3.06 Star Trek: Picard - The Bounty

ctg

weaver of the unseen
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Now on the run, Picard and the skeleton crew of the USS Titan must break into Starfleet's most top secret facility to expose a plot that could destroy the Federation. Picard must turn to an old friend for help.
IMDb score: 9.3 Runtime: 46 minutes
 
Man, I feel the migraine, but even though there's a pain, this is too cool to be ignored. Ninja Master and Admiral, in the same boat. And the synopsis hints about the heist plot. Even tempting another NG character revelation.

What a treat. Let's see how it unwraps...
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Man, she is mad as a hatter. She questioned her alien ship members and told them that it is an agony for the Changelings to wear StarFleet faces on every day, as if they don't like to mimic everything that they see. Odo's weirdest ones were hard objects like boxes, maybe even a trashcan.

According to the renegade captain, "There will be silence again. Unity again. Peace again, but first we have to have a vengeance." The Great Khaaaaaaan swore the same thing. The crew weren't happy, because they reminded her that: "The Founders Day is in 72 hours. And we're no closer to finding Picard's son than before."

The object was noted and the teller executed. Was bullying the way she got them out from the gravity well trap? It makes me wonder why the Shriek crew is with her.

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Picard having heart-to-heart with the son after Beverly convinced him that Jack had inherited Jean-Luc's madness. According to the scans. But to be honest, she could have pulled a scan from the archieve and showed it to Adm and he'd have still believed it, because it was coming from Beverly.

Even though I might be barking the wrong tree, and wearing a tinfoil hat, nothing convinces me that Jack is having mere hallucinations, because of the precognitive idea of him wearing a StarFleet uniform and having to battle them.

I still believe in the parasite theory than accept that Vadic is chasing a mad man. To me it makes more logical sense. Even if it is illogical to see Jean-Luc downing whisky before he went to see Raffi and Worf.

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Raffi was so delighted seeing Seven in the welcoming team that she was straight out smiling as soon as they'd beamed onboard. According to Ninja Master he'd not seen Admiral face-to-face for "Eleven years, five months and four days." Minus the infrequent messages and whatnots, like "the annual bottle of Sour Mead," that Riker translated into Chateau Picard.

More kindle into the mysterious son came when Worf said that he'd heard a rumour about Adm and Dr being parents, and Jean-Luc answered. "It would seem so..." as if he was having doubts but was willing to go on for the ride anyway. Maybe that's why he downed the whisky so quickly.

They also had wasted a day waiting in Red Dwarf's corona for the couple to make their encounter, as if they could not have done it closer to the Daystrom Facities. Maybe more amazing thing is that they were willing to commit to the heist instead of acting under the StarFleet authority as inspectors.

What is a better way to hide than being one in the costume already, meaning they could have altered Titan's transmitter and faked another signature, and left the paint job to identify them as the real thing instead using the Ai Bypass tool.

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Instead of turning the tension to eleven by hiding amongst the wolves Titan made a runner leaving the away team consisting Riker, Raffi and Ninja Master break in the lab. Worf that they were keeping all Section 31 goodies in there, and it seems that amongst them is the Cpt Kirk in a cryostate and Attack Tribbles.

The surprise was that they went to get Geordi and another daughter from the Fleet Museum, before Geordi refused Jean-Luc's idea of masking the transponder, because the security systems dealing with it had been automated. And yet they'd used the bypass tool that the Ai countered by generating a Holo Moriarty.

I hated and also loved that he was dispelled with whistle of Data's tune "Pop the Weasal," before they revealed that his body was at the heart of "the black vault." I did that same thing with Geordi telling the admiral that in his old days he'd come to second thoughts about being willing to risk his life for admiral's adventures.

He didn't even want to entertain a thought about facing a court-martial, while the old Scott would have absolutely loved a bit of brig time. Things that brought tears in my eyes was when Seven showed Jack USS Voyager and told that she was "the relic that made the farthest," and she was "reborn in there."

Why they discontinued that class?

Then they showed HMS Bounty, that was according to Seven, "Freshly pulled from the bay of the San Francisco," because it had run out juice to run cloaking field. I loved that Jack drew Geordi's daughters together to nick that vessel.

It felt right and proper to have his daughters going in a risky adventure together with Jack and his naughty ideas. As if they were just doing a joyrun with a museum quality restored stealth vessel. Except it turned out that Jack really committed "a minor larceny," by nicking the cloaking device and installing it in Titan-A, while the old man told Geordi to stuff it, because they were doing it for the greater good.

