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Finally watched the last episode of Picard
Okay, first off, this show had a pacing problem as bad as Discovery did in the first season. The first half of the episodes really took their time, which wasn't necessarily bad, but then the last few seemed super rushed, shoving into three episodes what would have taken at least a season on one of the old-school shows. I think it's this pacing problem that robbed the show of its emotional impact. We just didn't have enough time to get to know these characters and their relationships to each other. All the feelings I had about this show were really feelings I had about TNG--they were feelings about Picard and Data and Riker and Troi. (And okay, also Seven of Nine, though I've never actually watched Voyager. But I love her anyway.)
And all the thematic episodes of that last episode were just exactly right. Picard wanting humanity's children to learn by example and his willingness to offer his own life. The whole thing coming down to choices not to resort to violence but to trust each other and hope. That's what Trek is at its best, and it was here.
And yet it didn't feel earned. I appreciated the beats of the plot on an intellectual level, but I was not moved by them at all. I'm not going to remember this show and think about it as time passes. I enjoyed some aspects of it, but it just didn't work as a show, and that's why even the super Treky inspirational stuff at the end didn't work.
And I actually think it was the wrong decision to have Picard come back in his new synthetic body. I know they did that so that they can have more seasons if they want, but it was the wrong decision. The whole season set up his death perfectly and him dying--by his own choice--protecting a first contact species was just right. I don't like that they undermined that, had everybody weep and wail, then brought him back. It felt cheap.
The feelings I actually did manage to have were about Picard and Data and "a small but statistically significant part of [his] memories." Seeing Riker and Troi happy with kids and Riker and Starfleet show up at the end (with the music!) to defend the synths. Also all the Seven of Nine stuff.
But even though I liked some of the new characters, they left no real impression on me. Which is such a shame, because I feel like this story (and the cast) had real potential. Was it just because the season was too short? I don't know, but I don't think this show is going to be beloved in memory as much of Trek is. Or at least not in my memory. It had some good scenes, some great lines, and, on paper, the themes were just right. And yet it didn't do much for me.
Now when is Disco coming back?
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Like you said, the emotional impact wasn't really there, because we didn't have enough time to get emotionally involved with these characters. In many cases, I felt they were there just to make cameos. I might be biased, because I wanted to see more of them, especially Seven of Nine and Hugh. (I also love Seven SO MUCH).
I know that ST is always about making choices, and about the idea of hope and trust and dialogue versus violence. But this time, it felt a bit patronising to me. Maybe I watched it at the wrong time, I don't know, but the "Trekspiration" also didn't really work for me.
THIS! SO MUCH THIS! They tried to sell us the whole "dying is better than living forever because it makes you appreciate life more" (which I side-eye a lot, because it sounds a lot like "humans are better than synths") and then they basically make a human come back from death? I know that it's ST and weirder things have happened, but I also didn't think it was a good call. Because what does it mean, then? Are synths only OK in small doses, in ways we can control them? Or in ways that help humans, but not as lifeforms themselves?
Anyway, I agree with everything you wrote. And I also want the new season of Discovery NOW! :)
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because I wanted to see more of them, especially Seven of Nine and Hugh.
SAME. There could have been a whole season about rehabilitating the Borg! I would watch that show!
They tried to sell us the whole "dying is better than living forever because it makes you appreciate life more" (which I side-eye a lot, because it sounds a lot like "humans are better than synths") and then they basically make a human come back from death? I know that it's ST and weirder things have happened, but I also didn't think it was a good call. Because what does it mean, then? Are synths only OK in small doses, in ways we can control them? Or in ways that help humans, but not as lifeforms themselves?
Agreed. I also don't really agree that life is only precious because it's short. I don't think it would be any less precious if we lived for two hundred years or a thousand years.
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I would also watch a whole series about the ex Borgs. I imagine that there could be a lot of room there for complex character development!
And I definitely think that mortality is not the only way to measure the importance of life. Otherwise, the idea of synths' lives not being as important would always be there, in the background. Because if they can't die, are they alive? (I think they are, but many synth/AI storylines are about them not being "lifeforms", so I'm always wary.)
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Me too!
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I feel like there were so many plotlines introduced as background on Picard that could have made fantastic shows in themselves. There was so much there, but none of it got fully explored!