Star Trek: Discovery 4.13. and Star Trek: Picard 2.03

[selenak]

Star Trek: Discovery: S4 finale

In which the season concludes, as previous seasons did, with a resounding love declaration to Star Trek optimism about the human and alien condition. In terms of episodes by themselves, I thought the last one about figuring out communication with the 10 c was a tad better, but this one made for a fine finale, bringing back Tilly - yay! - and giving her lovely scenes with Vance (thereby connecting the audience to what's going on near Earth with Starfleet trying to evacuate as many as possible while Our Heroes try to save the day), letting the 10 C realize what they've done in the nick of time and act accordingly, thereby justifying Michael & Co.'s faith in the power of communication, and presenting happy endings all around, except for Tarka, and even he got a moment of realisation and connection with Book before his (likely) death. Speaking of death, let's say I was 80% sure Book wasn't dead dead, because as we've been reminded by this very show not too long ago, being stuck in the transporter buffer is actually a way of survival as long as you have someone who can complete the transport process, so I wasn't knocked out in surprise over his survival. But what did pleasantly surprise me was both the fact he got to interact with the 10 C (and insist on "we'll be really careful not kill any sentient life by fossil exploitation using our DMA next time" not being good enough, that they had to switch to renewable energy entirely stop wht the DMA completely), and that the fact he did break a couple of laws in the second half of the season while pursuing Tarka's alternate plan and inadvertendly contributed to near disaster wasn't handwaved away. I'm also impressed by the way President Leira Rillak dealt with it - sentencing him helping people who have been made homeless by the DMA is way more sense making than prison time for Book. His and Michael's goodbye scene was also perfect.

While Michael and Book had the big "lovers put on different sides for ic reasons, but never losing faith in each other" drama this season, Saru and T'Rina had the shy romance blossoming between two quiet and restrained people, which made for a charming subplot culminating here, and that the physical expression of their getting together is a Vuclan hand clasp just pleases my inner Trekker a lot.

The mystery of the 10 C was the big arc this season, as last season's had been the mystery of the Burn, and both seasons shared the ongoing arc of the torn apart Federation coming together again, so Earth rejoining at the end of this finale - which, btw, was another reminder that the current heads of state of the Federation in totem, of Vulcan/Ni'Var and of Earth are all women - felt right, despite's Ndoye's earlier team-up with Book and Tarka (which in turn had been motivated). That the 10 C, unlike previous species with hive minds - not just the Borg but also the Great Link and the Founders - end up being not malevolent but genuinely too alien to have realised what they were doing before communicaton was established reminded me of the image of the ants and the boot which shows up in more than one Marvel film, but there used as the justification of megalomaniacs, whereas the 10 once the ants show their sentience and communicate respond with horror and repentance. Especially in the current time, showing a very powerful species that not only did not plan on causing harm but reacts to evidence they did, in fact, cause great harm by immediately stopping is just what I need to watch when there's more than enough grimdark around in rl.

Small moments: Keyla Dettmer's expression and the quick horrified look from Joann Owosekun when it seemed Dettmer was doing to have to do the Kamikaze flying, and the stunned relief when Ndoye volunteers. The show taking the time for this silent interaction helps keeping this peopole and their relationships real.

Something that Discovery brought back to ST in these last two seasons, I feel, is the sense of wonder and exploration and really going where no ST has gone before instead of endlessly tapping the nostalgia well. I mean, I love the first two seasons as well! But seasons 3 and 4 have settled it for me that DISCO now forms a trinity with TNG and DS9 as my favourite Trek shows. And I really love that Michael in her concluding conversation with President Laira Rillak says that (after a well deserved vacation) that's what she wants to continue doing - exploring, meeting new life forms. Which the 10 most definitely were. Thank you, Discovery!



Star Trek: Picard: Assimilation

wembley clearly was onto something when she theorized Agnes Jurati might end up as the masked Borg Queen from the season opener. Incidentally, it wasn't until the episode was over that it occured to me that while a Doylist reason for not having Soj on board might have been that otherwise she would have been the one to link with the Borg Queen in a replay of the relevant Data scenes which the show wanted to avoid, there's a sound Watsonian reason for her not being around as well - presumably, as in the Confederation timeline synths got never banned Maddox never created Soj (and siblings) by using bits of Data. For that matter, maybe Dr. Soong never created Data et all, either. (So far, we've only seen the low grade versions of androids. Aaanyway, Agnes using her time of linking not just to wake the Queen up but to steal the information the Queen had been holding over them as blackmail was great, and I continue to like what they're doing with Agnes Jurati this season.

