Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 1x08 - "Broken Pieces"

[Mark 2000]

I'm mostly left confused about why anything is happening on this show because it is, in effect, an utterly muddled mess.

•Why did the EMH not report that Maddox was murdered earlier? Why wasn't it clear in the records? Obviously Agnes didn't hack anything. So...
•The detective work of talking to all the EHs seemed pointless. All Raffi gets out of this silly romp is the name of Rios's old captain, which I assume is public record. At that point it's enough for him to spill the beans. The whole thing is padding. Oh, but the engineer was Scottish. Totally worth it.
•Why did the Romulan's want the Borg cube in the first place? Why were they ever deprogramming the drones?
•Maddox went off to a planet and built a race of fleshbots all by himself?
•What kills the universe if robots get as smart as humans? Is it the robots? Is it some galactic monster that swoops in and blows things up? I didn't get it. What it seems like is that we really do have a BSG "all this has happened before" plot. An ancient race made robots. The robots destroyed them. We make robots. The robots destroy us. Etc, etc. The question is, why wouldn't robots and people be able to live in peace? Everyone else seems to manage it ok. And robots honestly don't seem smarter and stronger than some species. What gives them a leg up on destroying the universe?
• The Romulans screwed up their own rescue? They couldn't have waited to blow up Mars until after they saved Romulus? I mean, what was the rush in comparison?
• If the Romulans and Feds are tentative allies and seeing the death of the universe totally convinces you, why didn't the Romulan's just flat out present their evidence of the threat? Why all the coy disguises?

Picard started with two problems. The first was Romulan refugees spreading through the Federation. The second was killer robots being banned. The lessons the show is pushing are really weird. On the refugee front, which deals with actual flesh-and-blood people, we find that "let them die" would be the preferable option. Starfleet says it. Riker says it. The Romulan really are all bad. Even being half-blooded makes you totally evil, in the case of Oh.
On the killer robot front all, it seems, should be forgive because reasons. Fear got the better of us. Warnings be damned. Forget that the robots were vulnerable enough that they could be used to destroy a whole planet just like Data could be commandeered or go rogue way to often (Brothers, Masks, Decent, Phantasms, Insurrection, and more) or how Control was poised to destroy the whole universe. It seems being bigoted against toasters is bad, but being bigoted against actual, living people is totally justified. Way to go, Picard!

 

[thribs]

The more they talk about Data, the more annoyed I am that Geordi isn’t in the show. He was his best friend after all. He should really be the one getting close to Soji.

 

[DaveyNY]

•Why did the EMH not report that Maddox was murdered earlier? Why wasn't it clear in the records? Obviously Agnes didn't hack anything. So...

The only one who was suspicious was Raffi, and she was drunk as a skunk during most of that time period.

When she finally went 'cold turkey' she was immediately going through everything again, it just took her time to figure it out.

Nobody else bothered to look.

 

[DaveyNY]

•Why did the Romulan's want the Borg cube in the first place? Why were they ever deprogramming the drones?

Parts is Parts .... They wanted the Borg Tech.
The Romulans weren't interested in the Drones themselves.
The whole thing was a cover up anyway.
That's why Hugh was brought in, to add to the cover-up story.

•Maddox went off to a planet and built a race of fleshbots all by himself?

No, he went off to find something that his study of B4 and apparently, 'heard rumor's put him on the trail of ... namely planet Capalius.
He found the Synth's there already functioning.

• The Romulans screwed up their own rescue? They couldn't have waited to blow up Mars until after they saved Romulus? I mean, what was the rush in comparison?

Obviously, the Zaht Vash are just a bit zealous and wanted something to happen that would put the Federation off of the study of Androids.
The home-world was already doomed by the time of the Mars attack, for the Zhat Vash all those folks dying was just a necessary evil.

• If the Romulans and Feds are tentative allies and seeing the death of the universe totally convinces you, why didn't the Romulan's just flat out present their evidence of the threat? Why all the coy disguises?

Because it wasn't the main Establishment of Romulus that was perpetrating all this.

 

[pst]

The more they talk about Data, the more annoyed I am that Geordi isn’t in the show. He was his best friend after all. He should really be the one getting close to Soji.

i felt this way about the wasted potential of hugh. they should've kept him around because he's an interesting character, his death hasn't impacted the plot at all, and, most importantly, his friendship with geordi remains a huge thread that could've been tied up.

call me crazy, but i actually think the show should've been about the crew hunting for la forge, not maddox. there's a vested interest in la forge not maddox and he's tied to both the hugh plot and the data plot. though obviously they couldn't kill la forge so offhandedly as they did maddox.

