Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 3x09 - "Võx"

[Greg Cox]

Also us millenials and zoomers are just more comfortable building on pre-existing work in general. Probably because a lot of us grew up playing out imaginary episodes with action figures on guest room beds or writing fan fiction online.

At the risk of being the token senior citizen . . . trust me, we did the same thing back in the day. It's just that the fan-fiction was on paper, not on-line, and our plastic toys were maybe less snazzy. (Google "Captain Action" and "Major Matt Mason" and Star Trek Colorforms.)

Just to belabor the point, there is this odd notion out there, which I've encountered before, that fan-fiction is a new thing that was born of the internet, which is very much not the case. Trekkies were sharing their mimeographed fanfic zines (many of the them featuring K/S) at conventions and via the mail as far back as the early seventies at least. And I can personally attest to filling many a spiral notebook with my own handwritten fanfic at least as far back as 1975 . . . .

Some years ago, I actually stumbled on a long-forgotten stash of my old teenage fanfic while clearing out my parents' old house. Weird to read that stuff again, after fifty-some years!

 

[fireproof78]

The story this season is damn good. At least I think so. It's filled with great deep cuts and modest retcons. And a lot of continuity fixing and quite little continuity breaking.

"A lot of continuity fixing and breaking" usually doesn't bother me but when this is held up as a strong point then I question it.

Right now, the story has teetered on the edge for me. Next week will be curious, but my interest has collapsed under the fan wank.

Frankly when your biggest offense is "The Titan isn't REALLLYYY a refit", you're doing pretty well.

No, my biggest offense is being strung along for the Borg.

 

[jaime]

You...uh, have fun with that.


This I completely agree with, especially this season. If you're going to give me this level of nostalgia then better ground it in a damn good story.

They’ve done a decent job in making everything organic, even if they worked back from nostalgia beats. Example: we want the crew on the ship — how? — recovered the saucer because prime directive, Geordi did a cut’n’shut job — how? — he’s in charge of the fleet museum — why? — it’s basically his job, but in this case it would be special to him — why do they need to do that? — all modern ships are susceptible to some tech, they need an older ship.
It wasn’t just ‘and then they get the old ship out of a box’ or done early on without setting it up a piece at a time.
Everything has been like that this series, with cause and effect, and it’s working.

 

[fireproof78]

Everything has been like that this series, with cause and effect, and it’s working.

For you.

It was working for me right up until this week. Now...no.

 

[Jaimito]

Wow. What an episode.

Jack carrying a borg bio tech was ok, i can accept it as part of the sci fi. Vox it is. Why no scenes of the Queen's face?

RIP Admiral Shelby.
Enterprise F!

It felt more shocking to see the LaForge girls assimilated than realizing Jack was. You can see the pain on Geordi's face.

The restoration of Enterprise D was epic.
Picard missed the carpets. Lol

I like this version of Data.

Shaw's death was fine. He was true to the end and but finally acknowledged Seven even though he just got shot by a Borg.

Now I'm upset i wasn't able to get tix for Imax in NYC.

Anyone got a ticket they can't use, please DM me!

 

[Scionz]

"
No, my biggest offense is being strung along for the Borg.

The reveal ain't the point. It's not that kind of show. The reveal could have been Gingerbread house in that nebula, populated by a malevolent Santa and evil elfs and it wouldn't matter a lick because it got the TNG crew on that bridge, on one last ride.

So what is the value in it at all then if the situation is a goddamn Space Gingerbread House? Because unlike the DS9, Voy, TOS and ENT crews, the TNG crew is the only one that fully stuck together to the present day, is arguably the best ensemble of actors Trek has ever had and for one last mission we get to see all seven of these amazing actors perform off each other one last time.

These last two episodes? "Star Trek" is not the point. The Borg is not the point. The plot and story is not the point. The final ensemble performance of seven legendary actors in their most iconic role is the point.

 

[fireproof78]

"Star Trek" is not the point. The Borg is not the point. The plot and story is not the point. The final ensemble performance of seven legendary actors in their most iconic role is the point.

Then I'm out. There's no point. To quote The Preacher "Meaningless. Everything is Meaningless."

