Colonel Kira's Left Tit
Bearded Belly of Bajor
I just rewatched one of my favorite TNG episodes. "The Drumhead", which I think was s04e21.
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Star Trek Picard season 3
- Thread starter CaptainWacky
- Start date
CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
I wish Jean-Luc could still give the kind of speeches he gave in that episode.
Eggs Mayonnaise
All In With The Nuts
Nobody gave him those rage erections like Jean Simmons did.
Dr Dave
pillzlol
I also felt like this.
Colonel Kira's Left Tit
Bearded Belly of Bajor
People seem to have a really bad reaction to this ep, lol.
The soundtrack was good at least.
The soundtrack was good at least.
StarMan™
Well-known member
I didn't mind it, so was quite surprised by the negative response. It's getting to the "get to the bloody point" section of the season. The telltale signs of story padding are more apparent. We're basically right at the threshold of wrapping the story, but we're stalling to eke out 10 episodes. To be fair, S3 has done a better job of any other NuTrek season; normally by episode 5 the stalling and narrative gymnastics are obvious.
I wish they hadn't dragged out the Jack storyline. What is he? It was also daft he still didn't reveal everything that's gone on. It appeared he was going to in the conference room scene with Picard, but it only amounted to "I've always felt different". If Jack is that concerned about everyone putting their lives on the line for him, then talk! More information means Dad and crew have a better shot of getting to the bottom of what the Changelings are really after and could go some ways to preventing further loss of life.
It was nice seeing Tim Russ. Anti-Kolinhar demonstrations? Where do they get these ideas?
Chin'toka scrapyards. For a moment, I thought that might have some relevance, but it was just another Easter Egg.
As for Vadic - for a moment, I got my hopes up she was really Salmone Jen's Female Founder from DS9 when she rattled off about being a POW.
Whoever Giant Floaty Head is - I hope like hell it's epic. We're all in on the memberberries so I hope to be wowed once we learn their true identity and not have some dumb subvert expectations curveball in the vein of Burnham is the Red Angel / Crying Kelpian Kid.
I wish they hadn't dragged out the Jack storyline. What is he? It was also daft he still didn't reveal everything that's gone on. It appeared he was going to in the conference room scene with Picard, but it only amounted to "I've always felt different". If Jack is that concerned about everyone putting their lives on the line for him, then talk! More information means Dad and crew have a better shot of getting to the bottom of what the Changelings are really after and could go some ways to preventing further loss of life.
It was nice seeing Tim Russ. Anti-Kolinhar demonstrations? Where do they get these ideas?
Chin'toka scrapyards. For a moment, I thought that might have some relevance, but it was just another Easter Egg.
As for Vadic - for a moment, I got my hopes up she was really Salmone Jen's Female Founder from DS9 when she rattled off about being a POW.
Whoever Giant Floaty Head is - I hope like hell it's epic. We're all in on the memberberries so I hope to be wowed once we learn their true identity and not have some dumb subvert expectations curveball in the vein of Burnham is the Red Angel / Crying Kelpian Kid.
Eggs Mayonnaise
All In With The Nuts
StarMan™
Well-known member
IT'S ARDRA!!!
Damn. Now that we're naming names, who would wow me?
8472? It would tie in nicely with Seven and the assumed Janeway cameo. Their species prided themselves on their genetic superiority. The floaty head's dismissive assessment of Changeling physiology is an attitude I can see 8472 having. But why would 8472 want Starfleet destroyed? Last we checked, they were on good terms - or at least neutral - with Starfleet. Moreover, why would they need The Changelings?
Armus? He was very one-note, and Floaty Head referred to "we". Armus was alone.
Pah Wraiths? If Vadic formed the splinter group after escaping from Daystrom, she presumably returned to The Link in full vengeance mode and likely wanted to ignite Dominion War II. It would seem The Link - in spite of the treatment of Vadic and her fellow POWs - decided against breaking the peace treaty. I suppose if Odo's influence weren't permeating The Link, it might have been a very different story. The rogue faction is hell bent on undermining The Federation, but are alone and without the resources of The Dominion. Now, the Pah Wraiths and Prophets were known to The Founders. I have no doubt they would have been curious about a non-corporeal species that transcended time, could manufacture stable wormholes on a whim ... and of course vanish 2000 of their battleships. Did Vadic seek out an ally in the Pah Wraiths and find a means of communicating with them? That bowl she uses to converse with Floaty Head looks sorta artifact-y.
