Rewatching Picard...

[AntonyF]

Inspired by @Lord Garth somewhat, I am going to rewatch Picard after finishing All Good Things... last night and post my thoughts in a thread.

I used to review Trek professionally a bit back in the day, but even then I would say I wrote a more 'gut reaction' than properly structured review. Expect more of the same!

I don't get to watch Trek with anyone now so I'd welcome your thoughts as I go along, and of course if you want to join me in a rewatch that'd be grand (although I don't know my cadence).

What I thought of it originally
Not always great. I remember liking season one. I gave up in season two in a huff. I watched (I think) all of season three but don't remember it well. I generally have overall negative opinions of it.

Which is sad, as when it was first announced and Picard and Seven were going to be together I was stoked. I remember really loving certain episodes. I remember the delight at Piccadilly Circus station becoming Picardly Circus. I have some fond memories of anticipation possibly more than the show itself.

Why
This feels more than just a rewatch for me. As time goes on, I realise that this is it. This is my final TNG. There won't be another shot, I either learn to love (or at least accept Picard) or remain estranged forever, largely thinking it never happened (my current status).

I have changed opinions before, and I want to give Picard a fair shot. Battlestar Galactica I rage quit and didn't watch for a couple of years, then gave it another chance and it is one of my all time favourite shows. So I am capable of moving my stubborn opinion...

I also can't believe it's been SIX AND A HALF YEARS since it first aired. What the...? That's just TWO MONTHS short of the TNG's entire run. I can't fathom it.

And I also realise as I write the timings... my dad died four months before it started, my mum died four months after ended after long term illness (I hadn't realised the symmetry until I wrote this). So I didn't watch it at a time my life where I was in the best place, to be honest.

I do also have a much nicer TV and sound system... that's gotta count!

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So yeah, I hope you can keep me company on this journey... episode 1 hopefully later today.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Sounds like a good plan to me. You could even throw in Nemesis and maybe a couple of episodes of TNG so that things like Data's sacrifice and Ro's betrayal are fresh in your mind, assuming you haven't seen them recently.

You've seen the series before so this time you have the advantage of knowing what becomes important to the story, and you also know the limitations of that story. Season 2 can't fall short of your expectations if they're already at rock bottom!

 

[AntonyF]

That's a very good point! When you judge it for what it is not what you want it to be...

As to Nemesis I saw the movies quite recently testing them out on 4K. I also don't dislike Nemesis. So it crossed my mind but I'm going to skip them and strike while the iron is hot. I was planning to catch up on other TV and I thought nope strike now...

 

[AntonyF]

“1.01 – Remembrance” out of 5

It’s a great start, I have to say. Very little I can fault it on. Mostly it’s just cases of “I’m not sure I agree with that…”

I love Bing Crosby, so starting off with that and the beautiful Enterprise D – the bestest of all the Enterprises – is a bloody great start. Data sure looks odd, but what a beautiful scene.

It all looks great. Particularly going from “All Good Things…” last night you really see how TV filming and shooting styles have advanced. A complaint I have for many programmes is they sold us all 16:9 TVs to get rid of black bars then some bright sparks decided to add back more black bars. So you do feel a bit like you’re looking through a letterbox. But I can live with it.

Stewart is quite delightful and you can see nice mini arc within just this episode… he’s world weary but with a spark of someone who needs his help and a bit of a mystery he comes alive. I do feel that we see more Stewart than we used to here. When he accuses someone of treating him like an “old codger” I can see more of Stewart than Picard. That said, I’m not who I was 20 odd years ago – I guess why should he be? But seeing him intently listen to Dahj I could see that special spark of Picard himself. Like a flame fanned.

I like the setup of Dajh. It’s a small but subtle thing that I like that she’s a young person interested in getting into the sciences. It’s a shame to see her boyfriend massacred just five minutes into it and it feels a bit unnecessary, but I like how the central mystery unfolds. The dangling of “daughter”, a mystery… it’s a shame they chose to so quickly unravel that with talk of some microbe of Data or something. And Maddox saw the picture and made her look that way…? What? It sounds a bit stupid, but maybe that’ll become more apparent later (I don’t recall). Her death did shock me and made me a little sad as I forgot she has a twin.

The Romulans… I remember immediately liking Laris and I still do. Harry Treadway I’m hot for, so I’m glad to see him (a nice little in joke where he says he doesn’t have a twin… when Harry does). Although with them both they’re all not very Romulan. I know those really dark wigs may not really stack up on modern TV, but they all act so human with pointy ears I think “where’s that distinction?” Where is the Romulanness to my Romulans?

