Star Trek: Picard (aka ST:P)

[scottydog]

Why Captain Kirk's Body Is In Star Trek: Picard Season 3

Kind of cool that they planted this seed so that future TV series or movies can pursue it

I wouldn't mind seeing Shatner's Kirk get a grand finale in a movie or limited series, but they better hurry.

But with AI image and movie generators, we don't need actors to be alive, do we?

[RJDiogenes]

Over the years, the explanation for how the transporter works has changed a few times. I always prefer it when we see people moving and talking in the beam, implying that it's some kind of space warp that moves you bodily from place to place. I never liked the idea of disassembly and reassembly. And now they're telling us that it uses some kind of lossless compression.

The finale is tomorrow!

I'm thinking about how much time and effort and money they put into restoring the bridge of the Enterprise-D. Maybe the episode will be followed by an announcement about a new D-centric show.

[scottydog]

Over the years, the explanation for how the transporter works has changed a few times. I always prefer it when we see people moving and talking in the beam, implying that it's some kind of space warp that moves you bodily from place to place. I never liked the idea of disassembly and reassembly. And now they're telling us that it uses some kind of lossless compression.

I also find it hard to believe that in the, what, century that the transporter has been around, no one has thought of surreptitiously planting viruses or DNA modifications into the "architecture" of the transporter. You'd think that terrorists would definitely target the transporter.

The finale is tomorrow!

I can't wait! Yet it's bittersweet, as we may never see Patrick Stewart as Picard ever again

I'm thinking about how much time and effort and money they put into restoring the bridge of the Enterprise-D. Maybe the episode will be followed by an announcement about a new D-centric show.

That would be a shocker. But you're right -- they went to a ton of trouble just to film a few scenes.

[RJDiogenes]

And there we have "The Last Generation." Which would have been better titled "The Big Good-bye: The Motion Picture." Because it wasn't the last generation, but there sure were a lot of good-byes. Unless they mean it's the last generation of Borg, which would be great. Except it isn't, because Agnes is still out there. Anyway....

As the last episode of Picard, and possibly the last episode of Star Trek, this was about as close to perfect as anyone has a right to expect, especially these days. We got nostalgia, without sacrificing character development; we got the depth of history and the anticipation of the future; we got through it without losing a main character; and we got what always made Trek special, and why it's still here after almost sixty years, that metaphorical reflection on contemporary society.

Wisely, they wrapped up the Borg attack plotline about halfway through the episode, giving plenty of time, or at least a good amount of time, for the character wrap ups. The climax wasn't too far off from predictions-- Jack did indeed become Locutus Junior and was not defeated so much as healed. It's appropriate that Trek ends with a hearts-and-minds victory that eclipses the inevitable giant explosion. The underlying theme was made explicit with Jack promising acceptance and togetherness, even as he brought the world to the brink of ending in fire, cheered on by the drone of meaningless voices, all manipulated by hostile foreign powers. Sounds familiar. Pretty much on the nose, in fact, and a powerful message to end on if the audience receives the signal.

Some other thoughts:

The president of the Federation is the son (or grandson) of Pavel Chekov. Totally out of left field, but I love it. The way he talked about his father made me think he must be son of Chekov, though he'd have to be about 107 by my estimate-- but that's not unheard of in Trek. And he's another one who inherited his father's accent.

That red cloud bank that hid the Borg cube turned out to be the Great Red Spot, which was a cute twist. A mote in Jove's eye. The spot probably won't exist in four hundred years, but whatevs, still a nice reveal. Maybe that was the significance of the red door, which still seems pretty random to me.

They border on overdoing the Worf humor, but I liked the threesome remark and the well-earned snoring.

Riker and Troi are great together-- maybe the best example of how all these characters are the same people we knew, yet different. Riker and Troi, only moreso. One odd thing, though, is, even with all the talk of their son, Kestra was never mentioned all season.

Geordi really slipped easily into the captain's role when he got the bridge. Very bossy. Must come from having two or three kids. One disappoint with Geordi, though, is that we never found out who the mother of his kids is or what the status of their relationship is. I guess we can assume that she's Leah Brahms and the actress was unavailable.

