'This is the end, my friend': Final season of Star Trek: Picard on Amazon Prime Video to be a Next Generation reunion: 'This is the end, my friend'.

by Thinus Ferreira

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard functioning as a cast reunion of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast, will make its debut on Amazon Prime Video in South Africa on 17 February.

While Star Trek: Picard is a Paramount+ show in the United States, it is available on Amazon Prime Video through a licensing and distribution deal with Paramount Global Content Distribution in 200 countries, including South Africa where Paramount Global hasn't yet launched Paramount+.

Following the third season premiere, new episodes of the 10-episode final season will be available weekly on Amazon Prime Video. The first two seasons are also on Amazon Prime Video.

In the new third season, Ed Speleers joins as a series regular who aids Beverly Crusher's medical efforts on worlds which Starfleet has forgotten, with Todd Stashwick also appearing in a recurring role as the captain of the USS Titan.

Patrick Stewart reprises his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and follows this iconic character into the next chapter of his life. 

LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan, and Michelle Hurd also appear in the final season. 

According to the show's logline "In the new season, a desperate message from a long-lost friend draws Starfleet legend Admiral Jean-Luc Picard into the most daring mission of his life, forcing him to recruit allies spanning generations old and new".

"This final adventure sets him on a collision course with the legacy of his past and explosive, new revelations that will alter the fate of the Federation forever."

Amanda Plummer has also joined the cast in a recurring role as Vadic, the mysterious alien captain of the Shrike, a warship that has set its sights on Jean-Luc Picard and his old crewmates from his days on the Enterprise.

Mica Burton and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut join in recurring roles. Burton plays ensign Alandra La Forge, Geordi La Forge's youngest daughter, and Sharpe Chestnut plays ensign Sidney La Forge, the eldest daughter of Geordi La Forge and helmsman of the USS Titan. Daniel Davis will once again take up the role of the devious Professor Moriarty from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Wars The Mandalorian from Disney+ that's unavailable in South Africa tops the list of 2020's illegally most-watched TV show. Here is the Top 10 list:

by Thinus Ferreira

It is the show you've been looking for: The show most-watched TV show through illegal means in 2020 is a show and a service that isn't available through any pay-TV option in South Africa with Star Wars: The Mandalorian series on Disney+ that has dethroned Game of Thrones.

According to TorrentFreak that researches and compiles an annual list, The Mandalorian on Disney+ is now the most sought-after TV series to watch globally - whether through legitimate channels or pirate viewing.

That is followed by the subversive superhero series The Boys on Amazon Prime Video, and with HBO's Westworld, seen on M-Net (DSv 101) and Showmax, in third place.

Noteworthy is that no show from Netflix appears on 2020's Top 10 list. 

The force powers of Baby Yoda (real name: Grogu) has overpowered HBO's fantasy series Game of Thrones that for years dominated the annual post-pirated TV show list. The Mandalorian has jumped from third most-downloaded series in 2019 and is now in first place.

Disney+ that has rolled out in several comparable TV markets to South Africa, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South America, several countries in Europe and Australia and New Zealand remains unavailable in the country or anywhere else in sub-Saharan Africa.

While Disney isn't making it possible for South African to watch The Mandalorian and forcing them to pirate-view the show, The Walt Disney Company is oddly licensing, distributing and selling The Mandalorian merchandise like clothes in South African retail stores.

Disney has not announced any possible Disney+ roll-out date for South Africa, fuelling in the lexicon of The Mandalorian "the way": growing consumer interest in illegal downloads and sharing of its content across Africa. 

As Disney+ remains unavailable although consumers would pay for legal access, more people over time will use torrents and other illegal download methods to watch The Mandalorian as well as other Disney+ content, which means that Disney will lose more money and revenue from content monetisation from consumers who would have paid to watch it.    

New shows on the Top 10 most-downloaded list for 2020 include Star Trek: Picard available on Amazon Prime Video that is available as a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service in South Africa, and the HBO Stephen King-based mini-series Outsider that was on M-Net and Showmax.

"The top three nicely shows how fragmented the online entertainment industry has become. In order to watch all three series, one needs three separate subscriptions. That's a cost not everyone may be able to afford, which can explain part of the piracy problem," TorrentFreak says.

