"Star Trek: Picard" Season 1 Talkback

Yojimbo

Yes, have some.
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Messages
54,913
Location
Shahdaroba
The End is only the Beginning.

startrekpicard.jpg

Star Trek: Picard features Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The new series will follow this iconic character into the next chapter of his life.

Episode 1 - "Remembrance" - January 23, 2020
At the end of the 24th Century, and 14 years after his retirement from Starfleet, Jean-Luc Picard is living a quiet life on his vineyard, Chateau Picard. When he is sought out by a mysterious young woman, Dahj, in need of his help, he soon realizes she may have personal connections to his...

Related Links:
*Official Website on CBS All Access
*Star Trek: Picard News & Discussion
*Star Trek Television Series News Thread
 
Last edited:

PicardMan

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Reporter
Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Messages
4,406
Thanks IGN for the free month of All Access code, Star Trek: Picard - Episode 1 Premiere Review - IGN. Like Discovery before it, the show begins with a setup episode. We also found out that the marketing department fooled everyone into thinking Data is alive when he only appears in a dream sequence. The twist of the clone daughters of Data was quite interesting. So many questions such as what the deal is with them and the Romulans and the Borg cube ending. We actually get to meet Picard's squad next episode (and Seven of Nine's return), and the pattern of waiting to introduce the main cast mirrors Discovery. Nostalgia of seeing Picard again really helped the episode and Stewart nailed his role as a noble man of principles who stood for helping the Romulans even if they are not liked by humans. Again, there are weird changes to Star Trek aliens as Discovery did as the Romulans spit acid or something. Data clone #1 has a cool action scene before death and a bunch of weirdos on the Internet get mad whenever female characters kick butt in fiction for some reason. Solid beginning, but not mind blowing because it's a setup episode.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,267
Location
Framingham, MA
Star Trek: Picard "Remembrance"

I have been waiting for that since 1999. Literally.

After Deep Space Nine went off the air, Star Trek stopped telling its actual story. It did a lost in space scenario with Voyager, prequels with Enterprise and Discovery, and a rebooted universe with the Kelvin films. But literally the only major Star Trek project set in the Alpha Quadrant of the Next Generation era since was Star Trek: Nemesis. And that was polarizing. Unlike many Trekkies I actually liked it at the time. But seeing this makes me realize how wholly inadequate it really was. As the last place for the canon I knew and loved? No, this series was demanding to happen.

What I don't understand is why it was like pulling teeth to get Paramount and then CBS to do this. We all wanted another Alpha Quadrant series set in the Next Generation era, but Rick Berman loved making bad storytelling decisions. He didn't kill the Star Trek golden goose so much as he let it wander off forever because he believed woodpeckers were all the rage. Star Trek, specifically The Next Generation and ESPECIALLY Deep Space Nine were my first hard-core fandoms. And Star Trek didn't want to give us updates about that era of the Universe, or where the characters were, or update us about the political situations that Deep Space Nine took such pains to progress. Instead we got Star Trek nobody wanted or needed. For the past 20 years Star Trek has futilely chased after general audiences that will never dig the franchise for any reason. When they should have been chasing after and catering to actual fans of the franchise. This is the first project since Deep Space Nine where I feel the fandom love.

And there's so much interesting stuff going on 25 years later. I love the idea of Jean-Luc resigning from Starfleet because it reneged on its promise to help save Romulus from the supernova. I would kind of like to hear theories on this show as to where Ambassador Spock disappeared to. But Starfleet clearly took the coward's way out after the synth attack.

I have no idea what to make of the synth attack. I will say this: I believe the idea of Starfleet banning all synths is morally repugnant. And you get the distinct impression Picard is one of the only people who truly understands why.

For the most part, this did a LOT of heavy continuity with the rest of the series. But I am disappointed Data was never referred to as a Soong-type Android, which is the thing that made him unique. Maybe Soong will be referenced in an upcoming episode.

Picard's Romulan helpers say something irresistible about this phase of the late 24th, early 25th century: Romulans have pretty much integrated with the rest of the galaxy. All of the major political xenophobia inherent in their species is now irrelevant, and you can pretty much run into Romulans on Earth with nobody batting an eye, which is something I love. I am very curious about their Borg ship, where they got it, why they believe it is stable, and what the Borg are up to now. It's clear that in the last episode of Voyager Janeway destroyed the Borg as we knew it. That doesn't mean a Borg unlike any we know doesn't still exist. Upcoming appearances from Seven of Nine and Hugh say this more than anything.

