1.05: Star Trek: Picard - Stardust City Rag
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ctg
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It is interesting to notify how people have hated this episode in the IMDB, with it scoring 6.7 on 10 scale. Frankly the numbers has been dropping 8.5 to this current situation, because they feel it's wrong to involve Picard to JJA's Kelvin timeline. Some of them has even claimed that Picard is become a Space Western, instead of modernised view on the ST universe.
We all knew that the Federation could stay pure forever. It was already degenerating by the time DS9 finished. Honestly, I thought it was a good thing, because the utopia couldn't happen even in JJA's attempt. The Universe didn't form up to be a paradise. That is God's business and even Q showed that their continuum was highly susceptible for the corruption. Free Cloud shows the true state of the universe and it is not a rosy picture. Far from it.
Seven-of-Nine stated that after the Federation withdrew their ships and support, the Beta-Quadrant was in free fall. The anarchy set in and she felt responsible on offering hope for the people. It is curious that she also claimed that Rangers took the role of saviour from the Starfleet, even though they are part of the whole thing. Starfleet Rangers were a group of elite people, tasked by Admiral Owen to gather intel and conduct operations in the border zones.
Most curiously our beloved Borg decided to leave Picard's operation and wage a war on her own at the port. No backup. No rescue. Nothing but iron will and two phase rifles. How is going to provide Picard any assistance if she gets shot up?
I don't think the criminal underworld running the port city is going to be happy for losing one of their bosses. But Picard didn't try to stop her on second time. He allowed her to beam back and possibly ruin whatever reputation Picard had in the corner of galaxy by association. Not that the old man really cares about it since everything has gone through the proverbial fan already. I honestly thought he was going to soil his pants, when he heard that their destination was the Artefact.
It is nice to know that it is located in the Romulan Space, and not somewhere within the massive DMZ between the Federation and Romulans. Honestly, I get that they are pissed for losing their homeworld to an Act of God, but when you are owning most of the space in the Beta-Quadrant already it's not a giant leap on moving to another location. I assume the Dead had already done it a long time ago, and the cabal was ruling already from the deep space location.
So, what is the Dead really after? The activation of the cybernetic cloning facilities or the activation of the cube, and location of the Borg remnants? Seven-of-Nine claimed that Echeb was after her unique implants. That in their eyes, her somewhat unique modifications were highly priced in the black market. I don't doubt that, but how they are going to stop the hivemind second time if the Dead connects that the Borg Network?
We all knew that the Federation could stay pure forever. It was already degenerating by the time DS9 finished. Honestly, I thought it was a good thing, because the utopia couldn't happen even in JJA's attempt. The Universe didn't form up to be a paradise. That is God's business and even Q showed that their continuum was highly susceptible for the corruption. Free Cloud shows the true state of the universe and it is not a rosy picture. Far from it.
Seven-of-Nine stated that after the Federation withdrew their ships and support, the Beta-Quadrant was in free fall. The anarchy set in and she felt responsible on offering hope for the people. It is curious that she also claimed that Rangers took the role of saviour from the Starfleet, even though they are part of the whole thing. Starfleet Rangers were a group of elite people, tasked by Admiral Owen to gather intel and conduct operations in the border zones.
Most curiously our beloved Borg decided to leave Picard's operation and wage a war on her own at the port. No backup. No rescue. Nothing but iron will and two phase rifles. How is going to provide Picard any assistance if she gets shot up?
I don't think the criminal underworld running the port city is going to be happy for losing one of their bosses. But Picard didn't try to stop her on second time. He allowed her to beam back and possibly ruin whatever reputation Picard had in the corner of galaxy by association. Not that the old man really cares about it since everything has gone through the proverbial fan already. I honestly thought he was going to soil his pants, when he heard that their destination was the Artefact.
It is nice to know that it is located in the Romulan Space, and not somewhere within the massive DMZ between the Federation and Romulans. Honestly, I get that they are pissed for losing their homeworld to an Act of God, but when you are owning most of the space in the Beta-Quadrant already it's not a giant leap on moving to another location. I assume the Dead had already done it a long time ago, and the cabal was ruling already from the deep space location.
So, what is the Dead really after? The activation of the cybernetic cloning facilities or the activation of the cube, and location of the Borg remnants? Seven-of-Nine claimed that Echeb was after her unique implants. That in their eyes, her somewhat unique modifications were highly priced in the black market. I don't doubt that, but how they are going to stop the hivemind second time if the Dead connects that the Borg Network?
.matthew.
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A joke of an episode, stupid accents, pointless guest star (from the wrong Trek...) and the 'twist' I was hoping they wouldn't go for ever since the HEAD of Starfleet Intelligence went to see that doctor PERSONALLY, and then she happened to turn up at the EXACT moment of that attack...
