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

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
But where are the DS9 cameos?

This is what I'm saying! If I had my choice I'd love to see what Kira's up to these days, but I suppose O'Brien would be a better fit for a TNG reunion. Really, I'd be happy with anybody though.
 
But where are the DS9 cameos?
This is what I'm saying! If I had my choice I'd love to see what Kira's up to these days, but I suppose O'Brien would be a better fit for a TNG reunion. Really, I'd be happy with anybody though.
If I had to guess the behind-the-scenes reason why there's more VOY representation on this than DS9, it's probably because Terry Matalas worked on Voyager and not DS9 🤷‍♂️
 

SpoonyBard

Threat Rhyme
(He/Him)
We have one. Worf is right there.

On that note, y'know what would be a gut punch? If during the big finale Worf is going toe to toe with a Changeling and it shapeshifts into Jadzia. Now there would be a surprise cameo!
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
On that note, y'know what would be a gut punch? If during the big finale Worf is going toe to toe with a Changeling and it shapeshifts into Jadzia. Now there would be a surprise cameo!

I would be inconsolable. This is genius.
 
When Data said Spot taught him how to love and that Spot represented the best of him, then handed Spot to Lore I was a mess. Tearing up just thinking about it 15hrs later. Hit way too close to home on multiple levels.
 
Also...
Worf and Troi. Unreal. Like wasn't a profession of romantic love . But hey, you helped me become a better person

Also: Shaw is great
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
Normally I dislike it when they recast a role, but in this case I think Spot's new actor deserves a fucking award. 😭

Last time:
VADIC: I think it's time you learned who you are, Jack Crusher... [credits]

This time:
TROI: Jack, it's time to open the door... [credits]

Part of me hopes they just keep teasing the mystery through the end of the finale and never actually tell us who or what Jack is.

This episode was just warm fuzzy reunions all around, despite the darkness of the plot. Riker and Troi's brief argument was very nakedly expository but I liked the nature of the conflict they had. Commiserating about how Nepenthe is a cultural hole was fun, as was their rescue by Worf.

The series continues to have its cake and eat it too with regard to Data, but I found all of his scenes very affecting, and of course it wouldn't be a proper reunion without him, so I'll let it slide. One he started pulling out meaningful objects I knew we were going to see Tasha's holo-memorial, but Spot was an unexpected gut punch. Really excellent stuff.

I've gone back and forth on whether I like Vadic's endless scenery chewing but as I watched her splinter into a million pieces I realized I missed her already. Bravo, Amanda Plummer. (Have we ever seen any of her masked minions change shape? I don't think we have. I've been pretending they're all Jem'Hadar under there and will continue to do so until I'm told otherwise.)

We're into the final stretch now, so here are my surely wrong theories:

- What was misdiagnosed as Irumodic Syndrome is actually the last, otherwise undetectable remnants of Borg technology/influence. Picard no longer has it because he's in a new body, and it's been passed down to Jack. The Changelings don't want to recreate Jean-Luc Picard, they want to recreate Locutus and turn Frontier Day into a repeat of the Federation's nightmare: the Battle of Wolf 359. (How/why? Not my problem.) This was partly why the writers had Shaw monologue about it; it adds depth to his character and reminds/gets the audience up to speed on Trek history.

- Jack's powers which involve connecting himself to others are a remnant of that Borg influence; he creates a mini-collective around himself. (Why then does he see a door with Starfleet logos on the sides? Also not my problem.)

- We will see the Enterprise-F at Frontier Day, and it will (initially) be an antagonistic force -- maybe the Changelings don't have direct control of it, but its crew are operating under Starfleet orders and regard the Titan as a fugitive ship.

- Terry Matalas' tweet notwithstanding, we will also see Admiral Janeway at Frontier Day and she will do something cool. I'm not even a Voyager fan and I want it!
 

SpoonyBard

Threat Rhyme
(He/Him)
So happy to see the gang all here. At last.

Assorted thoughts on the episode, and speculation on what's to come:

I'm gonna miss Vadic, but man what a way to go. She even had a top-tier villain death.

We also say goodbye to Lore. This episode is just disposing of all the known baddies, huh? Who's even left besides unnamed Changeling saboteurs? The Big Giant Head? We still don't know who or what that is, but I've had a theory that's giving me a sinking feeling that it might be right.

It's not the Borg, though it's still probable they're after something Borg-adjacent (I agree that Irumodic Syndrome is probably some remnant of Borgness that's been passed down to Jack somehow) but the Big Giant Head is probably not a Borg itself. I'm afraid it might turn out to be a Pah Wraith.

