# Star Trek: Picard discussion thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529 "2019-06-14T22:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/401 "2020-03-13T20:02:27Z")
Starfleet has reused names before. There have been about 3\* Defiant. \*. Some questions, 1. Wasn’t Rios’s skippers CO Picard sometimes Academy girlfriend? 2. Just what the hell was Raffi to Picard? Never seen in TNG or the films, yet she is someone from the past. How many years between Captain Picard relinquishing command of the _Enterprise_ and Admiral Picard’s resignation. A couple of years at most. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/402 "2020-03-13T21:14:03Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Starfleet has reused names before. There have been about 3\* Defiant. \*. > Some questions, > > 1. Wasn’t Rios’s skippers CO Picard sometimes Academy girlfriend? The Star Trek Memory Alpha wiki says, “Picard and Batanides had a crush on each other though neither decided to pursue it further. Picard later regretted that decision; however, when Q showed him what his life would have been like otherwise, he later came to realize that it would have meant the end of their friendship.” > [@](#): > > 1. Just what the hell was Raffi to Picard? Never seen in TNG or the films, yet she is someone from the past. How many years between Captain Picard relinquishing command of the _Enterprise_ and Admiral Picard’s resignation. A couple of years at most. How do we know she is someone from his past, and that he knew her before she was assigned to him for the supernova evacuation missions? The same wiki says “According to the PIC Season 1 press kit, Musiker was a veteran Starfleet Intelligence agent with experience investigating and analyzing Romulan affairs and a “formidable tactician”. It also claims that after Picard’s retirement from Starfleet, she returned to Starfleet Intelligence before eventually leaving the service.” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/403 "2020-03-13T22:01:57Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > How do we know she is someone from his past, and that he knew her before she was assigned to him for the supernova evacuation missions? The same wiki says "According to the PIC Season 1 press kit, Musiker was a veteran Starfleet Intelligence agent with experience investigating and analyzing Romulan affairs and a “formidable tactician”. It also claims that after Picard’s retirement from Starfleet, she returned to Starfleet Intelligence before eventually leaving tfrom the linked page is > “Formerly Admiral Picard’s first officer on a past mission, Raffi Musiker is also a veteran Starfleet Intelligence Agent and formidable tactician. Her experience investigating and analyzing Romulan affairs was a vital asset to Picard on their previous mission together. Over the course of this assignment, Musiker became a close friend and confidant to Picard. When the admiral retired in 2385 she returned to Starfleet Intelligence, but eventually left the service.” So it does not sound like they personally knew each other before, they were close during the 3-4 years together on the Romulan assignment, and we know from the show Picard did not keep in touch with her during the 14 years between his retirement and the events of the season. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/404 "2020-03-13T22:11:08Z")
sorry; the board is slow and my post came out garbled, but I hope the meaning is clear ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/405 "2020-03-13T23:38:53Z")
So Raffi hooks Picard up with a pilot she knows that may be willing to help him, and as it turns out that pilot just happened to have a deep tragic personal past connection with what Picard was doing, and he didn’t even realize it until he saw Soji? That’s…pretty weak. ---
**Author:** ![mako88sb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@mako88sb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mako88sb)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/406 "2020-03-14T00:08:31Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > I never thought of either of them as great actors. Perfectly competent, and did lovely things with their roles over the years of inhabiting them, but that’s about it. > > I’ll be damned if they both didn’t make me tear up a few times during last night’s episode. I know many of the cast members have remained close, and maybe that bled through into their performances; the camaraderie and the genuine caring that Picard, Riker, and Troi have for one another was palpable. Yes, well said. I thought it was a nice touching tribute they named their daughter Kestra. Troi finding out about a deceased sister she never knew about in the episode “Dark Page” was quite the tear jerker for me, especially the pain Lxaxana buried away for so long needing to be dealt with. I usually didn’t care for her contribution to the series in that role but she nailed that episode. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/407 "2020-03-14T02:37:10Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Starfleet has reused names before. There have been about 3\* Defiant. \*. You have to admit though that in a fictional universe where Starfleet is supposed to have a truly gigantic number of ships, it’d odd they had to pick the same name as the ship Khan commandeered. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/408 "2020-03-15T04:53:00Z")
Picard Ep 8, Broken Pieces seems to borrow heavily from Voyager season 3 Ep 17 Unity. _We’re in deep trouble, let’s restart the Collective and use its strength to fix the problem._ Unity is in my top ten list of great Voyager episodes. If you haven’t seen the Voyager ep. Obviously there’s a plot description **spoilers for Voyager** > **[Unity (episode)](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Unity_(episode))** > > Chakotay is injured and trapped on a world where the inhabitants are embroiled in conflict, but the people who rescue and care for him harbor a disturbing secret. "First officer's log, stardate 50614.2. Ensign Kaplan and I are returning to Voyager... ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/409 "2020-03-15T05:08:26Z")
