Patrick Stewart to reprise role as Star Trek's Jean-Luc Picard

[Tawnos]

Not just apologizing.

Remember when he was asking the Romulan Ninja Boy is there was any sort of ceremony when Picard was asking for his help.

Picard said, "should I get on my knees" which was way over the top.

It's like the writers are going out of their way to humiliate the character.

The getting on his knees line wasn't serious. Listen to his tone of voice.

 

[tr83]

I found Picard being transported while he was walking kinda weird at the beginning of the episode.

I have to say I somewhat like the fact that they are showing more of the evolution of Picard. I think it's natural that people either soften or harden as they age. A guy who couldn't stand kids at the beginning of TNG to being a happy old grandpa sort is somewhat endearing.

I like the angle of trying to delve deeper into Romulan society. I like the idea of the emotionally candid nuns; contrarian to Vulcan society. I think nearly every society has some religious institution and if you are going to rally people for a noble cause, appealing to those who care for society is a great angle. I just kinda thought that ninja warrior was dumb and that the time that it took for Ninja boy to resolve his mixed emotions about Picard not having visited in 14 years was a little ridiculous.

Picard picking a fight with the Romulans at the end of the episode was not Picard-like. That bothered me a lot. Whoever said that was way to self righteous was right. I thought that being harassed as he walked by would have been much more believable.

As far as the Soji plot, the "skating" scene was just absolutely stupid. Now there might be more Soji's?

Frakes did a nice job directing. The camera was much more still. I didn't feel like I was on a visual roller coaster. The lens flares are still annoying.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

I found Picard being transported while he was walking kinda weird at the beginning of the episode.

I have to say I somewhat like the fact that they are showing more of the evolution of Picard. I think it's natural that people either soften or harden as they age. A guy who couldn't stand kids at the beginning of TNG to being a happy old grandpa sort is somewhat endearing.

I like the angle of trying to delve deeper into Romulan society. I like the idea of the emotionally candid nuns; contrarian to Vulcan society. I think nearly every society has some religious institution and if you are going to rally people for a noble cause, appealing to those who care for society is a great angle. I just kinda thought that ninja warrior was dumb and that the time that it took for Ninja boy to resolve his mixed emotions about Picard not having visited in 14 years was a little ridiculous.

Picard picking a fight with the Romulans at the end of the episode was not Picard-like. That bothered me a lot. Whoever said that was way to self righteous was right. I thought that being harassed as he walked by would have been much more believable.

As far as the Soji plot, the "skating" scene was just absolutely stupid. Now there might be more Soji's?

Frakes did a nice job directing. The camera was much more still. I didn't feel like I was on a visual roller coaster. The lens flares are still annoying.

Bolded x10. That's something from the new series of movies that really didn't have to make the jump back to the small screen.

 

[Tawnos]

I found Picard being transported while he was walking kinda weird at the beginning of the episode.

I have to say I somewhat like the fact that they are showing more of the evolution of Picard. I think it's natural that people either soften or harden as they age. A guy who couldn't stand kids at the beginning of TNG to being a happy old grandpa sort is somewhat endearing.

I like the angle of trying to delve deeper into Romulan society. I like the idea of the emotionally candid nuns; contrarian to Vulcan society. I think nearly every society has some religious institution and if you are going to rally people for a noble cause, appealing to those who care for society is a great angle. I just kinda thought that ninja warrior was dumb and that the time that it took for Ninja boy to resolve his mixed emotions about Picard not having visited in 14 years was a little ridiculous.

Picard picking a fight with the Romulans at the end of the episode was not Picard-like. That bothered me a lot. Whoever said that was way to self righteous was right. I thought that being harassed as he walked by would have been much more believable.

As far as the Soji plot, the "skating" scene was just absolutely stupid. Now there might be more Soji's?

Frakes did a nice job directing. The camera was much more still. I didn't feel like I was on a visual roller coaster. The lens flares are still annoying.

I like the delving into Romulan society too. And not only is that group contrary to Vulcan, they're contrary to Romulan society in general, who loves to keep everything a secret. I don't particularly understand the melee combat emphasis on them... for now. Obviously we might end up with the kid just being a good fighter, no matter the weapon.