I think Beverly's unexpected expertise with the weapons was supposed to be a gosh-wow moment, but it fell flat. She's a doctor, not a top gun. I liked it much better when she was promoted to head of Starfleet medical and developed the cure for the Borg genes.

On the other hand, Deanna using her sudden connection to Riker to guide the Enterprise to a stop right over their heads like a dirigible was pretty gosh-wow.

We really got to see the new Data from several angles in this episode. His eagerness to join the away team to confront the Borg Queen, his visceral expression of hatred for the Borg, which was almost off putting, and his gut feeling that he could navigate to the core-- plus many small moments, and, most especially, his sessions with Deanna. His daily, overlong sessions with Deanna.

I was pretty convinced that Seven and Raffi would retake the Titan and have a cavalry moment, but they did one better-- they came up with a clever and innovative way to the Borg Kids out of the way without hurting them. And Seven got to give a nice Picardian inspirational speech, foreshadowing her later position. And I loved the fact that one of the last defenders of Earth was the cook.

Raffi really lucked out, not only making it to the end alive, but actually thriving as a character. Much better than Rios and Soji and the elf kid and poor Laris.

Worf accidentally, oops, released highly classified topmost secret eyes only intelligence data about Raffi's undercover activities to the media, right where her family would see it-- probably the most heroic thing he's ever done. What a knucklehead. It's kind of a shame Riker never called him a knucklehead.

I was very relieved to see the real Tuvok alive and well, and having a nice little reunion with Seven. I loved the look on his face when she resigned.

And good old Shaw got a much better sendoff than his weak death scene last week. His review of Seven, in light of the fact that it was recorded before this adventure began, gave great insight into his character. The best part was that he called her Seven-- and then immediately went back to calling her Hansen.

That "One Year Later" title card was really badly misplaced.

I'm of mixed feelings about the Titan-A being re-registered as the Enterprise-G. On the one hand it can be seen as giving short shrift to the accomplishments of the Titan, and on the other it can be seen as the merging of legends. But it's fine. Either way, I'm going to look up the etymology of short shrift when I'm done here.

The ending scene in the bar with the poker game was pleasant, if not profound-- it would have been nice if all the merriment was leavened with a moment of silence or something for all the thousands who perished.

And now we have Captain Seven in command, Commander Raffi as first officer, Crash LaForge at the wheel, and Jack Crusher as counselor. What indeed could go wrong? How can this not be a series? They really need to take the guy who was in charge of this season and put him in charge of the franchise, replacing that other guy who sucks at everything.

But the poor old D is now back on a shelf at the museum. I'm disappointed. They put so much effort and expense into recreating that bridge, I was sure that it would lead into new voyages for the old girl, even with a new crew. But at least she's there, waiting for when she's needed. Anything can happen. As Spock or Chekov or somebody said, there are always possibilities.

And then we have that little epilogue with Jack and Q. It was certainly unexpected, and kind of cute, although maybe a step over the line of what we needed. Personally, I would have replaced it with a final scene between Picard and Janeway. The only reason the Borg Queen was so easily defeated is that she never recovered from the thrashing that Janeway gave her-- that really deserved some mention.

There are sure a lot of beards on this show.

So there we are. The Grand Finale. Flawed, messy, contrived, awkward, unlikely, and kind of wonderful. A good ending for the D and hopefully a good beginning for the G.

[Gary]

And there we have "The Last Generation." Which would have been better titled "The Big Good-bye: The Motion Picture." Because it wasn't the last generation, but there sure were a lot of good-byes. Unless they mean it's the last generation of Borg, which would be great. Except it isn't, because Agnes is still out there. Anyway....

As the last episode of Picard, and possibly the last episode of Star Trek, this was about as close to perfect as anyone has a right to expect, especially these days. We got nostalgia, without sacrificing character development; we got the depth of history and the anticipation of the future; we got through it without losing a main character; and we got what always made Trek special, and why it's still here after almost sixty years, that metaphorical reflection on contemporary society.