The biggest bit I was uncomfortable with was actually a small scene clearly devised for exposition: and that’s the news interview. Nice to see Francie from Alias again, but the interview and TV in a widow run directly against what we know of Trek so far that it doesn’t have TV. And the way the interviewer was gleefully prodding Picard just reminds me too much of the toxic TV news culture that really was born out of the US but has spread elsewhere.

Do I want a future where journalism doesn’t exist? Well, no not really. But do I want this? Also no. And I feel the die is cast on this one: there is no TV. It annoyed me with BSG that they always had very American-earth-like politics and news programmes when they could have made it more varied. Similarly, I don’t want to see that sort of thing here. Or spin it in a different way – Picard dropping in on some school sessions to talk about history.

One small sequencing oddity – it seems odd that Dajh is attacked. Then she’s suddenly in France, and quite calm about it all. Then her next scene is back on city streets, saying how she’s had someone attempt to kill her – it felt like it took place moments after the attack. Then the next scene she’s back with Picard. I wonder if they did some resequencing here and it just didn’t quite work. It felt like it should have been attack > talk to mother > meet Picard in France > go to Daystrom.

Oh and talking of Daystrom nice that its' in Japan (I think that’s new?) with Japanese writing, to just give some variety to the Federation and its institutions. It’s also nice to see Picard in the vineyard setting again just to prove that more does exist out there in terms of variety than Starfleet and San Francisco. And it’s nice to see the buildings and the world take shape thanks to modern effects.

Overall a strong thumbs up. I think I liked it the first time, but it was nice to properly sit down with this, enjoy it, see the world building, really take a look at the detail. The Romulan ships and Borg cube alone has so much detail if you take a moment to really enjoy it. Hurrah for a good TV!

 

[AntonyF]

Straight on to episode two!

1.2 “Maps and Legends” out of 5

This is certainly a step down from the first episode. Whereas the first episode felt measured, calm, patient in its storytelling… this felt a lot like exposition dumps strung together.

The good: I like Laris still. Most of the time. As she goes hunting for clues with Picard it feels a bit like a procedural in a good way. We don’t ask who she is or what her background is or how she knows this… it gives a vague Garak vibe. That there’s more to her than meets the eye.

It does get caught up in technobabble a bit (when doesn’t Trek?) in a magical device that can recreate scenes that is banned yet also there. That’s easily countered with effectively writing 1 and 0s over it like a hard disk wipe. But you’re not meant to know that. But you can. Okay then!

We get brain dumps about the original Romulan Tal Shiar lot and brain dumps about why they hate androids (very well known, for something very secretive). Lots of exposition all over the place.

I personally like that in Star Trek that other races allowed us to tell stories about other elements of Humanity, but while preserving the notion that Humanity is all grown up. I never cared for Section 31 much… but I like the mystery of the Tal Shiar and other secret plot devices in other races.

We see the flashback to Mars and the rise of the machines. The Cylons… I mean the synthetics… are clearly like the story of holograms in Voyager. The Federation has created its own slave labour and what’s the cost of that? I guess we have started to find out. The Mars scenes look great, again the worldbuilding that can take place with modern special effects is such a step up on the TNG era.

Admiral Clancy is the best and worst all at the same time. Seems like a good actress. Yet they need to resort to swearing. I’m not against swearing, I’m not a prude… but it feels needless. It’s saying that kids could grow up with TNG but if you’re a parent wanting to introduce your family to it well you can jolly well not bother! This is ours now, say the adults putting their arms around it.

She’s also an ugly character (not literally!). Vile and nasty… and not the Starfleet we knew (and indeed I guess the one that Picard says he knew). I can get behind her being offended by his “hubris” of just wanting to waltz back into a uniform, but she could be more nuanced in her response.

Talking of nuance… Commodore Oh, Rizzo and Narek have no time for that. The dialogue between them is just god awful. Badly written, badly delivered. They just stand and bark lines at each other which are semi-exposition but also bad fake mystery. Ooh she said little brother, I guess he’s her brother? Subtle as a brick. Maybe this is more of the Romulanness I wanted but I just don’t recognise it. Maybe they original Romulans were the pantomime villains a bit with twitching moustaches. But it’s just all meant to give an air of tension and for me it just falls flat.

Another nuance failure: “5000 days since last assimilation”. It’s cringeworthy. I loathe this on a very deep level. Because for me it snaps me out of the show. It’s childish, it befits a parody of Star Trek. For every bit of worldbuilding they’re doing with the scenery and story this stuff takes me right out of it. I also wasn't amazingly keen on a character being called "hot", as I'm used to that more crisp period-drama like dialogue of old. Even if he is damn hot.

