Star Trek: Picard

Started by steve58, May 23, 2019, 11:22:26 PM

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JasonPratt

#30


The Plinkett crew are not amused. And also not surprised. About not being amused.

For an important non-spoilery context: this is not a sequel to Next Generation; it's a sequel to the Kelvinverse films, allowing them to use as much of TNG as they want to hint about or port over while changing other things.

For a completely unimportant and sort of spoilery context: I honestly can't tell if Rich or especially Mike have ever figured out that "Daugh"'s name (pronounced Dauj) is supposed to be short for Daughter.
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WallysWorld

I thought it was decent. Not great, but okay. Enough to make me watch more episodes.
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SirAndrewD

Quote from: JasonPratt on January 28, 2020, 01:17:32 PM


For an important non-spoilery context: this is not a sequel to Next Generation; it's a sequel to the Kelvinverse films, allowing them to use as much of TNG as they want to hint about or port over while changing other things.


I really don't like RLM so I wasn't able to stomach watching them far enough, but how do they come to that conclusion?  Outside of the supernova that creates the events of the Kelvinverse, Picard is firmly rooted in Prime.  It's hard to argue any other way even if you discount the fact that CBS has been direct that this is a sequel to original TNG. 

There were so many TNG easter eggs and call backs in the first episode that it was almost disconcerting.  Heck, the show even made sure you understand that they're not going to ignore the events of the awful Star Trek Nemesis. 

You actually miss a lot of importance to the plot if you've never seen Season 2's Measure of a Man.  They're tying it that close to the original.

Unlike Discovery, they didn't change anything from the past.  The old uniforms were right, the brief shots of the Enterprise D showed she looked the same.  Heck, even the one photo they show of Worf shows he looks like he always did, not the abominations of Discovery. 

Lore wise and visually this is the farthest from the Kelvinverse since we first got the Kelvinverse, supernova plot line notwithstanding.
"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback

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"Zero-G and I feel fine....." - John Glenn

"I reject your reality and substitute my own." - Adam Savage, inventor of the alternative fact.

JasonPratt

To be fair, RLM doesn't call this the Kelvinverse, they just say it connects to it via the plot of the destruction of the Romulus system. ST:P being a Kelvinverse sequel was something I picked up from elsewhere, as an explanation for any canon they wanted to keep or to change.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

SirAndrewD

Ah, ok. 

Yeah, it's connected insofar as it's set after the supernova.  In fact, Picard retcons a bit of the info about the supernova as recounted by Spock in the Star Trek '09 film to make it a bit more "realistic".

It also makes a lot more sense as to why in Star Trek '09 Nero hated the Federation so much. 

But yeah, Picard is firmly set in the original Star Trek universe, and it hammers that fact home.   Outside of acknowledging that the Kelvin supernova happened it doesn't have any further connection as far as I saw.

This honestly makes Discovery even more an outlier.   Picard and the Paramount films at least make a coherent continuity and the changes to the other universe can be hand waved as butterfly effect time shift.    Discovery barely fits in with either universe, even though it's supposed to also be set in "Prime".

I for one enjoyed the first episode of Picard much more than Discovery. 
"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback

Destraex

Is it family friendly like the older treks
I did not consider discovery to be family friendly for reference. But all the others were fine.
"They only asked the Light Brigade to do it once"

Destraex

Just watched episode 2 and now not sure I can watch anymore

The millennial talk, the dumb sounding actors, the simplistic story, the 40% of dialogue that seems to need to happen in bed or near to bed, the swearing, the top heavy PC cast. The slow story, the hell that is now starfleet, the technobull that actually now sounds like balloney, nobody in the developers crew has thought about this, the very emotional characters no matter their race or creed. After all of this Picard the main character still makes it more watchable than discovery. But I have to say I literally stopped the second episode after the F word with the family and had to think about whether to bother going further. I stopped watching discovery after trying to give it a go past the second episode and made it to the 4th before switching off for good. Now we seem to have something slightly better but not much better in Picard. It's distilled star trek.... stripped back and made now for the debauched teens of the in group.

When they said that the other clone was offworld it was said like it was something special. Like being away from Earth was unusual in this day and age...

This video pretty much sums up what I think of episode II:

"They only asked the Light Brigade to do it once"

Martok

FWIW, I watched the 1st episode while CBS had it available on YouTube, and actually enjoyed it (somewhat to my surprise).  What I think of the rest of the season will have to wait until I can binge-watch it during my free trial (because I sure as hell ain't paying CBS $10.00 a month just to watch one damn show), but at least it starts out well enough. 


I think much of the series' success will depend on the strength of Stewart's acting, which I'm pleased to see hasn't flagged at all; he remains in top form.  I'm less-than-pleased about the show incorporating events from the Jar-Jar films into the Prime timeline, even if it does help give Picard his raison d'être, but at least it fits in with his personality. 

