Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 2x02 - "Penance"

[OCD Geek]

Some great speculation from r/StarTrek from various folks about Q's motives and mindset:

Spoiler

I'm guessing that Q has been working on that for Picard's whole time.

There was a take I saw recently (before Episode 1 launched) that the Borg are the only species/race that the Federation basically has Shoot on Sight orders for.

Putting the Borg and Federation on the path to peace and understanding would be a momentous thing, and Picard stopping the Queen when it's very apparent that she's so very different (shoot to stun, engaging in a request for membership, etc) when she may be doing this as a peaceful measure, might be Q going "I gave you a chance to show you were different. To show that you could bring peace and understanding to the Borg. To reach a level of enlightenment that has been unmatched by corporeal beings. And what do you scared monkeys do? You shoot back, and then blow it up. Fucking idiots!"

I like this idea because it feels like the final test for the ultimate trial of humanity and THEY FAILED in a very Wonka-like fashion.

It would be a story full circle. Q introduced the Borg to Picard and now we see possibly because if there was one human who could bring these two groups together to grow and coexist it would be him. He just had to be tested first.

It wouldn't shock me at all if Q revealed that the trial that started in the TNG pilot is still on going and they were in the 'Final arguments' stage last episode. And that's why Q is so pissed and disappointed. At some point he started to root for Picard and the Federation.

 

[NCC-73515]

Q might be sick or dying. Interesting. Maybe that’s why suddenly shows up

Somthing might be wrong with either Q or maybe even The Q

Perhaps this will reveal that the Q were once humans, and with history altered, they'll never exist. Humans have to strive to be better and keep evolving in a positive way, or the Q are all erased from the future

I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it's like they took complaints (including on this very board) about PIC Season 1 being "too dystopian" and showed them an alternate reality where it actually is dystopian. "You want to see dystopian? I'll show you dystopian!"

I had the same thought... "We want a real fleet, not copy-paste, and it's too dystopian" - "Alright, here's a better fleet. But we're gonna show you what real dystopian is!"

So they decide to go do a story about a warmongering authoritarian regime that literally premieres at the same time a warmongering authoritarian regime unleashes a war and threatens our planet. I know no one at all could possibly predicted or have intended that, but... wow... Sure there aren't any precognitive people on the writing staff?

Just like back then when they were filming Past Tense and real LA was discussing something similar to sancuary districts

Maybe this is what the "watchers" are? Maybe something goes really, really wrong due to this new conflict with the Borg, and individuals (including Laris) go back in time and try to "fix" things?

If they're not the white-eyes, maybe they're the Matrix agents. Ducane from Relativity could be one of them, and we also saw Picard with a Matrix agent earpiece in one of the trailers.

I noticed something, the 3D renders of the Borg Queen on the computer display next to the cryo chamber, she her torso is naked, with her arms up covering her breasts.

It's cold in the cryo chamber

So how does capturing a Borg Queen mean they have defeated the Borg? There are more than one.

There's no indication that there has to be more than one at a time.

Nice to see the Borg theme from First Contact making an appearance.

When exactly?

 

[Romulan_spy]

By the way, I liked that scene when Seven first wakes up and she goes through that personal check list. She checks her sense of smell, does some math to check her cognitive functions etc... It felt like a very Borg thing to do. As a drone, she probably did that sort of self-diagnosis automatically. She was basically doing the same thing here, just doing it "manually" since she is not a connected drone anymore.

Also, what if Q is "dying"? It might explain his strange behavior. It also might explain his impatience and frustration with Picard. Maybe he needs to do this one last thing to help Picard before he "dies" and he knows he is running out of time to do it?

 

[Xerxes82]

Didn't you see the "ADAM SOONG" (holo-)statue in San Francisco Bay in the shot they're zooming in on the Confederation HQ? (Not kidding)?

Also, pretty sure I heard Spiner's voice doing the "A safe galaxy is a human galaxy" line over the PA at one point. Which likely means his 2024 character is somehow integral to whatever has gone wrong here.

 

[Tuskin38]

The new actress playing the Queen does sorta resemble a young Alice Krige with all that makeup on

 

[NCC-73515]

Also, pretty sure I heard Spiner's voice doing the "A safe galaxy is a human galaxy" line over the PA at one point. Which likely means his 2024 character is somehow integral to whatever has gone wrong here.

Q gives him blue "freedom" liquid and he has a holo statue centuries later...

 

[Romulan_spy]

Seven seemed to handle the shock of being in the new reality the best of all the characters. She knew when to pretend to the be president in front of others and played the role well, she was careful with her actions and words, figured out how to get in contact with Rios etc.... It is a testament to how intelligent the character is. And that intelligence and ability to quickly assess a new situation and adapt also reflects back to her days as a Borg drone. Very good characterization IMO.

 

[The Habs Fan]

What a great week for Star Trek. 2 excellent episodes, though this week I give the slight edge to Discovery. If this episode is anything to go by, we are in for a roller coaster ride this season. Oh and I liked the DS9 nostalgia bait with the skulls. And did I hear a General Sisko name drop?

 

[valkyrie013]

Patrick looks like he's having alot if fun! Hehe
Like that Elnor has more to do.
The ship has red lights..
Couldn't get Alice Krige? Where that thread?
Enjoyed it!

