Picard had the task of picking up where TNG and the Prime Timeline Movies left off. While doing so, it took a lot of cues, and when you're looking at it, you realize how many layers there were in putting it together. 1. We see the Enterprise-D. They rope you in. "Hey! Remember TNG?" 2. While we see the Enterprise-D, we hear the song Blue Skies. Which picks up where Nemesis left off. The song Data sung toward the beginning of the movie and B-4 tried to sing at the end that Picard helped him with. Now we get the Bing Crosby version. 3. Inside Ten-Forward, Picard's dressed in civilian clothing and how he is "now". But Data's in a First Contact uniform. While they're on an Enterprise-D set. Picard from PIC, Data from the Movies, and a set from the TV series. All three periods of TNG are represented. All three are fair game in this series. 4. Picard and Data are playing cards. The first episode of Picard picks up where the last episode left off, with a card game. Picard says, "I don't want the game to end." 5. Then Picard sees the attack on Mars. In full view. That's the last we see of him on the Enterprise in this series. He wakes up immediately afterwards. Later on, we find out that Picard left the Enterprise to help with the Romulan Crisis. And the destruction of Romulus was the last thing we heard about of the 24th Century prior the beginning of this series. Picard wanted to help, but he was stopped. On multiple fronts as is later revealed. The Federation Council on one front and the Zhat Vash on another. 6. When he wakes up, he gets out of bed, and he's in the Vineyard as it's reintroduced. We're in a new era. When Picard wakes up from a double day-dream at the beginning of First Contact, he's on the Enterprise-E, as the ship is introduced. We were in a new era. Perfect parallel. 7. Going passed the first scene. In First Contact, the Admiral orders Picard to patrol the Neutral Zone in case the Romulans decide to take advantage of the Borg attacking the Federation. In Picard, he lives with Romulans at the Vineyard. And no one's ordering him to do anything. 8. The future in "All Good Things" showed Picard living at the Vineyard. PIC is following through with where "All Good Things" said he'd end up.
Yep, a lot of thought went into that opening and carrying on lots of stuff from Next Gen and Nemesis.
Excellent observations. I was literally shouting out loud, much to the surprise of the Lady Sho-Rin as that whole sequence unfolded. It was still amazing on the second and third viewing.
I am genuinely impressed at the way the show met one of the biggest challenges standing in its way: the 2387 supernova. It's the last chronicled event in the 24th century Trekverse... but it was also a throwaway plot used in Trek 09 without exploring any of its implications. Rather than dancing around that, as might have been tempting, Picard confronts it head on, right from the start—making it a key part of the emotional and political superstructure of the show, and even smoothing out some of the event's unscientific rough edges along the way. A bravura job all around!
It also gives a lot more depth to the scene where Nero is torturing Pike, especially when he says, "I was off-planet, doing my job, while your Federation did nothing and allowed my people to burn while my planet broke in half!" which retroactively works brilliantly in reference to the abandoned rescue effort after the Synths attack Mars.
Yes, in a sense. Still, ultimately ST09 boils down to "crazy villains are crazy," since Nero was focusing his revenge on someone who had tried to help, and (more broadly) on the six-generations-too-early predecessor of the institution that didn't. It's not as if there's any shortage of actual sane, constructive ways he could've used a 150-year head start to approach the problem...
Agreed, they took a frivolous element from a dumb action movie and defiantly extracted drama from it, that was quite satisfying. Still would've prefered if they had ignored Abrams"Trek" and went with "there was never a Romulan supernova". [blockquote]Picard and Data are playing cards. The first episode of Picard picks up where the last episode left off, with a card game. Picard says, "I don't want the game to end."[/blockquote] And you know that line is coming, you know that's what he'll answer, but it's still great when it does. The first couple of scenes are PIC at its best.
I have to say, some of the observations here about the opening sequence had never crossed my mind before. Bravo!
Excuse the superficial drive-by comment but f**king hell did I love seeing the Enterprise-D for those brief few seconds.
I mean, if anything can excuse genuine irrationality in a villain's motivations, I'd say watching the destruction of your home planet and everyone you love ought to be it. It certainly makes more sense than, say, Shinzon -- somehow he grows up the victim of abuse and torture from Romulans for decades, takes over, becomes dictator of Romulus... and wants to destroy Earth...???
Well, y'know the Federation is enemies with the Romulans, therefore more brutal and large Romulan military, therefore treating Remans as slaves and driving them to death on the dilithium mines. Also, Romulans (and Remans?) can never be truly free until the Federation is destroyed. Just as crazy as Nero, who had so much time on his hands it is completely unrealistic that he would hold such a mania for such a long time. Or should I say, Nero is as crazy as Shinzon given the character that was created first.
I think you're reading a little bit too much into things. Half the things you mentioned were likely not done knowingly.
Michael Chabon is one of the most accomplished writers in America. He's a recipient or finalist for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the International Dublin Literary Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the O. Henry Award, the National Jewish Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. I promise you -- I promise you -- he knew what he was doing and this stuff was intentional.
I could be wrong but I thought shinzon didnt really want to destroy earth he was just using their interests to get himself into power. All he seemed interested in was messing with Picard and then curing himself. He would only destroy earth if it was advantageous to himself
No, at the end he just loses the plot and decides he wants to use the Scimitar's thalaron weapon to sterilize Earth. Even though it's the Romulans who have been brutally oppressing him his entire life. Because Reasons.