Spoilers Are we learning more about the Romulans in this show, more so than some past shows?

Are we learning more about the Romulans in this show, more so than some past shows? I would argue despite being one of the oldest alien civilizations in Trek canon, they are the least developed. TOS was a nice introduction, but they only appeared in a couple of episodes. They are formidable foes in TNG, but quickly became generic bad guys who did something sneaky, got foiled and slunk away, only to do the same thing months later, the Unification storyline was interesting, but did not have a real payoff.

In DS9 they more supporting characters than main characters, sure getting them into the war was an important plot point, but there are no fully developed reoccurring Romulan characters in that show, they did not learn a whole lot of new things about them. They were mainly absent from Voyager for obvious reasons and despite the Romulan/Earth war being hinted at in Enterprise, it did not come about and while they did have some good schemes in season 4, nothing new was really learned about them. Also, they are mainly absent in Discovery.

Now in Picard, we are finally getting some reoccurring Romulan characters who are not just straight villains, I love Picard's caretakers and Narek is set up to an interesting mysterious character so far. Also, a Romulan is going to join Picard's crew. But most importantly, we finally learn something new about the Romulans, that Romulan society was influenced by a secret cabal called the Zhat Vash and the Zhat Vash hate all forms of synthetic life and want to destroy it at all costs. Its a retcon sure (Romulans in the past never held a particular hatred for Data over other Star Fleet officers), but I think works, we never saw the Romulans have anything like Data or any AIs in their civilization, so I can buy it and its something new to do with them. I also think the Romulans being refugees gives them a new hook they did not have before and the Zhat Vash is certainly menacing if it can place moles deep within Star Fleet.

 

The Romulans have been criminally short changed through out the history of the franchise.

 

Yes, we are.

 

I completely agree. The Romulans were always my favorite alien race, and the Warbird my favorite alien ship. There were lots of good episodes with them, but they generally weren't really developed. Besides "The Defector," "Face of the Enemy," and a few others, we rarely even got a major "good guy" Romulan that our characters could interact with and connect with.

And as you noted, in DS9 where they were the third major power during the war, they just had random Romulans whenever they needed to have a briefing with Sisko, Ross, and Martok.

 

Before it’s untimely demise, Ent had started an exploration of the Vulcans and Romulans that may have rivaled TNG’s exploration of the Klingons, Voy’s exploration of the Borg, and DS9’s look into the Bajorans and Kardassians.

 

Did anyone else think of Diane Duane's Rihannsu when Narek said it was "one of [his] names"?

 

What’s the connection?

 

We're learning they have Irish accents and use Irish expressions of profanity.

 

Duane's Rihannsu have 4 names. 3 known and one secret, for lovers only. For example, Ael was Ael i-Mhiessan t'Rllaillieu. And when Narek suggested he had more names, it's what came to mind.

 

The trouble is, will the folks running the show use them better than how they were used in TNG?

Well, it'd be hard to use them worse than as the stick figures in "Unification" and "Redemption"...

It's bizarre Picard would have servants of any sort, that's for sure. But all the "synths" went amok on Mars and only as exposition and not a bunch of fantastic pew pew scenes, so why not use second class Romulans... seriously, imagine a few hundred androids looking like Data trashing up the place and slicing and dicing all the youngling slave laborers building the starships... that's a lot funnier than every Brent Spiner scene in "Night Court"...

 

Ahso. Never followed the novels that much.

 

They aren't his servants. Laris and Zhaban are former tal shiar who defected and Picard took them in. In return they help him around the estate and provide security. I get a 'married couple living with an elderly parent' vibe from their situation.

 

I like how they handled the foreheads. You have the TOS/TOS Movie/Star Trek '09 Romulans that look identical to Vulcans. You have have TNG ridged-headed Romulans. It's an all-of-the-above approach. That's how I hope they handle the Klingons the next time they're in a TV show or movie (although I do think we need a break from them for awhile).

 

The Ready Room had a nice piece on the Romulan make up. Even the "smooth" Romulans are wearing a forehead piece. I assume the Vulcan actors are too.

 

It's not so much that they wear a forehead piece. They sculpt little bits of silicone to go over the actors natural eyebrows, and then put the artificial ones over top. Which saves them from having to do what Trek Vulcanoid actors did historically - shave off half of their real eyebrows in order to have the false one.

 

I thought only Nimoy did that?

 

We're learning a bunch of new things about the Romulans, like that they have a secret society that is even more secret than the Tal Shiar and hides a horrible past about the culture. Also, we learn that the Romulans have an older adopted human sister who was never mentioned before now... Er... Wait a sec.

Oh yeah, and the whole Irish "he's a drunk!" "You can take this one with ye!" lines. Love it.

 

We’re seeing more of what we got small hints of in Unification.

 

Blalock absolutely started doing that in the third season of Enterprise as well. She had been demanding they give her normal Vulcan eyebrows, and they finally agreed.

 

My favorite Romulan episodes are "The Enterprise Incident" (TOS), "Face of the Enemy" (TNG), and "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" (DS9). All involve espionage.

One of the things I'm loving about Picard is the intricate, entangled web it looks like they're weaving that they're going to get the Federation caught right up in. They're even better than the Cardassians. They managed to survive the destruction of their homeworld and thrive as the Romulan Free State.