next stop on the "catching up with reviews" train, we did finally get around to season 3 of picard about a month ago. it really is a testament to how uninspiring the first two seasons were that we, two lifelong star trek fans and one fairly enthusiastic convert, just really didn't feel any urgency to get to it.
season 3 is probably the best season of picard, but it's still not… great? but in all fairness, it was probably just never going to be.
when i first heard there was a picard-led series being developed, i was cautiously excited. when it was announced and the title was literally just "star trek: picard," i thought that was, well… weird? there's just something thoroughly un-star trek about this kind of singular focus on a character rather than a place or a group of people.
before i start sounding relentlessly negative, there were things i liked about season 3. and i enjoyed the experience of watching it much better than the previous two seasons. but it just felt really similar to like rise of skywalker where i just resigned myself to how dumb it was and enjoyed it almost in spite of itself. and it could easily have killed my enthusiasm for the future of the franchise in a similar way if there weren't so many other great things going on at the moment. picard really is a pretty glaring outlier compared to literally every other nutrek series (minus the first season of disco, which was still miles better than picard at its best).
but yeah, let’s move on from general commentary and go episode by episode.
3x01 "the next generation"
first of all my absolute favorite thing about this season is the sheer amount of jonathan frakes we get. this cannot be overstated. jonathan frakes is a national treasure, and i am blown away that i underappreciated will riker so thoroughly when i grew up on tng. he's just the hecking best.
shaw's introduction was fucking fantastic, and i love how his character went from just uncomplicatedly hateable to lovably hateable over the course of the season. just truly great stuff.
i love how laris is in this for literally like a second and then is never mentioned again for the rest of the show. like, we would have been better off if their last scene together had been the wordless ending of season 2, and we could just assume they broke up offscreen between seasons or that they had hot, steamy sex but decided that a relationship wasn’t in the cards. idk. seemed pretty pointless.
overall, though, this premiere had me cautiously optimistic for the season as a whole.
b-rank
3x02 "disengage"
this episode focuses on two characters who end up being much better than they should be thanks largely to acting.
in the case of jack it's mostly the acting of patrick stewart & gates mcfadden around him. like, that silent moment between them when she nonverbally confirms that jack is jean luc’s son is one of the all-time great moments of acting in the entire series. and as much as i fundamentally disagree with a lot of the writing around this entire story, mcfadden & stewart act their ASSES off throughout this story, and it makes the material seem a lot better than it actually is.
vadic is a character of incredible (and largely squandered) narrative promise who gets shuffled out of the way in favor of a much more boring late-season endgame. more on that last bit later. the show does give her plenty of opportunities to chew the heck out of the scenery in the meantime. despite being one of those always-frustrating examples of the writing on this show overpromising & underdelivering, vadic nevertheless manages to claim a spot as one of the most memorable star trek villains thanks to a truly incredible performance by amanda plummer.
lastly, i freaking LOVE the heroic introduction this episode gives worf. i literally pumped my fist and cheered.
b-rank
3x03 "seventeen seconds"
first of all, i just want to pause & acknowledge that it was really nice seeing riker in the center seat even if i really don’t like what the show decided to do with it.
frakes & picard act their asses off in this episode but i just don’t really buy the writing that got them to that point. like, it feels like the show really wanted both characters to have that Moment so they could get their epiphanies out of it in the next episode, but the moment itself fell very flat for me because i just didn’t believe in it.
much better was crusher’s argument with picard. i came into the argument fully behind picard in terms of “hey, not telling someone you had a kid with him is pretty fucked up, bev!” but after beverly explained her reasons i was fully able to see where she was coming from.
i still have a seriously hard time believing that crusher would have ghosted picard and all of her best friends who she went through so much with, but that’s kind of just the same exact baked-in problem that i have with this entire series. but i’ll come back to that when we get to the finale, i think.
the other big thing to mention here is that i don't love that this damn franchise found yet another excuse to reduce dr. crusher's personality to dr. mom. but at least she gets more juicy material to work with throughout the season for the most part.
