The Plot of Picard (Spoilers)

[Winter]

On the whole I'm still enjoying Star Trek: Picard and the new crew has started to really grow on me. Stewart is still great and while Soji needs a LOT more character development she's overall interesting in terms of concept and Isa Briones gives a very good performance.

I do have a number of issues with it, 7 of 9 feels rather week as a character (though I do think she's a MASSIVE improvement over how she was handled in Voyager's finally) I don't like that Hugh was killed (though this IS Star Trek he could very well be brought back in later seasons) and the overall look of the show is REALLY off putting but I'm not sure as to why.

However, if I was to pick one major issue I have with the series so far it's the plot. Even fans of Picard have admitted that the plot of the show is a convoluted mess that lacks focus and takes attention away from the character journey which is the show's main strength. Putting aside the fact that it's suffering from a LOT of modern day cliches like the over complicated Mystery Box Plot, a sense of dread that doesn't let viewers catch their breath (even in the more light-hearted episodes there's something to make things tense and overly dramatic hinders said lighter moments) and we really need more episodes to help flesh out the plot as 10 is really not enough to help flesh out the cast and ideas of the show.

However, my biggest issue is with the motivation of the villains. Going over to Star Wars for a moment, one of the things that I actually like about the whole "Chosen One Prophecy" from the Prequels is how it, whether intentional or not, it's more of a subversion/examination of said trope. Only Qui-Gon truly believes in said Prophecy his dying wish to Obi-Wan, his Padawn and surrogate Son, is to teach Anakin to make sure he would become a Jedi and fulfil his destiny. Yoda and the Council see Anakin as a possible threat but respected Qui-Gon enough to honor his last wish and treat Anakin as a equal.

But in the end, no one, not even Anakin, truly believe in the Prophecy and are instead driven by what their characters themselves think based on their own ideas and beliefs. Despite all he does Anakin does prove that he is worthy to be a Jedi Knight and treat him as an equal. Obi-Wan sees Anakin as a brother and trusted friend and Padme see Anakin as the man she loves who would risk anything to keep her and all she holds dear safe. And Anakin is all those things but he is also arrogant and selfish and in the end it's his desire to protect what he believed was his that drives him to the dark side.

the Prophecy is just a means to get the plot moving with only one person truly believing in it and what drives the characters, both heroes and villains alike, is their own desires and beliefs.

And then we have the Zhat Vash from Picard who are doing all their doing because Synthetics from a species that I'm pretty sure was never heard of until now, once destroyed the world and they want to prevent that from happening again. It's basically a Prophecy and it's what drives the Zhat Vash to do everything that they do in regards to Synthetics.

It's stated in the show itself that the disaster that was caused by the Synthetics was NOT witnessed personally by Commander Oh or any other member of the Zhat Vash but just something they were told about. It's not a personal stake, they don't have anything again Data's daughters or Synthetics in general other then this prophecy.

It's the same problem with Luthor wanting Superman dead in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He's not doing it because Superman ruins his plans it's because... I've no idea... He says it's because he hates him for existing or because he thinks Superman is the Devil or because he's all Good.

Let's take a look at the villain that is arguably the best example of "Motivated by the Prophecy" Voldemort from Harry Potter. As Dumbledore explains in the Half-Blood Prince the reason Voldemort is so obsessed with killing Harry isn't really due to the Prophecy but because Tyrants like Voldemort are always afraid of those who will stand against them and the moment Voldemort heard of such a person he sought them out. Not because the Prophecy said so but because Voldemort's fear of one who would stand against him drove him to destroy ANY threat to his power.

And Harry's reason for finding Voldemort is because he wants to avenge his parents, to protect those he loves and because Voldemort represents everything Harry hates. It's strong because what's driving the plot isn't the Prophecy, it's the motivations of the hero and the villain. Voldemort will not stop trying to kill Harry because he will not stand for anyone threatening his power and Harry will always go after Voldemort to avenge those he's, Harry, has lost and to protect those he still has.

