Reviews

An episode for the ages. So far this season of Star Trek: Picard is as good after 5 episodes as any in Trek history. I know how bold that statement is, but I don't make it lightly. Every episode this season has been excellent and this is the best yet.

Ro Laren... How emotional was that? What a cast move. I'm purposely avoiding any spoilers or previews this season and that took me completely by surprise. I had a feeling when she appeared that there was more going on with her than appeared and toward the end we got to see the old Ro come back to life. And then it was over. That was genius and I'm so glad that Michelle agreed to do it. Nice.

The new changeling is also intriguing. It's going to be interesting to see where they go with that and how Jack ties in with it all. They also threw in some pretty good humor when Shaw started reminding Picard and Riker of the times they screwed up by referencing previous TNG. And Worf is still Worf gray stache or no. I can't quite get used to the new McFadden look, but she is still every bit Beverly Crusher. The sets and effects are the best in Trek history and that's no hyperbole.

I just can't praise this season enough, especially this episode. The story line and writing are superb. I can't wait to see what they do with this new changeling arc even though I'll be so sorry to see it end.

This episode wrapped up everything way too quickly and conveniently. It was the product of the missing 10th episode. What we all thought was going to be a 10 episode season was suddenly written down to nine and everything was way too rushed. It wasn't a terrible ending, just a little out of a can.

That bar scene was so contrived it was almost comical. First of all, didn't Waltrip just say that they were stowing their bikes for the time being and everyone was to drive vehicles? Yet they roll up on Harleys with exhaust thundering so that everyone can hear them coming a mile away. Then they stupidly walk into an ambush worthy of Bart Simpson and get blown away. It didn't occur to them when they opened the door to a still open bar with cars parked outside that there was something not right when they saw no one sitting at tables or at the bar and no one tending? Nope. They walk right in to a Tulsa claymore with a trip wire of white string that you could see from across the room. And with all that gunfire back and forth all the bikers get taken out while the only one hit from the bar takes one in the arm. Nope. Not buying it.

Then after three freaking months (what took so long?) Stacy saves her job by betraying Dwight and ratting him out. Of course his daughter had to be there to watch it all go down so they could insert the 'the more things change the more they stay the same' angle.

This episode was a rushed ending to what was a great first season. Ten episodes would have been so much better. I'll tune in for season two, but this was so disappointing.

It's not hard to tell where the story came from for this episode. It does have one thing going for it - the humor. For that and only that I give it 5 stars. Everything else about it is ridiculousness. Ardra's entire case (in an unintentionally comical courtroom setting) is based upon her argument that no one can prove her wrong. Nowhere in the universe does that a case make. Even though Picard never believes her he and the Enterprise almost get hoodwinked into submission by a space pirate with a record 5 miles long. I guess there's no Interpol in future space. At any rate, the entire predicament could have been ended with three simple words:

PHASER ON STUN.

Everyone else has covered the issues regarding right to die, experimental techniques, etc, so I'm going to cover one that no one has brought up yet. Jean Luc Picard is a complete and total hypocrite in this episode.

In an episode called Reunion just the previous season Worf acts within Klingon law and tradition by challenging and killing the murderer of his mate, K'Ehleyr. For that Picard dressed him down, lectured him about not bringing his culture onboard a Federation starship, and asked him if he wanted to resign. In this episode he does the exact opposite and actually tries to convince Riker, by trying to help him see that it is BECAUSE of tradition and belief, to participate in a Klingon ritual that would assist Worf in killing himself. That can not be rectified within the continuity of the character.

It's been a long time since an episode of television has affected me the way this one did. This series is brilliant. Truly. I started it last week and, after miraculously avoiding any spoilers, finished it last night (audible gasp included). From the writing to the acting to the direction and everything in between this is top notch.

The ending of this episode took me completely by surprise. Right up to the end I never thought that Cassie wouldn't pull through. She was such a strong character I never gave a thought to the possibility that she would die. Heart wrenching. And it was handled so well. No long, drawn out funeral scenes - and that eulogy overlay.

It'll be interesting to see how they replace her character, but I'm going to miss Cass.

Man, this film left some major questions unanswered. It's ok and I've seen worse, but I walked away not knowing why anything that happened in it... well... happened in it. There were some pretty good scenes and the acting was very good with Jolie, Bernthal, Little, and Baelish, I mean Quinn shining best. There was also some pretty bad CGI which was exposed by some of the worst editing I've seen in awhile. That had to be the most intense, fastest moving fire in the history of cinema. And none of it came together because they never explained why it was happening. You just know that the mob wanted these people dead. Why did they blow up the guy's entire family and how was he involved with all this to begin with? What did the boy's father have to do with it? How did the hit men know he was going to be coming down the road they were staking out? Did they camp out there hoping he'd go driving by some time? The only answer I can come up with is that they found out where he lived and knew he'd have to come down it sooner or later. But if that's it then why didn't they just go to his house and kill him? That's what they did with everybody else. And last but not least we've got the ridiculous scene in which two people who must have lungs the size of Jupiter hold their breath underwater while a raging forest fire blazes over and all around them until it burns out. I get the feeling that, like a lot of other movies, it ended up running too long and some scenes that may have explained things ended up on the cutting room floor. At any rate, it does not work at all in it's released form.