Star Trek Picard Season 1 - Discussion Thread - *SPOILERS*

[Athos]

                                      ** RED ALERT **
Spoilers are in this post and thread.  If you have not watched the latest episode of Star Trek Picard and wish to be surprised, do not read any further.

Episode 10: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2


First off, BOOM!  I totally called it; spot on!  From Episode 9, I stated, "Theory...that body that Soong was working on combined with the mind-transfer technique: Picard is going to end up as a synthetic and that is how he is going to survive his illness."  And that's exactly what happened.

Secondly, I totally called it again.  From Episode 7 I stated, "I personally think that this is setting it up for Riker to come sweeping in at some future point to save the day in a Starfleet ship."  And that's exactly what happened.

Finally, I totally called it.  I stated from Episode 9 that "Obviously Sutra freed Narrek and killed Saga to imply that Narrek had escaped on his own."  And that's exactly what happened.

To recap from where things were at in the last episode:  Picard is on house arrest; Soji is helping to build the beacon to call the advanced syntheic life, and the La Sirena (and the Borg Cube) is still crashed on the planet's surface. 

This episode starts off with Narek running towards the Cube and sneaking his way onto it and past Elnor, Seven, and the rest of the ex-Borgs, only to be found back Narissa, his sister.  ****Wait what!? Back in episode 8, Narissa was ambushed by a bunch of ex-Borg as the Romulan Fleet just arrived.  Narissa was pinned down, but was then beamed away.  The Romulan fleet then warped away.  Obviously Narissa was beamed aboard that ship.  Why wouldn't she be?  Why would the Fleet leave and not take Narissa with them!?  It IS possible that Narissa had a personal site-to-site transporter on her (like the one that Data used to save Picard in Nemesis), but c'mon!  Basically Narissa should NOT have been on the Borg cube at all.****  If you can get past Narissa being there when she wasn't supposed to be, Narissa supplies Narek with multiple canisters of molecular solvent.  Narissa stays behind to get the Cube's weapons systems online. (AGAIN, I totally called it.  Way back in Episode 1, I stated that the Romulan was dissolved by something LIKE acid.  That is exactly what molecular solvent is.)

Soji goes and talks to Picard; in short, Soji is helping the synths build the beacon and call the advanced synth race because organics have given the synths "no choice." We get a FANTASTIC Picard line..."To say you have no choice, is a failure of imagination."  That's a keeper.  We then see the beacon being constructed.  It looks like it is building itself; basically it's being built via nanotechnology.  We've seen nanotechnology a lot through Star Trek; it's a staple of what makes the Borg work. 

Rios & Raffi get the La Sirena back online using the magical tool that the synths gave them.  Basically, you think about what needs to happen, and the tool makes it happen.  The tool itself is likely nanotechnology, but in order for it to work, the being holding it had to be telepathic, otherwise how would the tool know what to do?  Basically this is a BS/cheap way of magically fixing the ship and it's a total cop-out.  Narek finds Rios and Raffi and gets them to join his cause of destroying the beacon.  Elnor joins the team after being convinced to not kill Narek.

As it turns out, Juratti is just playing along with the synths in order to remain free and undermine their attempt to contact the advanced synths.  Juratti finds out that she needs an eyeball from someone authorized to get to Picard, so she takes one out of Saga (the dead synth...the one that we find out that Sutra killed).  Juratti gains access to Picard's room, frees him, and they go to the La Sirena at the same time that Rios, Raffi, Narek, and Elnor head to the colony.  Somehow they don't pass each other.  Picard manages to get the engines started on the La Sirena (after Rios fixed it) and takes the ship back into orbit.  Side Note: Juratti tells Picard to "Make it So".  For the record, Sir Patrick was opposed to Juratti saying this but ultimately the actress convinced Sir Patrick to allow Juratti to say it.  I agree with Sir Patrick's original though; ummm, no. 

