I always figured Worf's line about pacifism was just one of his jokes, especially considering the number of people he killed and beheaded in the episodes before that.
Seems legit. He isn’t quick to anger or as up his arse the way he use to be about being a Klingon warrior. I just think he may not exactly define ‘pacifism’ the way a human might.
Seemed like a very Klingon form of Pacifism. Don't start fights, but be willing to finish them if someone else does. More in line with a philosophy a lot of serious martial artists ascribe to. Fit well with the sort of Warrior-Monk vibe he had going
Ok, ok but hear me out. Jessie does a long video and every 10 minutes she changes outfits without mentioning it. No calling attention just continues what she's talking about.
When Odo went back to the Changlings at the end of DS9, the first thing he told them about was the goo pot - The Goo Pot: Travel in style every time (20% off first purchase, Disclaimer: No Silicone based lifeforms were harmed in the making of this product)
One of the things I loved most about this season has a connection back to 'All Good Things...' in that our beloved characters aren't just all hanging out with each other still. They drifted apart, just like they had in the finale, but with a key difference -- Picard hadn't kept a professional distance when they were together. He made a connection with them all. So instead of this pitying "let's give Picard one final adventure" the crew came back together to support each other, because they love each other no matter where life took them. This season was not perfect, but there were several, deeply meaningful, nuggets of perfection that made me happy to see such a good send-off to such a beloved show.
I still can't believe there is somone out there willing to put themselves through the paces of ALL the considersations of Star Trek Canon. And then...and THEN...make amazingly academic videos about it. Please never stop :)
Me: I don’t think I have the attention span to watch a movie right now Also me: I’m going to watch a 3 or 5 hours Jessie gender video instead 😂😂 Love your long videos, keep ‘em coming
Yup! The algorithm has learned to slip one of them in late at night, when I should be going to bed but I'm not ready yet. Then, before I have a chance to realize that this is going to be one of the long ones, I'm hooked, and bed just has to wait!
Thank you for pointing out how much of a Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, I guess) Jack Crusher is- I felt like I was the only person who noticed how egregious it was that Jack was the most specialest little nepo baby in all the galaxy.
Same! There are quite a few critiques in this video where I found myself thinking, "Wow! I'm not the only one!" There was so much universal love of everything in it and honestly to my own surprise I've found myself liking other shows way more, which I expected this to be my favorite from when it was announced.
And the foregoing his Starfleet Academy stuff so they can put him on a ship. O'brien didn't go through the Academy as he was enlisted for his skills. They could have mentioned that. The ending was rushed.
My biggest disappointment is they brought up Lal as being part of Data, but we never saw a drop of her in his personality. Would have loved to see it, or at least see it mentioned more than just that.
ok finally finished watching and I have to say you nailed it on the head all the reasons this season made me uncomfortable. I don't hate it, but I also didn't love it. Especially the treatment of Troi, Seven, and Rafi.
But Lal has always been a part of Data. I assumed that's what Dr. Soong meant. Lal's matrix is part of the new android because Lal's matrix is part of Data's matrix.
The inclusion of the Borg Queen had an eerie resemblance to the resurrection of Palpatine in Rise of Skywalker. The atmosphere, the crane like apparatus. Not a criticism just an observation.
Between you and Steve Shives I'm glad there are people who are actually able to articulate what was wrong with season 3 of Picard. I was starting to feel like I was crazy for having problems with the last few episodes in particular, and everyone who's normally very critical of New Trek gushing about it as if it were the best thing ever.
That's because all of the New Trek is so terrible, this was a less toxic breath of air. Some folks are willing to call it fresh, because it's been so long since there has been any to breathe. The real hope is that the massive success of this season destroys the piss poor trash writing hegemony of all the other installments. The praise is HOPE. Hope that the high school drama garbage and low brow writing of modern Trek gets wrecked by a new series run by Matalas. People just want this era of dumbed down crap writing to end. The endless infantilism and terrible science fiction placed upon what was once actually well thought out and well written. (mostly, but at least the people used to give a sh*t and actually try to make it good) Clearly, modern Trek was intended to appeal to dumber people. It was written dumber for them. Intellectuals everywhere should be pissed off. I will not abandon my fantasy cultures just because capitalist (nepotism) human garbage have poisoned it with watered down stupid quippy trash. I didn't read hundreds of classic sci-fi books to have this garbage shoved down my throat, and be told that this is what smart people today consider intelligent. That's just as bad as "Big Bang Theory" writing about smart people for stupid people, and pretending that it's an intellectual show. Matalas is not the best man for the job, he's the only option we have. He's the only one with access. "Small moves Ellie..."
