“The Star Gazer”
Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 1 – Debuted Thursday, March 3, 2022
Written by Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas
Directed by Doug Aarniokoski
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
Tightly packed with action, character, humor, and lore, the second season premiere of Star Trek: Picard resets this series into a welcome new trajectory.
WARNING: Spoilers below!
RECAP
“The problem isn’t time, it’s you.”
Season two teases in medias res and intruder alert chaos on a Starfleet ship suffering a cascading series of system failures. We follow a security team struggling to the bridge to find a distressed Captain Rios. What? Seven is there, as is Jurati and Picard too, all dealing with some Doc Ock masked lady taking over the ship, who addresses the Admiral directly before he orders self-destruct. Okay Picard, you came to play. 48 hours earlier it’s all blue skies, ripe grapes, and big smiles at Chateau Picard, Jean-Luc leading the harvest with new pep in his synthetic step. Later, Laris drops some exposition on us that it’s been almost two years since season one, her husband Zhabon is dead, and she is ready for love. Alas, she gets denied by Jean-Luc, distracted by mommy-and-daddy-issues flashbacks. Awkward.
Winemaking is now Picard’s side hustle as he has returned to Admiraling and heads up Starfleet Academy, where he gives a speech, sharing his (almost) centenarian wisdom with the cadets that “the true final frontier is time.” He also foreshadows “second chances” and returns to the subject of mom, who inspired him to “look up” to the stars. Raffi is there as a teacher and Elnor as a cadet, and both are heading off on assignment after some fun banter. With Raffi’s jabs about his commitment issues ringing in his ears, Picard takes a trip back in time–sort of–to the Los Angeles Historical District and a certain bar at 10 Forward Ave. After greeting his old friend Guinan–you got that from the address, right?–Picard seeks love life advice, believing “that particular ship has sailed,” but Guinan has hope, telling her friend he has “one final frontier.” Best. Bartender. Ever.
“Help us, Picard”
Meanwhile, Jean-Luc’s other season one pals are off having their own little adventures. Seven has returned to her angry Fenris Rangers ways, in command of La Sirena with hologram Emmet as sole crew. The pair quickly dispatches some name-calling space pirates only to find a giant rift opening up in space. Again with the anomalies. As for Soji and Jurati, they are way off in the Beta Quadrant wining and dining some Deltans on a Synths-actually-aren’t-all-soulless-killing-machines goodwill tour. Things are going pretty well: Soji impresses the crowd with deft diplomacy, and Agnes gets hammered but seems happy to be exonerated for murdering her ex last season. Dr. Jurati is summoned away by Rios, also her ex BTW, and leaves the android behind before we can see what Deltans get up to after dinner.
Agnes beams to that Starfleet ship from the teaser, with a cigar-chomping Captain Cristóbal Rios confidently barking orders. He has brought her to the ship for “her brain” and with a “make it so” (which he makes his own) they head to that pesky anomaly. Oh, and his ship is a brand-spanking-new USS Stargazer, or as she points out, “a command with baggage.” Once at the glowy green anomaly (isn’t that a hint?) they rendezvous with La Sirena, and Seven has to explain all the new dents on Rios’ old ship. Dr. Jurati sciences out that the signal coming from the anomaly is many languages… all “pleading”… pleading for Jean-Luc Picard. Make it Oh!
“God damn, Q”
Back at Chateau Picard, Admiral Whitley has the sheer f—ing hubr… actually she was quite nice, briefing Admiral Picard on the request from the anomaly signal along with news that the unknown (but clearly powerful, and that green glow is not ominous at all) sender has indicated they want to join the Federation. Picard immediately sets off, ghosting poor Laris. On the Stargazer he is treated like a returning conquering hero, while Seven is treated like… well, like a Borg—ironic because this ship is apparently built using tech from the season one cube. Picard has a happy reunion with Rios and Jurati on the bridge and more banter that includes a quip from Agnes that he looks “positively positronic.” Too soon? In response to Jean-Luc’s hail, and to what shouldn’t have been much of a surprise to anyone, a ginormous diamond-shaped Borg ship comes through the rift.
Now with a (nicely diverse) fleet of ships for backup—including one with Raffi and Elnor—Seven strongly suggests it’s time to start firing. Agnes thinks this could be a chance for peace and Picard is caught in between, with Rios at the ready awaiting his order. The Collective makes the first move by forcing an “emissary” onto the Stargazer bridge to begin “negotiations,” and all hell breaks loose, catching us up to that teaser. Agnes assumes this uninvited guest is a Borg Queen but admits the outfit with the mask is a new look, as are the giant tendrils snaking out to take control of the ship… and the fleet. Unable to stop her with their phasers, Picard does what we already saw him do: blow up the ship, but not before hearing the Queen tell him to “look up.” Oh, mommy.
Somehow Jean-Luc survives the explosion, and he is back at his chateau… but is it? Something is off with the sky, he is wearing a sharp new black uniform, Laris is nowhere to be found, and someone has swapped out all the art in his house. Who would do that? Maybe it’s his A500 valet named Harvey. What, what? Not sure what’s up with that, but it’s not him. Wait, did someone just say “mon capitan”? Oh right… Q did it. Of course it’s Q, who politely snaps up to Picard’s age. Because “the trial never ends,” all that talk about “second chances” summoned the superbeing to hit the big universe reset button, but this new one definitely isn’t home. Merde.
ANALYSIS
It’s time
“The Star Gazer” was a delight from start to finish. With tight pacing and a focused story, the premiere redefines the series after a mixed bag of a first season. While still centered around its titular character, the stage has been set for a grand and mysterious arc, driven by the return of John de Lancie’s Q, who remains as captivating as ever, even in the short time he had. Picard’s longtime foil is perfect for a season that is clearly telegraphed to be all about time, second chances, and an examination of Picard’s past. The introduction of his young mother (Madeline Wise) allows for the kind of darker, psychological character exploration promised in season one, but this time without getting bogged down.
And while Q is driving the plot, Whoopi Goldberg effectively drove home Picard’s character arc for the season, with a surprising exploration of his solitude and reluctance to form long romantic partnerships, as demonstrated by the forlorn Laris, enhanced by Orla Brady’s strong performance. This theme of connection was also woven into the quick and fun updates from our other returning characters: Seven is keeping her distance from a frustrated Raffi, and Rios and Jurati trade barbs over their failed romance between seasons. Jumping the show forward a couple of years was a smart way to allow for these and other character resets, giving each a nice new arc starting point.
Welcome to the 25th century
The jump forward in time into the early 25th century has also allowed the show to move into the more familiar world of Starfleet but with an updated aesthetic. And everything from Starfleet Academy, the updated uniforms, and the USS Stargazer feels just about right. It’s obvious the people working on this show have a deep love for the franchise, adding in plenty of nods to the lore without over-indulging into fan service… for the most part, at least. There are some curiosities, like the way the new Stargazer’s registry was both described as being entirely new and a refit, but beyond that, the episode offered little to nitpick.
Putting Picard comfortably back into a peaceful, sleek Starfleet without a badmiral in sight was also a good way to set up the calm before the storm and emphasize the stakes. The new Borg element is quite intriguing, and with the masked Queen quoting Picard’s mother, things could get very weird. The debate about whether the Borg were sincere for peace was pure Star Trek: Kirk made peace with the Klingons, so Picard can do the same with the Borg. Even though there was a lot of shooting and exploding, there may still be something important there—Seven did point out the Queen was only shooting to stun, so perhaps running through Q’s test this season will give them a second chance at that peace.
As for that test, there isn’t a lot to go on yet, but there was certainly an added level of menace to Q after the “mon capitan” pleasantries. It seems clear Q has pulled some kind of “Tapestry” or “All Good Things” type thing, but exactly what, and more importantly, why, remains a very intriguing mystery.
Final thoughts
Star Trek: Picard is back and better than ever. Sir Patrick is back in form, supported by a strong supporting cast and outstanding guest cast. It was a long wait and it looks like the people behind the show took the time to fine-tune the recipe by reinforcing what was working, throwing out what wasn’t, and then grabbing some new ingredients to spice up the mix. While standing entirely on its own as an episode, this season opener did the job of setting up a series of intriguing plot and character arcs, with the promise that this time they will pay off in the end.
Random bits
- The title “The Star Gazer” has a double meaning, referring to the USS Stargazer (or USS Stargazers), as well as Jean-Luc Picard’s childhood habit of looking up at the stars.
- This is the third Picard writing credit for co-creator and co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman, who also co-wrote the 2-part season one finale.
- This is the first Picard writing credit for Terry Matalas, who joins the show as executive producer and co-showrunner for season two. However, this isn’t his first connection to Star Trek—Matalas worked for Brannon Braga starting with season six of Voyager and continued on to Enterprise where he has two “story by” credits.
- This is the second time directing Picard for Doug Aarniokoski, who has also directed four episodes of Discovery and one Short Treks.
- The show has new versions of the main title sequence and main theme by composer Jeff Russo.
- The song playing during the harvest was “Time is on My Side” by Irma Thomas.
- The music Picard hears at the end when the Borg Queen speaks to him is “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” by Édith Piaf. The song title translates as “No, I regret nothing.”
- Laris toasts Picard in Romulan, translated as “Seize today, for we know nothing of tomorrow,” which is similar to the famous Latin aphorism “carpe diem” popularized by the Roman poet Horace, yet another inexplicable connection between ancient Rome and this alien race.
- Jean-Luc revealed he had an ancestor that sailed with 15th-century French explorer Jacques Cartier, and an ancestor who mapped the solar system named René Picard, presumably a namesake of his nephew René.
- Picard’s mother called him her “little Magellan,” referring to the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who was first to circumnavigate the Earth.
- Flags on display during Picard’s speech at the Academy include United Earth, The Romulan Free State, Klingon, Telarite, United Federation of Planets, Starfleet Command, Starfleet Academy, Vulcan, Bajor, and The Ferengi Alliance, along with four others that were not easily identifiable.