Commander Oh Zhat Vash are trying to kill Data's kids and stop all Synthetics from being created because, basically, destiny says so and you and that's all there is to it. Soji's want to just help those who have separated from teh Borg is because she was, in her mind, raised to be a good person and to help others and Picard's desire to help her is both to protect Data's only known family and to perhaps find a way to bring back his old friend.

Simple yet, relatable. I'm engaged in the show because the journey of Picard and Soji's journey's are interesting and I feel their journey has the potential to be as good as TOS, TNG and DS9. But the convoluted and hollow motivation of the villains is really dragging down and I hope the show starts to pull away from this plot as time goes on.

[Jonathan]

Consider as well that the Zhat Vash, to get the Federation to ban synths, did their attack on Mars while the armada to help their refugees was there. Now you could argue that the enormity of that was crucial to getting the synths banned, but the fact the Zhat Vash is dealing such a devastating blow to their own people isn't even noted. I did think all the way back in the second episode when the Zhat Vash are explained and given their quasi-mystical element that maybe their semi-religious fruitcakery meant that they viewed the Romulan supernova as a punishment on their own people for dabbling in synth technology (which I thought maybe they had, considering a secret anti-synth Romulan organisation was suddenly active) and that the destruction of the relief armada served a dual purpose of getting the Feds to ban synths as well as further punishing their own people and making it less likely they'll be trying to build androids any time soon. Instead their own people were just collateral damage, I guess.

The disposability and all round callous attitude to non-main cast life has been noted by quite a few people now, it seems neo-Trek will kill anyone off or any scale of people to convince us it's proper drama. After Icheb and Hugh, I joked last week that they'll probably bring Morn back to have him beaten to death with his own bar stool.

When you say the overall look of the show is off-putting, does it have to do with the locations? Episode 8 was effectively a bottle show, set on La Sirena (which is drab) and the Artifact (which is drab and looks like a 90s Laser Quest when it tries not to be), both of which we're well familiar with by now anyway. All the other Treks have been more colourful and varied even when confined to the ships; you might think Voyager's sets a bit grey for example, but even just that splash of colour on everyone's uniforms makes it more interesting to look at. The planets in Picard haven't been much to write home about either. Three episodes of earth, one of Nepenthe that's basically Earth, Aia and Vashti are deserty. Freecloud's neon holograms and bar aren't exactly overwhelmingly original, but it's head and shoulders over most of the show.

I discuss quite a bit more about the plot in my latest review and analysis of episode 8 if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IchBsBx7u7Q

[King Green]

Mainly for me, some plot elements are good like the discovery of "Not Data but B-4" and the interior design of Picards cabin that helps try to understand his character but grandly I agree that ST:P is simply a waste of time and creation of the Star-Trek community. I have read the tweets and discord text of why the writers tried to do but it was clear that they were speaking the half-truth, you just can't make ship a god-like power and make a wimp out of it! Yes, the villains tactics were somewhat clever but attacking from EES-062 degrees is a HORRIBLE attack pattern due to Sisko making his 'pimp-ship' immune to that crap and if any of you in the navy knows attacking from the east will get you killed!

I hope a new season can describe the timeline of why Picard is wanting his carzy scheme to work and for the directors to listen to their audience of what should be canon and the other of Star Trek slowly becoming science-fantasy. I am not happy of a recent rumor in the show that DS9!Worf will not be canon in the show and will have a replacement Klingon join the crew. *sigh* By God's teeth this is simply a mess, and many of you are still traumatized from that *holds back barf* "Enterprise" show.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I can't believe it took 7 episodes to wrap up the premise building, but I am curious to see it over again and soak in the buildup at a more comfortable pace.

If Picard didn't wise up here and instead come to his wits at the last 15 seconds of the season then I would be more disappointed, but I'm happy to see him playing someone in the room that has a better idea of what to do than the next person.

[Zargon]

There are a lot of problems with the plot and story of the show. The basic problem is the show is being made by a bunch of hate filled bias political zealots that are trying to push their one sided agenda....and that is on top of the fact that they dislike and hate Sci Fi and Star Trek.

