What the frell happened?

[James Cole]

What people find annoying is admittedly subjective. But a critical mass of fans certainly took issue with "JL" during PS1.

Nicknames? All fine and good. JL just sounds bad, plus it doesn't seem to fit Picard's character from the TNG era. Look at the NEM deleted scene with Martin Madden calling him Jean-Luc.

Luckily these types of annoyances were greatly reduced by the time of season 3.

 

[DonIago]

^Of course, the Picard we're watching in S1 isn't the Picard from the TNG era, much as many fans wanted him to be.

 

[fireproof78]

just sounds bad, plus it doesn't seem to fit Picard's character from the TNG era. Look at the NEM deleted scene with Martin Madden calling him Jean-Luc.

Can I ask a question? Why does it matter if it "fits the character?" Raffi is the one calling him it, not someone else. Picard is not Picard from TNG so that it is a absurd standard since (theoretically) these characters should grow and change. And some people get treated differently.

Luckily these types of annoyances were greatly reduced by the time of season 3.

Replaced with all new ones!

 

[Tuskin38]

But a critical mass of fans certainly took issue with "JL" during PS1.

Evidence?

Look at the NEM deleted scene with Martin Madden calling him Jean-Luc.

Martin Madden wasn't his friend.

 

[The Wormhole]

I'm such a smack head!

Where's that Nathan Fillion Castle meme at when I need it?

JL just sounds bad, plus it doesn't seem to fit Picard's character from the TNG era.

That's kind of the point. Indeed, the novel The Last Best Hope Picard even reflects that had anyone else ever called him JL he likely wouldn't stand for it, yet with Raffi it somehow fells right.

Look at the NEM deleted scene with Martin Madden calling him Jean-Luc.

I mean, that was literally the first time they met each other. But more to the point, the show is set twenty years after that scene. Things can change in twenty years.

I know, change goes against what the Gospel of Lord Terry teaches.

 

[James Cole]

Can I ask a question? Why does it matter if it "fits the character?" Raffi is the one calling him it, not someone else. Picard is not Picard from TNG so that it is a absurd standard since (theoretically) these characters should grow and change. And some people get treated differently.

&

That's kind of the point. Indeed, the novel The Last Best Hope Picard even reflects that had anyone else ever called him JL he likely wouldn't stand for it, yet with Raffi it somehow fells right.

TNG and the films took place in real time. So effectively we saw Picard from 1987 to 2002. The Mars attack would have been around 2008, and PS1 would have been 2022. Can I see Picard changing that much between 2002 and 2008? If so, show it.

I have no issue with the Raffi circa 2022 calling Picard Jean-Luc. But "JL" is just annoying, like some 1980's soap opera throwback. Cringe.

Evidence?

How often it came up on social media, people reacting to YouTube videos bringing it up...

I know, change goes against what the Gospel of Lord Terry teaches.

For all the jokes about a few people liking Terry Matalas, this BBS had quite the Michael Chabon cult of personality a few years back. And Michael Chabon is the Rian Johnson of Star Trek. Unfortunately Star Wars didn't get a Terry Matalas in time.

 

[The Wormhole]

And Michael Cabon is the Rian Johnson of Star Trek.

I actually liked The Last Jedi, so I'm not seeing anything wrong with that comparison.

 

[HotRod]

How often it came up on social media, people reacting to YouTube videos bringing it up...

Always a reliable metric....

 

[Nerys Myk]

Who's Michael Cabon?

 

[Tuskin38]

How often it came up on social media, people reacting to YouTube videos bringing it up...

Loud minority.

 

[fireproof78]

But "JL" is just annoying, like some 1980's soap opera throwback. Cringe.

That doesn't make it bad. If I walked away from every cringe thing in Trek I'd have given up long ago.

 

[Nerys Myk]

But "JL" is just annoying, like some 1980's soap opera throwback. Cringe.

That's one of the stupidest things I've heard today. Like the 80's invented initials as nicknames or they were somehow prevalent in that decade.
Here's Admiral Hanson's, whom Picard like to call "JP", reaction to this stupidity

 

[James Cole]

"Star Trek's New Nickname For Picard Is Laughably Bad"

As they discuss Starfleet’s response to an attack on Mars and the effort to evacuate the Romulan homeworld, Raffi says, “Something’s off about this whole business, J.L.” Of course, “J.L.” stands for Jean-Luc, and this isn’t the only time she uses this nickname. Throughout the episode, even present-day Raffi calls Picard “J.L.”

Raffi’s use of “J.L.” is likely the show’s writers’ attempt to demonstrate a closer relationship between Picard and Raffi, or perhaps an attempt to make the character more vulnerable and human — but it just doesn’t work. The scene simply does not contain enough chemistry between the two actors to make the exchange successful. Not only do the letters sound weird put together, but the very idea of a nickname, a diminutive expression of his name, flies in the face of Picard’s austerity. Years of development of his character imbued him with gravitas. There are some people you just don’t give nicknames to, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard is one of them.

