Star Trek Picard Season Three

[Treadwell]

Well, I saw Ep 1 because they put it on the Paramount YT channel. Wasn't going to put any more effort than that to see it.

Better than S1 and 2, which I didn't doubt given how many times it's been said. And I watched the Ready Room episode about it, and the new show runner does seem to be one of us and has good intentions. I wish MORE had been changed/fixed, but I'm sure there were pressures from Kurtzmann, et. al.

But we sure the hell didn't need to keep Raffi.

And it's been said and said well, but the lighting..... sweet jeebus. Even what few bright spots there are... are also dim! It's as if it wasn't only shot dark, but also the gamma crushed and contrast lowered in post. It's a grey indecipherable mess that's hard on the eyes. The cinematographer no doubt thinks he's an artist, but he's a hack.

Nerdy nitpick stuff:
"Aft thrusters, one half impulse power."
NO. They are not the same thing, nor do you use both at the same time. And any level impulse power inside the station? Nosirree, no. It's great that they have Drexler and the Ocudas, but damned if they don't need Sternbach even more.

Titan does look pretty cool. Neck a bit thick maybe.

Spoiler

Still more "our people are broken" crap. I hate that they shipped Picard and Beverly (by the end of TNG they had contentedly settled on friendship), and if that has to happen, I hate that they had some kind of horrible breakup. And the son? Please. And Riker has to be broken, too?

 

[Demetrios2177]

Nerdy nitpick stuff:
"Aft thrusters, one half impulse power."
NO. They are not the same thing, nor do you use both at the same time. And any level impulse power inside the station? Nosirree, no. It's great that they have Drexler and the Ocudas, but damned if they don't need Sternbach even more.

Could be worse. Could be Pike in SNW (in the episode "The White Squall") ordering Ortegas to fire on the Enterprise's impulse "thrusters" (yep, that again) and then depicting them firing at the nacelles, and no one bats an eye. I like SNW, however, this is like depicting the "Dukes of Hazzard" boys not being able to tell a car engine from a battery.

 

[BlandoCalrssian]

Yeah because those little mistakes NEVER happened in every single other iteration of Trek. Hell, they’ve even used impulse in Spacedock before. Stealing the Enterprise scene in Search for Spock anyone? The whole franchise is rife with inaccuracies, contradictions, special effects that don’t match dialogue, etc. Its not new.

 

[Treadwell]

didn't say it was

 

[kalkamel]

Just saw the third episode and honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Spoiler

A lot happened in it and some interesting revelations too, i.e. the Changelings' involvement, but at the same time I wasn't a fan of the writing, particularly the characterization of Beverly Crusher and Riker, which didn't quite jive with what we know of them. Riker's preference for defense rather than offense, and the "manufactured conflict" between him and Picard, all felt forced. I also thought Gates McFadden's and Michael Dorn's acting were kind of iffy... but I thought maybe its because they were out of practice. I also didn't like the way some of the crew reacted to Jack (e.g. "It's all your fault!")... seems kinda un-Starfleet-like. Overall, the writing for this episode seemed kind of subpar and when I saw who the writers were in the credits, I went "Ohhhhh.... no wonder". They're the same ones who gave us the Season 2 episode which featured Jurati's musical number.

 

[kalkamel]

More thoughts after a second watch.

Spoiler

Very uneven episode. There were some good but also some bad. The bad reminded me of the first two seasons of Picard and the entirety of Discovery.

The deaging technique used for the opening flashback at the bar wasn't good. Riker looked okay, although his eyes had the uncanny valley effect, like deaged Q in Season 2. Picard was worse as he looked like he had a Beautify filter set to the max, but his voice was still that of octogenarian Patrick Stewart. Don't they have DeepFake technology for voices too nowadays?

And what's with Sirtis' cameo behaving totally unlike Troi the empath but rather like a nagging wife? All for laughs.

I wasn't a fan of the exchange between Picard and Crusher at Sickbay. A bit too melodramatic, and both of them were far too emotional. Beverly is usually calm and composed even in stressful situations, but here she's crying and banging her palms on the medbed. And I would have thought Picard would have at least had some sense of composure rather than yelling at a woman that was at death's door merely hours ago. This scene is so reminiscent of many modern day relationship dramas, and would even be at home in Discovery, but not here. I would have preferred a calm conversation like Kirk and Carol Marcus at Regula.

And why did she have to specifically say "My son, Wesley"? Did she think Picard would forget that she had a son named Wesley? A bit too Basil Exposition-y for my taste, and it was obviously for new fans who didn't know that fact.

The crewman shouting at Jack "It's all your fault!" is hardly Starfleet behaviour. I guess Starfleet at this stage no longer comprise of the best of the best of the best... any Tom, Dick or Harry can join for the sake of inclusivity.

