I thought Q made him mortal at first because Picard's nose bled after he hit him.
Something is not right with Q. He was more riddlish than usual.
Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 2x02 - "Penance"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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Something is not right with Q. He was more riddlish than usual.
In the prime reality he’s an organic synth, so nose bleeds would still happen if he’s an organic synth in this reality as well.
It is for the optics - totalitarian regimes love a massive display like that with a figurehead to be presented before the braying masses.
That makes sense. I find it hard to believe that they could defeat them
Clearly mate, you did not watch enough Voyager!
One science vessel with 38 torpedoes (presumably they use a different numerical system in the 2300s - only way they can fire so many) managed to blow up cubes left, right, and centre.
If Voyager can knock out cubes easily then a hyper militarised (Con)Fed would surely make short work of them.
Could also be that due to the change in the timeline then Voyager (based on their renaming approach probably C.S.S Conquistador or something) never ends up in the Delta Quad and so never saves the Borg from Species 8472, Borg are forever weakened, we pick off the last of them.
All you need to down a cube or even a fleet of cubes, is to lure it or them close to a star and blow up the star.
The Federation would not do that, but the Confederation would.
PIcard is not an organic Synth.
Alton Soong created a Golem who's special talent is to start off looking like a super adaptoid from marvel comics, and then receives and impersonates the mental and physical characteristics of a dying person.
The Golem is a one size fits all deal, and the process is quick, so it's ability to pass for human is probably less than that of Soji Asha.
Maybe good, but not perfect,
The Federation would not do that, but the Confederation would.
PIcard is not an organic Synth.
Alton Soong created a Golem who's special talent is to start off looking like a super adaptoid from marvel comics, and then receives and impersonates the mental and physical characteristics of a dying person.
The Golem is a one size fits all deal, and the process is quick, so it's ability to pass for human is probably less than that of Soji Asha.
Maybe good, but not perfect,
I got a real kick out of that - was almost like Trek name bingo by the time 7 mentioned "Insurrection" and might have to rewatch it to see if I missed any episode/film titles
This season is night and day superior to season 1. By far and away the best new trek since Kurtzman took over. Hoping the whole season continues like this.
Had me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. This episode is where Season 2 really kicks in. I said out loud at one point "BEAM THEM THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!!!"
All through the episode, I kept hoping they'd knock out Seven's "husband".
All through the episode, I kept hoping they'd knock out Seven's "husband".
That does seem to be the story, though -- Seven's husband identified the Queen as the last surviving member of her species, and the Queen herself said "the hive is gone."
Bullseye. Humanity has changed since the end of TNG, which was the last time Q and Picard interacted. He's showing what it's become. He's also driving home to Picard how they're drawing weapons first and not doing so will save the Stargazer.
The fact that Picard doesn't know what Q is trying to get at shows what he has to learn. I think having the Borg Queen on La Sirena will make a huge impact on how the characters, particularly Picard and Seven, see the Borg in general. And vice versa. The Borg Queen will learn something too.
I liked this episode, though I'm reserving judgment a little bit -- so many aspects of the story remain mysteries (and this era of the franchise has such a poor track record in Mystery Resolution), so it's hard to go all in just yet.
I did find this alternate universe a bit too Mirror-Universe-y, I wish it had been evil in a more unique way. But for what it was, it was quite well done.
I'm not loving the way Raffi has been written this season -- her jabbing Seven about commitment, in the dangerous context they were in, was embarrassing.
On the plus side -- most everything else. I am particularly LOVING the writing of Seven & Jurati. These writers really fixed a lot of problems with those character voices over hiatus. Q was great, I full-on gasped when he hit Picard.
I loved watching this ep, overall it was a good viewing experience, just finding it difficult to trust disappointment isn't looming.
I had the same thoughts -- but I'm not sure I'll still feel them when the season is done. I have no sense of the overall pacing yet for this season, so it's hard to judge.
Something I wondered watching was if evil universe is episode 2, contemporary earth is episode 3, and then in episode 4 we're on to something else we know nothing about yet.
Since Laris has been bumped to a regular this season, and she's not in the alternate timeline (and presumably she won't turn up in 2024 LA), it does seem like we have to get back to a setting in which Laris could appear pretty quickly.
I did find this alternate universe a bit too Mirror-Universe-y, I wish it had been evil in a more unique way. But for what it was, it was quite well done.
I'm not loving the way Raffi has been written this season -- her jabbing Seven about commitment, in the dangerous context they were in, was embarrassing.
On the plus side -- most everything else. I am particularly LOVING the writing of Seven & Jurati. These writers really fixed a lot of problems with those character voices over hiatus. Q was great, I full-on gasped when he hit Picard.
