Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x07 - "Dominion"

[Cortez]

Right, so I decided to try and re-watch it after the red mist had faded, in the hope that I'd totally lost the run of myself with regard to my initial appraisal. I hadn't.

Some crazy daft moments that I still noticed (and honestly, there's so many more) :

So Worf and Raffi have given up the ghost regarding finding Riker, along with Geordi and the rest of the crew, and they're coming back. That's nice... how? Star Trek universe has become ridiculously small, and not very like Worf to give up just like that, and off screen too.

A doppelganger for Jean Luc, is that right lads, yeah? Mention of the upcoming Frontier Day, with Picard saying that he was supposed to be present. Eh, Tuvok mentioned in only the last scene that you're all fugitives. Man's obviously suffering from dementia.

The whole Data/Lore scenario, perfectly timed to coincide with the Changelings attempts to take over the Titan. Absolutely daft set up.

As for set ups, Vadic boarding the Titan. Jesus wept, it's bad in so many ways. The whole idea of allowing them to board the ship is hardly the greatest of strategies, and as for strategies, why would Vadic go on the away mission herself, and how would Picard and co. know it? Imagine Jack running up to them and she's not there on the away party... it's just daft. Sure you'd blast the shuttlecraft out of the sky if you knew she was on board anyway. Oh, maybe the ships aim is as bad as Picard and Crushers.

I get that Jack is using himself as bait, but why would he bring the girl he fancies with him? No security on board? And this happens in the very same episode where he tells Picard how troubled he is with the fact that people may die because of him. I mean, seriously.

It's poorly written stuff.

 

[Yistaan]

A lot of people have very rose colored glasses on with TNG and DS9..there were a lot of really meh episodes and in both cases the first few seaons were painful

Plotholes stick out now because they accumulate due to the serialized nature of new trek,where before a reset button was hit after each episode

 

[Mr Awe]

Yeah, really, there should be more than just Worf represented here from DS9. That is a huge issue for me. Short of fully reuniting the TNG cast, I’m not seeing the point of Spiner’s return here. Bashir or someone could use that screen time and actually have a real connection to the story they’re telling. Because so far (and this might change), using these characters makes the story feel very disjointed and not AS personal as it could using the DS9 bunch.

As a huge fan of DS9 (favorite series of that era), I totally get what you're saying.

I think some of it is practical reality. TNG is a bigger draw than DS9. That's why there's never been a DS9 movie. But at least it is a way to pay tribute to the greatness that is DS9! They might not have many callbacks to it, but the Founders, Changelings, and the Dominion war are all front and center in this story. Meanwhile, the callbacks to say Voyager might be more frequent but are less meaningful.

But you're right, the story would be more meaningful with the DS9 cast.

That all said, I'm enjoying the hell out of this season!

 

[Racefuel]

Plotholes stick out now because they accumulate due to the serialized nature of new trek,where before a reset button was hit after each episode

"Remember that time we were in a time loop and we kept playing the same game of poker and the enterprise exploded like..50 times

Lol yeah that was weird

Lets have an episode about Worf being on the holodeck and Data is..like..everyone"

 

[Mr Awe]

Something hardly talked about so far:
The crew just learned a reliable way of tracking and exposing the infiltrators!

That was a big development! I also wondered if that's related to their refusal to use transporters? Would that be detected during transport?

 

[JoseNoodles]

7/10 This episode mostly set the stage for the big finale.

So Vadic and her crew are altered Changelings, POWs from the Dominion War who were subjected to torture and experimentation.
She mentions the cure to the Changeling virus being stolen by a Changeling, but that's not how DS9 showed it. I seem to recall it was Bashir who got it from Sloane's dying brain, synthesized it, and then gave it to Odo to cure his people. Does she think Odo had to steal the cure? Was she referring to her own group of Changelings, who remained separated from the Great Link even after the war? Also, I find it hard to believe that this Project Proteus wasn't so well hidden that Dr. Crusher would easily find it in a database. I mean a whole lot of Federation laws were being brazenly broken. Why would this project be made public? I can only surmise that Section 31 was outed. Also the Bird Guys are supposed to be Changelings, but they never seem to use their shape-shifting abilities at all. Also, it seems like Vadic resurrected a couple of the vaporized ones.

A lot of action, a tender scene between Data and Geordi, some more strange abilities from Jack, and not much else. Crusher and Picard were totally not gonna kill Vadic.

 

[Campe]

As a huge fan of DS9 (favorite series of that era), I totally get what you're saying.

I think some of it is practical reality. TNG is a bigger draw than DS9. That's why there's never been a DS9 movie. But at least it is a way to pay tribute to the greatness that is DS9! They might not have many callbacks to it, but the Founders, Changelings, and the Dominion war are all front and center in this story. Meanwhile, the callbacks to say Voyager might be more frequent but are less meaningful.

But you're right, the story would be more meaningful with the DS9 cast.

That all said, I'm enjoying the hell out of this season!

I know. But having, ya know, at least one member of the DS9 crew (other than Worf) would have been nice. I mean, at this point, having Bashir in the adventure would make so much sense. But alas… I get it. Popularity.

Sigh.

 

[Racefuel]

I know. But having, ya know, at least one member of the DS9 crew (other than Worf) would have been nice. I mean, at this point, having Bashir in the adventure would make so much sense. But alas… I get it. Popularity.

Sigh.

Keep in mind that some of these folks have busy lives or otherwise may have been unavailable.

