Well, that doesn’t sound good for mortality rates. Spoilers.
Overall a reasonably strong ending to the season, but I was left with a little bit of a feeling of underwhelm. There’s nothing particularly noteworthy about the way that the plots are resolved, and it feels a little odd that no one died.
The main action is the Borg cube sequence, with the ‘on ship’ and ‘on cube’ parts. While there’s some cutaways to Seven and the Titan it’s honestly not that critical – you could edit it out and not change the outcome of the story at all. That part feels honestly underdeveloped, maybe something that could have had a bit more space in a different breakdown of the story.
The on board the cube part is a bit weak. The dialogue with the Queen is missing a spark. And it’s a bit unearned between Picard and Jack. And Worf, Riker and Picard spend the whole time acting like they’re about to die – again, pretty unearned.
There’s better stuff on the Bridge of the Enterprise, especially Data insisting on his chance to try the impossible. But also some nice moments for Deanna (although not enough), some good captaining from Geordi, and Beverley as well. Also much more a sense of peril and action from that part.
That all takes about two thirds of the episode, and then we’re into a Lord of the Rings level of false endings. Not that I mind, they all add to a sense of closure and completion, and a nice mirror to “All Good Things” with the final poker scene. The setup for a new TV series is very blatant (complete with log line pitch), but I do want to see it. And there’s also nothing preventing a Season 4 of Picard. Oh, and even a post-credits teaser with a surprise star.
Quick hits:
-
They redid the logo with the Enterprise-D, yay!
-
President Chekhov! Yes, the son, but still cool.
-
The Borg vessel was hiding in the Great Red Spot on Jupiter? Style points certainly.
-
Great scale shot of Enterprise vs the Borg cube.
-
There’s a lot of people on both sides of that fight on the bridge of the Titan who need to do some aiming training.
-
It’s a pity the writers still haven’t worked out any actual role or story for Deanna.
-
OK, so that’s very much a ‘one of these three will die’ for Riker, Worf and Picard.
-
Has Picard thought about how awkward it’s going to be if he doesn’t die on this mission after all these farewells?
-
That Space Dock is surprisingly resilient against the whole fleet.
-
“Why am I sensing enjoyment”, LOL.
-
Some good old fashioned pretending to react to ship movements for the crew there…
-
“Waiting to die alone” – uh, Laris much?
-
They’re making Data drive and scan for transporter signals? Surely someone could help a bit.
-
Did they stop for a quick surgical laser extraction on the way up to the bridge for Jack?
-
Tuvok-Actual… Why no Janeway though?
-
“Tears are the bodies weapon against pain” – beautiful.
-
So guessing the Enterprise-F set a new record for shortest career?
-
This could not be more a setup for a new series.
-
I do like the meta joke of Captain’s needing the ‘thing to say’.
-
OK, a real jaw dropper at the end there.
893 down. Season review and then a break next.