Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x01 - "The Next Generation"

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According to Dave Blass it is indeed set in 2401:

https://twitter.com/DaveBlass/status/1626797073285763080
I wonder if aside from the wine bottles (or there's any chance something from 2400 could be a "2401 vintage") there's anything in "The Star Gazer" and "Farewell" explicitly set in 2401? You'd almost have to shift season 1 to really early in 2399 to make it all fit.

Criminy. So many comments already. But just this: The bunk beds killed me dead.
That's one detail I wish I hadn't been spoiled by months ago:D
 
I wish Picard wouldn't act so bewildered all the time.

Him and Riker were being "cutesy" in the first episode. Not sure I love that.
The main characters rarely have sufficient interplay throughout Picard.
Like the others, this one also suffers from trying to spin needless elements into what already smacks as another long-winded spin-off episode.
I'll watch the next one with fingers crossed again.
 
I wonder if aside from the wine bottles (or there's any chance something from 2400 could be a "2401 vintage") there's anything in "The Star Gazer" and "Farewell" explicitly set in 2401? You'd almost have to shift season 1 to really early in 2399 to make it all fit.
Yeah I think we have to assume season one was very early in 2399, and season two mid-to-late 2400. Rios says the Stargazer is a ship from the year 2400 when he's in jail, for what that's worth.
 
Well, it's Guy, so...

His point was superficial.

Her selfish right to comfort is not more important than the half million members of Star Fleet who grab for a side arm whenever they hear her name spoken aloud.
US Naming Laws.

While the United States of America has somewhat lax naming laws, there are still some names that you aren’t allowed to use for a child. While these differ from state to state, having a numeral in your name is mostly not allowed.

This means that a name such as “Mon1ka”, wouldn’t be permissible as your chosen moniker (pun absolutely intended). Unfortunately, it also means you’ll have to refrain from calling your child R2-D2 or C-3PO. If that discourages you from having a child in the first place, we don’t blame you.

https://www.usbirthcertificates.com/articles/illegal-baby-names

In America today it is (mostly, state by state) illegal to name your child or file for a legal change of name to "7 of 9".

Although "Seven of Nine" would be perfectly acceptable.
 
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It looks like CBS (or whoever) pulled Angry Joe's review of the episode, he and the others were being a little rough on its but not unreasonably so and I don't think they were using an excessive number of clips beyond what's expected in a review.

This kind of stuff need to really stop.
 
According to Dave Blass it is indeed set in 2401:

https://twitter.com/DaveBlass/status/1626797073285763080
Okay, good. 2401 works a lot better than 2411. Mainly because the amount of time that's passed since TNG almost matches both in Picard and in Real Life.

And it makes "In the 25th Century... " more appropriate instead just being a variation of what TWOK did. It makes more sense because it's the first season to take place fully in the 25th Century, and 2401 is the first year of it. So we're getting a proper introduction to the new century (instead of the brief glimpse we get last season) as the characters themselves are entering it. In fact, it fits even better in PIC than it did in TWOK, looking at it like that, since TWOK takes place in the 2280s. Over there, the 23rd Century isn't starting, it's almost over!
 
Yeah, I'm still not the biggest fan of Starfleet's hand phasers and rifles firing blaster-style bolts and now we've got Beverly Sarah Connorin' her rifle before she disintegrates her attackers.
At first I thought it was a bit much as well, but when Riker said that the ash was unusual it occurred to me that perhaps the aliens physiology is such that ANY phaser hit would reduce them to ash.
It may also be purposeful on their part in that they don't want to leave behind any identifiable remains.
 
So, I really enjoyed this episode. I give it an 8. I hope it turns out better than seasons 1 and 2, whose introductory episodes I think were also strong before those seasons hit turbulence.

One of the issues I had with this compared to the Season 1 and 2 openers is there's not a compelling character arc for Picard - he's pretty much doing well with Laris and then the plot drags him along...
I could actually do with less telegraphing, but I think they do set Picard's arc up with the talk about not needing a legacy. It might be that the "next next generation" is his or part of his legacy.

The proper Federation SF? That would have been the same year or after the founding of the Federation, no?
The US Army was officially founded before the US existed, so there is precedent.

