Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 1x02 - "Maps and Legends"

[cooleddie74]

I do have to admit there was a brief period during the Vulcan commodore's dressing down of "Rizzo" I thought that she was Romulan - because she seemed to be emoting a bit too much for a Vulcan. However, I guess that can be chalked up to bad direction.

Or just being on Earth too long, like Soval in "Broken Bow, Part I(ENT)."

 

[sttngfan1701d]

So new theory, the Romulans hijacked the synths to attack mars, so the federation would distrust them, and destroy them.

Yeah I thought all along that was a Tal Shiar plot....but this episode now suggests it's that other cabal instead. I forget its name.

My other theory is that Maddox's recreation of Data's neural net from salvaged neurons to create a "perfect" synth involves Borg technology. Dr. Jurati clearly says in the pilot that the theory shouldn't work....yet it does, because Dahj and Soji exist. So he must've done it somehow. And the Borg are in the show....so Soji is part Data, part Borg, part human.

 

[mattman8907]

This season of Picard is feeling very Undiscovered country to me. Like i can see Kirk taking Picard’s place and the Klingons taking the Romulans place if they had been forced to relocate

 

[Jadeb]

But after that I think the episode recovered nicely and held my interest. Picard's personal arc across this episode as he seeks to find a way back into space was compelling, and I had no major issues with the admiral scene - I didn't even notice the profanity until others mentioned it. And the stuff on the reclaimed borg cube worked well I think. There was a bit of infodump mixed in, but it played in a more natural Trekkian manner. I'm also a bit relieved that although Narek is clearly an antagonist they're not going to have him play the role of a straight-up villain in the season - that they're introducing some sort of emotional conflict within him as well. Isa Briones so far seems as good as Soji as she was as Dahj. I definitely feel like she's a slightly different character (a bit more buttoned down/serious?) but I'm glad they didn't decide to make her the "evil one" or some such ridiculous thing.

Yeah, it did get better, but it struck me as being an episode of two halves. The show shines when it's doing character work -- even the infodumps had some nice character moments. I'm less sold on some of the clunky mystery building, but, hey, early days yet. And I'm very grateful that those character moments get to exist. Discovery would benefit from more of them.

I thought it was kind of amusing that Narek and Dahj were so covered up in bed -- they're both wearing both tops and bottoms! My first thought was that the showrunners were burned by the reaction to the nudity in Discovery, but then this episode gave us profanity and gore. (Both of the latter I thought seemed more natural and organic here than in Disco season 1.)

Have we seen escalators in Trek before? For some reason, that leaped out at me. Maybe Picard stopped for a Starbucks on his way to Abercrombie.

 

[Campe]

Interesting episode but I think I liked the first one better. Lots of moving pieces on the table but not a whole lot happened. Not sure how I feel about all of whatever the deal was with the Commodore and Lieutenant "Rizzo" and more secret behind the scenes spy games. I do really like Laris and Zhaban and I think I'm going to be sorry to see them not be a regular part of the series once Picard leaves Earth. I can't say that I particularly disagree with Admiral Clancy's rationale for denying Picard's requests. He literally very publicly and loudly disparaged Starfleet and then had the gall to ask for a favor? Did he honestly think he had a chance for this plan to succeed? I think I'm going to like Raffi based on her 30 seconds of screentime. The Romulan/Borg storyline is interesting indeed and I'm very curious to see where it goes. I'm gathering that Hugh is the director of the project. Soji seemed to fall for Narek pretty easily. Even though the outcome was cool, I could have done without the technobabble with the Star Trek: CSI scene. Good. Not great. 7/10.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

The alternative is they don't use 21st century slang. Words like "Dude" should probably just not be used in a 23rd century sci fi tbh

"Dude" has been around for decades with that usage, so I don't have trouble imagining it surviving at this point. It's not going away anytime soon.

Describing the replicator menu as "tragic" felt like more of an anachronism, at least syntactically.

 

[Spicy Thunder]

Just finished, and I think that the first episode was better, but this one was necessary for everything to make sense later on. It felt like a transition from the first episode to the rest, to get things going. Not the best of trek, but definitely good.

 

[Romulan_spy]

I'm gathering that Hugh is the director of the project.

Why would Hugh, an ex-Borg be in charge of a project involving studying dead Borg. No. I think Hugh and Seven will be working together to stop the reclamation project. After all, what the Romulans are doing is basically grave robbing and experimentation on Borg drones. I could see Hugh and Seven wanting to put a stop to it.

 

[Spicy Thunder]

Why would Hugh, an ex-Borg be in charge of a project involving studying dead Borg. No. I think Hugh and Seven will be working together to stop the reclamation project. After all, what the Romulans are doing is basically grave robbing and experimentation on Borg drones. I could see Hugh and Seven wanting to put a stop to it.

But he likely is on the cube somehow, because the actor said he is. And in some way he ends up helping Soji and Picard. There is too much mystery!

 

[Romulan_spy]

But he likely is on the cube somehow, because the actor said he is. And in some way he ends up helping Soji and Picard. There is too much mystery!

He might undercover on the cube.

 

[Campe]

Why would Hugh, an ex-Borg be in charge of a project involving studying dead Borg. No. I think Hugh and Seven will be working together to stop the reclamation project. After all, what the Romulans are doing is basically grave robbing and experimentation on Borg drones. I could see Hugh and Seven wanting to put a stop to it.

It seemed to me, and maybe I saw the scene wrong (Like last week, I typically have to watch these early in the morning while taking care of a baby who doesn't always like to sleep at 4am), but I picked up that they were trying to save the drones. Hugh would seem like the type to me to do just that. He may have no involvement at all with Seven at this point.

