10 Amazing First Episodes Of Brilliant TV Series
8. Picard - Remembrance
Star Trek is a phenomenal franchise that has explored hundreds of great story lines across dozens of series & movies. It is beloved by fans but much of the universe suffers from a crippling flaw, it can be extremely dull to a non fan. Episodes are often too long, too slow paced, or rely too heavily on obscure scientific fantasies, which are anathema to the less studious viewer.
The creators of Picard clearly recognised this issue. The first episode introduces a very simple overall premise, several equally simple subplots, and attaches them to an overarching philosophical issue. Gone are ten minute long explanations of impenetrable positron matrices or space-time fluctuations. Picard asks the audience what is humanity, and what is a man's duty to do the right thing.
Brilliantly written, perfectly acted and with exactly enough action, Picard has not even finished its first season and is already the best addition to the Star Trek universe for a very long time. It exists in that rare dimension of being the best of what came before to please long term fans, and diverts from its flaws enough to attract entirely new fans. That is not an easy thing to do in entrenched fan base and this first episode is superb for achieving it.