I'll continue watching but I've lost all real interest at this point.
Edit: and the whole political chaos makes no sense. A space faring society owning a vast swath of space that ruled with an iron fist and crazy levels of paranoia wouldn't just collapse because a planet is destroyed. Everyone they'd consider important would have been the first to escape.
I'll continue watching but I've lost all real interest at this point.
Edit: and the whole political chaos makes no sense. A space faring society owning a vast swath of space that ruled with an iron fist and crazy levels of paranoia wouldn't just collapse because a planet is destroyed. Everyone they'd consider important would have been the first to escape.
Overread
Searching for a flower
Overall I really enjoyed this episode.
Yes there was a bit of the silly element to the whole crime mission in the middle; but overall this episode really delivered. I really liked that they took the doctors betrayal in the last part, it tied up her appearance at Picards manor a few episodes back very nicely. I think leaving that open would have weakened the writing for the series in general.
We see a side of Seven that's very "Ripley/Rambo" style. A bit of a divide from her more serious Voyager days, but it seems that, in her way, she's finding her humanity. Plus if she's been a combat heavy ranger for a decade or more then that would certainly fit. She also slips in and out of her more boisterous ranger and her more serious borg/voyager aspects of her personality. Perhaps some part of her is "acting" the rough and tumble part as a means to her humanity and identity. Picard sending her back I think was fine, he's getting to grips with the fact that he can't save everyone and that he's not got a huge crew to work for him to achieve that end goal.
We also learned a bit more about the fall of the Romulans and that now we get a sense that Romulan and Federation space was ok, but that its the boundary neutral zone that has suffered more so in terms of being left to its own devices. Clearly the Romulans don't have the resources to devote to invading and taking over; nor does the Federation want to push too far in in case they get bitten by a hostile Romulan force - esp when Romulan peoples are scattered through their population as well.
As for Freeport don't forget its not Federation; its what Quarks would have been if he'd had more money and wasn't Federation controlled.
Moving forward we've now got the doctors betrayal on the ship to contend with, though that all hinges on the EMH program. Being as she worked in cybernetics we might see her use that to her advantage, however its also very clear that she's way out of her depth. So its 50/50 on if she manages to cover her tracks or not. That she didn't try to cover them medically is very interesting, its again showing that she's reacting rather than thinking things through. Her panic at the transporter is also more apparent since she was taking an overt step in bringing herself in contact with someone she loves, but whom she doesn't want Picard to meet. Because if he does he will learn things she doesn't want him to learn. It answers why someone who is clearly technically and scientifically minded would be scared at operating a transporter. She didn't want to save him; to confront him; because then she had to kill him. All that rising panic explains her attitude through most of the episode.
I can understand some not liking it because its not the same Trek it was in TNG, but honestly I'm finding the writers and characters well put together. We are seeing demons and they are also doing very well for filling in a 10-15 year gap for most of the old-cast and setting for the viewer. That's not a small thing to achieve and they could have tried getting away with hand waving explaining things. Instead we are getting the links which bring things forward. It also bodes well because each of those links brought forward is clearly helping us establish things moving forward. Seven surviving her near suicide attack is clearly something we might expect now that we know she's been basically a phaser slinging law enforcer for a long period of time. We see the doctor continuing to break down; we see Raffi dealing with more fall out in her life from the attack on Mars and we even see Picard getting used to being in a second position not a first in several situations.
Yes there was a bit of the silly element to the whole crime mission in the middle; but overall this episode really delivered. I really liked that they took the doctors betrayal in the last part, it tied up her appearance at Picards manor a few episodes back very nicely. I think leaving that open would have weakened the writing for the series in general.
We see a side of Seven that's very "Ripley/Rambo" style. A bit of a divide from her more serious Voyager days, but it seems that, in her way, she's finding her humanity. Plus if she's been a combat heavy ranger for a decade or more then that would certainly fit. She also slips in and out of her more boisterous ranger and her more serious borg/voyager aspects of her personality. Perhaps some part of her is "acting" the rough and tumble part as a means to her humanity and identity. Picard sending her back I think was fine, he's getting to grips with the fact that he can't save everyone and that he's not got a huge crew to work for him to achieve that end goal.
We also learned a bit more about the fall of the Romulans and that now we get a sense that Romulan and Federation space was ok, but that its the boundary neutral zone that has suffered more so in terms of being left to its own devices. Clearly the Romulans don't have the resources to devote to invading and taking over; nor does the Federation want to push too far in in case they get bitten by a hostile Romulan force - esp when Romulan peoples are scattered through their population as well.
As for Freeport don't forget its not Federation; its what Quarks would have been if he'd had more money and wasn't Federation controlled.