- Picard gives Elnor a memoir by Spock titled “The Many and the One,” which is also the title of a book on the philosophical study of plural logic by Salvatore Florio and Øystein Linnebo. However, that book was published in late 2021, after production on season one was complete.
- Picard noted that Elnor was the first “fully Romulan” cadet at Starfleet Academy, possibly a nod to Saavik, who was revealed to be half-Romulan in a deleted scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
- Picard told Raffi he is considering updating the Academy’s infamous Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario, first revealed in Star Trek II. The most recent seasons of Prodigy and Discovery had episodes titled for this scenario.
- The planet where Soji was hanging with Deltans was identified as Raritan IV, not their homeworld of Delta IV.
- Soji mentioned she was worried she might have to break into a medley of Deltan folk songs to keep the diplomatic party entertained. Actress Isa Briones is an accomplished Broadway singer, who sang “Blue Skies” for the season one finale.
- Emmet tells Seven the anomaly was giving off Hawking Radiation, which is theorized to be created by black holes.
- Article 15 of the Federation Charter covers entry into the Federation.
- While very long-lived, Guinan reveals El-Aurians can choose to look like they’re aging at a natural rate, which she has done while on Earth to “keep up.”
- Guinan’s “10 Forward” bar includes wall panels matching those on the original Ten Forward on the USS Enterprise-D.
- There was also a sign for Aranis Lager like the one from the McCoy bar scene in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
- Before saying “make it so,” Rios said “dale,” which is “go ahead” in Spanish.
- Among the items in Picard’s chateau were the remains of the Bajoran tablet of Reckoning, which Benjamin Sisko broke in the Deep Space Nine episode “Reckoning”
More ship stuff
- In Picard’s office, he had a gold model of the USS Enterprise-C, presumably one of the display ships from the USS Enterprise-E observation lounge.
- The first Starfleet ship to spot the anomaly was the USS Avalon, an Akira-class ship.
- Ship commemorative plaques on display at the Academy included those for Picard’s original USS Stargazer, the USS Enterprise-D, and the USS Excelsior.
- Elnor and Raffi were assigned to the USS Excelsior, which appeared to be that same 23rd-century ship.
- One cadet was assigned to the USS Hikaru Sulu, named for Hikaru Sulu, formerly of the USS Enterprise and Excelsior.
- Another cadet was assigned to the USS Grissom, which would have to be a new ship as the 23rd century Grissom was destroyed.
- In addition to the Stargazer and Excelsior, other ship classes in the armada arrayed against the Borg ship included Sovereign, Akira, Galaxy, Luna, and Inquiry. And there were four ships from Star Trek Online making their live-action debut: Ross, Sutherland, Reliant, and Gagarin.
- This would be the first live-action appearance of a Luna-class starship, first created for the USS Titan book series, and first seen onscreen in the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks.
- The Stargazer’s registry was NCC-82893, which adds an 8 to the original’s NCC-2893 instead of the more traditional letter (ala NCC-1701-A).
- As he is headed to the Stargazer, Admiral Whitley gives Picard a new Starfleet badge, possibly symbolic, but possibly practical as his more retro-style Academy badge may not function onboard a Starship.
- Admiral Picard’s destruct code was zero, zero, zero, destruct, zero,” which was the same code Admiral Kirk used to blow up the first USS Enterprise in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
More to come
Our review of Star Trek: Discovery episode 411 (“Rosetta”) will be up later Thursday morning.
And every Friday, the TrekMovie.com All Access Star Trek Podcast covers the latest news in the Star Trek Universe and discusses the latest episode. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.
New episodes of Star Trek: Picard premiere on Thursdays on Paramount+ in the U.S. and on Fridays where Paramount+ is available around the world. In Canada, it airs on CTV Sci-Fi Channel on streams on Crave on Thursdays. Picard is also available on Fridays on Amazon Prime Video around the world.
Keep up with all the Star Trek: Picard news and analysis.
This episode didn’t waste much time getting to work. Stewart pulled up some old threads of the loner Picard that was explored thoughtfully throughout the back half of TNG. It’s notable that Jean-Luc left his ordeal with Q and the anti-time anomaly in AGT with the realization that he should be more connected with his Enterprise family. Q was also there while Picard struggled with opening himself up to connections in “Tapestry” and “QPid.” And now, Q is back while Picard is trying to sort out his “near century” of isolation/loneliness. Is Q Jean-Luc’s (unwanted/unofficial) therapist?
Best episode of Star Trek in years. It FINALLY felt like the legit future of TNG.
Agreed.
Yeah it does. I feel like ever since Voyager ended the franchise has been afraid to create new stories. Enterprise, the Kelvin universe, Discovery all were dealing with the past history of Star Trek and seemed unable or unwilling to build new adventures. This finally seems to move the franchise forward.
I don’t mind looking back, just in the way they do here. Q coming back to Picard toward the end of his life to deal with the trial that never ends just seems like a no brainer. I remember during the promotion for ST First Contact, how they said the Borg were the ultimate and biggest villain they had ever faced. I disagree.. Q was. But it would have been premature to bring him back during those films. This feels 100% right.
Q is an antagonist, but not really a villain, especially in the later seasons.
In Star Trek there are very few actual villains.. they’re almost always antagonists, so I used those terms interchangeably.. because they often go for a ‘villain of the week’ model in episodic and the films too, really.
Except Q was never a villain. He was never truly menacing and never presented any kind of threat. It took the TNG guys a couple of tries to realize it but they did finally learn that Q worked best as a clownish foil. The Borg were always the best Big Bad TNG ever had. Hands down.
Just because the setting is the past doesn’t mean the stories aren’t new. And just because the setting’s the future doesn’t mean the stories aren’t old. The setting isn’t the determining factor. The characters and stories are.
For example, never before Discovery, have we had a show that was specifically about the redemption of a lower decks officer on their path to redemption, then the captaincy. It’s had a profound influence on the subsequent shows, by breaking free from the constraints of focusing on department heads. Picard was about people who left Starfleet (and have now returned). Lower Decks is about underdogs, and particularly about a group of ensigns. Prodigy is about people who never even heard of Starfleet or the UFP.
By contrast, VOY was often criticized for being a retread of TNG, despite taking place at the latest point in the franchise, up to that point.
Well we have been going forward for a few years now. Yes it was tiresome prequels for 15 years but we did have first season of Picard, Lower Decks and Prodigy not to mention moving Discovery a thousand years into the future and reshaped the Federation in the process. That shouldn’t just be ignored.
That said, I think Picard season 2 will satisfy more people who want a more direct TNG spin off show and what they were hoping to get in season 1.
I completely agree with you, but it’s interesting that Picard seems new and fresh using two of the oldest (or at least best well known) villians in TNG.
I loved it! For the first time since the “new” Kurtzman era of Star Trek began, I feel like they finally found the magic… I can’t wait to see how the season progresses. It was so great to see all the TNG era starships and I think that they really nailed the visual continuity from the late 24th century era. I also really loved the new uniforms. One small nit: Guinan mentioned that she and Picard had traveled universes together. I assume she is talking about the alternate timeline from “Yesterday’s Enterprise?” Or am I forgetting something? Is that really a “universe” and why would they have any memory of it? I know Guinan could sense something was “off” (which will probably play into her arc this season too), and I know they have evidence of the time-line shenanigans because of the existence of Sela – but it still felt like an odd way to describe it. But hey, if that is the only nit that I can find then I’m a very happy dude!
Picard was also in the Nexus with a let’s say copy/memory of Guinan, maybe even the real one, as time travel there was a matter of thinking it.
Guinan had to explain Sela’s existence to Picard, so he knew about the events in “Yesterday’s Enterprise”.
If you factor Parallels in, then what Guinan says makes sense (if she’s referring to Yesterday’s Enterprise).
I woke up this morning and read a few headlines about the Picard season premiere (without reading any details or spoilers) and I was pleased to see nothing but accolades, especially from some who did not like many parts of S1.
I am really looking forward to seeing the premiere tonight when it airs north of the border. Now let’s hope Discovery can also leave behind the two eggs it recently and ridiculously laid (IMHO) and finish S4 on a high note with two strong episodes.
I thought it was a mixed bag, but overall fine. Very handwavy about S1, but that was expected from the spoilers. What little character Elnor had getting flattened into a cadet role was the only bit that really bothered me there. Liked Captain Seven, the new Stargazer, and the background in-universe grotesquery of having the Federation zooming about in shiny new Borg-based tech while xBs are still reviled and being hunted for parts. Always happy to see Orla Brady, but I rolled my eyes at Zhaban being the latest kill for this series. Reserving judgement on Picard coming from an abusive home; there’s a lot that rubs me the wrong way with that in context of Star Trek, but we’ll see how it ends up in terms of character.
From episode one it seems like they’re going to ignore the issue of Picard being an android. Which I think is a big mistake. There’s a lot of very Trek-like stories that could be mined from the idea that his consciousness has been transferred to an android body.
One way to use Q might be to have him snap his finger and tell Picard, “boom, I just made you human again” and Picard to respond, “I can’t tell the difference.” Which would be the point, and a message to the series’ critics who’ve made the most stupid judgements of it.
There was that nice little detail near the end where Picard had to rely on Seven to sense the Borg because he has no implants now.
But yes, I suspect they could have made a fascinating season out of “I’m now an android, what does that mean for my place in the universe, and what are the social consequences?” but aren’t going to.
It also would have been the perfect excuse to bring back old favorites like Crusher, Geordi, and even Janeway and The Doctor (two people who have something to say about artificial vs human).
Big wasted opportunity. I mean, why make him artificial if not to explore such classic Trek ideas as “what is it that makes us human?”
Could have also been a fascinating exploration of the self, and even a possible allegory for trans identity.
Only because it’s not a topic in the first episode doesn’t meant it’s not mentioned forever.. I’m from Germany and it’ll come out in a few hours here and from the very positive comments I read here I’m very much looking forward now
I am holding out hope it gets some play, but we know it at least won’t be the main thrust of the season, as I felt it should be. If you ask me it should have been the heart of the story, and now i’m stuck with ‘well if we’re lucky maybe they’ll bring it up.’
