Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 2x08 - "Mercy"

[Richard S. Ta]

Maybe Quinn just wanted to die right away, rather than wait another billion years?

A billion years is not an inconsequential amount of time that any rational being could just 'wait out'. It's an almost inconceivable period of time.

 

[gweeps]

Perhaps Quinn was unaware that Q had a natural lifespan. Or, perhaps Quinn's decision to choose to die somehow had ramifications for the entire continuum.

Quinn did say the Q aren't truly omnipotent.

And I wonder if Q becoming human, which has happened at least twice (him and his son) introduced some kind of imperfection/virus into the Continuum? Having "new blood" in the Continuum wasn't just about healing the rift between the Qs because of Quinn.

But this is all speculation, of course.

I just want some acknowledgement of the other Qs before this season is over. Maybe Q de Lancie will reveal he is the last Q? I hope at least other Qs come to take him home.

 

[Cyrus]

Best of the year 2024 episodes. Really looking forward to the final 2 episodes of the season. Hopefully they can match the greatness of the first 2 episodes.

 

[Tuskin38]

So, if you read my comment that you were responding to, you would have known that I was specifically referring to the washed out FBI plot, not the other things you mention.

However, while there was some movement on those fronts that you mention, it wasn't that much. Soong got exposited upon (using the always lovely telling rather than showing style of storytelling) a few details by the BQ about an alternate future. Core learned of her nature, which advanced it ever so slightly from the previous episode where she had already uncovered her "sisters."

No, Q's story wasn't advanced. We already knew he was sick and in very serious condition since the very first episode. It was reinforced multiple times already. When he tried to influence Renee and the magic bottle summons.

Raffi, 7, and BQ really didn't advance much. We only learned that there was still a bit of Agnes left in the Queen, but that wasn't a surprise. We already knew that the BQ was working to take over Agnes and wanted to assimilate people.

So, lots of window dressing. But in actually, extremely little plot developments. Just a few added details here and there. Like Q isn't just dangerously sick but "fading away." We learn why Renee doing/not doing the mission affects the future--and not even exactly, just a vague thing about making Soong's work redundant.

Here, have some Guar Gum, you might like that too!

If someone were to skip this episode on their first watch of the series they’d loose context for the next episode and be confused. That’s what makes it not filler. Filler is something you can skip, there is stuff in this episode you can’t skip.

And what the hell are you going on about gum?

 

[unimatrix7]

When I saw the summary on Prime like “…as Picard and Guinan try to escape from the FBI” my eyes rolled out of my head and I mumbled ‘honestly, fuck this show.’

But nah this was a LOT better than the last five weeks. I enjoyed it and will watch it again.

 

[Guy Gardener]

It's an episode where they are not captured by the FBI, by man who is not a merciless alien hunter.

There was no drama.

 

[GNDN18]

Then came down with a box of his desk items indicating he was fired at the end

That really took me out of the story.

A federal employee fired that quickly? Too fantastic to be believed.

 

[plynch]

Yeah, he’d be suspended, with an investigation, an appeals process, haha.

After, 8 eps, I still don’t get what went on to get them to the past and why Q and BQ are doing what they do.

So Q didn’t send them to the past. Picard did? How? Blowing up the ship? I can’t remember.

No transporter, so they deduce BQ needs the Sirena. So now they’re going off to defend it? Big battle scene coming. Did she send them to the past, OR is she just making hay now she’s back there with them?

BQ doesn’t want Renee to find something on Europa, I guess. But why was Q getting in Renee’s head to assist the BQ ? Why does Q want the mission stopped? He was manipulating Soong to bump off Picard earlier. Q’s dying, but why stop a mission?

I would have liked the threads to be coming together more by now, instead of getting even curiouser, like DahjSojiCore walking away. How did that serve Q’s motive to stop the mission? Or something else?

And all the psychodrama stuff last ep — it only comes up occasionally.

It’s still murky, right, and they’re going to resolve everything in two eps? Or am I missing some key things/bits/moments of dialog that have clarified some things?

 

[Llywela]

After, 8 eps, I still don’t get what went on to get them to the past and why Q and BQ are doing what they do.

So Q didn’t send them to the past. Picard did? How? Blowing up the ship? I can’t remember.

Q removed Picard and the team from the moment the Stargazer self-destructed and dropped them into an alternate timeline. They then travelled back into the past Kirk-style, from that alternate timeline, by doing a slingshot manouevre around the sun in La Sirena. So no, Q didn't send them to the past, that was very definitely Picard's idea, trying to put the past right in order to get back to the future they remember. The one in which they were all about to die.

Initially, I fully expected Q to put them back once they resolve whatever it is he wants them to resolve - I thought he'd drop them back a few minutes before he extracted them, so that they could make different choices and not blow up the ship, which would mean Elnor would be alive again, because they'd go back to a time before he died. But the way things have gone, I'm not so sure any more.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I don't think we need to worry until they repurpose the Blinking Tubes Without Function™.

It could be the Blinking Tubes Of Many Functions™

I doubt it would have added much to the episode if they HAD said that.

Everyone knows when the Eugenics Wars happen, they don't need to waste valuable screen time rehashing them. They're ancient history by 2024.

5 seconds is a waste of screen time? If nothing else, it makes the old guard go "squeeee" and a few of the new fans go to google to see that they're talking about. It's win freakin' win.

 

[Vale]

Shouldn't Borgati be able to connect to the collective that exists in 2024? Or would they be too far out of range?

