Star Trek: Picard | Free Series Premiere Episode on Youtube

st3lt3k

Rear Admiral
Watch the series premiere of the critically acclaimed CBS All Access Original Series, Star Trek: Picard, now available on YouTube for a limited time only, presented by Geico.

At the end of the 24th Century, and 14 years after his retirement from Starfleet, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is living a quiet life on his vineyard, Chateau Picard. When he is sought out by a mysterious young woman, Dahj (Isa Briones), in need of his help, he soon realizes she may have personal connections to his own past.
It has to be watched on Youtube and no idea how long it will be available
 
So what are peoples feelings about Picard and Discovery? I haven't seen either yet, but what I've heard from other people has been pretty mixed, with Picard tending towards 'it might get good once it gets going' and Discovery tending towards... less positive.
 
So what are peoples feelings about Picard and Discovery? I haven't seen either yet, but what I've heard from other people has been pretty mixed, with Picard tending towards 'it might get good once it gets going' and Discovery tending towards... less positive.

Discovery is a bit too Abrams Trek for me. All action and not much effort on the sci-fi. Plus if there's one thing Trek didn't need it's alternate timelines.
That said I had a lot more fun with series 2 when it started acknowledging its roots, but towards the end it overdid that and was making references I wasn't getting (I was more of a TNG/Voyager guy than TOS).

Picard is this nice parallel of the changes happening today, I'm really enjoying it.

Neither is traditional Trek by any means (The Orville is probably closer to TNG); and as much as I'd like some comfort food Picard is feeling like the right Trek for this decade so far, with lots of moustache twiddling like our own villains hiding in plain sight. Early days though.
 
I'm enjoying both Discovery and Picard. (Guess you can guess why from my nick). And yes, I enjoy The Orville as well. The Orville reminds me most about Roddenberry Trek, while Picard is more "traditional" post-Roddenberry along the lines of DS9. And Discovery well, intriguing.

It helps that in Canada, it's on cable TV (in full surround sound!) so you don't need a CBS streaming plan or a Netflix plan. The former is I believe in stereo only while the latter is everywhere outside North America.
 
It's weak, unfortunately 😟.

It looks like 2009 Star Trek, moves like 2009 Star Trek, sounds like 2009 Star Trek. To be expected, Star Trek is still in the hands of the people responsible for that, HOWEVER there is Patrick Stewart. It is simply a joy to watch this person playing this part.

The main problem is that there is tons of "fishy" stuff in the story's writing, like the oh-so-special-necklace which looks to me like something literally any two people who are in love could wear and the "they come in pairs" and horrible, ham-fisted exposition scenes which make no sense at all. The story is, just like Discovery, just a house made of thin cards and even by episode 2 it has already begin to collapse under its own weigth.

The issue is not in the tone/feel of the story, although an optimistic Star Trek is still sorely missed. No, the issue is that the writers think they are incredibly clever and they simply are not. It is far too much, far too fast and it lacks coherence and causality. The trend style or substance continues.

But, there is Patrick Stewart and he is brilliant and I think at least half the people are falling for it, hardcore fandom's reaction is way less negative then Discovery right now.
 
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The main problem is that there is tons of "fishy" stuff in the story's writing, like the oh-so-special-necklace which looks to me like something literally any two people who are in love could wear and the "they come in pairs" and horrible, ham-fisted exposition scenes which make no sense at all. The story is, just like Discovery, just a house made of thin cards and even by episode 2 it has already begin to collapse under its own weight.

I must say, this is the single best criticism of these shows that I've ever happened across. So much of the internet seems to be terrible people screaming at each other things that don't matter (THE ENTERPRISE IS TWELVE METERS LONGER? THEY HAVE MURDERED MY CHILDHOOD AND ARE PERSONALLY PLOTTING TO DESTROY WHAT I LOVE!!!!!) that it makes me want to say 'well I liked it so everyone who didn't is a dumb jerk.' But this is thoughtful and accurate.
 
As a lifelong Star Trek fan who also loved 2009 Star Trek, I feel like we're entering a golden age of Star Trek the likes of which we haven't seen since TNG was in its later stages, DS9 was in full force and Voyager was on the horizon. Of course it's not perfect, but as usual, I try to focus on what is being done well.

Both shows are being run by big Star Trek nerds who are trying their best to respect the old series while branching out into something entirely new. That will rile some folks up, and Picard isn't a sequel to TNG, exactly, which will disappoint some people.

