Definitely got the "it's a 10 hour movie" feel to it.
Admittedly I did snicker a little at Daniel Davis (Moriarty) who is aged 77 yelling about "tired old warriors" as the second oldest actor on set after Stewart himself at 82, Mcfadden and Spiner at 73, Frakes and Dorn at 70, Sirtis at 67 and Burton at a sprightly 65.
Which is what makes yet another action-heavy looking season rather bleh. Like, I can't help but feel had Matalas been given the show right from the get-go we'd have gotten a more grounded show. Unlike some (supposed) quarters I don't want nor need a "Season 8" what I STILL would like is what was packaged and sold, my deep character study show which could've been a LOT cheaper for Paramount to shoot as it would've been a series of Bottle Ship Episodes on the Picard Estate.
Reviews are raving from the same people who also said the same about the second season. However, the second season TV previews pulled the old bait and switch and played the first three episodes in which the writing is fairly tight and we're intrigued by a timetravel plot, a Borg Queen and an Earth that's gone full Purge the Xenos, Burn the Heretic.
Apparently Matalas has basically bulldozed Paramount into giving the reviewers the majority of the series (6 episodes, not 3), suggesting the last four episodes may be a "pure" bloc four-part-ending, and likely where our final shock death is going to be buried.
