Picard has an artificial heart. From the looks of him, he's using a cane and appears to be very aged. We already knew about his baldness, so I'd presume he just doesn't bother with the usual rejuvenation procedures. Especially now that he's been "waiting to die". The whole Romulan/Mars fiasco made him want to quit everything.
Picard's 94 is better than Jameson's 85. Maybe they're huge fans of Kurt Cobain and went to Starbucks on the way to a concert. That's how it's done. Two for one.
I'm wondering if the Starfleet Picard is talking about here is the foundation of the problems with the Federation that seems to cause it to be so shrunken by DISCOVERY season 3's time, if the new Federation flag is any indication. A little way to tie all current STAR TREK shows together, despite taking place in completely different eras. (I haven't read any spoilers or articles regarding season 3 yet. Just going by the promo trailer I have seen.) Or another scenario... Picard's actions in this season and the rest of the life of the series cause Starfleet to go back to being the principaled, helping organization it once was. But something much later happens to the Federation that because of helping, it basically gets defeated badly. A sort of 'no good deed goes unpunished' storyline. And it would be DISCOVERY season 3 that brings back that hope for bringing Starfleet and the Federation back to its roots. It would be ironic that the series more regarded as darker be the one to make the future hold true to its ideals. (A tonal nod, I think, to DS9. For me, it held the STAR TREK ideals the truest. Even more so than TNG. But this is just a side note, maybe a discussion for another thread. Don't mean to veer off course of PICARD.) I do think that current STAR TREK series that air, right now and any future ones, should be complimentary, not mirroring. This, so far, looks to be the larger picture that Alex Kurtzman is going for, and I must commend him for that.
My headcanon is that in the 24th century, you can live longer, but that doesn't mean that you look younger. In general it doesn't seem like the Federation cares that much about physical appearance, otherwise people would be getting medical treatment for baldness, being slightly overweight, being a bit average in looks, etc.
I kind of feel like there should be a second, separate thread for this episode for those of us who didn't get to see any of Picard until today. But anyway, yeah, holy smokes, I really liked the first episode. I've heard Picard described by the Producers as really a hybrid of Discovery and TNG, and I think that's how it really does feel so far. I don't really have too many nerdy nitpicks yet, but I'm sure they're coming.
As I said in other threads, that would be an absolutely terrible, awful decision. Not only would it mean that nothing that Picard did had any meaning in even the medium term, it would also mean that somehow some people remember the Federation fondly in the far future despite the period of time when it was a twisted, diminished remnant being 3-4 times the length of it fumbling towards utopia.
We haven't seen them officially yet, but yeah they're the same age as Picard in Season 4 or 5. We don't know anything about Betazoid lifespan (let alone a hybrid lifespan), so Troi could be doing very well for herself. Riker, though... maybe he just got really slovenly in his old(er) age and has preexisting medical conditions. He doesn't look much worse than the younger 60-year-old Kirk from Generations.
Picard being portrayed by a 13-years-younger actor sort of belays that. This was an accident of timelines, wanting the character to have a long prior Captaincy, that ended ten years prior to TNG. We also know that Picard was supernaturally fit in his youth, winning marathons and such, so he probably just crashed hard after retirement.
The other actors that they were considering for Picard's role were around the same age as Stewart, but looked significantly younger in the late 1980s. I think they aged up Picard in TNG because even though Patrick Stewart was an unwrinked 47 year old, he was totally bald on top, and what was left of his hair was grey, so it was easier to say he was pushing 60 already.
I think that Picard will ultimately end up showing the return of Starfleet to its former glory. But it will take work. The idea of it "not being Starfleet anymore" can work, but only if it works towards a beginning point -- Picard regaining his former glory just like the institution he put so much faith into is. At the same time, Picard takes a completely different path, choosing not to return, even when they offer.
We first meet Dahj in Boston. Crossing paths with Jean-Luc means one big tea party! The hopeful, optimistic tone of Nemesis falls silent when it is disclosed that Data's download of his "katra" into B4 ultimately failed... There will be no Culber, here, looks like... ...or will there? End of season we might find that Data's alive and well and hiding in plain sight.
I loved the TOS music used at the end of the episode. in the prequel comic some of the Romulans think the rescue fleet is actually an invasion fleet, and were shown to be able to hijack starfleet computers, maybe they did the same with the androids that attacked Mars?
That sounds plausible. I'm just not sure though that the showrunners would want to give away one of the key plot elements of the entire season in an ancillary comic book.