i also think the changeling reveal ruled. like, at this point i was way more optimistic about the direction of the season. like, oh, changelings! we’re finally doing something that isn’t the borg! (… sigh. we’ll come back to it.)
c-rank
3x04 “no win scenario”
this episode has some great character writing, a great star trekky solution to a star trekky problem, and some blessed star trekky optimism. i wish i could say that the show was ever this good again.
shaw’s face turn starts here. his speech about having met picard before–at wolf 359–really changes our perceptions of him. he’s still dead wrong to blame picard for that, but it does certainly shed a new light on his immediate hostility towards picard. but turning that speech back on him and saying that he needs shaw’s help “even though [he’s] just an asshole from chicago” was a great moment for picard, and also a great moment in retrospect for shaw, because i think that’s the exact moment where he stopped being a hateable asshole and started his journey toward being Our loveable asshole.
the escape from the nebula (and the shrike) is a fist-pumpingly awesome scene. it’s the moment when i turned to my partners and said, “hey! they remembered to put some star trek in their star trek show!” probably the best moment of the whole series, tbh. and between that and how good the next episode is, i was actually just starting to have some hope for this damn show. sigh. to be continued.
a-rank
3x05 “imposters”
i’m going to be brief because my feelings about this are very simple.
i was NOT expecting to see ro laren again, or for the show to deliver such a resoundingly perfect conclusion to her story. this might very well be the best thing this show ever did, and i genuinely think that in spite of everything, it might make the whole rest of this damn show worth it.
a-rank
3x06 “the bounty”
transition episode. mind the loudly clanging pieces being noisily moved around the board.
shaw being a geordi fanboy was cute, though. and oh hey geordi works at a spacedock full of old starships, i’m sure that won’t have any future bearing on the plot or anything.
c-rank
3x07 “dominion”
vadic kicks ass at the “captured villain who wanted to be captured” scenery chewing, picard & beverly considering going against everything they’ve ever believed in & fought to uphold to execute her in cold blood was gross.
i’m very tired.
b-rank
3x08 “surrender”
data defeating lore by not fighting him fucking ruled. i hope the rest of the main characters in this stupid fucking show were taking notes.
riker & troi dumping on nepenthe really made me roll my eyes pretty hard, considering the episode of the same name was the best damn episode of this entire fucking show, and the idea of riker living out in the wilderness cooking pizza in his outdoor pizza oven made me so fucking happy. and riker & troi both seemed so happy & secure, their warmth really helped picard find his way through a dark moment in his life, and troi was treated with much more respect by that single episode than she is in an entire season of what was billed as essentially tng season 8. there are PLENTY of things about every season of this damn show that deserve to be harshed on and you pick the ONE THING that doesn’t? ffs.
and then vadic, the poorly-written but superbly-performed villain that made this whole damn show actually kinda work… just fucking dies??? with two episodes left to go?
uh-oh.
b-rank
3x09 “vox” & 3x10 “the last generation”
as soon as troi started probing jack’s mind to figure out what his secret was at the end of the last episode, i said, “it’s gonna be the borg.” as soon as this episode picked it back up, i said, “it’s gonna be the borg.” as soon as the vision started taking shape and deanna rushed out of the room in horror without further explanation, i said, “it’s gonna be the fucking borg, just like every other fucking thing on this stupid fucking show.”
it’s funny. i don’t like how serialized the storytelling is within the seasons of this show, but despite the storytelling being so damn serialized, the seasons themselves like actively go out of their way to just totally ignore everything that happened in previous seasons or else treat it like an inconvenience? when, isn’t the ONE benefit of serialized storytelling supposed to be that the story stays consistent?
like, i gotta tell you, i liked what the first season did with the borg the best out of any of the three. the entire focus on exbies was brilliant, and seven having to overcome all her fear & trauma to be willing to function temporarily as a queen was actually a better culmination of shit that happened in a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SHOW than this show handled any tng thing that wasn’t ro laren?
