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biblioflyer · 1 year

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How Picard should end.

The very probable end of The Next Generation is coming and with it the beginning of the end of the first phase of the revival of Star Trek that began with Discovery. Here's what I'm thinking about.

As I write this, the final episodes of Season Three, the series, and perhaps even this sub-franchise are coming into view. I refer to it as a sub-franchise because I think that Picard as a series has a storytelling approach and a set of themes that it has explored that overlap with Discovery but also has its own identity.

Because of the age of many of the principal characters, there has been a strong theme of having to adjust with grace and empathy to a world radically changed from what was normal and comfortable to you, having to acknowledge your complicity in the faults you find in this world, and of repairing relationships that have been harmed.

Immersing myself in where Picard has been as a series, even just the first four episodes to date, has given me a strong sense of what it is that Picard is about and thus some strong, but not pugnaciously held opinions on how it should end. The failure to do any of the following will not “ruin” the series for me, although the alternatives better be really well done.

For the first time of the CBS era, I actually really feel strongly that my own aesthetics could be defied and I will still really enjoy the outcome. For example I despise the trope that Jack Crusher represents but the trope has been so superbly executed that I’m almost annoyed at how completely I’m in his corner.

Speaking of Jack Crusher….

I would strongly prefer he not be written off as a space god or killed. For one, this is just Wesley’s arc duplicated. For two, while “NuTrek” is doing a great job at moderating the setting’s default posture that transhumanism is bad, it feels too cliche and even cheap in a way for him to vanish into the aether. Let him live, as a mortal, trying to do right by all of the people who fought and died for him not because he was a space god, but because it was right.

We’ve had three seasons of intense focus on the deeds of mortal and fallible individuals struggling to know what is right in a morally complicated universe, taking huge risks, and even sacrificing stability, family, love, peace, sobriety, and even their own lives: don’t end this with space magic. Don’t do another “space magic makes it all better so nobody really ever had skin in the game” ending.

Speaking of Wesley, having the two meet would provide a nice bit of closure for Beverly. It would bookend nicely with her line about already having lost one son to the same stars that call Jean luc.

Seven of Nine & Raffi

On again or off again, just pick a lane and make them handle it like adults.

As I’ve said before, I see two equally valid paths for Seven assuming it's handled properly. Seven can remain in Starfleet, her acceptance earned and her merits recognized by all but especially by Shaw. Ideally were this to be the case, I think I would like to see her take up Picard’s mantle of mentor to misfits.

There isn’t a character who is better positioned narratively in this series to become the person who sees something in people that others don’t and can find ways to take the round hole that is Starfleet and make it a square hole for the people who need it.

Or she can walk away and reclaim her full autonomy. Go back to the Fenris Rangers or go into Starfleet Intelligence.

As for Raffi, the past two seasons have intensely focused on the work the character was doing to first recover from addiction and then reclaim her mental health and with that the ability to have relationships without either her need to chase mysteries or the desire for control alienating those around her. It's time for Raffi’s work to be seen by others and to be supported.

In the first season it was entirely fair for her son to refuse contact: she was too much a creature of her substance abuse and her obsessiveness. Now? Cut her some slack and let her show that she’s mastered the thing that makes her the hero no one is prepared to recognize that they need until it's too late but also makes her the villain in her own life.

I would merrily support a Worf & Raffi spy action buddy cop series. Seven, Jack, Laris, and anyone else unaccounted for who is not really a good fit for traditional ship service can come too if they want. A Star Trek answer to Firefly or The Expanse would be incredibly fascinating with good writing. Given the way Star Trek Picard has been critiquing the limits of institutional power in dealing with the unknown or morally complicated situations, I think the time is right.

Perhaps this could be the Section 31 series instead of a 23rd century era one. Just have the Guardian of Forever send Georgiou to where she’s needed rather than where she belongs. She’d be a great foil for Zen Worf and the morally flexible but not that morally flexible Raffi.

Section 31 are bad guys, full stop.

Speaking of Section 31, either confirm that Section 31 has been disbanded and formally disavowed or that it had its Church Committee hearings and been folded back into Starfleet Intelligence with strong oversight and strong guard rails. Putting Worf and Raffi front and center in it would afford an opportunity to show that it is possible to address existential threats to the Federation without genocide or the intervention of space gods.

