Star Trek: Picard 2.04
Mar. 26th, 2022 07:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThank you, everyone who answered the poll.
That was certainly instructive! And I‘ll answer the replies, it‘s just that I‘m currently at a conference, and thus with very limited time and internet access. On to the ST: P review.
I was a bit stunned, in a good way, of how unabashedly and undisguisedly open this episode is in its cricitism of the current day re: ICE, LAPD, racism, oh, and listed among the vices of the present by a young Guinan, the degrading of facts to „opinions“. No bothering with metaphors or fictional institutions here. This leads me to revising my opinion of the time travel gimmick in this season being primarily nostalgia driven.
(Sidenote: when the punk with the loud music annoyed Seven, I rolled my eyes and thought, they‘re not going to repeat the gag with Spock in „Voyage Home“ word for word, are they? But no, they didn‘t. Instead, the opposite happened.)
Same with the superb scene between Picard and a younger Guinan. Given Picard‘s long term role as the voice - literally, via Patrick Stewart - for what can be summed up as „humanity can be and is good“, it makes sense that he‘s given the task of convincing Guinan (and the audience) of this in the face of dire circumstances which aren‘t fantasy fascism (as two eps earlier) but the very real current day miseries (from which such fascism can emerge if change does not happen for the better). Given these aren‘t the optimistic later 1980s and early 1990s anymore, it also makes sense that Guinan makes him work for it, not least by pointing out that it‘s far easier for someone who looks like him (i.e. an old white man) in this time than for someone who looks like her (a black woman) to have this belief. Also that the argument isn‘t resolved in this episode. If the show is really up to the premise it has set itself, then whatever Picard & Co. will have to do to fix the future in this season won‘t just be the proverbial butterfly saving, and I‘m now extremely interested in how this will unfold.
Meanwhile, Agnes Jurati and the Borg Queen continue to become ST‘s newest intriguing villain/hero duo, complete with the Queen attempting to seduce Agnes to the Borg side, and the frisson in the scenes works for me here in a way the Data/Borg Queen scenes in „First Contact“ did not. Possibly because Agnes is more self aware and less of a naive, and also has already shown she can (literally) get under the Queen‘s skin as well? Anyway, good work, show, continue with this. :)
Speaking of pairings, the established couple vibe with Seven and Raffi works for me in this episode, too, getting the right mixture of bickering and being there for each other. BTW, I was relieved Raffi was after the laptop in the police car and knew how to hack into it rather than just wanting to vent her (understandable) ire on the car and/or steal it, because the later would have made her look foolish.
More ominous flashbacks to Picard‘s mother, and also background family information beyond Picard‘s life time in that we hear the family fled to England during WWII and remained there for a century or so before returning to France. Presumably this is to explain Patrick Stewart‘s British English? If so, not necessary, I never assume anyone is speaking actual English in Star Trek, as opposed to some futuristic lingo we tv watchers just hear as English for our convenience. Otoh, I guess there‘s also some symbolic thematic relevance with „the Nazis had their headquarters here“, underground tunnels, and Picard having to confront something he has avoided dealing with before this season.
And then there‘s the near episode ending „The Watcher“ being Laris reveal - or is she? The same actress playing „The Watcher“ does not have to mean she‘s the same person, because while Vulcans and Romulans are longer lived than humans, they‘re not that much longer lived. Though it could also be Laris isn‘t really a Romulon but a different type of being. Not sure how I‘d feel about that if that‘s the case.
Lastly, the Q appearance at the very end confirms something hinted at two eps earlier, that Q has his own problems (presumably in connection with whatever is going on with the alternate timeline). In this particular scene he seems to be unable to access his powers. Which we‘ve seen before in one of TNG‘s most successful comedy episodes, but somehow I doubt this will be played for comedy. I guess it‘s to heighten the stakes, i.e. showing the audience Q can‘t just reverse things with a snap of his fingers whenever he feels like it and it is really up to PIcard & Co. to restore the timeline…
That was certainly instructive! And I‘ll answer the replies, it‘s just that I‘m currently at a conference, and thus with very limited time and internet access. On to the ST: P review.
I was a bit stunned, in a good way, of how unabashedly and undisguisedly open this episode is in its cricitism of the current day re: ICE, LAPD, racism, oh, and listed among the vices of the present by a young Guinan, the degrading of facts to „opinions“. No bothering with metaphors or fictional institutions here. This leads me to revising my opinion of the time travel gimmick in this season being primarily nostalgia driven.