"A+". I thought it was outstanding and one of my favorite Trek premiere episodes of any of the series. If it can manage to maintain this level of quality it may be considered alongside other critically acclaimed dramas without the second class status scifi is often relegated to, the way nuBSG was treated like like a straight-up critically acclaimed drama without the scifi asterisk when it came out. It manages to have plenty of TNG nostalgia callbacks without going over-the-top, yet at the same time is unlike any Trek series that has come before, including TNG. It's unfair to dunk on Discovery since they're two completely different shows and this is still early going, but the qualitative difference between the two shows is night and day. And that's speaking as someone who enjoys Discovery in spite of its many flaws. Surprisingly for being mostly set on Earth and starring a human lead, it probably packed more aliens (mostly Romulans) and "synths" in that first episode than most Trek episodes do, and visited more locations —even if most were terrestrial— than most Trek episodes as well, with fantastic production design, CGI, and location scouting making for some gorgeous glimpses of the early 25th century Earth and beyond. Stewart hasn't missed a beat, and delivers an emotional, compelling performance as a Picard that has been beaten down by age, loss, loneliness, guilt over his own failures, a sense of betrayal by a Starfleet and Federation that has lost its way, and a malaise over a lack of direction in his life out of Starfleet and tending the Picard Vineyard, which the "call to adventure" the central mystery of the show represents shakes him out of, which is kicked off by one of those rousing Picard TNG speeches about morality and duty and how it was just as wrong for him to give up on Starfleet as it as for them to lose their way. It's one of two Picard speeches and three very emotional scenes, the others being Picard's conversation with Dahj and his interview with the Federation News reporter who was grilling him for his roll in relocating the Romulan diaspora post-Hobus (which is just referred to as "the supernova" here). Speaking of the Romulans, in the best traditions of Trek, the show returns to commenting on timely modern issues from a futuristic perspective, dealing with refugee crises and how they affect governments, discrimination against and banning of the "other" (in this case synths and Romulans), and how our actions, well-intentioned or not (I suspect not in the case of Starfleet Command's larger motives with the synths, though not Bruce Maddox for sure and Dr. Jurati necessarily), can have dire consequences years or decades later, including mass terrorism like the synth attack on Utopia Planitia. I also disagree with the characterization that this is "dark and gritty" Trek. While the Federation may have compromised some of its values in dealing with the Romulan refugee crisis by stopping the rescue mission after the Mars attack, that's nothing unusual for its responses in other times of crisis. In fact some of the best and most poignant stories revolved around Picard (or one of the other captains or crewmembers) acting as Starfleet's or the Federation's moral compass when they had let fear lead them astray, and this seems to be continuing that tradition. Plus, despite the heavy subject matter and action scenes, it's both literally and figuratively the least dark and gritty Trek I've seen in some time, at least during the premiere. And the show makes it obvious with Picard's rousing closing speech and rejuvenated rise from his couch with renewed vigor and purpose that it's going to be all about reclaiming those lost Federation values with Picard leading the way. The action scenes were well-choreographed and exciting. No space battles in the first episode, just small scale ground based martial arts, blades, and beam weapons, but still distinctly Trek with baddies beaming in and out at will. Gone are the days of slow hand chops and two-legged flying kicks though. This is action movie level fight choreography. She hasn't done much else before this because she's still very young, but if her acting in this episode is any indication, I suspect Isa Briones (Dahj + a dual role) is destined for a long career. She delivered some emotional scenes, and partnered well with Stewart. I hope this is a breakout role for her. I also liked Picard's two Romulan housemates. My only "criticisms" would be that it was folly trying to make Brent Spiner look like TNG or even movie-era Data again without some Marvel face CGI or something, but that can't really be helped, and isn't a big deal if you just look at him with a little side-eye instead of straight into the abyss of the Uncanny Valley as it stares back into you with its beady yellow eyes. Some might complain that this was a bit of a setup episode with some exposition, which it was, but that's to be expected from a premiere, and it was never boring. Also, many of the main characters and some of the prominent guest actors from the trailers and promos don't show up in the first episode, so some might be disappointed by that, but they will arrive soon enough. Overall, this is a very personal, character-driven show so far with a phaser and martial arts fight thrown in and eventually some space battles in future episodes. Hopefully it remains more about the exploration of the human condition and how we treat others with the **pew**pew** being used to supplement rather than dominate the narrative.
Did you see the 'This Season on Picard'. This show promises space battles, firefights, swordfighting, and even the first episode has a couple serious fights and a big explosion and some snarky dialogue. I didn't see a huge difference between the two shows in how they've started off. The opening couple episodes of Discovery were not fast paced and they weren't whimsical (I honestly don't see Disco as being particularly whimsical) and most of Disco's first couple seasons could hardly be described as that. I'm sure we are going to get some fast paced sequences of Picard as well. I do agree the shows complement each other, but they aren't as different as you would suggest. Not to mention that s2 of Disco and S1 Picard are even tackling a similar subject: IE the threat that is percieved from a future threatened by artificial intelligence. I don't see the gulf between the two shows that you do. I see two slightly different approaches of this eras view of Trek by its producers. I can see most people who enjoy Disco will enjoy Picard and for much the same reasons.
The Mycellial Network is extremely whimsical. Parts of the Mirror Universe have some whimsy. Tilly's hallucinations of May come across as such too. I'm whimsical myself, so I don't see that as a negative. I think the first few episodes of DSC were faster paced than PIC. At the end of the second episode, the Shenzhou is abandoned, Georgiou is dead, war with the Klingons has started, and Burnham's been sentenced to life imprisonment. At the end of the third episode, she's on the Discovery, the crew (very) reluctantly accepts her, and we're introduced to the Spore Drive. At the end of PIC's third episode, they'll finally be getting off the ground. That's a slower pace. There's no two ways about it.