There is a third season to come, and from what’s been said it seems that it will be a new storyline as well.
Perhaps the show can come back to that.
Completely agreed, and in fact it was mentioned at least twice.
Sigh. Incredible how so many people can read something and not understand what it says. Mentioning that it exists is not what I was hoping for.
Hey, they also mentioned Geordi last season, so I guess season one was all about Geordi!
Making Picard an Android was by far the biggest blunder of S1. It would be nice of somehow Q could retcon that somehow (though a cheap way to fix that mistake). Rather than snap his fingers and bring back Picards soul, perhaps send him back in time to that moment, and provide the fix for his condition to new data or something. That might be hard to bring back the actors though most are known to be back. It’s also probably too late for that as it would everything that happened since that moment pointless.
I neglected to mention the Elnor story as well. Three of the characters from S1 had HUGE arcs that are ALL worth exploring. Maybe we will be getting some flashbacks for them over the season, I hope. Honestly, I am more interested in how Raffi got herself straightened out than the time traveling Borg.
Well, considering how much you hate new trek, TNG, the character of Picard, and the people who are making the show, i’m astonished you’re still watching!
As I said many times, I’m a fan. Just because your team currently sucks doesn’t mean you stop being a fan and stop following the team or stop watching the games. And besides, Prodigy has shown there is hope. And this episode didn’t suck either.
This was great! Just a total joy!
This is what most fans wanted last season, something that felt a lot more closer to Star Trek and TNG in general while still delivering something a bit different. But it was nice just to be back on a Starfleet bridge and a REAL bridge at that, which was just so beautiful to look at.
They clearly are doing a reboot of the season, basically the same way Discovery got a reboot in season 2. Something that feels more familiar, upbeat and optimistic. Once I saw pictures of Rios wearing a Starfleet uniform and Captain of the Stargazer, Picard back as Admiral, etc, it was obvious they wanted it to feel as Star Trek as possible this season. Also LOVED that Borg entrance. They are back in a huge way. And such an interesting angle, they now say they want ‘peace’. We’ll see, but there have been so many questions about the Borg in the 32nd century and how come they didn’t try to take over the galaxy during the Burn. Maybe we are getting our answer this season. You’ll be crazy to fully trust them but I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m intrigued.
And yes seeing both Guinan and Q certainly didn’t disappoint. Funny they both used the same excuse on why they are more aged lol. That’s fine. Speaking of OLD, the Excelsior is still kicking around 100 years later? I thought they finally retired that bucket of bolts by the end of DS9’s run but guess not! Crazy.
I still want to be cautious because I remember how excited I was two years ago. But they hit it out of the park with this episode. Some minor gripes but just that, minor!
And Picard is now officially in the 25th century! Woo hoo!!! They should be in the year 2401 now. A brand new century to hopefully explore for years on end and more hopefully with some of these characters on the Stargazer!
Super excited about the rest of the season now! Engage!
There was a second Excelsior in the TNG-era, so I’m not sure this is the original. And if the dialog wasn’t exaggerating about how all of the ships responding to the anomaly were Artifact-enhanced (and thus at risk of being assimilated by the Queen from Stargazer), then this would be a third, even newer Excelsior.
The TNG-Excelsior was mentioned once on a hard-to-read display. I’d be very surprised if the makers of PIC were aware of this obscure reference, so the intent seems to be that it is NCC-2000.
My gut feeling is that it’s a new Excelsior. There’s a new Stargazer with a new registry #, and I think that’ll be the case with the Excelsior as well. But i’m also betting that it will — like the latter ship — look very close in design to the original.
Just the new Excelsior had Borg tech, but the Borg tried to get the command codes for all the ships from the “hack” of the Excelsior. Also, looks like somehow Picard’s mother got assimilated?!
It does appear that’s where it’s headed, which would make it another “Red Angel” situation. But the ex-Borg main character having to confront their parent as a Borg has been done before. Could also retcon (again) why the Queen wanted him as Locutus.
Not happening, but wishing the queen will turn out to be future Admiral Janeway from Endgame lol
Or the queen was just saying something they knew would get to him. The Borg would have that information from assimilating him.
Yes, they just know how to get into his head.
What if… everything after that moment and all we are about to see is the dream of the Borg? To get the Q and destroy them?
Yes, like how Locutus chilling called Riker, Number One
Oh a different Excelsior altogether. Yeah that would make a lot more sense lol. And it’s cool we have multiple ships getting legacy names like Enterprise and Voyager.
Of course, only some ships get both legacy names and legacy registration numbers, since the Stargazer doesn’t have a letter at the end, but the Voyager does.
Yes, good point!
Yep, 2401 was the vintage on the new wine bottles!
Wow great catch Robert! I’m loving the new century smell! ;)
Speaking of the Stargazer bridge… It felt like it fell right out of Star Trek Discovery. It was HUGE. Why are there two seats next to the Captain’s chair? That never made sense. Why all the wasted space? The show overall was OK but the new look of Star Fleet just doesn’t do anything for me. Not much has changed technologically in 100 years in the Disco-verse.
I’m glad you liked it at least a little. ;)
I can’t believe I’m saying this…. that was a great episode. I’m intrigued, enthralled, and just… Q.
Watching this episode and seeing the stark differences between season 1 and 2 shows, once again, they listened to the complaints and went another way. It’s why Discovery is 900 years into the future. People have GOOD reasons to criticize these shows as I do at times, but people can’t deny they are trying to right the ship as much as possible. Speaking of ships, look at the armada of ships we got in this episode facing off against the Borg vessel after everyone complained bitterly about the bland cut and paste job we got when Riker’s fleet showed up in the first finale. They didn’t skimp on those designs at all this time and we got some beautiful and diverse 24th century ships again. It’s obvious that scene was telegraphing, ‘yeah, we messed up last time, we know!’
While I understand people still have issues with these shows and/or Kurtzman direction of them, you can’t say they don’t listen or don’t care when the complaints are broad enough. It’s exactly why Klingons look like Klingons again!
The cut-and-paste fleet was because of the pandemic. I’m not going to fault a show for something that can’t be helped like that. Besides, it’s entirely possible that Riker pulled a maneuver similar to what Jurati did, and those really were just copies of the Zheng He.
I also never minded the prequel setting for DSC. Regarding the tech, aside from the classified spore drive and commbadges, it’s really only superficially slicker looking. Here are the ways in which the tech is a stepping stone from ENT to TOS and beyond:
* holocommunicators are very glitchy and take up a lot of bandwidth. Not only did Kirk and company specifically reference this technology in episodes like The Squire of Gothos, that glitchiness was reason enough to stash it until the holodecks improved it.
* training rooms did not have any NPCs with AI much more advanced than in present day video games. The real advancement of the holodecks was the treadmill tech, the other sensory simulations, like smell and taste, and realistic, interactive characters. The training room was basically just target practice, even less advanced than the rec room in TAS.
* Synthesizers had doors, just like in TOS, so the food prep was probably similar to the tech in TOS. As far as creating stuff like uniforms, that’s a much easier thing to 3D print. We can pretty much 3D print clothing right now. So, it’s not all that impressive compared to the TOS food slots or the TNG replicators.
* touch screen interfaces, we have that in the real-world. There’s no reason it wouldn’t be on a ship in the 23rd century.
And that brings me to the point of why the show looks the way it does. Star Trek must always recalibrate to reflect our real-world future as well as fit into Star Trek history. Even if we never ever saw the 23rd century again, the backstory that includes the events of TOS would always recalibrate with every new iteration of Trek. A recalibrated TOS will always serve as prologue to any Trek that takes place after it.
How was the cut and paste fleet part of the pandemic? If that’s the excuse they gave it’s bull crap because that show was pretty much in post when the pandemic hit.
They didn’t have as much time as they thought they would. They were working on the effects of the finale right up to the last minute, since they thought they’d be able to use the labs they had been using.
This.
All fair points but Discovery just went TOO FAR OFF the reservation and they knew it. Or at least they realized it once the complaints came in.
The examples you brought up are fine, but they still don’t speak to the main issue of that show and that it basically felt more like any generic sci fi show on TV and NOT Star Trek. Even if you ignore the ‘visual canon’ like holocommunications, it just did not capture enough of the qualities to feel like a show in the 23rd century of TOS. In fact, it felt like they went out of their way to avoid it and that’s what cost them.
And another reason why it was smart to put the show in the 32nd century….because we have no idea of what the 32nd century looked like and it just gave them freedom to shape it however they want. Thats why I always say going forward is just better IF you want to create something new and different. Sorry you just can’t do that in a prequel or one so close to such an iconic show. Certainly some things, but Discovery went far beyond ‘some’ IMO.
Discovery felt much more like a post-Nemesis show. For many, the complaint with first season of Picard was it didn’t feel much more advanced than Discovery did and in some cases even less advance. I think it was more a Discovery issue than a Picard one IMO.
As far as the cut and paste ships in Picard, I’ll have to take your word for it, but its the first time I’m hearing it had anything to do with the pandemic specifically. But OK!
I just want to point out that the Stargazer looks very much like it is of the exact same era as S1 & 2 Discovery.
Again more the issue of Discovery than anything. But what’s done is done now.
True. The comment wasn’t meant as a criticism of Picard but of Star Trek Discovery.
Oh and I’ll bring up another point about the cut and paste ships I forgot to mention in my first response. It wasn’t just the issue they basically copied 1 or 2 ships over and over again, the other issue was that we didn’t see any of the old and familiar class ships. People wanted to see the classes they have been watching with this franchise from the beginning, from Constitution to Galaxy class starships. People remember all those Dominion war show downs on DS9 and it was fun to see Excelsior, Miranda, Galaxy, etc classes fighting together. Part of that was for budget reasons obviously but it made the universe feel more connected in the process.
Cut to 20 yeas later with Picard, we go an ENTIRE season without seeing one Starship which is nuts for a show called Star Trek lol. And then in the final 20 minutes of the finale, we finally get what we been waiting for only to get these new and pretty bland looking designs. And they are SO bland that people had to point out it wasn’t just one class of ship, there were actually two. The fact most didn’t realize that really said it all. The only thing that saved that scene for me and made it special was Riker being there honestly.
