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Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x04 - "No Win Scenario"

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He’s playing to the gallery of admiring cadets against a heckler, seemed quite natural in the context. He left Starfleet because of policy disagreements, not because of those people in the bar.
Jack didn't strike me as heckling at all, he seemed to ask a legit question. In fact it never even occurred to me as heckling until you described it as such. I've seen far, far worse than that question thrown out on this very forum, including at me.
 
I liked the asteroid-throwing attack. Have fan-ficced that a few times! Also, any chance someone accidentally dripped Armus goo in some of the Great Link? That's my theory. That stuff gets everywhere.
 
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I thought in universe, the Federation and Starfleet regard Picard and Kirk as two of the greatest Starfleet captains of all time?

Maybe? But those are organizations not people. What do people know? Not what we, the audience knows, certainly. They have logs and dramatizations. That doesn't equal treating them as heroic figures for some nor should it.

right, Starfleet/The Federation does. But it probably varies from person to person. Kirk, Spock, Bones, etc… likely get romanticized a bit more than others because of the times they lived in. Janeway said they would get kicked out of “modern” Starfleet but also that she’d love to ride with them.

Picard, Riker, Data, etc.. may be a little different because they are closer to contemporaries of all these characters.
 
Negatives - Picard was not personally responsible for what happened at Wolf 359. Okay, Shaw was there and what happened was obviously ghastly, but it wasn't Picard's fault. (It wasn't Seven's, either.) Shaw is in dire need of counselling and how the hell he attained a captaincy is beyond me.

This. This x1000. This x1,000,000. And in the rest of Shaw's career from then to now, no ship's counsellor or doctor ever picked up on his OBVIOUS PTSD / issues and treated him, or helped him overcome them and get them under control? Realistically speaking, this guy would have wound up like Raffi, NOT in command of a starship.

We get that it's all a story and all for drama, but things have to make sense within the continuity. I guess this is one of the big issues I have with ALL of nu-Trek. So many characters just don't 'fit' their rank and positions within the show. Same issue I have with the helmsman on SNW constantly snarking and back-talking Captain Pike, and him tolerating it.
 
Same issue I have with the helmsman on SNW constantly snarking and back-talking Captain Pike, and him tolerating it.
Have snarked back to my supervisor. Have not had an issue.

This. This x1000. This x1,000,000. And in the rest of Shaw's career from then to now, no ship's counsellor or doctor ever picked up on his OBVIOUS PTSD / issues and treated him, or helped him overcome them and get them under control? Realistically speaking, this guy would have wound up like Raffi, NOT in command of a starship.
James T. Kirk called and says that Starfleet has cleared him for duty despite obvious PTSD around Kodos and his encounter with the cloud creature.
Pretty sure actually seeing the man responsible for all said PSTD in person triggered what Shaw probably thought was behind him. Relapses happen.
Agreed. See above incidences in Trek's history, as well as the fact that trauma triggers are not rational and cannot always be perfectly accounted for.

I would love to live in a perfect world that others seem to. Would make my job so much easier!
 
Jack didn't strike me as heckling at all, he seemed to ask a legit question. In fact it never even occurred to me as heckling until you described it as such. I've seen far, far worse than that question thrown out on this very forum, including at me.
It struck me as a pretty provocative question given Jack knew Picard didn’t have a family - or thought he didn’t. He’s a civilian being openly dismissive of his life in Starfleet in a room full of Starfleet cadets.

“You went on and on about your crew, your life in Starfleet… did you have a life outside of that? What about a real family?”

We all know Picard isn’t the sort to open his heart to strangers as the issue is rather traumatic to him - especially not to a moody teenager in a bar - so it was natural to rally the cadets by emphasising the importance of Starfleet in his life.

Beverly likely would have told Jack this too. It was pretty much the worst way possible to reach out to Picard, so much so that I wonder if Jack simply wanted to confirm his own suspicions and those of Beverly so that he could forget about his father.

Good scene I thought. The realisation on Picard’s face when it cut to the bridge was beautifully played.
 
It struck me as a pretty provocative question given Jack knew Picard didn’t have a family - or thought he didn’t. He’s a civilian being openly dismissive of his life in Starfleet in a room full of Starfleet cadets.