It's really only been after seeing Discovery recycle the same deus ex ending, only worse, that I have come to realize that the way Deep Space Nine finished the Dominion War arc really, really rubs me the wrong way. My list of things that I think are completely antithetical to the core assumptions of Star Trek is not long, but the Federation being saved not once, but twice by attempted genocide is definitely on that list.

Don’t get me wrong, Deep Space Nine is probably the most overall well executed series from the point of view of nearly every aspect of the show being consistently competent, but falling back on Section 31 to save the Federation? Not a fan of that.

Romance

I am not on the Bev/JL train. It had its time. For all the ways that Star Trek Picard has been in conversation with critiques of TNG’s very 1990s “end of history” worldview, one thing that was superbly managed was the idea that Beverly and Jean luc could try out a romance, realize it doesn’t work, and then be content with a strong bond that doesn’t need to express itself romantically. It was incredibly, shockingly mature for a 1990s drama.

This show did not kill off Zhabon and an ancestor of Laris for Laris to be killed off or to politely step aside.

Maybe Bev is happy being unpartnered. How about them apples? Maybe a senior woman is perfectly self actualized on her own and can take or leave romance.

This is probably one of the looming plot resolutions I am the most likely to be actually angered by if it doesn’t go the way I would prefer and it isn’t handled extremely well.

Once again, do not fridge Laris to make room for Beverly.

That would easily make my list of the top five most appalling creative decisions of this show and this is coming from someone who has invested quite a bit of effort into defending and rationalizing its other controversial decisions. Having her step aside with her life and dignity is less distasteful but still frustrating.

The Federation and Shaw

Follow through with the overall theme from season one that institutions solve big problems but rules are not there to follow mindlessly. Conscience matters as does doing the right thing even when you are fearful.

It may not be fair to ask 500 people to risk their lives for four people who have deliberately chosen to put themselves in harm’s way on a fool’s errand, but then when does it become fair? Does it have to be 501 lives on the line to be worth 500? How morally virtuous do the victims need to be?

Smaller, more nimble actors don’t have to make these trades. The Mugato in the room is the Maquis. They could easily have provoked war but they did also provide a means by which Federation citizens who wanted their autonomy could contest Cardassian oppression without exposing the Federation to the specter of war if the Federation failed to ensure their well being.

Also when and if a bad call is made out of anger, fear, or incomplete knowledge of the situation, how the consequences of that decision are addressed matter.

The Federation abandoned the Romulans. As did Picard himself. Picard accepted responsibility in Season One. The Federation extended its protection over Maddox & Soong’s Synth colony but there’s no mention of any peacekeeping or humanitarian efforts for Romulans who have rejected “the old ways.”

Finally, Shaw has his reasons and this series has been nothing if not incredibly nuanced in how it invokes trauma and uses it in a way to explain but not justify the behavior of characters. A theme I have thought about a lot in the context of Captain Marvel is the way that coping mechanisms for trauma often encourage self reliance and aloofness to the extreme. In Shaw’s own words “at some point asshole became a substitute for charm.” I would argue that the final stage of healing would be to become a team player who is capable of forging authentic relationships built on mutual trust and respect.

Now I do think this is coming in the form of a sincere working relationship with Seven but I would prefer it be extended beyond Seven. For Shaw to accept Seven as Seven is a good start but everyone is capable of accepting “one of the good ones.” Some sort of broader recognition that it's on him to swallow his terror and rage, it's not on every single XB to prove they’re not going to assimilate him.

Other characters / elements

BBEG: (Big Bad Evil Guy) I don’t know that I’m necessarily hoping for anything or anyone in particular. Armus would be cool. He’s one of the last entities on the board with an axe to grind who could conceivably be a credible menace to Changelings and shares some of their mercurial nature.

The alien parasites would be neat as well. That that has long gone unresolved is a longstanding gripe but I feel like the time may have passed. Thematically the Changelings have more or less eaten their lunch when it comes to replacing people and intricate conspiracies. At this point, I think it would be just as well to retcon the infiltrators as having been an early effort by the Changelings to infiltrate other societies without exposing themselves to danger. The Founders certainly have the genetic engineering acumen to design a parasite species.

