Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x04 - "No Win Scenario"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
This one was really, really good. The last two episodes have really come through. This was tense, thought-provoking, character-centric and did a great job moving the plot forward.
I can’t look away from Shaw when he is on screen typically, but the scene of him in the holodeck where he reveals his backstory was outstanding. Frakes is really pretty awesome in this show as well. I know he directed these last two episodes, but his performance has been wonderful as well.
I have to admit, I think I’d be very much up for a Shaw and Seven show as a semi-continuation of PIC. I strongly disagree with people saying Seven should be a captain and have her own show. The dynamic between her and Shaw is way too good to waste. And, I’m convinced Todd Stashwick and Jeri Ryan could absolutely carry a show. It would need a unique premise so it’s not just SNW 2.0, but there’s a ton of potential there for greatness.
“The Next Generation” 7/10
“Disengage” 7/10
“Seventeen Seconds” 8/10
“No Win Scenario” 9/10
Great trajectory for the season thus far. Let’s keep rolling.
I can’t look away from Shaw when he is on screen typically, but the scene of him in the holodeck where he reveals his backstory was outstanding. Frakes is really pretty awesome in this show as well. I know he directed these last two episodes, but his performance has been wonderful as well.
I have to admit, I think I’d be very much up for a Shaw and Seven show as a semi-continuation of PIC. I strongly disagree with people saying Seven should be a captain and have her own show. The dynamic between her and Shaw is way too good to waste. And, I’m convinced Todd Stashwick and Jeri Ryan could absolutely carry a show. It would need a unique premise so it’s not just SNW 2.0, but there’s a ton of potential there for greatness.
“The Next Generation” 7/10
“Disengage” 7/10
“Seventeen Seconds” 8/10
“No Win Scenario” 9/10
Great trajectory for the season thus far. Let’s keep rolling.
Shaw DIDN'T slip through the cracks. Or are we all forgetting Vadic's comment about his psych profile when they met the Shrike a few weeks ago? His PTSD is on file.
Though he probably mostly has it under control, under normal circumstances. Hence, captain of a starship.
Seven and Picard are not normal circumstances. Having living embodiments of your worst trauma in front of you will do that to you.
Now, yes, why on Earth SF assigned Seven to Shaw is a fair question. Seems like that should have been questioned by an Admiral somewhere.
Apparently, from what the Producers have said, Captain Shaw specifically asked for Seven as his Number One.
Perhaps he was looking to overcome his inner Borg demons.
Though apparently, he was failing miserably up to this point.
The scene:
Apparently, Riker has been suppressing and putting on a brave face--which really annoys Deana as she's an empath.
As a dyed in the wool / completely unapologetic Voyager fan I thought the holodeck power source thing was absolute rubbish at the time and I still do. It was a decent stab at trying to make it seem somewhat (remotely) believable, though.
Agreed. PTSD or not he still comes across as a jerk. But each to their own.
The notion that the legal drinking age in the 24th / 25th century will follow the current US laws seems a bit silly. Besides which, there seems to be a general consensus that Jack looks older than his age, anyway.
I don't necessarily agree, but fair enough.
I'd gained the impression Shaw asked for Seven to be assigned as his first officer. That strikes me as rather odd in itself given his issues with the Borg. But each to their own.
I called the Quint connection way back during our episode one discussion.
And pointed out the Shaw name use.
I'm looking forward to seeing what made him ask for Seven.
I think it's either he wants someone who's nothing like him to balance him out or there's a little "keep your (perceived) enemies closer."
Really liked this episode. Great tension, great scenes expanding relationships and some good backstory.
Shaw’s trauma was actually kinda worse than I expected. Being ordered into a lifeboat while 40 of your crewmates had to stand there and wait to die. Woof.
I did think it was a bit cheesy when Picard was put in command. The shirt tug, “engage”, etc… all felt a bit forced.
Dunno why people have an issue with Weed still being a thing in the 25th Century. Especially with hard liquor and smoking cigars still being a thing. Maybe they have syntha-pot on ships of the line.
