1.03: Star Trek: Picard - The End is the Beginning

[Dave]

Three episodes in and still a lot of exposition in this episode at the expense of story. however, we finally get Picard on a ship and have an attack by the Tal Shiar.

A few observations by me:

1. I thought the Tal Shiar were an intelligence organisation i.e. James Bond types, not this assassin squad. However, maybe that was what was meant last week when we were told that the Tal Shiar were merely a mask worn by a far older cabal called the Zhat Vash. Anyway, if Romulus is destroyed, I'm prepared to believe the Tal Shiar could have become anything in order to survive.
2. So, isn't his crew a little derivative? We have the a cynical, loner pilot, muscular, heavy drinking and cigar smokin', a diamond with rough edges but with a good heart. We have the loyal old friend and colleague, with many issues, a warrior woman, who keeps her cool under pressure, also with a drinking problem. Lastly, we have the naive scientist, young, wholesome, sweet and genuine. At least, that is what I picked up. maybe as time goes on there will be more depth shown to the characters.
3. I still don't know what is going on with Narek and why he doesn't look Romulan, or why Soji Asha never questioned why she had a clone or the other weird stuff. Also, Starfleet is not just infiltrated by Romulans but has no discipline or security - can officers disappear to that Borg cube and no one notices they've gone missing?

Still, despite the faults, Patrick Stewart is so good, he could read the morning newspaper and it would sound exciting.

 

[ctg]

1. I thought the Tal Shiar were an intelligence organisation i.e. James Bond types, not this assassin squad. However, maybe that was what was meant last week when we were told that the Tal Shiar were merely a mask worn by a far older cabal called the Zhat Vash. Anyway, if Romulus is destroyed, I'm prepared to believe the Tal Shiar could have become anything in order to survive.

From my perspective they are operating wing for the Romulan Dead. The real cabal hides behind them. Always lurking in the shadows, never coming forward, unless it's necessary. And my hypothesis is that they've infiltrated the StarFleet long time before the Kelvin moment happened and supernova engulfed the planet or did it?

If I remember correctly Romulus is tidally locked, and therefore, their homeworld has a light and darkside. Is it possible that Romulan Dead somehow manipulated the situation? Far more interesting thing is that they are claimed to hate the synthetic life, and the death of the Romulan assassin proved there are something going along that line. The Dead don't want any Synths anywhere.

So, isn't his crew a little derivative? We have the a cynical, loner pilot, muscular, heavy drinking and cigar smokin', a diamond with rough edges but with a good heart.

Isn't he the Baltasar from the BSG? I thought he looked very familiar behind the beard and in the way he was acting. It's like he cannot take the sophistication down a notch. That just oozes out from in every breath. I personally like Raffi's chosen pilot, and I hope he proves to be reckless, because where they are going I think reckless is a good thing.

We have the loyal old friend and colleague, with many issues, a warrior woman, who keeps her cool under pressure, also with a drinking problem.

I like Raffi and I don't think she's able to act cool, when the pressure hits. She will go off and blow something/someone, before she calms down.

I still don't know what is going on with Narek and why he doesn't look Romulan, or why Soji Asha never questioned why she had a clone or the other weird stuff

I agree it's weird, but they also know that Dajh is an android. They also know that Romulans cocked up in Earth, but is it because they know or is it because they are associated with the Romulan Dead? Something is missing from this puzzle.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Why do people keep writing smoking in space? Just, no.

But, a sense of the story moving forward, which was good. From the title of this episode I'm beginning to feel we're done with the Prologue and now moving onto the real story.

Also, a couple of possible Easter Eggs:

1. That was our friend Hugh, wasn't it? The Borg that Picard help give a sense of individuality to, thus disrupting the collective?
2. When JL and Rafe were outside talking, was that tall, sloping rock in the background the famous one from the Kirk vs Gorn episode that Bill & Ted revisited in their Excellent Adventure?

 

[Vince W]

This episode felt completely unnecessary. We get a lot of useless back story and a pointless attack on Jean-Luc that had to be stopped or the show just ends. It only served to say 'hey, Picard's still got moves.' Too many speeches and not enough movement of the plot. We don't need to expand on what happened 14 years ago. We already know and continually returning to it is just filler.

In regard to the Tal Shiar/Zhat Vash angle, this feels very much like many of the films in the 90s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, where KGB and ex-KGB agents go rogue. They've just coated in Romulan trappings and added a religious angle. In reality, this idea the Romulans hate synthetic life-forms is out of place. It seems irrational and I have a feeling we're all going to be disappointed in the 'reasoning' behind it.

