But the team of writers — which includes Michael Chabon, Alex Kurtzman and Kirsten Beyer — also wrote the character in a way that reminds fans of why they fell in love with the character to begin with. Part of the issue with Picard is that the television version has historically been significantly different than one we’ve seen in the films. In the original series, which aired from 1987 to 1994, Picard was a measured diplomat with a talent for staying calm.

In the movies, Picard became something else entirely: an action hero, and an impulsive one at that. (Picard’s most famous line, from “Star Trek: First Contact,” “The line must be drawn here and no further,” is well delivered by Stewart because of his talent, but it was quite out of character.) This Picard, a version 20 years older than the one we see in “Nemesis,” is closer to the one we saw on our television screens: witty, warm, inquisitive and fierce about his beliefs in right and wrong. (It makes sense to see Picard tending to a dog named No. 1. But the sight of Picard shooting at his own assimilated crew members in “First Contact,” not so much.)

We learn in the premiere that Picard is retired and living at Chateau Picard in France. He is under the care of two Romulans, Laris (Orla Brady) and Zhaban (Jamie McShane). Picard gives his first ever television interview — how convenient for exposition purposes! — in which a rather feisty reporter very kindly reminds him what he’s been up to. He has written books! He became an admiral!

But the plot really takes off when we learn that Picard pushed for the Federation to assist the Romulans, whose home planet was about to be destroyed by a sun that went supernova (as seen in the J.J. Abrams feature-length reboot from 2009, “Star Trek.”). The Romulans were the Federation’s enemy — and many in Starfleet disagreed with Picard. Here is a departure from “Generation”: In the show, Starfleet is often painted as an unflinching force for good. The notion that it would not help save the inhabitants of an entire planet from being wiped out would be unthinkable, enemy or not. (The precedent here is “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” when there was much internal grumbling about Starfleet’s trying to negotiate peace with the Klingons, who were also about to die out.)

Initially, the Federation, at Picard’s urging, did assist Romulus. Picard even led the armada to ferry Romulans beyond the supernova’s reach. (This is presumably how Laris and Zhaban end up at Chateau Picard.) But at some point, a group of androids went rogue, destroying Utopia Planitia, a crucial shipyard near Earth, as well as some of the armada. Androids were banned in the aftermath and Starfleet quit the rescue efforts, much to Picard’s chagrin.