We know Vadic and her original crew went to the Great Link to try and turn it against the Federation and at least some small number agreed and left, but in doing so she would have had to pass through the Wormhole which could have given the Pah Wraiths the opportunity to make contact and cut a deal. Of course, why the Pah Wraiths would want to hurt the Federation when they seemed to just be concerned with the Prophets and Bajor (and I guess eventually burning the entire galaxy) I can't answer yet. But the big red theme, Jack's glowing red eyes, to me it fits.

How Jack ever got Pah Wraithed is a big unanswered question, but considering everything about what's going on with Jack is still a big unanswered question that's only fair.

I kinda hope I'm wrong since the Pah Wraiths were the worst part of the DS9 finale. Of course Terry Matalas has been knocking it out of the park this season so it's entirely possible he could have a way to bring the worst part of DS9's end back and make it interesting. But there's also only two episodes left.

Maybe we'll get a surprise appeance of Gul Dukat? Q in the previous season did say in the alternate timeline it was Dukat who killed Picard's original body and put him in the positronic one so it could be neat.
 

zonetrope

(he/him)
Appreciate that they managed to fit in a scene where Amanda Plummer threatens to execute every motherfucking last one of you.
 
Part of me hopes they just keep teasing the mystery through the end of the finale and never actually tell us who or what Jack is.
It's getting comical at this point, though I very much suspect that part of why it feels teased out is simply because we - as modern viewers - have grown unaccustomed to watching TV shows week-to-week and having to wait months for stories to properly play out. But yeah. Y'all should sneak a peek at the preview for next week's episode on this week's Ready Room. Again - comical. The preview begins exactly where this week's episode leaves off. Troi opens the door in Jack's mind. Gets spooked, immediately shuts it, and physically runs away from Jack leaving Jack scared and confused. All after just moments before promising Jack they'd confront the thing together. I had to laugh, it was completely absurd.

- Unless it's something truly out of left field that we're all forgetting like Kevin Uxbridge, it's gotta be the Borg. It just lines up best with all of the descriptions and what the voices have been saying so far. It lines up best thematically with this being a Picard-centric TNG-sequel. And so far most of the writing on this show has been very well considered and thought out, and we've had way too many allusions to The Borg/Locutus for them not to bring them back at some point for a final confrontation. Shaw going on a rant to explain Wolf-359, and reminding the audience that "they're still out there" feels like it's for the benefit of a causal audience and prepare them for the Borg returning, as much as anything else.

- I keep reading people on the internet predicting the Paw-Wraiths, and that's just nonsensical to me. The writing has been too good for them to just drop them in with no warning or prelude. And all of the evidence is simply "because red" which doesn't really pass the sniff-test for me. It also just doesn't make a lot of thematic sense either, when the Paw-Wraiths were very specific enemies to Sisko and the Prophets, and they didn't really play much of any role in the larger Dominion War. I won't throw it completely away as a possibility because it really could be anything, but I would hope it isn't this because it doesn't make a lot of sense, nor would it be very satisfying.

- The Enterprise-F will definitely be there. We've already seen it at Frontier Day in some of the preview trailers before the season even began. If we get a big fleet battle, which I wouldn't be vehemently opposed to, but hope they don't go down the path of doing, I'm still predicting Harry Kim as captain of the Enterprise-F or something of that nature. Terry Matalas's entire M.O. for this season seems to be about addressing shortcomings from previous shows/films, and having Young Ensign Kim get to be not just a ship captain, but captain of the entire fleet's flagship would be the kind of thing I could see him doing. We know we'll have at least one more Voyager cameo. Tuvok has already happened. Neelix doesn't make sense. Seven is already there. Janeway and Chakotay are on Prodigy (and if I were running PIC, I wouldn't want to step on the toes of the PRO writers and box them into anything). That leaves B'Elanna/Tom that wouldn't really fit into any scenario I can imagine very well (and both actors are busy people with very successful directing/producing careers), Naomi Wildman or Miral Paris-Torres which I guess could happen but wouldn't be nearly as satisfying as bringing Garrett Wang back, and would be about as disappointing as the hints of Tasha showing up in some form and just being her holo. And that leaves us with the EMH, which is probably our last most likely scenario but again, not sure how you'd fit him into the story in a smooth way with only two episodes left.