This season had me torn. As a Next Generation fan I was very pleased and thoroughly enjoyed the send off. As fan of Picard's show specifically though I was really annoyed it dropped all the things I loved about the first two seasons. The fan service was great, and as an ending to The Next Generation this is way better than Nemesis, but I actually wasn't one of those who panned the first two seasons. I loved 'em, and I'm sad most of what was established in those Seasons barely carried over here.
I'll admit, as a white cis person I was oblivious to many of the things you pointed out when I first watched Picard S3. I can see now why certain elements of the show might be problematic. Decided to sub based on the passionate and thoughtful critique :)
I was bugged by Troi being a bad therapist the one time she got to shine, and how Geordi was kind of sidelined, again (at least they remembered his relationship with Data was closer than Picard's though)- and I also found it super weird that Jurati Borg and Data's daughter were never even brought up. Breaking up Seven of Nine and Rafi was total BS too like, not even one time has this show ever cared about nepotism regulations, to a point where I always assumed Starfleet didn't have conflict of interest rules and trusted their officers to make good decisions even if they were serving with friends and family. I've seriously, not in one other moment of any of the other shows, seen a moment where anyone gave a crap about partners or family serving on the same ship.
Yeah. The only time we see that familial conflict of interest manifest as a problem is Lower Decks with Mariner and her mom, and even then it's something they're shown to be able to work through and be better for it.
While I also prefer this idea, it doesn't really gel with the fact that destroying her also kills a bunch of drones too. If she was just an avatar, killing her would have no more effect on the rest of the collective than killing any other drone.
We are the Borg...but we've never heard of Jurati. We are the changlings...but we're not from The Great Link. I am Professor Moriarty.... not THAT Professor Moriarty.
OMG, you precious person! You are so well-spoken. I appreciate you reading my über long posts and putting some of the things that worried me into words. At 2:30 you start talking about writer's choice and color blind casting. When you get the part about Terry having spoken to not only you, but also LeVar, but failed to understand the assignment, this is what I have been saying all along. The reason I was upset that Terry blocked me on Twitter wasn't because I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, I was upset with him because it cut off any conversation that he may have with posters on Twitter to not repeat those old tropes of the 80s. Had Terry actually allowed you or me to read his script, we would have pulled him up on many of the things you spoke about. Just like your friend did when you named a character Cohen. Now, we don't agree about everything. For example, I see as a person who has her doctoral degree in Child, Youth and Family studies how Troi acted toward Jack completely different than you do. I acknowledge your points of views and respect them. What is better we can talk to each other without being disrespecting and respecting each others point. When Terry blocked so many minorities and members of the LGBTQA community, it hurt me deeply and gave me the impression he was not taking what LeVar, Michael Dorn or even you said to him seriously. It may not have been intentional on his part, but for many of us it was very hurtful and insulting that some of our beloved characters were treated with little or no agency in Picard. What made it worse was that it wasn't the first time. To put salt on our wounds many fans dismissed these observations and made them trivial, telling us to be quiet and be satisfied with getting a spoonful of pie when they got an entire piece or more. The fact remains LeVar, Michael and Marina will most likely never be given another opportunity to present their characters so that they get a complete arc and character development. How is it a happy ending when Troi goes on holiday with her husband and doesn't get a promotion, Worf is left by himself and we don't even get to see Geordie's wife? Then to placate us, Terry simply says that there wasn't any time and he couldn't please everyone. I UNSERSTAND the time issue, but Terry mistreated a fan base once again and expected us to be understanding while he did it. If we are lucky, Terry will give Troi a promotion, find something for Worf to do and show Geordie's wife in a Legacy episode. Yet he knows dang well he messed up and that fans of the supporting cast deserve two episodes for each characters of a ten episode season. It's not going to happen because Terry will then have other issues such as making Legacy succeed then worry about our hurt feelings. Which brings me to the point of Picard. NEVER USE SOMEONE ELSE'S SERIES TO LAUNCH A NEW SERIES. Most people with sense saw this by episode three. It was a grave injustice because all the actors risked their lives to work during lockdown while Covid was going on. LeVar, Marina, Michael, Brent and Jonathan made a very good impression, but I was really concerned for Gates who looked like she had some mobility issues and was heavily leaning on furniture and Patrick whose hands shook a bit. I'm not mad at these actors for getting older, but I am upset they had to come to work for the foolishness on the paper. In closing, do I respect Terry. Yes, I do because he had an impossible task. That said, he mistreated Marina, Michelle Hurd, Michael and LeVar. I wanted my " Saffie" just like I wanted my "Imzadi". And give a Klingon a break while seeing Geordie's happy family. Love, love, love your show!