 

[Mark 2000]

The only one who was suspicious was Raffi, and she was drunk as a skunk during most of that time period.When she finally went 'cold turkey' she was immediately going through everything again, it just took her time to figure it out.Nobody else bothered to look.

Does not compute. The EMH was not shut down or wiped. It's been activated several times since. Why didn't it report?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Didn't he eventually just take it out because he thought it was too much trouble?

It fused into his head in Generations, but at some point he became able to turn it off (FC, INS?).

 

[DaveyNY]

Does not compute. The EMH was not shut down or wiped. It's been activated several times since. Why didn't it report?

Because it wasn't asked.
It responds to commands and emergencies, it doesn't make decisions beyond its programming on its own.
Have you forgotten how computers work?

 

[DaveyNY]

It fused into his head in Generations, but at some point he became able to turn it off (FC, INS?).

And the one time we did see him using it, Picard told him to shut it off.

I would guess Data didn't always have it on when he was working.

 

[DaveyNY]

i felt this way about the wasted potential of hugh. they should've kept him around because he's an interesting character, his death hasn't impacted the plot at all, and, most importantly, his friendship with geordi remains a huge thread that could've been tied up.

call me crazy, but i actually think the show should've been about the crew hunting for la forge, not maddox. there's a vested interest in la forge not maddox and he's tied to both the hugh plot and the data plot. though obviously they couldn't kill la forge so offhandedly as they did maddox.

There's always Seasons Two & Three.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

And the one time we did see him using it, Picard told him to shut it off.

I would guess Data didn't always have it on when he was working.

Yeah, I remember him being with Picard, but can't remember which movie ATM.

 

[urbandk]

The only one who was suspicious was Raffi, and she was drunk as a skunk during most of that time period.

When she finally went 'cold turkey' she was immediately going through everything again, it just took her time to figure it out.

Nobody else bothered to look.

Yeah I think it's rather skillfully done.

The EMHs are not sentient. They're essentially very advanced appliances/software programs that operate within their limited parameters.

 

[Romulan_spy]

•What kills the universe if robots get as smart as humans? Is it the robots? Is it some galactic monster that swoops in and blows things up? I didn't get it. What it seems like is that we really do have a BSG "all this has happened before" plot. An ancient race made robots. The robots destroyed them. We make robots. The robots destroy us. Etc, etc. The question is, why wouldn't robots and people be able to live in peace? Everyone else seems to manage it ok. And robots honestly don't seem smarter and stronger than some species. What gives them a leg up on destroying the universe?

The xB called Soji "The Destroyer". In the case of the ancient race, I think we can assume that the robots eventually started a rebellion after they achieved organic like sentience. The rebellion caused a civil war that led to the destruction of the ancient civilization. Maybe there was a robot that looked like Soji who was the robot leader of the rebellion.

Yes, it has a BSG feel to it. Basically, this ancient race created robots that eventually became indistinguishable from organic life and it led to the destruction of their civilization so they set up this warning. The Zhat Vash are convinced that it will happen again which is why they are determined to wipe out all synthetic life before it has a chance to destroy all life.

The whole "message" of the show seems to be that synthethics are not automatically evil and would not automatically cause the apocalypse. The ancient race warned about what happened to them but it does not have to happen to others. The Zhat Vash are making the false assumption that it will automatically happen again because of their fear of synths. So it is our fears and prejudices that really destroy us.

• The Romulans screwed up their own rescue? They couldn't have waited to blow up Mars until after they saved Romulus? I mean, what was the rush in comparison?

Yes they did screw up their own rescue. Presumably, they didn't wait because the Zhat Vash are fanatics who are convinced that the risk from synths is so grave and imminent that they could not afford to wait at all.

• If the Romulans and Feds are tentative allies and seeing the death of the universe totally convinces you, why didn't the Romulan's just flat out present their evidence of the threat? Why all the coy disguises?

Probably because the Zhat Vash are very secretive. They are basically a doomsday cult. So they wanted to take matters into their own hands and don't trust others to help them.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Why did the EMH not report that Maddox was murdered earlier? Why wasn't it clear in the records? Obviously Agnes didn't hack anything. So...