So you start with the idea that Picard is retired....but all the hate forces them to make Picard not just retire normally, that is just step down as he got old, but must have a massive hate filled story. So this is where we get the whole hate story that ''Starfleet has Changed", or to put it another way: the democrats lost the election and they hate the president. But they need some sort of reason as to why ''Starfleet has Changed".

You get the idea to have a gender flipped andriod, so you can have a young pretty woman in the show, and make her Data's daughter as a hook for Picard to help her...because the new, old, evil, changed, Picard would never help a stranger. Ok, so then they need some reason for her to be in danger, and they can't really think of one. So they just go with an old standby: Hate. An emotion they know well as they are full of hate. So they pick a random Star Trek bag guy alien: the Romulans. So the Romulans hate the pretty young woman android and want to kill her.....oh, but wait, why?

So they need a reason, that is really ''no reason", but one that is good enough for them and other low thinking types. So..er....um...there is an ancient fairy tale story prophecy that says ''hate all androids to be cool". Er..oh...but wait there are no androids to hate: Data was the only one in the whole galaxy.

So with a fast scramble they just say, that for no real reason of course, Starfleet made a ton of android ''synthetics", er, somehow....but none were are cool as Data. Then Starfleet put all the synthetic people to work (er...enslaved?). So now the romulans have a bunch of synthetics to hate.

Then they just have to reference the reboot movie so sure there is the supernova that will destroy Romulus. Just to have some more political hate over climate change and immigration (and terrorism?). So the lame idea is to have Starfleet evacuate all the ''poor Romulans"(who are only ''poor" as their government is pure evil).

Er, ok, so we have like a bunch of half plot....er, how do we connect them all to make a show? Er, well, lets see: Ok, it makes perfect sense for Old Picard to turn into a wimpy crybaby and want to save all the romulans for no reason. And, oh, we need a reason for Starfleet not to do that....you know other then just saying ''they are evil monsters, let them die". Er..ok, so a reason.....er...ok how about a 9/11 like attack as that was ''so cool" to hollywood. So simple: the romulans 9/11 Mars, oh simple and brilliant!. Er..well, except, we want to put forth the fake false idea that immigrants/poor people/people that don't look like white Americans are all saints and angels; and not monstrous bloody terrorists. So we want the Romulans on Romulas to be ''poor help me types", but we still want some bad Romulans, oh so wait we will just have the bad Romulans be part of a cult group.

And, er, lets have Starfleet and the Romulan cult blow up Mars...er...by...er....oh, they take control of the synthic people and make them Terrorists(or just broken machines whatever). Then the Federation can ban synthetic people (er like they ban immigrants/poor people/people that don't look like white Americans. And then after Mars 9/11 Starfleet can just say ''die evil Romulans". And then old whimpy crybaby Picard can leave Starfleet in a but old huff as he cries like a baby "I can't believe they won't help".

Oh, and, er, the synthetic people have a hidden world with giant flowers. Er and there is a borg cube.

Ok...now start Episode one!

[Mecha82]

Your hypocracy is stunning. You talk how people behind show are some political zealots that some how are pushing one sided political agenda while being one who is actually doing that. In reality is very different from your fantasy of being some kind of righteous crusader. I didn't even need to read more than that from your idiotic post to know that you are hypocrite and one who is actual hatefilled political zealot.

[hammerofglass]

I strongly suspect that this show started life as somebody's Mass Effect/Star Trek crossover fanfic and they backfilled badly when it got picked up. Seven is blatantly not-Archangel hunting down not-Aria in not-Afterlife on not-Omega. The ship looks like they took a model of the Normandy and just cut the front half off of it. Hell, when we finally see the Admonition in ep 9 it's a straight-up recreation of Liara showing you the full Prothean message with a bit of Harbinger and Sovereign's dialogue spoken practically verbatim over it.

In all seriousness I expect the season finale twist to be that the cult was not-Indoctrinated by the not-Reapers all along.

[clearspira]

Please someone tell Mecha that he too has delusions of being a righteous crusader.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

does he really tho?

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Data really did a number on himself trapping his conscious in B4.