So when I said they know they messed up, I wasn’t talking about the cut and paste issue alone. Fans wanted to see ships that we haven’t seen in over 20 years as part of the franchise again. That would’ve felt like a true TNG era show. But they learned from that and why in this episode they threw in practically every class of ship that existed lol. And they went a step farther and even brought in ships from STO. I don’t play STO at all but I know how popular it is and it was a great touch to make those ships canon as well.
If we got just this last season, fans would’ve liked it more, even if they still had their issues with it. We wanted to feel like we were back in the TNG era again and now we FINALLY got it and why the fanfare was so high for this episode. And we can keep telling ourselves nostalgia is not that important in this franchise, but as this episode proved, we’re only kidding ourselves. We wouldn’t have most of these new shows without it.
I would say it is FAR more likely that “fully Romulan” is a reference to quarter-Romulan Simon Tarses from prominent TNG episode “The Drumhead.”
Tarses was a crewman and as such never attended Starfleet Academy.
I too suspect it was still a nod to Tarses, but only because the writers forgot that he was a crewman!
Be that as it may, it’s no excuse for me forgetting.
It now occurs to me Commodore Oh would be an even more relevant example.
It’s unlikely that Oh — a Romulan infiltrator — was a known Romulan when she attended the Academy (if she even did). I believe it was said that prior to her revealing herself, she was thought to be fully Vulcan.
I would gather she had been undercover for decades, long before the destruction of Romulus, perhaps even during the TNG era.
Raffi clearly stated in (i think) the eighth episode that Oh is half Romulan, half Vulcan.
Saavik was supposed to be half Romulan. That is what I thought they were referencing.
I thought the same thing….according to the books which reference what was supposed to be cannon, Saavik was openly half Romulan/half Vulcan. Whereas Tarses and Oh hid their Romulan sides.
Best. Season Premiere. Since. Best of Both Worlds, Part II. Hands-down! There were flaws but all were easily overlooked. THIS should’ve been the pilot for the series. High hopes for season 2…
I would tend to disagree, as both DS9 and VOY had some excellent premieres, and even TNG’s “Redemption Pt II” and “Time’s Arrow” were excellent.
“The Way Of The Warrior,” “Equinox, Pt. II,” and “A Time To Stand” are all very highly rated, beyond just my own personal opinion.
I never cared much for either part of Equinox, but I submit Voyager’s Scorpion, Part 2.
Wow. The first good episode of modern live action Trek. Well, at least the first one that feels like Trek! Can’t wait to see more!
I can say it’s the best premiere, but first good episode? Eh. I generally dislike Discovery, but that Harry Mudd episode was definitely excellent, and I might even say it was better than this episode. Prodigy has also had a few very enjoyable entries, even if they’re not favorites of mine.
A couple of the Pike episodes of DSC were also enjoyable.
Look, it was a great episode, but let’s calm down with the hyperbole.
I’d say it was better than the season one pilot if not by much. Steward seems to play Picard a little older this time around, which I like also he has great chemistry with Laris so that plotpoint works, which I didn’t expect. But apart drom that it’s wayyy too much romance. In the first episode alone, we’re introduced to at least three romantic subplots between the leads. And I only really see one of those working.
Allison Pill really needs to turn it down a notch. She was a little socially awkward in the first season, which worked well but here, she’s incredibly arrogant and annoying. This will get old really quick.
Seeing some more traditional shipdesigns is nice but they still resemble the Discovery Aesthetic too much for my taste. Especially the interiors look like the horrible bastard child of the Discovery Sets with some more TNG Style LCARS slapped on them (which they probably are) … and why does everything have to be sooooo dark?! Working on that ship/bridge all day would give you the worst of all eyestrains. Also: From a Story Standpoint having the ships use Borg technology especially unproven tech, is so incredibly stupid. Having the Borg be part of this at all isn’t a good idea. They’re just incredibly overused and there was already no point in having them in the first season.
What I don’t get is the constant need to tamper with the Picard Character. If you have such a well established character you can just take him and put him into new situations. All the heavy lifting has been done for you, you can pretty much just reference it. Develope the charactor based on what you have happen to him, don’t change or add to what already has happened to him. I don’t need to see a young Picard. He doesn’t need some childhood trauma or a weird mother complex that suddenly shows up in his 90s. I NEVER wondered why he wanted to explore space. This did not need a backstory.
And finally: That theme is horrible! It just meanders on, without boulding to anything, then ejaculates some loud notes into the listeners ears without warning before violating the first notes of the TNG theme. Chris Westlake does such great Work on Lower Decks. Giacchinos Theme for Prodigy is outstanding. Why do they insist on keeping Russo around?
But overall it was okay. I’ll wasnt planing on watching it originally but after this I give it two more episodes. However if they stay in the 21st century for the rest of the season I’m probably out. That idea has been done to death and better. And even then I never thought to ask for 7 hours of it.
Regarding Allison Pill…remember, she was drunk.
And then, like Marion Ravenwood, turns cold sober in moments.
Very hard to disagree with this. That aesthetic has just got to get dumped. It looks terrible on screen. I do not care for the dimly lit star ships. They even turned down the lights on the E-D in Generations.
The sets were darker in Generations in order to disguise the rough shape of the sets on the higher resolution big screen after seven years of use. They did some refurbishment, of course, but not everything could be.
I get it, but it’s a feature film. They could make new sets. I recall sitting in the theater and when Picard asked Troi “Can I help you?” I felt like answering MST3K style, “Yes! You can turn on the damn lights!”
Agreed on this point. The bathed-in-darkness bridge is causing eyestrain for viewers, and it’s not realistic in-universe, either. It would probably trigger drowsiness in the way that melatonin does, and in the long term contribute to seasonal affective disorder. I actually thought the TNG bridge was probably the most realistic of any.
You’d think they’d not want to cause eyestrain considering the age of their target audience!
Regards the theme, they need it to drag on for all the Producer credits.
That makes way too much sense 😅
I did not like the reworked opening theme. The season 1 version was beautiful and haunting.
I freely admit to watching very little TV these days so I am completely out of touch but genuinely curious: do all modern TV shows have this many producers or is this a quirk of these NuTrek shows?
I can definitely comment on the darkness of the bridge with most certainty. I work in the control room at a TV station. Our control rooms as well as our editing suites are dimly lit so that the control panels and screens can be more easily viewed. It’s the same thing in a sound recording studio control room. Considering that the display panels and view screens are plentiful on the bridge, it would stand to reason that is why.
Some awesome Star Trek right there! If it keeps up and at the end of Season 3 Stewart doesn’t want to come back as Picard (Who would blame him), I could see a captain Rios / Stargazer show! They already have the set ;). You could include 7, Rafi,… What do you think, should we campaign for it, like for Strange New Worlds?
For sure! I’d love to see more of Rios and the Stargazer.
Got my vote! Stargazer show… “make it so”.
I also would like a show that was about a security squad on a starship, based off the old Star Trek Voyager video game, Elite Force.
I honestly think the producers have the same idea. Terry Matalas (the new show runner) even said he has ideas past season 3 going forward. I know at the moment it’s just wishful thinking right now to see some if not the rest of the cast continue on the Stargazer post season 3 but it was the same thing with a Pike show until fans pleaded enough for it to happen. I really just want to see another show in this era but it only make sense to bring back known characters fans have grown to love. And it doesn’t stop them from adding other TNG era characters to the show to fill the void of Picard leaving either.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a Rios show but it is starting to look like I’m the only person who is wondering how the hell a washed up officer can suddenly be a Star Fleet Captain again.
Well, probably the same way Chakotay was able to go from rebel to Starfleet officer again. Also, Rios has a friend in high places, and he did just help save all non-synthetic life in the galaxy.
Chakotay was in a vastly different circumstance. Janeway was trying to integrate a crew. They were alone. Not the same at all. Not sure just being with Picard for that incident ought to be enough to reinstate a guy who washed out the first time. I can see a 2nd chance but 2nd chance at CAPTAIN? Those are some awfully big strings for Picard to pull. And would seem to be pretty unethical for Picard to hand him a Captain’s chair just like that.
Remember in that other show we have a mutineer as a Captain so I don’t think Rios becoming a captain is such a big deal in the larger scheme of things.
I’m not sure using that other show as evidence really is all that substantial. But then, one could argue that she was not named Captain until a 900 year time shift and if future star fleet felt it should be one of them then there really wasn’t anyone else in that crew to do it. Besides… No one seemed to care she was a mutineer after 3 episodes. It was completely forgotten and as if it was expunged off her record.
Then similar things could have happened to Rios too. I find his rise to captaincy to be more normal than Michael Burnhams.
And Kelvin’s Kirk. ;)
Sometimes you just have to suspend your disbelief. And when it comes to Star Trek especially, sometimes we have to suspend a lot of it lol.
But this was a really smart idea for the character. He’s no longer Han Solo, he can exist in this universe a lot more easily and why fans are now screaming for a Stargazer spinoff after seeing him on it for about ten minutes. So it went over really well. And I think Rios is a more interesting Captain because he’s clearly not quite Picard, Pike or Janeway but not exactly Kirk either. I don’t think we’ll see him much as Captain after this episode this season but probably more in season 3 and how he operates. But I really like this change, so I’m not going to fight it!
I don’t mind him as captain. I just wonder how in the hell some washed up rogue was just handed the Chair! There were no qualified commanders waiting for their chance? It just doesn’t make any sense unless season 2 wants to pretend season 1 never happened. The same is true with Rafi. We have no idea how she was able to go from A to B and the jump just makes no reasonable sense.
Except that in Burnahm’s and KU’s Kirk, we followed their rise to the Chair. Their stories may have stretched reason but at least we saw their story and how they got there. Rios becoming a Captain had NONE of that. It was, “hey I’m a Captain now!” for no reason whatsoever.
