# Star Trek Picard Review **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [August 7, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458 "2020-08-07T00:47:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/101 "2022-03-10T14:51:35Z")
I’ll wait until the whole season comes out before I watch it. With season 1, I was interested enough to start watching it as it came out, and I really couldn’t get into it, just didn’t really interest me. A few months later, I didn’t have much to do, so binged the first season, not that it took all that long, and found it much more engaging that way. Certainly wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever watched, but it was entertaining enough for a single watch through. > [@RickJay](#): > > And that’s the problem with going huge in Season 1. Ya gotta go huger. You can’t just have a normal Star Trek show where every episode is a bunch of neat characters solving a new space problem. It’s always a problem to go too big. Big stakes in the story means small stakes to the audience. If the fate of the universe rests in the balance, then you know the heroes will win the day. If the fate of a single world or city or individual hangs in the balance, there’s more room for the heroes to fail, and that makes it more interesting. IMO, once the heroes have saved the universe, they should retire, as pretty much the least interesting thing they could do now is to save the universe _again_, and the second least interesting thing they can do is something with lower stakes. > [@RickJay](#): > > I was unable to even continue with Discovery Season 4 because it was so unremittingly shitty. Wow, season 4? I don’t think I made it to episode 4 of the first season. Picard had its problems, but it was far better than Discovery, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/102 "2022-03-10T15:14:40Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Wow, season 4? I don’t think I made it to episode 4 of the first season. Picard had its problems, but it was far better than Discovery, IMHO. Picard has the advantage of having an interesting lead to begin with - who may forget where he left his toothbrush, but won’t cry at every event. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/103 "2022-03-10T15:25:42Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s OBVIOUSLY Picard’s mother. Holy shit, what a horrible idea. So his Mother being the Borg is the reason he entered space in the first place. This is the exact kind of retcon we don’t need. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/104 "2022-03-10T15:32:21Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Picard visits Guinan basically for no other purpose than to have a scene were he sits and talks with a character about his feelings. The scene serves no narrative purpose at all. Did you notice they were at a place on Forward St? Number 10? Yeah… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/105 "2022-03-10T15:56:10Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Did you notice they were at a place on Forward St? Number 10? > > Yeah… I did. I didn’t mind that little gag. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/106 "2022-03-10T16:04:04Z")
Honestly - since they’ve made it obvious from the outset that ‘nothing we see can be trusted and will likely be reset by the end of the season’ - I have little interest in watching this season. Maybe that will change, maybe not. I realize that quite a few episodes of trek (voyager year of hell, inner light, etc) have had this same overall concept (reset at end of episode, never happened) and were fantastic - but they were not as obvious from the start that that was the deal. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/107 "2022-03-10T16:05:04Z")
The bit wasn’t bad by itself but it was part of the same thing - pointless callbacks aimed at satisfying fans who would actually rather have solid plotting and character development ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/108 "2022-03-10T17:33:07Z")
I agree it’s a symptom of the same illness, but at least a fun little callback like that doesn’t get in the way of the plot. Entire scenes of people saying vague things about feelings that do not advance the story, character or theme, though, that’s a different matter. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/109 "2022-03-10T20:30:33Z")
The advantage Picard has is its full toolbox of years and years of lore and cameos and history to draw on to create an interesting mystery box. Add to that the fantastic production value. The big con to all this for me this season is…Q. Enough Qness. Like Picard we’re all older now and are too old to put up with the bullshit. JUST TELL US WHAT YOU WANT Q. I guess Picard has to fight for his friends, but if _I_ were Picard? And it were just me?..I’d tell Q to fuck off and if he wants me to live out the next 5-10 years of my lifespan in this alternate reality where I’m King? Sure. Why not. I don’t care enough anymore to dig through his ‘mysterious ways.’ That said 1. This can’t be the Mirror Universe cause nothing lines up. Even IF I take into account that TOS-DS9 Mirror Unis and DISCO Mirror uni are alternate timeline universes. In DISCOverse the Mirror universe had already conquered the galaxy (Head canon here) because they used the TOS Reliant’s tech in addition to any unclaimed powerful artifacts located in its history banks. 2. I wonder if Q is pissed cause humanity have discovered ‘immortality’ with their Westworld tech. Though like Westworld, I think its just fancy cloning and not immortality. Which is dumb given we’ve ALREADY seen in Trek: ---