(Sidenote: when the punk with the loud music annoyed Seven, I rolled my eyes and thought, they‘re not going to repeat the gag with Spock in „Voyage Home“ word for word, are they? But no, they didn‘t. Instead, the opposite happened.)
Same with the superb scene between Picard and a younger Guinan. Given Picard‘s long term role as the voice - literally, via Patrick Stewart - for what can be summed up as „humanity can be and is good“, it makes sense that he‘s given the task of convincing Guinan (and the audience) of this in the face of dire circumstances which aren‘t fantasy fascism (as two eps earlier) but the very real current day miseries (from which such fascism can emerge if change does not happen for the better). Given these aren‘t the optimistic later 1980s and early 1990s anymore, it also makes sense that Guinan makes him work for it, not least by pointing out that it‘s far easier for someone who looks like him (i.e. an old white man) in this time than for someone who looks like her (a black woman) to have this belief. Also that the argument isn‘t resolved in this episode. If the show is really up to the premise it has set itself, then whatever Picard & Co. will have to do to fix the future in this season won‘t just be the proverbial butterfly saving, and I‘m now extremely interested in how this will unfold.
Meanwhile, Agnes Jurati and the Borg Queen continue to become ST‘s newest intriguing villain/hero duo, complete with the Queen attempting to seduce Agnes to the Borg side, and the frisson in the scenes works for me here in a way the Data/Borg Queen scenes in „First Contact“ did not. Possibly because Agnes is more self aware and less of a naive, and also has already shown she can (literally) get under the Queen‘s skin as well? Anyway, good work, show, continue with this. :)
Speaking of pairings, the established couple vibe with Seven and Raffi works for me in this episode, too, getting the right mixture of bickering and being there for each other. BTW, I was relieved Raffi was after the laptop in the police car and knew how to hack into it rather than just wanting to vent her (understandable) ire on the car and/or steal it, because the later would have made her look foolish.
More ominous flashbacks to Picard‘s mother, and also background family information beyond Picard‘s life time in that we hear the family fled to England during WWII and remained there for a century or so before returning to France. Presumably this is to explain Patrick Stewart‘s British English? If so, not necessary, I never assume anyone is speaking actual English in Star Trek, as opposed to some futuristic lingo we tv watchers just hear as English for our convenience. Otoh, I guess there‘s also some symbolic thematic relevance with „the Nazis had their headquarters here“, underground tunnels, and Picard having to confront something he has avoided dealing with before this season.
And then there‘s the near episode ending „The Watcher“ being Laris reveal - or is she? The same actress playing „The Watcher“ does not have to mean she‘s the same person, because while Vulcans and Romulans are longer lived than humans, they‘re not that much longer lived. Though it could also be Laris isn‘t really a Romulon but a different type of being. Not sure how I‘d feel about that if that‘s the case.
Lastly, the Q appearance at the very end confirms something hinted at two eps earlier, that Q has his own problems (presumably in connection with whatever is going on with the alternate timeline). In this particular scene he seems to be unable to access his powers. Which we‘ve seen before in one of TNG‘s most successful comedy episodes, but somehow I doubt this will be played for comedy. I guess it‘s to heighten the stakes, i.e. showing the audience Q can‘t just reverse things with a snap of his fingers whenever he feels like it and it is really up to PIcard & Co. to restore the timeline…
no subject
Date: 2022-03-26 12:07 pm (UTC)I do like Seven/Raffi, they seem to have very similar forceful personalities, so it's interesting Seven being the voice of reason and level headedness and dealing with people better than Raffi is at the moment. And yet the dynamic flips a bit into the car while Seven is reckless driver and Raffi understands traffic laws better for some reason.
I agree about Q and I wonder what he was trying to accomplish, he seemed to be trying to stop that women doing something but whether that was to start the new timeline or prevent it. I'm still going with the theory that Q genuinely did not kick this off from his comments in the second episode.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-26 06:58 pm (UTC)Re: Time‘s Arrow: since I would guess the script writers rewatched all the eps with Guinan and Picard scenes while preparing for this season, I presume we‘ll get an explanation.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-28 01:14 pm (UTC)I'd hope the writers watched or at least read the summaries of Guinan/Picard episodes but I'm not sure I have that much faith in them.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-26 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-26 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-26 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-28 09:58 am (UTC)