While I admit that I am first and foremost a Star Wars guy, I would be lying if I said I didn’t love Star Trek: The Next Generation. I remember watching quite a bit of TNG while in high school late at night when there was nothing else on. All of the characters were great, but no one can deny that Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard is what made that show so accessible to the mainstream audience.

When I heard that Patrick Stewart planned to return to the character in a new series written by my favorite author, Michael Chabon, I got very, very excited. But, then I read that the series would be exclusive to the streaming service called CBS All Access. Because this was not a free service, and because I’m already paying for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, I refused to spend money on yet another service basically just for one show.

However, last week something wonderful happened. CBS All Access offered a free 30 day trial. 30 days? Even I could get a ten episode series watched in 30 days! I signed up immediately through an Amazon Prime Video/CBS All Access channel.

Last night I finished Picard, and, in my opinion … it wasn’t great.

This could be a case of me just not being Trekkie enough, but I found most of the episodes slow, uneventful, and full of far too much exposition.

Granted, our primary actor is currently 79 years old, so he’s not going to be quite as active as he once was, but that’s no excuse for the show using all of the other actors to explain things, talk about what happened in the past, and describe scientific processes. There’s an old writing adage: “show, don’t tell.” In a visual medium, you would expect this to be especially true. Picard is a lot of characters standing around talking to each other.

However, there are many, many positives. The special effects are incredible–this is Star Trek in all its glory. There are also many satisfying cameos for Star Trek fans of all stripes. The acting, overall, is very well done, too. The plot is thoughtful, complex, and could have been captivating if the creators had bad been more successful with the pacing per episode. Finally, the tenth episode was mesmerizing because it was fast and full of action, utilized interesting battles, executed quick dialogue, and simply had a certain “attitude” that the other episodes lacked. And, of course, Patrick Steward is legendary. Even at 79, he is a force to be reckoned with–his vigor at such an age is astonishing.

Unfortunately, I can’t say I recommend Picard to the casual fan. It simply moved at too slow of a pace to keep my attention attention.