Moving forward we've now got the doctors betrayal on the ship to contend with, though that all hinges on the EMH program. Being as she worked in cybernetics we might see her use that to her advantage, however its also very clear that she's way out of her depth. So its 50/50 on if she manages to cover her tracks or not. That she didn't try to cover them medically is very interesting, its again showing that she's reacting rather than thinking things through. Her panic at the transporter is also more apparent since she was taking an overt step in bringing herself in contact with someone she loves, but whom she doesn't want Picard to meet. Because if he does he will learn things she doesn't want him to learn. It answers why someone who is clearly technically and scientifically minded would be scared at operating a transporter. She didn't want to save him; to confront him; because then she had to kill him. All that rising panic explains her attitude through most of the episode.
I can understand some not liking it because its not the same Trek it was in TNG, but honestly I'm finding the writers and characters well put together. We are seeing demons and they are also doing very well for filling in a 10-15 year gap for most of the old-cast and setting for the viewer. That's not a small thing to achieve and they could have tried getting away with hand waving explaining things. Instead we are getting the links which bring things forward. It also bodes well because each of those links brought forward is clearly helping us establish things moving forward. Seven surviving her near suicide attack is clearly something we might expect now that we know she's been basically a phaser slinging law enforcer for a long period of time. We see the doctor continuing to break down; we see Raffi dealing with more fall out in her life from the attack on Mars and we even see Picard getting used to being in a second position not a first in several situations.
.matthew.
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That was the stupidest part of the whole thing. That single shot of her dual wielding phaser rifles advancing on the enemy in a straight line. She is supposed to be a ranger, someone who has been fighting dirty battles for the past 15 years. The use of cover isn't something you learn in that time?
Also the whole point of the signal booster thing was to allow them to lock on through the shields and beam them out, but apparently she could just beam back in without anything to aid the lock? Why didn't they just beam there in the first place (and don't say to locate the doctor because if you can beam somewhere you can scan the place first - it's the first stage of the process after all).
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When I saw the photo @ctg posted I hadn't seen the episode yet and immediately thought of the line from 'Allo 'Allo. Oh, how prophetic that was. If Gordon Kaye had appeared I would not have been surprised.
This episode meandered further from the point and was filled with too many pointless and very un-Star Trek ideas. Who thought it would be a cool idea to open the episode to show graphic torture? Like the swearing, it's completely out of place. I couldn't care less about Raffi's family reunion. In fact, I wish they would dump her completely. I was disappointed to see her still with them. Pop-up ads on a 24th-century spaceship? Another spectacular failure in the writing. And who wrote that dialogue between Raffi and Rios in the beginning? That bit was rank. If it was supposed to be humorous or playful I think they should have to watch that scene until it actually becomes funny.
On the plus side, Jerri Ryan was great. Everything about her character felt right. I could completely understand why she would take to vigilante action at the failure of the Federation. She'd been failed by them once already and a second time would be too much to take. When she and Picard were on the screen together you can almost forget all the other nonsense they've thrown in.
And Dr. Juarti is quite a surprise. What had she seen and was it real? I guess we'll find out in due course.
I would say watch the first five minutes, the five minutes when they get Maddox, and then the last 5-7 minutes. You could safely skip the rest and get the crux of what is important to the series plot.
This episode meandered further from the point and was filled with too many pointless and very un-Star Trek ideas. Who thought it would be a cool idea to open the episode to show graphic torture? Like the swearing, it's completely out of place. I couldn't care less about Raffi's family reunion. In fact, I wish they would dump her completely. I was disappointed to see her still with them. Pop-up ads on a 24th-century spaceship? Another spectacular failure in the writing. And who wrote that dialogue between Raffi and Rios in the beginning? That bit was rank. If it was supposed to be humorous or playful I think they should have to watch that scene until it actually becomes funny.
On the plus side, Jerri Ryan was great. Everything about her character felt right. I could completely understand why she would take to vigilante action at the failure of the Federation. She'd been failed by them once already and a second time would be too much to take. When she and Picard were on the screen together you can almost forget all the other nonsense they've thrown in.
And Dr. Juarti is quite a surprise. What had she seen and was it real? I guess we'll find out in due course.
I would say watch the first five minutes, the five minutes when they get Maddox, and then the last 5-7 minutes. You could safely skip the rest and get the crux of what is important to the series plot.
ctg
weaver of the unseen
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I would have been totally surprised if he had showed up. Rest in Peace.
When you think about it, Seven-of-Nine has more use than Raffi, but she doesn't want to stay of Picard's mission, because it would take her out from her comfort zone and remind her of what she lost. But the graphic torture, you have to get used to it. There is no going back, and it drove in the point that things were not good, and has never been for the Borg influenced people. We have gone through TWD, GoT and WestWorld with all full of unnecessary violence. In the ST, there has never been a time when they have showed it completely on that side, and even today, there's rumours about them cancelling Tarantino's project, because of the blood and guts factor.