“You went on and on about your crew, your life in Starfleet… did you have a life outside of that? What about a real family?”

We all know Picard isn’t the sort to open his heart to strangers as the issue is rather traumatic to him - especially not to a moody teenager in a bar - so it was natural to rally the cadets by emphasising the importance of Starfleet in his life.

Beverly likely would have told Jack this too. It was pretty much the worst way possible to reach out to Picard, so much so that I wonder if Jack simply wanted to confirm his own suspicions and those of Beverly so that he could forget about his father.

Good scene I thought. The realisation on Picard’s face when it cut to the bridge was beautifully played.
If you take his exact words Jack never actually said anything bad about Starfleet. Sure it all could have been better phrased, but to call it heckling is another thing entirely.
 
If you take his exact words Jack never actually said anything bad about Starfleet. Sure it all could have been better phrased, but to call it heckling is another thing entirely.
Sure, if you take just the words without thinking about the tone or the body language it doesn’t sound so bad. It was pretty clear that Picard interpreted Jack’s question as disrespectful.
 
Great episode. My low expectations morphed to 'cautious optimism' last episode, and we are charging full forward into 'actually enthusiastic' about this season after this episode. Show, don't tank on me now!

Alright, to it, then...

1. In the spirit of the title of the show, "No Win Scenario", we are presented with the Picard / TNG solution to that dark question every starfleet command candidate must face: how do you deal with the no-win scenario? The answer: you pull together as a crew, trust one another, and everyone at their best contributes to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. The captain is only as strong as his symbiosis with the crew makes him. (or her, etc). A great solution, in the spirit of the ideals of TNG Trek itself. Quite satisfying.

2. We were a little slow getting to that solution. Again, we understand that it's a show, and drama, and character development, etc. But then the ship is falling to its death, the admiral should NOT be on the (still powered?) Holodeck, and her captain sitting in the dark stumping over what message to leave to his estranged wife. "Get your affairs in order?" GTFOOH! Don't give up the ship, EVER, captain! Imagine Kirk in the same scenario: he's on the bridge, pounding on the arm of his chair as only Shatner can, berating Spock and the others: [Shat] "We're finished is not an acceptable answer. This starship, her facilities, and her crew are the finest the Federation can produce, and I will NOT accept that there is no way out of this. There is a solution, gentlemen, and you. will. find. me. that. solution!" [/Shat]

3. The holodeck still has power, when they were scratching for every erg? Yeah, the writers addressed it this time, at least- they're learning!- but still, C'mon, man! :rolleyes:

4. I love seeing the snippets of what made the TNG crew so legendary. Beverly basically saves them from sickbay with a tricorder and a stopwatch- she cracks the code on what is happening. Riker returns to form after a crisis of faith, so to speak, dealing with the loss of his son. Very human, very Trek. Picard taking the center seat and bringing them all together. Finally! Nice throwbacks to Farpoint and space-based lifeforms. That bit was nice reminder of what Trek is REALLY about, and the musical piece that went along with the baby space-jellyfish was beautiful. Loved Riker's parting shot at the Shrike- an asteroid right in the chops. We didn't need Beverly to doc-splain it to us ex post facto: I think every viewer understood perfectly well what just happened.

5. Still seeing a lot of TWOK here. Musical cues, riding the energy wave was like outrunning the Genesis detonation, and Vadic cackling like Khan there with the quips near the end. Kind of jarring, kind of cool at the same time. We've moved into an era where the show creators aren't just making new Trek, they are worshiping the old in their own way. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

6. Vadic's hand is part of her handler, a Changeling, and by leaving a snippet of itself with Vadic, this Changeling has a form of communication that is pretty much quantumly-entangled, for lack of a better description. Instant communication across any distance.

7. Addressed Shaw's character issues in a previous post. 'Nuff said.

8. I didn't even realize until after the credits rolled that there was no Worf / Raffi in this episode, and was totally okay with it. I mean, sure, I missed Worf a bit, but not Raffi or that whole subplot. There's plenty going on right aboard Titan.

This definitely rang like the end of an arc. I am stoked to see where they go next. If we were done with Vadic I'd be good with that- I was hoping the asteroid hit was going to blow that ship to pieces, bit apparently not. Good stuff!
 
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