There’s also a Voyager episode, S06 Ep E02, Survival Instinct where former Borg deal with PTSD. They blame Seven of 9 because they were on a Borg mission and got separated from the Collective. The drones resumed their normal personalities and could have been freed much earlier. Seven freaked out and initiated a Borg rescue beacon. Resulting in their recapture and many more years of Borg enslavement. Anyway, seeing Borg as victims has been done before. Picard is just exploring it in more detail. SPOILER for Voyager > **[Survival Instinct (episode)](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Survival_Instinct_(episode))** > > Seven encounters three ex-Borg with whom she had been temporarily separated from the Collective eight years previously. 2368 Dusk on an alien world. A Borg sphere streaks through the sky before crashing on the surface. Night on a foggy, swampy world.... ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/410 "2020-03-15T05:31:45Z")
I am enjoying the Picard series. The plot seems a bit rushed. They’re glossing over a lot of great material that really should be developed slowly on screen. But that would take several seasons. Patrick Stewart isn’t getting any younger. He might not be available in 5 years. Picard’s story arc reminds me of DS9’s complexity. The introduction of the Dominion, The Founders, and ultimately the war. It took 5 seasons to properly develop and present the story arc. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/411 "2020-03-16T18:27:00Z")
Did anyone but me go a little WTF at how the holo-doc/hospitality/engineer thingy got its personality and memories? It did a “full scan” when Rios took over, and he had to go in and delete memories? So now Trek computers can just scan the memories right out of a person? When did this become possible, and why aren’t more people freaked the fuck out about it? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/412 "2020-03-16T19:14:44Z")
Maybe if someone gets too freaked out about it, the authorities just go in and edit their personality 🙂 (aka involuntary psychiatric treatment) Anyway memory editing, brainwashing, and similar have come up in Star Trek before. Full scans too obviously, since that is how their transporters are said to work, and the Trek computers are perfectly capable of sifting through memories, creating holo-versions of people, whatever you want. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/413 "2020-03-16T22:07:23Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Did anyone but me go a little WTF at how the holo-doc/hospitality/engineer thingy got its personality and memories? It did a “full scan” when Rios took over, and he had to go in and delete memories? So now Trek computers can just scan the memories right out of a person? When did this become possible, and why aren’t more people freaked the fuck out about it? In earlier episodes Rios was using some of the holograms as a kinda substitute therapist to complain to, until he got annoyed and shut it off. My guess is the holos are combining what they remember from talking to Rios with whatever they can find in Starfleet records, and Rios spends time deleting their memories when he sobers up. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/414 "2020-03-19T21:46:41Z")
So The Borg are no match for Flower Power? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/415 "2020-03-19T22:19:23Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Did anyone but me go a little WTF at how the holo-doc/hospitality/engineer thingy got its personality and memories? It did a “full scan” when Rios took over, and he had to go in and delete memories? So now Trek computers can just scan the memories right out of a person? When did this become possible, and why aren’t more people freaked the fuck out about it? Trek can erase selective memories. Transfer personalities to computers…etc…in TOS a Mind Sifter could be used. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/416 "2020-03-20T15:40:18Z")
So now they can scan someone’s mind to make a hologram, but they can’t figure out mind transference to a “Synthetic”? Sometimes I just have to sit back and be happy. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/417 "2020-03-20T17:04:13Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > So The Borg are no match for Flower Power? Well, it was a barely-functional half-crippled ship. Still, that sort of thing might’ve come in handy at Wolf 359… I’m a bit disappointed that they were so quick in removing all ambiguity and had Sutra embrace cartoonish evil in an instant. I had been hoping for a bit more moral complexity, but essentially, the synths are proving the Romulans right. I’m holding out hope that either due to errors in the transmission or thanks to her own synthetic mind not being quite advanced enough to cope with the Admonition, Sutra hasn’t really gotten the true message, which is then something other than ‘call us and we’ll kill all the organics for you’. And when they first landed on the planet of the synths, did anybody else think, well, they’ve probably got some intricate and inviolable, yet arbitrary codex of law, transgression of which means instant death sentence? Was impressed with the La Sirena sporting seatbelts, though. Technology really does advance! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/418 "2020-03-20T18:35:34Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > And when they first landed on the planet of the synths, did anybody else think, well, they’ve probably got some intricate and inviolable, yet arbitrary codex of law, transgression of which means instant death sentence? Not really. Maybe if they had all been wearing white diapers. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/419 "2020-03-27T18:08:01Z")
That was a weird ending, kinda. [spoiler]I’m left wondering whether they filmed it also in a version where Picard stays dead, to hedge their bets for being cancelled. As is, you get Picard’s sacrifice being undone, taken over—entirely pointlessly—by Data, with a big point being made of how the finitude of our lives is what gives them meaning, which of course, goes against resurrecting Picard in a synthetic body—hence, they have to sorta renege on that, too, by having that body come with an expiry date, which was apparently a totally optional thing. I mean, even the ethical implications of resurrecting somebody only to set them a date by which they’ll die… Also, now death is cured in both Star Trek timelines. I expect that, in the future, people will make regular backups of their minds before any dangerous missions, etc., to be resurrected in a ‘golem’ body. Ha, nah, of course, they’re just gonna ignore it, the way the Abramsverse ignored Kahn’s magic blood.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529/420 "2020-03-27T18:35:16Z")
It was a lame, disappointing ending. I cannot argue there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-discussion-thread/835529.md?page=22)