Mike86

Synopsis:
Picard and Soji transport to the planet Nepenthe, home to some old and trusted friends. As the rest of the La Sierna crew attempt to join them, Picard helps Soji make sense of her recently unlocked memories. Meanwhile, Hugh and Elnor are left on the Borg cube and must face an angered Narissa.

Why So Blu?

Another great episode!

Also, as far as next week's episode -- looks like the theory (at least the one my friend has) may be coming true.

Deftones

And that theory is?

brayzie

Episode got me in the feels. It felt very cinematic, and like I said before, feels like the TNG movies we never got.

I liked
-Kestra. I thought they arrived on some Lord of the Flies planet but nope. Nice fake out. Kestra ended up being endearing and I liked her interaction with Soji.
-Riker’s family. I liked the details, like the back story on Thad and all the nuances. Great writing.
-Rios is a likable addition to ST. I thought he was testing Jurati, but he really thinks it’s Raffi.
-Raffi sometimes gets on my nerves as she’s written/portrayed, but I really like the actress and the more casual style of speaking and acting she brings to a TNG spin-off.
-Troi was great and I liked how they gave her more character.
-Soji’s connection to Data makes me like the character and this new development more.
-Elnor action scenes were great as usual. It’s getting believable that swords can take out groups of people armed with phasers.
-I like the Romulans interacting with each other, speaking their own language and what not. Zhat Vash vs Quam Kuat.

What I didn’t like
-the stupid sunglasses. It’s just a lazy, cheesy way to convey intimidation because probably the actress couldn’t do it alone with her look and delivery. But I guess it paid off for when she did take them off to reveal the severity of her mission.
-the prophecy of an apocalyptic future is extremely played out. We have to prevent Judgment Day/stop Skynet!
-Picard getting chastised once again. It also seemed forced to have him say something so insensitive to Soji, just so Troi could give him a dressing down. This “be the Captain we remember” line is getting old. He already is that captain! He’s saving Data’s daughter and uncovering a Romulan plot! No one else was doing shit.
-Getting back to Hugh and his dialogue delivery of his plan was really cheesy and felt like they were parodying cliched dialogue. You know he was going to die once he spells out his entire plan. His dying last words were typical trope stuff.
-How coincidental that Thad’s death is tied to synthetic rights.
-So Picard is wanting to help Data's daughter, but mostly he's doing it because he feels alive again and it gives him purpose? And nothing, not even Soji can stop him? Sounds kind of selfish. I guess that's going to be his arc. He forgot who he was like Simba did, and now it's Soji who's going to make him remember who he was.
-If Bruce Maddox constructed Dahj and Soji using DNA from Data, doesn't that mean they have two dads? Shouldn't Picard and them also mention to Soji her other father? I guess that'll be revealed when she gets to her homeworld, but it seems odd omission for now.

Why So Blu?

milo bloom

Absolutely beautiful to see Riker and Troi again, and keeping Picard in line. And their daughter was a delight. Seriously one of the best parts of the entire show.

DJariya

I haven't commented on Picard since the 2nd episode. But, I wanted to say this was a really good episode. It was really good to see Riker and Troi again. I really felt the chemistry between Stewart, Sirtis and Frakes again after all these years.

I watched the Ready Room afterwards and Frakes said he wasn't originally hired to act in the show. He was initially only booked to direct 2 episodes and the acting role came later on.

Sad to see Hugh die.

I was a little confused about the episode from 2 weeks ago. Why did Agnes kill Maddox? Was it based off the order given to her from Commander Oh and after the vision she saw in this episode?

PatD

So, Hugh and Bruce Maddox both die on this series? At least they're not going to have Dr. Crusher killed off retroactively--right? RIGHT?

lisadoris

That was my assumption.

mphtrilogy

Another really good ep, this show continues to be a real pleasure to revisit some of these old friends....

Shannon Nutt

Agreed, which made this my favorite episode of the entire run. See guys, it's not about slow-moving (which can be said of this episode), it's about characterization and solid acting. Jonathan Frakes was a much-needed burst of energy for this series...he's SO good as Riker. I hope this isn't the last we see of him (although I'm sure it's the last for this season). It's hard to watch this episode and not think how much better this season would have been if Riker and Troi were along for the entire ride.

