Yet Another Star Trek Podcast - Ep 039: (PIC S03E01-E02) The Next Generation & Disengage (Dual Review)

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 promises to be an exciting reunion of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast. But does it live up to the hype? Join Brad and Drew (sans Majeed) as they casually review the ...first two episodes of Season 3, "The Next Generation" and "Disengage." Be sure to check out our website, social media, and join our Discord! Links for all are listed below: Website | Discord | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | TikTok | YouTube Drop us an email at YetAnotherSTPod@gmail.com! “Warp Speed” and "To the Stars" was written and performed by William Grobbelaar Music: https://soundcloud.com/williamgrobbelaarmusic Additional artwork by George Rateau: https://www.fiverr.com/georgerateau

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey everybody, welcome to yet another Star Trek podcast. My name is Drew and this is gonna be a very different kind of episode. With me at Brutalong only one of my cohorts today Brad, welcome. Hello there sir, I hope the day finds you well. Brad I'm mad. What's what's going on? Why are are you mad my computers are broken oh did you did you accidentally put in the dishwasher I told you not to do that how else am I supposed to clean it I mean what you're supposed to use is rubbing alcohol and like just drown it in a pool of that stuff and then you're good oh submerge it in rubbing alcohol not submerge it in soapy water, I got ya.
Starting point is 00:01:06 Yep, yep. And then you know what, if you can, you could always throw it down a cliff and then buy a new one. That's true. I might take that second option. Hahaha. Buddy, you may notice that there is a distinct lack
Starting point is 00:01:22 of gaslighting happening this early in the show. I just kind of wanted to address that right off the bat. We are a duo today. Majeed is not with us. Yeah, I know. It's just going to be Batman and Robin for the episode. So to all those lovely listeners who look for the wonderful gaslighting of Drew, you will be unfortunately disappointed. Unless I decide to take up the mantle and try to push on forward
Starting point is 00:01:49 but but but our our lovely friend Majid he's actually at Starfleet Academy He is training to be a science officer Slash video agrofer type guy. I don't I don't really know how to break into them that startfully Academy didn't exist. So he's kind of like wondering San Francisco at this point. Yeah, well, I mean the truth of the matter is he had no intention of watching Picard. So we we sent them off. We sent them to Alcatraz. He'll be back eventually. He's taking the the challenge of seeing if you can escape the island himself. Yeah. It's like his tough mother. Yeah. I mean, that's a great way
Starting point is 00:02:34 to put it. You know, he's got to, you know, swim across across the water and, you know, carry all that massive weight of his talent on his shoulders. But now this is a good opportunity for us to talk about Picard season three, which is something that we had not originally intended on doing. And Sense Majid is unable to be with us today. We decided to sit down and talk about episodes one and two of Picard and kind of keep it kind of informal, Lucy, Goosey kind of thing, you know, just have the conversation about the episodes
Starting point is 00:03:10 and see where it goes. And before we dive into our thoughts on the actual episodes from the first or second episode of season three, Brad, let's talk about how we feel about season one and two because you and I have a somewhat tumultuous relationship with the show thus far. I think it's a, to start this episode, we really should give a little bit of a brief overview
Starting point is 00:03:37 of those seasons. So season one consisted of the memory of data dying, some strange woman gets killed and like Picard is a wine condesore grown his own stock and everything. And it kind of leads to this whole process that this woman and who was killed was apparently one of data's daughters where he had twins that was that was cloned no created by was it Maddox? Yeah, I think that's that sums it up. Yeah, and turns out the clone had a sister the sister finds Picard. There's a whole big rigmaroon. They find a happy planet full with the Android's that seem kind of creepy. Yeah, I mean, you know, along the way Picard discovers a Mary band of crew members, including a, a Romulan assassin named Eleanor.
Starting point is 00:04:45 What we have. Wasn't it like you a part of some sort of female assassin group that was. Yeah, yeah. But he's the he's a guy and he's a correct. And then oh, yeah, this is like after Romulan. Romulan is no, no, which planet got destroyed? Romulan. Romulus. Romulus.
Starting point is 00:05:10 Okay. So Romulus is destroyed. And yeah, and then you got like seven and nine in there. She's a ranger, I guess. Yeah, Fenerist Rangers, which is a new thing to the Picard universe. And each up who was from Star Trek Voyager was killed off in like one of the episodes he was there for like a cup of coffee. Well, if even that. Right. Then he had this the strange
Starting point is 00:05:39 doctor woman who's like a assistant or she used to work with Maddox or was a lover of Maddox. I don't remember which one was. She was a little both, Dr. Girardi, by Alison Pill. She's lovely in this show. We had Rios. My favorite character by far. Who is Rios? Pilot? Oh yeah, yeah yeah. He's not he's not in season three, so I'm a little disappointed with that. As of yet, as of yet, that's fair, that's fair. But the the whole season one was a bit of a mess. And oh, we have to we also have to mention Rafi, because Rafi is Rafi. Oh, yeah, Rafi Rafi's still there. She's a was a drunk ex Starfleet officer. But the whole season one was a bit of a mess from my perspective. It didn't really mesh too well.
Starting point is 00:06:34 The cast didn't, there wasn't a connection in my opinion for them. At least nothing very solid to what I was hoping for. And then season two hit and they go back in time because of Q and a bunch of crap happens. Borg queen is there. They, um, Doraughty gets taken over by the board. Then she becomes a board. Yes. So, uh, so she becomes a board. Um, so it should be comes a board.
Starting point is 00:07:07 And Q is trying to get, he's trying to like, I guess stop the launch of this Europa mission, which is never really defined as to what exactly it's doing. The only thing that we find out is that one of Picard's ancestors is on it. And you know, if the mission doesn't happen, like bad things will happen or something, you know, there'll be like an alternate universe where it's like the mirror universe, but not the mirror universe.
Starting point is 00:07:34 And it's a mess. It's a mess. It was Brett, Brett, singer, the guy who plays data is, is, Oh, Brett Spiner, that's what he's, he's in season two more than season one, but he plays one of Dr. Sun's ancestors. And like, he created, or he cloned his daughter or something. And that's how this mysterious woman, oh, and then it ends.
Starting point is 00:08:12 It ends on a really interesting note with Rios staying in the 21st century, I think it was. And he meets a woman and falls in love with her and kind of likes a kid. And yeah, he decides to stay back. And we'll, we'll, no, we'll, was it? Beverly crushers son. Wesley Wesley, what's the, Wesley, Wesley Crusher shows up as a traveler and takes away the, the other lady.
Starting point is 00:08:49 Yeah, well, that's that's Brent Spiner's daughter that he takes away, but like my, my entire attitude during that is like, why is he here? See, I guess he, I didn't realize the travelers could time travel to even. So, but again, why is he there? Like, it's not relevant to this. It was a nod. I think it was a nod to fandom, if anything. Yeah, at best. I mean, like, we're doing like a really broad stroke
Starting point is 00:09:15 of the season. Obviously, there are a lot more details here that we totally missed. But I think generally speaking, you know, I personally did not like Season's One and Two of Picard. I was very disappointed by them. And I think my biggest complaint was that Picard did not feel like Picard. He felt like a different character. I don't think he was written to the character strengths. He was written to somebody else's weaknesses. And it just didn't vibe with me in the way that I had hoped it would.
