Oh Captain, my Captain!

[selenak]

Now here's new's to wake up to: Patrick Stewart will return as Jean-Luc Picard in a new Trek series.

Usually I'm on the side that thinks you should let finished stories be finished, and tend to be very sceptical about nostalgia trips. Also, the TNG finale, All Good Things... still is the best finale of any Trek show (so far, of course), and a fantastic example of how to conclude a story, full stop. But. Not only is Picard my Starfleet Captain, but the TNG movies, with the exception of First Contact, were mediocre (Generations, Prime Directive) to downright horrible (Nemesis), and for that reason alone, Nemesis not being the last time I get to watch my favourite Captain in action would please me. Especially since it won't be in a cinematic outing, which I've always said isn't the best medium for Star Trek, but a tv one, where you don't have to do the conventional "introduce villain, early set back, defeat villain" thing of cinematic rule and can do far more character stuff instead.

The other reason why I'm thrilled is the godawful reality we're living in, of course. It might be very good to be given a central character who isn't a frat boy (overgrown or otherwise); who has impulse control, who's a stoic, even, though that doesn't mean he can't be passionate about some issues. Who loves to geek out about archaelogy and actually tries to understand other cultures. Who is awkward around children but would die to defend them, and, more difficult for him, actually try to interact if that helps. Who has made mistakes, absolutely, yet learned from them. Who is, in short, an adult, and a good person. Maybe that's boring to some people; consider me more than ready to be bored in that sense.


The various announcements make it sound like it won't be a TNG continuation per se, meaning we have no idea who, other than Picard, will also be back, and much as I love the team, that actually would be refreshing, because the insistence from TOS onwards to treat a promotion as the worst thing ever to justify keeping the ensemble together is somewhat annoying. And the other characters can guest star at various points. Since I've always liked that Picard was the one ST Captain whose future (in the TNG finale flash forwards) wasn't being first an admiral and then a captain again but being an ambassador (which fits his personality and link with Sarek), I'm vaguely hoping for the new show to actually go there and let him be a diplomatic trouble shooter (in the metaphorical sense) posted at various crisis points in the galaxy, but I'm aware that the odds aren't good, and they'll probably give him a ship again based on ST precedent. Still, a woman can hope until told otherwise.


While I'm hoping: how about a scene with Picard and Guinan chatting in the pilot? This is a relationship I've always liked, and it could serve as brief exposition as to what Jean-Luc has been up to since we've seen him last.

Lastly: back when the first ST Reboot movie was released, I know a lot of people were upset about it wiping out the old continuity. I thought the movie itself made clear that we're operating with a multiverse model, i.e. the old and the new timelines co-exist, not one instead of the other, but some fans thought otherwise. So there's another reason for me to be glad we're returning to the TNG/DS9/Voy era of Trekdom on screen; it makes it clear these folk and their stories are still as canonical and there as ever.

Comments

[thawrecka]

I'm very much looking forward to it.

[selenak]

May it be good, Producers. Make it so!

[ffutures]

I saw this on a fanfic site last night, I think it has the potential to either be very good or very bad, hoping for the former.

One possibility that might be interesting (apart from the ambassador thing) is a political career - for some reason he ends up as Federation president or something. Think West Wing in Spaaaaaaaace!

[selenak]

West Wing in Space could be fascinating, since it's a Format ST hasn't done before, but I do wonder whether they'd be up to the world building - ideally the political system wouldn't simply be the US one with some futuristic trappings, for starters.

[lynnenne]

West Wing in Space with Picard would be really cool! But I can't help thinking that Battlestar Galactica already did it with Laura Roslin.

[moon_custafer]

Someone on Tumblr quipped that they were hoping for Star Trek: Murder He Wrote — Picard is retired to the French vineyards, but keeps having to solve murders. (The murderer keeps turning out to be Q)

[lynnenne]

LOL!!!

[trobadora]

I don't have strong feelings about either Picard or TNG (my Trek shows were TOS and VOY), but I'm very happy about both a return to the future (something that's not a prequel or a reboot, yay!) and, as you say, a main character who isn't a fratboy.

[selenak]

You know, given that Kate Mulgrew has won a lot of new fans via Orange is the New Black, I wouldn't exclude another Janeway cameo (there was one in one of the TNG movies already cementing she and Picard know each other)! Bring on the Primeverse, I say.

