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Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 1x10 - "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2"

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Not to snip but I hate this. Depressing is not crap and anyone can struggle with it. I think they portrayed Picard in the most realistic and relatable way possible with depression and questions over legacy. And it wasn't just over Data either.

I know realism and Trek don't always go hand-in-hand but this one I like. Show me people struggling with mental health and need that support. Mental health conditions are still poorly understood and Picard is a great example of how it can be accurately portrayed.

*rant over*

Don't worry about snipping and no need for a rant. We can differ in opinions.

Just understand that I was wasn't belittling depression.

This man has sent people off to their deaths before. Wesley's father, Ensign Sito Jaxa, to name a couple. He's been defended by those that have lost their lives before. Losing Data is no walk in the park for sure, but it wasn't just saving him, Data saved what was left of the Enterprise, Earth and any other planet Shinzon might feel the need to irradicate. He lost a friend yes, but not for not.

I just think it's unreasonable for "JL" to have done what he did. Star Fleet called his bluff and he just quit. Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of Star Fleet's flag vessel, the arbiter of many a conflict, stopped the borg from assimilating humanity in the past, lived an entire life in the span of 40 minutes, took his rank insignia off to save a race of people from being forcibly removed/eliminated, promoted to Admiral, organized a fleet of ships to save the Federations biggest enemy, just frakin QUIT! "I've had enough, all those billions of lives mean nothing, I'll just go off and grow some grapes and drink wine..." ... for 18 years!

Ridiculous.
 
But devil's advocate--this is Star Trek--a more idealistic and optimistic view of the future. Perhaps it IS better to portray strong nuclear families, especially fathers of color. Ben Sisko was one of if not THE best fathers in Star Trek.
That's a push too far in the opposite direction. Nuclear implies a hierarchy. There's no reason to have a designated head of a family for it to function. Nor does a family need to stay together. The issue is abandonment of the responsibility of children, not loss of particular family structures.
 
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This man has sent people off to their deaths before. Wesley's father, Ensign Sito Jaxa, to name a couple. He's been defended by those that have lost their lives before. Losing Data is no walk in the park for sure, but it wasn't just saving him, Data saved what was left of the Enterprise, Earth and any other planet Shinzon might feel the need to irradicate. He lost a friend yes, but not for not.
That is a wonderful and very logical way to reason through it. But, Picard isn't acting logical. You call it unreasonable in the next paragraph and that is quite right-there is no reason to it. It is purely emotion because Data's death was the last in a long series of losses that Picard finally was begining to fray from. To quote Tolkien (who endured many deaths of friends in WW 1) "His death (C.S. Lewis') feels like a blow very close to the roots."
just think it's unreasonable for "JL" to have done what he did. Star Fleet called his bluff and he just quit. Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of Star Fleet's flag vessel, the arbiter of many a conflict, stopped the borg from assimilating humanity in the past, lived an entire life in the span of 40 minutes, took his rank insignia off to save a race of people from being forcibly removed/eliminated, promoted to Admiral, organized a fleet of ships to save the Federations biggest enemy, just frakin QUIT! "I've had enough, all those billions of lives mean nothing, I'll just go off and grow some grapes and drink wine..." ... for 18 years!
Again, very logical. But doesn't touch on the emotion that Picard is feeling and where he is at psychologically.
 
Rewatched this today, lots of issues with it, including one more than before - Raffi and Seven did shots together while (randomly) holding hands?? I've zero issue with Seven being a grizzled drinking BAMF, but they made Raffi's drinking an ugly problem just a few episodes before. And I'm still mad that Seven left her xB's and even the Fenris Rangers behind for Picard's ship? I really hope season 2 has her helping her people. I really felt protecting them became her calling, cemented with that amazing moment where the was queen for a few seconds following the death of Hugh.

Where were the Rios holograms when Picard flew the ship into space?? They were an absolute joy and we should have had Picard command the holocrew to action!

That said, that scene with Data and Picard was so beautiful. I get emotional just thinking about it. One of my favourite Star Trek scenes ever.
 
Rewatched this today, lots of issues with it, including one more than before - Raffi and Seven did shots together while (randomly) holding hands?? I've zero issue with Seven being a grizzled drinking BAMF, but they made Raffi's drinking an ugly problem just a few episodes before.

Seven's just getting to know Raffi, and addicts can be quite adept at downplaying their problems. If the creatives do decide to explore a relationship between these two next season, Seven learning of Raffi's alcoholism could be a complication.
 
