Picard 2x03 - 'Assimilation' ~~ { Spoilers Within }

ilovesmybrick · 17-03-2022 10:08am #1

Picard 2x03 - 'Assimilation' ~~ { ** Spoilers Within ** }

Warning: This thread will contain spoilers for the episode. Spoiler tags will not be used, so if you don't want to be spoiled read no further.

ilovesmybrick · 17-03-2022 10:11am

A lot slower this week. Felt like it could have been longer. I liked the Rios part of the story, felt like a very traditional 'lost bit of tech in time' storyline. The Jurati/Queen stuff was a bit annoying, they seem to have forgotten how assimilation works, or they're rebooting it a bit. A lot of scene setting but not massive amounts of substance. I'm guessing (hoping) it's an episode that needs to be watched as a two parter to get a sense of it.

liamtech · 17-03-2022 1:15pm

I actually thought it was excellent myself - A few weak points for sure - Id say Picard has a high bar this season - I think this episode ties with episode 1 on score - episode 2 was stunning to me - (compare to unmentionable 'other' star trek season - chalk and cheese)

On Assimilation, we should remember Uni-matrix Zero, where Tuvok was taken over, despite 'anti assimilation tech' being utilized. I view assimilation as being both Mental and Technological - Yes its a subtle retcon but im fine with it personally.

Also the creepy Borg threat - 'you've impressed me' - nice (we will add your biological distinctiveness to our own)

I think my general opinion of Picard is that despite plot holes - it works - Im not as Canon-centric as i used to be (exposure to discovery may have played a hand) -

I plan on re-watching Ep1-3 over the weekend - REALLY cant wait for the next episode (is there a trailer BTW)

Yea bring it on! Treks Back!

ilovesmybrick · 17-03-2022 2:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118797774#Comment_118797774

Yeah, the queen was suitably creepy, and I'm not saying it was a bad episode at all, it's setting up the next few episodes. But as you said, the first two episodes set a very high bar!

I did feel though that the character of Raffi took a step back to Raffi in early season 1, which I'm not a fan of, though obviously justifiable what with Elnor going to the great big lost cause in the sky.

_Kaiser_ · 17-03-2022 2:33pm

Just watched it there and thought it was very good again myself. Whatever has changed behind the scenes this season is working!

Can't say I'm sorry to lose Elnor, and Jurati didn't annoy me for the first time. Rios's storyline with the doctor and her son was good too.

Raffi is another one I wouldn't miss though. That whole selfie scene was just poor.

Overall though, this season continues to be far better than the last.

liamtech · 17-03-2022 3:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118798034#Comment_118798034

I probably sound annoyingly emotional but i would be happy to see Rios do a 'kirk' and bring the mother and her boy back to the future! lol

AMKC · 17-03-2022 5:21pm

That was good. I enjoyed that episode. Elnor gone good. No lose there. The kid was funny and smart. Rios not so. Also what the hell with the beaming all in 3 different spots like why. I certainly would not trust her transporting me anywhere. Feck that.

Juriti and her going into the Borg Queens mind was freakish but cool.

I liked the background display of the Europa landing.

I do wonder why they picked Los Angeles 2024 do? Surely something like 2034 or even 2044 might have made more sense. They could have even had flying cars by then but I guess that would mean a bigger budget needed.

Johnny Storm · 17-03-2022 6:39pm

It was slightly drawn out in one or two places but WTF 3 good eps in a row!!!

Also where did they land? "Home"? Is that Chateau Picard? Will JL be interacting with his ancestors?

ilovesmybrick · 17-03-2022 7:27pm

Just after watching the teaser for the next episode, just a brief scene with Jurati and the Queen. It may be a bit early in the season to say for certain, but they have definitely brought back the creepiness of the Borg, and thinking about it a bit more it's great that they're also bringing in the more manipulative nature of the Queen in Picard.

Also I never mentioned it in my earlier post, but I really liked the Borg graphics when she was taking control of the ship. It was recognisably the interface we have seen previously, but nicely updated. A lesson not learned by Discovery.