ENTERPRISE indicates they don't have transwarp communication, only transwarp drives (probably using the warp conduit) so it takes hundreds of years to reach their people.

They have to build an interplexing beacon out of the Enterprise-E's deflector dish to try and contact the Collective in 2063 during First Contact, and we might assume the Borg in 2063 are at least as capable than the Borg in 2024. It seems that without a ship to act as a central hub for drones Borg long-range communications are limited – a few lightyears is fine (cf. Locutus remaining linked to the Collective in TNG: "Best of Both Worlds" while on the Enterprise-D), but across the galaxy is not.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Yeah, he’d be suspended, with an investigation, an appeals process, haha.

After, 8 eps, I still don’t get what went on to get them to the past and why Q and BQ are doing what they do.

So Q didn’t send them to the past. Picard did? How? Blowing up the ship? I can’t remember.

No transporter, so they deduce BQ needs the Sirena. So now they’re going off to defend it? Big battle scene coming. Did she send them to the past, OR is she just making hay now she’s back there with them?

BQ doesn’t want Renee to find something on Europa, I guess. But why was Q getting in Renee’s head to assist the BQ ? Why does Q want the mission stopped? He was manipulating Soong to bump off Picard earlier. Q’s dying, but why stop a mission?

I would have liked the threads to be coming together more by now, instead of getting even curiouser, like DahjSojiCore walking away. How did that serve Q’s motive to stop the mission? Or something else?

And all the psychodrama stuff last ep — it only comes up occasionally.

It’s still murky, right, and they’re going to resolve everything in two eps? Or am I missing some key things/bits/moments of dialog that have clarified some things?

Rene proves that there might be more life out there in space. Human science is dedicated to exploration.

Europa Mission is a wash. Adam Soong steps in with Environmental tech that is still being used in the 25th century to compensate for the collapse of the Ozone layer.

It's a nice idea, but it sorta ignores WWIII. Unless it's that man dedicates so many resources to slower than light exploration, that World War III becomes inevitable after the complete depletion of really important stuff.

Meh.

 

[Photoman15]

Crazy Thought: Core is spelt like Lore, except with a different first letter. Lore was the first successful Android that Dr. Soong's descendent created. He turned on him. Core is the first successful daughter he created. She turned on him.

Core has good reasons for turning on her father. She was misled her entire life (just like Dahj and Soji). Did Lore have food reasons to turn on his father? Reasons that we were never made privy to on TNG? Is Q a corrupting force just like the Crystalline Entity?

It's spelt KORE, not CORE. Pronounced like "Corrie"

 

[Lord Garth]

It's spelt KORE, not CORE. Pronounced like "Corrie"

Shoot. That was my first instinct.

 

[Charles Phipps]

They have to build an interplexing beacon out of the Enterprise-E's deflector dish to try and contact the Collective in 2063 during First Contact, and we might assume the Borg in 2063 are at least as capable than the Borg in 2024. It seems that without a ship to act as a central hub for drones Borg long-range communications are limited – a few lightyears is fine (cf. Locutus remaining linked to the Collective in TNG: "Best of Both Worlds" while on the Enterprise-D), but across the galaxy is not.

Seems a good explanation as anything for writers can't do math.

 

[plynch]

Q removed Picard and the team from the moment the Stargazer self-destructed and dropped them into an alternate timeline. They then travelled back into the past Kirk-style, from that alternate timeline, by doing a slingshot manouevre around the sun in La Sirena. So no, Q didn't send them to the past, that was very definitely Picard's idea, trying to put the past right in order to get back to the future they remember. The one in which they were all about to die.

Initially, I fully expected Q to put them back once they resolve whatever it is he wants them to resolve - I thought he'd drop them back a few minutes before he extracted them, so that they could make different choices and not blow up the ship, which would mean Elnor would be alive again, because they'd go back to a time before he died. But the way things have gone, I'm not so sure any more.

Helpful, thanks, I had forgotten the slingshot.

So Q would seem to NOT want fascist Earth, or why drop crew there, cuz he KNOWS they’re going to try to change things. But why go back with them and try and stop them? I don’t get what Q wants.

And how do you all seem to know what Renee will find? Did someone bts let it out? Or did I miss it? (I have missed the KEY line of dialog in the past, so I am really wondering. Also I don’t rewatch eps.

 

[Evil Robert]

I'm going to be blunt, I was really enjoying this season, but this episode really did grind the pace to a screeching halt.

I was just going around in circles badly.

I mean it was nice to see the FBI side have his own Vulcan encounter. Nice little touch there.

But I was just waiting for something to happen all episode. And with 2 episodes left, I would like not another 'Endgame' either (where everything happens in the last few minutes, leaving the show no time to celebrate the victory)

 

[DaveyNY]

It's spelt KORE, not CORE. Pronounced like "Corrie"

Soong calls her KOR-RA, not KOR-REE.
(the latter would be spelled Cory as well)

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

When I saw the summary on Prime like “…as Picard and Guinan try to escape from the FBI” my eyes rolled out of my head and I mumbled ‘honestly, fuck this show.’

But nah this was a LOT better than the last five weeks. I enjoyed it and will watch it again.

Summaries are even more worthless than out-of-context trailers can be.

Soong calls her KOR-RA, not KOR-REE.
(the latter would be spelled Cory as well)

I thought it was more like Kor-ay myself (unless that's what you're shooting for).

 

[DaveyNY]

I thought it was more like Kor-ay myself (unless that's what you're shooting for).

I stand corrected, I went back and listened, he actually says it both ways depending on his mood.