Francie

I hate that lazy writing. The whole notion that, "Oh, we can totally get away with doing this insanely stupid thing if we have one character be the defeated voice of reason." Any script writer whose television or movie offering relies on that should have their writers guild card revoked faster than one can say 'plot contrivance.'

Kestra is named checked two or three times (I forget if she was mentioned in Riker's post going through the alien birth canal videocall), and both had to do with Riker's man-pain. He mentions in the first episode that he thought Kesta would like some time away from him, for instance. That was my disappointment. Whether the PicardS3 show runners like it or not, Riker had his own family now, and it was shucked aside so that the showrunners could pretend Picard and Riker were some kind of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance duo. That was my point. Riker's faux annoyed (or real annoyed -- who knows) "Do you hear yourself?" is stupid if he isn't taking on real or pretend offense. And I agree with you that the writing is so bad and so trying to be all Marvel-esque that the joke doesn't work without extrapolation. But Riker's line was "Do you hear yourself?," and he should only be offended if the comment involved Deanna. The exact point I'm making -- how the women got erased out of this -- seems to be point you're making to say, "this wasn't even about a woman." He didn't say they shot or had a scene with Kestra at Starfleet Academy. They didn't re-hire the actress from Season 1 or have a Starfleet Academy set for a one-minute scene like that. TM said Kestra was at Starfleet Academy on social media because he was getting questioned about it there. At the time he shot the show, he quite clearly didn't know or care where Kestra was. Now, whether he actually shot scenes with Deanna and Will that were cut from Season 7 is a little unclear. He said there were scenes that intercut with a Crazy Amanda. So those scenes were at the very least were scripted, and it seemed like they were shot. But even that he didn't confirm 100%. Given the threat they were under, no parents should have assumed and no reasonable, normal parents would have thought their child was safe. They would have -- and should have been -- worried sick. Like so many others have said, the tone of this show was so off.

Agreed. Joel committed a little "light" white collar crime.

Thanks. When you mentioned it was on free tv, I was confusing Pluto with one of the streaming channels like tubi or freevee. I did look up Picard's availability on free tv last night, and the second season of Picard is available, but not the first. So second season episodes are available, on demand, for free. I'm going to mix sci fi franchises and say people should warned, it's a trap!

This has gotten a little bit interesting, in not being able to look away from something horrible kind of way Terry Matalas, on the future of PS3 follow-up Legacy show: So, basically TM is calling on his fans to complain loudly about Starfeet Academy in the hopes of getting it derailed in favor of his show. So, tear down one show in order to get yours greenlit? And there is a sci fi nerd debate going on right now on twitter about it. Lines are being drawn. Threats not to watch one or the other being made. This won't end well. Both shows might end up getting send to bed without supper. Cool -- I can still watch Nepenthe after my paramount+ subscription expires in a few days. Yay me! First break I've caught with this d@mn show all year.

On that point, you and I are in total agreement. How about, let's meet up at a better-lit bar than that Blade Runner Bar from this show (I know, supposedly Guinan owns that bar, but I didn't watch the first two seasons, so I only know it as a wannabe Blade Runner bar), I'll buy (since money is now a thing in the future) you a drink of choice (points for it being prune juice), and we can make 'em throw up a couple TNG episodes on the big screen. I'll bring Lower Decks, Chain of Command II, and - for actually comedy -- A Fistful of Datas.