 

[jaime]

At the risk of being the token senior citizen . . . trust me, we did the same thing back in the day. It's just that the fan-fiction was on paper, not on-line, and our plastic toys were maybe less snazzy. (Google "Captain Action" and "Major Matt Mason" and Star Trek Colorforms.)

Just to belabor the point, there is this odd notion out there, which I've encountered before, that fan-fiction is a new thing that was born of the internet, which is very much not the case. Trekkies were sharing their mimeographed fanfic zines (many of the them featuring K/S) at conventions and via the mail as far back as the early seventies at least. And I can personally attest to filling many a spiral notebook with my own handwritten fanfic at least as far back as 1975 . . . .

Some years ago, I actually stumbled on a long-forgotten stash of my old teenage fanfic while clearing out my parents' old house. Weird to read that stuff again, after fifty-some years!

The internet holds fanfic back sometimes — I regret never writing more than the smallest bit (and not even Trek!) because for the longest time it was sometimes looked down on. (as indeed is genre in general) I’ve studied writing, knocked out a couple of anonymous novels, and never once considered writing about Trek or any universe I love. But hey, maybe it’s me — I also only self publish because I don’t fancy the stress.
Sometimes I really want to write that fanfic (and goodness knows if there was a slush pile at pocket, I would change my mind about trad publishing very fast) but it always feels… wrong. Like something I have been taught I shouldn’t do.
The closest I got was a couple of pastiches as assignments in uni.

 

[Commander K]

So Matalas saying its a 1 hour finale...can they wrap the story up that quickly??

 

[jaime]

For you.

It was working for me right up until this week. Now...no.

I mean it’s working in a structural sense. There’s very little janky bits, and usually unrelated to nostalgia.
Whether it works for an individuals taste is something else xD

 

[The Emissary]

Really good episode and great wind up to the finale.

While I am burnt out on the Borg (thanks VOY) and thought it'd be unlikely to bring them back since they were utilized in S1 and S2 of PIC, I am kind of glad that the TNG cast is finishing with a villain that originated with them rather than originated with DS9. I honestly hope this is the end of the Borg Collective (as established in TNG) plot line and they won't be used anymore. The Jurati Collective and Ex-Borg, fine but please just conclude this villain.

I'm sure there are lot of other big bads in the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond. Time to start looking in that direction.

 

[Greg Cox]

It's perhaps worth noting that sometimes the plot is the least important part of a movie or tv series. It's just the armature on which you hang all the really cool stuff: the style, the mood, the atmosphere, the acting, the characters, the dialogue, and, in this case, heaping helpings of nostalgia.

And, honestly, the minute they announced (with much fanfare) the cast of Season 3, it was obvious that this was going to be the Big TNG Reunion season. That's what they promised, that's what I expected, and that's what we got -- in spades.

Should every new Trek show dial up the nostalgia-meter to eleven? Of course not. But for TNG's grand finale? Go for it.

It's kinda of liking showing up for your parents' 50th anniversary party. You expect that that sentiment and nostalgia are going to carry the day.

 

[Jaimito]

What a Spaceporn in the last few minutes!!!!

I'm excited and angry at the same time because how much they wasted in the first two seasons.

We need "another final Season" !

Took them a while to find their legs so to speak. TNG wasn't great until 3-4 season.
But this cast isn't doing a 4th. Just enjoy it while it lasts. I plan to re-watch the entire 3 seasons after the finale.

Lately, because of this season, i have been watching the first and last episodes of TNG, Voyager and soon, DS9. Plus select episodes related to returning characters like Ro, Moriarty, Lore, Changelings etc.

 

[fireproof78]

I mean it’s working in a structural sense. There’s very little janky bits, and usually unrelated to nostalgia.
Whether it works for an individuals taste is something else xD

Structurally it was OK. It wasn't great, but it was good. And then it wasn't good anymore. And it's frustrating as heck because I was really interested in learning about Jack, and valued Geordi more as a character than ever in TNG. Which, ultimately is the legacy of Picard as a series-It made me like the TNG characters a little more.

But next week could end with a reset button and I would struggle to care. They lost me in the build up to this moment that was too overlong, too drawn out, and resorted to the most predictable of scenes and foes. It's appropriate that the Borg used this opportunity to strike out their foes because that's exactly what Matalas did-used the timing as opportunity to write the biggest style of fan fulfillment ever.

