see him totally forgotten about in the movies. He shows up in the last one, in a Starfleet uniform (!!) but doesn't even get lines or acknowledgement... he's essentially an extra.
-The script for All Good Things probably would have worked better as a movie than Generations was. Kirk felt shoehorned in and falling off a cliff isn't really a satisfying end for one of the most legendary television characters of all time. In fact the Kirk stuff could have been removed entirely and it wouldn't have really impacted anything. I would have brought Kirk back earlier in the movie and had the scenes of him not wanting to step on the toes of a new captain be on the Enterprise-D with Picard (obviously played out differently since Picard is a better captain than Cameron from Ferris Bueller).
-The non-Kirk stuff in Generations didn't really feel important enough to be anything more than your average episode. This is also a problem with Insurrection.
-It was nice to see the Enterprise with proper lighting in the films. I get that TNG is television show from the late 80s and early 90s... I guess dynamic lighting takes more time to set up?? Because it shouldn't really be that much more expensive. On TNG, everything in the Enterprise (or any other indoor location) looks flat and boring. Except for in the episode Yesterday's Enterprise. I guess being at war with the Klingons calls for moodier lighting?? I just feel like there was more opportunities for better lighting.
-Outside of Star Trek: Picard, the franchise in general reminds me of Pokemon with it's gen-1 pandering. The Kelvin movies, Discovery, the Short Treks with Pike, all tie into TOS. Give me more TNG love, please!
-I wish recurring characters like Barclay, Guinan, and Ro Laren were around more. Though I guess the writers didn't really seem to know what to do with all of the main characters, so maybe it's best these characters weren't around unless it was important. Maybe that's why on Discovery, they don't focus on all of the bridge crew?
-I can definitely now really see the influence TNG had on television, shows like Buffy, Lost, Fringe, etc etc were obviously inspired by the groundwork laid out by TNG.
-Data is the best character. It's too bad he never uses his emotion chip in the show and it quickly gets forgotten about in the movies.
Sorry for the long post! In summary: TNG is a great show, frustrating at times, but great. Onwards... to DS9!!!
But when the first season of Discovery hit and I liked it a lot! Season 2 was even better. Discovery was definitely not stuffy.
When Star Trek: Picard started a few months ago, I gave it a go too. And I really liked it! From distant vague memories and also memes, I knew enough about who Picard, Data, Riker ("hey it's the guy who sits in chairs weird!") are. I was born a few months before TNG went to air but it ran long enough that I definitely do remember it being on (though, to be honest, the only episode that even seemed familiar was Parallels). My wife is three years younger than me, but she had no idea what the heck was going on or who these people were. So I talked to some friends who told me to use an episode guide and skip as much as season 1 and 2 as possible, which I did and then followed it up with the 4 TNG movies.
Anyways!
This show starts off terribly. Q became one of my favourite recurring characters but this was not the way to introduce him or set up the show. He's far too whimsical, especially in his first appearance, and doesn't really reflect what the show will be like. It doesn't really introduce any of the characters well either. And that's the problem with the first few seasons, it's not the bad episodes, it's the boring episodes, which are compounded with the fact that you, as a viewer, don't really care about any of these characters yet. Eventually you do, which helps the bad/boring episodes be more tolerable. At this point I'd be down for watching Data, Riker, Worf, etc do whatever even if it is boring, since they're such great characters. The only character I felt was wasted was Troi. The writers didn't seem to know what to do with her. The episodes that focus on her tend to be the worst in the series. She didn't really seem to be much of a councillor too. I'm sure I'm not the first person to suggest this, but Guinan was better at Troi's job than she was. Beverly seemed to fair much better, and I was glad to have her back in season 3.... though the worst episode I saw was the season 7 episode where she starts banging her grandma's boytoy (who is a ghost). What the hell.
I feel like this might be the most wildly inconsistent show I've ever seen. But Yesterday's Enterprise, Best of Both Worlds, Chain of Command, All Good Things, etc are so good, my only complaint is they could have worked well as multi-episode arcs, especially Yesterday's Enterprise. Sometimes the show moved on from things really quickly, things I would have liked to seen followed up on. What happened with the crew of the USS Bozeman? Those people are living in the future now, are they still in Starfleet? How are they adjusting? I want to know!
Random thoughts:
-Season 2 sucks for getting rid of Crusher. Instead we get some lady who's mean to my boy Data?! No thank you!
-Maybe because I ended up skipping a lot of season 1 and 2 but Wesley never bothered me that much. But I felt like his end was unsatisfying. For such a pivotal character in the first 4 seasons of TNG, it sucks to see him totally forgotten about in the movies. He shows up in the last one, in a Starfleet uniform (!!) but doesn't even get lines or acknowledgement... he's essentially an extra.
-The script for All Good Things probably would have worked better as a movie than Generations was. Kirk felt shoehorned in and falling off a cliff isn't really a satisfying end for one of the most legendary television characters of all time. In fact the Kirk stuff could have been removed entirely and it wouldn't have really impacted anything. I would have brought Kirk back earlier in the movie and had the scenes of him not wanting to step on the toes of a new captain be on the Enterprise-D with Picard (obviously played out differently since Picard is a better captain than Cameron from Ferris Bueller).
-The non-Kirk stuff in Generations didn't really feel important enough to be anything more than your average episode. This is also a problem with Insurrection.
-It was nice to see the Enterprise with proper lighting in the films. I get that TNG is television show from the late 80s and early 90s... I guess dynamic lighting takes more time to set up?? Because it shouldn't really be that much more expensive. On TNG, everything in the Enterprise (or any other indoor location) looks flat and boring. Except for in the episode Yesterday's Enterprise. I guess being at war with the Klingons calls for moodier lighting?? I just feel like there was more opportunities for better lighting.
-Outside of Star Trek: Picard, the franchise in general reminds me of Pokemon with it's gen-1 pandering. The Kelvin movies, Discovery, the Short Treks with Pike, all tie into TOS. Give me more TNG love, please!
-I wish recurring characters like Barclay, Guinan, and Ro Laren were around more. Though I guess the writers didn't really seem to know what to do with all of the main characters, so maybe it's best these characters weren't around unless it was important. Maybe that's why on Discovery, they don't focus on all of the bridge crew?
-I can definitely now really see the influence TNG had on television, shows like Buffy, Lost, Fringe, etc etc were obviously inspired by the groundwork laid out by TNG.
-Data is the best character. It's too bad he never uses his emotion chip in the show and it quickly gets forgotten about in the movies.
Sorry for the long post! In summary: TNG is a great show, frustrating at times, but great. Onwards... to DS9!!!
