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Post by Prole Hole on Jan 24, 2020 10:47:48 GMT -5
[Spoilers abound, if you haven't seen this already]
Episode One - Remembrance
 The question is, really, what do we want from Picard? Or Picard? After a drought of Star Trek shows following Enterprise’s inelegant shuffling off the airwaves in 2005 we suddenly have a deluge - two shows starting up within a couple of years of each other ( Discovery having launched in 2017) and more on the horizon, both live action and animated. Discovery’s two seasons have been comparatively well received but it’s a show that often looks more like Star Trek than it ever feels like Star Trek. All the symbols, chevrons, phasers and transporters are perfectly, erm, replicated but often not much else is. It’s competent, slick, and well-acted but there’s a certain something missing, an animating spark that the show only occasionally and tangentially brushes up against. Is this, then, what we want from Picard? That old flavour of Star Trek? If you’re answering those rhetorical question with a little nod of the head then there’s good news – that’s exactly what Picard does, at least in its first episode. Far away from the space operatics of either Discovery or The Next Generation, Picard feels more than anything else like a character study as much as an exciting action-adventure series. The pacing of the show is deliberate – not slow, exactly, and we get a couple of very well-directed fight sequences to give us a wee bit of action and keep things clipping along, but certainly it’s stately in its progress. This fits in perfectly with the older, more melancholy Picard we meet this time out. There seems little point in mentioning how good Stewart is returning to the role – he is, as literally everyone and their granny might expect, beyond excellent and even if the series was a complete disaster it would be worth spending at least a little time with simply to soak in his performance. But the character beats given to Picard here mark this as someone who has changed over the last couple of decades. This isn’t the confident, forward-looking captain we left at the end of Nemesis, this is someone who has had to take some real punches in life, and who remains haunted by the death of Data. Stewart is obviously up to delivering on this, but we also get to see a rarely explored side of Picard as he loses his temper during an interview. In just that one scene alone we practically get the best performance Stewart has ever given in the role – and that’s really saying something. The fury, the regret and the disappointment Picard feels at being let down by Starfleet all comes pouring out of him, perfectly in character yet also something new. At every turn, the first episode does a phenomenal job of balancing enough of the old Picard for us to immediately warm to this version and enough new furrows in his character that this is far more than a mere nostalgic re-tread to keep the fans happy. Yet for the fans there are, of course, plenty of little nods to the past. Some of them are overt – the dog called Number One, the opening dream sequence featuring the Enterprise-D as Data and Picard play poker in Ten-Forward – some a little more subtle, but what’s incredibly refreshing about Picard is that it doesn’t at all linger on these, and it finds a way of using the past as way to inform and understand the present, rather than simply trotting it out for a bit of fan service. Sure it’s sweet to see a “Captain Picard Day” banner but it’s not there simply as a nod to an old episode, it’s there as a symbolic representation of the past that Picard used to believe in but which has now slipped away. The days of tooling around the galaxy having fun adventures have been lost to time, and now only lonely echoes of them remain. It’s not “meta”, it’s not (just) fan service, but is actually something that carries emotional weight with it. In this the – perhaps surprising – decision to embrace the direction The Next Generation took with Nemesis is also incredibly refreshing, because it again engages with the idea of facing the past, mistakes and all, rather than quietly trying to re-write or forget it. Data’s death in Nemesis wasn’t, to put it mildly, the best way the character could have gone out, but the unselfish sacrifice felt true to Data’s character and to have his death figuratively and literally haunt Picard twenty years later is a smart way of integrating the legacy of that movie rather than ignoring it. Although saying that, there’s something very funny about B4 simply being stuck in a drawer and forgotten about – precisely the fate that terrible, terrible character deserved. Still, overall there’s plenty here for TNG fans looking for a chance to catch up with their old captain. Were this just about Picard alone, though, the show would be charming – powerful, even – but lack a certain something, so it’s pleasing to note just how well new characters are brought in, and the method in which they are integrated shows real confidence and intelligence. When we first meet Picard, slowly withering away on his vineyard in France, he has two Romulan carers working for him (one of whom sounds like she's come directly from Space Ireland, or perhaps O’Romulus) without explanation. They’re friendly, helpful and likable, but we get no more information about them until that interview where Picard finally explains he was involved in the evacuation of Romulus and why it was important to him. At that point the reason behind their presence snaps into place and it becomes clear. It’s another example of how smart the script is, trusting the audience to accept what’s been shown then explain it at the right time without an infodump or clumsy, “well, after I rescued you from Romulus, as you all remember…”-type speech. The show is very good at covering what amounts to a fairly big pile of backstory with a relative degree of smoothness. This is the first episode in the season, so there’s going to be a certain amount of setup that simply has to covered to get things underway but mostly it goes down easily – helped, as ever, by Stewart’s peerless performance – but introducing concepts like the synth rebellion, the destruction on Mars, the destruction of Romulus (leading to the Abramsverse in one direction and Picard in the other), Data’s daughter, Data’s other daughter (the twin one) and then ending on that big Borg cube full of Romulans… well, that’s a lot to cover in forty-five minutes. To its credit the show does its best with this, though the scenes at the Daystrom Institute are a little heavy on the “explain the plot” material but in this case it’s more of a necessary evil rather than a failure of any kind (and as mentioned, B4 being stuck in a drawer is genuinely funny, which helps). The biggest new character we get debuted this time out is Dahj, played with some degree of confidence and skill by Isa Briones. Well, she’s great! We first meet here having a romantic dinner with her boyfriend, which is abruptly and swiftly taken out by some Romulan assassins before something (dun-dun- duuuuuh!) is awoken in Dahj and she unexpectedly “activates” and kills them before fleeing to meet Picard. Throughout it all Briones is able to project real vulnerability and fear while at the same time perfectly morphing into a kick-ass killing machine. She’s able to do very well when acting across from Stewart – a real compliment – and later on she gets to do some more fighting in an excellently-directed sequence at Starfleet HQ. Dahj is likeable and under Picard’s protection so it’s genuinely quite shocking when she’s killed off three-quarters of the way through the episode… only for the revelation that she has a twin, Sonji Asher, revealed at the end of the episode and also played by Briones. From what we’ve seen in the first episode she has real potential on the show and it will be interesting to see where the story takes her. Ultimately, Picard is pretty much as good as we could have hoped for when it comes to the debut episode of the show. It’s confident, smart and well-written, it acknowledges the past without being hidebound by it, and throughout it all there is no pleasure greater than seeing Stewart step back into his defining role (sorry, Professor X). It’s simply blissful to spend forty-five minutes basking in him re-embracing a role he said he would never perform again. Yet, if this episode is anything to go by (and there’s no reason to assume otherwise at this stage) then it’s clear why he would be drawn back to the character of Picard because this feels like genuine character development coupled with a real insight into what and who Picard is as a person. There’s depth and understanding, and by digging into Picard – both his successes and failures – Picard the show is able to exactly recapture the feel of Star Trek without simple repetition. Exploring the character is far more important that the correct iconography or being on a starship or whatever, and if there is one lesson to take away from Picard it’s just how crucial that character work is to the feel of Star Trek. To return to our original question – what do we want from Picard? This. This show is what I want. And if the rest of it is as good as the opener then we’re in for a very strong series indeed. Any Other Business: • Hey everybody! I’m gonna do episode-by-episode review of Picard! And there’s nothing you can do to stop me! Mwa-ha-ha-ha- ha! • The Picard title sequence and music are the best we’ve had since Voyager went off