Star Trek: Picard or Soji & Why Patrick Stewart Hates Jean-Luc Picard

The heroic, eager to protect the underdog, Galaxy Class starship skipper who can do no wrong, is no more. The Borg didn’t kill him; it was Patrick Stewart. Mr. Stewart is injecting a lot of himself into the new Picard character and this is not what the fans were expecting.

Patrick Stewart knows this too well, because the new Picard character is written entirely with his consent. It seems he’s sick of all the accolades and praise being showered on him based on a fictional character in a wildly popular sci-fi franchise. So what is he doing about it? He’s deconstructing and demeaning Picard every chance he gets in Star Trek: Picard. Stewart is trying to send a message to the fans, in every episode, that he’s just a seasoned actor and not a well loved and respected Admiral in the Starfleet.

In order for Sir Patrick to show his contempt for this pop culture hero, he tried his best to make sure the new series was written in such a way that Picard was being beaten down and humiliated by one and all in each episode. He’s mocked by the high command, can’t operate a space vessel, shoved out of the way by the same “person” he’s trying to save, is called arrogant, misguided and egoist to his face, appears as totally out of loop in regard to security protocols, salivating after Soji, even though Picard the Captain never lusted after anyone, except for his vengeance for the Borg. And he is clearly outwitted in every episode, whether by Seven of Nine, Raffi, Jurati, Soji, Oh, Riker or Troi.

Picard, the Captain, who had in-depth knowledge of the most complex scientific theories and least-known federation starship secrets and operation methods, now isn’t even capable of running a tiny space vessel.

Frankly, I don’t have a problem with any of this; I still find this new series totally watchable. My issue is with the intentional and deliberate self-destruction of Picard by the actor who portrays him. Nimoy never did that to Spock, nor did Shatner to Kirk. In fact I can’t think of any Start Trek star who ever tried to dump on his/her character in such a blatant and cost intensive way, until Picard.

Star Trek: Soji

This show should have been called Star Trek: Soji, because she is the most important, sought-after, fussed-over, talked about, catered to, ass-kissed, worshiped and feared character in the show. She is everywhere and under the skin of everyone all at once. She is Data’s daughter, Maddox’s creation, Rios’s long lost love, Jurati’s ultimate dream, Kestra’s instant bff, Romulan’s Anti-Christ, Soong’s granddaughter, the destroyer of all living things, Picard’s step-daughter and apparently even Q is rooting for her (the riddle of the antique compass).

Star Trek: Seven of Nine

Congratulation to Jeri Ryan for stealing the show every single time she is on the screen. Jeri Ryan, with ST: Picard, has now achieved “legend” status in the world of sci-fi. Her performance as Seven of Nice is so impressive, heartfelt, deeply troubled, unapologetic and justifiably badass that it has sealed her spot in the sci-fi hall of fame. What’s so fascinating about Seven is that, she has almost as much Trek credentials as the famous lead Captains. She was a Borg since youth, she was close to the Borg Queen and a spokesperson for the Collective, she completely shook up the Star Trek: Voyager series with her persona and she looks even better now as Seven the Vigilante (excuse me, Ranger) than in her sleek Voyager days. I hope they offer her some type of a series in Trek franchise as a lead. The galaxy needs her.

Borg: The Victims?

Star Trek: Picard Showrunners have managed to quite successfully turn the Borg from the most feared and unstoppable villains in all of sci-fi to a bunch of helpless, traumatized victims and the underdog. This is not a minor accomplishment. The writers deserve credit for such a successful character flip.

Captain Rios and Commander Raffi

Although Santiago Cabrera’s character as Captain Rios, the ostracized former Starfleet officer, was an instant hit with fans, however, it took them longer to embrace Michelle Hurd as Raffi, the former XO to Admiral Picard. Raffi is basically this series’ Reginald Barclay from TNG. Barclay was the roughest around the edges and also one of the smartest characters in TNG and so is Raffi in Picard. It takes vision and commitment for an actor to take on a role of the anti-hero in a franchise filled with heroes. I think Michelle Hurd deserves some badly needed accolades here.

Elnor Makes Sense

Elnor maybe one of the most skilled fighters in the quadrant, but he hasn’t had any life experience at all. This young fighter was brought up by a bunch of nuns on a forgotten planet. Therefore his childlike curiosity and behavior is justified. I hope as the new sidekick to Seven of Nine-the Borg Queen he gets to shine more brightly in upcoming episodes and the next season.

USS Ibn Majid

It was clever of the writers to dedicate one of Federation’s vessels (although currently classified but not for long) after the famed 15th Century Persian Gulf poet, author, cartographer and master navigator, Ahmad ibn Majid (Ahmad son of Majid).

Overall this is a flawed but totally engaging series guided by both veteran actors and new comers, even though Jean-Luc Picard is ultimately a minor character in his own series.

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