Starting point is 00:09:52 And, you know, to your point, I think a lot of the crew on the season, just didn't really mesh in season one, but they got better in season two. And I'm generally okay with dealing with that because season ones of shows, they're rarely, there's rarely that chemistry. Well, they're trying to find their foothold. And I think that's the thing that we kind of, we're hoping to see like established by the end of the first season.
Starting point is 00:10:29 Right. And I didn't. And honestly, I think the, the way they, they approached the series where it went from season one to season two, and it felt very disjointed. Well, at the end of season one, Picard dies, right. They drop in a, a nod to his ero-madric syndrome, which was something that was a threat in the TNG finale, all good things. And in like, I think the first or second episode of the season, they mentioned that it happened, that he's showing signs of it and that it could be lethal.
Starting point is 00:11:03 And then they never mentioned it again until it's suddenly convenient to the plot. And then he dies and then they bring him back to life as an android. On the span of like 20 minutes, synthetic, Android synthetic. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And it's just like head scratching to me like what why are you doing this and then in season two it's a passing mention at best and then it's never acknowledged again. And thus far in season three it hasn't been mentioned once that I'm aware of. They did mention it for one one split second. I actually noticed it in the episode two. Okay, okay, so we'll circle back to that part then. But my point being is they went through all these lengths to essentially
Starting point is 00:11:53 change the foundation of who Picard is only to completely ignore it. And this why? But so I guess the whole to the listeners, the whole point is really our takes of seasons one and two for Picard were very, not very well received. That that's what I would say negative. Yeah. But just one of the reasons why Majid hasn't seen it if we're being completely honest We we never really encouraged him in that sense And plus he's never saw the next generation. I don't think
Starting point is 00:12:35 No, if anything maybe like some at a few episodes here in there passing, but I'm pretty sure you didn't watch any of the most of it But with with this season season three for Picard, we're, I don't know about you Drew, but I'm seeing a bit of a turn for how this show is appealing to me. You know, I have gone in expecting the worst, but being optimistic. expecting the worst, but being optimistic. And so far, while I'm still not, I'm not excited in the way that I was for like, strange new worlds, but I am enjoying this significantly more than seasons just wanted to. I remember having a conversation with you previously before the the series aired and from what you were seeing, you were seeing a lot of negative reviews for this season. So there was there was one review in particular that I saw. And I kind of stopped seeking out reviews after this, but one review that I read mentioned basically
Starting point is 00:13:47 all of the same complaints that I had with season one and two about storylines being dropped or rushed or haphazardly thrown together with no logic and complaints that I had with the characters existing and I was just like, oh boy, I'm in for it. And you know, maybe that helped me kind of set the bar so low that I couldn't be that disappointed. Like maybe it set me up for, I don't know. Well, you said your expectations to you didn't have high hopes for the show. And, you know, it's funny, like I think back to the first two seasons of Picard and I remember having very low expectations. I was excited, but also very skeptical.
Starting point is 00:14:36 And so going into season three, I based upon, you know, the reviews I was seeing and your conversation with you, I was kind of like, oh man, this is going to be really interesting. I'm not going to have probably a good time. I just want to watch and get over with. To be fully honest, what I tend to do with shows like this, as I throw it on my computer while I'm doing something else, trying to get work done or something, as I throw it on my computer while I'm doing something else, trying to get work done or something, you know, something to just help pass the time to background stuff. And I actually got so invested in the show, I had to stop what I was doing because I was more interested in the show than anything else. That's a good sign. It is. to me it I was kind of surprising especially since season one and and two kind of
Starting point is 00:15:28 Didn't pan out very well So if it's okay with you man, I'm gonna go into a quick 10 second review not 10 second review a 10 10 second summary of episode one Okay, all right 10 seconds summary of it. So let's start it now. So basically you get the start of the episode where Dr. Crossher is on a ship.
Starting point is 00:15:50 She's a total freaking badass, man. She is shoe and crap. Everything's blowing up all over the place. Well, eventually she gets in capacity, but not before she can. Dang, 10 seconds. I hate you. I was actually timing it.
Starting point is 00:16:03 I still had a lot more than that. Didn't I? No. Damn. Anyways I still had a lot more than that. Didn't I? No. Damn. Anyways, it was a lot more than going on that. And then she eventually sends a distress call to Picard. Picard is like, hey, where's this distress call coming from? It turns out from like a little compage.
Starting point is 00:16:19 Not really vital to the story, but you know, it's important to note. And eventually he talks to his, is that Romline girl, is that like his wife now? I don't know. No, but I mean, I don't think they're married, but it certainly seemed like they're together at this point. Lairis is her name.
Starting point is 00:16:37 Yeah, yeah. She is also from season one. But she's, and she was in season two, but it was a different person. Yep. Well, she was both. She was both in that. Was it? Okay.
Starting point is 00:16:48 Yeah. Anyways, so he, he, he, he, he, he consults her. Um, doesn't know. He's like, hey, you got to go check it out. I got to go check it out. Uh, he goes find Riker. Apparently, uh, Riker and, um, Troy are kind of on the rocks at the moment. Um, and there's some sort of big Federation party that's going where we want to go, which that didn't really go out too well. However, seven of nine's first offers are on the ship. Disobase the captain's orders and takes the ship anyways.
Starting point is 00:17:35 And they find the ship that Dr. Crusher was on and her son, not Wesley though, a different son on board. And it ends. That's how the first episode ends. Yeah. So very, very different feel than seasons one or two. I know. I think. Go ahead. I was going to say like with the opening sequence,
Starting point is 00:18:07 I know I hear some people complain about how Star Trek tends to be two-action pack in the more modern day. While I can understand that, I do feel that you still have to move in with the times as Tars attracting new audience members. And I felt the opening sequence was actually a really nice surprise for me. Here's the thing, here's the thing, Brad.
Starting point is 00:18:38 Paramount is giving Star Trek all of the money. Don't you want them to use it? Of course, totally. Like, I think about how excited you and I were when we saw a first contact or even generations on the big screen for the first time. And it was just better. It was just more and more and better, you know, special effects and science fiction. And that was, you know, 25 years ago, right? So, so here we are now and the special effects have come such a long way. And, you know, I have my own personal criticisms about CG versus practical effects and things like that.