the air. Yes, I realise that is not, in and of itself, an achievement. Neither are brilliant but both are fine, and the few notes of the TNG theme in the last few seconds are sweet. • The opening dream sequence is very nicely realised. Some people have complained that Brent Spiner is too old or plump to play the role – a ridiculous assertion – but the fact that Data looks slightly off does lend something to the surreal feel of the scene. The "painting" dream sequence is handled very well too. • Nice nictitating membranes on Dahj’s boyfriend before he’s unceremoniously dispatched. Also, Black Guy Dies First trope is clearly still operating in the 24th century... • Stewart does melancholy so well and our gentle introduction to the character makes his sudden fury and regret during his interview that much more impactful. Great work. • The “character sees some vital information in a TV shop window” was a hacky device decades ago, so it’s a bit strange to see it here, a very rare misstep in the pilot. • The archive Picard visits to see Data’s painting, “Daughter”, of course has a plethora of TNG references, but it’s an incredibly sad place, a forgotten relic being visited by a forgotten relic. Yet it never seems maudlin or indulgent, which is quite an achievement. • So look – that Captain Picard Day banner. It’s sweet, it’s meaningful and it’s relevant. But… how did it survive? The Enterprise-D was destroyed (by humiliatingly easy means and two hammy Klingons). Did someone pick through the wreckage of the saucer section on Veridian III and drag it back to Earth? • The fight at Starfleet HQ is really, really well done, and I like the fact they pay attention to details like the fact that Picard is an old man and can’t run about the place like Action Movie Picard did on the big screen. • Every time someone says "we want to develop synths but aren't allowed" or some variation thereof my brain kept screaming, "but surely the DX-7 has been around for centuries!" • The revelation of a twin is a bit… eh, not clumsy exactly but it’s also just a tad soap-opera which is a shame because that’s not at all how anything else here reads. • The Cube reveal at the end alongside meeting Sonji is well-handled and it will be interesting to see where it all takes us. Fuck Report Update
At Nudeviking 's request I will update each episode with a brief Fuck Report in the interests of science and fucking. And reporting I guess.
Fuck Count: It looked like things were going to get off to a very sexy start, with Dajh enjoying some intimate time with her hot boyfriend, thus accurately recreating all that horny, horny fun we apparently remember from our TNG days. However although it's clear that boning was definitely on the agenda before any actual boneage can take place he's been shot through the heart (and you're to blame) with a big knife and she's become an unexpectedly ruthless killing machine. So we nearly had one data (heh) point straight out of the gate, but 'twas not to be. For the rest of the episode the horniness level remains low unless it turns out Picard's relationship with Number One is more than platonic. So a good episode of Star Trek but a bad start to the investigative science of fucking. Total Fucks for Episode: 0 Total Fucks for Season: 0 Total Fucks for Series: 0 |
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jan 24, 2020 21:46:16 GMT -5
[Spoilers abound, if you haven't seen this already]
Episode One - Remembrance
Discovery’s two seasons have been comparatively well received but it’s a show that often looks more like Star Trek than it ever feels like Star Trek. All the symbols, chevrons, phasers and transporters are perfectly, erm, replicated but often not much else is. It’s competent, slick, and well-acted but there’s a certain something missing, an animating spark that the show only occasionally and tangentially brushes up against.
I'd argue what ST: Discovery is lacking is any semblance of good writing. It's making me re-assess how I feel about Voyager!
Yay! Oh, I so hope this will be fun, and we'll have lots to talk about!
At least this theme actually has some sort of melody to it, unlike Discovery's unmelodic drone. I actually thought the music in the episode was a tad heavy. I did like the kind of dreamlike, almost Impressionistic vibe of it, but I thought it was too prevalent in too many scenes.
Maybe the archive already existed, and people on the Enterprise just sent stuff along as they went. You know, just in case the ship was destroyed, or something? I don't know. That's the best I got.
Same. I am not at all down with this silly generic "synthetics" terminology when they all mean "androids". A "synth" is an actual thing. I rolled my eyes when Allison Pill's character used that term. We've had androids all the way back to TOS. Apparently all the way back to pre-TOS because they're in DSC! Why a sudden terminology change?
Yeah, it felt very soap opera to me. And I'm someone who even likes soap operas! But that isn't what I want from Star Trek. Why does it have to be twins? Just so they can pull off a shocking death in the first episode? It felt very silly.
I felt the way this was presented was the worst part of the episode, verging on hacky. "Here's a shocking image just to titillate you at the end! We're not going to explain it!" Blech.
I am still slightly worried of the Romulans coming off as cartoon-y villains in this, though the presence of Picard's two Romulan housekeepers(?) at the beginning does mitigate this a bit.
After thinking about it for a couple days, my last comment is that I find it pretty surprising that the Federation was so reluctant to help the Romulans in 2387 considering that in 2374-5 the Romulans basically saved the Federation from getting conquered by the Dominion.
PS. Remember in the Trek movies thread how I ranted about this ridiculous Romulan supernova story? And afterwards Baron von Costume tried to make me feel better by saying some sources (comics, books or STO) said it wasn't the Romulan sun, it was some nearby star that would somehow cause mass destruction. And I said, no, Star Trek 09 script clearly says the "Romulan sun". Well, any other source that tried to fix this by claiming it was some other nearby, much more dangerous star was just contradicted by ST: Picard, which, again, states that it was the Romulan sun.
Which, again, makes no fucking sense. And ST: Picard even addresses my complaint from Trek 09 about why didn't they just evacuate! Apparently they did! Well some of them did. And they DID ask for help! So what the hell is Trek 09 Nero on about? Seems like the failure there was partly the Romulan government and partly the Federation government. Why the hell's he after Spock? At least it now makes more sense that he said he'd be targeting every Federation planet, I guess. Seems it was actually partially a Federation failure. But, damn, this idea will continue to make no fucking sense to me. You KNOW when your sun is going to go nova. The Romulans shouldn't need Federation help to evacuate one planet. You have more than a month's notice! They would have known for millennia!
Still really hoping ST: Picard will somehow make this right for me and reveal that it wasn't just the normal life cycle of their star, that someone actually did something to it.
I promise I will not rant about this again. Well, unless someone on ST: Picard makes some new ridiculous claim about it.
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Post by Prole Hole on Jan 26, 2020 11:07:22 GMT -5
Desert Dweller It's more than that in terms of TNG as well - the Romulans are explicitly friendly in Nemesis, they ride to the rescue of the Enterprise when all looks lost and actively help take down the Scimitar. The Romulans could have sat on their hands, let the Federation take the hit of losing Earth (or indeed just let Picard and Nero take each other out) and left it at that but they didn't. They actually helped. And now Starfleet is, "eh, fuck 'em". I hope we're going to get a bit more exploration of that further down the line because that's a bit unsatisfactory (I'm assuming, given their prominence in the series, that we'll get more history from them at some point so I don't want to be too down on the show for not squeezing everything into its first episode). One of the (relatively small) good points of Nemesis was also that it didn't just portray all Romulans as duplicitous and scheming - against their species default-setting - and it made them come alive in all sorts of interesting ways, so I'm hoping we get a bit more of that as well. The helpers Picard has at his chateau are a good start. I'm fanwaking like fuck here, but I guess my assumption would be that, even though the "supernova" didn't result in the complete annihilation of the Romulan species they still lost their homeworld, billions are likely dead, and Spock was the one with the Big Promises to solve the problem - he failed so Nero holds him responsible for the destruction that was wrought even if it wasn't everything. It's wobbly for sure but that's the best I can come up with. As for the "supernova" itself, well, it's stupid but I think we're just going to have to let that one go. I agree I'd like something along the lines of "experiment went wrong" or something because everyone knows that stars don't go supernova like a hand grenade being let off, but we may just have to live with the fact that it's not going to get beyond, "star go boom, is now used for story purposes, ohh look over there shiny thing!" Please, rant away!