I'm really setting myself up to be disappointed here.
In any event, whoever Floaty Head represents, they appear unable to obtain Jack themselves and are using The Changelings, yet evidently can still threaten her species.
OMG - enough!
whisky
Boobie inspector
Everyone is assuming they want Picards body because of his connection with the Borg, but what if it was his connection with the nexus?
The ability to decide where and when in the universe you want to be with just a thought would be a powerful weapon if you say we're fighting something none linear.
Now if only our team had access to another body with the same ability.
The ability to decide where and when in the universe you want to be with just a thought would be a powerful weapon if you say we're fighting something none linear.
Now if only our team had access to another body with the same ability.
So, I have been busy, and coupled with my historically slow pace of watching shows these days, I'm only now up to date, and there is a lot to process. Anyone who cares to remember knows I was severely underwhelmed (to the point of anger at times) by the first two seasons of Picard. They both started off promising before devolving into incoherent rubbish written by people who clearly didn't understand or care to understand the characters, tone, or world-building of Star Trek. It was a mess.
I'll say that after finishing episode 6, this is the most engaging the show has been. This comes with the caveat that the bar has been set extremely low, so that is hardly a ringing endorsement.
I still have had a lot of problems with it up until now. However, there has also been some good stuff sprinkled here and there that I have appreciated.
The good: Getting the band back together. I mean, this was always going to be a free home run. Seeing Bev, Riker (with more than a cameo this time), Geordi, and Worf back is obviously great. Picard is a nostalgia show, and even if it's been a clusterfuck more often than not, those of us who love TNG as much as we all do are going to get a kick out of seeing the old crew, so yeah.
Shaw. He's definitely grown on me; the actor playing him is good, and now that they've moved away from the ridiculous way he acted when Riker and Picard came on board the Titan, he's a welcome addition to the show.
The plot is still all over the place, but it is less egregious than the nonsense we got in the first two seasons, although there are still major problems with it.
The bad: There is quite a bit. Nostalgia and fan service are all well and good, but the show feels like it's constantly bombarding you with member berries that are jarring and completely unnatural. They can't go more than 2 minutes without a nod and wink to the audience, and it is excessively overegged.
The constant references feel really forced. When you couple this with the other swing of them wanting to make the show more cool and edgy with lots of swearing and modern-day references and idioms, it seems like the show can't get out of its own way. Nobody who dislikes or didn't watch TNG is watching the show at this point. Stop trying to make it "cool" for an audience that isn't watching it. I don't care about the odd swear word; however, just because you're not constrained by the network anymore doesn't mean you have to have them all swearing like sailors when that's never been a part of Trek.
The other big problem with them constantly cramming in every reference they can find on Memory Alpha is that it makes the universe feel small. Well, we need Seven back, so now she's the Titan's first officer. Oh, that's Laforge at the helm. Of course, that's the Defiant. Shaw is acting like a total twat for seemingly no reason, let me guess... Oh, I was right. Sisko's back story and feelings towards Picard over Wolf 359 but much worse. A former drone for a first officer, though? No problem! Hey! It's Ro! ... OH. KILLER TRIBBLE. The worldbuilding in Star Trek is some of the finest ever, and it feels cheaply abused in this show.
The plot... it's still mystery box bullshit but less offensive than the first two seasons. If this had been the first season of the show, it would have worked a lot better. However, now we've got Brent playing schizoid Data, and you're like, "Oh yeah, of course, he's back." They really have driven one of the best characters in history into the ground at this point, and it's a shame.
In the last few episodes, thankfully, Patrick finally seems to have found Picard again because, for the majority of this show, he's been playing someone else. He's not the only victim. Riker chewing out Picard early in the season was nonsense, as was Beverly, the action star, not telling Picard about his son because reasons? Utter, unadulterated, major-league nonsense. Worf, even with the stupid pacifist thing he has going on, is still Worf. Michael Dorn hasn't forgotten how to play him. Riker outside of that stupid moment has been a pleasure as well.