Soong finds out, via download of memories from Saga, that indeed Sutra killed Saga, not Narrek (as I predicted); Soong joins Rios, Raffi, Elnor, and Narek in their attemp to stop the beacon.  Soji intercepts the molecular solvent grenade and throws it away, then continues to complete the beacon.  **Side rant 1...the method of building the beacon; they synths were using a console and essentially grabbing holographic blocks and placing them where they should go.  This would somewhat make sense if the the holographic display actually showed progress as Soji moved blocks into place.  It doesn't.  Everything turns green at the end, but until then, it's a bunch of orange (incomplete) and then boom, green (complete).  Soji is just waving her hands around and it looks stupid.  This most definately could have been written better.***  Soong takes out Sutra (unknown if just shut down or dead) wish some kind of device (not unheard of as Worf was able to deactivate Data in Star Trek Insurrection). 

As La Sirena gets into orbit, Narissa gets the Cube's weapons online and is about to fire when Seven finds and stops her.  The two women battle it out with Seven ultimately kicking Narissa off the ledge, allowing her to fall to her death (much like how Kirk kicked Kruge off the cliff in ST III).  The Romulan Fleet drops out of orbit; Soji looks up and sees their fleet with the naked eye.  ****Side Rant 2... Ummmm, NO.  Based on the size of the Romulan ships (not that big), and where they were in orbit, there is NO WAY that they would appear that large in the sky.  This is utterly STUPID writing and completely wrong!***

Soji launches the orchids while Picard and Juratti try to think of ways to stall the Romulan Fleet.  ***Side Rant 3...we see the orchids rising up from the planet's surface, then in the next scene they are right in front of the Romulan Fleet.  Ummm...how about no.  Look, those orchids were not launching that fast (our rockets launch faster); the Romulans would have easily opened fire on the settlement long before the orchids got into orbital position to engage the Romulan Fleet.  This is just basic laws of nature/physics/orbital mechanics people!  And yeah, those flowers were about as effective as I thought they would be...good for a delay, otherwise totally useless.***  The Romulan Fleet completely obliterates the orchids leaving just the La Sirena. 

Picard contacts Soji to convince her to stop building the beacon; she doesn't buy it.  Picard states that he is going to give them his life to convince them otherwise.  Juratti comes up with the idea to create multiple warp fields and project/multiply the La Sirena's image to confuse/stall the Romulan Fleet.  Star Trek has, many times, used false warp fields.  On Voyager, they projected holograms of other ships to throw off the attacking ships.  Therefore, this is not a new tactic.  The La Sirena gets in front of the flagship that Commodore/General Oh is on to get their attention, then activates the false images.  ***Side Rant 4...It is REALLY annoying that Oh keeps saying basically the same thing about 5 times... target the planet; target the colony, sterilization pattern 5... WTF!?  Just fire already!  REALLY STUPID writing!***  When the false images are activated, one Romulan on Oh's bridge said that "there are hundreds of them."  ***Side rant 5...Apparently Romulans cannot count; at most, there are 50 copies of the La Sirena.*** Once the real La Sirena gets hit, the rest of the images go away and once again we hear Oh give the order to target.

Soji activates the beacon and it opens a portal.  The Romulans are about the fire, when a crap ton of Starfleet ships come out of warp between the Romulan fleet and the planet.
****Side Rant 6... Ummm, no...hell no. 
1) The Romulans had a head start on Starfleet in getting to the planet.  When Picard and crew first got to the planet, the Romulans were 2 days away.  HOW did Starfleet get THAT many ships together that quickly (think 100 ish ships)?  The Romulan ships have always been roughly technologically equivalent to Starfleet ships, so how did the Starfleet ships get there in time?  One possibility is that those ships were equipped with Quantum Slipstream (see in Voyager), but this is highly improbable.  You still have to get 100+ ships together and then get them there BEFORE the Romulans. 
2)  I know that Fleet Admiral Clancy ordered a Squadron of ships to Deep Space 12 to rendezvous with Picard, but 100+ ships is NOT a squadron; it's an Armada!  For those not in the Air Force, a squadron of planes is 12-24 aircraft; a group is usually 3 squadrons, then a wing is around 10 squadrons.  The writers did not do their homework on proper terminology. 
3) The Fleet woudl not be coming out of warp between the planet and the Romulan Fleet, facing the enemy Fleet.  It's physically impossible; you can't just warp through a planet.  If the writers were at all being realistic, the Starfleet ships should have come out of warp behind or to either side of the Romulan Fleet, but NOT in front of them! 
4) NEVER in the history of Starfleet, did they ever had 100+ of the exact same class of starships, and no other class ships, in the same fleet! 

