Did you mean “Kobayashi Maru”? Spoilers
An episode so good it makes me like the previous episode more as well. As the previous episode was setting up a lot of the chess pieces that came into play here. It’s all slightly undermined by knowing that there are episodes after this one, and the show is called ‘Picard’. I know there’s a way out of this one. But the path there is well executed, and a couple of scenes really underline the feelings of the crew.
Plenty of time was spent on the emotional side, which hit exactly the right pitch. But unusually for NuTrek it didn’t feel like everyone was pausing doomsday countdowns to talk about feelings – instead it felt like this was the right time and place for the conversation that people were having. Shaw’s Wolf 359 story in particular s an incredible moment. It’s something I think would be nice to see more of in Star Trek – the consequences and the trauma of things you’ve been exposed. And it helps that it’s an incredible performance as well.
And the emotional side is broken up nicely with the changeling hunt, a nicely done sequence that gives Jeri Ryan some good scenes to play, and actually goes a fair way to redeeming her relationship with Shaw as well. Riker’s characterisation is a bit uneven. It makes sense, but I think that it just needed a little more in terms of dialogue. Maybe a scene with Beverley?
There is, of course, a bit of a technobabble solution to things. But even this works better than average. A few things help here – it’s not a magical ‘press the button and we’re done’ thing, it takes a fair bit of effort and isn’t a guaranteed success. It also draws on a lot of different perspectives and talents across the crew.
And then to finish with a real TNG touch with the beauty of this strange alien life they’ve found. Overall just a great episode, which had me completely caught up from start to end.
Quick hits:
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I got the feeling that the Picard-in-the-bar scene is more autobiographical than a story purpose..
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Some beautiful non-verbal acting from Frakes and Stewart in this episode.
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The backstory on the Riker/Troi split makes a lot of sense for an empath.
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Non one programmed some kind of anti-changeling sweep protocol in?
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Yeah I can see the hair being early on the list of questions..
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That’s a very creepy way of being in touch with your boss.
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I wonder if the new special effects for Changelings are meaningful (some offshoot perhaps?)
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Dropping to total silence when Shaw starts to talk about Wolf 359 is very effective.
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“Arsehole became a substitute for charm”. Yep, good character summary there.
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There’s really no way to transfer power from the holodeck even for very dire emergencies?
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Have we ever heard the phrase ‘life deck’ before?
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Was a little worried about Vadik for a moment there. Although she doesn’t seem super optimistic about her future.
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The “I think we should boldly get the hell out of here” was beautifully timed, just as every Trek nerd is saying “Boldly Go” to themselves.
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A little unclear – is Pixard remembering meeting Jack that time or not?
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Same vision sequence as Seven when she was knocked out. Interesting.
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I really love the theme to this show. Beautiful piece of composition.
887 down.