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Jan 26, 2020 11:32:38 GMT -5
Prole, what will your reaction be if the Season 1 finale for this show is just a "Shades of Grey"-style clip show episode?
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Post by Mr. Greene's October Surprise on Jan 26, 2020 23:29:37 GMT -5
Isn't one of Picard's O'Romulan helpers played by Orla Brady, from Fringe and Matt Smith's final Christmas special on Doctor Who?
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jan 27, 2020 0:13:24 GMT -5
Desert Dweller It's more than that in terms of TNG as well - the Romulans are explicitly friendly in Nemesis, they ride to the rescue of the Enterprise when all looks lost and actively help take down the Scimitar. The Romulans could have sat on their hands, let the Federation take the hit of losing Earth (or indeed just let Picard and Nero take each other out) and left it at that but they didn't. They actually helped. And now Starfleet is, "eh, fuck 'em".
I can't honestly remember if I've ever seen Nemesis. It seems crazy to me that I haven't. (Though I know I haven't seen ST V.) I know the major plot points. But I sometimes think I only know what happened because I read a recap or remember fans talking about it, or something. I think maybe I never saw it? I suppose I should watch it. Sigh.
But yeah, given that Nemesis takes place circa 2379, I'm curious to know why the Federation went all "eh, fuck 'em" in 2387.
Yeah, this isn't a complaint, per se, I just found it an interesting background detail. It feels like the show is going to get into this, since they positioned it as one of the key factors in Picard's decision to leave Starfleet.
Who knows? Maybe the Federation had outside influence in an election and wound up with a demagogue president who was all about isolationism and gave anti-immigrant screeds against the "other" and was bent on reversing any diplomatic outreach the previous president had done!
So, it isn't that I find it a plot hole or anything. I am just hoping the show is prepared to address this, because it is a bit interesting.
I guess. But with ST: Picard, it now feels like Spock's effort was a solo Hail Mary type of move, and the big plan directed by the government was to evacuate.
Nero is not really the problem, I guess. I find most Trek villains to be weak. The problem is that I fundamentally don't understand why their Empire was destroyed when a star went nova. And I know Star Trek actually has a history of saying stars going nova destroyed whole empires. There are several episodes of TOS/TNG that say this. I noticed it 5-6 years ago when I did a complete Trek series rewatch. Drove me crazy every time.
It's just..... we have officially licensed maps that show the Romulan Empire. We KNOW it isn't just one planet. We know they are spacefaring and have warp drive.... Sigh. Even within the rules established in the universe, it doesn't make sense. *Especially* now that we know there was an organized evacuation effort.
Apparently this is my threshold for suspension of disbelief. Warp drive doesn't bother me. Not the transporter. The replicator. Freaking holodecks. Nope. But this? I can't.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jan 27, 2020 0:13:59 GMT -5
Isn't one of Picard's O'Romulan helpers played by Orla Brady, from Fringe and Matt Smith's final Christmas special on Doctor Who? Yes, it is definitely her. I hope we get to learn more about her character. |
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Post by Hachiman on Jan 27, 2020 0:35:37 GMT -5
It's just..... we have officially licensed maps that show the Romulan Empire. We KNOW it isn't just one planet. We know they are spacefaring and have warp drive.... Sigh. Even within the rules established in the universe, it doesn't make sense. *Especially* now that we know there was an organized evacuation effort.
Apparently this is my threshold for suspension of disbelief. Warp drive doesn't bother me. Not the transporter. The replicator. Freaking holodecks. Nope. But this? I can't.
This is more of a pet-peeve of mine in genre fiction. The trope of "Nearly everybody was on their home planet(or city or HQ) or when it was destroyed. Then everything they ever did just collapsed" Saiyans, Kryptonians, Valerians(and their dragons) to give a few examples. It just seems illogical to create this huge civilization where nobody ever leaves their house since it contradicts that they obviously had some drive to travel and expand their territory.. |
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Post by Mr. Greene's October Surprise on Jan 27, 2020 0:49:11 GMT -5
Isn't one of Picard's O'Romulan helpers played by Orla Brady, from Fringe and Matt Smith's final Christmas special on Doctor Who? Yes, it is definitely her. I hope we get to learn more about her character. On the one hand, Orla Brady is "prestige" enough an actress that I think we'll get more development of her character, and that they wouldn't have cast her had they not planned for that... on the other hand, I hope to god they don't waste Orla Brady. |
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Post by Hachiman on Jan 28, 2020 23:45:51 GMT -5
Watched it a second time. I'm definitely in so far, but I have some concerns. From a continuity and world-building perspective, I'm a little bit puzzled by the portrayal of Romulans so far. Up to Nemesis they were consistently portrayed as scheming, serious and generally grumpy, whereas the ones we see now are fairly human in their behavior. This isn't a complaint since we have met some Romulans who are more personable, but I guess I am wondering where all the grumpy, militaristic ones went since that seemed to be almost the entire population. Even Nero mentioned not being a soldier as if that was notable on its own. This is alright though since I'm interested to seeing Romulan society get more fleshed out. Maybe its like post-USSR Russia where learn that not everyone was down with communism and spent all day dreaming of crushing capitalist countries.
The whole synthetic backstory needs some more background. We know that synthetics existed, but was this whole rescue fleet supposed to be automated or something? Where is the Doctor from Voyager in all of this? Would he have had something to say? How about AI in general? It just seems like the line between AI/holograms/synthetics can be pretty blurry when discussing ethics and differentiation.
Also, why is the reporter so racist towards Romulans? They were allied during the Dominion War (which helped turn the tide) and saved the Enterprise in "Nemesis." Plus, didn't the Romulan helper say he arranged the interview? Also, are other Romulans refugees integrating on Earth or elsewhere in the Federation? What then happened to the territories in the Romulan Empire? Are they just empty now? There was also a remark that Mars was still on fire, which felt kind of weird. It seems like the kind of problem any of the crews we've watched over the years could have solved by "reversing the phase polarity on the communications array" or some other narrative handwave. No one is working on solving this problem or re-terraforming Mars? Nobody can put out a fire? Same for the shipyards. We've seen countless shows where Federation starbases and shipyards get destroyed, so presumably this would be the same? It seems odd this is not treated as yet another calamity after we've seen the Federation portrayed as post-scarcity and industrious. On the other hand, this is consistent with the portrayal of Starfleet being run my morons and the Federation (Earth in particular) being this house of cards whenever things are tough.
