S02.E03: Assimilation

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Picard and the crew travel back to 2024 Los Angeles in search of the "Watcher," who can help them identify the point at which time diverged. Seven, Raffi and Rios venture out into an unfamiliar world 400 years in their past, while Picard and Jurati attempt to gather information from an unlikely, and dangerous, ally.

Dropping on Thursday, March 17, 2022, on Paramount+.

[millennium]

How did they crash-land a starship in the woods, tear up several miles of the landscape in the process and go entirely unnoticed?   I'm happy to suspend a lot of disbelief for this show but seriously?

The Watcher won't turn out to be Wesley Crusher-as-a-Traveler, will it?

I liked the FX for the slingshot around the sun, a bit more lively than Kirk's joyrides.   Speaking of Kirk, Picard mentioned him in last week's episode, said something like "Kirk's Enterprise did it on more than one occasion."  How come Picard never tosses in an aside like "I met Kirk, you know.  Buried him, in fact.  I'll tell you about it sometime."   The same reticence bugged me in Generations when Kirk meets Picard and Kirk imagines aloud what Spock would say about the plan to leave the Nexus to go fight Dr. Soren.  Anybody else would say, "Yup, I know Spock well, helped him with the rebels on Romulus, he told me some stories about you " oh but not Picard.   Not a word.   I'd have been like "And guess who else I got to know -- Scottie!"  But in this respect Picard always disappoints.

"Shit I stole from the Borg Queen."  Normally I frown upon profanity in Star Trek but I have to admit it was funny. 

The Earth 2024 scenes seem kind of ho-hum after ST4 The Voyage Home.   Points to Seven for getting into the spirit of things.

I suspect Elron will be resurrected by the timeline fix or by Q himself.  For that reason his death lacked any real gravitas.

[paigow]

Of course Rios would be the only one to materialize in mid-air... finally someone remembered that "phasers on KILL" means dissolving

[cambridgeguy]

So, I'm guessing the writers decided having Elnor walk around in the past wouldn't make sense (too much of a risk to have an alien walking around, especially with the ears) so let's kill him, especially since he can easily be resurrected later.

[paigow]

1 hour ago, millennium said:

How did they crash-land a starship in the woods, tear up several miles of the landscape in the process and go entirely unnoticed?   I'm happy to suspend a lot of disbelief for this show but seriously?

Was Picard aiming for France. Vineyard. Dirt?

[dwmarch]

I think they did crash land at Chateau Picard. Picard said "home" and since that's been established as his literal, actual home I think that's where he aimed for. Not sure why he didn't land the ship in North America. If they lose power and the team has to walk back...

Agnes gets the best lines. In addition to "shit I stole from the Borg Queen" she also angrily called Picard a "pretentious prick" which I thought was hilarious.

The process of assimilation seems a little more user-friendly than what I recall versus what Lt. Hawk went through in First Contact.

Nice detail: Raffi got robbed in a Sanctuary District. The sign is visible behind her when Seven catches up to her.

Aside from meeting that one nice lady, Rios is sure having a terrible day. Twice in this episode something lovely is going on but ends up suddenly interrupted by his pain. First, we have that rendition of "California Dreaming" which is interrupted by Rios' swan dive off the fire escape. Then we get his precocious kid at the Academy story interrupted by the doctor snapping his fingers back into place. And then of course she steals his comm badge (and the cookies!) right before he could have really used it.

Hardcore nitpicking for Trek nerds: there is no way you go from warp six to warp nine while skimming the surface of the sun. The sun isn't that big, you'd be halfway to Vulcan if you stomped on the gas like that. I guess the sun's gravity is holding the ship in place (because as I recall you can't do donuts at warp either) but they don't really explain it well here.

[marihunc]

4 hours ago, millennium said:

The Watcher won't turn out to be Wesley Crusher-as-a-Traveler, will it?

I think it's gonna be Guinan. If I remember correctly, previously in TNG it was mentioned that El-Aurians are a race of Watchers, plus in Yesterday's Enterprise she was the one that knew something was wrong with the timeline, and even remembered the stuff with Tasha.