We're in agreement that I didn't take Worf's comment as sexual. But Riker sure did when he said, "Do you even hear yourself?" Right? I mean, I'm also clearly not part of the designed audience for these show runners. Others perhaps need to weigh in -- those that found the comment funny, that was supposed to be a joke, right? One aimed at Riker being annoyed with Worf for intimating about his past with Troi? First, why must I have to point that out? ;) I didn't realize there was a limit to bandwidth and that I needed to prioritize my issues in accordance with gravity of issue. I've commented on the stupidity of Beverly hiding Cousin Oliver sufficiently, and I certainly reserve the right to comment more on it should I wish. You can trust that I realize the square peg being pounded into the round hole to make that timing and explanation work. I just find it oddly stupid, in an almost amusing way, that Beverly is supposedly 'honoring' Jean-Luc by naming his kid after her own dead husband. The reason you offer about time passing, to me, cuts against it being a great reason to pick that name as an homage to Jean-Luc. His best friend died nearly 50 years ago. Besides, according to this show, Will Riker is Jean-Luc's Sundance to his Butch Cassidy. So, to honor Jean-Luc, she should have named the kid Will? That might actually have been entertaining. Frankly, if Beverly wanted to honor Jean-Luc then name the kid Jean-Luc or something J-L-ish, or Rene, after Jean-Luc's dead nephew. But to name him Jack, I just shake my head. That's all on the show runners, though, who clearly just liked the name Jack Crusher and went with it. You have no disagreement from me that the there was a lot being crammed into this series. Frankly, though, they squandered it and it wasn't quite as limited. They had 600 minutes they could have played with. They didn't have to have only 45 minutes shows, which they did on multiple occasions. The show runners might complain that their budget limited them to that amount, but they could have written better, slightly longer, more meaningful scenes, especially when involving the characters simply talking with each other. I'm also not advocating for this show to have been the Cousin Oliver and Sydney LaForge show instead of largely what it was, the Cousin Oliver Hour Three-quarter Hour. But I don't think the show runners should high fiving themselves as much as they have been about writing strong female characters. We are in disagreement whether the reunion was worth it. For those that enjoyed the moments, great. For those that are happy the actors got to get back together, great. But, for me, those moments are largely unwatchable -- if I have the volume on. The dialogue, the plot, all of that, makes me cringe. It makes me sad. :( It was such wasted potential. All because the OG7 were mainly the source of comic relief for these show runners. For them, these OG7 characters were foisted upon them, while they wanted to be writing for Cousin Oliver and Over-the-top Amanda, and then shoving as many cameos and nostalgia-laden props as they could. And I personally think the OG7 got the short shrift. Again, I don't even quibble about how much time they got -- other than the scenes were poorly written and choppy and could have had a beat or two more to them. I mean, take Worf rescuing Deanna and Will. That scenes plays like: [Deanna hugs Worf and Will kinda side-hugs him] Worf: Don't touch me! Worf, continues: Hey baby, I've been thinking about you everyday .... [beat] ........................ just so I can tell you how I've been meditating! Will: Inappropriate! [Me -- you're a beat late with that quibble, my friend, because you now look like an idiot, because he 180'ed that before you complained] Deanna: That's great! [No, literally, I think that's what she says. Maybe, "That's great, Worf." Please don't make me ever watch this scene again. And I write that as a HUGE Troi/Riker shipper] Worf: We must now go to an exposition room where you can be provided some exposition. Deanna and Will: Sounds great. We'll follow you. [end scene] I mean, yay?!!!