I loved watching this ep, overall it was a good viewing experience, just finding it difficult to trust disappointment isn't looming.
I had the same thoughts -- but I'm not sure I'll still feel them when the season is done. I have no sense of the overall pacing yet for this season, so it's hard to judge.
Something I wondered watching was if evil universe is episode 2, contemporary earth is episode 3, and then in episode 4 we're on to something else we know nothing about yet.
Since Laris has been bumped to a regular this season, and she's not in the alternate timeline (and presumably she won't turn up in 2024 LA), it does seem like we have to get back to a setting in which Laris could appear pretty quickly.
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So, Laris appears to be dead in the Confederation timeline. I wonder how round-ear Laris comes into play in 2024. Tal Shiar deep-cover time travel op a few decades earlier in her career? That seems too convoluted. Maybe she's "The Watcher", whatever the fuck that means?
I do have one other criticism of this ep -- the Borg Queen being only upper body is a cool idea, but they could not actually pull it off. The framing did not feel natural, there were waaaaaaaaay too many awkward shots clearly designed just to cut off her lower body. And the effects shots cut away quicker than you'd expect, which also jars.
It was relentlessly calling attention to itself as a special effect. Once they saw how much workaround was needed to execute this half-body idea, I wish they realized they would have been better off just giving her legs.
It was relentlessly calling attention to itself as a special effect. Once they saw how much workaround was needed to execute this half-body idea, I wish they realized they would have been better off just giving her legs.
Alas, poor Dukat, Martok, Sarek. I knew them well.
I really liked this episode, but I felt like it was a bit inferior to the season premier. There were two main reasons for this. One is it too info-dumpy, particularly in the beginning of the episode. I understand that the needs of the cast require that everyone be given their "moment of disorientation" - but I honestly think the episode would have been stronger if they just kept to Picard and Seven's POV, and the other characters' initial arrival happened off camera. The other reason was it lacked the solid themes of the opening episode - it was a bit more straightforward than I tend to like my Trek.
That said, it was still excellent. It's amazing to juxtapose the tight pacing of this season so far to the languid pace of Discovery (or the first season). The characters were introduced to a nightmare alternate reality, managed to meet up again, and executed 90% of an escape plan (save for that last-minute cliffhanger) within an effective "hour" of television which works as a standalone episode as well as it does part of a serialized story. I appreciated that (unlike when we see the MU) they didn't go for small universe everything. Sure Picard has had run-ins with lots of famous individuals, but Seven's married to a nobody, the woman initially with Elnor is a nobody, etc. They could have gone so much further here with references, but not doing so made the timeline feel much more "real" - not stagey/hammy in the way the MU can be.
There is a ton of plot railroading going on here of course, but "a Q did it" is a pretty good explanation for everything within universe. Interesting that the Queen we see is supposedly the last Borg in her timeline as well - means my hypothesis for the season (that the Borg we saw at the end of the first episode was a refugee from this timeline) can't be 100% correct.
One little niggle involving the magistrate - I didn't buy him as Seven's husband at all. Sure she's a fish out of water at the moment, but he treated her like an obsequious functionary, not a husband. They must have a strange relationship within the timeline.
Regardless, as is the case next week, I find myself eager to watch the next episode, rather than impatient for the story to get going, which shows they're doing something quite right.
That said, it was still excellent. It's amazing to juxtapose the tight pacing of this season so far to the languid pace of Discovery (or the first season). The characters were introduced to a nightmare alternate reality, managed to meet up again, and executed 90% of an escape plan (save for that last-minute cliffhanger) within an effective "hour" of television which works as a standalone episode as well as it does part of a serialized story. I appreciated that (unlike when we see the MU) they didn't go for small universe everything. Sure Picard has had run-ins with lots of famous individuals, but Seven's married to a nobody, the woman initially with Elnor is a nobody, etc. They could have gone so much further here with references, but not doing so made the timeline feel much more "real" - not stagey/hammy in the way the MU can be.
There is a ton of plot railroading going on here of course, but "a Q did it" is a pretty good explanation for everything within universe. Interesting that the Queen we see is supposedly the last Borg in her timeline as well - means my hypothesis for the season (that the Borg we saw at the end of the first episode was a refugee from this timeline) can't be 100% correct.
One little niggle involving the magistrate - I didn't buy him as Seven's husband at all. Sure she's a fish out of water at the moment, but he treated her like an obsequious functionary, not a husband. They must have a strange relationship within the timeline.
Regardless, as is the case next week, I find myself eager to watch the next episode, rather than impatient for the story to get going, which shows they're doing something quite right.
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