As for the criticisms about Starfleet and the Federation turning inward and/or going down a darker path, those folks obviously never watched Deep Space Nine (which to be fair, most haven't):  Those of us who *are* fans of that show, however, know that the Federation was already starting to show a less-than-sunny side, given everything it had endured (a couple Borg invasions, a brief war with the Klingons, and a longer, much more brutal war with the Dominion).  For me, the Federation & Starfleet that the retired Picard currently is dealing with is only too plausible from a lore standpoint. 


In any case, I'll reserve judgment on Picard until the end of the season and I can watch all the episodes (or at least as many as I can stand if I decide I don't care for it).  I'm still skeptical, but admittedly less so than I was before. 

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Destraex

Martok. I liked the first episode for the record as well. The second episode is where everything starts to show you the direction they are taking. It's the old bait and switch. I am sure their is more degradation to come.

For the record I have watched deep space 9 at least twice. The federation had it's share of fringe problems which is normal in such a huge expanse of space to govern. It was about how they handled it. I won't spoil anything for you. Suffice to say that I just feel like the show is just set today with a star trek theme thrown on top. There is plenty you have to ignore to enjoy it. Apart from Picard their are certainly no role model material in what I have watched thus far.
"They only asked the Light Brigade to do it once"

Martok

Fair enough.  (And apologies if I came off as chastising you, or anyone else; definitely not my desire or intent.)  As I said earlier, I'm suspending judgment in any case until I can sit down and watch more episodes (which won't be for a while yet).  While I admit I want to like Picard, I retain a healthy dose of skepticism, especially with the direction the franchise has gone the last 10+ years. 
"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

JasonPratt

Well, the crew and producers have overtly stated in their trade marketing that they're taking a dump on the Trump administration and his followers, and that this was the main shape of the show from its inception (as well as trying to fan-bait better after ST:D). So, y'know... that doesn't have to be automatically bad quality... but neither are they hiding the ball about what they're doing, for whatever that's worth.

Anyway. CBS All Access is being folded into Viacom's streaming service soon, and all its shows are up in the air. ST:D's final episode has already been written as the series finale (according to strong rumor), and ST:P's second season has not even planned pre-production yet.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

SirAndrewD

Well, as a Star Trek fan from TOS on who has been to ST Conventions, made my own homebrew starfleet uniforms as a kid and has seen just about everything Star Trek has to offer, I am really enjoying Picard. 

The second episode was a bit weak but I didn't see anything in it that got me overly concerned.  I am upset that CBS continues to find the need to use "colorful metaphors" that Kirk so thoroughly didn't understand.   Double dumb ass on them I suppose.  They have to be edgy and show they can throw an F-bomb out. 

But, yeah, the Federation and Starfleet in Picard is darker.  It's honestly the natural evolution of the direction Starfleet was going in DS9, and it feels like a natural extension of the results of the Dominion War.   

Star Trek has shown that Starfleet had its ups and downs in it's altruistic vision.  In Undiscovered Country Starfleet was totally militarized and was directly a force that was devoted first to the Klingon Cold War and second to exploration.   Peace with the Klingons swung it to what we see in TNG, where it's essentially a demilitarized science branch that is woefully unprepared when it fights the Borg. 

The conflict with the Borg and then Dominion killed billions and pushed Starfleet back the other way.   I don't see that as unrealistic and I see it as being the logical extension of DS9.  I know Gene Roddenberry wouldn't approve, but then again he would't have ever let something like DS9 happen in the first place. 

So, yeah, I'm comfortable with it.  I haven't seen it as a direct takedown of Trump or his followers.  It wouldn't honestly bother me if it was, but I don't see it.  I do see it as facing the concept of division and isolation, and that is true of both sides.   I was always intrigued by the mutual distrust of the Romulans and Humans, and this show is delving into a lot of that again.  It's, again, just an extension of almost every Romulan story since Balance of Terror. 

But, I suppose your mileage may vary.  Star Trek has always leaned a bit to the left,  and sensitivity to that can be more sore in this day in age of drawn lines in the sand.  I'm enjoying it, and I'm enjoying it a lot more than Star Trek Discovery, which I am still watching but I feel is almost as bad as Enterprise as an entry to the overall lore. 
"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback

DoctorQuest

"Everything you read on the internet is true." - Benjamin Franklin

"Zero-G and I feel fine....." - John Glenn

"I reject your reality and substitute my own." - Adam Savage, inventor of the alternative fact.

SirAndrewD

Yeah, I continue to love where Picard is going.  It's not perfect, I mean stop the colorful metaphors, but four episodes in I just like how deeply connected to even some ignored TNG plot threads that it is. 

I just absolutely love the depth they're giving to the Romulans.  Addressing their look in the lore, some look just like vulcans, some have ridges, and they seem to have lost the government required bowl cut that came after TOS and in the middle of TNG.

The Romulan Bird of Prey!  Spot on.  Exactly as she should've looked like in all her TOS updated to modern look glory.  The Antithesis of Discovery visual retcons.

And the look at Romulan culture, their divides, their religion, their honor system. 

And of course Picard, being Picard.  A man with an absolute moral compass and it's completely the one we saw him have all through the last 30+ years of Star Trek.

This show not only adds to TNG, it improves it.
"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback