I pretty much agree with what you said. It sounds like we had somewhat different pet peeves, but I take your points. I agree with you that Elnor, who was really badly served in this series, would have been a much more appropriate "son" for Picard, and, hey, it's practically science fantasy: they could have figured out a plotline for his getting infected with Picard's Borginess.

I understand your frustration with S2 not being mentioned, especially since it's your favorite season. I thought S2 was largely a mistake, so I had a little sigh of relief that the writers seemed to agree, but overall, yes, it would have been nice if they'd had a coherent 3 seasons and remembered them.

I feel similarly about Laris. As a Picard/Crusher shipper, I always felt she was a bit in the way, but she's a great character in her own right, and given that they did get her together with Picard, suddenly writing her out with no mention was very odd.

If anyone is interested, I have posted my blather here.