Last part I was worried that the final part of Picard would simply be a giant space battle
and I said that it needed to be more than that. Well, it gave that and so much more.
I’d say I expected about 50 percent of the things that happened in that episode, but
that other half I loved it. Hi Ric here with the review of Star Trek Picard’s
finale of season one, “Et In Arcadia Ego, Part 2” with spoilers ahead. To begin with,
the whole plotline about A.I. coming from beyond the galaxy to eradicate all organic
life was completely side-lined in favour of what was ultimately a more emotional tale
about Soji’s humanity and Picard, it was the grand focus for the first half to be sure
but it was really the final sections where the real weight lay. This was a good choice,
rather than it all culminating in a battle to save the universe; it came down to the
emotional actions of a few central characters. Seven and Narissa’s showdown is addressed
later on as something that Seven regrets doing for a second time while most of the limelight
goes to Picard and Agnes Jurati. Even Narek plays a more prominent role in
the finale than Narissa does, matching their roles throughout the show. He also spouts
the mythological origin for the end of the world scenario that the Zhat Vash have associated
with the Admonition. They’re mythology tells of Ganmodan, an Armageddon a tale that dates
back before their ancestors arrived “on” Vulcan. Originally thought this may be an
error and they meant to say “arrived from Vulcan” but even in TOS, Spock speculated
that the Vulcan’s were seeded on Vulcan by the Preservers or Sargon’s people so
maybe that is being treated as fact by now? Anyway, the myth states that there will come
two sisters, Seb-Natan and Seb-Necheb. They are twin khalagu or demons, heralding the
end of time and arrive to usher in the ch’khalagu. This end will be announced by the beating
of a drum made from body parts and the Ganmodan’s horn being blown by Seb-Necheb. What follows
is a final 1000 days of pain as the demons feast. The thing is, the Zhat Vash have interpreted
this tale as a distorted history of the 200,000 year old extinction event and that Synth life
was responsible for and will be again. It’s super interesting stuff to me, I love
this sort of deep old lore hints that the Romulans and even the Vulcans, if we take
Narek’s words at face value, perhaps are descended from a race that existed at that
time of the first event? Did the finale have some issues? Yeah. Picard
succumbing to the parietal lobe defect and the constant background preparation for the
golem body was obvious foreshadowing so, much so, that I doubt anyone was really surprised
that he ended up being transferred into the synthetic body. This lessened his emotional
death scene a little for me although what came next was completely unexpected. Some
of the editing choices were a little strange too, like when it cut to the Romulan fleet
for one line then to black, only to go back to the prior situation. Yes, I know the Romulans
are still on their way. You didn’t have to remind me.
Soong seems to only care about his “children”, even at the cost of all other organic life
so the reveal that Arcana was killed by one of his own caused him to flip sides. This
feels a little sudden and could have used more development before he did a complete
one eighty, again, I think this series could have benefited from a slightly longer span.
Maybe 12 episodes? Jurati takes Arcana’s eye out, which we don’t see. Not that I’m
complaining about not seeing the gory detail of eye gouging… again, but Picard already
dragged the franchise over that threshold with Icheb’s death. So it’s okay to do
this to a beloved character but not a new one? This is probably bothering me more than
it should but I’d really rather have not seen either.
The fighting unfolding at the base of the antennae was also staged a bit strangely.
I think Narek and Elnor were meant as a diversion while Rios took out the transmitter, but that
way it cut between the shots made it seem like there was a lot more standing around
doing nothing than there should have been and Nareks is the last person to be trying
to appealing to Soji. But that ending with the Federation fleet
showing up was impressive and a real punch the air moment with Acting Captain Riker on
coms and on one hand, I would like to have seen a bit of a skirmish, but I much prefer
the way it ended, with the Romulans standing down and Starfleet effectively reversing its
stance on synthetic life and flouting diplomatic reasoning to win the day. The alternative
may have been another Romulan War, something that both sides have been tactfully avoiding
for generations. However, I do think the standoff would have been just as powerful had there
been half as many ships or less on both sides. 218 so called “Warbirds” necessitated
an extreme number of Starfleet ships in response and it raises several questions in hindsight.
This cannot be the fleet that was originally sent to rendezvous with Picard so Starfleet
managed to amass such a vast amount of ships within a day or receiving Picard’s message?
We get to see plenty of the Zheng He ship designs, they do have two warp nacelle varieties
but are clearly the same type overall as Riker refers to them under the umbrella term. For
being the Federation’s most advanced ship yet, they certainly don’t look like much.