I’ll go 9/10.
I think it’s a therapy type thing. Face your fear, face the thing you hate.
Shaw’s trauma was actually kinda worse than I expected. Being ordered into a lifeboat while 40 of your crewmates had to stand there and wait to die. Woof.
I did think it was a bit cheesy when Picard was put in command. The shirt tug, “engage”, etc… all felt a bit forced.
Dunno why people have an issue with Weed still being a thing in the 25th Century. Especially with hard liquor and smoking cigars still being a thing. Maybe they have syntha-pot on ships of the line.
I’ll go 9/10.
I think it’s a therapy type thing. Face your fear, face the thing you hate.
As much as I like to tease about "Captain Shaw has death written all over him!", I actually think it would be good to keep him around. Exactly because the Shaw/Seven dynamic is really good.
The Hell with SNW -- no offense to SNW Fans -- let's just have this type of PIC Continuation anyway. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I love this season and also think it's too bad this is the last one. The characters will be what makes this series different, more than anything else. Pike's a model captain, Shaw isn't. Spock is about logic, Seven is about efficiency: similar but not necessarily the same.
It was probably painfully obvious to him that Seven was highly qualified and it rankled his feathers to think that a former Borg could become a top Star Fleet Officer.
I think perhaps he did it with the intention to show she wasn't really a good match for Star Fleet, but once Seven came onboard and showed that she was more than competent, he probably had to start reexamining his own prejudices which wasn't something he was expecting.
(or wanting to do)
Then Admiral Picard shows up and Shaw really had to face his internal problems.
Thus his self-doubt explodes in his face.
I have an issue with all of it being a thing. It's just not going away.
Exposure is usually the goal.
I don't think it was the exposure of his own inadequacies that he planned on happening with Seven onboard.
Picard showing up just blew it all out of the water for him.
I really really liked this episode. There were some wonky bits but overall I think it worked really well.
- My one nitpick is that I thought it ridiculous that Picard and company were in a holodeck when you start out the episode saying you're cutting power to everything "non-essential" to survive. Maybe Picard's authority as an admiral would let him override any lockouts, but it would have made more sense to set those scenes in whatever version of a lounge/cafeteria the Titan may have and do the old-school Trek thing of redressing an existing set to be it. But maybe that would have been too time consuming and they needed to conserve budget for something that in the end I don't think gets too in the way of the story.
- I'm curious as to whether Vadic and her crew are variations of the Vorta and Jem'Hadar? New iterations of genetically engineered servants for these renegade Changelings, and Vadic serves the same purpose as Weyoun did for the Founders?
- That also brings up something I've wondered about the Shrike. It doesn't look like an old Dominion ship design or have any visual cues that connect it to Jem'Hadar warships. Could these Changelings have partnered with a new species, and be working with someone or some thing that provided it?
- As someone who felt Discovery really overdid the crying emotional scenes, the reason I think the personal moments work here in Picard is that they felt organic to the situation, and honestly I think these actors handle them better. These are people making peace with what could be their final moments. This is someone trying to have a moment with a child they didn't know about a few days ago. That I can buy. But Tilly having a crisis of confidence for the 20th time doesn't rise to the stakes of tearful hugs, and Discovery made a habit out of having those scenes to the point they were having an emotional group hug about the computer's feelings in one episode.
I got a chuckle out of Jack's 'elephant in the room' question about Picard's baldness, but he ought to know, being the son of a doctor, that male baldness is transmitted from the mother's side, genetically. It doesn't matter that JL is bald- he needs to worry about Beverly's father, Grampa Crusher. If he had a full head of hair, Jack is probably fine.
I'm guessing genetic resequencing to correct for baldness is probably outlawed by the Eugenics Wars ban, since it's probably not considered a significant genetic defect necessary for proper health. And Roddenberry's view was that by the 24th century, humanity would have "evolved" to the point that people don't care.