The Picard-Riker conflict felt so forced, as if the only way the writers knew how to create drama is by manufacturing conflict between the main characters. This goes against Roddenberry's TNG writers' bible about no interpersonal conflicts between the main cast.

And while I loved seeing Worf's return in last week's episode, I'm dreading the direction they're going with him, pairing him with Raffi like a terrible buddy cop adventure. And why is Worf drinking chamomile tea? Does the replicator not know how to make prune juice? Next thing you know he'll be ordering an avocado toast.

I did like how he introduced himself though (Son of Mogh etc).

Side note: was that a Dolphin phaser he was carrying?

And Michelle Hurd... dear Lord. Does she think she's doing panto with her exaggerated facial expressions, exaggerated line delivery and flailing hands? I don't get why some people on Twitter are saying she's giving a superior performance this season... she's overacting as F. Everytime the scene switches to her, I feel the need to fast forward.

Speaking of overacting, the criminal they caught (isn't that the kid that played John Connor in The Sarah Connor Chronicles?) also overacted his way throughout his scenes. So cringey.

Shaw's hardly in it, so that's another negative point. I like Shaw and his one liners.

The weakest episode thus far, in my opinion. I really hope it gets better and that Cindy Appel and Jane Maggs won't be writing anymore episodes. I really want to like this season.

 

[finalfrontier]

The old guys are running her in the ditch it seems. But like my Dad used to say when I was a kid watching TOS... "they can't kill them because you know they will be on next week".

Not so much nowadays after shows like the walking dead.

 

[BlandoCalrssian]

Spoiler

“I am Worf, Son of Mogh, House of Martok, Son of Sergei, House of Rozhenko. Bane to the Duras Family. Slayer of Gowron.

I have made some Chamomile tea. Do you take sugar?”

I don’t care what happens from this point on. That line just made the whole season for me

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Agreed. Best line of any Trek show ever.

 

[edge10]

 

[Jediscum]

More thoughts after a second watch.

Spoiler

Very uneven episode. There were some good but also some bad. The bad reminded me of the first two seasons of Picard and the entirety of Discovery.

The deaging technique used for the opening flashback at the bar wasn't good. Riker looked okay, although his eyes had the uncanny valley effect, like deaged Q in Season 2. Picard was worse as he looked like he had a Beautify filter set to the max, but his voice was still that of octogenarian Patrick Stewart. Don't they have DeepFake technology for voices too nowadays?

And what's with Sirtis' cameo behaving totally unlike Troi the empath but rather like a nagging wife? All for laughs.

I wasn't a fan of the exchange between Picard and Crusher at Sickbay. A bit too melodramatic, and both of them were far too emotional. Beverly is usually calm and composed even in stressful situations, but here she's crying and banging her palms on the medbed. And I would have thought Picard would have at least had some sense of composure rather than yelling at a woman that was at death's door merely hours ago. This scene is so reminiscent of many modern day relationship dramas, and would even be at home in Discovery, but not here. I would have preferred a calm conversation like Kirk and Carol Marcus at Regula.

And why did she have to specifically say "My son, Wesley"? Did she think Picard would forget that she had a son named Wesley? A bit too Basil Exposition-y for my taste, and it was obviously for new fans who didn't know that fact.

The crewman shouting at Jack "It's all your fault!" is hardly Starfleet behaviour. I guess Starfleet at this stage no longer comprise of the best of the best of the best... any Tom, Dick or Harry can join for the sake of inclusivity.

The Picard-Riker conflict felt so forced, as if the only way the writers knew how to create drama is by manufacturing conflict between the main characters. This goes against Roddenberry's TNG writers' bible about no interpersonal conflicts between the main cast.

And while I loved seeing Worf's return in last week's episode, I'm dreading the direction they're going with him, pairing him with Raffi like a terrible buddy cop adventure. And why is Worf drinking chamomile tea? Does the replicator not know how to make prune juice? Next thing you know he'll be ordering an avocado toast.

I did like how he introduced himself though (Son of Mogh etc).

Side note: was that a Dolphin phaser he was carrying?

And Michelle Hurd... dear Lord. Does she think she's doing panto with her exaggerated facial expressions, exaggerated line delivery and flailing hands? I don't get why some people on Twitter are saying she's giving a superior performance this season... she's overacting as F. Everytime the scene switches to her, I feel the need to fast forward.

Speaking of overacting, the criminal they caught (isn't that the kid that played John Connor in The Sarah Connor Chronicles?) also overacted his way throughout his scenes. So cringey.

Shaw's hardly in it, so that's another negative point. I like Shaw and his one liners.

The weakest episode thus far, in my opinion. I really hope it gets better and that Cindy Appel and Jane Maggs won't be writing anymore episodes. I really want to like this season.