**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 10, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/110 "2022-03-10T21:10:14Z")
I want a Catton Oswald. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/111 "2022-03-10T21:21:27Z")
“madam president” - …click… I give up. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/112 "2022-03-10T21:43:27Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > So his Mother being the Borg is the reason he entered space in the first place. No, Picard is the Borg Queen’s father! Time travel, y’all. no wait - Picard IS the Borg Queen! Mind. Blown. Doesn’t matter, I’m not watching it. But I like reading the threads. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/113 "2022-03-10T22:34:40Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > I wonder if Q is pissed cause humanity have discovered ‘immortality’ with their Westworld tech. Though like Westworld, I think its just fancy cloning and not immortality. Which is dumb given we’ve ALREADY seen in Trek: > > Actual soul-transfer into an android In TOS AND TNG > Soul transfer between humans. Plus, there’s that immortality world from _Insurrection_. Remember that? ---
**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 11, 2022, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/114 "2022-03-11T06:45:07Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s OBVIOUSLY Picard’s mother. Holy shit, what a horrible idea. I honestly hadn’t thought of that. My thought was Seven, because she’d been the most overtly anti-Borg, so her becoming that very thing she hates ‘for the greater good’ would be some kind of clumsy arc. But yes, that seems the most obvious, and most horrible, way for this to go. Which makes me hope they’ll not actually go there. Here’s another horrible idea. The Borg we’ve seen obviously came through something other than their usual transwarp channels, and there was verbiage like ‘a tear in spacetime’, or what have you. Plus, Picard’s now seemingly ended up in an alternate timeline. We know the Borg can time-travel, so what if those aren’t our universe’s Borg, but refugees from another timeline? One perhaps in which matters diverged at some point, like hmm the _USS Kelvin_ being destroyed by time-traveling Romulans, leading to the destruction of Vulcan and the emergence of a more warlike Federation? Maybe they’re folding the Abramsverse into the old main Trek continuity with this… ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/115 "2022-03-11T13:00:52Z")
Picard’s in an alternate timeline because Q intervened as the Stargazer was self destructing. Best we know at this point, everything in episode 1 up until the end ‘really happened’ - but I am sure by the end of the season, Q will give Picard enough time to choose a different path and prevent it. Hell, even the Borg showing up when/how they did may have been a Q thing. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/116 "2022-03-11T13:11:51Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@RickJay](#): > > > > It’s OBVIOUSLY Picard’s mother. Holy shit, what a horrible idea. > > So his Mother being the Borg is the reason he entered space in the first place. This is the exact kind of retcon we don’t need. I haven’t watched, but are we talking about his DNA related human mother having been assimilated by the Borg? Not some technobabble Borg “mother” but his actual biological mother? If that’s the case that makes me even less likely to want to watch. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/117 "2022-03-11T14:09:34Z")
Might be a clone of his mother though Loved Episode 2, though why was old Jean Luc horrified by the Confederacy? Gul Dukat deserved death in all timelines General Martok was probably tickled pink at being given an honorable death, mumbling “today is a good day to die” while choking on his own vomit. Sarek I will admit was a bit much, but Vulcans get annoying. ---
**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 11, 2022, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/118 "2022-03-11T15:33:11Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Sarek I will admit was a bit much, but Vulcans get annoying. But how did Picard kill him in front of his wife and son? Wouldn’t Sarek’s human wife have long been dead by the time Picard is around? Regardless of nerdy nitpicks (also, how come the same people are alive in 2400 when you change the timeline in 2024, leading to a complete reversal of pretty much everything else?), I actually enjoyed that a lot. At first, I was annoyed that they’re doing the mirror universe yet again, but it’s not the mirror universe as such, I guess. (Also, I didn’t catch the Borg Queen’s ‘Look up!’ the first time around—so yeah, definitely Picard’s mother. 😕) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/119 "2022-03-11T17:03:37Z")
Ok the other hand the Borg have access to all of Picard’s memories, so it might have been them imitating a phrase his mother used to get a reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458/120 "2022-03-11T17:03:56Z")
Could just a ref to the memories assimilated from Picard. Sarek remarried a human after Amanda passed away. Along with adopting Burnham…seems he has a soft spot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-picard-review/917458.md?page=7)