Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 2x01 - "The Star Gazer"

What would you think of the Borg queen was Beverly? That would also explain alt-Picards rampage against the Borg, and would tie in nicely with the relationship motif they have going.

 

I still want more. Troi was a terrible example of a therapist. At least DSC makes sense.

Sorry. After years of my chosen profession being treated poorly on one of my favorite franchises I'll take Discovery's way.

 

And she probably doesn't smoke.

 

Underwhelming. Until Q showed up. That was electrifying.

Too much "where are they now?"

• Romulans move on to the next romance as soon as their spouses drop? Very convenient.
• Seven is still bad at romance? Whodathunk.
• Soji and Jurati costly Wonder Woman Woman 1984? Standing on bug shoulder pads.
• Oh, renaming a ship after a previously known ship.
• Hey, absolutely no one obey the captain's order to stop firing.

 

My critique here is not the veracity/verisimilitude of how the therapy happens or is conducted (I am not qualified to make this assessment and will defer to your expertise); rather, it is based in how it is inserted into the flow of the plot and characterization. On DSC it seems like the characters are avatars for contemporary psychotherapists and not...characters on the show. It's a pronounced difference this year over past seasons. Troi might have been a shitty therapist but it made sense for Troi, the character, to be doing therapist-y things, even if she was as bad at it as you say.

 

Haha, oh man, they would have to work very hard to make this cool and not groan-inducing.

 

It's actually funny to me that Troi was introduced on TNG to be a therapist, and then once Guinan is introduced in Season 2, she actually takes up the unofficial role as ship's counselor. Guinan gave sage advice to nearly every member of the crew, while Troi was mostly useless.

Picard really only opens up emotionally a little with people he's known for decades. And even then, he keeps some walls up.

That's the difference, and IMHO that's what Discovery is missing. Everyone is just so ready to discuss their emotional vulnerability at the drop of a hat. No one is fucked up in a repressed manner. Functionally speaking, they're all identical - probably writer avatars.

 

Not only that but they are willing do it when there is literally a ticking clock that if allowed to expire will cost countless lives!

 

WOW, what a great first episode!

I gave it a 9.
Was thinking 10 but I don't want to be TEN-ing the whole season, which I think could happen at this point.

 

I mean if it’s that or his mother, I’d much rather have Crusher. Having it be his mother would just be too cliche, especially since thats what they did for Disco S2

 

That Borg Queen reminded me of something from the Hellraiser series.

 

It's a common cliché in scriptwriting that there is always time for the heartfelt personal scene even during the most high-stakes action, so I can kind of forgive this.

Not that I like it, but it's not a flaw in Discovery's writing, it's a flaw in movie/TV writing in general.

 

Completely agree here. Man...it's a tough needle to thread I think but if they are setting up these themes about the road not taken, and JLP not opening up and then they have it so that Bev and his (non)relationship to her is central to the proceedings of the story then it could actually be really good. It would certainly create a big through line all the way from the first episode of TNG to right now. If it's done well I'd be way into it. I'm worried it will not carry the weight it needs to be more than, "hey we put Crusher on the show woo!"

 

Sat down this morning and watched this.

Finally, it ended, and it was with interest that I realized I'd been totally captivated for the entire duration of the episode- absolutely nothing jumped out and jerked me out of the narrative, which rarely happens any more with any TV show, much less something Trek. There was one moment, but I knew it was coming so I mentally just locked down and didn't let it bug me in the moment.

So I must say, that was as pleasurable as a glass of fine single malt. The attention to detail in this episode of TV met my standards completely.

There was one thing that confused me, but I only watched S1 once and maybe I remember it wrong: I thought the Romulan kid died?

TOS was the Trek I cut my teeth on, and TOS and those movies will always be my favorite, but TNG was good stuff (eventually) and I have to say, I like the grittier, more realistic (in terms of character) flavor of it we've gotten with Picard. As others have said, this really felt like 80/90's era Trek brought back and rejuvenated. Production values on this were through the roof- we really are getting spoiled these days, with SFX for weekly TV that would have blown our freakin' minds in summer blockbuster movies 20 years ago.

It wasn't until after the first season of Picard that I watched the whole run of The Musketeers, with Santiago Cabrera as Aramis, which put his performance as Rios (and his holograms) in a whole new light for me. I think he's my favorite character on the show, now. Love his portrayals as the holographic character, and he could totally carry a show as the semi-swashbuckling captain of his own ship. I would totally watch that.

Few questions / issue I have, but nothing that really detracted from the quality of it or my enjoyment:

1. Where did Seven beam those pirates?
2. Why has there been no mention at all of Beverly Crusher in a whole season +1 premiere, especially when the whole Laris thing is raising the specter of Picard's relationship history?
3. Why did Raffi and Rios decide to return to Starfleet? (That can be answered later, but it needs answering.)
4. How is it that Laris is so damn hot without even trying? Anyone else notice her ears are lines, and not curves? Kinda weird.

The rest of it was just a callback to greatness. Looking forward to seeing where this season goes.

 

Oh Picard I've missed you so much. I voted an 8 as whilst the episode had lots of great scenes, it just took a while to get going. The first ever episode was much more of a high-paced mystery. This episode felt more like catching up with old friends.

Not that there is anything wrong with Picard's friends.

Obviously, at the end, when Q appeared and I felt the hairs tremble on my spine.

Can't wait for next week.

 

The digital de-aging looked really good. I wasn't expecting it and it was such a great moment and totally what Q would do.

 

Tons of ways to deal with that, not least of which being last season ended up with Oh flying back into Romulan space, where she'll inevitably be punished for her destruction of the Romulan rescue fleet 15 years ago by the Romulan Free State. As Zhaban was former Tal Shi'ar, he would've been welcomed back by the Romulans and vindicated for throwing his lot in with Picard, etc. and could be said to be busy dealing with Romulan political stuff.

It felt a potentially interesting character was just killed conveniently so they could "go there" with Picard and Laris. And in-universe, just really strange that Picard's hovering around and conveniently hooking up with ladies after their husbands are conveniently beamed into space. Zhaban was Jack Crusher'd (I guess that's a verb now ).

 

To bad they not used the ending music from the season one final.

 

The theme music was better. Had more meat to it. Overall the musical score was better.