- So, we know thanks to LeVar Burton running his mouth on accident that (MASSIVE SPOILERS - DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU ALREADY KNOW SERIOUSLY DO NOT CLICK THIS SECTION YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED) They're going to haul the reconstructed Enterprise-D out of the fleet museum for the finale so that's going to be a thing. Going back to the idea of a fleet battle, there's a good possibility that If they're going to hijack the Enterprise-D, they'll just hijack a few more ships while they're at it. Imagine Seven flying in with The Voyager, Jack can fly the Enterprise-A, Maybe Picard gets hops into his old Stargazer, Riker finally gets his wish and sits on the center seat of the D, etc, etc. I don't actually want this to happen, but it would be a pretty balls-to-the-wall finale if they chose to go this route.
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
Ah, I wasn't aware that the Enterprise-F was confirmed, as I think I only watched the first teaser trailer for this season.
 
If you had an eagle-eye early in the season and/or paused to read all the tiny background snippets, you might have spotted that The Enterprise-F was being retired as part of the Frontier Day festivities in all of the news search queries that Raffi was performing trying to hunt down the Red Lady
 
Fab EP. Got some issues with the plot, and without going into too much detail... Should have started at S3.

Maybe
vulva ship Jurati Borg will make an appearance, but seems like it's better forgotten with this plot. Were the Borg/changeling alliance taking over Starfleet when the Romulan cabal already had?

Anyhoo! 10/10
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
I definitely want to see Jurati again, but that’s best saved for Star Trek Titan, coming to Paramount+ in 2026 or whatever

Did they kill Shelby? Hopefully not. The moment she showed up on screen I was like “oh no they’re gonna murder her”
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
I'm such a fucking mark for everything they're doing.

Being right about the Borg probably doesn't win me many points since everyone saw it coming, but it was still satisfying.

Admiral Shelby! Never in a thousand years would I have guessed she'd return. What a delight. And uh whoops she's dead. Oh well, thanks for coming out.

Notable ship names spotted: U.S.S. Pulaski, U.S.S. Hikaru Sulu, U.S.S. Okuda.

Goodbye, Captain Liam Shaw. You were a cantankerous motherfucker, but at least you learned not to deadname your first officer.

I started tearing up when they showed the exterior of the Enterprise-D and was full-on crying by the time the bridge lit up. I don't care how manipulative and blatantly fanservicey it was, it 1000% worked on me. These were my childhood heroes and that was where all the magic happened. S+, 11/10, no notes.

"And obviously we can't use the Enterprise-E."
"...That was not my fault." WHAT DID YOU DO WORF

One episode left! I would say I'd gladly take another entire season or two at this level of quality, but better to end on a high note. I'll be counting the minutes until next week.
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
Next week:
"Weapon systems are down! Shields are failing! We can't take another hit like that!"
"Goddammit. All hands, aband--"
"Wait a minute, sir! An enormous object is approaching at high warp! It's... IT'S DEEP SPACE NINE!!!"

[DS9 theme blares over all frequencies as the station just fucking bodies the enemy]
 
I definitely want to see Jurati again, but that’s best saved for Star Trek Titan, coming to Paramount+ in 2026 or whatever

Did they kill Shelby? Hopefully not. The moment she showed up on screen I was like “oh no they’re gonna murder her”
That's something I hope will get explored again in a future show. But I'm happy with this being this being Star Trek: Avengers Assemble focused on getting the TNG crew first and foremost together to solve a dilemma like they always used to. Speaking of Avengers - Terry Matalas a week or two ago went on record in an interview saying he wanted to do a cast sign-off like in the Undiscovered Country, but decided against it because Endgame did it relatively recently. Which makes sense and is probably a prudent decision, but man do I resent the ending to Endgame even more now lol.

I'm such a fucking mark for everything they're doing.

Being right about the Borg probably doesn't win me many points since everyone saw it coming, but it was still satisfying.

Admiral Shelby! Never in a thousand years would I have guessed she'd return. What a delight. And uh whoops she's dead. Oh well, thanks for coming out.

Notable ship names spotted: U.S.S. Pulaski, U.S.S. Hikaru Sulu, U.S.S. Okuda.

Goodbye, Captain Liam Shaw. You were a cantankerous motherfucker, but at least you learned not to deadname your first officer.

I started tearing up when they showed the exterior of the Enterprise-D and was full-on crying by the time the bridge lit up. I don't care how manipulative and blatantly fanservicey it was, it 1000% worked on me. These were my childhood heroes and that was where all the magic happened. S+, 11/10, no notes.

"And obviously we can't use the Enterprise-E."
"...That was not my fault." WHAT DID YOU DO WORF

One episode left! I would say I'd gladly take another entire season or two at this level of quality, but better to end on a high note. I'll be counting the minutes until next week.
I'm glad you've warmed up to the show so much! The wait for next week is going to be excruciating. They've done a really good job with everything so far, I really can't see them flubbing the landing at this point. Still a little nervous. Not a lot surprised me in this episode, as the Enterprise-D returning was spoiled by LeVar Burton several months ago so my hype for that scene was blunted a bit, but it was still pretty moving. Wish I could have had the full emotional journey you did with it. It was still absolutely wonderful.

