Sorry Jonathan Frakes, but Icheb’s death didn’t need to be nearly as gory

Star Trek: Picard is a very maligned show by fans and critics alike and a lot of it has to do with the more intense content.

Star Trek was dreamt up by Gene Roddenberry to be the idealistic future of the Federation. While the series and films often put that concept under a microscope at times and shows like Deep Space Nine really rubbed up against the line of what Star Trek should be, it was generally always seen as a show that embraced optimism.

Picard? Picard went far beyond challenging the concepts of the Federation and the altruistic future and blew right past them. The show was injected with 2020’s era cynicisms and truly embraced the concept of moral decay.

It became everything that no one wanted to see. It was bloody, ultra-violent, and painted our heroes as nothing more than men who quit when challenged. It has not done well and that’s why season two and season three became far more dramatic departures than the first season, embracing the past and nostalgia over the “Logan-esque” series it was trying to be.

It’s a radically different show, but not necessarily better, even ahead of the Next Generation reunion in season 3 and despite the obvious failings of the series, people like Jonathan Frakes still defend some of the more stomach-churning moments.

Star Trek did not need to torture Icheb to shock viewers

Frakes defended the torture-porn type of scene that was included in Picard, which depicts an adult Icheb being dismembered and torn apart for his Borg cybernetic implants. The scenes were a stark departure from what was expected from the franchise in previous iterations of the franchise, and Frakes defended them at the recent 56-Year Mission event in Las Vegas by saying;

"I think the objective was to disturb and to make it as painful and graphic and emotional as possible. It was challenging and yet exciting to do something that far out of our usual comfort zone. We tried to scare the shit out of you and I hope we did."

Which is fine, if this were Saw or Hostile. This isn’t. This is Star Trek, Frakes. I know a lot of people like to go with the whole “well, Trek is expanding what it’s known for and giving everyone a different taste of something” and great.

Except that’s not what Star Trek has ever been or should ever be. If it’s not about a ship, a crew, and dealing with intergalactic issues, then why are we getting it? Watching someone get tortured is not enjoyable. Especially in the era we live in now.

We need more optimism, more good, and not nearly as much of this sick desire to upset your viewers. This isn’t Halloween or some horror franchise, we don’t want to be disturbed by Star Trek.

That’s tuning into Dora the Explorer and her giving us graphic details of the Bosnia Civil War. We don’t tune to shows like that to be disturbed.

Picard failed because it lost sight of the fact that it’s a Star Trek show, that never once acted like a Star Trek show. While the series was always green-lit for three seasons, there were options on the table for more. The show sucked so hard, however, that they just opted to end the series after three.

Frakes and company lost the plot on Picard and what fans wanted from it. Fans wanted one last heroic jaunt through the stars with the old crew, not Hostile in Space.