[greekmom]

Guess 2024 is like our 2022 and not at all like 2024 was in DS9's episode of Past Tense.  I don't buy that the area Raffi got robbed in was the Sanctuary district.

They also tore a page from TOS with Rios being arrested just like they arrested Chekov for being a "Ruskie".  Is there going to be a big breakout scene from jail with Raffi commenting on the medieval police system?

Agnes being linked to the "Queen" was irresponsible and stupid.  Picard is getting old. He would never put any of his crew in such harms way.  I do have to begrudgingly admit that "shit i stole from the borg "queen"" was funny.

I don't think Wesley will turn out to be the Watcher. If he did, that would be awesome.  I'm thinking on the following: Guinan, Quinn (from Voyager), or Dahj (only bc she was in 1 small scene) . 

 

[paigow]

1 hour ago, greekmom said:

I don't think Wesley will turn out to be the Watcher. 

Agreed- because he has super temporal powers ... so he would fix anything that Q breaks

[millennium]

3 hours ago, marihunc said:

I think it's gonna be Guinan. If I remember correctly, previously in TNG it was mentioned that El-Aurians are a race of Watchers, plus in Yesterday's Enterprise she was the one that knew something was wrong with the timeline, and even remembered the stuff with Tasha.

Close -- the El-Aurians were a race of "Listeners."  But you are probably right, given that Guinan a) has already appeared once in this season, and b) it has already been established that Guinan was out west in the past -- San Francisco if I am not mistaken (the Mark Twain episode of TNG)

Edited March 17, 2022 by millennium

[Noneofyourbusiness]

6 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

So, I'm guessing the writers decided having Elnor walk around in the past wouldn't make sense (too much of a risk to have an alien walking around, especially with the ears) so let's kill him, especially since he can easily be resurrected later.

Spock got by fine with a hat.

3 hours ago, marihunc said:

I think it's gonna be Guinan. If I remember correctly, previously in TNG it was mentioned that El-Aurians are a race of Watchers, plus in Yesterday's Enterprise she was the one that knew something was wrong with the timeline, and even remembered the stuff with Tasha.

It was mentioned in TNG, DS9 and Generations that El-Aurians are Listeners.

2 hours ago, greekmom said:

I don't think Wesley will turn out to be the Watcher. If he did, that would be awesome.  I'm thinking on the following: Guinan, Quinn (from Voyager), or Dahj (only bc she was in 1 small scene) .

You mean Soji. Dahj was the twin who died.

[Llywela]

3 hours ago, dwmarch said:

I think they did crash land at Chateau Picard. Picard said "home" and since that's been established as his literal, actual home I think that's where he aimed for. Not sure why he didn't land the ship in North America. If they lose power and the team has to walk back...

Chateau Picard is in France. They were heading for LA when Picard took over navigation, he adjusted a little to pick a less populated spot, but didn't have time to get from California to France, while actively crashing. The ship crash landed in California, near Vasquez Rocks - which is where Raffi lives, in the real timeline, in the future.

A slower episode than the previous two, more of a workhorse of an episode. Some nice little character moments scattered through the episode, some plot movement. Rios's little escapade was a welcome change of pace - as much as I enjoy the serialised storytelling, it doesn't allow much breathing space for the characters, so this kind of sub-plot helps with that. Plus, it gave Raffi and Seven a bit of quality alone time. I'm intrigued to see how long Elnor and Soji remain off-screen - this really is a show that doesn't mind billing an actor as regular cast but then not using them for several episodes at a stretch. I honestly wasn't expecting Elnor to die, but then again, this is a time travel storyline, so presumably once the timeline is fixed they will all pop back to the point in time Q pulled them out of, the confrontation with the Borg ship, with everyone including Elnor back where they should be. 

3 hours ago, greekmom said:

They also tore a page from TOS with Rios being arrested just like they arrested Chekov for being a "Ruskie".  Is there going to be a big breakout scene from jail with Raffi commenting on the medieval police system?