Wisely, they wrapped up the Borg attack plotline about halfway through the episode, giving plenty of time, or at least a good amount of time, for the character wrap ups. The climax wasn't too far off from predictions-- Jack did indeed become Locutus Junior and was not defeated so much as healed. It's appropriate that Trek ends with a hearts-and-minds victory that eclipses the inevitable giant explosion. The underlying theme was made explicit with Jack promising acceptance and togetherness, even as he brought the world to the brink of ending in fire, cheered on by the drone of meaningless voices, all manipulated by hostile foreign powers. Sounds familiar. Pretty much on the nose, in fact, and a powerful message to end on if the audience receives the signal.

My overall thoughts were 'Meh'. I would say this was not as great as All Good Things.

Some other thoughts:

The president of the Federation is the son (or grandson) of Pavel Chekov. Totally out of left field, but I love it. The way he talked about his father made me think he must be son of Chekov, though he'd have to be about 107 by my estimate-- but that's not unheard of in Trek. And he's another one who inherited his father's accent.

Shameless, lame pandering.

That red cloud bank that hid the Borg cube turned out to be the Great Red Spot, which was a cute twist. A mote in Jove's eye. The spot probably won't exist in four hundred years, but whatevs, still a nice reveal. Maybe that was the significance of the red door, which still seems pretty random to me.

I didn't catch the Red Door being the eye on Jupiter, so good catch on that.

They border on overdoing the Worf humor, but I liked the threesome remark and the well-earned snoring.

Yes, the snoring part was great.

Geordi really slipped easily into the captain's role when he got the bridge. Very bossy. Must come from having two or three kids. One disappoint with Geordi, though, is that we never found out who the mother of his kids is or what the status of their relationship is. I guess we can assume that she's Leah Brahms and the actress was unavailable.

Dr. Brahms was married, so I seriously doubt he would have caused a divorce and then married her. Also, he rose to the rank of Commodore. So, it is very reasonable to assume he grew in self-confidence and leadership characteristics.

I think Beverly's unexpected expertise with the weapons was supposed to be a gosh-wow moment, but it fell flat. She's a doctor, not a top gun. I liked it much better when she was promoted to head of Starfleet medical and developed the cure for the Borg genes.

Yeah, tactical Crusher went over like a lead balloon for me throughout the series. Granted, people change in unexpected ways, but that was still an eyeroll from me. I think it's because the writers needed someone at Tactical.

On the other hand, Deanna using her sudden connection to Riker to guide the Enterprise to a stop right over their heads like a dirigible was pretty gosh-wow.

For someone who could only sense or feel due to being both Betazed and human, that's a little too much with her abilities.

We really got to see the new Data from several angles in this episode. His eagerness to join the away team to confront the Borg Queen, his visceral expression of hatred for the Borg, which was almost off putting, and his gut feeling that he could navigate to the core-- plus many small moments, and, most especially, his sessions with Deanna. His daily, overlong sessions with Deanna.

Spiner did great with the evolved Data. One quirk that bothered me was he always referred to Picard as 'Captain'. It made sense when he was first activated since his memories were up through the events of Nemesis. I would think someone would have caught him up to current events to let him know Picard was now an admiral.

I was pretty convinced that Seven and Raffi would retake the Titan and have a cavalry moment, but they did one better-- they came up with a clever and innovative way to the Borg Kids out of the way without hurting them. And Seven got to give a nice Picardian inspirational speech, foreshadowing her later position. And I loved the fact that one of the last defenders of Earth was the cook.

I'd forgotten about the cloak, so yes, that was a great moment.

Worf accidentally, oops, released highly classified topmost secret eyes only intelligence data about Raffi's undercover activities to the media, right where her family would see it-- probably the most heroic thing he's ever done. What a knucklehead. It's kind of a shame Riker never called him a knucklehead.

Yeah.

And good old Shaw got a much better sendoff than his weak death scene last week. His review of Seven, in light of the fact that it was recorded before this adventure began, gave great insight into his character. The best part was that he called her Seven-- and then immediately went back to calling her Hansen.

