Never got around to posting about the last episode, but I do have to say this episode managed to dodge my worst fear about it: Having to go through another entire episode of escaping all over again. Yeah, Season 1 had such terrible pacing issues that I legit thought that would happen. Luckily, Mr. Hansen ("No, I'm not Mr. Pond, that's not how it works." "Yeah, it is.") and his goons get dealt with pretty fast.
Elnor... dies. And nobody is sure if restoring the timeline will bring him back.
La Sirena successfully time travels back to 2024. While the time travel isn't anywhere near as trippy as that in The Voyage Home, there's still just enough trippyness that it must be an homage.
Poor Rios. He materializes a story above ground, whacks his head on a fire escape, hits the sidewalk hard.
Despite everything, Seven seems to really be enjoying being able to interact with folks without her Borg implants freaking folks out.
Okay, so, my biggest issue with the episode is with Jurati. So she can just connect to the Borg Queen via a tubule without getting physically assimilated or infected by nanoprobes? I call hax. Although I did get a pretty good laugh out of her afterwards naming a file "Shit I stole from the Borg Queen".
Rios gets patched up by a doctor that is giving off very strong Rain Robinson vibes, and then gets arrested by INS. Poor Rios just can't catch a break, can he?
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I’m sure Elnor is only *mostly* dead. Especially when there’s Borg nanoprobes around…
That connection between Jurati and the Queen felt awfully convenient, I agree. But her subconscious conversation with Picard made it worthwhile.
I didn’t take the time to freeze-frame, but I kinda hope they took the time to place the Chronowerx logo on the LA metro building in those cityscape shots!
Picard crashed the alt-La Sirena near Chateau Picard, it appears. Not entirely sure why yet.
And I saw a post on Twitter that noticed that the butterfly logo for the clinic Rios was taken to was also a logo on some of the medical supplies that Seven was protecting in episode 1. Hmm, watch out for (temporal) butterflies, eh?
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
I hope Elnor stays dead. He's pointless. Also pointless is why shit's being dragged out. We're 30% done & gone nowhere.
I bet the doctor ends up starting the Rios clan. Predestination & all that.
Where are the Bell Riots?
This just all feels....dumb.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
The Bell Riots started in September 2024.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
I’m assuming Elnor’s temporarily dead so they don’t have to deal with the fact that he’s an alien in 2024 Earth.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Make him totally dead.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Yeah, could do without Elinor for this. We’ve done “pointy-eared people in (then) present day California” twice already, that seam’s mined out.
It does seem to be doing a lot of establishing. That’s OK if done right - some of the Marvel TV shows have been similar, Hawkeye especially.
But then then in Star Trek time travel, there are always COMPLICATIONS, aren’t there? Gotta get protons from a nuclear wessel to regenerate the dilithium crystals. Find the injured crewmember. Escape from the loony militia weirdoes who think you’re a space alien come to anally probe them. Get arrested as a (LOL) illegal alien. Get your vital future tech gizmo back.
Jurati’s going to turn out to be the masked Borg Queen on the Stargazer, isn’t she?
Wonder what the thought process was in choosing which Starfleet classes would make appropriate Confederation ones? Did the whole budget go on *checks notes* … painting a picture… of the CSS World Razer?
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lee: Jurati’s going to turn out to be the masked Borg Queen on the Stargazer, isn’t she?
Nice shout!
quote:Originally posted by Lee: Wonder what the thought process was in choosing which Starfleet classes would make appropriate Confederation ones? Did the whole budget go on *checks notes* … painting a picture… of the CSS World Razer?
All those STO designs suck. Also, we know those Novas & Steamrunners were evil because their deflectors were red.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
quote:All those STO designs suck. Also, we know those Novas & Steamrunners were evil because their deflectors were red.
Well, I'm literally never watching Knight Rider the same way again.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Bloody hell, just realised this was directed by Lea Thompson out of Back To The Future. Well, it’s not like I’m ever going to sit through the credits more than once. Have you noticed it’s literally producers, endless producers, all being listed in ones and twos for about 90 seconds?
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I don’t even know what little one does to qualify as an executive producer these days. And so many shows make the stars EPs too after a few seasons. As Futurama once said, “It’s a meaningless title that helps insecure people feel better about themselves.” Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
I believe Lea Thompson directs next week's episode as well.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
I'm going to add that I was surprised by how quickly they wound up going back in time this episode. I would not have been opposed to a bit more time in this alternate future.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
There's only 10 episodes. We don't get to swell on things like worldbuilding & character development anymore. Star Trek is now about whiz-bang action, densely packed for quick hits.
Posted by FawnDoo (Member # 1421) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shik: Also pointless is why shit's being dragged out. We're 30% done & gone nowhere.
quote:Originally posted by Shik: There's only 10 episodes. We don't get to swell on things like worldbuilding & character development anymore. Star Trek is now about whiz-bang action, densely packed for quick hits.
It's either pointlessly being dragged out and going nowhere, or it's a whiz-bang rush focused on the quick hits, but it can't be both at the same time.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
And yet it can.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
To copy Trek Culture's... Seven appearing in front of a child and asking if she's a superhero and 7's wink was a total win.
First Contact showed Enterprise crewmen being turned into drones in seconds. The scene had that omnious line from the queen, "You've impressed me." So she linked her mind but no nanoprobes for assimulation?
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Confeds probably drained her of probes.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Though it begs the question whether that is a) actually possible, and b) would be fatal to the host. We don’t know much about how the Collective works but nanoprobes seem to be pretty central to it all. Even ex-drones often retain Borg structures (which could easily include nanoprobes, however inert or non-replicating) - it’s essentially stated in ep 1 that Picard’s golem body no longer has any of these, suggesting that up until he “died” he did.
So I’m not sure anyone could do that, and certainly not the Confederation whose medical technology is lacking by unaltered-timeline present-day Federation standards.
It reminds me of a discarded plot point that was going to feature at the end of 28 Days Later, in which Cillian Murphy would get infected with the Rage virus but Naomie Harris would save him with a full blood swap. That was abandoned when it was pointed out it wasn’t really possible and wouldn’t work anyway.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
I'd say maybe they removed her nanoprobe glands & irradiated the rest, but everyone knows nanoprobes are stored in the tiddy.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
Maybe the connecting cable wasn't capable of nanoprobe transfer.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
The only other thing I can think of might sound dumb... One of two options, the Queen can't make drones. Only drones can make drones to copy on information to follow the Queen. Two... the Queen's nanoprobes will only create a new Queen to pass on the knowledge and experience if something happens to a current Queen.
In other words, nanoprobes carry over information to make a copy of copy from the source they came from.
This Queen is impressed by Jurati. The fan theory that we didn't see a face in the season 2 opener is because she didn't want to be recognized feels less like theory. Jurati becomes the new Queen to save her friends.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
quote:Originally posted by Spike: Maybe the connecting cable wasn't capable of nanoprobe transfer.
Nothing more annoying than trying to assimilate someone with a lightning cable and they only take USB-C.
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)