Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 1x04 - "Absolute Candor"

It was probably for the viewers benefit just to confirm that he is still on the ship in case some thought he was back at the chateau.

 

But nothing was moving anyway. Just the fire that was still going.

 

NOOOOOOOO! Please not that again!

 

It looked to me like he only froze a particular part of the program, the fire could have been a separate part.

It may just be oversight by the FX department, it didn't bother me at all as I just saw it as a way to show viewers that its just a projection and he is still on the ship.

 

I think over the years we've seen Picard in many lights and it's easy to overlook the fact that Stewart's frankly magnificent performance has overshadowed a lot of inconsistencies in decisions and tone. I've said this before but I genuinely don't feel like we ever got to know Picard throughout TNG.

He was a paladin, an exemplar of moral fortitude, a champion of whatever value was being evangelised in any given episode, but he wasn't a relatable human being. He presented in most situations as being an argument made flesh, a set of values in human form and frankly what those values actually were could vary according to the wishes of whoever was writing him.

He couldn't stomach walking away from a planet of people because of Starfleet policy? We've seen him do exactly that before now and with every bit the same moral certainty (no amount of quibbling over the specifics can detract from the broad brush fact there), yet the very next episode was business as usual. We've seen him argue for and against interventionist policies, seen him wax lyrical about moral relativism in one episode and stand firm to a principle regardless of the outcome in another.

He's been stubborn at times and occasionally childish but almost without exception TNG made those traits a virtue when contrasted with the behaviour of others.

So on balance I can accept this portrayal, even see it as an improvement in that we see someone who has to accept his own fallibility and has personal attachments and relationships far more complex than we ever saw in 7 seasons of TNG.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say in many regards this is shaping up to be one of the strongest instalments in the franchise.

 

Picard is not a Mary Sue by definition. Picard (in this show) is the hero. A Mary Sue is someone who comes from the outside and magically fixes everything, or is the perfect officer, or .... . The star of the show can be a hero or a villain (nowadays) but not a Mary Sue.


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Old Avatar brought out for nostalgia for a few days
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I loved this episode and the look into a new type of Romulans. The Romulans have been criminally underused in Star Trek before now so it's nice to learn more about their culture. Seven's intro was awesome. The only thing I hate about the episode is that we have to wait a week for the next one.

This episode does prove though that whatever you do, you can not please all Trekkies at the same time:

"Discovery moves too fast! I wish they let it breathe!"
"Picard is too slow! We need more action!"

"Discovery is too much about the main plot, it should have more episodes exploring and visiting planets."
"Picard has too many episodes not dealing with the main plot."

 

So, 4/10 of the way through the season, are we almost done with the intro and setup? Imagine at least one more coming, as now we get the 7 of 9 catchup episode. Pacing is pretty slow; like someone said upthread, it feels like it would play much better as a binge than as a weekly episode. It's a slow, reflective, long-format story trying to tell itself episodically a week at a time, just feels off...

 

Is it just me or does Seven's eye thing look different from the last time we saw her on Voyager?

 

It's a new implant (she may well have had the old one replaced after it wore out).

 

Why would it wear out? Does she scratch there often?

 

I don't see this as being about Picard getting his panties in a wad about losing. This was a more fundamental violation of his identity.

Picard was married to Starfleet and its ideals. He traded the chance at a family for a career he believed in. He had an almost religious faith in Starfleet and the Federation. What happened to Picard was less a political loss and more akin to him making an ultimatum to a spouse, with the threat of divorce on the table, then hearing, "Ok, fine, let's divorce" instead of what he plainly expected to hear. He was betrayed and cast aside by the institution he devoted his life to, and that is more than enough to break a man. Frankly, I am surprised he took it as well as he did.

 

Friction.

 

Could it be possible that Picard remembers Seven from when he was a borg?

 

Why would there be any friction there?

 

To show it was a hologram
And for all we know the fire was real. Picard brought some wood with him and lit it on fire. Yeah, that’s right, that’s what happened

 

My weak attempt at a parks and rec joke.

 

Picard was good again last night - nice use of Musketeers. Still more a setting up episode, and Elnor's skills were silly, but it was nice to see the old RBOP - even if it's odd that somebody was using a 200 year-old ship - and if there isn't an audiobook of The Three Musketeers read by Patrick Stewart there fucking needs to be, stat. The Romulan brother and sister characters on the cube are by far the weakest link in the show, neither of them have shown any acting talent yet.

 

I am ok with the two siblings as long as it actually goes somewhere in the end.

After all someone has to activate Soji and its probably going to be Rizzo or Narek that does it before Picard even gets there.

 

Or had a message board meltdown and flounced. Whichever works best in context.