Star Trek: Picard (1.01)

[selenak]

First impression: a promising start. Which takes its time to introduce us into the new era, instead of bombarding us with non stop action, which I'm all for, is beautifully filmed, and seems to use ST to make a comment on the present in a way I haven't seen since DS9 did its "Past Tense" two parter, and does that by doing something with the, cough, less than stellar writing in not one but two movies.



To wit: Nemesis, of course, specifically the Data plot, but also Nero's backstory in the first Star Trek reboot movie. Given that Spock Prime had done all he could to save the Romulans, Nero's feud, complete with blowing up Vulcan, did not make much sense, nor did the other Romulans following Nero on this, other than "um, villain gonna viilain?" But Star Trek: Picard now establishes that while Jean-Luc led an initial mass evacuation rescue effort (as indicated in the comics prequel for the first reboot movie, as I recall), Starfleet then because of the simultanous attack by Cylons synthetics on Mars abandoned said rescue effort and the Romulans, thereby betraying its core ideals, hence our hero's quitting the service.

Now, this making Nero's grudge against the Federation somewhat more plausible is the least of it. Because: a terrorist (or "terrorist", guess we'll find out more in the course of the season) attack causing the Federation to turn itself isolationist and cut down human aid efforts and instead starting with the xenophobia ("Romulan refugees!")? Gee, I wonder what could possibly have inspired that. (BTW, no, I don't mean just the US. The EU and pretty much all first world countries/power blocs are just as blameworthy.) You know, this is the kind of SF tackling the present which I love to have in my Star Trek.

Re: Nemesis: killing off Data while leaving itself a loophole via B4 just in case Brent Spiner should change his mind had been one of the many, many lame storytelling decisions of that movie, in that case, trying to have a tearjerker in the cheapest way possible while treating the character in question as replacable. Star Trek: Picard does what I hoped my imaginary show would and makes a silk purse out of a sow's ear, or so it seems right now, by not retconning or ignoring Nemesis but using it to make something actually interesting of what it has done. The B4 question being laid to rest in a scene that points out that no, B4 couldn't have been the new Data (what with seven seasons of TNG making the point that Data is an individual formed by his experiences just as an organic life form) is the least of it. Mind you, that sudden AI uprising leading to a shut down of all android, excuse me, synthetic programs sounds suspiciously like former ST alumnus' Ron Moore's version of BSG was one inspiration, but hey. Also, TNG itself, as well as Voyager via the Holograms in later seasons did tackle the question of just when AIs become sentient and if they are sentient, isn't using them without their consent slavery, repeatedly. (And of course the most recent Disco version went the Skynet evil AI route.) What with Measure of a Man being one of the earliest TNG episodes to be considered a classic now, it makes sense to develop this further. And Picard's ongoing grief for Data makes Data's death count in a way it did not in Nemesis; while the new character(s) hailing back to both Bruce Maddox and Data's experience with Lal is lovely continuity without making everything incomprehensible for new watchers.

Which brings me to my favourite Captain. Patrick Stewart is as good as ever, and while some of the trailers made me fear Picard would have quit Starfleet over some battle gone wrong or an accident or what not, which would have smacked of artificial angst, him having quit over a fundamental ethical issue really works. As does him living with two of the former Romulan refugees now - btw, these must be the first civilian Romulans (i.e. non military, non-secret service) we've seen since... I don't know, Unification on TNG? I hope we keep them once the series inevitably goes into space for its main plot line; both actors and characters come across as having good chemistry, being affectionate yet also quite capable of saying what's on their minds with him. His compassion and sympathy for Dahj even before he deduced who she could be were also lovely. Otoh, a saint, Jean-Luc was and is not, and thus you see him go into somewhat arrogant/condescending mode with the reporter once she inevitably asks the questions she had agreed not to. (This brought an unfortunate B5 memory to me afterwards, but while watching, it worked for me.)

