Contemplative Thoughts + Passing Musings
March 24th brings the finale of Star Trek: Picard, the series in which Sir Patrick Stewart returns to the famous, titular character. The world in which we now inhabit is starkly different than the on in which Picard premiered a mere ten weeks ago. For the premiere, I hosted a watch party. For the finale, …
Continue reading “Lessons from Picard on Social Distancing & Friendship”
The two-part “Chain of Command” is often hailed as one of The Next Generation’s best. It starts off with an absolute shock. Picard is relieved of his command of the Enterprise before the opening credits. Immediately after, there is no slowing down. Riker meets the new captain, an Edward Jellico, who is in charge of …
I’ve had relative ease writing this series examining the character of Picard. I know the episodes of The Next Generation well. I’ve seen them countless times throughout my life. Yet no episode is as unique as “The Inner Light”, and I’ve been dreading how I’m going to approach this particular element of Picard. By now, …
Unlike one of the later iterations, such as Star Trek: Voyager, The Next Generation never delved too deeply into Borg mythology. This less-is-more approach enhanced the mystery and dangerous nature of the Borg. When they appeared, the Borg brought a thrilling and existential threat to our main crew. Anything after “The Best of Both Worlds” …
Have you ever been in a situation where you and another person simply don’t understand each other? I’m not talking about a mere disagreement of a difference of perspective, but a deep misunderstanding because of communication? That is the situation Picard finds himself in during “Darmok”, though perhaps the challenge facing him as tenfold. Picard …
Principled values show their strength when they are tested. This is the case in “The Drumhead”, as an admiral comes onboard to investigate a possible sabotage on the Enterprise and a potential larger threat to the Federation. There was, indeed, an incident, and an implicated spy onboard. This concluded rather quickly, leaving us to realize …
Picard’s assimilation saga, in my mind, is not restricted to “The Best of Both Worlds”. It continues into the eighth film, Star Trek: First Contact, but in-between there are two fundamental episodes that deal with Picard’s experience, “I, Borg”, which will be explored elsewhere, and “Family”. If “The Best of Both Worlds” is a Riker …
“The Best of Both Worlds” operates as an outlier to this examination of Picard episodes. While the story of what occurs centers on Picard and the assault that he receives from the Borg, this two-parter is ostensibly focused on Commander Riker. From beginning to end, it deals with Riker’s readiness and overall qualifications of captaincy. …
The series premiere of Star Trek: Picard is less than three weeks away. It feels as though many of us Trek fans have been waiting longer than the year and a half since this was announced. I suppose there’s a degree of truth to that. There seems to be a clamoring online for years now …
Continue reading “Star Trek: Picard – Thoughts on Nostalgia, Expectations, & Quality”
A pre-Law and Order courtroom drama set in space? Let’s get into this! As much as I love The Next Generation, its first two seasons are, well, not particularly great. The first season is a disaster. It borders on the unwatchable. The second season improves, but there are still a lot of clunkers along the …
Former Aspiring Philosopher 