Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x03 - "Seventeen Seconds"

[TedShatner10]

I'm still not 100% convinced yet, but unlike the first two seasons, which I thought started strong and then quickly collapsed, for me this season started off iffy and has since been getting better with each successive episode, so I hope that trend continues.

I don't think Season 1 really collapsed (it's a somewhat underrated NuTrek season) but went on slightly odd tangents along the way and had a crowded ending. Season 2 had a much more noticeable mid season nosedive, but was bookended by strong opening and closing episodes.

By Season 3 it seems like they learned from the crippling pacing and padding problems that S2 had, alongside having a more focused storyline than in S1 (arising from creative bikering).

 

[JoeZhang]

But even *today* morning-after pills *exist*. It's more "how would Crusher actually get pregnant given what we know about 18th century technology"

Well the answer is she didn't take one?

Nothing at all in the conversation between Picard and Crusher is about how she got pregnant - it's entirely about why he didn't know.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The really simple answer is that she had reason to think she wasn't fertile anymore. They weren't taking precautions and didn't think they needed to. That would apply to "morning after" methods as well. She got a surprise.

 

[jaime]

The really simple answer is that she had reason to think she wasn't fertile anymore. They weren't taking precautions and didn't think they needed to. That would apply to "morning after" methods as well. She got a surprise.

I think medical professionals in the 24th century who have medical tricorders and don’t even need to pee on a stick probably shouldn’t get surprises. Doctors know pregnancy is possible in older women now, and that it is more likely in women that have been pregnant before — unless this knowledge about human women was lost in WW3 and not rediscovered in the three centuries after, ‘surprise’ should only really apply when one is accidentally shagged by an alien energy being one day.

 

[Skipper]

The really simple answer is that she had reason to think she wasn't fertile anymore.

This really opens another cans of worms...
Best case scenario: The writers haven't really thought about what it means to talk about "unwanted pregnancy" in a show set 400 years from now and we have to accept what we are told at face value.

Worst case scenario: Beverly has been actively trying to get pregnant with Picard and has adamantly decided not to tell him anything before, during, and after.

 

[SiorX]

I think medical professionals in the 24th century who have medical tricorders and don’t even need to pee on a stick probably shouldn’t get surprises. Doctors know pregnancy is possible in older women now, and that it is more likely in women that have been pregnant before — unless this knowledge about human women was lost in WW3 and not rediscovered in the three centuries after, ‘surprise’ should only really apply when one is accidentally shagged by an alien energy being one day.

I think the truest reason it is that the writers wanted the drama and didn't care about whether it stretched suspension of disbelief too far.

But if we're scrambling for a diegetic reason, I'm choosing to believe the metaphasic energy in the Briar Patch had unexpected long-term effects that weren't picked up by scans.

 

[Timelord Victorious]

I think the truest reason it is that the writers wanted the drama and didn't care about whether it stretched suspension of disbelief too far.

But if we're scrambling for a diegetic reason, I'm choosing to believe the metaphysic energy in the Briar Patch had unexpected long-term effects that weren't picked up by scans.

Not a bad idea.
Maybe Picard has had the 24th century equivalent of a vasectomy, but wasn’t aware his rejuvenation regenerated more than he was aware of.

 

[Lt Mo]

I think the truest reason it is that the writers wanted the drama and didn't care about whether it stretched suspension of disbelief too far.

That’s pretty much what Terry M says in this interview. That this is the story he wanted to tell and stop nitpicking and we should just accept it.

(Possible spoilers)
https://collider.com/star-trek-pica...-showrunner-terry-matalas/?newsletter_popup=1

 

[thribs]

I’m more curious how this story connects with seasons one and two. They said each season is like a chapter of a book.

 

[Sisko_is_my_captain]

The way it is phrased in DS9 (“one of us forgot their injection this month”), implies contraception is not something you think or need to think of in the moment.
It trains you to not think about it on a daily basis.
When you are not sexually active you might get sloppy or drop the injections altogether but still don’t think about it that one time. And Beverly might be a Doctor, but she can still be wrong about things. Maybe she didn’t think that she even could get pregnant anymore?