The young mystery woman from the traiiler turns out to have been not some kind of crypto borg but in fact a kind of Data descendant, courtesy of Bruce Maddox (we think, so far), Dahj. She also turns out to be one of two (like Data/Lore?) and is killed by the end of the episode, which, well. Is straight forwardly "killing a female character to motivate a male character" , though Picard at that point was already engaged in the process of investigating the mystery and helping her. So I wasn't thrilled. Then again: am waiting to see further plot justification for this, and of course I'm intrigued what her counterpart Sohj is doing with the Romulans on the former Borg cube, and how all this will turn out to be connected, because of course it will be. When ST: Discovery killed off Philippa Georgiou in the pilot, it turned out to have been a truly earned plot decision, after all. (Michael's entire journey thereafter would not have happened otherwise. Also, Mirror Georgiou. Who wouldn't be as effective a character if we hadn't met Philippa Prime first.)

Now, I fully expect there to be some Romulan villainy involved along with everything else, btw. They won't suddenly consist of solely good guys, especially in a story that highlights Federation ethical failing in its premise. But that is okay, especially considering our present offers plenty of actual terrorism as well. One of the many reasons why the TNG episode The Drumhead works for me the way it does is that it starts with an actual sabotage act, and the later harrassed crew man Simon did, in fact, hide something (i.e. his part Romulan heritage) - all the paranoia that developed was triggered by some real events... which still are no justification for going the "to hell with civil rights, better safe than sorry" route. It still looks like we'll get Romulans in all ethical shades, and that hasn't happened in a looooong while.

Let''s see, what else: LOL at the brief French speaking. Look, creators, I've always assumed that Picard when talking to his family etc. in La Barrre does in fact speak French, we're just hearing it as English because Star Trek is an American franchise, and also the Universal Translator is an in-universe thing.

The dog: aw. But I doubt he really works as a harmful intent detector, Jean-Luc.


Lastly: since ST is at its core optimistic, I do expect that at the end of these developments there will be a reformation within the Federation. Doesn't need to happen overnight, but needs to happen in the long term. But in SF and RL.

Comments

[vilakins]

Very promising, and never boring. I guessed that Dahj in some way was Data early on when she knew about Picard, but I fully expected her to be a permanent cast/crew member and was shocked and very disappointed when she was killed. I'm enjoying the different technical advances made in the 20 or 30 years since Picard was a captain though.

Pity about the lens flares. Is that an accepted thing in SF now, dammit? Like shaky camera work (which stopped me watching BSG), it raises an artificial barrier where there shouldn't be one between the viewers and the story they want to immerse themselves in.

[4thofeleven]

Like you, I am amazed that they managed to take the events of Nemesis and get something good out of it - though, I suppose if you only take "Data gave his life saving the captain on their last mission" and ignore all the rest of the nonsense in that film, it's a lot more salvageable.

[selenak]

Verily. I don't expected the mindraping "clone" is salvagable,

[princessofgeeks]

Great review; thank you.

[lizbee]

(This brought an unfortunate B5 memory to me afterwards, but while watching, it worked for me.)

I had the same thought, and now, with a day to ponder (and see other reactions), I'm actually a bit cross about it. Because (a) the whole "Dunkirk versus the pyramids" thing is a set-up -- it's clunky writing inserted purely so that Picard can make a speech, and I have a visceral reaction when I see an older man address a woman as "my dear".

And second, that journalist is doing her job, and doing it with the utmost professionalism. Like, yes, "Romulan lives"/"Lives" -- she is not free from the prejudices of her culture, and that's a concept worth examining both in Trek and our own news media, but ... this is not Adam Driver promoting a film and asking that he not have to watch footage of himself acting. This is more akin to a senior military officer resigning in protest over Trump's policies -- a journalist is obligated to ask about that, in the public interest, regardless of that officer's preference. And she is polite and respectful even as he history shames her.

But a lot of fans are looking at that scene and going, "Yeah, put that nosy bitch in her place!" and "Federation Fake News!" and I'm like ... we don't even know what competent journalism looks like anymore.

(I also have a lot of feelings about the depiction of journalism in science fiction, from its apparent absence in much of Trek and Star Wars to Babylon 5 to The Expanse. I guess we're lucky the journalist wasn't also sexualised.)

