Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x01 - "The Next Generation"

[Sci]

Sorry I disagree. Season two was not fun. I find it hilarious that Picard never once had a discussion about his mom. Somehow he thought she had lived to an old age.

What the hell are you talking about? There's no reference whatsoever to Jean-Luc "somehow thinking his mother had lived to an old age." There's even a line in the S2 finale where Jean-Luc tells Tallinn that he would sometimes imagine his mother as an old woman -- a reference to "Where No One Has Gone Before," where Picard sees a vision of Yvette as an old woman and is shocked.

When "No One" first aired, we thought he was just shocked because she was dead; after Picard S2, we now know to interpret his reaction as being shocked because she had died young and because he was seeing his imagined version of her as an old woman come to life. It's new information but it is completely consistent with what we had previously seen onscreen. At no point whatsoever was there a reference to him thinking Yvette had lived.

Thing is, because its so subjective people quite cheerfully slam meaning where there is none. A great one is...

Professor: And so, the author choses red for the front door to represent the thing most associated with that colour, passion, love, but also anger to show their deeply complicated emotional relationship with....

Author: So, the door's red because my front door is red.

Except the exact opposite scenario is far more common -- authors intending layers of meaning and symbolism in their work that members of the audience fail to pick up on. And of course, sometimes authors end up communicating ideas without realizing it. Hence the cliche that John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, was "of the Devil's party but didn't know it."

Seriously, everything you're saying here is just an attack on the idea that art has any deeper significant beyond momentary distraction. If people internalized that idea, it would essentially nullify thousands of years' worth of cultural heritage.

Like, to make some deadname/trans allegory because of a desigation given by the BORG is so idiotically ham fisted it feels very CURRENT YEAR writing.

Eh. I'm okay with that.

She didn't choose that name,

She chose to keep using that name when she left the Collective.

How do we know she didn't have her name "legally changed" which really shouldn't be a thing anymore.

Why shouldn't people be able to legally change their names in the future?

Just like Kira wasn't forced to be called by her rank and surname. Bajorans use their give name as their title, so people accepted that and respected it.

What? Her given name was Nerys and her surname was Kira, and her title changed from Major to Colonel. We also saw Winn Adami (given name Adami, surname Winn) change title from Vedek to Kai.

Seven has at least one living human relative, doesn't she? Like an aunt or something? It'd be interesting to hear their perspective on what name Seven chooses to "identify" with. Would they see it as a rejection of the Hansen family?

She had an Aunt Irene established in S7 of Voyager. Irene appeared to be older -- I think in her 50s or 60s. In the novels, Irene died a couple of years after Voyager returned to Federation space; nothing has been established about Irene's status in the new canon. We don't know how she would feel about Seven chosing her Borg name, though she did call her Annika without objection from Seven.

 

[JoseNoodles]

Well, to be fair, it's not quite as obvious in those cases. You hear names like those and you don't immediately think Klingon or Romulan.

I mean, we don't know for sure how common they are in the world of Star Trek, if we wanted to imagine it as a real world.

 

[SJGardner]

Seven has at least one living human relative, doesn't she? Like an aunt or something? It'd be interesting to hear their perspective on what name Seven chooses to "identify" with. Would they see it as a rejection of the Hansen family?

Why should her family have a say in what name she uses?

And even if she was made to use a human name, why should it be her birth name? She has no emotional connection to it at all. She was a little kid when she was assimilated, and all the effort of regaining her humanity during Voyager was centered on her creating her own human identity, not rebuilding Annika Hansen as she was. She never identified with Annika, the life of whom she clearly remembers only small bits of. Would it be so preposterous to think that she intentionally chose to keep using her Borg designation because she feels that the person she's become after being disconnected from the Collective she was a member of for decades is no longer the same person as the kid she was?

 

[fireproof78]

Seriously, everything you're saying here is just an attack on the idea that art has any deeper significant beyond momentary distraction. If people internalized that idea, it would essentially nullify thousands of years' worth of cultural heritage.