Captain Rios is generically bland. So is Raffi for that matter. Those characters could have been pulled out of any first draft manuscript from anywhere. Generic disgruntled with the system 'outsiders' just looking for a way back in. Given the level of automation of these ships, Picard should have just run down to his local Avis Rent-a-Starship.

Dr. Juarti, while wildly naive, does feel genuinely Star Trek. She wants nothing more than to work for a better world for everyone.

I do like the Romulans. I've always wanted to know more about them and we're finally getting to know more about them. If this goes well I hope we get a Romulan dictionary akin to my Klingon one.

J.L.? J.?L.? Who thought that would be a good idea? Probably the same gormless hack that thought vaping would be a cool thing to do in the future.

I'll echo @Dave that Picard is so captivating that I struggled to the end of this episode. Although I will say that if Picard drops an f-bomb I'm out. I can only hope that now that we're finally in space things will start moving beyond backstory.

@Brian G Turner, the answer to both is yes!

 

[ctg]

When JL and Rafe were outside talking, was that tall, sloping rock in the background the famous one from the Kirk vs Gorn episode that Bill & Ted revisited in their Excellent Adventure?

You mean this rock?

 

[Vince W]

Looks the same to me.

 

[Dave]

The titles on the screen actually said it was the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, but yes it is the same one in the Gorn episode. it is a popular Hollywood filming spot, used for the 1931 Dracula, Mel Brooks' 1974 western comedy Blazing Saddles, the 1993 horror film Army of Darkness, the 1997 comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Tim Burton's 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes, and Nick Cassavetes' 2006 drama Alpha.

There have been spoilers that Hugh is in this, along with Seven of Nine, so no surprise, but I'm unsure if they have substantial roles in the story, or whether they are just there for fan service.

 

[Vince W]

It's a popular spot.
List of productions using the Vasquez Rocks as a filming location - Wikipedia

 

[farntfar]

We don't need to expand on what happened 14 years ago. We already know and continually returning to it is just filler.

We probably do if we haven't missed any of the films or series episodes, and if we remember all the details.

We others may need a bit of back story. So please allow a little repetition.

 

[Dave]

We others may need a bit of back story. So please allow a little repetition.

I don't think much of it was in any previous series, it was mostly fresh information. My problem is more with the way they dropped it in - three week of little speeches and flashbacks is too much for me. I'd rather they started the series 14 years previously and then told it as a linear story from there.

Anyhow, as someone else said, it seems like we are up to speed now, so no longer a problem.

 

[ctg]

My problem is more with the way they dropped it in - three week of little speeches and flashbacks is too much for me.

Well, at least we don't see other old man problems. Having bladder problems for example...

 

[Dave]

Well, at least we don't see other old man problems. Having bladder problems for example...

Well, he does appear to have lost his dog somewhere.

 

[ctg]

Well, he does appear to have lost his dog somewhere.

Think about taking Number One to walkies and him leaving behind presents. How much room there is in that ship? It looked small to me.

 

[Dave]

Jonathan Archer had a dog but I'm not sure how that worked either. Also it was a small dog on a bigger ship.

 

[ctg]

Jonathan Archer had a dog but I'm not sure how that worked either. Also it was a small dog on a bigger ship.

I completely forgot him. Picard, why did you leave Number One behind? Is Riker going to come on board?

 

[Overread]

Why do people keep writing smoking in space? Just, no.

If they put Number One on the ship then I'd have expected to hear the Blues playing for the ending credits of that episode
For the full Bebop Experience

There's certainly a bit of a Firefly/Bebop theme to the ships crew going on. Which to be honest is probably sort of what we'd have felt anyway with any small group operating outside the law in space. They just won't be slinging guns but phasers

Onto other things I was also happy to see Hugh, again they've dropped so many back references into this that its great to see some developments. Makes perfect sense if they are working with rescued borg to go get some previously rescued borg to help out.

Dr. Juarti - she appears VERY conveniently right at the right moment. I wonder if she's either an innocent bad liar with good timing or if she's now an agent. I could easily see her having been brought along during the attack (for reasons we might not yet know) and then when it all went sour taking a bold initiative and shooting one of the Romulans when the tables turned (esp if when she shot she thought it had a stun mode not a kill).

The reaction of the Borg escapees on the cube was very surprising and adds a whole new potential layer to the story that wasn't present in the earlier episodes. It adds that there might be layers to the story that Dr. Juarti has been made aware of which might make her side against Picard but also want to go with him to find the other android etc... Again her timing is either very Startrek perfect timing or very double agent style.



