Star Trek

[Sparky Prime]

Picard season 3 episode 3
"Seventeen Seconds"

Spoiler

Picard and Beverly chat about why she disappeared for 20 years and never told him about Jack. She explains that she wanted to but with Picard constantly getting his life threatened during missions, she was afraid one day he'd die like her parents and husband and Wesley (even though he's just... Traveling). She also explains he'd told her he never wanted a family because he was afraid he'd turn out like his own father. She believes the people after Jack are really after Picard, but Picard has no idea what any of this about and understandably is angry that she took the choice away from him by never telling him. Beverly goes on to say when Jack was old enough she told him about his father and where to find him, but apparently Jack never wanted to. They also explain away his accent by saying he attended school in London. I find it a little hard to believe Beverly was living on Earth for at least part of those 20 years and none of TNG crew were able to find her to talk to her. Leaving sickbay, Riker insists Picard talk to Jack, but Picard believes that relationship is already damaged beyond repair.

Captain Shaw is injured and transfers command to Riker, telling him he got them into this mess, he will get them out of it. Riker continues the strategy of hiding in the nebula while they repair the warp drive. Unfortunately, the Shrike is somehow able to keep finding them, and prevents them from leaving the nebula with the stolen quantum tunneling technology. Picard urges Riker to turn and fight, but Riker insists on getting the ship and crew home, safe. Jack realizes they're somehow leaving a trail the Shrike can follow, and breaks Seven of Nine out of her quarters (not sure why she's restricted to her quarters in this episode when she wasn't in the previous episode) to find the cause. Turns out their warp coils are leaking verterium as a result of sabotage. Jack is attacked by the saboteur, a Changeling. Seven saves him but the gas from the leaking engines nearly kills him. With the leak stopped, the Titan-A attempts to escape, but the Changeling sets off a bomb, once again disabling warp drive. Out of options, Riker finally listens to Picard's advice to fight, but the Shrike is still one step ahead, using the portal technology to have the Titan-A fire upon itself. The disabled Titan-A drifts into a gravity well at the center of the nebula. Riker tells Picard to remove himself from the bridge for getting them all killed. I don't really understand the hostility between Riker and Picard in this episode. They keep butting heads as to what action to take, and while their roles are reversed from what they're used to, much like Beverly, I just don't buy the animosity between them.

In the b plot... Worf fills Raffi in about a man named Titus who paid Sneed to lie about the sale of the weapon. They apprehend Titus and Raffi believes he is suffering from withdrawal while interrogating him. But Worf recognizes he's another Changeling, and needs to revert to his liquid form. Worf explains Odo told him a group of Changelings left the Great Link. The rouge Founders believe they shouldn't have surrendered following the Dominion War and are seeking revenge against the solids that defeated them. With everything about their plot being masked in misdirection, they conclude the stolen quantum tunneling technology itself was a misdirection, and that something else was stolen from the Daystrom Institute... (I'm guessing this is where Lore and Molarity will come in).

Better episode than last week. Although I disagree with some of the conflict between some of the characters we are shown in this episode. Really surprised by the reveal of the villains. They don't exactly have a history with this crew from what we saw. It remains to be seen what exactly their plot involving them is all about.

Some other Trek news... it was revealed today season 5 of Discovery will be the final season of that series.

[andersonh1]

I really liked Picard episode 3. This feels to me like what I would like to have seen from the series all along: catching up with the old characters and seeing what their lives are like. I liked season 1, liked parts of season 2 but felt that overall it wasn't as good, and think season 3 is miles ahead of both so far.

Spoiler

- I love that they've brought back the Changelings and that DS9 and the Dominion War are finally relevant to the story. We've had a lot of TNG and Voyager references, but DS9 was largely ignored, so it's about time that was corrected.
- I thought they generally did a good job with the scene where Picard and Beverly discussed everything. They gave both characters a sympathetic point of view so I didn't end up rooting for one and not the other.