Well, that felt a lot more like Star Trek. I really enjoyed that. There were some minor weak spots, I didn’t find the Guinan scenes to work as well as I hoped…I think that comes down to the performance but overall I really enjoyed this episode. Thank goodness I was really worried I would never enjoy Trek again. Fingers crossed this level of quality and professionalism can be maintained throughout the entire Season.
Performance, but also direction seemed to be an issue.
Doug Aarniokowski has done other wonderfully directed episodes on both Discovery and Picard, but this one has several moments across all the cast when I felt that a few more takes would have produced more focused and better grounded performances.
It’s obvious that COVID limitations were a factor. This episode had so many scenes with some many characters and extras that the trade off in terms of fewer takes vs more scenes had to have been a factor.
There was a commentator here who, in reaction to the trailers, said that it looked like Whoopi Goldberg was playing Whoopi Goldberg, not Guinan. I did indeed catch a whiff of this. In TNG, Guinan was not generally an exuberant personality; she was more subdued that her portrayal here. Of course, it would be interesting if that were a deliberate choice on Whoopi’s part.
Just finished due to Amazonprime delays, I cringed at the trailer snippets with Guinean, absolute cringe. But actually thought the moments at 10 with them both were great and organic. Maybe the suits out all the Guinean cringe nostalgia in the trailer so that our expectations were lower then surprise us with a wonderful couple of minutes between two friends.
Agreed about Guinan. That mysticism that the character had in TNG was kind of non-existent here. Here it seemed like Whoopi Goldberg was basically playing herself.
I knew right off the bat when Q shows up they would have to address the age thing right away. He shows up young. “Oh I see you are older my friend. We can fix that.” Snap his fingers and then he is old. I didn’t really think it would be anything beyond that. A little bit of de-aging for 10 seconds and then move on. I can’t wait to see where this goes.
It was the obvious thing to do, just glad they did it then try to be too clever and subvert expectations just for the sake of it.
Him appearing as is, without the explanation wouldn’t have been subverting expectations, either. It’s entirely out of line to for anyone to expect a 73 year-old actor to look 53. If fans can’t suspend their disbelief for something as simple as that for a being that isn’t even corporeal, then that’s a failure of their imagination. Not every little thing needs to be explained.
We’re talking about Trekkies here, Eric. A group of people that lack any and all imagination and never willing to suspend any disbelief. They want EVERYTHING explained.
This is 100% true lol. Hate to say it but we are a pretty fickle bunch.
Honestly, the effect took me out of the episode for a bit. It just didn’t look right.
If this were Disney, they’d probably have de-aged him for the entire season…
I think the Exelsior we see in Picard S2 was the same variant from Lower Decks not the original.
I haven’t been watching LD, so I looked it up, and that does appear to be the case. Good call.
The Lower Decks ship was an Obena-class ship, not exactly Excelsior-class, but a variant.
There’s nothing to say the next Excelsior has to be an Excelsior class. If it’s a new ship, it obviously wouldn’t be. That’s why the Enterprise-D wasn’t a constitution class.
Obviously, but we actually haven’t seen Raffi’s Excelsior, yet. We have no idea what class it is, or even if it’s a variant to the Excelsior-class, such as the Obena-class, or if it’s a completely different design entirely.
There’s diagrams of Excelsior on the screens behind Picard and Raffi. I have no idea if they match up.
If you’re referring to when they’re talking at the Academy, those aren’t “screens” those are a quasi-museum, and the placards are of classic ships, in this case it was indeed the original.
ahhh
In the fleet at the nebula there is a ship that looks very much like an updated Obena-class.
You guys. It. Was. So. Good. Finally.
(Also the uniforms look to compliment those from LDS, which was nice too.)
(Also also – finally! – more Starfleet ships. Notice a Sovereign class in some of the shots? I did.)
(Man, Trek feels alive again. Let’s hope the rest of the season is as good as Episode 1.)
I like how we are getting more consistency between the new 24th century shows, the uniform being a great example. We also saw Admiral Janeway wear a similar uniform when she showed up in Prodigy.
And yes it felt so great to see a sovereign class ship again! That was such a nice touch.
I been enjoying mostly all of Trek since Lower Decks came back in season 2. Discovery has been the only weak spot for me this season but I still mostly like it. I’m really really hoping Picard season 2 gives what most of us wanted back in season 1.
I feel it’s a great time to be a fan! :)
If DSC’s latest season is a bit slower-paced than its previous action-packed seasons, PIC season two sure seems to be getting a bit faster. Generally speaking, the teasers in the live-actions shows of the current era have been on the long side, usually with about three or four full scenes totaling about 5 minutes before going into the opening titles. It’s a similar pace to the DS9 teasers. This teaser is more like a TOS, TNG, VOY, or ENT teaser, in that it’s a quick jump right into the action, setting up the premise for the episode, right down to ENT’s habit of starting in medias res. Then, we jump to those titles with a much more intense and urgent arrangement of the theme song, kind of like DS9’s fourth season onward and ENT’s third and fourth seasons. Lots of time imagery, with the hourglass, and instead of broken pieces which turn out to be part of Picard’s golem body, we have pieces of the window of Picard’s mother’s sunroom. Perhaps owing to the two years that have passed, due to the pandemic delaying production, season two starts a year-and-a-half after the events of season one, which were in April 2399. Now, it’s the end of the harvest season at Chateau Picard, in 2400, with Zhaban dead, but Laris still behind. And she looks at Picard fondly, but he’s too nervous to reciprocate. One part of promoting seasons of Star Trek lately, is to outline the themes of the season. This season has been promoted as being one which is about urging Picard to embrace life a bit more, particularly with romantic love. So, we can clearly see that he’s uneasy with the prospect when he doesn’t reciprocate and stops himself from kissing Laris. Towards the end of the episode, he even leaves for his mission without even the goodbye he granted Laris and Zhaban in season one. It occurred to me that a newly robotic Picard pursuing love is a nice blow to the heterosexual supremacist argument that romantic partnerships should yield children. It’s also interesting that a male gets fridged for once, when they had Zhaban killed off to kind of allow Laris to be fair game. I do wonder if the show is setting up Laris as a romantic interest, or as a sort of symbol of one, as the scenes in this episode kind of inspire Picard to take more seriously the idea of romance. That seems to be the main subject of his scene with Guinan this episode, in which she’s bartender at a Los Angeles joint called “10.” Given the camera lingers on an aging oxidized copper historical marker plaque, I wonder if we’ll see the 2024 version of this location soon. After a speech at the Academy, and a conversation with Raffi, Picard goes off to visit Guinan where she does what she does best, listen. But speaking of romance, Seven and Raffi are a bit tentative and long-distance, while it appears that Jurati and Rios didn’t really last much longer than the finale. It’s possible the season will attempt to bring both of those couples together as well. Or maybe they’re setting Agnes up for someone new. For now, Jurati’s back to her quirky, pre-murder self, and some welcome comic relief, as she gets along amicably enough with Rios. That said, side from Picard, the episode does seem to show her as most broken right now. Everyone else seems to find themselves in a decently happy status quo. Seven’s captain of La Sirena now, using the ship on behalf of the Fenris Rangers. Raffi’s on board a new Excelsior with cadet Elnor (the first full-blooded Romulan at the Academy, Picard gives him a book from Spock on how he adjusted). Soji is giving a tour as an ambassador for synth life. Jurati is a bit single now, and cleared of murder for temporary insanity. And Rios is captain of a new Stargazer. It’s a name with plenty of baggage, but not quite enough to earn a registration number with a letter designation at the end. Like the ships of the Enterprise line, though, it shares a lot of design elements with its predecessor. Jurati’s still quite in contact with Rios and gets called up to the Stargazer. There, they find a signal that she deciphers as “Help us, Picard.” This brings everyone, but Soji together, where they realize it’s a Borg ship. They claim to want to join the Federation and insist on beaming their queen aboard the bridge. It appears to be a ruse, as the queen beams herself aboard anyway, dressed in a cloak and mask. With no other choice, Picard sets the ship to self-destruct, destroying the ship and part of the fleet that greeted the Borg vessel. Earlier… Read more »
A terrific episode- old faces, new threats- and a deeper exploration of what makes Picard tick. I’m hopeful that this season maintains its quality of writing throughout— and doesn’t repeat the quick fizzle of season 1.
Absolutely Phenomenal! I haven’t been this engaged in a Star Trek episode since the DS9 finale, absolutely riveting. This feels exactly like Star Trek TNG, but upgraded in the best possible way. I am beyond thankful for this experience and I can’t wait for the rest of the season. I know we are in good hands!
I don’t want to crap on Discovery, but it’s just remarkable how big the difference is in production quality between these two shows. Picard is just expert level craftsmanship, feels like a massive upgrade.
With the likes of the Okudas and Doug Drexler now working behind the scenes, I am not surprised to see that level of passion and attention to detail that was sorely missing in Season 1.
Feel free. Your comment is spot-on. Just compare the idiotic “character development” of Adira’s hesitancy to approach Dettmer in a bar with what we saw here.
I liked this week’s “Discovery” overall, but that scene was terrible.
There is an obvious technical and creative expertise on Picard that just isn’t present on Discovery. It’s striking how much better executed Picard is, even on its worst day it’s way more watchable and contemporary. Discovery can be enjoyable in a vacuum, but this season has felt especially thin and poorly executed, which is made blindingly clear with Picard airing alongside it.
I thought having the characters involved in Starfleet was a nice touch, but overall not impressed.
The Discovery design aesthetic for ships is unappealing, and the cigar was overdone.
Too much frantic camera work, hold it still and steady on shots please.
The retcon of Picard’s youth is a very lazy trope, and very simplistic giving that as his reason for going to space. Picard has been a great heroic character , it is odd they want to make him seem feeble, bring him down, and deconstruct him.
Reason given for Guinan’s aging was silly.
The Clothes are very too modern, what Loris (?) was wearing looked like 2019-2022 Banana Republic, classic Trek was much more creative with clothing design.
Jurati character/ actress is grating, her quip in the preview is too much.
Overall, too much of a grimdark feel and typical sci fi feel, this easily could have been Expanse, Battlestar Galactica, etc.