A good leader isn't buddy-buddy with a subordinate. Shaw was the kind of leader who was leaned into his XO for the purpose of preparing her for the next level.

That "One Year Later" title card was really badly misplaced.

I'm of mixed feelings about the Titan-A being re-registered as the Enterprise-G. On the one hand it can be seen as giving short shrift to the accomplishments of the Titan, and on the other it can be seen as the merging of legends. But it's fine. Either way, I'm going to look up the etymology of short shrift when I'm done here.

This part was lame, shameless, unnecessary pandering. I rolled my eyes at that.

And now we have Captain Seven in command, Commander Raffi as first officer, Crash LaForge at the wheel, and Jack Crusher as counselor. What indeed could go wrong? How can this not be a series? They really need to take the guy who was in charge of this season and put him in charge of the franchise, replacing that other guy who sucks at everything.

I want to know how Jack Crusher was promoted to Ensign one year after the events with the Borg. What in his life warrants a meritorious promotion versus attending the Academy?

But the poor old D is now back on a shelf at the museum. I'm disappointed. They put so much effort and expense into recreating that bridge, I was sure that it would lead into new voyages for the old girl, even with a new crew. But at least she's there, waiting for when she's needed. Anything can happen. As Spock or Chekov or somebody said, there are always possibilities.

Meh. Like I said, that ship should have been left destroyed with the crew having used something else from the museum. The Defiant would have been a better choice.

And then we have that little epilogue with Jack and Q. It was certainly unexpected, and kind of cute, although maybe a step over the line of what we needed.

Again, more shameless pandering. PEOPLE AND BEINGS NEED TO STAY DEAD. MOVE ON!!!

So there we are. The Grand Finale. Flawed, messy, contrived, awkward, unlikely, and kind of wonderful. A good ending for the D and hopefully a good beginning for the G.

Hopefully the end of everything from this series and never used again. There are plenty of other ships and people out there with stories to be told. Deep Space 9 proved it; Lower Decks is proving it; had Voyager not been a hot mess out of the gate, would have proven it.


All that needs to go on the cart as well.

[scottydog]

Well I enjoyed the last episode. As Gary noted, it wasn't as good as All Good Things, but it was plenty good enough and left me feeling like they gave Patrick Stewart the sendoff he so richly deserved.

And boy, did they sprinkle this last season with dozens of seeds for future stories, if authors and showrunners and moviemakers want to run with them. Kirk's body in the museum. Jack and Q. Seven and her crew on Enterprise G. Agnes and the Borg.

Can you imagine what Q will do when they get to Enterprise Q?

I'm saddened that once again DS9 was almost entirely missing from this reunion season. DS9 remains my favorite Star Trek, with TOS and TNG a close second.

As the last episode of Picard, and possibly the last episode of Star Trek, this was about as close to perfect as anyone has a right to expect, especially these days. We got nostalgia, without sacrificing character development; we got the depth of history and the anticipation of the future; we got through it without losing a main character; and we got what always made Trek special, and why it's still here after almost sixty years, that metaphorical reflection on contemporary society.

Yes, they captured what is good and beautiful about Star Trek. The final poker scene, showing them all happy, was emotionally satisfying.

That red cloud bank that hid the Borg cube turned out to be the Great Red Spot, which was a cute twist. A mote in Jove's eye. The spot probably won't exist in four hundred years, but whatevs, still a nice reveal. Maybe that was the significance of the red door, which still seems pretty random to me.

Good call on the red door and Jupiter's spot.

I guess we can assume that she's Leah Brahms and the actress was unavailable.

I loved Leah Brahms My theory is that Brahms got a divorce and Geordi successfully wooed her.

We really got to see the new Data from several angles in this episode. His eagerness to join the away team to confront the Borg Queen, his visceral expression of hatred for the Borg, which was almost off putting, and his gut feeling that he could navigate to the core-- plus many small moments, and, most especially, his sessions with Deanna. His daily, overlong sessions with Deanna.