i was… somewhat ok with what the second season did with the borg mainly because it featured seven as an even more prominent player, and seemed like it would take the borg off the board for the final season, and while the season was mostly un-star trekky the fact that picard needed to trust this new version of the borg and make peace with them was actually genuinely pretty cool?
but then we just bring back the borg YET AGAIN, and just… WHY? what did this accomplish? how are we any better off than we were at the end of season 2?
and just… the version of the borg here are actually the MOST BORING version? like, they’re just what i guess the showrunners decided was a Big Enough threat to be a worthwhile reveal, and i’m just… So. Tired.
i did like a few things about this stupid fucking two-episode borg digression. probably chief among them was worf being all protective of riker because i will ship riker/worf until the day i’m cremated. i also liked the very last scene of the series where picard and his crew play poker together. but i think it’s just frustratingly appropriate given my big picture issues with this entire show that this whole three season misadventure led to us getting back to THE LAST SCENE OF STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION, you know, that perfectly good ending these characters had already had, an ending that was completely squandered by a show that decided that picard just forgot all the lessons he spent seven seasons learning.
i’m just so over it, man. i’m going to rank these last two episodes exactly what i would rate this series as a whole, and move on with my life.
BELATED but HERE WE ARE, MUCH LIKE THE DISCO.
So I've mentioned before how much I wish that disco had been a little more conventional with its enormous cast and leant on it a bit more. I feel we're getting that in season 3 - no stunt casting, no mythology-bait, the cast standing for themselves, unshackled from the awkward time period they were in. Now the disco can dance free.
We've essentially got the disco into a Voyager situation - they're a long way from home, a home they are unlikely to ever go back to. They're also in a future where they're essentially illegal, they're nearly 1000 years out of time, they're flying around in a ship that's rammed to the gills with antiques and the most valuable material in the galaxy; I want them to explore this. I want the disco to have problems. I want the disco to ask the big questions, do they try and go home? Or do they try and blend in? Does the crew split on ideological grounds? Are they going to lose people? Is Michael going to try and reform the federation single handedly? Or has she spent the last year basically in the honeymoon period of being able to relax for the first time in her life with a handsome man, a pet cat, and access to an excellent hairstylist??
I was kind of looking forward to a few more episodes of Michael being on her own, allowing the disco and her crew to shine a bit without having a protagonist. The background characters need the warmth of the narrative sun for a few more scenes. They can build up a character quickly if they want to. I worry the cast is just a little bloated (and they're adding someone else in episode 3 apparently).
I really want to love the bridge crew, but its hard since we know so little about them. In a show with more time, that was from a different, syndicated time, we'd have probably been able to have some interpersonal development. We'd be showing rather than telling character's personalities. The youth of the crew is interesting, the fact they're all there, they've gone to another universe, gone to the future, essentially died for the main characters motivations.
I watched the episode twice, and I'm very glad I did watch it the second time with subtitles on, because I didn't realise that Detmer seems to have become telepathic? She perceives Dr Pollard talking to her in her head and the subs say "telepathically" - which is good. Detmer has GREAT potential. They could do some GREAT things with her. Do they have the time to do so?
Anyway some smaller things:
Confused exactly why everyone's referring to Georgiou as Commander when 1. if she's still legally pretending to be this universe's Georgiou she'd be a captain and 2. since she obviously isn't, why starfleet gave her a commission when she's a bored egomaniac former emperor from ANOTHER UNIVERSE I just don't know, it seems like they've got the role of specialist for a reason, and that reason is keeping the madwoman away from the chain of command. We know how it went last time.
(Also does her being in the 31st century mean they've discarded the Section 31 series idea? I want to believe her comment of "that's where fun goes to die" puts paid to that idea, but idk. I think with the Pike series and the Janewayish series, they might have abandoned it. Which is good, however much it would mean my boy Ash coming back, S31 are a difficult and contentious part of star trek that we could all do with forgetting about for a bit.)
They really, really need to vote Saru in as permanent captain asap because he is great, really really great.
Reno is the best thing that happened to Stamets, which as Hugh is also back and adorable is saying something, but she's SO perfect, I love her so much.