 

[Yistaan]

He literally very publicly and loudly disparaged Starfleet and then had the gall to ask for a favor? Did he honestly think he had a chance for this plan to succeed?

While that may be true, there's the fact that Picard was involved in an explosion afterwards and knocked unconscious. Even if the attackers erased evidence of themselves, that in itself warrants investigation (even if not by Picard himself). The Admiral should at the very least have promised an investigation into that incident, if nothing else.

 

[Spicy Thunder]

It seemed to me, and maybe I saw the scene wrong (Like last week, I typically have to watch these early in the morning while taking care of a baby who doesn't always like to sleep at 4am), but I picked up that they were trying to save the drones. Hugh would seem like the type to me to do just that. He may have no involvement at all with Seven at this point.

I'm not sure. Narek said that they were basically grave diggers, making it sound like they were dead. But it was all a bit confusing and cryptic.

 

[Romulan_spy]

It seemed to me, and maybe I saw the scene wrong (Like last week, I typically have to watch these early in the morning while taking care of a baby who doesn't always like to sleep at 4am), but I picked up that they were trying to save the drones. Hugh would seem like the type to me to do just that. He may have no involvement at all with Seven at this point.

Hugh might be trying to save the drones, absolutely. But I don't think the reclamation project is about saving the drones. They are clearly just studying the drones in the hope of learning more about Borg tech that they can use.

 

[Spicy Thunder]

And in the preview for the next episodes, the borg woman says that she thinks she knows Soji. Why do you think this is?

 

[Tuskin38]

I had another, crazier theory. Someone hacked the synths to destroy the Romulan rescue fleet, because of that secret Romulan group’s hate for synths. Another artificial intelligence perhaps.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Poor Picard. Always getting the brown and sticky from Admirals.

I want a replibox for Christmas! DING!

The Gorn get a mention, and then we see the place where we first saw one!

Synth no.F 8??? Seriously? Fate? Might as well stick vanity license plates to their backsides.

Lovely Courage/Goldsmith mix when Picard arrives at Starfleet.

Tea bags, Jean-Luc? Is this man of incomparable accomplishment unable to brew his own tea?

The Federation is clearly on the road to implosion. Is Earth truly at its center, or has it been outsourced?

All this technobabble made my head hurt.

Reclaiming Borg is a noble effort. Not so noble is that they're just another resource to exploit.

 

[Campe]

While that may be true, there's the fact that Picard was involved in an explosion afterwards and knocked unconscious. Even if the attackers erased evidence of themselves, that in itself warrants investigation (even if not by Picard himself). The Admiral should at the very least have promised an investigation into that incident, if nothing else.

Did he ask for an investigation? He very boldly asked to be reinstated with no other options, save to say getting a demotion for drawing less attention. He asked for an awful lot in that conversation and expected Starfleet to just give it to him, why? Because he's Jean-Luc Picard? The Admiral could have offered an investigation, sure. But again, she had every reason to see Picard as nothing less than an irritant at that point. And again, I don't blame her for what she did (even though perhaps she could have handled it a little better).

 

[Yistaan]

I thought it was kind of amusing that Narek and Dahj were so covered up in bed -- they're both wearing both tops and bottoms! My first thought was that the showrunners were burned by the reaction to the nudity in Discovery, but then this episode gave us profanity and gore. (Both of the latter I thought seemed more natural and organic here than in Disco season 1.)

We've had these types of scenes before in Trek, but usually after the characters were in a relationship for some time. Even Kelvin Kirk and Gaila were implied to have been in a relationship for some time. Other than the Orions trying to manipulate crewmembers in Enterprise, I don't think we've seen characters jumping into bed after they literally just met. That's why it was so jarring.

I also find it problematic because these type of scenes normalize and act like these situations happen all the time, when the truth is it's becoming more rare. As a man who didn't get a girlfriend into my mid-30s, you're lucky if you can even find a woman willing to socialize with you for more than 5 minutes before you get "I'm busy, I have a boyfriend, etc. why are you talking to me again?" And that's fine and understandable and I always got the hint and walked away, and rightfully more and more men are learning that too especially as the misdeeds of MeToo predators come to light and men all around the world take extra care not to remotely be like that.

I feel scenes like this, in Star Trek of all places, undo a lot of that progress by perpetuating the myth that you can just satisfy your hormones on the first pretty person you meet just like that. Like I said, Narek and Soji literally just met at the end of last episode.

Especially in the 24th century, I foresee that most people will just deal with their hormones via holodeck and then act extra professional in real life (and I strongly suspect in the 21st century real world a lot of people are looking at Playboy type stuff in their private time to deal with their hormones so they don't feel any urges of any kind around attractive coworkers etc. And while people may laugh or snicker, if that's what's needed to prevent people from becoming MeToo predators and more importantly that's what's needed to protect women, I see no problem with that).

 

[Jadeb]

Did he ask for an investigation? He very boldly asked to be reinstated with no other options, save to say getting a demotion for drawing less attention. He asked for an awful lot in that conversation and expected Starfleet to just give it to him, why? Because he's Jean-Luc Picard? The Admiral could have offered an investigation, sure. But again, she had every reason to see Picard as nothing less than an irritant at that point. And again, I don't blame her for what she did (even though perhaps she could have handled it a little better).

I was impressed she actually asked someone to look into his claims. Most badmirals just hang up angrily and move on with their day of catastrophic decision-making.