I was sad about Elnor not coming back but then I realised they turned Worf into a comically straightforward master swordsman of peace. He's Elnorf! (I'm still sad about it though)
The 9th episode didn't land with me, because "the Borg? Again?” But the finalé, much like Rich Evans said, I turned my brain off and just enjoyed it. I'm a believer that feelings come first and the "why* comes later. Which is pretty consistent with your assertion that people like Rich and I probably have blind spots. This should definitely be the retirement of the TNG cast. If Legacy gets green-lit, I want to see a style different from SNW, or from Discovery. ...And maybe with more than four lights. I'm rewatching the Orville and THERE ARE LIGHTS. OMG.
I felt that way when I saw the Borg Cube behind the soor, but TBH, I was suspecting Jack had a Borg connection for a while.... there were a LOT of clues. But it makes sense, IMO, and my only regret is that we didn;t get more of Amanda PLummer, who was just awesome.
So I know I am in the minority here but Picard S3 has the same issue to me that Picard S2 had, they could have had a really good story if they didn’t make the Borg the big baddie. Example, Q could have been the one to bring them back in time so Picard could deal with his past. Picard could be upset to find that Q caused a different time line and we keep everything the same except no borg. Have Picard trying to deal with Q and find out that Q made a mistake by messing with the timeline just for Picard to deal with his trauma. It wouldn’t be right but it was his dying wish. Season 3, still have Jack part Borg but remove the Queen out of it. Have it that the federation was testing on the borg too and that’s how the Changlings found out about Jack. They want that piece of him. Have it be the federation’s fault. Showing how the previous generation didn’t fully clean up their own mess and now the young generation has to clean it up. You still get those morals in there but it doesn’t forget the previous seasons. And it makes 7 of 9’s story work better because it could show how she is allowed in but the Federation isn’t as accepting as she would have hoped . Have the Federation actually have to deal with their problems!!! Picard kept hinting at this from season 1 and never did anything with it.
I suppose one problem is, TNG portrayed humanity and the Federation as borderline perfect. DS9 added more nuance, but Picard s1 went too far, into near dystopia (with a bit of eye gouging). The backlash against season 1 seems to have led to something more like early TNG.
It really annoyed me about Jack and Soji, that they were coded as not conformative or a threatened group and both of them tried to kill all of humanity.
This is a new sort of "sacred trek." I watched this season and was mixed between sad, for retreat from inovation and patronizing writing, and happy they gave characters and actors some powerful moments. You turned it on an aspect that opens eyes, at least my eyes to a a very human experience. You turned a gross error towards growth. Thank you.
As a cishet white dude, I actually interpreted the Changelings/Borg alliance, and the ships being connected, as a metaphor for hate, misinformation and radicalization being spread to our youth over the internet. Everything the alt-right and corrupted governments have been doing basically. But like you said, my perspective is limited to my own experiences, and while I still think there is truth to my reading, yours is fascinating and juste as valid! I love Star Trek. It always strived to be woke. But it never was perfect and always had blind spots.
I set down my phone, door open, and walked into another room while listening. Got to the "the cake is a lie" reference and came back here to serve your ARREST WARRANT
20:10 I was disappointed by this too, I was actually really excited to see what had become of the self-aware TNG Moriarty. I was always deeply creeped out by the ending of "Ship in a Bottle" and wanted to see the implications of it revisited one day.
The problem is that they put Moriarty in the advance trailer. So fans spent ages ruminating over what his return could mean. But like a lot of Picard season three it didn't amount to anything.
I feel like there are a lot of those points all the way through the series, lots of sweet little throwbacks and Easter eggs full of those tasty tasty memberberries that could have been entire episodes within themselves but that they ultimately didn't do very much with. Like the board cube in season 1 and Hugh they could have done so much more with those elements and I would have loved to have seen that but ultimately it reads like lower decks, here's a nod, something cool, worth a laugh or a hell yeah, and then moving on. ..
