Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 1x03 - "The End is the Beginning"

[Agony_Boothb]

Agreed. So much about Raffi's backstory doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Why would she have been kicked out of Starfleet? Just for supporting Picard? I know the show is positioning Starfleet as a quasi-antagonist who had "lost its way", but I can't believe they would "fire" an experienced officer just because her CO resigned in protest.

That feels ridiculously petty and vindictive and I wouldn't buy that as being realistic in a 21st Century organization (without additional justification, let alone Starfleet of the 24th.

Nor do I buy that Jean-Luc would be so callous as to completely cut Raffi out of his life and quite literally never speak to her for all those intervening years. That's just....some really bad writing there and wildly out of character.

I think it's that Raffi lost her purpose and her career, which seemed to mean everything to her and is severely depressed as a result. A few years ago I lost a job that I loved and that i felt gave me purpose and had a breakdown. It's taken me about two years to recover from. Some people aren't so lucky and they let their vices that they use to cope overcome them. I can also see how a post-scarcity society where everything is given to you could be bad for a person potentially suffering from a mental illness. You don't have to pay rent, buy food, buy clothes, so what is the point in trying? Where is the impetus to get you back on your feet and rebuild your life?

I also got the vibe that Raffi may have already been in Starfleets bad graces and Picard was protecting her. With Picard out of the way, someone in Starfleet HR may have seen an opportunity to get rid of a 'non-team player'.

As for why Picard never spoke to Raffi, it may have been something that 2364 - 2379 Picard wouldn't have done, but it may have been something a Picard who has lost his faith in the organisation he has given his life to may do. 2399 Picard is a different man to the one we know, in fact I don't think he even knows himself at the moment.

 

[Jayson1]

I enjoyed the episode for the most part, but Raffi annoyed me... particularly these things:

In 2385, while they were both active duty members of Starfleet, Commander Raffi should not have been calling Admiral Picard JL. It should have been "Admiral" or "sir". Now I know from previous incarnations we'd see Kirk or Picard or Sisko addressing flag officers by their first names, but it seemed in those instances that there was a rapport that went back many years when both were lower in rank (as an example in Homefront and Paradise Lost, Sisko was Leyton's XO on Okinawa). I can't imagine this rapport between Picard and Raffi would have been possible considering the age difference and vast divide in rank. Furthermore, Picard always seemed like a stickler when it came to military bearing.

The whole materialism thing. I mean I get that Raffi's pissed at Picard for not bothering to check in on her for 15 years; But her whole rant about him living in a beautiful chateau in France while she's living in a box out in the desert. I thought money didn't exist in the 24th century. I thought that the accumulation of wealth and material possessions wasn't the driving factor in their lives. Why all of a sudden is this a thing?

And why is Raffi living in a box out in the desert? So she he got booted out of Starfleet and lost her security clearance; Okay yeah, that's not ideal, but she, at least in-theory, had 10-20 years as a Starfleet officer (presumably in security, engineering or operations, judging by her uniform color). She never thought about using her experience in the civilian sector. I suspect she could have had a pretty good and fulfilling life outside of Starfleet. Certainly there's civilian ships out charting the unknown regions of space or desolate worlds that need terraforming or teams working on new technologies that need an experienced engineer or manager or whatever.

As far as positives, I liked Rios and I'm glad they finally got to space. I wish Picard was bringing Laris and Zhaban with him. Those two can really handle themselves. In fact, Picard should bring Laris and Zhaban with him and leave Raffi back on Earth. Picard maybe could ask her to house sit for a few weeks, seeing as she was so jangry about the chateau... Soji and the Borg stuff is interesting and I can't wait to see where that goes.

Picard started to loosen up as he got older. Remember he didn't go tp the poker game until literally the very last scene of TNG and said he wished he came earlier. We also don't know what kind of experiences they had together or what kind of bond so I don't see why him allowing her call him JL would be a issue.
I agree Raffi being fired doesn't make sense or why being fired would send her over the bend unless maybe she had some demons before joining Starfleet and Starfleet was her kind of escape from a bad situation like it was with Tasha Yar. Maybe what Starfleet provided her was more than just a job but a new way of living.


Jason

 

[trash80]

I am liking the 3D interfaces, in The Visitor (which was set in the 25C) they mentioned these being used then. Perhaps after the various wars in the late 24C the Federation felt like it was time for a big upgrade.

