Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 1x09 - "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1"

[Cyrus]

The new android body is definitely intended for Soong. Jurati even says so at the end of the episode, telling the androids she needs to help Soong survive. If the Synth federation tries to kill all organics that would include Soong too, unless he transfers to the android body.

 

[picardjean-luc]

I see a lot of posts talking about Picard’s mind being transferred to an android. What a horrible idea, I am hoping the writers are better than that.

Picard being played by someone other than sir Patrick, when he is still available, is idiotic. And if the android looks like him it is just as bad, and I doubt if PS would agree to play an android version of his character.

so this is not happening. Of course I was similarly sure that the terrible idea of Lorca being from the mirror universe was not happening either.

Second your post. This is a terrible idea. This is 'Star Trek,' not 'Westworld'

The plot worked very well for the latter, but if that's the direction 'Picard' is going, I'm afraid it may lost the goodwill of the fans that has been built for the initial 7 episodes of the series. The 'Not-My-Trek' critics of the series would have been justified in their attacks on the show

 

[Noname Given]

Skipped about 20 pages again..sue me.

This one gets another 5 froom me - and I think I'm being REALLY generous here.

So, Soji ISN'T Data's daughter; she's just ANOTHER Soong Type Bio-Android created by a Son of Soong.
^^^
THIS was the new take on Picard Patrick Stewart sooo loved, and wanted to play?

Sorry, but for me this is one big trope that TNG has DONE TO DEATH!

So, Arilk Soong (who was never hinted at in TNG's S4 Ep. "Brothers" ; carries on his father's work with Bruce Maddox on a planet NO ONE knows about. <--- That's important because in the end they create Dahj and Soji for some 'Mission' (which BTW, beyond Soji claiming said mission was successful - no one states to the audience what it is...

And, in the end, what is the result? Maddox is killed (BTW - If Maddox was working with Soong on this Android Lab sanctuary; WHY did he leave and have to make a deal/take a loan from a very cutthroat criminal (Bejeyzal) so he could set up another secret ladb - which somehow the Zhat Vash or Tal Shiar found and dissolved; and Maddox somehow escaped to Freecloud, and would have been killed either by Bejezal or The Zhat Vash...again...)

Lol - the more I go over the story/plot as presented so far - the LESS sense it makes...

In the end, the ONLY thing Soji's 'mission' seems to have accomplished is to reveal the location of Soong's android lab to the Zhat Vash. (Oh, and BTW - where are the trademark red lightning storms that are supposed to be sooo common yet unique; the world can be singled out from the billions Star Fleet and the Romulans have explored over their centuries of spacefaring abilities?)

IDK - in a way I was rtight in that I assumed we'd see Brent Spiner performing some 'Data' related character - but yeah, the WORST thing they could have done - which they did - was say to their audience:

Hey, Soong had a son, and he's following in daddy's footsteps; and making "Lore 2.0" in female form...SURPRISE!
(Oh, and Synthetic Androids can now Mind Meld with biological life forms IF they read the right Vulcan texts...Yet a Betazoid Empath can't sense a emotional presence from a Biological/cloned Android...)

And now, we have this 'Godlike Synth Alliance' that supposedly watches everything - YET - they somehow need to be summoned before they'll help their fellow Synth survive and 'evolve'... Yeah, 'godlike'...not.

My response:

(Oh, and would someone tell my WHY Commodore OH had Sutra's sister and "Beautiful Flower" killed when it would be obvious:

A) They are Soong Type Androids (Remember kids, Soong Android twins look exactly alike).

B) If Oh instead orders they be detained; then she takes custody of them - the Zhat Vash could DOWNLOAD the exact location of their Homeworld - or hell Vandermir and Rios could have found that out if they were allowed to complete the process - then Oh could have told the Zhat Vash - and the planet would have been destroyed 14 year earlier.

For me the biggest bright spot in the series has been Jeri Ryan as 7 of 9 and what these writers did with that character - and I LOATHE ST:VOY and have only seen 4 episodes total from VOY with 7 of 9 in them; but her character arc (short as it is) is WAY more interesting than the Dahj/Soji/Picard given where this is all heading.

If I gave this a 5 - it' only because Jerri Ryan as 7 of 9 was in it...it certainly wasn't because of the great plotting for the Jean Luc-Picard character, because sorry at this point, said plot is anything but great,

(Oh, and my prediction for the end...the Romulans

Compared to the plotting of STP S1 - BOTH ST: D S1 and S2 plotting are literary masterpieces by comparison.

STP shows what happens when Mr. Chabon lets TNG Nostalgia drive the plot above all else.