 

[OCD Geek]

Also, what if Q is "dying"? It might explain his strange behavior. It also might explain his impatience and frustration with Picard. Maybe he needs to do this one last thing to help Picard before he "dies" and he knows he is running out of time to do it?

If you're right it would also be in keeping with the themes of the show under either showrunner. Picard, the remnants of Data, Q and The Borg Queen all facing their own mortality, their legacies and their impact on the future yet to come.

 

[Xerxes82]

What exactly determines who maintains their memory of the Prime universe?QUOTE]

You can handwave and say "Q did it."

Q absolutely did it. It's no coincidence that during his (excellent) dialogue with Picard he expressly told him "And you won't have to do it alone," or something to that effect. Also not likely a coincidence that the entire band just kind of falls together over the course of the day. Q wants JL to have his crew, for whatever game is afoot.

 

[Tuskin38]

One of the Skulls I think is a Saurian. It has ridges around the eye sockets similar to Linus.

 

[OCD Geek]

The new actress playing the Queen does sorta resemble a young Alice Krige with all that makeup on

She's kicking all sorts of ass in the role. A phe-fucking-nomenal multi-layered as hell performance. Believe it or not, that's Annie Wersching of 24, Timeless, Runaways and Bosch fame.

 

[Lucky]

This was a 10/10 for me. I was riveted throughout. This is an instant classic.

 

[Akiraprise]

9/10

I would have given it an 8 but that Q bitch slap to Picard elevates it an entire point for me. Picard had it coming. This isn't playful Q and Picard did not quite understand how serious this go around is. Now he does. Picard can no longer say "Q never hit me."

PIC is on point so far this season. The actress playing the Borg Queen is great. Not quite buying her massive CPU like temporal abnormality detecting abilities, without the collective to back her up, but I guess it's plausible. She is the Queen and she has a new toy in Jurati. You kind of have to overlook some of the plot contrivances to get our crew back together so quickly. The name drops of familiar defeated foes was cool. This is an extremely powerful, violent, xenophobic human society. One we've not really seen before in Star Trek. It isn't quite as over the top as the MU. Which, sadly, is not the craziest thing to imagine with what's happening in our own world at the present time.

 

[Xerxes82]

Not quite buying her massive CPU like temporal abnormality detecting abilities, without the collective to back her up, but I guess it's plausible.

If you consider her to basically be the nexus of the entire Collective, that means she's capable of an INSANE amount of processing power. Which now has no use with the Collective annihilated.

 

[Scionz]

The name drops of familiar defeated foes was cool. This is an extremely powerful, violent, xenophobic human society. One we've not really seen before in Star Trek. It isn't quite as over the top as the MU. Which, sadly, is not the craziest thing to imagine with what's happening in our own world at the present time.

Yup. It's a human empire done competently. It's what Humanity would have looked like if they went down the road of the Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians in having an interstellar empire where the conquering species dominates.

And as it turns out, Earth and humans are better at it than all of them put together. Klingons? Gone. Romulans? Gone. Cardassians? Gone. Borg? Gone. War against the Dominion too, with the Dominion needing an alliance.

I'm reminded of a scene in Enterprise, in Season 4 I think. More or less, Soval is confronted with the fact that the Vulcans are some level are frightened of humanity because they remind them of themselves (and the Romulans), but faster. It took ~2000 years for Vulcans and Romulans to recover from the Vulcan nuclear wars. It took humanity 100. As Soval put it "what might you do in a century hence?" He and the Vulcans were right to be concerned. On the wrong path, in three centuries hence, Humanity would have conquered or annihilated all the great powers of the galaxy save one.

It kind of puts the Federation in a new light too. It's not just something built by many species for mutual cooperation. It is also a form of containment for, as Quark rightly put out in his immortal speech, a race "as vicious as the most blood thirsty Klingon". But one with the best technical acumen of anybody, the cunning of the Romulans and the organization of the Cardassians. A dangerous mix.

One episode, and Confederation makes the Mirror Universe look like a Saturday morning cartoon villain.

 

[The Librarian]

I haven't been this excited for Trek since Enterprise. Particularly the expanse and s4. Why no all episodes at once like most ventures/streaming services though...

"Like most ventures/streaming services" is not true. The only service that does that for every show is Netflix. Disney+ doesn't, Amazon doesn't (at least with The Expanse, Wheel of Time, and a few others), Hulu doesn't, HBO doesn't, and of course none of the legacy networks do.

 

[SeamusShameless]

Patrick looks like he's having alot if fun! Hehe
Like that Elnor has more to do.
The ship has red lights..
Couldn't get Alice Krige? Where that thread?
Enjoyed it!

I don't think it was an issue of not being able to get Krige, she played the queen in season 2 of Lower Decks. Funnily enough, I think the new actress actually sounds more like Krige's queen than Krige did in Lower Decks.

 

[Amaris]

I was luxuriating in this episode. This season has a really strong message, and I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. The Confederation feels more like a "what could have been/what could become" regarding humanity, and that it doesn't take much to push us in the worst possible direction, because it truly does not take many wrong turns to make humans insular, hateful, afraid, and willing to crush unknowns instead of cooperate openly for understanding.

Well done. 9/10.