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I just think it's unreasonable for "JL" to have done what he did. Star Fleet called his bluff and he just quit. Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of Star Fleet's flag vessel, the arbiter of many a conflict, stopped the borg from assimilating humanity in the past, lived an entire life in the span of 40 minutes, took his rank insignia off to save a race of people from being forcibly removed/eliminated, promoted to Admiral, organized a fleet of ships to save the Federations biggest enemy, just frakin QUIT! "I've had enough, all those billions of lives mean nothing, I'll just go off and grow some grapes and drink wine..." ... for 18 years!

This is backwards. Picard wasn't bluffing, he was calling Starfleet's bluff. Except that they weren't bluffing, and accepted his resignation instead of folding. It was a reasonable gamble, since he had already played all the higher-percentage moves by then. It just didn't happen to work.
 
his is backwards. Picard wasn't bluffing, he was calling Starfleet's bluff. Except that they weren't bluffing, and accepted his resignation instead of folding. It was a reasonable gamble, since he had already played all the higher-percentage moves by then. It just didn't happen to work.

Reasonable gamble? Seriously?

Either way, he went to grow grapes and Romulans died.
 
Ya know, I wonder if the ending would have been better if Et in Arcadia Ego was a 3-parter instead of a 2-parter. Say, use the extra time to expand on certain character motivations.
 
10 episodes for a first season is too short. I'd have gladly looked forward to an 11th just to help wrap up dangling plot threads. At least 15 per season would be ideal.
 
Et In Arcadia Ego, Part 2
The final episode. Concluding. Jurati schemes to break Picard out. Narek goes to the Artefact and then La Sirena. The Romulan armada arrives. Jurati breaks Picard out from the 'guest quarters'. (Using Saga's eyeball for the purpose was an interesting way to do it.) The interaction between the two as she breaks him out was very well done. Narek scuttles in the Artefact (which seems to have crashed onto a shoreline) and passes by Seven and Elnor talking about the XBs. That part was done rather well.
As was his reunion with Narissa. Not sure what to make of it, but it was well done. Rios and Raffi use the device Saga gave them to repair La Sirena's power systems. (Very similar, as a plot device, to the sonic screwdriver in Doctor Who.) However, it is a good scene as they figure out how to use it to fix the intermix chamber. Then Narek arrives and begins throwing rocks at the ship to get their attention. The following scene, where Elnor had followed him from the Artefact was very well written.
This is followed by their planning to destroy the beacon. This part was very well plotted too. As was Picard and Jurati then taking La Sirena up to confront the Romulans. That Picard would need to figure out how to fly the ship was obvious. Although calling up Enoch would have been a good idea. It is then that the Zhat Vash fleet arrives. Picard tries to call off Oh's attack, but again the speech fails. She tries to destroy the settlement, but the Orchids arrive in orbit. This battle was done well enough.
Then Starfleet arrives, with Riker leading the fleet of advanced ships. That wasn't that surprising (given that the seed had been planted in Nepenthe), but it was very well done. That the Ancient Synths didn't amount to mutch was disappointing, but that may not be the point of the story.In that vein, that there isn't a battle between the two fleets wasn't that disappointing. Riker's speech was good (he learned from the best.) Talking about personal, it is because Soji realises she doesn't want Picard to die that she shuts down the beacon.
That part was done well, counteracting earlier when Narek tried to disable it. But then Picard dies anyway, due to the neurological condition. But not, when he meets Data in a simulation. So Data dies, again, and Picard lives on in a synthetic body. Not sure what to make of it. But Seven being reflective, remorseful over killing Bjayzl and Narissa was a good development. Overall a good, if a little sad, episode. 9/10.
 
What are the statistics on that? Real world ones. Just making up a number, but what if 75% of families of a certain race are broken homes? Is it racial to portray a family of the same race as a broken home, or racial NOT to do so?
You missed the point by 20,000 kilometers.

Today's statistics reflect current socio-economic status and who's disenfranchised, and disenfranchised people suffer in higher percentages than those in the majority. There's no "race" which is more prone to such problems, but many segments of the culture treat socio-economic status and the negative consequences of it as somehow endemic to the group in question.

Any piece of art is not only about what it is but about when it is made. The show is played to a 21st century audience, so what matters is how it fits into and reinforces or goes against the context of current societal perceptions.

The optics remain terrible.
 
Reasonable gamble? Seriously? Either way, he went to grow grapes and Romulans died.

Spock picked up the slack and prevented Hobus from destroying more systems or perhaps colonies in-system.

But my take on the subject is Picard couldn't say, "Oh, just kidding. Can I keep my rank?"

They fired him by accepting his resignation.
 
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