star trek picard bounty

The Bounty (episode)

Now on the run, Picard and the skeleton crew of the USS Titan must break into Starfleet's most top-secret facility to expose a plot that could destroy the Federation. Picard must turn to the only soul in the galaxy who can help – an old friend.

• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.2 Story and script
• 3.3 Cast and characters
• 3.4 Production
• 3.5 Continuity
• 3.6 Reception
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Special guest stars
• 4.3 Guest starring
• 4.4 Co-starring
• 4.5 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.6 Stunt doubles
• 4.7 Stand-ins
• 4.8.1 Spacecraft references
• 4.8.2 LCARS references
• 4.8.3 Meta references
• 4.9 External links

Summary [ ]

Three Federation starships arrive at the location of a transponder left behind by the USS Titan -A , while another is found by the Shrike . Vadic grows increasingly frustrated, threatening her "ill-defined, unshapen" crew if another one tells her they have not located Picard . The Changeling at the helm explains that the Titan keeps leaving behind decoy transponders and jumping to warp at infrequent intervals. Vadic thinks of how exhausted they must be… as she is, as are all of their "brothers and sisters" who have to wear the faces of the Federation. She then becomes more upbeat, saying that there will be rest, a day of "lifeless bodies burning in space." They will have peace and unity again… but first, they will have their vengeance. The helm continues to persist; Frontier Day is 72 hours away, and they have no better idea of where Jack Crusher is than they did before. As they are saying a change of leadership might be needed, Vadic simply orders "enough" and the Changeling beside her draws their weapon and vaporizes the would-be mutineer on the spot.

Vadic sets her crew to work on finding all of Picard's known associates, including past and present Starfleet colleagues – anyone to whom he might turn for help. " We will scorch the Earth under which he stands, and the night will brighten with the ashes of the Federation, " she declares. " And from them… we will rise. "

Act One [ ]

In the Titan 's sickbay , Beverly Crusher speaks to Picard about Jack's condition. After he had confided in her about his waking nightmares, she ran a micro-neural scan, and found all of the portions of his brain relating to cognition and imagination were affected. Jack has a terminal diagnosis of Irumodic Syndrome , which he inherited from Picard. Beverly remembers how he had had nightmares and spoke to imaginary things as a child, but she had thought he was gifted, not "plagued with an overclocked brain." She has given him a neuro-inhibitor to temper the hallucinations, and it might be decades before the disease finally catches up with him. When Picard begins to speak, she stops him, telling him not to waste time burdening himself, when he could instead be unburdening Jack.

Picard finds Jack in the holodeck , still set to 10 Forward Avenue , seated at the bar having had several drinks by this point. When Jack sees him, he has the landlord pour one for his "old man" as well. He explains he is celebrating the fact that he is not crazy, just broken – and the way he sees it, he can either wallow in self-pity, or be like a Japanese teacup , which can be put back together with molten gold … or in Jack's case, bourbon . Picard thinks Jack should take it more seriously, but Jack says he is taking it "deadly serious," and quite possibly dead. He asks how Picard survived dealing with it, and Picard points out that he didn't , having had his body replaced with a golem , but he had lived with the syndrome for decades – and Jack has plenty more good years ahead of him. Jack laments that it was unfortunate Picard wasn't as good at passing on genetics as he is wisdom. His mother had tried to protect him from becoming "collateral damage" in Picard's life, but he finds it ironic that he was probably doomed before he was born. He downs his drink and leaves, just as Seven of Nine calls: "they" have arrived, she informs Picard.

Worf and Musiker beam aboard, greeted in the transporter room by Picard, Riker , Beverly, and Seven. Worf formally asks permission to come aboard, and Picard happily grants it, saying it has been too long. Worf replies it has been eleven years, five months, four days , minus his infrequent messages and his annual bottle of " sour mead ." Riker knows he was talking about Chateau Picard , which Worf thinks is "quite tart." Though she knows Worf was not a "hugger" (and Riker points this out), Beverly hugs him anyway, glad to see him. Musiker tells Picard that Worf engages in meditation, and Worf confirms this, saying that the most advantageous battle stance is to be one within oneself, earning an incredulous reaction from Riker. Musiker greets her former-lover Seven, asking if she is alright; Seven replies that they are alive, at least. Musiker and Worf had a difficult time tracking the Titan down, which gave them time to process the idea that Picard and Beverly were now parents. Worf then turns his attention to business, telling Picard that they have to ensure Ro Laren did not die in vain, to protect both Starfleet and her kin, and that they have much to report.

As the Titan goes to warp, the crew meets in the observation lounge with Captain Shaw . Worf explains that the Changelings have re-emerged as a threat. During the Dominion War , they had used deception and might against the Federation, and Starfleet retaliated with the morphogenic virus ; there were scars and shame on both sides. Starfleet had also provided the cure to the Great Link , but Shaw points out that it had weaponized a number of zealots as well. Ro believed that whatever was being planned was tied to Frontier Day – " no better stage on which to make a statement, " as Picard puts it, and the day was coming in less than 48 hours. With time a factor and no leads, Worf and Musiker believe they have to return to the scene of the crime: Daystrom Station , where Starfleet keeps its experimental weapons technology and alien contraband, off the books. A few months earlier, Vadic had broken into the station and stolen a number of classified weapons, including the portal weapon , but Musiker and Worf speculate that the portal's use at the recruiting center on M'talas Prime was meant to cover the theft of something else; Shaw thinks it obvious that the weapon they took is even more deadly than the portal weapon. Seven points out that the only way to know for certain is to check Daystrom's inventory, and Beverly adds the copy Ro was able to obtain was heavily redacted. The full manifest would be located inside Daystrom's vault. Starfleet security has had patrols every hour on the station since the break-in, but the vault itself is protected by an "astonishingly lethal" AI system, to which Worf and Musiker have acquired a key. However, if the key fails, instead of searching for one missing weapon, they will find themselves at the wrong end of many. Ro believed this weapon key to the entire conspiracy, and Picard also knows it is the only way they can both clear their names and save Starfleet. He then asks for volunteers.

Worf, Musiker, and Seven head to the transporter room, where Seven tries to reach out to Musiker. Seeing this, Worf says he has been in battle alongside lovers many times, and is able to mention how therapeutic it can be when Seven says she is not going. Worf is relieved, admitting he had been practicing deceit, and that breakups on his homeworld rarely ended without bloodshed. Riker then enters, having volunteered to join the team. Seven reports they have come out of warp as close as they could to beam them in without alerting Starfleet. Ro's intel had a workaround for the station's transport inhibitors , but they will have to beam them in and out before the manual patrols. Riker asks how long they have to find the weapons manifest, and Musiker estimates an hour at best. Riker hopes the key works, otherwise they will have to resort to "old-fashioned Klingon offense". Worf mentions that he now prefers pacifism to actual combat, before giving the order to energize. As the beam takes them, a deadpan Riker mutters that they are all going to die.

As they materialize inside the station, the station's AI conducts a security scan, requiring they identify themselves. Worf plugs Krinn 's key into the system, just as the computer threatens to use lethal force if the "Daystrom visitors" do not identify themselves. After a tense moment, the key succeeds, granting them access to the station. But outside, their troubles are just beginning: two starships drop out of warp, having managed to locate the Titan . Shaw orders red alert and tries to have the team brought back, but Lieutenant Mura says that he can't get a lock; the ships have activated transport inhibitors to block any rescue from the station. Sidney La Forge recognizes them as Echelon -class ships, and they have traceable payloads; if they hit the Titan with their weapons, they could track the ship as they fled. " Spoken like a true La Forge, " Picard commends her, before saying they have to run before their pursuers realize who is inside Daystrom. La Forge warns that short of being invisible, they won't be able to come back until the other ships can't track them. Picard taps his combadge and informs Riker of the situation, but adds he has an idea, before telling La Forge to set a course for Athan Prime . La Forge doesn't think it is a good idea, and Worf adds that Starfleet security will patrol that area in less than an hour. Picard promises they will be back by then. The two ships lock weapons, and Shaw gives the order to withdraw at maximum warp.

The team, now on their own, explores Daystrom's weapons vault, which Worf explains as being the repository for Section 31 's more "nefarious" technology. Among the items contained within are a thalaron generator , a second Genesis Device , and the body of Captain James T. Kirk . Worf is startled by a genetically modified tribble that viciously jumps at the glass in its containment cell. Riker jokes about the "mighty Klingon" and the even "mightier attack tribble," but Worf is not amused, seeing that Riker still finds comfort in humor, and humor in others' discomfort. Riker is surprised that Worf is so serious now, before Musiker directs them back to the mission at hand, and getting out – alive. The station's AI detects Riker's speech patterns and identifies him, preparing security measures. As they make their way through the corridors, a holographic crow flies past them, startling them. Riker thinks there is something familiar about it, before Worf calls out that he has found the mainframe. As he prepares to access it, a note from a violin can be heard over the comms, Riker identifying it as an F-sharp. A further burst of music sounds as the lights go out. When the emergency lights kick in, they are confronted by a man in a 19th century formal outfit, complete with top hat, and Riker is astonished to recognize him as Professor Moriarty .

" Greetings, old friends, " Moriarty says politely, as he pulls out a pistol from his coat.

Act Two [ ]

The Titan arrives at Athan Prime, home to the Fleet Museum . The " old spacedock " has been moved here, to act as the last resting place of legendary starships. Shaw orders La Forge to find a place among the "relics," to be a "needle in the haystack." The station hails them, and though La Forge is clearly hesitant, Shaw has it put on screen. Picard is glad to see the caller, Commodore Geordi La Forge , the museum's director and Sidney's father. But Geordi does not appear happy to see them, telling Picard to power down nonessential systems immediately.

Geordi beams aboard along with his daughter Alandra . He admits that in the nanosecond he spent in the transporter beam, he debated the virtues of a curt, professional handshake or an uncomfortable, but long-overdue hug, before electing to give Beverly the latter. He then gives curt greetings to Picard and Sidney. As Picard prepares to introduce him to Jack, Geordi interrupts, saying he is in the middle of his third memo to Starfleet protesting having all of the fleet in one location for Frontier Day. Further, with all of the thousands of people who visit the museum daily, sooner or later someone will point out the one ship that doesn't belong there. Geordi is adamant that they need to talk, and quickly leaves. Alandra greets her sister, who calls their father "impossible"; Alandra promises to do what she can. Jack sarcastically notes the "warm and cuddly" greeting, and Sidney admits she has not been on the best of terms with her father, something Jack sees they have in common.

On learning that Jack is Picard's son, Geordi is not entirely surprised that his old captain has managed to turn fatherhood into an intergalactic incident. Picard tries to explain that not only is Starfleet after them, but Changelings are as well, and tells him that Worf and Riker are stuck on Daystrom Station. Picard asks for Geordi's help to clone the Titan 's transponder signal to lure their pursuers away from Daystrom Station. Geordi is not happy to see his old friends pulled into the situation as well, and explains that even if he were willing, he couldn't clone a transponder signal without randomized Starfleet security codes. He then has Alandra explain the biggest problem: every ship in Starfleet is now fully integrated, able to "talk" to each other. The Titan is a beacon, and it will only be a matter of time before they get close enough to track. Picard realizes this was how the two Echelon s had found them.

At Daystrom Station, the search for the team continues, the starships USS Sternbach and USS Cole continuing their sensor sweeps. Musiker wonders what a 19th century holo-villain is doing defending a 25th century black site . Moriarty retorts that "villain" does not do justice to his complexity, and only reveals her simplicity; Riker remarks that at least somebody is consistent. Moriarty opens fire, his old-style pistol firing live rounds, while the team's phasers pass through his holographic form. As further musical notes blare, Riker realizes this is not the same self-aware Moriarty they encountered on the USS Enterprise -D decades before, but more of a projection, one that is blocking their way to the security vault. Riker is able to identify the musical notes as they come, while Moriarty calls them "solvable puzzles," mocking their unguarded expressions, their visible scars. " Such pathetic old warriors, " he sneers. Further musical notes sound, and Riker asks if he is trying to play some kind of a song for them. Moriarty confirms this, calling it a "maddening melody" and a "saccharine song," one he can not get out of his head. Riker then hears a portion he recognizes: " Pop Goes the Weasel ," recalling hearing it on the holodeck when he first came aboard the Enterprise -D. Riker whistles the last notes of the song. Moriarty smiles, calling it "marvelous," as his projection vanishes, and the door to the mainframe opens. Worf asks how he knew it would work, and Riker recalls he had shared that tune with another dear friend ages ago, one who also dreamt of crows and sought to thwart Moriarty with the intellect of Sherlock Holmes … " somebody who couldn't whistle worth a damn. " He recalls finishing the song the same way on the holodeck for Data decades before , who had also called it "marvelous." As they enter the mainframe, they see another Soong-type android : The station's security AI.

Act Three [ ]

Geordi makes it clear he wants to help his old captain and crew, but he has a lot at stake. In the best-case scenario, he faces court martial , and at worst, a compromised Starfleet will put his family at risk. Alandra mentions something in Hangar Bay 12 that could help them, but her father immediately shuts that down. Picard insists this is a life-or-death situation, but Geordi retorts that it is always life-or-death, which he felt fine with when he did so willingly with his own life while under Picard's command, but now he believes Picard has put Sidney in grave danger, a charge Picard denies, defending her choice to join Starfleet. As the fathers continue to argue, an exasperated Alandra leaves, apologetically reminding Sidney about their father's stubbornness.

Jack exchanges a glance with Sidney, before seating himself (over Seven's initial protest) in the captain's chair , saying he just wanted to "try it out." They cycle through the ships in the museum, and Jack is able to identify some of them: The USS Defiant , the USS New Jersey , and one he calls his personal favorite, the USS Enterprise -A , admiring her "clean retro lines," calling himself a " Constitution -class man." Seven remarks on how knowledgeable he is for someone who "didn't give a damn about Starfleet," but Jack has always been interested in starships, even before he knew about Picard being his father. Seven then brings up another ship that Jack calls a "beauty" but is unfamiliar with: The USS Voyager , which Seven explains had made its name farther out than any of the others had ever gone. She also calls it her home, where she had been "reborn," and the crew was her family. Jack sees she is now looking for another, noting how they were all looking for connection, but are always "just a little bit alone": " Stars in the same galaxy, but light years between us. " Seven laughingly tells him he is truly his father's son, as Picard also has a knack for "poetic drive-by observation," which she sometimes finds annoying… but can also make a person feel seen. Jack admits that being equal parts irritating and endearing isn't "entirely unfamiliar." Seven then brings up another ship, the HMS Bounty , a Klingon Bird-of-Prey pulled from the bottom of San Francisco Bay after " the whole whale thing " in 2286 . The story goes that the searchers had a difficult time finding it, and Jack realizes it was because the cloaking device had reactivated.

" They took a keen interest in your sentient AI friend here. "

Inside Daystrom's mainframe, Riker realizes the android was not trying to harm them; it was trying to communicate with them, because it recognized them. Musiker had thought Data had died ( twice ), and Riker confirms he did; Worf is adamant it can not be the same Data. Musiker examines the records, seeing this new android is a hybrid, a synthetic with an android interface. Riker thinks it could be their Data; before his first death, Data had copied his entire being into B-4 , which had been unrecoverable up to that point; with the synth ban now lifted, nothing was now impossible. After the death of Altan Soong , Starfleet co-opted most of his unfinished work, taking a particular interest in the new android. Musiker finds a holographic message from Soong in the records. In the recording, the doctor explains that before gifting his golem to Picard, he had intended to live beyond his years, becoming his own legacy. But in his last days, he recognized that this was not just poor Humanity, it was poor science. Evolution was not meant to be preservation – it was meant to be addition.

At the same time, aboard the Titan , Geordi explains that Sidney has always been stubborn, which he admits she likely inherited from him, thinking that a parent always wants to impart the best aspects of themselves to their children. Picard, recently introduced to fatherhood himself, has learned that one is not always in control of what they pass on – strengths, weaknesses, and flaws alike.

Soong goes on to explain that the new golem he wanted to create would have various aspects of the other Soong-type androids: Lal , B-4, Lore , and "a great deal" of Data, this time with the wisdom and "true Human " aesthetic of age, and the hope that within the totality, something – someone – will rise to be the best of them. However, the records indicate that Soong died before he was able to finish the work, and that the personalities within the golem are battling one another.

Geordi thinks back to his days on the Enterprise , rushing into danger. He never feared for his life, not like he does for Sidney. He wants to help, but he cannot do so and protect his children at the same time. Picard returns to the bridge, saying they are leaving; Geordi will not help them, and he has to respect his wishes. However, he tells Sidney that her father wants to speak to her first.

Sidney point-blank asks why Geordi won't help them. He sits his daughter down, explaining that he and Picard have reached an agreement: She is to stay at the museum with him, and Picard will say for the record she was an unwilling participant in his action. Sidney protests, knowing it is not true, but Geordi tells her this is how it has to be. Sidney knows what is at stake, having seen a corpse that looked just like her. Geordi insists it should be left to Starfleet, but she reminds him that she is also a Starfleet officer. She had grown up listening to his adventures under Picard's command, how they always stood up for what was right. Geordi thinks it was a different time, but Sidney does not, thinking that it all stems from her not being like Alandra, who became an engineer like their father. While Geordi could build ships, Sidney only wanted to fly them, and she feels he took that as her rejecting him, while she believes it brought them closer. " You would believe in this if you believed in me, " she says, rising to leave. Geordi stops her, asking if she knows what he and Alandra felt when the Titan went missing, and now that they are on the run, and Sidney is jeopardizing her life and career. Sidney reminds him she is on the run with her crew. When Geordi tells her they are not her family, she hits back that they are her family, because he had taught her that. " And I'm not scared to step up and help them, " she adds. " You are. "

As she returns to the bridge, Picard and Seven consider their options. They are almost out of time; Picard thinks they may have no choice but to return to Daystrom Station and engage the two Echelon 's themselves to rescue their team, and suggests meeting with Shaw to discuss strategy. After they leave, Jack apologetically remarks on how he is partly responsible for the situation, and compliments Sidney on her ability to fly them "rather wonderfully" out of the messes he's made. This leads him to two simple questions: First, how well did they know the museum facility, and two, how do they feel about engaging in "minor larceny?" The La Forge siblings exchange amused looks at this.

Musiker wonders why Starfleet would install an insane AI to protect their deepest secrets; Riker thinks it was because it is a one-of-a-kind work of art, certainly more advanced than anything Starfleet could come up with. He recalls how it glitched out when it saw them, because it recognized them. This means that the AI saw everything that came and went in the station. " He is not protecting the manifest, " Worf realizes; " he is the manifest. " As Musiker brings up the files, an alarm sounds: Starfleet security has found them. They are out of time, and Picard is not answering their repeated comms.

The Titan suddenly begins experiencing bursts of electromagnetic radiation , causing parts of the ship to seemingly phase out of view. Geordi demands to know what Picard has done, but Picard is just as confused as he is. Just then, the Titan disappears completely; now cloaked. Geordi accuses Picard of stealing the cloaking device from the Bird-of-Prey, but as Picard protests his innocence, he stops, as both fathers realize the culprits: Their children. Jack and Sidney are attempting to install the cloak, but are having difficulty with it. Geordi warns that Starfleet will be on its way, as the theft of the cloak set off an automated security alert, and asks how many Federation treaties Picard has just violated. Picard half-jokingly replies they will have to add it to his tab, before pleading with Geordi to help them. Geordi finally gives in, heading down to engineering (with a not-at-all-joking demand to Jack to stay away from his daughter) to help properly install the cloak.

Musiker works to free the android, but sees Starfleet security coming right up to them; she will not have time. Drawing his phaser, Riker (over Worf's protests) rushes in to give them that time. The Titan moves in under cloak, but Seven warns that they will have to decloak to beam the team out. As the Titan flies in, Riker is exchanging fire with the security officers, before taking a hit to the back from a transport inhibitor tag. Shaw orders what signals can be locked onto to be beamed out, as the Titan escapes to warp. Geordi and Jack meet the team in the transporter room, hearing of Riker's capture. " We have lost one friend in battle, but gained another, " Worf says, as he steps aside to reveal their new "friend," Geordi then recognizes as the aged face of Data.

Act Four [ ]

Worf promises to Picard that he will find Riker and bring him home: " And fearful be the god or man or beast that stands in my way. " Picard sincerely thanks him, and sends him on his way. Jack then enters, offering his apologies about Riker. He goes on to admit he can be a lot of things, mostly a "prick at the bar" who says things he can't take back, and maybe a bit cocky (" A bit? " Picard wonders). But he likes to think he has a few virtues as well, such as compassion, tenacity, and being principled, as well as occasionally clever. All of those, he gets from his mother. However, he also has courage, loyalty, and wisdom beyond his years, and until a week ago, he had no idea where those traits came from. Maybe he didn't just get some "bullshit disease" from his father, but "some of the good bits" as well. " Maybe, " Picard agrees.

In sickbay, Geordi admits to Sidney that he is not angry at her for what she did, but disappointed in himself for not doing what his younger self would have done, expressing his pride in her. He then asks for an ionic flow regulator , but Sidney corrects him by saying he needed the focal adjustment spanner for the main port. When he asks how she knew, she answers that the reason she crashed so many speeders as a kid was to spend time with him fixing them. Picard, Beverly, and Worf enter a moment later, Picard stunned to see Data once again, having watched him die twice now. Geordi points out that he had watched Data the android die, but this was something else. The personalities had yet to be integrated, but the information is still there. Worf asks if he could tell them what Vadic stole from Daystrom, and Geordi believes he can, assuming he is sane enough to speak. He can reboot the android body, but warns that he can not completely isolate Data even with the personality partitions in place, so they will not know who they are going to get. Picard gives him the go-ahead, and Geordi brings the android online by flipping a switch at the back of the android's neck . He appears confused, but recognizes Geordi and Picard (addressing the latter as "captain"), saying that there are many voices of himself inside Daystrom Android M-5-10 , but only one speaks about them with the most fondness. He says that he is Data, but then corrects that to say that he was Data. Beverly sees him as like Picard: Synthetic, but Human. Picard asks him about the break-in at Daystrom. The android cycles through its personalities: Lore, B-4, even Altan Soong, also repeating Picard's name over and over. Finally, however, it accesses the manifest, finding the item that the Changelings stole: Human remains… the original organic body of Picard himself.

Aboard Daystrom Station, a security officer is attempting to beat the location of Picard and Jack out of Riker. Bloody but unbowed, Riker refuses outright, earning him another punch to the face. The security officer stares at him for a moment before drawing a phaser and vaporizing the two other officers in the room… before its shape becomes that of Vadic, who cheerfully greets him. Taken aboard the Shrike , Riker sizes up Vadic's burly-looking companion, wondering how much of that "goo shit" they poured into him, earning another hard strike across the face. Riker keeps up his good cheer, however, asking if Vadic thought he would give up more than three decades of loyalty just for her. Vadic agrees that he wouldn't do it for her, before revealing who she has held in a nearby cell: Deanna Troi . " Oh, Will… ", Troi sadly says to her husband.

Memorable quotes [ ]

" For so long, my mother thought to protect me from you. To shield me from being collateral damage in the life of Jean-Luc Picard. Irony is… maybe I was doomed before I was even born. "

" The most advantageous battle stance is being one within oneself. " " Whoa. Seriously? " " I just said it. "

" I have gone into battle with lovers countless times. It can be therapeutic if… " " I'm not going. " " That is a relief. I was practicing deceit. Breakups on my homeworld seldom end without bloodshed. "

" Captain Riker… " " Worf, call me Will. Come on. " " You should know that I now prefer pacifism to actual combat. Energize. " " We're all gonna die. "

" A mighty Klingon taken aback by the even mightier attack tribble! " " I see you still find comfort in humor. And humor in other people's discomfort. " " You used to poke back. What happened to you? "

" Let us continue our search but tread lightly. We will not be prey, we will be... friendly energy. " " I don't understand the world anymore. "

" Greetings, old friends. "

" What solvable puzzles you all are. Your unguarded expressions, your visible scars... my, how time has spun you all apart. Such pathetic old warriors. "

" Are you trying to play a song for us? Some sort of a tune? " " Yes! Yes, a maddening melody. A saccharine song. One that I cannot get out of my head! "

" Yep, I'm definitely a Constitution -class man. "

" Oh, she's a beauty. Which one's that? " " The USS Voyager . She made her name farther out than… any of those other relics had ever gone. I was reborn there. She was my home. Her crew were my family. "

" Is that a Klingon Bird of Prey? " " The HMS Bounty , pulled from the bottom of the San Francisco Bay. " " Yeah, right, the whole whale thing. "

" Before I gifted Picard my golem, my intention was to live beyond my years. To become my own legacy. Now, I see in my final days that wasn't just poor Humanity, it was poor science... because evolution is not an act of preservation. It's addition. Into this new golem will go a bit of Lal, B-4, of Lore and, of course, a great deal of Data. This time with the true wisdom and Human aesthetic of age. With the hope in that in totality, something-- someone-- will rise to be the best of us. "

" I think back on those days on the Enterprise , all the danger we rushed into... I never feared for my life. "

" Captain, your hull is battered, bruised and basically paper-thin. You're spewing fumes through layers of 21st century duct tape. " " Yeah, it's been a weird week. "

" Geordi? Captain? " " Yes. Data, is that you? " " Yes, sir. No, sir. I… I am not certain. " " He's like you, Jean-Luc. " " I am Data. " " Synthetic… " " No, I was Data. " " But Human. "

" I'm Lore... I am B-4.... I am Soong... No, I am more. "

" Oh, look at this one. How much of that goo shit did they pour into you? "

Background information [ ]

• 16 March 2023 : Title publicly revealed by Wil Wheaton in TRR : " Imposters ".

Story and script [ ]

• A scene filmed for the episode but ultimately cut depicted a conversation between Worf and Riker in which the Klingon admitted to having killed an innocent woman whom he believed to be a Changeling infiltrator. [1]

Cast and characters [ ]

• LeVar Burton reprises his role of Geordi La Forge , marking the character's first appearance since Star Trek Nemesis in 2002 . Previously, he reprised the role for the Star Trek Online expansion "Escalation" in 2017 .
• Brent Spiner reprises the personalities of Data , (last seen in PIC : " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 "), Lore (last seen in TNG : " Descent, Part II ") and B-4 (last seen disassembled in " Remembrance " but last played by Spiner in Star Trek Nemesis ) as well as Altan Soong (last seen in "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2").
• Daniel Davis reprises his role of James Moriarty after last portraying the character on-screen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " Ship In A Bottle " in 1993 .
• This episode marks the first time that the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation have appeared together since Star Trek Nemesis , save for Denise Crosby and Wil Wheaton .
• This episode marks the first time in Star Trek that regulars from three different series (in this case Star Trek: The Next Generation , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek: Voyager ) appear together on screen on a fourth show.
• Despite being listed in the episode's end credits, Stephanie Czajkowski ( T'Veen ) and Jin Maley ( Kova Esmar ) do not appear in this episode.

Production [ ]

• The episode featured clips from TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ".
• Much of the bio featured in the James T. Kirk's datafile, including the dates of his five-year mission as 2264-2269, was lifted directly from the Kirk bio in all four editions of the Star Trek Encyclopedia .
• As Seven of Nine and Jack Crusher view the ships in the Fleet Museum, the themes from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Star Trek: The Original Series , and Star Trek: Voyager can be heard. When they view the HMS Bounty , the main title theme from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is heard, and when Daystrom Android M-5-10 is activated, motifs from Star Trek Nemesis can be heard.

Continuity [ ]

• The previously unspecified neurological disorder that was diagnosed by Dr. Moritz Benayoun in " Maps and Legends " that ultimately caused the death of Picard's Human body in " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 " is confirmed to be Irumodic Syndrome , which was made known to Picard by Q in TNG : " All Good Things... "
• Riker chides Worf about his disdain of tribbles, originally seen in DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations "
• Those featured included the USS Defiant (last seen in PRO : " Supernova, Part 1 "), the USS Enterprise -A (last seen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ), the USS Voyager (last seen in VOY : " Endgame "), and the HMS Bounty (last seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ).
• Those ships not specifically featured included the Enterprise NX-01 (last seen in ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ", but since refit), the USS Excelsior (last seen in VOY : " Flashback "), the USS Stargazer (last seen in TNG : " The Battle "), and the Kronos One (last seen in The Undiscovered Country ). The USS Pioneer , a starship that prominently appears in the third season end credits , was not shown among the museum ships .
• Additional unidentified ships that appeared included two Akira -class , a Miranda -class , a Nebula -class , a Saber -class , and a Romulan Bird-of-Prey .
• In Riker's personnel file , it confirms that he was born on August 19 and officially gives his mother's name as Betty C. Riker.
• When Moriarty plays " Pop Goes the Weasel " for Riker, Worf and Raffi, it's being played on a violin . Data first played the violin while playing the part of Sherlock Holmes in TNG : " Elementary, Dear Data " where Moriarty first appeared. Data subsequently played the violin in future episodes, such as TNG : " The Ensigns of Command ", " Sarek ", et. al.
• Riker references Data's dream of a crow that led to his discovery of his dream program in TNG : " Birthright, Part I "
• Raffi and Picard reference Data's two previous deaths in Star Trek Nemesis and " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 ".
• Riker refers to Data's attempt to copy his memories to B-4 from Star Trek Nemesis .
• Dr. Soong references his gifting of his Golem to Picard to restore him to life in " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 ".

Reception [ ]

• Ed Speleers later praised the writing for the scene where Jack and Seven view the ships at the Fleet Museum: “There’s a recognition of being an outsider and living on the edge and then trying to find their way into confirming with society, in this case Starfleet. They understand one another; there’s a rogue streak to them. I love that scene when they’re looking at the starships. It’s a love sort of, quite a tender moment, but it’s full of humor and it’s in the middle of everything’s that going on in Jack’s head at the point where he’s in complete shambles. To have this moment of levity with Seven, it just inflates it. It comes down to the wonderful writing. You look at the team of writers they had on board, and they nail it in terms of moments of levity, then driving back into humor, then driving back into serious tension.” {{el| https://www.startrek.com/news/warp-five-ed-speleers-jack-crusher-picard-finale?fbclid=IwAR0KqRvht7v-PqZR7eUwWNWJ_mophOtezzJ2m2YCtJA66lecD3JcprF8Ad4%7C [1}}]

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
• Michelle Hurd as Raffaela Musiker
• Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher

Special guest stars [ ]

• LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge
• Michael Dorn as Worf
• Jonathan Frakes as William T. Riker
• Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher
• Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi
• Data (archive footage)
• Daystrom Android M-5-10
• Altan Soong (holographic recording)
• Daniel Davis as James Moriarty

Guest starring [ ]

• Todd Stashwick as Liam Shaw
• Amanda Plummer as Vadic
• Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut as Sidney La Forge

Co-starring [ ]

• Mica Burton as Alandra La Forge
• Stephanie Czajkowski as Lt. T'Veen (credit only)
• Joseph Lee as Lt. Mura
• Jin Maley as Ensign Esmar (credit only)
• Amy Earhart as Titan Computer
• Vaughn Page as Shrike Bridge Changeling
• Byron Quiros as Starfleet Lieutenant

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• Whitney Coleman as Security officer
• Angel Manuel as Shrike Commander
• Holographic bartender
• Shrike personnel
• USS Cole officer (VO)
• USS Sternback officer (VO)

Stunt doubles [ ]

• Alyma Dorsey as stunt double for Michelle Hurd
• Quinn Early as stunt double for Michael Dorn
• Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for Jonathan Frakes

Stand-ins [ ]

• Margot Muraszkiewicz as stand-in for Jeri Ryan
• Sedríque as stand-in for Michael Dorn
• Thadeus Welch as stand-in for Patrick Stewart

References [ ]

19th century ; 21st century ; 25th century ; 2390 ; access panel ; admiral ; AI system ; Athan Prime ; attack tribble ; B-4 ; Betazoid ; black site ; Borg ; burgle ; captain ; Changeling ; Chateau Picard ; cognition ; commander ; commodore ; corpse (aka remains ); court martial ; crow ; decades ; diamonds ; doctor ; Dominion War ; duct tape ; EM radiation ; engineer ; faces ; Federation ; Fleet Museum ; focal adjustment spanner ; Founders' homeworld ; Frontier Day ; Genesis II Device ; gold ; golem ; Great Link ; Holmes, Sherlock ; hologram ; holographic crow ; hug ; hugger ; Human ; hybrid ; imagination ; ionic flow regulator ; Irumodic Syndrome ; Japanese ; Kirk, James T. ; Klingon ; La Forge's spouse ; La Forge, Sidney (Changeling); Lal ; landlord ; larceny ; lieutenant commander ; Lore ; mainframe computer ; maximum warp ; mead ; micro-neural scan ; morphogenic virus ; musical notes ; neuro-inhibitor ; nanosecond ; pearls ; " Pop Goes the Weasel "; portal device ; power resonators ; Qo'noS ; recruitment center ; reflective index ; reset switch ; retro ; Ro Laren ; saccharine ; San Francisco Bay ; Section 31 ; security terminal ; smoke ; " smoking gun "; Soong-type android ; sour ; speeder ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet Intelligence ; Starfleet Security ; Starfleet uniform (2350s-2370s) ; Starfleet uniform (early 2400s) ; starship ; teacup ; Ten Forward, 2024 ; traceable payload ; transponder ; transponder signal ; transport inhibitor ; van Gogh, Vincent ; villain ; vinculum ; vision ; waking nightmare ; " whale thing "; whistle ; zealot

Spacecraft references [ ]

Akira -class ; Argo , USS ; Bounty , HMS ; Cole , USS ; Constellation -class ; Constitution -class ; Constitution II -class ; Constitution III -class ; Defiant -class ; Defiant , USS ; Duderstadt -class ; Echelon -class ; Enterprise , USS ; Enterprise -A, USS ; Enterprise -D, USS ; Excelsior -class ; Excelsior II -class ; Excelsior , USS ; Intrepid -class ; Klingon Bird-of-Prey (aka B'rel -class ); Kronos One ; K't'inga -class ; Lexington , USS ; Mestral , USS ; Miranda -class ; Nebula -class ; New Jersey , USS ; NX-class (refit); Romulan Bird-of-Prey (aka T'Liss -class ; unnamed ); Saber -class ; Saratoga , USS ; Sentinel , USS ; Shrike ; Spacedock -type ; Spacedock One ; Stargazer , USS ; Sternbach , USS ; Titan -A, USS ; Trumbull , USS ; Voyager , USS ; Wersching , USS : Yorktown , USS

LCARS references [ ]

2207 ; 2264 ; 2267 ; 2269 ; 2286 ; 2335 ; 2353 ; 2357 ; 2373 ; Alaska ; android duplicator ; Arretan android ; Blass Award for Space Exploration ; D'Arsay archive ; Daystrom Institute ; Deep Space 9 ; deflector ; Earth ; EM radiation ; Enterprise , USS ; environmental sensor ; Eve speciman ; extinct ; Federation Council ; Genesis Planet ; Grankite Order of Tactics (Class of Excellence) ; G'Rold ; integration ; intermix ratio ; interplexing node ; Kirk, James T. ; Karagite Order of Heroism ; magnetic containment field ; Marcus, Carol ; Marcus, David ; Medal of Honor ; Mutara Nebula ; neural net monitor ; Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission ; personnel file ; Picard, Jean-Luc ; Preantares Ribbon of Commendation (Classes First and Second) ; project log ; Project Phoenix ; Riker, Betty ; Riker, Kyle ; rodent ; security breach ; Silver Palm with Cluster ; Singh, Khan Noonien ; Star of Kahless ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry ; terminal diagnosis ; thalaron generator ; tribble ; tribble homeworld ; Troi, Deanna ; Veridian III ; vinculum

Meta references [ ]

External links [ ].

• " The Bounty " at the Internet Movie Database
• The Bounty at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Discovering the Bounty " at MissionLogPodcast.com
• 1 USS Voyager (NCC-74656-A)
• 2 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Star Trek: Prodigy

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Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 Review – The Bounty

"The Bounty" is Star Trek: Picard's best episode yet.

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This Star Trek: Picard review contains spoilers.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard finally puts the proverbial band back together in “The Bounty,” and, to the likely surprise of no one, it’s the best episode of the season. It’s true, the bulk of this hour is pure fan service and contains elements that seem to be there for no reason other than they will utterly delight those who loved Star Trek: The Next Generation . But it’s hard to argue with a classic simply playing the hits when they’re executed with this much verve and heart. Particularly when they’re integrated so seamlessly into the larger story the season is telling.

From a slow-motion panorama across many of Star Trek ’s most famous starships—including Captain Kirk’s U.S.S. Enterprise and Seven’s former home, the U.S.S Voyager —to the inclusion of actual The Next Generation footage, there are plenty of moments that will thrill even the most casual of fans. But Picard , thankfully, actually does its best to make these moments both narratively and emotionally significant. For example, while the clip from “Encounter at Farpoint” and the inclusion of the hologram Moriarty are both thrilling moments for longtime viewers, they’re also important signposts that the Data that Worf, Riker, and Raffi discover at Daystrom Station is connected to the Data the Next Generation crew once knew.

While Picard ’s first two seasons can be seen as cautionary tales about what viewers don’t particularly want from their shows based on legacy franchises (no one asked for an extended exploration of the childhood trauma we never knew Picard had), the third is proof that deliberate fan service can not only be incredibly satisfying but also incredibly useful . “The Bounty” doesn’t just reunite a half dozen beloved characters, it uses that reunion to say something interesting about the people they’ve all become since the last time we saw them together. From Worf’s zen-like attempt to embrace pacificism to Geordi La Forge’s overprotective dad vibes, Picard understands that these aren’t the same people we watched on The Next Generation , nor should they be. And part of the fun is watching them figure out what their relationships look like so many years after they were last all together.

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The arrival of Worf and Raffi to the U.S.S. Titan finally unites the two initially disparate stories that this season of Picard has been telling, and everything is the better for it. (And not just because of Worf’s criticism of Chateau Picard wine or the easy way he and Riker slide right back into snarking at one another.) Unlike last season, which spent its midsection largely bogged down in pointless side quests and diversions that ultimately made its ending feel rushed and messy, season 3 appears to be deliberately building toward a genuine climax. Everything feels deliberately plotted, from the Changelings’ almost certainly disastrous plans to disrupt or attack Frontier Day to Jack Crusher’s erratic behavior that may or may not be connected to the hereditary disease he has just discovered he possesses.  