Definitely miss positive Trek with optismic future and heroic characters.
A captain of that stature smoking a cigar while commanding a ship would be ridiculous in the 21st century, but I guess Picard season one showed that Starfleet is going downhill– e.g. show up on the bridge stumbling drunk, operating equipment, no one cares.
Worth noting that I didn’t see him *smoking* the cigar — merely chomping it.
No comment about Soji’s very revealing outfit?
Now this was something I really enjoyed.
I haven’t watched Disco yet, was it new this week? Anyway, Picard was excellent. Can’t wait for more!!
I am a big Star Trek fan so of course I watch Discovery but I got to admit I am getting tired of these season long arcs. The first season with the Klingons and this mirror universe and then the second with the Red Angel and then last season with this thing that blew up all the ships and now this planet eating creature. I wish they could be more episodic in nature. When I go back and watch some of the episodes over the last few years my favorite ones are the ones where they deviate from the overall story. Like the Mudd episode from season 1 or the episode from season two with a group of humans living like it’s the 1800’s or a few from last season like the Jake Weber episode and so on. Just getting tired of these dragging storylines.
I went into this with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised basically from start to finish. The 25th century Starfleet stuff was fine, but the attention to setting up an emotional story for Picard is what really clicked for me. All of the events in this episode are directly connected to him and they serve to enhance his journey. That’s been the promise of the premise from the beginning and done really quite well here as compared to “Remembrance.”
The big thing that’s sure to ruffle feathers later on is the implication that Picard’s father was an abuser. Certainly inspired by Patrick Stewart’s childhood, it’s not something that on the surface immediately squares with the concept of Earth culture in the Star Trek Universe, but it’s also not completely out of left field when it comes to the character of Picard himself (though, in the Michael Piller version, his father was more cold and distant and maybe tough to please — if Robert was anything like him as we saw in “Family”); you could see a 21st century person like Jean-Luc Picard maybe being someone who survived an abusive household to become a strong leader, though with few, if any, close relationships. It’s just a tough anachronism to square with the imagined Roddenberry future.
BUT! Given all the mayhem and genocide we got from last season’s Picard, it’s safe to believe that the concept of Star Trek from 1966-2004 is a thing of the past and it makes the most sense (for me, at least) to ignore all that and just hope they tell a good sci-fantasy story about this familiar character (even if he’s not totally the same character I grew up with nor in quite the same Star Trek universe as the one I grew up with). An interesting story told well, or even decently, would be a very welcome change of pace in the 2009 and beyond Star Trek universe.
Not even the more utopian conceptions of Star Trek insist that every last Earthling is a model citizen, and if there are some that do, they should be ignored.
Well, yes, but in fairness we never got a hint of abuse in “Where No One Has Gone Before” or “Family.” That said, we’ll see how this plays out; it’s not clear that this is domestic violence as opposed to arguing, which can be scary for a kid.
Earth still had penal colonies in the 24th century. And they aren’t just museums like Alcatraz is today. I really wish Roddenberry or whoever ever made up the term ‘perfect humans’ didn’t to describe this era of humanity. I really think people misunderstood what that meant to this day. It doesn’t imply every human was perfect, all it meant was you now lived in a society where you are given every opportunity to be the best of yourself. You can strive to BE perfect, it doesn’t mean everyone is just born that way either. Yes things like murder and racism is gone on a societal level, it doesn’t mean people couldn’t be violent, or racist because we saw people like that even in the 24th century. They were just more rare and outside the norm.
Sisko’s ‘Paradise’ speech is still one of the best in Star Trek and made it clear humans can revert to their old ways when they no longer live in paradise and can resort to things like terrorism again…in the 24th century no less. That was also made in the 1966-2005 era many fans still cherish when Star Trek was apparently ‘less dark’ and everyone always ‘happy’.
Wasn’t that Quark who said humans were great so long as the holosuites worked and their bellies were full but take that away and they become more ruthless than Klingons?
Yep, The Siege of AR-558. Why DS9 is still my favorite Trek show bar none. It took all those ideas Roddenberry had and put a spotlight to them in the harshest of times. And I will say so did TOS and TNG too of course, but DS9 did it more directly and why some fans still have an issue with the show today because it went against his ‘vision’. I never cared about his vision though, so yeah.
I agree with what made DS9 a great show. I loved that it did that.
But it’s still behind TOS for me as the 2nd best Trek show. :)
Of course, whatever you feel is in your placement. Number 2 out of 10 shows is pretty freaking high lol.
Someone I know in real life and an avid Star Trek fan, DS9 was his least favorite show and TOS was his first. In fact he loved all of the other shows minus DS9 (this is all pre-Discovery, no idea on how he feels about the new stuff) because he thought Roddenberry would’ve hated the war theme and hated that it took place on a station. I don’t think he ever watched it the whole way through. It just proves we aren’t a monolith as fans.
True. And from what I can tell he was probably right about GR’s reaction to DS9. But I don’t judge the quality of the shows based on what GR would think of them. GR did create both TOS and TNG. Which to me shows he is not infallible.
I understand if people watch the shows because its those ideals that gravitated them to the show in the first place, but they are still just TV shows, not a religion. If it’s good, it’s good. That’s all I care about. I know DS9 at the time had plenty of skeptics because it was so different than any Star Trek we seen before but that’s also why a lot of us gravitated to it in the first place. My view has always been the Star Trek universe is big enough to experiment with different ideas, that’s why it’s such an interesting universe for me. It doesn’t have to be any one thing. But maybe if DS9 came after Voyager many would’ve been more OK with it from the get go because the differences would’ve felt a little more gradual as the franchise went on.
But yes I also have to agree GR probably wouldn’t have liked the show either or at least would’ve had major revisions to it before it aired. Which is why I don’t care what he thinks because I’m guessing a lot of Star Trek I fell in love with he would’ve shunned. And he’s also dead, so…..
What a spectacular episode and a return to something recognizable as Star Trek! Q’s awesome entrance, a borg queen, Guinan, and Rios looking more handsome than usual in uniform on the bridge of his Starfleet ship!
I do have a couple questions though…
How is the Excelsior still in service?
Does Prodigy take place at the same time as Picard does?
According to some posters who responded to my review it’s most likely a new Excelsior like the Stargazer is. It would make sense obviously.
And Prodigy takes place before Picad, around 2384. Picard is now in 2400 or 2401, but most likely the latter.
There were several Excelsior-class ships shown across all three TNG-era treks, so the Excelsior certainly isn’t so outdated that it can’t be refitted with modern technology.
As for the ship itself, real-life boats and planes often stay in service for several decades. For example, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is over 50 years old. It’s not hard to imagine that a highly advanced starship would be able to last twice that long, especially since the Nimitz has spent its entire life submerged in highly corrosive saltwater and the Excelsior has not.
No, Prodigy takes place about five years after Voyager got home. However, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the USS Protostar has traveled back in time from the future so it might be from the same time as Picard.
Finally. THIS is what I was hoping for with a Picard series. This episode captured much of what I was hoping for in season 1. Granted, season 1 had some great moments, but no episodes that felt quite as complete overall as this one. I loved it. So much. Just seeing the good ‘ol Federation again, not in some depressive funk or pushing against Picard, but there was just more harmony in this episode that made it stronger. It wasn’t perfect, but it definitely felt good to be on a Federation starship again (even if it was unusually dark and metallic), seeing Picard positively interacting with the Federation and at Starfleet Academy, and a beautiful fleet of ships. Q’s entrance was amazing, and felt organic to the story and not forced, Guinan’s inclusion was the same…felt natural.
It feels good to also be able to say “my main issue” and know that it’s actually not a huge issue, because they’ve gotten more right than wrong in the episode. But my main issue, which again, isn’t that huge anyway, is how the interior aesthetic of starships feels so dramatically different. They’re not light and warm, they’re dark and cold. Made me think about how new Trek compares to the new Star Wars series and something that stood out to me as opposite in approach is that the Star Wars series seem to embrace their old aesthetic as much as possible, whereas new Trek seems to make as dramatic a new aesthetic as possible while only minimally including callbacks to the previous one. It’s interesting how the Star Wars series have costumes, sets, and ships that are literally 100% identical to what was decades ago. So far in the new Trek shows there has been virtually nothing with such fidelity to the previous source material. Again, this isn’t a huge issue for me, and I’m just casually sharing it, but something I thought of nonetheless. And given how FUN this episode was to watch, and how much I enjoyed it, that minor quibble isn’t going to make this great episode any lesser in my eyes.
RE: Ship interior design aesthetics–aside from the real-world influences of whoever is hired as the production designer, the interior changed quite a bit even during the TOS movie era–Star Trek VI and Generations (Enterprise A/B) were more dark and spotlight-y compared to the earlier movies. Voyager and Defiant were darker and more functional/utilitarian than the Galaxy-class interior. The Galaxy-class ship was also designed to accommodate families, wheras Intrepid, Sovereign, and other ships we’ve seen in the past were more mission-related, so it was understandable why the interior of the Enterprise D would seem more hotel-like.
Utopia Planitia completed building the Enterprise D in 2363, and Picard S2 is set in 2401. Compare the flight deck and cabin of a Boeing 757 and a Dreamliner 787 (especially the flight deck), and it’s understandable that a starship would have an interface design update.
Real-world, the fact that we’re now standardized in 16:9 widescreen vs 4:3 of the past meant that you do need to design a more expansive bridge. I remember visiting the Enterprise D set in Vegas thinking it was absolutely claustrophobic compared to what my mind envisaged through the TV screen.
This is not at all to pick a bone with you, as long as I’m not getting blinded by constant lens flares or synchronized flamethrowers (seriously, fire problems on a 31st century vessel, Discovery?), I’m happy. I think Star Wars gets away with a locked-in tech aesthetic because it’s never been central to their storytelling. We know that the transporter system has a pattern buffer and a Heisenberg compensator. We know that warp propulsion requires the energy from matter/antimatter annihilation channeled via dilithium crystals and routed through EPS conduits. There’s a godforsaken starship operating system interface (LCARS) that’s baked into canon that the fans would never forgive the production if they got that kind of stuff wrong.