So Beverly is going to honor the father of her child by naming their kid after his best friend ... who happens to be her dead husband? To me, the dead husband part trumps. She isn't naming the kid after the father's best friend. She's naming it after her own husband. Because, otherwise, that's like saying Jack Crusher's (the elder Jack Crusher) most important relationship was his friendship with Picard, and not his love affair and marriage with his wife, Beverly. I think that's, overall, my second biggest problem with this show: the show runners kept disregarding and erasing what should be the most important thing. Take as a minor example, Worf's throwaway threesome 'joke.' Dorn delivered his line well, as did Frakes. But, to me, it didn't make sense because the scenario wasn't involving all three parties of the so-called love triangle. It involved three geriatric men (or geriatric-looking in Picard's case) going on an away mission. I know for many the joke worked, but for me, I was perplexed why Riker was interpreting Worf's comment as sexualized. And for Riker to read it that way, he had to assume Worf meant it as a dig against Riker. Like, "Heh, heh, I'm going to mention the word 'threesome' just to get your goat." All the meanwhile, the apex of that triangle, Deanna, is nowhere involved in the scenario or conversation. All too often with this show it was the women who were being overlooked and disregarded. Kestra's well-being was treated as an afterthought that had to be clarified on social media. The show runners want credit for creating two "legacy" children, but they put all their focus and effort upon Jack and completely neglected to give Sidney any substance. And I agree, Alandra existed to placate Levar Burton (not that I blame him for wishing Geordi to have a second daughter or his being proud of his daughter's inclusion as the portrayer of that character). I think the showrunners thought they wrote the women well because they had 'bad ass' women fighting and being all physical, and Beverly got to launch torpedoes, and Troi got to fly the saucer, and there were a lots of women on the Titan bridge. But the female bridge members weren't fleshed out characters, and being bad ass to me isn't the same as being well-rounded. Seven's story seemed to be limited to her displeasure at being dead-named. (Though she then turned around and called Data a "robot," which was kinda like, 'well, I guess your concern for properly addressing people only goes one way.' But I'll disregard that as bad writing and a cheap joke foisted upon her.) As I mentioned that was my second biggest problem, my biggest problem was just the glibness of it all. All those moments where the writers were too afraid of sentimentality that they had to misdirect nearly every heartfelt line. Way too much of the dialogue was like, "I'd like to tell you all, after all these years .... [beat] ... i call dibs on the captain's chair!" It was all "I missed the carpet the most," and "ha!ha! my offscreen kidnapping amounted to 'good in bed, bad at pizza.'" The only time where an emotional moment wasn't turned into a joke was when it involved a father and his son. Ugh, I'm hoping by Memorial Day, I'll have this show exorcised. If I hadn't encounter these OG7 characters at an age and time where they became so important to me (and if I didn't resemble Holly Hunter's character in Broadcast News as much as I do), it would be out of my brain by Cinco de Mayo. My fear is that it'll be the Fourth of July before I run out of ammunition and my frustration has finally dissipated.

I mean lots and tons of exciting things happen. You'll be on the edge of the seat of your pants!! [small voice] did I fix it? [/small voice]

If Matalas gets his legacy show, based on his interviews and which characters he mentions the most, it'll primarily focus on Jack and Seven, with Shaw (Matalas says he has a brilliant way to bring him back that isn't a cheat), and Raffi as the two primary supports. Then, to round out the cast, he'd add Sidney. After that, he wants Frakes. After that he seems to want Levar, Dorn, and Beverly to crop up in cameos. Presumably Jean-Luc, Data, and Troi would be welcome as well as memberberries. But whenever they're mentioned, if they ae mentioned, they come across as afterthoughts. You've seen Marina Sirtis pimping this show? That surprises me. I haven't seen her at all of late. She was part of the New York press event that the entire OG7 were part of back before the premiere, and then she went on the Star Trek cruise last month, but other than that she's largely been MIA. And she acknowledged on the cruise that she wasn't thrilled about the sit-at-home, nagging housewife stuff they wrote of her. But she's done no press I know of. No social media. And that can be because she's in London and deleted her twitter account. The PicardS3 cast members who've been promoting (I'll be nice) the show the most have been Frakes, Ryan, and the actor who plays Shaw. Gates has been slightly engaged. Maybe Burton too. But the rest -- Spiner, Dorn, Stewart, and Sirtis -- have quiet on social media. Stewart did two late night appearances that bookended the season, but he posted only once on social media, right at the premiere. And that was just to say that the cast was an ensemble. I've found their silence interesting. Spiner claims that his twitter account was hacked and that he'd not be on twitter awhile.

That's not how I read it at all. In episode 1, Susie saw the backs of some funny women going down the hall. She stopped and took notice because she assumed, from their comedic wit, they were writers. That's why she was surprised later when talking with Gordon Ford and he said he didn't have any female writers on the staff. In the skating rink episode, Susie came across the picture of Hedy and was shell-shocked. That was her first and only glimpse of Hedy in 15 years. And I don't think a 1960s a charity-attending housewife of a popular tv show host is going to have her picture plastered around the tabloids. It's no surprise to me that this was something Susie didn't know. And the show even tried to lay the groundwork for Susie not knowing by having Midge ask her about Gordon's wife, and Susie telling her she didn't know anything. Susie only returned to 30 Rock after having a horrendous day where she was already off her game by being threatened by Frank and Nicky. When she learned Midge was being forbidden to be on the show due to her status as writer, Susie impulsively went to 30 Rock to confront whomever she could find. And Susie very easily comes across as someone around 40. Frankly, I was surprised to hear Alex was in her 50s. Though, I hadn't given her age much, if any, thought.

