Having Riker realise that first was a genuinely great story point – one that showed just how close these two old friends are, and how Riker has a perceptiveness, even years later, that Picard can rely on. There was scope to spend a lot more time with Riker as he tried to convince Picard of what he already knew: that Jack is his son. Now for the contradiction! At several points, I felt that all we were getting of Riker were clips cut-down snippets of what should’ve been longer scenes. We saw this with Picard in both its first and second seasons… and I can’t shake the feeling, even at this relatively early stage, that the same problem is about to reoccur.Ĭaptain Vadic and her crew on the Shrike. But on the other hand, these truncated seasons don’t have as much room for manoeuvre, so getting bogged down at the starting line – or spending too long on side-quests – can end up having a serious knock-on impact. On the one hand, Picard would almost certainly never have been made if Paramount insisted on twenty episodes or more per season! And the serialised nature of these stories makes a ten-episode season akin to a ten-part movie, which is a great thing in many ways. The ten-episode seasons of modern television shows are a double-edged sword. It makes me feel as though some of the moments in Disengage could and perhaps should have been included last week. Dr Crusher’s plea for help and Picard and Riker’s off-the-books rescue was the starting point for this story, yet after two entire episodes have passed, we haven’t moved much beyond that yet. Two episodes in and we’ve barely gotten off the starting line. Is the main story progressing at the right pace? Or am I overthinking things? But again, in terms of the overall narrative arc of the season, it feels as though Disengage crawled along at a pretty slow pace. This focus on Jack’s identity and backstory was worth doing, and although some moments didn’t quite stick the landing, it’s an interesting and engaging story – one that has me wanting to learn more. This episode focused on Jack Crusher, the character who many of us had guessed was the son – somehow – of Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher. The main events of both The Next Generation and Disengage appear to have taken place, for the most part, over the span of a few hours the exception being Raffi’s sequences, which, despite being rushed, actually seem to take place over a longer spell of time. Where are we in terms of story? After two complete episodes – a full 20% of the season – it still feels like we’re at the beginning. Note the radical difference in brightness, colour temperature, and tone. …and here’s the photographed scene as it appeared in the episode. I did manage to, shall we say, “source” a second copy of Disengage, but this was also plagued by the same issues. Again, this is something I’d hope Paramount would have been able to correct behind-the-scenes when it became apparent… but so far, no luck. Areas that should be in focus are poorly illuminated, and the washed-out effect doesn’t help here either. In multiple scenes and sequences – particularly those set in Raffi’s underworld city, but it wasn’t entirely restricted to that setting – it hasn’t always been easy to see what’s going on. In addition to the colour temperature issue, both episodes of the season so far have been incredibly dark. I hope this is something that Paramount can fix – but I doubt it. Neither is right or natural, and the colour temperature of the season so far feels off. I tried adjusting my screen manually, but I could either get the default faded, washed-out look or I could get a horribly over-corrected, over-saturated look. Both last week and this week, Picard looked incredibly washed-out and faded on my 4K HDR display. As I said last week, it’s a story with a contradictory feel. If you read my review of the season premiere last week, there’s almost no need to read this! In short, many of the points I made last time are the same this time: Disengage was an episode with the same contradictory feel as The Next Generation, one in which the main storyline seemed to edge along at a very slow pace while several story beats rushed past too quickly, or else didn’t get enough time dedicated to them.Īnd those story beats are more or less the same ones as last time, too: Raffi’s undercover mission seemed to race by, some of the scenes between Picard and Jack could have been extended, Riker didn’t get a lot of time to shine, and even the intrigue on the Titan with Captain Shaw and Seven didn’t get a lot of time in the spotlight. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Undiscovered Country, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3.
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