Finally, unrelated to episode 2, apparently in episode 1 there is a Cardassian, but I rewatched it and could not find said Cardassian, so what I want from episode 3 is a cardassian please.
Like an old stone wall that’ll never fall, some things are always true, some things never change, like how I’m holding on tight to you. // Frozen II Soundtrack
And that’s a wrap on Whumptober2020!!!! It’s been another fantastic year and even though my original plans went a little askew I’m still really happy I managed to put together 31 gifsets for this years celebration! I hope you all enjoyed them!
Thanks for a great year @whumptober2020!!! and for the cool badges too :)
All my gifsets can be found under the tag #whumptober+2020
Masterlist:
Day 1: Let’s Hang Out Sometime - Merlin (BBC) 4x06
Day 2: In The Hands Of The Enemy - Game of Thrones 2x07
Day 3: My Way Or The Highway - The Eagle (2011)
Day 4: Running Out Of Time - Grimm 1x12
Day 5: Where Do You Think You’re Going? - Outlander 4x06
Day 6: Alternate No. 4: Stitches - Graceland 1x10
Day 7: I’ve Got You - Graceland 3x08
Day 8: Where Did Everybody Go? - Stargate SG1 5x06
Day 9: For The Greater Good - The Mentalist 7x10
Day 10: They Look So Pretty When They Bleed - Burn Notice 3x01
Day 11: Psych 101 - Prodigal Son 1x01
Day 12: I Think I’ve Broken Something - X-Men Apocalypse
Day 13: Breathe In, Breathe Out - Graceland 2x13
Day 14: Is There Something Burning? - The Greatest Showman
Day 15: Into The Unknown - Legends of Tomorrow 4x13
Day 16: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Burn Notice 7x07
Day 17: I Did Not See This Coming - Arrow 1x13
Day 18: Panic At The Disco - Supergirl 3x02
Day 19: Broken Hearts - Legends of Tomorrow 2x14
Day 20: Toto, I Have A Feeling We’re Not In Kansas Anymore - Stargate Atlantis 5x06
Day 21: I Don’t Feel So Well - Manifest 1x12
Day 22: Do These Tacos Taste Funny To You? - Graceland 3x08
Day 23: Alternate No. 2: Falling - MacGyver 5x21
Day 24: You’re Not Making Any Sense - Legend of the Seeker 2x22
Day 25: I Think I’ll Just Collapse Right Here, Thanks - Graceland 1x09
Day 26: If You Thought The Head Trauma Was Bad... - Grimm 4x02
Day 27: Okay Who Had Natural Disasters on Their 2020 Bingo Card? - The O.C. 4x15
Day 28: Such Wow, Many Normal, Very Oops - NCIS 3x16
Day 29: I Think I Need A Doctor - Saving Hope 1x01
Day 30: Now Where Did That Come From? - Outlander 2x10
Eliot doesn’t care that no one bothers to respond to him once the mission’s over. He’s out of the office, he got to take his frustrations out with a few deserving human punching bags, and he’s fine. Let them have their fun… he had his. This is what he does. He doesn’t need all that.
He definitely doesn’t need to keep dwelling on how he heard Hardison ask Parker to dance before he pulled the com out of his ear and went back to Nate’s. He had plenty of those moments of his own back in actual high school, let the nerds have theirs now if they want. Whatever.
The problem is: the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that they were never moments he cared about. Even now, names and faces and, well, other assets, blended together in his memory, not worthy of any real distinction. Much like every other aspect of his life, it was always about the challenge, about the conquest, and then moving on. It never meant anything.
He definitely doesn’t need to dwell on the implications of that line of thinking, that if he were there with Parker or Hardison it would’ve meant something.
Half of a six-pack later, Hardison and Parker get back first.
“Where are Their Royal Highnesses?” Eliot asks, eyebrow raised when Hardison closes the door behind him.
“Couldn’t pull them away from their adoring fans,” Hardison quips. “So we left them for a few extra dances. Something tells me they didn’t even notice.”