That interviewer played by Merrin Dungey bugged me. I don't blame her for delving into topics that Picard forbade. That's what journalists do. But I found her attitude towards Jean-Luc's explanations a bit infuriating. It sounds like the Federation has lost its way, and Picard is detailing it quite nicely. But she refuses to accept the idea that a synth like Data was ever purely good, or that helping Romulans is the right thing to do because they are people, not enemies. What really frustrates me is that per usual Picard explains his position masterfully. His diplomacy was the best thing about The Next Generation. But it's falling on deaf ears.

And in case you wonder if Picard still has his knack for that specific thing, when he tells the synth girl that that memory is hers, and nobody can ever take it away from her, I was like, "I miss having a character who understands people on television." Who listens to their concerns and offers them a new perspective without once invalidating their fears. Star Trek has stopped being Star Trek for so long I didn't realize how much I missed seeing characters act competently and professionally, and getting people on their side using reason, and empathy. I watch a lot of genre, and most of it is ultimately garbage. And even the stuff that isn't leaves me with an emptiness inside because characters are always getting into huge tragic fights over things that shouldn't be a big deal for reasonable people, or engaging with unlikely betrayals and breakings of friendship. That takes a lot out of me. It really does. And I don't think people really understand why Star Trek was so special in the late 80's and 90's. It was comfort food. You could watch pathos and characters being put through the wringer without being made to feel crappy about it later. Star Trek had its share of conflicts, but the heroes were in charge of solving them, instead of blundering into them and making them worse. Which is the exact reason I hated the Original Series. I like heroes who know what they are doing. Who rack up repeated Crowning Moments Of Awesome, not because the writer is trying to show us how unusual it is to do an awesome thing, but to say that doing an awesome thing is something we should all strive for. And Star Trek was the only show ever that told us to not only strive for awesomeness, but it made me believe it was possible. I have vast disagreements with the Gene Roddenberry heavy portions of the canon. But Michael Piller and Iran Steven Behr had an excellent middle ground of finding a way to make the characters great at their jobs, but people I recognize and not cartoon caricatures of virtuous people like Wesley Crusher or Geordi La Forgre. Sisko, Picard, Worf, Data, O'Brien, Odo, and Quark, these were all characters I loved because they knew what they were doing, and if some of them like Odo or Quark went wrong sometimes, they had the correct friendships to set them straight. I love that about Star Trek, and don't think it should be too much to ask from fiction.

Speaking of Nemesis, I have to give it up to this show for referencing Data's underwhelming death and B-4. The problem with Discovery is that it acts like it can create entire notions about Star Trek on its own without ever once caring about how it fits into established canon. I suspect that if the Okudas had been hired for Discovery from the beginning we wouldn't have the messes we have now. A lot of that is due to rights issues, but this series was greenlit before the CBS and Paramount merger was finalized, and they still gave us the classic uniforms and ships. I love Nemesis being referenced so heavily because it happened. It cannot be ignored by an overzealous producer who wants to tell their own unique story that ultimately is NOT about Star Trek. Nemesis existed, for good or ill, and things occurred in it that defined Picard. And I love that this show isn't ignoring Nemesis just because it's unpopular. Instead it's building on the things that movie tried and failed to do, and doing them successfully. That's awesome.

To be blunt, I have stated elsewhere that my only real current TV or movie obsession is The Orville. And that show is still amazing. But it's still building its universe in two seasons. I don't know if Picard will wind up better than The Orville. But it's building on the entire history of Star Trek, and culminating everything I knew and thought I knew about the franchise. As of this first episode, I am more personally connected to this show than The Orville, and that will be true whether it winds up better or not. I am looking forward to watching a show that I am allowed to enjoy, and that I will be giving positive reviews week after week. TV has made drama such an ordeal and no fun to watch. Star Trek is finally the way it should be and its about freaking time. *****.
 
