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Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 2x02 - "Penance"

Rate the episode...

  • 10 - Excellent!

    Votes: 45 22.0%
  • 9

    Votes: 98 47.8%
  • 8

    Votes: 40 19.5%
  • 7

    Votes: 10 4.9%
  • 6

    Votes: 8 3.9%
  • 5

    Votes: 3 1.5%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • 1 - Terrible!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    205
I take it General Sisko is just a throwaway reference, unless this is a different universe. I was all excited for Brooks to show up anyway.

Also having the characters give exposition by saying "tell me what you know now" is always a funny trick. lol
 
I was so-so on the season premiere, but this was one heck of an entertaining episode. It took until "The Impossible Box" for season 1 to produce an episode this engaging, and I think "Penance" is altogether more effective as a standalone story that's nevertheless part of a larger whole.

Also, it's nice that this series now remembers that violence and cruelty are bad, looking at you "Stardust City Rag."

By the end of the season, the Borg are absolutely joining the Federation, or at least allying with it in some way. The Confederation's viewpoint on all alien life is basically the Federation's view of the Borg (circa "I, Borg") extrapolated out to the entire galaxy, and if there's any subtext to this episode it's that the line between viewing the Borg as a threat worthy of extermination and taking that same view of, say, Gul Dukat is basically arbitrary.

I'm cautiously optimistic that we're in for an interesting ride.
 
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Hmm, I wonder if Q’s lesson is going to be about openness and compassion. The Borg queen beams over and everyone starts shooting. So he shows what happens when that’s the norm for humanity.

I did think the Borg queen having all the answers was a little too convenient, but hey, story must go on!
 
Hmm, I wonder if Q’s lesson is going to be about openness and compassion. The Borg queen beams over and everyone starts shooting. So he shows what happens when that’s the norm for humanity.

I did think the Borg queen having all the answers was a little too convenient, but hey, story must go on!
Her being able to scan time was a bit much but they needed something to point the way so she gets plot magic. Also she keeps reminding me of both the Cylon hybrids and the robot president from Inside Job.

On a different note I can't believe (in a good way) they are gonna touch one of Star Treks silliest bits of "science" by going round the sun backwards.
 
Her being able to scan time was a bit much but they needed something to point the way so she gets plot magic. Also she keeps reminding me of both the Cylon hybrids and the robot president from Inside Job.

On a different note I can't believe (in a good way) they are gonna touch one of Star Treks silliest bits of "science" by going round the sun backwards.

maybe they have different queen variant’s? This one is more the admin type. She didn’t seem to have the personality of the one that sparred with Picard and Data in “First Contact”
 
First off, I really enjoyed this episode. It was quite interesting seeing each character wake up in a crazy totalitarian world and have to figure out how to navigate their way through it. Jurati's over-talking in front of Annika's spouse and her poor attempts at covering it up were quite funny as well.

I personally felt that there is just enough going on with Q to make one wonder what is up with him, but there is definitely a lot left to be revealed. I'm really interested to see where that thread goes.

The Miss Saigon fan in me loved seeing Jon Jon Briones pop up in this episode.

Sooo... about bringing the Borg Queen along for the time travel... I will say that whether intended or not, the whole Borg Queen scenario filled me with dread. It is partly the history of the Borg in Trek and partly the little smirks and other glances of the queen, but bringing her back to the past seems like an incredibly dangerous idea. Talk about being stuck between two bad options. She is the only one who can make the necessary calculations on the fly, but she will also presumably turn on you in an instant.

Finally Patrick Stewart playing Picard acting like a despotic general was still quite intimidating. It would be easy to see how General Picard could have climbed the ranks to that position even in a dangerous regime.
 
Holy shit, that was intense.
They showed what the Mirror Universe should have been like all along.
And Q. JFC, Q and Picard's interaction in this episode. He's never been so menacing. And he fucking slapped Picard. And akdhjjwfiohasdfi....
I don't think I've ever been so on edge watching Star Trek before.
 
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8

If I am being honest, the episode was a big info dump, but there were many details that left me intrigued.

Stop teasing me with DS9 details.

It was nice seeing Allison Pill playing closer to her Scott Pilgrim character while still being neurotic.

I think the gang got back together too quickly. They should have spent another episode in this world, perhaps confronted with performing acts that they would find morally repugnant. It would also have been nice to see Seven somewhat cognitively impaired without her implants.

I love how everyone protects Elnor ... to the extent that he needs it.
 
It’s amazing how better written and more in- character these characters are compared to season one. They’re almost likeable. :)
 
An additional thought ‪‪I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned yet, Q quipped that Picard ended up with a “nifty synthetic body” in the altered reality as well, credited to Gul Dukat’s defiance during his execution.

He ends up a synth regardless of the reality. A bit unexpected given the mentions from some of the show’s creators that it would be all but ignored this season, which now seem to have been exaggerated, since it’s come up in each of the first two episodes, and maintained in the altered 25th Century.
 
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