Picard 1x09 - "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1" [** SPOILERS WITHIN **]

Spear

Another week, another episode, another thread as the spoilers are now out and about.

This one felt particularly bland to me. The two bigger twists were predicted already, leaving little more than some conversations and some political maneuvering.

Varik

Will keep watching but the big reveal has put me off it.

Slydice

Heh, when they said Brent Spiner was the son, I was like.. Hey It's Dr Soongs Great-Great-Grandson! (Enterprise's Dr Arik Soong)

I honestly thought the Cube was gonna be completely disintegrated in the crash.


For the story, something feels off about Sutra. Like why did she send Narek off to the Cube with himself. I'm wondering if she's been hacked through the mind-meld.


Googled the episode name: Et in Arcadia ego
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_in_Arcadia_ego

The translation of the phrase is "Even in Arcadia, there am I". The usual interpretation is that "I" refers to Death, and "Arcadia" means an utopian land. It would thus be a memento mori. During Antiquity, many Greeks lived in cities close to the sea, and led an urban life. Only Arcadians, in the middle of the Peloponnese, lacked cities, were far from the sea, and led a shepherd life. Thus Arcadia symbolized pure, rural, idyllic life, far from the city

TheValeyard

Ahh Brent Spiner, if they can find away to bring him in, they will!!


I enjoyed the episode, the twist was no real surprise, think we Al thought it heading that way.


I still maintain they are lifting the script off Mass Effect. We are looking at Trek Reapers!!


The Admonition is the Prothean beacon which is a warning about a super race of AI, gives visions which can drive you crazy....

The eventual rise of war between AI and organics. (Synths vs Starfleet, Geth vs Citadel Alliance)

A super AI race.... Reapers from outside of the galaxy.....

But I've heard the Mass Effect lifted some of that from Babylon Five, which lifted ideas from Lord of the Rings, which lifted ideas from mythology. Everyone's stealing everyones sh1t!!


Still quite enjoyed it. Sad to see a Picard speech fail though.

fritzelly

Enjoyed it but something about the whole episode felt off for me - can't put my finger on it, like the story line was just retro fitted in to the rest of the series or something, hmmm

heebusjeebus

fritzelly wrote: »

Enjoyed it but something about the whole episode felt off for me - can't put my finger on it, like the story line was just retro fitted in to the rest of the series or something, hmmm

It's so badly edited and scenes just end far too abruptly. Terribly done.
JL deserves better :-)

Goodshape

Thought that was great, tbh! The last 5 - 10 minutes maybe went in a different direction than I would have chosen, but it was fine anyway.

Having another Soong feels like a bit of a joke but it's a joke that I apreciate. Bit of a relief that they didn't have some clone or "V2" of Data, and just good to see Brent Spiner.

Story seemed solid enough to me. "JL" stopped annoying me ages ago and the character beats between Picard and Raffi in this episode felt earned, enough, finally.

Really just enjoying this show a lot.

Spear wrote: »

The two bigger twists were predicted already

TheValeyard wrote: »

the twist was no real surprise

Varik wrote: »

the big reveal has put me off it

um... what twist(s)?

Evade

To paraphrase another awful continuation of a franchise "they have gods now!?" "they have gods now." This is so bad. Just a series of coincidences and treading water until pulling some actual tension out of no where in the second last episode.

• What good is hiding under a table on a spaceship?
• Scanners not showing Romulan ships doesn't mean there isn't one in spitting distance that you can't see for reasons
• Now Jaime has a cloaking device?
• Giant space flowers, ok
• Time to sour the milk
• Calm the lip quiver you've known him for a few days
• The crashing cube didn't obliterate everything in the area, they're probably alive
• Nice of the warbirds to not be cloaked
• If they wanted Picard to have these fatherly moments why not give him his own kid
• They're not all Soji/Dahj? Makes the Ibn Majid thing a huuuuuuuuuge coincidence
• Are these old style androids?
• Soong? Clone? Convenient
• Spiner looks better out of the Data makeup
• Answers? That'd be nice
• Mind melding androids, bull****
• They cloned Spot
• It's full on space magic now
• The clone tech will be awfully convenient when Picard dies in a heroic sacrifice and you can recast him with a younger actor
• Coloured science liquid on Maddox's desk
• The androids remind me of Logan's Run
• Android gods, why? Just why?
• The Federation didn't listen last time
• Convenient that Oh has the same rank in the Romulan fleet as she does in Starfleet

pah

An Android that has taught herself the Vulcan mind meld????? this show needs to fuçk right off :mad:

GSPfan

Hate to write this now before the last episode but this series has been a mess. It feels to me that if you put all the main factors down on paper you cannot fail but somehow they have.

You have Picard, Data, Riker, Troi, Hugh, Seven, Maddox, Borg, Data Babies, Romulans, and still somehow they’ve managed to produce a series full of meh.

fritzelly

GSPfan wrote: »

Hate to write this now before the last episode but this series has been a mess. It feels to me that if you put all the main factors down on paper you cannot fail but somehow they have.

