Star Trek: Picard Told Its Story All Wrong
The story of Star Trek: Picard is suffering because of its slow pacing. At its core the show has an interesting story, but it should have been told in a very different way. It's easy to understand why Patrick Stewart decided to sign up for Star Trek: Picard; the accomplished actor initially listened to CBS' proposals out of courtesy, but was won over by the idea of doing something new with the familiar character.
This version of Jean-Luc Picard is a man who has retreated from the world, discouraged and defeated, unthinkingly abandoning those who still depended upon him. The premiere and episode 5 were entirely focused upon Jean-Luc Picard, while the other three were divided between Picard and Soji's life on the Borg Artifact. Unfortunately this has had the effect of slowing the show's pace, and the story just isn't advancing quickly enough. It took Picard three whole episodes to leave Earth and properly begin his quest, and episode 4 felt like a tangent; useful world-building, but barely progressing the plot at all.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view. Start nowA better approach would have been to ditch the Soji sub-plot for now, instead focusing entirely on Jean-Luc Picard and his developing crew. This is the traditional Star Trek approach, after all: using the starring characters as a window to explore strange new worlds and civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Star Trek: Picard's Narrative Could Have Been More Effective
The story of Star Trek: Picard is essentially the tale of a man who had retreated from the world and is now being dragged back into it. It begins with an ill-fated interview, with Picard choosing to allow a journalist to enter his chateau and question him on the Romulan disaster. Unfortunately, the journalist breaks the rules, probing Picard on his resignation from Starfleet and prompting a furious reaction. This scene should really be understood as a half-hearted attempt by Picard to reach out to the world and accept it on his own terms, with the restrictions he imposed seen as a control. But, of course, it turns into what Picard admits can only be described as "an unmitigated disaster" because the world rebels against every effort to control it. From there, the story builds momentum, with the arrival of Dahj forcing Picard to leave his chateau and its grounds for what may well be the first time in decades.
The actual plot takes this quite slowly; it takes three of 10 episodes for Picard to finally leave Earth. But focusing purely on Picard would have accelerated his reconnection with the galaxy, establishing a strong sense of momentum as events spiral out of Picard's control. The themes would have been enhanced rather than diminished. Meanwhile, this tighter focus would have been of greatest significance with Star Trek: Picard episode 4, "Absolute Candor." This was one of the strongest episodes in the entire series, shocking viewers with the reality that Jean-Luc Picard really did let everybody down when he retreated from the world. And yet, viewed from the perspective of the show's overarching narrative, episode 4 felt like nothing more than a side-mission to recruit the final member of Picard's crew, Elnor. That would have been far more effective had it been part of the episode, rather than consuming its entirety.
Meanwhile, the introduction of Seven of Nine at the end of episode 4 would have been far more shocking. The Soji scenes had set up the importance of the Borg, and as a result it felt like only a matter of time before Seven of Nine — the most prominent ex-Borg in the history of Star Trek — turned up. Without those scenes set in the Borg Cube, Seven of Nine's sudden appearance would be experienced as an unexpected plot twist, and she could have been used to introduce the ex-Borg status quo and set up the artifact with only a minimum of adjustment to the plot.
The Synthetic Sub-Plot Would Have Been Even More Mysterious
Meanwhile, this structure would have created a far greater sense of mystery, with viewers knowing only a little more than Picard himself. The scenes with Commodore Oh would still have told viewers there were more synthetics out there, and indeed a Romulan operative was monitoring one such synthetic. But Soji's location would have been unknown, meaning she could be anywhere in the galaxy. The references to "the rest" of the synthetics would have hinted at some sort of potential android invasion; frankly, it would have felt like something of a shadow-war between a Romulan secret society and an unknown number of androids who had infiltrated galactic civilization. There would have been troubling ethical questions, with viewers unsure whether Picard was in the right or not.
Now imagine a scenario where the Borg sub-plot grew in importance throughout the season, viewed only through Picard's eyes. Given Picard's own history with the Borg — his past experience of assimilation — Picard would be more than a little shaken to reach the Artifact. When he finally found Soji, he would have been suspicious of her lover Narek, but he would have had no reason to believe he worked for the Zhat Vash. Viewers would have been unsure, too; they'd have known Commodore Oh referred to a Romulan who was close to Saji, but Narek is hardly following protocol in becoming Saji's lover.
It's important not to be too harsh with this criticism. The simple fact is that Star Trek: Picard is still an excellent show; yet, its best episodes have been the ones focused entirely on Jean-Luc Picard, propelling his quest forward as fat as the Ibn Majid's engines can take him. The characters are fascinating, and the arcs, while slow-moving, are immersive. However, at this stage, Star Trek: Picard is being undermined by its own narrative structure. Hopefully that will change going forward; Picard and his crew now know Soji is on the Artifact, sent there by Bruce Maddox for an as-yet-unknown reason. There's simply no reason to continue splitting the narratives like this, given the Ibn Majid is clearly headed into Romulan space to find Soji.
Source: screenrant.com