That's not what they are saying. They are commenting on the tendency to search for deeper meaning and even if there isn't any there, according to the author, people still state it's absolutely there. There's not an attack here on art having deeper meaning; just on the idea that sometimes art is just that distraction. And that's equally valid.

 

[ananta]

I’m always late to the party, living in the UK.

I wasn’t blown away by episode one, but it was a solid start to the season.

Major question though, how the heck did Seven manage to get through Starfleet Academy and then rise through the ranks to Commander/Executive Officer between the end of this season and last? Was some temporal anomaly involved? I’m truly befuddled. Anyone?

The opening scene with Beverly Crusher morphing into Linda Hamilton was certainly eye-opening, particularly given how lifeless Beverly often seemed in previous iterations. She’s come a long way from smashing plant pots over people’s heads. Kinda disappointed to see her sporting that “Real Housewives” type hairdo that virtually every woman on US television seems to have now, including Jeri Ryan and, by the look of it, Marina Sirtis’s wig (you know the hairdo I mean, long, straight on top, centre parting and wavy at the bottom—surely that trend won’t last into the 25th century?!).

Was delighted to see Laris again, REAL Laris, and kind of hope that Picard ends up with her and not Bev, as Patrick Stewart has more chemistry with Orla Brady. It was rather a joy to see so much interaction between Picard and Riker, with Jonathan Frakes charming as ever, and this rather carried the episode for me. The dialogue wasn’t particularly strong at times; functional but lacking finesse and overly expositional.

I have to say Shaw was totally jarring. We’ve had renegade captains before but never such a complete…asshole. How did somebody with such a bullying, abrasive, dickhead attitude get through Starfleet and rise the ranks to captain? Hardly a fit for the Starfleet ethos and values? Subtler writing might have helped here.

All in all, I’m a tiny bit disappointed following the advance buzz but I know you should always take that with a pinch of salt. The episode was trying a little too hard to ape past glories without really having much genuine magic of its own, but it was compelling set up and helped take away some of the bitter aftertaste of the mess that was season two. I’ll be watching eagerly.

By the way, why have the opening credits somehow merged into the closing credits? Do not like! And is there any particular relevance to the use of the First Contact theme? I liked the theme from season one. As a series, PICARD has an extreme identity crisis, I wish they could at least have kept its theme as a unifying element.

 

[fireproof78]

Major question though, how the heck did Seven manage to get through Starfleet Academy and then rise through the ranks to Commander/Executive Officer between the end of this season and last? Was some temporal anomaly involved? I’m truly befuddled. Anyone?

I believe it's three years since last season. Could have my timelines wrong though.

I have to say Shaw was totally jarring. We’ve had renegade captains before but never such a complete…asshole. How did somebody with such a bullying, abrasive, dickhead attitude get through Starfleet and rise the ranks to captain?

He gets results, especially after the Dominion War, the Romulan attack, the Borg attack, the Mars attack, another Romulan threat, etc.

As a series, PICARD has an extreme identity crisis, I wish they could at least have kept its theme as a unifying element.

The reality is this series isn't a series. It's like movies.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Why should her family have a say in what name she uses?

I'm not saying they should have a say in it, just that it might be interesting to know if any of Seven's human relatives might just be a little bit put off by it.

Yes, of course she has relatively little connection to her former life, but the remaining Hansens would still consider her part of their family, and might conceivably be just a bit sad that she doesn't want to have anything to do with them. That's understandable, isn't it?

 

[tomalak301]

Well, we have to protect our phoney baloney jobs.

If you have to explain every little detail of your art, maybe it's just bad art. Same with a TV show. If you can't show your story on screen and people need to ask you directly what did you mean by this or that, maybe it was not a good story to begin with.