Meanwhile, Elnor: triggers a powerful rage-and-grief scene from Raffi, but I do not think it's a permanent death, so my own sadness is limited. (Also, Raffi's dressing down of Picard would have been more effective if she hadn't also accused him of playing with lives via Q. That truly was not something he ever volunteered for.)

Visiting 2024, i.e. two years from our present: on the one hand, as with the time travel in general and the Borg, again? Otoh, there are worse examples to follow then the DS9 two parter Past Tense which evidently was the role model for the Los Angeles parts so far (the team split up, with Rios getting the Sisko & Bashir experience of experiencing life for the underprivileged - in his case not homelessness and being shut away out of sight, as it had been for the DS9 folk, but the ICE being after him and the doctor taking care of undocumented immigrants. By contrast, Seven and Raffi start out at the trash hills but end up literally on top of the luxury tower in this episode. Speaking of Seven and Raffi, skipping the entire "getting together" part of the relationship to "established, and now trying to figure out how much they want to be" is certainly a choice. It might work - Lost did it with Sawyer and Juliet (i.e. use a time jump, a literal one, to present the audience with an established relationship between regulars, completely skipping the "getting together" part), and lo and behold, it actually worked - but it also presents a greater narrative challenge.

Any ST time travel to our near present has to deal (or not) with the fact that actually, WWIII happened as established by TOS, in episodes broadcast in the 1960s when certainly no one expected they'd catch up with the predictions. There's tiny continuity nod here since Raffi's and Seven's converstion indicates an impending catastrophe not yet having happened (and it's not the one causing the Confederation9 right then, but unless I'm misrenembering, WW3 actually was supposed to happened near the end of the 20th century and now everyone is busy living on a devastated world?

Lastly: no masks, and the ICE raid: is the Pandemic over, and did the Orange Menace (or another Republican) win the elections?

Comments

[lynnenne]

Wembley clearly was onto something when she theorized Agnes Jurati might end up as the masked Borg Queen from the season opener.

Oh, I hope so! I would love to see Agnes as the new Borg queen.

Re DISCO: Did you notice who they cast as the president of United Earth? STACY ABRAMS. I hope they’re prescient.

This episode felt like a show finale to me, not simply a season finale. Do you know if there will be a season 5?

[kore]

The news says Paramount+ officially renewed Star Trek: Discovery for season 5 on January 18, 2022, which is awesome! 10 episodes? maybe, in early 2023.

[lynnenne]

Yay!

[selenak]

I hadn't recognized Stacy Abrams, so thank you for telling me! That is indeed awesome. And let's hope it augurs well for her rl career!

Show finale: it could serve as one from the feeling of it, I agree, but as kore says below, DISCO has been greenlighted for a fifth season.

[chelseagirl]

Since this thread pretty much covers what I had to say:

the moment I recognized Stacey Abrams tears started running down my face. We should be so lucky as to have her as President of Earth . . . or the US . . . or governor of Georgia at the very least.

My partner had the same take -- that it seemed like a perfect series ender. I'm glad it's coming back, though - I've grown attached to the crew.

Poor Michael's luck with romantic partners, though -- at least Book is doing community service and they'll be able to have a long distance relationship. (What is it with this poor guy, every role he's in, he's named after a city -- Manchester Black on Supergirl, Cleveland Booker on Discovery . . . )

[kore]

Oded Fehr: still got it, ooooomg.

USS Yelchin! Aww.

Maybe Tilly and Book will guest star next season? Or at least be in a few eps?

STACEY ABRAMS. Apparently Wilson Cruz got the showrunners to call her and ask if she wanted to be in the show, and she said she would be delighted, so they made her the President and apparently it was a big surprise to the crew! Love it.

[selenak]

Oded Fehr's hotness is beyond dispute. :)

USS Yelchin: caused me some confusion because I understood "Yeltzin" at first and thought, err, why would they... and then I recalled Anton Y. and figured it was "Yelchin".

Oh, I'm pretty sure Book will be back, because I doubt the next season will start immediately after this one left off - there'll be a few months at the very least, and more likely a year or two, enough time for Book to do his social service. Otoh given they showed Tilly's cadets, I took that as a hint she's still happy with her current job, so I don't know, but I'm crossing my fingers, of course!