But the Picard pilot was breathtaking in an ocean of terrible pilot episodes. We're just two episodes in, so it seems premature to start talking about loose ends and such. We're still being introduced to the setup and haven't even met all the main characters yet. There's lots of things they could be screwing up right now, and they're not, which is a big accomplishment. It has a solid tone and I can't wait to see how things unfold.
 
I’ve heard the necklace one floating around in several places but the argument doesn’t make any sense to me.
Firstly she’s not inferring anything from it, or going “this clearly represents”. It’s a symbol she recognised.
Secondly if it’s too generic that’s surely more of a prop issue than “fishy writing”.
 
My thoughts

Discovery
Allways felt like it would work very well if it was post Nemisis instead of pre Kirk. The Spore drive could have been so easly explaind as part of a Federation program to search for new ways of traveling around. I mean Voyager allready laied the groundwork for that. Bringing back deeper knowledge about the Borg Transwarp drive and the Slipstream tech. All that could have sparked ideas for other possibilites beside the Warpdrive.

As for story and characters. I can't get myself to like Burnham. I don't know why but I realy dislike her. On the other hand we have Saru, who I find wonderfully played. Getting emotions across with that thik layer of a mask? Brilliant, if you ask me. Also love Staments, Tilly and Pike. Each very unque in their own way...in Tillys in a nerving but strangely charmant way. Oh and the Doc/Tech they picked up from the wrackage. Man she is so good.

The story.....don't like it. As I said to me its the wrong timeframe and there are constantly part where I go "they do what now?" Espacialy when its Burnham time. Everyone goes "Thats stupid" then Burnham comes around and goes "but I think its good" and suddenly everyone goes with it and logic and physics are thrown out the window. Maybe thats why I dislike here so much......

Picard
Love the slow pace. Nice change to a to hectical world / TV show landscape we have. I think Patrik Steward nails the aged Picard very well. Don't want to judge the show yet. Considering that most StarTrek shows needed an entrie season to get its baring I feel its to early.

The Orville
Love that show, feels very much like TNG and its second Season I think they found a nice balance between jokes and story.
 
I must say, this is the single best criticism of these shows that I've ever happened across. So much of the internet seems to be terrible people screaming at each other things that don't matter (THE ENTERPRISE IS TWELVE METERS LONGER? THEY HAVE MURDERED MY CHILDHOOD AND ARE PERSONALLY PLOTTING TO DESTROY WHAT I LOVE!!!!!) that it makes me want to say 'well I liked it so everyone who didn't is a dumb jerk.' But this is thoughtful and accurate.

I agree completely; @Vidmaster gets straight to the heart of the matter. I'm a deeply devoted Trekkie, and while I haven't really been happy with anything on offer since DS9 ended (such an amazing show!), I could at least recognize the Star Trek heritage in Voyager, Enterprise, and the later TNG movies. Abrams Trek isn't Trek at all; there's not even the pretense of a considered story, and the entire universe falls apart the moment you pay even the slightest amount of attention. I wanted to like Discovery, but it falls into the same action-packed explosive everything-shiny-all-the-time trap that Abrams Trek did, and like those movies, it almost seems to be trying to destroy the creative integrity of the storytelling universe at basically every turn. I deeply miss the care, thoughtfulness, and craftsmanship that went into making the first 30+ years of Star Trek so great.

Unfortunately, many of the criticisms of Discovery I've seen online are much more trollish in nature. It's frustrating, because whenever Discovery comes up, I have to clarify that, no, I have no problem whatsoever with the inclusive casting, the inclusion of an openly gay character, or the occasional nods to present-day politics. Star Trek has always had diverse characters, and at its core is all about examining who we are as a society*; this is a feature, not a bug. There are many, many more perfectly legitimate reasons to dislike Discovery.

I haven't watched any Picard, and don't plan to.

(* I feel a need to point out here that the Trek I love is also about examining what we can become when people of good faith work together to create a better future; that part is sorely lacking in modern Trek.)
 
I haven't watched any Picard, and don't plan to.

(* I feel a need to point out here that the Trek I love is also about examining what we can become when people of good faith work together to create a better future; that part is sorely lacking in modern Trek.)

If you loved the first 30 years of Star Trek so much, why skip Picard? Even people that dislike both shows will tell you that the two are quite different with regards to style, pacing and so on. Care, thoughtfulness and craftsmanship is exactly how I'd describe Picard.

I would watch Picard before describing what modern Trek does or doesn't have right now. In the new show, Picard's personal house staff are former Romulan Tal Shiar agents who've become indebted to him because of his honorable actions, and we've got a legion of former Borg being systematically rehabilitated. They've taken the biggest bogeymen of the franchise and flipped them on their head - literally people of good faith working together to create a better future.
 