Eliot lets out a ‘humpf’ sort of noise, because Nate and Sophie aren’t the only ones wrapped up in themselves tonight. Parker and Hardison haven’t stopped sharing these quick, knowing glances since they walked in, and even though it’s barely been a full minute Eliot’s had more than enough of it.
Grabbing the handle of the six-pack to take his last 3 beers with him, he’s surprised to feel Parker’s hand reach out with a firm grip around his wrist. “Thought you were going to show us how it’s done, Mr. ‘I’m The One Who Went to School Dances’?” she says.
“What?” Eliot asks, tensing instinctively when the lights dim, only for an almost disco-ball effect to project from the television screens on the wall accompanied by the opening chords of a slow rock ballad.
“You aren’t getting out of dancing with us that easily,” Hardison elaborates. Parker’s already leading Eliot by the wrist, which she still hasn’t let go of, over to where Hardison stands waiting expectantly.
“Us?” Eliot repeats, eyebrow raised.
“Well, on the way back we argued over which one of us would get to dance with you, and I won, but I also accidentally made Hardison cry so I felt bad and we agreed we’d just all dance together.”
“I did not-” Hardison starts, but one narrow-eyed glare from Parker has his lips snapping shut instead.
Hardison slides his right arm behind Parker’s back and holds his left hand out for Eliot to take. Parker holds her right hand out to do the same, and Eliot just stands there looking between them as if this must be some sort of joke.
“I don’t need your pity dance,” Eliot says, unable to find it in himself to feel anything other than defensive. That had to be it. He knows he made a few comments over the comms about no one checking in on him but he meant for them to sound sarcastic… maybe more of his actual disappointment bled through than he thought.
He knows he doesn’t quite fit in here. Nate and Sophie have their cat and mouse game history. Hardison and Parker have their secret spy stuff, with covert hacking and undetectable break-ins. All he has is violence and a short fuse. He’s the muscle, and if they didn’t need him he would’ve been gone a long time ago. He’s fine with it. Really. He doesn’t need this. He doesn’t even want it.
Except that doesn’t explain the way his heartbeat rises more staring down Hardison and Parker than it had fighting off guys twice his size earlier.
“I don’t pity anyone,” Parker says, motioning more exaggeratedly with her hand now, shoving it forcefully in his direction to take. “It’s the three of us. Always. Out there, in here. Doesn’t matter.”
The way Parker says it is the way Parker says anything - blunt and honest, which is the only reason why Eliot doesn’t doubt her words. It’s the reason instead of going back to his beer Eliot shrugs off the gray hoodie he still has on so that he’s left with just a tan flannel and his red-orange undershirt for better mobility before holding his hands out to take Hardison and Parker’s.
There’s a slight frown on his face at the immediate realization that his hands, rough and calloused, are such a stark contrast to the smooth, soft skin of the ones holding them… but even Eliot can’t frown for long when he looks up to see Hardison grinning like a damn fool and Parker giving that excited little half-smile he normally only sees her with before she’s about to jump off a building.
Without another word, they’re moving, perfectly in sync from the first step, in a three-person waltz that shouldn’t work as well as it does.
It’s perfect. Which is why he has to say something and ruin it, before something else does, not trusting the moment to last.
“This is a little ridiculous,” he points out. “No one waltzes at school dances.”
“Oh? Would you prefer something else?” Hardison asks, dropping Eliot’s hand. For a second Eliot is convinced that he did exactly what he set out to do - kept the people he cares about at arm’s length - and is surprised at the immediate disappointment he feels at succeeding. A moment later Hardison brings his hand back up to grab Parker’s, stepping closer so that Eliot is now sandwiched between them, Parker pressed against his chest, Hardison against his back.
They’re a comforting weight on all sides of him as they slow in pace down to a gentle sway back and forth. The knot in Eliot’s stomach over the assumption that he fucked everything up dissolves as quickly as it formed.
“Better?” Parker asks, her eyes searching his face to read his reaction, to make sure that it’s honest. He knows that if it isn’t, if he really wants to push them away and end this - whatever this is - he could do it and she’d let him. One hint that he doesn’t want this and she’s gone. They both are.