As much as I want to put this show in the rear view mirror already, in the spirit of “I tell my wrath, my wrath doth end,” I still can’t believe two things: That Beverly Crusher named a kid she had with Jean-Luc after her dead husband; and That Riker’s final, he thinks he's dying words were about his dead son and not his living daughter. That he was all “me and our boy will be waiting for you,” instead of “tell Kestra I love her” just galls me to no end. And that gets me to thinking, Riker didn’t stay in the borg cube to save humanity. He stayed to go find his geriatric former captain. His 82-fucking-year-old captain. I get the sentiment of a mentee or subordinate feeling like they owe something to their mentor or superior. But, good writing, I argue, would have the characters recognize the cost. Riker was opting for near certain death (or Worf was just joking – one can never tell with this show) to try to save an 82-year-old man versus living so as to not make his wife – who’s already suffered in losing a son – a widow and his minor-aged daughter – who already lost a beloved brother – fatherless. And that’s where I think, f** you, Riker. And I like Riker. So I especially hate the position in which I find myself. But we’re not supposed to take this show that seriously, show runners certainly would advise. And I get that. But the corollary is then true – I can’t take it seriously at all. And that’s why I condemn it as an expensively produced but cheap, superficial, glib piece of disposable nostalgia triggers.

One was 1923. The first 3 episodes were great, and then it stalled for the next 7 and abruptly ended without any resolution of the problems presented in the first episode. It was all, "stay tuned until next year! Or two, or whenever, Harrison Ford's a very busy man)." The other was a sci fi show also on Paramount+ that sputtered and stretched until the very end when it magically wrapped everything up in the last few minutes. Looking again at Roman, Kendall, and Shiv, they all have potential, but they are each their own worst enemies. I was watching again the scene where Matsson was making fun of the entire Roy claim in front of them and his colleagues, and Kendall did a great job of shutting it down with, "Maybe it's funnier with subtitles" and saying enough of the bullshit. Matsson's tone changes and even his body language shifted a little, as he half-hollowly, half-sincerely apologized. Kendall called him out and got him to back down and return to task. But then he had to turn around and blow up the entire deal because that's what he wanted.

Susie went up to the offices on the ice skating night because she didn't want to use the public restroom by the rink. Then she started wandering around, and landed in Gordon's office. On the day she ran into Hedy, she went up to confront them about Midge not being allowed to appear on the show.

She was indulging herself in a "pretending to be an important television executive" moment. Granted, she has her own office, with its amazing view, but that was a luxurious executive office in 30 rock. It's like when a kid comes into an office and swirls around in the office chair.

I'm wondering if that's been intentional. Up unti this season Greg was (mainly) likable and quirky. At the very least, he provided some comic relief. He was introduced as the normal outsider, and thus he was the audience's eyes by which to view and learn about this very foreign world. So, in that respect, he was largely relatable. I always found him barely tolerable, though his scenes with Tom most enjoyable. But they've written Greg as completely unsympathetic this season, what with sexing someone up in his uncle's house and hanging her out to dry afterwards. And trying to worm his way into his cousins' circle. He feels zero grief, while they are falling apart in their own ways. I think that's all been by design. We're supposed to become disenchanted, if we ever were, with Greg.

I've been scarred by two other 10-episode season shows earlier this year that started somewhere and then went nowhere until the penultimate episode. It'll take a little time to learn to trust again.

Sadly, she doesn't have anyone else she feels she can confide in. And, unfortunately for her, she trusted Matsson too quickly. I don't know how smart Matsson is, but I do know if he finds an opportunity to use that information to his advantage, he will.

Regarding the "kill list," I just want to express my gratitude that it was actually revealed at the end and, and not held out for three or more episodes as a tease. It was introduced, teased, and revealed all the same episode. Thank the good writing it was not treated like some sort of "mystery box" item.