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I’ve heard the necklace one floating around in several places but the argument doesn’t make any sense to me.
Firstly she’s not inferring anything from it, or going “this clearly represents”. It’s a symbol she recognised.
Secondly if it’s too generic that’s surely more of a prop issue than “fishy writing”.


Okay, the necklace and stuff. Let's talk about that:

First, obviously "fractal neuronic cloning", surely a very complex concept, are symbolized by TWO RINGS and obivously it has to be neuronic cloning. Not marriage, not mathematical circle- or set-intersection (Venn Diagram), not worlds/planets colliding, not something religious, ... it has to be recognized as fractal neuronic cloning to get the plot point accross. And fractal neuronic cloning as explained to us does not at all require the construction of two androids. That "they come in pairs" is just plot-nonsense so that there is a story, the entire thing is not organically told, it is being forced into place.
And then, afterwards, Soji says to Narek, a man she knows for a few seconds and who just finds her necklace interesting because the scene needs to be connected to the one with Picard prior (and as his hook to initiate small talk), that she grew up with her sister.
Dahj never mentions Soji to Picard, a man that she absolutely trusts, although her having an identical twin would be of utmost importance, especially after Picard reveals what he believes to be her origins? This is just a contrivance to keep up the secret until the last moments of the episode, it is lazy writing. The modern writing style of Star Trek seems to be about getting stuff to happen and constructing everything else around that, no matter how contrived.

Now, in fairness, there are ways to retroactively fix some of the problems and I am only three episodes in. The no-mentioning-of-sister problem could for example be fixed if we find out that Dahj's memory is partially wiped (for instance through the weird mother-transmissions). It remains to be seen if the writing team is able to turn the ship around.

But then there is stuff like this:

1.) the silly 2009-Trek super-nova which was "threatening to destroy the Galaxy", Super-Novas do not work like that!

2.) why the fuck is the Romulan Star Empire, a real competitor and rival to the Federation, so utterly helpless? Their own Star is going nova (spontaneously for some reason?) and they do not detect that, they cannot react to that? Maybe the Picard-series will eventually reveal that some third-party was involved here (forcing a star to go nova as a weapon was featured in DS9 against the Dominion/Cardassion Alliance) but even then, the Romulan-Star plot-point is more of a plot-hole.

3.) This entire idea that
there is a mythical secret cabal inside the Romulan Empire's secret police that hunts down synthetic life for some reason for thousands of years
is beyond salvage, considering how this information is presented to the viewer

4.) And even little things are broken, like
Soji speaking to one of the nameless, aka unknown Borg Drones (unknown species!) in that species' native tongue
in order to motivate the plot of Episode 3. Without an idea where to start you cannot access information, be that your subconscious memory or not.

5.) Picard visits
an ex-Starfleet woman who has a big gripe with him in order to get help
, that person is a civilian on the paradise called Earth and has a fucking gun! StarTrek is about an utopia, about humanity having moved on. I have no problem with the darker tones of the Picard-series like the race+slavery-questions posed by Synths, the commentary on refugee- and nationalism-questions but this scene again shows how much they miss the mark. The fact that this person just comes out to greet Picard with a gun may be "normal" in present-day USA but prior to 2009, that was exactly what Star Trek was not.

6.) Ep3 involves a lot of weird it-is-your-destiny suggestions
from Romulan Tarot Cards
, I really **really** hope they have some idea where they are going with this and not just employ it because it "is cool". Given the track-record though, I fear for the worst.
 
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If you loved the first 30 years of Star Trek so much, why skip Picard?
the silly 2009-Trek super-nova

I absolutely cannot abide the idea of this happening in any rational Star Trek timeline. The destruction of Romulus in the "prime" timeline was one of the absolute worst things to come out of the 2009 movie. Never mind the scientific absurdity of a supernova in a populated star system, the sudden and inept introduction of magical "red matter", the pointless manic spinning of Spock's ship; the fundamental issue here is that the writers took one of the most promising unresolved plotlines from TNG (Spock's efforts at reunification between the Vulcan and Romulan peoples), doused it with gasoline, and set a match to it. Nemesis had already done significant damage here, but the storyline was at least somewhat salvageable.

