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Star Trek: Picard S01E01 - Remembrance
Taking place 20 years after Star Trek: Nemesis, we'll be finally reunited with Jean-Luc Picard as he takes on the next chapter of his life.
S01E01 - Remembrance
At the end of the 24th Century, and 14 years after his retirement from Starfleet, Jean-Luc Picard is living a quiet life on his vineyard, Chateau Picard. When he is sought out by a mysterious young woman, Dahj, in need of his help, he soon realizes she may have personal connections to his own past.
Anybody can create this thread! If you see the episode first, do it up!
I was initially concerned since I'm pretty lukewarm on Discovery (I really can't help but laugh at the twirling camera sometimes), but the first episode was pretty promising. I like the general plot they established but it did feel a tad rushed. The best part of the whole episode was the interview IMO. It struck a nice chord with the current feelings of the modern world and the "do the right thing" mentality that Picard/TNG has always had. That's the real strength of Star Trek, and something that Discovery has yet to do effectively.
I also agree with the interview. Stewart seems so comfortable as Picard, and that scene really demonstrated this.
We can see that interview on TV in the last Short Trek for a brief moment, too, which is a nice touch.
These series should start up with two episodes -- one that establishes and then one that gives us a good feel for the rest of the series. I think Apple is going to be using this formula.
I'm totally with you re: Discovery. It started out strong, but I've lost interest. The episodes are all chit chat, then they cram in a bit of action. I always hate the trope where everything is being destroyed around the characters, but they still have time to take a minute to reflect on their love for each other, etc.
It did feel a bit rushed, but overall I think they did a great job. I quibble with the death of Dahj. They made it so clear that we're supposed to believe she's a synth, and that she's doesn't understand her own abilities. Do when the dramatic moment came where she died, I felt detached from it, assuming the whole time that either she'd walk out of it unscathed. I still think there's a good chance she'll reappear later.
I felt more impact from the final camera pull where we observe that the "Romulan Reclamation Post" is inside a Borg cube. WTF is that about.
You know what really pissed me off about the death of Dahj?
It cut to commercial immediatley afterwards.
And it could have been the perfect place to end the episode, and leave it a cliffhanger, for maximum cliff-hanger-ness... I started to get so mad that they ended it there, I was about to start throwing stuff.
Then, after the commercial break, the episode continued.
No, on CBS, ad-plan.
Agreed. The scenes focused on Picard were great, but most scenes containing Dahj felt like something from a generic sci-fi/superhero thriller. I want less superhero action scenes and more of Picard convincing or arguing with people about weighty stuff.
Dahj is an android, why wouldn't she have superhuman abilities similar to Data?
There's a definite choice in how to present that - in this case it started with "I know kung fu" and edged fairly close in to leaping tall buildings in a single bound. In TNG's case it was a quizzical look while calmly and immovably holding the fist of a much larger attacker.
Science always bends to fit narrative in Trek, but if they'd wanted to it would be easy enough to say that she has Data's mind, but as a flesh and blood being her physical abilities are just those of an athletic human.
My only experience with star trek is TNG. I keep meaning to watch DS9, but I just haven't gotten around to it. My first impression of this show is that the story seems fine, but the music and visuals are overdone. Feels really overproduced. I agree with @Autoxidation about the interview scene being the best one in the episode though.
Stewart's performance was phenomenal.
It's setting up for an amazing sci-fi story - the Romulans in the Borg cube; the "synths", which reminded me of Space: Above and Beyond's "tanks" and the whole social commentary around that; and an extension of the "Lal" story from TNG's The Offspring - but it's also grounded by a nicely blended futurescape that doesn't feel artificial. It's more organic, and more human.
It still has Star Trek's innate optimism, but it's not saccharine like TNG often was, it's a tempered optimism balanced with some real-world cynicism and realism, without falling into the Discovery NEEDSMOREEXPLOSIONS trope.
Oh, and Stewart's performance was phenomenal.
I came here to add my thoughts, and it's quite reassuring to see that others have already covered a lot of what I would have said.
The interview, the poker game, the emotion in Picard's voice when he talks about the friend who gave his life for him are all, for me, flawless. That alone gives me a lot of hope for the series and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
Dahj 'activating' was a little formulaic, but she became compelling quickly, and tracking down Picard when she was lost seemed like a much more genuine use of Data's abilities, which I enjoyed.
The roof sequence was something of a farce. It didn't have the neat, precise, robotic feel of the first fight (and I mean robotic in a very positive way, given the context), and it was cheesy enough that I genuinely thought it might have been another dream sequence when we cut to Picard waking up on the sofa.
I'd still make a heavy bet on a last-second beam out or similar having kept her alive, because it just didn't feel like a believable death to me. I also hope she is alive so they don't just use her sister as a direct replacement - that'd undermine a lot of what they're saying about the two of them being individual, thinking, feeling people with their own lives and experiences.
All in all, though, I'm pleased. It's early days yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes!
I was somewhat skeptical about them bringing Picard back, but I am extremely optimistic. I really like that they allowed the world to rapidly progress, but not so much that it feels completely foreign.
The overall aesthetic is fantastic. Sort of a 'grounded futurism'; we still see doors with hinges. I also liked the boyfriend's criticism of Dahj's limited replicator. It's an interesting detail.
The scenes with Data were fantastic. I tried to avoid as many trailers as I could, but they showed clips on Graham Norton and a few other shows... and I was weak in the moment. I was concerned that Data would be his butler, of sorts. Thank Q that he wasn't! I love every bit of how they handled their scenes.
I also love that they're recalling Bruce Maddox from TNG.
This feels cinematic, and I love it. If this maintains it's course, I think we're in for a real treat.
Also, let us not forget Picard Hater Bingo :)
On reddit, someone quoted this scene from All Good Things...
Not a whole lot to say yet. I'm slightly annoyed that they killed off the one of a kind Daughter of Data character and then it turns out, "nah it's fine, she has a sister" and they know this because an intrinsic part of the hyperscience (that may or may not exist) that they are using is that there's two of them, cause of reasons. But other than that, the tone is interesting in that it's a Star Trek show that's more following a character rather than a ship or a crew. I'm in for at least the rest of the free month.