The whole splinter group changeling thing is difficult to get behind. Everyone acts rather clueless about them like they haven't just recently lived through a war that spanned the Alpha Quadrant with them as the main antagonists! The Federation getting compromised is hardly an original idea in Trek, and even the changelings doing it is not a new idea, but compare how it was done in Paradise Lost and Homefront in DS9 with how it is done here.
lol
Fundamentally, I don't believe that the writers of any of the seasons have gotten close to what made TNG special. It might sound elitist, and perhaps it is, but I don't think they get it.
Oh yeah, every time Raffi is on screen, it's like you just tuned into a Kate episode of Lost after waiting all week.
Those are just some of the things I can currently think of, but there are more! There is usually something mildly stupid going on every five minutes or so.
So am I getting incensed like I did with the first two seasons? No. It is better, and there are much more things to like, but I don't think I could go so far as to say it's particularly good either. I am still interested to see what they do with the remaining episodes.
Oh yeah, the music is good, though!
I'll say that after finishing episode 6, this is the most engaging the show has been. This comes with the caveat that the bar has been set extremely low, so that is hardly a ringing endorsement.
I still have had a lot of problems with it up until now. However, there has also been some good stuff sprinkled here and there that I have appreciated.
The good: Getting the band back together. I mean, this was always going to be a free home run. Seeing Bev, Riker (with more than a cameo this time), Geordi, and Worf back is obviously great. Picard is a nostalgia show, and even if it's been a clusterfuck more often than not, those of us who love TNG as much as we all do are going to get a kick out of seeing the old crew, so yeah.
Shaw. He's definitely grown on me; the actor playing him is good, and now that they've moved away from the ridiculous way he acted when Riker and Picard came on board the Titan, he's a welcome addition to the show.
The plot is still all over the place, but it is less egregious than the nonsense we got in the first two seasons, although there are still major problems with it.
The bad: There is quite a bit. Nostalgia and fan service are all well and good, but the show feels like it's constantly bombarding you with member berries that are jarring and completely unnatural. They can't go more than 2 minutes without a nod and wink to the audience, and it is excessively overegged.
The constant references feel really forced. When you couple this with the other swing of them wanting to make the show more cool and edgy with lots of swearing and modern-day references and idioms, it seems like the show can't get out of its own way. Nobody who dislikes or didn't watch TNG is watching the show at this point. Stop trying to make it "cool" for an audience that isn't watching it. I don't care about the odd swear word; however, just because you're not constrained by the network anymore doesn't mean you have to have them all swearing like sailors when that's never been a part of Trek.
The other big problem with them constantly cramming in every reference they can find on Memory Alpha is that it makes the universe feel small. Well, we need Seven back, so now she's the Titan's first officer. Oh, that's Laforge at the helm. Of course, that's the Defiant. Shaw is acting like a total twat for seemingly no reason, let me guess... Oh, I was right. Sisko's back story and feelings towards Picard over Wolf 359 but much worse. A former drone for a first officer, though? No problem! Hey! It's Ro! ... OH. KILLER TRIBBLE. The worldbuilding in Star Trek is some of the finest ever, and it feels cheaply abused in this show.
The plot... it's still mystery box bullshit but less offensive than the first two seasons. If this had been the first season of the show, it would have worked a lot better. However, now we've got Brent playing schizoid Data, and you're like, "Oh yeah, of course, he's back." They really have driven one of the best characters in history into the ground at this point, and it's a shame.
In the last few episodes, thankfully, Patrick finally seems to have found Picard again because, for the majority of this show, he's been playing someone else. He's not the only victim. Riker chewing out Picard early in the season was nonsense, as was Beverly, the action star, not telling Picard about his son because reasons? Utter, unadulterated, major-league nonsense. Worf, even with the stupid pacifist thing he has going on, is still Worf. Michael Dorn hasn't forgotten how to play him. Riker outside of that stupid moment has been a pleasure as well.
The whole splinter group changeling thing is difficult to get behind. Everyone acts rather clueless about them like they haven't just recently lived through a war that spanned the Alpha Quadrant with them as the main antagonists! The Federation getting compromised is hardly an original idea in Trek, and even the changelings doing it is not a new idea, but compare how it was done in Paradise Lost and Homefront in DS9 with how it is done here.
lol
Thier loyalty towards each other and almost sacred consideration towards the well-being of even changelings that have turned their back on the collective is one of the main defining characteristics of the entire species, and here it's just thrown out the window because "pew pew" cool.
