Star Trek: Picard - Make It So Engage Earl Grey Hot

[WisteriaHysteria]

I commented on it in the general Trek thread, but that's supposed to be the USS Titan-A. It's a "Neo Constitution Class" starship. It looks a little wonky from the front but great in profile. I think with a few minor edits it would look awesome.

I dare to hope S3 is good. I also hope it concludes with the signature sign-off a la Undiscovered Country but for the TNG cast.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

NYCC is happening rn, and with it a big Star Trek panel. The PIC S3 trailer from it is bonkers stuff.

Almost so bonkers I would maybe caution some people against even seeing it b/c how much is in it that would have been fun to have watched organically as the show was happening. That includes:

• Pacifist Worf
• Enterprise-F
• The return of Lore
• The return of Moriarty

 

[SpoonyBard]

That last one especially is a stunner. Of all the things to bring back.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Another thing I missed but caught on closer inspection:

• One of the characters at the helm is Geordi's daughter, played by Burton's IRL daughter.

 

[SpoonyBard]

Wow this is approaching faster than expected.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1619862834610839557

Initial impressions from the first few episodes are out there and overall seem positive, but the first two seasons had positive impressions at the beginning as well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though, mainly because this is probably the last time we'll see this entire cast together like this and I just want it to be great.

 

[Vaeran]

February 16? BELAY THAT ORDER, I'LL BE BUSY PLAYING THEATRHYTHM

To say that the first two seasons of Picard were mixed bags would be very generous, so I'm ratcheting my expectations all the way down for this. At the very least I'll get to see the heroic crew from my childhood back together for one more stupid romp, and that'll be fine with me. If they manage to craft an interesting plot and/or some emotional scenes along the way, then I'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[ArugulaZ]

I didn't want to spoil the moment for Spoony by crapping on Picard, but I'm just happy we've been getting so much Star Trek lately, and that the bulk of it is better than anything we've seen from Star Trek since Voyager was cancelled. I mean, Star Trek Lower Decks was actually pretty good! Who knew? And the Nickelodeon cartoon, too! Sure beats the snot out of the original animated series!

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Initial impressions from the first few episodes are out there and overall seem positive, but the first two seasons had positive impressions at the beginning as well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though, mainly because this is probably the last time we'll see this entire cast together like this and I just want it to be great.

They sent out SIX episodes for screening in S3 though. That's most of the show lol.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Hey guys. First episode of Season 3 is out. I'm still riding an immense high from the episode. It was awesome. If they can keep this going through to the finale, this'll be one for the record books. I have so many thoughts, but I'll wait a bit until the afterglow has worn off. But god damned did I enjoy every minute of that. I'd watch the episode again if I didn't have to get up in the morning lol.

 

[Exposition Owl]

How confused would I be if I were to jump right into season 3 without having seen seasons 1 or 2?

 

[SpoonyBard]

The main things to know from the first two:

Season 1: Picard has an android body now due to dying briefly (he got better), Data died again in a much more satisfying way than in Nemesis, Picard was estranged from Starfleet for awhile due to them ditching aid for the Romulans after their planet exploded (see Star trek 2009) but after exposing a conspiracy within Starfleet involving a Romulan organization even more secretive than the Tal Shiar he mended those fences, Riker and Troi were off living on Planet Fantasy with their Daughter, they had a son as well but he died, Picard's second-in-command after Riker left for his own command is named Raffi, Seven of Nine is also around.

Season 2: Q is dead (probably???) and there's some weird space hole that may or may not still be causing trouble (probably???) that this new sect of friendlier Borg are helping with (probably???), Picard and friends had adventures in the past which may or may not still have reprecussions this season, Picard confronted some deep trauma thanks to Q's direction, in the past they messed with one of Noonian Soong's ancestors which seemed to direct him to his gene-modifying Khan research which may or may not still be an issue. Also Picard proposed to his Romulan friend/housemate Laris.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

How confused would I be if I were to jump right into season 3 without having seen seasons 1 or 2?

The main things to know from the first two:

That's a pretty good breakdown Spoon, but after having seen the first episode, I can pretty firmly say you don't need to know literally anything about S1 and S2. The The producers said repeatedly going into the season that they're aiming for a general audience and that you won't need to know anything about the last few seasons, and I can say that pretty firmly bares out. Anything that you do need to know, they'll mention in course of the dialog. The only thing that could potentially be confusing is that they don't explain much about who Raffi is in the first episode.

Going back to Season 1: Raffi was a former intelligence officer and was Picard's right-hand-person in coordinating his efforts for the Romulan evacuation. After the Federation's efforts got sabotaged, she got fired from Starfleet, and her life spiraled. Her insistence on being right and continuing to dig into that conspiracy estranged her from her family. In Season 1, we get a hint of this as she tries to reconnect with her son, who bristles at her presence and quickly shoos her away. So we can assume she's looking at a picture of her granddaughter in the first episode of season 3. Also, she was dating Seven of Nine in Season 2. <-- Not a spoiler for S3; barely a spoiler for S1/2

 

[Sprite]

That definitely felt more like a TNG movie than an episode of Picard.

I’m sad the La Sirena holo didn’t show up; it would have been a good way to keep more of the Picard folks around.

I’m wondering why the TNG alums are “special guest stars.” I assume they’re meant to stick around the whole season? Though now I’m remembering Michelle Yeoh was a “special guest star” on Discovery while being on it a ton.

 

[chud_666]

Watching ep1. It's fine, a bit desperate.

I think it's funny they have the tng and tmp style music, but bridge lit with nightlights

 

[Rascally Badger]

That was a good start to season 3, but I recall saying the same thing about seasons 1 & 2, and not thinking those seasons stuck the landing. I hope this ones does. It was a good start. Of course, I would watch 10 hours of 'Picard and Riker hang out, accomplish nothing.'