Data was indeed a new man, er, robot, er, Gollum. It was good to see him behaving and responding like a human, albeit a strange one.

And good old Shaw got a much better sendoff than his weak death scene last week. His review of Seven, in light of the fact that it was recorded before this adventure began, gave great insight into his character. The best part was that he called her Seven-- and then immediately went back to calling her Hansen.

Shaw was great and it's puzzling why he had to die. I supposed there cannot be a satisfying victory without some key casualties, but still....

And then we have that little epilogue with Jack and Q. It was certainly unexpected, and kind of cute, although maybe a step over the line of what we needed. Personally, I would have replaced it with a final scene between Picard and Janeway. The only reason the Borg Queen was so easily defeated is that she never recovered from the thrashing that Janeway gave her-- that really deserved some mention.

I agree. At least Voyager had Seven as a representative on this series. Instead of Anton Chekov, how about a descendant of Jake Sisko being Federation President?

And now we switch over to Strange New Worlds.....

[RJDiogenes]

My overall thoughts were 'Meh'. I would say this was not as great as All Good Things.

I'm sorry you didn't like it. It's hard to compare it to "All Good Things...," but it was actually kind of the same. AGT basically rode around to the past and back again for some circularity and closure-- this season of Picard did that and cast a wider net.

Shameless, lame pandering.

I like these kinds of things that show us we're in a connected universe. I also like the idea that the junior member of the original crew raised a president.

I didn't catch the Red Door being the eye on Jupiter, so good catch on that.

It's the only thing I could think of, because that red door really seems like just a generic metaphor to me.

Dr. Brahms was married, so I seriously doubt he would have caused a divorce and then married her.

In the future part of "All Good Things..." it was stated, or maybe implied, that he married her and had daughters Alandra and Sydney (and also a son). So maybe...

I think it's because the writers needed someone at Tactical.

It's like they don't respect professions like doctor and counselor, so they have to make them action heroes.

For someone who could only sense or feel due to being both Betazed and human, that's a little too much with her abilities.

Well, I think that was specifically in the moment-- their long life together, added to Riker's intense feeling of being about to die.

One quirk that bothered me was he always referred to Picard as 'Captain'.

I didn't even notice that.

A good leader isn't buddy-buddy with a subordinate. Shaw was the kind of leader who was leaned into his XO for the purpose of preparing her for the next level.

He did end up showing some integrity here and there, but he was an asshole-- and he admitted it!

This part was lame, shameless, unnecessary pandering. I rolled my eyes at that.

I thought you'd like that part because you wanted to see the Enterprise-G. And it's not the first time they've renamed a ship.

I want to know how Jack Crusher was promoted to Ensign one year after the events with the Borg.

They said it right out: Nepotism. And maybe overcompensating for what they did to Seven?

Meh. Like I said, that ship should have been left destroyed with the crew having used something else from the museum. The Defiant would have been a better choice.

Actually, I'm pretty sure the Defiant is one of those renamed ships, if I remember right.

Again, more shameless pandering. PEOPLE AND BEINGS NEED TO STAY DEAD. MOVE ON!!!

Well, yes. I usually agree with that. But in this case, as Q said, he's not linear. For Q, this could be before season two. Also, we don't know what happened to Q in season two. What he thought was death may have been some kind of evolution.

Lower Decks is proving it;

I thought Lower Decks was like the ultimate in continuity references.

As Gary noted, it wasn't as good as All Good Things, but it was plenty good enough and left me feeling like they gave Patrick Stewart the sendoff he so richly deserved.

I think all the main characters were well served. Except maybe Beverly. When you think about it, almost everything that happened is a result of her bad decision making.

And boy, did they sprinkle this last season with dozens of seeds for future stories, if authors and showrunners and moviemakers want to run with them. Kirk's body in the museum. Jack and Q. Seven and her crew on Enterprise G. Agnes and the Borg.

I can live without Kirk, but I definitely want a Seven series-- maybe the premiere can wrap up the plot about Agnes and whatever's on the other side of that wormhole.

I'm saddened that once again DS9 was almost entirely missing from this reunion season.