Elnor: at least mention him as existing, if not give the character some proper closure. Show him thriving in Starfleet and having a good relationship with Picard and Raffi as mentors and surrogate parents, explicitly connect Picard’s experiences with Elnor as a child and his effort to repair his relationship with Elnor as having been a practice run for Jack and the recognition that Jean luc would not have been his father as a parent.

Or show him choosing to leave Starfleet for the Rangers or even just to lead a quiet life of study and meditation. That’s cool too.

Jiurati: if the big bad is the Borg or related to them somehow, it would be cool to see Jiurati’s faction sweep in to help defeat them. Otherwise maybe one more reference would be nice.

The Admiral Janeway cameo is long overdue.

It would be nice for Worf to mention Alexander and Jadzia. Perhaps in the context of giving advice to Raffi on love, life, pursuing rapprochement after being an absentee parent, and living with the knowledge that your life choices place partners in existential danger. It would be a great way to cement their dualistic role this season rather than having Raffi be Worf’s sidekick.

Don’t fridge Tuvok. Find him safely.

Oh yeah, there's also JL himself.

We don't need to have Picard die on screen (again.) As far as I'm concerned Logan is all I'll ever need for Patrick Stewart death scenes. Its just too hard to contemplate. I consider the character of Picard to be a father figure and I'd kind of just prefer that he gets to be happy. I'd like for him to get good with Elnor and Jack.

"I tried so very hard to belong to this place."

Maybe pass the vineyard on as a national park that is Picard in name only. We all know his real home is in the stars. Putting him to work leading a Romulan humanitarian NGO that relies on his Starfleet contacts and credibility is I think the perfect bookend to how the series began with his despair over the Federation's failure and the ongoing interrogation of whether Starfleet is the only legitimate or appropriate entity for solving problems in the universe.

#star trek picard #picard season 3 #predictions #picard finale #series wishlists #dystopia #star trek ethics

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fangirling-and-lovin-it · 1 year

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I'm not crying I just have some dilithium in my eye

#picard season three #picard spoilers #star trek tng #star trek picard #Picard finale

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defaultnaming · 1 year

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I don't know if this is just me reading too much into things but there was something really icky about picard's speech to jack on the cube basically saying he was incomplete without fatherhood. It's genuinely a cool motivator (though bev should've been the one on the cube instead but they hate mums ig just sayin) and some characters definitely have it (AGAIN.... BEVERLY), but the reason it felt uncomfortable for me was that picard was a career man. As in, no family, no thank you sort of career man. Anytime we see the fantasy of a bio family is when he is being crushed by the resposibility of the picard family name (see nexus only after his bro dies) and it's quite clear he doesn't like children. Again the very first ep of tng defines this part of a character for him.

I'm not saying people don't change, they do and should. What I am saying is that it sends an uneasy message to those (like me) who may see picard choosing to his life accomplishments and value elsewhere as a positive model in fiction (you don't need to define yourslef by what you have the potential to create) by going "look that didn't matter or it wasn't as valuable because having children was always the missing piece, you should have a child to truly 'complete' you even if it goes against who you are as a person because that's what truly matters in the human experience".

Another thing this scene does as well is basically imply you have to accept your child's scumbag actions because "child" and "love" reasons I guess. Jack, by all narrative cues, willing submits to the borg knowing what that would do. Threw a tantrum and hopped on the cybernetic fascism train to kill and enslave other people. Willingly joined the collective that he knows has traumatised his family nevermind anyone else. The narrative, you would expect, would be picard AT LEAST getting jack to see what he has done wrong, that he has hurt others, the people he loves. NOT coddle him with platitudes of love and emotion to change him that again we see narratively he is not wanting for (again, stop ignoring mums). It all lends to this horrible message that you accept your child, that you never wanted, in ABSOLUTE, even if their actions against you and others are unforgivable and that truly is an outdated concept we need to escape from.

It's a sigular issue amongst many in picard s3 that leads to a sense of abandonment of nuance for the sake of nostalgia even at the cost of the characters you love. This series felt 2d in its character paths and that scene in the final ep really encapsulated it for me.