[petra]

My Captain! I agree that Guinan would be an excellent person for him to interact with, and I'm so pleased.

[selenak]

I think Whoopi Goldberg would be game. Of course, there'll be likely be plenty of new characters, and I'm sure I'll embrace many of them, but it would be nice to have one more face from the old days at the start, and Guinan won't have to explain why she's not *insert Starfleet rank* elsewhere by now.

[astrogirl]

I was cautiously excited about this for about two seconds. Then I realized that it's going to be on CBS's stupid streaming service, and now I'm looking for sour-grapes reasons to dismiss the whole idea, because, no, I am still not signing up for another damn streaming service. Sigh.

[selenak]

I have to say, these days it's better to be an Overseas Star Trek fan. We got Discovery via Netflix , and I expect it will be the same with this new series. I feel spoiled, since time was we non Americans had either to wait a year or two or illegally harrumph. Now we're getting it in real time, legally (provided we're on Netflix).

[astrogirl]

I do feel as if I probably shouldn't complain about this sort of thing, given that (Doctor Who aside), for ages it was usually the rest of the world having a hard time getting shows we Americans were happily watching on our TV sets. But I'm going to complain anyway. I do not like this new paradigm of having to pay umpteen different monthly fees just to be able to watch the few shows I want to watch.

[andraste]

I love the idea of troubleshooting Ambassador Picard - I've always been glad that canon didn't imply he'd become Admirable Picard because I'm pretty sure he'd be a terrible admiral.

(Sisko would have been a great one but is otherwise occupied being a Prophet instead, so I hope that the new thing features Admiral Janeway in some capacity.)

[selenak]

A Janeway-Picard encounter would be high on my wish list, and Kate Mulgrew has been very visible in recent years due to "Orange is the new black", so I say the odds are good!

Sisko-Picard has all the angst inducing backstory frisson, which reminds me, one of my unwritten stories which I really want to write one day is a First Contact AU in which Sisko, not Worf, commands the Defiant and thus ends up on the Enterprise. Because between Sisko's own Borg issues and Picard issues, but also rank (if Crusher classified Picard as emotionally compromised, he could take command, couldn't he?), there is a wide aray of possibilities.

[andraste]

I am crossing my fingers that Orange is the New Black counters any tendencies the producers might have to shunt older women out of the universe.

Oooooo, that would be fascinating. It would be duelling Borg issues at dawn between thos two. (Maybe Crusher has to relieve both of them of command so they can go yell somewhere else?)

[selenak]

Not an "older woman", but I loved that Jayne Brook as Admiral Cornwell doesn't look improbably young but really of an age with Jason Isaacs, and of course TNG had Jean Simmons as the villainess in The Drumhead, while DS9 wins for best use of an older actress in any Trek with Louise Fletcher as Her Eminence, Kai Winn.

It would be duelling Borg issues at dawn between thos two.

That, or having Sisko around actually works as a restraint for Picard. Because in either case there's the guilt-rage mix in him, sure, but with Sisko, he has a victim of Locutus, who lost his wife because of him - whom he knows blames him, even if they came to terms at the end of the pilot - so if Sisko were to object to his "the line must be drawn here", it would be different from Worf or Beverly doing so. Which would essentially give Sisko Lily's role.

Otoh: would Sisko object? Let's face it, Ben isn't the most rational when upset, either, and: Borg issues. But he has Jake to come home to, which I hope would keep him from indulging a suicide tactic. Then again, maybe in a scenario where Sisko commands the Defiant, he's aware Starfleet ordered Picard to not engage the Borg because of the Locutus factor, and as soon as he comes on the Enterprise suggests taking over command as a compromise (which would keep the Enterprise in play, just not under Picard's command), well before Jean-Luc starts to lose it, which would also be interesting. If it were a Starfleet order, Picard would go along with it, but there's no time to check with Starfleet command, so does he?

[davetheanalyzer]

Not into Star Trek much, but I thought you might be cheered up by this instagram post where Michael Burnham's actress shares a selfie with Patrick Stewart which has a sweet message: https://www.instagram.com/p/BmHBu6JBpCU/

[selenak]

That's adorable, and reminds me that due to his mind melding with Sarek, Picard must have a lot of memories of Michael Burnham!