Fundamentally, I don't believe that the writers of any of the seasons have gotten close to what made TNG special. It might sound elitist, and perhaps it is, but I don't think they get it.
Oh yeah, every time Raffi is on screen, it's like you just tuned into a Kate episode of Lost after waiting all week.
Those are just some of the things I can currently think of, but there are more! There is usually something mildly stupid going on every five minutes or so.
So am I getting incensed like I did with the first two seasons? No. It is better, and there are much more things to like, but I don't think I could go so far as to say it's particularly good either. I am still interested to see what they do with the remaining episodes.
Oh yeah, the music is good, though!
Loktar
Pinata Whacker
Because Starfleet uses their phasers on the default setting of stun even though should know by now that does nothing to most of the alien species they encounter.
So we get the origin story for Vadic, which is definitely Amanda Plummer's best turn on the show. She's a very good actress, but up until now, being "haha, I'm crazy" without an explanation hasn't really worked for me. So she's basically taken the form of her own version of Mengele. Some parrallels between Mora Pol and Odo but obviously drastically more fucked up. Pol wasn't torturing Odo (nothing like this at least) as a means to an end. It does seem farfetched that the Federation would allow the barbaric torture of even Changeling captives at this extent (some oversight please?!) but OK, more dystopianism in Starfleet. Obviously it's completley unjustifable but I would have liked to have seen a litte more pushback from Picard considering the war the Dominion started was responsible for at least a million starfleet personel and well over a billion allied deaths and would have been much worse had they lost but he let her gloss over that.
What is going on with Jack Crusher? He obviously has powers. Is he a changeling? Too on the nose? I mean, being too on the nose hasn't been much of a problem for the writers so far...
Turns out Thomas Dekker (who was John Conner in Sarah Conner Chronicles!) who played the interrogated Changeling was in Generations as Picards Nexus son which is an interesting casting choice!
He was also in two episodes of Voyager which means he's played three different characters in Star Trek at the age of just 35 which is some interesting trivia is you are a complete nerd like me.
Also, why do Changelings like to smoke again?
What is going on with Jack Crusher? He obviously has powers. Is he a changeling? Too on the nose? I mean, being too on the nose hasn't been much of a problem for the writers so far...
Turns out Thomas Dekker (who was John Conner in Sarah Conner Chronicles!) who played the interrogated Changeling was in Generations as Picards Nexus son which is an interesting casting choice!
He was also in two episodes of Voyager which means he's played three different characters in Star Trek at the age of just 35 which is some interesting trivia is you are a complete nerd like me.
Also, why do Changelings like to smoke again?
CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
Episode 7 actually made me appreciate episode 6 a bit more. At least that was entertainingly dumb with its ridiculous nostalgia-bait, this was just dumb.
Look, I just can't get over how bad the dialogue is and frankly I'm shocked nobody else comments on it much? I can skim a whole 500 post thread on TrekBBS and there's not one word about the terrible dialogue (then again they're all giving it 10/10 or 9/10 at a minimum so they're not likely to notice.) Like the fucking scene at the start when Jean-Luc is all "LORE! BUT HOW CAN THIS BE!" and Geordi has to explain it all to him. WE KNEW LORE WAS IN THE BODY LAST WEEK. IT WAS EXPLAINED THOROUGHLY IN THE LAST SCENE OF THE EPISODE. WHY IS JEAN-LUC SURPRISED?
Or how about this classic Jean-Luc PIcard/Beverly Crusher exchange!
Jean-Luc: SHOULD WE EXECUTE THIS PRISONER?
Beverly: YES, LET US EXECUTE THIS PRISONER, THAT IS VERY IN-CHARACTER FOR US.
Jean-Luc: And we won't even ask her to free Riker first!
WOW! It's like they resurrected Michael Pillar himself to write this!
Or how about Geodi being completely BAFFLED that SOMETHING is interfering with the ship's systems while he's LITERALLY STANDING NEXT TO EVIL ANDROID LORE WHO HE HOOKED UP TO THE SHIP'S SYSTEMS.
Sorry, but last week I felt kind of bad ripping into the episode but this week I'm just letting the hate flow through me this was bad.
BASHIR AND O'BRIEN STOLE THE CURE FROM SECTION 31, NOT ODO.
They're going to fucking reveal that Jean-Luc is some kind of super Godlike being and he passed his super powers onto Jack aren't they, because they can't just leave Picard as a super achieving human being, he has to be the most important powerful person to ever exist in the history of the galaxy.