Last edited:

Freddy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2012
Messages
799
Hearing great things about the pilot makes me so jelous of you guys. I'm forcing myself to wait until the season is over (or at least close to over), so I can binge through it with Amazon Prime's free trial. Can't really afford three streaming services at once (already have Netflix and planning to get Disney+ once it makes it over here), so I don't have other choise, even though I would love to actually support the show, if it's really worth all the hype and keeps that up rest of its run.
 

PicardMan

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Reporter
Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Messages
4,406
I watch a lot of genre, and most of it is ultimately garbage. And even the stuff that isn't leaves me with an emptiness inside because characters are always getting into huge tragic fights over things that shouldn't be a big deal for reasonable people, or engaging with unlikely betrayals and breakings of friendship.

Doctor Who isn't that bad, but it has the issue of recycling storylines from older episodes and I feel that changing the main character's gender wasn't a big enough change considering how paint by numbers the show feels (not counting last week's big twist episode which maybe could change my mind). Lost in Space isn't groundbreaking, but I found it lots of fun and personally liked it. It feels like space opera is having a revival with Orville, new Trek, and Lost in Space and I'm loving that.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,267
Location
Framingham, MA
Doctor Who isn't that bad, but it has the issue of recycling storylines from older episodes and I feel that changing the main character's gender wasn't a big enough change considering how paint by numbers the show feels (not counting last week's big twist episode which maybe could change my mind). Lost in Space isn't groundbreaking, but I found it lots of fun and personally liked it. It feels like space opera is having a revival with Orville, new Trek, and Lost in Space and I'm loving that.
I love The Orville, and Chris Chibnall has rescued Doctor Who from the garbage fires that were the Moffat and ESPECIALLY Davies eras. But a season and a half of great Doctor Who still resonated less for me than one great episode of Picard.
 

Yojimbo

Yes, have some.
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Messages
54,913
Location
Shahdaroba
startrekpicard.jpg

Episode 2 - "Maps and Legends" - January 30, 2020
Picard begins investigating the mystery of Dahj as well as what her very existence means to the Federation. Without Starfleet's support, Picard is left leaning on others for help, including Dr. Agnes Jurati and an estranged former colleague, Raffi Musiker. Meanwhile, hidden enemies are also interested in where Picard's search for the truth about Dahj will lead.
 

Funkatron

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2002
Messages
10,204
Some things I noticed:
  • Rizzo seems to share the name of a redshirt from the original series who died a not so good death (as redshirts are prone to do) in the episode "Obsession". Wonder if her cover is that she is related.
  • Man, Romulans are twitchy about AI. Apparently they have their own Illuminati whose sole purpose is to make sure AI doesn't propagate anywhere. I'm guessing they had their own AI/sythetic uprising like the situation with the Geth and the Quarians in the Mass Effect game series
  • Romulans, Romulans everywhere! Rizzo being a secret Romulan spy and revealing it subtly in dialogue without outright saying she is a spy was good writing. Liked the banter with her brother in the end.
  • I loved the detective-like elements while Picard and Laris were investigating Dahj's apartment. Good technical writing and good back and forth between the two during the whole thing. Also the reveal that Laris was most likely ex-Tal Shiar adds to her character
  • Teleporter door frames are the coolest thing ever. Whoever thought of it in the writer's room is a genius
  • Loved that the replicators, at least on Mars, make the microwave ding sound when they are done making food. Had me chuckling
I'm really loving this series. this is the last day of my free trial so I'm trying to decide to continue with CBS All Access or wait till the last episode to pay for just 1 month and binge it all. The writing of this show is really good, especially the character writing. Sir Patrick continues to show hew still has it after all these years. Also loving the new cast around him, none of them seem to be slouches and they are holding their own.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,267
Location
Framingham, MA
Some things I noticed:
  • Rizzo seems to share the name of a redshirt from the original series who died a not so good death (as redshirts are prone to do) in the episode "Obsession". Wonder if her cover is that she is related.
  • Man, Romulans are twitchy about AI. Apparently they have their own Illuminati whose sole purpose is to make sure AI doesn't propagate anywhere. I'm guessing they had their own AI/sythetic uprising like the situation with the Geth and the Quarians in the Mass Effect game series
  • Romulans, Romulans everywhere! Rizzo being a secret Romulan spy and revealing it subtly in dialogue without outright saying she is a spy was good writing. Liked the banter with her brother in the end.
  • I loved the detective-like elements while Picard and Laris were investigating Dahj's apartment. Good technical writing and good back and forth between the two during the whole thing. Also the reveal that Laris was most likely ex-Tal Shiar adds to her character
  • Teleporter door frames are the coolest thing ever. Whoever thought of it in the writer's room is a genius
  • Loved that the replicators, at least on Mars, make the microwave ding sound when they are done making food. Had me chuckling
I'm really loving this series. this is the last day of my free trial so I'm trying to decide to continue with CBS All Access or wait till the last episode to pay for just 1 month and binge it all. The writing of this show is really good, especially the character writing. Sir Patrick continues to show hew still has it after all these years. Also loving the new cast around him, none of them seem to be slouches and they are holding their own.
I'm subscribing just for this series. 10 bucks a month is NOT too much for weekly doses of Jean-Luc Picard.