I really disagree with this idea that Picard is somehow not a self-righteous person. I consider that to be a core characteristic of Picard from all the way back in season 1 of TNG. In Measure of a Man, doesn't the JAG (Captain Louvois) call him out on basically that? The guy was perfectly suited to being a Starfleet Captain on a mission of exploration, where things are mostly clear cut and you don't have to deal so much with other-minded people. And when you do, it's inherently adversarial, which also makes choices more clear. We didn't get a whole lot of that self-righteousness being overbearing, but it was always there. The crew was generally like-minded, so didn't see it as a problem. That self-righteousness which works really well in that setting doesn't do so well when dealing with people who are actually within society. After he leaves the Federation, he sequesters himself away from society at his chateau, so it's not like he had more exposure. I didn't find his picking a fight with the Romulans all that strange. Hell, it's even a little bit of wish-casting... something people who believe in a tolerant society in the Western world wish they could more easily do to the rise of intolerance in recent years. To me, it fits that Picard would have utter disgust for it and display that.

 

[Osprey]

I found Picard being transported while he was walking kinda weird at the beginning of the episode.

I have to say I somewhat like the fact that they are showing more of the evolution of Picard. I think it's natural that people either soften or harden as they age. A guy who couldn't stand kids at the beginning of TNG to being a happy old grandpa sort is somewhat endearing.

I like the angle of trying to delve deeper into Romulan society. I like the idea of the emotionally candid nuns; contrarian to Vulcan society. I think nearly every society has some religious institution and if you are going to rally people for a noble cause, appealing to those who care for society is a great angle. I just kinda thought that ninja warrior was dumb and that the time that it took for Ninja boy to resolve his mixed emotions about Picard not having visited in 14 years was a little ridiculous.

Picard picking a fight with the Romulans at the end of the episode was not Picard-like. That bothered me a lot. Whoever said that was way to self righteous was right. I thought that being harassed as he walked by would have been much more believable.

As far as the Soji plot, the "skating" scene was just absolutely stupid. Now there might be more Soji's?

Frakes did a nice job directing. The camera was much more still. I didn't feel like I was on a visual roller coaster. The lens flares are still annoying.

You mentioned a few things that I've felt but didn't put in my thoughts before.

I, too, thought that it was a little weird that Picard was transported while walking. It certainly makes sense that it's technically possible, since people are often beamed from moving ships (like at the end of the episode), but people standing still while being transported is just one of those things that's iconic in Star Trek. I wouldn't want it to be common for people to be transported while walking just so that the show can try to be progressive. Besides, an old guy like him should stand still, even if it's unnecessary, because that's how he's always done it and it's just habit.

I liked the explanation of the law of Absolute Candor. I'm not sure if the ideology behind it is new to Romulans, but it does make a lot of sense to me that a people related to the Vulcans would still have strict rules surrounding the expression of emotion that makes them different from humans. It was also just a good reminder of the stark difference in ideologies between the Romulans and Vulcans. I didn't like that the doctor had to ask what it was, though, considering that it's kind of obvious from the name and she's supposedly really smart. Surely, the writers could've come up with a smarter line of dialogue than "What's that?" to prompt Picard's explanation.

I really didn't like Picard ripping down the sign and giving the Romulans a dirty look (i.e. picking a fight, as you said). If he were still 25-year-old Picard, I could believe it, but not 80-year-old diplomat Picard. The Picard that we know may've still trespassed and taken a seat, but done so passive aggressively, not by causing a scene. It feels like the writers did it just to anger the Romulans even more and justify ninja boy coming to save him. They still could've had that without it, though, and it would've been more in character and put us more behind the character (as is, he picked a fight, so I felt like he deserved the aggressiveness in return).

Finally, I agree about Frakes' direction. I liked it. It's the plot and dialogue that were boring. Good direction can't totally make up for that.

 

[Guardian17]

The getting on his knees line wasn't serious. Listen to his tone of voice.

I disagree.

Self deprecating humor about getting on one's knees is something a passive aggressive nice guy would do, not a leader of men like Picard.

It is completely out of character.

My guess is the writers are much like Lt. Picard in the episode Tapestry.

 

[Tawnos]

I disagree.

Self deprecating humor about getting on one's knees is something a passive aggressive nice guy would do, not a leader of men like Picard.

It is completely out of character.

My guess is the writers are much like Lt. Picard in the episode Tapestry.

I didn't say it was humor in the sense that he was joking around trying to get a laugh. I said it wasn't serious. I should've been clearer. It was more sardonic or ironic. You could pretty literally hear the rolling of his eyes at his own "suggestion."

And not for nothing, but the Picard of 2399 is not a "leader of men." That's a pretty huge point of the series to date. I'm sure we're going to watch him re-discover that and we saw a glimpse of it with how he handled Elnor once they got back to the ship, but that hasn't been a general description of Picard for a long time at this point.