 

[fireproof78]

If you have to explain every little detail of your art, maybe it's just bad art. Same with a TV show. If you can't show your story on screen and people need to ask you directly what did you mean by this or that, maybe it was not a good story to begin with.

There's a difference between describing the meaning of a piece, and describing every little detail. But, Star Trek fans have a tendency (not all, please note) to hyperfocus on the little details. It tends to look something like this:

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That doesn't mean there isn't meaning in the overall story. Just that fans focus on the details. And people ask the questions not because they don't know but because they want verification of their beliefs.

 

[Tuskin38]

How do we know she didn't have her name "legally changed"

Because if she had, her captain would have to use her legal name, whatever is on her starfleet record.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I mean people in Star Trek have also had bad experiences with Klingons and Romulans, but no one would tell Worf and Laris to change their names.

You mean Mr Worf Rozhenko?

 

[Tuskin38]

Major question though, how the heck did Seven manage to get through Starfleet Academy and then rise through the ranks to Commander/Executive Officer between the end of this season and last? Was some temporal anomaly involved? I’m truly befuddled. Anyone?

Accelerated program with the backing by Picard and Janeway according to the audio logs.

The timeline for this season is confusing to figure out. It could be anywhere from still being, 2401 to 2405 or 2411

 

[CorporalClegg]

Let's not forget, Seven held the senior post of an entire department for four years (even if she was the only crew member in said department).

*And, despite what on screen lore implies, Starfleet must have some kind of OCS program. It would simply be logistically impossible for it not to.

 

[TRON JA307020]

That's some bullshit right there. He literally says she is dead in his vision of her in the stupid episode with the stupid Traveller and thought as the basis of reality. Why would he talk about her? His dad clearly modeled that talking about it was not acceptable.

This is psychology 101.

So he never once talked to his brother about his mom? I find that laughable. Lol

 

[Dukhat]

Accelerated program with the backing by Picard and Janeway according to the audio logs.

The timeline for this season is confusing to figure out. It could be anywhere from still being, 2401 to 2405 or 2411

Well, if everyone is gearing up for Frontier Day, it has to be 2411.

Either way, making Seven a full ranked commander in so short a time is blatantly nonsensical.

 

[Tuskin38]

So he never once talked to his brother about his mom? I find that laughable. Lol

It happens in real life.

 

[JoseNoodles]

You mean Mr Worf Rozhenko?

Mr. Rozhenko to his enemies, Worf of the House of Martok to his friends.

 

[cooleddie74]

The United Earth Starfleet may have been founded in 2132 and the Federation Starfleet is formed in 2161, and on top of that the launch of the NX-01 on its historic deep space mission was in 2151. None of those years line up with any of the possible ones for PIC Season 3 unless it's set about six or even seven years later than we previously believed.

 

[Tuskin38]

Either way, making Seven a full ranked commander in so short a time is blatantly nonsensical.

Not really, she has a ton of experience and knowelege. More than most Starfleet officers.

In real life experienced civilians can get direct commissions to higher ranks. I read of an instance of an Doctor being commissioned directly to Major (the equivalent of Lieutenant Commander in the navy)

We don't know how much time has passed between Season 2 and 3 yet.

 

[fireproof78]

So he never once talked to his brother about his mom? I find that laughable. Lol

You think that deals with trauma? Because I find that idea laughable.

This is the attitude that keeps people who actually experience trauma silent; the idea that one conversation ends it. "Aren't you over that yet?" No, no their not. Stop treating it that way.

Not really, she has a ton of experience. More than most starfleet officers.

In real life experienced civlians can get direct commissions to higher ranks. I read of an instance of a Doctor going straight to Major (the equivalent of Lieutenant Commander in the navy)

Yup, experiences outside of the service, including degrees and practical skills, can support higher entrance rank. With my Master's degree I could easily enter the US Navy as a full lieutenant, equivalent of a captain in the US Army. Seven's experience, plus whatever time at the Academy, or command training school, would more that assist in making that a possibility.