If you can get past Side Rant 6 and all kinds of wrong, then we can all be excited that it's Captain Riker to the rescue!  Riker is in the captain's chair on one of the identical Starfleet ships (identified as the USS Zheng He - the flagship for the Fleet) and talks the Oh and the Romulan Fleet down.  Coolio!

During the entire space battle, Picard is showing signs of pain and that the sickness is getting the better of him.  His health is failing.  Picard manages to hold on long enough to convince Soji that the Federation is there to protect them.  Soji deactivates the portal (but not before we see a glimpse of the advanced synth trying to come through which looks like a bunch of black tentackles).  The Romulan fleet deactivates weapons and retreats.  Riker contacts Picard and explains that when he heard about Picard's distress call, Riker requested re-activation to help.  ***Side Rant 7... So not only does Starfleet not realistically have enough time to assemble 100+ ships and then somehow get to the planet in time to stop the Romulans, but Riker has enough time to request re-activation, somehow get seniority, for the Fleet or at least one ship to stop by and pick him up, and yet STILL make it to the planet.  Not plausible; completely unrealistic!***  I liked the touchy-feely conversation between Picard and Riker; that was nice.

All Starfleet ships escort the Romulan Fleet out of Federation space.  Picard collapses; Soji beams Picard and Juratti to the surface.  Picard is able to say goodbye to Raffi, Soji, and Elnor.  We then see people crying and mourning and you think it's done; Picard is dead.  Surprise!  Picard wakes up to an odd-looking version of his home, and Data is there.  It's not a dream, it's Data in his First Contact uniform.  How is this possible?  Data states that his consciousness was reconstituted from a single neuron and is in a complex quantum simulation.  Soji scanned and mapped Picard's brain before he died and obviously transferred that mapping to the same simulation where Data's consciousness resides.  So this enables a very touching conversation between Picard and Data; the farewell that us fans never actually got from Nemesis that we've wanted.  This conversation is quite important as, among other things, Data asks Picard to shut down the simulation, effectively allowing Data to die.  Data realizes that, to be human, one must be mortal.  This conversation is very TNG-esque. 
***Side Rant 8...how the heck did Data know about current events inside the simulation!?  The only theory is that when Picard's consciousness is transferred to the simulation, Data learned everything that Picard knew.  But then, how did Data know that Picard was going to be transferred to the synthetic body?  Big holes***

So Picard transfers into a synthetic body.  He doesn't have any super-powers (super-strong, fast, etc.), nor is he immortal as they programmed him to die around the same time as he would have without the brain abnormality.  Picard looks exactly the same as he did in his organic body.  So this allows Picard to continue with the show.  Picard then goes to shut down the simulation that is keeping Data alive; Picard essentially gives a euligy.  In the simulation, Data lies down; Picard in his TNG uniform, holds Data's hand; in the background the actress who plays Soji is singing Blue Skies; Data grows older as the simulation is shut down, then fades to nothing.  It's like Data just died again, and it's sad, but at the same time, touching.  Data is finally at peace.

The show then goes to the La Sirena; Rios and Juratti are kissing, then we see Seven and Juratti romatically holding hands (with a Kal-toh game between them), and the rest of the crew.  Picard says that it's time; everyone, including Soji, gather around the bridge.  Soji mentions that "they" (the Federation) has lifted the ban on syntheics; Picard says engage, and they are off.  Where are they headed?  I have no idea...and neither does the cast.  In an interview with Sir Patrik and the actress that plays Juratti, they both state that they have no idea where they are headed in that last scene.


