Star Trek: Picard -- anyone seen it yet?

[StatGuy2000]

Hi everyone! I had the opportunity to see the series premiere of Star Trek: Picard and really liked it. As a long-time fan of TNG it was a great episode re-introducing us to Picard, and can't wait until the next episode is available.

I was wondering how many of you here on PF has seen it.

 

[scottdave]

I hadn't heard of it until you mentioned it. I did some searching and found out it's on CBS All access streaming service. I don't know if I want to sign up for another one. I see they have a Twilight Zone which looks interesting as well though.

 

[strangerep]

Interesting that Jeri Ryan will (reportedly) reprise her former role as 7-of-9.

I wonder what the outcome will be from the battle between Borg nanoprobes and the normal human aging process...

 

[nsaspook]

Watched S1E1 on youtube (the official CBS release).

Flying humans with robotic brains.

Spoiler

 

[DavidSnider]

I saw it. It was... OK. I would watch another episode.

One scene that made me laugh was when the reporter asks Picard something to the effect of "Did you ever have doubts about commander data?" and he smiles and says "Never."

I guess it's true though. Even after 10 different occasions when data got hacked or influenced or went haywire and took over the ship he always keeps putting him back in command.

 

[OmCheeto]

Hi everyone! I had the opportunity to see the series premiere of Star Trek: Picard and really liked it. As a long-time fan of TNG it was a great episode re-introducing us to Picard, and can't wait until the next episode is available.

I was wondering how many of you here on PF has seen it.

Can't remember. I'm kind of old and senile. Let me check my calendar:

Guessing that I have.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Watched S1E1 on youtube (the official CBS release).

Flying humans with robotic brains.

Spoiler

I actually really liked that early scene! (in case the face palm implies you didn't)

At any rate, Episode 2 is a little less in-your-face with the action (and a little more classic Star Trek) than the premiere episode.

 

[nsaspook]

I actually really liked that early scene! (in case the face palm implies you didn't)

At any rate, Episode 2 is a little less in-your-face with the action (and a little more classic Star Trek) than the premiere episode.

Spoiler

I just laughed at the Wire Fu
BUT
I assume they originally wanted to capture not destroy her (the fallback plan). The Romulans were transporting in and out of the fight so why not just beam her up?

 

[OmCheeto]

...Wire Fu
...

?
Ah ha!

per Wiki; "Wire fu is used to describe ... where the stuntmen's ... skill is augmented with the use of wires and pulleys, as well as other stage techniques, usually to perform fight-scene stunts and give the illusion of super-human ability... .

Examples​

The Matrix (1999)​

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)​

I didn't know it had a name.

 

[hmmm27]

It took three episodes to finally reach the end-of-pilot/beginning-of-series moment

Spoiler

"Engage!"

Other than that, it's not horrible, so far.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

Star Trek Picard - The search for more money :)

Seriously though, we need a new proper Star Trek series with none of the evangelical / idealist aspect, do you guys feel this is it?

 

[nsaspook]

Star Trek Picard - The search for more money :)

Seriously though, we need a new proper Star Trek series with none of the evangelical / idealist aspect, do you guys feel this is it?

I don't. Star Trek has always been about evangelical idealist dealing with our current societal and political issues.
What's needed is balance and good writing that integrates those aspects into a good story.

“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”

 

[MikeeMiracle]

Saw all 4 episodes out so far over the weekend. It's alright so far, not just a "lets get the gang back together for more of the same."

In a way its strange that you are watching an Episode of Star Trek that is not a self contained mini 1 hour story but a proper series which flows from one episode to the next like most TV series do these days.

I do wonder where this is all going though story wise after the existing storyline comes to an end at the end of season 1.

 

[hmmm27]

The "pilot" is the first 3 episodes ; it took that long to get to the series-defining "as we embark on our grand mission..." scene.

Spoiler

I may have missed something, but the premise that there's a twin android out there - the focal point of the series - because "they make them two at a time", is pretty low quality handwavium.

On the other hand, the Borg reclamation project looks pretty cool.

And, Jeri Ryan.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Talk about a tough, picky crowd! (I'm looking at you @hmmm27 , @nsaspook !)

It just seems that so many of you on PF are saying "meh" when I thought that the episodes thus far were all great, and am excited for more!

 

[hmmm27]

Not "meh"; it just took 3 weeks to get to the launch point.

 

[DEvens]

Watched the first three episodes. Meh.

Spoiler: My review

The "wire fu" scene annoyed me because we lost a character that we just met. Usually this is considered bad writing. But later they introduced the cheat of the character not really being dead because she had a twin. One of Mark Twain's rules about writing is that it should be clear whether any given character is alive or dead. Sure it's sci-fi, but they disregard this rule to little use.