Other shows on 2020's Top 10 most-watched list are traditional pay-TV series, including Vikings on M-Net City (DStv 115) and Showmax, Rick and Morty on TNT Africa (DStv 137) and Showmax, The Walking Dead on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) and Arrow on M-Net and Flash on M-Net City.

This is the 10 top ranking:

                                            2019

1.    The Mandalorian        3

2.    The Boys                    none

3.    Westworld                 none

4.    Vikings                         4

5.    Star Trek: Picard       none

6.    Rick and Morty           8

7.    The Walking Dead      6

8.    Outsider                     none

9.    Arrow                          10

10.    The Flash                   7

TV REVIEW. In sci-fi television's dark universe Star Trek Picard on Amazon Prime Video adds a speck of inner light.

by Thinus Ferreira

In an unsure, unstable world of Trump, Twitter, climate change and coronavirus outbreaks, the return of a character like Star Trek's Jean-Luc Picard in Amazon Prime Video's new Star Trek: Picard understatedly underlines just how much - just like Oprah - certain people are desperately needed back on television.

Although somewhat changed by time, Patrick Stewart's measured, thoughtful Picard is still one of the characters deeply needed on television, once again embodying an inner, collective moral consciousness in a galaxy where few care to care, or to listen.

"Let's behave like civilised men," says the former-Captain-then-Admiral-now-retired "Jay-El", once again elegantly portrayed in the 10-episode, first season of Star Trek: Picard.

The new series throws the well-known, well-worn, trusted Starfleet captain - as well as viewers - back into a tumultuous, angst-riddled, scared and gridlocked galaxy where everybody is unsure of themselves and their place in the world, and therefore scared of each other.

Set in 2399, the world and galaxy of Star Trek: Picard is still the one from The Next Generation, DS9 and Voyager, but in the 18 years since the Star Trek: Nemesis film in 2002, 18 years also passed in Gene Roddenberry's universe.

In the way that our lives changed over two decades with iPhones, airport screenings and an increasingly more unstable world, so Picard's world changed with LCARS morphing into hologram displays, now drinking his tea "Earl Grey decaf", the creation and banning of "synths" (androids) after they attacked Mars, and the Roluman homeworld that got destroyed by a supernova.

"I never dreamed that Starfleet would give in to intolerance and fear," Picard remarks during the 3 first three episodes made available for review, with viewers who get to discover how and why Picard left Starfleet as he is lured back to a new space-bound adventure.

"You need a crew. Riker. Worf. LaForge," suggest a character for Picard's latest mission  - to which he says "no".

It's exactly because they would help that he can't risk asking or taking them. This isn't "All Good Things" - the final episode of The Next Generation - but a new mystery and challenge that might bring proper closure and redemption for the story of the beloved Data android character in a clever and inventive way.

While The Expanse which dropped its fourth season last month (co-incidentally on Amazon Prime Video as well) remains the very best science fiction on television in the current zeitgeist, Star Trek: Picard could move itself to second place depending on how the season's story plays itself out.

Star Trek: Picard is what Star Trek: Discovery should have been and what a lot of flim-flam so-called "genre television" these days try to do but don't because of a lack of budget, and talent behind and in front of the screen.

Star Trek: Picard feels Next Generation-ey in a way that Star Trek: Discovery has never yet felt like Star Trek except for Anson Mount as Captain Pike.

Created by executive producer Alex Kurtzman and the screenwriter and novelist Michael Chabon, Star Trek: Picard has the TNG-genes but poured into a current day mould.

There are the familiar yet slightly adapted uniforms but newly fitted around a political intrigue story, transporter technology sparkling around new questions about legacy, appearance and reality, "Borg cube reclamation", secret assassins and interplanetary spy games.

"I've never cared for science fiction. Just never got it," Jean-Luc quips in one of several in-jokes.

Longtime fans of The Next Generation will have little to complain about. Yes, it's not as brightly lit. It's not as clean. Starfleet is no longer so perfect (was it ever, Pegasus?). Yet with the growing existence and investigation of synthetic beings, Star Trek: Picard feels even more human than Gene Roddenberry's utopian world.