Alexander Siddig, for example, may have been filming the series "Shantaram" for Apple TV (granted, it didn't survive its first season)

 

[Amaris]

Honestly that whole exchange should have been recorded and broadcast as proof of the changeling infiltration.

Who would believe it? We can deep fake things even today to where they're difficult to discern from reality. By Picard's time, it would have to be a flawless method.

 

[Mr Awe]

I'm pretty upset at picard and Beverly for making the decision to execute a unarmed lifeform. Really disappointed in them.

I took it as them realizing they were about to lose control of the situation and their ship. Their plan was slipping away. With the fate of the Federation in the balance, you don't fuck around. The risk to their son was probably an even bigger motivation.

I understood their decision and how they didn't make it lightly.

 

[Commander Troi]

The discussion of watching something you hate and why anyone would do so from a couple of pages back reminds me of how I have this project where I am trying to catalogue all media in some way, and I subjected myself to the three part That's So Raven/The Suite Life of Zack and Cody/Hannah Montana crossover.

My God, are you okay? Do you need a care package or something?

I can't understand the Picard's body/Jack's blood thing at all. So supposedly they need Jack to fill in gaps in Picard's DNA in order to create a replica of Picard for use at Frontier Day festivities (given a genetic profile check is required). However...

<snip>

Maybe it's just an incorrect theory from Picard and Crusher, but it's a pretty bad one.

I think it is an incorrect theory. I also think Beverly and JL meant for Vadic to overhear them.

Someone mentioned a Xanatos gambit. It would be appropriate since most of the TNG cast worked on Gargoyles, not just Frakes.

No, whatever the hell her boss wants with Jack, it's got to do with his weird abilities *and* the "anomalous entity" Data found inside Picard. No idea what, but I'm sure it will be interesting.

That was a big development! I also wondered if that's related to their refusal to use transporters? Would that be detected during transport?

Yeah, Ro wouldn't use a transporter either. I think there's a reason that's been mentioned.

Anyone else notice that Vadic is subdued and subservient to her boss? She seems afraid of him. Also, I think he/it got her and her cohort off Daystrom and set up on the Shrike. Who could do that?

Burton's speech was lovely and somehow Spiner manages to make me tear up when Data "appears".

I'm enjoying the ride.

 

[Mr Awe]

Given that Vadic was obviously (and understandably) traumatised by her torture at the hands of the Federation, shouldn't she have been a bit more shaky when she was captured by Picard etc, who are still Starfleet. Sure she might be cocky about having a plan, but it should still be very triggering.

Yes, and Vadic's lack of concern was one reason why Beverly started panicking and thought about killing her. She felt that Vadic had the upper hand--something up her sleeve.

 

[Mr Awe]

So Picard thinks they stole his body so they could get through security on Foundation Day. Wouldn’t they want his synth body if that was the case? It would raise alarms if they went through and he read as fully human.

That was Picard's guess. It might not be the actual reason. But, given what you say, it's not really a good guess on JL's part is it?

I'd guess that JL's thoughts about why they wanted his body are a red herring. It's probably something completely different. We'll find out!

 

[Mr Awe]

Yeah, Ro wouldn't use a transporter either. I think there's a reason that's been mentioned.
I'm enjoying the ride.

If it was explained, I missed it! I also remember that the Changeling on the Titan was the transporter chief. They definitely have thing about transporters! At this point, anybody who is against transporters is likely a Changeling.

Hmmm. Maybe Dr. McCoy was one?

I take Ro not using the transporter as perhaps orders from higher up on her ship to not us it for the sake of the Changelings that were with her? Not sure.

I'm enjoying the ride too!

 

[Pubert]

I took it as them realizing they were about to lose control of the situation and their ship. Their plan was slipping away. With the fate of the Federation in the balance, you don't fuck around. The risk to their son was probably an even bigger motivation.

I understood their decision and how they didn't make it lightly.

Looks like they made it pretty quickly.

 

[Racefuel]

If it was explained, I missed it! I also remember that the Changeling on the Titan was the transporter chief. They definitely have thing about transporters! At this point, anybody who is against transporters is likely a Changeling.

Hmmm. Maybe Dr. McCoy was one?

I take Ro not using the transporter as perhaps orders from higher up on her ship to not us it for the sake of the Changelings that were with her? Not sure.

I'm enjoying the ride too!

She didn't trust the transporter crew on the Intrepid to not turn her into atomized bajoran cloud in space

 

[Mr Awe]

Looks like they made it pretty quickly.

They knew time was running out. And it did run out!

Like I said, you don't fuck around when the Federation and your son's life is on the line. If there was a threat to my daughter, yeah, I wouldn't hesitate either.

 

[Racefuel]

I'm pretty upset at picard and Beverly for making the decision to execute a unarmed lifeform. Really disappointed in them.

I'd fucking murder someone for threatening my dog, much less a child.

If my son was on the line I'd turn them into ash and dust in a heartbeat, prisoner or not.

 

[Racefuel]

And guess what..Trek characters have a long history of murdering for the greater good.

Data *had* fired with intent to kill Rivas Fajo with that disruptor..knowing it was an illegal weapon that produced a horrific painful death..but it was the right thing to do in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Pubert]

I'd fucking murder someone for threatening my dog, much less a child.































If my son was on the line I'd turn them into ash and dust in a heartbeat, prisoner or not.

But this is the 25th century. Humans have evolved. Kirk never resorted to execution.