Picard season 2 (spoilers maybe unmarked)

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I mean, ultimately, the entire reason some people remember the original imeline and some don't is "A wizard did it"- Q. All of them have reason to suspect that anyone near the Stargazer's explosion might know something, because the Stargazer (with them on it) explodes and suddenly the universe is all weird.

We see both Picard and Seven try to gather some information about the world, they are in the best position to do so. But every single one of them has to play their role convincingly enough and go with the flow as they can, because they lose control over the situation entirely if they get found out.

Raffi is second-guessing their abrupt escape and said they should have researched more, but Seven points out rightfully that they didn't have the time. They couldn't maintain their charade for long, and the Confederation is likely not a stranger to mind control and shapeshifters. Seven's alternate future husband said as much when confronting her. (Well, he doesn't mention shapeshifters, but it would be surprising if they hadn't encountered that,too.)

 

[MarkB]

I mean, ultimately, the entire reason some people remember the original imeline and some don't is "A wizard did it"- Q. All of them have reason to suspect that anyone near the Stargazer's explosion might know something, because the Stargazer (with them on it) explodes and suddenly the universe is all weird.

Yeah, "everyone in the Stargazer fleet" is just an assumption that fits known facts at this point. It could just as easily have been "everyone Q / The Clockwork Borg Queen / The Watcher / Whoever deliberately selected", or some other factor entirely that we haven't been made aware of yet.

Proximity has been a factor in retaining memories during time travel / timeline alterations before (City on the Edge of Forever, First Contact, Trials and Tribble-ations) but there's usually some other technobabble factor involved beyond that. Ultimately it's Rule of Drama, as with many factors of such stories.

 

[bloodtide]

S2E5

So...the Watcher looks like Picards "girlfriend"...guess they are not going to explain that at all. And she is a "Gary Seven" type.

And...er....so Picard does NOT know his family history? He knows all about the abandoned Picard house? And...er....he says the Picard family is living in England? So how/why does Renee Picard join NASA? Why the AMERICAN space agency?

So...the borg queen calls the cops for help...ok. But why all the switching between French and English? The Picard Ruins are in France.....so they speak French. And then one cop shows up....alone? Do French cops not do the Back Up thing? And ok....French Cop finds a CRASHED SPACESHIP....and guess he just finds the wide open door and wanders in side????? Really? REALLY? Then both he and the borg queen do some yells in English...sigh.

And....sure....some reason...Jeriti is sleeping in the Picard Ruins as they are "warmer" then the space ship. Because SURE the space ships cloak, worldwide transporters, cell phone all work just fine....but the ship heater does not work.

Then Jeriti hears the screams and....er....grabs the World War Two shotgun that was sitting LOADED on the mantle and runs to save the dumb French cop. Um...does not the space ship have a couple phasers or weapons on it?

And they save Rios.....and then...er.....let all the criminals on the bus go? Gee, hope none of them change history.....

And....er...ok....so why is NASA pilot Renee in L.A. ? Did NASA move to L.A. in 2024? You'd think they would be in Florida, right?

So...um...er......ok....Q traveled back in time to make Renee sad and not be an astronaut........but was not the Evil Future Jean Lucs fault?

And if Renee is a typical Picard show broken crazy mess of a human....ER....does not NASA boot such pathetic people OUT of the astronaut club at like warp speed?

And....ok....so Q does a Sigmund Freud cosplay? But.....um....did not Q "come back in time" three days before the EVENT too? And....right before that....he lost his powers? And then in like a minute he.....SOMEHOW replaced her doctor? Or did he snap his Q finger to do that before he lost his power?

And...er....EVERY Soong guy in Earth history has been a super smart scientist? Ok...sure.

Also odd.....the Egenic Wars raged across Earth in the '90's, yet Picard has YET to mention that.

And oh...look....his daughter looks just like Soji from season 1. Oh and she has "death by sunlight" disorder? (wonder why she does not go live in Alaska where they have the six months of no sunlight).

But Q knows the cure. Because...er....sure...with no powers Q still knows EVERYTHING. Somehow. But if he does....why does he need all this silly help? He knows everything, right? Is he obsessed with making it look like an accident? Why?

And Dr. Soong has a magic Tholian Wab flying force flied drone swarm?

And super security for a NASA ball? Why?

And borg Jeriti......hooray

 

[Hades#2]

I agree this season is a mess. I just got caught up on the last 2 episodes and was astonished at how much I found wrong with them. Guinan should not be on Earth. Wasn't she rescued by the Enterprise B in Generations? How can the Borg queen imitate voices well enough to fool the computer? Just too many problems with this season.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Liked this episode.
I kinda felt John de Lancie channeled a bit of his character on Breaking Bad into Q when he talked with Soong about having something meaningful to them. Which might hint that Q actually lost (context of the scene + his Breaking Bad character also lost someone) someone that he cared about, or at least they are seriously threatened.

Also interesting - Brent Spiner is every male Soong, and now Isia Briones plays the female ones, so to speak?
Maybe they are all clones of the 21st century Soong? Or he created some clever genetic/biological machnery that allowed him to self-clone by "regular" procreation. That's fascinating, scary or both.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah, "everyone in the Stargazer fleet" is just an assumption that fits known facts at this point. It could just as easily have been "everyone Q / The Clockwork Borg Queen / The Watcher / Whoever deliberately selected"

It always seemed apparent to me that Picard's crew - and only they - where deliberately selected to cross the timeline. I see nothing to indicate an accident or proximity had anything to do with it.

 

[Mort]

It always seemed apparent to me that Picard's crew - and only they - where deliberately selected to cross the timeline. I see nothing to indicate an accident or proximity had anything to do with it.

That was my impression - that the explosion didn't cause them switching over, but that they were saved BY switching over.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Am I the only one who thinks (depowered) Q is actually trying to fix the timeline, if only to get his powers back?

 

[Omand]

Am I the only one who thinks (depowered) Q is actually trying to fix the timeline, if only to get his powers back?

Maybe?

I am on the fence about that idea.

Messing with another Picard (Renee) is right in Q's wheelhouse as a character, especially if it also messes with his favourite adversary, Jean-Luc. So getting Jean-Luc to fix things as a test is in character. So, no, Q would be breaking things on purpose here as part of the test.

With that said, Q being de-powered, or not able to affect Renee directly because someone else is watching over her (the Supervisor/Gary Seven org sent by superior beings) could throw things sideways.

Maybe Q is actually supposed to be part of this event in history (and he does not realize it), whereby he gives Soong the secret to unlocking Augments that work, creating Khan et al, and setting in motion what we know as Trek history.

I actually think at this point the mis-direction/wild card is the Borg Queen that is not supposed to be there. Maybe that is what breaks things?

They are keeping us guessing and so far I am digging into it. Hopefully we get a bit more clarity in the next episode since we are now at the mid-point of the season.

Cheers

 

[Mort]

S2E5

And super security for a NASA ball? Why?

This one was a hard sell for me - the super security for a NASA party just sounded ridiculous.

All they had to do was have some reclusive Billionaire and his company be handling the space launch - then it sounds eccentric (as in completely unnecessary but why not...). I believe SpaceX handles 2/3rds of NASA's launches IRL - so why not have some eccentric Billionaire doing it?