Same. Moriarty was one of the more fascinating side characters from TNG to me. Definitely one of my favorites as far as 'villains' go, if you can really call him that in TNG. I don't think the ending of Ship in a Bottle was creepy so much as it was...cruel. I mean, they had to suspect Moriarty would figure out he was stuck in a program yet again eventually, right? Assuming that's the case, the crew just knowingly imprisoned someone they themselves aknowledged was a sentient being and not just a hologram, all the while seemingly brushing it off and forgetting about it until the events of ST Picard. If I had been Moriarty, I might just have been very angry and unforgiving at that point. He could have been such a good adversary in ST Picard because of that, forcing the crew to reckon with what they actually did to him and his wife. I mean, talk about ghosts coming back to haunt you. Either way, the way they handled his character in Picard felt like such a huge disappointingly missed opportunity. Edit: like the above said, pretty much all the easter eggs and throwbacks felt like such a missed opportunity. ): Probably one of the biggest reasons I couldn't really enjoy most of ST Picard.
I was glad they didn't go there, personally. Enough of the "Holodeck gone mad" stuff. That was played out more than 20 years ago. It's a mystery to me why Starfleet allowed continued use of those obvioyus safety and security hazards.
Honestly, I loved this season. It was nostalgia based, but trek is growing so much right now and there was totally room for this nostalgia amongst all the new stuff. I really appreciate your viewpoints on how limited the perspective of season 3 of picard is, it is something that is easy for me to miss and I am trying to work on that.
Picard season 3 is how you do nostalgia right. All the characters who came back returned with purpose. They had interesting things to do, new arcs to go one... They weren't there just to advertise a season of tv. ...Like Captain Picard himself was, arguably, in seasons 1 and 2. I guess the exception to that would be Q, but other than being a sting for future trek shows, he was mostly just there to send a big 'fuck you' to the writers of Picard season 2.
@@halowaffle25it’s just sad that the nostalgia had to come at the expense of some of Star Trek Picard’s own main characters who’ve basically been pushed out of their show so the TNG crew could get their one last ride.
First of all thank you for the indepth analyse! I'm glad you had stuff that you enjoyed! Voyager was my main poison, even though I grew up with my mom watching TOS and TNG (and everything else Star* related ;)). Despite S1 of Picard having it's issues, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with these incredible new characters. I fell in love with the idea of looking at things not through the Starfleet lense. And I was excited to see more of that (after spamming my tumblr with Seven/Raffi gifs before they even shared screentime, of course I almost fainted when the two were holding hands at the end of the season and I wanted to see more of that too! :D). But we only have Raffi and Seven left at the end of S3 (or so it seems since Elnor and Soji aren't even mentioned). And it feels like the S1 crew got pushed out by the TNG cast (might not be true, but it still feels like it) and it makes me incredible bitter about the whole thing, especially since Patrick Stewart said during S1 that he had no interest whatsover in continuing TNG... I'm rambling, sorry. Again, as a nonbinary queer person, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your video! LLAP
I did not realize it until you mentioned it but Soji and Elnor would have been great additions to the New ENTERPRISE Legacy crew. Elnor was practically Sevens' adopted son and Soji was Datas' other daughter..
Thank you for summarizing nicely why the season by the end was such a let down even as I desperately wanted to just enjoy seeing the cast together. It started as a negging feeling of "ehhhh okay" until I walked away and realized how much it bothered me, and it's comforting at least to know others saw it as well. And it sucks to see those people who see these criticisms and think that we just hate it without any love or affection or inspiration for the series or franchise as a whole.
Re: Geordi and his daughter's mother, they could've drawn from the books and had it be Leah Brahams, BUT only so long as they kept that her first husband had died (though they don't need make how canon, The Genesis Wave story was a mixed bag as is). Hell, it could've been used to provide additional motivation for Geordi to not want to go with Picard on the Titan at first. "Leah's already been a widow once, Jean Luc, I don't want her to have to go through that again." I'm only an occasional writer, but TBH I feel like that line I just wrote could've conveyed so much with so little.
You pointed a lot of things out i hadn't even yet considered. My criticism of the season is harsher, i hate the trend for nostalgiabait a lot of popular media is pushing out. I'd rather have something trying something new and flail around with it. I think the only thing i can really add is that renaming the Titan to Enterprise felt like Rey in Rise of the Skywalker going "I am Rey Skywalker".