And, this whole "triggered" thing really annoys me. "When I grow up I'm going to have so much amnesia." It's lazy writing.



So now we have a crew. But they're all rejects or drug addicts or psychopaths or mercenaries or some crazy thing. Or secretly Romulan. Sigh. The show is going to have to work pretty hard to make me like any of them. So far I find them all pretty boring.

Still, it's better than watching the news about the latest number of COVID-19 infections.

 

[DEvens]

Now I've watched the first five episodes. Still saying meh. Still doing most of the things I detested in the first three episodes.

But compared to what I say about most TV series... At least I'm not throwing stuff at my TV and yelling.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

I'm quite liking it and looking forward to the next episode.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Now I've watched the first five episodes. Still saying meh. Still doing most of the things I detested in the first three episodes.

But compared to what I say about most TV series... At least I'm not throwing stuff at my TV and yelling.

You seem to be an especially harsh critic. What TV shows and films have you actually liked, or even loved?

 

[DEvens]

You seem to be an especially harsh critic. What TV shows and films have you actually liked, or even loved?

I have occasionally liked individual episodes of TV shows. I can't think of a series where I liked every episode.

There were, for example, several episodes of Star Trek Next Gen that I could enjoy. Picard gets a "virtual reality" wife and children on a doomed alien planet, that was pretty good. Picard insists "There are... FOUR lights!" that was also a pretty good episode. There was an episode where four junior officers were chumming around, even having their own junior officers poker game. That was notable for the lesson Whorf taught one of them. In the same series there were also quite a few that were just drab. I mean, Barclay gets a flu shot, and Data's pet cat Spot turns into an iguana. Give me a break. And oh look, another holo-suite episode.

DS9 occasionally brought us an interesting episode. They did a riff on "The Man in the Glass Booth" that worked pretty well. And Whorf marrying Dax was interesting. And when Sisko kicked butt, that butt was officially kicked. But a lot of the episodes were fairly forgettable. Hey it's another wormhole-living-entities episode. Yawn.

Dr. Who used to produce a fun episode once in a while. They've choked that off pretty carefully now.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

I think your describing most series, there are always good and bad episodes. Eposide 7 of Picard was abit of a let down compared to 5 & 6. Enough with the "cameo's for the sake of cameo's" already.

 

[StatGuy2000]

I have occasionally liked individual episodes of TV shows. I can't think of a series where I liked every episode.

There were, for example, several episodes of Star Trek Next Gen that I could enjoy. Picard gets a "virtual reality" wife and children on a doomed alien planet, that was pretty good. Picard insists "There are... FOUR lights!" that was also a pretty good episode. There was an episode where four junior officers were chumming around, even having their own junior officers poker game. That was notable for the lesson Whorf taught one of them. In the same series there were also quite a few that were just drab. I mean, Barclay gets a flu shot, and Data's pet cat Spot turns into an iguana. Give me a break. And oh look, another holo-suite episode.

DS9 occasionally brought us an interesting episode. They did a riff on "The Man in the Glass Booth" that worked pretty well. And Whorf marrying Dax was interesting. And when Sisko kicked butt, that butt was officially kicked. But a lot of the episodes were fairly forgettable. Hey it's another wormhole-living-entities episode. Yawn.

Dr. Who used to produce a fun episode once in a while. They've choked that off pretty carefully now.

It is very rare for any TV show out there that has produced only good episodes. So if that is the expectation that you have, I feel that you are being unrealistic.

A better question would be this -- are there any TV series (past or present, science fiction or otherwise) that you would say, overall, that you've liked?

 

[hmmm27]

A better question would be this -- are there any TV series (past or present, science fiction or otherwise) that you would say, overall, that you've liked?

Sounds like a separate thread to me.

 

[Rive]

With the last few episodes it finally started to kick.
Feels kinda' like a Caprica reboot.

 

[DEvens]

It is very rare for any TV show out there that has produced only good episodes. So if that is the expectation that you have, I feel that you are being unrealistic.

Dirk Gently game pretty close. I only disliked about three things in the entire first season.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4047038/

And hey! There's a second season. I didn't know that until just now.

 

[Lord Crc]

Best thing about Picard so far is watching Red Letter Media's re:View of the episodes.