Spoiler

It's not just the crewmembers. Riker basically did to Picard the same thing the crewman did to Jack. "It's all your fault, Jean-Luc! Go to your room." It's just so out of character I don't even know where to begin.

And just a guess, either B-4 or Lore is what was actually stolen from Daystrom.

 

[asalaw]

Just watched it. Love how they‘ve raised the stakes. Loved the clever weapon deployed against the Titan. And the last line punched me right in the gut. This episode had me straight through.

And yes, Worf’s introduction had me laughing hysterically. I think I peed a little.

I’m gonna say it. BEST SEASON OF TNG EVER. Well, so far anyway. Never underestimate Hollywood’s ability to frak up a great story…

 

[Paul Andrew]

Spoiler

“I am Worf, Son of Mogh, House of Martok, Son of Sergei, House of Rozhenko. Bane to the Duras Family. Slayer of Gowron.

I have made some Chamomile tea. Do you take sugar?”

I don’t care what happens from this point on. That line just made the whole season for me

Wait what. I knew I was missing something by not finishing DS9

 

[NakedMoleRat]

I thought it was another very solid episode. I have not seen the episodes prior, I got transcripts and notes from the production crew working for the dailystartreknews site. Which I put my notice in BTW, the end of the month will be my last day as a daily reporter.

it was a very nice progression, captain. Shaw truly cares about his crew. He knew he could no longer handle it, so he made Riker the acting captain.

my biggest concern is that we only have 10 episodes, and only half of the legacy actors have shown up so far. I want more than just two episodes with Geordi.

I thought that Picard and Beverly acted perfectly in the situation that they were in. 20 years of repressed memories and repressed anger are suddenly flooding to the surface without control. They acted and reacted exactly the way they should.

and a lot of people making reference to Discovery, can we please refer to it by the official acronym, STD?

 

[kalkamel]

I thought it was another very solid episode. I have not seen the episodes prior, I got transcripts and notes from the production crew working for the dailystartreknews site. Which I put my notice in BTW, the end of the month will be my last day as a daily reporter.

it was a very nice progression, captain. Shaw truly cares about his crew. He knew he could no longer handle it, so he made Riker the acting captain.

my biggest concern is that we only have 10 episodes, and only half of the legacy actors have shown up so far. I want more than just two episodes with Geordi.

I thought that Picard and Beverly acted perfectly in the situation that they were in. 20 years of repressed memories and repressed anger are suddenly flooding to the surface without control. They acted and reacted exactly the way they should.

and a lot of people making reference to Discovery, can we please refer to it by the official acronym, STD?

And on that note...

The nightmare is almost over!

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Not surprised. We were told last week some of the Trek shows MAY get cut as Paramount Puss has been told by CBS to start making money. The’ve been in the red since it was launched.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

Yeah….Episode 3…they threw up a little bit of leftover Kurtzman Trek into their mouths on this one.

The “conflict” between Picard and Riker was so completely out-of-character and forced. They wanted sooooooooooo badly to create a “Crimson Tide scene” with characters that are completely incapable of that type of interpersonal conflict and lack of mutual respect and trust….

“Sit down admiral!! I’m the captain now!”

“You’ve killed is all…”

I kept waiting for Picard to punch Riker in the face and demand his missile key.

 

[kalkamel]

Yeah….Episode 3…they threw up a little bit of leftover Kurtzman Trek into their mouths on this one.

The “conflict” between Picard and Riker was so completely out-of-character and forced. They wanted sooooooooooo badly to create a “Crimson Tide scene” with characters that are completely incapable of that type of interpersonal conflict and lack of mutual respect and trust….

“Sit down admiral!! I’m the captain now!”

“You’ve killed is all…”

I kept waiting for Picard to punch Riker in the face and demand his missile key.

Definitely! It's so un-Riker-like! That "you've killed us all" line had me groaning. After all, it was Riker who ordered the Titan to fire. I would have thought he's experienced enough in high pressure situations to think rationally and not give in to constant goading. Look at Kirk when Khan started the Genesis detonation countdown... calm, composed even in the face of certain death. He didn't go "You're moving the ship too slow, Sulu! You've killed us all!"

Way too much melodrama and interpersonal conflict for my liking. Didn't Roddenberry specifically say to avoid these in the Trek writer's bible?

 

[Captain Dunsel]

And on that note...

The nightmare is almost over!

And on that note…I must assume that the toilet is finally being flushed…

 

[agliarept]

with the involvement of the changelings, what are the odds we're going to get a Sisko cameo. All that "organic matter in the nebula" talk had me itching the great emissary might return somehow. Would be a great way to bring him back, at least for me, always loved his arc.