'Star Trek: Picard' isn't good enough as a series.

So when it comes to the beloved 'Star Trek' franchise, it's not exactly a secret that the franchise hasn't been doing great lately. Pretty much all the new movies and tv shows that have been produced have turned out to be disappointing.

In reality, even though the J.J. Abrams Trek films weren't completely unwatchable, CBS:s 'Star 'Discovery' series turned out to be really terrible. It was so bad and so against 'Star Trek's' values and idealism that things certainly didn't look good here.

Nevertheless, when I heard that there would be yet another Star Trek series called 'Picard', I had my hopes up a bit. I thought that since Patrick Stewart would bring back his captain Jean Luc Picard, there was a chance that the series would actually work.

So based on the first six episodes of 'Star Trek: Picard' that have now aired, I have to say that - unfortunately - the latest instalment in the franchise hasn't been that good either. Even though 'Picard' is better than 'Star Trek: Discovery', that's not saying much. 

Indeed, one of the biggest problems with the new show is that it - like the Trek movies and 'Discovery'- is just too dark and depressing. It feels like we're watching some cheap, cynical action series instead of  real' Star Trek stuff.

By that I mean that when it comes to the 'original' Star Trek, that included the 'original' series and the 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', those shows were about giving people hope. Those shows were about what we as human beings could be at our best. 

In these new shows though, the producers and the writers are doing everything in their power to make everything as awful and hopeless as possible. There aren't really any characters (excluding perhaps Picard) who would actually represent honesty or idealism. 

Indeed, one of the most mindboggling things about 'Picard' is that there are so many two-faced characters on the series. Almost everyone is either an infiltrator, back-stabber or someone who has something awful to hide (Allison Pill's murderous character).

Story-wise, one of the issues I had with 'Picard' 'Trek-wise' is that there aren't individual episodes. This continuous story approach means that it's (unlike in The Orville) difficult to come up with episodes that would allow them to handle thematical or moral issues.

Another problem with the writing has to do with the structure of the story and the way the forced story beats drive the characters. There are so many instances where the characters wouldn't really do things the way they do if it the story wouldn't force them.

Still, perhaps the worst part about the writing on the show is the continuous flashbacks (a cheap exposition device). There are so many of them in almost every episode (15 years ago, 13 years ago, 17 years ago etc.) that they kill the pacing of the show.

In that sense, when I think about 'Star Trek: Picard' as a whole, it's pretty clear that there are a lot of problems with the show. There are so many flaws here that it's hard to say that the good aspects (like acting) are enough to redeem the show.

After all, even though it's always good to see Sir Patrick Stewart and his captain Picard in action, one would definitely have expected more than that. One would have expected that the series would have been able to bring out the good stuff more than they did here.

In that sense, in the end, knowing that there are still four episodes to be aired this season, I'm not getting my hopes up anymore. I'm not expecting that the series would magically be able to turn around and come up with some great episodes that would entertain us.

After all, especially when you consider that 'Star Trek: Picard' is also a product of J.J. Abrams's team (Kurtzman & co), the show probably won't be able to recover. It won't be able to recover and won't become as good and watchable as it probably could have been.