All Things Star Trek

[Synobun]

Picard, S03E03. This was a hilarious episode.

Spoiler :

We get to see more torture! Woo!

Worf is now a practicing pacifist who cares only for inner peace.

Oh yeah, the villains are changelings. Odo secretly only told Worf about a terror group, because telling Starfleet would renew the Dominion War (maybe if your geopolitical knowledge extends only to a Hollywood writing room?).

Picard is a Very Caring Dad for no real reason, and they used Riker's son's birth as a comparative for it (this makes no emotional sense).

Also, when Jack was dying, Beverly's reaction was really heartfelt. "Oh, he's dying." *said completely deadpan, without any hint of physical or verbal emotion*

Surely Star Trek is beyond using the defib trope a la contemporary medical dramas?

 

[Arakhor]

Spoiler Picard s3 e3 :

Wow. That ending sucked and not even for a good reason. It was the perfect example of the devil out of the machine. The portal weapon shouldn't have been available to use that quickly and, even if it was, how the hell did they calculate a new, perfect, retaliatory location before the phasers hit them? People say and do all manner of things they may later regret under stress, and it's clear neither Picard nor Riker are used to that level of stress any more, but the sudden conflict between them was unusual, to say the least.

We'd literally just had an effective reveal of a dangerous new enemy, and then they go and ruin it with that ending? I will put up with a lot to watch Star Trek, but come on now. Then after all that, Vadic then retreats, as if stranding them in the heart of the nebula was her plan all along? After her utterly poisonous turn last episode, she was totally wasted this episode.

 

[Synobun]

Spoiler Picard s3 e3 :

Wow. That ending sucked and not even for a good reason. It was the perfect example of the devil out of the machine. The portal weapon shouldn't have been available to use that quickly and, even if it was, how the hell did they calculate a new, perfect, retaliatory location before the phasers hit them? People say and do all manner of things they may later regret under stress, and it's clear neither Picard nor Riker are used to that level of stress any more, but the sudden conflict between them was unusual, to say the least.

We'd literally just had an effective reveal of a dangerous new enemy, and then they go and ruin it with that ending? I will put up with a lot to watch Star Trek, but come on now. Then after all that, Vadic then retreats, as if stranding them in the heart of the nebula was her plan all along? After her utterly poisonous turn last episode, she was totally wasted this episode.

Spoiler :

If we assume the changeling terrorists are in some way closely associated with Vadic, then they might have expected the gambit beforehand; remember that changelings are master infiltrators and can blend in almost seamlessly, requiring expert-level knowledge of their targets and the people around them. Since Vadic knew to look for the breadcrumb trail being made by the changeling, it stands to reason that they wanted them in the nebula.

We also can't discount that the changeling could possibly communicate with Vadic whilst inside the nebula as well. We already know Dominion tech is more advanced than the Alpha Quadrant's when it comes to this kind of stuff (see: their massively increased range for transporters during DS9).

Still, I wasn't impressed by that sequence either. I didn't mention anything about it because it was pretty clearly just CGI spectacle.

I had a passing thought that Vadic is the changeling that managed the Dominion War and eventually signed the peace treaty. But I haven't spent any time considering its plausibility.

 

[Arakhor]

Spoiler Question to the above :

Is it possible that Picard-on-the-bridge was a Changeling? It would explain why he was being so belligerent in wanting Riker to fire on the Shrike and why they had their unearned fight on the bridge.

 

[Synobun]

Spoiler Question to the above :

Is it possible that Picard-on-the-bridge was a Changeling? It would explain why he was being so belligerent in wanting Riker to fire on the Shrike and why they had their unearned fight on the bridge.

That's a good theory. I can believe it. It was such a nonsensical scene.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I was surfing YT, and happened on this Q&A session from a convention in 2015, with some of the Voyager cast:

It gets slightly off-color in a couple of places and the volume is inconsistent. But for the most part it's really fun and interesting to see them reminisce and answer fans' questions.

The woman who introduces everyone is Michelle Specht, who was in the fan film series Star Trek Continues.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

I broke down yesterday and made a better theme logo - the Enterprise needed out from behind the text...

 

[Synobun]

Picard S03E04

This was... better? Hm. Sure, let's go with better.

Spoiler :

What exactly was Vadic's hand thing? They changed the changeling liquid form to look like any old-fashioned meat goo, so I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be changeling matter or something else entirely. It becoming some odd communicator is... unique, I suppose.

I enjoyed Captain Shaw's monologue about Wolf 359, though this was already achieved in the pilot episode for DS9. Still, I won't turn away a good emotional performance.

 

[Arakhor]

Spoiler for Picard s3 e4 :

The stuff at the end with Vadic was definitely weird, but I'm assuming that she's a Changeling herself. Maybe that's Dominion tech we've never seen before.

Ed Speleers is doing a good job, but he definitely can't pass for 23 or 24 and I don't know why they're even trying.

Otherwise, I think that was easily the best episode of the season and one of the top episodes of the entire run.

 

[Synobun]

Pretty good latest episode, though I didn't like:

Spoiler Picard S03E05 :

That they brought Ro back only to immediately kill her off.

The whole evolution bit about the changelings is kind of silly and unnecessary. At worst, you just need to point to their penchant for genetic engineering. But better yet, it was already assumed that changelings could mimic organs and blood, and we already knew they could be forced into maintaining a physical form. There was no additional worldbuilding or twist necessary to make changeling infiltrators reasonable.