[kore]

I remember a friend and I just drooling all over ourselves a bit after Sleeper Cell came out (Michael Ealy was also hott in that) and damn, nearly TWENTY years later, here I am drooling over Oded Fehr again!

Oh yeah, there have been time jumps in between seasons, right....sometimes very BIG ones! Heh.

[felis]

Disco went for full utopian optimism there at the end! I wasn't sure how I'd feel about that in current times, but it turned out that they got me and that the unabashed optimism and particularly the positive vision of a future felt good and needed and like a breath of fresh air. What the heck.

Tilly yay! Doesn't quite make up for most of a season without her (and where was my Tilly-Saru hug in the reunion scene at the end, show? :P), but I sure loved that they paired her with Vance, who himself is great as well. (I also enjoyed his moment with Rillak. Who is also great. ;))

even he got a moment of realisation and connection with Book

I really liked that scene. I liked that they gave him nuance and motivation and didn't just use him as an ever-backstabbing obstacle, I liked that the backstory scenes they gave us for him and his friend/partner a couple episodes ago made his final scenes with Book feel plausible, and I liked the general theme of grief and loss between the three people on Book's ship, which culminated in his speech to the 10-C.

let's say I was 80% sure Book wasn't dead dead

Yeah, the transporter signal was a pretty clear hint there, given the 10-C's level of technology, but it was indeed only 80%, there was a little hint of uncertainty still, which made his reappearance work well. Oh, and speaking of the 10-C in that scene, I rather adored how perfectly sense-making their explanation was - they didn't understand, but went by context clues and saved the signal because it seemed important. I don't even know why I liked that so much. Oh, and also the swarm detail and everything that followed from that in terms of communication, plus bringing back Book's empathy sense.

sentencing him helping people who have been made homeless by the DMA is way more sense making than prison time for Book

Yes. And another point in the utopia column, especially compared to the bit where Michael was being sent to a prison camp at the beginning of the first season. Agreed on his and Michael's goodbye scene as well, that was very well done by the actors, especially Michael's reaction once he's beamed out, but also that little details in their conversation kept the communication/learning theme going.

another reminder that the current heads of state of the Federation in totem, of Vulcan/Ni'Var and of Earth are all women

I love it. And I see that other commenters already mentioned Stacey Abrams - which I didn't immediately realize either, despite her feeling somewhat familiar. I thought this article about how it happened was quite interesting. I knew Abrams was a Trek fan and love that she insisted they only tell her what's relevant for her scene and nothing else, because she didn't want to be spoiled for the rest of the season. :D

Keyla Dettmer's expression and the quick horrified look from Joann Owosekun when it seemed Dettmer was doing to have to do the Kamikaze flying

SO GOOD. One of those moments where something feels just right for the characters and I'm glad the show included it.

sense of wonder and exploration and really going where no ST has gone before

I love that they had Michael make that explicit, too. So much still to learn and discover.

[selenak]

the positive vision of a future felt good and needed and like a breath of fresh air.

Co-signing this. Maybe I‘d feel differently if this was the early 90s, but right now? So needed!

Grief and the effects it has, both shared and specific to the individual, were so well explored this season, along with community and the courage of reaching out to others. Also, given the clichés still making the rounds about women in leading positions both in fiction and in rl, I appreciate that Michael got to show her grief when she thought Book was dead while also being shown as able to focus on the danger and the task at hand.

Stacey Abrams not wanting any spoilers: awwww. One of us, truly.

[lightofdaye]

For Picard: Word War III hasn't happened yet. They oblique mentioned it when saying there's no radiation fallout yet when trying to figure out when they were. The Eugenics War however should have happened they've been ignoring that at least since Voyager went back to present day earth when it should have been raging. The non-canon books retconned it to be a secret war with lots of involvement from TOS's Gary Seven.

I agree Elnor's not forever dead. They have a borg queen after all, Seven once resurrected Neelix in Voyager. So there's that out.

Seven/Raffi is interesting to me and it's been quite low key so far with everything else going on. I was impressed Seven was trying to be sensitive to her feelings and loved the scene on top of the tower.

[jesuswasbatman]

Re the immigration raid in Picard - unfortunately the Biden administration so far has been lower on the open statements of racism but generally similar to Trump in actual policies.

[selenak]

That is depressing, if not entirely unexpected.