Last, after Discovery's second season, I hope there is more story here than simply a couple of mysteries. It doesn't need to be a "get the old crew back together" or "mission of the week" type show, but it feels like this is basically just a long TNG movie at this point. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it better be a damn good "movie" if that is the case. If they can't pull it off, then it may be neither fish nor fowl situation where it isn't quite in the spirit of the tv show(and can't be ignored for being one of the movies), but can't measure up compared to the movies either. Again, some of this is carryover from how I felt about Discovery though. When an entire season builds towards one story, that story needs to be really good.
As a final side note, Picard is on Amazon Prime here whereas Discovery is on Netflix. Seeing how they are both owned by CBS, I am really curious as to how this arrangement came about.
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Post by Prole Hole on Jan 29, 2020 10:43:27 GMT -5
Hachiman - there are a lot of questions there, some of which are absolutely valid. I'm not going to address them all, but we've only had one episode so far and they couldn't possibly have covered every point you raised without half the episode being a Star Wars scroll explaining the back history. I'm fine they haven't addressed all those questions thus far but I hope they get addressed going forward. Guess we'll find out on Thursday...
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Post by Hachiman on Jan 29, 2020 19:58:50 GMT -5
Yeah, you're absolutely right and not everything needs to be explained. I definitely don't even need all of these questions answered but it seems foolhardy to shake things up too much without giving some explanation. To be clear, I would be saying this of any show. In any event, I have immense faith in Patrick Stewart to make this work so I am looking forward to the next episode.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jan 31, 2020 3:09:18 GMT -5
I watched episode 2 today. I know I asked this all the time with ST: DSC, but again, have any of the writers of this show actually seen ST:DS9? I left my regular (non-ranty) thoughts about Episode 1 wondering what the hell happened with Federation-Romulan relations that could take them from allies to enemies in about 12 years. After this episode, I still REALLY want to know this, more than in the first episode! I'm sorry, but 14 planets threatened to leave the Federation if they helped the Romulans?? And Starfleet HQ sided with those 14 planets? Were any of those 14 planets Earth, Vulcan, Andor or Tellar? Because if not, fuck 'em. And even if so, frankly, fuck 'em. Why the hell should Starfleet capitulate to a small number of planets which did not want to help people who saved the Federation's ass in the Dominion war 12 years ago? Sorry, I'm even more outraged than Picard. That is fucking ridiculous. For an admiral to even advance that argument is outrageous and insulting. I can't believe an admiral would stand there and say "The Romulans are our enemies!" Really? I mean, were they really? What did they do to us? They were apparently MIA for 50 years, showed up in TNG S1 doing nothing nefarious. We had a few minor issues in the interior TNG seasons. Stupid Sela caused some problems, but always failed. And then they ALLIED with the Federation & Klingons and were instrumental in ending the Dominion war. They were our ALLIES more recently than they were our enemies. Do any of the ST:PIC writers even know this? Anyway, there was a whole lot of nothing happening in this episode. Lots of story set up. Just want to say that I'm slightly unhappy that basically all the villains or antagonists we're meeting are women. A rude, ignorant reporter, an horrific admiral, a rogue intel Commodore and finally a Romulan spy who has infiltrated Starfleet. This is contrasted against our male hero. I just found this a bit irritating. And yes, I know Narek is being presented as a villain. But apart from lying (poorly) to a woman he's sleeping with, he hasn't actually done or said anything villainous yet. Really, he kinda got kicked around and humilated a bit by his apparent sibling who's senior ranking to him in the Tal Shiar, or whatever other secret Romulan group they're with.
*Edited to add* Also, why doesn't Soji immediately ask if he's Tal Shiar? He has a secret job and everything about him is secret, possibly even including his name? And she finds this amusing and/or attractive, but it never crosses her mind that he's covert ops?
Why did this evil Romulan group have to be some even more secret organization than the Tal Shiar? The Romulans have a covert ops agency which has been around for "thousands of years" which is solely dedicated to wiping out synthetic life? This seems dubious to me. Why not just make this part of the Tal Shiar? I really don't understand this. There's a completely unnecessary scene wherein Picard and his Romulan housekeeper(?) Lariss go investigate Dahj's apartment. This produces nothing of value, but the scene is really long. All they find out is that Soji is not on earth. What is hilarious is the way the music and Picard's expression makes it seem like this is a huge shock that Dahj's sister is on another planet. HOLY SHIT! SHE'S NOT ON EARTH! SHE'S ON ANOTHER PLANET!!!!! Why is this shocking? Finally, OMG, I am endlessly amused by the artfully tousled hair on Harry Treadaway and the way the show is going overboard at making him the "sexy Romulan", even having characters in this episode talk about how surprised they are to find a hot Romulan. I mean, his hair is really something. |
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Post by Prole Hole on Jan 31, 2020 11:13:57 GMT -5
Episode 2 - "Maps And Legends"  Hot, we are repeatedly informedIt shares it's name with a great R.E.M. song at least... Well, that was a whole lot of nothing. After a measured but compelling first episode Picard's second outing is a whole lot of place-setting and really not a lot more. All that exposition that was skilfully deployed in the first episode, teasing out interesting bits and pieces? All gone now as we get infodump after infodump after infodump in a slightly-desperate-seeming attempt to get us ready for the remaining eight episodes. I know we're going to need more information than this, but surely there must have a more elegant way of deploying it (There was. And don't call me Shirley etc) The patient, informative and engaging (heh) approach of the first episode is largely set aside here so we can get a whole bunch of information flung at us from every angle. From Picard! From his housekeeper! From a Scooby-Doo level investigation of Dahj's scrubbed-clean apartment! From people on the Borg cube! From some rando Admiral! On and on it goes until the whole thing becomes a bewildering flow of information with apparently little rhyme or reason. The problem isn't even that the information is inessential or anything, it's just all flung at us haphazardly with little rhyme or reason. In its first episode this was dealt with elegantly - here it is absolutely not. This being a show starring Patrick Stewart it goes without saying that it's not a complete write-off, but it's also hard not to be a bit disappointed as well. Stewart is working heroically here to try and lift some of the material but with unusually variable success. Much of the "musing at chateau Picard" material is limp and lifeless and Stewart is visibly working to try and make it seem like it means anything. Because it doesn't he can't really pull it off, which is rare. During the Scooby-Doo investigation he's noticeably more animated, playing Picard as someone finally getting back to the playground he enjoys messing about in, and though there's a lot of stand-around-telling-each-other-stuff material he's at least able to shoot it through with a degree of energy. Stewart also gets the only real stand-out scene of the episode, where he confronts said rando Admiral and is firmly told to go fuck himself. This scene is absolutely terrific and a demonstration of what Picard can bring to the table. In the run-up to it, we get swelling strings, TNG theme and all, Picard looking like his old self. He's confident, assured, and though it stings slightly when he has to explain to some receptionist who he is, he's back where he belongs. Right up until he isn't. His confrontation with Admiral Clancy is excellent, and she's entirely right that he's incredibly arrogant to simply waltz back in and assume he can get anything he asks for. The "and I'll take a demotion" is especially crass and it's strikingly unusual to see Picard in this light - actually making a wrong call. After all, he should have been able to guess the reception he would get yet doesn't. It's an interesting character shift, a fantastic scene and a great piece of acting (not just from Stewart, Ann Magnuson is terrific there too). So... why aren't there more scenes like that? To be fair, you can see some ambition on display - the cuts, for example, between the conversation in Picard's chateau and the Scooby-Doo investigation are