If the trailers are anything to go by, I don't think they'll get as far as jail. This is the first time I've seen Cabrera in a role that really leaned into his South American roots in such a big way. Nice bit of backstory for Rios, too.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Llywela

[MissLucas]

Well, I'm here for the Raffi & Seven show *gets popcorn*

• Not too worried about Elnor because of the opening credits (and the trailer for season 2) but it sucks that we don't get to see him dealing with the 21th century. His looks should not have been a problem, just some body mods to look like an elf character from *insert made-up video game as to not have to pay any royalties * the green blood might be tricky to explain though.
• I wish Seven  President Hanssen had taken care of her asshole husband quoting: 'Consider this a divorce'.
• I'm sure in the end he will be the hero once again - the show's named after him - but I greatly enjoyed Picard getting chewed out first by Raffi and then by Agnes.
• Damn, someone finally realized how good Alison Pill is. She was fantastic during her Borg-mindmeld.
• Raffi trying get Seven to drop her over-precise Borg language was hilarious.
• Seven realizing that her dorky charm actually worked broke my heart a little bit. She's so used to people reacting to her with terror and or hatred. Jeri Ryan played that wonderfully.
• Rios got bogged down with the most generic time travel plot of them all but I enjoyed his childhood memories.

Edited March 17, 2022 by MissLucas

[millennium]

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

• I'm sure in the end he will be the hero once again - the show's named after him - but I greatly enjoyed Picard getting chewed out first by Raffi and then by Agnes.

 

It seems women have always been the ones to bring Picard back down to Earth.   Crusher, Troi, Guinan, the Alfre Woodard character in First Contact, Laris ... they speak to him in ways no man would.

Edited March 17, 2022 by millennium

[marinw]

No! Not Elnor!😪

Very reminincent of The Voyage Home. I loved the first two eps of this season but I'm not that pumped about spending the entire season in present day (almost) LA. We KNOW that we are primitive compared to the enlightened denizens of the furture Federation. Time travel in the present day makes me feel a little cheated, like spending whole epsiodes on the Holodeck. I want the starships and aliens!

Not that this wasn't entertaining. Annie W is clearly having a ball.

Edited March 17, 2022 by marinw

[Joimiaroxeu]

Yeah, you probably don't want to let the Borg Queen assimilate you even for a short while. I got scared for Jurati even though Picard was sure he could pull her out in time.

The actress playing the Borg Queen did a great job of imitating Jurati's facial expressions and speech patterns. It really did seemed like Jurati was inside her.

Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!

[MissLucas]

Forgot to add: this episode was directed by Lea Thompson - aka Marty McFly's mama - how apt!

[millennium]

6 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Yeah, you probably don't want to let the Borg Queen assimilate you even for a short while. I got scared for Jurati even though Picard was sure he could pull her out in time.

Wasn't it established in TNG that the Borg cybernetics start appearing immediately upon the commencement of assimilation?   I recall Borg drones appearing on deck, injecting (for want of a better word) fallen crew members and they start changing instantly.   But there wasn't even a hint of that in Jurati's Assimilation Lite.

[marinw]

I suppose Seven accesing the Queen's knowledge wasn't discussed since she was off in LA?

[millennium]

3 minutes ago, marinw said:

I suppose Seven accesing the Queen's knowledge wasn't discussed since she was off in LA?

I thought that was exactly where they were going with the whole assimilation discussion, since Seven had been-there-done-that.  But it wasn't even suggested.   I suppose an argument could be made that Jurati might have a tactical advantage over Seven in the mission because Jurati was a complete unknown to the Borg Queen, whereas Seven had been 100% inventoried by the Borg.

[Just Here]

On 3/17/2022 at 11:54 AM, dwmarch said:

Nice detail: Raffi got robbed in a Sanctuary District. The sign is visible behind her when Seven catches up to her.

On 3/17/2022 at 12:16 PM, greekmom said:

Guess 2024 is like our 2022 and not at all like 2024 was in DS9's episode of Past Tense.  I don't buy that the area Raffi got robbed in was the Sanctuary district.

Yeah, there is a sign titled "Sanctuary District Regulations" as DWMARCH noted (in the above screenshot, the sign is in the bottom corner, next to Raffi's left shoulder), but there was no real clear attempt to honor DS9's canon regarding Sanctuary Districts.  One way that scene could have worked better was if there were a pair of guards on patrol with some sort of exposition about how the area is in the process of being converted into or being annexed to a Sanctuary District (which would explain how Seven and Raffi could just walk into and out of the area).

