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

[Alexander Corrino]

I for one think it's great that the Romulans get the spotlight for once. (I'm really sick and tired of Klingon stories, for example.) I know this is probably just because the writers of the show seem to focus on Nemesis a lot, but hey. Whatever. If it puts the Romulans inoto some much-deserved spotlight, I'm all for it.

 

[Hythlodeus]

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

less head bumps, no shoulder pads, different hairstyles...so far they already are lightyears better than their Bermantrek incarnation

 

[Cyrus]

Romulans definitely got the short end of the stick in the Star Trek movies:

TWOK: The Kobayashi Maru part was supposed to be with Romulans, but to save money they decided to use the Klingon VFX from the first movie so they changed to Klingons. But still kept the "neutral zone" and "taking no prisoners" lines in the script.

TSFS: Again the aliens were supposed to be Romulans, but they decided Klingons were more popular and changed them. But the Bird of Prey spaceship and clocking device stayed.

TFF: The religious dudes took Federation, Klingon and Romulan hostages. But only Romulans failed to send a spaceship to rescue their hostage. Probably budgetary reason again.

NEM: Romulans finally take center stage but their leader is a human.

So it is good that Romulans are being featured in Picard. But the price was the loss of their planet.

 

[Hythlodeus]

But the price was the loss of their planet.

well, they had two to begin with, those greedy bastards

 

[eschaton]

Romulans definitely got the short end of the stick in the Star Trek movies:

TWOK: The Kobayashi Maru part was supposed to be with Romulans, but to save money they decided to use the Klingon VFX from the first movie so they changed to Klingons. But still kept the "neutral zone" and "taking no prisoners" lines in the script.

TSFS: Again the aliens were supposed to be Romulans, but they decided Klingons were more popular and changed them. But the Bird of Prey spaceship and clocking device stayed.

TFF: The religious dudes took Federation, Klingon and Romulan hostages. But only Romulans failed to send a spaceship to rescue their hostage. Probably budgetary reason again.

NEM: Romulans finally take center stage but their leader is a human.

So it is good that Romulans are being featured in Picard. But the price was the loss of their planet.

You forgot the biggest oops. When the writers were first working on the episode Ensign Ro, they conceived of the Bajorans as having been occupied by the Romulans. However, they decided they had used the Romulans too much on TNG already and revived the one-off Cardassians instead.

If they hasn't made that choice presumably DS9 would have been largely the same, but with a strong Romulan focus.

 

[Hythlodeus]

If they hasn't made that choice presumably DS9 would have been largely the same, but with a strong Romulan focus.

which sounds fine on paper, but if one remembers the uniformity and uglyness of 90s Romulans, I'm glad we got the Cardassians instead.
I try to imagine what a Romulan Garak might have looked like....probably just like every other Romulan

 

[eschaton]

which sounds fine on paper, but if one remembers the uniformity and uglyness of 90s Romulans, I'm glad we got the Kardassians instead.
I try to imagine what a Romulan Garak might have looked like....probably just like every other Romulan

If nothing else, I presume he would have been better dressed.

As it was though, Cardassians had almost as little variety in haircuts as Romulans. Every single man had slicked back greasy hair. Women were allowed a bit more variety, but we didn't see female Cardassians that often.

 

[Hythlodeus]

If nothing else, I presume he would have been better dressed.

with larger shoulder pads than Lady Gaga
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/11/24/article-1230465-0756E38A000005DC-835_468x584.jpg

 

[The Wormhole]

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

Fine episodes indeed.

 

[Timo]

...All of which have a strong covert ops / cloak and dagger and backstabbing focus. Perhaps the writers of PIC are thinking much like you?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[The Overlord]

You forgot the biggest oops. When the writers were first working on the episode Ensign Ro, they conceived of the Bajorans as having been occupied by the Romulans. However, they decided they had used the Romulans too much on TNG already and revived the one-off Cardassians instead.

If they hasn't made that choice presumably DS9 would have been largely the same, but with a strong Romulan focus.

I think everything worked out for the best in DS9. We would not have gotten an episode like 'In the Pale Light" if the Romulans were the main villains of DS9 and Garak does not need giant shoulder pads.

This may have worked for the best in general, with Picard we have an alien civilization that has been around forever, but has not gotten much development, so they are a bit of a blank slate to play around with.

I feel like a secret society controlling the Klingon Empire or the Cardassian Union would seem out of left field, but with the Romulans I could buy that.

 

[Hythlodeus]

I feel like a secret society controlling the Klingon Empire or the Cardassian Union would seem out of left field, but with the Romulans I could buy that.

idk, I think it can work with the Cardassians pretty well, Obsidian Order and all that jazz.

Klingons? Nah, they don't have the right... temperament for secret organizations

 

[The Overlord]

idk, I think it can work with the Cardassians pretty well, Obsidian Order and all that jazz.

Klingons? Nah, they don't have the right... temperament for secret organizations

But we know more about the Cardassians than the Romulans, so it would have seemed more out of the blue with them.

 

[fireproof78]

It would not surprise me for there to be multiple secret organizations all vying for power, both with Cardassians and with Romulans.

 

[The Overlord]

It would not surprise me for there to be multiple secret organizations all vying for power, both with Cardassians and with Romulans.

It seems like Picard is setting up the Zhat Vash to the ultimate Romulan bad guys, with even the Tal Shair just being their puppets. Which I am fine with, I think the Romulans needed something new to be more menacing.

 

[Voodoowoman2]

I've needed a Romulan fix for two decades now! I hated the TNG movies so I was shocked their planet exploded. I will be enjoying Picard for that reason. I love my CBS streaming and only watched Enterprise episodes with T'Pau in them.

 

[fireproof78]

It seems like Picard is setting up the Zhat Vash to the ultimate Romulan bad guys, with even the Tal Shair just being their puppets. Which I am fine with, I think the Romulans needed something new to be more menacing.

Romuluans strike me as a society that doesn't tolerate power vacuums for long. I think having multiple secret societies all waiting for a chance to assert control makes sense.

 

[Lord Garth]

I hope Picard somehow delves more into the details behind the split between the Romulans and Vulcans.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

We're seeing a lot more of the Romulans than ever before, but I don't think we're learning much more about them (yet), aside from the Zhat Vash and a hatred of AI. So far, they've been way too human to me in how they talk and act.

In the past, when we got to see the Romulans, it was like Nixon visiting China, in terms of its rareness & otherness. Now they're literally roommates of Picard, and even though I like those characters, there's really nothing "other" about them or any of the other Romulans. And I think it's always great to realize we're all more alike than we'd like to admit, but I'd rather see it in the context of embracing one another's differences & uniqueness.

Part of me is still annoyed by VOY going to so much effort to create a very alien species with Species 8472, only to discover that they were exactly like us. ("In the Flesh") So I was hoping for more with PIC, and there's still plenty of time in the season for things to go deeper.

 

[Lord Garth]

Part of me is still annoyed by VOY going to so much effort to create a very alien species with Species 8472, only to discover that they were exactly like us. ("In the Flesh")

"In the Flesh" is very much an episode I'm of two minds of. As well-executed as it was, it took away a lot of the alien-ness from Species 8472. Fortunately, the Romulans are Humanoid and always seemed more "human" than it looked like Species 8472 was going to be when we first saw them in "Scorpion". As long as the Romulans feel like Ancient Romans and have that mentality, I won't call foul.