Honestly, they look very utilitarian and not quite finished, they don’t even have registries
or names. Now this is likely so they could copy and paste the CGI model and the only
thing for me that detracts from this reveal, however for my immersion, I’m going to head
canon that they are literally so new that they’re not even in full commission yet.
Alright then. I’m going to also assume, that since the loss of Utopia Planetia and
those 5 years that had been dedicated to the rescue fleet, Starfleet has spent its time
doubling down on making up for lost time on ship construction and this is the new “backbone”
ship of the fleet. I noticed too that the flagship was the “Zheng He”, not the Enterprise.
Which suggests to me that either the Enterprise’s status has been usurped, or we are within
an interregnum of the Enterprise name. Which does happen, throughout Federation history,
there were three years between the B and C and 19 before the D. Notably, this also frees
up Worf (who was captain in the prequel material) to return in another role and allows for the
appearance of an Enterprise-F. Maybe. Of course, the Flagship may have just been in reference
to that fleet’s command vessel. Now let’s talk about Data. So it turns out
that Data has been “alive” for some time, existing as, well data, quantum information
stored within the facility on Coppelius, and the fact that this is where Picard’s consciousness
is held during the transfer to his new body affords the two some time to talk. Very Trek,
using sciencey-jargon to facilitate a very spiritual-like moment. Spiner’s makeup and
I’m assuming de-aging was surprisingly well done and Picard finally get the moment he’s
been waiting 20 years for, to actually say goodbye to his friend as he was in the moment
he sacrificed himself. I dare anyone to not get a bit misty-eyed
with that scene, but Data has a request. He wished to be deactivated, for this limbo like
existence to end because he reasons that as long as he is here, he never was truly alive
because without death, life has no meaning. True, and a sentiment Picard agrees with.
If Picard’s death had been anticlimactic because of its setup, this one made up for
that with all the feels. Data aging in his mind-space as he pictured his younger captain
standing by him in his final moments… was a very human end.
I also appreciate the discussion with the others about Picard’s new existence as a
synth. The whole mind transfer scene makes it as strong as possible that this 100 percent
is Jean-Luc Picard’s mind, not a clone or copy and if I can hand-wave away the transporter,
I can accept this. I was worried we’d have a synth like Soji on our hands, but this new
body is basically a human replica, no abilities and no immortality to Picard’s relief. I
wonder if this miraculous technology will be touched on in later Trek or will it be
added to the long list of Starfleet breakthroughs that get forgotten about. Probably the latter,
but that’s always been a thing in Trek, Can I just say that the ending theme was brilliant
too? The orchestral rendition of the Picard opener felt far more Star Trek-y than before
and I think that was the point. Where the series began in a mournful, sorrowful and
darker place, it ended with the more familiar and upbeat notes of days gone by. I actually
hope that this will be continued on into season two, with a refreshed Picard, restored Federation
and happy ending, the tone is markedly uplifted from the series’ beginning.
So Picard overall has been an enjoyable ride for me. It was never advertised as a continuation
of the Next Generation but as a new chapter in Picard’s life with him playing a very
changed individual. The series respects the lore and universe of Star Trek for the most
part but with a few retcons here and there that are at least put to good use and are
relevant. Where the series shone was in its deeper character
moments when it took the time to address them but some hectic pacing brought on by split
storylines and overly dramatized dialogue was a recurring issue. This problem however
disappears into the latter half of the series emerging just before the finale and it is
in the build-up to the end that the show discovers itself, a better balance between incorporating
the old and forging ahead with the new. When care and thought is given to the script it
is clear, with some scenes miles ahead of others and even the divisive inclusion of
many a cuss word fits in well at times. Other points in the show stand out as a sore thumb
and can come off as an attempt to be edgy, which for me, is really not where the strength
of this series lies. The series is about bringing Picard out of
a dark time and allowing him to find himself once again by instead of focusing on the past
and dwelling, gathering its lessons and imparting them to others. In turn we see the other characters
dealing with issues from the past and even the primary antagonists are entirely motivated
by historical events instead of striving for the best of futures. The past is written and
its lessons are there to mark the way forwards and we even see the Federation follow this
trend too, emerging from a defensive and withdrawn shell into its more familiar stance of being
there for others. At least that’s what I see in this series
and when people ask what it was that I liked about it that is my answer. At times, yes
I was concerned with the direction the series was taking but when it wrapped, I can honestly
say that I enjoyed my time with it and it ended with a smile for me.
Thank you for watching me reviews of Star Trek Picard. I’ll get back to regular Sunday
uploads as of next week and I hope to see you there. Thanks again for watching, I’ve
been Ric. Goodbye.