Edit:  In a Reddit thread (r/DaystromInstitute), it was noted that

Quote

...as Seven is approaching Raffi in the encampment there is a sign on the chain-link fence behind her that says “City of Los Angeles Sanctuary District C”.

I've added an annotated screenshot below:

Given that the sign is facing the camera, I'm guessing that the area inside the fence is part of the official area of Sanctuary District "C" and that the scene takes place in some sort of overflow area.

Also, during the ICE raid at the clinic, one of the officers mentioned Rios not having a "UHC card" (Memory Alpha), which is a reference to DS9's "Past Tense" two-parter.  ("UHC cards" are assumed to be some sort of identity card for universal health care.)

So, it does seem that the show is incorporating DS9's Sanctuary District canon, but it's being fairly subtle, so far.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Just Here
added second screenshot, deleted wrong time mark

[Delphi]

When I said more elnor this is not what I meant.... :(

 

"Take a cellular image of us.. picture. "  keep being you Seven. 

I also think with the borg queen being the only borg besides seven and picard,  assimilation might take longer.   It's not a billion voices imprinting on one it's one trying to take over one. Probably not a easy to take over. 

[MissLucas]

I think they covered it why Seven could not go in implicitly - same reason as Picard's. The Queen would know her pathways. It had to be a ... ahem Borg-virgin. And Agnes was relatively safe because the Queen operated at only 8 percent of her capacity.

[Stardancer Supreme]

Oh Rios. Instead of trying to save the doctor, you should have snatched your badge back.  Raffi and Seven should get to him before he is "deported". It was nice for Seven to not experience Borg prejudice for once.

When Q popped up in the ship, I thought for sure he was going to snatch Picard out of the situation and send him somewhere else.  I guess Q is going to let this situation play out.

Well, I can guess that Agnes was the Borg Queen that started this grand adventure.  Either that or this Queen took on enough of Agnes' mannerism and became a copy of her. And Agnes impressing the Queen certainly creeped me out.

I'm pretty sure that Elnor will be brought back in due time.

I don't think we will see Soji on this particular jaunt; 2024 is before her creation, right?

I will vote on the Watcher being Guinan, unless we will be surprised by a TNG/DSN alum we won't expect...

Edited March 18, 2022 by Stardancer Supreme

[jcin617]

2 hours ago, millennium said:

Wasn't it established in TNG that the Borg cybernetics start appearing immediately upon the commencement of assimilation?   I recall Borg drones appearing on deck, injecting (for want of a better word) fallen crew members and they start changing instantly.   But there wasn't even a hint of that in Jurati's Assimilation Lite.

Normally that’s due to them being injected by Borg nanites; I’m not sure that’s what that tube was doing, I think it merely created a mental link.

[UnknownK]

The queen's power is her collective correct? All those borg who don't think on their own are used a processors for the queen to figure stuff out so without them she isn't much of anything is she?

[Frozendiva]

Elnor could get by on Earth 2024 if he pretended to be some person being an alien at Comic Con or other sci fi festival. Or that he was a model for Face Off or alien character on a TV show. I don't think he will be dead-dead.

I thought that Picard would have landed the ship in France. But I guess not. Tough to get from France to LA without beaming technology. Doubt they'd have money for airfare.

Rios, of course, comes across the feisty young doctor. Which is probably already screwing up the timeline. Plus having to get his communicator/badge back.

Did enjoy Agnes and the Borg Queen getting to know each other. The Queen seemed to be having fun - yeah, it's tough not having any legs.

No idea who the watcher is except maybe Guinan. Doubt they'd use Burnham's mother.

[Stardancer Supreme]

The Queen is still dangerous, even stunted as she is.  

[Athena5217]

What is a Sanctuary District? I watched DS9, but it has been msny years, and I don’t think I have seen every episode.

Loved it when the little girl asked Seven if she was a superhero, and Seven played along.

I predict Jurati’s partial assimilation will be an unexpected problem later in the season.