[Sparky Prime]

Picard season 3 episode 4
"No Win Scenario"

Spoiler

Riker apologizes to Picard for snapping at him in the previous episode. I'm glad they addressed this early on in the episode. He finally explains that since the death of his son, he's felt an emptiness, which is why he's currently spending time away from Troi and their daughter. I mean, while not a parent myself, I get the loss of a child would be devastating... But this doesn't really work with where we saw them in season 1. Why is Riker having a hard time dealing with it now when the family seemed pretty well past the grieving stage then? At any rate, they've got about 4 hours left to live as the Titan-A continues to fall into the gravity well, and they've still got a Changeling saboteur to deal with.

Riker decides not to reinstate Seven to her post, instead having her covertly looking for the Changeling. Having no experience with them however, she asks Shaw for some advice. He points out they don't have all the knowledge of the person they assume the form of (he neglects to say anything about them being able to assume ANY shape, not just lifeforms), and need to revert to their liquid form so often and rest in a bucket... Um, just because that's what Odo did, that doesn't mean that's what all Changelings do. In fact, I recall Odo needing to regenerate in his liquid form was explained as being a limitation of his specifically, because he was relatively young and inexperienced with his shapeshifting abilities. He even stopped regenerating in the bucket once he decided to get his own quarters. Never-the-less, Seven finds the bucket (very similar to Odo's for some reason) in the transporter chief's quarters, along with the body of the chief. The Changeling gets the jump on her in the corridor, killing a crew member, and vaporizing the bucket. Seven shoots the Changeling several times, but it escapes into the ventilation system. Not a fan of the new liquid form effect... It kinda looks like a mass of raw meat. Picard has a chat with his son on a holodeck recreation of the LA 10 Forward bar (when asked how the holodeck still works despite the ships power issues, Picard explains the holodecks run on an independent power source that's incompatible with the other systems, which is something mentioned in Voyager. Although, Picard adds that the holodeck can serve as a sanctuary when the ship is faced with destruction), intermixed with flashbacks to various young officers asking about his career (apparently at a Hirogen ship made it to the Alpha Quadrant that Picard faced off with at some point). It's revealed, at the end of the episode, Jack had been there that day as well, and asked him if he'd ever wanted a "real family", which Picard said Starfleet was the only family he'd ever needed. Shaw comes into the holodeck and relates that he once met Picard before. It's basically the same story as Sisko, they met at Wolf 359 while Picard was Locutus of Borg. Shaw was one of 10 survivors from the USS Constance and blames Picard for all the deaths that day.

It's confirmed Vadic is a Changeling. Or maybe just her hand is? Edit: According to the showrunner, she is in fact a Changeling, not just her hand. She cuts off her hand... Why does she need to physically cut off her hand? Odo could just pour a portion of himself into a beaker when Bashir asked him for a sample. It becomes a face of a Changeling floating in the air so she could talk to them. Some of the Changeling's abilities defy physics, but I don't get how this works. How can Changelings communicate with each other like this? There was never any indication they had this sort of ability in DS9. Would have come in handy (heh) during the finale of that series if they could. The closest thing I can recall was Laas sensing Odo was nearby. This is a broken ability. At any rate, the other Changeling orders her to keep after the Titan-A, and make sure the job is done.

Beverly has been keeping track of these energy pulses that keep hitting the ship and compares it to contractions. If they can catch a wave, they might be able to ride it out of the nebula, but they need to avoid all the asteroids in the blind. Basically a mix of situations from "Booby Trap" and "Force of Nature". Seven needs Shaw's help to open the nacelle's to draw in power from the energy wave, because the engineers are busy repairing the warp core, and the nacelle's shielding is so old that none of the 'kids' know how to hot wire it... Which doesn't make sense. The implication is that these are the original Luna-class nacelles the Titan had before it was refit into the Titan-A. But these are obviously not the same nacelles. And the engineers should know how to do anything on the ship they maintain. They should have just left it at everyone being busy repairing other systems. Ensign LaForge then shows up to help, but Seven shoots her when she calls her Commander Hansen rather than Seven. I'm guessing the Changeling is stunned at this point? It sorta shifts form but then, despite being unconscious, remains as Ensign LaForge, albeit with some patches of goo on her. The Titan-A successfully catches a wave, and throws an asteroid at the Shrike on the way out (similar to the Shrike throwing the Eleos at the Titan-A), disabling them. The nebula becomes a bunch of little jellyfish and the Titan-A warps away.