**Side Rant 9: H to the NO regarding Seven and Raffi being lesbian lovers.  WTF.  Look, I don't have an issue with homosexuals being represented in Star Trek; we have seen this in Star Trek before.  My problem is that it doesn't make sense for these 2 characters!  We saw Seven pursue men in Voyager; Raffi was married to a man and has a son.  It just doesn't fit these characters, in my opinion.  Now, I know that you can argue that someone can be gay or lesbian, and flirt with the other sex, even have children, then figure out that they are homosexual; fine (we saw this with Ross and Susan on Friends).  I'm just not buying it for these characters.***

***Side Rant 10: I don't know how long Picard and crew were at that planet, but just like that, the Federation lifts the ban on synthetics.  Wow, politicians of the future work REALLY fast! (sarcasm) Um, no.  Look, realistically, the ban would not just be lifted.  Even with discovering that Oh and the Romulans were behind the Utopia Planetia attack, it would still take politicians FOR-EV-ER to decide upon anything.  Season 2 should have started out with Picard advocating that the Federation lift the ban on synthetics, but nope.  In 2 seconds, it's fixed.***


===================  RECAP =======================

For those counting, that's 10 side rants.  This episode just ruined the entire 1st season for me.  Yes, there were touching moments in this episode...the conversation between Picard and Data; Riker showing up...awesome.  But the side rants ruined it for me.  I could have done a better job story telling than they did.  I'm not certain how Season 2 will go, but if this is any indicator, I'm likely not going to like it.  (Especially since the writers don't even know where things are going...so make it up as they go apparently!)  Sour note to end an otherwise enjoyable story arc.

[Kheren]

STAR TREK PICARD EPISODE 10: ET IN ARCADIA EGO Part 2 or Star Trek is Dead, Long Live Kurtzmantrek

In the finale of this series, we get a wonderful farewell scene between Picard and Data, and a quick thrilling moment of seeing Captain Riker back in action.

These two gems were the worst moments of the entire series; because they showed us so clearly and so unequivoquially what this show could have been, should have been..,. And failed so miserably to be.

It showed us that all the rest was what we did not want, what we dreaded... and that we will never have Star Trek, as long as the Prime Universe licence of Kurtzman/Abrams is active.This last episode confirms what the previous 9 gave us; what Kurtzmantrek is:

A crapfest: here we get the signature Abrams Magic Item bringing it's trademark BS; you know, magic Red Matter, magic Khan Superblood, magic Spore Drive, magic Knife-Wayfinder... now we have the Tech-Of-Imagination; for all intent and purposes, Aladdin's Lamp. So much for science-fiction.

A cringfest: here we get ''crypto kung fu,'' an F-Bombardment best of all being: ''You f**cked many of them?'' This is sooo much wanted, soooo needed, sooo immersive, sooo Trek.

A parody: Remember what Picard said to Q quoting Shakespeare, and then listen to JL's description of Humanity at the end of this episode; soooo inspiring, sooo optimistic, sooo positive... And of course Seven-Of-Nine is an alcoholic, cynical murderous lesbian. Now that's the Seven-Of-Nine I remember and love!

A rip-off: here alone we get new rip offs from Dune (Ghola), Dr Who (cosmic screwdriver), the MCU (Chitari space hole), Star Wars (hyperspace), Star Trek Renegades (the La Sirena crew), the Matrix (tentacled killer robot).

A Prime Universe show; here themes, characters, aesthetics, editing, storytelling, lighting, acting, effects, everything is signature Abrams Nu-Trek. The snippets of Canon Universe we get are all the more glaring and so obvious hooks to try to catch the real fans.

An immorality play; here we have Starfleet as the villain of the show, to come to stop the Romulans who are actually there to save the galaxy from those who would bring armaggedon to all life; Romulans who can only use violence and deceit to do so. Truly, the Best Of Trek...