My random guess for the Watcher is Dr. Pulaski. Picard would just toss up his hands and go home if he saw her.

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, I don't think Elnor's death will be permeant once this is all said and done.  I do wonder if taking him off the board though was a case of them not wanting to do a retread of how Spock hid his, err, origins I guess, like they did on The Voyage Home.  Still felt for Raffi though and while I understand why Picard did what he did, I can see why no one is happy that he basically sacrificed him to save the Borg Queen.

Heh, so like with most anything involving time-traveling, there is a lot of talk about not messing with the past, keeping a low profile, and watching out for "butterflies", but it also pretty much goes to hell right out of the gate.  To be fair to Rios, it's not like he wanted to be teleported mid-air and crash land to the point that he needed to go to a clinic.  One of the many reasons why traveling by Trek teleportation sounds great on paper, but if we ever got to that point in real life, I'd probably be a little concerned.  But now he's been arrested with the nice (and attractive) clinic doctor, so I imagine things are only going to get messier!

I do think it would be funny though if that girl seeing Seven materialize out of thin air and think she's a superhero ends up causing a massive chain reaction.

2024 kind of feels like 2022, so I guess the human race really doesn't get their act together still.  At least Seven's awkwardness ends up being charming for some!

Agnes go inside the Borg Queen's mind and managed to get the info they need, but she's clearly left a big enough impression that the Borg Queen will never, ever forget this and I imagine will come into play later.

Right now, Guinan is my top choice for eventual Wanderer, but I could be wrong.  Have to imagine though she will factor back in at some point.

[dwmarch]

1 hour ago, Athena5217 said:

What is a Sanctuary District? I watched DS9, but it has been msny years, and I don’t think I have seen every episode.

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Sanctuary_District

[Llywela]

8 hours ago, millennium said:

Wasn't it established in TNG that the Borg cybernetics start appearing immediately upon the commencement of assimilation?   I recall Borg drones appearing on deck, injecting (for want of a better word) fallen crew members and they start changing instantly.   But there wasn't even a hint of that in Jurati's Assimilation Lite.

This queen has been captured, imprisoned and experimented on for who knows how long - she may not have any nano-whatsits left after all that, plus she was in a torpid state, which probably slowed everything even more.

8 hours ago, marinw said:

I suppose Seven accesing the Queen's knowledge wasn't discussed since she was off in LA?

It wouldn't have been feasible for Seven for the same reason it wasn't feasible for Picard - because she is already an ex-Borg. And although both of them are currently occupying bodies that have never been assimilated, it has been established that the queen can reach across timelines, has knowledge of them both as ex-Borg, so neither would have stood a chance once connected.

6 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

I don't think we will see Soji on this particular jaunt; 2024 is before her creation, right?

Centuries before - she was created just three years before season one. But I'm certain we'll be seeing her again soon in some form or other. Elnor is the big question mark, for me. Are they really going to keep him dead and off-screen for the whole of the rest of the season? It seems unlikely. So I'm expecting another twist somewhere down the line.

[Starchild]

16 hours ago, Just Here said:

Yeah, there is a sign titled "Sanctuary District Regulations" as DWMARCH noted (in the above screenshot, the sign is in the bottom corner, next to Raffi's left shoulder), but there was no real clear attempt to honor DS9's canon regarding Sanctuary Districts.  One way that scene could have worked better was if there were a pair of guards on patrol with some sort of exposition about how the area is in the process of being converted into or being annexed to a Sanctuary District (which would explain how Seven and Raffi could just walk into and out of the area).

Edit:  In a Reddit thread (r/DaystromInstitute), it was noted that

I've added an annotated screenshot below (47:19 mark):

Given that the sign is facing the camera, I'm guessing that the area inside the fence is part of the official area of Sanctuary District "C" and that the scene takes place in some sort of overflow area.

Also, during the ICE raid at the clinic, one of the officers mentioned Rios not having a "UHC card" (Memory Alpha), which is a reference to DS9's "Past Tense" two-parter.  ("UHC cards" are assumed to be some sort of identity card for universal health care.)

