As I'm sure you know, his standout sci-fi role isn't Tomalak; it's G'Kar on Babylon Five. Starting about 2:20 in this clip is his finest scene. Broken, humiliated, but full of conviction. A terrific piece of acting that shines right through the makeup.
I'm finally caught up. What a fucked up concept, pulling apart Icheb while he was still conscious and could feel everything. Even more fucked up that it was apparently Troi who did it, and has since become the head of a criminal syndicate.
Speaking of Troi, when do her and Riker show up? It seemed from the trailers that they were part of the "putting a plan together" stage.
Judging from the plot so far, shortly after Picard suffers another major setback and decides to finally reach out to some people that still like him.
No. Seven blew up a woman called Vajazzle. If Troi had a vajazzle, there's no way Riker could have been tapping that and been comfortable enough "downstairs" afterwards to do that thing where he'd put one leg up on the chair.
Episode 6 was pretty solid. Things are definitely starting to happen, and took a bit of an unexpected swerve at the end. Every time I see that gorgeous female Romulan agent (Narek's sister?), my desire increases for her to have my half-Romulan babies. Does she give anyone else that deliciously evil 'Servalan' vibe from Blake's 7?
Just finished Episode 6. I'm NOT happy with how the resolved Maddox's death. However, that next scene, in the chateau office was brilliant in every way. I am most certainly not happy with how easily Jurati got away with Maddox's murder, but the rest of the episode is fantastic. Edit: Two points: I am curious about the Romulan Rubix Cube. I thought, when he placed it on the thing, that it was going to be thalaron radiation, which would have been a great call-back. But, it was red... Also, shouldn't Soji have cued on Picard like Dahj did? Shouldn't she have immediately known she could trust him when her activation sequence started?
Goddamn... another great episode. I have a feeling Hugh isn't going to make it. I'm really liking him too. And really liked the scene with Picard and Hugh seeing each other again. A lot of emotion between the two there. Also, real pillows. Not uncomfortable looking cylinders or tiny undersized pillows. Also, a nice treat, if you can call it that, real tension in this episode. A long time since I've really felt that watching Trek.
I doubt @14thDoctor even watched the video, but he can’t stand criticism of his beloved show so he marks my post as dumb.
Good ep. Picard's flashbacks seemed a bit intense given he's faced the Borg since BOBW without completely panicking, but then he always had the Enterprise & Crew to back him up and never set foot on a cube itself. Jurati/Rios was icky since he knows she just lost someone and from her perspective it's even worse if we're meant to accept she's tortured over it. Of course, if she's deeper into all this than it seems then she's just being manipulative. I am prepared to accept he might also have his suspicions and be playing her too though. Hope we haven't seen the last of Elnor or Hugh, the latter of whom was fucking awesome this week - Del Arco knocked it out of the park and it did feel great for Picard to finally find a friendly welcome in a setting that had, up to that point, been terrifying him. The Soji/Narek stuff got better this week, on his side largely because he actually stood up to his sister and Treadaway did a good job of acting his conflicted nature over Soji. The use of her dreams was a nice callback to Data's own dream subroutine and how it allowed him to explore hidden facets of himself.
I didn’t care for this episode as much. I have to admit that I’ve been underwhelmed by the Soji/Romulan Boy Band Reject plotline. I’ve been sort of withholding judgement on it until we got more information as to where it’s all going. What are the Romulans doing? Why did they go so hard after Dahj and why does Narek feel his softer approach is better at getting info when she doesn’t seem to know anything that will get him closer to the other Synths that are apparently... somewhere? I’m very disappointed with the decision to kill Bruce Maddox and to have Dr. Jurati, his mentee do it? I’m no where near the world’s leading expert in my field of work and I can’t imagine something so bad that would make me not only abandon my life’s work, but make me ruthlessly kill the man who taught me how to do this.... and I’ve never even kissed the guy! They have to do something to make her motivations make some sort of sense to me. Not to mention how she was able to do it on a starship with an EMH and sensors that caught what she was doing and didn’t tell anyone else what happened. well, this a serialized drama, so I may appreciate this one more later on... so there’s that.
Ok... I got about 4 minutes into it and I had to stop. One guy points out that Picard disliked children and the other one, rightly defends the show by saying we haven’t seen Picard in a while... maybe he’s grown. By the way, we DO see Picard grappling with the death of his brother and nephew in Generations... and him expressing regret at not having a family of his own, but I digress... so yeah... goon #2 continues in his critique by equating Picard’s dislike for children to Harvey Weinstien’s criminally predatory behavior towards women. I shit you not. I just can’t anymore.
He's also older and more vulnerable. And the last time before this was in First Contact, where he did almost lose it albeit in a different way.
Am I happy those story-obsessed dicks from Voyager got assimilated? Kinda. Am I worried what that expansion of Borg territory means for the Talaxians and Ocampa? Kinda.
That’s great. I didn’t say I agreed with them 100%. I said it was hilarious and apparently that opinion is dumb.
