Star Trek TV

[Skummy]

7 minutes ago, stokeriño said:

I didn't mind this. The Pyramids are currently about 4,500 years old and are a good reference for us, so there's no reason they shouldn't be an equally good reference to make 500 years later.

Dunkirk is slightly trickier, but I'd say it works on the basis of a) the interviewer didn't have a clue what he was talking about, b) Picard is a history nerd, c) Picard is THE MOST ENGLISH FRENCHMAN EVER and so a bit of history about Brits evacuating from France seems appropriate.

Yeah, the Pyramids is slightly more acceptable, and I can understand why the character of Picard might go to Dunkirk....but it still felt incredibly lazy. But also, there's been a solid two centuries or more of intergalactic conflict at this point, the idea that World War 2 would still be the go-to analogy for war-time bravery seems extremely unlikely, even for a history nerd.

[Lint]

After watching S1E2, pretty sure I don't like ST:P.  If for no other reason then the suddenly racist, xenophobic Starfleet.  

[RazorsEdge]

Episode 2 was definitely not as good as episode 1 but I'll give it a pass as it's obviously about showing us the current state of Starfleet and Picard. I like the firey Irish Romulan.

[K]

On 31/01/2020 at 07:41, Lint said:

After watching S1E2, pretty sure I don't like ST:P.  If for no other reason then the suddenly racist, xenophobic Starfleet.  

I'm enjoying it. It's a pretty weird leap, you're right, but evil star fleet admirals have been well represented in the past and wasn't the whole point of episode two that

Starfleet had been compromised by the mega Tal shiar? An organisation that I'm not entirely sure needed to be invented by the writers.

Overall I'm enjoying it, but i think these first three episodes will be better served in future watching them back to back.

[K]

Just saw this thread on twitter about how Starfleet and the Federation have done some very shady things in the past: (Worth clicking through to the rest of the thread)

 

[K]

also how funny is a romulan with an irish accent? love it.

[Lint]

On 01/02/2020 at 18:36, K said:

also how funny is a romulan with an irish accent? love it.

I noticed that too!  She didn't always seem to have it though, like she couldn't keep it hidden or something

[Skummy]

The Federation not being a clear-cut utopia is hardly new - I tend to feel that TOS needed to be Utopian by design against the backdrop of the Cold War and the Civil Rights movement; showing a future where all the people of Earth work together in relative harmony was a significant message. All post-Cold War Trek has had to at least entertain the suggestion that Utopia isn't all it's cracked up to be, because it had to show that the concept of "The End of History" and Utopian thinking attached to that was potentially dangerous.

I don't think it was handled well here, though -

Spoiler

Picard's dissatisfaction with the Federation would work better for me if it were just an issue of the Federation having become too big, too bureaucratic, and too stuck in its ways to remember why it existed, and too disconnected from the day-to-day actions of Starfleet to be trusted to make the right decision. It should be that complacency and sticking too rigidly to the letter rather than the spirit of the law has led them to be unwieldy and no longer fit for purpose, with a possible sideline in corruption by the upper echelons.

Having the problems of Starfleet largely, or even partially, reduced to "Romulan infilitration" could still result in the blame being on Starfleet top rank's complacency in allowing it to happen, but mostly it's still placing the blame on Something Out There rather than Good Guys Gone Bad. Doesn't help that it all feels a little "Hail Hydra".

Irish Romulan is hilarious. In theory I suppose it's no weirder for a Romulan to have an Irish accent than to have a Transatlantic accent, but when she said "fecking", I laughed out loud, because they're not even trying to pretend that it's anything other than an Irish accent. Raises so many questions. 

Another bit of "really? This is happening in 2400?" business was Picard being stopped at Starfleet reception to pick up his guest pass, and having to spell out his name to the receptionist. I get that the point was to show that he's yesterday's man, but this is a universe with readily available intelligent computer interfaces (how one such interface operates on facial and vocal recognition having been explained in this episode), and all manner of retinal and facial scanning, fingerprint scanning, and other ID verification systems commonplace, yet Starfleet HQ is still relying on a lone receptionist, a signing in book and visitor passes. 

Mostly thought this was a weak episode that added nothing substantial to episode 1 beyond Romulan intrigue, but I popped for a reference to the Gorn.

 

[Hobo]

On 03/02/2020 at 05:59, Lint said:

I noticed that too!  She didn't always seem to have it though, like she couldn't keep it hidden or something

It didnt seem very hidden in the first episode tbh!

[9 to 5]

The amount of smoking in this was odd from a Star Trek show.

[Lint]

2 hours ago, 9 to 5 said:

The amount of smoking in this was odd from a Star Trek show.

Especially since they've mentioned that isn't a thing anymore in the past

[RazorsEdge]

Spoiler

HUGH!

I like that this episode seemed to be "okay okay we're finally getting somewhere hang on"

[Toe]

I really liked the latest episode except...

Spoiler

...for the part where Elnore cut off the head of the Romulan harassing Picard. The scene itself was fine, I just thought the CG looked pretty terrible. 

 

[Hobo]

I feel like I enjoy Picard when it's just Patrick Stewart doing things more than anything else.

[Toe]

1 hour ago, Hobo said:

I feel like I enjoy Picard when it's just Patrick Stewart doing things more than anything else.

I've said this to a few friends when they've asked me about the show. 

I'm such a giant Star Trek fan that my opinion doesn't really matter. I'd probably love the show if every episode was just Picard sitting, reading a book, and sipping on tea for an hour.

[Your Mom]

I decided to try Discovery. Is it any good? I've heard mixed reviews

[Your Mom]

Spoiler

Oh god those fuckers ate Michelle Yeoh!

 

[RazorsEdge]

9 hours ago, Your Mom's Side Chick said:

I decided to try Discovery. Is it any good? I've heard mixed reviews

It drags in some parts, especially in season 1 (I think it was pretty good as far as Star Trek season 1s go) but it's still pretty good.

On Picard we've had Irish Romulan so now time to top that with Australian Romulan.

[K]

13 hours ago, RazorsEdge said:

It drags in some parts, especially in season 1 (I think it was pretty good as far as Star Trek season 1s go) but it's still pretty good.

On Picard we've had Irish Romulan so now time to top that with Australian Romulan.

Lmao yeah I'm loving the accented Romulans. 

[K]

also i knew it was coming anyway, but

the amount of times they went our of their way to say 'Him' or 'He' at the end before beaming 7of9 aboard, like they were trying to deflect your expectations or whatever. it was pretty annoying