• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Spoilers Acid Spitting?!

Trekker4747

Boldly going...
Premium Member
Spoilers for the first episode of Star Trek: Picard.

Without getting too much into spoilery plot details there's a scene in Picard where one of the Romulan assassins/mercenaries or whatever looking for Dahj appears to spit acid on her after getting knocked down during a fight. And this seemed to confuse a lot of people, including myself, at first because it looks like the Romulan spits acid at her!

What really happens, though, is it seemed to be akin to the spy-movie "cyanide capsule" in false tooth. But the execution of it was really, really, poorly done.

First of all with the helmet and gear and the guy's pained face all makes the "dislodging the tooth" action not easily seen. Secondly he spits a greenish fluid out which is consistent with the color of Romulan blood (I think the guy's jaw is bleeding or something so some thought the blood, not the spit, was acidic and he spit out the blood that was pooling in his mouth.

If you watch the scene, however, you can see that the acid actually reacts with his own skin just as his target.

Usually when you see the "cyanide capsule" trope employed in a movie it's more obvious, usually with a tight close-up of the person actually taking out the tooth and biting it and then "swallowing a thing of Alka-Seltzer" foam coming out. The scene I most think of is the scene in the first Captain America movie when this happens and we get the tight close-up, see the tooth getting pulled out, etc.

But here? Just not very well executed with the pulled back shot and stuff and we don't get the "foam coming from the mouth" thing, though we do see the acid react to his face as well.

In the same scene, it also seems people missed the disruptor exploding (damaged by the acid that was spat out.)

I dunno, just thoughts. It's overall funny to me that so many thought "Romulans spit acid?!" Because, well, that's what I thought at first two, be I immediately rewound it and rewatched it and caught the tooth bit.
 
I didnt think it was a Romulan thing. I assumed it was a Romulan Blade Runner thing. An explosive compound they can use as a last resort if they cannot capture and contain the android.
 
When I saw that I thought the same as BillJ. The guy just had some acid pill in his mouth that he bit into. It's the end of the 24th Century. They must be able to pack something pretty impressive into those.
 
It might be a FELODESINE Suicide Chip.

Like the one Romulan Admiral Alidar Jarok took in "The Defector".
 
Seems like it would’ve been messier.
Yeah, I went back to watch that scene again in TNG.

BUT .... Perhaps the Security Folks watching Jarok saw him do it and had him immediately beamed to Sickbay and even thought Dr. Crusher couldn't save him, she was able to neutralize the acid right away.
Especially since it was able to eat through metals as well.

Then she just cleaned him up and returned him to his guest room before Picard came in?

<BIG Stretch, but it is kinda-sorta feasible>


Or maybe Jarok had a much weaker version of the tablet?
Maybe Romulan Strike Teams have the deadliest version in order to also be able to take out their objective by any means necessary?
:shrug:
 
Last edited:
The rifle is what exploded. The acid ate away at the power cell.
LIke @BillJ I had no trouble with the scene......you can see it and hear a POP......then the acid ate her skin and clothing and finally caused the rifle to become unstable. I was shocked to see so many people confused. Maybe if you watch on a phone or tablet it would be hard to see. :adore:
 
In the same scene, it also seems people missed the disruptor exploding (damaged by the acid that was spat out.).

And this is why I think that Dahj is not dead but got beamed away by somebody, covered up by the explosion. I can´t remember where...but it was mentioned somewhere that Data´s "outer shell" can only be really damaged by a nuclear explosion or something with even more energy. If Dahj is basically an more advanced version of the "Susanna Taylor"-model, then she has an organic "outside" over a regular Soong-Type android body.
 
And this is why I think that Dahj is not dead but got beamed away by somebody, covered up by the explosion. I can´t remember where...but it was mentioned somewhere that Data´s "outer shell" can only be really damaged by a nuclear explosion or something with even more energy. If Dahj is basically an more advanced version of the "Susanna Taylor"-model, then she has an organic "outside" over a regular Soong-Type android body.
Data could definitely withstand sub machine gun fire, that’s for sure. I agree with theory that Dahj is more than human, she must have some kind of non-human endoskeleton to jump as high as she did. And if she does, then all bets are off if she was actually killed.
 
Data could definitely withstand sub machine gun fire, that’s for sure. I agree with theory that Dahj is more than human, she must have some kind of non-human endoskeleton to jump as high as she did. And if she does, then all bets are off if she was actually killed.
She's obviously never been to see a doctor or had a medical scan............;-)
 
but it was mentioned somewhere that Data´s "outer shell" can only be really damaged by a nuclear explosion or something with even more energy.
We see him pierced by some dude with a pole, and part of his face torn off in "Thine Own Self", so he ain't that impervious to damage. :)
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top