Starting point is 00:19:18 None of that matters in this conversation. That was an exciting opening. And those that level of quality as far as the visuals go, carries throughout both episodes, I feel. Mm-hmm. And I think to me from being like the growing up on TNG, aspect of things, this is like the true first time where you see Dr. Crusher just go full full throttle Action packed. Yeah, at least I mean, I think the closest thing was like
Starting point is 00:19:50 First contact maybe where she's like trying to defend from the board But like that was her running away. Where is this is she's like I'm standing my ground in a shoot with this pistol Yeah, yeah, it's pretty badass Yeah, yeah, it's pretty badass. You know something else that I really like too was I feel like in seasons one and two we really didn't get that Vision of starfleet in the future that I don't know how you feel about it But it's what I really wanted right I was so excited that they were going to start doing more Star Trek. And I loved that period of time in the 90s and early 2000s where you had the next generation and then deep space nine and Voyager and they were all kind of running concurrent
Starting point is 00:20:35 with each other and you could see like for, you know, essentially more or less like, I want to say like about a 15 year span, like you saw the Federation, you know Improve over that time and I wanted to see what the Federation would be like, you know 30 years 50 years from that and we got a Glimps of it in season one and two But not really because it wasn't really starfleet. It was you know the outer fringes of the Federation With sprinkles of starfleet here and there, you know. But now we've got the Titan, you know,
Starting point is 00:21:10 this is like the ship. And man, oh, I'm getting chills just thinking about it. When they came up on that ship and that's saucer section, man, It looks like the 1701A baby. It's got that nice kind of like that thick, like, ah, it's great. I'm glad one of us can actually name the ships, because I totally can't. Oh, man, I'm a starship nerd, right?
Starting point is 00:21:40 Of course. I, you know, growing up, I had the tech manual. I had the encyclopediaopedia and I had no friends. So I spent a lot of time reading that shit over and over and over again. And, you know, one of the things that I love about Star Trek and specifically Starfleet is all these different varieties of ships. Like, I can look at a ship and you know up to a certain point name the class ship it is and you know things like that you know so seeing them come up
Starting point is 00:22:10 on the ship and do those beauty shots of it in space stock just like they did in the movies you know the original series movies it really invoked that feeling of like Star Trek 3 Star Trek 5 you, seeing what the ship looked like. And then just drawing the comparisons to other previous ships, you know, it had a little bit of the 1701 A and it had a little bit of the Excelsior in it. It had the cells that are kind of similar to the Enterprise E. All these little elements, I see you smiling at me because I'm I'm like having a moment, but, but like, that's the kind of stuff that I really wanted out of this entire series. And I can't believe that we had a wait so long to get that. I'm gonna, I'm gonna say this with the love, all the love of my heart. The only thing I could think of
Starting point is 00:22:59 is that Simpson's episode where like Homer is driving and he just yells out, no! I accept that, I accept that. But I have a comment to make and it's more of an observation than a complaint or anything like that. The observation is that if you think about the bridge of the Titan and you think about what we've been exposing ourselves to with the discovery, strange and worlds. You can clearly see the design is really pulled from that aspect
Starting point is 00:23:37 as opposed to the the shows in the 90s where they, and I'm glad they changed that approach. And they didn't try to do an evolved version of the shows from the 90s, because I feel like that, those, like the enterprise from that time period and an invoitor, that really is a show from that period of time and what they felt would be appropriate for like that futuristic look. Yeah, yeah, I mean, Newshow runner, new vision, you know, I'm perfectly fine with the Titans, bridge-looking like that. Yeah, me too. And I mean, it has the similar aesthetics to, you know, even the JJ Abrams reboot, you know, or, you know, strange new worlds, like you said, discovery. And it's, it is what it is. It's fine. It just kind
Starting point is 00:24:30 of goes back to the special effects being more better. Yeah. You know, but that said, it's still, like, it looks great. You know, I think it's sharp looking. The bridge looks huge, which is fine. You know, I don't have any complaints there. Can we talk about Captain Shaw for a second? We most certainly can. The was sticking the mud jackass kind of guy. So Captain Liam Shaw is played by an actor by the name of Todd Stashwick. And I thought I recognized him when he walked on the screen. Wasn't he another episode of Star Trek? He has been in another episode of Star Trek, but that's not where I know him from.
Starting point is 00:25:19 So let's circle back a little bit here. The creator, I shouldn't say the creator, the showrunner, Terry Metallis. He was responsible for the 12 monkey series that was on sci-fi for a couple of years. And great show. I really enjoyed it. There's four seasons. I think anybody that is into like time travel stuff
Starting point is 00:25:43 should consider watching it. I think it's worth your time. And this actor, Todd Stashwick, actually played one of the leads in the show. I think he was, I think he was a villain, if I'm not mistaken. I don't remember the character name, but yeah. So he came from that and fun fact,
Starting point is 00:26:03 another little Easter egg, they dropped the name James Cole as an alternate name for Jack Crusher in episode two. Well, James Cole was also the name of the actual lead character from the 12 monkeys show. So I kind of marked out at that a little bit, but anyway, Captain Shaw, right? Kind of thick. He's, you know, it's, it's funny. You know, you, you, you have those characters that are in shows like this that are complete jerks, assholes, whatever. And you still like them. Yeah. Like, you like to hate the guy. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:26:45 And that's how I kind of feel with the way he portrayed that character. He's a very clean cut in the sense that he will not disobey orders. I'm not gonna, I don't care who you are unless you, like give me legitimate orders. I'm not gonna follow you type of attitude. And he did not fall for,
Starting point is 00:27:06 you know, Picard and and Rikers attempt to be like, Oh, let's go over here. He's like, nope. Unless you guys are anything special, unless you get direct orders, I'm not following. Yeah. Yeah. He's he's also very smug about it too. It's not that he's just by the book. It's that he's also like just really condescending and, you know, like, and it's just like they laid it on really thick with them too. The first time they met him because, you know, Picard brings this bottle of wine from his vineyard and is like, I'm much more of a Malbec man, you know, he's just like dismissive of this gift and he just wants no part of them. He wants no part of them being on there. And yeah, and I was really hoping
Starting point is 00:27:50 that we were gonna get a moment where it was kind of like Kirk and Company stealing the enterprise from underneath the Excelsior in Star Trek III. And we didn't get that. I'm a little disappointed, we didn't get that. But that's okay. This has been quite entertaining as well too. Seven of nine, who is not allowed to use that name
Starting point is 00:28:12 anymore. She is. Monica Hansen. Monica Hansen. Yeah. First officer on board the ship. Very interesting. To me, like, I think that's a, she was a bit, was she even in Starfleet in the second season? I can't remember. I think I think she was trying to get involved.
