Re: referencing past iterations of Star Trek, there's a difference between adding in something that's a part of the current plot and ties in strongly to an episode (Hugh, Seven, Maddox, Locutus, Romulan supernova, etc.) and a quick reference to a background event in a series that's already rife with backstory (all of the above plus the Romulan evacuation, Picard's resignation, the synth revolution, his relationship with Raffi, etc.). Not sure if I completely agree with the conclusion they came to (a Dominion War mention could've been the equivalent of Obi-Wan's casual mention of the Clone Wars for new fans), but I see where they're coming from when he worried that casually referencing additional motivations might confuse people when there's so much to absorb already. And I don't think people saying "They don't want to reference old Trek!" are misinterpreting; the sheer number of references to older material in every episode should bear that out. For anyone who's not familiar with the original comments I'm alluding to, here they are (emphasis added): Q: Will there be references to the political impact the Dominion War had on the Federation? CHABON: Tried to work it in several times, in drafts. Wiser heads argued correctly that it made things just that much more intimidatingly complicated for non-fans. In the end, regrettably, it just had to be implied. Source: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18131570680023370/ via http://blog.trekcore.com/2020/03/michael-chabon-star-trek-picard-fan-questions/
There probably a hundred in-universe Star Trek ways The Rikers could of saved their son. Medical stasis to out wait the ban? Time travel to before the ban? Baku Village? The Fabrini's advance medical knowledge? Try to track down a Zalkonian called John Doe etc. I think the writers simply dont want to use past trek as the source for a resolution on their new show. Which is understandable.
With Hugh dead, how does Elnor know what to do once he gets the queencell open? It’s not like the XB will know what Hugh wanted to do. I wonder if Ramdah will be the one who helps him? Incredibly bad storytelling that Elnor just happens to come across a Fenris SOS beacon in his darkest hour, because it’s not like the Fenris would give them to anyone (as they’d make a perfect trap ambush/device). Select few people would have them and Elnor just walks in on one? As predicted, Commander Oh, Narek & Narissa are Zhat Vash…notice how she didn’t reveal herself to Elnor until her entourage were dead i.e. they weren’t Zhat Vash. In Jurati’s mind meld Oh is one of the people standing in the circle. I wonder if it’s a Zhat Vash initiation ceremony, because one of them commits suicide with the knowledge? The centre of the circle explodes with a white/green light - what phenomenon does this and gives them visions of the future? Anything in Trek lore?
I'm just impressed we got a Kzinti reference of all things. This makes the first appearance of the Kzinti(even if just a spoken name) in live-action canon though had ENT been renewed for a fifth season we were probably going to be introduced to them as a mid-22nd century adversary around the time of the Earth-Romulan War.
I'm pretty much fast-forwarding now if a scene doesn't involve Picard or Troi/Riker/Seven/Hugh/etc. I enjoyed Picard's scenes with Troi and Riker in this episode immensely. The rest not so much.
A virus doesn't have complete DNA it needs a cell with silicon-based DNA to reproduce otherwise it dies out. The idea that silicon-based DNA could mix with carbon-based DNA and form a coherent whole is preposterous. They're not even made of the same materials!!!
So is Thad the only one who got this disease? Or are there thousands of people dying due to the synth ban? I'm not sure the writers thought of the ramifications of all of this...
No surprise about the Dominion War really, it would have overly complicated matters. The wars with the Klingons and Romulans were one thing but a war with an empire from another quadrant is something else entirely and it is the kind of event that starts the movement towards mutual defence pacts. Especially when that war is fought on your own territory and don't really have the ability to launch any kind of invasion to theirs due to lack of intelligence/distance, it keeps your supply lines short but means there is no real prospect of actual victory, it would just be war without end. Hence me being absolutely fine with S31 striking through the Founders themselves, always go for the weakest point, otherwise you just end up having to chew through the enemies cannon fodder, they can grow their soldiers and replace losses quickly but the Klingons/Romulans/Federation can't to that. An attrition fight is the worst kind, it is literally a race to the bottom.