Spoilers The Problem with Elnor

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Picard' started by TJ Sinclair, Mar 22, 2020.

  1. TJ Sinclair

    TJ Sinclair Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I really want to like the character. He's sweet and adorable and a good-hearted person. I want to love him. I feel like we're meant to.

    But he feels like a complete wasted opportunity to me. The Qowat Milat are a cool concept, and reminiscent of several things from the novels, so I do appreciate that. But in terms of the story, what do they bring? A contrast to the Tal Shiar is great, with their openness in stark opposition to typical Romulan paranoia. But they're not doing enough with that to really make it relevant (yet).

    I wish the role that Elnor is filling had gone to a more "average" Romulan refugee. I love the concept of the child that Picard befriended and then abandoned, but I'd rather have seen him grow up to be someone who had to struggle to live on the streets of somewhere like Freecloud, who had to survive by his wits and street-smarts, rather than under the protection of a group of warrior nuns on the comparatively safe Vashti. I would rather see a more realistic depiction of a refugee than this cute mashup between Legolas and Pol Atreides that we've gotten.

    I thought we were going to see the point to Elnor's uber-ninja-warrior status once he stayed behind on the Artifact with Hugh. If he'd managed to actually make a difference there, I think it would have gone a long way to making me feel better about the character's presence. However, so far, he just seems there to not only be another one of Picard's failures, but to fail himself.

    I want to love Elnor, but damn, I'm struggling, because I see so much wasted potential in what they could have done with a Romulan character on the crew. We could have had a continuing, deeper perspective of the refugees that could have been so interesting and valuable, and instead we just...don't.
     
  2. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    It's because he's a hugger, isn't it?
     
  3. TJ Sinclair

    TJ Sinclair Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Uhm, not remotely... the hugging in the show is excellent. Especially the one from Hugh.

    ETA: You know, it's frustrating to get a reply notification, and log in expecting a discussion, only to get a one-liner joke. But it's the internet, I don't know why I would expect anything else. Oh, well.
     
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  4. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    I like Elnor. His innocence and naivety are refreshing. He naively thought that he and his sword could single-handedly save the day on the Borg cube only to get a shocking lesson in reality. I think that Hugh's death is the first step of his growth and maturity in his journey to become a hero.
     
  5. Bollie74

    Bollie74 Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    It does seem that he should be more street smart even being raised on Vashti. The planet is not exactly a Federation world with no wants and rainbow glitter fountains everywhere. He should have been useful on FreeCloud even if he did not have experience offworld.

    I also just don't like how Picard treats Elnor, and for that matter Raffi. Both are loyal and kind of messed up and while it was nice for Picard to tell Elnor he was proud of him and it was about damned time he told Raffi he loved her, it does feel too little too late.

    Oh, and I hope this isn't too non-conversational, but I love your user avatar, Captain Sinclair :hugegrin:
     
  6. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I wonder if the nuns on Vashti ever broke in to song and sang "How do you solve a problem like Elnor?"
     
  7. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I feel like that misses the whole point of Picard's story.
     
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  8. Anduinel

    Anduinel Captain Captain

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    I do love Elnor, but I feel that his arc this season is kind of unfocused and oddly distanced from Picard and the main plot. Is he supposed to be working through his resentment of Picard? Or was that implicitly resolved when he signed on as qalankhkai? Is this about moving on and growing up (re: throwing in his lot with the xB)? But then he immediately offers to go back to Picard's side once they reunite. There's a progression that I think the audience can kind of extrapolate, but it's uneven and, like most of the character work in this 10-ep season, rather truncated. We'll see how that all ends up in the finale, I suppose.
     
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  9. Bad Thoughts

    Bad Thoughts Vice Admiral Admiral

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    That's what she said!:beer:
     
  10. Danja

    Danja Commodore Commodore

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    He's confused. He's never had many relationships beyond the nuns and Picard.

    He's in the process of finding his footing in the universe.
     
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  11. TJ Sinclair

    TJ Sinclair Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    That doesn't mean the audience should have trouble finding his purpose in the story.
     
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  12. Arpy

    Arpy Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I wonder if he'll get a makeover for next season. If he cuts the hair, loses the robes, and...well, I hope he doesn't go cyberpunk.
     
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  13. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Exactly, and so his place in the story is to be a little more uneven in this new world.
     
  14. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I like Elnor the tv writers should have developed his character more than we've seen so far in seaon1 .I hope in the finale he's given more to do in the finale .
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2020
  15. eschaton

    eschaton Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Elnor's arc has been tragically underdone due to limited screen time. Far less than the other main characters, as he was introduced so late:

    Episode 4 - Backstory, establishment of his strained quasi-paternal relationship with Picard.
    Episode 5 - Basically does nothing other than stand there and act as the straight man for a few jokes
    Episode 6 - Decides to abandon his mission to follow Picard (after what, two days?) to protect his exit and stays on the cube.
    Episode 7 - Adventures with Hugh, acts like a guy he met hours before is suddenly his best friend when he gets murdered.
    Episode 8 - Seven to the rescue, Elnor becomes a sidekick puppy to her.
    Episode 9 - In a single scene where Picard tells him how "proud" he is of him (for what?)

    It seems like he'll have some plot relevance this week, but geez - that's nothing. Soji, Jurati, and Raffi get their own coherent character arcs. Rios doesn't really get a true arc, but he at least gets a decent backstory (and Cabrera gets to ham it up as the different holograms). Elnor is just pinged around as a sidekick from character to character, and shows zero sense of depth or development beyond being a wide-eyed, naive manchild who can kill without a moment's hesitation if the need arises. He's the same from his entry to his last scene.

    I honestly wonder if perhaps more was planned, but it turned out Evagora wasn't an especially good actor, so they decided to dial his screentime way back.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2020
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  16. Jadeb

    Jadeb Commodore Commodore

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    I feel like they wanted to personalize Picard’s betrayal of the Romulans, so they came up with Space Legolas without any real plan for what to do with him beyond that. But, hey, his intro ep was pretty good — one of the better of the season, I thought.
     
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  17. Kilana2

    Kilana2 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    If he cuts his hair he will look like BRIAN BROPHY.

    As to Elnor - I hope he gets more to do in the next season than just slicing off heads or standing around. I liked his chemistry with Hugh and Picard, though.
    For me, Soji is the character with the best development so far. I had my doubts and didn't know what to think of her.
    Rios and Jurati are odd together - Seven and Rios would be hot together. Just my humble opinion.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2020
  18. eschaton

    eschaton Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yeah, Episode 4 was a strong one because it had an actual thematic core beyond "a bunch of random stuff happened" and a coherent character arc for both Picard and Elnor. Really only episodes 4, 6, and 8 actually had consistent themes this season.
     
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  19. Lt.Smokey

    Lt.Smokey Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I just think its hard to properly explore each new character and establish their relationships with each other in the alotted time. I like Elnor, though, boyish innonence and also a cold killer. Hope he gets a lot more exploration on season 2. There is a lot to work with there.
     
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  20. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    I wasn't even thinking about cyberpunk till you brought it up. Now I totally want Elnor to go cyberpunk. All I want is a Warhammer 40K Space Elf.