 

[PiotrB]

Episode 8/10 for me. Finally we got to know the whole main cast and we can start the proper plot of the series.

 

[thribs]

I am liking the 3D interfaces, in The Visitor (which was set in the 25C) they mentioned these being used then. Perhaps after the various wars in the late 24C the Federation felt like it was time for a big upgrade.

Problem is that it makes it look very generic sci fi with all of them around. It loses its uniqueness since many other sci fi properties have them.

 

[Tarek71]

As a 3-episode pilot, which I hope will never be done again, I would give it an average rating of 5.5/10. Not terrible. Not great. If this had been the first time I had met Picard, and had no investment in Trek or his character, I would already have moved on to a new show to binge. Not even close to comparable to the last 20 years of Golden Age Tv. Compared to Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game Of Thrones, etc, it is not even close to that. KurtzmanTrek continues to flounder creatively and artistically.

 

[Gonzo]

Finally watched it.

Pacing was steady and we got some more solid information, much of it has been covered but I will comment on a couple of things.

I find Raffi to be a bit too whiny for my liking blaming everyone else and not taking responsibility for her own actions, as some have already said Rios is Star Treks answer to Han Solo, I am not saying these are bad things and no doubt they will improve as the season progresses.

A Vulcan in sunglasses walking through Starfleet grounds and no one thinks anything of it...

The show runners certainly want us to see the Commodore as the main villain but I get the feeling that are laying it on a bit too thick and it could be a misdirect away from someone else in plain sight.

Jurati appearing like that is very suspicious to put it mildly, just in time to shoot an enemy in the back, where exactly did she get that rifle from anyway its not exactly the sort of thing they would leave laying around.

Highly likely she has been compromised by the Commodore assuming she wasnt already by somebody else, if it was by mind meld does that prove she is not a synth.

Rizzo and Narek most definitely have something going on, I have seen that kind of predatory attraction before, one of them is going to end up killing the other, it may even be that Rizzo is jealous of the attention Narek is giving Soji and we all know what happens in those situations.

I base this on the idea that Rizzo is exactly as she appears and Dahj is definitely dead, it just seems odd for them to be hidden so well for so long and then just throw it away like that, it feels very off to me, I would at least expect them to grab her body so they can run tests on it as the explosion wouldnt have destroyed it completely.

Hugh had his mind blown by Soji's inside knowledge, I agree with the consensus on this thread that one of the individuals on that Romulan ship was a synth and when the Borg tried to assimilate them it disabled the Cube, which explains why the former drones shit themselves when they realised what she knew, the only way she could know is if she is one as well.

I also took my time looking at those tarot cards, there are probably hints in them for what is to come but it was a bit too blurry so I didnt bother look for long.

If Hugh didnt know what she is he is probably starting to suspect now.

As I said in an earlier post I cant see Laris and Zhaban staying at the chateau, they didnt even try to get on the ship with Picard which probably means they have their own transport nearby.

No real negatives as far as I am concerned, no doubt my impression of Raffi will improve as she finally gets the chance to recover from her malaise.

Episode gets another solid 8, which means the pilot sequence as a whole gets an 8 as well.

Looking forward to Freecloud, all sorts will be there including Ferengi no doubt, ideal location for the obligatory bar fight.

 

[picardjean-luc]

I wish Oh had a different name, because every time I see her, I have George Takei's "Oh, my" shoot through my brain.

I believe it is also Kirk's last words in 'Generations' before dying...

 

[picardjean-luc]

I think it demonstrates how prepared Laris and Zhaban are.

I want more of them. A Short Trek, at least!

Even better! Their own series (a prequel) featuring their missions as Tal-Shiar agents .

 

[Lonemagpie]

OK, so three episodes in, that's the pilot episode - no pun intended - finally finished and the series proper can start....

 

[Llywela]

As for why Picard never spoke to Raffi, it may have been something that 2364 - 2379 Picard wouldn't have done, but it may have been something a Picard who has lost his faith in the organisation he has given his life to may do. 2399 Picard is a different man to the one we know, in fact I don't think he even knows himself at the moment.

