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Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 1x04 - "Absolute Candor"

Rate the episode...


  • Total voters
    283
as it was a christoph* (you really can't have fun with a chopper ride while lying on a stretcher) the dog. i was already canophobe before that (unfortunately dogs know that)

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*not sure they were called that then - the link is german
 
Yes but its walk out of theater bad for me. Worse than most anyone I know..


Thanks. Doesnt sound too bad then. Relieved we don't see the headless corpse. Appreciate your nonjudgmental answer to my question.
You might want to steer clear of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith.

Also, as the Senator's goons start pulling out phasers later, one wonders why the senator just didn't shoot Picard point blank. A classic case of https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HonorBeforeReason . Also see Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The whole scene seemed staged just to have Elnor "rescue" Picard. Is he an Oh spy (along with likely Jurati) too?
 
I would suspect a bite from any kind of German, Alsatian or otherwise could be pretty nasty.

opened me up from the knee to the shoulder







... it wasn't that bad (as everybody thought - to me it was bad enough) but it must have looked rather horrible
 
Oh my God, I loved it! Awesome episode, it kept me engaged throughout, and it ended far too quickly. The cogs have finally started turning and I can't wait.

I thoroughly enjoyed the look into Romulan culture today. At first I found it weird how they focused on East Asia for inspiration (Vashti basically looked like something out of a Wuxia movie for me), but then I realized that Romulans have always stood in for the communist Chinese from the beginning; thinking back of Unification, its scenes of Romulus evoked that foreboding, hostile, inhumane stained-concrete atmosphere from 80s far eastern cinema, so I was ultimately pleased with seeing another facet of Romulans being inspired by the insular East Asian cultures (not to mention Zhaban being pronounced Chiban, almost as if it was written in pinyin). The Way of Absolute Candor was a very refreshing inversion of normal Romulan behavior, and still when you think about it, it's basically just the logical conclusion of being as un-Vulcan-like as possible, isn't it? Promises being prisons and asking Elnor to let himself be seen were also interesting concepts; I liked how the latter was worded, I found it an effective demonstration of the Qowat Milat's denial of Romulan secrecy.

Picard once again tried behaving like he did in his prime, and it was very sad to see how he expected that powerful displays of his moral compass and giving speeches would still convince people of his viewpoint or get him what he wanted, only to be shot down once again. It's no wonder he wants to make a difference just one more time so desperately. He's coming to the painful realization that he's no longer the powerful captain whose word once the whole Quadrant listened to.

Jurati keeps behaving very suspiciously; the way she's inserting herself into every conversatation left me feeling as if the show almost wanted us to think she was spying on everyone for Oh. But I still can't help but like her, and she was once again behaving like a more mature Tilly... I loved how she practically weaponized the Tilly-trademarked rambling with the obvious intention of getting under Rios' skin and learn something about him. And I also loved how Rios curtly shot her down by simply telling her what his book was about.

I enjoyed Elnor, even if he was a bit clichéd as a samurai-ish Romulan version of Legolas (the show-off). Picard's answer to his question "why do you need me?" broke my heart; it was obvious he was expecting one specific answer instead of the defensive explanation he got. He wasn't the only one who evoked a character from another franchise though, as Rizzo's incestous overtones have once again evoked Azula's cruel mind games she kept playing on her brother Zuko. She even looks like Azula when she's smirking oh-so-smugly. It's obvious she's doing this to make Narek uncomfortable and feel powerless, and I've got the feeling that she might eventually push him too far, leading to him betraying her and siding with Soji instead. It won't happen for a while though if it does.

The random things:
  • Just how many holograms does Rios have? The man has serious issues. Does he also have other species or just different ethnicities? I'd like to see Vulcan!Rios and Cardassian!Rios.
  • Ramdha's quote about the Destroyer made me think the Vulcans/Romulans survived a devastating AI rebellion in their past and that's why the Zhat Vash were formed.
  • When Rios and Raffi told Picard about the Romulan BoP, the "close channel" sound was a Bajoran combadge chirp. I can already imagine some überfans going apeshit somewhere.
  • I absolutely loved that they named the refugee ships after Raoul Wallenberg. It melted my unfeeling, cold Hungarian heart. My professors kept telling the stories of him jumping on top of the trains bound for Auschwitz and tossing bags of Swedish passports into the cars even as the SS and Arrow Cross thugs kept shooting at him. A true hero if there ever was one.
  • And of course, Seven of Nine. Her grand entry was an awesome arrival of the cavalry at the last moment. I've sorely missed her.
 
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Good
- All the Romulan stuff on Vashti. It was great world-building and it really developed the Romulan culture. It was interesting to see these Romulan monk-assassins with their philosophy of complete candor. Very intriguing. And the bar scene with the ex-Senator and the sword fight were great. It was also great backstory to what happened to the Romulans during and after the evacuation and seeing the geopolitical consequences of the supernova.
- I really like the new crew and the holograms. It's just an interesting group of characters. The different holograms of Rios continues to be a great concept. It is a neat scifi concept that you could crew a civilian ship with just holograms.
- Patrick Stewart is a great actor who continues to do a great job of portraying the complex emotions that the character is experiencing from his choices.
- The space battle was very cool. It was great seeing a TOS Romulan BOP and of course... Seven!! What a great cliffhanger!
- Peyton List as Rizzo! :adore: :drool:

Bad
- The scenes between Soji and Narek were a drag IMO. I am not really seeing the chemistry.