Starting point is 00:28:34 But it is a, it is a big jump to like, you know, between like the two seasons. Yeah. So I mean, that was kind of like, okay, that's kind of like convenient. Yeah. Well, she was on the stargaze or wasn't she? I don't remember. I think that the problem with seasons one and two is just was like so insignificant when it comes to like drawing my attention in. It kind of a lot of it got lost. I feel like I should give it a rewatch, but I don't want to. Yeah,
Starting point is 00:29:06 like so many other things to watch. You know, another thing that we kind of we I think I kind of missed was Raffi. She's she's undercover on a planet where she's trying to find some sort of where she's trying to find some sort of stolen weapon technology from like the datrum facility, which I I want to say that I'm pretty certain that stuff gets stolen from that place a lot. Because I have seen that way. They have the worst security ever. I want to say like I've seen episodes before where they're like oh yeah it's been stolen from here and I'm like at the same freaking place Can we not get our crap together? Yeah, but
Starting point is 00:29:52 She's she's trying to figure something out and the end of the episode is that Somebody opens a giant portal on the planet sucking in like a Starfleet recruitment academy and just like destroys it by having it go like right next to it and so like it's falling and just like devastated. It's it's literally like something straight out of a game portal where you take and you put a you put a portal underneath the companion cube and then you put a portal in the ceiling above the commanding cube and it hits the ground next to it. That's literally what it was. And fascinating, weird, but fascinating. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:33 Yeah. I don't know how I feel about that. Cause now we're back to the cat, like we just can't get past this thing of like having, you know, simple dangers. Like everything has to be like a catastrophic world ending event, right? So, so I, I missed the days of things like, was it undiscovered country where there's like some sort of political plot to, you know, cause a war between the Klingons and the Federation. And it feels, this is a consistency
Starting point is 00:31:12 with current modern day Star Trek, is that there's always that one upspin where whatever is currently on air, it has to be like something that feels even more significant. I feel like the last season of Star Trek Discovery really showed that when with the whole universe ending type of catastrophe. But yes. And then the like you have with this with Picard, but it's still, I have neutral feelings on it, only because right now,
Starting point is 00:31:52 I don't know too much about what is going on with the weapon that caused the portal. So is this something that's more localized? Is this something that can only be used as a certain number of times. I want to see where they go with it, but it does seem a little bit over powerful of a weapon, so to say. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, they jump straight to the, you know, they didn't even like really tease it. It's just like, hey, look what this can do. And it's like immediate destruction.
Starting point is 00:32:25 Cause the whole the whole premise between with Raffi was there was some sort of red lady reference, which was referring to a guest's statue at the Starfleet Recruitment Center. And that is really was indicating that was going to be destroyed. was indicating that was going to be destroyed. But like the whole setup felt more of like, okay, somebody's got some sort of like weapon, I got to go find them. And I thought the direction was going to be more related towards that, where it was just like trying to find whoever stole this weapon and then kind of go from there. So that that really felt like a an Easter egg for the fans more than an actual useful plot device in my opinion, you know, because the red lady was Rachel Garrett. Uh, there was a statue of Rachel Garrett who was the the captain of the enterprise C. So remember the episode yesterday's enterprise.
Starting point is 00:33:20 Yeah, is that the one with Tasha Yarr? Yeah, is that the one with Tasha Yarr? Season three when they go into the alternate universe and the federations that were with the Klingons and the enterprise C comes through that portal and it's beat to hell. That's Rachel Garrett. She she bites the bullet in the ultra you know, in the alternate universe, but I think she would have probably bit well, I think she bit the bullet anyway in the proper universe.
Starting point is 00:33:41 But regardless, now getting into like time, time you why me shit. Um, that's one of one of the best episodes of next generation, in my opinion, full stop, right? I love that episode. And, um, so like it was cool seeing a statue of her, but there was no significance. Yeah, it didn't really... It was just an easter egg with anything. Yeah. But it was an interesting direction they were taking where it's a giant, colossal,
Starting point is 00:34:17 I guess, building-sized portal gun. Yeah. So that's a good way to put it. It's going to be hilarious. It's a villain is really veiled and it's like glatos. Yeah. Um, uh, it would be kind of uh, appropriate, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. But um, I mean, you know, overall, you know, uh, how did you feel about like seeing Picard and Ryker teaming back up again? Did that invoke any emotions to you?
Starting point is 00:34:52 It felt a more natural show. There was a lot more chemistry between the two. Obviously they worked so long together. There has to be still some chemistry there. But the whole thing didn't feel like it was just stuck together with some, you know, bubble gum and duct tape. It felt pretty solid. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:17 I would agree with that. You know, it just felt like old friends, you know, riding off into the sunset for, you know, one more adventure. And it clicked pretty quickly as expected. You know, we certainly know what to expect from those two at this point. Although it is a little bit more haphazard than it used to be because they're not really following the rules and regulations to a T. But that's okay. Like I'm fine with that. You know, like I think it's a, I know I saw like interviews were saying like they didn't want Picard to turn out to be, you know, next generation season seven, I guess, or season eight,
Starting point is 00:35:54 eight something. Yeah. But I don't know. This feels more natural progression towards it is kind of like progression towards it is kind of like getting the band back together, mentality, because it's, and it's, I like how they're taking a slower approach with like introducing the original cast of TNG. It's not a, everybody's already available. Let's, let's call, Jordi, get him on here. Let's call, uh, wharf, get him over here just kind of a more slow progression. So episode two takes takes where episode one leads off. So the you know, Picard and Reiker find a crusher and her son. There's a giant ship that's way into blow them up. This is like an OP ship. It's like freaking, you know,
Starting point is 00:37:02 Goliath to David and unfortunately, David, he lost his slingshot. And so then you get the, the Titan, you know, sorry, the, the their ship is in a tractor beam, Titan like bust on in, cuts it off. And, you know, because seven was able to persuade Shaw with the whole, how do you want to be remembered?
Starting point is 00:37:27 The guy who let two legends die were the guy who saved them. And he's like, damn it, I hate it when you do it. And so he's going in and he saves them. Oh, by the way, Jordy LaForge's daughter is the helmsman in that, and on top of that, that is La helmsman in that. And on top of that, that is Lava Burns real daughter. Yes, yes it is, I'm both counts, man.
Starting point is 00:37:51 Yeah, we saw her in episode one, very briefly. She's got a more significant role in this episode, which I'm glad for. I was really worried that we're gonna introduce the Titan and then just kind of abandon it all together. I know. I know.
Starting point is 00:38:04 So I'm glad that that ship is still sticking around for at least the foreseeable future. At least this and the next one. So yes, you have Lovar Burns daughter there, and they beam aboard the four survivors, so the two crushers, Picard and Enreiker, the lovely Amanda Plummer. Yeah, daughter of Christopher Plummer. She is the villain of the story in this, at least
Starting point is 00:38:33 of this part. And she is like, hey, yo, give me that kid or else y'all are going to die. You know what, this is, this is my first exposure to her that I'm aware of as an actress. And I saw the name and I was just curious to see if there was any relation to Christopher Plummer, who for those that may not have seen general general Chang from Star Trek 6 as Christopher great actor. And yeah, go ahead. You never saw pulp fiction. Now, Brad, we're not gaslighting today. I, I'm sorry, I need a moment here. This is a very, very sensitive topic. I'm kind of surprised. Okay, okay, let me come close. No, guess lighting. Okay, cool.
Starting point is 00:39:29 Anyways, she's phenomenal in Pulp Fiction. She's been, oh, she's a very, very minute misschal role. Well, I don't know about that, but she's been in a lot of other things too, which she's a really good actress. But anyway, she's phenomenal as the villain. Honestly, when I was seeing shots of her in the series, I was a little worried because
Starting point is 00:39:55 the pictures just kind of looked very met to me. It didn't really pop out, it sounded like, oh man, she looks really cool. But the way they portrayed her in this episode was I felt very well done. Very menacing, very unhinged, but not like over the top, you know, I get nervous whenever I see that type of character on screen because there's a tendency for it to be cartoony. She does a great job of just walking that line.