@1:21:25 in episode 6 (The Bounty) Geordi says to his daughter "Alandra, get to a long range comms terminal, tell Mom we're not gonna be home for dinner". It's a small moment, but it acknowledges that he has a family.
Amanda Plummer MADE this season. She was Shakespearean! At the end of her big monologue, I yelled out, “Upon St. Crispin’s Day!” BUT - my *favorite* thing this season was Data calling her a “monologuing protoplasm”.🤣
I find the whole surprise kid storyline to be extraordinarily problematic too. It continues the stereotype that anyone that doesn't have kids is somehow incomplete. That not wanting kids must stem from some kind of trauma involving your own parents. Or that you're too focused on work, or travelling or any other part of life to settle down like you should. This show implies that not having kids means missing out on the best, most fulfilling experience of your life. This show changes Picard's reasons for not wanting kids from just being "I don't like them and I don't want them" to he's spent his whole life too embedded in starfleet to think about children and too fearful to want to think about having them. I honestly just find it gross that they've devalued Picard's entire life because they think the only way for a man to have a complete life is to be a father, and Picard's whole career was just him distracting himself from that knowledge.
"Otherness" is ALWAYS a problem in fiction. Especially in in Something like Star Trek. I also struggle with it in TTRPGs. Once you see how "Otherness" gets weaponized, its hard to make monsters and villains for "the good guys (tm)" to confront and not feel like it just a continuation of the same old thing
Your Trek videos are my favorites of all the things you upload! There's just something about listening to someone enthuse about their special interest that makes me happy
Vadic: "Me and a dozen of my fellow Changelings were brutally tortured by your scientists" Picard & Crusher: "Man, that's rough. Anyway, would you like to be vaporised or ejected into space?"
The Bow-wow-chikka-chikka-bow-wow soundtrack over the scenes of the new old (old new?) Enterprise made me scream with laughter so much that I frightened my cats.
Yeah, I think that the Borg reveal would have worked better with one change: have the crew figure it out the enemy plan beforehand. As soon as the Titan crew gets Ro's data, they realize that something's off with the transporters. They analyze it and find the DNA changes, but it doesn't make any sense. They start to figure out the link between Picard's brain anomaly and these changes, they're clearly linked, but they don't know why. Then of course, when Deanna looks into Jack's mind and finds the Borg, everything clicks into place. It all makes sense. Then, they can start taking action against it, warning Starfleet, clearing the transporters, and deassimilating crewmembers, but the signal gets activated before they're finished. I think that would have made it feel a lot better, as not only do we have more pieces of the puzzle, but our heroes have figured out the Borg/Changeling plan and have taken steps to solve it instead of it all just happening at once.
Jessie just wanna say I love you and I wish more people had the balance to be as thoughtful about media as you are and could balance loving something with being critical of it at the same time.
I think one massive problem the series had was focusing on Picard. The others become extensions of his story not being characters in their own right. Thats why I think a series like Picard should never have had the old crew in it more than a few guest shots. They wanted a love letter to TNG they needed to give all characters their time. Focusing on just one leaves the others in the background.
Arguably that was.a problem with Discovery too, although they seemed to be trying to do better with season 4. I think the shows which have been more ensemble (TNG, DS9) have made an advantage of that.
Hi Jessie, I know this might get buried since it's a bit late, but... THANK YOU. Videos like this and your perspective is why you're one of my favourite SF reviewers. The final thoughts section actually made me emotional. I was initially a bit hesitant to watch this, not just because I'm busy but also because I was worried my very good perception of both this season, and Matalas, would somehow be tainted. But I'm very glad I did! I've been following the Twitter feeds of a lot of BTS people (Matalas, Dave Blass, Stephen Barton, Mike Okuda, the cast,, etc.) since the season started, and it's obvious that they have the best intentions. They made this season as a love letter to all the great memories that 90s Trek gave us, and really didn't intend for the prejudices and issues of that era to come through as well. They possibly just went back to the tropes of TNG without giving it too much thought. (Matalas has said on the AMA that the writers room is an extremely high pressure environment) This just makes it so much sadder that the season was ultimately imperfect, and its value in later years might mostly be seen in terms of nostalgia. I really hope Matalas finds time to watch this video, and makes Legacy as wonderful and diverse as Discovery is (if only to piss off right-wing reviewers) Now if you'll excuse me I have to pour my rambling thoughts about Trek into an essay for my unsuspecting university SF society to read....