The Next Generation wasn't Roddenberry's baby. It was based on his ideas and we have come far away from those times. Then again we only have to check out The Orville if we want to see classical SF, with no brains turned.
You are being harsh for the program, but it's a good thing. It shows that you care. I enjoyed the episode and it didn't cause me to start wrapping a tinfoil hat so that I can talk about the subject. It was entertaining and it drove in the point even if there was a heavy Hollywood influence playing a part. I also think there is a new breed of editors who aren't afraid of putting out controversial stuff. It's just CBS and ST hasn't really embraced it.
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Searching for a flower
One other thing that I think has slipped past many is this borg cube. Considering that there's a thriving black market for Borg implants, this suggests that this Cube must have had a major role to play in the history of the sector which we yet don't know. It must have cut a brutal swathe through the sector and corrupted quite a few ships/stations perhaps even a few world out posts before coming to its end in Romulan space. There's clearly a good and important story there that we've yet to hear of.
It might even be that after Voyager returned the Borg (which technically were supposed to be defeated at the end of Voyager) might have increased their aggressive campaigns against the Federation with a series of smaller ships and strikes (since we don't get the impression of a full on major campaign nor war).
We only know thus far that it encountered a mysterious Romulan ship and something on it disabled the whole cube almost in an instant and left a powerful lasting impact on the drones within as well. One that lasts even well into when they are disconnected from the collective.
It might even be that after Voyager returned the Borg (which technically were supposed to be defeated at the end of Voyager) might have increased their aggressive campaigns against the Federation with a series of smaller ships and strikes (since we don't get the impression of a full on major campaign nor war).
We only know thus far that it encountered a mysterious Romulan ship and something on it disabled the whole cube almost in an instant and left a powerful lasting impact on the drones within as well. One that lasts even well into when they are disconnected from the collective.
.matthew.
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Thriving black market in a universe where you can literally replicate anything that isn't alive (and I think Latinum?). One Borg implant and you'd have the technology and thus be able to duplicate it (or at least reverse engineer some crazy stuff with it). The whole story was just an excuse to have Teri Ryan back in it.
I am interested in how the cube came to cut itself off after assimilating the Romulans. Is it something to do with their biology (like that race that couldn't be assimilated in Voyager)? or was it a sacrificial attack against the cube (like those Trojan children in Voyager)?
I think they should have skipped the Borg entirely though, the Borg plots never made any real sense. I still loved them, but they were the strategically stupidest race ever (to balance their stupid OP everything else).
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Searching for a flower
Replicators are often shown to be imperfect and perfect at the same time. There's a good few mentions when food is involved that "replicators just never quite get it right compared to the real thing". Plus the fact that there are still rare resources in the galaxy suggests that replicators do have their functional limitations in what they can faithfully recreate.
Borg technology might well be one of those aspects. Remembering that the Federation also banned technology related to human enhancement. Dr. Basheer was illegally modified. We can thus assume that Borg implants are expensive on the Black Market, but might be cheaper and more immediate than like what he went through for his enhancements.
ctg
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I didn't notice it, but yeah, if Quark would have been there, he would totally have been in control or at least associated with it. Why haven't we seen Ferengi's at all? There were none in the STD.
The amount of discussion being generated by the series only five episodes in is a measure of high fan expectations.
This round started with graphic violence and attempted to move into humor. I think I would have enjoyed the episode more if it had stuck with one or the other.
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Overread
Searching for a flower
It's more like the one bar (which is the only part of Freeport we see aside from the clinic which was basically empty) has a very strong human focused clientele. It might well be there are many races on Freeport, but that they have their own haunts and segments that they've carved out for themselves. So they are there, just not shown to us in that scene. Like as not it might have been a deliberate choice or purely a budget related one in that they didn't have the resources/actorbase to fill it with a dozen different races all at once.
It did strike me as a little odd that it wasn't like entering the bar in A New Hope when they go looking for a ship; but I think its purely that it wasn't a direction they wanted that scene to go in.
Heck perhaps in the fallout of both the Cardassian war and the Romulan disaster there might be a bit of a racial problem going on in general in the quadrant. Interestingly we've seen Romulans almost everywhere, but not a high density of other races thus far. Granted the series has been focused on them. Again it could be another budget issue that Klingons and some others are just expensive/difficult at present (and lizardman I think was full or heavily CGI).
Overread
Searching for a flower
Actually standing straight (or just bending your knees a little) is basically how they fight with phases in Startrek all the time. Sometimes you might duck behind something, but overall most of the laser fights people are standing upright. They don't tend to do much duck and cover or getting down low.
Plus she was clearly going for the Rambo effect; which grants the user a bonus to accuracy and any attacker a steep negative penalty to hit.