Eagle-eyed fans will spot several small mistakes (will aircon outlet grills at convention centres really be the 2020-style in 2399?) but it's probably to be expected from a start-up show with a smaller budget than the syndicated TNG in its 1990s heydey.

Design-wise the production could have done more to include more Next Gen familiarity, but again, they probably didn't have the budget.

With interweaving character setting, setup and the time taken to assemble the new group of travelling stargazers, the first three episodes of Star Trek: Picard might feel a bit drawn out until it gets to "engage" at the end of episode 3.

Viewers who stick around for the new setup to be established will find it worth the wait.

In an era of antihero-filled television an older, wiser, and slightly more unsure Picard is a lot of things but not disappointing and not a sell-out. With a lot of dark television around Star Trek: Picard adds a speck of inner light.


The review is based on the first 3 episodes of season 1 of Star Trek: Picard.

Star Trek: Picard is available on Amazon Prime Video.


ALSO READ: Engage! Here's everything you need to know and see before you start to watch the new Star Trek: Picard on Amazon Prime Video.

Engage! Here's everything you need to know and see before you start to watch the new Star Trek: Picard on Amazon Prime Video.

by Thinus Ferreira

Make it so! With the first episode of the new Star Trek: Picard series diving right into the action and intrigue without explanation, existing Star Trek viewers and new ones need to know the following and should watch the following 6 old episodes and 2 films to fully enjoy the story of Captain-then-Admiral-now-retired Jean-Luc Picard's next exciting chapter.

Star Trek: Picard, taking place 18 years after the final Star Trek: The Next Generation film, Nemesis (in which the android character of Data died) is becoming available on Amazon Prime Video this Friday.

The 10-episode first season, with Patrick Stewart once again reprising his iconic role, will release episodes weekly and the series has been renewed for a second season.

Episodes of Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: DS9, as well as Star Trek: Voyager are all streaming on Netflix South Africa, although the new Star Trek: Picard series is on Amazon Prime Video for South African viewers and all viewers outside of the United States and Canada.

Jean-Luc, or "Jay-El" as one of the characters now refers to him and who has been quietly living on a wine farm in France, is quickly drawn into a brand-new mystery involving a possible Starfleet conspiracy and cover-up, a nefarious Romulan plot, a strange young woman seeking his help, and a new crop of androids now called "synths".

Since Starfleet doesn't want to help him, Jean-Luc assembles a new rag-tag crew aboard a new ship (although the iconic USS Enterprise NCC-1701 D does make a surprise appearance) to boldly go and solve the latest mystery.

Former Star Trek characters Brent Spiner (Data), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh), Jonathan Frakes (William Riker) and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) all appear.

It's important to watch certain essential previous Star Trek episodes and films that provide all of the important background, character development and story to understand precisely who the characters are, and how they and the story fit together.

Before you zoom off at warp speed with the latest tale, watch these 6 essential episodes and 2 films:

Conspiracy (Star Trek: TNG, season 1, episode 25)
See how Captain Picard discovers that officers at Starfleet Command on Earth are acting strangely, eventually finding a big conspiracy.

The Measure of a Man (Star Trek: TNG, season 2, episode 9)
Dats is put on trial and defended by Picard when a scientist, Bruce Maddox, wants to dismantle and experiment on him to create android replicas.

The Offspring (Star Trek: TNG, season 3, episode 16)
Data creates an android daughter Lal and tries to raise her.

The Best of Both Worlds I & II (Star Trek: TNG, season 3, episode 26)
Picard battles the Borg.

I, Borg (Star Trek: TNG, season 5, episode 23)
The Enterprise crew meets the severed Borg called Hugh.

Scorpion I & II (Star Trek: Voyager, season 3, episode 26)
The introduction of the Borg character, Seven of Nine, who gets severed from the Borg collective and rejoins humanity.

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
A bad film and the movie end of The Next Generation crew but it contains important background as to what happened to Data, Picard, and the Romulans. Data sings the song "Blue Skies" that features in the new series, as well as B4 (another android version like Data) that features in the film and in the new series. Data also makes a sacrifice that echoes into the new series.

