I thought it was coincidence as well, initially, but with the Borg showing up later it really seems a foreshadowing.
Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 2x01 - "The Star Gazer"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
With both the Borg and time travel involved in the season’s storyline, I would think any First Contact motif in the music might have a high chance of being put there intentionally.
As I understand there's literally actually some places that won't carry a show/against the broadcast rules if you have them smoking. This was notable when they were filming CONSTANTINE as it was such an insane and stupid law as well as against the character. So they always filmed Matt Ryan holding a cigarette (but not smoking it), stamping it out in an ashtray, or about to light up.
Because that wasn't against the rules.
Now its a bit weird for Paramount Plus but....maybe it was all the major networks.
Because that wasn't against the rules.
Now its a bit weird for Paramount Plus but....maybe it was all the major networks.
Romulans and the Celts share a common ancestry...
We do both love Green.
Wasn't Nick Meyer marginally involved in New Trek for a while? Maybe he demanded they make Rios a smoker as payback for the smack he got putting the No Smoking sign in Wrath of Khan 40 years ago.
I wish I could have fully enjoyed this episode, but I was really thrown off by Rios' cigar on the bridge. I was trying to figure out if it was lit or not. Then I saw the lighter... which he didn't use, and that confused me further. I never saw any smoke at any point so I eventually decided it must be a space cigar that doesn't fill the bridge of a Federation starship with disgusting second-hand poisons and then I could finally relax and enjoy how the stripes on the wall of the Stargazer bridge look just like the ones in C&C in Babylon 5.
I loved the Stargazer's bridge by the way, even if it's got a bit of an obstacle course of railings (which Jurati navigated well). In fact I'm pretty fond of the ship in general. And all the other ships that turned up. This is a good episode for fans of Starfleet vessels! And Starfleet uniforms. It was very... uh... Star Trek. In fact a bunch of characters from Star Trek turned up here, like Guinan and Q, and man it was nice to see them. Discovery had given me reason to wonder how much interest I'd have in a scene of Guinan being very supportive and trying to help Picard with his issues, but it turns out that even when she's being unusually direct I still love the character. I loved all the returning Picard characters too, especially half in the bag Dr Jurati, who is apparently the only one of them who came out of season 1 more damaged than she started off.
It was a bit of a surprise to me that the crew had a bit of an adventure before time shifted and things might be a bit more complicated than 'Q did it'. It left me wondering if Picard had made the wrong choice in the Borg encounter and if he's going to get a second chance at the end of this. I do find it a bit far-fetched that the Borg could actually join the Federation, if only because they do a terrible job of communication here. If they act like this in the Federation council every time they want to make a point it could really make things awkward. Maybe they need some kind of avatar or locutor to speak for them...
Anyway I thought this was a fantastic episode and it brought joy to my soul.
I loved the Stargazer's bridge by the way, even if it's got a bit of an obstacle course of railings (which Jurati navigated well). In fact I'm pretty fond of the ship in general. And all the other ships that turned up. This is a good episode for fans of Starfleet vessels! And Starfleet uniforms. It was very... uh... Star Trek. In fact a bunch of characters from Star Trek turned up here, like Guinan and Q, and man it was nice to see them. Discovery had given me reason to wonder how much interest I'd have in a scene of Guinan being very supportive and trying to help Picard with his issues, but it turns out that even when she's being unusually direct I still love the character. I loved all the returning Picard characters too, especially half in the bag Dr Jurati, who is apparently the only one of them who came out of season 1 more damaged than she started off.
It was a bit of a surprise to me that the crew had a bit of an adventure before time shifted and things might be a bit more complicated than 'Q did it'. It left me wondering if Picard had made the wrong choice in the Borg encounter and if he's going to get a second chance at the end of this. I do find it a bit far-fetched that the Borg could actually join the Federation, if only because they do a terrible job of communication here. If they act like this in the Federation council every time they want to make a point it could really make things awkward. Maybe they need some kind of avatar or locutor to speak for them...
Anyway I thought this was a fantastic episode and it brought joy to my soul.
I haven't seen this mentioned but Picard gives Elnor a book that Spock wrote about being one of the first Vulcans in Starfleet. Problem is, this myth of Spock being the first (was mentioned on the official Star Trek site even) or even one of the first doesn't hold up when there was the USS Intrepid and Discovery had Vulcan admiral Terral (who I still wonder might be Tuvok's father who was mentioned to be in Starfleet)
A few thoughts:
Things I like:
Things I like:
- All the little Easter Eggs.
- Starfleet getting rid of the synthetic ban. Now if only they'd dump the genetic engineering ban.
- The obvious friendship that has developed between Jurati and Soji.
- Explaining that the El-Aurians do age, eventually.
- Non copy-and-paste ships.
- Laris and Picard's relationship.
- The time jump, allowing us to move on from Jurati's actions.
- The implication of Maurice Picard involved in domestic abuse against his wife (unless I misread that flashback/dream). Was kind of hoping humans would be beyond that type of thing.
- In media res. While I generally don't mind it, it was a lot to throw here (especially with a battle scene) when we need to be reacquainted with the characters.
- Rios smoking.
- I don't have the problem with the CGI de-aged John de Lancie. I generally don't mind this type of thing as long as it doesn't come off creepy (looking at you, Hawaii Five-0 using CGI to revive Jack Lord).
- Warp speed/FTL. Last season it seemed like it took La Sirena some time to get from place to place. Here, it seems like the Stargazer made it to the anomaly in a matter of minutes. Where is warp technology now after Voyager made it home? How far has the Federation expanded?
Wonder if some of them were transfers from the Vulcan Science Academy rather than full Academy cadets.
He never actually smoked in the episode.
Are you forgetting about the colony that Tasha came from?
No one is perfect.
I'm just going to headcanon that Starfleet Academy on Earth is the one they mean but plenty of people get into Starfleet from other institutions.
I think it is more likely that they have a specific purpose for this bridge/corridor set, though I could be wrong. They can do interesting things swapping out some panels, lights, etc. And I think the smart money is on an Academy show and not a Rios/Stargazer show (I haven't seen a lot of clamor for a Rios/Stargazer show, but maybe it will grow now).
But you are right about "should have done this from the start". Discovery season 1 flushed a lot of money down the drain for 3D printed klingon stuff, ships, and costumes, and got very little of it on the screen effectively. And the design of the sets were awkward leading to the really strange section 31 ship layout. Hopefully someone is planning ahead now.
That was my assumption all along. Having a whole ship of Vulcans seems like it would only be possible as a transfer from the VSA (or the Vulcan Exploration Group) and that they never went through the Academy. Ditto for those other senior officers seen in Discovery. (But that is all headcannon anyway, since sometimes the even the claims about Spock doing things first seem to forget that he is half-Vulcan.)
That would be T’Pol surely