[kore]

Yeah, I was of two minds about that....Stewart was great as Picard, and it's a really neat setup that he basically resigned and went off to die (shades of Luke in TLJ!) and society is not automatically in love with him. But at the same time, as you say, that is something a journalist is pretty much obligated to dig into. And I mean, I grew up around reporters. If you tell a reporter, "Topic A is off limits," the reporter will be DETERMINED to ask about Topic A. It's just how they work. That's why they are reporters. They can do it in harsh ways or gentle ways, but digging to the bone is this essential part of the personalities of people who report news. It's the prioritization of the truth (which unfortunately can also turn into the prioritization of sensationalism, or ratings, or clicks, too).

(I also have a lot of feelings about the depiction of journalism in science fiction, from its apparent absence in much of Trek and Star Wars to Babylon 5 to The Expanse. I guess we're lucky the journalist wasn't also sexualised.)

Which is weird to me, because this stuff is being written by, well, WRITERS, some of whom even had journalistic backgrounds (JMS certainly did). There were heroic on-camera presenters in B5, but the one woman didn't get anywhere near the screen time or emphasis that the slutty lying female reporter did.

[selenak]

Which is weird to me, because this stuff is being written by, well, WRITERS, some of whom even had journalistic backgrounds (JMS certainly did).

I know, that weirded me out back then, too. Especially since the depiction of reporters in B5 got worse, not better, and I don't mean the ISN under Clark interlude, because, fair enough, that's what state-controlled media in a dictatorship is like. I mean, I can see the Doylist reason for pesky reporter scenes - need for exposition that should be delivered in an emotional way = > make a character who IC would not want to give that information give it, which is emotional = > who should make that character give that information? = > pesky reporter! But it's an annoying scriptwriting short cut even in times when reporting doesn't get vilified like today.

I think the only reporter depicted as sympathetic and heroic in ST - which doesn't have many reporters, of course - is Jake Sisko, and I can think of only two or three occasions where Jake's reporting is an issue: his decision to stay on the station at the end of s5 (which does not result in any reporting because Weyoun naturally does not allow any to get from the station), and Jake writing a story about doctors in war time (and the emotional emphasis in that episode is on Jake facing his own unheroic actions and writing honestly about them, not on Jake writing about someone else). But the show decided not to do the one story which would have brought Jake-the-good-reporter directly in conflict with his father, the hero of the show, and that was the follow up on In the Pale Moonlight they briefly considered doing, with Jake discovering the truth of what Ben Sisko did. Star Trek: Watergate did not happen. (Due to the damage to the Jake & Ben relationship near the end of the show that would have caused, I guess which I can understand.)

It's been a few years since I've watched The West Wing, but I think the show managed a good balance with Danny Concannon, in that he was a sympathetic character and at times his agenda as a reporter - not depicted as something negative - conflicted with C.J.'s agenda as the White House press person, without either of them getting vilified for it. But that, of course, was not a sci fi show.

[kore]

Oh, speaking of reporters in modern culture, I literally just saw this on the Graun liveblog impeachment feed:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2020/jan/24/donald-trump-impeachment-trial-news-today-senate-democrats-day-three-adam-schiff-live?page=with:block-5e2b703f8f08e97ed212a008#block-5e2b703f8f08e97ed212a008

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was reportedly furious about host Mary Louise Kelly daring to ask him about Ukraine on All Things Considered. I mean, it’s not like Ukraine is at the center of the biggest story in the country at the moment or anything, right?

Lulu Garcia-Navarro
(lourdesgnavarro)
Wow. npr's nprkelly just now on npratc says secpompeo was furious about being questioned about Ukraine in her interview. Took her into his office, cursed at her, dropping f-bombs, made her point to Ukraine on an unmarked map (she did). It's just...shocking.
January 24, 2020

Interview transcript (him blowing her off is at the v end): https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/798579754/transcript-nprs-full-interview-with-secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo

[selenak]

Good grief. That is vile. But good on Mary Louise Kelly for not budging!

[kore]

LOL I totally missed all the course correction re Nemesis and the reboot movies, because while I did see Nemesis, it was like TWENTY YEARS AGO and I have never wanted to see it again, IIRC. I just ignored the reboot movies. Which I guess makes me closer to the 'general audience,' altho I grew up watching the original series and remember a lot of episodes in detail, and sat through all of TNG and Voyager (Voyager kinda broke me tho). I never read a lot of the tie-in novels. Honestly that part was more confusing than anything else; it was integrated into the show, but it blipped by so fast and was also so important re worldbuilding we were a bit lost.

