Season 1 as a Whole

[Thomas Elliot]

What could they have accomplished since the threat they are worried about, the portal, is no longer accessible? How in the world do they basically suicide run themselves in to Starfleet's fleet and not accomplish their mission?

Sounds like a perfect plan...

Keep in mind this is the same organization that knowingly gives their recruits information (the Admonition) that drives the majority of them to suicide. Sacrificing themselves to prevent the end of the world kind of seems like the Zhat Vash's thing.

You compared Data to Q so I was riffing on your comparison.

I didn't compare the two, you did.

It's a joke, my friend. Why so serious?

Because discussing Star Trek is serious business.

 

[fireproof78]

Keep in mind this is the same organization that knowingly gives their recruits information (the Admonition) that drives the majority of them to suicide. Killing themselves to prevent the end of the world kind of seems like the Zhat Vash's thing.

If it served their end then yes. In this instance it didn't.

didn't, you did.

Except I didn't.

Because discussing Star Trek is serious business.

Not to me.

 

[Lord Garth]

Because discussing Star Trek is serious business.

Hmmm.

 

[cooleddie74]

I write Trek fan films and even I try not to take it too seriously at times.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I write Trek fan films and even I try not to take it too seriously at times.

Really? Anything I can check out on YouTube or Vimeo?

 

[cooleddie74]

Just go to the Potemkin1711 account on YouTube and look for both parts of "Distant Echoes" and "Repercussions." They're the first four I've had produced and I'm working on the next one or two now(depending on how many parts it'll be divided into when it finally goes into production).

 

[Turtletrekker]

Just go to the Potemkin1711 account on YouTube and look for both parts of "Distant Echoes" and "Repercussions." They're the first four I've had produced and I'm working on the next one or two now(depending on how many parts it'll be divided into when it finally goes into production).

Those look like they were a lot of fun to make. I particularly like Repercussions. I had to snicker when the actors got their tongues tied over the technobabble.

 

[cooleddie74]

And I tried to use as little as possible.

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

Yeah, I thought the theme of Picard coming to terms with Data's death was rather obvious and better executed than others.

I do think they need to sort out the episode length. There is no need for short episodes since this is a streaming show. If it's because of Canada then have their broadcast version be edited but let everyone else have a longer episode or give them more commercials. All that extra time doesn't need to be spent on the cast it could be spent on world building. I feel it was more of an issue here then it ever was in Discovery. Discovery moves at a rapid pace so even when an episode is shorter there is still a lot that has taken place in any given episode. There is more action and more emotional hits in Discovery so that short run time does get masked a lot. Picard's much slower pacing allows for that shorter run time to really stand out and you get into the area where it seems like nothing is happening.

For season 2 I feel they need to either make the episodes longer so they're covering more content in an episode or they need to greatly speed up the pacing and not make the show so slow. Move from plot point to plot point much quicker or add more action. Since Discovery is the action adventure show I would imagine the pacing might just speed up a lot more.

While I agree that they need to sort out their pacing issues, the last thing I want them - or really, any show - to do is "move from plot point to plot point" - quickly or not - or add more action. The plot, including the action, has to develop organically fom the characters. Instead, you get the impression that they wanted the story and the characters to be at certain points in the story, but don't do the necessary legwork to get them there. Another unfortunate legacy of GoT... although by no means as bad.

I'm all for longer and/ or more epiodes, but this would be the second step. The first one: Narrow down your plotlines and themes, but follow them through more stringently. Then focus on the characters and how they develop the story. Then take the time you need. OK, so it's the third step! Narrative discipline, you could call it. DSC, IMHO, had similar pacing issues, and tried to sove them by adding more action and plot points. For me, it was not entirely successful.

 

[Norsehound]

Just finished my run of the show.

I give it a thumbs up. Overall it feels like a long origin story / setup for this crew to have further adventures over multiple seasons. There was enough teasing out to introduce us to the new crew while showing us the situation that I don't think in other circumstances would have taken this long.

The first half felt slow, bogged down by setup of getting Picard out of retirement, telling us about where he and the Federation is now, but the second half (Nepthe and on?) was pretty engaging. In part I wish they had done more editing of the earlier segments to bring the show in tighter, but then it would sacrifice on needed character development! If there hadn't been, we'd end up with Rogue One's issue of not caring about these characters.

About the only criticism I have at the moment is Elnor.. but not because he was a bad character or played poorly. While the rest of the newcomers had some major story element that was significant in multiple points of the story, Elnor... shows up to fight. And this is after an episode entirely devoted to establishing him! I enjoyed his presence but I wish he could have done more or had something more to do in the show.

There were a lot of things to like about Picard, probably my favorite aspect was how well it tread out Romulan Culture. In a franchise where the Klingons get a lot of the limelight it was nice to have the Romulans be the most visible aliens. Laris and Zhaban were delightful to watch and I kind of regret they won't be back now that Picard is starfaring again.