The excuse that daddy gave for his son after Geordi roasted Admiral about breaking treaties was brilliant, "they just have to add it to my tab." While Geordi might had lost his balls on being daddy-o, Picard had replaced his with titan ones.

I laughed when Geordi told Jack to "stay away from my daughter," before he fixed the malfunctioning cloaking device. Even though he should have known better to try something because then it's definitely going to happen and Jack being the only white guy in the family Christmas dinner.

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Old man Soooooooong at the heart of the Data mystery. I hated his last message, but I loved that because of the new synth laws they were able to figure out that the android was the manifest.

With security rolling in, Titan decloaked beamed Data, Ninja Master and Raffi onboard, while Riker sacrificed himself to StarFleet security and got captured. Worf swore to the admiral that he will bring Riker back, one way or another. Then Jack confessed to old man that maybe his 'madness' wasn't a bad thing, because he'd inherited "the good bits," before Geordi found his balls and told his daughters that was sorry too, "for not doing what my younger self would have done."

Maybe to some life is getting preciously small in the olden days, while others take every extra day as a new opportunity to just live. Just like all Data's partions got when they turned of the Manifest and asked, "What was stolen..."

The thing that Changelings had nicked was the remains of Jean-Luc Picard, the human. WTF?

Not talking about Vadics revelation at the end... what is going on?
 
nothing convinces me that Jack is having mere hallucinations
No, I agree. How does that explain that he instantly spotted four Changlings and then despatched them quicker than Worf on his best Ninja day? There were other things too, that were far more than lucky hallucinations.
Why they discontinued that class?
I have wondered why we never see that class. It had some problems - for one, the bio-neural gel pack computer circuitry that was partly organic, but which could get infected by bacteria and overheat - but those could have been retrofitted with something else. The elegant shape of the ship, there was nothing wrong with that. It could also land on planets. Surely that was useful?

The use of Moriaty and that tune from the very first visit to the Enterprise B Holodeck was interesting. There was a lot of other "nerdy" stuff at the museum of starships that went above my head. Given more time, I think I would have taken a few more gadgets than the Cloaking Device from the Bird of Prey. Worf was factually wrong though. Klingons bought their ships from the Romulans, so it ws not "Klingon superior technology".

Brent Spiner is working hard in this. He's playing a least five parts - Data, Lore, B4, and two different Soongs. I'm happy for the explanation of why he looks aged though (I thought it was his workload!)
The thing that Changelings had nicked was the remains of Jean-Luc Picard, the human.
Yes, I don't understand the iimportance of a corpse. Maybe the reason why it was in the Daystrom Institute's facility under high security would explain why it was stolen, but that reason escapes me also.
Not talking about Vadics revelation at the end...
I told you that everyone from the TNG crew would get back together! Now where is Miles O'Brien, Dax, Harry Kim and Tom Paris? Do you think Harry Kim is still an Ensign?
 
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The thing that Changelings had nicked was the remains of Jean-Luc Picard, the human.
My guess is the Changelings need Picard's human remains because they can't duplicate the positronic version to execute some nefarious Frontier Day plan.
I still have no clue as to why they are so intent on capturing Jack "The Asset" Crusher.

So most, of the NG core crew has now joined the reunion.
I wonder if Deanna is the real deal. It seems like it would have been easier to motivate Riker with a Changeling version.
The writers must keep late hours coming up with new ways to work Data, who has literally been done to death, into the plot. I hope he can resolve his multiple personality disorder quickly.

My favorite line of the episode came from Capt. Shaw after Georgi had berated him for the condition of the Titan.
"Yeah. It's been a weird week."​

Running a close second was Riker's reaction to the pacifist Whorf as they were transported to the Daystrom Station.
"We're all gonna die"​

Honorable mention goes to station AI guarding Starfleet's most classified facility.
"Please. No food or beverages in the research area."​
 
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Even though Spock died saving the Enterprise in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," Star Trek used the restorative powers of the Genesis planet to bring him back. So when Data made a noble sacrifice of his own in "Star Trek: Nemesis," it wasn't really a surprise when the door was left open – albeit slightly – for the android's future return.

"Star Trek: Picard" season one on Paramount Plus (opens in new tab) focused heavily on Data's legacy, introducing a family of synthetic offspring and revealing that his consciousness had been preserved in a virtual simulation. Jean-Luc Picard subsequently watched his friend die for a second time, but the show’s third season has just dropped the bombshell that – in true "Jurassic Park" style – something has survived.