OTOH, PATRICK STEWART OMFG. No wonder they wanted him to come back, there's a twin firehose of appealing to nostalgia and fucking Great Actor talent which is nearly irresistible. It was a pleasure to see him in a non-TNG setting (I didn't like the show) with more complex issues. I can already tell I'm going to want this on DVD. They keep saying this show is "thoughtful" and "pensive" and with less big space battles (LOL, I KNOW there will be at least one big space battle) and it really does have a nice sober meditative almost melancholy feel.

Michael Chabon....ehhhhh. Akiva Goldsman is also eh. I wish they'd had some more women writers and showrunners, altho it does look like a woman is directing some of the episodes this season, which is good.

[selenak]

Ha, I hear you on Nemesis. I never wanted to watch it again, either.

Tie-in novels: I read them in the 80s and early 90s, and then I stopped, with a very few exceptions. Mostly, of course, because by then online fanfiction was a Thing.

[zahrawithaz.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this, and promising start is a good summary. There were many lovely things, especially in centering Jean-Luc's principles and compassion, and in the leisurely fun little approach to the future world. I too hope we see more of his Romulan roommates.

I particularly appreciate your making the point that this show is drawing from/course correcting from Nemesis, which is a film I believe I have entirely scrubbed from my memory. (No, scratch that--I've just read the Wikipedia entry and realized I've never seen it! No wonder I was confused by the Data death references.) So thanks for making the connections for those of us who couldn't.

Like you I disliked Dahj being killed in this first episode. Not only did fridging her to motivate Picard feel unnecessary, they had already fridged her black alien boyfriend to motivate her! Plus I would have been extremely interested in how human-raised Dahj and Romulan-raised Soji would have interacted. So I hope your faith that there will be further plot justification bears fruit.

[selenak]

Romulan roommates: ep 2 features them prominently! I was pleased.

Nemesis: you didn't miss much. Just about the only good thing happening in it was Riker and Troi getting married at the start and Picard calling Riker "Mr. Troi" afterwards. But like I said, I favour doing something interesting with a frustrating canon over just ignoring that it hahppened.

[yhlee]

I've finally watched this so I can read your report! I liked it overall, agree that I wasn't pleased that Dahj got fridged, and am realizing that the fact that I've missed a whole bunch of Trek (never watched Nemesis) made some of the background confusing.

I also wish there had been...more prominent characters who were not white? I can only recall the dead black alien boyfriend and the antagonistically portrayed black female reporter...

[kore]

There's more CoC in the next episode, and I think Isa Briones is Filipino-American? (She was in a touring cast of Hamilton when she was nineteen!) Although as lizbee pointed out, this resulted in the exact same plotline as Discovery where Georgiou is killed off and then later we're introduced to her mirror twin. It does look like the show may get more diverse as it goes on. (At least I hope so! We rewatched All Good Things.... because this show is picking up on that, and talk about whiteness being the default!)

[selenak]

You didn't miss much with Nemesis. (I always resented that something as substandard as that should be the last thing we see the TNG cast together in, when otoh "All Good Things..." has been my favourite ST tv finale so far.) But like I said, if something like that happens in a Multi authored canon, I prefer it when instead of just pretending it never existed people try to make something interesting out of what it changed. (Ditto for the first Star Trek reboot movie making the Romulan sun go supernova and blow up Romulus just to provide the villain with a Motivation to time travel and create a new time line.)

Re: POC characters, what Kore said. Also, there'll be Michelle Hurd, who shows up near the end of ep 2 and who will presumably be properly introduced in ep 3, since the dvance publicity listed her as a main character. (Lorca and the entire Disco crew other than Saru didn't show up until Episode 3, either.)

ETA: forgot to mention: since the show has already been promised a second season, Patrick Stewart asked Whoopi Goldberg to come back as Guinan, and she accepted!

[elisi]

Just to say thank you for this post - my other half was curious about the show, so we watched this episode the other night.

As I know next to nothing about Star Trek, I figured I would go looking for context, and your name immediately sprang to mind. You didn't disappoint. :)

[selenak]

Glad I could help!