Star Trek (2009)
Not part of the "real" Star Trek but set in the so-called "Kelvin timeline", this reboot film with Chris Pine as Captain Kirk is however important to see, since it deals with a supernova destroying the planet of Romulus. While this event happened in the new Star Trek parallel universe of J.J. Abrams, it also happened in the classic Star Trek universe.
The Picard of Star Trek: Picard references and deals with this aftermath from "his/our" side and the fact that original-version Starfleet chose not to help.


ALSO READ: TV REVIEW. In sci-fi television's dark universe Star Trek: Picard on Amazon Prime Video adds a speck of inner light.

Data, Seven of Nine, return to Star Trek in Star Trek: Picard on Amazon Prime Video in new teaser trailer, as Jean-Luc helps a young woman in a Borg-inspired story.

Brent Spiner as Data, Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi and Jonathan Frakes as William Riker will all reprise their iconic Star Trek roles in the new Star Trek: Picard series that will debut on Amazon Prime Video.

The starting date of Star Trek: Picard with Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role of Jean-Luc Picard made famous in Star Trek: The Next Generation, has now been pushed out to "early-2020" and no longer "late-2019" as originally announced by CBS.

A new teaser trailer was released for Star Trek: Picard at this past weekend's San Diego International Comic-Con 2019 where the upcoming series had a panel session with cast members that besides Patrick Stewart, includes Isa Briones (Dahj), Santiago Cabrera (Cristobal "Chris" Rios), Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker), Alison Pill (Dr Agnes Jurati), Harry Treadaway (Narek) and Evan Evagora (Elnor).

Jonathan Del Arco who played the character of the individualised Borg drone Hugh in Star Trek: The Next Generation will also be back to reprise his character role.

The series is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment and is set within the Next Generation "Prime" universe, in the year 2399.

Star Trek: Picard will be available on CBS All Access in the United States, and be distributed concurrently internationally by CBS Studios International on Amazon Prime Video.

Here is the new teaser trailer, featuring Data, Seven of Nine and the other new characters:

Here are 5 new revelations regarding Star Trek: Picard:

1. Data is/remains dead
The android character of Data remains dead following the events of the final Star Trek: The Next Generation film. It, therefore, stands to reason that Data appears as part of a holodeck creation ordered up by Jean-Luc Picard.

"Data died and he is in the show I don't want to give the idea that he is in every episode or in a lot of episodes, but he is in the show," said Brent Spiner in an interview.


2. A darker, more complicated world
In an interview Sir Patrick Stewart says "the story has become more complicated, darker, and more diverse than in the days of The Next Generation".

"The world has changed. And you know what, the world has changed. And is changing in terrifying ways right now. That is one of the things that this new series touches on. It always had that element of contemporary society that it commented on and that's what we're doing in this new show."


3. A new crew 'only in a sense'
"It's only a crew in the sense. You must not think of it as a crew like the USS Enterprise," explained Sir Patrick Stewart.

"We are not Starfleet. We are in a sense renegades. We are acting independently." Seven episodes have been filmed already, with 3 episodes left to do. Sir Patrick Stewart said he's open to do a second season of Star Trek: Picard if there were to be one.


4. There's a new 'Number One'
In Star Trek: The Next Generation Captain Jean-Luc Picard called Commander Riker "Number One". But Picard has a new number one now. The new series starts off with Picard living and working on his wine farm and he has a dog.

"The dog's real name is Dinero, and his cast name is Number One," Sir Patrick Stewart revealed.


5. Tonally different
"It's slower, more gentle, more lyrical. It is certainly more character-based," explained Akiva Goldsman, executive producer when he was asked at the panel session to explain how the new series will be different from other Star Trek series like Star Trek: Discovery.

"It also takes on the same things that the original series took on, that Star Trek: The Next Generation took on which is hope for a future that is in many ways better than the world we live in today."

"Star Trek remains aspirational and what we get to do, which is what Star Trek: DS9 got to do a little bit, is to tell serialised stories, and in serialised stories the characters can evolve in a way that makes it unique. So we think it's a new kind of Star Trek show, made by a lot of people who love the old kinds of Star Trek shows."