Jack experiences an ominous vision of a red door... No idea what this is about.

No b plot with Worf and Raffi this week unfortunately.

I enjoyed this episode. But it baffles me how they can make so many good references to previous Star Trek's, while simultaneously getting so many of the details wrong.

[Sparky Prime]

Picard season 3 episode 5
"Imposters"

Spoiler

The Titan-A stops within Federation space to make repairs. Riker transfers command back to Shaw, who informs them he's already contacted Starfleet, who have sent a ship to address Riker and Picard's commandeering the ship. The security officer sent on the Intrepid turns out to be Ro Laren. It's good to see Ro again, but I'm not convinced by her story of leaving the Maquis to rejoin Starfleet (after being court martialed and spending some time in jail). It's obvious we're meant to think she's a Changeling, but when it turns out she isn't... Why did Starfleet let her back in given her history? She begins to interrogate Picard, but it feels more like Picard is interrogating her, as he doesn't trust her story either. Beverly does an autopsy on the Changeling, who is still in the form of Ensign LaForge. Beverly comes to the conclusion the Changelings have "evolved", now capable of replicating internal organs and blood. It's only through extreme dissection that parts of the body reverts to it's natural liquid state. Not sure the Founders would call that 'evolution', considering this makes these Changeling more like solids.

Ro takes Picard to the holodeck for a private place to talk. After a heart to heart, they realize they are who they say they are (I think there's still plenty of holes in Ro's story. She even says that she doesn't trust using transporters, hence why she took a shuttle over, but... why?). Ro confides in Picard that Starfleet has been compromised at the highest levels, and that Changelings are everywhere, pointing out there are at least 12 reports of Changelings on Starships that have been covered up. Having transferred the majority of the Titan-A's crew to the Intrepid to decrease the odds of another Changeling being on board, she gives him her earring and tells her officers that they're returning to the Intrepid. On route however, the officers drop a bomb and transport back to the Titan-A. She says her goodbyes to Picard and flies the shuttle into the Intrepid's warp nacelle to disable the ship and give the Titan-A the change to run. Disappointing yet another character from a previous series is unceremoniously killed off. The security officers attack Jack (beaming into the corridor he just happens to be in at the time) with two more officers beaming over, but Jack's visions takes over, allowing him to easily kill the four of them. Riker convinces Shaw they need to run, and they go to warp.

In the b plot... Worf and Rafi ask Worf's Starfleet Intelligence handler to investigate the Daystrom station for anything else stolen, but are denied. So they look into Sneed's connections which leads them to a Vulcan mob boss, who was the one that broke into the Daystrom station in the first place. Why did the Changelings hire a solid to break into the Daystrom station for them? Wouldn't they have an easier time doing it themselves? Apparently he has a device that allowed him to get past the stations AI security program, and agrees to hand it over when Worf gets the drop on him. There was kind of a cool scene where they tried to mislead the mob Vulcans with a holographic Raffi, establishing mobile emitters are apparently common place now.

Jack tells Beverly there's something wrong with him. Picard tells Riker about the earring, and Riker realizes it's got a data chip in it, which contains her entire investigation. While looking over the files, they are contacted by Worf. Ro was his Starfleet Intelligence handler...

A TNG surprise cameo in this episode. Really enjoyed this cameo, but... I don't feel they do a good job explaining why/how they're here. We also get an explanation for why the bad guys are different from what we've seen before. But again... I don't buy it because it feels like it goes against their core ideology.

[andersonh1]

For a show about Picard, bringing back

Spoiler

Ro Laren

and resolving that old plotline is an opportunity I'm glad the writers took. I had no idea she would be in the show, so it was a very pleasant surprise. I'm really enjoying this season of Picard, it's what they should have been doing all along. And I hope Admiral Janeway turns up in person before we're done, she's been mentioned several times, I'd really like to see her on screen. It's about time Geordi and Lore turned up too, we're five episodes in and still missing them, as well as a substantial role for Deanna.