A parade of inconsistencies: Narek disappears; powerful Borg Cube-defeating space orchids now worthless; a mere squadron is now made of hundreds of ships; planetary storms still missing; the 8 suns still missing; Picard flies the ship because now plot needs him to, never mind all the holograms aboard that could do it; finally they remember transporters... that the Romulans could have used to instantly neutralize the Synth threat (and this is but one of half a dozen ways to end this threat effortlessly); the Federation lifts the Synth ban when they are now proved to be a universal threat; Murderess Jerati is still free (well, considering that other murderers like Elnor and 7 of 9 are free too...); Riker letting superspy Oh simply go; and throughout this episode and the whole series, time is utterly screwed beyond sanity in typical Abrams fashion.

A parade of anticlimaxes: villain fembot taken out with a TV remote; villain Romu-Cersei in a bland fistfight; superfighter Space Elf still does nothing; Borg Cube does nothing;''awesome'' flower planetary defense does nothing; galactic armageddon ended by hanging up the phone; over the top, long, cringy melodramatic death of the hero nobody knows or respect undone a few minutes later. And the guy who wrote this earned a Pulitzer, a Hugo and a Nebula? Really?

A fanfic: now you can effortlessly, copy, store and transfer consciousness into perfect, artificial bodies (fully functional in every way and with superpowers option) produced on an industrial scale. Thus, just as in Abrams Into Darkness, death is now utterly meaningless.Anyone else sees all the so numerous, immense problems of such amateurish, thoughtless short-sighted first draft writing?

So this is the end. It confirms Picard was a guest on his own show (and now it's not even the real Picard anymore but a 100% physical and mental copy), that this show in in direct continuity with STD and the Abramsverse and a mediocre rip-off of everything BUT Star Trek.

In short, we got Fake Trek.

It is not by chance that the episode is preceded by the proud annoucement of STD season 3 coming soon. This Patrick Stewart vanity project is STD all over again but with his blessings and shoehorning TNG favorites at the last minute to try giving it credibility. Are we going to really have a second year like this?

If Googletrends report, the loss of all Trek merchandizing and the plummeting of viewers and subscriptions are any clue (lost over half a million viewers in Canada by the 5th episode; and mind you, in Canada, the show is free), hopefully not.

This last episode left me truly heartbroken. I so wanted this to be good... My only consolation is that it is not part of the Canon Universe so we will be able to ignore it all once this Prime Universe BS is gone with it's licence and real Star Trek comes again... if ever.

JL  said it best in true Picard fashion: ''a failure of imagination.'' And it was not even the worst of it.

[Athos]

And so closes Season 1 of Star Trek Picard.  Most certainly this style of storytelling is not what we are used to with TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT (Original License Trek); it is more Game of Thrones-style of storytelling than episodic.  I think that we've seen both positive and negative aspects of the show as my own posts have described.

When I started this thread, it was in hope and excitement to discuss the new Star Trek series.  I was looking forward to exchanging the finer points of the story lines, discussing the characters, anticipating what was to come, and trying to find all of the Easter Eggs buried throughout each episode.  My intent was always to point out the good and the bad, especially if it contradicted previously established canon.  The result was quite disappointing and disheartening to me. 

If one were to review my posts, one would find that each episode was critically reviewed and discussed, pointing out the good and the bad.  Of course, "good" and "bad" are subjective terms, defined by each person.  Though I did not expect to touch on every single potential talking point, I certainly took great care to discuss as much as came to thought.  But instead of conversation of the like, the extent of responses can be summarized as 'it's crap'.  Indeed, the sheer negativity almost gave me cause to stop posting at all, though I ultimately decided to finish out the season.

As such, I will not be commenting on Season 2 or beyond (so much for increasing forum activity).  I've locked this thread; if others wish to continue such reviews in the future, a new thread can be started; just include "Season 2" in the subject title.