A million things possible, but twenty years later nothing of that matters anymore or would come up in that conversation we just saw.

I don't think this works because you're basing assumptions on the 21st century practice of dispensing medicine to a patient for home use, with no way of monitoring compliance. In the 24th century, you might trust a patient to self administer a drug, but for sure you are going to have a computerized way to monitor when and how much is injected. Your hypo is going to tell your doctor if you miss a dose or take too much, and a nurse is going to immediately follow up to tell you to take your injection. And if you still don't administer it, they'll bug you more. And that's assuming they wouldn't just implant a tiny slow-release dispenser in your abdomen to begin with. There should be no excuse for medication compliance falling through the cracks by this point in time.

 

[Tuskin38]

Some BTS images of the sickbay set
https://twitter.com/lizklocz/status/1632149773519327232?s=46&t=GJ4lIGndtLwuph_LJO2AJw

 

[fireproof78]

Best case scenario: The writers haven't really thought about what it means to talk about "unwanted pregnancy" in a show set 400 years from now and we have to accept what we are told at face value.

This is probably accurate.

 

[Tuskin38]

I don't think this works because you're basing assumptions on the 21st century practice of dispensing medicine to a patient for home use, with no way of monitoring compliance. In the 24th century, you might trust a patient to self administer a drug, but for sure you are going to have a computerized way to monitor when and how much is injected. Your hypo is going to tell your doctor if you miss a dose or take too much, and a nurse is going to immediately follow up to tell you to take your injection. And if you still don't administer it, they'll bug you more. And that's assuming they wouldn't just implant a tiny slow-release dispenser in your abdomen to begin with. There should be no excuse for medication compliance falling through the cracks by this point in time.

That wouldn’t make for good drama though.

And Star Trek has always tried to be relatable.

 

[Brainsucker]

I don't know why Titan A doesn't send out several shuttles to leave the Nebula quietly and contact Deep Space 11 or other fro help.

 

[Ovation]

The needs of the drama outweigh the needs of verisimilitude.

(AKA Star Trek)

 

[fireproof78]

The needs of the drama outweigh the needs of verisimilitude.

(AKA Star Trek)

Yup. Star Trek has always been this way.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The needs of the drama outweigh the needs of verisimilitude.

(AKA Star Trek)

A good example of this is how often ships can travel at the "speed of plot".

 

[Citiprime]

Some thoughts ....

• The Shrike doesn't seem to be a Jem'Hadar ship design. It arguably seems like a mix of Cardassian and Klingon engineering.
• Is Vadic the Female Changeling? It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that the progressive Federation, in the interest of galactic peace, release a mass murderer on the level of Hitler for good behavior.
• Are Vadic's foot soldiers other Changelings, a variation on the Jem'Hadar, or a completey new serant race?
• One way they could severely damage the Federation would be if they revealed the events of "In the Pale Moonlight" to the rest of the galaxy, letting the Romulans know they entered the Dominion War, sarcrificing thousands if not millions of Romulans lives, based on a Federation lie.
• If they're worried about reigniting the Dominion War it means they can no longer count on Sikso and the other Prophets from blocking wormhole traffic.
• What is so special about Jack Crusher? Wild mass guessing: Jack is a changeling that replaced the real Jack years ago and has been under deep cover.

 

[Paul Weaver]

So the Federation doesn't want to admit that Changelings are responsible for the attacks to avoid reigniting the Dominion conflict so are happy to blame T'Luco

The breakaway changelings do want to restart the war.

So why did Rikka pay Sneed to frame T'Luco?

 

[Tuskin38]

Is Vadic the Female Changeline?

Probably not, we see her smoking. I don't think a changeling would fall for humanoid vices.

Are Vadic's foot soldiers other Changelings,

The subtitles in the Canadian version of Episode 3 called them changelings.