I think Picard has been better here than in the first two seasons, and both Riker and Worf have been excellent. Good to see Dr. Crusher get a substantial storyline after she was so often neglected during TNG. The writers have managed to do the impossible: make me enjoy Raffi's plotline by pairing her up with Worf. Supposedly this is the low-budget season, and it does feel like TNG: confined mostly to the starship, limited sets and locations, with the actors making the most of the material and coming up with some really good drama along the way.

[Sparky Prime]

Picard season 3 episode 6
"The Bounty"

Spoiler

The Titan-A is using transponders to keep themselves hidden from other Starfleet vessels. One of Vadic's crew is getting a little restless with Frontier Day only 72 hours away, so she has the them killed (so much for no Changeling harms another Changeling). We find out Jack Crusher is suffering from an early onset of Irumodic Syndrome (doesn't actually explain his visions and everything happening to him, so I assume there is more to it). In the meantime, Raffi and Worf have caught up to them. Worf fills in some backstory about the Dominion War and the theft at the Daystrom Station and they crew they must discover what else the Changelings stole. Worf, Raffi and Riker beam over to the station (which has no security beyond the automated computer system? despite a big theft just a few days ago?), and Worf explains this is where Section 31 keeps their most dangerous weapons... And Riker says he's heard of Section 31. What ever happened to Section 31 being so secret, no body had even heard of it? Even Sneed earlier in the season though Raffi might be a Section 31 operative. And why would Section 31 keep dangerous technology with the Daystrom Station? Sloan told Bashir Section 31 doesn't have offices or any physical buildings. Two Starfleet ships arrive (why weren't there ships here already?) and attack the Titan-A, forcing them to leave the away team behind. There's several interesting things on the station... a Genesis device, a genetically altered "attack Tribble", a Thalaron radiation generator, a Borg vinculum and apparently the body of James T. Kirk (this raises so many questions... Edit: a somewhat better image of the bio on the door was Tweeted claiming Kirk was recovered "critically injured" from Viridian III, implying he's still alive, by something known as "Project Phoenix") among them. They're attacked by the AI that protects the station in the form of James Molarity, but Riker notes something is off about him, as well as some musical notes that keeps playing. Riker realizes the notes are from "Pop Goes the Weasel" and completes the tune (just as he'd done in "Encounter at Farpoint", which we see in a flashback), allowing them access to a chamber where they find B-4's body along with a new Soong type android body apparently created by Altan Soong. This new body is part artificial and part organic and contains the memories from Data, Lore, B-4, Lal and Altan Soong. They realize this new android was trying to help them out (not sure how Molarity taking some shots at them was helping, but Riker guesses it needed to confirm their identity. Also don't understand why Molarity appears older if he's just from Data's memories. Little disappointing the actor didn't have more to do). It contains the manifest for the Daystrom Station they need to figure out what else was stolen. Does this mean the station didn't have a database with a manifest of everything prior to the android body getting installed? Either way, why put it in the android? That makes it incredibly easy to steal, which is exactly what happens.

Elsewhere, the Titan-A arrives at the Starfleet museum looking for some help. We get to see some old ships... The Defiant (little bit surprised it has been retired already when the Sao Paulo/Defiant is only about 26 years old. Makes me wonder what ship they've got at DS9 now), the Enterprise-A, a pre-refit Constitution-class USS New Jersey (interestingly, TOS styled rather than STD/SNW), Voyager (unfortunately the render of this ship was not very good compared to the rest, but nice to see a moment where Seven talks about her former home and family), the NX-01 Enterprise (featuring the refit design by Doug Drexler, but was never shown in the series), and the Klingon Bird of Prey, HMS Bounty from Star Trek III/IV, among a few other classic Trek ships. Geordi and another of his daughters beams over where he's happy to see his former crew mates, but he's pressed for time. Picard asks that Geordi clone the Titan-A's warp signature to use as a distraction, but Geordi says even if he could, it wouldn't work because (despite his objections) Starfleet now utilizes a system where all Starfleet ships automatically talk to each other (sounds like reference to what we saw happen in Star Trek Prodigy, which you'd think would support Geordi's argument not to have all the ships linked). Jack and Sidney get the idea to steal the cloaking device from the Bounty (bit surprised the cloak still works after being dunked in the San Francisco bay, and a hundred years, or that the Klingons would let them keep a working cloak as per the treaty Geordi refers to), which forces Geordi's hand into helping them as removing the cloak set off an alarm which will bring reinforcements to the museum.