Picard Season 3 Episode 6 Easter Eggs Just Changed the Game for Star Trek

Picard Actor Addresses Captain Shaw’s Star Trek Future

Much of the hour is technically a heist drama, as Raffi, Worf, and Riker break into Daystrom Station in the hopes of figuring out Vadic ’s larger plan. Ro Laren (RIP!) believed the group was planning to attack the Federation’s Frontier Day celebrations in some way; Worf and Raffi think the theft of portal tech they used to destroy the random recruitment station was just a distraction; and no one knows precisely what other, more dangerous items the Changelings might have stolen along with it. Their search for the station’s manifest reveals a treasure trove of deep-cut Trek references, including a Genesis device; a violent, genetically modified Tribble; what appears to be the skeletal remains of James T. Kirk; and the previously mentioned sentient hologram, Professor Moriarty . (FYI: There’s no way this episode would have name-dropped Section 31 like 15 times if that Emperor Georgiou spin-off wasn’t happening, just saying!!)  

The other half is a surprisingly moving trip down memory lane, as the Titan is forced to hide among the famous starships of the Fleet Museum while Picard attempts to convince its commander, one Geordi La Forge, to help them figure out a way to keep Starfleet (and the Changelings) from tracking their ship for long enough for them to get their friends out of Daystrom. It’s, unsurprisingly, an utter delight to see Geordi again, particularly as he’s become a well-meaning if wildly overprotective father who seems determined to prevent his daughters from making the same sort of risky decisions he made with complete abandon back when he was their age.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve gotten older right alongside these characters I grew up watching, but there’s something wonderfully moving about not only seeing them all together again, but watching them navigate a world where they aren’t necessarily the brash young heroes we all remember. Instead, they’re people who’ve had to make choices and compromises they likely once swore they never would, and both the characters and the audience have to reckon with that. (Geordi and Jean-Luc’s conversation about the things we pass on is particularly well done.)

LeVar Burton isn’t the only exciting return we are treated to this episode, as Riker and his team discover that one of the secrets of Daystrom Station is, in fact, that it’s housing a new version of Data. (Welcome back to Picard for the third time as a totally different character, Brent Spiner!) A flesh and blood synth like Picard himself, this Data is seemingly an amalgamation of many versions of the character we’ve previously seen on Star Trek , including Lal, B-4, Lore, and the original recipe android, all placed inside the same physical vessel and given the aesthetic of old age.

But because the full integration was never finished, it seems as though this is technically Data with multiple personality disorder, but at least he knows what the Changelings stole : Picard himself. Or, his human remains , at any rate. What on earth Vadic intends to do with those remains, or why the Changelings want Jack Crusher so badly that she’s kidnapped Deanna Troi in order to blackmail Riker into helping her get her hands on him are both still a mystery. But after this episode, I have to admit I’m feeling strangely confident—for the first time in a long time—that Picard is going to stick the landing.

Lacy Baugher

Lacy Baugher is a digital producer by day, but a television enthusiast pretty much all the time. Her writing has been featured in Paste Magazine, Collider,…

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Star Trek: Picard Recap: It’s a Heist!

Star trek: picard.

It’s weird to think of Jean-Luc Picard as a synthetic being, but that’s what he is at this point. He’s still the same person we’ve known and loved over the years, but he’s also  positronic . His consciousness was transferred into an artificial body at the end of  Star Trek: Picard ’s first season, and that little twist is coming back to haunt everyone in “The Bounty.”

Jean-Luc died of Irumodic syndrome (which was weirdly never named in the first season and called a “brain anomaly” instead), so he needed that synthetic body. Now, it turns out his son has inherited the condition. That’s why Jack has seen strange red visions and had hallucinations of killing everyone over the past couple of episodes. There’s no cure; eventually, Jack’s overclocked brain will catch up with him and he will die.

It’s a sobering diagnosis, to be sure, and Jean-Luc takes it personally. It’s hard to blame him. Sure, a lot of this season has rightfully focused on Picard’s arrogance, but it has also been a challenging time for him: He discovered he has a son, had his son put in direct danger because of him, and realized he passed on a terminal disease to his kid. That’s a bad week in anyone’s book!

But the team barely has time to process all this since it’s time to burgle the Daystrom Institute! This episode moves the show’s plot forward in a  very  welcome way after a couple of character- and conversation-heavy episodes. Raffi and Worf provide the way in but not before an awkward reunion between Seven and Raffi. It’s not clear if they’re fully broken up or just at “it’s complicated,” but do they have to redefine their relationship  every  season? Let our favorite couple have their happy ending!

Riker, Worf, and Raffi head to Daystrom while the rest of the team has to figure out how to make the Titan untraceable. To do that, they head to the Fleet Museum, where they find Geordi (YAY, LEVAR BURTON!!!!!), who is extremely mad at Picard.

One of the ongoing themes in this season of  Star Trek: Picard  is what it means to be a parent, especially in dangerous situations. We’ve seen it from Beverly, Will, and now Geordi, and it’s something Jean-Luc is grappling with as he gets a crash course in fatherhood.

Geordi is mad at Jean-Luc for many reasons, but they all boil down to putting his daughter, Sidney, in danger to satisfy whatever personal quest Jean-Luc is on. It’s more complicated than that, of course, but that’s what it looks like from the outside. He does let Picard explain himself, but it doesn’t change the fact that Geordi can’t help hide the Titan . It turns out all Starfleet ships are networked (which makes perfect sense and, honestly, is way overdue technologically, considering I can find approximately 8 million devices in my home from my phone, thanks to Apple).

But once again, Jack Crusher arrives to save the day! He stole the cloaking device from the HMS Bounty , the Klingon Bird-of-Prey that James Kirk and his crew used to travel back in time in  Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . It’s a beautiful piece of history and gives the Titan a fighting chance. Installation is a bit of a bear, but Geordi makes it work. It is a great re-introduction to Geordi and a nice appearance by Mica Burton (LeVar’s real-life daughter) as Alandra. All in all, I fully enjoyed this aside.

The action is really happening at Daystrom’s offsite station, though. Our beloved trio make their way through the top-secret station, passing all kinds of weird things. They discover that the AI running the entire place is Data … or something like him.

We’ve all been waiting for this big reveal. Data’s gone; who, then, would Brent Spiner be playing? Paramount+ told us it was Lore, but I always suspected it would be something more than that. It doesn’t seem right to bring back this entire crew except for Data, but in the first season of  Star Trek: Picard , Data had such a beautiful, emotional send-off that I don’t want that undermined.

And the reality is a bit complicated but well-executed (like everything else in this season). Yes, Spiner  is  playing Lore, but he’s also playing Data, B-4, Altan Inigo Soong, and maybe even a little bit of Lal. All of these personalities have been downloaded into this artificial body — which still looks a bit androidlike but is properly aged so poor Spiner doesn’t have to slather himself in that gold makeup again and pretend he’s still 30.

Riker, Worf, and Raffi grab Data and manage to get him back to the Titan , but Will has to stay behind to fight off the guards. He’s captured and taken to Vadic’s ship as a prisoner, and … it turns out they’ve grabbed Deanna to force Will’s cooperation. I hope Kestra is all right.

Worf and Raffi return to the Titan , and the look on Geordi’s face when he sees who they’ve brought back with him — Burton expresses so much with just his eyes — caused me to almost burst into tears. I held my breath the entire time they worked on Data, knowing it couldn’t possibly mean the return of the character we loved because that would be too emotional and meaningful and I don’t think my heart could bear it. Geordi says this isn’t Data the android; it’s a Data that’s something else entirely. And because these disparate personalities haven’t been integrated, we have no idea what we’ll get. But when the synthetic is finally turned on, we get … DATA. It’s too overwhelming to put into words. It’s Data but also  more than  Data. And he finally shows us what was stolen from Daystrom.

This all leads back to synthetic Picard. His android status has been mentioned too often for it to be just a coincidence. Now that we know the Changelings took Picard’s original body, bigger questions have been raised. They have the father’s corpse; now the thing they want most is his son. There’s a bigger picture here with Jean-Luc’s body, his current synthetic form, these new Changelings who can pass for solids, and Jack Crusher’s visions. I just need to finish putting together the pieces.

Captain’s Log

• Legacy Character Count: RED ALERT, WE ARE AT SEVEN OUT OF SEVEN.

• Does everyone hate Chateau Picard wine? Shaw, Jack, and now Worf describe it as “sour mead” — and Worf is a guy who enjoys bloodwine.

• The ships at the Fleet Museum — the Defiant , the Enterprise-A , Voyager . It’s so meaningful!

• What I wouldn’t give to walk through the Daystrom offsite station — the Genesis II device? James Kirk’s  body ?? A TRIBBLE???

• I was sad that Worf didn’t allude to Jadzia when Riker asked why he doesn’t jab back anymore. I mean, the traumatic murder of the woman you love deeply would definitely alter your sense of humor.

• The scene where Jack tells Jean-Luc about the good things he inherited from his father is lovely.

• I loved seeing Moriarty, even for a brief second. He was basically the first being created for Data aboard the Enterprise , so his appearance makes a kind of weird sense. And the tie-in to “Encounter at Farpoint” made me cry.

• star trek picard

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Star trek: picard season 3 episode 6 review: the bounty.

Star Trek has always been a franchise that aims to ask, "What if...?" Beyond being entertaining and engaging, it's been a thought-provoking enterprise (pun intended).

On Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 , they take a step further and play with multiple elements to create brilliant parallels to our present-day situations and double meanings that embed canonical references for the delight of Trek fans yet again.

But first, they get the band back together again.

Having Worf join Picard and Riker on the Titan is one of those satisfying moments that comfort and reassure the audience that things will be okay because they always are when these three unite for a cause.

Of course, as much as Riker would like to slip back into the ways of the good ol' days, Worf makes it clear he's changed in their time apart.

While still respectful, he's also not taking any guff from his former commander.

He's also more forthright than he dared be with Picard in the past.

Worf: Admiral, permission to come aboard. Picard: Granted, Mr. Worf. It’s been far too long. Worf: Eleven years, five months, four days. Minus your infrequent messages and the annual bottle of sour mead. Picard: Sour mead? Riker: Chateau Picard. Worf: It is quite tart, sir. Permalink: It is quite tart, sir.

As he told Raffi on Star Trek: Picard: Season 3 Episode 2 , he's been working on himself.

It's amusing that this seems to disturb Riker's calm more than anything they've encountered so far on this adventure.

Raffi: Jean-Luc, you’re never gonna believe this, but this Klingon? He’s been meditating. Worf: The most advantageous battle stance is being one within oneself. Riker: Woah. Seriously? Worf: I just said it. Permalink: I just said it.

While his tone is sharp with Riker when teased about the attack Tribble -- and, seriously, how awesome was THAT? -- he is genuine in his pledge to rescue him after the botched escape from Daystrom Station.

And how about Daystrom Station? It's like a giant nest of Trek Easter Eggs. Or the Warehouse 13 of Starfleet. Section 31 is clearly the apex of hoarder organizations.

With a cursory viewing, one sees they've stowed away a Genesis Device and an alternate James T. Kirk, as well as the aforementioned toothy Tribble.

Everything is kept under the watchful eye and keen intellect of Professor Moriarty, an AI designed to outwit Data himself.

What solvable puzzles you all are. Your unguarded expressions. Your visible scars. My, how time has spun you all apart. Such pathetic old warriors. Moriarity Permalink: What solvable puzzles you all are. Your unguarded expressions. Your visible scars. My, how...

Considering that Moriarty only exists as a counterpart to Data, it's only logical that Data continues to exist. And that Data's memories form the foundation of Moriarty's personality, providing the whistle key that unlocks the station's vault.

I shared that tune decades ago with another dear friend. One who dreamt of crows, and aspired to thwart Moriarty with the intellect of Holmes. Somebody who couldn’t whistle worth a damn. Riker Permalink: I shared that tune decades ago with another dear friend. One who dreamt of crows, and aspired...

Fan speculation was that Brent Spiner would return as Lore. Well, they were partly correct.

Having Alton Soong return as a video log recording to explain the purpose of Daystrom Android M5-10 is an elegant segue to possibly the most ingenious bit of side-eye commentary disguised as scientific pulpit thumping.

Before I gifted Picard my gollum, my intention was to live beyond my years, to become my own legacy. Now I see, in my final days, that wasn’t just poor humanity, it was poor science. Because evolution is not an act of preservation, it’s addition. Alton Soong Permalink: Before I gifted Picard my gollum, my intention was to live beyond my years, to become my own...

Here writer Christopher Monfette weaponizes the established Trek trait of commenting on modern-day issues through a futuristic lens to take aim at those who would gatekeep the fandom and prevent its evolution.

When Soong states, "Evolution is not an act of preservation, it's addition," it drives home the IDIC inclusiveness of Trek that fans have loved and responded to for decades.

A fandom's inclusivity means remembering the established canon but allowing for all the growth and development that new iterations will bring forth.

If a franchise like Trek is going to survive, the characters will mature and change, the technology will snowball as it always does, and the messaging will adjust to respond to the world.

Sidney: I’m on the run with my crew! Geordi: They’re not your family. Sidney: Yes, they are. And you taught me that. And I’m not scared to step up and help them. You are. Permalink: Yes, they are. And you taught me that. And I’m not scared to step up and help them. You are.

Children will never be carbon copies of their parents. They are their own unique combination of traits and traumas and reactions.

In the same way, new series in a franchise must bring something new to the table.

Geordi: You always want to impart the best aspects of yourself to them. Picard: I’ve recently been reminded that we are not in control of what we pass on. The strengths, wisdom, talent, and also flaws, weaknesses, sins of our past. Permalink: I’ve recently been reminded that we are not in control of what we pass on. The strengths,...

The "true" meaning of Trek will never crystallize because that would mean it becomes a static thing, incapable of expanding and progressing.

Wow, the incredible layering of meaning thrills me so much; my brain just sings as it connects it all.

Still, haters are going to hate, and IDIC means we accept that they are free to cheat themselves of the joy this franchise has to offer.

Jack: We all long for connection. All just a little bit alone, aren’t we? Stars in the same galaxy but lightyears between us. Seven: Oh, you are definitely your father’s son. He too has a knack for the poetic drive-by observation. Can be very annoying. But it can also make a person feel seen. Permalink: Oh, you are definitely your father’s son. He too has a knack for the poetic drive-by...

Seeing Jack and Sidney working their Lil Rascals magic with the cloaking device foreshadows some fun shenanigans should they crew the wished-for spin-off series.

(There's also the question of what the heck happened to Raffi and Seven. We'd better get some answers to that this season.)

Geordi's hesitation to throw in with the fugitive Titan is entirely understandable.

Commodore La Forge has a lot more to lose than Lieutenant Commander La Forge ever did.

Like Worf, he's confident in his own value and values. He stands up to Picard because his desire to help is outweighed by his need to keep his daughters safe.

Picard: Geordi, this is life or death. Geordi: It’s always life or death, Jean-Luc. When has it not been? Which was fine, back in the day, when I chose to put my life on the line under your command, but you’ve just knowingly put my daughter in grave danger. Permalink: It’s always life or death, Jean-Luc. When has it not been? Which was fine, back in the day,...

There's a lot of rearview gazing here.

Riker's memories of his first meeting with Data provide the key to disarming Moriarty.

Raffi: Can someone explain why a nineteenth century holo-villain is guarding a twenty-fifth century black site? Moriarty: Oh, my dear, villain doesn’t do justice to my complexity and only reveals your simplicity. Riker: At least somebody’s consistent. Permalink: At least somebody’s consistent.

While quizzing Jack on starships, Seven has a moment to consider what her first ship means to her.

It's a bittersweet moment for both of them, individuals who find Starfleet after life has already taken a toll on them, bonded in a desire for a family and a place to belong.

Jack: Oh, she’s a beauty. Which one’s that? Seven: The USS Voyager. She made her name farther out than any of those other relics had ever gone. I was reborn there. She was my home. Her crew were my family. And now… Jack: You’re just trying to find another. Permalink: You’re just trying to find another.

And Worf's debrief on the Changeling plot includes a quick and somber reminder that Starfleet used a needs-must approach when things got desperate during the Dominion War.

There are scars and shame on both sides. Worf Permalink: There are scars and shame on both sides.

Beverly even reminisces about Jack's childhood, a period of time Trek fans are unknowledgeable about.

That her doctor's instincts were overruled by a mother's belief in her child's wellness rings very true, if tragic in this case.

He had nightmares when he was a boy. Vivid dreams. Talked with imaginary things. I thought he was gifted, not plagued with an overclocked brain. Beverly Permalink: He had nightmares when he was a boy. Vivid dreams. Talked with imaginary things. I thought he...

This narrative has an elegant full-circle nature, with the episode opening on Vadic's frustration and ending with her capture of Riker.

I want the names and locations of every known associate of Jean-Luc Picard. Starfleet colleagues, past and present. Every friend to whom he might turn. Every loved one in which he might seek comfort. We will scorch the earth under which he stands and the night will brighten with the ashes of the Federation! And from them, we will rise. Vadic Permalink: I want the names and locations of every known associate of Jean-Luc Picard. Starfleet...

Since they could not accurately predict which of the away team they'd capture, I'd lay down gold-pressed latinum that the Deanna aboard the Shrike is a Changeling.

Unless, of course, they went around abducting everyone's loved ones -- Deanna, Laris, Raffi's granddaughter -- they only need the very realistic appearance of those individuals to coerce their captive into talking.

How exhausted they must be. As am I, dear. As are we. As are our brothers and sisters who suffer each day having to wear the faces of the Federation. But there will be rest. There will be a day of lifeless bodies burning in space. Oh, there will be silence again. Unity again. Peace again. But first, we will have vengeance. Vadic Permalink: How exhausted they must be. As am I, dear. As are we. As are our brothers and sisters who...

Hopefully, I'm right, and Riker figures it out too.

Finally, the biggest throwback of all -- the human remains of Jean-Luc Picard. Presumably, it was transported to the Federation from the Synth Planet after Picard's consciousness was transferred into Alton Soong's gollum.

Honestly, learning the Changelings stole the body isn't nearly as weird as realizing Section 31 kept it.

Jack: How did you survive it? Picard: I didn’t. Jack: Right, the positronics. A new, fully synth prototype body. I don’t suppose you got another one in my size, have you? Permalink: Right, the positronics. A new, fully synth prototype body. I don’t suppose you got another...

I totally get why Picard wouldn't keep it around, but surely he could've had it cremated or something?

I suspect it'll be a question he's asked -- may even ask himself -- as the reality sets in and they try to deduce why the Changelings want his dead body AND his live son.

What questions are burning a hole in your brain, Fanatics? What do you think this all has to do with Frontier Day?

How will M5-10 function with all the personalities kicking around? Will he be an asset or a liability?

How adorable was Shaw as he fanboyed over having Commodore La Forge on his ship?

Geordi: Captain, your hull is battered, bruised, and basically paper-thin. You’re spewing fumes through layers of twenty-first century duct tape. Shaw: Yeah, it’s been a weird week. Permalink: Yeah, it’s been a weird week.

And who else is hankering to revisit Star Trek III and Star Trek IV to check out Kirk and his crew cruising around in that Bird-of-Prey?

What a sneaky and nostalgic solution to the issue of needing to be invisible! *chef's kiss*

The Bounty Review

Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X .

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 Quotes

I want the names and locations of every known associate of Jean-Luc Picard. Starfleet colleagues, past and present. Every friend to whom he might turn. Every loved one in which he might seek comfort. We will scorch the earth under which he stands and the night will brighten with the ashes of the Federation! And from them, we will rise. Vadic Permalink: I want the names and locations of every known associate of Jean-Luc Picard. Starfleet... Added: March 22, 2023

How exhausted they must be. As am I, dear. As are we. As are our brothers and sisters who suffer each day having to wear the faces of the Federation. But there will be rest. There will be a day of lifeless bodies burning in space. Oh, there will be silence again. Unity again. Peace again. But first, we will have vengeance. Vadic Permalink: How exhausted they must be. As am I, dear. As are we. As are our brothers and sisters who... Added: March 22, 2023

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3/23/23 Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 The Bounty

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Picard: Everything You Need To Know About The Bounty

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The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 6, "The Bounty," now streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 6, "The Bounty" is well-named. It's a treasure trove of Easter eggs from Star Trek 's past, most of them either hidden in the black ops vault at Daystrom Station or parked on permanent display in Starfleet's museum. Chief among them is the Bounty itself: a captured Klingon bird of prey that James T. Kirk and his crew took control of and renamed in honor of the famous historic mutineers.

It's also notable for serving as more than a nostalgic throwback, as the crew of the Titan appropriates its cloaking device to continue evading the Changelings who have secretly infiltrated Starfleet. It's a wholly appropriate role for the vessel, as well as highlighting its unique history in the franchise. Here's why the Klingon ship stands out in a museum full of Federation legends.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 6, 'The Bounty,' Recap & Spoilers

The Bounty Began as a Klingon Bird of Prey

The bird of prey that became the Bounty is originally captained by Commander Kruge, Christopher Lloyd's villainous Klingon, during the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . That conflict results in the destruction of the original Enterprise , inducing Kirk and the crew to commandeer the Klingon vessel to escape the dying Genesis Planet with the reborn body of their friend, Mr. Spock. It's also the first time since The Original Series that a Klingon is presented as the central villain. Kruge gives audiences a chance to see Klingon culture and technology up close, paving the way for Michael Dorn and Star Trek: The Next Generation to further explore the species.

Doctor McCoy dubs the captured Klingon ship the Bounty after the infamous 19th-century British vessel whose crew mutinied against the cruel conditions of their captain. The Enterprise crew uses it to return to the Earth of the 1980s during the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . They successfully bring a pair of humpback whales back to the Earth of the 23rd century, saving the planet from an alien probe and presumably facilitating the return of the species from extinction. As "The Bounty" reveals, the ship crashed in San Francisco Bay at the end of the movie, and the cloaking device was activated, making it hard to recover. It was delivered to the fleet museum at some point after that.

RELATED: REVIEW: Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 Delivers Upon the Season's Big Promise

Picard Uses the Bounty for a Simple Yet Fitting Reason

The Bounty comes into play on Picard for a simple reason. Federation starships are forbidden from using cloaks by treaty, though both the Klingons and the Romulans make copious use of them. With the cloaking device still intact, the Titan could readily vanish from sight and avoid the Changeling-controlled Starfleet ships hunting them. As Geordi observes, it violates a staggering number of treaties, but with the Titan 's crew being framed for murder and several other crimes, it's likely the smart play. Or as Picard tells Geordi, "They'll just have to add it to my tab."

But using the Bounty 's cloaking device also gives them claim to the ship's unique title and legacy. Kirk and his crew claimed the Bounty after stealing the Enterprise from under Starfleet's nose: an act repeated by the Titan 's flight from the rest of Starfleet during the events of Picard 's third season. The current crew is similarly on the run from the authorities and similarly seeking to stop a threat to the Federation that arises without warning.

Most of all, the Bounty is a continuation of one of Season 3's big themes. Once regarded as Star Trek 's most by-the-numbers crew, Picard and his friends have been revealed as the space cowboys they truly are. It's no surprise that the Bounty -- with its long history of rebellion and defiance -- would ultimately serve as their salvation, and help them continue their freshly minted reputation as wild cards.

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Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 “The Bounty” Review: All the pieces are now in place

Review: Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 “The Bounty”

Folks, there hasn’t been an episode of live-action new-age Star Trek as rewarding or nostalgic as “Bounty.” With our heroes on the run from Starfleet and the Changelings who have infiltrated the organization, it’s time for us to finally go to Daystrom Station and get our weekly dose of dopamine. And what a shot it turns out to be.  

We begin by visiting our old friend, Vadic ( Amanda Plummer ) – who we last saw knocked in the jaw by an asteroid thrown by Captain William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) – lamenting how Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) and the Titan are eluding her. But despite some doubt in her ranks, Vadic is more intensely focused on finding the Starfleet ship than ever, and she sees her pending victory as a step closer toward unification and revitalization for her people; we assume she is talking about shapeshifters. Moreover, she wants a list of all known past and present associates of Picard, anybody he would turn to for help. What scheme could she be up to?

On the Titan , Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden ) is investigating her son, Jack ( Ed Speleers ), and his frightening waking nightmares. She learns Jack is afflicted with Irumodic Syndrome, the same terminal disease Picard was fighting in season one of Picard (as well as in the alternate future seen in “All Good Things”). It’s not a great diagnosis for the young man.

“For so long, my mother thought to protect me from you. To shield me from being collateral damage in the life of Jean-Luc Picard. Irony is… maybe I was doomed before I was born.” – Jack to his father.

Picard finds his son “celebrating” the diagnosis in Ten Forward on the holodeck, but there’s not much the older man can say to assuage the burden of this revelation. Soon enough, Picard must compartmentalize this dire news to fulfill the mission at hand; specifically, Worf ( Michael Dorn ) and Raffi Musiker ( Michelle Hurd ) have arrived on the Titan . Worf’s return to his former crewmates is a moment we’ve been waiting for, and there are plenty of chuckles to go around as Riker and Picard acclimate to Worf’s new, more mature aura.

Worf is there to deliver a distressing report: Changelings are back, and in a big way, even after the murderous, morally ambiguous events of the Dominion War. On that point, we get a neat recap (in the conference room, no less!) of the war’s events as seen in Deep Space Nine , including how Starfleet delivered the cure (to the deadly virus they made) to the Changelings.

There’s a lot of exposition in this scene, so let’s break it down. The only way to learn what was stolen from Daystrom Station besides the devastating portal weapon is to go aboard the station and investigate. Ro Laren (RIP) did not pass along the needed information to Picard before she died, so it’s up to our heroes to check out what else Vadic stole. The Daystrom Station vault is protected by an advanced AI system, to which Worf and Raffi have the key thanks to the Vulcan gangster from the previous episode .

So, it’s Riker, Raffi, and Worf who beam aboard Daystrom Station to secure the intelligence they are looking for. Things get complicated when Starfleet ships arrive to patrol the area, forcing the Titan to leave their away team behind to seek an alternative rescue plan.

On Daystrom Station, we are treated to numerous easter eggs in the form of projects Starfleet and Section 31 are supposedly working on. An eagle-eyed viewer will surely bulge their eyes at screens displaying information for the Genesis II device (the first such device was seen in The Wrath of Khan ), a genetically modified tribble, or even… wait for it… the remains of Captain James T. Kirk. (Let’s absorb this for a moment. Section 31 apparently has the skeletal remains of Kirk, who died in Star Trek: Generations , in Daystrom Station. How f****** mysterious is that?)

Of course, our heroes aren’t distracted by easter eggs; they’re there for a reason. But they are being watched by the AI, who first sends a holographic crow their way, and then a strange burst of music containing the note F# (which Riker helpfully identifies). Finally, the trio comes face to face with a familiar villain: Professor Moriarty ( Daniel Davis , who reprises his role from The Next Generation episodes “Elementary, Dear Data” and “Ship in a Bottle”). This appearance was known to anyone who watched any of Picard ’s trailers, but Davis is still a welcome sight. The actor still has the chops to play the verbose and fiercely intelligent hologram… but what is he doing on Daystrom Station?

“Can someone explain why a 19 th -century holo-villain is guarding a 25 th -century blacksite?” “Oh, my dear. ‘Villain’ doesn’t do justice to my complexity, and only reveals your simplicity.” “At least somebody’s consistent.” – Raffi, Moriarty, and Riker.

The appearance of Moriarty and the raven, combined with a melody Riker recognizes from years long past, leads the away team to the AI at the heart of Daystrom Station: an android that looks like Brent Spiner . The robot seems to be a hybrid of multiple personalities, including good ole’ Data, which explains the AI’s familiar security measures. Raffi exposits that after Doctor Altan Soong (Spiner’s character from Picard season one) died, Starfleet “co-opted” his work. This work included a golem that included parts of Lal (Data’s daughter from “The Offspring”), B-4 (the prototype Data-like android from Star Trek: Nemesis ), Lore (Data’s evil brother from multiple The Next Generation episodes), and a “great deal” of Data, complete with a realistic aging algorithm. No more de-aging!

So, that’s exactly who Brent Spiner is playing in this season of Picard . What a neat feat – bringing aspects of most of Spiner’s previous roles to the table in this final adventure with the TNG crew. It’s certainly fitting. But there’s also a complication; all those personalities are fighting each other in this golem. What havoc could that mean down the road?

Meanwhile, we learn where Titan warped to after abandoning its away team: Easter Egg City the Starfleet Fleet Museum, a place where every legendary starship from Starfleet’s history goes to rest. We’re treated to a glorious establishing shot of this station, and again eagle-eyed fans are rewarded. Docked with this station are numerous types of starships, including an: Akira- , Excelsior- , Intrepid- , Nebula- , Constitution-refit- , Romulan Bird of Prey- , Constellation-, Klingon D7- , a Klingon Bird of Prey -, and Sabre -class vessel.  And who is the warden of this museum? Commodore Geordi La Forge ( LeVar Burton ), of course.

“I must admit… in the nanosecond my body de- and then re-constructed, I debated the virtues of a curt, professional handshake, or a long but uncomfortable hug.” “And which way will it go?” *Geordi hugs Beverly* – Geordi and Picard.

Geordi gets right down to business, but not before it’s clear there is some La Forge family drama afoot. It appears the father hasn’t been on the best of terms with Ensign Sidney La Forge ( Ashlei Sharpe Chestnu t), and better yet, the daughter he does get along with, Ensign Alandra La Forge ( Mica Burton , daughter of LeVar), beams aboard the Titan, too.

Picard asks Geordi for help rescuing Riker, Raffi, and Worf from Daystrom Station, but the veteran engineer reveals the unfortunate truth: all Starfleet ships are linked to each other nowadays (despite his fierce objections) so the Titan will be found… it’s just a matter of time. (Why this is just being revealed now is unknown. Surely Captain Liam Shaw ( Todd Stashwick ) would have known this, as well as other members of his crew?) Geordi is not too happy with Picard for putting the engineer’s family on the line and actually declines his friend’s request for help.

Meanwhile, Jack, upon trying out the captain’s chair for the first time on the Titan ’s bridge (a sign of things to come?), is treated to a brief tour of the ships docked at the museum. As such, we get great glimpses (and corresponding theme song snippets) of the Defiant (of Deep Space Nin e fame), and Voyager (from Star Trek: Voyager ), which is where, as Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan ) notes, she was “reborn.” Lastly, we get a look at the HMS Bounty , the Klingon ship Kirk and crew first stole in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and then used to go back in time in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . This ship was “pulled from the bottom of San Francisco Bay,” as Seven explains – and the gears start to turn in Jack’s brain as he learns the ship has a cloaking device.

With Geordi ready to leave the Titan, this leaves the three “kids” – Jack, Sidney, and Alandra – to hatch a plan of their own. The Titan needs to get to Daystrom Station undetected, and there happens to be a cloaking device stationed at the fleet museum. The episode majorly yadda-yaddas over how Jack and Sidney steal the cloaking device from the Bird of Prey and jumps straight to them installing the technology on the Titan. The Starfleet ship then jumps back to Daystrom Station, now with a helpful Geordi La Forge aboard.

Normally, we’d knock an episode for so gratuitously skipping over a major plot point, like how Jack and Sidney were able to steal the cloaking device and get it working with the Titan , but today we don’t care because this episode is so damn fun .

On the station, Riker, Raffi, and Worf face pressure from an incoming Starfleet boarding party. Riker heroically holds up the party long enough to allow the Titan to beam aboard Worf, Raffi, and the android, but not before the captain is captured. Face to face with Vadic on the Shrike , Riker learns what bargaining chip his enemy has: his wife, Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis).

On the Titan , Picard, Worf, Beverly, and Geordi are faced with what to do with their resident android. The fact that each personality within this android is separate makes things difficult, but the crew turns on their guest anyway, who takes the personality of their old friend, Data. This is a beautiful moment complete with a healthy dose of the heartfelt track “A New Friend” from Star Trek: Nemesis, which was the last time all these people were together. The robot tells the crew what Vadic’s main target during the Daystrom Station robbery was: the remains of Jean-Luc Picard.

Holy s***, this episode sure is a banger , isn’t it? True to this season’s penchant for clever dual-meaning episode names, “Bounty” offers a feast for Star Trek fans. What a treat , bringing back so many neat treasures from Star Trek long past. We have numerous ship cameos, including the Klingon ship that ferried our TOS heroes through time in arguably the most popular Star Trek movie, The Voyage Home . And then we have the brief but memorable appearance of Professor Moriarty, the brilliant TNG villain who, smartly, serves as a commentator in this episode on how some of the TNG folks have changed over the years.

Remember, keeping an eye on how our heroes have changed in the decades since we last saw them is a prime element of this season. Case in point: LeVar Burton’s long-awaited appearance as Geordi La Forge is starkly different from the character we remember; La Forge is a family man, and willing to initially turn down his former captain to protect those he loves. And finally, the appearance of Brent Spiner is a milestone for this season; we see the actor play a congelation of basically every character he has played before, and boy is it striking seeing him transition effortlessly from Data, Lore, B-4, and back again.

“Bounty” itself is a milestone for not only Picard season three but The Next Generation . Relationships we thought we knew are shifted somewhat – like Worf acting differently around Riker’s provocative sense of humor, or Geordi being so resistant to Picard’s plea for help. But it seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. Our crew is still putting their heads together to solve an engaging mystery, and their trust in each other will seemingly be tested greater than ever. More to the point, though, is the fact that all TNG cast members are now accounted for. It took six episodes to get there, and we can’t wait to see how the last four episodes of this season play out.

Stray Thoughts:

• Why would the three Starfleet ships pursue the Titan warp so close to its decoy transponder? If the Titan was there, they surely would have hit it.
• We learn Worf last saw Picard about 11 years before this episode takes place (so, approximately 2390).
• The Constitution class we see during Jack’s tour of the fleet museum is the New Jersey, which hasn’t been referenced in any previous Star Trek. We’d love to know the rhyme and reason for putting an unknown “hero” ship in this episode.
• The image the Daystrom AI uses to identify Riker is apparently a headshot taken circa Star Trek: Nemesis .
• The flashbacks in this episode when Riker is remembering “Pop Goes the Weasel” is from the TNG series premiere “Encounter at Farpoint.”
• In this episode, we see the offspring of our heroes interact for the first time. We can’t help but think this could be a sign of things to come. Using the children of The Next Generation characters could be a great spin-off idea.

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner as Lore, Jeri Ryan as Seven, Michelle Hurd as Raffi, along with Amanda Plummer as Vadic, Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher.

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Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

Mather Pfeiffenberger

March 24, 2023 at 9:40 pm

New Jersey is where Terry Matalas was born and the ship’s registration number – NCC-1975 – refers to the year of Terry’s birth: 1975.

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Star Trek: Picard Goes Full Found Family Mode

Much of Picard’s third season has examined the legacy and lineages of its heroes—with Jean-Luc discovering his son with Beverly Crusher, Raffi and Seven combatting their loneliness in different ways, and Riker still grappling with the loss of his own child. But its latest episode finds much more solace in the families you find , rather than the ones you’re born into.

After dropping off the strike team of Worf, Raffi, and Riker, the Titan flees the scene to help get Starfleet off their backs… bringing us face to face with the returning LeVar Burton and his daughter Mica, as Commodore Geordi and Ensign Alandra La Forge, respectively. And while these two story lines are separated by location—and both deal with nostalgia in some very different ways, which we’ll get to—they are not separated in their unified theme: the importance of any family you create for yourself, whether it’s with your flesh and blood or in connections with friends and colleagues.

Naturally the side of things that deals with this the most is aboard the Titan—where Jack has to learn that some things he picked up from his father sting a little more than others. Case in point: the irumodic syndrome that plagued Picard himself in his later years (before, y’know, he died and got better) also afflicts the young Crusher, sowing some more embittered feelings between the two men. But a conversation about families with Seven of Nine, as they both glance over at the retired USS Voyager in space dock at Geordi’s Starfleet museum, her reflections on where she made her own family after losing her parents and her sense of self to the Borg inspires Jack to embrace what connections he does have with his father—beyond the anger and hurt from years of distance to see just how much he’s like his dad in some ways.

Some of those ways include being stubborn as a mule, it turns out—something Jean-Luc is used to being, considering the cool reception he gets from Geordi when they re-unite. It’s not that the elder La Forge doesn’t want to see his former captain, it’s more about his own family—and reuniting with Sidney. Geordi is sick of Picard’s uncanny ability to rope people into his problems, even if those problems affect everyone in Starfleet who isn’t a changeling impersonator right now. He cares even less when one of those people is his own daughter, who Geordi is frustrated with, not just in her rebellious distancing from him when she went on to be a pilot unlike her sister Alandra, but because by staying on the Titan she’s letting Picard put her in danger again. In the ways Picard is still learning lessons about parenthood with Jack, Geordi has already gone through it with his own kids—and he knows that Jean-Luc is too big a storm to keep them in his orbit. He doesn’t want to help the Titan beyond basic repairs (much to the glee of Chief Engineer La Forge Stan, Captain Shaw, in a touchingly goofy moment), and he does not want Sidney staying on board the ship, demanding she stay at the museum with him and Alandra.

It’s not Picard that can call his old friend out on his bullshit though, understanding where Geordi is coming from. That has to come from family, as Sidney defends her decision to follow her career on the Titan, and to stay there now in this moment of crisis: she’s doing what her father did, what he’s failing to do now in helping his old crewmates. Sidney has found a family beyond being a La Forge aboard the Titan, one she is willing to fight for just as much as Geordi was willing to fight for his aboard the Enterprise, a feeling he has lost in becoming a father. It’s a fantastic moment, one that jolts Geordi out of his anxieties, and a clever reaffirmation that Star Trek’s tried and true faith in the familial bonds of its crews is, in a season of nostalgic reunions and familial themes, is just as valid and empowering as the bonds in your blood. Geordi is forced to acquiesce that parents can’t always control their children when Alandra helps Sidney and Jack—the true Next Generation trifecta!—steal the cloaking device out of the classic bird of prey Bounty from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, also on display at the museum. Forced to help retrofit it into the Titan because, after all, of the three of them only Alandra is an engineer, Geordi finds himself along for the ride once more—as the Klingon cloak will let the Titan sneak back to Daystrom and extract their away team.

