Star Trek: Echoes of Lament

Takes a very disappointing, and meandering, original product and turns it in to something much more digestible. The editing was flawless, the scenes reorganized in a way that made more sense. It still doesn't exactly feel like "classic" Trek but if I ever feel the need to revisit season 1 this is how I will be doing it from now on.

Wow! I just finished part 1 and me and my mom LOVED it! Not only was the edit absolutely seamless (like, seriously impressive. I couldn’t even tell when one episode ended and another began!) but also the story was perfectly streamlined! My mom is a life long trekkie and probably the biggest TNG fan ever and she absolutely adored this version! When she watched Picard originally she said that it was a total slog and she really only liked it for Picard, but she said this was 100% THE way to watch it! I can’t wait to watch part 2!

Firstly, this is an absolutely masterful edit. Taking ten episodes and turning them into two two-hour-long films would be impressive in any circumstances, especially done at this level of technical quality. But to do that with source material that is so utterly, completely, depressingly abhorrent is a work of skillful artistry that deserves the highest possible commendation.

I avoided watching Picard when it first came out because I hate streaming services, and because I was nervous. That nervousness increased to outright anxiety when spoilers began slipping into my sphere. When I finally bought it and watched it for myself, the emotional experience was something akin to watching a beloved friend beaten senseless, or having your dog drowned. Star Trek was a formative piece of my whole experience of life, and to see it degraded to such a degree (and lauded for that degradation by mindless hoards of critics) was literally and shatteringly depressing.

Coming from that standpoint, to say that I enjoyed even a moment of the material is pretty amazing. As it happens, this first part, Echoes of Lament, turned out to be... if not a *good story,* then at least not the worst. Utter trash was taken, molded, morphed, risen, baked, and turned into a crusty loaf that -- for all its flavorlessness -- was edible.

The story has been altered fundamentally, the cuts give the characters actually believable emotional states - I couldn't believe how different Picard and Raffi's relationship became. Instead of every interaction being a terrible cringe-fest, they felt merely somewhat dramatic. There were even moments where I found myself enjoying the tale - at least as much as any run-of-the-mill weekly episode.

It's difficult to rate a piece like this for enjoyment because of how deeply bad the original material is. If I were to rate on that alone, the "enjoyment" factor would have to be something sub-zero. It's important to illustrate, therefore, that my ultimate enjoyment rating is focused as neutrally as possible on this work alone, as if it really were a stand-alone film.

One major point that could have been addressed was the "brother/sister" incestuous relationship arc, which never served any purpose anyway, and certainly could have been cut out—making the relationship of the terrible twins seem like just a normal jealous relationship between two psychopaths. The choice to retain lines that could have been cut degraded my enjoyment of this piece directly.

I despised the source material but thought it would be at least interesting to see what a fan edit could achieve. Unfortunately I still hated it but I wouldn’t blame the editor for that. Kudos to them for at least trying though. Incidentally I don’t think the title “Echoes of Lament” works very well, it’s sounds awkward, maybe Echoes of Sorrow or Regret would’ve been better? To me it just sounds like it’s the equivalent of saying Echoes of Bemoan or Bewail.

So far, I have only watched part 1, so many comments are related to that part only.

I think the uploader should be commended. Many of the more cringe worthy scenes that plagued the show have been removed, as has some of the filler. The story, though still bad - obviously not the uploader's fault - flows more naturally. The characters also appear a little less unlikeable, given the changes made.

Thank you for making a bad show at least watchable.