...Maybe Picard's BOBW log playing (what was the point of that?)...
TrekMovie's AllAccess Podcast pointed out (and I think they are right), that Beverly was probably reviewing old logs to figure out ways to hide from her pursuers. Picard hid from the Borg in BOBW by hiding in a nebula, just as Beverly does in this episode.

...Speaking of 7, she really just sacrificed her career to help Picard before even understanding the gravity of the situation?! Wow...
Well, for 1) she was very unhappy and apparently thinking about not being in Starfleet anymore already, and 2) if Picard and Riker show up, I think anyone (other than Clancy from Season 1 or Shaw) would immediately go with "you know, maybe I should go along with what these multiple universe saving Starfleet heroes are trying to do, in case it ends up saving everyone?" I know I would.

...They went ahead with the test anyway.
I can't remember "Making of the Atomic Bomb" well enough to confirm this, but by the time we got around to being ready to test the bomb, it was the military in charge of things and ordering the test to happen. So, it was in the best interest that the scientists be involved to minimize the chances of everyone dying. Not that there aren't ethical issues with their participation anyway, just that it wasn't the scientists really in charge anymore at that point.

...Really don't like the way the show looks. Overly dark, messy space visuals, and bad CGI (the ships look fake)...
Hmm, I don't have as much problem with the interior lighting as others seem to have. As for the exterior shots, I have always felt that while some of DIS's and PIC's earlier ship shots could be beautiful (often Discovery just hanging in space near some nebula), most of their space shots were ugly and indecipherable. I will take PIC s3 ship shots being a little flat and overlit over the disaster of earlier DIS/PIC shots any day.

...I haven't read through the thread, but has anyone tried explaining why a phaser pump action shotgun exists? lol
I think there is a good reason for this, beyond just modern "cool" factor. At first, I too dismissed it as stupid for the same reason.

Anthony and Laurie from TrekMovie surmised that: given Matalas has said there will be fallout from the Dominion War, plus Beverly saying to trust no one, and her kid saying that the attackers have different faces, and Riker making a special point about the ash left behind - maybe the attackers are shapeshifters in some way (don't know why they seem to be wearing masks though). As we saw in DS9, shapeshifters are very hard to kill with conventional phasers or Klingon disruptors, so maybe Beverly retrofitted a more powerful "shotgun" style phaser rifle out of other parts. This would also explain why the phaser discharges so quickly after a limited number of "shots". It combines the output of many normal phaser beam emissions into one powerful shot.

I think this is a plausible explanation, and if true argues to me that i should maybe lend Matalas a little slack when I see things initially that seem a little "off" - maybe there is a good explanation beyond just that "it looks cool".

...The less said about Raffi, the better. Of all the characters they had to bring back from the first two seasons- really?
...
The age of the cast continues to pull me out of it all a little bit. I just have a hard time watching a bunch of actors (beloved ones, to be sure) trying to pull off the action and pew pew well into their 70's and 80's. There is nothing to be done about that, however. We're all older than we were in '87-'94 and doing the best we can...
I actually like Raffi (and Rios, but he is gone) best out of the new characters. And I thought Hurd did great in all her scenes, so I am glad she is here.

As for the action, only Beverly did any real action and other than over-pumping her shotgun phaser (which I blame more on the editor than the actor), all the real stunt work was probably handled by a stunt double. Riker and Picard didn't do much other than complain about being old and one elbow to the face, so I thought that was done well.

Sure he does. What are a retired admiral and a reserve-duty captain doing giving surprise inspections? With no one above them to confirm the legitimacy of their inspection? And then they immediately try to butter him up and talk him into diverting course? They're being suspicious as all hell, and they both have a history of insubordination themselves...
I think they did get confirmation from higher ups. Riker mentioned that the Titan is one area where he still has some pull. I think Shaw just doesn't like them because he is straight-laced and they are loose cannons (to him). At least he doesn't have any real reason to be suspicious until Picard screws up the starbase designation, and that comes long after he is rude to them.