Some personal notes and observances:
  • Jack sure is a dumbass lol. Though I can forgive it all considering his frustration and youth and entire life circumstance. I think the dumber person in this episode's situation was Jean-Luc for breaking the news to his son in such a bad way. OFC he's going to handle this poorly. He should have at least had Bev in tow, and promised to fight like hell for him. We've seen Picard break all the rules for what he believes in, show some of that belief for your son. But it's still very in character for him to not handle his personal relationships well. And all of it feels like setup for...
  • Picard heroically sacrificing himself to save his son. Like, it has to happen, right? PIC S1 ended with Picard dying, but then hastily getting that undone in a way that felt like they would have kept him dead had the show not had a second season greenlit. The death of Captain Kirk has always been something that's stuck in the craw of the fandom for decades. Everyone wanted that to happen differently. PIC S3's showrunner himself, said the Kirk in Daystrom Station was an easter egg thrown in specifically so someone in the future could undo Kirk's death because he hated how he went out in Generations. (On an aside, I actually liked Kirk's death in Generations, but I understand why I'd be in the minority on that.) Patrick Stewart is getting *really* old. PIC was always ever planned to be a 3 season deal. He sounded open in interviews to doing more in the form of movies, but that might be a misdirect? I just know that him going out in a blaze of glory by saving his long lost son, saving Starfleet/the UFP (again), and kicking his arch nemesis The Borg in the teeth one last time with a resurrected Enterprise-D would be the perfect ending to his story in a way Kirk probably should have gotten.
  • I had to cover my mouth from screaming in the middle of the night when Shelby came on screen. She gave a great speech, and it was pretty satisfying to see her ambition fulfilled as a full Fleet Admiral and in control of The Enterprise. Her immediately getting blasted was shocking and gut wrenching, but I thought it was a good move. It really just laid out the stakes and gravity of the situation and was a great shock-twist. This season of PIC has been fairly predictable, but this one genuinely surprised me which is a sensation I relish feeling and don't often feel anymore. F's in chat for Shelby, you were a good boss-lady.
  • Shaw's death scene was surprisingly affecting. I knew he had to die from pretty much the very first time we saw him, but I didn't expect to actually be emotionally affected by it. A testament to how good the character has been. I've grown to like the curmudgeon a lot, which I think is a great feat to go to that from hating him in his introduction. So that alone I think makes his death worth it from a dramatic standpoint. Great moment for him and Seven as well.
  • It was really fucking great hearing Majel Barrett's voice again, even if it was just an audio clip (probably from Chain of Command) being reused. The Disco computer voice lady is fine. I really hope at some point though, Paramount/CBS invest in creating an AI script for her voice. If people have cobbled together Obama's and Trump's and Biden's voices to make a really convincing deep fakes, they can do the same for Barrett so we can have her continuing to be the computer. Because it just *feels* right, and would be the one time where deep-faking in a show would feel good and not weird and uncanny.
  • Data greeting his old station at Ops by saying "hello, chair" was just a really low key beautiful moment and really showed how much his character has grown now that he's integrated more Soongs into himself and evolved.
  • I believe Worf when he says he wasn't at fault for the Enterprise-E getting [CLASSIFIED]. Your boy is many things, but he's not a liar.
  • Having the Enterprise-D's bridge lights all bright and TNG-y is a very obvious, intentional artistic choice, that puts the decision to have the Titan be all dark and mood-lighty in... well, a new light. The contrast is very poignant and affecting.
One more note: I really cannot stress how much I am enjoying this season. On pretty much every single level. TNG was my Star Trek. And so were the TOS films. The two of those put together make up a sizable part of who I am. The crew of the original Enterprise in the TOS films were my heroes. The crew of the Enterprise-D were my family. I probably was raised by their example, morality, and kindness as much as my own real family. LOL maybe even more. This season of PIC might have some problems/not be perfect. But this really does feel like the TNG movie I always wanted but never got - a film more in the vein of the TOS films. But with the characters from TNG that I loved so dearly. And giving them the ending they've so desperately deserved but which they'd never gotten. It really is better late than never. And the way this show has addressed all of the lingering plot threads and touched upon all of the best dramatic themes that were always TNG's best strengths and stuff I've personally always wanted followed up on... it's just been magical. The last episode could totally suck, but the ride there has been unimpeachable and won't be tarnished by whatever comes next. I really never thought this day would come, and so it's just felt like a blessing and a miracle that it has. It's wild how in one season, PIC has gone from the nuTrek that I've personally ranked the lowest, to the one I now must rank the highest. The entire franchise is firing on all cylinders. I've said it many times, but it's just absolutely incredible we are here, at this point in history, experiencing all of this wonderful new Star Trek after I'd already gone through all stages of grief and emotionally buried the franchise a decade or so ago.
 

