Star Trek: Picard Hits All the Right Notes

 I have been a lifelong Star Trek fan since about the age of seven, more than half a century. With each new iteration I have been simultaneously hopeful that the producers would get things right and fearful that they would get them wrong. Usually, it's been a mix of the two, with the ratio of good to bad being the operative question.

Being old enough to remember when Star Trek was just a single 79-episode series, and not a TV, movie, multimedia, etc., franchise, the original series from the 1960s has always been the gold standard to which all other iterations are compared, and it's not a stretch to say some have measured up to that standard better than others.

There have been many times that viewers have felt Paramount had milked their cash cow dry and run out of good ideas, but like agricultural fields allowed to lie fallow for a season, there is always the opportunity for new growth.

The latest period of renewal has come with advent of streaming. Paramount+, originally known as CBS All Access, has used Star Trek as its flagship franchise, producing several new series, including some real gems along the way.

Star Trek: Discovery got off to a rocky start in its first season, while its second essentially served as a back door pilot for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Beginning with the third season, it has explored a series treatment originally penned by Gene Roddenberry and fleshed out as the non-Trek series Andromeda in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The series that has proved most surprising to me is Star Trek: Picard, which just wrapped up this week after three seasons, each of which encompassed a complete story arc. In this way, Picard captured the best aspects of both the films and TV series, as each season played out like an extended feature film. 

This was an innovative approach and it very much worked, especially in the just-concluded third and final season. Telling out a narrative over ten episodes gave the opportunity to be both expansive and concise at the same time, and best of all, to experience the types of moments that made for the best moments of Star Trek on both the big and small screens. Show runner Terry Matalas just made the whole thing work. 

While this particular iteration of Trek is now in the proverbial can—or canon, as the case may be—the final episode closed with some tantalizing tidbits, teasing of what could be ahead. Matalas has said in interviews that there is nothing solid in the works, but a passing of the torch certainly looks to be in the realm of possibility. Hey, we got Strange New Worlds out of Discovery, which seems set to yield a Starfleet academy spinoff as it warps off into the sunset later this year, so who knows. 

All I can say to that prospect is... Engage!

 

Sparking an Improvement

 My daily driver car, a 2013 Buick LaCrosse eAssist hybrid, is approaching the 100,000-mile mark, so I decided a bit of scheduled maintenance in the form of a new set of spark plugs was in order. After a little online research, I discovered that the plugs on my engine, a 2.4L four-cylinder Ecotec hybrid, are very easily accessible, right on the top of the engine. Having all of the necessary tools (a socket set with a spark plug socket and extension bar, flat blade screwdriver and needle-nose pliers) I decided to forego the services of a mechanic and undertake the swap myself. 

The first step was to research what kind of spark plugs to use, as they come in three varieties—copper core, platinum, and iridium. Copper core plugs are what usually comes in a car from the factory and are the least expensive option, but they typically have the shortest service lifespan. The next step up is platinum, which has a coating of that rare and expensive metal on the electrode. There are also double-platinum plugs that have a tiny platinum disc on the ground contact, where the spark from the electrode hits. The advantages of platinum plugs are better spark and longer service life. Some cars even require platinum plugs. The top of the line, and most expensive option, is iridium. These plugs outlast platinum, use less energy, and produce an even better spark, resulting in improvements in both fuel economy and performance. 

Since General Motors is presently offering a substantial rebate on its ACDelco Iridium plugs, which cut the price almost in half, I ordered a set from Rockauto.com. They're probably a bit of overkill for the little four-banger under my Buick's hood, but for the price, I saw little downside to that choice, and a big win, if they delivered on the promises of improved performance and fuel economy. Since the engine was not misfiring, I decided to keep using the original ignition coils and save that expense until it is truly needed. Generally speaking, it is best to replace all of the coils when one fails, since the others will likely not be far behind.

Installation was quite easy and only took me about 45 minutes. As with any such project, replacing the first plug was the most difficult. Repeating those steps with the next three was easier, as I knew exactly what to expect. The basic procedure went something like this:

• With the engine cold, remove the plastic engine cover
• Unplug the wire from the ignition coil
• Unbolt and remove the ignition coil
• Remove the old spark plug
• Put a small amount of anti-seize compound on the threads of the new plug
• Screw the new plug into place
• Put a dab of dielectric grease on the bottom end of the ignition coil to seal out moisture
• Put the coil in on top of the spark plug and bolt it down
• Replace the electrical connection
• Repeat the above steps with the three remaining spark plugs
• Replace the plastic engine cover and put your tools away.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect in terms of performance from the new plugs, but in driving the car the past couple of days, I have seen a noticeable, albeit not dramatic, improvement in throttle response and the car labors a bit less going up hills. The car is still a somewhat under-powered, but it's a definite improvement.

I can't yet speak to fuel economy improvements, as the new plugs have not yet been in place for 48 hours, but I am topping off my tank today and we'll see how it goes. Even a modest improvement in fuel economy would eventually pay for the plugs, and delivering more power in the process makes it a double-winner. 

And the sense of satisfaction that comes from successfully installing the new plugs myself was priceless.