My issue with Terry Matalas's trip to the past was that he was wallowing, not simply visiting. Deep Space Nine's Ira Steven Behr was on the money when he said that you should give the fans what they need, rather than what they want. I'm sure everyone involved had a blast making it and I know that a great many fans loved every second of Picard season three, but the whole thing left me cold.
Entertainment media is heavily subjective but I think it's generally safe to say that what fans want is usually what they need. I don't really agree with the presumption that most fans want their "expectations subverted". Especially when you're talking about legacy characters.
@@reyalexandro I hate that term, "legacy characters". Whomever coined it needs to be strung up. Characters are characters. There's no such thing as "legacy". And, if the past ten years or so have taught me anything it's that fans (of anything) don't know what they want.
@Jack Dubz seeing people look at Picard season 1, with the serialized storytelling, bad guy Federation, killing off legacy characters, nobody has phasers set to stun, messy story and galaxy ending plot, and hate it, and then seeing them look at Picard season 3, with the serialized storytelling, bad guy Federation, killing off legacy characters, nobody has phasers set to stun, messy story, galaxy ending plot, and TNG cast, and love it, I do have to wonder what people hated about season 1 and what exactly does the trek fanbase want out of a new show. There was some good character interactions but there was a lot of other things fans have stated for years they didn't like in Picard that were still there this time that there is virtually no discussion about. I don't necessarily agree with all of these being inherent problems in a show but they are noticeable as things I'd expect to see more discussion about
@@SmartSmears "and TNG cast" I think you've pretty much answered your own question as to why fans look upon season 3 far more favourably than they do season 1. And that is also why "Nepenthe" is regarded as the best episode of Picard season 1. I think Matalas made all the same errors as Chabon but Matalas was far more adept at using "fan-pleasing" elements to hide those storytelling flaws.
@@reyalexandro the thing is finding the balance. “Keep them wanting more” etc. Giving nothing but fanservice can lead to satiation and losing interest. Or just inspire lazy writing. But introducing enough without spending too much time on it can work well
I watched this over on Nebula, but I got it playing here too and commenting and hitting like to support Jessie makes solid content and anything I can do to help boost it matters
I think trying to make a transporter do anything beyond it’s intended function is a folly or someone would have started just general cloning via transporter a long time ago.
Halfway through this I had an epiphany that Star Trek is a soap opera, and I've just been watching it for Thirty Something years because of the starship porn. The second half got deep. Great video, hope Paramount doesn't screw with you too much! 💜
As someone who recently got into Star Trek, and came out as Non-Binary around the same time, this channel has been such a wonderful find and I just wanted to say thank you so much for what you do!
15:20 Lower Decks has actually ruined me for glamour shots of ships now. 17:58 I snorted. And since I was eating pizza at the time, that hurt. 20:10 If they hadn't put so much emphasis on Moriarty in the trailer, he wouldn't have been a disappointment. If he'd just popped up like Tuvok, with no warning, the cameo would have been perfect. But it's like the random Borg drone in the S1 trailer - because he was prioritised for so many of the 30 seconds available, the implication was that he was going to be really significant only for him to be just a glorified extra. 38:00 This. It was such an obvious trope that I was half convinced they would subvert it and force him to live and do better instead. Mind you, with all the ways he could be brought back into the franchise(I count at least a dozen, only one of which is him waking up on Daystrom Station and growling "Ah, for fuck's sake"), maybe he'll still have the chance if/when the totally organic and not at all astroturfed campaign for _Star Trek: Legacy_ is successful. 47:50 Oh, mate, you know what they could have done? Brought back the synthipedes from S1, made _them_ the big bad, explained as the Mirrorverse Borg!(not saying that would have been _good,_ just that they could have done it) 51:10 I swear, the Borg Queen is getting closer and closer to Anjelica Huston's Supreme Leader every time they show her. ua-cam.com/video/tKp2KgnlEf8/v-deo.html 1:19:55 I wonder if they wrote and filmed it being Leah Brahms, then listened to all the people saying "Please god _not_ Leah Brahms, that would be a terrible message to send, _anyone_ but Leah Brahms" and surreptitiously edited all mentions of her out again, leaving a blank space. 