It's kinda of liking showing up for your parents' 50th anniversary party. You expect that that sentiment and nostalgia are going to carry the day.

If I knew this was what I was signing up for then I perhaps would be more charitable.

I'm not feeling charitable.

 

[Scionz]

Then I'm out. There's no point. To quote The Preacher "Meaningless. Everything is Meaningless."

I mean this point is basically correct. I used to be a real stick-in-the-ass about Trek continuity. Heck I just wrote a 2000 word essay up thread on 150 years of Starship evolution that probably got 0 reads because it was too long for the modern internet.

I've come to realize as I got older that none of it matters at all and it's really all about the feels. And I'm telling you, water flowed in the last act of Episode 9. The Borg reveal in Act I? Cool! Thumbs up. Whatever. Don't care. That's not the memorable thing.

What was memorable to me is I remember watching All Good Things in a particular room in 1994. And here I am, 29 years later, and I got to watch the return of the Enterprise D, and as Riker put it "the Crew of the USS Enterprise", in that very same room.

Emotional resonance like this, and not that that "oh it's the Borg again, swell", is why many people are calling Episode 9 one of the best episodes of Star Trek ever. Because of how it made them feel, not because of a plot point.

 

[EJD1984]

I hope they don't destroy the Ent-D again. But I could see them doing it in order to give the Ent-D a better end than what happened in Generations. Certainly, going out in a blaze of glory to stop the assimilated fleet from destroying Earth would be more fitting.

Personally, I hope the Ent-D survives. Yes, they could recommission it back into the fleet with some upgrades. That would be great. They could also permanently retire it in the Fleet museum. As a legendary ship, it would certainly belong in the Fleet Museum. Both endings could be very poignant but I am partial to the ship being retired in the museum. Imagine the final scene of S3: Picard says "computer: turn off all systems" and the LCARS shut down, we see the TNG cast walking off the bridge for the very last time. We get an external shot of the Ent-D in the Fleet Museum, the external lights on the hull go off, cue TNG music, fade to black.

I can see one of two possible endings:
1. Starfleet messages the Enterprise D to return to the Fleet Museum, and Picard says: "To h*ll with Starfleet, we're not done yet." ...........And the Adventure Continues..........
2. With the Enterprise F due for early decommissioning, and Starfleet needs a new flagship, they bring the fully functional D back into service with her classic Command Crew. ...........And the Adventure Continues..........

 

[fireproof78]

Emotional resonance like this, and not that that "oh it's the Borg again, swell", is why many people are calling Episode 9 one of the best episodes of Star Trek ever. Because of how it made them feel, not because of a plot point

Cheers to you and your feelings then.

What was memorable to me is I remember watching All Good Things in a particular room in 1994.

Same here for the memories. No tears on this round though.

 

[Nerys Myk]

At the risk of being the token senior citizen . . . trust me, we did the same thing back in the day. It's just that the fan-fiction was on paper, not on-line, and our plastic toys were maybe less snazzy. (Google "Captain Action" and "Major Matt Mason" and Star Trek Colorforms.)

Just to belabor the point, there is this odd notion out there, which I've encountered before, that fan-fiction is a new thing that was born of the internet, which is very much not the case. Trekkies were sharing their mimeographed fanfic zines (many of the them featuring K/S) at conventions and via the mail as far back as the early seventies at least. And I can personally attest to filling many a spiral notebook with my own handwritten fanfic at least as far back as 1975 . . . .

Some years ago, I actually stumbled on a long-forgotten stash of my old teenage fanfic while clearing out my parents' old house. Weird to read that stuff again, after fifty-some years!

Preach!!!
I was at my mother’s house this past weekend. My brother was there too and had found some of my old drawings and writing from Jr, High (and before). Had a laugh looking through them

 

[Yistaan]

fully functional D back into service with her classic Command Crew. ...........And the Adventure Continues..........

Maybe a refit Enterprise D will be the training ship for Starfleet Academy tv show.

 

[Jaimito]

Then I'm out. There's no point. To quote The Preacher "Meaningless. Everything is Meaningless."

Maybe watch Everything Everywhere all at once to see a different perspective.