Speaking of, aboard Daystrom things get nostalgic in less of a thematic way and more of an absolutely bonkers way. It’s a nice little jolt of some of the chaotic energy of Picard season two thrust into the proceedings, but it doesn’t dominate the story as it did there—and a touchingly cheesy acknowledgement of the fact that TNG wasn’t afraid of being a bit silly sometimes. After familiar whistles of “Pop Goes the Weasel” and a holographic raven, Riker, Worf, and Raffi are confronted by Daystrom’s defense systems in the form of none other than Professor Moriarty, the Enterprise Holodeck’s rogue program who wanted to make his Holmesian plots real. It’s incredibly silly—Daniel Davis came back to play the character, decades after his turn as Moriarty in TNG!—but also a lot of fun, especially when it all coalesces and Riker realizes just what unites all these baffling systems: Data. After deactivating Moriarty with a whistle-along, the trio uncover the big secret at the heart of Daystrom…

A new Soong android (Brent Spiner, of course), incomplete but just together enough for them to extract—and not just any android, but an amalgam of the positronic systems of Lore, Data, B4, Lal, and even Spiner’s Picard season one character, Altan Soong, a hologram of whom explains that this “ultimate Data” is designed to be the best of the Soong androids by combining all of them. Except, Altan died before he could complete the work, and as the team makes its escape when the now-cloaked Titan arrives to rescue them from Starfleet-disguised changelings, they realize they’ll need to wake this new Data up out of storage and see just which facet of him they’ll get.

The escape is not without cost—Riker sacrifices his own chance to escape to give Data, Worf, and Raffi their own, leading to his capture and imprisonment by Vadic (who reveals in the episode’s final moments that she also has Deanna Troi captive too). And when Geordi re-awakens his new-old friend, at first our heroes do get their Data, but he quickly flits between personalities, from Data, to B4, and to, of course, Lore and Altan, creating a bittersweet touch to their reunion. But “Data” does have the information our reunited found family needs, even as they bristle at Riker’s sacrifice: Vadic and the changelings didn’t want to steal a weapon. They wanted the remains of Picard’s original body, apparently locked up after his death and rebirth at the end of Picard season one.

Suddenly, their need for Jack makes more sense—as does another reminder of the curse your bloodline can bring. But just what do the changelings want Picard’s body for, and Jack too if they already have themselves a Patrick Stewart at home? Why not Picard himself, in his new form? We’ll have to wait and see, but Star Trek: Picard is setting up for a very personal showdown for our hero and his reunited friends.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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At the same time, we get Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) figuring out that not only is he the recipient of his father’s genetics (according to Beverly he is suffering from Irumodic Syndrome), but also that deep in his core many of his personality traits are reflections of his parents, including the one he has only known for a few days, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Jack comes to this realization after a heartfelt conversation with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) remembering her own found family on the USS Voyager , the ship on which she was “re-born.”

These storylines flow together beautifully in this masterpiece of an episode that moves from one emotional revelation to another, highlighted by the discovery that what the crew has been looking for all along on Daystrom Station is actually Data himself, another offspring about to begin a journey to connect with the seeds of his creation.

Well, not quite Data: instead we have an updated version of the android that has been compiled into a new body, along with pieces of Lore, Lal. B4, and even bits of cyberneticist Altan Soong (Spiner reprising his role from season 1), who died before the work could be completed. Soong’s vision of this version of Data is that “in totality, something, someone, will rise to be the best of us,” but as it currently sits, the integration of these different minds has failed, leaving behind only anonymous personalities. We see these different personalities on display later in a typically inspired performance from Spiner who smoothly alternates between many of the incarnations of the characters he has previously portrayed.

In discovering this new version of Data, it’s Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Raffi (Michelle Hurd), and Worf (Michael Dorn) who are dispatched to infiltrate Daystrom Station, the home to Starfleet’s most experimental tech. As the trio work their way past the station’s elaborate security protocols, it becomes clear that Daystrom’s protective subroutines are connected to Soong’s new positronic AI and it is trying to communicate with the away team, not necessarily hurt them.

This is beautifully portrayed in the holographic crow seen flying through the corridors and the piercing notes of “Pop Goes the Weasel” echoing through the station, both are connections to the mind of Data. Of course, the harrowing presence of Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis) is also there — but once Riker recognizes the tune and whistles a few bars, it deactivates the 19th century holographic villain and grants them access to Data’s location. Marvelous.

Seeing this version of Moriarty being used as a puzzle piece from the darker subconscious of “amalgamation Data” was an absolute treat, and Davis is as insightful and menacing as ever in stepping back into the role, no matter how brief. “Villain doesn’t do justice to my complexity, and only reveals your simplicity,” says Moriarty, perhaps foreshadowing the many layers of this new Soong android we are going to see in the episodes to follow.

Accompanying the exciting happenings on Daystrom Station is the re-introduction of La Forge, who is now a commodore and running things at the Fleet Museum in orbit at Athon Prime, where the Titan has arrived to ask for help while trying to stay one step ahead of the vessels pursuing them. Burton is at the top of his game, stepping back into a La Forge that feels comfortably similar to the two alternate future versions of the character we saw at the end of The Next Generation (as an author in “All Good Things” and as a captain of the USS Challenger in Voyager’s “Timeless”).

Even after a reunion on the ship and after Picard explains the dire situation they are in surrounding the Changeling infiltration at Starfleet and after Geordi acknowledges being very concerned about the Frontier Day plans he will be at the center of at the Fleet Museum – the longtime Enterprise engineer is still pissed off at Picard for getting him and his kids mixed up in all this. He’s worried that a compromised Starfleet could come after his family.

That family now includes Sidney, the pilot at the helm of the Titan with whom his relationship is strained, and his daughter Alandra, who has followed in Geordi’s footsteps and is being portrayed here by the legendary actor’s real-life daughter Mica. Even in the shadow of her famous father, Alandra is sharp and confident in her own actions and seamlessly slides into the wonderful trifecta of the true next Next Generation characters alongside her sister Sidney and Jack Crusher.

Geordi is lamenting his own efforts to pass on the best aspects of himself to his kids, but Picard is way ahead of him, having experienced these same thoughts recently with Jack. Whether positive traits like strength and wisdom or negative flaws and “sins of the past,” Picard knows no one is in control of what elements are passed on to their children, something likely to be discovered in Soong’s creation as the production switches back at this moment to a recording of the positronic tinkerer discussing his efforts to imbue these elements on his new version of Data. A great example of the smooth connections in the like-minded narratives taking place in this episode.

In the end, La Forge tells Picard he can’t help the Titan, while at the same time protect his kids, a ridiculous notion that Sidney quickly relieves him of when he tries to tell her she needs to stay behind with him for her protection. Incredibly, the exchange that follows might be the best moment of the episode behind two masterful performances from Sharpe Chestnut and her on-screen dad.

After telling him that, “You would believe in this, if you believed in me,” Sidney crushes her father’s self-doubt by responding to his misguided advice (“They are not your family!”) by screaming at him, “Yes, they are! You taught me that! And I’m not scared to step up and help them. You are.”

Wow. Not sure how this show keeps pulling off scenes like this one, but what a stunning, jaw-dropping, hero moment for Sidney La Forge. A moment personifying the vast array of familial discovery we’ve seen throughout the season thus far.

Ultimately, the moment leads to the trifecta of Jack, Sidney and Alandra concocting the joyous plan to steal the Klingon cloaking device from the famed HMS Bounty — yep, it’s that ship! The time-traveling Klingon Bird of Prey from Star Trek IV: The Voyager Home .

It was Jack’s quiet conversation with Seven on the bridge of the Titan that helped spur his idea to steal the cloaking device. The conversation with Seven is a majestic, spine-tingling deep dive into Star Trek’s lore. A beautiful treatise on these starships and what they mean to each and every one of us (viewers and characters alike) as a connection to something more. Even Jack, who’s not that into Starfleet, loves a starship – he’s “a  Constitution -class man.”

As composer Stephen Barton lays the notes from Jerry Goldsmith’s classic Voyager theme underneath their conversation, Seven shows Jack her ship, the USS Voyager , telling him “she made her name farther out than any of these other relics had ever gone. I was re-born there. She was my home. They were my family.”

They continue talking about longing for connections and everyone being a little bit alone in the galaxy before Seven stops him and lets him know he really is his father’s son with these poetic, drive-by observations, but also acknowledging that they do help “make a person feel seen.”

As for Geordi, that confrontation between himself and Sidney spurs him to do the right thing, as he admits to his daughter that he is very proud of her and also disappointed in himself for not immediately doing what his younger self would have done. In the end, it’s Geordi’s engineering expertise that helps get that Klingon cloak functioning properly on the Titan — after all, the masterminds of the heist, Jack and Sidney, aren’t engineers.

The addition of that “superior Klingon technology” gives the Titan the cover they need in getting back to Daystrom Station just in time to attempt a last second rescue of Riker, Worf and Raffi, who are now under siege from “Starfleet” personnel (wink!) on board the station. And speaking of hero moments, this one belongs to Riker, who looks like a TNG-era version of himself fighting off their attackers.

Riker ends up doing just enough for Worf, Raffi and “Data” to escape on board the Titan who swoop in, decloak, beam them out and then warp away, just as Riker is being detained by “Starfleet” (wink!).

Back on board the Titan , Geordi is touched to see his best friend again and is now overseeing an attempt to activate what he refers to as “Data… something else.” La Forge knows that the information is all there and they can reboot android Data, but there is no way to isolate his specific personality, “so, we just don’t know what we’re going to get.”

And as previously mentioned, what we do get is a stellar performance from Spiner who slowly comes to life sounding lake Data, saying the names of his friends while acknowledging, “there are many of myself … but currently, one voice speaks to you more, more fondly than the others.”

It’s an effortless performance from Spiner, who before long is sounding like Lore, then B4, then Soong – none of which stops him from finally revealing to the crew what the Changelings were really after when they broke into the station — and boy, is this reveal ever worth the wait.

In a nice callback to the conclusion of Picard Season 1, apparently the Changelings are now in possession of the remains of Jean-Luc Picard’s original body — replaced by a positronic upgrade in “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2” — which seems to correlate nicely with their mysterious need to get their hands on Picard’s only child, Jack Crusher.

If that cliffhanger wasn’t enough, showrunner Terry Matalas and episode scribe Chris Monfette have one more in store for us, as one of the Starfleet officers torturing and interrogating Riker turns out to be Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer), who has outdone herself in terms of her villainy status by moving Riker to the Shrike… where she reveals Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) in a holding cell, ready to be used as leverage.

MOMENTS OF STASHWICK

We think Todd Stashwick and his portrayal of USS Titan captain Liam Shaw is destined for Trek icon status — each week this season, we’ll be highlighting one one of the character’s (and actor’s) best moments.

Easiest pick ever! Captain Liam Shaw, a former engineer and grease monkey, nervously idolizing the great Geordi La Forge is a gleeful moment for all involved.

SHAW: “Mr. La Forge, uh, as a former engineer, I just want to say what an honor it is to have you on board.”

Of course, Shaw can’t help himself when La Forge critiques his ship, letting him know it is “spewing fumes through layers of 21st century duct tape.”

SHAW: “Yeah, it’s been a weird week.”

Hopefully the two of them will get time to geek out together later.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

• Daystrom Station is a nice conglomeration of designs combining Jupiter Station and the MIDAS Array.
• One of the Starfleet ships pursuing the Titan early in this episode is the USS Sternbach, named for longtime  Trek illustrator/designer (and co-writer of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual ) Rick Sternbach.
• This is now Michael Dorn’s 278 th episode as Worf, extending his record appearance tally in Star Trek. According to Worf it has been 11 years, five months and four days since he’s seen Jean-Luc Picard in person.
• “The Bounty” marks the first time in Star Trek history that series regulars from three different shows (in this case TNG, DS9 and Voyager ) appear together on screen on a fourth show.
• A number of clips from Riker’s first meeting with Data are used from “Encounter at Farpoint.”
• I love the technobabble from Sidney that led the Titan to run from the Starfleet ships at Daystrom Station — they could become permanently trackable if hit by the “residual ionic energy” in the weapons being used by the Starfleet ships pursuing them. “Spoken like a true La Forge,” says Picard.
• Perhaps surprisingly, Seven identifies herself as Commander Hansen when contacting Picard to let him know Worf and Raffi are beaming on board.

• Stored in the dark recesses of Daystrom Station are fascinating objects like a genetically-modified ‘attack’ tribble, a Borg vinculum, a Reman Thalaron device (from  Star Trek: Nemesis ), a second Genesis device, and — most surprisingly — the body of Captain James T. Kirk, presumably recovered from his rocky grave on Veridian III ( Star Trek: Generations ). Even more curiously, there is audio of Original Series-era medical scan devices playing as the group passes by Kirk’s storage chamber… are those life signs!?
• For the first-time ever a cloak being engaged is shown via part of the interior of the ship warbling in-and-out of focus, so you can see out into space through a disappearing wall console. A fun and cool visual effect.
• “Stay away from my daughter,” is another great moment for Geordi as he jumps in to help align the Klingon cloaking device to get it working, after Jack and Sidney seemed to be hitting it off following their “minor larceny.”
• For those wondering whether Sidney and Alandra’s mother is still in the picture, we can confirm she is, as Geordi instructs his daughter “to tell mom we aren’t going to be home for dinner.”
• On Geordi’s office desk is a small statue of Zefram Cochrane. This is the same statue he described to Cochrane in person in  Star Trek: First Contact , also seen in Jonathan Archer’s quarters aboard Enterprise NX-01. (This can be seen in production photography for this episode, but it does not appear on screen.)

• Will Riker’s mother is named “Betty” per his Starfleet personnel file (displayed at Daystrom Station); this is the first time Kyle Riker’s wife has been named.
• The transponder decoy from the USS Titan seen in the opening shot of the episode looks like the 25th century version of the subspace amplifiers deployed by the NX-01 at the start of the Enterprise episode “Silent Enemy.”
• Where is  La Sirena now? With Raffi along for the ride aboard the  USS Titan , is the ship simply parked back at M’Talas Prime, or has it docked inside a shuttlebay?
• Data’s holographic crows are references to his dreams in “Birthright.”
• There are two references to Data previously dying. “Twice.” (One from Raffi and one from Picard.)
• Upon being awoke, new Data refers to himself as Daystrom Android M-5-10. Seems appropriate for the Daystrom Station. (Also, Data’s R2-D2 mode of showing a holographic presentation from lights shining out of his eyes is a cool addition for the android.)

• The whole “no Changeling has ever harmed another” thing sure seems to be out the window with Vadic, who is seen early in the episode killing off one of her Changeling crew members when they push back on her failed attempts to get their hands on Jack.
• What is meant to be parked in Hangar Bay 12?!? Fairly sure we are going to find out. (In case you missed it, Alandra suggests “Hangar Bay 12” as potential solution to help the Titan during a debate between Geordi and Picard. But neither she or Geordi elaborate on it.)
• There is an episode of Enterprise called “Bounty.” The similar naming convention in Star Trek is also seen with “The Emissary” (TNG) and “Emissary” (DS9), “The Muse” (DS9) and “Muse” (Voyager), “The Eye of the Beholder” (TAS) and “Eye of the Beholder” (TNG), and “The Sanctuary” (Discovery) and “Sanctuary” (DS9).
• The episode is the second in Dan Liu’s two-episode directorial block, the third overall episode of Star Trek he has helmed.
• The episode was written by Chris Monfette, who now has four writing credits on the series.

STARSHIP SPOTTER

Starfleet’s orbital museum began its life as the massive Earth-orbiting Spacedock seen in  Star Trek III: The Search for Spock  — and has since been relocated to Athan Prime for historical preservation along with its collection of starships, which include:

• The Defiant -class USS Defiant (NX-74205), which clearly survived its encounter with the  USS Protostar in  Star Trek: Prodigy  last season;
• The Constitution-class  USS Enterprise  (NCC-1701-A), last seen in  Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country ;
• The  Intrepid- class  USS Voyager  (NCC-74656), safely home after its adventures in  Star Trek: Voyager ;
• The Klingon Bird of Prey dubbed  HMS Bounty , brought back to Earth in  Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ;
• The  Constitution -class USS New Jersey (NCC-1975), a previously-unseen ship of Original Series design named for showrunner Terry Matalas’ birthplace (and the year he was born), notably NOT the  Star Trek: Strange New Worlds starship model;
• A  Constellation -class starship, perhaps Picard’s original  USS Stargazer (seen in “The Battle”);
• An  Akira- class, a  Nebula -class, and a small Sabre- class starship;
• An Original Series-era Romulan bird of prey;
• A Klingon K’t’inga-class starship, perhaps the Kronos One vessel from  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ;
• The  Excelsior -class  USS Excelsior  (NCC-2000) and  USS Pioneer (from  Star Trek Online ), both listed seen in the end credits sequence;
• The Doug Drexler-designed refit  Enterprise  NX-01, the updated version of Captain Archer’s starship from  Star Trek: Enterprise . This modification of the ship was unveiled in the 2011  Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar, and was finally canonized last season when the Eaglemoss model of the NX-refit appeared in the Picard family home seen in “Hide and Seek.”

Never in a million years would we have guessed an episode called “The Bounty” would have been about the return of THAT ship! But that’s what we got in this inspired episode of Star Trek: Picard — even if it did take them awhile to find the ship cloaked at the bottom of San Francisco Bay.

Next week: “Dominion.” I wonder what that might be about?

Jim Moorhouse is the creator of TrekRanks.com and the TrekRanks Podcast. He can be found living and breathing Trek every day on Twitter as @EnterpriseExtra.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will continue with “Dominion” on March 30 on Paramount+ in the United States and on CTV Sci Fi Channel and Crave in Canada — following the next day in the UK, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The series is also available on Amazon’s Prime Video service in most other international locations.

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REVIEW: Star Trek: Picard: “The Bounty”

We are now over halfway through the third and final season of Star Trek Picard ! But are the cracks finally starting to show? This week we will take a look at “The Bounty” ! This was an intermission episode between two plot elements that moves the story forward. However, it gave us some excellent character moments .

This week’s episode had some incredible highs and some incredible lows. The main focus of this episode was children and legacy, and what parents pass on. Not simply the good things, but the flaws as well. Which somewhat perfectly sums up my feelings on this episode. It is not perfect, but it is good!

SPOILER WARNING, this is our full in-depth review of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 ! As such, you have been warned! Turn away now if you don’t want spoilers!

Jack & Picard

At the beginning of the episode, we find out Beverly (Gates McFadden) has done some tests on Jack (Ed Speleers) . This is after he confessed to having hallucinations and nightmares. She finds out that he has Irumodic syndrome, and I guess she doesn’t dig any deeper after finding this out. Irumodic Syndrome definitely doesn’t make your eyes go red and make you capable of killing 4 changelings with ease. It is a little frustrating, but it makes sense and gives us some powerful character moments.

Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) finds Jack in Ten Forward on the Holodeck. This is another use to reuse this set, where Jack is essentially wallowing in self Pity. You get the start of the Jack and Picard character moments here. Jack even says stuff like “My mother tried to protect me from you, but perhaps I was doomed from the beginning” which is extremely harsh.

However harsh this is, it gets resolution at least in this very episode. Jack comes to Picard later and talks about the good qualities he gets from his mother, and the good qualities he gets from his father. This inter-episode resolution works extremely well, and I am loving the interaction between this father-son duo.

The LaForges

This becomes a common theme in the episode, something which even Picard talks to Geordi (Levar Burton) about. When raising kids, you try and impart the best of yourself in them, but you also pass along flaws as well. The Irumodic syndrome is just a tool in this episode to solidify that. But with Sidney (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) and Geordi, it is shown more so with their stubbornness.

Talking of Geordi and Sidney, their relationship in this episode was so well done. How they do love one another but have a strained relationship because of their choices. It was also nice to see them reconnect. Sidney explains that she crashed so many speeders just to get some time to work on them with her dad.

Worf & Riker

Worf (Michael Dorn) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) meet up with the Titan, though this leaves me to wonder a few things. Did they come here on the La Sirena or some other way? They beam aboard the Titan and then brief them on the Daystrom Heist, and then the Titan just heads to Daystrom… So did they just leave La Sirena orbiting a sun? A very interesting choice. They could have had the Titan head to M’talas Prime. Parked the La Sirena somewhere else. So I guess if it just maintains a stationary orbit, it should be fine?

A main conflict in this episode, which is in the background, is Worf and Riker’s (Jonathan Frakes) dynamic. Riker tries poking fun at Worf, but now that Worf is very Zen, these just don’t work. They seem to argue a little, so I wonder if that will be a point for just this episode, or will continue to be an element in later episodes.

Daystrom Station

Seeing Daystrom station is both amazing and also somewhat weird. The station consists of a Jupiter Station-style space station, with some Y Class Freighter Containers strapped to it, and two MIDAS arrays on the end. It is a very kitbash structure but kitbashed in a way that makes sense in this universe. The fact that the Titan can warp into the system straight away, without really tripping alarms, and just hide behind a moon is somewhat only there because the plot deems it to be. The most secure starbase with all of Section 31’s secret doomsday weapons, and you can just hide behind a moon. They do get spotted, but whether this is from being pursued or from warping into the system, or from the interconnected ship systems, I am not sure.

Echelon Class

I will say, I did not expect the Echelon Class starships, the two-nacelle version of the Sagan class, to be quite so intimidating. The Sagan class makes me think of an Engineering vessel, whilst the Echelon class, by just having 2 fewer nacelles now makes me think of an interceptor. We do get a cool little bit of tech saying that they have traceable payloads, which when hit by an enemy ship, allow them to be tracked. However, it seems like there is some disconnect between the scripts and the VFX for this shot, as well as previous episodes, such as when Riker shouts “Fire everything we’ve got” and the titan only fires 3 photon torpedoes. The Echelon is said to have these traceable payloads, and payload to me suggests torpedoes. But then they just fire phasers at the Titan. So unless the phaser rounds have traceable payloads? Who knows.

Editing in the Old

It is some nice character stuff that Riker is the one who recognizes the notes that are being played, and realizes the song stuck in the AIs head is “Pop goes the weasel”, the first song Riker and Data somewhat whistled together in the very first episode of TNG. That is cool, however how the episode told this to us, is not.

The episode actually edits in the scene from The Next Generation, inside this episode. In my opinion, this does not work and just feels extremely jarring, and a very weird decision to make. This season has had numerous references to previous Trek, and I feel there are better options to have this “Edit in the 30-year-old video” into a modern episode.

A prime example would probably be using Wolf 359 footage from DS9 in Shaw’s monologue, but doing it in this episode with “Pop goes the weasel” was just weird for me. However singing this satisfies the AI, which allows them access to the central complex.

A Brand new Soong

The AI hooked up to Daystrom station is basically all the deceased Soong androids in one. In a great bit of continuity, it connects back to Season 1 of Picard with Dr. Altan Inigo Soong.

After Picard took his golem body, after his own death, Soong tried making his own before he wanted to make something additive instead of just stationary, and instead of just transferring his own personality to the Flesh and Blood synthetic body, he added everybody’s memories and personalities to create a whole new being. It has the memories of Data stored on B4 from Nemesis, Personality of Nemesis, Data, Lore, Soong, and even Lal. Though I do have to wonder how they got Lal’s personality unless her body was just being stored somewhere as well.

Brent Spiner is just an amazing actor, in managing to switch characters in a second when the android is eventually activated. We see Data, we see Lore, we see Soong. How he moves his face gives it away, he doesn’t even need to say anything. I am sure this issue of the android switching personalities will be an issue going forward, maybe Lore just emerged and tried to mess with everyone, and then data came out and tried to fix Lore’s mistakes.

Ships Galore

An element I was looking very much forward to after seeing in trailers and the end credits was the fleet museum at Antham Prime. We got some very cool ships, a TOS-style Constitution class, the HMS Bounty, Voyager, Defiant, Kronos One possibly, and many others. However, the main one we are very excited about here on Trek Central is the NX-01 Refit which you can just about see in one of the shots. Star Trek Picard Season 2 essentially canonized this model of what the NX-01 Enterprise would have looked like if we got another season, with a secondary hull similar to the Constitution Class, with a young Picard playing with a model of one. Now we actually have it in the flesh, with it being stored at this fleet museum! These were cool, but it felt extremely rushed and just there to be “Oh look at these ships” more than anything else. We literally get a scene of Jack and Seven just looking at ships and talking about them, which is cool but also just weird to me.

Longing for a Voyage(r) Home

Though it is weird, it does have a place in the story, namely the introduction of the Bounty. Apart from that we also have a great Seven scene talking about Voyager, her former home, and something she is still longing for a home. Is it with Starfleet? Is it family with Raffi? These are questions that are probably going through Seven’s mind, so it is a nice moment.

Also, Jack waxing wise poetics at seven, to be responded with “you are such your father’s son” is a great moment, and helps Jack realize that there is some good that Picard passed on to him, and not just the bad Irumodic Syndrome and everything else.

The Titular Bounty

In some actual great scenes, we have our legacy kids working together to help their parents out, by going behind their backs and doing something incredibly dangerous and illegal. Like parents, like children.

Jack comes up with the idea to steal the cloaking device from the HMS Bounty, the ship from the TOS Movies, and install it on the Titan. Geordi even eventually helps, and we get this amazing line of Geordi telling Jack to stay away from his daughter, after some flirting between Sidney and Jack.

It is also fascinating going back and rewatching this episode, as Sidney even says, the only way they can come back to Daystrom without alerting Starfleet is if they are invisible, which is what they do later in the episode.

So yeah, now the Titan has a cloaking device. Picard and Geordi do talk about violating treaties so I wonder if the Treaty of Algeron still applies with Starfleet not using cloaking devices, considering the Romulan Star Empire is no more, though the treaty could have now extended to the Romulan Free States, but who knows.

Locutus Juice Theory

By the end of the episode, we find that the item that was stolen from Daystrom Station was in fact Jean Luc Picard’s actual body, from when he died in Season 1 and replaced his body with a synthetic one. Now, this is interesting, and I think continues to develop our Locutus Juice theory!

The reason why the changelings want Jack is that he has some remnants of Locutus within him, being the son of Picard. Now could they want Picard’s Body to actually resurrect Locutus?

Earlier in the series, we had Shaw describing Locutus as the most deadly borg that ever lived, and so deadly he got a name. This could be a foreshadowing of what the final boss of this season might be. Picard comes face to face with the only enemy that he hasn’t really fought. The ghost which has followed him for years, finally coming within grasp.

We also get within the episode Geordi saying that Starfleet has started to integrate Starfleet ships together, connecting with one another in some sort of hive one might say. We have also seen some Starfleet ships vulnerable to Borg hacking, in season 2, with some ships like the USS Stargazer utilizing tech from the abandoned Borg cube of the Artifact.

This would actually be a great way to tie both season 1 and season 2 together, Picard’s corpse resurrected as Locutus and using connected Starfleet ships as an instrument to destroy the Federation.

Riker & Troi

At the beginning of the episode, we saw Vadic (Amanda Plummer) wanting to find anyone that might be connected to Picard, and who else than Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) . So not only has Vadic captured Troi, but also Riker. I wonder how Riker will somehow help Vadic, and betray Picard, or how they might escape her clutches. I just hope Kestra is alright.

We saw Troi and Riker in one of the trailers on Vadic’s ship, so we knew they were going to be captured. I believed that they were going to find Troi based on the communication Riker had with her in Episode 4. However, it does make more sense that Vadic would know where she is, having access to files like Shaw’s psychological profile.

I hope Kestra is okay. We see she is capable of fending for herself in Season 1. However personally, I would love it if she was protected by Captain Rupert Crandall, the friend she mentions on Nepenthe.

This was episode 6 of season 3 of Star Trek Picard, titled “The Bounty”, written by Christopher Monfette and directed like the last episode by Dan Liu .

As we said at the beginning of the review, this episode had some incredible elements to it. Everything character-wise was amazing, from LeVar Burton out-acting everyone reprising his role as Geordi La Forge. Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut and Mica Burton just hit it off as siblings. Everything was really strong in that department. However, the pacing of this episode was quite all over the place. This could be due to all our previous episodes being quite stationary in a sense. On M’talas Prime, in a nebula. Daystrom is a nice new place, but it’s done very fast and basically just a corridor for our crew to walk down. The editing of old clips into this scene was also just jarring and quite whiplash-inducing.

Their interactions in particular are great, helping each other find connections that they somewhat deprive themselves of. Jack’s interactions with Picard continue to be a joy to watch, even when Jack is being harsh to Picard, but it feels so satisfying when they get Jack and Picard bonding as Father and Son.

So with a cloaking device, knowing what the changelings took from Daystrom, and Geordi and Data reunited, what does the next episode hold for us? Especially with Riker and Deanna captured, will Picard and the gang go on the offensive and take back their friends? I guess we will have to keep watching to find out.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 airs on Paramount+ in the United States and on CTV Sci-Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. However, the series will be available on Amazon’s Prime Video service for most international locations in the following days. For coverage of all things Star Trek: Picard Season 3, follow Trek Central!

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Preview “The Bounty” With New Images, Trailer And Clip From ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Episode 306

| March 20, 2023 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 169 comments so far

This week Star Trek: Picard moves into the second half of the third and final season. We have details along with new images, plus a clip and trailer

“The Bounty”

Episode 6 of Picard’s third season is called “The Bounty.” The episode was written by Christopher Monfette, and directed by Dan Liu. It debuts on Paramount+ on Thursday, March 23.

Now on the run, Picard and the skeleton crew of the U.S.S. Titan must break into Starfleet’s most top-secret facility to expose a plot that could destroy the Federation. Picard must turn to the only soul in the galaxy who can help – an old friend.

NEW Images from episode 6:

Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher and Patrick Stewart as Picard

Patrick Stewart as Picard and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Patrick Stewart as Picard, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher and Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker

Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker and Michael Dorn as Worf

Michael Dorn as Worf andPatrick Stewart as Picard

Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker and Michael Dorn as Worf

Patrick Stewart as Picard in

LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge

Patrick Stewart as Picard, Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine and Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw

LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge and Mica Burton as Ensign Alandra La Forge

Mica Burton as Ensign Alandra La Forge

Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher

Mica Burton as Ensign Alandra La Forge and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut as Sidney La Forge

Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw

Patrick Stewart as Picard and Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw

Previously released image from episode 6:

Michael Dorn as Worf

Paramount has released a trailer on social media.

As the enemy closes in, Picard and his crew need to turn to a friend on the next episode of #StarTrekPicard . pic.twitter.com/QsEV6xaJdQ — Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) March 20, 2023

A clip was shown at the end of the Ready Room (at 32:47):

The third and final season of  Picard premiered on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, exclusively on  Paramount+ in the U.S., and Latin America, and on February 17 Paramount+ in Europe and elsewhere, with new episodes of the 10-episode-long season available to stream weekly. It also debuted on Friday, Feb. 17 internationally on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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Yay! Geordi!

Really hoping we get some answers this week about the monster inside Jack’s head — it’s a plot point that’s starting to wear thin.

I’ve been thinking about this. I think they may have introduced that plot point a little too early, because it’s likely to be one of the things that doesn’t resolve until the finale.

i wonder if Shaw is a fanboy of LaForge….being an engineer i could see him geeking out on a fellow famous engineer

That was my prediction a few weeks ago when I realized that Shaw’s dislike for Picard and Riker was probably due in part to his engineering background. Why would he not admire Geordi?

Hopefully he’s cooler to him than Geordi was to Montgomery Scott.

Yeah, that part of Relics didn’t make much sense. Geordi was already established to be a history nerd as well as an engineering nerd. He should’ve been a borderline scary Annie Wilkes kind of biggest fan for Scotty.

Right? That was the only time ever in Star Trek where I absolutely HATED Geordi.

Well his daughter is serving on the ship and that could be because he is a big fan of her father.

BTW LaForge should have been part of season 1 of Picard. he was Data’s best friend and should have helped Picard put Data to rest

Absolutely agree!

Yes, 100%! But then, Terry Matalas should have been allowed to rework (of not write) that entire season, and who knows what better material we would have gotten. 😉

*that’s: (IF not write)

Matalas wasn’t even working on the show then though.

Yes, I’m aware, of course! But neither was LeVar Burton; hence the “should haves” above. As long as we’re wishing, y’know?!

That’s not the same thing though. Burton has been part of the franchise for 35 years now playing an iconic character, Matalas hasn’t.

So, when wishing and spinning “what if”-scenarios in our minds, we have to follow stricter rules now? 😉

Seriously, I do get where you’re coming from, but since Matalas had worked on several Trek iterations before, and seeing what he’s delivering now, I think he’s fair game as far as wishes go. I would LOVE to see what he would’ve done, building on the basic framework of season 1!

Piggybacking on that really quick: the YouTube channel Popcast Unleashed streamed a very interesting discussion today (Raw Rant #6), with Picard writer and co-producer Matt Okumura, as well as Robert Meyer Burnett.

Their discussion about Terry Matalas’ approach, and the entire writers’ room process for season 3 in particular, is well worth the time! 👂💬👍

It’s funny I was going to watch that stream today but I got busy. But I’m going to definitely watch it now. The Popcast and Robert Meyer Burnett has both been the best things to watch discussing season 3, especially since they seem to get most of the insiders from the show. Matalas himself has become a staple on Burnett’s channel especially.

OK fair enough. And yes, I wish he worked on season one as well lol.

Sounds horrible. No thanks

I’ve never thought about that but you are absolutely right. Great observation!

Star Trek: Laforge

Agreed. It made absolute sense that Geordi would be in season one and who Picard should’ve called on him to help. Another reason why season one was so weak.

Yeah missed opportunity there!

This love affair that was created with Picard and Data is ludicrous. It was essentially something they added to the films to give Spiner a more rounded role, and the relationship between Data and LaForge was pushed to the back burner after Generations. It was such nonsense, Picard was never THAT close to Data. Sure he respected him, and liked him. But love? Nah.

Can I just say that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a weirder image from any Star Trek show than that first one?

Worf has his hands in his pockets!

I know you meant this just as a silly nitpick, but if it makes you feel any better, I don’t believe the episode ever shows him with his hands in his pockets like that. It’s likely just for the promotional picture.

I totally buy all that, but it’s still weird to see!

Terry Matalas said these photos were taken during rehearsals.

They don’t have pockets in the future? Or is it because warriors don’t use pockets?

<Worf voice> “Klingons do not use….pockets.”

HAHAHA perfect! NOW I get it!

“Pockets are for Thursdays”.

Pretty use the jumpsuits didn’t have pockets….

David Gerrold has a funny story about how there are no pockets in the future.

Not too sure he’s ever had a costume with pockets.

Man, why can’t they light the show like they do with their promo images???? These look great and would look great on screen.

I hope for a color-corrected version on the Blu Ray with the lights on!

Yeah, these pics are so gorgeous and punchy!

Any chance “The Bounty” might also be a reference to the Bird of Prey on the display behind Geordi? A cloaking device might make things easier… Just a thought…

A cloaking device does show up in the main credits. That is probably for a reason.

There’s a reason Riker likes the word “burglar.” Need to be invisible to go burgle a dragon. I mean a station.

Oh wow. Yes! And isn’t the schematic in the graphics of the closing credits a device with annotated points in Klingon that then translate to English? This would be a lovely call back and mean that the Titan can fly around cloaked… and who better to install it than Geordi with some help from an old grease monkey like Shaw. I am LOVING this season. Pure joy.

That was my thinking also, that “The Bounty” is the BoP from TSFS and TVH but also a play on words concerning Jack

and don’t forget mutiny

There is a lot of ‘fanboy’ nostalgia in this one, this was the last of the 6 preview episodes.

Bordering on spoilers here. Best not to say anything at all.

“Fanboy nostalgia” does not tell you much. Anytime you get on the net, you risk spoilers.

Not to an episode that hasn’t aired yet. It doesn’t say much, you’re right, but as I’ve seen it, I’ve stayed away from making even the slightest suggestion of anything that the episode entails, because I don’t think it’s right to even make allusions (other than pockets)

That makes your reply about his post being spoilery even more spoilery actually. Since now you’re kinda alluding to things. LOL

I won’t spoil anything, but I suppose saying this does build anticipation that there are parts people will be very happy about. I’ve seen it also, it’s a shame there isn’t a forum where people can chat about this.

Why is Geordi wearing an apron?

I call that particular uniform the “Blacksmith’s Apron.”

Took me a while. LOL!!!

I’m guessing that either all the Titan crew members that transferred to Intrepid were killed by changelings or there’s still an epic fight to the death going down on that ship.

I was thinking the same. By my theory, they were all “assimilated” by changelings when transported over, effectively killing the solids, and turning them all into these new “fleshy” changeling hybrids. Scary sh!t… 😨

Right; I wonder if Esmar and T’Veen are on the Intrepid, fighting the good fight.

Chuckling because every Picard season has featured: a heist episode, fan favorite character dies (Hugh, Q, Ro), a 9/11-level event, a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top (in season two it’s via the guy who interrogates Picard & Guinan), a young person discovers they have Jason Bourne/John Wick-level killing powers (Data’s daughters, Jurati once she becomes Borgified, Jack)

I wonder if there’s, like, a story skeleton that they have to follow.

Formulaic, to be certain.

Sometimes formulaic is bad. Sometimes it’s good. If it hadn’t been done twice so recently, I don’t think it would even be worth mentioning. But in a way, sometimes just sticking to an established formula can be a good thing, because you can just stick to the basics.

And not necessarily a formula for success!

Thrilled Geordi is finally here and in person. I’ve been waiting for him to finally appear.

But man, they’re just never going to bring on Deanna are they? Unless it’s for the last episode or two. Oof. Were those zoom things really all they gave her in the first six episodes?

I think there’s a pretty good chance they go to pick her up this episode, for her own safety. Plus, who wouldn’t want a Betazoid around to help suss out Changelings?

A few reviews mentioned she only had like two scenes in the whole first six episodes. I assume they meant the flashback and call with Riker. I could be wrong, and I’d love to be, but I’m guessing she’s not in the episode unfortunately.

I don’t think so. They’re introducing Geordi (and probably Lore and Moriarty) in this one. They’re spreading it out. But hopefully next week, finally!

Ignoring my previous comment lol, I actually think she might be, even though it’s probably only at the end. I just saw an interview Terry Matalas posted somewhere else where he said she couldn’t start filming in person till episode 6 and that she plays heavily in and features in the last five episodes of the season. So there’s that.

That’s very revealing about her availability. Because a lot of fans have been screaming that Matalas “did her dirty” and insisted that you can tell that Sirtis is unhappy with her role, given her demeanor in recent interviews. Typical fans…

I mostly thought that was all bullshit and overreaction but to be fair on one thing, Sirtis was on the cruise talking about she didn’t like that Troi was stuck at home being a stay home mother and being disappointed with that.

I don’t think that was her being generally unhappy or anything though, just that she didn’t like that one plot point.

Really?? That IS revealing. Where did he say that?

Not sure we’re supposed to post links to other outlets here, but look for the Collider interview were he breaks down episode 4. He talks about how she didn’t start filming in person till the 6th episode, says she plays heavily in the last five episodes of the season, and then says the back half of the season is “Troi’s season”.

Oh, that doesn’t necessarily mean she was unavailable though does it?

