I like the Q stories on Voyager better to be honest. So, I wasn’t happy when it was announced that Q was a part of the season two cast and I was also puzzled how he acts throughout the season. He acts like a villain, using Soong to do his dirty work, wants to kill Picard’s ancestor Renée. All this so that Picard can let go of the guilt he feels about his mother’s death, a suicide. According to Star Trek: Picard this happens in the 2310’s but this is a contradiction according to The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard she died in 2342. Another possible contradiction is possibly explained away in episode 9, Hide and Seek, of Star Trek: Picard. We know Q as arrogant and devious, but how he is acting in Star Trek: Picard I thought was out of character. And what was that when Q was sitting on a terrace, his powers stopped working? It seemed more to it than that but it wasn’t followed up I believe. So, after seeing Q for 10+ seasons on TNG and VOY, we as an audience actually believe that Q would act like this? Becoming Renée’s psychiatrist to try to convince her not to go up there, using Soong to try and kill Renée Picard via a car accident?

So, Q changes the timeline and Picard and his friends from the Star Gazer, Raffi, Seven, Rios, Jurati and the Borg Queen are sent to a timeline which resembles a civilization like we see in Star Trek TOS episode Mirror, Mirror, but apparently is not an alternate reality, it is our reality but because of a change in our history, everything changed. There is no Federation but a Confederation and it is not about peaceful working together with other races, but suppress other races and everybody who does not agree with that narrative. Seven is the president, Picard is still an admiral but now he is a barbaric person, eager to conquer other worlds. Picard and the others arrive there as themselves, so they need to be cautious not to get caught. With the Borg Queen’s help, Picard deduces who is able to help getting their future back. They have to return to 2024, apparently it is Picard’s ancestor Renée Picard, an astronaut, who is the one that can correct the future. Only thing she needs to do is going on the planned flight but for some reason…she is now in doubt whether or not she wants to do it.

I am not going to continue with what happens in the remainder of the season, but this is what happens in the first 3 episodes approximately, so instead of Star Trek, being up in space, the entire season happens on Earth, in the past. I must admit, the first couple of episodes where kind of interesting, but honestly after that, it becomes tiresome quickly, I can’t say I actually enjoyed the rest of the season.

In 2024, Picard meets up with Guinan, a young Guinan! Wait a minute, a young Guinan you say? How is that possible? Because we see an adult Guinan in The Next Generation episodes Time’s Arrow in the year 1893! It makes no sense for Guinan to appear 20 years younger a century later and then back to normal for TNG. Did the creators do their homework for creating Star Trek: Picard?

I think episode 7 “Monsters”, is the worst episode of the season, where Tallinn enters Picard's subconscious mind to help him wake from a coma and face his deepest fears. Raffi and Seven are more acting like two women who are having afternoon coffee together than actually being two characters on a SCI-FI show. I have nothing against gay people, nothing at all, but why are we overloaded with lesbians in today’s TV shows? In the past we also saw gay couples in TV shows, but in ratio, which is fine, but today it’s like they want to rub our noses in it. Why did Seven need to be turned gay, I just don’t understand it. The whole Borg Queen / Jurati thing just makes me nauseous. The only person I was actually rooting for was Rios, I actually liked his relationship the doctor, I thought this was genuine, at least more genuine than Raffi and Seven together, I didn’t buy Seven and Raffi’s relationship, I felt no click between these two women, I wasn’t convinced. One fun quote: Dr. Teresa Ramirez: Are you from outer space? Cristóbal Rios: No... I'm from Chile. I just work in outer space. Of course a nod to Star Trek: The Voyage Home.

The season finale is, one of the better episodes this season, but certainly not something I am ecstatic about. Yes, in the final moments, when Q says his goodbyes to Picard, I got a bit emotional, which does not mean that the episode was all glorious because the creators of course do this with a purpose, this last scene is the last thing you remember and your brain then forgets everything else bad about the episode. No, I think my reaction is more an enumeration of the fact that I love these characters for decades now, the characters portrayed by the same actors, that is what triggered me being emotional during this scene.

Final Word:

Although season one is far from perfect, I think it is better than season two. I really almost didn’t enjoy anything of season two, as I said in my last season one rewatch blog, most characters I did not have any special love for, even Picard is a different character than in The Next Generation. I did like Rios, I liked his character and I liked his personal arc in season two. I truly don’t think I will ever rewatch season two, as I said, I didn’t enjoy it, so why go through it again? I started to rewatch Star Trek: Picard because I wanted to see season 3 for the 2^nd time, I am still really looking forward to that!

Screencaps taken from TrekCore.