Starting point is 00:40:22 Yep. And she's a bounty hunter who is after, uh, was his name Jack Crusher. Jack Crusher. Uh, you recognize that name? That wasn't that like, uh, well, well, well, well, Crusher's father. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:40:38 That was Bev's first husband. Yep. Um, but, but, uh, apparently, uh, Jack Crusher goes by many names and he is like a smuggler type of guy. Oh, by the way, that's how they start the episode too is that he's a smuggler of sorts. But with the whole villain, I don't remember what what the character's name for for Amanda's. I had it here. Let's see here. Vatic. Vatic. Yes, yes, Vatic. So Vatic gives them an hour to hand over Jack,
Starting point is 00:41:15 which, so this is one of the problems I have with the episode, which it was like, okay, you're a badass villain, and you give them an hour. That's an hour for them to figure things out. Why not like 10 minutes? Why not five minutes? Yeah, well, you know, plot.
Starting point is 00:41:39 Yeah, I mean, it's kind of one of the same lines is like, you know, Star Trek's warp speed moves at the speed of plot. Whatever movies do that all the time. Even Khan did it. Yeah, it was fair. Just enough time for Kirk to figure out the command codes for the reliant. So she gives them an hour, but yeah, that was interesting. So so Picard goes to talk with Jack and try to be like, Hey, give me a reason. You know, what, what is your justification? Like, how can I, give me something that I can protect you with? Jack gives him did lose quiet. Nothing. But what he is saying
Starting point is 00:42:25 is that, hey, you know what? You just let me go. You should just let me go beam on over there. Now, we kind of cut over to Rafi. She's doing her own little things to all that planet, trying to figure things out. She's got this mysterious handler who's like, you know, don't, don't follow through with any of this. You know, we're, you know, you should just stop doing what you're doing. She doesn't like that BS because she just saw, you know, a bunch of federation people die. Yeah, she's, she's like, hey, you know, I can't tolerate this. Um, so she ends up contacting her ex-husband and she's trying to get in touch with a
Starting point is 00:43:02 frangie, which I think this is the first a rangi we've seen in modern or is it or we've seen of frangies um and discovery that we we have but as far as Picard goes i don't think so okay um so that you know in the frangie in uh discovery was uh just kind of like a quick passing shot. And I guess there was some contention about the look of them too, because the makeup wasn't the same. I think it was just, hey, evolution, kind of thing. But we saw for Angi, so Rafi has to decide
Starting point is 00:43:43 between seeing her son or seeing this for Angi that she's trying to get a hold of. Um, so they they cut back to the ship. You know what, uh, Vatic is like, Hey, you know what, uh, you guys are coming down on time. I'm going to throw this ship at you. So she takes a cracker beam and freaking just shocks it at the tie in like literally just like let's let's I mean catch this fastball cool visual but a little little this little over the top. Beas the whole I think the whole point is um her ship is supposed to be like so overpowered uh that like hey I'm not even going to use my weapons. I'm just gonna use my tractor beam to throw another ship at you
Starting point is 00:44:30 That's that's how overpowerful I am But anyways back on Titan, you know Rikers given precarred this the stink I look of being like so what's going on with Jack there? You know what I'm talking about. You're 20 years ago. What what with you and love. Have come on. Tell me what's going on, man.
Starting point is 00:44:52 Yeah. Yeah. Did you do it? Did you do it? Did you do it? And the cards, the cards like, what are you talking about, man? I don't know what you're talking about. But it turns out it seems to be that Jack Crusher is Picard's son.
Starting point is 00:45:08 Yeah, and this is confirmed at the end by the look that Beverly gives Picard being like, yeah, I'm sorry. I apologize. I didn't tell you. Yeah. Um, go ahead. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how I feel about this. Mix emotions, I would say. I think it's cool to confirm that they did actually finally have some sort of relationship. I know in all good things, in the future, they had a marriage.
Starting point is 00:45:43 I don't know if they ever addressed whether or not they got married in a card up to this point. But, yeah, I mean, I don't know, like, sure, I guess that's how I feel about it. I think I'm very, I don't care either way. Yeah, I don't either because they had their chance to earn it and they didn't. And now they have to earn it all over again. To me, the, it's one of those things that like through all through TNG, you always felt,
Starting point is 00:46:20 or at least I always felt like, Picard and Beverly were like the couple that were meant to get together at some point, but they never did. Right. And I think, I think that's kind of a very similar mentality with a lot of the fans from TNG, is that they always had that expectation,
Starting point is 00:46:37 but it never really, nothing ever really came to be from it. Right. And there were indications of future situations that possibly could occur. We would have liked to have seen something maybe occur, but hey, you know what, to me, at this point, there is a lot of history between TNG and the movies and the work card is today. And to me, it's plausible for something like that to have occurred. Right.
Starting point is 00:47:10 It's not so far out there that it would ruin the episode for me or the entire season for me. So, so to say. Yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna like, you know, cry over to anything like that. I'm just, like I said, it's just like, okay, well, I guess so. Let's see where it goes, right? Like this could be a very touching story,
Starting point is 00:47:32 but I don't know, like, okay. You know, it's funny though, like even in the first episode, I suspected it. Yeah, I mean, as soon as, like you said, you know, I'm her son. I was like, oh my god, it's Picard's son. Right. I mean, let's be honest here, like, they weren't just going to introduce a character without there being some kind of a tie in like that, you know?
Starting point is 00:47:58 Yeah. So that was, that was obvious. The only thing I can think of is that Beverly is lying purposely because she just doesn't want her son to get killed. I don't think that's the case. I know, I know. But I'm just always, I'm like super skeptical. I don't know if it's a coincidence because I just finished an audiobook where the character, this is the like I think the 11th or 12th book in and the character just finds out he has a daughter.
Starting point is 00:48:33 And I'm just like, wait, what? This was like literally I finished the book like the week before Picard, you know, heirs and I watch Picard. I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,
Starting point is 00:48:49 I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,
Starting point is 00:48:57 I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm the the forangi. And she's like, I'm not with Starfleet.
Starting point is 00:49:05 I don't know you're talking about. I got this cred that I need to figure out, you know, who's setting up my client and the guys, the forangi's like, oh, I know, I know you're lying. You know, if you're, you gotta be Starfleet. You gotta prove to me that you're not Starfleet. So she take these drugs. Yeah, take these drugs, which, which I was like, you know what?
Starting point is 00:49:23 My opinion, if the person's truly embedded, they're going to take the drugs regardless of whether or not. But, but, but here's the thing, man, like they have gone, they've beaten us over the head with this Raffi's a junkie storyline for three seasons now. Right, come on. Like, how many times, like, is this her only defining characteristic? So, so in the defense of the episode, the whole point of the, of her taking jokes was not to prove that she was in a part of Starfleet is because the phrase is like, yeah, I got the guy's head right here. So that's how I know your Starfleet.