Star Trek: Picard "Maps And Legends"

I did not like that as much as the Pilot. Probably because it focused much less on Picard. I also didn't quite understand what was going on with the Romulans and the Borg.

I will say this: I learned a lot more about the Romulans than I have since any Star Trek series since The Next Generation. The whole idea of Romulans never having androids works because it contradicts nothing. We haven't really gotten into that species' technological culture at all. And it looks like this series will be good for delving deeper into well-known Star Trek aliens and telling us new things about them.

I had a feeling last week (that I didn't state in my review) that this is almost certainly the last Picard project and that Picard would probably die in the series finale. Learning he has a fatal illness tells me my gut was right.

Starfleet is now inherently corrupt if the appalling way that foul-mouthed admiral treated Picard is any indication. Being infiltrated by Romulan spies in the least of Starfleet's problems.

I really liked the teaser of the fall of Utopia Planitia. The talk about the Tal Shiar's secret police in the episode (secrecy is woven into the fabric of Romulan culture) leads me to believe the Androids may have purposefully struck when they did to halt the mission to save the Romulans. That specific flashback being shown in the episode where we learned what we did made me go "Hmmmm."

I was not a fan this week. That's okay. I'm still on-board. ***1/2.
 

PicardMan

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Reporter
Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Messages
4,406
I also didn't quite understand what was going on with the Romulans and the Borg.

From my understanding, the borg cube artifact was full of deassimilated borg and the Romulans there were deassimilated borg.

This was a pretty slow paced episode and serialized shows tend to have these types of episodes. The first episode was a good "hook" episode, but this episode was pretty slow. To be fair, it's probably just one slow episode and not a lonnnnnng slow part (Babylon 5 season 1 was an endurance test before the far more intriguing later seasons). Still has some interesting mysteries and we can see that Starfleet is really messed up at this point. I'll probably also give it a 3.5.
 

Yojimbo

Yes, have some.
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Messages
54,913
Location
Shahdaroba
startrekpicard.jpg

Episode 3 - "The End is the Beginning" - February 6, 2020
Completely unaware of her special nature, Soji continues her work and captures the attention of the Borg cube research project's executive director. After rehashing past events with a reluctant Raffi, Picard seeks others willing to join his search for Bruce Maddox, including pilot and former Starfleet officer Cristóbal Rios.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,267
Location
Framingham, MA
Star Trek: Picard "The End Is The Beginning"

That was great. Hugh was a welcome addition and I love his role. But Soji being The Destroyer concerns me very much.

I love Picard's Romulan friends. They owned those Romulan agents with an owning stick.

Nice that Picard is given his due in history as the primary contact of the Q Continuum.

I forget the lady Daystrom scientist's name but when she tell Picard should help her because he contains empathy I was like "That's exactly why he will." It's the reason Picard is awesome and unlike almost every other fictional hero.

I'm not crazy Rois being a smoker, or Raffi being a drug addict. The smoking thing especially should not be a problem in 2399. But we'll see where it goes.

I like that this show hasn't been using stardates so far. Those are completely unhelpful. Watch, they'll start using them next week and make me look like a chump.

I love Rios' various ship holograms and their goofy accents.

That was some quality Trekking right there. ****.
 