Those lines were perfection. The most cutting line, although it doesn't play on paper as devastatingly as it was delivered: "You're a tribute band." Imagine getting that insult leveled at you less than a week after the genuine article -- the band to which you are the imitation -- tells you, "You're not serious people." The coldest and most insulting action though: Motherf-ing Marcia putting Logan into a kilt, when she knows how much he tried to put his childhood behind him. She's just full of payback.

Yeah, but isn't that a program that just gets an officer to the lowest level (ensign). It's not 13 weeks, and then one is made captain. Having said that, I have no problems with Seven being a captain. I mean, nearly everyone over 25 is dead. Seven's probably the most qualified. Sadly, though, the cook may be the second most qualified. If there ever is a new show featuring Just Jack, they'll probably apply the soap opera staple, SORASing (soap opera rapidly aging syndrome), and age him up to 36. We'll never again hear how he's only in his 20s. Check and mated, I suppose.

So much to love this episode! What's my personal favorite moment? Well, there's Roman saying "my dad" and "dad's plan" to the point where I wanted to scream at the television to stop already. Just like Roman was the only one who went on the plane to see their father and, presumably, say goodbye, Roman is the only one who wants to carry out his father's wishes plan. Though Kendall was right, Logan did whatever the hell he wanted to do in the moment. He might have backed out of the deal if he recalculated and liked a different option. What Roman really wanted, and needed, was the cathartic lashing out at Matsson. So raw. In a show where so many actors hit the ball out of the park, Kieran hit that one out of the stadium. Speaking of raw, what was up with that exchange between Shiv and Tom. Her scuffing up his all-too-white shoes and his slightly violent response. I flinched. Poor Hugo with the loaded up plate of food was another highlight. And Shiv had advice from which we all surely can benefit: stop sending people our blood. But the moment that was the icing on the cake for me? When Frank and Karl were putting on compression socks on the plane. It took me a minute to figure out what the hell they were doing, and when the realization hit? I don't know if I laughed at a drama that hard since Walter White landed that pizza on the top of his garage. I do fear Gerri is peaking too soon.

Hold on now, I feel a need to defend my profession. A state bar exam is not like a DMV test, where one can just sign up to take the bar exam. There's only, I think, 4 states that allow an alternative route to that of law school. California's one of them, and the process is quite onerous -- and lengthy. There's a multi-year apprenticeship process, along with having to pass the "Baby Bar" at the end of the first year I think it is. Virtually no one goes this route, because the Baby Bar is designed to be an obstacle. And the apprenticeship process can be even more time-consuming than going to law school. Frankly, if one has the money, can get a scholarship, or is willing to take on the loans, going the traditional route is likely the easier route of the two. And P.S. Jack still sucks.

My big ask? That we get to see the aftermath of Nixon's presidential election in 1968, and Abe and Rose make good on the threat to move to Paris. No matter what else happens, and I know so much has been spoiled now that it renders much additional speculation moot, but I'll be the happiest li'l camper if I get to see them get that dog back and settle in to that sweet apartment that'll magically become available again. A girl can dream. *Oh, and I also want Susie to hire Reggie. Because Reggie was a damn fine manager.

Because it sounds cooler than Star Trek: Nepo Babies In slight seriousness, I think TM wants to feature Jack Picard-Crusher, and he'll throw in one or two of Geordie's daughter as part of the supporting cast.* Somehow, because they're offspring of TNG characters, they are legacies, I suppose. *TM better not touch Kestra Troi-Riker. I don't want his glib tongue, lack of imagination, or touchy disposition anywhere near her. Spot's a trans male? It's either that or Data's had 3+ cats named Spot and each doesn't live very long. Worf may seem the obvious candidate for Spots' short lives, but don't sleep on Riker as the culprit. Regardless what the future holds, I will always think of this season/series as Star Trek: Just Jack. I don't even want to think about another series featuring either that actor or character. Thankfully, my flirtation with Paramount+ is nearly done, and I don't know that any new offerings will even make my radar. For those of you who watch Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or Succession, I'll see you on those boards!