Despite the series' popularity with...people like us, I don't think the numbers were where Paramount+ wanted them. It seems like they have issues with animation in general, which is a damn shame.

the fact the Federation was not picking up steam at all (and felt much more in decline), to me indicates that the writers intended for us to interpret this as the Federation in its death throws until the Discovery showed up.

I agree with the basic fact - the Federation was struggling to maintain what it had in the face of the Emerald Chain and others, and it took Discovery's arrival with unique technology to give it an edge.

But I think they framed it as a story of resilience and determination, mainly through Vance and Sahil.

I disagree with the premise - I think the series as a whole stands as a testament to the Federation prevailing over adversity - it's one of the prevailing themes of the series.

Even the Burn didn't destroy the Federation as you suggest. It became smaller as travel and communication became difficult-to-impossible, but it still existed, and Starfleet was doing everything it could to maintain the peace.

Heh, I don't think I agree with either of these takes.

It seems to me like season 1 was very much Michael Chabon's vision - indeed, they've said in interviews that it didn't bear much resemblance to the original pitch that sold Stewart on the series.

I've always felt that Chabon had a lot of great ideas (and to be frank, I still think that first season is the best "Picard" season), but was perhaps too inexperienced to get those ideas implemented in a timely and affordable fashion.

Del Arco not being informed of Hugh's death is a bit of a non-issue, I think - the guy was a guest star, so it wouldn't be right to expect them to treat him like a principal cast member.

I think it's definitely a bubble that will burst eventually.

At the same time, I don't think there's any way to put the toothpaste back in the tube. This technology is out there, and even once the hype has died down, we're going to be dealing with it forever.

Unfortunately, by season four Discovery was just going with "Spaceship".

I can confirm that you're not the only one experiencing intermittent sluggishness, and we're aware of the issue.

We still need to determine whether it's a problem within our control, but we are aware.

The CPC started going a little too far right, and they got voted out.

I wish I agreed that this was an accurate description of the election - the PCs were projected to lose before they took the hard right turn, and then their final turnout was arguably higher than projected.

Why does it need "justification"? What would it mean to be "more relevant to Star Trek than any of us"?

Several the officers on the planet are wearing excursion jackets, and we get close up enough on Batel to see that the patch on her shoulder reads “USS Enterprise”.

Fake it 'til you make it!

Pelia had better sing.

E.g. Startrek.com used to say that about Spock.

Unfortunately, it still does.