Is Star Trek: Picard's Idea of Bringing Back the Next Generation Characters a Good One or a Bad One?

Well, season three did very well. It was considered the best season of the short-lived Star Trek: Picard series. So I think the proof is in the pudding.

The third season was essentially a non-ending train of fan service loosely held together by plot. What defines a "good thing" in media is ratings. And that train of fan service brought in the aging crowd of TNG fans. For a fairly sizable chunk of the fan base, TNG is their "first Trek."

A Good One

Star Trek: Picard was a look inside the mind and soul of Jean-Luc Picard, the man without the Starfleet uniform. While I understand Patrick Stewart's decision to not make this a continuation of Star Trek: The Next Generation, such a personal introspective would never have worked without some old friends making a visit. Who else but those who loved Picard most could help him find himself again?

While they definitely shoved Jack Crusher down our throats, they still managed to do a fine job bringing about the TNG reunion fans wanted. They brought the band back together: the whole band!

Opinionated Discussion

I hate questions like this one. It's your opinion that counts. Have you watched it? You don't need other people to tell you if it's a good decision or not. AND the original crew would be Kirk, Spock, et al anyway.

For me: There was nothing wrong with getting Geordi La Forge, Riker, and Worf back to the table with different circumstances. Bringing the Deep Space Nine bad guys 'The Changelings' into the mix was also intriguing. I will receive much flak for some other things I will bring up. I will say mostly 'Not' for other characters such as 'Data.'

Geordi's back story of working in the 'Fleet Museum' was actually pretty good. Being a father was a nice touch. I really liked that aspect. Seeing 'Brent Spiner' yet again... was not what I wanted to see. I don't think it justified the means. It seemed too tied to things that would happen in the 'Nexus' of Star Trek: Generations. Where Kirk and Picard experienced visions of things they wanted to happen or could have happened if they made different choices but were not actually real. Meaning it was just too good to be true. I had too much trouble 'suspending my disbelief.' Data was already resurrected once and so was Picard... and so was 'The Borg Queen' from Voyager... and somehow it was the only ship that could do the job. Enough already! I know the fans couldn't get enough of it, but not this fan. If the fans want to sit and get stuck in the Nexus or on the 'Paradise' planet and fist fight with 'Finnegan' whilst he yells 'Jimmy boy...', haha. Hopefully, you got that last joke. Or maybe play with 'Q' as one of the 'Merry Men.' Ok, I love that episode but I am using it as an example.

They should have continued the story with the Changelings but more like the ones from Deep Space Nine. No blade of Worf would have any affect on those guys. Of course, the producers/writers of this genre probably didn't even watch the show so they missed that part. You'd think Michael Dorn would've remembered since he played on DS9 but maybe he was too busy thinking how cool he was looking swashbuckling. I liked how S3 started, but it quickly went downhill.