 

[Arakhor]

Spoiler for Picard s3 e5 :

Last week's was one of the best Picard episodes so far. Today's was not as good, as would inevitably be so.

It was definitely gripping TV, but more than once, I asked, "what the hell is going on?" What on earth is Jack's deal?

Ro's return was... unexpected, shall we say, but she put in a great performance. This series is massively improved by saving the credits until last, so special cameos aren't ruined within seconds of starting the episode.

 

[Synobun]

Spoiler for Picard s3 e5 :

It was definitely gripping TV, but more than once, I asked, "what the hell is going on?" What on earth is Jack's deal?

Spoiler :

Given the red thema, I suspect something to do with the pah wraiths.

 

[Laurana Kanan]

Gotta say I got a bit choked up during this scene when the Voyager & DS9 theme songs played in the background.

 

[Synobun]

Latest episode was alright.

Spoiler thoughts :

I like Spiner, I really do. But I'm tired of the Soong storylines. I'm begging them to settle down and either just have normal Data, a replacement/child of Data, or no Data.

I was curious why they wouldn't just use the cloak from the Defiant since it's already adapted to Federation technology. But I guess the Federation would have given it back to the Romulans after mothballing.

I think Picard's corpse being the ultimate steal is silly.

You'd think that since Starfleet is completely compromised now and they're on the verge of the greatest disaster in Federation history, they'd get in touch with Odo and the Great Link. Maybe have a five-minute chat about options. Nah.

 

[Synobun]

Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks have already been renewed for follow-up seasons (3 and 5) despite seasons 2 and 4 not yet airing.

‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,’ ‘Lower Decks’ Renewed at Paramount+, Set Summer Premieres

“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” has been renewed for Season 3 while “Star Trek: Lower Decks” has been renewed for Season 5 at Paramount+. The new seasons of both shows will …

variety.com

“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” has been renewed for Season 3 while “Star Trek: Lower Decks” has been renewed for Season 5 at Paramount+.

The new seasons of both shows will consist of 10 episodes. In addition, Season 2 of “Strange New Worlds” and Season 4 of “Lower Decks” will both debut this summer. “Strange New Worlds” Season 2 will premiere on June 15 on Paramount+ in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. New episodes will then drop weekly thereafter. “Lower Decks” will return in late summer, but an exact date has yet to be announced.

Finally, Season 2 of the Nickelodeon animated series “Star Trek: Prodigy” is set to air this coming winter. Season 1 of that show originally launched in late 2021, with the second half of the season airing in late 2022.

It was previously announced that “Strange New Worlds” and “Lower Decks” will crossover with their upcoming seasons. The episode will air during Season 2 of “Strange New Worlds” and will feature both live-action and animation. “Lower Decks” stars Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid will appear in the episode. Jonathan Frakes directed the episode.

 

[Arakhor]

Huh. Well, that's good news, I suppose.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Gotta say I got a bit choked up during this scene when the Voyager & DS9 theme songs played in the background.

Oh, thanks for that. Loved seeing Defiant and Voyager again.

 

[Smellincoffee]

After the excerpt posted above, and after hearing so much praise for ST Picard season 3 in general, I decided to give it a shot last night and am seriously enjoying it. I abandoned the first season & never bothered with the second, but here the characters are recognizable, the story isn't at aggressively odds with the ST universe we're already familiar with, and the music is great. As a Treklitverse reader, I don't like their Titan, but it's acceptable -- and I'm intrigued by Captain Shaw's absolute abrasiveness to Picard and Riker. Maybe he was some minor NCO who they ignored back in the day.

This is the real Titan.

 

[Synobun]

Latest episode was informative.

Spoiler :

I still do not understand the leadership hierarchy in this terror group and why Vadic is so afraid of the weird blob.

I still also do not see why the evolution argument is necessary to explain the changelings when they were always capable of emulating internal organs anyway.

The explanation, however, for their radicalization, is sound. I find that compelling. It makes sense. And given that S31 created a genocidal virus, it parses that they'd also torture changelings. You create the enemy you fear.

That said, the beginning of the season said that Odo told Worf about a group that broke off from the Link. That doesn't match with the terrorists breaking out from a lab. So perhaps the terrorists radicalized the original radicals further when they met up.

ETA: Oh yeah. It was nice to see Tuvok, albeit compromised.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I've gotten up to episode 5 of season 3. Some thoughts:

Spoiler General thoughts about S3 E1-E5 :

Superb use of music, especially Goldsmith's "Klingon Imperial Theme" when Worf appears. Speaking of, I figured he was either going to commit Klingon suicide or bounce back because Klingons have redunant organs, but they went a different way. Interesting. Picard's first scene with Ro annoyed me (glad as I was to see her/Michelle Forbes again) because Ro was a prominent figure in the Star Trek relaunch and had more realistic path back to Starfleet there. The bar scene, though, connected where it should have to Picard & Ro's bond -- it was good to see them connecting like that. There were some scenes I thought completely silly, like the holodeck having a battery backup when nothing else does, and Riker's ludicrous reaction to Picard after they begin sinking down the gravity well. I really dislike the new changeling goo stuf, but maybe it's to differentiate them from the easily-exposed DS9 changelings. We'll see. The Vulcan gangster is interesting. In general, I'm glad to see classic Trek species (Trill, Bajorans, Ferengi, background Bolians) putting in appearances. I don't really care for the generic-alien-variety clutter.

And one question: have Cardassians re-appeared in any of the new Trek stuff?