clearly there to try and liven up both scenes, though this doesn't really work at least in part because it's the same two characters shot in the same way in both scenes. But, you know, they're trying. Much of the material set on the Borg cube accurately conveys information we need - the deliberate seduction of Soji, what's going on with attempts to rescue the people who have been assimilated and so on - but it's all a bit... perfunctory I suppose. Some of the attempts to make Narek seem unreasonably hot are laugh-out-loud funny (I mean, he's an attractive guy and all but nobody on this show is anything else) and having a character literally say, "Who knew Romulans could be so hot?" is about the base level of subtlety we get here. None of this is outright awful but there's a skill to delivering this kind of material and it's not on display here. It's simply presented as-is, so when we find out that Narek an This Show's Bad Admiral (tm) are in cahoots it doesn't register as remotely surprising because we've not had enough involvement to suspect anything else. We also get big chunk of back story on the Tal Shiar, and it turns out that even a secret organisation has a secret organisation! Is... that thrilling? Because I'm not really sure that it is. Why not just have a separate organisation dedicated to, um, exterminating all artificial intelligence (is that A Thing? Apparently that's A Thing). Or just have that be the Tal Shiar's agenda? No answers are forthcoming, and I suspect they wont be. It's a curious choice but either way, the big Here Comes The Plan moment is just another chunky info dump. And that's about it. Other things happen, most of the individual scenes are fine in and of themselves, but it just doesn't seem to add up to anything. It's just more stuff to get to before Picard can get on a damned ship already and move things along. Which, eventually, he does at the end of the episode. I'm all for building up a new cast of people around Picard so it's not just TNG Mk II, and I'm all for taking the time to let them become established. The problem isn't that the episode (well, the first two episodes really) try and do this, it's just that they don't do it very well, so this episode becomes a plodding necessity rather than something entertaining or gripping in its own right. Now all this mucking about it out of the way hopefully next week we can get on to something a bit more attention-holding. Any Other Business: • The opening of the episode, where we see Mars getting torched, is well shot but the (sigh) synth that kicks it all off is called F8. Fate. Oh please... • We really do just spend too much time on Picard's vineyard. I get that it's necessary to establish who he is at this point, but we've got the point by the time the credits roll on the first episode. • The Scooby Doo investigation goes on for way too long for the quality of information we get out of it. Hey the sister isn't on Earth! Even ignoring the fact that this was the big ta-da episode ender last time so we already know this, it just feels like padding, despite Stewart playing Picard's slightly puppy-dog enthusiasm well. • I am not loving those mostly- Voyager uniforms that Starfleet seems to have decided to run with. The Voyager uniforms themselves were fine, but these look like cosplay versions which haven't been made quite as well and don't seem to entirely fit whoever is wearing them. • We get a scene where Picard is reading Asimov but admits he's not really into science-fiction because he doesn't "get it". Tee-hee. This seems like an attempt to be terribly clever and meta but it rather ignores the fact that Picard would absolutely get "I, Robot" and so doesn't work. It's trying to put "clever" over "character" and nope. • The attempts to recover people who have been assimilated is a curious and unexpected new wrinkle in this episode, and hopefully we're going to find out a lot more about that going forward. • Someone said "fuck"! And they said it to Picard! It's actually genuinely shocking, one of many great moments in the confrontation between Picard and Admiral Can You Guess I'm The Bad Guy? • So fourteen planets said they'd leave the Federation if the rescue effort at Romulus continued so the Federation capitulated and gave up on the rescue mission. That's a strange political beat. It's very definitely capital-P political but it's not really clear what the point of it is, beyond giving Patrick Stewart the chance to turn in one of his patented "who has the right to decide" speeches. I hope we get more on this going forward because otherwise that's really clumsy. • Please don't let this be some Section 31 bullshit. • So I'm assuming all that faffing around with Picard's Doctor saying he has a parietal lobe problem is meant to be a reference to the Irumodic Syndrome from "All Good Things..."? But if so, why are they dancing around it without just coming out and saying it? Picard retains his memories of all the events in "All Good Things..." so he knows its a possibility. But then if it's not Irumodic Syndrome, then what is it? It's a really weirdly written scene. • It's cute to have flying taxis but why would a world with apparently-unlimited access to transporters actually need them? • Vasquez Rock! It's Vasquez Rock! • And so finally Picard is off on a ship. About time. Fuck Count
So near, and yet so far. We get a bit of post-coital cuddling from Narek and Soji but the banging that led to this is implied to have happened outwith the time span of the episode so I'm not counting it. And they are just about to start boning (even a little rolling on top of each other) before they get cockblocked by getting called into the office. Isn't that just always the way? All that horniness and work screws it for you (though not in the fun way). There's a lot of horniness on display in this episode - I guess being stuck inside a Borg cube means there's not a lot of other forms of entertainment, unless someone's brewing up Borg Wine in one of the toilets. The show desperately wants us to know how hot Narek is, to the point where it becomes Poochie Syndrone (whenever he's not being hot on screen all the other characters should point out how hot he is, sometimes basically directly down the lens of the camera). So yes - plenty of horniness, and it's good that those levels are being kept up, but no actual boning.
Total Fucks for Episode: 0 Total Fucks for Season: 0 Total Fucks for Series: 0
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Post by Desert Dweller on Feb 1, 2020 15:32:34 GMT -5
Episode 2 - "Maps And Legends" Hot, we are repeatedly informed
Well, I am glad I posted before you, because otherwise all I would have been able to say would have been "ditto".
Also, just look at that hairstyle on Treadaway. Look at it! I laughed when the show first cut to Narek and Soji in bed. OMG, the hairstyle on him is just THE MOST "sexy tousled" hair ever. I started to wonder how long it takes the hairstylist to achieve that look. And if maybe the hairstylist is just having fun doing this to a man instead of a woman for a change?
This just felt desperate to me. "Hey, we know these massive info dump scenes are boring, so what if we cut between them! Oooh!" Yeah, nope. They're still boring. The amount of technobabble in that scene in Dahj's apartment was off the charts. Why are they trying to explain the way the computer works? Or the tech the Romulans use? Who cares? This stuff is all fake! Talk about real stuff while you are scanning! "Oh damn! They were able to wipe almost every trace of themselves away! I'll run a scan and see if I can find anything on the computer". Bam! I just cut, like, 5 minutes of technobabble from your script!
And this is all for nothing! As you note, the audience already knows where she is. And no one in Star Trek should be surprised to find that someone's sibling lives on another planet. And yet, "She's not on Earth!!!!" was the dramatic climax of this scene. Wow.
I actually was more interested in this stuff than most of the Picard scenes. Even though the whole "pillow talk" device is a bit cliche, I felt like we were able to get to know Soji better, learn what she's interested in. We also learned Narek is a terrible spy who can't even come up with a cover story, and instead just insists that everything about himself is secret, and they definitely can't tell anyone they're fucking. Which Soji, for some reason, doesn't see as a red flag. Pretty sure an android could deduce that there is something not right there?
Anyway, I was very interested to see them trying to recover Borg drones and de-Borg them. (Starting to make sense of why we're going to be seeing Seven of Nine and Hugh in this show.) The signs in that facility made it look like this has been going on 14 or 15 years? Even before the Romulan sun exploded. I have a lot of questions about this operation. It doesn't seem to be secret, since there are many different species working on this. How did the Romulans end up in charge of this? What are they doing with these people once they recover them? So many more questions. This is an interesting part of the show. Looking forward to hearing more about this.
