3x07 Dominion

Seriously: even him? I mean, it's not him - but it's him. I appreciate the nostalgia but enough is enough. Somewhere the line must be drawn. This is not a story; this is a Trek reunion. Plus, it's not a show in its own right when they "just" steal parts from earlier installments. Checking whether someone's a conspirator the old-fashioned way? Watch no further than TNG Season 1 "Conspiracy". Changelings infiltrating Star Fleet command? Look no further than DS9's Dominion wars. TNG shows you how not to drag out a story like this; DS9 shows you how to tell such a story over the course of several seasons. Picard gets the pacing wrong. The (presumably simple) main story is oddly drawn out. Think about this episode. What did really happen? They prepared a trap (in order to do what exactly? They think they have Riker? But did they expect bring Riker with them as part of the boarding party? They tried to get away from this ship for 6 episodes and now they think it's a good idea to lure them aboard? I don't get it.) They failed. The ship was taken over and we're not closer to anything. What are they trying to achieve? Rescue Wil, uncover the weapon or what ever this is the shape shifters want to use on Frontier Day? Shouldn't they try to disclose and end the conspiracy first? There amust be a way to inform trusted officers within Star Fleet. There must be a way to convince them that they are no fugitives. There must be a way to purge Star Fleet from the changelings. All while the show has no time to decently tell its too many B-plots or portray its too many characters. Stealing doesn't stop there. Remember Odo's origin story? His trauma? Stolen! Remember Lore pretending to be Data? Stolen! The list goes on and on.

Still not revealing the Jack mystery? Another cliffhanger? Frau Greta Farbissina [James Bond logic: who must be mad because she's a villain because she has a scar] obviously is about to lift the veil but I'm sure that next episode won't start with her simply telling us what's wrong with the Crusher boy (this one - not the older one). Still nobody bothers to find out? JLP thinks it's because they need a blood sample of Jack to emulate him? Plus, they need JLP`s corpse to do so? Whaaaat? Why that? It makes no sense on so many levels. Why is nobody pressing the boy hard on the mystery BS of his? "I'm different. I can feel things." Gosh. Why is nobody asking him to elaborate on that so that can be examined thoroughly? "I don't want other people to be in danger because of me". Gosh! What exactly does he think he did to his mother all the time? That's perhaps the most annoying aspect of this show. Let's get over with this. Nobody cares about Jack anyway. He's a prick. And the show didn't invest any time to portray him in a way that makes me bond with him.

PS: the whole boarding operation is stupid. Those laser shoot-outs remind me of Star Troopers. The force fields are conveniently lowered by Data when they needed to be lowered to turn tables. Seizing the bridge is too easy. No wonder: when that's convenient, Seven must act stupid. That's not our Seven from back in the day. She's just fan service in this episode. How could she not know that Changelings could mimic the floor if they wanted to? Didn't she watch DS9 on TV? I've seen more exciting boarding operations in TNG and Voyager. What happened to switching off the power to the turbo lifts? What happened to climbing ladders? What happened to hiding in Jefferies tubes? What happened to arming yourself with the big guns when you're about to be boarded? What happened to well devised traps? Well, perhaps I'm wrong and let them take the bridge was the actual trap all along. Maybe. Let's see. In any case our heroes will regain the upper hand. It's a tiring cycle ....