Category: Blog Entries

SPOILERS, SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!

I really LOVE this show…or more specifically, the current season of this show. STAR TREK: PICARD is now halfway done with its second season, and I thought that episode 5, “Fly Me To The Moon” was one of its best offerings yet…although they all have been excellent, in my opinion.

Why was it so good? Several reasons. And if you’re wondering when I’m going to pay off that blog title above, you can either skip down to the bottom of this blog or else just enjoy the journey of getting there. I’m going to enjoy the journey.

MEET THE NEWCOMERS…

The first reason I thought this episode was so strong is because of the main challenge it had to overcome, and which I believe it did very effectively: introduce four completely new characters AND make us care about them…

Supervisor Tallinn – This Laris-look-a-like (technically introduced in the previous episode) was actually the least developed new character of the four, but she’s still intriguing. She is now officially from the same organization as Gary Seven from the TOS episode “Assignment: Earth,” and that was just fun from a fanboy standpoint, as it’s nice to see CBS Studios do a tie-in with TOS continuity that doesn’t mess around with canon and, in fact, actually honors it. Tallinn wasn’t developed much as a character this episode on purpose, methinks, in order to 1) let us get to know and care about the other new characters first, and 2) give Tallinn her own episode or episodes to develop a little bit more later.

Adam Soong – BRENT SPINER returns to play yet another Soong ancestor! This is the 7th character Spiner has played in that “family,” the others being Data, Lore, B-4, Noonian, Arik, and Altan Inigo. My suspicion is that we will discover that this earliest Soong, a geneticist, will inject his daughter Kore with something that will make future Soong offspring all resemble him, but we’ll see. Either way, Brent has given us a new character, similar to other Soongs but different enough to be fresh and intriguing. While Adam is arrogant (a Soong staple!), he also deeply and truly loves his daughter…and we feel that love.

Kore Soong – This explains why ISA BRIONES has been missing for the first half of this season—they’ve been saving her to play Adam Soong’s daughter. And this “girl-in-a-bubble” is so pure and filled with hope and light that she’s almost impossible not to care about and root for.

Not since Khan recognized Chekov in Star Trek II, have Trekkers been so up-in-arms about an apparent Star Trek inconsistency! Back in 1982, fans demanded to know how Khan Noonien Singh knew who Chekov was because “Space Seed” aired during the first season of TOS and Chekov didn’t join the crew until the second season! It got so bad that WALTER KOENIG created a story that has been told to fans at conventions millions (thousands!) THOUSANDS of times…okay, maybe hundreds of times.

Anyway, that was 1982. It’s now 40(!!!) years later, and fans have a new controversy to passionately argue about—and it goes all the way back to 1893! Yes, I’m talking about the fourth episode of STAR TREK: PICARD‘s second season, “The Watcher.” In my editorial review from last week—where I identified all the easter eggs I could find—I mentioned the little “oopsie” where Guinan of 2024 doesn’t recognize Picard, even though she had a pretty significant interaction with him in San Francisco 131 years earlier in the TNG episode “Time’s Arrow, Part II.” I decided to forgive the little “oopsie” because the rest of the episode was so darned awesome and consistent with tons of Trek canon!

However, on Facebook, many fans chose not to forgive me! In comment after comment—some nice, some not so nice—I was informed about this article in which co-showrunner for Picard, TERRY MATALAS, explained that the “oopsie” wasn’t a mistake at all but done quite on purpose…

This Guinan wouldn’t remember Picard because in this alternate timeline, the TNG episode “Time’s Arrow” never happened. Because there was no Federation, those events did not play out the same. No previous relationship exists. However, she still was likely traveling to Earth and, as we know, she hung around a bit. So this Guinan is different. But she, of course, can sense something is off. She’s going through a kind of time-sickness thanks to Q’s meddling with the timeline.

Of course, Facebook is nothing if not immediate. No sooner had I been “schooled” by multiple Facebook fans than other fans began defending me (or simply attacking the original “schoolers” or the show itself) by pointing to the scene on the bus with the punk rocker. Explain that!

Explain what? Well, KIRK THATCHER reprised his brief role from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home with the following “sequel” scene…

At the end, the rocker humbly apologizes and turns down the music, rubbing his spiked collar as if remembering the last time this happened on a bus up north in San Francisco when he was given a Vulcan nerve pinch by Spock.

Of course, if the Picard of the Confederation never went back in time to 1893 to meet young Guinan, then it stands to reason that Kirk and Spock never went back to 1986 to find two whales to bring back to the future. And even if Kirk did go back, the xenophobic Federation would certainly not have allowed a Vulcan to accompany the team. Heck, Spock probably wouldn’t even exist in the altered timeline (a human mating with a non-human would be abhorrent!).

So why was the punk rocker rubbing his neck with worry, hmmm…?

SERIOUSLY, EPISODE-RUINING SPOILERS AHEAD! JUST FRICKIN’ WATCH IT FIRST!!!

Perfection! The fourth episode of PICARD‘s second season, “Watcher,” was sheer, brilliant, fun, edge-of-your-seat Star Trek perfection! The Borg Queen would be envious!!!