Starting point is 00:50:02 Right. And, and like, okay, fine, but. Like, you know, they had a decent storyline going with Rafi and Sevin, you know, that relationship. Yeah. Which I was on board for. But now it's just like Rafi is just reduced to, you know, a constant struggle about whether or not
Starting point is 00:50:22 to use drugs. And so, I think that's, you know, I'd even like, I didn't even think about it when we're first started talking about it. But yeah, in the end of season two, Raffia and Seven have some sort of relationship going. And then season three hits and we don't even talk about it. Yeah. Exactly. I mean, I'm assuming at some point it's going to come around, but I'm, yeah, I'm hoping
Starting point is 00:50:43 they do because like I thought it was great. I thought it was a fine relationship. But the highlight of this portion was what happens after Raffi takes the drugs. Yes. And the phrase, like, I got the dude's head right here. I know you're a starfleet. I'm gonna like, you know, kill you.
Starting point is 00:51:01 Well, she's, you know, pulls, does she pull a phaser? I don't remember if she pulls a phaser? I don't remember. She pulls a phaser or a knife or whatever. And then all of a sudden, the three bodyguards behind Raffi gets like destroyed. A battle that goes through one guy's head gets cut off. The Frankie's head gets cut off is chaos everywhere. And it turns out to be worth. and it turns out to be worth. Worth goes badass. The first thing that we see is a blade going through the chest, one of the guards,
Starting point is 00:51:32 and I immediately thought, oh, El Norse back. And like, I was there for that, man. Like, I thought, like, hey, I'm like, oh shit. El Norse back, I could see, like, I don't remember where they left off with him, but him pairing himself with Rafi as a hopeless cause sounds like something that he did or would have done. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:54 And I genuinely don't remember if that's how they resolved his story, but they should have. I don't remember if he's alive, because I know at some point in season two, he's dead. Yeah. Well, he died and then, and then yeah, he's alive because I know at some point in season two he's dead. Yeah. Well, he died and then, and then yeah, he's alive again. Q resurrected him or something through the magic of Qness. But, but, so yeah, like that's something that I think should have happened. Now, that said, I think this is a very interesting way to bring Wurf into the story.
Starting point is 00:52:25 Wurf, go ahead. No, it was going to say it turns out Wurf is Rafi's handler. He is the person that Rafi is in contact with with Starfleet. And because he's like, it's like I told you to not engage. Right. And I thought that was a fun quip. You could see him. He was like clearly annoyed, you know, in his typical war fashion. Very curious to see where this is going. You know, what does he know? What is his purpose? What is he doing? And how is that going to loop
Starting point is 00:53:02 in with everything else is going on? Because Because they seem like the two very distinct stories right now. It does, but I'm pretty sure that they're going to be intertwined at some point. Oh, absolutely has to be. But then after I'm pretty sure after a Rafi could save my worth, it cuts back to the Titan. And Picard's like, we can't give him over because he's my son. And that's where Shaw has a moment of redemption, in my mind, is because Shaw's like crap. All right, we gotta resist now.
Starting point is 00:53:35 Yeah, and then he did the right thing. And Ty and he orders the Ty until, you know, start firing the head into the cloud of the nebula, whatever the hell it was. He orders the tie-in to like you know start like firing that head into the cloud of the nebula whatever the hell was and Do you he's off for the races man and yeah, like that was a To me one of those those moments where like he's he's a complete smug asshole But when when shit hits to a point where he knows he has to stand up. He's standing up
Starting point is 00:54:05 Right, well here's the thing right and this is one of the things that I've always loved about Star Trek is instead of just getting into a straight-up firefight, you have a ship that's outclassed and underpowered. And that's a relative term because the Titan is, I'm sure, armed to the teeth. But in comparison to this other vessel, it doesn't stand a chance, right? Fling into a nebula to hide,
Starting point is 00:54:30 where the sensors basically, you know, kind of become useless. And now the fight is a little bit more on the level playing field. And it gives them some time to figure out what to do next. Classic Trek Trope, we've seen it time and time again, all the way from Star Trek II, best of both worlds,
Starting point is 00:54:49 even in insurrection, if I recall correctly, in that briar patch fight. We've seen it over and over and over again. I love it. It's submarine battles, with no radar. And they did it to best. They did it even in strange new worlds. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Most most recently, yeah, with the Gorn, right? Yep. Yep.
Starting point is 00:55:15 That was the hunter red October. I loved that. I loved that so much. What, but I think so, so Drew, tell me what are your thoughts on how season three has been shaping up for us now that we talked about the two two episodes. I mean so far it's not perfect right I have some complaints. Raffi story has been somewhat disappointing so far and I'm hoping that wharf can redeem it. But like I said before Raffi has been reduced to an addict and nothing more. A persistent addict, right? She doesn't know when to back off and she doesn't know how to stay away
Starting point is 00:55:54 from things that make her take drugs. So like, there's more to the character than that and the actress is capable of more than that and I wanna see more than that. And I feel like they've done her a disservice on this show just in general. And it's continuing here. But I'm willing to see where it goes. You know, now that Wurf is in the picture, I can I can see the banter between the two of them being fun, you know, in a way that's similar to the banter that we got with Worfin, Jedzea. So I'm kind of curious. As far as everything that's
Starting point is 00:56:32 going on in the Titan with Picard and Beverly, there needs to be some sort of a payoff there. I want to see how that resolves or even how it starts. I want to know that backstory. How long ago was Jack born and was it just one night thing or were they really in love for a while and it just didn't work out and how did they separate and how are they going to reconcile the Picard is a robot? And in all these little things that really have been kind of brushed aside up to now. So you mentioned Picard being a robot. So in episode two, when Vatic, commonly, you first meet Vatic, she like describes, is like, oh, Shaw, your psychological profile from Starfleet, you know, does suture, it doesn't suture like Cameron, which she said.
Starting point is 00:57:33 But she also, is like, oh, Ademirals, Jean-Luc Picard, with how is your synthetic body? So she does make a reference, but my opinion, I don't think we're gonna hear anything more than that. That's the last time. The first and last time this season, you're going to hear anything about that. Now, my, I feel like in season one, they, they did that because it was going to be a big
Starting point is 00:57:57 thing or at least they thought it would be a big thing. But at this point, it feels like it's only mentioned because it's a fact and they have to reference it and they dug themselves into a hole where it's forced to. So at this point in my mind, I can just ignore that because it's not relevant, there's no importance to it. That's how I'm suspecting it's gonna turn out to be. Yeah, I mean, it's a different showrunner now too, right? So Terry Metallis has been doing seasons two and three.
Starting point is 00:58:29 Michael Chippon did season one. I don't know if Michael Chippon is still involved in the show in any capacity. He's listed as a creator, you know, which is true, but I don't know if there's any creative input beyond season one, or even why he left the show in the first place. But it's just like, that's the problem when you have these shows that unfortunately change creative direction.