The Titan-A returns to Daystrom Station (where exactly is the museum in relation to Daystrom? It seems like it takes only a few minutes for the Titan-A to travel between locations, despite the implication they are in different star systems) Riker holds off Starfleet security officers while Raffi and Worf disconnect the android from the station's controls. Riker is hit with a transport inhibitor, so the Titan-A is forced to leave without him (the cloak is used inconsistently. The Titan-A drops out of warp at the Daystrom Station and then cloaks... Yet the two Starfleet ships don't detect them approaching? Or in the few seconds it takes them to cloak after they arrived? They also have to decloak to use the transporter, even though we saw the Bounty could use the transporter while cloaked in Star Trek 4. And would a hundred year old cloaking device even fool modern Starfleet sensors?). Worf vows to Picard that he'll get Riker back. Georgi works to wake up the new android, but because it has so many different personalities dumped into it, he's not sure how well it'll function. At first, it seems to be Data. But quickly the other personalities start to take over. They're able to get him to answer their question however... The item the Changelings stole from the Daystrom Station they wanted to cover up.... Is the original body of Jean-Luc Picard. How can Picard's body be a weapon bigger than the portal device? I've seen a lot of people guessing left over Borg technology from his time as Locutus, but that feels too simple to me. Also, still have no idea why the Changelings need Jack for whatever their plan is. Meanwhile, Riker is taken by Vadic (who disguised herself as one of the Starfleet officers, killing the two with her as she interrogates/beats up Riker. Dunno what happened to the two Starfleet starships), who has taken Deanna Troi hostage to get him to answer their questions.

This episode was jam packed with references. But... The thing with past Star Trek series is that they referenced other series extremely sparingly. It was something special when they did it. This season, and this episode in particular was overload. I mean, it was great seeing the Starfleet Museum and how that ended up playing into the plot. But several things we saw at the Daystrom Station feels... fan-fictiony, and potentially problematic when you stop to think about some of them. One in particular... I still really enjoyed this episode. I just think they need to chill out a bit on the references, or think it through a bit more than they seem to be...

It's great to see Geordi finally make his debut in this series. Although his conflict with Picard in this episode, as we've seen time and time again in this show, feels forced. Geordi is a career Starfleet officer, as were his own parents. I can't believe he'd be unwilling to let his daughter put herself in the line of danger while doing her duty.

Spoiler

It's great to see Brent Spiner as "Android M-5-10", No idea what they were trying to achieve by dumping all these personalities into one body. I'm guessing they'll eventually merge to give us a 'new' Data. I wish they had handled it differently though. They've already killed Data twice, I don't want them to bring him back again at this point. At least they implied they got Data's memories from the download to B-4, rather than somehow cloning a neuron that they explained in the first season. And why give him an old man appearance? Also, really weird seeing his eyes act as projectors. Also curious what happened to Lore's body. I would have expected it to be in the vault right next to B-4.

[Sparky Prime]

David Blass has listed the Starships at the Starfleet Museum on his Twitter. At least, the ones outside of the Starbase...

