Start Trek Discovery, Start Trek Picard, and Start Trek Short Takes

[Auggie]

Finally got around to streaming (CBS All Access) these and binged-watched the lot of it in one month.

(Spoiler warning)

Short Treks may have been my favorite of all three -- 10 to 16 minute segments similar to one-act plays, based on the new series (Discovery, Picard), using the same sets and some of the same cast members, and two episodes with ties to the original 1960s series. Some shorts are funny, some poignant, some just fun to watch. Trek fans should love these.

Discovery blows the roof off special effects and production values, but I found the series storyline a little too familiar (parallel universes, time travel) and missing Gene Roddenberry's original intent, which was to explore what it means to be human. Picard, on the other hand, nails the question in a storyline examining synthetic life and extreme prejudice. It's a very satisfying second act for Patrick Stewart and a lot of former TNG cast members (and one Voyager member as well). Not as epic as Discovery, perhaps even a little "dated" in feeling, but it's still really fun to watch.

After Discovery made its jump into the future, I found myself pining for an Enterprise reboot with Captain Pike, Spock and Number One (Rebecca Romijn). That's a great story waiting to be told.