Imagine if Picard had opened with a diplomatic mission: Picard has retired, but Spock has died on Romulus and now the Romulans want to return his body. Spock's efforts have been fruitful, and the Romulans have a new government that is interested in forming closer ties with Vulcan. There is still significant distrust between the Federation and the Romulan empire, but Picard had a special connection with Spock and Sarek, and so he is asked to come out of retirement to escort Spock's body home -- along with one of Spock's Romulan students, who now holds Spock's katra. Despite the new Romulan government's nominally more cooperative outlook, there are many elements within it that seek a return to their glory days of military strength and conquest. An attempt is made to sabotage the mission; accusations are made, but eventually the sabotage attempt is foiled as the Romulan and Federation delegations set aside their distrust in order to deal with it. Spock's body is returned, and from there, the show could focus on a new Romulan/Federation joint venture aimed at fostering cooperation and exploring the old neutral zone. The show would have lots of opportunity to explore Romulan culture, including visiting Romulan worlds, and also visiting alien worlds that were previously annexed by the Romulan Star Empire.

My point is that there were lots of interesting directions the show could have gone that fit credibly into the Star Trek universe, and that would make the show feel like Star Trek. Instead, we have that ridiculous supernova.
 
I think the plotting issue is more widespread than current Star Trek; it is seemingly something that audiences generally accept. Picard's written-to-an-ending contrivances are exactly the same thing people have no issue with in a Nolan Batman movie. (Of course maybe this kind of writing is also all over my childhood favorites and my nostalgia prevents me from seeing it clearly... what WAS Luke's plan for Jabba, anyway?)
 
The only one of your points that I can really agree with is the androids being produced in pairs. It wasn’t explained why and I’ll agree on the face of it it doesn’t make sense and is just a way to tell Picard something he needs to know.
The necklace again I just don’t understand your point. Complex ideas are frequently represented by simple symbols. And again it’s more of a prop issue if you feel it’s too generic, but plot wise it still isn’t odd.
It doesn’t have to be anything... that is what it is in this universe.
The letter pi doesn’t have to represent the ratio of a diameter of circle to its circumfrance. It looks more like pillars and represents a wide range of different things in science; I immediately see it as that as that, others might as and not a plaintiff or a pion or one of the many other meanings it also represents. Having other meanings doesn’t stop it having a certain meaning in context to someone with a certain background.

Only time will tell but I sincerely believe your letting your views lead you to assume the worst. Watching those episodes I absolutely got the impression that the second sister is aware of far more than she is letting on; and is plugging the Commander for information as much as him.
I struggle to see things, such as the tarot cards, or an aversion to synthetic life forms as that odd. Hawking was particularly concerned about the consequences of AI on mankind, and the romulans are historically secretive. If there’s a species in Trek lore I’d expect secret orders to be found in it’s the Romulans

Now take guns; whatever we may feel about them, Star Trek has never shied away from them. Peaceful away missions see their people wielding weapons. An ex star fleet officer with connections it doesn’t even have to be legal; but even in the U.K. guns are legal for hunting in rural areas. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where she wouldn’t be armed.

Everything about the 2009 movie is bad, and the anomaly that was a black hole or wormhole depending on what the writers wanted it to be was even worse. But paving over it and moving forward is the best I could hope for.
Likewise with B4, I may not like Nemesis but I’m keen for the show to run with where the franchise left off.
 
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So far there has been one point that made go a little bit of "What the..." and that is money? Wasn't it so that money, except you want to trade outside of federation space, is pretty much not an issue anymore? That everyone could have its basic needs of shelter and food covered without much problems, at least on the core worlds. Maybe not boarderworlds like on the Cardassian border where the infrastructure still has to be build.

Also about the supernova...it has been moved, hasn't it? I thought Hobus was a System that was further out. Thats why at first no one thought it would be a danger to anyone but then they found out that Hobus shouldn't have gone Nova in the first place and there was something strange going on.
So Hobus wasn't a natural supernova in the first place. I remember something about subspace technobabble to explain why even systems far, far of where in danger all of a sudden.

In StarTrek Online they picked that idea and turned it into "the Tal Shiar has tempered around with the sun, most likely weapon experiments and thats why it became what it was". This isn't canon, also I could imagne Hobus to be a weapon experiment gone wrong and that the Romulans wanted to hide the fact as long as possible. No one would want to go around telling everyone "Yah we have a weapon now that can blow up several starsystems and it went of....would you mind helping us but we won't give you the tech."

Anyway its not canon and I am kinda interested to see whats the explenation in Picard as I agree, normaly a nova shouldn't be a problem for several starsystems. Also they did move the nova from Hobus to Romulus or am I mistaken?
 
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