Excelsior Class USS Excelsior
Akira Class USS Sentinel - Not sure if it's meant to be the same ship, but a USS Sentinel was mentioned in DS9 having a surplus graviton stabilizer Nog traded for.
Constitution Class USS New Jersey - Named in honor of showrunner Terry Matalas, for the state he was born in, and the registry is his birthday year.
Constellation Class USS Stargazer - Picard's first command, conflicting with his comment the ship had been refit into the new Stargazer in season 2.
Constitution Class refit USS Enterprise-A
"HMS Bounty" - The Klingon Bird-of-Prey captured by the Enterprise crew in Star Trek 3
K't'inga Class Kronos One - The Klingon battle cruiser from Star Trek 6. No idea why Starfleet has it in their museum.
NX-Class NX-01 Enterprise - featuring the refit design that never got used in Enterprise
Miranda class USS Saratoga - Apparently this is the Saratoga seen in Star Trek 4, but was made to look like the Saratoga that was destroyed at the battle of Wolf 359 for display at the museum.
Nebula Class USS Lexington - This ship appeared a couple of times in TNG and DS9, and was mentioned in First Contact.
Intrepid Class USS Voyager
Saber Class USS Argo - As far as I can tell, this ship has no established history in Star Trek
Pioneer Class USS Pioneer - We've never seen this ship/class in canon before
Defiant Class USS Defiant
Romulan Bird of Prey - No context for why Starfleet has one of these at the museum
Akira Class USS Wersching - Named in honor of Annie Wersching, who played the Borg Queen in season 2 of Picard, and Liana in Enterprise. Sadly, she passed away earlier this year.

Kinda surprised to see 2 Akira class, a Saber class, and the Defiant. These ships are less than 30 years old. These classes weren't even developed until after the first encounter with the Borg. It's odd ships this young are already in a museum, they should still be in active service. I feel like there should be more older ships on display in general. Voyager is the only ship less than 30 years old that makes sense here, given everything it went through in the Delta Quadrant. Although I kinda wish it was a museum itself, at Starfleet headquarters as Admiral Janeway said in the finale of Voyager. The alien ships, aside from the Bounty, are also odd additions.

[andersonh1]

Nice to see a list of what was in the museum!

Also, good to see

Spoiler

Tuvok again! Even if he was a changeling. Tim Russ says on his Twitter account that Tuvok will be in two episodes, so we have one more appearance, hopefully the real one next time.

[Sparky Prime]

Picard season 3 episode 7
"Dominion"

Spoiler

The Titan-A is hiding out in the junkyard of the Chin'toka system (the site of two major battles in DS9). As far as I know, they still have the stolen cloaking device, but they aren't using it to hide. Seven contacts Captain Tuvok, looking for Captain Riker and anyone they can trust to help them foil the Changelings plans for Frontier Day. At first he seems to be the real thing, but the Changeling posing as Tuvok eventually slips up. It's great seeing Tim Russ back in.. sort of in the role again. I'm hopeful that we'll see the real Tuvok, and that he'll be alright because this series has had a habit of killing legacy characters. With out any allies to turn to, the Titan-A crew feels they are on their own. They speculate the reason the Changelings want Picard's old body, and Jack, is to create a genetically perfect doppelgänger. Why would they need Jack for that?

Picard consults with Geordi about getting more information from nuData. Geordi seems to think he's got more information on the Changeling's plan, but... why would Data know anything about the Changeling's plan?. Geordi explains that the Data and Lore personalities are fighting for control over the body. Contradicting the previous episode, he says the B-4 and Altan Soong personalities are just memory files. They don't even mention Lal. But at any rate, Geordi is unable to simply just erase Lore or isolate that personality. Activating nuData, he's able to tell them Altan's research on Picard's old body has called the Irumodic Syndrome diagnosis into question. Meanwhile, Jack is getting flirty with Sidney in the turbolift, and discovers he can read her mind. Ugh... I really do not like where this is going, if they're going to explain Picard had super powers he never knew he had and passed that on to Jack.