 

[Sprite]

That was a good start to season 3, but I recall saying the same thing about seasons 1 & 2, and not thinking those seasons stuck the landing. I hope this ones does. It was a good start. Of course, I would watch 10 hours of 'Picard and Riker hang out, accomplish nothing.'

I’ve made peace with the fact that this show is sloppy with its plotting. It’s still worth watching for the character moments and for the contributions it makes to the lore. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t a full-on Trekkie but I’m glad it exists.

 

[SpoonyBard]

Finally saw the episode. Feeling good about it so far. It didn't end on a big 'holy crap' moment like the premieres of the first two seasons did but it seems to be setting up a decent mystery. I just hope they can keep the season-long plotting from going off the rails this time.

Also, wow Captain Shaw sucks? Like, a lot? He's clearly being set up to be antagonistic-but-not-an-antagonist, and there are definite shades of Captain Jellico with him, but I think they're going too far? Like, it's pretty effed up he can just insist Seven go by another name, right? He clearly has some lingering issues with the Borg we may or may not get some elaboration on, but regardless it's the 25th goddamn century and someone can be told by their superior 'no your name is THIS'?

 

[Sprite]

I found him hilarious because they had to make him as despicable as possible so you feel better about Picard and Riker stealing his ship. Like, his “no” to Picard’s very suspicious request is perfectly reasonable, but because it’s coming out of his mouth and with accompanying eeevil music, we’re supposed to be mad at him for saying no.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

He's not wrong about Picard and Riker, but he's also a terrible captain. His crew very clearly has horrible morale problems, he's an absentee captain, and he treats his subordinates like shit. I bet he'll die so our heroes can take his ship over.

 

[Sprite]

Oh for sure, he’s a stain of a human being. Telling an ex-Borg what name they should use is particularly choice.

 

[SpoonyBard]

Thinking about this week's episode and possibilities, one thing I'm betting on is the contact Raffi was speaking to turning out to be Worf. The text was given a feminine AI voice to throw us off, but the mention of 'You are a Warrior' just says Worf to me. Plus it would be a neat way to bring him in and also get their story connected to what's going on with Picard.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Thinking about this week's episode and possibilities, one thing I'm betting on is the contact Raffi was speaking to turning out to be Worf. The text was given a feminine AI voice to throw us off, but the mention of 'You are a Warrior' just says Worf to me. Plus it would be a neat way to bring him in and also get their story connected to what's going on with Picard.

I think that's the safe, and also likely bet. Especially when we already know going into the season that Worf and Raffi are going to get paired up in some meaningful, mentorship capacity. In my heart of hearts thou, I hope it's something else more interesting. Like it ending up being Mirror Georgiou but that's probably not the case.

Anywho here's a season preview hype trailer:

Hyyype

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[chud_666]

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Please elaborate

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Please elaborate

I don’t want to oversell anything, or set up unreasonable expectations. But I have a lot of feelings (positive) and a lack of ways to articulate them.

 

[zonetrope]

So is Amanda Plummer the first second-generation Trek villain?

 

[chud_666]

I don’t want to oversell anything, or set up unreasonable expectations. But I have a lot of feelings (positive) and a lack of ways to articulate them.

Just watched. It's fine. I like Shaw. Everyone's favourite Minsk enthusiast is back, and I'm glad.

Don't like the reveal, but I like that Riker was like "dude, come on"

 

[Sprite]

I feel like Picard is in a TNG movie and Raffi is stuck in a Picard episode. The material they’re giving her is terrrrrible.

Some absolutely delicious scenery chewing going on with Vadic. Each and every line reading was a delight.

I did like the “reveal” with Jack because the show knows just how obvious it is, and turns it more into a character moment than a twist.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I did like the “reveal” with Jack because the show knows just how obvious it is, and turns it more into a character moment than a twist.

Same. It's pretty obvious what's going on, but that's not the point. The point was watching how the characters reacted to it, and they reacted a whole bunch in what I thought was pretty well written, and extremely well acted scenes. The entire wordless exchange between Picard and Bev was by itself, at least for me, an instant classic moment. Just real fascinating character work all around. Devoid of any context it might not be the most original scenario, but the history of these characters and the acting make for a pretty compelling episode I thought.

 

[SpoonyBard]

I have mixed feelings about the episode's not-so-surprising reveal, but they're mostly positive. It's pretty messed up Beverly would just cut communication with Picard and not even tell him about his son for a quarter century, though I expect we'll get some answers there shortly. It is, however, continuing a thread from Generations of all things where Picard lamented not only the deaths of his brother and nephew but also the fact that his family's lineage was effectively ended as a result. Now he has a son! Not in the way he or any of us expected, but still, I hope this is handled well by the end of the season.

Still don't much like Shaw, but he comes off better. There's clearly more to him yet to learn, and it is at least fun to watch him be absolutely frazzled at everything.

Also, re: Raffi's handler: Called it! Yes it WAS obvious but that doesn't make it not cool as hell when Worf swoops in to take care of some fools.

Right now I'd say my biggest critique is about Raffi and how she seems to have regressed back to Season 1? It's a bit weird to see her ex berate her for her conspiracy theories when Season 1 proved she was RIGHT about Romulan evacuation. Granted his problem was more with how conspiracies ultimately lead her to drug use but still, that's a pretty damn high horse for a guy who lives among criminals and thieves himself. But anyway, after excising nearly every other original Picard character from the first two seasons I really hope Raffi isn't totally brushed aside and torn down from where she was at the end of the second season, that'd just be a total waste.