While I had some issues with what seemed like a regression with Raffis character, they do seem to have put quite a bit of thought in doing a soft reset of the characters more annoying aspects in season 1. I really hoping that they keep going with the Rios we've seen in the past few episodes. The actor is great (and I did really enjoy him in season 1 too), and I could definitely get hyped up about a Rios spin off show. They're laying some good ground work on Seven, and the obvious issues that she would have encountered as a former Borg when Voyager returned to the alpha quadrant, and I do believe that they are doing the same with Jurati. I wasn't as down on the character as some, but she definitely needed to be fleshed out and more rounded.

I'm really looking forward to the next episode, and it has been too long since I've been able to say that about a (live action) Trek show, especially since Discovery is no longer out on the same day. I think knowing that Discovery was also there to be watched had me primed for irritation and disappointment. Thinking back on this morning I think I was a bit more down on this episode because it just seemed to end out of no where, I honestly thought there were another ten minutes or so to go, because unlike Discovery I wasn't flicking through my phone or waiting for whatever eye rolling decision that was made.

Also the Rios transporter accident, I won't lie, I thought it was absolutely hilarious, and the type of accident I always wondered why it didn't happen more often. @AKMC pointed out that you wouldn't trust the beaming, but they did mention that for power reasons the had lost the sensors so there would be issues in being precise. Better than the cop out transporter issue in Discovery today. It's not a scientific comparison at all, but the past three weeks I've been watching the activity on the threads for both Discovery and Picard here and on Reddit, and either people aren't bothering as much discussing Discovery, which I would be surprised about since Trek fans and all that, or the viewership/interest for Discovery isn't as strong. And the excuse I've seen elsewhere about international distribution doesn't really fly for me. From the Trek fans I know personally I was one of the only ones watching week to week, everyone else decided to just wait until the end of the season.

liamtech · 17-03-2022 8:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118798945#Comment_118798945

hey! do u have a link for the teaser! dying for more picard!

fritzelly · 17-03-2022 9:07pm

Quite enjoyed that - not much pushing the story forward but I was still entertained (maybe I had a low bar after just watching the season finale of Discovery)

eadrom · 17-03-2022 9:18pm

Pretty good!

CastorTroy · 17-03-2022 9:21pm

Thought this was a really good episode.

The Jurati/Borg Queen bit made me think of this scene from Fringe, without the trick with the eyes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1erSflAT9Q

Have noticed how the crew are doing all the active work and Picard is more stationary. Like when he was bending over to talk to Elnor. Really showing his age.

ilovesmybrick · 17-03-2022 10:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118799098#Comment_118799098

Last few minutes here, https://intl.startrek.com/videos/watch-the-ready-room-explores-discoverys-season-four-finale

liamtech · 18-03-2022 12:02am

https://blog.trekcore.com/2022/03/star-trek-picard-review-penance/

Lot more easter eggs in these episodes than we realize

Above shows several things

General Miles O Brien leading the fight against the Dominion Alliance
Tuvok Leads Vulcan Rebellion
Tasha Yar is putting down the Andorrian Rebellion

Slydice · 18-03-2022 12:35am

hrmmmm.. the Borg Queen feels wierd here and no nanoprobes in sight..

anyway.. here's 2024 and I guess it's off to MacArthur Park.. which I can only really say I know from googling just now:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Park

That communicator is gonna nag at me if they don't get it back..

Elnor died.. guessing then the timeline will reset at the end.. maybe.

GSPfan · 18-03-2022 11:05am

Can i offer a theory on the Watcher character. Not sure if there is any news on who that character is but…..

Is it going to be Wesley Crusher?

liamtech · 18-03-2022 2:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118800963#Comment_118800963

cassette50 · 18-03-2022 9:09pm

Another good episode.

I enjoyed the contrast between Discovery and Picard in the handling of a major character event.

Discovery had the usual over emotional bridge crew and Picard was just stoic and let's get on with the mission.

breezy1985 · 18-03-2022 9:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118800147#Comment_118800147

https://youtu.be/CPMpeNDIGdk

breezy1985 · 18-03-2022 9:26pm

Liked the episode overall but had some annoying tiny little bits. Ships that DS9 style blow up after 1 shot and why did Elnor die slow when everyone else evaporated.

I did love the sort of 4th wall break where 7s husband points out his character isn't important enough for a full name.