"Picard Season 3 Changed 1 Jean-Luc Thing Fans Hated"

Raffi was a new character created for Star Trek: Picard, but the show needed to establish her professional and personal history with Jean-Luc that took place off-screen. One of the ways Picard season 1 accomplished this was by having Raffi refer to Jean-Luc as "JL", a nickname that only she seemed to use. While the nickname demonstrated a level of familiarity and comfort between Picard and Raffi, it was quickly criticized by the fans and became an almost universally-hated aspect of the first two seasons. Luckily, Picard season 3 did away with the nickname and only had Raffi refer to Picard as "Jean-Luc" in their scenes together.

&

Star Trek: Picard season 3 likely dropped Raffi's nickname for Jean-Luc for several reasons. The most likely reason is the outcry from fans, who consistently spoke out about their hatred for the nickname. The Star Trek franchise is known for having a very active, vocal fanbase that often has a significant impact on current projects. Given viewers' clear dislike of "JL" and their valid criticisms of it, which included the fact that it felt disrespectful to Picard as a character, it wouldn't be at all surprising if Star Trek: Picard's creative team decided to take their cue from the audience and retire the nickname for good.

Beyond this, Star Trek: Picard season 3 didn't need the nickname for its original purpose anymore. Picard and Raffi's relationship had already been well-established in previous seasons, and the audience no longer needed a reminder of their bond after watching them interact over the course of the show. Another possible culprit is the shifts in the creative team from season 1 to season 3. Star Trek: Picard changed hands a few times, with Terry Matalas taking over as the sole showrunner of season 3 after the exits of both Michael Chabon and Akiva Goldsman. Differing creative visions often result in divergences from the original source material when a project changes hands.

 

[HotRod]

"Star Trek's New Nickname For Picard Is Laughably Bad"


"Picard Season 3 Changed 1 Jean-Luc Thing Fans Hated"

&

Screen Rant? You're not helping your cause.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Of all the issues this show had in all three seasons, Raffi calling Picard “JL” is not even registering on my tricorder. But I get it. Fans that only wanted to just see a TNG reunion hated the writers giving Picard a new cast to work off of, and hated any attempt at giving his character any sense of familiarity with them. It was always annoying during S3 when fans still griped about Raffi still being around even though her and Worf’s pairing was entertaining as hell.

One thing the show did do that I liked was introduce a character Picard knew from the Stargazer days. That was something I wish we saw back on TNG once, to show that Picard at least still had a connection from somebody on that ship. Granted, it was only a one time appearance, but it was nice.

 

[Lord Garth]

At the beginning of 2020, the only other New Trek (I refuse to spell it the other way) that existed was the Kelvin Films (which I no longer consider New Trek), Discovery, and Short Treks. In none of them, do they refer to a character by their initials. So Raffi calling Picard "JL" definitely wasn't a "New Trek thing", it was a Raffi thing.

I think the real outrage stems from a reverence for Captain Picard and then along comes Raffi who calls him "JL". As long as Picard isn't offended, I'm not offended.

As far as Michael Chabon: he wrote "Calypso" and "Remembrance" which, to this day, are still respectively my first and second favorite pieces of Star Trek ever put out during the Kurtzman Era. Period. So, yes, I do think he's the best writer of New Trek. Which is NOT a knock on anyone else, including Terry Matalas, but someone has to come in first. So, it's the one who wrote my favorite installments in this production era.

 

[Firebird]

I have no issue with the Raffi circa 2022 calling Picard Jean-Luc. But "JL" is just annoying, like some 1980's soap opera throwback. Cringe.

Nah, that’s not cringe. You know what’s cringe?

Space hippies taking over the Enterprise with extended musical performances. Code of Honor. The first Ferengi episode. Beverly Crusher fucking a Scottish ghost candle. The entirety of Threshold. Those are cringe.

 

[Lord Garth]

Space hippies taking over the Enterprise with extended musical performances. Code of Honor. The first Ferengi episode. Beverly Crusher fucking a Scottish ghost candle. The entirety of Threshold. Those are cringe.

I like "The Way to Eden"! We need more Space Hippies! Can't help it. I love that episode.

... but I agree with everything else.

 

[fireproof78]

I like "The Way to Eden"! We need more Space Hippies! Can't help it. I love that episode.

... but I agree with everything else.

Same. Way to Eden is fantastic. Let's have more of that.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

“Sub Rosa” is one of the greatest unintentionally hilarious things I’ve ever watched. When Granny came out of the grave and shocked Data and Geordi I was HOWLING. What an absolute BONKERS episode that was.