#picard spoilers #boy...that was long #star trek picard spoilers #jean luc picard #star trek picard #picard s3 #picard season three #picard season 3 #captain picard #jack crusher #borg #picard finale

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spiderh0rse · 1 year

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I have just watched the final episode of Picard. I find myself incredibly underwhelmed. The most excited I was the entire episode was at Picard plugging himself into what remained of the Collective. The comment about Jack having to choose to leave is a bit silly, but the portrayal of the Collective was at least somewhat similar to how Discovery plays it? Jack's description of the Collective was a bit lackluster. Sure, he's happy, but is that all? He's not lonely- but he's still just Jack? If there's individuality within the Colelctive it's hardly a collective at all?

I'm. Saddened by the destruction of the cube. I'm glad Janeway had an impact, she deserved for her virus to be successful to a point, but this feels a bit ridiculous. All of the Borg? All of them but this Cube, Jurati, and whatever that Discovery Cube was? (and that drone in Lower Decks, distant future. there's hope.)

jack is. such a dull chatracter. he feels generic and too headstrong, not a good foil or bridge officer to go with Seven in whatever they eventually make off of that situation, it doesn't make sense for him to have to chose to leave the collective at all? "he'll go into shock" my ass, other drones get foribly removed and function. what's so special about him, huh? director's favour?

I'm not thinking too clearly on this. I'm just mad.

#picard series #picard finale #picard series spoilers #picard spoilers

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kulturado · 6 months

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The Story: ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Finale Review: To Not So Boldly Go Backwards

The Writer: Dylan Roth

#picard #jean luc picard #tv #star trek #reviews #tv reviews #observer #dylan roth #patrick stewart #picard finale

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nameofjones · 1 year

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Best of Both Scores

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I re-scored scenes from the series finale of Star Trek: Picard using a piece from the Next Generation episode “The Best of Both Worlds” and a piece from the Picard episode “Disengage.”

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specialagentartemis · 1 year

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Genuinely: For people who are angry and frustrated at the limited number of movies and shows available for streaming, at the way streaming services pull or cancel movies and shows at will, at the way every media corporation under the sun is pulling their stuff onto their own streaming service and balkanizing access to things behind a dozen different monthly subscriptions? For people who miss Blockbuster and want to be able to just rent a DVD again?

See if your local library has a DVD collection.

If I want to watch The Mummy (1999) with Brendan Fraser? I can't stream it on Netflix, but I can borrow it from my local library.

If I want to watch The Mummy (1932) with Boris Karloff? I can't stream that pretty much anywhere, but I can borrow it from my local library.

I want to watch Star Wars or Iron Man or my favorite Disney movie but I refuse to sell my soul to pay for Disney+? I can borrow these from my local library.

Do I want to finish watching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 or check out Star Trek: Picard but resent that it's all on yet another streaming service I don't want? I can borrow season box sets of DVDs from my local library!

Obviously, available circulating collections vary a lot between library systems. (My hometown's library has all of Star Trek DS9 on DVD, for example, but my college town's library only has TOS, Picard, and Discovery.) And of course it depends on whether things are released in physical media form at all, and you won't be able to keep up with new episodes of new series - it takes a while for many things to come out on DVD.

But there can be a lot of good stuff there too. For example, I missed Nope in theaters, but I still really want to see it. So I have it on hold from my local library. I'm 73rd in line on 50 copies, so it'll be a while.

So check to see what DVD collections your library does have - it might surprise you what you can get access to, for free, in a manner that no greedy corporation can yank away.

And by checking out DVDs, you are telling the library that you use and want them to maintain and grow their AV media collection. Which is an encouragement we could really use these days.

#I'm actually sorta shocked that Picard and Disco and even Lower Decks are being released on DVD #this might actually get me to finally watch Lower Decks #... if I can get access to a DVD player #Which is like. the other problem #I don't have one in my grad school apartment #libraries #physical media #streaming #support your local library

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trekkie-polls · 1 month

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For bonus points share one thing you wish would have happened in that extra season

Edit: So many comments about Prodigy not being on here! Well, I am a Prodigy fan too. But I left it off because last I heard Netflix picked it up. Now I don’t have faith it will happen, but nonetheless there is at least one more season planned and maybe more.

On the other hand, even though the last seasons of discovery & lower decks haven’t finished airing, they both have planned end dates.