I got the feeling that the 'Mom' was probably some kind of assistant or fellow scientist of Maddox. At first I thought it was a distorted holo of Dr. Jurati.
Even though we don't have the full story yet, I'm going to say I think this is my favorite opening episode of a Star Trek series. I'm going to sit on it more before I decide if it's the best... but "The Cage" and "Emissary" are the only two other Star Trek pilots that have this much of a personal touch that shakes the main character down to the very core of who they are and the status of their life. "Emissary" is a bit clunky and while "The Cage" is powerful, it has some things I don't agree with and the stakes weren't as high. So I think "Remembrance" just might be the best Star Trek pilot. Before someone says something like "Aren't you a hardcore Discovery fan?!" I am. But, I also gave the opening episodes a 7 out of 10. Don't believe me? Look here at what I posted two years ago. So I stand by what I say as well. Kudos to "Remembrance"!
Yeah, I feel like CGI has gotten good enough now that it can really do justice to the world building of Star Trek in a way previous shows could not really do.
True. But that would imply that Maddox only got a copy of Data's early memories, while the show suggests otherwise. I don't think Data took up painting before he met Maddox, did he?
Oh, and another thing...remember how the first time Dahj was attacked, one of the attackers requested the other "use English?" I know there are a lot of Romulan refugees now, and some of them may prefer to use English instead, but that really seems to suggest to me that some of the assailants are not Romulan, but human.
Does anyone with better ears than me, think that after Picard was thrown back by the explosion, that flash to Data and the painting, did I hear Lal say "daughter"?
I haven't re-watched the episode, but I've re-listened to the opening theme several times now, and it's really grown on me. It's very lovely, and does have a beautiful melody that one can hum along to. (That was my one and only nit-pick.) I'm in love with this episode.
Just watched it and I love it already. It’s sad that the mid 23rd century of Discovery and the late 24th century of Picard don’t look very different. Look like reporters and the media haven’t changed in four hundred years. I HATE that we have to use the now outdated every week between episodes. Most streaming isn’t any different than old fashioned over the air in that regard. Its interesting for them to take a story thread like Dr. Maddox and extrapolate from that. Discovery dropped the ball in that way. It was supposed to be about some event mentioned in TOS but ended up being about things no one could talk about ever again. How do the Starfleet Quantum Archives work? Is it the actual objects but broken down to the quantum level and then re-created as needed? I’m excited to see where this goes.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one confused by the acid bit. Overall, a very good start. I had been a bit skeptical about whether they could sell me on Picard's break from Starfleet, but I thought they handled it deftly. This seemed like a logical extension of TNG, without being a TNG rehash. As much as I adore the TOS movies, where everyone stays at the same bridge station until retirement age, I wouldn't have wanted that here. I agree about our glimpses of future Earth. It felt like the first time a Trek show has really been able to do it justice. Seemed like a believable place with ordinary people going about their lives. I have to admit, I had a bit of Discovery PTSD early on: I winced when someone started crying within the first half hour, but it was fine in the end. This wasn't just big tears for the sake of big tears. This was the best the Romulans have been since TOS, I'm thinking. I quite enjoyed this, but I'd still like a more traditional Trek show. I'm hoping a Pike series will fill that niche.
Yeah. It's interesting how Discovery and Picard are very different shows right from the getgo - but what both share in common is they are a highly serialized story following the character journey of a singular protagonist. To me that suggests (given Kurtzman has said he doesn't want Trek to repeat itself any longer) the other series will diverge.
Maddox and Data seemed to have a professional relationship following "Measure." Wasn't he writing him in "Data's Day?" Looking back at "Measure"'s Memory Alpha page, while he refuses to undergo Maddox's procedure at that point, we have fourteen years between "Measure" and Data's death in Nemesis. The idea that (1) Maddox could find a way to do the procedure safely and (2) Data would have agreed to help him are certainly in the realm of possibility. After "All Good Things...," you certainly have a lot of space where these events could go.
Yes, the "event" that was so heralded by Bryan Fuller and everyone in the lead-up to Discovery, but that we still don't have any definitive clue about. (Though I've seen some of the most ardent Discovery fans claim, "Hey! Just wait for Season 3! It's still coming.") I think it's clear that there is no 100-dimensional chess Discovery is playing, there is no grand design. The show was poorly planned from the beginning, and shifted gears dramatically even mid-season. Storywise, it wedged itself into a corner it did not know how to get out of. Things didn't get much better in S2, with the Red Angle plot point being ultimately very weak. It honestly feels like they wrote many of those episodes from one week to the next, with little or no forethought. Fortunately, Picard seems to be the complete opposite, with a fully planned out story arc. One can hope that the same is true for Discovery S3. With the move to the far future, the first two seasons can be somewhat ignored and Discovery can really come into its own with some fantastic story telling. I really like the Discovery characters. I just hope the writing improves in a big way. Whatever they did with Picard they should do on Discovery, too.
My feeling with Discovery's wild veer in Season 2 is that there might have been some contractual reason for it. Basically, once Berg/Harberts were fired, they took with them all of their ideas for the story arc that season, and Kurtzman couldn't continue using them unless they gave the two writing credit and paid them, which they didn't want to do. So they threw it all in the dumpster after The Sound of Thunder and whipped up the Control arc (adding some selective reshoots to foreshadow a bit).
Are we actually sure that Dahj is dead? The transporter effects seemed a hell of a lot faster than what we’d last seen on screen, they could have easily transported her out last second. And given that someone seemed to be doing a coverup of the fight it’s not hard to assume she might have survived. How many times have we seen on any of the shows someone being assumed dead and then they turn up alive later? Also given the work the romulans are doing on the Borg and the possible merging of technologies, I bet they want to use Dahj/her sister who’s name I’ve already forgotten as something with the Borg queen. I know that seems like a stretch but the whole playing cards thing and Data holding nothing but Queens got me wondering.
I loved the Romulans on TNG and DS9. They are by far my favorite alien race. But I really enjoy seeing other Romulans than just members of the military, as we will see increasingly on Picard. It's a huge empire, so giving them more dimensions only makes sense. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing some of the old Romulan adversaries make cameos, though I was saddened that the actor who played Commander Tomalak has passed away.
Dahj's mom scene reminds me of Terminator 2 now that I watch it again, when John Connor called his foster parents. I knew something seemed familiar about it.
Yes, could be. And a very similar thing could partly explain what happened in S1, with the firing of Bryan Fuller. I'm not saying the writers on Discovery are bad, just that the writing is bad. The reasons for that could be many, including as you say, the writers' hand being forced by all of this political BS. Hopefully, we're reaching some kind fo steady state here and things will stabilize.