Ending on a more positive note we see more of Jurati. I love Jurati. We’ve not seen much of her yet but I just really like her. I can’t even tell you 100% why. It’s possibly because the actress feels so natural. She delivers the technobabble like she was born to do it. She feels genuine. She bounces of Stewart perfectly. She is in a conversation and is the polar opposite of the Oh/Rizzo scene and then some.

Funnily enough I was looking up an actor on this and realised I previously reviewed this episode. Interestingly six years later the fundamentals of my complaints were exactly the same – the heavy exposition and the moustache twiddling Romulans. What is different however is that I gave it a very low rating yet I didn’t hate it anywhere near as much this time. The last ten minutes are a slog, but I think my expectations were moderated and more balanced this time.

I do agree, however with past me that if they mention earl grey way too much. Yes, we get it. You watched TNG.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I have similar thoughts about all of that.

Though I don't think the Federation has ever actually used slave labour

We're shown how the workers responded to the synths and it definitely seems like the start of a movie where the robots rebel at the end. But it seems like it's actually trying to mislead us a bit so we think that's what caused the attack. The Federation didn't actually turn evil and ignore Measure of a Man/The Quality of Life, these robots really are just dumb tools, and when they meet intelligent robots they treat them very differently.

Though the holograms on La Sirena seem far more sophisticated. In fact it's like they've got the self awareness of The Doctor, which is a bit of a concern considering they're just a standard feature on these ships and no one gives a single damn about them. I'm going to assume that they're basically just your average holodeck hologram, and the Doctor's not fighting for their rights off-screen.

Though is he fighting for the rights of the other EMHs in the mines? Or did he meet them and realise that they're actually just dumb holodeck holograms too without the benefit of his significant upgrades. Man it's difficult to determine if AI is alive when it's programmed to simulate a person.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The first three episodes were originally supposed to be only two episodes, but they had too much story to establish to fit it all into two. I feel as if the second episode is the one that suffered the most from expanding the story.

 

[AntonyF]

Though I don't think the Federation has ever actually used slave labour

But they definitely floated the notion of that with the EMH and his escapades. And it felt a bit like a setup of that in episode two. And they also discussed directly in the "Measure of a Man."

La Sirena I had to look up... I haven't got there yet. Obviously I have previously, but I forgot they have holograms. I will keep this in mind as I do my rewatch.

The whole are they alive thing is just a whole can of worms. Now I use AI I would say my opinion of Data has actually lowered. When I look at it through the prism of putting O'Brien in a room with no windows like a computer operates a computer on the bridge... it makes one think. So I do fundamentally agree with you that they don't use slave labour - they're tools, no matter how you dress them.

 

[AntonyF]

1.03 "The End Is the Beginning" out of 5

A largely solid episode, but with some grumbles.

Let's start with the good stuff. I like the unfolding Romulan mystery that takes place in parallel on Earth and the Borg cube at the same time. I found myself genuinely quite enthralled as the attack on Chateau Picard took place at the same time we were in the Romulan lunatic ward.

It also seems that they're unfolding that perhaps this was a false flag by the Romulans around the attack on Mars which is interesting and I can't remember the outcome so it's a mystery again.

We now properly meet Raffi after a brief tease last episode, and and also meet Rios.
It's these sorts of characters where I go into a spin and start sitting there reasoning with myself.

I'm not keen on this concept that Starfleet fucks people over. The world is meant to have moved beyond such things and seeing her sitting in some shack doing drugs does not sit well with me (and she has to tell you she'd doing drugs, in case you didn't notice her smoking drugs). Rios also not keen on the smoking, it just feels all a bit try hard. Like it's trying to be edgy.

But then I tell myself... there is precedent. Ro is a big one. The ex-Maquis crew. We do have those rougher edges in Trek history. Rios is not a lot different to Okona... I didn't dislike Okona, so I should be fine with that. And on the mental summersaults go.

I find myself liking Rios more than Raffi initially. And I don't think Raffi's story reflects at all well on Picard. If he was the cause of her damage then he fucked off without checking in on her while he supped win on this chateau it's not a great picture.

What doesn't help me immediately warm to Raffis is the fucking ridiculous dialogue she is given. Again exposition happy but it's the "JL". No one has ever called him JL. It's very over familiar. She uses it, we get it... she's got a special relationship. Then they make her say it EIGHT TIMES. And I'm only 15 minutes into the show including recap. Oh and "pro tip" makes my skin crawl.

This is the type of thing that grinds my gears despite being reasonably minor. As these writers aren't stupid, this is their career. They're crafting a story. So why is it they have to to EARLY GREY, JL, EARLY GREY, JL, EARLY GREY, JL, EARLY GREY, JL like some parrot. It jars so much. Do they not sit there, watch it and go "Oh she's said that way too many times in the space of few mins, we should edit a few out t tone it back." Of course they don't.

