Star Trek Picard: 2x02 (Penance)
Mar. 16th, 2022 09:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
4thofelevenIn which Q barely respects the fourth wall.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate that, for once, we're getting a dark, twisted alternate reality, where one of the signs that things have gone terribly wrong is that a main character's counterpart is heterosexual?!
Anyway. It seemed a little risky to me to give us an 'evil' timeline when Discovery's already been doing so much with the Terran Empire, especially give that TNG seemed to actively avoid delving into the Mirror Universe. But the Confederation timeline this week feels sufficiently distinct and appropriate to the different character of the show that it doesn't feel like a retread. In many ways, the Confederation feels more disturbing than the Terran Empire; for all its evil, the Terrans always had a certain flamboyant charm – it felt like they were, at least, having fun pillaging their way across the galaxy. The Confederation feels far more darkly realistic; the closest thing to joy or passion we see within the Confederation is the crowds baying for blood in the arena. It's a cruel, paranoid regime that no longer serves any purpose except to preserve itself; not even those in positions of power are really benefiting from its cruelty.
Picard is obviously the focus of the episode, and I enjoyed the tour of his chamber of horrors. A little disappointed that behind-the-scenes shots confirm that the Ferengi skull in his collection was Grand Nagus Zek and not, as I had guessed, Daimon Bok. But I found Seven's scenes far more interesting. The idea that, as horrible as this timeline is, it's also one in which her great trauma never happened is interesting, and I hope later episodes will do more with the idea of who Seven is without her implants.
There's also the interesting detail that Seven adapts to the new timeline much more smoothly than anyone else, quickly going through a checklist to confirm her situation, before falling into her role without raising suspicion. Part of it, of course, is that Seven is a much calmer and methodical individual – but I also wonder if, tragically, part of the reason she can so easily adapt is that she's used to having to mask her real personality to fit into human society, and she's learned to go along with seemingly arbitrary scenarios and work out the context later. I think Seven can certainly be read as alegorically autistic, and as someone who has had to practise masking to function in social contexts, it's certainly something I could relate to.
Meanwhile, we get a Borg Queen in a box! And she certainly seems like an interesting addition to Picard's cast of misfits. It's impressive that the episode managed to make even the Borg Queen seem sympathetic and worthy of pity compared to the cruelties of the Confederation; while she clearly has her own agenda, and I'm sure will prove as much an obstacle as an asset in future episodes, the fact that she is presented as much a victim as more sympathetic enemies of Earth like the Romulan slaves does give me hope that we might genuinely get the story that episode one hinted at – a true rapprochement between the Federation and the Borg.
I am disappointed that this episode does seem to confirm that Soji has been dropped as a regular part of the cast. I felt she was one of the highlights of the first season, and the actress did a spectacular job keeping pace with more experienced actors like Stewart and Ryan.
Finally, what is Q up to? He says Picard needs to atone, but atone for what? If the point of divergence between the Prime timeline and the Confederation reality is in the twenty-first century, this isn't a situation where it's the result of Picard's own actions... unless, perhaps, it has something to do with the space-time rip in episode one? Could Picard's decision to destroy the Stargazer so close to the anomaly have somehow affected things in the past?
I will say that the goatee suits Q well – it makes him seem more of a Mephistopheles figure, which works well for this darker take on the character.
Now, place your bets – who is the Watcher the Borg Queen tells Picard to find?
2/1 – Guinan.
5/1 – Q, wearing a funny hat.
50/1 – Gary Seven, still hoping to get that spin-off.
100/1 – Captain Braxton, very angry at having being stranded and having to deal with another captain's bad time travel decisions.
1000/1 – Uatu, having wandered into the wrong 'What If?' scenario.
10,000/1 – Sir Mix-A-Lot's character from the extremely short-lived UPN anthology series in a particularly poorly thought out piece of cross-marketing.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate that, for once, we're getting a dark, twisted alternate reality, where one of the signs that things have gone terribly wrong is that a main character's counterpart is heterosexual?!
Anyway. It seemed a little risky to me to give us an 'evil' timeline when Discovery's already been doing so much with the Terran Empire, especially give that TNG seemed to actively avoid delving into the Mirror Universe. But the Confederation timeline this week feels sufficiently distinct and appropriate to the different character of the show that it doesn't feel like a retread. In many ways, the Confederation feels more disturbing than the Terran Empire; for all its evil, the Terrans always had a certain flamboyant charm – it felt like they were, at least, having fun pillaging their way across the galaxy. The Confederation feels far more darkly realistic; the closest thing to joy or passion we see within the Confederation is the crowds baying for blood in the arena. It's a cruel, paranoid regime that no longer serves any purpose except to preserve itself; not even those in positions of power are really benefiting from its cruelty.
Picard is obviously the focus of the episode, and I enjoyed the tour of his chamber of horrors. A little disappointed that behind-the-scenes shots confirm that the Ferengi skull in his collection was Grand Nagus Zek and not, as I had guessed, Daimon Bok. But I found Seven's scenes far more interesting. The idea that, as horrible as this timeline is, it's also one in which her great trauma never happened is interesting, and I hope later episodes will do more with the idea of who Seven is without her implants.
There's also the interesting detail that Seven adapts to the new timeline much more smoothly than anyone else, quickly going through a checklist to confirm her situation, before falling into her role without raising suspicion. Part of it, of course, is that Seven is a much calmer and methodical individual – but I also wonder if, tragically, part of the reason she can so easily adapt is that she's used to having to mask her real personality to fit into human society, and she's learned to go along with seemingly arbitrary scenarios and work out the context later. I think Seven can certainly be read as alegorically autistic, and as someone who has had to practise masking to function in social contexts, it's certainly something I could relate to.
Meanwhile, we get a Borg Queen in a box! And she certainly seems like an interesting addition to Picard's cast of misfits. It's impressive that the episode managed to make even the Borg Queen seem sympathetic and worthy of pity compared to the cruelties of the Confederation; while she clearly has her own agenda, and I'm sure will prove as much an obstacle as an asset in future episodes, the fact that she is presented as much a victim as more sympathetic enemies of Earth like the Romulan slaves does give me hope that we might genuinely get the story that episode one hinted at – a true rapprochement between the Federation and the Borg.
I am disappointed that this episode does seem to confirm that Soji has been dropped as a regular part of the cast. I felt she was one of the highlights of the first season, and the actress did a spectacular job keeping pace with more experienced actors like Stewart and Ryan.
Finally, what is Q up to? He says Picard needs to atone, but atone for what? If the point of divergence between the Prime timeline and the Confederation reality is in the twenty-first century, this isn't a situation where it's the result of Picard's own actions... unless, perhaps, it has something to do with the space-time rip in episode one? Could Picard's decision to destroy the Stargazer so close to the anomaly have somehow affected things in the past?
I will say that the goatee suits Q well – it makes him seem more of a Mephistopheles figure, which works well for this darker take on the character.
Now, place your bets – who is the Watcher the Borg Queen tells Picard to find?
2/1 – Guinan.
5/1 – Q, wearing a funny hat.
50/1 – Gary Seven, still hoping to get that spin-off.
100/1 – Captain Braxton, very angry at having being stranded and having to deal with another captain's bad time travel decisions.
1000/1 – Uatu, having wandered into the wrong 'What If?' scenario.
10,000/1 – Sir Mix-A-Lot's character from the extremely short-lived UPN anthology series in a particularly poorly thought out piece of cross-marketing.