It’s tempting. Old habits die hard and this job would be a hell of a lot easier to do if he didn’t let himself get too attached in ways he shouldn’t be… then Hardison leans his head down just enough to rest his cheek against the back of Eliot’s head while they sway and the little stutter Eliot’s heart does tells him it’s a bit late for keeping himself in check as far as attachments go.
“Better,” Eliot agrees.
In fact, when Parker tilts her head to rest her cheek on Eliot’s shoulder, the three of them moving just a little bit closer in the process, Eliot might grudgingly admit to himself it’s the best he’s felt in a long time.
the first character i ever fell in love with: prime georgiou
a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: don’t really have one, but the opposite would definitely apply to stamets, he’s really grown on me
a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: i used to love milippa because ✨ mommy issues ✨ but now i’ve chilled out about it and just adore their dynamic for whatever it is lmao
my ultimate favorite character™: mirror georgiou
prettiest character: michael!!
my most hated character: don’t have one
my OTP: like with most other treks i’m not actually massively invested in any of the (canon) ships though i do like culber/stamets
my NOTP: i mean… just the concept of mirror michael/lorca was enough to make me wanna die
favorite episode: 3x02 far from home or 2x13 such sweet sorrow
saddest death: i guess i can’t say mirror georgiou so probably prime georgiou? most of the other characters who get killed off aren’t developed enough beforehand for me to care. i loved katrina cornwell but her death felt real and almost necessary enough that i wasn’t devastated (but i do miss her a lot! especially as i rewatch!)
favorite season: 2 (or 3 if i squint)
least favorite season: 1
character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: i genuinely didn’t care for stamets until this season but i wouldn’t go so far as to say i hated him
my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: nah don’t have one
my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: michael. she deserves a break.
my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: don’t really have one?
my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: i do ship burnham/booker and think they’re cute and i like that michael is finally in a happy healthy relationship but i’m not wildly invested in them as a couple?
What do you think are the best Jackie and Hyde moments/episodes? It’s been a while since I’ve seen the show and I just found out it’s going to be taken off Netflix like, tomorrow, so I wanna catch the highlight reel before it’s gone since Jackie and Hyde were the best things about the show to me 😂 Also I just love all your writing!! So much content to binge~
First, thank you! ❤️
Onto the episodes.
Season 1
“Prom Night” (1x19)
Season 2
“Halloween” (2x05)
“Vanstock” (2x06)
“Kiss of Death” (2x20) -- just for the scene at the end.
“Kelso’s Serenade” (2x21)
“Cat Fight Club” (2x25)
“Moon Over Point Place” (2x26)
Season 3
“Reefer Madness” (3x01)
“Red Sees Red” (3x02)
“Roller Disco” (3x05)
“Baby Fever” (3x07)
“Jackie Bags Hyde” (3x08)
Season 4 (mostly for their cute background and unintentional Zennie moments)
“An Eric Forman Christmas” (4x12)
“Jackie Says Cheese” (4x13)
“Class Picture” (4x20)|
“Hyde’s Birthday” (4x23)
Season 5
The whole season (despite the pain at the end of it).
Season 6
“The Kids Are Alright” (6x01)
“Join Together” (6x02)
“Magic Bus” (6x03)
“The Acid Queen” (6x04)
“I’m Free” (6x05)
“Christmas” (6x07)
“I’m a Boy” (6x08)
“I Can See for Miles” (6x11)
“Do You Think It’s Alright?” (6x18)
“Sparks” (6x22 -- for one sweet scene between them
Season 7
“Let’s Spend the Night Together” (7x02)
“I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” (7x03)
“Beast of Burden” (7x04)
“It’s Only Rock and Roll” (7x05)
"Rip This Joint” (7x06)
“Mother’s Little Helper” (7x07)
“Angie” (7x08)
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (7x09)
“Surprise, Surprise” (7x10)
“Down the Road Apiece” (7x17) -- the way they reconcile is crap, but at least they reconcile.
“Oh, Baby” (We Got a Good Thing Goin’“ (7x18)