PicardMan

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Reporter
Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Messages
4,406
We get more hints that the synth uprising was because of someone in Starfleet deliberately distracting from the Romulan crisis, suggesting that Starfleet might have worse problems than just apathy. The juxtaposition of it being possibly the darkest period in Starfleet history with having the most traditionally heroic main character is an interesting contrast. The marketing suggested that Rios would be a Han Solo ripoff, but his status as a shell shocked former Starfleet member who lost his captain is thankfully more interesting than that. Now we got the crew together, we can actually boldly go somewhere. IGN seems impatient about the pace, but this episode seemed more interesting and had more plot advancement than the last one.
 

Yojimbo

Yes, have some.
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Messages
54,913
Location
Shahdaroba
startrekpicard.jpg

Episode 4 - "Absolute Candor" - February 13, 2020
Picard's search for Bruce Maddox takes a detour to the planet Vashti, where Picard and Raffi relocated 250,000 Romulan refugees 14 years earlier. He’s reunited with Elnor, a young Romulan he befriended during the relocation who now feels Picard betrayed his people.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,267
Location
Framingham, MA
Star Trek: Picard "Absolute Candor"

I had some reservations about Picard's portrayal. The episode was good, but Jean-Luc Picard is not the man who would rip down a "Romulans Only" sign, step on it, and stride into the cafe as if he owns the place. That's Kirk. On the other hand, him throwing down the sword is entirely in character, as was him telling Elnor that man did not deserve to die.

I also feel that perhaps the series is asking us to forgive too much from Picard. The opening teaser was great, but it suddenly makes his resignation from Starfleet unforgivable. And the truth is, even if he had resigned, that would not have forbid him from coming back and making sure the people he cared about were all right. He wouldn't have the same authority, but him going straight back to the vineyard was a choice he made.

I'm dying to learn how Picard and Seven of Nine know each other. I really love that she is dressed like a normal person now. For some reason that makes her far sexier than the dumb catsuit. The long hair really suits her too. Next week is going to be good.

This was the first episode I had mixed feelings about. ***.
 

PicardMan

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Reporter
Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Messages
4,406
Elnor's swashbucking scene was cool, yet gruesome, and I wonder if this show is really going to be Firefly except with Picard as some of the marketing suggested. The profanity feels somewhat gratuitous as Raffi loves to drop the GD bomb and Discovery seems to tone it down on the language in comparison. Still not entirely on board with the TV-MA material, but I'm down for some 7 of 9.
 

PF9

Putting Bleeps on a Streaming Show Is Stupid
Joined
Jul 9, 2008
Messages
2,740
Location
Ohio
As I said in the other thread about the show I hope Patrick Stewart lives long enough for the series to have a proper conclusion. He is turning 80 this year, and there have been a few series over the years that could not go on after a key cast member passed away. Shows that did so anyway tended to be axed rather quickly.
 

Fone Bone

Matt Zimmer
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Messages
35,267
Location
Framingham, MA
As I said in the other thread about the show I hope Patrick Stewart lives long enough for the series to have a proper conclusion. He is turning 80 this year, and there have been a few series over the years that could not go on after a key cast member passed away. Shows that did so anyway tended to be axed rather quickly.
I think Stewart will be okay. He seems up to it so far and I don't see this series lasting for 7 seasons like Next Gen did. The shooting schedule is also a lot lighter compared to Next Gen with 10 episodes a year versus 26. Rich people also tend to live longer nowadays too. He seems in good shape as well.
 

Yojimbo

Yes, have some.
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Messages
54,913
Location
Shahdaroba
startrekpicard.jpg

Episode 5 - "Stardust City Rag" - February 20, 2020
The La Sirena crew begin an unpredictable and lively expedition on Freecloud to search for Bruce Maddox. When they learn Maddox has found himself in a precarious situation, a familiar face offers her assistance.
 

Spotlight

Staff online

Who's on Discord?

Latest profile posts

Remember back when people were saying that "Streaming is the (bright) future"?
"I can't wait to eat this baby" - Paramount, presumably looking for tax write-offs
Happy Baseball Opening Day
"I'm probably going to watch Nymphomaniac Part II on Disney+ this weekend" isn't something I didn't think I'd ever say, but here we are.

Featured Posts

Top