And let's not forget that Picard himself seems to have been sunk in depression for much of the intervening period - earlier in the season he came right out and admitted that he has just been sitting around waiting to die. He doesn't seem to have been maintaining much contact with anyone from his former life, reacted to his retirement by withdrawing deep into himself. Raffi may not be in a place where she can understand it, but it doesn't seem to me that he was in the right mental place to reach out and offer support to anyone.

 

[Lonemagpie]

They released a bio image recently that says what his role on the Cube is

Spoiler

'Executive Director'
https://www.thetrekcollective.com/2020/01/picard-episode-titles-blurbs-stills.html

He first appeared with that title in episode 2 last week.

 

[Tarek71]

If you have a Laris Show, at least make it interesting and show how many times the Romulan authorities used her to kill protesters, dissidents and other State enemies and not just "CSI: Picard" missions where she hunts bad guys. She worked for the bad guys. A tyrannical regime. More accurately, it is "Laris: War Criminal!" She is the the Morally Upright KGB Agent! Yeah she killed alot of dissidents, but she has crazy good CSI skills! But this is the fair to middlin IQ level of Kurtzman Trek.

 

[KennyB]

She would just get reassigned, not drummed out of the service. It's b.s.

She had multiple substance abuse issues before becoming Picard's XO according to Michelle Hurd..........Picard had taken her under his wing, after Picard resigned, she went back to the abuse. I feel like we will see more of this as the weeks progress.

 

[KennyB]

She’s pissed Picard had more fortitude than her.

Raffi is unlikeable right now

Picard did not have fortitude, he was cocky and even said he never thought they would accept his resignation. That's why he's depressed and has been hiding on his vineyard for 15 years.

And I don't think you're supposed to love Raffi at this point..........

 

[TheMadCloner]

Laris and Zhaban are probably on a cloaked ship following Picard.

As for both Picard and Raffi withdrawing from all public life, I think the theme is that withdrawal from a greater union = bad. They're trying to show that even the best of us can fall victim to this problem.

 

[jaime]

So on the ‘Vulcans are synth species’ at this point.

 

[DaveyNY]

Picard did not have fortitude, he was cocky and even said he never thought they would accept his resignation. That's why he's depressed and has been hiding on his vineyard for 15 years.

And I don't think you're supposed to love Raffi at this point..........

... unless your thing is a simply gorgeous GF that is absolutely great in bed...,

... but has more emotional and addiction problems built in, than a cheap bordello.

 

[Tomalak]

Enjoyed that again, though perhaps slightly less than the first two episodes. Felt a bit more like filler in parts - in retrospect I don't see why the three episodes couldn't have been a two-hour pilot.

We all knew Raffi would end up on the ship, so I'm glad they didn't string that out too much. Did she say she got drummed out, or did they just take away her clearance and threaten to reassign her to waste extraction on Deep Space 12, causing her to quit? I want to know more about her history with Picard. I'm assuming she was another Ensign Ro/Sito type - got into some trouble but Picard gave her the benefit of the doubt and allowed her to flourish under his tutelage. Maybe she was a junior officer on the Enterprise-E? They obviously had a close relationship. No one else would have called him 'JL'.

Picard not speaking to her for all these years is totally believable. He didn't speak to Beverly until she turned up on the Enterprise with his dead friend's son. He was obviously depressed and living like a hermit in La Barre.

Rios made a good impression with his mad holograms - there's obviously scope to mine that in terms of the overarching AI plot. He goes along with Soong and Zimmerman in designing AI in his own likeness. It answers the question about whether holograms are still used - it seems they're around in a very functional service role, basically just 3D extensions of computers. It remains to be seen if they are deemed sentient in the same way Voyager's EMH kinda was - but I don't think was settled law either.

Jurati meets Oh and is next seen turning up in the nick of time to murder a Romulan. Ok. I'll keep my eye on her for now.

So we have our crew, and finally we got the "engage" moment. And we're off!

 

[Tarek71]

Raffi sucks at this point. They wanted him to use people he used to work with. So instead of Dr. Crusher, they got a character who was CMO on the Stargazer. He says he wont ask Worf, Riker, and LaForge to help him. They would sacrifice anything to do that. So F them! Instead he will ask Raffi? WTF does that even mean? So he doesnt mind if she risks everything? Why is her risking everything OK, but not Geordi? And people are giving this 8/10? Are you kidding?