You have Picard, Data, Riker, Troi, Hugh, Seven, Maddox, Borg, Data Babies, Romulans, and still somehow they’ve managed to produce a series full of meh.

Agree with you. I've been very forgiving just to have the series but each episode gets a little worse, even tho I'm still enjoying it. The writing has been a bit unforgivable for 2020

Xertz

Why am I thinking that this is going to be a story about fake news?

The "magic memory stick" seems to be feeding the Romulans and the Synths exactly what their worst fears are and neither are questioning its veracity, which is quite odd for a bunch of a highly logical Data-like Androids. I'm a bit disappointed in them. Unless, they accidentally rolled in a bit of Lore.

Also, the Borg are a real live, everyday kind of scary threat to both organic and synthetic life, they will assimilate anything, yet nobody's seemingly all that worried about them...

tromtipp

That did feel very like half an episode - nothing wrong with it, but all set up, no real payout. Good things, Seven and Elnor, the long-expected callback to the doctor at the start, SPOT! the flower ships (no resemblance to orchids, too many petal - 6 rather than 5), seeing Brent Spiner (definite Arik Soong vibe, also a bit Lore-ish). Long wait till next week.

Optimus Prime

Am I the only one that thought there was a bit of a wink from Picard to seven when he says saving the universe is up to her now ? I’ve been thinking since this show was announced it will be a different character each season. Im expecting season two to be Star Trek: Seven.

As much as I’m happy to have a new Star Trek show. Some of the story telling has been a bit convenient. Some of the space stuff looks like Babylon 5.

The Megaphone

This is super petty, but it really bugs me that its the sunniest day ever on the mystery android homeworld planet that is subject to frequent electrical storms!!

tromtipp

Optimus Prime wrote: »

Am I the only one that thought there was a bit of a wink from Picard to seven when he says saving the universe is up to her now ? I’ve been thinking since this show was announced it will be a different character each season. Im expecting season two to be Star Trek: Seven.

As much as I’m happy to have a new Star Trek show. Some of the story telling has been a bit convenient. Some of the space stuff looks like Babylon 5.

That hadn't occurred to me, but it would be a good idea - they could use the same core crew, but people would be free-er to opt out for part of a season. Goodness knows what the Covid19 restrictions are going to do to filming schedules, but they'll lose at least three months, probably nearer nine to this, and Patrick Steward isn't getting younger.

Stark

Jeri Ryan is the perfect person to keep filming through the Covid19 pandemic. Plenty of experience of filming while being unable to breathe properly from her catsuit days on Voyager.

FutureGuy

This has been, at best, a very very average show. I would have stopped long ago if it were any other franchise.

By the way, what on Earth was Picard talking about when he talked about Hugh being violent? Also the cut immediately after is laughably bad - "what are they doing"

They aslo wasted the Spiner appareance. There was so much potential there. Now unless it's revealed it's a human form of Lore, I have no interest really. So Data had a brother that we never knew about? Bull****. Sorry.

Stark

I enjoyed it up to this point but this episode was very weak. I was similarly disappointed with Brent Spiner's appearance. The brother reveal was a bit like "Spock's sister" reveal. Would have preferred if Data had been resurrected and also got his wish: to be human and to grow old just like his friends.

The orchids were cool though.

FutureGuy

Stark wrote: »

I enjoyed it up to this point but this episode was very weak. I was similarly disappointed with Brent Spiner's appearance. The brother reveal was a bit like "Spock's sister" reveal. Would have preferred if Data had been resurrected and also got his wish: to be human and to grow old just like his friends.

The orchids were cool though.

Yep - I mean wasn't that the obvious play - Data was brought back as a synth that could age. Nice empotional payoff for the characters and the fans.

The Megaphone

FutureGuy wrote: »

So Data had a brother that we never knew about? Bull****. Sorry.

This kind of reveal has been done so many times within TNG that its lazy!!

We had Tasha Yar's sister, Tasha Yar's half Romulan daughter, Worf's human brother, Worf's Klingon brother Kurn, Thomas Riker, Lore, B4 and Data's mother; but at least the majority of those storylines, with the exception of B4 in ST Nemesis, were decent episodes!

The introduction of Altan Inigo Soong is even worse than just being convenient given we already had Brent Spiner's appearance in Enterprise as Dr. Arik Soong.

It just feels like the writers of ST Picard are oblivious to the fan base's knowledge and also our ease of access to older episodes on Netflix!

Goodshape

Heh. Feel like I must be watching a different show from people here so far. Or at least coming at it with different expectations. The couple of beers might have helped too.

But really.. I dunno... I like it. It was appropriate amounts of fun and silly and heavy-handed seriousness.

Space flowers ffs! A city full of Datas! Another Soong! Classic Star Trek stuff at this stage.