 

[DaveC426913]

I have questions about Ep7 (the one with 7 of 9) (spoilers)

Forgive me - I am watching it on "On Demand" streaming, which disables ersatz VCR controls. I can't restart the show and FF to the relevant spots to check for myself - I have to watch the whole show again from the start - which sucks.
1. When they beamed back to the ship with Maddox from ... Planet Vegas (or whatever it was called), Picard was seen placing the beam enhancer back on the transporter console. When 7of9 transported back down a few minutes later, she took the beam enhancer with her. (Don't know if that was done surreptitiously or not.)

Why? If that has yet to be revealed, fine, but ostensibly its only purpose is to let Picard et al beam her back from the surface - yet they left. What does she need it for?

2. When Elnor (the Romulan Ninja) was trying to escape the hordes of Romulan guards, he was trapped in a nook, looking for an escape. He looked up and saw 7of9's calling card (the little clear rectangle that summons her). It looked like it was dangling from a chain that was just kind of ... draped over a console ... in the a random corridor.

Am I missing something? What was it doing there?

3. When Soji found out she was falling asleep every time she called her mom, she tried it again as a test. When she woke up, her first reaction was to go through her photos to check if they were fake.

I thought this was going to go in a different direction. I'd assumed the first thing she would do upon awakening is check how long the call had lasted - exactly 70 seconds. And that this would lead he to realize that her "mom" was using the transmission window of the otherwise mundane call to transfer some secret data or something.

What was the connection between those two things? What about the phone call caused her to suspect her past was fake?

 

[GTOM]

I wonder whether i should give it a chance. I was never such a big Trek fan.

Did they made it something like Expanse?
I really hate that, due to the characters, and how every faction lead by total fools can't think a single step ahead, so the heroes can save the world again and again.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

It's not really Star Trek as you know it so I don't think you need to like the previous series. Think of it more like a modern sci-fi set in the Star Trek universe and with some of the Star Trek characters...and way to many cameo's from former characters. Some episodes have been good, others just meh.

 

[nsaspook]

https://www.engadget.com/2020-03-24...1KJa1JCQxnpZKQB5yO_P9yL-eFta0FDK01LXP3JRtbDAa

CBS offers a free month of All Access so you can binge-watch 'Picard'
Patrick Stewart made the announcement ahead of the season finale.

 

[essenmein]

I'm definitely leaning to meh, seems more like an appeal to nostalgia than an fresh/smart show...

(don't know how to do the spoiler thing... so if this is too spoilery someone edit?? )

Magic portals, mechanical snakes, a massive threat to all life in the universe was demonstrated to exist and everyone just left and that was that.

I mean at least go and destroy the 8 sun message thing so no one else can build one of those beacons/portal machines, imagine a terrorist group getting hold of the plans...

Then the whole beacon doesn't make sense... If these other guys got the message, I would think they would come anyway to help their guys, the beacon turning off could be due to their guys losing a battle and needing help more than ever... Rather than oh well they hung up, guess we'll leave them be...

Lol, call 911, hang up, and see what happens!

 

[DaveC426913]

Yeah. I felt the last ep was way too busy:
- too many character plots to wrap up.
- a lot of characters were contorted into uncharacteristic actions (oh, hey, I'll trust you now)
- the scary mecha-snakes were kinda silly

 

[essenmein]

I don't know how realistic it is for an old retired officer to say heya guys IMA back, can I be put in charge of your whole fleet and gimme the baddest warship as a flag ship, cool?

Is this a thing for example in the US navy?!

 

[nsaspook]

I don't know how realistic it is for an old retired officer to say heya guys IMA back, can I be put in charge of your whole fleet and gimme the baddest warship as a flag ship, cool?

Is this a thing for example in the US navy?!

For flag ships there is ships company with a CO and staff with the fleet commander as a separate entity. In general, staff doesn't run day to day ship operations or give tactical commands. Yes, it's unrealistic but the entire show is 'kinda silly'.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

Well, I guess this was a "pilot" series so it had to get all wrapped up at the end. Be interesting if any more follow now. The first of any series is usualy not great, i normally ignore them and start watching from season 2 when everyone is settled in and comfortable in their roles.

 

[Rive]

Well, I think it was more of a tribute than a serious attempt. It was OK, but I do not feel like it would require further episodes or a new plot.

 

[hmmm27]

Shoulda called it On Golden Deflector Dish.

If it was a full 20+ episode run, I'd have an opinion : as it stands, some stuff looks good, some I'm going to charitably say "teething pains": felt like the writers were cut'n'pasting stuff that market research told them a modern audience wants, plus the odd flash of contempt for same, instead of actually writing. But, then again, there's been the odd SF novel from writers I adore which, at first read, I hated.

It's at least as watchable as the Star Trek 90210 movies. Or, STD, which far-left premises and exposition are eyeroll-worthy, while some of the added canon is well crafted.