So, it does seem that the show is incorporating DS9's Sanctuary District canon, but it's being fairly subtle, so far.

Man, 2024 is just lousy with 24th century Starfleet personnel. Maybe the Watcher was originally there to keep an eye on Sisko's time-travel incursion, so Q took advantage of the situation to make his change there and draw Picard back for the test.

It would be cool if they CGI'd Sisko's team into a background shot or something.

[Llywela]

3 hours ago, Starchild said:

It would be cool if they CGI'd Sisko's team into a background shot or something.

The team is in the wrong city for that - Sisko and co went to San Francisco, Picard and co are in Los Angeles - but yeah. It isn't going to happen, but it would be cool.

[Chaos Theory]

Watcching everyone wander through the current time period is going to be interesting.  Especially Seven who seems to be fully human.   What would Annika Hansen be if she had never ben assimilated by the Borg.  It is a interesting thing to explore.

Having Elnore wander around current earth would entail a little too much hand waving.   So I can see him being dead at least for the first half of the season.  Also his death kinda changes the dynamic between Raffi and Seven.   

I really liked Agnes getting one over on the Borg Queen and doing the worst thing ever...impressing her.

[Haleth]

Well, that was fun!  (Except for Elnor, but we all know he'll be fixed as the timeline is fixed.)  I'm loving the relationship developing between the Borg queen and Agnes.  Loving the hijinks of Seven, Raffi, and Rios running around (almost) current LA.  Bye, redshirts!  Bye, Mr Hanssen!

Rios has already messed with butterflies.  No doubt the doc's kid will be inspired to become an engineer and invent some essential technology.

Wow, someone said in another epi thread that this show would be just as good without Picard.  I guess that's true since Patrick didn't have much to do this week.  I hope he and Agnes get out of the ship at some point.  I want to see them dragging the queen around in a wagon and trying to explain to stunned citizens what she is.

I'm anxious to see who/what the Watcher is.

[paigow]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

I hope he and Agnes get out of the ship at some point.  I want to see them dragging the queen around in a wagon and trying to explain to stunned citizens what she is.

They find the kid that saw Seven beam in... the Borg is her Science Fair project... only gets A- because no legs...

[Chit Chat]

On 3/17/2022 at 10:41 PM, Stardancer Supreme said:

The Queen is still dangerous, even stunted as she is.  

The Borg Queen creeps the hell out of me, especially with that slow crawl across the floor.   

[Affogato]

Agnes Jurrati is a baby borg Queen!

Edited March 19, 2022 by Affogato

[Chaos Theory]

Seven has always felt like an outsider even among the humans in The Federation.  It would be interesting to explore what blonde hair blue eyed Annika Hanson would think of the 21st century earth where she is the epitome of an insider. 

[Starchild]

14 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Watcching everyone wander through the current time period is going to be interesting.  Especially Seven who seems to be fully human.   What would Annika Hansen be if she had never ben assimilated by the Borg.  It is a interesting thing to explore.

That's not really this, though. Seven is still her post-Borg, self here both mentally and emotionally. Even the Queen knows her. It's just the physical modifications that are missing, so the only potential effect would be people interacting with her being oblivious to her Borg past. And that would have happened in 2024 regardless of what she looked like. Still, she will experience prejudice-free social interactions, so that's something for her.

 

7 hours ago, Haleth said:

Wow, someone said in another epi thread that this show would be just as good without Picard.  I guess that's true since Patrick didn't have much to do this week.

If Stewart got tired and this show morphed into Star Trek: Seven of Nine, I would not be disappointed.

[TVbitch]

I miss last season's version of the theme music. 

Of course the doctor is a beautiful young woman and Rios immediately compromises the entire mission and Earth's future for her.

So glad I can get refreshed on all the cannon and connections to previous ST series here! 

[Ceindreadh]

On 3/17/2022 at 4:16 PM, greekmom said:

Agnes being linked to the "Queen" was irresponsible and stupid.  Picard is getting old. He would never put any of his crew in such harms way.  I do have to begrudgingly admit that "shit i stole from the borg "queen"" was funny.