*SPOILERS ALL TO FUCK AND BACK* What an episode! So now we're dealing in the aftermath of "Stardust City Rag," where Dr. Jurati killed Bruce Maddox in the final moments of the episode. No one at this point knows, as she, Picard, and Elnor sit around a small table working it all out. Turns out, Soji dreams. We see her as a child, on a stormy night, walking down a dark hallway, towards her father's laboratory. She opens the door to see beautiful orchids and at that moment her father shouts her name, and she wakes up. Back on the ship, the big question is what to do next, and after a dalliance between Rios and Jurati, and Picard taking time to look back on his past nightmare of Locutus, we're on the bridge figuring out just what *is* the plan to get into the Romulan reclamation site? Well, Raffi has an idea up her sleeve, and thanks to some smooth talking with a former friend in Starfleet, Picard now has diplomatic credentials for 24 hours. Of course, he has to go alone, because secretive Romulans gonna secret. Meanwhile, with prodding from Narek, Soji has come to the realization that her dreams mean something more than just a nightmare. On a hunch, she takes out her photographs and uses an analyzer only to discover that they're all the same age: 37 months. Everything, from childhood photos to her stuffed animal as a child: 37 months. Narek shows up to help her figure out what is going on, so it seems, and leads her to a meditation chamber that will draw on her memories and help her discover what lies beneath. Meanwhile, Picard beams over to the specified coordinates all alone, facing some old demons as he tries to navigate his way around the terrifying confines of his past and the Borg cube, both being synonymous in this case. Fortunately, a friendly face prevents him from losing his balance in the form of Hugh, who is genuinely happy to see him (thank goodness!). I loved this moment, it was so warm and inviting, and Jonathan Del Arco does such a great job conveying that sense of family that former drones tend to share from their ordeal. Hugh leads Picard around the cube, showing him all of the work that has been done to save the lives of former Borg. Hugh tells Picard that he's not Locutus, that he isn't trapped. As Picard looks around and sees the relieved faces of former drones rediscovering their true selves before their suffering, he realizes that what Hugh is doing is amazing work, and commends him for it. Hugh raises the idea that maybe Jean Luc Picard advocating for the freedom of former Borg drones would be a good cause to follow, and Picard can be seen giving it real thought. Meanwhile, in the meditation room, Soji is being coached by Narek, who helps her revisit her dream, and break through. As she moves from step to step on the meditation path, she finally comes face to face with something which shocks her: she sees herself on a table, as a life size marionette. She can now remember every detail, and gives Narek a vague idea of where her father's lab is, and Narek's sister, who has been watching the entire time from another room, now uses this information to track down Soji's home. Meanwhile, Narek tells Soji that she's not real, and she never was. As she grasps with this knowledge, Narek leaves the room, and locks it. As Soji pounds against the door, the toy Narek had left on a small table opens and releases a toxic radioactive gas. Soji, in fear of her life, is activated, and tears through the deck plating into the room below, and begins running. Fortunately, Hugh and Picard have been tracking her, and meet up with her. She sees Hugh with Picard, and they both beckon her to follow as the Romulans approach to take them all out. Convinced to join them, they run to a secret alcove, where Hugh brings them inside, only for Picard to realize it's the Queen's cell. The place where only the Borg Queen could go. Inside is a chamber that allows transwarp beaming up to 40,000 light years away. They are prepared to step inside when Romulan security appears, but before they are able to stop the fleeing heroes, Elnor appears and cuts them all down. Picard is both angry and happy to see him, and chides him while also thanking him for disobeying orders to stay on the ship. Hugh states that they have to leave, but Elnor says he's staying behind to protect them from any followers. Picard releases him from his oath, but Elnor refuses, saying that while he is glad that Picard won't leave him behind this time, he must stay and fulfill his need to protect them. Picard takes the opportunity to tell the La Sirena crew to rendezvous with him at a different location, that they would meet them there. Confused, but Rios knows where it is and agrees. Meanwhile, Picard and Soji jump through the transporter field, with Elnor and Hugh turn to face their oncoming attackers in order to protect what they hope is a secret that may have to die with them. Scene. Wow, wow! What a terrific episode! We finally see it all come together, everything falling place, and from this point on it's going to change the speed and direction of the show. The writers and creative staff behind the show have clearly done their homework, the actors are top notch, everything looks great, I mean, this was the best episode so far. For me there's no doubt it's a solid 10. First 10 of the season, and of the series. Magnificent! I can't wait until next week!
I thought it was ok this week. Have to say I’m not really liking this Raffi character much. The constant self pity and melodrama is tiresome. I’m actually hoping that they just drop her off somewhere and move on. Probably my least favorite character on the show. Actually, other than Picard, I’m not really liking the other main characters very much... actually prefer the guest characters like Seven and Hugh more... I also didn’t buy the out-of-nowhere sexual encounter between the scientist who just murdered her friend and the captain who never showed any interest in her before. The stuff on the Borg Cube... Picard’s reunion with Hugh, Soji’s activation, finding the Borg Queen’s chamber, and the reference to a season 1 VOY episode... all good stuff. Plot is finally going somewhere. Hard to review what’s just a middle part of a 10 chapter story. So far it’s just a house of cards, all this stuff could be building up to something really interesting or it could just be something lame. The planet with two moons... a place we’ve seen before or somewhere new?
I'm very much enjoying the series but I wonder what the endgame is. There's clearly a defined story arc. They either resolve it in two or three seasons, or drag it out unnecessarily. I'd rather have a tight few seasons with good storytelling (similar to many BBC series).
I must be the only one that kinda like Narek and the actor who plays the part I do wish Hollywood would get over it's fixation on scruffy beards tho. Seems to me he'd look more alien if it were neatly trimmied
There's so many other Trek series in development now, I'm hoping they won't feel obligated to drag any of them out past their welcome. Besides, it'll only be so long until Patrick Stewart starts pining for the chance to do some "real" acting again.
