This was a very strong episode.
The pacing, the acting, the writing, the dialog... Even though they had to cover a lot of "this happened in between seasons" stuff, it was mostly done well and came across as natural.
And as with season 1, I just love the cinematography. Could watch Picard and is dog walking through his vinyard forever! Well, maybe not whole forever...
I have no problem whatsoever to believe that he experienced DV in his childhood. And I'm fine with them exploring his issues, shake the "shackles of his past," as long as they don't descend into soap territory. This final frontier of his relationship issues (generally speaking, not just romantic ones) could be at least as interesting as any outside frontier. That said, I have some issues with a particular storyline, see below.
As for his indecision... He was out of active service for how many years? Seems realistic.
The Borg are different enough, so I find them interesting again. I'm assuming the BQ was not deceiving them, just had difficulties communicating.
And Q shows more of his menacing instead of his jester side, which is good in my book. I wish we hadn't been spoiled to his return!
I like the new orchestral intro, but am partial to the original version. Too maudlin and introspective for the new times, I guess.
While I loved this episode and am cautiously optimistic that they won't screw up the middle and the ending this time (hope springs eternal), some things are bugging me.
I personally didn't need a reboot. Sure, improve the writing, and take a more optimistic tone if you want to... But it's such a shame that in the Trek universe, there seems to be no interest in exploring the world outside of starfleet. However benevolent the military, the Federation isn't a military dictatorship, but apparently most fans jut want Starfleet, Starfleet, and Starfleet. I would have liked to see more of the XBs' jurney, or whatever civilian life could throw at our heroes. Oh well.
I find it hard to believe that neither Rios nor Raffi had some lingering issues, trauma etc with returning even though they were rehabilitated. It'd be interesting to explore, but ofc that was conveniently avoided with this big one and a half year gap.
I'm really undecided about Picard/ Laris. While they do have chemistry - I always thought the three of them were friends as much as employer/ employees - I still feel it's sprung upon us. Last time we saw them, Laris and Zhaban were a happy power couple. They sure got rid of Zhaban quite unceremoniously and conveniently, didn't they? Laris offered a nice explanation for moving on with a tidbit of Romulan culture. And still... I wish they had gone with the Romulan "marriage of three" thing, they could develop that during the season.
Maybe it would have worked better if they showed them falling in love over this season, idk. Ofc, with them time travelling, the future... I mean present... may change as a result. For all we know, Zhaban will be alive and kicking in the end, and maybe iPicard and Seven will found a self aid group for relationship phobes.
Small nitpick: Why does Little Jean-Luc cosplay as an early 20th century boy? I almost expected him to fetch a baguette and smoke a cigarette. We get it, he's French!
And sadly,, I still find Jurati annoying. She's still like someone right out of a Nineties/ 2000s teenage drama or romcom... I'll just try to ignore her as much as possible.
That said, I'm still pumped for the new season. Maybe it's because I've missed them so much, or because a certain other Trek offering is so bad right now ...I hope that this time they've carefully crafted he storylines and the ending(s).
Make it so!
9/ 10