 

 

Picard has previously had to put members of his crew in danger if that's what it took to complete the mission.  That's why he broke up with Lt. Commander Nella Daren because he knew that he wouldn't be able to order her into a life threatening situation should another one arise. 

Letting Agnes get hooked up to the Borg Queen was the only way to get the information they needed.  Otherwise what was the point of them going back in time in the first place. 

[Llywela]

2 hours ago, Starchild said:

If Stewart got tired and this show morphed into Star Trek: Seven of Nine, I would not be disappointed.

This show is already in the can, three seasons and done - they wrapped the series finale a week or so ago. Whether or not any of the characters will be seen again in another Trek project after that remains to be seen. (I'm still holding out for Star Trek: Stargazer with Captain Rios in command. Raffi could be his first officer, Elnor (once resurrected) could be posted there as a cadet, Seven, Agnes and Soji could come and hang out on missions...and there's a whole new world of 26th century politics and planets to explore!)

[millennium]

7 hours ago, Llywela said:

This show is already in the can, three seasons and done - they wrapped the series finale a week or so ago. Whether or not any of the characters will be seen again in another Trek project after that remains to be seen. (I'm still holding out for Star Trek: Stargazer with Captain Rios in command. Raffi could be his first officer, Elnor (once resurrected) could be posted there as a cadet, Seven, Agnes and Soji could come and hang out on missions...and there's a whole new world of 26th century politics and planets to explore!)

The 10-episode season is a very disappointing and limiting format.   It confines the characters to a single story, leaving little room to explore different themes and possibilities.   What is the 10-episode season, really, other than an overly padded one- or two-parter?   Think about "The Best of Both Worlds" from TNG.   Today, that would be fleshed out into an 10-episode season and all the other stories that were told in either Season 3 or Season 4 would never have been filmed.   In the world of 10-episode seasons, gems like "The Inner Light" and "Tapestry" never would have been made.  "Measure of a Man?"  Nope.  It's a standalone story, see ya.

I appreciate that we got a Picard series but regret that the show never truly had an opportunity to show different aspects of Picard's experiences at this point in his life or to learn more about the other characters.   It feels like we're being hurried along and the result is less than satisfying.

8 hours ago, TVbitch said:

I miss last season's version of the theme music.

Me too.

Edited March 19, 2022 by millennium

[TVbitch]

So it was always planned to be only 3 seasons? I wonder why they didn't save the Q stuff for last season then, to bring it full circle. 

I like many of the new characters and would watch another show with them, but I hope, since this is likely to be PS's last ST series, that this or next season will start to dive deeper into who Picard is now, and have him reflect on who he was. He always kept his true feelings very close to the vest in TNG.  

Maybe in the final season Vash can visit and she and Picard he can spend the rest of his days with her.  

[millennium]

1 minute ago, TVbitch said:

Maybe in the final season Vash can visit and she and Picard he can spend the rest of his days with her.  

Or Mrs. Troi.  😄

[Chit Chat]

On 3/17/2022 at 2:58 PM, MissLucas said:

Damn, someone finally realized how good Alison Pill is. She was fantastic during her Borg-mindmeld.

She was really good.  I would imagine that it would be a daunting task to take on a scene like that in front of Sir Patrick Stewart!  He's a legend!

 

[greekmom]

3 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

Picard has previously had to put members of his crew in danger if that's what it took to complete the mission.  That's why he broke up with Lt. Commander Nella Daren because he knew that he wouldn't be able to order her into a life threatening situation should another one arise. 

Letting Agnes get hooked up to the Borg Queen was the only way to get the information they needed.  Otherwise what was the point of them going back in time in the first place. 

I'll give you the fact that yes he has BUT not with the Borg. Picard knows better.  Even in First Contact he went to rescue Data by himself.  He didn't want anyone else tangling with the Queen. 

[Delphi]

I could see them doing a spin off without picard.  I'm not sure exactly what the premise would be but it could work with the five of them, especially if we get closure on picard and his story.   Like he told seven,  it might be her job to save the galaxy now.   Maybe he realizes all his accomplishments and failures and missed chances and settles into a happy retirement. 

Or Seven of Nine: Fenris Rangers is also an option.