The biggest sci-fi event of the early series year so far has started. In the 3rd and final season of Star Trek: Picard, the Enterprise crew around Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) comes together one last time. And Trekkies have had to wait over 20 years for this moment.
Let’s forget the first two seasons. Because with Terry Matalas the series has finally found the right showrunner who knows what Star Trek fans deserve. This creates a series continuation to Starship Enterprise: The Next Century aka The Next Generation as well as Star Trek: Starship Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
The 10 episodes of the season have been released every Friday since February 17th on Amazon Prime Video * and Paramount+ *. However, there are two good reasons why a little patience might pay off.
False Expectations: The Enterprise reunion isn’t for the impatient
The first posters and trailers for the last Picard season already put the focus on the nostalgic reunionwhich brings together Picard, William Riker, Deanna Troi, Geordi La Forge, Beverly Crusher, Worf and a few more well-known Star Trek faces.
Paramount
The great Star Trek reunion
The 10 new episodes not only bring the old cast back together, but they’re pretty darn good too. Fantastic characters meet lots of space action, exciting conflicts, bombastic music and the right pinch of nostalgia. So why should you wait a few more weeks?before you start the new season?
The big meeting of the TNG legends does not take place as expected from the beginning of the season. Showrunner Terry Matalas explains this decision as follows (via Entertainment Weekly):
I thought it was important to her not easy to bring everyone together at firstbut to give each of these characters their own story, to give each of these characters their moment before they come together
Only in the course of several episodes well-known characters from The Next Generation are gradually integrated into the plot. It lasts until episode 6, until all the important returnees can really be seen for the first time. So if you were hoping for Picard’s old crew to come straight out of retirement for a final mission, you might be disappointed.
To avoid this disappointment and get the most out of the more than successful new Picard season, you should ideally wait until the release of the 6th episode and then binge yourself into this exciting space thriller. The bite-sized reunion isn’t the only reason why Star Trek: Picard Season 3 is worth watching in one go.
Picard Season 3 is a 10 hour Star Trek film that shouldn’t be interrupted
There are series that benefit enormously from being watched and discussed weekly. And there are series that work better as a binge. Picard Season 3 falls more into the latter category. Like a kind of 10-hour feature film, the plot here is continuous, which also entails some pitfalls for the dramaturgy.
Watch the German trailer for Star Trek: Picard Season 3 here
Star Trek Picard – Season 3 Trailer (German) HD
Picard’s mission, almost entirely set in space, is developing into an intriguing one Cat and mouse game between the USS Titan and the villain Vadic (Amanda Plummer) while paralleling a conspiracy thriller unfolds, which not only banishes Deep Space Nine fans from the screens.
The new season is gripping, dark, unexpectedly emotional and benefits enormously from if the building plot is not constantly interrupted. It’s almost annoying to be thrown out of the even and dense (spaceship) atmosphere after 50 minutes and only to be able to enter the Titan again a week later.
An exciting plot does not define a good series. What makes Picard Season 3 special are the characters, their conflicts and their evolutions. And here, too, it is worth waiting. For example, the most central and intriguing character conflict for Picard is only at the end of the second episode recognizable at all.
Star Trek Picard Season 3: binge or watch weekly?
Parmount+
Ed Speleers in Picard Season 3
Of course, the season has enough shocking revelations and twists to keep you busy Join in the excitement week after week and to set up theories about the motivations and hidden backgrounds of individual characters. But the plot is so captivating that a week-long Waiting for new episode becomes an almost unbearable torment.
Unless you watch several episodes in a row and can jump straight to the next episode. And after two decades of waiting for the Enterprise class reunion, we should five more weeks not so dramatic be.
But if you can’t and don’t want to wait, you can of course treat yourself to that too. Because after a rather quiet start, Star Trek: Picard season 3 gets better and more exciting from episode to episode. You should only adjust your expectations of the Enterprise reunion beforehand.
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