Truly epic. One of the best things to bear the Star Trek name, both a love letter and a thank you to the fans who've remained loyal thru the last three plus decades.
Star Trek: Picard has been consistently excellent since its reformation with this brilliant narrative. The third time has definitely been the charm, and each episode has just been building upon the goodness. Between mouth agape and grinning so wide my face hurt, it's been just fantastic.
9.5/10 - for the distinguished gentleman who graced our screens ever so briefly; for Vadic's fascinating madness/Amanda's awesome acting, oh my word, her intentional physicality and the way she conveys SO much with her face; for that magnificent hallway choreography; for Deborah Kampmeier directing this episode for the film gods!
...I'd give it a 10, but I hate the lens flares, it's a nod to the Kelvin timeline, but imo they should never have brought it to Trek, just let JJ Abrams keep his shiny, pointless distractions. I'm also saving that 10 for the denouement, for the grand finale.
Following on from episode 6 theme: Let's chuck everything (completely unrelated to each other) at it and stuff the episode till there's no room left. We're getting the Gang back together!!!
Complete mess of an episode.
So, Starfleet (Section 31?) captured changelings and tortured them, experimented on them... and they fought back. Honestly, that much is relatable. But again, I wouldn't expect that plotthread in Picard. And Jack's apparently not suffering from Irumodic Syndrome after all, but rather a special kind of creepy mind-reading/manipulating guy... okay. Could someone explain to me why it makes any sense to lure those guys on your own ship while simultaneously activating a highly unstable new AI/android?
However, being stupid enough to leave Data/Lore on an open connection to the board computer... I'd expect that, of course, including the teary-eyed speech to reach Data.
Cameo of the week: Tuvok. So we've got, aside from Worf, VOY and TNG characters but no one who actually has personal experience with the changelings. Marvelous.
Series started off not with amazing writing or story, but nostalgia abundant. Now, the nostalgia continues, and the story is getting more interesting too. I had suspected Jack is half Changeling since the moment he saw hallucenations in his vision, and whatever the case is, I'm liking the development of his powers
What happened to Tuvoks teeth, I mean some of the older cast just look horrible.
9/10
Superb
Holy-Shit that was
Frickin Awesome,
that was one of the most
Tense episodes of
Trek I think I've
ever watched.
The character development
with Jack is amazing
and so bloody interesting
and well thought out.
couldn't stand him at
the beginning but now
this show is taking the
time for us the audience
to get to know him,
I bloody love him,
He's so cool and caring,
By the way
WHAT THE FCUK WAS
THAT JACK,
Now that was
Awesome,
Jesus Christ,
So-Cool and I
was not expecting that.
Vadic continues to
be an Avengers
level threat.
And somebody
give
Brent Spiner
an Emmy already
because that was
Epic acting like
Flawless and then some.
Some of the best acting
I have ever witnessed,
WOW...off the charts.
Oh dear we're in the
Shit now, not sure how
we get out of this
Cluster Fcuk,
(who's idea was
this again,
Oh for the record
It was a terrible idea),
what could possibly
go wrong,
oh yeah...that.
I enjoy the way the show seems to be exploring/revealing the dark side of the Federation. But, at the same time, I feel conflicted about it, because I imagine it goes against Gene's ideology for Star Trek.
What is this a Legion crossover :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: another son of Xavier getting his latent mutant powers?
What about that Hunger Games: Catching Fire reference made by Amanda Plummer? Tick Tock!
Brilliant episode. Really getting in to the story line now. Can see the connections with S01 and S02.
Review by Alexander von LimbergBlockedParent2023-03-30T20:15:57Z— updated 2023-04-07T08:53:09Z
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 ....