I'm surprised they didn't visit DS9 or go through the wormhole, but the whole Changeling thing was forgotten pretty quickly.

Data was indeed a new man, er, robot, er, Gollum. It was good to see him behaving and responding like a human, albeit a strange one.

Yes, it was a wise decision to restore him and keep him alive-- and make him a real boy.

Shaw was great and it's puzzling why he had to die. I supposed there cannot be a satisfying victory without some key casualties, but still....

They probably had no idea he would become such a fan favorite.

Instead of Anton Chekov, how about a descendant of Jake Sisko being Federation President?

Why a descendant? Jake is probably about fifty at this point, I think.

[Gary]

I just think it's lame to rename the Titan. The Navy sometimes renames ships before they're christened, but recently renamed the USS Chancelorville. That ship never should have been named Chancelorville from the start. Followed RJ's question, the USS Defiant that's in the museum was renamed from the USS Sao Paulo; however, that was during the ship's construction. Even then, I don't think it should have been renamed. Move along, folks.

The same holds true for the descendants of characters we know becoming key players in the future. Sorry, but to me it smacks of lazy writing. Star Wars fans are tired of everything (movies) centering around the Skywalker lineage when there is a plethora of stories to choose. The Mandalorian and Andor have both proven non-Skywalker-centric stories are of interest.

Also, Data is still not a real boy. There are still glitches and bumps that prevent him from being human. I recently watched a video which discussed how one rule Gene Roddenberry had was that Data could make progress, but he could never fully become human.

[RJDiogenes]

Followed RJ's question, the USS Defiant that's in the museum was renamed from the USS Sao Paulo; however, that was during the ship's construction.

The Enterprise-A was also renamed from the Yorktown, which is how they had it available so quickly.

The same holds true for the descendants of characters we know becoming key players in the future. Sorry, but to me it smacks of lazy writing.

I wouldn't call it lazy writing, but it is certainly a trope. There has been plenty of literature that tells a story across several generations or follows a particular family over the years. There's no reason not to incorporate that storytelling device into Trek.

Also, Data is still not a real boy. There are still glitches and bumps that prevent him from being human. I recently watched a video which discussed how one rule Gene Roddenberry had was that Data could make progress, but he could never fully become human.

That's true, but I think he's reached the pinnacle of his evolution (unless he's actually downloaded into a Noonian Soong clone, which was an idea I had when the series was on the air).

[Gary]

Followed RJ's question, the USS Defiant that's in the museum was renamed from the USS Sao Paulo; however, that was during the ship's construction.

The Enterprise-A was also renamed from the Yorktown, which is how they had it available so quickly.

The same holds true for the descendants of characters we know becoming key players in the future. Sorry, but to me it smacks of lazy writing.

I wouldn't call it lazy writing, but it is certainly a trope. There has been plenty of literature that tells a story across several generations or follows a particular family over the years. There's no reason not to incorporate that storytelling device into Trek.

Also, Data is still not a real boy. There are still glitches and bumps that prevent him from being human. I recently watched a video which discussed how one rule Gene Roddenberry had was that Data could make progress, but he could never fully become human.

That's true, but I think he's reached the pinnacle of his evolution (unless he's actually downloaded into a Noonian Soong clone, which was an idea I had when the series was on the air).

I agree about Data having reached the pinnacle of his evolution.

[Gary]

Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry Left A Bad First Impression On Patrick Stewart

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, they don't really get into it there, but Roddenberry actually had a strong dislike for Stewart that continued well into production. I think he finally said something complimentary about him before he died, but he never really warmed up to him.

[scottydog]

Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry Left A Bad First Impression On Patrick Stewart

Roddenberry was enigmatic. On the one hand, he was a genius and showed it with creating this iconic franchise and developing some awesome episodes, especially in Season 1. On the other hand, he could be an idiot. Proof of that was his disrespecting Patrick Stewart.

[Gary]

Star Trek Theory: Picard Retconned the Divisive Enterprise Series Finale

[scottydog]

Fascinating. Yet another layer of complexity to chew on.