REVIEW: Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Arrives on Blu-ray Disc, and We Watched It So You Don't Have To (But You Might Want To Anyway)
The logo for STAR TREK: PICARD season 2. Image: Paramount.
OCTOBER 6, 2022 - Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard ended in May and we’re already getting excited to see the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation join the titular Admiral in season 3. In the meantime, we can revisit his time travel adventures on Paramount+, or, now, DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
The blu-ray set of STAR TREK:PICARD season 2.
Streaming is a super-convenient way to binge your favorite shows, and it definitely has merit. For one thing, it takes up a lot less shelf space. For another, you can do it pretty much everywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. But there’s something about owning a physical copy of the television shows and movies that you love that makes them feel less ephemeral. We recently reported that eleven of the Star Trek films were suddenly removed from Paramount+. For those who own the DVD or BD sets, that’s less of a problem. One assumes nobody’s going to knock on your door, demanding those discs back.
Another item in the “plus” column of physical media is the special features. Paramount+ does offer a selection of features, from clips to interviews, but the DVDs and BDs offer a wider range, diving deep into the behind-the-scenes stories that fans love to hear.
The second season of PIC was released on physical media this week. We got our hands on a copy of the blu-ray set and binged our way through the episodes and special features in order to offer you this in-depth review of the set.
Packaging
We received the standard 3-disc blu-ray set. The slipcase and the plastic box sport a picture of all the important characters from the season, from Admiral Picard himself to the Borg queen to Elnor, who spent most of the season dead. Understandably, not every character would fit on the front cover, but it would have been nice to see young Guinan and Adam Soong, both of whom were integral to the season.
As mentioned, the set consists of 3 discs. The spindles that hold them within the box are each deep enough for two discs. Thus, you can move one disc between the two sides. It’s a little inconvenient having to pull disc 2 out in order to access disc 1 or 3, but the lack of a middle “page” for a third spindle cuts down on the use of plastic and being able to switch which side holds two discs prevents one having to set the itinerant disc somewhere where it is likely to get scratched, like the coffee table. Just be a little bit careful when you initially open the box. Our set had been jostled during shipping and discs 1 and 2 were free of their spindle, loosely rattling about.
The season is also available in a limited edition Blu-ray Steelbook and on DVD.
Audio and Video
PIC season 2 on BD is presented in 1080p High Definition with a choice of English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio or French 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitle options are English SDH or French.
The picture and sound are as clear as they are when streaming on Paramount+. These days, televisions are generally designed with their speakers in the back of the set or underneath. Not placing them in the front, as used to be the case, gives the TV manufacturers more space for larger screens with narrower bezels and a few other advantages. The big disadvantage of these designs, however, is that the sound is no longer focused toward the viewer, but toward the wall behind the TV. No matter what television you own, for the best sound we recommend you purchase a soundbar. Our discs sounded great using a Hisense 2.1-Channel Soundbar with Built-in Subwoofer. It’s a lower-end soundbar at a relatively low price point, but even that made the episodes sound terrific.
As long as you have an HD television of some kind, the picture will be great. Many 4k blu-ray players will up-convert from 1080p to 4k if that’s the kind of television you have, so you may be able to get an even cleaner picture, although it was absolutely gorgeous in the original full HD.
Special Features
The set is loaded with over 90 minutes of bonus features, and we watched them all.
The USS Stargazer - An in-depth look at the design and construction of the new version of Picard’s first command. This was our favorite special feature. Screen recordings of design meetings over Zoom gave us a sense that we were a part of the meeting and it was also fascinating to see how the look of the ship changed. Plus, the time-lapse showing the set being built was fun to watch!
The Chateau - How was Chateau Picard designed, built, and decorated, and how did it change between seasons 1 and 2? This documentary explores those questions in addition to discussing how it was changed in the alternate universe of Picard the Borg Killer. Especially interesting for us was the section discussing designing and 3d printing the skulls in the alternate universe.
The Trial Is Over - Discussing the character of Q and his journey. It was interesting but got to be a little saccharine at the end for our taste. Yes, it’s a big deal that this is Q’s final hurrah, and we will miss both him and John Delancey. But did we need to watch his entire “goodbye” speech to the cast and crew on his final day of filming?
Rebuilding the Borg Queen - The title says it all. An interesting look at the design of the Queen and how they executed it.
Picard Props - We’re suckers for a good props design and construction documentary.
Picard Passages - A documentary discussing the season as a whole.
Gag Reel - Pretty funny at times, although if you’ve ever watched a Star Trek gag reel before, you’ve already seen actors walking into swishing doors that close too early or open too late.
Deleted/Extended Scenes - For the episodes “Assimilation,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Monsters,” and “Farewell.”
If you’re into physical media, the Star Trek: Picard season 2 is definitely worthy of your attention. It looks and sounds great and contains a variety of special features that are sure to interest any diehard fan. It can be purchased from Amazon on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, or Limited Edition Blu-ray Steelbook.
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T is the Managing Editor for Daily Star Trek News and a contributing writer for Sherlock Holmes Magazine and a Shakespeare nerd. He may have been the last professional Stage Manager to work with Leonard Nimoy, has worked Off-Broadway and regionally, and is the union Stage Manager for Legacy Theatre, where he is currently working with Julie Andrews. after which he’ll be working on Richard III at Elm Shakespeare Company.