Lifepawn

My only complaint with this episode is after Troi says to pretend the dinner table is the old Ready Room that Riker didn't hurdle his chair to sit in it.

Giantrobo

That was a good ep. Lotsa feels.

cowtown

Good episode with two quibbles that no doubt make me a pedant.

1) The extra from the Tolkien movie, the guy with the sword: he bonded to Picard's cause, vowed to protect Picard, but then said "nahh, go on without me, I'll help out Hugh from now on." Huh? Are lost causes transferrable?

2) Why are they using an undisguised 2018 3d printer as a prop? The "replicator" used to make the coma medication - it still has the filament, servos, everything.... But it talks and synthesizes medicine. I get that budgets are not unlimited, but this took me out of it for a minute.

Other than that, really enjoyable episode. I like this age-mellowed Riker better than the TNG-buttclenched Riker.

windom

Riker and Troi's kid was so cringeworthy. What was with the the whole "wild forest child" thing? She was so annoyingly precocious. How did Riker and Troy have a blonde child?

milo bloom

I thought she was one of the better portrayed child characters I've seen in a long time. She's living in the wilds with two Starfleet parents, of course she's going to run a little wild and live in the woods as much as possible.

And hair color is a weird thing, both my parents were dark haired but I was blond as a kid and turned brown as I got older (and has been going white as I get even older).

dstrauss

I thought the daughter did a great job. She and her brother invented a whole set of languages to amuse themselves (I did the same thing with friends as a teen) and she obviously enjoyed the roleplaying part of it. Having her named Kestra after Lwaxana's lost child and her brother Thaddeus after Riker's ancestor that was saved by the Q named Quinn was a cool little touch.

There was a Hirogen as one of the XBs. Guess the Borg finally did assimilate them after Voyager.

And how great was it to hear Riker order shields up? You could see how much fun Frakes was having.

"The extra from the Tolkien movie" is named Elnor. Which, in Elvish, actually means star (el) and journey (nor). In other words, his name is literally "Star Trek."

DJariya

I love this scene so much from the episode.

Instagram

I was surprised that Marina Sirtis didn't get a "Special Guest Star" credit in the opening credits along with Frakes, but got an end credits credit instead.

Mike86

Definitely a good episode. So great to see Riker and Troi reunited with Picard. Agreed with most that Kestra was well portrayed as well. She could have easily been annoying but worked really well in her role.

I like the revelation about Agnes. She’s not actually secretly evil, but was coerced into helping Commander Oh with tracking Picard, and also presumably was told that she needed to not allow Maddox to live and help Picard. That makes a lot more sense as it didn’t seem in character for her to just on a whim turn bad.

It was sad seeing Hugh killed, but it also felt like it was coming after he helped Picard and Soji escape.

Overall one of the better episodes of the season. We need more like this.

bunkaroo

Didn’t Barclay have blondish hair?

Shannon Nutt

Riker and Troi must both have blonde recessive genes. Or, as noted about, Barclay's been a naughty boy.

Or, who knows...it's the 24th century - maybe you get to manipulate the genes in the womb.

Bandoman

I loved this episode. The show is so difference than the Trek we've become used to, while still retaining it's heart. Terrific TV.



Cool! Thanks for that tidbit, dstrauss. I love that kind of detail.

Goldberg74

Interesting... does Riker’s identifying the Kzinti (from the TOS Animated Series) make them cannon now?

I’d love to see them.

VinVega

I think after a bit of a slow start, this show has really hit its stride. I'm enjoying it and despite their brutal methods, you have to wonder if the Romulans (and those in Starfleet) aren't just doing what they feel is right to save them and the rest of the galaxy from what they believe is a mortal danger? The whole "Rights of the Synths" aspect is really interesting. This episode was a really cool trip down memory lane and it moved the plot along, it wasn't just cameos for the sake of being cameos.

Noonan

I agree. They could have cut out a lot of the earlier stuff so that this ended up being like episode 3-4 material rather than this far in.