Starting point is 00:58:59 They write in elements that the next person just may or may not wanna deal with. And I don't think that making Picard a synthetic was a good decision because it just didn't, it didn't mean anything. It happened so suddenly and it just has no bearing on anything. And you know, they had an opportunity to do something with it in season two and they didn't. Yeah. I'm, I think at this point, it's in the past and doesn't even matter. It doesn't. And I should really learn to let it go. But it's a struggle. I get it. I get it. But to me, I don't know. So I like season three. I'm actually really enjoying it.
Starting point is 00:59:46 And the thing that I don't know is that, do I really like season three, or is it that season one and two has such poor taste in my mouth that season three is so different that I'm like enjoying the fact that it's something that's good as opposed to me really just enjoying it for what it is. Right, right.
Starting point is 01:00:09 And that's a fair question. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask yourself that. We both feel pretty much the same way about seasons one and two and even discovery. And there's a lot of these shows, you know, seasons one and two and even discovery and, you know, there's a lot of these shows that they just haven't been what we want out of Star Trek. And that's not to say it's all bad, like there are good elements in there,
Starting point is 01:00:35 but it just, it hasn't really been hitting in the right way, I guess. And just to clarify too, like I don't want people to think that like we're like against the wokeness of Star Trek or anything like that because that couldn't be further from the truth. Star Trek's always been woke. But it just, I think the storytelling has been lacking
Starting point is 01:00:58 and just characters without direction, you know, things like that. And it can be frustrating at times, especially when it's a property that you love so much. So like I've gone into the season three of Picard with extreme hesitation, trepidition. And I'm with him and like so far, I really like it. I don't think it's perfect, but it's definitely better than any of the other stuff that we've seen with maybe the exception of strange new worlds and like lower decks, you know. I feel that with season three in in in some respect, I can just forget seasons one and two existed and then just be like,
Starting point is 01:01:45 oh, season three, that's where that's where it starts. I think that's what they're trying to do. But it's hard, it's hard to, it's hard to do that when you have Raffee in the picture or Larris. Well, you know, to honestly, like, I was thinking about that because like, you, you have Raffee, brand new character, we're not brand new character, but if you think about just trying to do our introduction, I think it's a legitimate way to do her introduction. And it could have been like, hey, this is like a brand new character,
Starting point is 01:02:16 is she good, is she bad? We don't really know anything better than we see wharf and things like that. And so I kinda feel like season three is the true start of Picard. One and two were just kind of like these one off crap shoots. Yeah. And especially it's it's especially frustrating when we know that this is the last season, right? Like, they filmed seasons two and three concurrently with each other, and the deal was three seasons. That's it.
Starting point is 01:02:52 You know, Patrick Stewart doesn't want to do more than that. And you got to respect the guy, you know, like, I don't blame him. I'm surprised he even came back. So now we're finally getting the Star Trek that you and I want, and it's going to be over in like eight more episodes. So here's the thing that I'm actually okay with that. I think that the thing is like I never I never really asked for per card. I never asked for that type of show to even really exist. It just happened to to exist and I think if anything strange new worlds is what I was really hoping for Discovery has this moment. Don't come here on lower decks is phenomenal
Starting point is 01:03:40 But the prodigy's really good, too. You should check that out man I know I know when my daughter gets older, I'm gonna watch it then. So trust me, I'll just check back in like five to seven years. I don't want to wait five to seven years. But still though, it's the whole, uh, concept is like, I never really... Like, I love... Procard. Don't get me wrong. Like, Procards my captain. But I...
Starting point is 01:04:04 Hey, you know, the show Procard itself. captain but I hate you know the show Picard itself like I could have done without it yeah yeah I mean it absolutely is the thing that I never expected and you know when when you put it in that perspective it's like well everybody likes pizza right and you're getting free pizza today but I guess you know it's not exactly the best pizza but it's pizza right so shut up and like your pizza. Well so I think about I think about British TV how often they will do these like mini series where it's a finite story, it's gonna be over in one, maybe two seasons. Same thing with anime too,
Starting point is 01:04:49 is like they will do these anime, hey, it's just one season and that will be it. But it feels like in America that we're so stuck on this mentality of we gotta keep continuing, we gotta keep milking this cow for as much as we can. And we keep doing it. We don't really ask, should we actually continue? I mean, I think of walking dead.
Starting point is 01:05:11 And I loved walking dead. I loved the comic books. I came from the comic book side of things and eventually got to a point in the show where I was just like, okay, cool. I'm okay with this ending. Like I want this to end because I'm just like, okay, cool. I'm okay with this ending. Like I want this to end because I'm just so tired of watching it. I'm so exhausted. We stopped. We actually stopped
Starting point is 01:05:30 watching it like three or four seasons before it wrapped up. We just got like, like, okay, enough's enough. Like nothing is happening. Yep. You know, and I think that's what that's roughly around where I stopped as well. It just, yeah. And so I think that's where I stopped as well. So I think that's kind of going with Picard. It's like, you know what, three season series, I'm fine with that. The first two seasons kind of sucked, but this third one's turned out pretty good, man. Yeah, I agree with you. I think that's a healthy mindset to have. Not everything needs to be seven seasons.
Starting point is 01:06:04 I'm glad and thankful for seven seasons of the next generation, but, you know, seven seasons, 26 episodes of season, there were some stinkers. Oh yeah, you know, like let's not forget that. And it would be cool in today's television landscape, to see more than three seasons of the show because now the seasons are shorter, you know, there are only 10 to 15 episodes or whatever. But I'd rather
Starting point is 01:06:33 have a good quality or great quality season. And then the show ends on that high note so that you and I can look back fondly and heartily recommend this to our friend Majid and say, you need to watch this show. Because, you know what I mean? Like I want to talk about Star Trek with people that have never seen it. I want to be able to say to somebody unequivocally, this is something you need to watch.
Starting point is 01:07:00 And it's always been difficult to do that with Star Trek because for a longest time it was Taboo. Yeah. And then now that it's no longer Taboo when people are embracing it, I just haven't really liked a lot of it. But I think this has a chance,
Starting point is 01:07:19 you know, to be in that same conversation as something like Strange New Worlds or Lower Decks. I know. And I just, I think we need to appreciate what we have. Hey, you know, if it sucks, it sucks. You know, just don't watch it, just ignore it. It's not like this. It's not like it was Star Trek though. I can't. I can't. Like, I'm going to watch, like I have not liked Discovery since season two. I'm going to watch season five. I'm going to complain about it, Brad. I'm going to watch it. I'm gonna watch season five. I'm gonna complain about it, Brad.