...I have to say Shaw was totally jarring. We’ve had renegade captains before but never such a complete…asshole. How did somebody with such a bullying, abrasive, dickhead attitude get through Starfleet and rise the ranks to captain? Hardly a fit for the Starfleet ethos and values? Subtler writing might have helped here.
...
By the way, why have the opening credits somehow merged into the closing credits?
...
I liked the theme from season one. As a series, PICARD has an extreme identity crisis, I wish they could at least have kept its theme as a unifying element.
I think some of the best character writing can come from some characters coming off as bad/evil/terrible, then we find out over time that we haven't understood big aspects of their character/motivations/etc. that reveals what they are really like. I think this is likely what Shaw will be like. I think unsubtlety is ok here. A great example of this is Jack Bristow from season 1 of Alias. Going from terrible dad to misunderstood great dad over the course of the first season (or so), is great tv.

I like that there are closing credits (don't know if they will stick around). I have always disliked how Paramount+ jumps to commercial, and then only after the commercial break shows the closing credits. I always get lost expecting more of the episode, only to be tricked once again. The serialization doesn't help here either due to the sometimes lack of a clear ending point for a given week's episode.

I never liked PIC's theme song, it was always too bland. So I am liking the new credits much better this season.

I'm only a quarter of the way in but isn't there a bit of a contradiction in saying "I am not a man who needs a legacy" mere minutes after talking about writing your memoirs?
Picard was saying he was going to "think" about writing his memoirs, but even that was just to show Laris that he was happy about going with her and would be living in the moment and not dwelling on distant events. Plus they burst that little bubble and started talking more seriously about the trip/change of life circumstances.
 
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I'm only a quarter of the way in but isn't there a bit of a contradiction in saying "I am not a man who needs a legacy" mere minutes after talking about writing your memoirs?

Picard was saying he was going to "think" about writing his memoirs, but even that was just to show Laris that he was happy about going with her and would be living in the moment and not dwelling on distant events. Plus they burst that little bubble and started talking more seriously about the trip/change of life circumstances.
^^^
No, if there's one constant about the character of jean-Luc Picard it's that he's OFTEN a hypocrite; and that statement just shows he's still being true to form. :)
 
I'm pretty sure that her service as (apparently) a civilian consultant aboard the USS Voyager and her time in the Fenris Rangers were considered as sufficient command experience to warrant receiving an officer's commission in Starfleet without needing to go through the Academy or rise through the junior ranks. Similar to how Kira was directly commissioned into the Bajoran Militia as a major without having to be a second lieutenant, first lieutenant, or captain first. Probably Seven was directly commissioned as either a commander, or directly commissioned as a lieutenant command and then earned promotion to commander.

Fair point, Sci, although I still don’t buy it. To me, it’s even crazier than Tilly being promoted to First Officer because Tilly at least had been through the Academy and had some rather extraordinary experience in the field subsequently. While I can accept Seven would have been given a jumpstart at the Academy based on her experience and even age, I still imagine there would still be very tight competition for Executive Officer jobs (lots of commanders, but only so many ships). If Seven jumped straight from a (likely shortened) Academy stint to First Officer of a starship, I can only imagine it would have pissed off fellow officers a helluva lot as they themselves spend years, even decades, rising through the ranks. So, nah, I can’t really buy it. It’s a case where the plot demands it regardless of the logic. But, this is Trek, it’s full of things that don’t entirely make sense, so I can accept it.
 
I enjoyed the episode- nice that Raffi’s circumstances where better than they looked.

Captain Shaw will undoubtedly end up KO or in the brig so Picard and Riker can do their thing. He probably has Wolf 359 history in his past.

Nice visuals- if the Titan was refit to the Neo-Connie it would have been cheaper to build a new ship surely?

Liked Bev’s ship. Compact little private craft.

Will watch more.
 
^
It also says in the same thread that although the guy said “legal issues” he doesn’t really understand any of it. Stuff like that has a danger of becoming another “25% different”.

It’s probably something similar to the Sovereign class not being allowed in DS9.
 
Yeah he's just speculating. They just told him "no Lower Decks ships". Probably why we see reference to Voyager-B instead of A, which Prodigy hinted at.

I presume the Hellbird virus infected the Enterprise-D during the downtime at the start of Part II when they repaired the blown-out deflector.
 
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