Jack talks to Picard (I was expecting Jack to tell him about telepathic ability, and/or Picard would offer the information it may not be Iromodic Syndrome after all, prompting Beverly to do a more detailed scan... maybe get some answers, but nope) and offers to just hand himself over, frustrated because the Changelings always seems to be one step ahead. Picard realizes they may have had an advantage all along... The Shrike arrives in "open space" where it finds the Titan-A and a Vulcan warship both dead in space. No idea where the Vulcan ship came from. No idea how the Shrike found them here (there are hints that they're trying to track them via communications, but the show doesn't indicate that's what they've done). Vadic immediately leads a boarding party onto the Titan-A (refusing to use the transporter for some reason), where they're isolated and captured by forcefields. Oddly, none of the Changelings fire their weapons as they chase Jack and Sidney through the ship, yet Jack and Sidney vaporize or kill a few of them. Picard and Beverly interrogate Vadic, who informs them Starfleet made her into what she is. During the Dominion War, she and 9 other Changelings (how did Starfleet manage to capture them?) had been held at the Daystrom Station and experimented on to make them more perfect at imitating people (why? We've already seen Changelings were extremely hard to detect without this "enhancement". If anything, this seems like a downgrade compared to their natural shapeshifting abilities, it bothers me how Beverly keeps calling it an evolution. And they could never trust these Changelings as agents, especially after brutally experimenting on them). Vadic killed the scientist experimenting on them (Vadic takes this researchers form, although it's not explained why Vadic has facial scars and didn't get the hair right), and discovered she could pass on this ability with any Changelings she linked with at the cost of a shorter life and eternal pain. I'm guessing after escaping Daystrom, they returned to the Great Link for a while, explaining how Odo knew about them. But still no idea who this boss is that she answers to or how they fit into the story. Whoever they are, they seem to think Changelings aren't anymore special than humanoids, and is someone Vadic fears.

Not a fan of Dr. Crusher's characterization in this episode... She mentioned earlier in the episode about finding a way to deal with the Changelings, which obviously would have to be biological, which could lead to some dubious morality. When confronting Vadic, she tells her she took an oath to do no harm, but is rethinking that position. And when the interrogation goes no where, she talks to Picard about killing Vadic. She seems to have forgotten she vaporized a couple Changelings in the first episode without hesitation.

Lore takes control, and because Geordi still has him plugged into the ship (I don't buy that Geordi would be working on the android, which he knows contains Lore's personality, while this plan to capture the Changelings is underway), he's able to control the ship's systems. Simply to cause chaos, Lore releases the Changelings. Jack is able to save Sidney by controlling her movements, or telepathically telling her what to do...? I'm not sure what the scene is trying to tell us, but both of them are doing the same movements at the same time. Geordi is able to get Data back in control, however, the Changelings have taken control of the bridge.

Odd that they finally got all the main TNG cast in the previous episode, only to have 3 of them absent in this episode.

This episode was poorly written. Much of the plot of this episode is dependent on convivences, and some of the plot points frankly makes no sense.

They gloss over a lot of details from DS9 here. There has been no mention of Section 31 being involved with the virus used to infect the Great Link, or the fact Bashir was the one who stole the cure from Section 31. I don't recall Starfleet "voting" not to give it to the Founders either. Sure, they didn't help Bashir in his research to develop a cure himself, but once Bashir had it, they didn't exactly stop Odo from sharing it with his people. If anything, sharing it helped end the war. What's even more frustrating is that they have mentioned Section 31 in other episodes of this season, albeit in unrelated capacities. Worf also said in the previous episode that the virus was Starfleet made, in retaliation to the Changelings "deception and might" during the war... It's like the writers want the audience to believe Starfleet was behind it, rather than Section 31.

I'm a little surprised we haven't gotten a cameo from the DS9 crew, aside from Worf. Who better to consult about dealing with Changelings than the crew who had the most experience? Worf isn't even in this episode, which, I guess he and Raffi went looking for Riker? But this episode only offers one line to explain their absence, which didn't feel adequate.

I've grown bored with the mystery behind Jack, after 4 or 5 episodes with no real clues or explanations... It's "mystery box" writing, which I feel is lazy, especially when it is dragged out like this has been. Even the obvious red herring they threw us last episode is out the window already. And with what he does in this episode... I don't like the direction they're taking it in.

Spoiler

Speaking of things already out the window from the last episode... They've retconned the personality thing with nuData since his introduction in the previous episode as well. I was looking forward to seeing Brent Spiner portraying 5 characters in one. But nope. We only get good Data and bad Data

.

Overall this season has still been better than the previous two, but it is slipping. Hopefully the final 3 episodes will be better...