Starting point is 01:07:46 I'm gonna watch it, I'm gonna complain. But I'm gonna watch it. I get that. I'm right there with you. But I remember reading a book where it's the off to be the Wizard series. I know Majid and I have talked about it before. And it's about time travel and
Starting point is 01:08:07 the characters like they you know all from all different time periods right and one of the the characters they're doing a movie night and one of the characters is like all right cool that's the movie and they're like oh and it on such a cliffhanger. Let's watch the sequel. Oh there's no more there's not a sequel. They're like what do you mean there's not a sequel and it on a cliffhanger is like I don't know that was the story that's that's the ending. It's there's no more. There's not a sequel. They're like, what do you mean there's not a sequel ended on a cliffinger? It was like, I don't know, that was the story. That's that's the ending. It's up to your imagination to fill in the blanks. And it kind of makes me think it's like, because they were saying like you, you guys are so obsessed
Starting point is 01:08:34 with these movies that have one, two, three, four, five, whatever that like you, it's so unfathomable to you that the story is going to end. Like at some point, it's going to finish. And you know what? It's a stupid quote either, yeah, die here or live yourself to see become a villain. And the matrix is that to a T. Oh, completely. That first movie, when that ended, my friends and I talked about that movie for months on end. We saw it in the theater multiple times. We were analyzing it, trying to figure out new angles and whether or not the matrix is real. Maybe we're living in it right now. All these like, our 16-year-old
Starting point is 01:09:18 brains, like these huge philosophical discussions. And then they made the sequels. And all of that magic was suddenly gone. Yeah. Like I actually enjoyed the second one, but the third one was kind of met to me. And then I felt the other way around. Oh really, yeah. And then the fourth one, oh my gosh man. The fourth one.
Starting point is 01:09:41 I was, I enjoyed the fourth one for once. Oh God, how could you, we're not getting in this conversation. I enjoyed it for what it was. I much, much in the same way that we are enjoying Picard for what it was. Listen, this podcast is probably like, I don't know, it's gonna be like an hour at this point.
Starting point is 01:09:58 And if we get, again, to this down this rabbit hole, it's gonna be another hour. So, yeah, I'm sure our listeners will love to hear another Matrix podcast just like this. it's gonna be another hour. So yeah, I'm sure our listeners will love to hear another matrix podcast just like like this. Well, so on that note, then how do you feel going into next week with episode three? Are you looking forward to it? I'm actually looking forward to it. You know, it's you mentioned like in the beginning that you're not like, hey, I really am looking forward to that next episode. I'm actually getting that feeling.
Starting point is 01:10:27 It's very similar to Stranginal Worlds where each, when the episode finished, I'm like, man, I'm looking forward to watching the day it releases. And I haven't really felt like that because I know with discovery, I was like, I'll get to it when I to it. Um, right. I, I, as much as I loved lower decks, it was, I will get to it when I get to it. It wasn't like, I have to watch it. And this is, I have to watch it. Yeah, I'm, I'm really
Starting point is 01:10:55 enjoying it a lot more than I expected. Hmm. How about you? I mean, I, I'm, I'm going to watch it the day it drops regardless, because that's what I do, man, like that's me. I'm gonna bitch about Star Trek and I'm gonna watch it on day one, and then I'm gonna bitch about it, and then I'm gonna watch it again the next week, because it's something that I'm passionate about,
Starting point is 01:11:16 and I love, and it's just part of the fabric of who I am. Star Trek is a foundational part of me, from childhood up to through adulthood, right? And it's okay to love something enough to critique it, right? Like just because something doesn't necessarily, just because I'm not like blown out of the water of something doesn't mean that I'm passionate about it, right? Comic book fans do this all the time. Video game critics do this all the time. Like, there are going to be pieces of media that just don't work out for you
Starting point is 01:11:50 and you're still gonna watch them. Now, that said, I'm looking forward to next week. I wanna know what's going on with Wurf and what's up with him and Raffi and I wanna know how the Titan gets out of this nebula and, you know, I'm not like maybe this will maybe my desire to see the next episode will increase as time goes on because you and I just watched this about three hours ago, right? So I haven't had a ton
Starting point is 01:12:18 of time to digest it. Most of the digesting I've been doing has been with you. So maybe next week I'll be like, oh my god, I can't wait for episode three. But look man, we are off to a great start, especially in comparison to what we've had before it. And I think like most of all, like it's been great to see the characters that we know and love. But I think that there's a good foundation here
Starting point is 01:12:44 even without them. You know, like, like, I'm not in love with this because of nostalgia. I think it's just, it's so far, it's just done better. Yeah. And it's, I don't feel like you need to have that background, like we do in order to enjoy or appreciate. I feel that the writing is actually good and up to a point where this is your first experience with the TNG crew, it would be a good experience. Yeah, because like I'm ready with that.
Starting point is 01:13:15 Looking at like the introduction today with Wharf and how he's like this mysterious figure, think about if you didn't know who that was, be like, oh, man, who is that guy? Who's just bad ass kicking those guys asses right there with that knife. And I think that's a good introduction. And even Ryker, I mean, he was in season one,
Starting point is 01:13:39 I don't think he was in season two, but he was in season one. And I think that you could still get the story and understand the premise behind everything. Yeah. It's not like a, hey, I am completely lost type of situation. Yeah, I would agree. So I guess now the question is for you and me, you know, do we do this again in two weeks with episodes three and four,
Starting point is 01:14:06 or what do the fans want? Will Magi be back from Starfleet Academy? We don't know. There are a lot of unanswered questions. There is a chance that Magi may be taking an expedition to the Antarctic, and he may be having to fight some polar bears. I don't know, so we'll see on that one.
Starting point is 01:14:28 The jury remains out, but we do know that he will be back. I'm not sure exactly when at this point, but in the meantime, if you like this sort of content, dear listener, where we're talking about Picard, let us know. Please drop us a line on our social media issues, email all that information will be in the credits.
Starting point is 01:14:52 So, Brad, it was fun to kind of break the script a little bit today. It was there, absolute pleasure, and listeners, thanks for listening. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to yet another Star Trek podcast. We are a part of the retro sessions network. This episode was reported on February 23rd, 2023. It was hosted by Brad and Drew. Drew is responsible for all the wonderful editing that you hear in your ear holes.
Starting point is 01:15:33 Brad writes some stuff and takes care of a baby. And Majid takes care of our social media, unfortunately he is away this week. We miss you Majid, come back soon buddy. Loving kisses. Our music is by the wonderful William Grubbalar. Check them out on SoundCloud. Thanks to him for writing the track's warp speed and to the stars, we really appreciate that. We also really appreciate George Retauve for taking us
Starting point is 01:16:00 and making us look like lower-decks characters. Check him out on Fiverr. We'll have a link for that in the show notes. We'd love for you to follow us on social media. Twitter is our most active spot, but we also have a Facebook and an Instagram page and a TikTok. And those are hardly used,
Starting point is 01:16:14 but you should follow us there anyway. We also have a Discord room, so come and buy and chat about all kinds of nerdy stuff and make sure you show us pictures of your dogs and cats because we love dogs and cats. If you'd like to support the show, leave us a review on your favorite podcast app of choice, whether it's Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast. I guess YouTube is going to start doing podcasts now, so that's pretty cool too. In any case, reviews go a long way,
Starting point is 01:16:40 and we appreciate it. But even better than that is Wardamouth, tele-friend, tele-nabr. Hey, this new Star Trek podcast is Wardamouth, TeleFriend, TeleNaber. Hey, this new Star Trek podcast is covering Picard Season 3. Let's watch it together and then all talk about it. That's a lot of fun, right? In any case, we really want to thank you for listening. We appreciate it. We love you. We'll see you next time. you

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