As for the episode in general I felt it ended on a good point and it was a needed part of the story. We had to see some of Picards relationships at the time of the fall to see how hard it hit him, but also this new character close to him who he has now reached out too instead of any of his old crew. We needed that otherwise she's too much a "random convenient character"
I do think episodes 2 and 3 are a merged series of events that would have done really well as a single extra long "get this started" episode. However I think that if they'd tried to squish the two together we'd have a ruined amount of pacing. That's one thing I'm really glad to see they've preserved. There's way too many (movies especially - yes I'm looking at you DC and Marvel) productions where too much story is covered in so little time that it feels not only contrived, but also lacks the emotional contact to the characters. A steadier pace allows them to build each scene with more time, those quite moments where nothing is happening; the longer lectures; the flashback explanations that add subtle depth.

 

[REBerg]

why Soji Asha never questioned why she had a clone

Neither synthetic appears to have full knowledge of her true nature. Physical and mental abilities like thwarting an assassin attack or communicating with a Borg-damaged Romulan take them by surprise. Soji and Dahj must have been programmed to see themselves as human twin sisters.
I'm wondering how "Mom" knew to send Dahj to Picard for protection or how she seemed to take Soji offline. Is she some digital manifestation of Data?

J.L.? J.?L.? Who thought that would be a good idea? Probably the same gormless hack that thought vaping would be a cool thing to do in the future.

Yeah! What in their past relationship entitled Raffi to call a celebrated Starfleet admiral by his initials? They made a point that J.L. had not contacted Raffi in the 14 years since his resignation torpedoed her career -- no expanded relationship there. Jean-Luc was about as familiar as his senior officers got aboard the Enterprise.

Dr. Juarti - she appears VERY conveniently right at the right moment. I wonder if she's either an innocent bad liar with good timing or if she's now an agent. I could easily see her having been brought along during the attack (for reasons we might not yet know) and then when it all went sour taking a bold initiative and shooting one of the Romulans when the tables turned (esp if when she shot she thought it had a stun mode not a kill).

I got the same impression. The doc looked nervous as they prepared to question the surviving Romulan, like she was afraid of what he might say. I thought she might grab a stray weapon and finish him off on some pretext that he posed a threat -- like vomiting acid or something.
The attack was revealing in other ways. I thought that the house staff might be something more than the dedicated servants they seemed to be. I got a kick out of how many weapons they had stashed around the house.

Well, at least we don't see other old man problems. Having bladder problems for example.

I like how they acknowledge Picard's advanced age, as when he was short of breath attempting to keep up with Dahj in the first episode, and taking cover and going for a weapon when the attack began, rather than stepping up and thrashing the nogoodniks with his bare hands. Makes things more real.

 

[Av Demeisen]

I enjoyed every second of episode 3.

 

[Overread]

I think it was episode 1 or 2 that we learned the two Romulans with Picard were ex-intelligence officers, plus they always had that "on guard" attitude that grew over those episodes. For me the fight was more a confirmation of their abilities, though it reinforces the somewhat surprise that they were remaining behind. Then again they are also damaged people and its one thing to react to a fight and another to go looking for one.

 

[Blake00]

Episode 3 seen:
Not really thrilled about how they continue to make Picard look slow, weak & frail. You watch him on talk shows and he zips around just fine lol! But I love the fact that in ep 3 it appears writers are trying to address one of those funny never explained issues from old trek.

When I was young it always annoyed me how in TNG supposedly a Borg who got his individuality somehow broke a friggin cube and caused a rebellion on it of sorts when assimilating individuals is what the Borg do lol. Voyager & FC ended up adding a lot of info on how the borg worked, how they connect, and made it pretty obvious that assimilating ex borgs (eg 7 of 9, the borg kids, locutus etc) back into the fold wasn't going to break anything lol, in fact they wanted them. Yes Hugh was a Borg test tube baby and not a previous individual unlike those others I mention but it shouldn't really matter HOW they became an individual when you're grabbing someone and pumping nanites into their blood and connecting them to the hive lol.

However it looks like the new trek writers are carving a story where in reality, Hugh went back to the Borg they reassimilated him no probs but then a few hours later on the trip back to delta they found a nice little yummy Romulan intelligence vessel on the way to assimilate, they start 'processing them' and then 'something' goes wrong (Romulan virus? weapon? racial nanite rejection like the Denobulans?). Hugh presumably wakes up and pops out of his alcove again thinking its somehow caused by him (hence why he later tells Picard in Descent that it was his fault), all the other borgs who don't know how to be individuals start goin nuts and they kick off a nice little rebellion which then at some point Lore arrives on the scene and takes control of them and they escape on the light cruiser which we see in Descent (small borg ships inside big borg ships is nothing new). In fact this new obvious Romulan ex-borg fears of Dahj's sister (ie synthetics) could very well be relating to trauma from what Lore did to many of them when he took over things which once again gives me hope Lore will somehow come into this new story at some point. Probably a long shot though haha..

Am I way off.. we shall see haha.