Star Trek Picard - Season 1 Episode 10 - Arcadia Ego Part 2

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I think the uniforms ST Picard has introduced are probably related to the aforementioned licensing issue; and the two or three times we've seen someone like Picard or Data wear something from TNG or the TNG movies, there might have been slight differences to satisfy that agreement.  In the earlier episodes where we saw, say, Data or Picard in uniform, the observation I made right off the bat was that they didn't look "right".  They looked ill-fitted, almost like they looked more like a homemade costume that wasn't completely to spec.  In episode 10, Data's movie uniform looked a little better, but there wasn't a ton of movement and it was pretty low lit, that any differences probably wouldn't be as noticeable; which may have been the point. And it may have also again, been close enough to Viacom and CBS finalizing their re-merger that it just didn't matter any more.  
I do agree, while I didn't initially like the darker tone of those uniforms back in the day when they were first introduced, they did grow on me; and I liked them a lot more than what past series showed the future uniform designs would be.

I don't think it's unusual for Data to still call Picard Captain, despite him having been promoted.  Despite Data's awareness of more current events - which I found more unusual than him calling Picard Captain - Captain is the title Data is more familiar with in association with Picard; and since Picard is retired and doesn't hold any rank, it's pretty much Data's discretion what he feels comfortable referring to him as.
I had actually made the opposite observation when Picard caught up with Riker and Troi; that it seemed odd for them to be calling him Jean Luc.  Even though their relationship may be less formal now, I would think both would still be inclined to refer to him as Captain, not because of the chain of command or protocol, but because it's the name, after a fashion, that they applied to this man for so long; that "captain" would become as much as term of endearment long after he stopped being a captain or even an officer, because it's familiar and comfortable.  It'd be like if a teacher you used to have told you start calling them by their first name, after years of thinking of them as Mr or Mrs. So-and-So.  You might make the adjustment, but I know from experience, even after 20 years, it's still fucking weird.

I kind of think Brent has been so keen for so long on Data being dead, so that he doesn't have to play him anymore; it's the best reason I can think of for how they kept the character's memory alive, without literally bringing him back. While there's no doubt he came to love working with his costars, he's very close with most or all of them, and he liked getting paid and obviously has no problem coming back to Star Trek in other ways; I've often gotten the impression that Brent Spiner was never too enamored with the role of Data himself.  And I imagine a lot of it had to do with the make-up and perhaps some of the limitations that might have stemmed from it; which is understandable and maybe a little unfortunate.  But you know, he helped develop the story for Nemesis, if memory serves, and seemed to almost delight in killing off Data.
All the same, as has been said, they could have easily rectified a lot of those issues by bringing him back in a more human like body that can and has aged; and it would have all amounted to the same thing, without undermining the story they intended to tell.

I wouldn't go that far, the whole thing with Rios and Agnes was just as out of the blue; and seemed to be their idea of buttoning character arcs that just never actually happened.  I'm less annoyed that Seven might also be interested in women, as I am them just brushing off her relationship with Chakotay.  I know they only introduced it in the last episode of Voyager, but I honestly didn't mind it too much; and they implied by way of Admiral Janeway, that they had made an actual go of it before Seven's untimely death.  So there's no reason things shouldn't have worked out from them in the new timeline the finale created.  Admittedly that new timeline affording Seven and Chakotay more time together, under different circumstances, which may have lead to them eventually growing apart, but they could have at least connected the dots a little.
But that whole scene at the end of episode 10 was stupid.  Why the fuck were they all wearing some sort of uniform all of a sudden, that clearly wasn't a Starfleet uniform?  If they're not Starfleet, why do they need uniforms?  
And now, just like that, they're going to bumble around space for a bit, for no particular reason?  None of them had their own personal interests they want to get back to?  I mean, they made it abundantly clear that Rafi's life was shit, but none of them have anything better to do?

This isn't entirely accurate.  One episode in season 7 had an entire plot where Seven displayed interest in Chakotay; albeit expressing that in the most Seven way possible, by running a simulation of how that could play out, rather than actually ask Chakotay out himself.
Then in the series finale, we find out that at some point between that earlier episode and the finale, Seven and Chakotay had started seeing each other, though they were initially keeping things quiet and taking it slow.  However during the glimpse of the future, we learn that they eventually got married; with Janeway saying that when Seven was injured, she made it back to Voyager, only to die in the arms of her husband, Chakotay.  Janeway remarks how Chakotay was never quite the same after that. When she visited Chakotay's grave, she comments about hard it was for him to live the rest of his life without "her" and that this is one of the things Janeway is hoping to make right by going back and getting Voyager home sooner.

So while they might not have reached the point in the development of their relationship on screen, they did give us the beginning and the end of it; with all the implications of what ostensibly came in between.
But of course, this is now the darkest timeline, so naturally they have to shit on anyone living happily ever after...