I read it again and it’s kind of worded where it can go either way. He’s acting like she wasn’t available till then. She’s apparently been hinting and saying that she was disappointed and unhappy with being left out of the first part of the season and Troi being left at home. I guess we’ll never know.

Just going to enjoy what we’ve gotten so far out of the season and look forward to the back half with them all together. Hoping it’s great.

I found the interview. It didn’t say she wasn’t available. Just that she wasn’t there during the filming of episode 4. They had to wait to film her scene till later.

She moved back to London from LA not too long ago, so I think it was much harder to get there for filming.

That had to do with the press tour.

Marina Sirtis moved back to the UK in 2021. Could be why they gave her limited screen time in the story. But as the story has been written, it makes sense.

She was in production two out of the six months. That’s a long enough time to be away from home in another country for a ‘guest star’ credit.

Her and Riker seem to be on the outs. So space Zoom calls are okay.

In real life, she lives in London now, so if this was all she could do, it is what it is.

I think we need to break into Geordi’s office. So many toys…

In one of these images is a miniature statue of Zefram Cochrane (which Geordi described to Cochrane in FC)

May have been Jonathan Archer’s.

I’ve been not so patiently waiting for Geordi and I’m so hyped to see some photos. Can’t wait for the episode. I think and I’m hoping that it’s going to be great.

Still can’t get over how the 25th century combadges are so heavily influenced from the ones seen in AGT. So cool.

Between AGT, STO, IDW and the Relaunch novelverse, this season has woven in numerous visual, character and historical parallels.

Paramount owns all the IP for the tie-ins. It makes so much sense to pull it in as appropriate so that the licenced products feel like they’re part of the same multiverse.

Yeah I love it as well, but those have been the alternate future timeline badges for so long on all the shows, it would be weird not to have them now.

Oh man that shot of Geordi at his desk is full of all sorts of goodies.

Looks like Kirk’s copy of “A Tale of Two Cities”, a Zephram Cochran statue, and a Vulcan warp sled. We’re gonna need a full series just for Geordi’s office alone

CBS Licensing needs to get on it and find someone to make the the leather jackets that Raffi and Jack are wearing.

Also they should make the Starfleet delta removable, in case a person doesn’t feel like flying their trek flag some days.

Yes, love the look! 🖤 😊👍

These faces make me smile!

I just love how that yellow [uniform] pops on screen (more so than the other two colors.

I kinda wish they would have held off posting some of these pics to be honest. Better to be surprised (even by a bit).

Ten Forward, quelle surprise… LOL

“I just love how that yellow [uniform] pops on screen (more so than the other two colors.”

Same! It really shines. 🌞👍 Red and blue/teal should’ve been given some extra treatment in post-production — they were sitting on this season for months, and could’ve really used the time to fix all these minor color & lighting issues.

“Ten Forward, quelle surprise… LOL”

Right?!!! More like Ten Backward, by now… 🫢 It was either this, or Chateau Picard. 😝

Based on the graphic behind Geordi, he’s in his office at the Fleet Museum. I will geek out so much if we get a glimpse of the Enteprise-A, Excelsior, and Voyager once again!

I hope they have it where the newer TNG era ships are all electronically hijacked that the Ent-A, Miranda’s and Excelsiors have to take them out with superior strategy! How great would that be?

Nah, I bet the mark II changelings have gotten into the bio neural gel pack system.

Boy they love that 10-Forward set. :D J/K, I’m fine with it. Excited!

I did not initially care for the Ten Forward Holodeck or the Titan-A, but both have grown on me over the course of the first five episodes. Especially the Titan-A. It’s a beautiful ship.

There’s a bird of prey on the display behind Geordi so that must be the HMS Bounty in the fleet museum. I bet they needed a cloaking device and Geordi being in charge of the museum knew just where to get one.

The fleet museum isn’t a spare parts house. Or at least it shouldn’t be. Anything of use would have been removed long ago.

I’m projecting a nit pick here….it’s already been confirmed Geordi heads the fleet museum complex. A Starfleet mothball or reserve fleet would be ships maintained by the service, in some state of readiness if they are needed. A museum ship has been stricken from the service , deactivated, and put up on public display. Antimatter has been drained, deuterium tanks are empty, weapons have been removed, so tourists can safely walk the corridors Kirk or Janeway walked. I surely hope our heroes don’t show up looking for some spare ships. This is Star Trek, not the movie Battleship.

USS Constitution was a museum ship and to this day remains a commissioned ship in the US Navy. HMS Victory, in permanent dry dock at the Royal Navy Museum in Portsmouth, also remains commissioned with the Royal Navy, although (unlike Constitution) she is unlikely to sail ever again.

Old Ironsides commissioned status is more in recognition of her history, as opposed to her combat readiness. She’s a well-preserved antiquity that gets towed out into Boston Harbor on occasion, fires the cannons, on rare occasions she does set sail on very short voyages near her port; her value now is as a recruiting tool. There’s no universe where the Navy crews her up, puts a detachment of Marines on her, and points her out to the Atlantic with orders to hunt pirates. Geordi’s job is to keep his museum pieces presentable. Not functional.

As others have speculated, maybe they’re looking for a cloaking device from a certain Bird of Prey, which shares its name with the episode’s. Although, you’d think that would’ve been removed for study long ago.

Not to mention completely outdated and most likely vulnerable to newer sensor technology.

True, though I suppose Geordi could modify it or something. You know how that goes. Something something technobabble, we can do it but don’t push it too far, Captain.

I wonder where Starfleet is with cloaking tech on the whole at this point. Does the treaty with the Romulans still apply?

I do miss Geordi’s technobabble.

I guess we will need a follow up series set in that time period to answer such questions about the status of relations between the Federation and Romulans.

I bet together with Shawn’s knowledge of the Titan under Skin Hardware, he and Gerodi are capable to “Update” this Old Cloaking Device to get the Job done, but surly with an “Nerf” like their old Trail of gas or Heat

Also, there is Geordi’s Daughter that surly can migrate their “old Wisdom” to Up to date State of Art Technology

Something alike Energy when Picard said on the Bridge “Should you not saying Warp 9.99?” :)

“hurry Picard, my Duck Tape Attached Cloaking Device are about to overheat the Warpcore and this can turn out Ugly!. Because the Extra Cooling System is on their last Breaths” this kind of “Nerfs” i mean

my Mass Effect Fan Boy guess: Perhaps we get something like the Normandy “Silent Run” solution here

Do they really need it for study? That tech, banned in the past or not, is seriously out of date. Admiral Pressman had MUCH better tech that they could utilize and I am not sure the treaty of algeron is still in place following Shinzon’s actions and then the destruction of Romulus.

I meant just after its arrival on Earth in the 23rd century. Presumably Starfleet would be highly interested in the latest Klingon cloak at that time. Kirk said as much. Whether they eventually reinstalled it into the Bounty for historical purposes is anybody’s guess at this point. Maybe Geordi will explain.

Ahhh. Thank you for the clarification. You’re right. Legal or not, I have no doubt some part of Starfeet, even if it was Section 31, would have taken and reversed engineer the tech. But don’t forget, this is not the first time Starfleet has had this tech. It happened in TOS during the episode The Enterprise Incident.

Which begs the question: how often do the Romulans and Klingons have to update their cloaks, and how often does Starfleet have to steal one?

It’s a good question. But I don’t think either the Romulans or the Klingons got to the tech the federation had where they could cloak and traverse through objects. If they could they could single handedly turn the tides of the Dominion War!

I’m sold on the newer TNG era ships having been electronically hijacked (AI controls?) and the older more manual ships (Miranda, Connie, Excelsior, etc) have to take them out with more innovative imaginative tactics. Could explain why Titan A was built to movie era specs.

Nothing beats analog! Geordi, where are those 3 1/4 floppies at?

I think I would freak out if Picard ended up on the bridge of the 1701-A LOL

I thought I saw the A, in one of the trailers when they come up to the Museum (trailer with the good music). Can see the blue nacelles and the blue dish.

Fingers Crossed!!!

If we saw that legendary ship this season, I might need to have an ambulance waiting for me!

Picard says “engage”, to which Geordi replies, “only if we all get out and push”.

Oh sheesh don’t get my hopes up LOL

I have a feeling this episode is going to be great! But then, I think all of them have been great so far. Fingers are crossed that we see some of the favorite old ships that Geordi has been caring for.

I’m really looking forward to binge watching this entire season in one day when the last episode is released.

I really hope Kira and Admiral Janeway show up.

Kira because she’s the closest thing the Federation has to an expert on Changelings and Admiral Janeway because of the conspiracy within the Federation and Starfleet.

I also feel that Seven should be allowed to voice concern for her friends in Starfleet (i.e. the crew of Voyager).

Why should Picard and Riker be the only ones allowed to bring their crew back together, right?

And if they’re looking for allies within the Federation (i.e. people they can trust), they should start with the Doctor. Changelings cannot mimic a hologram.

I think Matalas has said Janeway is dedicated to just Prodigy for now. I hope for Kira too tho.

It would be logical.

Does anyone have an International Preview link for me? I would really appreciate that

It’s good to see Geordi back again. I have seen his STO Avatar and even Worf’s one there, but i really like the Original ones. Nothing beats Life!

About Geordi helping out: I bet if they do not plan to use the Cloaking Device Card, then the Titan will get some new Fake Look. But, before this happens the Clamps on the Saucer section must Fit with the New Old Part, too. There is no really Time to refit other Ship saucers section Clamps to the Titan, right?

But i bet, Geordi and Shawn are capable of integrate some old Cloaking Device on the Titan

Speculation: Oh, yes, this “giving Titan an Fake Makeover Look” is my Speculation, if they do not have Cloaking Device at hand now or are build out of Old Ships of Security. But The “New Titan” is still an Ship that want to Visit Earth and i bet the Changelings have their Eyes peeled around and Time is the Key here

Check the StarTrek.com site.

The ‘sneak peek’ is included in the end of last week’s ready room.

The preview seems to go up there later.

The season has been fan service. Very well done, but still fan service. So visiting the fleet museum plays well into that. They are there looking for some spare parts.

To reply to your speculation, you’d only likely be able to swap out saucer sections with similarly classed ships, Galaxy class with another Galaxy class. Swapping a Galaxy class to a Sovereign class ship wouldn’t likely work because of the overall differences in configuration. It would also likely play hell with the flight dynamics as well (yes, that would still be a consideration in a zero-g environment).

Let alone keeping their Warp Bubble stable, that was not designed for that New Ship Mass

Perhaps we could see some (more) “Scotty” & “Geordi’s” MacGyver Solutions. Like in the Gigantic Dyson sphere Episode

IMHO WARP bubbles do not need to take mass into account to that degree. WARP is about folding space. What is in between the fold should technically not matter, just the size of the bubble.

And as we’ve seen before in TNG, that can be adjusted. The Beverly alone in her universe being the best example.

What would be a consideration is flight dynamics under impulse drive. A source of thrust on a starship, even in a Zero G environment, will create flight stresses on the structure of a ship. Swapping out differently configured primary hulls would cause problems in load (thrust) distribution.

Sure. But theoretically flying inside a warp bubble would be like flying through simple space. There should be no zero G and technically you don’t even need to fly at impulse in the warp bubble. A modern day space shuttle could traverse the path if it could have created the bubble. That’s the whole point. There is practically no distance from A to B.

Well I’m not sure about that. We all know that the Galaxy class had a detachable saucer section. Although never seen on screen the sovereign class was supposed to have one too. The fit might not look right but that might not mean they can’t connect if backwards compatibility was not built in, which is a very real world thing in technology.

I’d not expect that level of compatibility when swapping out differently configured primary hulls. I would expect compatibility on several mission critical systems, though. Gravity plating. Sensors. Interface consoles. Warp core components. Clearly weapons.

I’d mentioned elsewhere that’s going to be a substantial nit-pick, if our heroes show up at the fleet museum in the next episode with a fleet of ships at their disposal, all primed and ready to go. If Starfleet has struck a ship, before it goes on display to the general public, anything of use would have been stripped from it first. Like warship museums of today, they are kept presentable, not functional.

That’s totally fair

I’m so tired of Ten Forward being the only holodeck program. It feels so boring and lazy. If it’s a budget issue, it would have flowed better to have so many of these scenes in whatever the Titan’s crew canteen is.

It’s the sunk cost of the built set. That’s how elaborate it is. They did the same thing in season one by having the La Sirena holodeck recreate Picard’s study at the chateau. Just poor planning by people who’ve never made TV before and Matalas having to inherit it. But think of it this way: the money they’ve saved reusing this set, despite not making much sense, has helped them afford more important things (guest cast, new sets we both have and haven’t seen, space VFX shots).

Matalas was co-showrunner in season 2 when that set was being built. He didn’t just inherit it. People act like Matalas just came on board in season 3 because they don’t like season 2, but he started working for the show in late 2019 or by January 2020, over a year before season 2 filming started. The season 2 story was broken down by early 2020, with multiple plot points being Terry’s ideas.

I’m not one of these Terry Trek muffins stanning for his installation as Lord of Trek. Your point that he was co-showrunner proves my point. I don’t think very much of Mr. Goldsman’s prowess when it comes to producing television and a lot of what did not work about ST:P can be safely assigned to his decision-making.

Keep in mind seasons 2 and 3 were shot back to back. Just because Matalas was involved with Season 2 does not mean he had much to do with it. There was a LOT going on all at once and he is only one guy.

A lot of Alex & Akivastans in the comments, amirami. Those dudes, who’ve done nothing but light piles of Paramount’s money on fire, are somehow immune from criticism. Anyway, all that said, I recall Matalas using the word “inherited” in relation to the set. But I could be mistaken and that was some other commenter’s or article writer’s word choice. Regardless, whoever’s decision it was to build the 10 Forward Bar, it was a dumb one. Not just because of s3, but because it was stupid to build a bar set during a pandemic when securing a location like that would’ve been doing some holders of empty retail places a favor.

Fair enough. A real bar could have taken the place of “Ten Forward” and saved money. And also, if you are going to build a set for Ten Forward, why not just give us the REAL Ten Forward?

You’re exactly right. And it’s worth mentioning that Season 2 has a compelling story, fascinating themes, and lots of good stuff. The problem was in how it was all put together and executed, particularly in the second half, after he left.

I don’t mind the Ten Forward set but it is pretty obvious it’s only being used to save money. It’s also very odd it’s the only holodeck program they been running that only Picard and Riker have any attachment to who aren’t part of the crew.

I do prefer it to Voyager’s tropical resort holodeck program. That was overused too.

I agree they should have a mess hall set or recreation lounge or something they could use in addition to the Ten Foward bar to make the budget constraints less noticeable.

In Voyager you could tell that they had the budget for one big holodeck set that was swapped out once a season or so—the tropical resort, the French bar, the Irish village, Da Vinci’s workshop.

Yes, finally Geordi is back! I thought he may show up in episode 5 but it’s great to see him back now. So now five of the gang will be together on the Titan with Worf also showing up. Hopefully Troi is next in episode 6.

But the show is on fire and it feels like it’s only going to get better now with the stakes so high and they are on the run. Can’t wait for the next episode!

Troi makes the most sense to come back. You have a Changeling issue. Why not get a telepath on board to help if you can?

So what color is Raffi’s uniform because in the video it looks red, in the pics it looks gold?

I really hope Geordi gets a chance to crack a smile and laugh before the end of the series. I miss Burton’s infectious laughter and every promo image or clip of Geordi so far has seen him looking pretty dour.

Me too. But the only time he ever really laughed on TNG was playing poker or with Data.

Geordie looks pissed in one of the photos. I don’t blame him, especially since Picard put his daughter in danger. I can’t wait to see the great Levar Burton again. I’ve been a fan of his since reading rainbow.

I still wish he got the Jeopardy gig.

😮‍💨 I am bowing out of the rest of the season after episode 5. I’ll lurk and comment if I like something that happens and will still be paying attention to this last half.

But I have to be honest, this season has lost me, especially from a DS9 perspective. To me it feels like they’re just redoing the war but this time Picard is the main and leading protagonist instead of Ben Sisko and nothing that made it work the first time around is there anymore. And by that I mostly mean Odo. I’m not asking for Odo himself in this season because I know it’s not possible. When I say that I mean someone from within the Dominion that will openly say that this is wrong and is not what they should be and someone that we knew that about from the very start. Right now this season doesn’t have that, so I’m just left grasping at straws to try to guess what might be that role because it’s not Worf. Worf doesn’t even come close to filling that. As of now I’m left wondering if Jack Crusher was a plant from Odo’s side although that makes no sense.

Another thing that made it work in DS9 (in part because of Odo) is that you got to see them through the perspective of other people within the Dominion like the random Jem’Hadar First of the episode or whichever Vorta is around, mostly Weyoun. It just isn’t the same without either species to me. The Changelings doing everything by themselves just doesn’t work for me.

Like I said already, I’ll be following along still and see if it improves for me any but as of right now, this season has completely lost me.

Although I don’t agree totally (I’m now really enjoying the season, since episode 3) I get what you mean. Getting the Changelings without the Vorta and the Jem’Hadar (so far) and without Odo, feels like cherry pie without the crust. It’s just the goo.

Just the goo. 😂 That’s a great one. Thanks.

And thank you for understanding too.

Trek writing has been very formulaic for a long time now. This season is no different. At the end of episode 10, our heroes will all ride off into the sunset, possibly further adventures await. Once I adjusted my expectations to expect some world class fan service, I was able to roll into this and enjoy it for what it is. Fan service. Stewart and McFadden have been great chewing the scenery. It’s been a beautiful show so far, a great vehicle for fan service. Another season of this would be tiring, though.

It’s not serving this fan anything. All it’s given me so far is Liam Shaw who is one of my types of Trek characters. And that’s not enough to influence how I feel about everything else at all. So I’m out.

Especially since I could never get into TNG and Picard is a character that I cannot stand in any way. So again, it’s not giving me anything.

I was lured into this season with the promise of DS9 and VOY legacy. Instead I’m getting nothing on the latter (PRO is doing a much better job of being that) and the former just turned out to be Dominion War 2: vortaless edition. It was better the first time around, I don’t need to see it occur again unless I’m rewatching DS9.

Not too sure how you got the idea that Voyager and DS9 were being revisited. The reunion season of TNG was being hyped early on, even if Sir Patrick still doesn’t want to call it a reunion show.

Regardless, if TNG was never your thing, you’re entitled to that.

It was said a few times by Terry Matalas before the season started airing, I didn’t pull that out of nowhere.

It may well have, I might have missed it in the mountain of hype about the TNG reunion. Again, you’re entitled, TNG isn’t your thing.

Thank you for understanding.

Thinking this over, season three is trying to start the work of drawing together the 24th century plot threads of DS9 and Voyager into one shared backdrop/context that can be taken forward into a new show.

Of course Paramount wants to draw all the Berman-era fans back in, but is unlikely to make 3 different early 25th century shows.

So, there definitely were messages sent out to intentionally draw in DS9 fans, just as Picard has tried to draw in Voyager fans with Seven since season one. I can see why Gritizens and other DS9 fans woukd be frustrated.

However, just as every Picard season before has been constrained and shaped by what Patrick Stewart is willing to allow the writers to do with the character, this season has prioritized TNG’s legacy characters.

More, it’s still using both TNG characters and context as well as DS9’s history in the service of Picard’s journey. So, if you’re not, at base, drawn in by the journey Patrick Stewart is willing to play for Picard, I can see how this season could fail to hold you.

Really, the bottom line is that Picard as a show really has to end this season so that the writers can tell bigger stories with an ensemble of new and legacy characters rather than just a single hero’s journey.

Exactly this.

What I would have liked to see was a show more like what Chakotay’s original mission in Prodigy was. One about a ship assigned to the gamma quadrant with mostly new characters and the token legacy character could have been someone like… idk… Ezri Dax. Or maybe Julian Bashir. Other legacy characters can come and go as the story calls for it, but not take the story over.

On this hypothetical show, their mission could be just to help the people of the gamma quadrant learn to trust the Federation more after the war. Show us the ways the Dominion is better and, dare I say, redeeming itself under the guidance of Odo. Silly idea but include a rehab place for Jem’Hadar and Vorta, where they learn that there is more to life than fighting and serving the Founders and having them leave it free to chose their own paths instead of the ones chosen for them. Here you could have some legacy characters (any surviving Vorta or clones of ones you saw that had died [there were still others besides Weyoun]) mixing in with new characters. After all, what could be more Trek in itself than that.

After that Lower Decks episode where they were trying to do exactly that with the Karemma, I just assumed that would be the direction the story would be taken in. Prodigy itself kinda solidified (ha pun not intended) that for me when the Protostar just kinda… hung out… in the Gamma Quadrant unbothered. Nobody rolled up to say hey please leave or tried to attack them or anything. Furthermore it was implied that Starfleet was actively in the quadrant when Lieutenant Frex asked if he was being reassigned there.

So this was a shock because it came out of nowhere in my perspective. What I thought was the path that was started at the end of DS9 and I felt like LD and PRO had provided proof of that that was the route being taken. There was no set up for this, no hints of it. There was nothing even suggesting there was a splinter group of Founders out there.

This storyline could have worked in the show that I tossed out in this comment. Maybe spend the first season or two setting it up, just like DS9 did with the original war, only maybe don’t take as long with it. Maybe my idea is not very practical for a show but it would have worked so much better for me over what PIC has done so far.

Sorry if this made no sense.

Fair enough. I’m feeling that we just keep getting more ‘movie Picard’ and the Picard of TNG that I admired is mostly gone.

So that’s not so interesting, especially as, with Picard still the title character, everything and everyone’s arcs are still about his journey. His resolution with Ro was one of the few satisfying moments with him. I’m finding myself unexpectedly not enjoying Beverly.

I‘ve enjoyed Riker, Seven and Worf, so that’s still of interest beyond Shaw, but I can grasp your perspective.

The Changelings we’ve seen on the show so far are a breakaway terrorist sect. They’re not the Dominion.

I know that. I said repeatedly that what I said is what I feel like the season is doing. Then in my original comment I said “someone from Odo’s side.” I know that. I acknowledge that.

Episode 6 did not drop

You’re a day early.

Picard Season 3 Brings Back One Of The Next Generation's Silliest Villains

This post contains  spoilers for episode 6, season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard."

On the sixth episode of the third season of "Star Trek: Picard" — called "The Bounty" — Worf (Michael Dorn), Raffi (Michelle Hurd), and Capt. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) break into a space-bound, top-secret Federation storage warehouse called Daystrom station. On board, the characters find a lot of shadowy corridors lined with lockers containing strange "Star Trek"-related artifacts. In one locker, Worf discovers a living tribble, only this one is equipped with fangs and a sucker mouth. In another, Raffi finds the remains of Capt. Kirk, presumably retrieved from under a pile of rocks on Veridian III. The references rest on the border of cute and insufferable, and the episode as a whole leans far too hard into nostalgic temptation. 

Case in point: Daystrom station is equipped with an artificially intelligent security system that recognizes Riker and Worf and immediately initiates a holographic security countermeasure. Ignoring for a moment that a mere storage warehouse is equipped with sophisticated holo-emitters, Riker, Worf, and Raffi find themselves facing off against none other than Moriarty (Daniel Davis), the nemesis of Sherlock Holmes as he appeared in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1893 short story, "The Final Problem." Raffi is baffled that a holographic villain from the 19th century is guarding a Federation black site in the 25th, especially when only armed with an old-fashioned pistol.

Moriarty's presence on "Picard" is a little perplexing, but it was perhaps no more perplexing than his two previous appearances on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" where Moriarty, as a hologram, achieved consciousness and attempted to take over the Enterprise.

Ship in a bottle

Moriarty, as played by Daniel Davis, first appeared in the episode "Elementary, Dear Data" (December 5, 1988). In that episode, Data (Brent Spiner)  had become too good at solving Sherlock Holmes mysteries on the holodeck, making the deduction and investigation parts of the stories — the fun parts — unnecessary. Geordi (LeVar Burton), bored in his role as Dr. Watson, suggested to Data that he needed to be challenged by a mystery, and asked the holodeck to create a character that would actually be capable of besting Data. Note that Geordi said "Data" and not "Sherlock Holmes." The holodeck, using heretofore unknown powers, created a Prof. Moriarty that is self-aware. Moriarty knows he is a citizen of 19th-century England but also finds himself able to access the Enterprise's computers, slowly becoming aware that he is a mere character in a high-tech simulation. He will eventually try to gain control of the ship. 

It will take a great deal of negotiation from Picard to convince him to stop his shenanigans. Moriarty is stored in the ship's memory to be dealt with at a later time. He will be restored accidentally in the episode "Ship in a Bottle" (January 24, 1993) where he will announce he was aware of the passage of time, even when stored in a memory bank. Once again, he will attempt to take over the Enterprise. At the end of the episode, Moriarty is duped into a simulation, and he is placed into a computerized cube that will provide him and his beloved wife with a lifetime of adventures. 

How is Moriarty here?

One can see why "Star Trek" writers are drawn to Moriarty. Like the denizens of the Enterprise, he is an intellectual. And like all life forms on "Star Trek," he demands respect and autonomy; when Picard is confronted with a new life form, he initially balks, unsure how to deal with the fact that his ship spontaneously created an adult human being. Moriarty is a character from classic Western literature, a canon that Trek is fairly obsessed with. Additionally, visiting Doyle's England provides "The Next Generation" with some much-needed visual variety; one can only look at grey-and-lavender hallways for so long before aching for dark earth tones. 

As a villain, though, Moriarty does possess a palpable fatuity. While the dramatic explanation for the character is laid out in detail, his actual presence on "Star Trek" feels a little like, say, Mr. Peabody and Sherman visiting Cleopatra. Author Loren D. Estleman once wrote a novel called "Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula."  "Moriarty vs. Picard" tilts away from "essay on the nature of consciousness" pretty quickly, and falls headlong into the realm of Estleman-like fan fiction.

Moriarty's presence on "Picard" is, quite disappointingly, presented bluntly and without reason, making the character only that much more absurd. As a security device, Moriarty fires bullets at Worf, Raffi, and Riker, while also psychically playing noisy, isolated musical chords through the station's sound system. Riker eventually intuits that the notes being played are from "Pop Goes the Weasel," a tune he once whistled for Data in the "Next Generation" pilot episode. 

Riker also realizes this version of Moriarty is not the same one as before, and is actually a manifestation of Data's consciousness (!). Data is alive and nearby (!!).

It's an unfortunately silly twist that doesn't do anything to allay the character's inherent silliness. 

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ thinks the kids aren’t alright

There’s nobody around, and nobody worthy to pick up the torch..

The following article discusses Star Trek: Picard, Season Three, Episode Six, “The Bounty.”

When the Original Series cast made their swansong, they left Star Trek in the rudest health it had ever been in. The Next Generation had reached its creative peak, Deep Space Nine was a year away from starting, and the movie series was making good money. The Undiscovered Country gave fans one last adventure with Kirk and co. that gently highlighted why it was time to move on. By comparison, Nemesis’ soft box office meant there would be no grand finale for the TNG crew. DS9 and Voyager were done, and it wouldn’t be long before pre-Kirk prequel-series Enterprise would leave our screens. There was quite literally nobody to pick up from where Picard and co. left off as “current day” Trek went into enforced stasis. Now, it feels like 2002 all over again, with the only “current” Trek series, Discovery, canceled and the only other live-action Trek show yet again being a pre-Kirk era prequel . They say that history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.

This sense of unease about the future permeates “The Bounty,” as Star Trek: Picard hints that the next (next) generation aren’t up to scratch. Picard, Riker and LaForge are all fathers struggling to deal with the gifts and curses they handed down to their children. The show keeps implying that there’s less hope in these kids because they’ve spent so long in their parents’ shadow. Sidney LaForge isn’t speaking to her father, who grouses to Picard how hard it was to raise her. The show has already hamfistedly tried to cover Riker’s grief over Thaddeus, while Picard has given his son a terminal case of Irumodic Syndrome. When Jack gets the idea of stealing the Bounty’s cloaking device, he and Sydney can’t get it working without Geordi’s resentful help. Come on kids, get out of the way while dad, once again, picks up your mess and fixes the things you can’t cope with. The subtext is one of disappointment, of darn kids with their avocado lattes and oat milk toast who can’t do anything as well as their baby boomer forebears.

It’s an interesting perspective from a franchise that has always worried about its own coolness, fretting that it’s too thoughtful, too middle-aged . Chekov joined The Original Series cast because producers wanted to woo a younger crowd with a Davy Jones-type mop-topped pretty boy. This anxiety is most visible in the Next Generation movies, which are constantly battling each other in attitudes around age, aging and relevance. Generations leaves Picard at peace with his own age, but everything that follows repudiates that position, mostly as Patrick Stewart’s behind the scenes power grew, so did his desire to remake the character in his own image. The vest-clad man of action in First Contact, the romantic lead of Insurrection and the off-roading petrolhead in Nemesis all stem from this desire. Rather than a desire to become the wise, elder statesman of the Star Trek universe, Picard raged against the dying of his own light. And rather than lay the table for his successors, he judged them all and found them unworthy.

This mistrust of youth goes hand-in-hand with a fetishization of the past that goes beyond nostalgia and into paraphilia. “The Bounty” has not one, but two trips to space museums so that the fans can gawk at objects of desire, stripped of their context, there for nothing but fan service. Riker, Worf and Raffi beam onto Daystrom Station, home of Starfleet’s “most off the books tech, experimental weapons, alien contraband,” which when you think about it is really daft. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think the US Navy stores secret chemical weapons at MIT, which is, or was, the best point of comparison for a civilian robotics research institute. Along the corridor, there’s the Genesis Device! (Why? The only one in existence was blown up when the Reliant combusted and turned into the Genesis Planet, and if the Marcuses had spares why did Khan only take one?) A Tribble! And James Kirk’s Corpse!... Wait, that seems weird, why do that? That seems weirdly perverse, why would you store a decorated officer’s dead body in a site for military weapons when there’s nothing special about his physiology in this timeline? Oh, that’s why, because our heroes don’t get to gracefully die in Star Trek any more, they just become objects of fetishization.

We get a brief cameo from Daniel Davis’ Moriarty as part of Daystrom’s not-quite security system before we hit the big reveal of the episode: Data!. Or, something else, a Soong-type android with the brains of Soong, Lore, B-4 and Data all mashed up in one body. (Why B-4 and Lore? Why would you put the unworkable prototype and the psychotic brains in there with the two functional ones? Because we’ll need an inevitable betrayal two or three episodes down the line, not because it makes sense.) And then we’re off to the fleet museum for a brief interlude of spaceship porn and, wouldn’t you know, the ships deemed worthy of preserving are almost all hero vessels from the Star Trek franchise. I mean, look, I’m a starship porn type of guy, and any loving shot of Andrew Probert and Richard Taylor’s Enterprise model will always have my heart soaring. But it just feels all so soulless, like the characters in Star Trek are now behaving like Star Trek fans.

The conclusion of the episode reveals the changelings stole Picard’s corpse from Daystrom Station for reasons as-yet unknown. Meanwhile, Riker has been captured by Vadic and taken to the Shrike, where he’s shown that the baddies have also captured Deanna. But not before the 70-year-old Riker is given a dose of good old 24 -style face punching, to match the rest of the series’ Bush-era politics.

The biggest problem with this sort of all-the-characters-grew-up-watching-Star Trek nostalgia, of course, is that it collapses the size of your narrative universe. Star Trek is big and broad enough to sustain a massive trans-media ecosystem covering every corner of its fictional universe. But Star Trek: Picard makes out that Starfleet is made up of five ships not called Enterprise, none of which are worth remarking upon. The notion that the Enterprise is just one of hundreds, or thousands, of starships having wild and crazy adventures on the frontiers of space is beyond comprehension. In a way, I’m glad nobody in TV-land is familiar with Star Trek: New Frontier , lest it turned out that someone at Daystrom has collected Mackenzie Calhoun’s eyeballs on a shelf for the lolz.

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• Series & Movies

FIRST LOOK | Star Trek: Picard - 'The Bounty'

A peek at the latest episode!

Now on the run, Picard and the skeleton crew of the U.S.S. Titan must break into Starfleet’s most top-secret facility to expose a plot that could destroy the Federation. Picard must turn to the only soul in the galaxy who can help – an old friend.

In addition to streaming on Paramount+ , Star Trek: Picard also streams on Prime Video outside of the U.S. and Canada, and in Canada can be seen on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. Star Trek: Picard is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

37 Years Later, Star Trek Just Solved The Most Hilarious Mystery From The Classic Movies

The fate of the most famous stolen starship ever has been revealed.

Remember when Jim Kirk boosted a Klingon Bird-of-Prey and then crashed it into the San Francisco Bay? Since 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , nothing in Star Trek canon has ever revealed what happened to this ship — the ship that saved Spock from the Genesis planet, traveled back in time, and saved the whales. But now, in Picard Season 3, the episode “The Bounty,” answers the question we maybe never thought to ask — what did Starfleet do with that old Klingon ship after it sunk? Spoilers ahead.

About half the action of Picard Season 3, Episode 6, takes place at a new location called the Fleet Museum. Located in orbit of the planet Athan Prime, we’ve never actually been here in Trek canon before, despite the fact that Seven of Nine says, “I’ve been here before.” We’re told that this is the final resting place for “every legendary starship,” which makes the Fleet Museum like a huge Easter egg basket full of all the coolest spaceships ever. Picard Season 3 has been dishing out a lot of nostalgia this season, but the Fleet Museum is basically a bag of candy. Nearly every “hero” ship from Trek canon is featured, and in most cases, even name-checked. This includes the USS Defiant, to Voyager to the USS Enterprise-A, the last of which boldly took the TOS gang through their final three movies.

The Bounty on the planet Vulcan in The Voyage Home .

This brings us to the HMS Bounty , a Klingon Bird-of-Prey stolen by Kirk in The Search For Spock , after he, Scotty, and Chekov blew up their first Enterprise . The Klingons didn’t name this ship “the Bounty,” of course. That name came from Bones, who decided to give the ship a name that referenced Mutiny on the Bounty , the 1932 novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, based on a true story of a real nautical mutiny in 1789.

Many a meme will remind fans that this Klingon ship was originally captained by Commander Kruge, played by Christopher Lloyd one year before he played Doc Brown in Back to the Future . So, when the crew took this ship back in time, to 1986 in The Voyage Home , it felt right.

Not that the Bounty is a time machine. It’s not. But in Trek canon, you can turn any warp-capable ship into a time machine, if you figure out how to slingshot around a star just right. But, what makes the Bounty special in Picard Season 3, isn’t that it was involved with “the whole whale thing,” as Jack says. The reason the Bounty is more than just an Easter egg is that it has a cloaking device. Because of several treaties, the Federation rarely has cloaking tech in Trek canon, but after Kirk stole this ship from the Klingons, suddenly our heroes had an active cloaking device.

This brings us to the fun part of “The Bounty.” In this episode, we learn from Seven that Starfleet had a hard time finding the ship after it sunk in San Francisco Bay, specifically because the cloaking device got reactivated on accident. This quick joke conjures up all kinds of slapstick images of 23rd-century divers trying to find an invisible Klingon ship underwater. It’s unclear if we’ll ever get to see this moment on screen, but the fact that something this silly happened after the hijinks of The Voyage Home fits with the tone of that film perfectly.

Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) at the Fleet Museum.

In the present tense of Picard , the crew of the Titan doesn’t steal the Bounty again. That would be too on-the-nose. But, Sidney La Forge and Jack Crusher do rip off its cloaking device and install it on the Titan . This too, is a Captain Kirk move. In the TOS episode “The Enterprise Incident,” Kirk disguised himself as a Romulan, stole one of their cloaking devices, and had Scotty plug it into the classic Enterprise . So, when Geordi helps Sidney and Jack stabilize the cloaking device in “The Bounty,” the episode brings everything back to a time before The Next Generation , again.

The overall tone of Picard Season 3 is earnest and the stakes are high, recalling the moods of Trek films like The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country . But with this callback to the Bounty and “the one with the whales,” Picard just proved Star Trek still knows how to have fun.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Picard

“The Bounty”

Air date: 3/23/2023 Written by Christopher Monfette Directed by Dan Liu

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

Review Text

"The Bounty" is a jam-packed, kitchen-sink outing that piles on the nostalgia and references like there's no tomorrow, possibly because, for this cast, there soon won't be. We're down to four episodes after this one, and the plot is going to start moving this all toward some sort of a conclusion soon. There's the sense the writers are getting in all their wish-list items, even if some of those items are strange. That "The Bounty" holds together and still makes sense is admirable given how much it throws at us. And it even manages to find thematic connections and emotional resonance through it all, which is definitely a big plus.

The common theme is one of family and legacy as all these characters converge and reflect. (This is the first episode of the season where all the TNG characters/actors appear, and mostly all in one place.) With the Titan on the run from a compromised Starfleet and also from the Shrike , we start getting into the nuts and bolts of the investigation with the crew's arrival at Daystrom Station, which is not so much a research facility as a (yet another dimly lit) abandoned warehouse of illicit technology and Section 31 experiments. Such things stashed away include a genetically modified attack tribble, the "Genesis II Device" and apparently the preserved body of James T. Kirk, ranked in order from least to most objectionable. These are strange, throwaway larks that serve as knowing winks, but they're bizarre and unnecessary, except to add to that kitchen-sink notion I mentioned.

The station is guarded by an "advanced AI system" that at first reveals itself to be a holographic Moriarty (Daniel Davis, reprising the role, but in what turns out is a rather pointless version), who pulls out a pistol and starts shooting, which doesn't seem like the most efficient way of dealing with a security threat in the 25th century. Meanwhile, notes are played over the comm system, which Riker recognizes from his very first encounter with Data in " Encounter at Farpoint ," where he attempted to whistle "Pop Goes the Weasel." It's a decent callback.

No, Moriarty here is not the one who was preserved in the memory module (hence the pointlessness of this particular inclusion), but merely a hologram from a memory of the real AI at work here, which is the merged consciousness of Data, Lore, Lal, and B-4, which have been put into a synthetic "golem" by Alton Soong in what was to be his second attempt to cement his legacy before he died with the project still incomplete. (Interestingly, his plan was no longer to extend his own life, but to do what most people do through the legacy of their children, except here through AI.) The record of what was stolen from the station is inside this AI's mind, so the crew beams DataLoreLalB4 aboard the ship to learn what it was.

