I haven't written a review since the beginning of March...As it turns out when you start slipping it becomes easier to slide. I have continued to watch. This blog features reviews for every episode and movie of the franchise, so of course the plan is to catch up again. Actually, some of the time since then was filled by rewatching the entirety of the original series, and I've wanted to write about that, too, as there are many episodes I haven't seen since I was a kid, so that was certainly interesting.
And a lot of new Star Trek has since happened, including the release of the first season finale of Strange New Worlds a few days ago. I just finished catching up on the last three episodes of the season. I thoroughly enjoyed Strange New Worlds, not just for the callbacks (the strongest by far of which was getting to see Spock interact with T'Pring) but the new elements as well. I may endlessly sound as hopelessly biased (I have yet to see an incarnation of Star Trek I have not been able to enjoy in some capacity), but that was as strong a first season as I've seen.
The second season of Picard was much more problematic for me, with much of the problems centering around its inability to nail one of its central callbacks (the characterization of Guinan), as it struggled to make relevant observations about the present while explaining its vision for the tragic backstory of its lead character. I adored the first season, and the second was already sold with its inclusion of Q alone. In the last episode I think things were salvaged sufficiently (Q got a better goodbye, ultimately, than Data did, and that wonderful cameo from Wesley Crusher), so even though the season, once I write it up, will get a much-dreaded "worst episodes" tag (my list is different than the average fan's), which I haven't employed often or very recently (there're fourteen episodes, and while the most recent one is from Voyager's unpopular sixth season, it's not even an episode fans ever discuss among the franchise's worst, none of which, actually, make mine).
Discovery ended on a fine cerebral note, its fourth (!!!) season, and while social media tried to make a big deal out of a cameo from Stacey Abrams, I don't see it as any kind of problem.
They say filming has already ended, on the third (and final) season of Picard, second season of Strange New Worlds, at least. It's still incredible to think that we've gotten so much new Star Trek in recent years. A new movie is finally in the works (Beyond was released in 2016, which gives us about one more year before a new record gap between entries happens), with the Kelvinverse crew returning (probably).
Star Trek may still linger significantly behind Star Wars in pop culture credentials (witness how visible interest in the latest Disney+ series was, as has been the case with all of them), but...you know, it really doesn't matter.