This is not wrong. I legit laughed. The line was so funny. And yeah, Treadaway is a good looking guy. But, wow, the way he is being shot by the camera, his hairstyling, costuming plus this line is just way too much. What with that entrance in episode 1, also, coming out of the smoke, wearing black leather. LOL, it's all so over-the-top. Especially because Narek is apparently one of the villains. Why are they wanting so badly for us to think he's so sexy?
Also, what's that device in his ear?
I found this mystifying. For what end? Why not just make them part of the Tal Shiar? And yeah, their sole mission is to exterminate artificial life? Whaaaat? Wasn't Data just walking around Romulus in "Unification"? These guys are apparently terrible at their one true mission. And really, how virulently anti-synthetic can they be? Narek is sleeping with one!
Ugh, I really hope Narek turns into an interesting character. I am tired of cartoon villains, especially Romulan ones. And, wow, the Starfleet women in this episode were all a bit cartoony for me. Especially the Intel Vulan officer and the Starfleet undercover Romulan spy, who is apparently Narek's sibling. This was all so "Ha ha! We're so EVIL!!". Didn't like it at all. Really hope Narek is more than "Here's this hot, evil Romulan!" That will get old real fast. There's potential here to do something interesting.
Anyway, yeah. Hoping for more story movement next week. Want to see Picard actually *doing* something.
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Post by Hachiman on Feb 2, 2020 19:48:23 GMT -5
Alright, I am not going to be nearly as nit-picky on this one since the "Starfleet Admiral" rule is in full effect.That rule being that Starfleet Admirals are incredibly stupid and/or evil. It makes it much easier to relax and enjoy the show.
First, it was good to see what Mars was about. Those synths were super creepy to the point that I found it funny that they were intentionally designed that way and then approved for service. Anyone remember all the work that went into creating the EMH's with the idea being that they would put people at ease? Then we get these synths which don't even try to mimic people very well. They clearly needed more work. But Starfleet's gonna Starfleet so I will let those slide.
Oh, then we have our admirals. So dumb. Like the first one had a good point, but she didn't even do much to look into Picard's story other than passing it along to the other Admiral. The explosion area was probably scrubbed too, but you would think that the explosion getting scrubbed would get as much attention from the show as Dahj's apartment being scrubbed since the explosion would require more work and more people to cover it up. I didn't expect the first admiral to go off on her own rogue investigation but it seems odd that Picard was recently blown up on Federation property and she is like, "I don't care. That explosion was just something random, I guess. And I guess nobody saw it or heard it. It also didn't cause any damage or require a report, I guess? Anyway, get out!" before telling evil Vulcan (Romulan?) Commodore about Picard's story. Then the Commodore like "Chill, things are fine" and the dumb Admiral is like, "Well, I feel much better now! Bye!"
On the Commodore, I am genuinely hoping she turns out to be Vulcan just because the Romulan spy in plain sight story has been rolled out several times now. Plus, if she is Vulcan, then that means this super-secret organization probably predates the Romulan Empire. I am hoping its not Section 31 related. I like the idea of Section 31, but they've been leaned on pretty heavily in post-DS9 Trek. Either way, Commodore obviously isn't the best manager, which is very on-brand.
Speaking of our new super-secret organization, did anyone else find it funny that we learn that they absolutely abhor synthetic life to the point of it being like a religious fervor in the same episode where an undercover agent sleeps with a synthetic person? Also, does anyone else find trope of the unmade bed funny? "Your bed is messy? You've had someone over!" Like, my bed is almost never made. It would have been funny is Narek just went, "What? I toss and turn in my sleep! Don't be weird."
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Post by Desert Dweller on Feb 2, 2020 21:12:45 GMT -5
On the Commodore, I am genuinely hoping she turns out to be Vulcan just because the Romulan spy in plain sight story has been rolled out several times now. Plus, if she is Vulcan, then that means this super-secret organization probably predates the Romulan Empire. I am hoping its not Section 31 related. I like the idea of Section 31, but they've been leaned on pretty heavily in post-DS9 Trek. Either way, Commodore obviously isn't the best manager, which is very on-brand.
I think the Commodore is Vulcan. As you say, what fun would it be if she were a Romulan spy?
And I, too, am hoping it has nothing to do with Section 31. I'd almost think Section 31 would have promoted helping the Romulans, because not helping them would likely result in the remaining Romulans being intensely upset. Why promote allowing most of your enemy to die, when you can instead promote making them eternally grateful for your help? Of course, I think Starfleet itself should have had this philosophy, but what I do I know?
I thought I had posted this here, but I just checked and I must have posted it to Twitter instead. But YES! I'm all, "How virulently anti-synthetic life can these people be? Narek is sleeping with one!" It is so odd that this show is claiming this really old group is entirely dedicated to wiping out artificial life. So odd!
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Post by Prole Hole on Feb 3, 2020 3:38:29 GMT -5
We are not as one.
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Tellyfier
TI Pariah 
Unwarned and dangerous
Posts: 2,552 
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Post by Tellyfier on Feb 4, 2020 6:57:43 GMT -5
This is a minor point since we don't really yet know what exactly is going on on that decommisioned Borg cube, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of exposition regarding that but where does everybody get that "Recovering/Rescuing people who were Borg'ed" from?
It can very well be me not listening properly to the exposition anymore at that point, but what I saw was "Scavening the borg parts and dispose of the corpses."
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Post by Hachiman on Feb 4, 2020 20:02:21 GMT -5
This is a minor point since we don't really yet know what exactly is going on on that decommisioned Borg cube, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of exposition regarding that but where does everybody get that "Recovering/Rescuing people who were Borg'ed" from? It can very well be me not listening properly to the exposition anymore at that point, but what I saw was "Scavening the borg parts and dispose of the corpses." Yeah, I think I saw one former Borg working at a control panel, but that particular scene played out like they were running an organ harvesting operation or something. Whatever the hell they are planning on doing with a bunch of Borg parts should be interesting to see. |
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Post by Desert Dweller on Feb 4, 2020 21:47:25 GMT -5
This is a minor point since we don't really yet know what exactly is going on on that decommisioned Borg cube, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of exposition regarding that but where does everybody get that "Recovering/Rescuing people who were Borg'ed" from? It can very well be me not listening properly to the exposition anymore at that point, but what I saw was "Scavening the borg parts and dispose of the corpses." Yeah, I think I saw one former Borg working at a control panel, but that particular scene played out like they were running an organ harvesting operation or something. Whatever the hell they are planning on doing with a bunch of Borg parts should be interesting to see.
There was nothing in the text about it, but yeah, they did show a former Borg working on the Cube. So, I assumed there was some sort of attempt going on to de-Borg at least some of them.
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Post by Hachiman on Feb 4, 2020 22:00:39 GMT -5
Yeah, I think I saw one former Borg working at a control panel, but that particular scene played out like they were running an organ harvesting operation or something. Whatever the hell they are planning on doing with a bunch of Borg parts should be interesting to see.
There was nothing in the text about it, but yeah, they did show a former Borg working on the Cube. So, I assumed there was some sort of attempt going on to de-Borg at least some of them.