But let's rewind. In some earlier action, Picard and the Titan crew warp over to a starbase to hide from their pursuers while Riker, Worf, and Raffi are on Daystrom dealing with the AIs. The starbase is actually a "starship museum" featuring a bunch of retired starships from years (and movies and series) past, which provides the excuse for the characters to take a trip down memory lane, while very transparently doing so for the benefit of us Trek fans. We see the Enterprise -A, the Defiant , the Voyager , and even the HMS Bounty , the Klingon bird of prey stolen by Kirk's crew and used in Star Trek IV (which Jack and Sidney decide to steal the cloaking device from to enable the Titan 's escape). This is fun to geek out over, but it's also thematically relevant; Seven reflects back on her Voyager days, where she had a family and belonging that she has never since replaced, much to her regret. It's a nice character moment.

It's also at this starbase/museum that we're reunited with Commodore Geordi La Forge, who first has to engage in this series' time-honored tradition of sternly lecturing Picard for putting people at risk, which of course makes Geordi look like the resident killjoy of this reunion tour. But it's all tied into his own troubles over family and legacy. Both his daughters are in Starfleet, and he's still dealing with the fact that Sidney signed up for a ship that puts her in danger far more than he's comfortable with, when he would've rather she'd been an engineer on a safer posting. While it's initially annoying how Geordi comes across as excessively stubborn and gruff, LeVar Burton gradually lets the armor chip away into something more vulnerable and understandable as he works through his personal feelings about the roles his daughters play.

And Picard has his own questions around what legacy means, as we learn here that Jack's visions are actually being caused by Irumodic Syndrome, which he inherited from his father. (That is, unless we learn otherwise by plot turns in future episodes, which seem likely. The Changelings still want him for some reason no one is even aware of.) Jack goes to the holodeck bar and starts drowning his sorrows and says some mean things to Picard, which he apologizes for later. This material is okay, but nothing spectacular. But it fits the theme.

Rewind some more. Worf and Raffi finally make it aboard the Titan , which is good for a reunion (the first of many in this episode). There's some humor mined from the idea that Riker struggles with adjusting to the new and improved quasi-pacifist Worf. And notably, with Raffi now working with the rest of the Titan crew, this puts the character on much more solid footing, allowing the writers to scale back her emotionalism and impulsivity and allow her to just be one of the gang. It's an immediate, significant improvement.

But really, the big question here is what happens when we turn on DataLoreLalB4 (henceforth called "Data"). Will the remnants of Data's memories answer the call? Will we get an unstable android with major multiple personality disorder? Yes, and looks that way. And just what was stolen from Daystrom? Turns out it was Picard's old body (the one that died at the end of season one before his mind was transferred to a synthetic golem). Why? You got me. What could the Changelings possibly want with it, and also Jack? No idea. Is this an insane plot twist that's going to jump the rails? Maybe; time will tell. For now, I'm definitely intrigued. And these character stories, simple as they may be, are working. The actors have retained their secret formula and continue to make them work.

Wow, this review jumped around a lot. It's like a stream of consciousness. It's appropriate for an episode that warps here and there and has no shortage of its own insane bright ideas, and yet with a strange overarching logic governing it all. These characters are making this season really work, even when the plot is nearly undone by its own cleverness. It's becoming increasingly likely the plot here won't add up to a whole lot. I mean, a Changeling terrorist attack on a Federation starship parade? Not especially smart, sci-fi, or complicated. Oh, and which for some reason requires Picard's corpse. Which sounds positively insane. But this season has managed to be so true when it comes to its characters that I'm willing to entertain insanity and even disappointment. We'll see if we get what we want or what we deserve. I'm not even sure if they're the same things or not.

Some other thoughts:

• Who is Geordi's wife? Will we find out? I'd prefer it not be Leah Brahms.
• Vadic is doing her unhinged villain thing, and it appears here she's a full-on Changeling. I'm not sure why she cut off her hand and then talked to it in that episode a few weeks back, but the lack of an explanation is one of those things that starts to chip away at this season's internal logic and credibility. Let's hope it doesn't turn into the gaping holes of previous seasons.
• All the starships warping about gave the episode a nice, open, adventurous feel, even if the season overall is operating like a bottle show on mostly the same sets.
• The episode ends with Riker kidnapped to the Shrike , where Troi is being held prisoner. Vadic intends to use Troi as leverage to make Riker help her find Picard. Sure, okay. Pretty standard.
• Speaking of geeking out, Shaw, as an engineer, idolizes Geordi, which is a nice touch for this inconsistent character. Although, you'd think that might manifest itself a little more toward Sidney, seeing as she serves under his command.
• Picard, upon getting deeper into stolen cloaking devices and still more criminal violations in the name of their mission: "I guess they'll just have to add it to my tab." Stewart's deadpan delivery of this line was quite funny.

Previous episode: Imposters Next episode: Dominion

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Comment Section

266 comments on this post.

Starflleet will go after the families of people who cross them now? I guess nuStarfleet is the love child of the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order. Forget Gene...the entirety of classic Trek is spinning in its grave. The stupid kicks in within seconds in this episode as we opened with the stupid nuTrek "stop on a dime" exit from warp drive. Is Daystrom a Section 31 facility in nuTrek? Sure seems that way. Moriarty is reduced to a glorified thug...'member Moriarty? Yeah I ';member. If Data is what Picard is now, does that mean that Jean-Luc can do that holographic display thing with his eyes too? The Big Stupid overlying it all is the notion that Picard, who was by all indications a cipher in the Dominion War, seems to be the singular focus of hostility of the nuChangelings simply because the show has his name on it.

Riker being the one who volunteered to hold off the attackers so that he could be conveniently captured to find that Deanna was being held hostage was the biggest contrivance since Insurrection, when Riker and LaForge somehow knew they wouldn't need civilian clothes.

Another good episode. Several well-written character scenes. I'm especially partial to Seven and Jack talking about past starships. Loved the use of past themes. I'm a little bummed Moriarty was just a cameo but there's enough characters (and villains) in the season already.

I love seeing the TNG cast back together. I totally loving this season. LLAP

By far my favourite episode of modern Trek: it was, at various times, fun, touching, and tense. The nods to the past, reunions, inter-generational scenes, and one-liners all worked for me. What a blast.

Gilligan’s Starship

So…what was Daystrom doing with the mortal remains of James T. Kirk?🧐

Well the short of it is those who dislike memberberries are not going to find much with this episode. It's a walking memberberry orchard! In spite of all of that (and this probably being the weakest episode thus far as a result), I'm still digging it. I do think Picard's big scenes with Geordi were perhaps not as strong as his scenes with Ro last week, which packed a stronger emotional heft. But I did appreciate the theme of this episode as more to allow "the next generation" to shine. Before we get Geordi back, we need to see how fatherhood changed him. (On a side note, Worf really needs to text Alexander.) I get it, but it wasn't necessarily fun. Now that we have that conflict out of the way (and the memberberries), next episode should be back to the goods, and we'll hopefully get some good Geordi-Data moments. On that front, I'm also quite stunned we have a Data 2.0. I wasn't expecting the writers to be this over the top, but sure, let's get the WHOLE band back together, even resurrecting the dead ones (let's just hope they don't do that with John Lennon). We're really stretching the thread of narrative believability here, but hopefully it's all just contained here and more classic storytelling in the future episodes snaps it back. One small praise - I liked Seven's short scene with Jack. I think it would have been better if it wasn't part of a sea of nostalgia, but it was nice to see the Seven of Voyager. One small complaint - I really didn't like the scene at the beginning when Vadic tells her crew they need to find anyone who's ever been close to Picard. This rightfully lead to the suspicion throughout the whole episode that Geordi and his daughter were Changelings. I think the Geordi scenes would have worked better without that sinking suspicion, which I'm sure the writers didn't intend anyway. They should have omitted that opening scene on those grounds and we just see Vadic morph at the very end in front of Riker. Do we really need an upfront explanation for why she has Troi? It should be obvious anyway.

This is the kind of legacy-weighted non-episode that I was worried this season would be full of, so I guess I’m just lucky this was the first major whiff

No one is ever really gone. :) I guess we get the Trek version of this video soon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNTLC_uiGFA @Bucktown It is actually Data 3.0. He already died twice. The Data in ST:Picard season 1 was Data 2.0. By the way, curious little thing but Star Trek: Picard never shows up on the twitter top 20. The Last of US or Mandalorian does and many other shows but not Picard?? Paradox+ asleep at the wheel? No money for twitter promo? Twitter too toxic??

When Data2.0 turns to look at Geordi, and his reaction says it all. Isn’t it great when the emotions work because they feel earned. Not like Discovery or Season 1 Picard where everybody just cried for a whole episode.

"21st century" duct tape? ***face palm*** This is an unfortunate step down from the previous couple of episodes. I'm inclined to say this is the weakest outing so far. The writing definitely took a hit this week. There were several instances where it just felt off. A lot of Worf's dialogue is missing the mark; the Geordi melodrama with the kids felt stilted and poorly executed. I wish they could let this reunion play more naturally, rather than insert obligatory NuTrek quip that these characters never operated with in the past - we don't need it. Is it really too much to ask for a more mature sensibility in the writing? As for plot points: - Jack's diagnosis. Is Beverly still hiding something? Clearly, Jack's Irumodic syndrome does not explain his Jason Bourne moment last week or The Changeling's determination to capture him. - Moriarty. Damn - that was it? Just a fly-by cameo. Wouldn't have minded knowing how he went from his cosey little holo-cube (which was in Barclay's possession, IIRC) to his current circumstances. - Daystrom Easter Eggs. So who decided to dig up Kirk off Veridian III and store him at the institute? Also, I burst out laughing at the Genesis II device reveal. Really? Wouldn't just the bog-standard Genesis Device have been a sufficient callback? - Ship porn. I'll let them away with this one - it was fun. Seven's moment with Voyager was nice. - Data 3.0. Well, if you're going to go all in on the nostalgia. It's ... a little disappointing. Had this been the first season, it might be a different story. But we already spent an entire season addressing Data's demise and the impact it had. But here we are. - The heist reveal. Well, I haven't got the foggiest. I don't have a clue what these Changelings are up to. Don't have a clue what Vadic is or who her crew are (clearly not other Changelings, given the ease she dispatched one of them). At this juncture, I would have liked to know. But while this season has done a better job of paying us off as we go, we're still firmly in the mold of the overarching mystery box. If I were to guess, next week is going to be more tease, with the final three episodes finally providing some context and sense to whatever the hell is actually going on. Rating: I will be generous and go down the middle with a 2.5 / 5. Now that everyone is together (or at least all the players are on the field), I expect a better outing next week. @Bommer: "By the way, curious little thing but Star Trek: Picard never shows up on the twitter top 20. The Last of US or Mandalorian does and many other shows but not Picard?? Paradox+ asleep at the wheel? No money for twitter promo? Twitter too toxic??" Probably because Picard doesn't have mainstream appeal. It certainly isn't anywhere in the vicinity of TLOU (which exploded on social media and rapidly ascended to watercooler status.

Narissa's Bath Water

This is my least favourite of the season, but still liked it. Two and a half or three stars. I'll decide on the rewatch. Most of the plotting struck me as silly -- particularly Daystrom being completely unmanned -- but all the character stuff worked. I am not a shipper but La Forge and Jack, ship me up. And I think this is the first episode that I probably would have liked more if I hadn't seen the trailer, the Moriarty and the Soongdroid having been spoiled. It's been telegraphed since episode 1 that they'll take something from the fleet museum, but now I want them to take everything. If Voyager, the Defiant, and Kirk's Enterprise are all in the final battle, then fan-service me hard, I'll pay extra.

Did Picard and Shaw both give orders within a 10 second span? Shaw's whiplash alternating between witty antagonist and nodding henchman is getting ridiculous. Also, the "quirky dialogue" dial was turned up again, after several episodes of being on a mercifully low setting. Lone bright spot was Vadic. Amanda Plummer isn't a prolific actor, but she is delightfully batshit crazy. She is leaning into the melodrama with a self-aware mockery of Trek that is hilarious to behold. Her delivery reminds me a little of Jared Leto's Snyder cut post-credit Joker. Vadic spin-off. I'm here for it.

"Computer, increase ambient lighting by 75%." "Computer, decrease Vadic's overacting by 90%."

Karl Zimmerman

Holy fankwank! Not a bad episode by any means, but still the weakest episode of the season to date. There were still a lot of good character moments in this episode. The scene between Jack and Sydney legit got me to tear up a bit (amazing, given I don't really give a crap about Voyager much). I liked all of the Jack/Picard scenes, thought LaForge's reintroduction was done well (with a complete character arc), and I liked seeing basically the whole gang together and interacting again. But much like the season premier, this episode relies far too heavily on nostalgia and memberberries. Things like the return of Moriarty had absolutely no reason to happen other than to just have the audience go "I remember that!" Tons of group dialogue scenes which basically existed to make the plot move forward as well. It absolutely gave the episode the most TNG vibe to date, but it meant it just didn't feel as consistent as the last several episodes. Plus I kept being reminded of how heavily I was being pandered to, which took me out of the story. I really, really don't like the resurrection of Data (with multiple personality disorder, so Spiner can keep mugging for the camera!). I know Matalas has different ideas than Chabon regarding the series, and Trek has undone many deaths before (see Spock, Picard, or the first time Data died) but this basically entirely undoes the one good thing about the finale of Season 1: Data's decision to die, because he felt like mortality was the ultimate expression of his desire to me human. The choice Data made in that episode is now useless; robbed of any emotional context. Not sure what's going on with Vadic at the end? Seems to imply there's different factions within the Changelings, and she's actually a more sympathetic one. Maybe she's playing a long con - trying to trick her masters into thinking she's on their side, but she needs Jack for something else. Regardless, it's still enjoyable, and the plot was moved forward. Not every episode in a season can be equally incredible.

Latex Zebra

I enjoyed that for the easter egg heaven it was.

@Skylar Capitano Vadic? Nostra gentildonna? Eretico! Empio! SACRILEGO. (mutters and signs quietly)

Given the synthetic resurrections that are possible in this universe now, I want to see James Kirk be the guy behind that red door Jack keeps seeing in visions. Do it Terry, I dare you!!!

"It is actually Data 3.0. He already died twice. The Data in ST:Picard season 1 was Data 2.0." Technically, that was just an AI and not a functioning android. And Data himself is schematically Lore 2.0. But let's see, in broadcast order, in terms of Data-based androids we have: Data Lore Lal Julianna O'Donnell B4 Dahj Soji Sutra Picard (Golem Android) Data 3G (Amalgamation)

@Karl Zimmerman I'm pretty sure she shot the security officers because they were actual Starfleet people, not changelings, and she wanted to take Riker to the Shrike. @Chrome Isn't there a whole planet full of Soong Androids now? This was way, way too much for a single episode. A nostalgia overdose that could kill a horse-sized J.J. Abrams. Not terrible, but certainly excessive.

And yet they explicitly referred to Section 31 as a division of Starfleet Intelligence. No amount of memberberries can correct that insult to the Star Trek lore. What is it with NuTrek and Section 31?

Uh Data 3G. That has a certain something. Which on the list is the Data that Picard killed at the end of season 1?? I never liked that Data death. If you meet an old friend who was locked up in some kind of mind prison for decades and after a five min conversation asks you to kill him, would you do it?

WHY would they have the corpses - or holograms? - of Picard and Kirk at the Fleet Museum? It's grotesque. How dare they put Troi back in damsel-in-distress mode? That actually made me angry. The episode is titled "The Bounty," they show us the Bounty which is museumed for some odd reason, they need the cloaking and nontraceability of the Bounty, but they don't steal the Bounty. Explain please. Some of the dialogue was pretty stilted, and Dorn's acting took a nosedive. However, I did love, "Leave it to you, Jean-Luc, to turn fatherhood into an intergalactic incident." Good growth for Jack, but I don't believe Beverly about the Irumodic syndrome, and why didn't Picard say, "I never had hallucinations with it." I'm in favor of Jack + Sidney. Jack says he got bravery from Picard - not his mother? Rude and ridiculous. This one was passable, no more.

@Dreubarik, You may be right the two mooks that Vadic vaporized were meant to be non-changelings. However, the implications of this are terrible, since even before she morphs, Vadic is beating a subdued prisoner (who is also a Starfleet officer). That's such a blatant violation of both human rights and due process I can't think that non-corrupted Starfleet folks would sit by and say nothing. Indeed, that implies the beating was part of the "cover" - since Vadic didn't actually need to do that to abscond with Riker. Which is...horrifying in terms of what it says about Starfleet.

@Narissa's Bath Water "Also, the "quirky dialogue" dial was turned up again, after several episodes of being on a mercifully low setting." Is there anxiety in the writers' room that an absence of quirky / quippy = dry & boring? They have restrained themselves in a couple of episodes, only to ramp it up again.

With such stiff competition it’s hard to have this episode compare with the previous few. It was great on the nostalgia but I think it really tried to do too much at once. Overall the story still hangs together. Felt sort of like getting the Avengers together in a contrived way this episode. Don’t love Vadic. Raffi is back to being painful to watch. Poor Deanna Data is back again?? 2.5 or 3 out of 4

@Booming "Which on the list is the Data that Picard killed at the end of season 1??" That was a simulation made from a "salvaged memory engram" from the original Data. Yeah, yeah-hey, I don't write this stuff! :-) I could list Data's OSes, but I'm unsure of a sensible nomenclature.

Well, I guess if The Mandalorion can give us young Luke Skywalker, then Star Trek can resurrect James T. Kirk. And if you’re going to resurrect EVERYBODY at least stop killing them all off just to pull at our heartstrings—it’s become meaningless. Just let them live. This is the way.

They should have named the episode "The Star Trek Museum Experience". Devices, ships, more ships, reunions, Datas and more Datas, more reunions.. so many reunions you could not take a breath and enjoy each of it.. Geez, I do not mind fan service if it is done well, but I think they overdid it a bit in this one. It was so packed... Best moments for me: Seven & Voyager, everything Worf. Worst: everything about Jack Burnham-Crusher, Vadic turned into Bond villain caricature.

Well, it finally happened, after more than about 850 episodes, and several close calls, they finally said "fuck it" and reused an episode title. You know what, after the last two weeks comment threads, I didn't think the show might've started to get good, but I was becoming curious. Fortunately some of the description of events in the comments so far have reminded me of the folly of getting even an inkling of my hopes up with this franchise anymore. Glad I didn't proceed into a full blown caving.

Addendum: re: Episide Titke Oh, or maybe not. On the the homepage the episode is listed as "Bounty," but on the episode page it is "The Bounty." So I guess they avoided it again. Can't dig on the more that when "The Emissary" and "Emissary" exist.

I loved this episode, 4 stars. Maybe all the nostalgia / fan service is skewing it, but everything worked for me. I loved the father/son scenes with Picard and Jack (Jack is really growing on me) and the father/daugher scenes with Gerodi and Sydney. I also liked how they integrated Gerodi into the overall story and Shaw's reverence of him gave me a chuckle. I'm still not sure how I feel about resurrecting Data. I'll be fine with it if the merging of the personalities results in a different personality that really feels distinct from Data. That could be interesting and IMO won't invalidate his death in S1. But if the merging of the personalities results in a personality that is very similar to Data, then it will feel like a cheap move.

Episodenull

Re the security guards Vadic killed, they vaporized into soot, so I assume they were also changelings. This was the first episode of the season I wasn't feeling. Maybe I'll be more forgiving on a rewatch, but it just felt too contrived. People have complained about the fanservice all season, but for the most part it felt natural to the story being told. Here though I felt like the writers made a list of all the callbacks they wanted and then tortured the logic into place to fit them in. For example, the Moriarty inclusion was nearly incoherent. Such a convoluted walk to get to the realization that the computer wired into the station systems would have a record of everything that happened on the station – no shit, you think? Similarly, I'm not thrilled with the Data resurrection (again.) Hopefully they don't kill him a third time, but I've already seen two attempts before this to wring emotion out of a quasi-ressurrction. I don't care any more. I feel the limited budget may have hurt them here as well. Lots of time wandering around the same Daystrom sets even though it's suppose to be this high pressure situation, lots of long conversations in hallways, in conference rooms, etc. Not to mention that Jack and Sydney sneak onto a Bird of Prey to do some crime and we don't see any of it. Given the context of the Titan being hunted, this episode really needed to be a taught thriller, and instead it was a lackadaisical lark. Bit of a misfire.

There is fan service. Then there is fan service porn. Then there is hardcore XXX fan service porn. Then there is this episode. And. It. Is. Awesome. (And not just for all the callbacks and nostalgia, but there were all done right. I will have to watch this 3 or 4 times before i can watch it in front of anyone😢 🤧)

@Nolan Here a scene from the episode... listen to the stellar dialogue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smeOa2B2l5Y

I'll be brief, without all of the cynical point-for-point nitp-ickyery I am saddened to see in more than half the reviews here. As a first generation TOS fan ( and beyond ), I am loving it. and I'm pretty sure reuniting the TNG crew without sufficient memberries would be far more objectionable and lamented ! It would see pretty pointless without them ! Plus I don't see very many of us thrilled with amazing new "ship shots".... The way the Titan descends while decloaking just before the line "we're exposed".... and the moment in last weeks episode where the freshly crippled ship slowly raises itself to confront the Titan. Moments before Jack, having already knocked one of his opponents to the ground, flipped him a second time after he gets back up. and I think all the tech twists get just enough explanation, and any deeper exposition would weigh it all down. Thank Khan I'm not the only one enjoying and embracing it without deconstructing every moment.

So I guess "cheap" is what to expect of this? Luckily they have so many trekkies that take a hold of anything baring its name to keep getting fresh content and even more if it has shadows of nostalgic characters even if the writers mangle the whole universe in adhoc manner. Die hard fans is a thing.

@DmRofAtoZ "and I'm pretty sure reuniting the TNG crew without sufficient memberries would be far more objectionable and lamented !" Exactly. That's what this season is supposed to be. If there isn't "hardcore XXX fan service porn" as @PM put it, then something is very wrong! This episode was heavy on the fan service, no doubt about it. It wouldn't have worked if they made every episode like this but this episode had me hooked from beginning to end and it fits nicely into the overall season.

@Booming Did- did the writers just use one character to compliment another character's word use, that THEY wrote themselves?! Man, that "sheer fucking hubris" quote really was just the perfect signpost of egos involved here. I dunno, I feel like the DNA of what Trek used to be was in there somewhere, but it's so mutated and garbled at this point it may as well have been Galaxy Quest's inferior sequel. They worked REALLY hard to get to that find the smoking gun/follow the smoke exchange that kinda awkwardly sat there. And of course, such a lovely and inviting room to have a briefing in.

Just wanted to mention that I half expected that it was Odo saving Riker. That would've been amazing to see Rene's son playing him.

"Did- did the writers just use one character to compliment another character's word use, that THEY wrote themselves?" I almost expected Tilly to pop into the scene from nowhere and shout "that's the power of vocabulary, people! This is a show that thinks "please friend...choose to live" is the most profound phrase ever written.

@Kyle - that’s exactly where my brain automatically went, too. It was a split second before I realized, “ No wait, they can’t really do that now.”

The "burgle" line was funny, nostalgia generates endorphins, Kirk might be technically alive, and it seems like folly to assume that is the real Deanna Troi on Vadic's ship. I liked this episode, it put characters that I like together. I'm a simple man.

FWIW, most mainstream reviews of the episode are very positive. I happened to really enjoy it. So don’t feel like it’s a crime or sun against Trekkian lore to actually enjoy this episode!

Sin, not sun.

Can we really consider them ‘Easter eggs’ in this episode if they’re so obvious you might as well have had them cracked open on your head? Bit too much fan service in this one for my liking. Felt like they were just shoe horning in references left right and centre. Yes, it’s done with a bit more grace than the Kelvin films but the sheer volume of them did the story a disservice. Still, even though this is probably the weakest of the season so far it’s still decent.

@PM Yeah ... That was *exactly* the way I felt. I went through three "facial tissues" on the first viewing ... And I *loved* every second of it!!!

This was the weakest for me this season. Way over the top and on the nose with the nostalgia. Though I agree with Andrew, the whole season could have been like this, but has generally shown admirable restraint. I especially don't like bringing in V3 of Data. I really don't like cheap death. At least the script acknowledges this with a very fourth wall leaning comment by Raffi. I still give it 3 stars though because to me it's the weakest in an extraordinarily strong season. I also didn't notice any out of place cursing. It actually occurred to me why the cursing is off putting to so many fans: it's typically very clumsy, like Picard mumbling an F bomb. It's QUITE like early Enterprise when they had T'Pol and Trip rubbing each other down in a "decontamination" scene that was practically soft core pron. The show was trying to say "It's not your daddy's Trek, we have teh sex now!"

The Bounty Picard season 3 episode 6 “Some kind of miraculous, almost human, positronic body.” - Beverly, who the fuck writes this technobabble? 2 1/2 stars (out of 4) Well the moment we’ve all been expecting has finally arrived. No, I’m not talking about the promised reveal of Moriarty and Data. I’m talking about the sudden yet inevitable reversion of Picard back to the level of crap writing we had all feared. Whatever miraculous, almost human, writing we’d seen in the last 5 episodes has been replaced with ChatGPT level gibberish. And yet, there are real highlights. First, the shipping. And by that I mean the lovely flirtation between Jack and Sidney. Jackney? Sidnak? I’ll let you all come up with a good shipper name. Next, the ships. There is something new in the physics this season. @Jammer pointed it out with the hurtling of the asteroid at The Shrike a couple weeks ago, and we saw it in that same episode with the hurtling of the shuttle at the Titan before that. The way these objects move this season is very cool. And we see it this week with ships ducking and weaving about Daystrom station. Whatever it is, I like it. And of course the Ships. Seven & Jack’s stroll through memory lane, including a stop at Voyager. I didn’t expect that one to hit as hard as it did. I guess Jack’s drive-by poetry really is the good stuff. And speaking of Jack, he’s really quite good. Even when the writers give him bullshit dialogue (I’m like a pot put back together with gold, only in this case with bourbon - ok then), he really delivers. It seemed odd when they cast someone so old to play someone so young, but you can’t argue with talent! But back to the bullshit dialogue. This episode is a clunker. The worst offender is Raffi (surprise, surprise). Aside from the annoying 21st century isms they stick her with ("It is good to be seen"), they also pile on lines that make no sense for her to say. Why da fuck does she know who Moriarity is? (“Can someone explain why a 19th century holo vision is guarding a 25th century black site?”). Why is Raffi the one who insists Data is dead? (“I thought Data died? Twice?”). That last line especially betrays the real problem here. It should have been Worf - not Raffi - who insisted that Data is dead. Remember how Worf took Data’s death in “The Most Toys”? Remember how insane it was for Worf when Dax came back as Ezri?? If anyone was going to be saddled with writer-room exposition to bring the audience up to speed on Data’s prior death(s), it definitely should have been Worf. But I did give the thing 2 1/2 stars, so a little more of the good. My personal favorite was Captain Asshole geeking out with Geordi. And let’s be honest, when Data turns and says his first word: "Geordi" - Brent Spiner absolutely nails the delivery. It is cheap and manipulative. But whatever. Credit where credit’s due. Also good is the story. I mean, over all the episode has a good plot (The Enterprise Incident meets Ocean’s 11). And the season's plot is actually also pretty good (the Changeling part - you just know they are going to fuck up Jack's back story. I keep having flashes of the horrid circle of Romulan witches who see the cyber-octopus climbing into our universe. Yeah, god, I hope they don’t do something like that. But they will…). And boy oh boy is it good to have the old gang back together again. No doubt Jesus/Wesley will ruin that eventually. But let’s enjoy it while we can. I have thoroughly enjoyed this season. And that’s saying something, since I’ve long said that Picard is the absolute worst Star Trek ever made. Sadly, this episode is a real step down. My guess is there will be at least one more clunker in the last 4. But as we start Taking into the Endgame, the writers will no doubt take Extreme Measures to ensure only Good Things for All our Yesterdays.

Eric Jensen

Spoilers obviously, coming up The good bit that stood out for me was revisiting Voyager and that ablative armoury look. I think the plot has continued along. At least they went somewhere else in this episode. Moriarty, sigh, was nothing more than a cameo. Wasting potential. I liked Geordi. Raffi is getting better... slowly So why did they steal the body? Is that really Deanna?

As others have pointed out, they alternated been "omg we're in a hurry" and having lengthy leisurely conversations and such. Geordi's mini arc here didn't charm me. I guess I didn't like how grumpy he was at first, but realized it certainly made sense he was super protective of his family. But that made his later "I wish I had helped steal the cloaking device!" comment feel like a record scratching.

BTW, the Moriarty felt very forced. But maybe he comes back. Seems like he and the countess could get actual bodies now?

Maybe it's just me, but at this point I mostly just scan through the comments. If they're over three paragraphs and I spot words like 'clunker', 'facepalm' or 'memberberries' I scroll past em. Too long. Didn't read. Life's too short for that kind of negativity. We're on episode 7 of a consistently entertaining season of Star Trek Picard in 20-friggin'-23. Thursdays can't come fast enough for me and this TNG/DS9 fan is having the best time. Enjoy it for what it is, because it's never coming back and it's not going to change.

Jeffrey's Tube

Anyone else find it weird that whenever Sydney is talking about "just wanting to fly the ship" and not be an engineer like her legendary father--which she has done in several episodes this season, not just this one--no one points out the Geordi flew the Enterprise-D for the entire first year he was on board rather than be its engineer?

Norvo: "Maybe it's just me, but at this point I mostly just scan through the comments. If they're over three paragraphs and I spot words like 'clunker', 'facepalm' or 'memberberries' I scroll past em. Too long. Didn't read." Nope, not just you. :) If I never see the word "memberberries" again, it will be too soon. Lol Certain people can't be pleased. More than that, certain people don't *want* to be pleased. If the show is about something totally new, they'll complain that it's not Star Trek enough. If the show includes a bunch of references or follow-ups to established cannon, they'll complain about the fan service. It's so friggin' exhausting. It makes me sort of long for the days before the internet when people just watched TV on their own, came to their own determination about it, and that was that. But only sort of, because I love interacting with my fellow Star Trek fans. The reasonably positive ones anyway. As for my take? This episode rocked.

The reason stories worked in DS9 was that there were no heroes or villains: the villains were just people who had conflicting motives, who became allies once their motives aligned (i.e. Klingons, even Cardassians) - and led to real, truthful storytelling. Characters like Garak grew out of this complexity and made DS9 as relevant to me as the best of literature or any meaningful art. While TNG did not have DS9's storytelling complexity, TNG gave dignity and meaning to every character and there was rarely any melodrama or falsehood. I could barely make it through this episode. With constant violin crescendoes, Marvellification of dialogue and plot, there was nothing of dignity, storytelling, real motive, or discerning art. Even the moments that came close to good (i.e. Seven looking at Voyager) - were manipulative. This episode shares more in common with S1 and S2 of Picard than anything that could have come out of TNG. I recently rewatched "Pre-emptive Strike" and saw what masterful writing and character work really look like - it makes ep5 of this season look like child's play. If I hear "it made me feel seen . . " one more time . . .

Anyone else find it weird that whenever Sydney is talking about "just wanting to fly the ship" I noticed that she questioned direct orders rather than carrying them out twice just in this episode.

“Forget Gene.” Exactly right! People who claim outrage on his behalf are making what is called the “appeal to authority” argument. That kind of argument is known as argumentum ad verecundiam (pedantry on this site? Shocked!). But then, this kind of remark is what passes for analysis with some nowadays. “Since when did families become fair game to the Federation?” is another example of faux-criticism. There is no reasoning behind the statement. The writer either believes that deviation from a perceived continuity has been violated, or believes that the mere fact that family members are fair game is indicative of bad storytelling per se. No. No. Btw I really hated The Wrath of Khan when I watched it last night and here is why: Since when did Kirk have a son? Since when did he have a former lover? And REALLY since when did scientists become pawns of the military? Since when did hero villain not fight face to face, since when did an Engineer bring his nephew’s corpse onto a bridge, since when could a starship hide in a nebula, and since when did starships become capable of traveling such great distances but with such puny weapons that it looks like they have taken a beating to end all bearings and are flying about on their merry way the next minute? (Since when were shield manufacturers stopped allowing refunds, perhaps?) . Writers are being criticized for making as hoc decisions, in the form disjointed ad hoc,ad hominem (and regrettably ad nauseoum) attacks. Criticizing something for what it is, doesn’t require much thought. CriticiIng something for how it is bad in going ABOUT being what it is….that is an argument. If I believe I have to be the first person to spew, even if the spewing is done within moments of episode’s end, I guess my “criticisms” would come off as bile eruptions too

@Dreubarik But technically Section 31 IS a division of Starfleet Intelligence so what is the problem? I don't see a flaw or continjity issue or any other kind of problem with that..They operate autonomously mostly yes but are still technically an outgrowth of Starfleet.. Can someone PLEASE TELL ME WHY are they making Vadic just a Changeleinf and not some NEW and ORIGINAL ALIEN life form or at least a Hybird Breen Changeling..something halfway ORIGINAL and creative please..is there still a chance

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 6 "Bountiful Memberberries!" It's so in your face now even the "I'm loving it!" crowd is starting to see it. It's funny how STP is sticking it to DS9 by having everyone except Worf nowhere involved in the plot. It's like they're getting revenge for how DS9 stiffed them out of the Dominion War.

"It's like they're getting revenge for how DS9 stiffed them out of the Dominion War. " That a Changeling vengeance story involves no character that originated on DS9 nor any Cardassian character of any kind is absurd. I treat it accordingly.

@Leif The fact they were in the original Federation charter does NOT make them part of Starfleet Intelligence. DS9 was very clear on the fact that Section 31 isn't Starfleet but a rogue organization. NuTrek loves Section 31 and can't help but whitewashing them into being some legitimate intelligence service, thus changing the entire portrayal of the Federation. @Karl Zimmerman For the above reason, I'm unsurprised if Starfleet officers are depicted tolerating torture. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not holding my breath. @Jeffrey's Tube Yes, it's deeply odd and I can only conclude Matalas et al skipped Season 1 of TNG. Also unsurprising.

@Gilbetron, "If the show includes a bunch of references or follow-ups to established cannon, they'll complain about the fan service. It's so friggin' exhausting." I think it's a fine line. Of course, there's every reasonable expectation established characters and old plots will be referenced. It's actually one of the benefits of a long running franchise. There's a danger though when it crosses into blatant fan service, which always takes me out of the narrative. It breaks the natural believability of what's happening on screen. Did this episode need Moriarty, the Genesis device, Enterprise-A, and the morbidly implied suspended corpse of James T. Kirk? I'm going to go with "no" on all fronts. I do, however, like when some prior reference helps tell the story or provide character development. I think we did get that with Seven talking about Voyager as well as the stealing of the cloaking device from the HMS Bounty. I almost thought it would have been even more fun if they stole the actual bird of prey rather than just the cloaking device. I'm sure the writers thought about it, but rebuilding that set would probably be mega $$$$.

I'm willing to forgive a lot after that hilarious meeting between Shaw and Geordi.

Well, I just watched the Ready Room for this episode, and there is a strong hint that the changelings are not actually the driving force in the hunt for Jack. With all the references to red things and burning I can't help but wonder about pah-wraiths, but somehow that doesn't feel right. The Ready Room also teased a new mystery character next week. Sela? Wesley the Traveler? Borgati? Sela would answer a lot of fans' requests, and her story would fit well. Another review site commented that with so much emphasis on the Crusher family, it would be strange not to even mention Wesley. As for Borgati, she'd be the most powerful, and she would connect the second season into this, which wouldn't be a bad idea. However, Alison Pill seemed to be definite that she wouldn't be back, and since the new character is going to be interviewed in the Ready Room, it would be interesting to see how Wheaton could interview himself. Also, it's hard to see what value the Traveler could provide. So I expect Sela.

startrekwatcher

I didn't mind the Data in a Synth body. I was actually thinking that was the direction S1 was going. That when Picard arrived on the Synth planet he would find Data in a human Synth body guiding the Synths Maddox created with his help like Soji. It would have been the culmination of his dream to become human as well as removing Brent Spiner's complaint about playing Data. The Riker/Worf digging at each other was annoying. I like Riker but there has been too much Riker this season. Would have made more sense to send Seven with all her Borg knowledge to Daystrom. I see the writers are trying to change Worf to show some growth but for all the change he is pretty much the same. And despite saying he has adopted pacifist ways; he has racked up a solid body count this season. You would think Starfleet would have removed the Klingon cloaking device rather than leaving it in the Bird-of-Prey. Moriarty kind of pointless actually. Wasn't even THE Moriarty just a figment of Data's imagination. Jack is still annoying. Not sure why Starfleet would hold onto the human remains of Picard. Beverly removed all the Borg implants so that can't be a reason. Besides it is probably easier to study a living xB anyway. It kind of has shades of NEM with cloned Shinzon. The humor attempts don't work for me. Overall though I enjoyed the plot. It had some urgency, and the revelations were nicely placed. There was no sense of spinning wheels like with the scenes on M'Talas or the nebula after episode 1.

@The Queen, "Sela would answer a lot of fans' requests, and her story would fit well." I'm not sure her motivations or background necessarily jibes with the Changelings/Dominion, but I can't really think of anyone else who would want Picard's corpse for some reason. Maybe Bok? The Sela boat seems to have already sailed though, as it would have fit in better with the Romulan plot in season 1, but she is much more of a recognizable foe than Bok would be. (Bok is also too annoying.) Honestly though, the go for broke awesome would be if they somehow convinced Avery Brooks to come back, and Sisko still harbors a grudge with Picard for the death of his wife. I'm sure not all fans would love Sisko turning heel, but if they could do it convincingly, respectfully, and with proper motivation, I'd be down. "As for Borgati, she'd be the most powerful, and she would connect the second season into this, which wouldn't be a bad idea." My understanding is that Matalas has already responded that no season 2 plotlines will be continued here.

@Norvo, "Maybe it's just me, but at this point I mostly just scan through the comments. If they're over three paragraphs and I spot words like 'clunker', 'facepalm' or 'memberberries' I scroll past em. Too long. Didn't read. Life's too short for that kind of negativity. We're on episode 7 of a consistently entertaining season of Star Trek Picard in 20-friggin'-23. Thursdays can't come fast enough for me and this TNG/DS9 fan is having the best time. Enjoy it for what it is, because it's never coming back and it's not going to change." ----- Employing nostalgia-heavy callbacks to induce a "high" (aka 'memberberries) is a questionable practice. There is nothing inherently wrong with nostalgia; the criticism comes when it's heavy-handed and the underlying material sans the 'memberberries is lacking. It is fairly dismissive to condemn every poster expressing misgivings or negative views as being impossible to please. Several posters who have met your TL;DR criteria have been complimentary of this season - myself included. This site has always encouraged free discourse - be it positive or negative. Perhaps a venue like the startrek subreddit (where positivity is enforced) might be more your cup of tea.

