Star Trek: Picard Finale Review - 3 Ups And 5 Downs From Et In Arcadia Ego (Part 2)

2. Putting The Band B̶a̶c̶k̶ Together

In truth, the entire reason that format would suit the show better is because the major achievement here has been the supporting cast. Yes, Picard was always the focal point of The Next Generation, but the bulk of episodes had their focus pointed elsewhere. The adventures (or misadventures) of the entire crew, no matter how life-changing or trivial, is what made that show.

Attempting this from the beginning would never have worked because, well, we don't know anything about these people so we've got no real reason to care, but now that we do there's scope to dedicate entire episodes to them rather than an overarching narrative.

In Soji, Agnes, Rios, Raffi, Seven, Elnor and, you'd presume, Narek, Picard has a crew that's every bit as fascinating and three-dimensional as those seen on the more traditional Star Trek shows. Are they as good as those on the old Enterprise-D? No, not yet, but there's definitely enough scope there to give them a run for their money in a few season's time.