 

[Roo Returns]

Picard is a righteous and just character. That's fine. That's who he became after the writers figured him out somewhere in season 2 of TNG (season 1 Picard was crabby).

My problem with his civil rights movement in that scene and being self-righteous is the man is 94 years old and alone on a battered Romulan planet where they don't exactly love him anymore. And he just throws a sign away. He's looking for trouble and knows he can't fight. So either he's a master manipulator of Elnor and knew he would come to his aid, or a crazy old man.

I'm fine with the choices he made and that he left Starfleet disgusted. I think it would be interesting if they wanted to go full on political, if he tried an alternative way or had an intergalactic grassroots method to help the evacuation, and Starfleet along with the Vulcans, Klingons, etc. crushed it causing him to finally give up. THAT would be some major heel heat as they say in wrestling and maybe not all Romulans would have felt that he abandoned them. But an idea like that would add an additional five layers to the series and have to make the season more than 10 episodes, which didn't seem to be possible.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I thought it was kind of funny when he tore down the sign and started crap.

 

[Tawnos]

Picard is a righteous and just character. That's fine. That's who he became after the writers figured him out somewhere in season 2 of TNG (season 1 Picard was crabby).

My problem with his civil rights movement in that scene and being self-righteous is the man is 94 years old and alone on a battered Romulan planet where they don't exactly love him anymore. And he just throws a sign away. He's looking for trouble and knows he can't fight. So either he's a master manipulator of Elnor and knew he would come to his aid, or a crazy old man.

I'm fine with the choices he made and that he left Starfleet disgusted. I think it would be interesting if they wanted to go full on political, if he tried an alternative way or had an intergalactic grassroots method to help the evacuation, and Starfleet along with the Vulcans, Klingons, etc. crushed it causing him to finally give up. THAT would be some major heel heat as they say in wrestling and maybe not all Romulans would have felt that he abandoned them. But an idea like that would add an additional five layers to the series and have to make the season more than 10 episodes, which didn't seem to be possible.

I think he's a bit of a crazy old man. Also, given the fact that Elnor had just rejected him, you could see his frustration coming out in the disgust of the way the planet had changed. It makes sense.

Also, not all Romulans felt he abandoned him. Laris and Zhabon clearly don't. I was under the impression that after being rejected by Starfleet, he still went and tried. That being what was referred to by Picard when he said he couldn't ask the old Enterprise crew, because they'd been down that road. And that's part of why the Admiral was so mad at him. But I could be wrong about all of that.

 

[Osprey]

What in the world is this? The latest episode starts with a gory scene, then a sexy scene, then a childish scene, then a scene with the pilot dressed as a pimp and Picard wearing a costume eye patch and trying out an evil villain accent. Is this supposed to be Star Trek? This is really bad and I'm not even halfway through yet.

Ok, I just finished it. Yeah, that really didn't feel like Star Trek at all.

Spoiler

I've never seen the seasons of Voyager that Seven of Nine was one, so I don't know her as a character, but it doesn't seem very in character to me for a former Starfleet officer to kill someone in cold blood.

Our suspicions about scientist girl are starting to check out.

 

[The Nemesis]

The bit at he beginning of the episode with

Spoiler

Icheb

was needlessly cruel. It felt like a cheap twist that was only done to get lazy extra oomph from the trekkie crowd that's in it for the fanservice.

Also disappointed that neither he nor Maddox were played by their original actors.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I’m just about done with this show - had trouble getting through this last one

 

[chicagoskycam]

What in the world is this? The latest episode starts with a gory scene, then a sexy scene, then a childish scene, then a scene with the pilot dressed as a pimp and Picard wearing a costume eye patch and trying out an evil villain accent. Is this supposed to be Star Trek? This is really bad and I'm not even halfway through yet.

Ok, I just finished it. Yeah, that really didn't feel like Star Trek at all.

Spoiler

I've never seen the seasons of Voyager that Seven of Nine was one, so I don't know her as a character, but it doesn't seem very in character to me for a former Starfleet officer to kill someone in cold blood.

Our suspicions about scientist girl are starting to check out.

in Voyager 7 was this robotic character with little to no emotion. Like Data crossed with a crabby Vulcan

Shes much more human in this

 

[Osprey]

in Voyager 7 was this robotic character with little to no emotion. Like Data crossed with a crabby Vulcan

Shes much more human in this

I looked her up and learned that Jeri Ryan said that she (and, presumably, the writers) made her character in Picard more human to reflect nearly two decades of living on Earth. People can change, but I don't like writers using the passage of time as an excuse to change established, well-liked characters so much to suit their purposes. Fit your stories to the characters, not the other way around, IMO.