I did like(!) when they played the Voyager theme when Seven thought Tuvok was for real, but of course they instantly undercut it with the stupid "anti-kolinhar demonstrations" line.
Seriously why the fuck didn't they ask Vadic where Riker is.
Fuck this stupid show fuck Terry Matalas fuck TrekBBS fuck Lord Garth fuck Star Trek: Legacy.
See you next week!
Look, I just can't get over how bad the dialogue is and frankly I'm shocked nobody else comments on it much? I can skim a whole 500 post thread on TrekBBS and there's not one word about the terrible dialogue (then again they're all giving it 10/10 or 9/10 at a minimum so they're not likely to notice.) Like the fucking scene at the start when Jean-Luc is all "LORE! BUT HOW CAN THIS BE!" and Geordi has to explain it all to him. WE KNEW LORE WAS IN THE BODY LAST WEEK. IT WAS EXPLAINED THOROUGHLY IN THE LAST SCENE OF THE EPISODE. WHY IS JEAN-LUC SURPRISED?
Or how about this classic Jean-Luc PIcard/Beverly Crusher exchange!
Jean-Luc: SHOULD WE EXECUTE THIS PRISONER?
Beverly: YES, LET US EXECUTE THIS PRISONER, THAT IS VERY IN-CHARACTER FOR US.
Jean-Luc: And we won't even ask her to free Riker first!
WOW! It's like they resurrected Michael Pillar himself to write this!
Or how about Geodi being completely BAFFLED that SOMETHING is interfering with the ship's systems while he's LITERALLY STANDING NEXT TO EVIL ANDROID LORE WHO HE HOOKED UP TO THE SHIP'S SYSTEMS.
Sorry, but last week I felt kind of bad ripping into the episode but this week I'm just letting the hate flow through me this was bad.
BASHIR AND O'BRIEN STOLE THE CURE FROM SECTION 31, NOT ODO.
They're going to fucking reveal that Jean-Luc is some kind of super Godlike being and he passed his super powers onto Jack aren't they, because they can't just leave Picard as a super achieving human being, he has to be the most important powerful person to ever exist in the history of the galaxy.
I did like(!) when they played the Voyager theme when Seven thought Tuvok was for real, but of course they instantly undercut it with the stupid "anti-kolinhar demonstrations" line.
Seriously why the fuck didn't they ask Vadic where Riker is.
Fuck this stupid show fuck Terry Matalas fuck TrekBBS fuck Lord Garth fuck Star Trek: Legacy.
See you next week!
Honestly I didn't even mention the Lore stuff because it's so bad I can't be bothered to get into it again. They have totally devalued Data (and by extension Lore) at this point. Having Geordi and Data have a moment would have beeen so much cooler and poignant if they hadn't already ran this shit into the ground.
If you put all the other myriad problems with the show PICARD to one side and just critically look at the characters it's a mess. Can anyone really say that they feel the character Patrick Stewart is playing would be anywhere near what an older version of Picard from TNG would actually be like because I can't. They have glimmers where you feel its the sama character and then something dumb inevitably happens and it blows the illusion again. They are writing the characters with no care at all. TNG as a show never relied on constant inter-personal conflict between the crew as any sort of driving force either. It happened occasionally but not like this. Sure, they're older and lives and experiences have changed but just like the scene with Riker chewing out Picard because he as acting captain took his advice?! it makes ZERO sense. Riker would never act like that. Picard would never act like this. They are writing the characters as reactive pieces to their convoluted plot and think adding yet another throwback reference between them is enough to make it seem like the same characters.
StarMan™
Well-known member
That place just does your head in. The "consume more content - more content please" crowd won out. Every time I made a critique or drive-by comment, I'd get a notification either fireproof or Lord Garth had quoted me, or Sci had rattled off another fucking essay I was never going to read. Seriously, that fireproof must stalk every NuTrek thread.
They are dragging everything out too long. At the end when Vadic says it's time Jack finds out who he truly is, I was like THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN TWO EPISODES AGO.
The only time I was really happy was when I thought Tuvok was real, and maybe they'd meet up with Tuvok. fukc
The only time I was really happy was when I thought Tuvok was real, and maybe they'd meet up with Tuvok. fukc