(Oh and don't worry - Ep. 10 will have a big buildup where it seems all hope is lost - then 7 of 9 and Elnor will manage to fire up the Borg Cube defenses and blast the Rolumans out of the sky. However Sutra will manage to call in the 'Godlike Synth Alliance' - but said alliance will see (via 7 of 9 and the ExB's that organic and synthetic CAN coexist. -- Funny thing though IF I end up being correct -- should the 'Godlike Synth Alliance' have been watching the Borg for centuries...so why be so surprised that it doesn't matter if you get your Organics in your Synths or Synths in your Organics; since in the end it's the same Reese's Android Cup? )

 

[F. King Daniel]

I suspect Data will be reborn into the new synth body, and as Synth Jesus he'll talk the others around to a peaceful path.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Not bad- I especially loved the riff on the Voyager theme when Seven returned - but plot-wise... So we meet the androids, one of them looks a bit sour-faced, and she instantly turns out to be the evil destroy-all-life type, proving the Romulans right. So, fiale cliffhanger with Romulans and Feds teaming up agains tthe Cylon attack, then, I presume....

 

[RJDiogenes]

And here we have the first part of the season finale. Not everything I would hope for, but actually quite good. We spent most of the episode on a sunny planet that's populated by androids wearing, not quite togas, but colorful diaphanous summerwear-- very Star Trek indeed, and a nice change of pace from the dreary generic 21st-century Sci-Fi sets.

It's a nice touch that the androids don't have a super-civilization that is all powerful. They have very finite resources and they used up a lot of them bringing La Sirena and the Artifact and the Romulan Hipster to the surface-- and I'm still not quite sure if they were intending to bring them down for a meeting, or just kill them. In any case, most of them survived. Possibly the only fatalities were Rios' holograms.

On to the plot: Upon arriving at this new planet, we are introduced to a new Soong-- the son of Soong-- but it's the same old Soong and dance. Haha. Nice enough guy, but he's fruity as a nutcake. He created this private world of androids, some of whom resemble Data and some who don't-- and provided a haven for Bruce Maddox after the Synth Ban. How Maddox knew about the place and got there is still a bit fuzzy. Soji represents one model, and there's been at least four of her-- including at least one who has that Data look about her, which is really cool except for the fact that she's evil. She even conspired with Hipster to kill one of her sisters to promote anti-biological bigotry.

Because that is actually the main plot of this series. I was actually right when I said that the Jack Flash brain zap was intended for androids and damages biological brains. Because the envisioned Apocalypse is all about an intergalactic civilization of artificial life forms who swoop in and save oppressed androids from nasty biologicals-- so more like the Killer B's awful Second Foundation Trilogy than Clarke's Odyssey series. And Data-Soji got their telephone number out of Agnes's damaged brain and they will soon be summoned to wipe out the Alpha Quadrant.

There's other stuff going on, too, including a lot of nice little character moments. The best was an encounter between Raffi and Picard where we see that they really did mean as much to each other as Riker and Picard did, even if things ended badly in this case. And Rios has genuine fondness for Agnes, as we saw in another touching scene. And Elfwich was reunited with Picard again-- kid's a hugger-- and was pleased to learn how proud Picard is of him. And, in a moment that was perhaps intended as foreshadowing, Picard left him with Seven, declaring that saving the galaxy was their job now. I wonder if Seven can get that cube off the ground.

But most interesting of all, Picard revealed that his Irumodic Syndrome has kicked in after all these years and he is terminal. Coincidentally-- very, very coincidentally-- Son of Soong is developing a way to transfer a human consciousness into an android body. Will Picard live on as a Humandroid, a living bridge between two worlds? Stay tuned.

Oh, I almost forgot, there are 218 Romulan Angrybirds on the way to destroy the planet. Where the fuck is Clancy's fucking fleet? I have no fucking idea.

 

[Gordie]

Even though I am not a super fan of the new show, last night's episode was good. My favorite part was the Synth with the long curly hair. At first I thought she was the one who died during the escape.

 

[Seven of Five]

I think this was more a 7 this week. I definitely enjoyed seeing Brent Spiner again, and the Synth homeworld was lovely to see, Strange New Worlds and all that. I'm just not sure it actually makes sense that Soong had a son that he conveniently never mentioned.

It's just a shame that everything we have been building towards this year is going to boil down to a big Synth vs. Romulan battle. I hope there is more to it than that.

 

[Romulan_spy]

@KennyB. Just curious, but what's the policy re $poilers for unreleased episode trailers? I only come into these topics once I've seen the episode in question, this can't be spoiled on it, but I do not watch the trailers, but, as above, people here discuss those, too.

The trailer was released. It was at the end of episode 9 that just aired.

 

[Gonzo]

Am I the only one thinking of V'ger?

The Intelligence can't be V'ger as the Voyager probe that became V'ger was only launched 400 years ago, the Admonition/Beacon was placed there a very long time ago.