"As others have pointed out, they alternated been "omg we're in a hurry" and having lengthy leisurely conversations and such." First Star Trek episode? ;)

"First Star Trek episode? ;) " First one where a changeling is seen smoking a pipe, yes.

@Bucktown -- I fundamentally don't really understand why a group of passionate fans would ever be so anti-fan service. I mean, I'm sure someone will seek to explain it to me at great length (please don't). Isn't that a bit like going to a restaurant and then getting upset when the service is too attentive? To be clear, I do get what "fan service" is, don't get me wrong. I just think it's a particularly cynical type of complaint. Not to mention so subjective as to be meaningless. What crosses the line into fan service for you won't cross the line for someone else. In any event, I'm a fan, and I love when a show delivers a kind of storytelling that I love. I love this, so why criticize the show for giving me something I generally like? Whatever. Some people really don't like this. A widly vocal minority. That's fine. Feel free. Speaking for myself, a fan of Star Trek for 35+ years, I'm having the time of my life staying up late on Thursdays this season. I haven't been this moved and overjoyed by Star Trek in a *long* time. If this is heavy-handed, I guess I like heavy-handed. I guess most viewers do too, based on the responses I'm seeing. IMDB has it ranked the highest of the year, for good reason...

Jammer: "Who is Geordi's wife? Will we find out? I'd prefer it not be Leah Brahms." The chances of having a different wife but still three children of the same gender and with the same names sounds remote, not to mention a bit creepy. But this is nuTrek so...

I think I could fill the next week waiting for episode seven just replaying the "many of myself inside" over and over !..... The way Brent Spiner plays the emerging consciousness and right after he asks "Geordi ?", The way LeVar Button turns to the others with those eyes shining ?!? ... I think it's going to slay me every single time.

The fleet parade is ridiculous, but I'm operating under the assumption the Changling infestation of Starfleet helped plant and grow the seed for that particular bad idea. They've done THEIR job, now the other Changelings will do THEIRS... whatever it might be. Throwing chunks of dead Picard at them or something, presumably. Fun stuff, though. I heard that there's a "blink and you'll miss it" shot where Captain Archer's body is also being held at the station. Fucking bizarre, but I'm enjoying all the risks being taken here. It'd be interesting if that WENT somewhere, but I have a feeling maybe it was just teeing up something for some future writer to pick up on when the VFX/deepfake technology improves? Or... just a bit of macabre weirdness. :) 3.5/5

"Who is Geordi's wife? Will we find out? I'd prefer it not be Leah Brahms." It would be bitterly ironic if Picard's change of heart in All Good Things resulted in Deanna staying alive and marrying Will, and yet prevented Geordi marrying Leah.

"Hurry, Worf!" Worf sloooowly changes the cassette tape. I literally laughed out loud (LLOL) at that scene. "We need that cloak!" They then warp back to the station uncloaked, activate the cloak, fly for three seconds, and immediately de-cloak. So why was the cloak necessary? Meanwhile I'm pretty sure the HMS Bounty could use transporters while cloaked back in 1986. (Kirk: "It's his way." Spock: gets beamed up while walking in the park.) Also why was the cloaking device heist and installation off screen, seemingly taking 5 seconds? (reason: no budget for additional dark hallways.) Then Geordi comes down to save the day, aka the culmination of his character arc this week, and we don't even get to hear him spout some technobabble and fix things. They should have just stolen the whole dang bird of prey to really amp things up. "C sharp, A flat!" I'll have to rewatch this bit and jab at the piano to confirm, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't saying the actual notes being played. Like Riker, I too am a lapsed trombonist, but I still know my enharmonics. Come on Will, it's either a D flat + A flat, or a C sharp + G sharp... /music nerd OK that's it for my nitpicks. I actually liked this one quite a bit. The dumb nostalgia bait worked on me, not ashamed to admit it. Show me all the old ships and quote all the old music and bring back all the old characters. And hey, those clips from "Encounter at Farpoint" were a better clip show than "Shades of Gray!" ;-) Three stars. PS - like a couple other commenters, I too very very briefly believed that somehow it would be Odo rescuing Riker. :-( PS #2 - If this is all we see of Moriarty, it would be a HUGE waste. Probably not enough time to feature him again though given we have only four episodes to solve the GALAXY ENDING CONSPIRACY.

I know some people were expecting - and hoping for - more Moriarty, but I actually think this was a better use of him. Shoe-horning in the self-aware Moriarty in a bigger role in a season already brimming with call-backs and legacy characters might have been too much. This imitation (derived from Data's memories) was a nicer, more restrained use of the character.

@Gilbetron I feel that fanservice is a lot like ice cream. Your parent buys you a reasonable serving after an intense baseball game on a Saturday afternoon, it's a delightful treat, an embellishment of a vivid and hard-fought day. But, if your parent brings home five tubs of Edy's with a big smile on their face on a Tuesday afternoon and says "here, enjoy all of this", it not only feels excessive and like an upset stomach is on its way, but it would just feel wrong and make me worried about my parent.

I’ve been following these reviews for years now but finally wanted to chime in. I know some folks hate this new stuff, some love it, some (like me) are hoping for entertainment. It’s really fun to see the range of opinions and I REALLY like that people aren’t out here attacking each other left and right like they do on so many other sites. It’s been entertaining dropping not just to compare Jammer’s review against my thoughts, but to see alllll the thouguts and dialogue. Hope you folks will let me chime in henceforth! Be warned: I love DS9, TNG, and I’m managing to like this season. :) My comment on this episode… I thought Easter was 3 weeks from now. I got me a ton of eggs today. Fun but maybe a tiny bit overdone!

"Picard, upon getting deeper into stolen cloaking devices and still more criminal violations in the name of their mission: "I guess they'll just have to add it to my tab." Stewart's deadpan delivery of this line was quite funny." Yeah, his delivery was great. Much of this episode sounds bonkers on paper but the straight-faced deliveries of the cast made it work. The highlight for me was material with Sidney La Forge and Geordi. Sidney reminds me so much of season 1 Geordi and it's funny to see older Geordi be vexed by it. Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut also handled her bit wonderfully; it really felt like she wanted to be more than what her father had planned. I have no idea why Soong would make another Data (and one that ages) but they had to figure out some way to sneak Spiner in, I suppose. 3 stars from me. Really fun and bears rewatching.

@Gilbetron, "I fundamentally don't really understand why a group of passionate fans would ever be so anti-fan service. I mean, I'm sure someone will seek to explain it to me at great length (please don't). Isn't that a bit like going to a restaurant and then getting upset when the service is too attentive?" Don't worry, I won't go into great length (lol). But like I said before, I think there's a fine line and nuance to it. It's not necessarily a binary bad if it's there, good if it isn't. Like you mention, it's more to do if it's heavy-handed or not. For example, I think the first season of the Mandalorian balanced it fairly well (while the second season did not). And personally, I don't actually love too attentive restaurant service! It breaks up the nice flow of the dining conversation, much as too much fan service breaks up the flow of a good narrative. As someone who thought season 1 was schlocky and a wasted opportunity, and season 2 a total garbage fire travesty, I'm actually really enjoying this season a great deal (especially Riker's co-leading role). So far, it's making the whole "Picard" endeavor worth the time, money, and effort from all involved (including the fans).

@B-Boy, "I know some people were expecting - and hoping for - more Moriarty, but I actually think this was a better use of him. Shoe-horning in the self-aware Moriarty in a bigger role in a season already brimming with call-backs and legacy characters might have been too much." I don't recall who it was, but last week another commenter predicted Moriarty would actually be the secret chip Worf and Raffi get their hands on that allows them to break into Daystrom Station. Now that we know Data is the sophisticated AI security system, that would have actually been a much better choice! Who better to defeat Data's security system than a program specifically designed to defeat Data? A one-off Moriarty appearance along those lines would have also served the plot perfectly, rather than just fluffy fan service.

@Jax Thu, Mar 23, 2023, 4:37pm (UTC -5) "That a Changeling vengeance story involves no character that originated on DS9 nor any Cardassian character of any kind is absurd. I treat it accordingly." You ain't never lied. Imagine if the alien infiltration was Species 8472 running all up in Starfleet's business (I would've actually preferred that) and nobody even mentioned Voyager? And no other cast member besides 7 appeared? And the whole story revolves around rogue 8472s showing up pissed off at Picard, who never even met them, and trying to kidnap his youthfully addle brained bastard child, not to mention, his morbidly taxidermized former carcass? Even that wouldn't be as egregious as this because Species 8472 only appeared in 5 episodes across 3 seasons. Meanwhile, the Dominion War arc consumed 5 seasons of DS9. It was literally their primary contribution to the Star Trek mythos. If there are no other DS9 cast members besides Worf in the last 4 episodes of STP that would be a gigantic middle finger to DS9. That's only justifiable if none of them wanted to appear in STP.

"That's only justifiable if none of them wanted to appear in STP." And in that scenario, they should have found another antagonist for the season. Unless I missed something, now that we've had the Ferengi Snoid or whatever his name was, Cardassians are the only TNG era major race that has not been seen in live action nuTrek yet. The low hanging fruit was right there. Hell...find a way to bring Casey Biggs' character back. THAT'S who changeling vengeance should be directed at.

Can someone PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW it makes sense for those ships to Be in the museum?? If the Defiant 2.0 and Voyager are still intact WHY ARENT THEY STILL FLYING..ITS ONLY 100 YEARS LATER!! Why sister Janeway flying that original Voyaher and Kira or Worf on that Defiant..does it make any aejse..why weren't those ships upgraded to latest specs rather than retired?? Wouldn't an upgrade and keeping I service make more sense unless the ship is really old like Kirk's Enterprise B or that old Klinger bird of prey..and Where is the USS NEW JERSEY from??

I'm wondering why the corpses of Kirk and maybe Archer would be brought to a Section 31 installation.

So the villain stole Picard’s body and wants his son too. The villain has a super powerful ship similar to the Scimitar seen in Nemesis. The villain uses a knife that looks similar to the one used by Shinzon. And the villain she talks to looks like Shinzon’s viceroy. Please tell me this season isn’t all based on the worst villain from the worst TNG movie.

@DogFace I'm pretty sure, in the expanded unvierse at least, Shinzon's knife is actually a Jem'Hadar knife that he recovered and kept.

Mixed feelings about this one. Seems like the balance between fan service (which is admittedly a pillar of PIC) and just telling a good Trek story was off. Also feel the ethos of this episode was a bit too much like camp instead of being more serious (the Riker/Worf bit on Daystrom). Really the ending with "Data" picked things up -- thought he might turn out to be Lore, but he reveals another mystery. Some suspense there. But that "Data" is the manifest is pretty contrived -- but fan service is more important than logic. Gotta get Spiner in this season somehow. This episode seemed to try to cram as many TNG characters as possible at the expense of improving the story. Absolutely no need for Moriarty here. Why not bring in Roy Brocksmith as "Kolrami" -- couldn't they use one of the sharpest tactical minds in the quadrant? I wonder if Wil Wheaton is super pissed that he's not on this show. These showrunners have to come up with some BS to get Wesley in this season. (But I hope they don't.) I liked that the Jack Crusher mystery box thing was shelved here and he was just a normal bloke. Also Raffi/Worf integrating with the Titan crew gave Raffi less screen time, which is good. But I couldn't care less about the La Forge family squabbles -- of course Geordi was going to come around to helping Picard & co. Unfortunately Captain Vadic was over-the-top kind of like the first time we saw her. The opener was just ridiculous -- really MUAHAHAHA kind of stuff (like at the end of DS9's "Strange Bedfellows"). Overall I think there was a fair bit of padding here but it's also fan service. And the poorly lit monochromatic sets were starting to grate -- PIC is just not visually appealing. 2.5 stars for "Part Six The Bounty" -- I appreciated seeing old characters again but not when it isn't completely accretive to the episode. (It's like the McCoy cameo on "Encounter at Farpoint".) Jack is coming around to Picard a bit and maybe there's a parent/child theme to this episode with the La Forges as well. Jack had a good scene with 7 as she reminisced about VOY. But these are the types of depth elements to the episode which was pretty shallow overall.

Had a little look at the imdb numbers and is more or less how I expected them to be. - Only the first episode has more than 3000 ratings ( The first of The Last of US has more than 100.000) - The newest episode has less than 500 ratings (the last Mandalorian episode had almost 5000(one day older)) - Most numerous age group is 45+; 18-29 is almost absent, the ratio is 1 to 16.6 (For Andor 18-29 to 45+ ratio is close 1:1; For the Last of US it is even more extreme, 18-29 is almost twice as large) - The ratings themselves are very good for this season and probably the best for any NuTrek season. The viewership is very old and fairly small. Star Trek Discovery's numbers four season 4 look even worse. It is no wonder that Paramount is cancelling these shows. Looking at the numbers of Strange New World is probably an indicator that this show as well won't last long. They tried to make Trek younger and give it mass appeal. I guess that has not worked. On the plus side, I suppose, is the fact that most of the old trekkies can approach the end of the NuTrek era with a warm and fuzzy feeling. A few words about fan service. It just feels like that creators are waving old toys in my face and screaming:"This is what you want! Happy now!!" Personally, I also do not like to be manipulated and this feels extremely manipulative. There is a certain irony in naming the first episode of this season "the new generation" considering that apart from Raffi anybody of the actual new generation was fired.

PLEASE TELL ME Jack's wondrous mysterious visions have to do still with some NEW UNQIUE ALIEN LIFE FORM AND ANOMALY and not some stupid random future space Alzheimer's..isn't anyone else worried about this..why bring this up at all if it's not really tbat..there MUSTbeNEW WONDROUS ALIENA AND ANOMALIES afoot here to make this truly great TNG sci fi please not just Changelings and Irumodic syndrome..that would be horribly disappointing

It will not be easy to keep my remarks to three paragraphs without the words 'clunker', 'facepalm' or 'memberberries' but I accept the challenge! Maybe I'll just leave the nostalgia bait for others to discuss... Did anyone notice how parochial our legacy characters' chief concerns have become? Geordi's preoccupation with keeping his family safe even though they're all Starfleet officers is only the most explicit example of a broader trend where Riker's seemingly sensible urge to retreat from the Shrike is somehow psychologized by the loss of his son, and Picard's normally circumspect wisdom is thrown to the wind to hyperfocus upon saving the son he just met, even if it means jeopardizing entire ships and crews. And now Riker will probably betray his "25 years of loyalty" all because Vadic got Damsel Troi. Contrast this to the good ol' "There are four lights!" days of TNG where principles like duty, honor, truth, valor came first before "me and my own". When the spirit of discovery and the quest for knowledge were the primary drivers, and the crew even had the balls bring the whole family along for the ride all with the measured risks -- and dangers be damned! I think this ignoble backsliding is happened not because they became more conservative with age but because the showrunners want these characters to reflect the typical suburban values and mentality of the average watcher of Nu-Trek (or at least those people who they HOPE are the new audience and thereby pander to, after J.J. Abrams re-tailored Star Trek for the average Joe and Kurtzman simply followed suit in order to continue cashing in on that much broader appeal). These are predominately people who have no real utopian dreams, nor distinguished military service, who wouldn't know a parsec from a parsnip and have probably never even picked up a science fiction novel despite the contributions of such novelists in making TNG possible, the very precursor without which none of us could even be enjoying (or hating) this series since it couldn't exist! One pays no mind to those high-minded ideals, those more abstract considerations and hopes for a better future when one's horizon is limited only to such concerns as jockeying for position at the office, making sure the kids are in bed by 10, and keeping up with the mortgage payments all while ensuring an unceasing supply of coffee and one's streaming service of choice.

"This site has always encouraged free discourse - be it positive or negative. Perhaps a venue like the startrek subreddit (where positivity is enforced) might be more your cup of tea." Heh 😉 StarMan is operating under the false impression I don't want to hear anything negative or think people shouldn't be allowed to voice their opinions. Of course not, this is the internet... What else is there to do than passionately shout into the digital oblivion hoping to be heard? Reading critical reviews and comments more often than not makes me examine my own thoughts on any given episode. Different points of view lead to new ideas. But it is harder to sympathise with folks who gripe and moan about the fact a TV season specifically designed to evoke nostalgia is doing just that by throwing in easter eggs, callbacks and other memberberries. It's like getting into a car only to complain that it can actually drive. "The wheels are round... And of course there's the gas pedal. Urgh, it's all so blatantly obvious!" So that's why I prefer to skip those. Some people will find fault with anything for what they believe are perfectly justified reasons. That's their choice, just as it is mine to move on once it's clear I'm reading a nitpicky diatribe disguised as a (re)view.

Brandon Adams

I had a lot of fun. People, if you visit the Starfleet museum, there are going to be callbacks, and it doesn't feel too crazy to have Geordi running the place. I liked that they used the tour to fill out the characters. And I'm not gonna lie...the reveal of the A, the NX-01, and Voyager filled me with joy. I had never expected to see all the old girls on screen again. (Also, it was hilariously surreal watching the Titan-A struggling with the HMS Bounty's cloaking device with the Enterprise-A innocently looking on in the background.) Sure, there were still stupidities reminding me of the writers' hand. Moriarty's waste. A Klingon cloaking device still operating underwater. The dialogue trying too hard (curse you, Joss Whedon, for ruining all of 21st century entertainment). Kirk's body being there, although I realize it was probably just there to make keeping Picard's body there seem less bizarre (it failed). But the episode hits some transcendent moments still. Alton's preservation monologue, sweeping past the old relic starships while Picard reminded us we can't control what we pass on, it landed for me. Jackney was well done, though again surreal to imagine Picard, Beverly, and Geordi all serving as grandparents of the same child. And frankly I thought Levar Burton's performance was terrific.

I’d prefer it was Leah Brahms, all this is all a dream.

Regarding Wheaton, it would be weird for Wesley to not appear considering his "space mom" and half brother are the main story , and the strong "family" theme of the season. It would be weird for Wesley not to show up if it were just Beverly alone. And Wheaton is tight with the production, running the companion talk show. -- This wasn't my favorite Riker outing, but I've really liked Riker and Frakes' performance throughout the season. I like him far more than in the latter half of TNG. I could even watch a "Riker" show.

Jax vomited: "The stupid kicks in within seconds in this episode as we opened with the stupid nuTrek "stop on a dime" exit from warp drive." If this isn't hate-watching, I don't know what is. Seriously, what drives you to continue wasting your time on a show you obviously don't like other than to have a reason to spew nerd rage here?

@Norvo "So that's why I prefer to skip those. Some people will find fault with anything for what they believe are perfectly justified reasons. That's their choice, just as it is mine to move on once it's clear I'm reading a nitpicky diatribe disguised as a (re)view." Could not agree with you more. Some of the critters here need to stop hate-watching this show, go outside, and touch grass.

Well Dan, if we are sharing then let's keep in mind that constantly reading reviews and getting really angry about them, let's call it hate-reading, doesn't seem too healthy either. People really loved TNG and quite a few went from "hate watching" to liking it during this season. Some needed several episodes for that switch. Let's not forget, this is the last season with the original TNG cast. Should we not complement the people who still don't like it but keep hoping that they also might start to like, maybe even love it. That the next episode will be good, no great, for them. Sure, for hate-readers, such as yourself it might be a bother but for many others it is not. There might even be a few who enjoy reading the more negative views of their fellow Trekkies. How different good-hearted people can perceive the same thing. Is there not maybe even deeper lesson to be learned here? For comparison, if somebody loves America but criticizes what state it is in now, do you tell this person to pack their bags and move to China?! To love economic exploitation as long as it comes with flag swinging and parades? Surely not. :) PS: I'm diating and feeling a little light headed.

Thank you for your review Jammer, it was an enjoyable read. This definitely was a kitchen sink episode and I'm going to have to watch it again before I write much about it. I adored the scene with Seven and Voyager, it made me cry a lot. Instantly it became one of my favorite scenes of all Trek.

In what has so far been a great season and especially coming off the wings of the previous two episodes which were stellar, this has got to be the weakest instalment of the season thus far. It really was a hot mass, which isn't saying that it was bad. It was just too much in too little time, and is again a direct consequence of blowing so much screen time and budget on the previous two seasons without telling a single relevant story, that the writers who actually care are now forced to use the little time and money the studio has left. This would've worked much better split into two episodes which would've allowed to further develop the material seen on screen and give the viewers a moment or two to take a breath. The line between actual Starfleet and compromised ships hunting the Titan really became too blurry and I had a hard time determining where all those ships were coming from. Moriarty's appearance was a total dud and a cameo more than anything else. Not at all what I was expecting. At the end, it's completely unclear to me whether that was actually Moriarty from TNG (if so, how did he get out of his box?) or if that was a computer replica made by... who and why exactly? This was a really wasted opportunity to delve deeper into the resolution of Elementary, Dear Data and to reflect upon our 'pathetic old warriors'. Instead, the hologram disappeared as quickly as it appeared (although arguably his appearance would've been much more impactful had it not been spoiled by the trailers). In regards to Data and his third resurrection, I don't even know what to say here, so let's see how this plays out. Finally, I wish that we've had more time to dive deeper into Geordi's reasoning behind protecting his daughters and the whole parent/child philosophy, but alas, given the time given to the episode, it wasn't half bad. My biggest gripe here is the revelation of what was actually stolen from Daystrom because it directly validates all the bullshit that happened in season one by making it into an actual overarching plot element, which is kind of a disappointment as I was under the impression that the new forces that be tried to distance themselves from the dreck before. At the risk of repeating myself, I am not saying the episode was bad, it was just too damn all over the place and it would've been much, much more enjoyable to have it spread out over more screen time. Finally, the walk down the memory lane was great, as was seeing all the ships in the museum (in particular the Defiant). Despite the season's flaws, it's wonderful finally seeing modern Trek respect, embrace and proudly display its legacy, and it shows the writers' hearts are in the right place. Had we had the same team work on this from season one with all its budget and screen time, Picard could've easily been one of the greatest iterations of Trek, up there with TNG and DS9.

Keith Dalton

Picard: "Admiral, do you read us?" Worf: "He does not." I never thought I'd see Worf eye-roll. I loved it.

BTW, kudos where kudos are due: someone sure did their homework about those ships at the museum. They could have easily flubbed this, but I didn't see any mistakes The TOS Enterprise wasn't there because it was refit to become the movies 1-4 Refit. The Refit wasn't there because it was destroyed. So, we got the "New Jersey" as a TOS stand in and the 1701-A as the extant Constitution Class ship. Likewise, in surprising restraint, the D doesn't miraculously appear cobbled back together. --- I kind of wonder if the original idea was for the heroes to abandon the Titan and take either the Bounty or the Defiant but this was abandoned due to costs. The episode certainly creates the expectation they need to do this.

Now that Picard’s body is part of the plot, I’m wondering if, thru some Changeling technology + Soongian magic, they’re going to reanimate it and transfer synth-Picard’s consciousness back into it. Not saying I want that to happen , just wondering if that’s where we’re headed.

@Silly Was going to write about not being sure they did *all* their research, as I wasn't sure this "New Jersey" original Constitution-Class ship fit in because I thought all 12 of the original Constitutions were known. Certainly they could've built some after Kirk's line about there only being 12 in the fleet, and it certainly seems that new Constitution ships in the Refit style were built during the movie era, but as I tried to recall which ones have been on screen or identified as of the class on screen (As well as generally accepted fan canon), I only got 11 for sures. The 12th was never definitively identified among the possibilities. So I guess it was an open slot? 01 -:Constitution (obviously) 02 - Enterprise (again, obviously) 03 - Yorktown 04 - Defiant 05 - Excalibur 06 - Lexington 07 - Constellation 08 - Exeter 09 - Hood 10 - Potemkin 11 - Intrepid 12 - ??? So I guess it's the New Jersey? (Although I still personally struggle with accepting anything of this 3rd wave of Trek into the lore - if I let one thing in, I gotta eventually let the rest of the bullshit in too)

I truly enjoyed this episode containing some of the best short-but-sweet dialogues of the season. Geordi-Sidney confrontation brought tears to my eyes, as well as the ship-talk between Seven and Jack. Worf-Riker dynamic is witty and hilarious. Sidney-Jack and Shaw-LaForge moments made me smile. And Data's first moments after waking up, priceless! Keep it up Picard producers and writers. Another home-run outing. And thanks for the always-noteworthy review, Jammer.

Well, that gang's all here... now maybe we'll find out why. Loved the "star ship porn"... Doug Drexler is doing cartwheels on FB. Finally, 7 sounded like 7. That only took 2 and a half seasons. Why on Earth would they dig up Kirk's grave and preserve him Star Trek's area 51? The crow, Moriarty... it was OK, but why was that tune in his head? Did Data choose him to be the gatekeeper? ... or was he activated after Data witnessed the theft to be a gatekeeper to allow Riker/Picard in hoping they would come looking? What happens if Riker doesn't remember the whistle thing? I'm a little lost here. Geordi was awesome. Loved meeting his real-life daughter. I also really enjoyed his on-screen daughter. I found Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut's performance here quite outstanding. They took Picard's body? haha... I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I didn't see that one coming. No frellin idea what Vadic really is, what her henchman are, what the "wrist baddie" is, what the Changelings have up their sleeves and why, and what Jack has to do with all this. We've literally taken 6 episodes to get the gang back together. I'm fine with that. We still have 4 more episodes to figure this all out. This was a really enjoyable watch. Not on par with the last couple of episodes, but still really good. 3 stars is about right.

Just really dispiriting viewing. I can't even summon the strength to list everything that had my head in my hands during that. I realise many if not most will consider it profound but I just found it depressingly manipulative. Seven's lines about Voyager were such a wasted opportunity. It was extremely moving, played well by Ryan - interrupted by the moronic 'Jack' 'Crusher'. They could have made an episode out of Seven's emotions in that scene. It would have been outstanding. Instead they give us more dysfunctional bollocks. Everything and everyone is hopelessly 'broken', all the time. Now it's Geordi and Sidney. The Data reveal was daft. Good grief, the shit this show puts us through. I need a drink.

@Dan, "If this isn't hate-watching, I don't know what is. Seriously, what drives you to continue wasting your time on a show you obviously don't like other than to have a reason to spew nerd rage here?" I don't fault anyone from airing complaints, grievances, criticism, etc. at any point (they're sometimes insightful and funny), but the one thing I do find a bit strange is that, given often the first one posting, Jax watches a lot of these episodes as soon as they go live. If I grew to hate something, unless it was for my job, I wouldn't be jumping at the bit at the first allowable chance to suffer it. Maybe that's just me.

@Nolan Something that gave me a chuckle is the lack of a Galaxy Class. There are younger ships here than that class, Voyager and Defiant. A chuckle because maybe there aren't any left due to that class tending to, um, explode ;) @DogFace There really are several shades of Nemesis here. It doesn't bother me though because while that movie was awful, it was just badly executed. But many of the elements were fine and the plot sounds pretty decent on paper. After all TNG was built from elements of The Motion Picture (and the aborted Phase II). Riker/Decker, Deanna/Ilia, Data/Xon.

Yeah, I noticed that, too. Jax would you care to share why you watch this show immediately and then post about it here? You are often the first to post. And please imagine me saying this in a Zooey Deschanelish way Some inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqDgX3AgSOw

I did not suffer seeing it but it felt a little bit like a transportation to the next episode. Still some good scenes and acting. I am glad they did not make Moriaty more present. I never really liked those episodes.

Fan service is like adding red pepper to your pizza. A little is great but a cup full isn't. It's extremely annoying when fan service is wedged in at a cost to the plot. And too much fan service can push a work into outright parody. Also, fan service now is nowhere near as rewarding as it was 20 years ago or whatever when it was harder to watch what was being referenced. Now it's like "yeah you know I could just go watch the real thing." Fan service can be a lazy cheap way to hide defects in a work. *cough*jj*cough* Again though, while this was drenched in fan service, overall the season hasn't been too bad at all, so I don't mind. If the whole season were like this, it would be dreadful.

@Yanks Fri, Mar 24, 2023, 12:02pm (UTC -5) "The crow, Moriarty... it was OK, but why was that tune in his head? Did Data choose him to be the gatekeeper? ... or was he activated after Data witnessed the theft to be a gatekeeper to allow Riker/Picard in hoping they would come looking? What happens if Riker doesn't remember the whistle thing? I'm a little lost here." I'm pretty sure that Moriarty is a part of the Data/A.I. Gumbo entity. At the very least he was a program that the Data/A.I. called. At worst he's just more gravy in that entity's mental mashed potatoes. Either way this really craps all over the Moriarty character. He's either an app at the Data/A.I. OS's beck and call or a split personality locked in a $#!%y mind timeshare contract. I don't know if the Data personality normally has control of the entity's actions, but he definitely TOOK control when the entity saw Riker. The A.I. only generates the Moriarty "security response" complete with mandatory music lesson at the exact moment it detects Riker. That whole sequence is nothing more than a CAPTCHA to verify Riker's identity. I'm pretty sure that the entity would've decided Riker at least was a changeling and killed him if he couldn't answer the CAPTCHA correctly. I don't know if he would give the others a chance, or not. It's possible he would since Data has had moments alone with Worf and therefore has ways to authenticate Worf even if a changeling had infiltrated his party. If Worf and Riker both fail Raffi is definitely toast. I don't know why you'd want to create an A.I. with all these unreliable and some down right malevolent parts. It seems like the absolute worst thing you could do when attempting to create an artificial intelligence. Obviously stability is going to be compromised. How would that ever be desirable?

I was always under the impression (because of "The Enterprise Incident" *) that older cloaking devices are useless because the enemy has analysed their weaknesses. Every modern starship should detect a 100 year old cloak. * COMMANDER: You realise that very soon we will learn to penetrate the cloaking device you stole. SPOCK: Obviously. Military secrets are the most fleeting of all.

@Bok R'Mor "I realise many if not most will consider it profound but I just found it depressingly manipulative. The big conference scene was very deep... Worf saying "We must begin the beguine" really took it to the limit. Picard could have replied "it takes two to tango" : )

@Booming "Well Dan, if we are sharing then let's keep in mind that constantly reading reviews and getting really angry about them, let's call it hate-reading, doesn't seem too healthy either." If you find my posts to be angry, that says a lot about you. I find Jax's nerd rage posts mildly entertaining, especially since he's the first one you run into in these review threads. You'll note that I don't respond to every negative post made here, by Jax or whomever. If I were doing that, you might have a point about "hate-reading" or whatever. But it's hard to avoid some of these comically nitpicky rants while trying to read posts that actually have worthwhile points and thoughts. At a certain point, one become little more than a pedantic nerd who really needs to stop watching what ails them, go outside and touch some grass. I mean, Jammer stopped watching Andromeda when it became clear to him that it wasn't enjoyable. Be like Jammer, maybe? Or at the very least, if you're going to do the nitpicky thing, be like Red Letter Media? They at least make you laugh. "For comparison, if somebody loves America but criticizes what state it is in now, do you tell this person to pack their bags and move to China?! To love economic exploitation as long as it comes with flag swinging and parades? Surely not. :)" It's absurd to compare complaints about where you live to those about a show you (hate)watch. It's easy to turn off the TV/close the stream/whatever if something you're watching angers and displeases you that much. It's not so easy to just change or up and leave a country, city, etc.

"This episode shares the same traits as most Lower Decks episodes, with a potential for a good episode hidden underneath too much fan service. Almost every scene had a callback to something from the past: - LaForge sees Beverly? A violin TNG song plays in the background. - Daystrom? ST movie references are made at literally every corner. - Star Trek Museum? A parade of classic ships. - The solution to rescue the away team? The same as in The Enterprise Incident. - The freaking mainframe at Daystrom? Data 3.0 Urghh This really diminishes the show, and it's a trend in all nuTrek: there are no ideas, concepts, or villains of its own. Beyond the nostalgia overdose, the episode itself is awkwardly written, with the characters explaining every detail of what they would do and why. It felt unnatural and looked like they were talking to the audience instead of to each other. I am giving it 2 stars, and I'm being generous.

@Bucktown "I don't fault anyone from airing complaints, grievances, criticism, etc. at any point (they're sometimes insightful and funny), but the one thing I do find a bit strange is that, given often the first one posting, Jax watches a lot of these episodes as soon as they go live. If I grew to hate something, unless it was for my job, I wouldn't be jumping at the bit at the first allowable chance to suffer it. Maybe that's just me." It's not just you. We now have people who think that criticism of a movie, show, etc. is little more than a sin count. Hey, I didn't think the Star Wars sequels were good, but I can't imagine being so driven by anger about it that I'd make hours of YouTube videos detailing every bit of minutiae that I found sketchy or unenjoyable (not exaggerating; look up MauLer or search for "A Critique of Star Wars The Force Awakens/Last Jedi" on YouTube). Anyways -- I've certainly made mental notes about what posters to avoid in the future!

Oh no...I'm to be avoided if I don't love everything I see on the nuTrek-o-tron! Whatever will I do? Funny...I recall Jammer still writing up reviews for episodes that he only gave one star to...or none...

Well it took longer than the first two seasons to get to the "hilariously dumb" stage. I mean I found the first five episodes kind of dumb in certain ways, but they were at least functional and sometimes entertaining episodes of tv (Riker threw an asteroid at a ship! It was fun!) This though... Literally going from "LOOK IT'S JIM KIRK'S F***ING CORPSE NO IT'S MORIARTY NO IT'S POP GOES THE WEASEL NO IT'S DATA NO IT'S EVERY SOONG ANDROID IN ONE HUMAN BODY THAT CAN SHOOT HOLOGRAMS OUT ITS EYES FOR SOME F***ING REASON" gave me ANGRY WHIPLASH. The Daystrom Institute in TNG was a scientific research facility...why the fuck would the space station where SECTION 31 (OF COURSE IT'S F***ING SECTION 31 AGAIN) keep corpses and broken robots be named "Daystrom"? Oh that's right, it's a word people remember from Star Trek. Why would the second Defiant that was in like the last two episodes of DS9 be in a museum? It's not even that old! Remember "no changeling has ever harmed another"? Remember how Odo and the Female Changeling stuck to this even when they were fighting on opposing sides in an intergalactic war? Oops, Vadic just pointlessly murdered another changeling to show how EVIL she is! Why are these things even Founder Changelings? They might as well just be a totally different species; they're completely different. Oh it's because Matalas is incapable of going ten seconds without saying "THIS THING RELATES TO THAT OTHER THING even though the details are all wrong." And even trying to judge this just as an episode of tv on its own...it was all over the place. It didn't tell a coherent story. And the dialogue was so bad. Crusher talking about her son's brain being "OVERCLOCKED" as if that's a thing a doctor in the 25th century would say, let alone Beverly Crusher. And yeah it's nice seeing Levar Burton again, Shaw has a few good moments, and sometimes Patrick Stewart makes a face that makes me feel like I'm watching Jean-Luc Picard for half a second, but this is Not Good.

@Dan "You'll note that I don't respond to every negative post made here, by Jax or whomever." That is true but all the comments you made during season 3 were negative comments about people having a negative opinion. Hate commenting ? " If I were doing that, you might have a point about "hate-reading" or whatever." I find the word "hate watching" pretty stupid so I thought I add something equally stupid. "At a certain point, one become little more than a pedantic nerd who really needs to stop watching what ails them, go outside and touch some grass." Freedom is a complicated concept. People constantly make decisions other people don't understand. Who are you going around telling people how to spend their time?! The sheer fucking hubris! "Or at the very least, if you're going to do the nitpicky thing, be like Red Letter Media? They at least make you laugh." Yes guys, if you want to write something negative just do it at the quality level of professional artists. Without sound and the medium of film. "Anyways -- I've certainly made mental notes about what posters to avoid in the future!" Well, that is really all anybody asks of you. Just say no!

Now people people who claim others hate-watch are hate-readers. By definition. This is I-know-you-are-but it what-am-I-ism. I read comments on there because I find many of the posts to be or interest-for many different readings. Some are funny and I have commented on an observation humorously told. I guess that makes me an evil “humor-reader.” Some raise good points about a story or plot point. I guess commenting on this makes one a point-pointer-outer-readermonger. Criticism of a comment means the critic is hateful. This biazrroism is why too much exposure to this forum (or any other forum) is not a good idea. You are bound to run into the self-anointed thought police. They will call your name out and ask you why you didn’t like something even when you did not mention their name (even if such call outs are made in gest, it’s too much. I didn’t like Jax’s comments and said so; I do not feel the need to talk to others about those comments without Jax in the conversation, as if he/she were not there. One of Jammer’s founding rules for posts on this site is to not make things personal. I admit to having done so and apologize and will try to be better. However, I do not come here for the express PURPOSE of making things personal. Points of view can be debated but assuming things about others and then psychoanalyzing those others is kind of vulgar and tasteless. That some people have done it in the past doesn’t condone it’s being one now. Stop looking to pick fights, stop baiting, stop living for things to be offended by).

I have a headache.

@Booming "Had a little look at the imdb numbers and is more or less how I expected them to be. - Only the first episode has more than 3000 ratings ( The first of The Last of US has more than 100.000) - The newest episode has less than 500 ratings (the last Mandalorian episode had almost 5000(one day older)) - Most numerous age group is 45+; 18-29 is almost absent, the ratio is 1 to 16.6 (For Andor 18-29 to 45+ ratio is close 1:1; For the Last of US it is even more extreme, 18-29 is almost twice as large) - The ratings themselves are very good for this season and probably the best for any NuTrek season." Interesting. My takeaway is - the uptake of new fans just isn't happening. Yet, there are those clamoring for another spin-off (because apparently cancelling Discovery without warning is a sign of positive things to come). I'll be surprised if any of these spin-off ideas actually see the light. I would say the Kurtzman era has been successful in holding onto a portion of the fanbase. But in terms of mainstream growth, that seems to have been a big ol' fail - hence why we're now going all in on the nostalgia to placate the remaining viewership. Ironically, we're almost back to where we were in the early 2000s: one live-action series - a TOS prequel - and a movie franchise dead in the water.

"Funny...I recall Jammer still writing up reviews for episodes that he only gave one star to...or none..." Well, to be fair, I tried to be fair, and the tone wasn't universal across an entire season or series. When someone posts a litany of daily complaints about non-subsantive things like the warping-in effect, it comes across kinda axe-grind-y. Or posting such a litany 45 minutes after the show was released, which means not only did they make sure they immediately watched the show in the middle of the night when it hit the street, but did it on an ad-free plan? I remember someone once complained about animated text rotating into view on an on-screen title, as if that was some sign of awful taste by the creators. I definitely don't think everyone should love these shows, and it would be boring if we all did. But there are also degrees of criticism, and some of it definitely has a more caustic and mean-spirited tone to it that just sounds really angry. And the attacks on the writers, their motives, their intelligence, and so on can be pretty merciless. Just sayin'.