 

[Jumptheshark]

So 7 became a switch hitter

 

[Jumptheshark]

Okay interesting twice

 

[Roo Returns]

That episode was very un-Star Treky with having a few Star Trek moments (hopefully that makes sense).

The horror at the beginning was interesting as sometimes Star Trek can go off into different directions.

Bruce Maddox was very different from the original actor. This one was too warm. He's played by Justin Chancellor from Tool now....ok lol. But the original was very wooden on purpose.

I have no issues with Seven becoming who she is. Anyone saying the writers were too off, remember when she started dating Chakotay out of nowhere at the end of Voyager?

Picard wearing an eyepatch and that fake accent? That was fun for Patrick Stewart but pretty silly. He's one of the most famous people in all of the quadrants. Guy was the face of Starfleet for decades. It reminds me of when Wolverine would do his "Patch" gimmick in comics.

Episode felt more like Firefly or Star Wars. Not bad but not the best. The exchange between Picard/Seven and Rafi and her son were the best moments. Great job by Rios too.

Seven feels like one of those video game allies. She gave Picard a token to call her. You know at some point later in the journey she'll appear to save the day.

 

[Jussi]

Funny how most of the major "nerd sites" are giving this episode high ratings (4/5 stars, A- score etc.) yet some people didn't like it. I liked it for the most part, the Raffi part was uninteresting but then I realized that because his son's wife/girlfriend is Romulan, that might come into play later on. I did get a Firefly sort of vibe from it.

 

[Jussi]

The bit at he beginning of the episode with

Spoiler

Icheb

was needlessly cruel. It felt like a cheap twist that was only done to get lazy extra oomph from the trekkie crowd that's in it for the fanservice.

Also disappointed that neither he nor Maddox were played by their original actors.

Apparently the original actor for Icheb shat the bed by defending Kevin Spacey re: the Anthony Rapp story. So he's a persona non grata on official Star Trek sets.

 

[NyQuil]

I guess my issue with the last episode was that while I did like aspects of it, it seemed like the least Star Trek episode I've seen yet, with the bizarre animated ads and other "outrageous" comedy bits.

Personally I'd put it as the worst one of the season. Part of it is the fact that the screen-time gets having to get shared more and more, so the moments that are a little more introspective are completely lost.

What's funny is that the Seven storyline was probably the best one, and that surprised me.

 

[Guardian17]

What in the world is this? The latest episode starts with a gory scene, then a sexy scene, then a childish scene, then a scene with the pilot dressed as a pimp and Picard wearing a costume eye patch and trying out an evil villain accent. Is this supposed to be Star Trek? This is really bad and I'm not even halfway through yet.

Ok, I just finished it. Yeah, that really didn't feel like Star Trek at all.

Spoiler

I've never seen the seasons of Voyager that Seven of Nine was one, so I don't know her as a character, but it doesn't seem very in character to me for a former Starfleet officer to kill someone in cold blood.

Our suspicions about scientist girl are starting to check out.

I'll start with a positive, I'm happy Mr. Mott and Quark's businesses are flourishing.

Now, the rest.

A Starfleet officer is kidnapped and mutilated by gangsters and Starfleet does nothing to rescue him? Really?

7 of 9 is now bisexual with no explanation because the writers wanted to pat themselves on the back and say, "hey, we put a bisexual character in the show!"

And not only that, 7 of 9 is now a cold blooded killer.

Romulan Ninja Boy did nothing.

Scientist girl who killed a Romulan two episodes ago was so obviously going to kill Maddox it was laughable.

Picard is now a James Bond villain from the 1960's.

It's like a Saturday Night Live skit of a Star Trek show.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Rewatched the show

They tried too hard to bring the funny this episode and then toss on what actually happened in the episode 2/10

Just a giant miss for me

Lots of Easter eggs but trek fans but they spent more time on that than a script that made complete sense

 

[klozge]

The show feels like a mix of Star Trek, Cowboy Bebop and Firefly. I like it.

 

[The Nemesis]

Apparently the original actor for Icheb shat the bed by defending Kevin Spacey re: the Anthony Rapp story. So he's a persona non grata on official Star Trek sets.

Oh jeez. Yeah, that'll do it.