Or this is how they are getting around the synth ban. "We can't have synths but we still need cheap labor in our moneyless post-scarcity economy! Maybe we can use these former Borg to fill the void in creepy robotic co-workers!" |
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Post by Desert Dweller on Feb 5, 2020 1:28:39 GMT -5
Okay, I said I would only rant about the supposed destruction of the Romulan Empire due to their star going nova if the show disclosed more information that was related to this. Well, I just realized that in episode 2 of ST: Picard they did release more information. Did we notice that the android attack on Utopia Planitia happened in 2385? That's what it said at the beginning of the episode. And this attack thwarted the Federation plan to evacuate the Romulans, according to both episodes of ST:Picard. Do we know when the Romulan star went nova? 2387 So, the Romulan Empire had at least TWO YEARS to evacuate their own planet, but somehow couldn't? There should be A LOT of Romulans still left. There should be no collapse of their government at all.
WTF, Star Trek?
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Tellyfier
TI Pariah
Unwarned and dangerous
Posts: 2,552
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Post by Tellyfier on Feb 5, 2020 2:09:27 GMT -5
Yeah, I think I saw one former Borg working at a control panel, but that particular scene played out like they were running an organ harvesting operation or something. Whatever the hell they are planning on doing with a bunch of Borg parts should be interesting to see.
There was nothing in the text about it, but yeah, they did show a former Borg working on the Cube. So, I assumed there was some sort of attempt going on to de-Borg at least some of them.
I thought that was because there were still operational parts of the cube, where the Borg drones keep doing whatever Borg drones do but it's meaningless since the cube is not connected hive anymore? Wasn't even the' tour guide' like "Don't mind these just don't get too close."? |
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Post by Desert Dweller on Feb 7, 2020 1:10:55 GMT -5
From episode 3 it seems they are actually de-Borging at least some of them.
I'm trying to think of things to say about episode 3. It still feels like nothing much is happening.
I will say that I hate Raffi referring to Picard as "JL" and how they had her say this about 8 times in this episode. I also am not entirely buying this character based on just this episode. I am hoping she turns out to be interesting. Also, how does a member of the Federation end up poor on Earth in 2399?
The intro to Rios was also a bit silly. I rolled my eyes that his ship is full of holograms of himself that all speak in different accents. I really wish this hadn't been in his first episode, because all it says is "This actor is a ridiculous show off". (And/Or, "we didn't have enough money to hire other actors".) That said, I am happy to see some Latino/Hispanic representation in Trek.
Basically, my overall opinion after this episode is: "I really hope all these characters turn out to be interesting". Including Narek, who feels quite goofy right now, despite Treadaway's clear attempts to show more. It would have been better to not see Narek at all in this episode rather than the two scenes we got. One was a ridiculous cliche and the other was a repeat of his scene with his sister from last week, except with a weird undertone of incest.
I'm not sure that making every character background/motivation a mystery is really the way to go.
The most compelling characters are Laris and Zhaban, and we're apparently leaving them behind. Which seems a bit crazy. It seems like they'd be in danger if they stayed there? I did really like the scene where they fended off some Romulan attackers.
I really can't think of anything to say about the Soji scenes. They all felt like mystery for the sake of mystery. I would prefer to just move things along, so I found this all a bit frustrating.
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Post by Nudeviking on Feb 7, 2020 2:30:25 GMT -5
From episode 3 it seems they are actually de-Borging at least some of them. I'm trying to think of things to say about episode 3. It still feels like nothing much is happening. I will say that I hate Raffi referring to Picard as "JL" and how they had her say this about 8 times in this episode. I also am not entirely buying this character based on just this episode. I am hoping she turns out to be interesting. Also, how does a member of the Federation end up poor on Earth in 2399? The intro to Rios was also a bit silly. I rolled my eyes that his ship is full of holograms of himself that all speak in different accents. I really wish this hadn't been in his first episode, because all it says is "This actor is a ridiculous show off". (And/Or, "we didn't have enough money to hire other actors".) That said, I am happy to see some Latino/Hispanic representation in Trek. Basically, my overall opinion after this episode is: "I really hope all these characters turn out to be interesting". Including Narek, who feels quite goofy right now, despite Treadaway's clear attempts to show more. It would have been better to not see Narek at all in this episode rather than the two scenes we got. One was a ridiculous cliche and the other was a repeat of his scene with his sister from last week, except with a weird undertone of incest. I'm not sure that making every character background/motivation a mystery is really the way to go. The most compelling characters are Laris and Zhaban, and we're apparently leaving them behind. Which seems a bit crazy. It seems like they'd be in danger if they stayed there? I did really like the scene where they fended off some Romulan attackers. I really can't think of anything to say about the Soji scenes. They all felt like mystery for the sake of mystery. I would prefer to just move things along, so I found this all a bit frustrating. Why the eff is someone calling Picard "JL?" Is he a masked man wrestler from the 90s?  |
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Tellyfier
TI Pariah
Unwarned and dangerous
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Post by Tellyfier on Feb 10, 2020 6:00:06 GMT -5
I've seen the third episode now and I think I'm getting it now, you can't watch this like all that new prestige tv shows we've become used to, this is for better or worse, Star Trek! So was there even more exposition that raises more questions that it answers? Of course! Could the way our ragtag bunch of misfits got together and into space have used more elegant writing? Oh you bet it did! Do I give a friggin' damn about that? Nope, because this is mothertrucking Star Trek and the good, good Star Trek things are here now! Phaser fights! Woooo! "...Maybe it was set on stun?"  Agnes P. Jurati is clearly the best new character, not only because of this, the first officially funny moment but also *drumroll* Sorry Jean Luc, and sorry Raffi, you both had good efforts this week but the award for Best Speech Of The Episode also goes to Dr. Agnes P. Jurati whose name I'll never forget after that one! |
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Post by Prole Hole on Feb 10, 2020 7:50:45 GMT -5
Episode 3 - "The End Is The Beginning"
Punch it, Starbuck! No, wait...
More of the same. Any Other Business: • OK fine, I'm being a bit facetious. But really, I don't know what more to say about this episode, it's just Episode 2 but more. Picard speech, Stuff On A Cube, you know. • Um. I mean, it's not that this is bad, but the episode could have been entitled "Furniture Movers!" Subtitle - "Does your furniture need moving around? Call us for low, low prices! Wait, not prices, no money in the future. Eh, you know what we mean". • Oh good, lengthy flashbacks, my favourite narrative device! *rolls eyes hard enough to see own brain* • But fine, we get Raffi introduced and a whole massive chunk of backstory as we get the fallout from what happened on Mars. We are orbiting Planet Exposition and beaming down to Character Backstory Island as the whole lot is dispensed in inelegant, hard-to-swallow chunks. Raffi seems like a good character but her introduction and explanation is the weakest thing Picard has done to date. • Last week on Picard reviewing - "Vasquez Rock! It's Vazquez Rock!" This week on Picard reviewing - "Hey they actually put up a caption identifying it as actually Vasquez Rock!" Cute, show. • Narek admits he's in love with Soji but we know it's not true because he's using her, or manipulating her because he's a (hot, don't forget hot) spy. You know, like last week. • Look I understand that "Oh" is a proper surname, but it never fails to sound like the setup to an Airplane or Police Squad! gag - "And this is Commodore Oh" "Oh really?" Yes, really Oh!" "Oh, sure" "No, really !" (etc) • There's some kind of crazy Romulan mystic who is recovering from assimilation, positions triangular cards on a table, may or may not have some idea of what's going on, seems to inspire plot-handy revelations in visitors and generally hangs around like she should be covered in about a dozen cats. Crazy Romulan Cat Lady, is what I'm saying. • There's a shoot-out at Picard's chateau. I appreciate the effort to try and inject some life into proceedings around all the speeches and ponderous declarations that make up the bulk of the episode, but it's all very flatly directed. TOS had more exciting phaser battles. • Although speaking of speeches there's a few decent ones, though one suspects the episode may lean rather more on them because there's really not much else happening. It's all just vamping until we get to the end of episode "engage", lest Picarcd get to the Cube too early and start resolving the plot. • "Engage" Yes, please! Engage! Fuck Count:Nope. Turns out there's no action anywhere in this episode... Total Fucks for Episode: 0 Total Fucks for Season: 0 Total Fucks for Series: 0
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Post by Hachiman on Feb 11, 2020 20:05:25 GMT -5
A few thoughts here after watching the 3rd episode..
- It definitely seems like the first 3 episodes were meant to be a 90-minute opening episode that they re-edited for a weekly release.
- We find out that the Romulans at the cube were the only Romulans known to be assimilated, that the cube went offline shortly after they were assimilated, and that only the de-Borged Romulans are messed up. I'm not expecting this to be a plot point since there's enough stuff going on already, but it felt odd that nobody had managed to put any of these three facts together to surmise why the Romulans have the Cube. They act like the Cube just randomly stopped working right.
- Rios told the EMH to buzz off while he still had a gaping, booze-covered wound. Then he put a shirt on. Ewwwwww! Get some stitches and take a shower, you weirdo! You're going to get space-gangrene or something!
- I still really like Picard's Romulan helpers and the layered performances they are giving. I like that the show hints how they are trying to be better people than their previous lives but are also kind of terrible at it. They never seem really comfortable and only seem to come alive when they are fighting or plotting. At first, I thought it was because they were refugees, but now that we know there are other Romulans still out there being Romulans, there is a clearer sense that it is because they are trying to be different and its a choice they are making. Real late-season 3 Zuko vibes from those two. I love it.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Feb 14, 2020 1:48:45 GMT -5
I just watched the 4th episode. So, with ST: Discovery, I feel like everything happens too fast. The episodes churn through plot so quickly. And then the subsequent episodes start whole new plots, regardless of what was in the previous episode. Every episode makes it seem like the show is about something else.
After this 4th episode of ST: Picard, I still feel like nothing is happening. I mean, stuff happens in the episode, but we're not going anywhere with the story.
You may have thought due to the ending of the last episode that this episode would show Picard & all off to find Bruce Maddox. Ha! Joke's on you! Instead, we're going to take a detour to Lord of the Rings land and pick up a master swordfighter, as if everyone in this universe doesn't have energy weapons.
We get another flashback to start the episode which again makes the "Star Trek 09" villain make more AND less sense, simultaneously. This episode implies that potentially millions of Romulans had been evacuated before the star went nova. (And I can't comprehend how they had literal YEARS and the Romulans themselves couldn't have evacuated their own planet?) So, why does Nero in that movie act like all the Romulans were wiped out? (And no, it didn't wipe out the government, because one of the Romulans we meet in this episode was a Senator.) It is nonsensical! Of course, it appears that the Federation did really fuck them over, so him wanting to blow up all the Federation planets does now make more sense. I guess. If, for some reason, the Romulans were unable to evacuate themselves....?
Anyway, instead of going off to find Bruce Maddox, we're taking a detour to a Romulan colony that Picard had helped set up, now full of Romulans who are super pissed that the Federation stopped the evacuation. And Picard somehow thinks it's totally fine to go back there. Surprisingly, most of the residents are not happy to see him. What a shock. He goes there ostensibly to pick up a swordfighter, which really makes no goddamn sense due to the aforementioned energy weapons that exist in this universe. Since this makes no sense, I'm going to assume that his real reason for going there is because he actually *wanted* to be yelled at for fucking up with the evacuation. Which definitely happens.
And really, he had TWO fucking years and instead of carrying on with some other plan outside of Starfleet, he just gave up? I'm just really not sure this whole Romulan star going nova backstory is ever going to work for me, though I appreciate that this show is at least making an effort. Which is more than I can say for ST 09.
So, Picard picks up his swordfighter. Who does some fighting and kills a dude he shouldn't have. And I was happy Picard was pissed over that. And then they are both almost killed by a, wait for it, energy weapon. They are only saved because Rios beams them up. Why are we seeing swordfighters in Star Trek? It's not a *laser sword* a la Star Wars. What is a regular steel sword going to do when your enemies have Romulan disruptors?
Moving on. It now really bothers me that no one aboard Rios's ship asks him why the hell he has a bunch of holograms who look like him and also argue with him all the time? This is ultra weird, and it seems like something you'd ask about. Rios doesn't strike me as particularly scary or even all that prickly. I don't think he'd beam you into space if you asked about this. Why is no one asking about this? IT'S REALLY WEIRD. And I want to hear his answer!
Speaking of Rios, I was thrilled to hear Spanish being spoken on Star Trek! Wow! Yay!
EDITED TO ADD: Someone has subsequently told me that it was Portuguese being spoken in this scene. That could be. I did understand what they were saying without need of the subtitles, but Spanish and Portuguese are similar enough that with short dialogue bursts like that I might not be able to distinguish Portuguese from Spanish. Whichever it was, it was very nice to hear.
The Borg cube plot was much less interesting in this episode. Finally Soji asked Narek if he was in the Tal Shiar. My god, I cannot believe it took her that long. It's fine if he doesn't really answer, because why would he. But I needed her to ask that question two episodes ago. She's really uninteresting in this episode otherwise.
I really need Narek to do something interesting in the next episode. This character hasn't advanced from the 1st episode. Actually, he seems less scary now. In this episode he didn't even have access to the information Soji wanted. He had to beg his sister for it. The show is actually making him seem kinda pathetic in the way his sister creepily abuses him.
After three episodes of this, I now cannot blame the actress playing his sister. The credits say the character's real, Romulan name is Narissa. The directors are clearly wanting this blunt, ultra creepy vibe from her. This is just goofy and creepy in all the wrong ways. If this is all set up for Narek to flip sides, then it is quite possibly the least subtle way of achieving that end that I can imagine. I'm not sure that Narissa can be salvaged, that is such a poor presentation of a character. Narek still can be, as they are letting Treadaway show some depth in the character. But, I need a change on this end of the story ASAP.
Oh, and Seven of Nine is in this episode for about 10 seconds. She has one line.
The preview for next week has me a bit nervous. It looks a bit too Star Wars-y for me. But, we'll see.
Edited to add: Oh, also in this episode, in order to get access to this Romulan colony, they have to offer a bribe. A *cash bribe* says Rios. This group doesn't strike me as a bunch of people carrying around a significant amount of cash, or even things that could act as currency. What did they offer to get access to the planet? Neither Rios nor Picard bring this up again. I'm just saying, it is pretty wild to actually mention that you need cash for something in Star Trek and then never talk about it after that.
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Agnes P. Jurati is clearly the best new character, not only because of this, the first officially funny moment but also *drumroll*