But yeah, overall–this was an amazing episode.
One thing I really loved about the much-maligned TFF is the ship design. The bridge felt like a true upgrade from what we had seen in the supposedly obsolete original 1701. The shipboard bar, with its steering wheel and nautical motif, just felt right; it was less sterile than Ten Forward.
I did like that there were more scenes of the innards of the ship in that movie–even the turbolift shaft that had 78 decks. I’m pretty sure the corridors were redressed TNG corridors. (Which in turn, were redressed from TMP)
I think the worst design in the movie series was the bridge of the Excelsior in Star Trek III. It looked like an open room instead of a bridge deck. They also had those wobbly stupid seat restraint systems. Thank goodness they redid it for Capt. Sulu in Star Trek VI.
I felt the bridge and ship sets in general of TFF to be stale and too much like TNG. The lounge, the room you mistakenly called a “bar” was the only room I felt looked pretty good.
I thing it was the best trek for the last 20 years…
Well, that certainly had a different vibe to it. Some thoughts….
Come on, Rios, light the damn thing up.
Need another viewing. Agreed that there seemed to be a ton of foreshadowing here.
The USS Avalon really needed to be a California class ship.
Come on, Jean Luc, not even a quick goodbye for Laris before warping off.
Not even the tiniest bit of regret for Beverly, now?
Yes! I was wondering if that cigar will ever get lit. Is it like a toothpick for him? He just has to have something in his mouth or hand? What was the deal with that? I was more focused on that than what was going on around him!
Also… Smoking in Star Trek? I know there have been “No Smoking” signs in the movies but still….
I find the implied smoking really egregious.
This is one point on which Michael Chabon should have been overruled and not indulged. It was made such a part of Rios’ character that an unlit cigar is now his fidget as a serving captain. I hope that the writers find a way to get Rios past that this season.
Roddenberry specifically fought against cigarettes being shown in the original Star Trek at a time when product placements by cigarette sponsors had been the norm in American television.
I’m not a fan myself and IMHO I would hope humanity would have moved past such things by then. That being said… I find the cigar stub to be an interesting bit of his character. I noticed there was a shot of a “lighter” (I guess) and it looked like he was debating actually lighting it or not. At any rate, I don’t mind the cigar. I’m just sorta hoping he takes some puffs eventually. :)
All I could think of while watching this was: they heard us. I find it very interesting that both live-action series underwent fairly drastic reboots. But while Discovery (which I enjoy!) underwent two reboots and is still struggling to get on its feet, Picard feels on solid ground.
This episode was Picard as it should be, and went out of its way to correct past mistakes. It felt bright, complex, and very very Star Trek. One other thing I really enjoyed is that for the first time since Trek came back in 2017, we got some proper ship love. We finally got some really great ship shots.
One final thing I’ll point out, is that last season’s plot frankly could’ve had someone other than Picard and little would’ve changed, while it feels like this season’s plot is much more involved in Picard’s character and arc. In other words, Picard seems essential to this season’s plot, making it worthy of the show’s name. There’s also much more attention to detail and canon here, making it feel much more like a continuation of the TNG era.
This show is clearly in good hands, and aware of what it needs to do. It’s safe to say the future of this show is bright.
I’ll admit it’s an improvement, but it’s hardly a retooling, as DSC was — with a new Captain in Year 2, and an entirely new setting in Year 3.
This is just the result of a new showrunner, bringing with him his own sensibilities. But it also feels very much like season 1, just better pacing, stronger construction, and a more streamlined story, at least so far.
It was a pretty big retooling. The moved the characters along in weird ways that were kinda hard to buy. I’d argue it was quite the retooling of the show.
I was very impressed with this episode. I was a little confused with Seven claiming that the Borg killed her parents. They never explained what happened to her mother other than the Queen’s assurance that she gave her parents perfection. But they only showed her dad, who was possibly destroyed when Voyager destroyed the Queen’s diamond at the end of Dark Frontier. Regardless, I loved the episode and it looks like it’s going to be an awesome season.
Looks like someone noticed a fine detail in the background that nobody else caught!
https://twitter.com/gaghyogi49/status/1499451539810766861?t=N_U92PTTdiRi0Mk7IA99-A&s=19
I hope that 2 overused tropes are not coming true
We’ve seen the Borg Queen’s face in the trailers. There are also BTS pictures of the actress on social media. So it seems unlikely it’s Seven or another known character.
Hmm i just rewatched the scene with picards mother again:
We have one scene where his mother is dragged across the floor which seems to be not very dometic violence like… it seems more like a fight situation with someone quite superior physically ….
And then we have a scene where a man dressed in a vest pulls her away and she does not want that …. but there is no real violence involved more like you would drag someone away from a situation to protect them….
It might be domestic violence but it would be quite a …. strange addition to picards backstory…
But since terry matalas is the producer (the guy that made the superb 12 monkey time travel show ) i am more leaning we are seeing a situation from Picards memory that we will see again from a different perspective lateron in the season, during their time travel(s)
Visually the man pulling picards mother away could for example be Rios ….
The Stargazer bridge is super close to being awesome. Still too much shiny surfaces and too many silly lights. But everything else is fantastic. I really hope we see more more of that ship and crew. Makes me really miss old Star Trek.
Great first episode, some spotty pacing but love it nonetheless.
Haven’t seen the episode and maybe it looks better in motion, but the stills I’ve seen don’t do it for me at all. Too dark, too cluttered, and that raised platform with all those steps makes it look more like a throne room than the bridge of a Federation starship.
I still maintain I would have happily watched an entire season of Patrick Stewart solving crimes from the comfort of his chateau, but this was definitely more my cup of Earl Grey than season 1.
Crap, why did I not drink any while I was watching?!
Incidentally I was just watching the Voyager episode Night and Neelix is drinking bergamot tea, bergamot being the distinguishing ingredient of Earl Grey tea. This is definitely grounds for Q to instigate a Neelix cameo in this season of Picard. Incidentally since this season takes place in a contemporary America timeline, I’m expecting one of the episodes to be titled QAnon.
For the first time in years, a new episode of Star Trek hit all the right notes. I’m cautiously optimistic about the second season of Picard!
There was a lot to like about this episode, in terms of ships and various kinds of fan service. But it seemed to me that our beloved characters were being torn down.
Picard is recast as a great coward?! Seriously? Who buys this?
Spock wrote a book in which he extolled the virtue of emotion to help one learn? Some other guy named Spock, right, not that Vulcan who was Jim Kirk’s first officer.
The whole time Seven was telling them NOT to trust the Borg, I was sitting there shouting, “Listen to her!” I’m usually way over on the “Let’s talk things over” side of the spectrum, but the whole setup screamed “trap” to me.
I really hope they don’t ruin the characters while creating new story…
Depends on when Spock wrote that book. The Spock of TOS wouldn’t have, but the post-V’Ger or post-rebirth Spock could have. For example, watch him in his scenes with Valeris; there’s a different, more balanced philosophy at work there.
It’s true that Spock changes during the course of the movies, but I think even movie-era Spock would say that humans emote too readily. So I still have trouble believing that he wrote a book where he told us all to go be emotional. :-)
Understanding emotion and finding a balance is different than encouraging us to over-emote.
That could just be Picard’s take on the book. Other readers might have a different opinion.
I think it obvious the book was written by Ambassador Spock. Older Spock mellowed out quite a bit and was very comfortable with his human half. And even learned to embrace elements of it.
Where did you get that Picard is a coward? That was nowhere in either text or subtext.
I came here to say this.
That was much more like it. The episode felt very ‘Trek’ for me.
Surely, Starfleet has rules about smoking on a starship?
And I loved the utter contempt in Picard’s voice when he realised Q was back.
Great stuff!
He didn’t smoke at any time.
He was just chomping on it.
He definitely had a “I’m getting too old for this shit” vibe when he realized Q was there.
It wasn’t lit. He kept playing with the lighter but it wasn’t lighting.
Poignant to incorporate PatStew’s own family history of abuse into Picard. I enjoyed the episode until the plot showed up at the end– I think I’ve seen this movie before, several times… ah well, the imperatives of corporate serial streaming. But hope springs eternal. I imagine this season will be less erratic than the first, which awkwardly veered between the Chabonian and the directives of Kurtzman-CBS.
I will say this… The start to this story was WAY better than the start to the previous one. Let me go over the small nit picks first.
I’m not a fan of the trope of starting an episode off with some sort of tense moment then flashing the “X Days/hours earlier” card. It’s being used too much. I also recognized this as that trope immediately.
I’d really like to know how Raffi got her life back together. And even more so… How the hell did Rios get to be a Star Fleet Captain??? Those stories seem like an entire season each! I feel like we are skipping over a lot of good material.
It was sorta unclear what Alison Pill was doing besides getting drunk.
The Guinan thing continues to mystify. They are still acting like there is some sort of deep bond between her and Picard but it was never explored or fleshed out and the relationship never felt genuine between them. Also, I guess Guinan really loves serving drinks.
I’m still a bit annoyed that they dipped into the Borg basket yet again. Although this take was not a bad one, I’m just so very tired of the Borg. And speaking of the Borg, I still think it weird that 7 still has her implants. It just stands to reason that eventually they should be lessened if not gone completely.
When we had that shot of the vineyard in the beginning my first thought was, Picard has a plantation with all those synths!
Apart from the tired trope mentioned above, the episode did work pretty well. This show is starting out with promise.
But… All the goodwill attained in the first 50 minutes was completely obliterated in the last few. Now we all knew that Q pulled Picard out but even with that knowledge when he showed it was still a facepalm moment. The instant he showed up all the stakes, whatever peril there might have been was completely removed. Because we all know Q loves Picard like a pet and will never let anything bad happen to him. In fact, I suspect that when Picard does actually cease to function Q will grab him to make him a permanent resident of the continuum. So there is that.
For all we know (given the elasticity of time with the continuum inhabitants), Picard might actually be Q’s father, though he won’t enter the continuum in ‘our’ time till after Stewart tires of playing the part.