And I wasn’t joking earlier when I asked what those “no real surprise” and “already predicted” twists were. I don’t think there was any point in this episode where I expected to surprised, or was disappointed at a lack of ‘twist’. What weren’t (or, conversely, were) people expecting?


But also yeah, I have decided that this a two-beer show and maybe that helps a lot. I’m not ~10 years old anymore. Star Trek has never been the most high-brow, well produced, respectable show on the telly, and neither is this. But I like it.

Varik

Whatever about more Soong, when as said they've added him/relatives in a much as possible.

But why couldn't the reveal have been the Q, they're already tied into the borg from the start of TNG and there's a wariness there to the borg and perhaps artificial life in general as they are the end result of organic evolution which ties into the nonsense message.

Nesta99

For any of its flaws I found watching this episode a bit emotional. Sentimental old fool that I am but seeing Brent Spiner and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek scenes really threw me back to being 7 or 8 when TNG got under my skin and became hooked on sci-fi. More so than Frakes, Sirtis in previous episodes for some reason. I dont care really how ridiculous the plot becomes but I would quite enjoy seeing other old characters from the various shows turn up in season 2. Worf would be fun especially if the old tendency to rip the p!ss out of him is done - wouldnt mind seeing him minding someones cat even....;p Some Colm Meany too of course. Any characters that other people would like to see guesting and how could they fit in to a plot without it becoming just a nod to late 80s and early 90s series?

Loved the little Voyager tune when 7 first appeared.

TheValeyard

Varik wrote: »

Whatever about more Soong, when as said they've added him/relatives in a much as possible.

But why couldn't the reveal have been the Q, they're already tied into the borg from the start of TNG and there's a wariness there to the borg and perhaps artificial life in general as they are the end result of organic evolution which ties into the nonsense message.

Who knows maybe the Q are the artificial life!

Or what's about to be revealed is a realm of ancient Higher order species in which the Q, The AI are amongst them. Maybe the Iconians, who knows.

pixelburp

I thought the episode was fine, nothing special but precisely a first part in a two part finale. Putting all its pieces in place for the Big Showdown, so in doing so lost some of the pacing of the show at its height. And because it's a two part episode it feels a touch redundant to dig too deep until I see how it all shakes out by the end.

Don't have any great problem with Android Gods; we had an entire show based around actual, functional gods living inside a wormhole (yes it's my obligatory DS9 shout-out). Not to mention the myriad of lost civilisations with mythic tech too advanced for the Fed to understand. Any sufficient technology etc etc. If anything, the idea of synthetic life existing outside of corporeal existence kinda works for me. Synthetics don't need bodies, do why wouldn't they evolve outside of that necessity?

I love how they've managed to work in any excuse for Santiago Cabrera to show off his football skills

Machines doing a mind meld is ridiculous.

Slydice

Forgot to mention how I think I like the linking of Seven to the Voyager theme music.

Thinking about the episode a bit more .. and remembering
- the distance thread where I spotted that it seemed only V'Ger had travelling Galaxy distance
- this AI race was mentioned as Galaxy spanning again
-

the preview for the next episode showed space folding and what looked like something robotic coming

anyway, after all that, I've wondered

if maybe the AI race are the V'Ger creating race

and then just writing this post and

putting the Voyager Theme song together with the V'Ger creating race and I'm like... OH! Oh I see what you did there! Star. Trek. Writers!

pixelburp

Oh yeah. Completely forgot about V'Ger, mostly cos who can stay awake that far into the film? So we even already have precedent of mysterious AI gods; while only hinted at, I took the film to be suggesting the Voyager probe was found by super advanced AI who evolved the probe intentionally. V'Ger itself was practically god like, barely corporeal anyway.

_Kaiser_

GSPfan wrote: »

Hate to write this now before the last episode but this series has been a mess. It feels to me that if you put all the main factors down on paper you cannot fail but somehow they have.

You have Picard, Data, Riker, Troi, Hugh, Seven, Maddox, Borg, Data Babies, Romulans, and still somehow they’ve managed to produce a series full of meh.

Nailed it.

I really was very optimistic with the first episode but each episode since has strayed further and further from it's TNG roots to be completely unrecognisable, despite the cameos from that era.

It's become another Discovery. Convoluted, "edgy" and "dark" , with far too much 21st century politics and culture and not enough enjoyable Sci fi and likeable characters, or even characters you can get behind.

They've created another bland, generic series that is trading on name recognition and nostalgic hope that it'll somehow turn around next week, but it's not going to happen.

I just don't care about the ridiculously confused plot, the generic look and tone, the "complicated" characters, the twisting of decades of concepts and designs, or how it all ends next week.

I'll watch the finale though, but that'll be enough for me. I won't be bothering with season 3 of the Michael Burnham show either. Neither of these are the Star Trek I remember or want to watch.