Rios new friend is definitely gonna be the mandatory Trek girl who has to be let in on the future story.

TheValeyard · 18-03-2022 10:37pm

Yeah another good episode for the most part. Just don't want the rest of the season spent in 2024.

Needs more Q.

Rawr · 18-03-2022 10:52pm

I’m surprised to find that the 2024 elements of the show were actually pretty watchable. The opening of 2024 with an interesting cover of “California Dreaming” was pretty good, as was the Rios transporter pratt fall.

I dislike Jurati, and although Alison Pill isn’t the worst actress they’ve ever hired, the whole scene with the Borg Queen felt kind of piss poor on the part of Pill’s performance. It felt like the better able cast members where given the location work for 2024 while Pill is only trusted to just sit with Steward and do some wierd speil about finding the Borg Queen in rooms. We’ve rarely seen anyone do this with the Borg Queen and it feels like they could have done something more ambitious, but instead played it safely within the acting range of Alison Pill, who inexplicably has second billing in the show. I’d love to learn what happened there.

That’s a bit of a ranty nit-pick of an episode I did still enjoy. It was a weaker episode, but still far more Trek-like than the alternative that has a finale this week.

Slydice · 18-03-2022 10:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118803413#Comment_118803413

There's a lot of results when I checked into the park.

The big thing I got though was the Intro-To-LA shot early in the episode. There was a shot of a tree in front of water at a park.. I think that's the park.

I dunno. Maybe they're doing more or less with it... or nothing more 😁

TheValeyard · 18-03-2022 11:05pm

I do like how they are making the Borg creepy again.

eadrom · 18-03-2022 11:14pm

Mostly agree but the Borg Queen is slightly Hammer-horror so far, or dangerously close to it. Hope they pull it back.

Though I tend to find all the new Trek prosthetics to be very rubber-foam looking so that doesn't help either.

Evade · 18-03-2022 11:38pm

Decent enough episode with a few of the standard time travel plots. I wonder if the crew will returnt to the future as they are now or will they reset to as they were before. On the one hand Elnor would be revived on the other Seven (and Picard?) will be completely human again.

TheIrishGrover · 19-03-2022 1:56pm

I thought that was pretty good. Slower-paced a bit than the first two but that's to be expected. Thought Raffi's rage was a bit over-done, after all, Picard knew Elnor since he was a kid. Although I did like her calling our Picard/Q's games as being far from harmless fun.

Liked the bit with Jurati and The Borg Queen. Liked the whole "You sure about that? Computer, transcribe "Sh*t I stole from Borg Queen" File" and the creepiness of the merging (And the "Allow me" scene. Very creepy).

The scenes with Rios were pretty good although I am allergic to American kids in Sci-Fi shows. The kid was actually OK but starting out I thought "Oh here we go, another little sh*t. What's with kids in Sci-Fi shows/movies? If I were Keanu Reeves in "The Day The Earth Stood Still" remake I would have left the Earth die purely because of the kid"

But..... yeah, what was with that Europa mission?

breezy1985 · 19-03-2022 3:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118804036#Comment_118804036

Picard is a synth here too. Q said it was something to do with Dukat. Assassination attempt maybe.

Spear · 19-03-2022 3:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118805388#Comment_118805388

The Europa mission was just there to highlight the disparity between those spending resources on reaching out to the stars, compared to the homeless struggling to survive. There's nothing more subtle there.

Edit: I'm wrong, but I won't expand on why in case of spoilers.

pixelburp · 19-03-2022 3:46pm

Forget the Confederation, I'm living in an alternate timeline myself, one where I've watched 3 enjoyable episodes of latter-day live action Star Trek. Definite quibbles that gave me pause (how did they know to go to LA before Jurati had even touched the Borg? The Watcher could be anywhere), but can't complain about the overall experience. All the characters are working for me, bar maybe Raffi whose anger was a little overwrought, but... yeah. As you were Picard.

Knowing there's already a season 3 in the can means I'm anticipating a cliffhanger ending, but it'll take a serious dropping of the ball at this point to mess things up.

Picard 2x03 - 'Assimilation' ~~ { ** Spoilers Within ** }

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Picard 2x03 - 'Assimilation' ~~ { Spoilers Within }