Blu-ray Review: Star Trek: Picard: The Final Season (original) (raw)

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard hit Blu-ray, DVD, and Limited Edition Steelbook a few weeks back, and KSiteTV was given a copy of the Season 3 set to review. What did we think? Read on, but be aware some spoilers for the episodes within the set will be discussed!

The Episodes:

Here’s how the official press release describes it: “In the epic, thrilling conclusion of Star Trek: Picard, a desperate message from a long-lost friend draws Starfleet legend Admiral Jean-Luc Picard into the most daring mission of his life, forcing him to recruit allies spanning generations old and new. This final adventure sets him on a collision course with the legacy of his past and explosive, new revelations that will alter the fate of the Federation forever.”

When Star Trek: Picard was first announced as a series, the show was only going to feature Sir Patrick Stewart’s Star Trek: The Next Generation co-stars in random guest appearances; this was a new part of Jean-Luc Picard’s life, and who wants to play the old songs over again, right?

But that’s the thing: While the first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard mostly stuck to this edict, part of what made Picard so interesting in Star Trek: The Next Generation was the original cast that surrounded him. Which is not to say Jean-Luc himself is not interesting, and Patrick Stewart is always engaging as an actor… but some fans, including myself, had a longing for the old crew. (Full disclosure: I am old enough to have watched ST:TNG during its original syndicated run.)

Apparently we weren’t the only ones, as Star Trek: Picard Season 3 gave us, as viewers, everything we wanted — and even a few things we never thought we’d see again. A lot of credit has been given to Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas, whose previous credits include excellent work on the 12 Monkeys TV series. Matalas understands what fans want because he is one…. and the crew that worked on Picard, including talented team members who had worked on the first two seasons, delivered strongly.

What’s very interesting as you go in to Picard Season 3 is if you did not see the previous two seasons, you’d be okay, but if you have, there’s some reward within. It’s almost as if you watch those two seasons to get to the toy at the bottom of the cereal box. Season 3 works in a similar fashion: We don’t see all of our old favorites from the onset, but as each episode goes on, there’s more and more sprinkled in. As a bonus, characters from previous seasons such as Raffi and Seven of Nine are an integral part of the new season, as well.

While I did say I wanted to see “old favorites” returning, this series expertly did let every one of them evolve, and some of the new characters evolved within this show, as well. These aren’t the same people; they’re actually even more interesting with age. I love that in this season, Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Picard actually have strong disagreements. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) finally gets to kick ass. Worf (Michael Dorn) has found his center, Troi (Marina Sirtis) continues to be the group’s heart and emotional anchor, Geordi (LeVar Burton) has been up to an interesting project in recent years, and Data (Brent Spiner) might finally get that humanity that he craved for so many years. As a bonus, these actors who have known each other for over 35 years now continue to have amazing chemistry, almost as if it hadn’t been two decades since many of them worked together on a regular basis.

I love that Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), originally created to add sex appeal to Star Trek: Voyager, has really come into her own as a character now defined by her brain and her talent, while still being beautiful. A new character like Titan captain Liam Shaw seems like a prick when we first meet him, but as the layers peel back, we understand why he reacts to things as he does, and Todd Stashwick does such a great job with the role that you can’t help but root for him by the end.

Liam Shaw isn’t the only new character that deserves special mention: There’s Jack Crusher, Beverly’s son and the center of a lot of what’s going on here. I admit, doing the math in my head I originally didn’t see how Jack could be the age he’s supposed to be when he’s played by mid-thirtysomething Ed Speleers – but Speleers’ talent in this season proved he was absolutely the right actor for the job, as he ably handled a wide range of emotion in a role that could have easily been cast with an actor who wasn’t as capable, especially when acting against such strong powerhouses in the origina_l ST:TNG_ cast. Continuing the theme of legacy, we get to meet Geordi LaForge’s daughters as played by Ashli Sharpe-Chestnut and Burton’s own daughter Mica, and see how both of them have taken different inspirations and aspects from their father. I also have to mention Amanda Plummer’s Vadic, who was an antagonist that the audience could legitimately watch and hate – again, a testament to Plummer’s powerful performance.

For those who hadn’t seen the final season of Picard when it first aired on Paramount+, I don’t want to spoil some of the returning appearances from Star Trek characters and elements that I never thought I’d see again, but do trust that the deeper we get into the season, the more exciting it gets in that department. There’s also a particular set piece from Star Trek lore that is revisited expertly by Dave Blass and his team that will bring tears to any longtime fan’s eyes.

Visual effects for this series are stunning, the music is perfect, and even the font used for the closing credits matched those days watching The Next Generation on a Saturday afternoon in 1992. I would say “I couldn’t ask for anything more,” but of course, there were some things I would have liked to have seen (and the producers would surely like to have included), and I definitely want more — not in the form of a fourth season of Picard, but in a Star Trek: Legacy show spinning out of the end of the finale “The Last Generation.”

The Extras:

There are several featurettes on this set and I’m still working through them. “The Making of the Last Generation” is a particularly great behind-the-scenes look at what went in to this season, complete with quotes from cast and producers. This set also has something that has sadly been missing from a lot of season Blu-Rays and such: Episode commentaries on select episodes! I watched “The Last Generation” commentary with Terry Matalas, Jonathan Frakes, Jeri Ryan, and Ed Speleers and it was so much fun, and it offered an audio glimpse as to what that set must have been like, and how welcome newcomers like Speleers were to the company.

Additionally, there are deleted scenes, some of which are extended versions of things we had seen on the show, and almost all of which are interesting and/or amusing.

Is It Worth It?

While I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation back in the day, I’ve probably only seen about 10% of the Star Trek canon, if that, but I didn’t feel lost at all when watching this season, and I definitely had the emotions anyone with even the slightest Star Trek experience would have. Picard Season 3 is a great tale of legacy and manages fan service, but justified and well-done fan service, throughout. In a world where old franchises are brought back and the toys end up breaking, Season 3 finally gave the Next Generation crew the finale they were denied when Nemesis came and went. Or, in a more nerdy Star Trek sort of way, I’ll say this is “The Undiscovered Country” of The Next Generation. Highly recommended.

KSiteTV Rating: 10/10. Loving the set, loved the show. While we can always (or at least for now) find these episodes on Paramount+, the picture quality and the wealth of extras make this more then worth it. You can purchase it on Amazon.com here. Maybe if enough people order it, Paramount will greenlight Legacy? We can always hope. MAKE IT SO!