There are very good explanations on whys, like for example why he looks so old now when the fact was introduced that androids don't age same way we do. That thing has held firm for so, so long time. Perfect on screen visual being in the Foundation, with Demerzel being thousands of years old and still looking like the day it came off from the factory line.

Data was supposed to outlive all of them and carry on far into the future, before it died in the Nemesis events... supposedly. It's a writer trick to bring back the machines, because with fixes and tinkering we can restore functionalities to the old pieces of machines. That's simple engineering.

Data now being the Manifest, it is the latest iteration in the long run that started with Dr Sooong's ambition to 'save his daughter.' We saw how that plan cocked up in the last season. But his experiments survived and the space.com writer suggest that the model is the one that features the notorious doctor in his latter days.

Thing is, I kind of wish Agnes would be there to help them, instead doing her queenie things somewere in the galaxy.
 
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Data type androids could already be programmed to age or not during the NG times.
You may remember how Data expected to last forever in much the same state, whereas his mother, who turned out to be an android that Dr. Soong had created when he lost the real one, included all her memories, and had been programmed to age and eventually to die normally, being entirely unaware that she was anything other than human.

Maybe she's coming back into the story as well later, presumably looking older, if they use the same actor.

And maybe that age-programming can be modified. :)
 
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You may remember how Data expected to last forever in much the same state, whereas his mother, who turned out to be an android that Dr. Soong had created when he lost the real one, included all her memories, and had been programmed to age and eventually to die normally, being entirely unaware that she was anything other than human.
I don't have any recollection on those because the NG is the series that I never watched fully. Only bits and pieces that were shown on Finnish national broadcasts.
And maybe that age-programming can be modified.
I don't get it. What's the point? In the Bicentennial Man, the MC lived for a long time, and travelled the world until it had seen everything. Then it chose to die, because of its free will.

Data in my eyes were the 'most advanced' model that the StarFleet was never able to really replicate because the tech was finicky, and the synth laws banned the practice. In the first season, they showed those androids had developed one that Picard is now using 'to extend his natural lifespan,' as a biodroid.

With the synthlaws adjusted, why is that they are not offered to the citizens?
 
Why do the Changelings want Picard’s organic body? The good money is on some kind of duplication plot. We’ve seen how the Changelings can pass for organic now, so perhaps, a super-shapeshifter that looks like Picard is coming.

There’s also the question of his Borg implants, which we know were implanted in his body. Not all of these can be removed. Perhaps the Changelings want to extract those? Picard also has an artificial heart, which he got in his twenties after getting in a bar fight and being stabbed through the back. It seems unlikely that anybody would want his artificial heart, but then again, the Changelings move in mysterious ways.

Thing is, we have already explored that admiral doesn't have any more real power in the fleet. He's just a mantle piece most of the days. The question we should be asking is why Section 31 is storing corpses in cryopreservation at the DayStrom Institute? Why are they classified as weapons?
 
I don't get it. What's the point?
The only point of modifying the programming here is for Data's mum.
As you say, you didn't see it so I'll have to tell you.
The Enterprise picks up a couple of scientists (geologists) who are trying to save a planet which is losing it's spin, or geothermalness or something. The woman of the married couple says to Data, you don't know this but I was married to Dr Soong when you were created, so you could say I'm your mum.
Data has a certain difficulty with this to start with, and we don't know if he's going to accept it, but in the mean time they play a string duet together for the crew, he on violin and her on cello. In the process, he realises that she's far too good a cellist to be anything other than an android. She also blinks at the wrong rate.
Then they save the planet by mucking about with the mantle and she gets injured and knocked out.
Beverley tries to save her and discovers that she's a Soong type android, and in the process of looking at her finds a holochip which allows Data to get a message from Daddy (Soong) saying that she's an android copy of the real Jane Doe (I can't remember her name) who got deaded, so he made a copy and transferred her memory into it.
He programmed the android to age and die, and never told her she wasn't a real human, so she believes she is.
Data has to decide whether to tell her the truth or let her continue believing she's human, and surprise surprise, he chooses the later.
So off she goes with new hubby back to their saved planet and presumably continues to age and .............
........... maybe she's available for this series.
 
A really enjoyable episode - absolutely great to have the main TNG cast back together again. :)

One niggle I noticed earlier in the season is that Federation ships now all appear to be metallic, and they retro-ed this to the other famous Star Trek ships - even though they were always clearly white. Which is a shame because the white versions look more like starships and less like CGI render.

And, yeah - Jack's powers are due to a brain disease? Lol! They forgot to question that thoroughly enough. :)

As for Data simply great to see him there. I did wonder as soon as we saw the crow on the station. :)
 

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