"the writers, their motives, their intelligence" So none of those things were what was wrong with, say, Let He Who Is Without Sin..."? What was it then, the apparel?

"the writers, their motives, their intelligence" "So none of those things were what was wrong with, say, Let He Who Is Without Sin..."? What was it then, the apparel?" There's a big difference between criticizing the writing of an episode and attacking the character of the writers themselves week in and out, and I see a lot of the latter these days -- saying people are hacks, or don't have any semblance of literacy or intellectualism or integrity or whatever. The people saying these things don't know that. A lot goes into a television show beyond what the writers contribute. Executives and corporations may have certain requirements and are going to have their say. It's what I'm always saying on here about making it about the material and not the person. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, but I think people deserve the benefit of the doubt and shouldn't always be assumed to be awful and used as punching bags. But, hey, that's just me. You do you. None of this is new, anyway. The same was said about Berman & Braga 20-plus years ago.

"Executives and corporations may have certain requirements and are going to have their say." No one suffered from that more than Voyager and Enterprise. Especially their promos.

"But in terms of mainstream growth, that seems to have been a big ol' fail - hence why we're now going all in on the nostalgia to placate the remaining viewership." It doesn't help that episodes have become seasons. A bad hour can't be quarantined and moved past anymore...it metasticizes.

Don't want to spread negative information but I just saw the Shaw actor (Todd Stashwick) playing a Vulcan security officer in an old episode of Enterprise. He wasn't very nice to T'pol and he got beaten up by Archer pretty severely.

Ah yes, back when Sex Appeal was mandated by the studio execs and showrunners. If there's at least one positive that's come out of 'teh woke' of Nu-Trek, it's that cynically and gratuitously trading on the appeal of the idealized female body has been toned down. There's not much that can be said in defence of Enterprise, but at least Voyager's Jeri Ryan was and still is so much more than than merely a model-like actress, and got to play a character that was pretty well-written too. It's interesting that Voyager triumphed in spite of, rather than because of this sort of executive meddling but some of us feel that at least some of the Nu-Trek series haven't been similarly buoyed by deeper substance to offset the more cynical machinations that probably lurk in the background. If it's not one thing, then it's another...

"Oh no...I'm to be avoided if I don't love everything I see on the nuTrek-o-tron! Whatever will I do?" I'm sure that what you'll do is furiously type another nitpicky rant immediately Ep. 7 is over. Maybe 6 ships will do their "stop on a dime" thing at the same time, making the episode completely unwatchable! I mean, one is horrific enough, right? =) "Funny...I recall Jammer still writing up reviews for episodes that he only gave one star to...or none..." Jammer writes engaging and readable criticism whether he likes an episode or not -- he doesn't just do a sin count of every little annoyance. This is why I continue to come to this site -- the bell-ringing, Cinema Sins-type "criticism" is boring and overdone; there's no thought to it. And I can't recall any season of a show in which every review Jammer wrote was all negative, all the time. As I mentioned before, he stopped watching/reviewing Andromeda when it became truly unenjoyable for him. Imagine not willingly submitting yourself to something you dislike! Radical thinking.

Gorn with the Wind

I liked this episode quite a bit until the ending, which felt extremely plotty and not at all like a satisfying ratcheting up of the tension derived from character conflict, choices, or growth. 2.5/3 stars.

2.5/4, I should say

@Booming "That is true but all the comments you made during season 3 were negative comments about people having a negative opinion. Hate commenting ?" I mostly come here to read, not comment. And since Picard is a serialized show, I prefer to wait until the season is done before finalizing my thoughts and feelings. That doesn't mean I'm not interested in what others might be thinking in the meantime, and I read the positive, the neutral and the negative posts equally. But there are negative reviews, and then there's just nitpicking tripe. I try to gloss over that, and usually do...but every once in a while I'm prone to jumping into the gutter and getting into a slap fight with the whores. ...that's meant in a humorous manner, just to be clear. I'm not actually looking for a fight, nor do I think anyone here is a whore. Seems silly to have to explain that, but here we are. "I find the word "hate watching" pretty stupid so I thought I add something equally stupid." OK. "Who are you going around telling people how to spend their time?! The sheer fucking hubris!" Oh, don't be so dramatic. "Yes guys, if you want to write something negative just do it at the quality level of professional artists. Without sound and the medium of film." You don't have to be a professional writer to express a thoughtful opinion, be it positive/neutral/negative. "Well, that is really all anybody asks of you. Just say no!" This strikes me very much as you telling me how to spend my time. Who are you to do that?! The fucking hubris! /dramatic voice

It's interesting to look at imdb review count as a proxy for ratings. I actually wonder if having the Trek shows inside a relatively small steamer ultimately hurts its popularity, vs having it on things like Prime and Netflix. The basic premise is actually pretty weird and esoteric. I can see non-fans finding it and liking it, but not hunting for it.

I really don't understand why people annoyed, appalled, disgusted, or otherwise just sick and tired of negative comments don't take their own advice and scroll on by those comments. That's it. That's your solution. The one you attempted to give other people, just give it to yourself. If your solution works, you'd be the best one to benefit. I've often been annoyed at misplaced political discussions that consumed the board totally derailing any conversation about the episode. This happened often in the Discovery board. Unless someone was specifically addressing me, I tried to stay out of it. I sometimes failed, but that's my fault. I'll just try harder next time.

It does not make sense to me that the Defiant and Voyager are in a museum, they aren't that old, really.

@Tanner I can see how certain ships that are particularly distinguished in their service history might be retired early for posterity.

Im constantly amused by all the "how can people like this?" / "how can people not like this?" orgies here. How about this : worry about whether *you* or don't like it, and stop denying the agency of other viewers who might have a different taste. It's perfectly clear that at this point, a franchise with such a long and often troubled history as trek will produce opposing views with anything they do. So, my own views and nothing but those : yeah, the episode was kind of all over the place but... I kinda liked it for that :-) It was bold. It tried to do a lot of things. Some things failed, but with trek (old and new, mind you) usually erring on the side of playing it safe, I can appreciate this for the things that work and forgive the ones that don't. The one thing that was a blatant and downright stupid mistake was a classic nutrek one : install a ticking clock dynamic, *then* have lots of character scenes that pretend there is no ticking clock. Like... How often will they make this dumb, unnecessary mistake? Do your character material first, *then* start the ticking clock. Aaaargh. It's so simple. Such an easy to avoid mistake. Sabotaging all the character scenes because it makes the viewer go "helloooo! *points at clock* no time for this!" Ah well, but since this silly mistake has been made so often in nutrek, I'm trained to ignore it. And then, a lot of the character material works. Also liked the Riker Worf dynamic. Did not feel forced to me at all. This is a dynamic that's been long established and earned. No complaints. Also like the quick back and forth throughout the quadrant. Makes the show feel like it lives in the actual trek universe. It's been so long that any new trek show managed to do just that. Lots and lots of extra points from me for that. Using the established universe. Nice. Don't care for the mustache twirling lady. Moriati was also wasted, but never cared for him during TNG either so I don't care. MPD data, I like. Spiner has the skills to do that. Let's see where he takes it. Stewart feels increasingly natural and effortless. That's a very very big plus, for a show called Picard, obviously. Good. Must be the positive influence of Frakes, I think ;) Wonderful moment with seven and voyager. Nice. But how they could do all that ship nostalgia and *not* show the D (or some sister galaxy class ship) is beyond me. Every shot, I was waiting for her to show up. Here's hoping they're just saving this for later. Like, you're clearly enjoying the fan service game. Might as well go all the way then please. Especially since the D has something no nutrek has... ...lights that actually light the room. Crazy thought, I know :-)

"It does not make sense to me that the Defiant and Voyager are in a museum, they aren't that old, really." I guess it depends on if you go by this quote: "Jim, the Enterprise is 20 years old. We feel her day is over." -- Star Trek III Is 20 years too young for a starship to be retired? I would say so based on the assumptions of future tech. But if you think of it in terms of a car, that's pretty old, which is the standard which I think this was based on, right or wrong. So this follows logically from that.

It's really hard to say if the Defiant and Voyager should be in a museum or not, but my guess is they would have been retired long ago. It's not implausible to assume that advances in replicator technology or power generation made it easier to build starships, therefore increasing the rate of their replacement. It's also possible the technology Voyager brought home made all existing ships obsolete and a new generation of ships was built. Or maybe these ships just had a lot more unrepairable structural wear and tear given all the action they saw. There are so many possible reasons why these ships are in a museum. IMO it's a wasted opportunity for some good worldbuilding post TNG/DS9/VOY. S1 and S2 could have explored this if they weren't so busy producing garbage.

"Is 20 years too young for a starship to be retired? I would say so based on the assumptions of future tech. But if you think of it in terms of a car, that's pretty old, which is the standard which I think this was based on, right or wrong. So this follows logically from that." Better comparison is airplanes, jets, navy ships. They are not consumer goods. 20-40 years I guess. Oldest aircraft carrier is the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, build date 1977. It will be replaced in 2029 by the USS Enterprise which is being build since 2018 (if stick to schedule, big if).

MidshipmanNorris

As batshit as this is getting, I will accept anything for Data waking up and saying "Geordi?" as his first words. Welp, the gang's all here, after all. Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.

@Caloceptri "One of Jammer’s founding rules for posts on this site is to not make things personal. I admit to having done so and apologize and will try to be better." Considering that you did that in the post I'm quoting from, I'm not sure how much trust we can put in your promise. @Starman "Interesting. My takeaway is - the uptake of new fans just isn't happening." I guess that was Kurtzman's pitch. Create something that has mainstream appeal comparable to TNG. TNG with 15-20 million viewers certainly had that. It also had significant cultural impact. " hence why we're now going all in on the nostalgia to placate the remaining viewership." I really wonder what their thinking was. The fan expansion did not work so let's at least keep the fans this franchise has? Sci Fi in general always has an uphill battle. A few weeks back I watched The Good Fight until the end of season 3. It's amusingly crazy and really embraces that. It has less ratings. One has to keep in mind though that ratings are just an indicator for engagement with some significant downsides (for example male to female ratio; a show popular with women will have far less ratings). The good fight is far cheaper to produce than any Sci Fi show. Costs only go up when contracts are renewed. Star Trek Picard started with very high costs for the cast and is probably very expensive because of all the CGI. That is likely the reason that the first two season were dark, gritty and full of contemporary problems. After Discovery wasn't developing as they hoped, they tried a somewhat desperate move to force a TNG like rating success. After season 1 of Picard it was clear that this did not happen. So they pulled the plug. I wonder if Paramount+ will be the first big victim of the streaming wars because they seem unable to reach the level of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. https://flixpatrol.com/streaming-services/subscribers/ They are not dead yet but their big Star Trek gamble did not pan out. Their catalogue is fairly weak. Looking at their offering, apart from Star Trek, which is still featured most prominently on their page, I don't even know the other shows. @Dan "Oh, don't be so dramatic." Yam yam. "Who are you to do that?! The fucking hubris!" You forgot the sheer!

Janeways Labrat

Seven is, of course, a nice hat tip to voyager as was the reminiscing scene. Where did Naomi Wildman end up? She was a very smart gal and I can’t imagine she’s running a greasy spoon in NuNuNew York. Tuvok is startlingly absent, given Tim Russ’s long engagement across multiple franchises. Even Paris/Locarno. We still have 5 shows so it’s all possible.

Let’s think about what Voyager went through in the delta quadrant. That ship, that poor poor ship. Wasn’t it completely time fractured at one point? Not to mention what Red did to it in Year of Hell(s). It’s been through multiple transwarp accidents, stuck in voids, harvested by life forms. There have to be micro hull fractures and other structural problems which make the ship unreliable for daily use. Is starfleet still using bioneural gel paks? There are borg alcoves on that ship… and please please no, the Fairhaven holo program must be quarantined. I think you leave it in mothballs.

@Booming "I wonder if Paramount+ will be the first big victim of the streaming wars because they seem unable to reach the level of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+." Well, the tolerance for companies running billions into the red on content creation has run dry. As for Paramount in particular, there has always been significant doubt over their entry into the Streaming Wars on Wall Street. I don't think anyone had any allusions about Paramount+ growing to Netflix / Amazon levels of engagement. A huge chunk of the $$$ spent on padding out their libraries was a gamble on growing and retaining future subscriptions. Fast forward to present, Disney+ has lost I don't know how many million subs (myself among them). Paramount might be a smaller fish, but they haven't been shy throwing money at their platform over the past few years. So far as Disney and Amazon, they both have very deep pockets - Amazon in particular isn't short on other revenue streams. We'll see services amalgamate to survive, while the bigger fish scoop up smaller entities for their libraries and IPs. I'm not saying Paramount is going to get bought out tomorrow, but their growth story might be under serious scrutiny behind closed doors. If the good times are over, the business model needs to adapt. I think Discovery's axing was just that. I wouldn't be so sure new shows costing hundreds of millions of dollars a pop are going to fly off the production line. "They are not dead yet but their big Star Trek gamble did not pan out. Their catalogue is fairly weak. Looking at their offering, apart from Star Trek, which is still featured most prominently on their page, I don't even know the other shows." Yellowstone and its prequels are its biggest hits. I don't watch them but my mother is a big fan. Although they're hardly cheap with the location shoots and A-list salaries. If I were an executive at Paramount mulling Trek's future in this environment, I might be asking how *little* Trek I could get away with without losing subs. At the end of the day though, we don't know how big a driver Trek is for their platform. But I would imagine if Discovery was one of the platform's biggest drawcards, they wouldn't have so abruptly given it the shaft. -------------------- Anyhoo ... apologies for the wild tangent. Picard's corpse. What's the deal with that?

The Defiant(s) were designed and built feverishly as a defense against the Borg, hastily repurposed to give the DS9 staff some starship adventures, I mean as defense against the Dominion. It makes sense that ship line would be retired quickly since they were basically prototypes. Voyager would be venerated because of its extraordinary record of exploration/first contacts/etc.

It makes sense for Voyager to be put out to pasture almost immediately so Starfleet's R&D department could pick apart the ship at their leisure. No way that Starfleet would risk losing that treasure trove of Delta quadrant (Borg) technologies and alternate future Federation weaponry and defenses.

If the PIC showrunners had just focused on telling stories about a legendary crew decades after their adventures from the start we wouldn’t need a memberberry pie jammed into episode 6 of 10 in the final season. I got whiplash at the forced nostalgia. Is this appealing to anyone? “ZOMG look the enterprise A!!!! QQ”. Yes, this season is an improvement overall. But I’m still left with the conclusion that the people who run Star Trek feel nothing but disdain for Star Trek fans. Condescending nostalgia-trips like are so blindingly transparent.

@Eamon the only people not rejocing from here to the Gamma Quadrant about this season are on this message board ( and even here, they're an impossible-to-please minority 😉 )

@PM maybe so. But that doesnt make the criticism any less relevant. Had they spent all of the show’s efforts over the 3 seasons on meaningful links to the past that serve to show how these characters have aged, grown and changed they could have made dozens of stories rooted in owning their past and making the nostalgia mean something. Of course, they didnt. So we’re left with 55 minutes of them waving old toys in our face because…. That’s what the people want? I guess? I love old starships, i watch YouTube videos about the evolution of Trekkian design, etc. But in the SHOWS, I’d like for the use of past elements to service plot and themes. Otherwise, it’s just cynical nostalgia for the purpose of glossing over how paper-thin the Star Trek universe has become. Jammer is right, 25 years ago Braga and Berman were roasted too. 17 year old me probably wasn’t as critical of some of those decisions (ahem…jeri Ryan) as I would be today and looking back, those criticisms were valid. Even still, I can’t imagine a current era Star Trek captain being written even close to the stoic diplomat Picard was or to a Janeway. Hell, I just rewatched the episode where Voyager first makes contact with the Federation and the first thing she does is transfer over all her logs. These days, they’d all sit around together and have a cry. Star Trek knew what it wanted to be. These days, it doesnt. It tries to appeal to the masses (who are not watching) by lowering the tone and removing philosophy, diplomacy and exploration. It then tries to appeal to the old grumps like me by waving nostalgia in our faces. I think they’re failing both audiences by not trying to be better - which feels, ironically, like the Trekkian thing they ought to do. But with that said, I am enjoying the season and feel like this is what Picard could have been from season 1. And I did rewatch the ship-museum scene twice, because I love the ships. Two things can be true for me I guess. It can be entertaining while also feeling like its a bit cheap.

If I hear "it made me feel seen . . " one more time . . . ~ S82 I'm still waiting for Jack, Sidney or even Seven to say "no cap".

Janeway's Labrat": "Let’s think about what Voyager went through in the delta quadrant. That ship, that poor poor ship. Wasn’t it completely time fractured at one point? Not to mention what Red did to it in Year of Hell(s). It’s been through multiple transwarp accidents, stuck in voids, harvested by life forms. " Traditionally, a season of television has roughly corresponded to a year of time in-story. That's how you build a timeline...how you build a canon of events. Then shows like 24 came along and changed all that. Now a seven season run of Voyager could be declared to have all transpired over mere weeks.

Loved this episode until it got into uncanny valley. The secret weapon that the Portal weapon distracted from is Picard's 96-year-old preserved corpse? Are they going to clone him again, like in Nemesis? Picard never should've died in the first place and it made no sense to give him a 96-year-old-appearing synth body. Why not a younger body? They could've had a young British actor (maybe his grandson?) play him with Patrick Stewart playing his consciousness. Oh well. One of these days I'm going to edit seasons 1 and 2 in a way to make the story seem coherent enough to connect to season 3. So far, I LOVE season 3 to the point where I almost cried a bunch of times. I hope it doesn't fly off the rails.

I admit I'm enjoying this season more than I thought. It's easily the best season of nuTrek other than SNW so far. Yet, the writing still leaves so much to be desired. So much of the humor feels like forced "Marvel-style" quips that don't feel true to TNG Trek. And, to top it off, this season isn't exploring any interesting new ideas, social commentary, or sci-fi twists. I enjoy the nostalgia and the chance to say goodbye to these characters, but feel like I won't ever have a need to revisit this story.

This season is a big step down. Four episodes in and it seems so aimless. There are a bunch of weird decisions, like mashing large flashback scenes with serialized story arcs in one episode, without any thematic or plot thread connecting them. I just don't get how the same crew that brought us seasons 1 and 2 are now doing this.

please ignore the last comment. That was intended for the Mandalorian episode.

@Dom Ironically, your comment could interchangeably be applied to any number of streaming series these days and still be true! 🖖😜

To me, the problem with NuTrek is the sjw preaching. It's like a leftist version of a Christian indoctrination film. I don't watch Trek because I want a version of church, I like the intellectual exploration of ideas. Because despite my views... maybe there's something I don't know? I'm gay and I don't mind Seven and Raffi's relationship and some pda. But do I want Trek to be a relationship oriented soap? No way, there's ample soap. SNW's first episode... I actually liked it until they showed contemporary DC. Based on Pike's statements, I actually think the producers were trying to be a little fair to different sides. But I stopped watching because I ain't watching a show set 200+ years from now to see explicit contemporary issues. Trek has long had metaphors and parables about current issues, but I don't recall before (and possibly including) Enterprise showing contemporary footage.

(Contemporary footage of political things like DC)

Considering that this series largely appears to be a vehicle for retiring the TNG cast and sending them off with a resounding bang, and that just about every character in this series is under threat of immediate peril, it seems about time to offer some completely uninformed predictions just for fun, as to who will make it out of the last four episodes (that's all we have left, right?) alive. Jean-Luc Picard: nope. William and Deanna Riker: nope. Data/Lore/B-4/Lal: uh... Jack Crusher: nope (unless they plan to keep him around to carry the Picard banner, and do something about that Irumotic syndrome...) The LaForge family: nope (but not without plenty of romantic tension between Jack and Sidney—gratuitous implied sex scene, or at least a corridor makeout scene expected before this season is over) The entire crew of the Titan: nope (the whole ship will likely go out in a blaze of glory, along with its smug captain) The Genetically-Modified Attack Tribble: ______ (your answer here) Vadic (along with Meathand) and her Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy: need we ask? Commander Seven: YES!!! (please—Jeri Ryan needed for a new series) Bev Crusher: nah, sorry. Will probably go down with the sinking ship. Worf: YES!!!... uh, on second thought, no... maybe today is a good day to die... but I loved the gray beard and the new meditative outlook on life... Colonel Kira (still Commander of DS9?): hahahahaha... (will we see her make a cameo? She is certainly a Changeling specialist...) Wesley Crusher: "help me Wesley Crusher, you're my only hope...."

So....if Section 31 has the remains of Kirk, Picard, and possibly Archer in cold storage what are the odds the got Khan's body on ice?

Zero if they're sticking with the nominal timeline.

@Silly "To me, the problem with NuTrek is the sjw preaching. It's like a leftist version of a Christian indoctrination film." What social justice issues do you mean? Gay rights are pretty much mainstream. While Gallup polls from 20 years ago show that between 40 and 50% of Americans thought that homosexual relationships like yours should be illegal, that number is now down to 18% (poll from 2021). Of course you can think that you got your marriage/adoption rights and discrimination protections and don't want to hear about social justice anymore but where is that featured in this season of Star Trek Picard???

Decent episode, although I'll agree it's the weakest of the season thus far. Did enjoy getting to see the Enterprise-A onscreen again ♥️ It also seems that Doug Drexler's planned refit of the NX-class for the cancelled fifth season of ENT has now been canonised - there's one floating in the background at the museum! I would really like to hear any sort of reasonable explanation for why Daystrom was ghoulishly exhuming and hanging on to the dead bodies of Starfleet legends. Surely Kirk's body wasn't just left under a pile of rocks to get gnawed by animals on Veridian? Some commenters have wondered why Section 31 appears to be out in the open now. The answer seems simple to me - they overplayed their hand with the creation of the Changeling virus, and after it was the cure to that virus which ended the war, their benefactors within Starfleet stopped agreeing to cover up for them. As Jammer noted, the master plot for the season certainly seems to be reaching peak insanity, and I still don't have faith in modern Trek to deliver an entirely satisfying serialised story. I keep saying this every season of PIC or Disco, but I would really, really like to be wrong this time.

Many nits above... how about these? All Starfleet ships "talk to each other now" yet no one (Shaw, Riker, Seven, etc.) knows this and so our heroes are surprised when they are discovered near Daystrom? No one knows except the guy who runs the fleet museum and his junior officer daughter, that is. Starship transponders can't be "cloned" and yet... isn't that what was happening every time Titan manufactured and dropped a decoy buoy with a copy of Titan's transponder? And why would the other starships be fooled by the buoys at all (as in the first scene where three of them warp in within a hundred feet of one of them and each other, LOL). Being that the buoys don't "talk," wouldn't the ships know that "it's a faaaake"? Theory: Changelings are going use Picard's stiff to weaponize Irumodic syndrome into a virus that will infect and disable the entire Federation! This would mirror what the Federation tried to do to them, something this episode helpfully reminded us of. They have to get Jack because he has the only other known case of Irumodic syndrome and could conceivably be used to find a cure.

@MidshipmanNorris "As batshit as this is getting, I will accept anything for Data waking up and saying "Geordi?" as his first words." I choked up when he said that. I forgot to mention that Spiner's performance here was outstanding. The seamless transition from Data to Lore To B4 was impressive.

@Jonathon Sat, Mar 25, 2023, 9:48pm (UTC -5) "So....if Section 31 has the remains of Kirk, Picard, and possibly Archer in cold storage what are the odds the got Khan's body on ice?" In the Prime timeline Khan's body would've been obliterated when the Genesis device exploded on his ship and created the Genesis planet. Unless they cloned it from prior DNA traces, went back in time, or traveled to an alternate reality to get it, it should be impossible for anyone to have that body.

What a waste of Moriarty. At least Seven got to reminisce. Picard’s body better have a lot of Borg tech for the Changelings to be so hot for it. Still a lot more entertaining than season 1-2.

I doubt there are any technological marvels hiding inside Picard's body. The Changelings are just huge Picard fans who drew inspiration from how he trolled Starfleet with the whole Locutus act yet still gets to live among them as a highly decorated admiral. Plus it helps that he mostly stayed out of the Dominion Wars. So the Changelings couldn't help but make off with a morbid memento for themselves, the portal weapon theft being just a cover since they were understandably kinda embarrassed about it. They say you shouldn't shoot down ideas in a brainstorming exercise, but this one was so stupid it definitely should've never made it onto the drawing board. Now that they have him they totally regret it since a shrivelled nonagenarian corpse just doesn't spark joy like they'd thought. It's really just sad.

This week's outing was not quite at the same level as the last couple of episodes, but I enjoyed it nonetheless for the nostalgia and character moments. Riker recalling his first encounter with Data (which also serves as counterpoint to the moment in Nemesis when he *couldn't* remember the song Data was whistling) and Seven reminiscing about Voyager were standout moments. I'm looking forward to finding out what the Changelings want with Picard's body. Do they want to impersonate him for some as-yet-unrevealed nefarious purpose? We shall see. Regarding Kirk's body, it also feels appropriate that Section 31 would have such objectionable items in its private little museum.

@Booming Lol, I was rather toasted so I find my comments hard to parse as well. I guess, the Seven/Raffi stuff is just boring. I didn't much care for the Paris/Torres scenes back in Voyager either. WRT that stuff, I'd rather they go with the Law and Order style, a tiny sprinkle here and there. It makes the people seem real without the show becoming a soap. But Picard had literal ICE raids, detentions, etc. That's not even on the nose, that's explicitly current politics. And maybe I'm even buying into the narrative that this is leftist SJWs, when really it's enormous companies with a vested interest in trafficking extremely cheap labor.

EmpressHoshiSato

I actually enjoyed this episode a lot. Maybe it’s because we actually had the TNG cast on screen! Seeing the old ships was decent, and the Voyager moment was beautiful. I would be very happy if Data was brought back. And it actually excited me to see him when they entered the mainframe. I too worry that the number of episodes left is worrying given the story isn’t quite clear still. And whilst we (finally) saw Starfleet ships in action, for one they do not have the sleek look of the 24/25th century (eg compared to the Defiant or Voyager shown on screen), and the instant stop out of Warp just lacks the elegance of the TNG movies where the Enterprise gracefully enters space. Furthermore, Vadic killing the two Starfleet officers before kidnapping Riker suggests they weren’t Changelings which makes no sense since Starfleet Security do not engage in or condone the physical torture of prisoners! Whilst I get that Starfleet might be compromised, how precisely will the conspirators cover up a security breach at the station which would surely automatically alert many people beyond just one or two ships. Wish we had the Enterprise E and I hope Data does come back in full (with his aging effect).

@Cynic: Your theory about the plot to weaponize Irumotic syndrome sounds extremely plausible... nice call.

@Cynic: Yes, the changelings want to weaponize the syndrome was what I thought as well. They first stole Picard‘s body but realized they need an early stage or whatever of it, hence the hunt for Picard’s offspring. Why else would the syndrome be such a dominating topic?

@Chappity @Cynic That theory makes a lot of sense to me too. Interesting call.

@Silly Thanks for explaining. :) I was mostly confused by your comment. Star Trek always had relationships, especially DS9 had several entire episodes about relationships. "But Picard had literal ICE raids, detentions, etc. ... when really it's enormous companies with a vested interest in trafficking extremely cheap labor." Even the fact that season 2 was mostly happening in the now was probably done to save costs. While the ICE stuff was very explicit, that is really more a liberal topic than a leftist one. As you point out when it comes to immigration humanist and economic interests align, so yeah maybe that was why they featured it so prominent. Or maybe the showrunners and stars just have a lot of Latino staff??

I suppose the Irumotic bomb is plausible, at least by Nu-Trek standards of plausibility. I'd still prefer if my own Big Dumb Prediction came true over that one though for reasons of why it's even dumber, which aren't worth explaining unless it actually happens. I still wanna encourage people to keep the predictions coming cuz Terry Matalas deserves a fucking Fields Medal if he's able to resolve that plot thread in a way that isn't batshit crazy or just plain stupid, and whoever anticipates it deserves a share of the glory.

@Booming Yeah, I don't even know. Voyage Home had the whales thing, but that wasn't a hugely contentious issue in the US at least. They could have covered crack cocaine sentencing disparities, Reagan's military build up etc, but didn't. Voyager had a present day (90s) tale without going into contemporary issues except perhaps a very light critique of the dot com situation. DS9 did do a time travel with a critique of homelessness and how we deal with mental illness. And while it was on the nose and more than a little prescient, it was set decades later at the time. It really just boils down to a story about current issues needs to be couched in sci-fi terms if you want to encourage thought and discussion. If it's set now then it's CNN or Fox or Breitbart or whatever. Regarding relationships... DS9 went right off the rails with that. The Sisko family stuff wasn't too excessive, but Worf was the whingiest whinger to ever whinge about his lame love life. Sheesh.

Also, consider that these are ten episode seasons, so proportionately, the soap level has been very high in NuTrek.

"I still wanna encourage people to keep the predictions coming cuz Terry Matalas deserves a fucking Fields Medal if he's able to resolve that plot thread in a way that isn't batshit crazy or just plain stupid, and whoever anticipates it deserves a share of the glory." Okay... the talking head remotely directing the changelings is Armus (who still can't leave Vagra II), and he wants Picard's body so he can sexually violate it...

@Silly You forgot Kira, who had three? long term relationships with multiple episodes dedicated to them and I'm not even counting Perv Mirror Kira. Then there is Miles and Keiko. Julian and Miles. Leeta and Rom. Quark and the Holosuite. There was a lot of lovin on DS9. Personally, I found the whole Picard Romulan lady story far more messed up. So Laris is married to that Romulan fellow, who dies off screen. Picard at the end of season 1 is reborn as robot Picard. That Picard then starts to hit it off with Laris but not really, then travels to the past to have some strange love relation with watcher Laris who then dies, after which he goes back to Laris to start a long term relationship. Only to leave her behind again at the start of season 3?! You can do better Laris! "It really just boils down to a story about current issues needs to be couched in sci-fi terms if you want to encourage thought and discussion" Star Trek always talked about social justice topics but they normally did it as allegory. Even when it did stuff like the time Admiral Layton wanted to essentially create a military dictatorship, they at least gave him reasons and motives one could understand. Season 2 was really just saying ICE is evil, we don't like it. You can portray something as wrong but still give it nuance. ICE in itself is really just a tool to implement policies. One could also call them a symptom and I guess that is what they were going for but then you have to go into the policies and the reasons why parts of the electorate want them. The problem is that NuTrek is simplistic in it's portrayal of symptoms and really bad at that the portrayal of causes.

@Silly "And maybe I'm even buying into the narrative that this is leftist SJWs, when really it's enormous companies with a vested interest in trafficking extremely cheap labor." Respectfully asking if a word is missing here?

As I can't think of any other reason why they would take Picard's dead corpse I'll submit they took it so they can manufacture a Rumodic Syndrome virus to rid the galaxy of humans. (much like the section 31 constructed virus in DS9) But that doesn't make much sense, because it only has the possibility of removing humans, not all solids.

Those of you bored enough to follow the twists and turns of Youtube propaganda will see some cracks forming in the influencers that Paramount bought off, as well as their fans. You see, a new distinction has been.... clarified. According to commentator and premiere Paramount sellout Dave Cullen, "fan service" is not at all the same concept as "memberberry". Both refer to producer actions taken solely to pique fan interest or memory, but there is a key distinction that Cullen leaves out. "Fan service" is an action taken by a company that gives Cullen access to the show early, and is a GOOD thing. "Memberberries" are actions taken by selfish and ill-mannered producers who don't give Dave Cullen early access to the show. Simple! Fan service good, memberberry bad. Finding the smartest among this detestable influencer lot isn't an easy task, but as far as Paramount service sessions go, the award might go to Critical Drinker. Never a fan of his one-note cultural nonsense, he seems to have assessed the quality of Picard S3 and crazed zealotry of other "early access" influencers, and said no thanks. Aside from one video on S3 not being that bad, he's been completely silent. Sitting in for one servicing panel with Terry Matalas was all the hint he needed. The worst offenders are still Robert Meyer Burnett and the Popcast brothers. Not content with praising Picard S3, they itemize complaints against it, and argue why you aren't a rational thinking human if you don't like the show as much as they do. If you enjoy listening to shrill, over the top nitpicking about Picard S3, the channels "Mollie and the Old Man" and "BirdOPrey5" are pretty funny as background noise. Though BOP5 strangely called E6 the best yet, after eviscerating everything before it, likely due to the presence of the Bounty in the shipyard.

Irumodic syndrom is a genetic disorder. Weaponizing it would be like the Russians trying to weaponize Huntington's disease. It's not even going to kill you anytime soon so it's a weak weapon. People will say if they can weaponize it then they can speed it up. The question becomes there were already diseases that are extremely deadly in the Star Trek universe. Why start with a slow uncommon barely lethal hereditary disease when you can grab something already lethal and contagious, gain a function that thing into unstoppable virulence, and weaponize the result? It makes no sense. Given their penchant for memberberries this season I'd expect them to bring back those active antibodies that almost killed Polaski rather than try and turn a disease passed down through genetics into something that can infect someone. I saw another theory on Reddit. Call it the Crusher's Children Theory. Beverly already had Wesley who's a Traveler. Therefore the potential for becoming a Traveler is in her bloodline. What does that have to do with Picard? Glad you asked. What if Irumodic Syndrome isn't a disease at all, but a marker for genetic potential. A mutation that signals the possibility of an evolutionary jump. Remember in "All Good Things" Q blaming Picard for almost wiping out humanity when in fact if Q had left him alone in the first place he wouldn't have had the opportunity to be in three different time periods to cause anything of the sort. Or would he... What if it's Picard that has the potential in his bloodline? What if the reason that Q was always messing with Picard and referring to his "potential" is because Picard was on the verge of an evolutionary jump to becoming a traveler? What if it wasn't Q forcing Picard into three different time periods, but Picard traveling there under his own power? Now this seems unlikely that two people with such potential would just happen to end up together unless the condition were much more common than has been indicated. This of course brings into question Wesley's parentage. Was he really sired by Beverly's dead husband? Or does Picard have two sons? This is as terrible an idea as weaponized Irumodic Syndrome, but unfortunately it makes more sense. If the Changelings are trying to figure out how to become Travelers then you have an existential threat to the entire galaxy on your hands. Changeling Travelers are lethal. They can go anywhere in any time period and become anyone. You can't stop them. They can wipe out your entire civilization and you'd never know they were there. They make the Krenim look like amateur aholes in the time screwing business. Before STP chose to continue Star Trek's abysmal record of representing father's rights, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. But after watching Beverly Crusher, a character I held in high regard, pull the exact same crap that Carol Marcus pulled on Kirk, I really can't rule out that they might dial her selfishness up to 11 and make Jack the second child she's withheld from Picard. So why hasn't Wesley Crusher shown up to shepherd his brother through the awakening process the way the Traveler did for him? Who knows? Maybe I'm waaaaay off base or maybe they're saving that for later. But as I see it, Jack's "overclocked" brain allowing him to kill 4 Changelings effortlessly being explained as a function of a latent Traveler ability to play with time seems to line up perfectly. I hope I'm wrong, but I really don't see many options. I'm not buying the weaponized Irumodic Syndrome theory. Borg nano probes would've been far easier to get from Seven. Residual energy from the Nexus doesn't work either. Why take Picard and not Kirk, who should be far more saturated with it? I hope I'm wrong, but there's just nothing else on the horizon. In any case, I don't have high hopes for the closeout, so, either way, at least I won't be disappointed.

@Booming, "Or maybe the showrunners and stars just have a lot of Latino staff??" I'm pretty sure there wasn't a single Latino on staff during season 2, or I guarantee they would have protested the ICE plot as insensitively ludicrous. (It reeks of white savior writing.)

@Bucktown I meant like housekeeping and gardeners. That kind of staff. Through that they get a taste of the harrowing tales of the plebs latina. That then leads to the ICE plot and aspiring aristocrat Wil Wheaton blabbering on about ICE being a Gestapo like organization. Ouch.

PS: It's also probably a Trump effect. Trump literally called Latino immigrants and refugees rapists and whatnot.

@Booming The ICE plot... Episodes relating to the ICE plot premiered in March 2022. While I am unsure about what the writing schedule may have been, terrible images of Border Patrol agents using whips to 'control people' were widely seen and posted on Youtube in September of 2021. It might have influenced the content of the Picard series.

"PS: It's also probably a Trump effect. Trump literally called Latino immigrants and refugees rapists and whatnot." He also literally called them "good people", though in retrospect maybe he was saying rapists can be good people. You can never be sure with Trump.

@Sigh2000 Sure, that certainly went in there, too. For the record, I'm not saying that ICE is not an organization with numerous problems but they are not comically evil or the Gestapo. It would be like saying that the US Internment-camps for Japanese were like Nazi concentration camps. Doesn't mean that the internment camps were not an awful and shameful thing but still a long, long way from Auschwitz. @Jason He said "Some, I assume, are good people." So he kept a door open to all Latino immigrants being evil. :) "You can never be sure with Trump." I must admit I quite enjoy the whole "January 6" was just a peaceful stroll in the capitol gaslighting. Do they not know that the entire planet saw it live on TV?? :D

@Booming Agreed. Thanks for your post.

Weaponizing Irrumodic Syndrome sounds boring. Creating a 2nd Locutus of Borg would be a lot more whizz! BANG! Pow! "Exciting," and it's in line with the sensationalism of modern Trek

I'm just wondering if undead geriatric Locutus would inspire fear or laughs. And if people are thinking more along the lines of transplanting the Locutusisms into someone more hip and young, I really don't know that there was physically anything special or different about Locutus compared to any borg drone. It was just Picard's knowledge, intellect, and the simple but rather arbitrary matter of the Collective deciding to grant him command status for a few hours while respecting his individuality that made him unique.

It seems rather odd to me that the changelings seem to just want to seek revenge on the Federation. They , after all, were defeated and sent packing by not only the Feds, but the Klingons, Romulans, and most of the Cardassian military and civilian population. Wouldn't it be more realistic writing to have them wanting revenge on everyone? The Feds were going to lose the war or sue for some sort of peace treaty if they didn't get the Romulans into the war. So, making them the only one needing to seek revenge on seems, well, a bit shallow on the writers front.

"PS: It's also probably a Trump effect. Trump literally called Latino immigrants and refugees rapists and whatnot." He literally said lots of criminals were coming across the border unchecked and unimpeded. He was right. How this gets translated to all Latino immigrants and refugees being rapists is how we get sleepy Joe.