Perhaps you need to go back and watch Time’s Arrow. That should get you up to speed on Picard and Guinan.
And your criticism of Q showing up is kind of silly. We all know nothing is going to happen to Picard because there is a 3rd season of Picard coming. We all knew Q would be setting Picard on this path long before the episode aired, so your complaint rings hollow.
I have seen it. It explains nothing. In fact, Guinan of the past had no idea who Picard was and their little adventure there didn’t set up anything regarding how close they got 500 years later.
Did I say anything was going to happen to Picard? No. I did not. I said any kind of peril or stakes. Meaning, any kind of peril of stakes were gone. Q is not menacing at all. He’s a clown. The Q complaint is completely legit.
Best Star Trek episode since Discovery launched the franchise’s revival. I confess I enjoyed the first two episodes of season one (plus the visit with the Rikers) but then it lost steam. I hated the idea of android Picard and it wouldn’t bother me if Q erased it with a snap of his fingers.
if Guinan and Q are the only TNG characters we see I’ll be glad. This episode made great use of the supporting cast and its those people I want to see Picard work with, John de Lancie’s brief appearance sent shivers down my fanboy spine and it was great to see him. The episode looked fantastic too. Effects were fantastic. This week’s Discovery was a major snooze fest compared to this. Can’t wait till next Thursday!
Frakes himself confirmed we will see Riker at some point in this season but so far, I think that’s the only one left, at least announced.
This is the way it normally is. The suffix after the number is only reserved for extremely distinguished ships (like the Enterprise, and apparently the Voyager). Stargazer had a long service history, but she didn’t do anything on par with what any Enterprise did, so she doesn’t get a suffix, just a successor. Frankly I’d have been annoyed if they’d thrown a letter on there.
Anyone else get the feeling of Vulcan Hello during the fleet action with the Borg ship but actually done right?
YEP!!!
Even last year’s fleet arrival to fight the Romulans in S1 was just marginally better, but at least plausible. This time around they got it right. Third time’s a charm!
Except that something is much more than meets the eye. The Borg Queen was stunning the bridge crew, not killing them, despite the fact she could have easily done so.
What did people get from the quick montage of Picard’s childhood? Were they saying that his father beat his mother? That was very confusing.
I think that’s it. I don’t know what else it could be implying. Young Picard even threw out they may fight less in a new environment. We could learn it was more than that though.
I got that Picard’s mom was a fox. Other than that, I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on.
Except for the premiere and the Troi/Riker episode, I absolutely despised the first season. This episode felt like an entirely new series, and one which seems like it might end up being very much to my liking. There was nothing here that I disliked. Heck, I even liked Raffi; apparently all it took was putting her in a Starleet uniform and letting her not be a sad-sack.
Guinan? Excellent. Captain Rios? Big thumbs up. The Stargazer? I will be disappointed if it isn’t the subject of either a spinoff series or a Picard-less “Picard” from the fourth season onward. (Caveat: it won’t disappoint me if they simply keep Picard on and keep on trucking for however many seasons Sir Patrick is game for.) Q? Perfect. The Borg? The most menacing they have been since “The Best of Both Worlds.”
Given that I’ve even managed to become a “Discovery” fan (finally!) in its fourth season, all of a sudden the future of Trek is looking mighty bright. I love it! Here’s hoping the momentum continues.
“Given that I’ve even managed to become a “Discovery” fan (finally!) in its fourth season…”. There goes your credibility! LMAO.
He’s been pretty damned tough on all of these shows from the beginning. Why does he suddenly lose credibility for liking one now? Because his taste differs from yours?
RIP to my credibility with this rando, y’all! Pour one out for me. :(
First time I’ve ever seen a Hollywood production in which a crew member included in the ending credits had the job title of “COVID-19 Logistics Manager”…..
Ha! Funny.
I would have seen it as an avid credit watcher but I’ve actually stopped watching the credits of the Secret Hideout shows. Save for Prodigy.
We see it a lot in European productions
Toronto-based productions, including Discovery, all list the COVID compliance person.
I think I saw that on the Disney Marvel (Hawkeye) and Star Wars (Boba Fett) shows, too. Maybe not that exact title, but COVID references.
This ep was a Grand Slam. Nice work.
One small question: If Romulans mourn their loved ones and then move on and love more intensely, why did Nero and his crew go so nuts?
Way to generalize a species there. Some humans love and move on quickly after a death. Other humans spend the rest of their life never being able to live again. Other humans spend a lifetime of loneliness.
It’s Star Trek. They tend to generalize all the aliens. All Klingons are warriors. All Ferengi are cheaters, etc.
She said, “Romulans”. No qualifier. And she was married to a Romulan of another culture, so she should know. And this is Nero’s era.
It’s one thing to lose wife or kids. It’s another when your entire civilization and culture is wiped out from existence. And another poster said it, not every Romulan has to act the same way just like not all humans do.
Certainly true. It wasn’t really canon, though, but a comic explained much of Nero’s anger as resulting from the loss of his wife and unborn child.
Isnt it strange how already a lot of the complaints of last season seem to have been rectified….almost like they are reading star trek forums (I would say this applies to a lesser extent to Discovery as well)…best trek episode of the new era. Absolutely amazing in every way.
Never a fan of alternate reality stories but so far so good!
One gripe…they absolutely butchered that beautiful theme music.
No kidding.
Nope, no kidding at all. I don’t much care for the “Lower Decks,” “Prodigy,” or “Orville” themes, which for all their bombast don’t much go anywhere that my ear can detect. But I rather liked the “Picard” Season 1 theme in all its melancholy. This version, though, sounds like so much musical noodling, to the extent I have a difficult time understanding how it got approved.
Agreed with all, kind of bummed they messed with the theme song. I hate the few times shows do that.
Outstanding episode. This will be the first ‘Picard’ episode I feel compelled to watch a second time! And, with ‘Discovery’ having imploded the past two seasons, I’ll have something to watch and enjoy until SNW begins.
Not much to say, but 8.5 out of 10! I think most of the multiple pluses and the few minuses have been already been noted above.
Just a couple of observations. S1 for all its faults, was still useful giving us backstories for the new characters. That made them surprisingly familiar in the premiere and enjoyable to watch!
Great to see Guinan and Q return. They both played their characters beautifully and sounded just like they did decades ago. Also, Seven delivered SOME of her lines with the old emotionless monotone candour that reminded me of her days on Voyager.
This was a fun S2 premiere while still examining the characters in depth, especially Picard. Although I generally liked S1 (with some major exceptions), I have to admit, this was much better.
Like almost all previous series after TOS, the opening seasons have been the worst. Picard looks to be no different. Really looking forward to next week!
Yes, the non Picard characters were fleshed out decently in S1. But don’t you think there were some great unexplained and illogical leaps with them for this season? It almost feels like this season is a soft reboot.
Yeah maybe a soft reboot, but Elnor going to the academy and getting a crew assignment as a cadet after 18 months is pretty much like Nog. Rios and Raffi were senior Starfleet officers, so as long as they passed their psych tests and were cleared for duty that makes sense, although admittedly getting a Captain’s posting is a bit of a stretch – I guess we don’t know how decorated he was as a first officer or his tenure. If he was like Riker, then that would be a no-brainer. If not, then yeah, totally agree. Juratti and Soji as ambassadors or advisors, yeah that is fine and Seven taking over Rios’ ship to fight with the Rangers probably makes the most sense.
All that said, I can certainly see why some might be skeptical.
My main issues were with Raffi turning her life around and Rios now a Captain after washing out earlier. As I said before, 2nd chances… Sure. But Captain?
I still think those stories alone could carry a 10 episode season.
Please not. We had such backstories in season 1 and it turned out to be 2 episodes stretched to 10 episodes. The obviously skipped a few years to leave that behind. All are happy to move on and forget the mess of season 1. I hope the whole season keeps the style of episode 1 and puts the focus on the plot.
I don’t think you are wrong. I just find the leap to be a pretty big stretch. This season already feels like a soft reboot in that respect. They just up and changed character’s backstories on a whim with no explanations for why. It’s almost as if they really want to just pretend that first season didn’t exist. Which is fine by me. I just think it a bit odd.
Nothing wrong with a soft reboot… TMP was set only two years after TOS and was also some kind of soft reboot…;-)
I don’t see TMP that way. It was 15 years later. The ship underwent a refit. Uniforms change. Some crew moved on. All of that is plausible. Now the true reason was it was a movie and it needed to look better. But it still worked. Now if TMP was set 2 years later and Scotty was now studying fish on some water world… That is the kind of change that Picard is asking the fans to accept for season 2.
It might just be best to consider this a soft reboot. Hopefully they will ignore robo-Picard, too. I actually thought Guinan would sense it and bring it up. But she didn’t. So fingers crossed….
I have to agree. Let’s just move on. They wanted to see the characters in a happier and more content place. So I’m good with that.
And finally no “JAY AL” but Jean-Luc!
Wow didn’t realize that until now. I wasn’t as bothered by it as others, but I’m good if they retired that too.
I had no issue with that. I think it’s easier to say that Jean-Luc. It always made sense to me that friends would use it. Which is why I felt his TNG crew never felt all that close to him. It feels so very formal.
But “Jean-Luc” is already easier than “Cap-tain-Pi-card”.
Yeah, we had that joke in the deleted scene of at the end on Nemesis. :-) “Call him Jean-Luc”.
Formality gets even more formal in the german dubbing were we distinguish between a personal “you” and formal “you” (which indeed was the formal form in english and replaced “thou”, so that you have to add “sir”). Even friends like Geordie/Data and O’Brien/Bashir talk very formal in the german version.
And “Jim” is easier than “Captain Kirk”. Spock would call him Jim mostly in non star fleet context or when he felt he he the need to express a more personal connection. He was never called “James”. Probably by choice. And since Picard seemed fine being called “JL” in season one it stands to reason he would be fine with people close to him calling him that. And his E-D crew never did. Which confirmed to me my feeling that this crew were good colleagues but less than good friends to him.