Finished the first season of Star Trek: Picard. Loved it! Is it a rehash of The Next Generation? No and I don't blame Patrick Stewart for not wanting to do that. He compared this project to his involvement in the movie Logan and wanting to give Picard the send off the the movie afforded his other character of Charles Xavier. So far it's held up. Even if the show hadn't been renewed for a second season.
The premise of the Romulans trying to eliminate all synthetic life, and infiltrating Starfleet to do it, is a mixed bag for me. I have no problem believing they would go to any length to accomplish their goal. Not their first time infiltrating Starfleet. (See "Data's Day" which does reference Bruce Maddox co-creator of what I'm calling "Soong Type 2" androids.) The passing explanation of why the Romulans distrust synthetic life sort of makes sense but it doesn't really explain why, say, the Vulcans don't share this fear given the timing of this cataclysmic event from ancient history. (Or why Romulan cyberneticists exist...)
One aspect revealed in the last couple episodes was that Starfleet seemed to at least suspect "Commodore" Oh was a Romulan agent for quite some time and maybe was just waiting for her to tip her hand? Speaking of Oh, viewers were wondering how she could have performed a mind meld if she's Romulan. It was quickly explained she's half Vulcan which was the safest way out of that but I want to speculate a more complicated answer. Romulans are descended for Vulcans who are telepaths. Remans, never mentioned in Picard, are descended from Romulans and are also telepaths. Properly trained, is it that hard to believe a Romulan could develop those abilities?
My favorite new character is Dr. Allison Jurati (Allison Pill) self-described as the foremost expert "on Earth" on synthetic life. Now, 20 years have past since Data died so I suppose Geordi LaForge and Beverly Crusher may not have touched an android since the film Star Trek: Nemesis but at that time, they were the foremost experts on Soong-type androids from experience with Data, Lore, Lal, B-4, and Julianna Tainer. Just an observation... Anyway, I love Jurati's mix of innocence and brilliance you might find in a Trill host I suppose but she's human...
Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) and Cristobal Rios (Santiago fulfill nuanced versions of the "Dr. McCoy skeptic. Both, we discover, were victims of Oh's machinations and lost their Starfleet jobs which turned them bitter. When they were first introduced, they just seemed like "The Maquis" which wasn't really interesting to me but by the end of the season the truth was revealed and made them more interesting to me.
Elnor (Evan Evangora) is Romulan refugee raised by warrior nuns. Picard was the most influential male in his life. Maybe this is the main reason he reminds me of Wesley except way less annoying...
Soji (Isa Briones) is one of the Soong Type 2 androids I mentioned earlier. Since she was created with, in essence, Data's DNA, she is his daughter right down to the characteristic head tilt. For the first few years of her life, she believed she was human. (Google Data's mother, Juliana Soong Tainer). Lal, Data's first attempt at creating a daughter was never mentioned in the series but Briones claims that's her favorite Star Trek episode. I think it shows...
It is revealed Noonien Soong fathered a human child, Altan also played by Brent Spiner. If he is the same age as Spiner, his birth would be around the creation of Data's older android siblings meaning Juiliana has to be the mother or at least know Noonien screwed around on her. Noonien was described as a "much older man" when they got together so Altan could have been conceived before he went to Omicron Theta? Not likely on Terlina III... Inquiring nerd minds want to know!
Can't wait to see where this show goes...
Notes:
-As far as viewers know, when Picard last saw Bruce Maddox when the latter tred to take Data and mass-produce him, Picard didn't have a high opinion of the man. This seemed to change in the intervening years. Why?
-The show refers to an ancient federation of synthetic life. One might imagine this miht connect to th ancient races of androids introduced in the original series as well as V'ger from The Motion Picture. Will this ever be confirmed?
-In further seasons, I hope we get more insight into Picard's years aboard the Stargazer.
-My speculation is that the new planets we're introduced to are in the Beta Quardant as that was pretty unexplored even just 20 years before...
The premise of the Romulans trying to eliminate all synthetic life, and infiltrating Starfleet to do it, is a mixed bag for me. I have no problem believing they would go to any length to accomplish their goal. Not their first time infiltrating Starfleet. (See "Data's Day" which does reference Bruce Maddox co-creator of what I'm calling "Soong Type 2" androids.) The passing explanation of why the Romulans distrust synthetic life sort of makes sense but it doesn't really explain why, say, the Vulcans don't share this fear given the timing of this cataclysmic event from ancient history. (Or why Romulan cyberneticists exist...)
One aspect revealed in the last couple episodes was that Starfleet seemed to at least suspect "Commodore" Oh was a Romulan agent for quite some time and maybe was just waiting for her to tip her hand? Speaking of Oh, viewers were wondering how she could have performed a mind meld if she's Romulan. It was quickly explained she's half Vulcan which was the safest way out of that but I want to speculate a more complicated answer. Romulans are descended for Vulcans who are telepaths. Remans, never mentioned in Picard, are descended from Romulans and are also telepaths. Properly trained, is it that hard to believe a Romulan could develop those abilities?
My favorite new character is Dr. Allison Jurati (Allison Pill) self-described as the foremost expert "on Earth" on synthetic life. Now, 20 years have past since Data died so I suppose Geordi LaForge and Beverly Crusher may not have touched an android since the film Star Trek: Nemesis but at that time, they were the foremost experts on Soong-type androids from experience with Data, Lore, Lal, B-4, and Julianna Tainer. Just an observation... Anyway, I love Jurati's mix of innocence and brilliance you might find in a Trill host I suppose but she's human...
Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) and Cristobal Rios (Santiago fulfill nuanced versions of the "Dr. McCoy skeptic. Both, we discover, were victims of Oh's machinations and lost their Starfleet jobs which turned them bitter. When they were first introduced, they just seemed like "The Maquis" which wasn't really interesting to me but by the end of the season the truth was revealed and made them more interesting to me.
Elnor (Evan Evangora) is Romulan refugee raised by warrior nuns. Picard was the most influential male in his life. Maybe this is the main reason he reminds me of Wesley except way less annoying...
Soji (Isa Briones) is one of the Soong Type 2 androids I mentioned earlier. Since she was created with, in essence, Data's DNA, she is his daughter right down to the characteristic head tilt. For the first few years of her life, she believed she was human. (Google Data's mother, Juliana Soong Tainer). Lal, Data's first attempt at creating a daughter was never mentioned in the series but Briones claims that's her favorite Star Trek episode. I think it shows...
It is revealed Noonien Soong fathered a human child, Altan also played by Brent Spiner. If he is the same age as Spiner, his birth would be around the creation of Data's older android siblings meaning Juiliana has to be the mother or at least know Noonien screwed around on her. Noonien was described as a "much older man" when they got together so Altan could have been conceived before he went to Omicron Theta? Not likely on Terlina III... Inquiring nerd minds want to know!
Can't wait to see where this show goes...
Notes:
-As far as viewers know, when Picard last saw Bruce Maddox when the latter tred to take Data and mass-produce him, Picard didn't have a high opinion of the man. This seemed to change in the intervening years. Why?
-The show refers to an ancient federation of synthetic life. One might imagine this miht connect to th ancient races of androids introduced in the original series as well as V'ger from The Motion Picture. Will this ever be confirmed?
-In further seasons, I hope we get more insight into Picard's years aboard the Stargazer.
-My speculation is that the new planets we're introduced to are in the Beta Quardant as that was pretty unexplored even just 20 years before...
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