Then the opposite of that Hugh walks up and it's like whatever... no special mention, no exposition, just there he is. And I like that confidence.

But it gives the show a slightly schizophrenic feel. The calmer side, that unfolds a mystery and has Hugh prance in like nothing has happened. Then also the side that goes "JL JL JL JL JL JL JL JL JL you wronged me and here's why and when" in an exposition dump.

But for all my grumbling, I like this episode. I like the building mystery. Even the moustache twitching Romulans are better in moderation. When the Romulan Rizzo beams up (and says brother again, as you know... did you get that?) I thought maybe she *is* more like the Romulans of old that I was pining for.

So as I end this 'review' perhaps what I'm saying is less is more, in all counts.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Once again I can't disagree with anything you said. Apart from the bit where you didn't dislike Okona!

I thought the opening three-parter was pretty decent overall, though I didn't appreciate their continued attempts to portray the Federation and Starfleet as being a bit darker. I know they had to cut Picard off from his usual support system so that he'd go off with a group of rogues, but the way they did it got me rolling my eyes and that didn't help the drama at all.

Also they probably shouldn't have tried so hard to make Laris the most interesting character if they were just going to go off without her.

 

[DonIago]

I was so happy to see Hugh again. He's been one of my favorite TNG non-regular characters since his first appearance, and Jonathan del Arco seems like a great guy IRL. One of the bright spots of S1 for me.

 

[bdub76]

I tried to rewatch season 2 of Picard because of all of the call backs to the Voyage Home. I couldn't make it through the season a second time.

Looking forward to reading your experience going through the series again.

 

[Tosk]

Though I don't think the Federation has ever actually used slave labour

What about when they used sentient holograms for mining?

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

What about when they used sentient holograms for mining?

I talked about that in the post you're quoting!

 

[Tosk]

I talked about that in the post you're quoting!

Maybe I should read slower!!

But really, the idea that "maybe they were dumb" (my simplification) doesn't really jibe with what we're shown. Why would they be sharing reading material of a "provocative" nature?

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Maybe I should read slower!!

But really, the idea that "maybe they were dumb" (my simplification) doesn't really jibe with what we're shown. Why would they be sharing reading material of a "provocative" nature?

Yeah, that's a definite hint that they're oppressed people, but on the other hand the Doctor is a result of actual upgrades to his programming, which he even mentioned when he met the EMH in Message in a Bottle. "I'm as close to a sentient life form as any hologram could hope to be."

An EMH should be a regular hologram with medical skills. If they really are capable of being more by default then the Federation has made the biggest mistake with AI since that time it failed to spot the exocomps' intelligence.

 

[AntonyF]

I was so happy to see Hugh again. He's been one of my favorite TNG non-regular characters since his first appearance, and Jonathan del Arco seems like a great guy IRL. One of the bright spots of S1 for me.

I interviewed him back in the day when he did Voyager. I don't think it ever occurred to ask him "Will we see Hugh again?" I enjoyed chatting with him.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I tried to rewatch season 2 of Picard because of all of the call backs to the Voyage Home. I couldn't make it through the season a second time.

Looking forward to reading your experience going through the series again.

Agreed. I recently attempted a rewatch of the entire series but didn't even finish the 4th episode of season 2 before deciding to just jump ahead and watch the last two episodes of the season and move on.

 

[AntonyF]

Agreed. I recently attempted a rewatch of the entire series but didn't even finish the 4th episode of season 2 before deciding to just jump ahead and watch the last two episodes of the season and move on.

I don't know exactly when I gave up originally. But I have a feeling it was about then. It'll be very interesting when I get to the crossover point.

 

[DonIago]

I interviewed him back in the day when he did Voyager. I don't think it ever occurred to ask him "Will we see Hugh again?" I enjoyed chatting with him.

I'm kinda jealous.

I imagine if you'd asked him at the time he would have laughed and said, "Well, never say never." But by that point in time, the series was over, as was FC, and I doubt it was on anyone's minds to do another Borg film. I don't think anyone could have even imagined doing a Picard series at that point in time.

One thing I liked about PIC, though perhaps more in theory than in execution, was the opportunity to reunite with characters from the past and find out what had become of them since. Hugh and Ro most immediately come to mind, and I have to emphasize in theory because I really didn't like what ultimately tended to happen when these characters did show up.

Perhaps ironically, not so much the regulars (hey, they got four films, and in some cases appearances elsewhere in the franchise!) as the guest characters. But then, the regulars all ended up back on the E-D as though nothing that had happened in their lives in the meantime had especially mattered (I'm being a bit snarky, admittedly), so...