Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x09 - "Võx"

[Yistaan]

The wisdom of age and experience should have been able to keep the demons of ambition in check. She deserved better than that kind of legacy, IMO.

Getting old and even having experience in one particular field doesn't automatically provide wisdom. It took a long time for my father to finally admit that his experiences and the world he grew up in are so different from mine that a lot of his experience no longer applies.

People who are wise from age and experience don't just get it by default. They keep on top of what's going on in society, use what they know from before still works, and throw out the things that no longer apply. That's why from what I've noticed the people who like to go on about their age and experience are usually the last to know anything about anything. The fact that by their tone they seem to be coasting on the "obvious" experience they already have from their age, they *aren't* keeping up with the latest changes in the world and their knowledge becomes irrelevant. Usually the old people who know their stuff aren't the ones bragging, even passively, about age and experience--they know that the world is too dynamic and changes quickly and you have to actively keep on top of it, and there is no set point where you're like "I already have all this experience, I've seen everything, etc."

Shelby *was* someone who kept on top of all the latest changes etc. That's why she was a Borg expert in BOBW. The problem is, because her goal was to get to the top, once she got to the top she probably didn't keep up with the small details and changes in Starfleet etc. other than what she needed to.

 

[fireproof78]

Which makes it clear that there was no overarching plan in Picard on how to handle the Borg. It just feels like each season the writers really thought the Borg were cool but didn't go further than just repeatedly reusing them without context to other seasons in the same show.

I mean, that's how I'm treating each season. They are films without much connective tissue to the last film because that's the way they work. The Borg are the Khan/Joker/Daleks to Picard so their reference can tie together no matter what the reason.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Getting old and even having experience in one particular field doesn't automatically provide wisdom. It took a long time for my father to finally admit that his experiences and the world he grew up in are so different from mine that a lot of his experience no longer applies.

People who are wise from age and experience don't just get it by default. They keep on top of what's going on in society, use what they know from before still works, and throw out the things that no longer apply. That's why from what I've noticed the people who like to go on about their age and experience are usually the last to know anything about anything. The fact that by their tone they seem to be coasting on the "obvious" experience they already have from their age, they *aren't* keeping up with the latest changes in the world and their knowledge becomes irrelevant. Usually the old people who know their stuff aren't the ones bragging, even passively, about age and experience--they know that the world is too dynamic and changes quickly and you have to actively keep on top of it, and there is no set point where you're like "I already have all this experience, I've seen everything, etc."

Shelby *was* someone who kept on top of all the latest changes etc. That's why she was a Borg expert in BOBW. The problem is, because her goal was to get to the top, once she got to the top she probably didn't keep up with the small details and changes in Starfleet etc. other than what she needed to.

Yep, when one thinks they have reached the pinnacle of their career and have no interest in learning anything else, they're officially past their prime and on the downward stagnation slope.

I have personal experience with this, as a software engineer. Been working the same job and same architectural environment now for 13+ years, and about 10 or so years from retirement. I'm basically a senior level IT-everything. I always feel the pall of stagnation trying to slow me down, which is why I try to make a point of learning something new in every new project I work on. It's not easy, especially with younger coders coming up the food chain who are more familiar with newer languages and methodologies (and cheaper salaries). The only thing keeping me on top is the fact I'm a full-stack developer (GUI-database design, development & integration + graphic artist). Nobody I've seen can do what I do, so it's a difficult perch from which someone can come along and knock me down, but the potential is always there. Shelby had a similar level of protection with her unique Borg expertise.

Sounds like Shelby sadly just got way too comfortable with her position and lazy. When you're already at the top, where else is there to go? It's a quandary I personally struggle with every day.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

It was just the Titan/Stargazer bridge. They just put a chair on the upper level behind where the captain's chair normally is.

Gosh. So they had a whole set but they just shot the whole sequence in view screen mode?

I know it’s always a question of time and money and I forgive, but the purse strings and ticking clock are evident.

 

[Yistaan]

I know it’s always a question of time and money and I forgive, but the purse strings and ticking clock are evident.

You mean you didn't hear that next week's final battle is going to be a shootout at the Ten Forward bar?

 

[Richard S. Ta]

You mean you didn't hear that next week's final battle is going to be a shootout at the Ten Forward bar?

No final battle. A pizza party in the Paramount parking lot and only because it was Buy One Get One Free that day. Matalas made Frakes pay, which he did, but so far Matalas hasn’t paid him back and has stopped returning his calls.

 

[Tuskin38]

 

[Richard S. Ta]

It's a quandary I personally struggle with every day

I really like this little footnote.

 

[J. Frank Doobie]

Well, Shaw hints at it in 304...

 

[137th Gebirg]

I am really crossing my fingers that Shaw is not dead.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Season 1 explored what it is to be a Borg survivor. Season 2 redeemed the Borg and gave them a new place in the STU.

Season 3 reverts them to their previous status quo. It is a bit underwhelming.

Assimilation through the transporter is cool though. Insidious and very, very smart.

 

[Yistaan]

Deleted scene from Picard Season 3 --

Picard: Agnes, it's Jean-Luc Picard! My son is a Borg bioweapon that's going to assimilate all of Starfleet in a few hours at Frontier Day festivities! Let's meet so you can cure him or at least integrate his Borg DNA into your friendly faction instead!

Agnes: Mister, we're guarding a transwarp conduit. Curing your son is irrelevant.

Jean-Luc: The lives of thousands of Federation citizens are at stake so that can wait ok? I'm going to send coordinates we can meet to hand over Jack and--

Computer: The recipient has ended this call.

Picard:

 

[Tuskin38]

Season 3 reverts them to their previous status quo. It is a bit underwhelming.

The Borg from Season 2 still exist.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I've rewatched it three times, and only now did I notice Stewart does the 'Picard Maneuver' as he sits down in the D's Captain's chair.

I wanna see the Riker maneuver.

 

[Romulan_spy]

Season 3 reverts them to their previous status quo. It is a bit underwhelming.

No, it did not revert the Borg back to the status quo. These are the OG Borg. The Mirror-Borg from S2 are still out there, guarding the transwarp conduit.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

The Borg from Season 2 still exist.

I know. But still. It feels like narrative regression to me. Unless Season 3 concludes what has become a loose trilogy of Borg stories by purging the Borg of their old ways?

There’s still another episode to go.

 

[Happenstance]

I am really crossing my fingers that Shaw is not dead.

My hope is that they've taken note of his popularity over this season and will do something about it. If we don't see his body or get him mentioned too much in the last ep it wouldn't be hard to write a reason for him to survive. Seven and Raffi could get him to sickbay or in stasis maybe.

 

[Yistaan]

No, it did not revert the Borg back to the status quo. These are the OG Borg. The Mirror-Borg from S2 are still out there, guarding the transwarp conduit.

It's apparently such an all consuming job that they can't spare any resources to help when the fate of the galaxy is at stake. How friendly are they argain?

 

[Greg Cox]

Some of the best memories of my life happened at a Star Trek convention. Getting to meet some of my favorite actors was a wonderful bonus, but aside from that, never did I feel more at home than when I was surrounded by my fellow Star Trek nerds.

This is a very common phenomenon. I've heard this from many fans over the decades. (Says the guy who attended his first SF convention more than forty years ago.)

 

[Citiprime]

There are actually THREE Borg factions now.

1. Old School Borg with the Queen
2. Juratti/Queen Borg who are (presumably) Federation members guarding that weird wormhole
3. The XB-Borg with the Cube that crashed on the planet with the Soong androids and flower starships