I do wonder if the writers have a clear road map for the story arc. Will the show end after season 2 with a clear beginning and end that wraps up Picard's character? Or will they wrap up Picard's character arc at some point and then continue the show with these new characters without him? I definitely don't see Patrick Stewart doing this show for more than 3 seasons.
 
- I really like the new crew and the holograms. It's just an interesting group of characters. The different holograms of Rios continues to be a great concept. It is a neat scifi concept that you could crew a civilian ship with just holograms.

especially the holograms - what language did the e-gunner-h speak, btw?
 
Oh my God, I loved it! Awesome episode, it kept me engaged throughout, and it ended far too quickly. The cogs have finally started turning and I can't wait.

I thoroughly enjoyed the look into Romulan culture today. At first I found it weird how they focused on East Asia for inspiration (Vashti basically looked like something out of a Wuxia movie for me), but then I realized that Romulans have always stood in for the communist Chinese from the beginning; thinking back of Unification, its scenes of Romulus evoked that foreboding, hostile, inhumane stained-concrete atmosphere from 80s far eastern cinema, so I was ultimately pleased with seeing another facet of Romulans being inspired by the insular East Asian cultures (not to mention Zhaban being pronounced Chiban, almost as if it was written in pinyin). The Way of Absolute Candor was a very refreshing inversion of normal Romulan behavior, and still when you think about, it's basically just the logical conclusion of being as un-Vulcan-like as possible, isn't it? Promises being prisons and asking Elnor to let himself be seen were also interesting concepts; I liked how the latter was worded, I found it an effective demonstration of the Qowat Milat's denial of Romulan secrecy.

Picard once again tried behaving like he did in his prime, and it was very sad to see how he expected that powerful displays of his moral compass and giving speeches would still convince people of his viewpoint or get him what he wanted, only to be shot down once again. It's no wonder he wants to make a difference just one more time so desperately. He's coming to the painful realization that he's no longer the powerful captain whose word once the whole Quadrant listened to.

Jurati keeps behaving very suspiciously; the way she's inserting herself into every conversatation left me feeling as if the show almost wanted us to think she was spying on everyone for Oh. But I still can't help but like her, and she was once again behaving like a more mature Tilly... I loved how she practically weaponized the Tilly-trademarked rambling with the obvious intention of getting under Rios' skin and learn something about him. And I also loved how Rios curtly shot her down by simply telling her what his book was about.

I enjoyed Elnor, even if he was a bit clichéd as a samurai-ish Romulan version of Legolas (the show-off). Picard's answer to his question "why do you need me?" broke my heart; it was obvious he was expecting one specific answer instead of the defensive explanation he got. He wasn't the only one who evoked a character from another franchise though, as Rizzo's incestous overtones have once again evoked Azula's cruel mind games she kept playing on her brother Zuko. She even looks like Azula when she's smirking oh-so-smugly. It's obvious she's doing this to make Narek uncomfortable and feel powerless, and I've got the feeling that she might eventually push him too far, leading to him betraying her and siding with Soji instead. It won't happen for a while though if it does.

The random things:
  • Just how many holograms does Rios have? The man has serious issues. Does he also have other species or just different ethnicities? I'd like to see Vulcan!Rios and Cardassian!Rios.
  • Ramdha's quote about the Destroyer made me think the Vulcans/Romulans survived a devastating AI rebellion in their past and that's why the Zhat Vash were formed.
  • When Rios and Raffi told Picard about the Romulan BoP, the "close channel" sound was a Bajoran combadge chirp. I can already imagine some überfans going apeshit somewhere.
  • I absolutely loved that they named the refugee ships after Raoul Wallenberg. It melted my unfeeling, cold Hungarian heart. My professors kept telling the stories of him jumping on top of the trains bound for Auschwitz and tossing bags of Swedish passports into the cars even as the SS and Arrow Cross thugs kept shooting at him. A true hero if there ever was one.
  • And of course, Seven of Nine. Her grand entry was an awesome arrival of the cavalry at the last moment. I've sorely missed her.
One minor thing I noticed is wouldn't Rios be reading his book in its original Spanish?

Rumor is that Rios is himself a hologram and thus the ship is entirely automated. His captain who was killed was the real Rios.

In-universe, Picard calling Seven by her Borg name is jarring (although real world that's how most of the audience knows her). She should have replied, "Locutus, you owe me a new ship!" :borg:
 
I do wonder if the writers have a clear road map for the story arc. Will the show end after season 2 with a clear beginning and end that wraps up Picard's character? Or will they wrap up Picard's character arc at some point and then continue the show with these new characters without him? I definitely don't see Patrick Stewart doing this show for more than 3 seasons.

From everything I've read PIC has always been intended to be a 3-and-done series. Of course, that doesn't preclude it continuing as a spinoff without Picard, depending on where this story ends up.
 
I have a feeling Narek probably took his out before being intimate with Soji.
Could really end badly should it accidentally pop before he does.
:barf:



(I just realized that this gives a whole new meaning to that particular emoji)
:rommie:

Now you just need to combine those 2....
 
In-universe, Picard calling Seven by her Borg name is jarring (although real world that's how most of the audience knows her).
I didn't feel that one jarring, granted, it was because of my out-of-universe perspective. But now that I think of it; I feel that unlike Raffi who kept calling him J.L. whether he wanted or not until he relented, Picard was probably courteous enough to eventually respect Seven's wishes and call her what she wanted to be called.
 
I am wondering why they call it Romulan ale, each time I order an ale in the UK, I am served some kind of a beer... Romulan ale seems more like hard liquor to me. Does anyone have an idea?
 
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