It could be what turned Voyager into V'ger though.

 

[Gonzo]

BULLSHIT.

That's exactly how the hell it works. It's literally just electrical impulses.

Also, regular Soji is sexier. So there.

I am digging the gold paint I just hope it doesn't transfer as it would get everywhere.

 

[Llywela]

The La Sirena doesn't have a transwarp engine.

I expect Narek to turn good next episode and maybe join the La Sirena crew.

Guys. It is just La Sirena. There's no 'the'.

So... Data and Lore are twins perhaps really from this world, and nowhere near as unique as originally thought? Did they just totally recontextualize the backstory of one of Trek's most iconic characters? Or was this colony set up after Data and Lore were made on Omicron Theta?

The latter. Data and Lore's backstory was not altered in the slightest by this episode. The new Soong's work was separate from that of his father, and more recent.

No way would stabbing a synth in the eye kill them??

Depends how the synth was constructed. Everything has a weak spot.

I'm not quite sure why Maddox left and what Soji's mission was.

I also don't understand why Picard said Hugh resorted to Brutality. Was this because he had a plan to take back the cube before he died? I got a very TNG vibe from parts of his episode, and again, Picard really felt like Picard to me. I'm going to give this a 7 for now.

Picard said Hugh had resorted to violence, not brutality - the brutality was what drove him to it. And, filtered through Elnor's explanation, it is true - Hugh wasn't wielding a weapon himself, but he was planning an open insurrection against the Romulans. Insurrection is by its nature violence.

I think Soji and Dahj's mission was to find out if the Zhat Vash was real - I'm guessing Maddox got wind of the rumours, probably after the deaths of Beautiful Flower and Jana, and decided to investigate.

I kinda hate the idea of son of Soong. I think a somewhat corrupted “Synth” Data would have had more dramatic impact. I hate to play this card, but wouldnt Data and Lore have known and mentioned him before..

Data didn't know he'd been created by Soong until he met him. Data didn't know Lore existed until he met him. Data didn't know his 'mother' Juliana Tainer existed until he met her. So I'm good with Data not knowing Soong had a son! And even Lore didn't know everything.

 

[Llywela]

The trailer was released. It was at the end of episode 9 that just aired.

Just to note for the record, international viewers watching on Amazon don't get next episode trailers.

 

[Gonzo]

Finally watched it.

Clearly focused on setup which is no surprise being the first part of the finale, they crammed all the setup and exposition into this episode to avoid needing any in the final episode, looks like its going to be a solid hour which is nice.

Most of the episode has been covered I will just add a few bits.

I liked seeing La Sirena when they disembark, gives a good idea of its size, the lower end of my estimates were about right at 50m long and two to three decks high, nice little compact freighter.

Narek is doing a fine job of avoiding his sister.

Pretty clear that Sutra is the destroyer as everyone has said.

I have no problem with the Synth dying by being stabbed in the eye, its one of the only weak points they have, it was obviously Sutra who killed her not Narek.

Who is going to end up in that body, will it be Picard or Data, the comments indicate they have been working on a mind transfer, that would indicate someone who is alive (Picard) rather than Data but we shall see.

It gets another 9 from me with the 10 in reserve for next week.

 

[Nyotarules]

Perfect cat, one that won't need feeding, doesn't need to poop, will live forever.

Where can I get one?

Does it still ignore its cat post and scratch the furniture instead?

This is the absolute nadir of Alex Kurtzman's neverending trash-o-rama. It just keeps piling it on and on and on and on. It's incomprehensible that nonsense like STP has people gushing over it like it has any value to it.

I never understand people who keep going to the same restaurant to complain about the food...

Ok time to watch the show. I want to have Santiago's babies the old fashioned way lol

 

[Makarov]

Second your post. This is a terrible idea. This is 'Star Trek,' not 'Westworld'

The plot worked very well for the latter, but if that's the direction 'Picard' is going, I'm afraid it may lost the goodwill of the fans that has been built for the initial 7 episodes of the series. The 'Not-My-Trek' critics of the series would have been justified in their attacks on the show

Star Trek has had body swaps before with the Trill. Plus Picard has been cloned/dopplegangered half a dozen times in TNG

 

[MrPointy]

What if Picard's android body looks like James McAvoy?

 

[Kore]

The flowers were one of my favorite parts about the episode. The scope and scale are some of my biggest problems.

What if Picard's android body looks like James McAvoy?

^ The only way Picard being played by someone new is a good idea.

 

[thribs]

What if Picard's android body looks like James McAvoy?

No, it’s Tom Hardy.

 

[ITDUDE]

But I think not being on the same page as everyone who decides to be vocal is a good thing.

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