Actually, there was one teensy oopsie. Picard visits 10 Forward Street, the address of Guinan’s bar in Los Angeles, and younger Guinan does NOT recognize him! I mean, it has been 128 years since their first meeting in San Francisco with Samuel Clemens (“Mark Twain”) and Data getting his head blown off. But Jean-Luc Picard is pretty unforgettable…as are time travelers who know your future. On the other hand, Guinan’s whole apathetic attitude did a U-turn when Picard finally revealed his name. So maybe she did remember him…just not by appearance (and he is MUCH older now).

(Oh, and I read the theory that Guinan didn’t remember meeting Picard a century ago because, in the altered timeline, Starfleet never existed, and Picard never went back in time to the 19th century. If so, then how does the punk rocker remember Spock’s Vulcan neck pinch? Hmmmm…)

But I’m willing to overlook the oopsie because there were so many things about this episode that I loved! The scenes between Agnes and the Borg Queen continue to be an unexpected highlight thanks to the amazing performances of both ALISON PILL and ANNE WERSCHING. The two characters couldn’t be more different, and yet they’ve begun to mirror aspects of each other, like their loneliness, as the attempted assimilation might be affecting both of them. It was also intriguing at the end when Agnes breaks her promise to the Borg Queen (to stay and “chat”), proving that she (Agnes) might not be completely trustworthy either.

The car chase was also amazing, punctuated by some of the best “old married couple” bickering I’ve seen on any TV show (Trek or otherwise). The writers are trying a “do-over” with Seven and Raffi, helping us to not only accept their relationship but to actually root for it to happen. The on-screen chemistry between JERI RYAN and MICHELLE HURD is simply magic. I don’t think any other Star Trek couple has clicked to comfortably.

(And for anyone asking, “Hey, how is it that a person born in the 24th century, raised by the Borg, and currently a Fenris Ranger can drive a 21st century SUV like she’s in a Fast and Furious movie?” I’ve got an answer. Seven was on Voyager for four years with Tom Paris. Voyager has a holodeck. Tom Paris loved hot-rods from the 20th century. Just because we didn’t see him teaching Seven to drive and to race doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Granted, it’s not official canon, but I’m placing it firmly in my personal “head canon.”)

And speaking of chemistry, the sparks between Captain Rios and Dr. Teresa Rodriguez are flying as fast and furious as Seven’s driving. Two more actors giving very engaging performances.

But let me tell you what I loved the most. Let’s talk easter eggs…!

TIME FOR SPOILERS!

“It’s just a ripoff of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home!”

I’ve read versions of that complaint in the comments from multiple STAR TREK: PICARD detractors on Facebook this week. And believe it or not, they’re not entirely wrong…but not for the reason they think!

Y’see, nearly ALL Star Trek time-travel episodes and movies where someone goes back to old Earth of the 19th, 20th, or 21st century tell almost the EXACT SAME story! Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at the following list…

• “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” (TOS)
• “The City on the Edge of Forever” (TOS)
• “Assignment: Earth” (TOS)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• “Time’s Arrow, Part II” (TNG)
• Star Trek: First Contact
• “Past Tense” (DS9)
• “Little Green Men” (DS9)
• “Future’s End” (Voyager)
• “Carpenter Street” (Enterprise)

Now think back to all of those stories and tell me if they each share most if not all of the following plot elements…

• Something gets “broken” in the past and needs to be fixed before the time traveler(s) can come home.
• The method of time-travel is explained and often (but not always) shown…usually in a dramatic fashion.
• The time-travelers will split up into smaller teams, each with its own mission. This allows for cutting between an A-story and a B-story and possibly a C-story.
• Often, one of those teams remains back on the ship (assuming there is a ship), either in the past or still in the future.
• There’s at least some comedy relief where our heroes from the future don’t quite understand something from the past (but we do, and it’s funny).
• There’s usually a scene involving technology from the future that is either observed being used, or else it is lost and/or stolen. Often, this piece of equipment needs to be retrieved and/or destroyed lest it change the past in some way.
• At least one person gets separated from their team. Frequently, this person is either injured and/or is captured and must be rescued.
• The time-traveler(s) connect(s) with at least one special person from the past who can help them in some way. This character(s) becomes very well developed in the story, ultimately becoming someone we care about and can relate to/root for.

Not every time-travel story will contain every trope, but you’ll be amazed when you think about it just how many of these beloved episodes and movies share most of the same plot elements. And indeed, think about other sci-fi like the Back to the Future trilogy and see how many of those tropes you remember seeing there, too.

And speaking of Back to the Future, this third episode of the season, “Assimilation,” along with next week’s fourth episode, were both directed by LEA THOMPSON, the actress (and Trekkie!) who played Marty McFly’s mother in the first two Back to the Future movies and his great-great grandmother in the third. So she’s no stranger to time-travel stories!

Let’s take a look at how this latest episode of Picard follows the tropes of these Star Trek “back to Earth’s past” episodes and movies…