[Sparky Prime]

Picard season 3 episode 8
"Surrender"

Spoiler

Geordi unplugs Data so Lore can't control the ship anymore (should have done that prior to the Changelings coming onto the ship in the last episode!), but at the same moment, Vadic locks down the Titan-A and has her troops start executing the crew. She explains on the comm system she will order them to stop if Jack Crusher hands himself over to her. Jack is willing to do it if it saves lives, but Picard and Beverly tells him Vadic has more in mind, and is just as likely to destroy the Titan-A even if she gets what she wants. Jack explains his telepathic abilities and suggests using it to their advantage. Taking control of the tactical officer, Jack is able to use Picard's override codex. Seeing Jack has tapped into his abilities, Vadic explains she will start killing bridge crew members every 10 minutes... She threatens two of them, but kills someone else at random to prove her point. Despite unlocking the controls, Sidney LaForge says the systems are still locked by security lockouts, and that they'd need an AI matrix capable of trillions of operations a second to break it quickly. It's odd she phrases it this way. She isn't meant to be referring to Data specifically, yet it's so specific it can only refer to Data.

Picard, Beverly, Jack and Sidney meet up with Geordi and his other daughter to ask for Data's help, but as long as Lore is inside him, they can't trust him. Picard suggests removing the personality partition and hoping Data wins the struggle for dominance. Geordi is concerned Data's programming will not allow him to kill anything (which is wrong... Data has killed in certain situations), but does it anyway. In cyberspace... Lore starts to take Data's memories which represent him devouring Data's programming. Data gets the idea to start sharing his memories freely with Lore, until Data disappears. But suddenly! Data reappears! Data explains by taking all his memories, Lore has become Data, and then Lore disappears. This explanation really doesn't work for me, and doesn't fit with what we see happen visually. But at any rate, Data gains full control of the Daystrom M-5-10 body.

Meanwhile, Worf and Raffi arrive on a cloaked shuttle (explaining why the Titan-A wasn't using it in the previous episode), to break Troi and Riker out on the Shrike. On the way out, they discover the original body of Picard, and that the Changelings have removed the parts of his brain affected by Irumodic Syndrome. They leave and return to the Titan-A now that Data has taken control of the computer. Jack pretends to give himself up to Vadic, but is holding what looks to be an explosive. He gets her to lock the bridge crew in the observation lounge (although Seven refuses to go) and she begins to tell him about his abilities... Before she really tells him anything though, Data opens up the emergency hatch on the bridge behind the viewscreen (seems like a poor place to have an emergency hatch). Jack's device turns out to be a portable forcefield generator, protecting him and Seven while Vadic and one of her henchmen are blown into space. Vadic freezes in space and shatters when she hits the Shrike. Captain Shaw allows Seven to give the order to destroy the Shrike (I'm guessing Picard's original body blew up with it as well). Raffi also has a scene where she kills a bunch of Changelings... with swords... and they fight her... with swords. Why do any of them even have swords? What happened to all of their phasers? Despite we know she wasn't the true head of this evil plan, it's anti-climatic end for Vadic and her ship.

TNG crew are finally fully assembled! It only took them 8 episodes... Picard and Data have a conversation about last time they talked, Data (his personality in a box that Soong used to create other androids) wanted to die. This Data says he's sure that version of him is happy being dead, but this version of him is happy where he is. Sort of hand waving away Data's death in season 1... Riker and Troi also had a moment where they talked about hating the planet they lived on in the first season, so it seems like the writers took a couple digs at the first season... Which is fine by me. The Titan-A cloaks, and they discuss the situation with the Changelings compromising Starfleet. Data points out the emotional component of this situation and Troi says she senses a darkness around Jack... uh? what? Troi is an empath, she senses emotions. What's with this sensing "darkness"? At any rate, she suggests she meets Jack. Guiding Jack, she asks him to open the Red Door...

This was an improvement over the last two episodes... But the writing still feels a little sloppy. Still a lot of unanswered questions, and we've only got two more episodes. This was a problem in the first two seasons where they dragged out the story and then rushed the ending to an unsatisfying conclusion... I'm still hopeful this season might yet do better, but they are making a lot of the same mistakes...