It's probably not programmed to do anything proactive. And to address your follow-up, I can't recall that it was activated between Maddox's death and Jurati disabling the tracker. This episode was the first that anyone had a chance to talk to it, and Raffi was already on it.

All Raffi gets out of this silly romp is the name of Rios's old captain, which I assume is public record.

They've specifically told us more than once that records of the ship were wiped out by Starfleet.

Why did the Romulan's want the Borg cube in the first place? Why were they ever deprogramming the drones?

To salvage Borg tech. Something else the show had told us.

•Maddox went off to a planet and built a race of fleshbots all by himself?
•What kills the universe if robots get as smart as humans? Is it the robots? Is it some galactic monster that swoops in and blows things up? I didn't get it. What it seems like is that we really do have a BSG "all this has happened before" plot. An ancient race made robots. The robots destroyed them. We make robots. The robots destroy us. Etc, etc. The question is, why wouldn't robots and people be able to live in peace? Everyone else seems to manage it ok. And robots honestly don't seem smarter and stronger than some species. What gives them a leg up on destroying the universe?

These items are obviously to be elaborated upon in the upcoming episodes.

If the Romulans and Feds are tentative allies and seeing the death of the universe totally convinces you, why didn't the Romulan's just flat out present their evidence of the threat? Why all the coy disguises?

The Zhat Vash are not "the Romulans," they're a highly secret cabal of Romulans.

On the refugee front, which deals with actual flesh-and-blood people, we find that "let them die" would be the preferable option. Starfleet says it. Riker says it. The Romulan really are all bad.

Laris, Zhaban, Elnor, and the Qowat Milat say otherwise.

 

[DaveyNY]

The xB called Soji "The Destroyer". In the case of the ancient race, I think we can assume that the robots eventually started a rebellion after they achieved organic like sentience. The rebellion caused a civil war that led to the destruction of the ancient civilization. Maybe there was a robot that looked like Soji who was the robot leader of the rebellion.

Remember, the Borg got that info crammed into the Collective from Crazy Aunt Ramdha.
They had no idea how to process it.
They just went with what the Zaht Vash had assumed.

 

[Bgt]

My first 10.
Best episode so far, full with fantastic moments.
Even the Romulan-spy-sister was good in this one.
Did Picard also revealed OH's role to Clancy?
And I did think of "Cylons". I even said aloud "will they have a crossover with BSG?" (oh I wish!!)

I am not sure if I can compare with the other series..but while watching it I was wondering if ST Picard is the best of the franchise so far.

 

[Mark 2000]

The Zhat Vash are not "the Romulans," they're a highly secret cabal of Romulans.

It responds to commands and emergencies, it doesn't make decisions beyond its programming on its own.
Have you forgotten how computers work?[/QUOTE]
LOL, computers report all kinds of thing you don't ask it to do, like crashes, bugs, drives disconnecting, when a virus is detected. I don't have to query it. Certainly someone murdering someone in front of the EMH would make it report because the creator would have programmed it to auto-report when something goes wrong (or it witnesses a crime). Maybe you've forgotten how computers work.

The Zhat Vash are not "the Romulans," they're a highly secret cabal of Romulans.

That's certainly an explanation. It's not necessarily a good one.

Laris, Zhaban, Elnor, and the Qowat Milat say otherwise.

So we've got four good Romulans, two of which are servants? Not a great track record.

 

[The Old Mixer]

That's certainly an explanation. It's not necessarily a good one.

And one that shouldn't have needed to be given to anyone who was paying attention.

So we've got four good Romulans, two of which are servants? Not a great track record.

The Qowat Milat are an order of warrior nuns, not an individual. And for fair comparison, how many bad Romulans with names and faces have we met? Oh (1/2 a Romulan), Narissa, Narek...? I'm drawing a blank beyond that...just goons following Oh's or Narissa's orders.

 

[DaveyNY]

If one sets out trying to be extremely critical to begin with, nothing is going to satisfy ones questions.

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

Plus I don't think Laris and Zhaban are his servants. They work for him, yes.

ETA: I want the last scene of this season to be the crew (sans Jurati, who is awaiting her trial) in Quark's bar, which is now on DS 12. Morn is in the background, of course. Seven swaggers in and says, "You owe me a Borg cube, Picard."