SpoonyBard

Threat Rhyme
(He/Him)
Definitely feeling some of the loony energy that Season 2 had in its finale with these events, not necessarily in a bad way. Though the semi-predictable twist of it was the Borg again does highlight how Season 3's insistance on outright ignoring the events of the first two seasons feels particularly sloppy right now. I can understand logically why they can't just reach out to the Jurati-collective for aid, y'know the friendly borg faction that arose from Season 2 that's controlled by Picard, Seven, and Raffi's old bestie Dr. Jurati? The events of the first two seasons still happened so they're still out there and it's just kind of frustrating that this doesn't even get a throwaway mention. Like "I wish we could reach out to Agnes for aid, but we've been advised that it's taking all her collective's efforts to keep that anomaly at bay for the time being, so she's unable to help us." Just something like that, a line.

This is kind of a small nit to pick I suppose, but it's just another example of the 'throwing out the baby with the bathwater' mentality this season has had towards the first two at times. They were flawed, sure, but I'd rather see them built upon than ignored.

That being said, haha, of all the attitudes to bring back from the first season, bringing back a favorite tertiary character for a few scenes only to murder them was not one I expected. At least Commander Ro was shown more care than poor Shelby. Hey maybe she survived? The feed cut out right after she was shot, miracles can happen!

The final scene was just such unapologetic nostalgia bait and goddammit I am a mark.
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
This is kind of a small nit to pick I suppose, but it's just another example of the 'throwing out the baby with the bathwater' mentality this season has had towards the first two at times. They were flawed, sure, but I'd rather see them built upon than ignored.
I had to laugh when Picard was like “hey Data does bringing you back to life cheapen the time you asked to die” and Data’s like “Nope” and they just move on. I think the justification is supposed to be that this Data is essentially a new person, but they just kind of gloss over it because there’s no time.
 

SpoonyBard

Threat Rhyme
(He/Him)
Yeah that's another one, but that doesn't bother me so much because they at least gave it some lip service.

It was kinda unintentionally funny though, yeah.
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
True, it would only take a line or two to cover the season 2 loophole, and they filmed seasons 2 and 3 back to back so it’s a weird oversight. Though I guess there’s still time, who knows! I would be absolutely chuffed for a scene where we’re cheering for Jurati Borg ships to disable Federation ships.
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
This season of PIC might have some problems/not be perfect. But this really does feel like the TNG movie I always wanted but never got - a film more in the vein of the TOS films. But with the characters from TNG that I loved so dearly. And giving them the ending they've so desperately deserved but which they'd never gotten. It really is better late than never. And the way this show has addressed all of the lingering plot threads and touched upon all of the best dramatic themes that were always TNG's best strengths and stuff I've personally always wanted followed up on... it's just been magical. The last episode could totally suck, but the ride there has been unimpeachable and won't be tarnished by whatever comes next.

I've been thinking about this and I completely agree. I went into this season expecting to dislike it as much as the first two, and I was probably too hard on the first couple episodes as a result and focused only on the negative. But damn if it didn't win me over. As it got better and better I kept thinking to myself "boy I hope they don't fuck this up," but I'm no longer worried about that. Not only does it seem incredibly unlikely that they'd suddenly fumble at the finish line, but even if the finale is somehow terrible, it doesn't matter; I've already gotten what I wanted.

Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard felt like obligations to drag myself through, albeit with the occasional bright spot. But S3 has really reignited my love of Star Trek, and I intend to carry this momentum forward to get back into Disco, and to check out the other shows I've missed. I watched the first episode of Lower Decks last night, and while plenty of jokes didn't really land for me, enough did that I wasn't turned off. But more than that, it shows a real affection for the franchise, and I can get comfy with that.
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
Lower Decks is excelllllent and I'm glad I gave it a few episodes to win me over because I did not have the best first impression.
 
I am shockingly enjoying the third season of Picard.
Finished Episode 4 and refuse to keep my hopes up and expect it to crash and burn any time between now and the end.
Also watching Shaw DENY Picard and Riker's pathetic argument to waylay his ship? Glorious. Earn it you two, it's not going to be that easy!
 
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