Overall I gave it a 7. About the only show on CBS trek I would rather watch more than Picard S2 is the to-be-announced-hopefully Pike show.

 

[Mirror_Barclay]

6.5, maybe. I enjoyed watching it. But there was a lot that didn't gel and overall it didn't live up to my expectations.

The good - great to see Picard, Dahj was awesome, Seven/Annika was great. I liked Jurati (mostly) and Rios and his holos eventually grew on me. The peak of the show was Picard finally meeting Soji and the running around on the Borg cube. I liked seeing Hugh again, more of him would have been good.

Less good

• Soji was not as engaging as Dahj, got really bored with her 'romance' with Spy McSpy
• Rafi didn't work for me, seen that scene with her son a million times on other shows, and Elnor never got anything to do
• ending was weak - both the beacon thing and the fake death scene
• didn't really need to see Riker and Troi again (but at least this was no TATV)

In particular they could have done a better job of pulling things together. I assumed throughout much of the show that the big threat the Romulans were worried about was that somehow the Synths would reactivate the Borg cube. Nope. There's this new completely new thing, and the Borg cube has crashed and doesn't matter.

Why hundreds of ships? It made having Riker in command, rather than an admiral, nonsensical. But if the Romulan cult could only gather a few ships, and Starfleet had to scramble a few ships on short notice and activate reservists to get some of them out of mothballs... it would almost have made sense. Also, makes it clear that the cult is/controls the Romulan government. If it was just a few ships it could be a hidden faction that has infiltrated its own government just as it did Starfleet, which is what they seemed to be going for earlier in the season.

Did Jurati kill because of an implanted command from Oh, or just because of the scary vision? Not specifically addressed - even a "she'll never know" would have reassured me that the show was dealing with that possibility, which was implied by her having been made unable to talk about it.

The Romulan refugee thing outside their own borders doesn't really make sense, given the continued existence of a powerful Romulan empire and the premium on transportation (especially after the Romulans destroyed the rescue fleet). Seems like they had ideas around Romulans scattered across the quadrant as refugees and ideas around the Romulan Star Empire as a powerful antagonist and decided to go with both... they really needed to pick one.

I hope Season 2 will address what happens when Romulans learn who it was who attacked Mars.

 

[fireproof78]

Also, makes it clear that the cult is/controls the Romulan government.

Not exactly, since they were not willing to risk war with the Federation to eliminate the synths on the planet. If they were in complete control the death of the synths would have been worth the risk. It clearly wasn't since they backed off, knowing that the Romulan government wouldn't back them up.

It struck me as more like using Tal Shiar assets to try to make this happen only to be undone by the synths asking for protectorate status and Riker's untimely arrival.

 

[Quinton]

7.5, maybe an 8. Quite good. Not flawless. In particular, the penultimate episode was shockingly mediocre and had me concerned the finale would be unable to lift itself out from that muck; thankfully, it did, and it gave us one of the most beautiful scenes in the franchise on top of that.

I also think the writers botched the Agnes Jurati arc pretty badly. It feels, to me and the rest of my household, as if they just forgot part of the narrative process — she’s presented as “goofily charming” again toward the end but it doesn’t feel earned and comes across awkwardly as heck.

Quite enjoyed the rest, including some of the biggest points of contention. Yep, that means I liked Narissa. I enjoyed the Soji/Narek stuff overall. I thought “Stardust City Rag” was rad. I didn’t find the show too slow at all.

All that jazz.

 

[Lord Garth]

One year later, I'm more impressed with what they did than less. Which is always a good sign.

The two things I hold against it are:
1) Killing off the black guy in the very second scene of the series! That looks really bad.
2) The handling of Jurati. No need to beat a dead horse, but...

And if those are the only two serious issues I have, once again, that's pretty good overall.

 

[Llywela]

Having had a re-watch now that the DVD was finally released in the UK, I felt overall that the show hangs together much better when you watch it right through in a couple of days, instead of stringing it out with just one episode a week. The narrative beats land a lot better, the show as a whole feels more balanced, with one episode leading straight into the next rather than being left hanging for a week. Which is weird, since it was always planned, I believe, to be aired weekly. It isn't perfect, nothing is, but I overall enjoy watching it, which for me is the main thing, so season one taken as a whole gets a thumbs up from me.

 

[CultOfByron]

[Content removed at request of poster.]

 

[The Old Mixer]

Did anyone really go into this series looking to find out what happened to Icheb?

On second thought, don't answer that.

 

[fireproof78]

More the confusion is Icheb as a favorite character? Or even Seven of Nine...

 

[cooleddie74]

Icheb wasn't even my favorite male Borg character on VOY.

 

[Lord Garth]

Icheb, a.k.a. "Fan-Favorite Character since 2020!"

I file this underneath the same category as those old-schoolers who get mock-outraged that the Enterprise was destroyed in Star Trek Beyond.

Them: "They destroyed the Enterprise!"
Me: "Please. I didn't give a shit about that version of the ship, and neither did you. The only difference is, I don't pretend as if I did."