‘Star Trek: Picard’ Revisits America’s Imperialist Dreams and Finds a Nightmare
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3b45a/star-trek-picard-revisits-americas-imperialist-dreams-and-finds-a-nightmare
Star Trek: Picard is all about nostalgia. It’s built into the premise. Star Trek: The Next Generation is a foundational television series not just for sci-fi fans, but also for what Star Trek would become throughout the 90s and early 2000s. It's the foundation the JJ Abrams movies pointedly demolished in favor of the more paranoid, militaristic visions of a literal 9/11 truther. The first season of Discovery, the first of CBS All Access's new Star Trek offerings, was in many ways a photonegative version of TNG as it explored what happens when a StarFleet captain, with all the power and discretion of that position, turns out to be the anti-Picard: violent, unethical, and vain.
By centering the latest series on the the return of Patrick Stewart's beloved captain, Star Trek: Picard promises both nostalgia and reassurance. One of fiction's great leadership figures is returning to duty. Picard can right the ship.