As Picard S3 moved past its mid-season point, I noticed some of the social media influencers doubling and tripling down on their praise of Terry Matalas personally, while moving away from commentary about the Picard show itself. Suddenly, we are treated to endless speeches about the genius of Terry, the new age of "Terry Trek" (a logo quickly put on hats and shirts, for goodness sake!), and even online petition efforts to gain him a future show. Sounds a lot like Terry and a few buddies ginning up hype all by themselves. And Paramount? They have been, as Dave Chapelle might say, "oddly quiet".

Shane on The Popcast, said with a straight face: "There's a lot of talented people in the world, that can do a variety of different things, but it seems like Terry Matalas has a really special talent to be a conductor of an orchestra. He has the ability to find the strengths of his writers and what they do and he attacks a show, er, each episode with a team type of effort, with the music and all these other elements to create this really great cohesive show. He's the brain at the center of it. You know, the greatest leaders we've ever had, the great presidents, they always have someone there to tell them what's wrong. You don't want a bunch of people in the room that are going to blow smoke up your ass. Even the greatest leaders, not all of their ideas are always the best. And sometimes you need to hear that other side of it, and that's what Terry does in his room." Terry Matalas. Presidents. Great leaders. QED.

@Narissa's Bath Water Maybe the subtext there is not that Terry Matalas is the greatest thing since sliced bread, just that Alex Kurtzman isn't any of those things. Terry and his lackeys are waging a war for the very soul of Star Trek, the outcome of which will determine who gets to control the narrative into the foreseeable future: a giant douche or a homestyle turd sandwich.

@Yanks " How this gets translated to all Latino immigrants and refugees being rapists is how we get sleepy Joe. " They always ask Europeans which candidate they would prefer. In 2020 for German voters it was 89% for Biden 4% for Trump. (For Hillary Clinton it was 90% to 4% for Trump). Republicans would never get elected in Europe. Well, maybe in Hungary. https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1168071/umfrage/trump-vs-biden-us-wahl-in-deutschland/ https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/546187/umfrage/trump-vs-clinton-umfrage-in-deutschland-zur-us-praesidentschaftswahl/ The Republicans are seen as right wing extremists. Our conservatives would be centrists in the USA. That were Trump's exact words. "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. ... .They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume are good people, ... . And it only makes common sense. They're sending us not the right people. It's coming from more than Mexico. It's coming from all over South and Latin America, and it's coming probably, probably from the Middle East," He obviously talked about Latino Immigrants and refugees. With a little Islamic cherry on top. But my point was really more about what motivated the writers for season 2.

@Yanks -- "How this gets translated to all Latino immigrants and refugees being rapists is how we get sleepy Joe." We got Sleepy Joe in part thanks to his Democrat buddies conspiring with big tech / social media to censor conservative voices. If that's not undemocratic, I don't know what is. So they could easily distort what Trump was rightly doing in tightening up border security. Was fascinating to watch Matt Taibbi go through the "Twitter files" once Musk took over...

Yeah, the online Trek community is pushing HARD for Terry, and it is so easy to see the game they're all playing against Kurtzman and the reigning senior guard of NuTrek. Ok we get it guys, Kurtzman sucks. SZN 3 foreva!! Spread that hype! Someone on Twitter said it best last week--- There's now a "reverse" toxic thing happening in the fandom relative to this show, lol! Terry and his team deserve a lot of credit for sure, especially compared to what has come before. But I'm sorry, I don't think this team's work stacks up to what came out of Piller's best years, or Behr's writers room. This is not Star Trek 6 from Meyer and Nimoy that they name-dropped in the previews-- unless the final act of this season really blows us all away (or just narrow-minded, impossibly-hard-to-please me???). I'd rather see Paramount invest in a different production company altogether, but I know that ain't happening. I'm liking it, but not loving it. And I want to love this Star Trek shit again, I really do, lol.

Roger Ailes

I'll never get how conservatives can even enjoy Star Trek.

Well this went on some tangents...

@Jax, "Well this went on some tangents..." Nothing that hasn't happened before around here! @Rahul, "We got Sleepy Joe in part thanks to his Democrat buddies conspiring with big tech / social media to censor conservative voices." Not this disinformation nonsense. It has been thoroughly debunked: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b6df958f8370af3217d4178/t/6011e68dec2c7013d3caf3cb/1611785871154/NYU+False+Accusation+report_FINAL.pdf Logic and reason are your friend. Please embrace the Vulcan (and let go of the Fox News).

I just wanted to point out that in Germany nobody would vote for republicans, even really conservative people. An ICE plot wouldn't make sense for Europeans and it is not like we don't have numerous problems with immigration. Germany's conservative party is for abortion rights, universal healthcare, free higher education, a guaranteed living space, social security and strict gun control. And when more than a million Syrian refugees knocked at our borders, the conservative government let them in. So I guess they would be socialists in the US. :) The 2012 poll for Germany Obama vs Romney: 92% to 4% Sorry for the tangent but I'm always amazed how little awareness US people have about how extremely tilted to the right their political system is compared to the rest of the Western world. I also think that the fact that season 3 is so popular is because they mostly stay away from any kind of social justice, even controversial depictions. White guys fill all the command roles and the baddie is a white woman. Phew, crisis averted. :) I really wasn't keen on having another Hollywood hates white guys discussion. And the old band is playing all the hits. I really wonder when Denise Crosby will show up? If she is the big villain then they really bringing her in late.

@Booming, I think most of Europe's nations are tempered by parliamentary systems that allow for coalition governments made up of multiple parties across the spectrum. It allows for more moderate debate and cooperative problem solving, and puts less focus on the individual politicians. There is robust enough stratification of factions to prevent an autocratic majority, and there's no strict adherence to a 230 year old document that was helping to solve the problems of their time without the magical foresight of how to solve today's problems. (Lucky you.) The US has found itself stuck in a 2-party zero sum system, which will then trend to polarize around extremes over enough time, which is exponentially accelerating due to gerrymandering and ultra-right-wing media conglomerates that systematically manipulate a conservative, traditionally minded electorate to achieve their self-serving goals of raising stock value and protecting the interests of the donor class (see Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network). In addition, progress can only be achieved at any given time when 1 of the parties gets a trifecta of all 3 branches of government (including 2 chambers of 1 branch), and only then if 1 of the chambers (the Senate) holds a 60% supermajority. This is exceedingly difficult to achieve, and my recollection is it only has lasted for 2 years in the span of at least a generation of time, which is when "Obamacare" passed. We also currently have an exceedingly small national representation as the population grows, with one representative for every 747,184 people. The Bundestag, on the other hand, has one for every 112,772 people. As to season 3, I think it's a bit cynical to portray its successes as due to "white guys fill all the command roles and the baddie is a white woman." Regardless of politics, season 3 (thus far) is telling a competent, internally logical story that has reverence and respect for its historic characters. I think that alone is why it has been refreshing to watch and getting praise.

@Bucktown Not to turn this into a political philosophy seminar but at the center of all problems is always the economic question. All you say is true but in the end this doesn't really matter. States remain stable as long as they expand. In earlier times this was done through conquest. In essence these states were acquiring wealth. The upper class in a monetary based society will always get the lion share of wealth creation, meaning that they become more and more powerful. While the USA stopped expanding physically in the early decades of the 20th century, it could still expand it's markets for a few decades for various reasons. During the last few decades this has becomes harder and harder because competitors caught up. So the rich are now sucking the bone marrow out of the US substance. In the end it is just the transfer of wealth from the broader society to the upper class. Worsened by the fact that recent innovation has cost more jobs then they created. A trend that will probably worsen considerably over the next two decades. What happens now in the US has happened hundreds if not thousands of times already. Here look at this https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/screen-shot-2020-01-08-at-5-06-47-pm/ and this https://www.researchgate.net/figure/US-Gini-coefficient-1967-to-2017-Source-US-Bureau-of-the-Census_fig1_332584749 All that other stuff is just window dressing. In the end it all comes down to these two graphs. Damn, this is at the same time far too long and still way too short. I'm stopping now. Here an ok but repetitive book about the issue. Why Nations Fail The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty "I think it's a bit cynical to portray its successes as due to "white guys fill all the command roles and the baddie is a white woman."" I didn't mean it like that, just that it satisfied a certain part of the audience. The reason that this season is so well received, as you point out, has many reasons.

@Bryan You may be right, I was just emphasizing the fact that the "Terry Matalas is the bee's knees" is being pushed by a very tiny group of 3-4 dudes who are likely friends of Terry, and not as I previously thought, a larger effort on Paramount's part. I'm guessing Shane and Brian of the Popcast are in that group, as is Robert Burnett. Interesting re: Matalas and Kurtzman, I believe anything branded Terry Matalas is still under Kurtzman's studio aegis, so Picard S3's has probably been a factor in gaining Kurtzman another contract. His mood has certainly brightened in the last few days. The next few weeks will be important in the assessment of ratings. Many of the Terry shills pointed to episodes 5 and 6 as the season peak, and the daily ratings at fantrax and google support this. People saying ep 5/6 was the peak after they've seen all 10 also suggests that there aren't any late-season shock twists or surprises that send it out with a bang. It shall be interesting.

@Roger Ailes Perhaps they believe that the enjoyment of a show is independent of whether the show's political message aligns with their own. You know, tolerance and all that.

@Bucktown Do yourself a favor and at least consider what has happened in 2022 *after* that outdated stuff from NYU. Why don't you go through https://twitter.com/mtaibbi and get caught up with what has been going down for the last several months. I did refer to stuff that was uncovered from 2022 in my response to "Yanks" and yet you post something from 2021 to try to prove something?? Keeping up to date and being willing to adapt to new information are your friends. Please embrace an open mind. (And let go of CNN/NBC/CBS/Washington Post etc.)

@Narissa's Bath Water I'd be more ready to accept that answer for almost any show that happened to have liberal leanings from time to time. But not for Star Trek, which is pretty much the antithesis of the conservative position to its very core. It's about a step away from an Atheist being a regular viewer and commenter on, say, the Joel Osteen show.

@Roger Ailes, In Star Trek, the replicator and other technology eliminated scarcity making capitalism obsolete. So free food, housing, healthcare, education, material goods, etc. are all possible because there is unlimited supply. I think many conservatives would support these things in this scenario. I've never heard a conservative say they don't want someone to receive free healthcare, only that they don't want to be the one paying for it. In Star Trek, the burden on socieity for providing these things is de-minimus.

@Nick Bad faith. Conservatism is not about fiscal issues, it's about unjustified grievance, being a victim, and being resentful and greedy more generally. Tucker Carlson is the most popular host of the most popular conservative TV outlet and his platform is "I am an entitled trust fund bigot". Going by numbers alone, this verifiably large segment of the conservative wing simply disagrees with everything Star Trek stands for: Inclusion, tolerance of other cultures, social safety net/non wealth based society (Kirk era has no money AND no replicators, so there goes that argument), exploration fleet as opposed to a military, one world government, doesn't deny climate change, rarely mentions god and often implies the society is largely non religious (besides TOS), etc etc etc. Need I go on?

DS9 made clear that Starfleet is the Federation military (and if "Siege of AR-558" is to be believed, the *only* branch of it), because we sure didn't see any other entity fighting wars. Frankly, this was established as early as TNG's "Redemption".

Yes, but it their primary purpose? Not even close. Was my point. Of course they aren't defenseless, but starfleet is founded on and continues to be an organization of exploration. The NX01 wasn't commissioned to protect Earth.

@Roger Ailes - You say "bad faith", then proceed to say that conservatism is nothing more than unjustified grievance, victimhood, and being resentful and greedy? Ironically, this is the exact same thing the right says about the left! Your view of conservatives is a caricature, but at least now I understand why you wrongly think conservatives can't enjoy Star Trek.

It is bad faith. There is no way to spin it where Star Trek is anything but a progressive fantasy. And not just in the background, it is the point of the show.

"Of course they aren't defenseless, but starfleet is founded on and continues to be an organization of exploration." Not really. Dialogue has shown that only certain types of vessels embark on exploration. Other types have different missions. The Defiant certainly wasn't designed for exploration. There was a TNG episode where a fellow captain was talking to Picard over subspace and he said he envied Picard because that other captain's mission was ferrying back and forth between planets...basically patrol duty. Hard to imagine Worf enlisting in a Federation exploratory fleet if there was a distinct military one.

@Jax No, it was even said in the episode in which they got the Defiant. From Memory Alpha:" The Defiant-class starship was a heavily armed, limited-role vessel: the first true "warship" Starfleet had ever designed." "Ultimately, these design flaws, combined with the Borg threat becoming less urgent, led Starfleet to the decision to abandon the project and place the prototype in storage." The Defiant is literally the only warship Starfleet ever built.

@jax Yes really. Stop trolling.

"Star Trek, which is pretty much the antithesis of the conservative position to its very core." At a minimum this statement is inaccurate -- but I also sense the intent to troll or vilify conservatives and certainly display an extremely poor understanding of them later on in the thread. But leaving that aside, and trying to add much-needed precision, I think the only Trek where the above has any validity is DSC. Even with PIC because of how S3 is unfolding thus far I think anybody can enjoy it. It has not shown any signs of virtue-signalling like it did in S2. But with classic Trek, I'm sure a decent percentage of Trek fans are conservatives, though I'd expect the majority not to be. So Trek as a franchise has very broad appeal and I'm quite sure its fans come from all political stripes, shapes and sizes. I don't think the franchise would be going for as long as it has if it didn't.

"It is bad faith. There is no way to spin it where Star Trek is anything but a progressive fantasy. And not just in the background, it is the point of the show." A liberal fantasy actually. Progressives in 2023 aren't liberal; quite the opposite

I don't agree that classic Trek was a liberal fantasy, nor that it was oppositional to any particular contemporary viewpoint. I think there are ideals that go far beyond left vs right as they currently exist, and Trek IMO touched on those. Maybe they are hard to define if we are stuck in a right vs left mindset, but something about Trek's worldview felt right.

Rahul said: "Do yourself a favor" And I did. I stopped reading the comment. Don't presume you know everything from the outset of your speech. Good way to let me know to ignore everything you say in the future. "Perspicacity incarnate..." 😏

@Peter "but something about Trek's worldview felt right." Well, to me Trek's worldview always felt left. ;) @Jason "A liberal fantasy actually. Progressives in 2023 aren't liberal;" Ok, so you are throwing words together. There is the political ideology classical liberalism and it's numerous subdivisions. Star Trek has only a few points in common with classical liberalism, especially when it comes to personal rights. Economically and in regards to state power the Federation has very little in common with classical liberalism. I would say that it best aligns with liberal socialism. Lots of personal rights, strong state, very limited economical rights. And about the second part, I guess here you mean the popular understanding like progressives (meaning differs from country to country) do not value certain forms of freedom which is obviously true. For example banning discrimination of black people in business is anti liberal. Taxing the rich to keep society from imploding is anti liberal. The state providing universal healthcare. Also anti liberal. No doubt about it. :)

To all the political comments - I'm currently going through a rewatch of TOS, and I have to say, it's not quite as politically progressive as I remember, especially season 2. (Let's also put aside the rampant misogyny in like a quarter of the episodes for now.) I know I'm likely not the first one to pick up on it, but there's a heavy imperialist theme. The Federation (and the Enterprise by extension) is constantly making moral compromises for expansionist goals in competition with the Klingon Empire. Why? It's not really discussed. And I understand a lot of the Roddenberry penned work was more allegory of US-Soviet relations than true sci-fi world building, but it ends up feeling like Starfleet are forcible colonizers more than explorers, wreaking more havoc than good. On the flipside, there's absolutely no doubt that Star Trek in all forms and iterations preaches tolerance and acceptance of all cultures, races, identities, etc. Not only does it demand tolerance, but its defining ethos is that humanity (and the galaxy) actually work better with diversity than without it. I think this is the key aspect many on the progressive side of the political spectrum don't understand how Republicans, especially the ones with social and cultural conservative leanings (anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant, anti-equity, etc.) can connect with the show when that's such a monumental aspect of it. And to Rahul, this Twitter grievance is so minor to not be worth discussing. So they had meetings and internal arguments to discuss what to do with a high profile person violating their terms of service. Who cares? In fact, it almost proves the opposite. If a random schmuck was saying the spew Trump was getting away with, they'd be banned long before he was. To suggest there's a conspiracy with Democrat politicians is totally absurd, lacks all evidence, and makes you look like a simp for Fox News propaganda, who have finally been exposed in court that they intentionally lie to their audience to preserve their stock value.

I assume Star Trek's very core includes TOS, and I remember a fair amount of situations and dialog that I believe would be considered conservative. "A Private Little War" has Kirk blatantly advocating extremely thinly veiled American involvement in Vietnam. There's also the hilariously unfortunate final live action line from Trek for ten years, also from Kirk: "Her life could have been as rich as any woman's, if only. If only."

@Silly, Yes, A Private Little War is definitely the most egregious example. But many others also apply - Devil in the Dark, Errand of Mercy, Friday's Child, The Apple, The Omega Glory, A Piece of the Action. At least Devil in the Dark and Errand of Mercy understand the Federation are in the wrong, which is why A Private Little War sticks out because of its ugly insistence they're in the right by arming their chosen faction.

@Bucktown "A Private Little War" did feature Bones bitterly arguing against Kirk. That's when classic Trek worked best, from TOS through Voyager. Some people, even conservatives, find it interesting to expose themselves to other ideas and concepts.

"And about the second part, I guess here you mean the popular understanding like progressives (meaning differs from country to country) do not value certain forms of freedom which is obviously true. For example banning discrimination of black people in business is anti liberal. Taxing the rich to keep society from imploding is anti liberal. The state providing universal healthcare. Also anti liberal. No doubt about it. :)" Cute. What's funny is that you're "far right" and don't even know it yet. I went from being liberal to "right" I'd say circa 2000, although my politics and beliefs never changed much. My sister crossed over around 2015 and for my friends it's been a gradual process. For you maybe it will take a few more years before your politics identify you as a "literal Nazi".

@Jason "What's funny is that you're "far right" and don't even know it yet." In what way am I far right? In what context?? "For you maybe it will take a few more years before your politics identify you as a "literal Nazi"." Are you calling me a Nazi? And what is a literal Nazi? Are there fake Nazis? I'm confused. Are you saying that I'm far right right now and that you have changed from liberal to more and more right wing. Meaning that you are becoming more like me over time??? Will we both end up as Nazis??? What???

DexterMorgan

"This material is okay, but nothing spectacular." Yes, other than the nostalgia of the characters this one line encapsulates this entire season. @Jax "The stupid kicks in within seconds in this episode as we opened with the stupid nuTrek "stop on a dime" exit from warp drive." That JJTrek for you. Warp around the galaxy in seconds like it aint no thing. Doesnt anybody warp into a system and assume standard orbit anymore? Would a fleet of ships see the Titan warping in and then cloaking? The dialogue gives me a headache. Real people dont talk like this.

"And just what was stolen from Daystrom? Turns out it was Picard's old body (the one that died at the end of season one before his mind was transferred to a synthetic golem). Why? You got me." They are going to imitate Picard and frame him for some shit on Frontier Day so everyone can be even more mad at him, and then he will save the day and everyone will be happy until the next time they are mad at him. I just cant believe people like Robert Meyer Burnett and the duo at RLM like this.

@Silly Bad faith again. Even TOS is hyper left. The male up of the bridge crew alone in the 1960s makes any argument otherwise pure trolling.

Think it's time to give it a rest, guys. Not enough people know how to dispassionately discuss what it means for something to align or clash with a political ideology in these mistrustful and polarized times. Also, people can misunderstand or not fully appreciate something without necessarily being "bad faith" but if the opposition doesn't enlighten them due to the suspicion that they'd just be providing more ammunition, it's never gonna rise above exchanging accusations of bad faith.

@DexterMorgan "I just cant believe people like Robert Meyer Burnett and the duo at RLM like this." As of yet, I don't have any reason to not like this. It will all depend on how this all wraps up.

We're due to hear from RLM again this week on this matter. We'll see where they've landed after 5-6-7.

RLM has never been a good judge of the quality of movies and tv. They are funny guys, but they have always had terrible opinions.

I don't watch a ton of RLM but I found they're not merely funny in a random disconnected way, but much of their humor is connected to their criticism which tends to come from a knowledgeable and well-founded place. They also seem to be particularly good at interrogating fan's uncritical love for things.

Your assessment of RLM's opinions is itself an opinion.

@Roger Ailes "Bad faith" is supposed to be an argument? I posted a specific example of an entire episode that doesn't resemble anything progressive I've ever heard of. The bridge crew means the show was hyper left? So if the Republicans have a handful of minority candidates, that means they're a hyper left progressive party?

@yanks The bad plot, constant darkness, cheap sets, and horrible dialogue do it for you? I think the nostalgia between the characters has been nice in parts, but this show is a mess.

@Jax "We're due to hear from RLM again this week on this matter. We'll see where they've landed after 5-6-7." I suspect they just finished watching episode 4 when they recorded the last episode so they were quite positive on it due to those being fairly good episodes. Episodes 6 and 7 were really shit, im going to be interested in their opinion on it.

The RLM guys are great, and I've been a fan since the TNG Mr. Plinkett review days. (I recall Mike might have even posted a comment here once?) They're usually very insightful and have the best editing gags in the game. Best of the Worst is also probably the best show on youtube. Also appreciated is they usually give the benefit of the doubt in their reviews and only harsh when it is absolutely called for. I'm honestly surprised nobody in Trek has offered them a job, given their knowledge and supreme editing skills, but maybe they make enough cash, are content with their own thing, and have 0% interest in leaving Wisconsin.

Honestly RLM are bad critics, they are just entertaining. Then again, most critics are bad critics so the bar is very low. They are certainly bad filmmakers, at any rate. They claim that "bad on purpose" movies suck, yet that is all they can make.

Cliffhanger

We hope to see more of Commodore Geordi.

I watched RLM's review. They were funny. They had a good point. The brightly lit sets of TNG were primarily due to the realities of mass producing a weekly show in that era. TOS was the same. But the TOS movies had much more sophisticated lighting. The dim lighting is definitely a bit annoying. Of any of these vessels, I would want to work on the D, hands down.

Booming may need to look at the direction Italy, France, and even Sweden and Finland are taking these days in regards to "no one would vote for a Republican in Europe" lmao. And citing opinion polls is quite laughable, given how hilariously wrong they were about Trump becoming president over Killary. Reading about on here, Booming, you must be living on a different planet to the rest of us.

Quincy wrote: "I really don't understand why people annoyed, appalled, disgusted, or otherwise just sick and tired of negative comments don't take their own advice and scroll on by those comments." You don't always know a comment is going to be nitpicky/negative until you, you know, read it. You learn to gloss over certain poster names after they repeatedly do the same thing, but that still takes a couple of reads. "I sometimes failed, but that's my fault. I'll just try harder next time." So you've not mastered the solution you're admonishing others to use. /shock

@Orwell84 I'm well aware of these elections. The Italian, French and Swedish examples you mention, all of them have a post in front of their description. In Italy it is post fascist, for the French and Swedish version it is post nazi. I know very little about Finland, it is the East Dakota of Europe. The German right wing extremist/populist version, which actually started out as far more moderate conservative, is lead by a Lesbian. Can you even imagine the republican party having a Lesbian woman as a leader?! The others that you mention are very different in many ways from the republicans. They all, for example support a strong welfare state, strict gun controls and three of the four are lead by blonde women, for some reason. And say what you will about those but there are no videos of them running up a to a victim of a school shooting and screaming crazy stuff at them. First of all because there are no school shootings in Europe. If you look at actual electoral support: Finland 20.1%; Sweden 20.5%; Italy 26.0%; France 23.1% (first round); Germany 10.3% . France is a somewhat special case (Italy too actually). In the last presidential run off election (second round) the RN got 41%, by far their best result, but this is to no small part down to Macron being so hated. The election had the lowest turnout since 1969 and even of the people who did vote more than 8% handed in blank ballots. In essence, the right wing populist or extremist parties that are in some ways similar to the republican policy platform (on immigration and some cultural issues) are still very different in other ways, especially when it comes to welfare policies. If you sneeze in Sweden a state employee comes running with a pack of tissues. That is the reason why nobody in Europe would vote for republicans. "Killary" Uh, how creative. On the other hand you could have written "Billary" or "Sillary", even better "Shillary". I guess that is why Trump is so popular, he is miles ahead of the right wing flock when it comes to puns.

Must be wonderful living with all that denial to reality....

Also, why do you keep citing opinion polls hahahaha!

@Orwell84 Well... I was actually citing election results. :)

Yes, I know. I was talking about your posts all over this forum. But in any case, when le Pen of France is so close to power, it really takes a giant leap of delusion on your part to think that republicans wouldn't come close to being elected in Europe... Also, you're as misguided as they come - because you think the present is set in stone and unchanging. I mean, how foolish are you? To think that what is happening now is just going to remain static? Do you really think the left and this progressive insanity is going to continue indefinitely? That future generations won't end up swinging back firmly to the right? Because that's what's already started happening, darling ;)

"Yes, I know." Hahaha, sure. :D "it really takes a giant leap of delusion on your part to think that republicans wouldn't come close to being elected in Europe" I guess I didn't explain it clear enough. LePen is pro abortion, pro strong welfare state, pro gay marriage, believes in climate change and she doesn't even have a stance on gun rights because nobody is for liberal gun laws in Europe. See the slight difference between far right Europe and the Republicans now? "That future generations won't end up swinging back firmly to the right?" hmmm so far it certainly seems like future generations are very very progressive. Maybe the generations after that, hmmm? I know that you don't believe in polling, I guess considering your view you kind of have to. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_views_of_Generation_Z And please don't take this personally but I will ignore you now.

I don't take that personally - I don't give 2 shits about you or your awful scrawling nonsense all over Jammer reviews; I just take it as affirmation that I've sussed you out, and that you live in an echo chamber ;) Bye now, booming!

Glad you two have agreed to ignore each other. Please make good on that so we can get back to Star Trek. Thanks.

Don't worry. No further encouragement needed.

Fantastic episode, best to date! Wonderful for long-time fans like me, bravo!

SpaceTime Hole

When I saw Moriarty (Daniel Davis) is the trailers, my hopes were high. This episode dashed them. Seeing poor Brent Spiner back for ANOTHER version of either Soong or Data was… so boring & wrong.

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Star Trek: Picard

• Now on the run, Picard and the skeleton crew of the USS Titan must break into Starfleet's most top secret facility to expose a plot that could destroy the Federation. Picard must turn to an old friend for help.
• Vadic continues to hunt for Picard. She tracks down each known associate of Picard, whom he might turn to for help. Beverly analyses Jack to figure out the source of his visions. She finds that Jack is apparently suffering from Irumodic Syndrome, Picard's old neurological condition. The condition is still in its infancy and might take decades before it is fatal to Jack. There is no cure and one day Jack will die because of it. Worf and Raffi board the Titan. Worf briefs Picard that the Changelings have emerged from the Dominion wars where they fought the Federation with deception and might. Starfleet used a genetic virus to defeat them. Starfleet delivered the cure to the Changeling home planet, the Great Link, but the damage was done, and a few extremist zealots took hold of the anti-Starfleet sentiment in Changeling society. Whatever they are planning is linked to Frontier day. Frontier Day is 48 hours away. Together with the crew develop and execute a plan to infiltrate Daystrom Station. Worf says that the Portal device theft was a distract used by the Changelings to conceal the theft of something else. The only way to find what was stolen is to find the Daystrom inventory. The Daystrom station is protected by an AI based security system and Worf says they have the key to disable it from Krinn. Worf, Riker and Raffi go in with the key and have an hour to retrieve the inventory. The Titan is forced to flee after Starfleet ships arrive around the Daystrom station, while the away team is still down there. Picard promises Riker that he will be back within an hour. Picard seeks help from Geordi La Forge, his former Chief Engineer, now a Commodore in charge of the Starfleet Museum working on a secret project. Geordi also knows that the entire fleet is being assembled for Frontier Day and is objecting about the same to Starfleet. Geordi says that the new Starfleet ships all talk to each other, so there is no way to hide the signal from the Titan. Geordi only agrees to help Picard after speaking to Sidney, who convinces Geordi that the Galaxy is at stake. Her crew is also her family. Despite the key, the security system of the Daystrom station engages. The away team is confronted by a version of Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis). Riker solves a musical puzzle presented by Moriarty in the form of a song. Riker completes the missing part of a song in the form of a whistle, which is something that he shared only with Data. The tune opens the vault. Riker discovers that a Soong-type android containing the memories of Data, B-4, Lal, Lore, and Altan Inigo Soong, is at the heart of Daystrom and also contains the projects database they are looking for. Altan had helped recover Data's memories & personality from B-4 and integrate into the android. But the integration project was not completed before Altan died. Jack steals a Klingon cloaking device from one of the docked ships in the museum. La Forge's daughters Sidney and Alandra (Mica Burton), guided by Geordi, help integrate the cloaking device into the Titan's engines. The Titan's crew returns to Daystrom, where they recover the away team (minus Riker who was captured), along with the android. Riker stayed behind to stop the physical security team from interfering and allowing the rest of the team to beam back with the android. Picard speaks with the Daystrom android and manages to awaken Data's personality. Data (Brent Spiner) reveals that the Changelings stole the original dead organic body of Picard. Riker is brought aboard the Shrike, where he is reunited with his wife Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) who was also abducted by Vadic.

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Star Trek: Prodigy Has Doubled Down On Being The Voyager Sequel You've Always Wanted

T he first season of "Star Trek: Prodigy" was tantalizing for fans of "Star Trek: Voyager." The central cast of teen characters -- led by the plucky and overconfident Dal R'El (Brett Gray) -- discovered a lost and abandoned Starfleet vessel called the U.S.S. Protostar, a ship that was equipped with a holographic version of the Voyager's Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). It would be up to Janeway and the teens to return the Protostar to Federation space.

"Prodigy" marked Mulgrew's first return to canonical "Star Trek" in 19 years, her last appearance being a cameo in 2002's "Star Trek: Nemesis." Later in "Prodigy," Mulgrew would also appear as the real-life Admiral Janeway, letting the actress pull double duty.

Hologram Janeway was quite a bit different from the flesh-and-blood version, however. The artificial Janeway was a gentle, teacher-like figure who came to embrace the younger characters in a near-matronly way. Admiral Janeway was bitter and curmudgeonly, angry that she was medically forced to switch from her beloved coffee to tea. The Admiral was on a quest to rescue the Protostar from its very distant location, knowing that her old colleague, Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) was on board when it disappeared. 

This wasn't quite the grand "Voyager" reunion that many Trekkies might have wanted, but "Voyager" was clearly the most immediate predecessor to "Prodigy." In both cases, Janeway served as a central authority figure, serving with what she considered to be an ersatz family. 

But "Voyager" fans might want to note that they're closer than ever to a follow-up series. The second and final season of "Prodigy" dropped on Netflix on July 1, 2024, and the new season not only incorporates two additional "Voyager" characters into the mix, but also the new-and-improved Voyager-A as one of the show's central starships. 

Read more: The 21 Best Star Trek Original Series Episodes, Ranked

The Voyager-A

At the end of the first season of "Prodigy," Dal and his friends managed to return to Federation space, and meet the real Admiral Janeway face-to-face. This was after a time-travel-based crisis had been averted, a battle was fought, and the Protostar destroyed. Janeway, however, was impressed that a ragtag group of teenagers, instructed only by a hologram, could not only learn to fly the ship, but operate it with responsibility. They were offered a chance to join Starfleet Academy, and Janeway was gearing up to take command of a brand new ship, the Voyager-A. 

The Voyager-A will serve as a central setting in the second season of "Prodigy." Indeed, although Janeway is an admiral, she's still permitted to take command and lead the new ship on its first mission. She quips, "I promised Admiral Picard I wouldn't get this one lost in the Delta Quadrant."

The Voyager-A is a science vessel just like its original namesake, has a cetacean ops department, as well as two full-functional schools. It's a much larger ship than the original "Voyager" as well, sporting 29 decks (the original only had 15) and a crew complement of over 800 (the Voyager only had 141), and can travel much faster. We also see that there are many Starfleet cadets on board -- including the notorious Nova Squadron -- implying that the Voyager-A is meant to be an educational vessel. 

This is the kind of legacy stuff that Trekkies love. We're not back on board the old-fashioned U.S.S. Voyager, but the next step in its evolution. As explained in both "Star Trek: Lower Decks" and "Star Trek: Picard," the original Voyager is mothballed in a museum. The adventures of a new Voyager is exciting to ponder. This is progress, and not (wholly) nostalgia.

(A brief aside: the idea of a high-tech school in space is a cooler "Star Trek" premise than both the pitches for "Star Trek: Legacy" and "Starfleet Academy" shows)

Not only are Trekkies treated to a U.S.S. Voyager with Janeway in the captain's chair, but her chief medical officer appears to be the Doctor (Robert Picardo) , the emergency medical hologram that served as the head doctor on board the original Voyager. Because he is a hologram, the Doctor has not aged (even though Picardo, now 70, does sound older than he did in 1995). His uniform has been updated, but he's the same Doctor. He even still wears the same mobile holographic emitter on his arm, allowing him, as a hologram, to go anywhere he pleases. The Doctor will be the one to show Dal and his friends around the Voyager-A. Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) was excited to work in cetacean ops (whales and dolphins are intelligent members of the crew, and live in the underwater cetacean tanks). Zero (Angus Imrie) will work in the medical department. Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas) will be an engineer. Dal will merely study. 

The Doctor will also be on the bridge of the Voyager-A often, giving Admiral Janeway advice. The current mission of the Voyager-A is to locate Chakotay. It seems that Chakotay, while testing out the Protostar last season, accidentally flew into a wormhole that threw him 52 years into the future. Janeway has located the hole, and is secretly planning a mission through it using a specialized time-proof runabout called the Infinity. 

We have the ship and three crew members already. We're well on our way to a proper "Voyager" reunion.

Where Are The Other Voyager Crew Members?

"Star Trek: Prodigy" takes place before the events of "Star Trek: Picard," and we learned from the latter show that Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) was still working as a violent bounty hunter. She would later rejoin Starfleet (at Janeway's encouragement), and even become the captain of the Titan-A, rechristened the Enterprise-G, but at this point, she was still murdering people for money. It's possible, however, that Janeway and Seven were still in contact at this time. 

Janeway would certainly be in touch with Tuvok (Tim Russ), her old Vulcan security officer. In "Picard," we learned that Tuvok had attained a high position at Starfleet Command. 

Kes (Jennifer Lien) would sadly have died of old age by the events of "Prodigy" (her species only lives nine years), and no one has bothered to catch up with the Tallaxian Neelix (Ethan Phillips). Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) and his wife B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) had just had a daughter named Miral at the end of "Voyager," but we never learned their fates. Give Tom's gadabout nature, it's unlikely he stayed in Starfleet. Their daughter would be grown by now. 

Given that poor Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) was never given a promotion on the U.S.S. Voyager, it would be edifying to see him as a Fleet Admiral, or even the Commander in Chief of Starfleet Command. That would make him Janeway's boss, which is wholly possible. 

The second season of "Prodigy" is embroiled in a time travel plot more closely related to its own main characters of course, but there's no reason the new series couldn't have reached out to a few old friends. As it stands, it's as close to a "Voyager" sequel as we may ever see. 

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Read the original article on SlashFilm .

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How Star Trek: Prodigy And Picard Collaborated To Bring Back One Of Star Trek’s Biggest 'Abandoned' Characters

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Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for Season 2 of Star Trek: Prodigy . Stream it now with a Netflix subscription and read at your own risk!

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 is streaming on Netflix, and it's the best serialized Trek story we've seen in franchise history . One of the reasons why is how well it intertwined itself into other shows, and there's one massive tie-in with Picard that many fans are excited about. Surprisingly, CinemaBlend learned from the Hageman brothers that they were actually deep into using Wesley Crusher for Season 2 when Picard called and shared the story of how it all worked out.

For those reading who haven't seen it yet and don't care about spoilers, Wesley Crusher ends up being a key figure in Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2. He helps Dal and the crew attempt to correct the timeline and avoid the time beasts known as The Loom. It takes just about every ounce of his power as a Traveler, but he gets it done.

Given that Wil Wheaton returned as Wesley Crusher in Picard Season 2 before the second half of Prodigy Season 1 ever aired, one might assume the co-creators took inspiration from the cameo to make him a part of the next season. Kevin Hageman confirmed, however, that they had Wesley Crusher in their season before Picard had worked him in, and shared how Picard showrunner Terry Matalas collaborated with them on helping bring the character back to Star Trek :

They were wonderful over on Picard. We were already in the middle of writing our season so Terry [Matalas] called us up and is like, ‘What are you guys doing with Wesley because we’re hoping to do something little.’ So we got in sync, but yeah, we were already down the road [writing that story] because we knew Wesley is the original prodigy. How great would it be for him to come back? Star Trek kind of abandoned him after Wesley walked off the screen of Next Generation. No one’s really touched where this character is. So, it was such a blast.

Fans were disappointed when Wil Wheaton's Wesley wasn't featured in Star Trek: Picard Season 3 , making his return feel somewhat superfluous. We know now that it was Terry Matalas teeing up the character's big adventure in Prodigy Season 2, which showed many of his abilities as a Traveler.

Matalas didn't just tee up Star Trek: Prodigy to tell a grand story about Wesley's return; he even gave them some spoilers well in advance. Dan Hageman confirmed to CinemaBlend that he told them Picard Season 3's biggest secret about Jack Crusher so they could work it into the end of their season.

And then they told us, ‘Wesley’s got a brother,’ so then we’re like ok we gotta figure out a way to get that in.

I wonder if when Ed Speleers talked to CinemaBlend about sharing a scene with Wil Wheaton , he knew this scene was coming all along? It's certainly possible, though with Jack being a toddler, I don't imagine Speleers would need to be told about the scene happening if Wheaton hadn't told them during their conversation.

What's most impressive about the collaboration is how similar the characters look between live-action and animation. Kevin Hageman noted that there's a reason for that, and that the two teams worked together to ensure Wesley looked consistent across the two shows:

They looked at our character designs and stuff so that they didn’t have Wesley walk on [Picard] and look totally different.

Star Trek: Prodigy and Picard set the stage for future adventures for Wesley Crusher, potentially in upcoming Trek shows . I could see a spinoff for the character similar in tone to Doctor Who , and with Russell T. Davies making nods to Trek in his Disney+ series , now might be the perfect time for that show. I'm all for more Wesley in the future, so maybe some Trek creatives can put their heads together again and figure out a way for that to happen.

Star Trek: Prodigy is available to watch right now on Netflix. Stream it now so that fans can see Season 3 happen, and maybe even tell a friend to watch as well so we can all have great sci-fi animated adventures in the future.

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