1:35:15 ...yup. 1:37:41 I'm just going to point out something I pointed out at the time of that scene - the two Starfleet officers that Vadic just killed thought she was their colleague. They watched what they thought was their colleague beating a detainee for information, and they did nothing. They apparently thought that was okay. 1:53:32 This is where the absence of the Borgati was most conspicuous to me. Jack wants something like the Borg, but not evil? Well how about introducing him to that collective of Borg who aren't evil? Takes a lot of gloss to ignore the most obvious solution, provided by the previous season. I wish we'd got to see the Changelings and the Borg working together, rather than one handing off completely to the other. Maybe see a drone attempt to assimilate a Changeling, to show a difficult alliance. The way it was Changelings right up until it suddenly wasn't relegated them to the status of a warmup act. I was actually a bit surprised to see them acknowledged at the very end. It all feels like it's drifting closer to the cishet white male status quo(especially with the loss of Discovery), possibly as a result of being written at the speed of television so falling back on shortcuts and not overthinking(or just thinking) them. Why, for example, couldn't Picard have a long lost daughter being headhunted to be raised up as a new Borg Queen? Maybe because long lost sons feel more intuitive. Why do they feel more intuitive? Because of centuries of lost prince/king over the water/prodigal son stories that rose from a patriarchal system that would never have recognised a female heir. She could have been called Nat. Short for Natasha. Was there a reason to split up Seven and Raffi? It felt like a cowardly way to appease homophobes by not giving the characters the opportunity to demonstrate their relationship, while all the Jean-Luc/Beverly(and briefly Jean-Luc/Laris), Deanna/Will, formerly Deanna/Worf, Sidney/Jack het romances were constantly acknowledged and affirmed. If Seven needed to feel isolated on the _Titan,_ her girlfriend having gone off-grid for work would have been as effective as them actually breaking up. And we don't even know if they _did_ break up! Only that they were awkward when they were finally back in the same room again!
Thank you for this wonderful analysis. You said everything that was on my mind about this season and also mentioned what happened to Section 31 and the Showrunners I was eager to see what they come up with, to be replaced by more status quo folks. Also, I am looking forward to getting round to watching that interview, as a creative myself, I am thrilled to see there were more diverse people behind the scenes than I first thought there would have been.
We really hated this season because it felt like a cynical "giving up" on Picard as a series. Star Trek has had a lot of lousy starts that they've been able to rise above by working with what they have to improve and find that unique footprint, but Picard instead had this awkward first season (that we still LOVED) that ends with a bunch of threads and potential for future stories only for them all to get forgotten for the sake of a blank slate second season that, to its credit, did try new things as well and at least left the story in a place where some of the first season could be picked back up on later... and then the third season is a reunion that retcons or ignores as much as possible of prior seasons just so it can do old things that we've seen so many times over and over. It felt to us like they did an entire season out of the Enterprise finale, where they would rather just make a different show than the one they claimed to be capping off. It has very much hurt our expectations of Star Trek going forward since it's so beloved and will no doubt be pointed to as the standard for future series from here on. And it's not like we hate all kinds of fan service or revisiting of old stuff. We think Strange New Worlds have done great on this, for example. But this just felt like a rejection of the show that carries its name and that sucks. Because even if you dislike the first two seasons of the show, it deserved to end with its own identity, not that of a different series entirely. If they wanted TNG Movie 5 then they should have made TNG Movie 5, not Picard Season 3. It'd be like if TNG Season 3 scrapped everything to just do a TOS reunion instead just because the first seasons stumbled, or if Discovery had just axed its entire crew to make Discovery the Captain Pike show instead of making that its own thing. It's disrespectful to the story, whether it's good or bad. If the Captain Seven show happens we don't know if we'll watch it. We didn't want her in Starfleet, we wanted a Fenris Ranger show, and we really just don't want to see "TNG but with new characters" either. We also dislike them wanting to call it Star Trek Legacy because that was already the name of an important piece of work, namely the video game that served the first (and only?) time Shatner, Stewart, Brooks, Mulgrew and Bakula all appeared together as their respective captains. It sucks if they're gonna slap that name on this new thing just because they want a generic sounding one word title that basically just means "the next generation" again. Maybe if they bring back the Picard characters that got written out we'll be more open to it. By the way, wasn't Matalis also co-showrunner on the second season of Picard? Not sure why everyone always acts like he came on board for the third season only. The two seasons were filmed back-to-back too so it's not like it was made in "response" to the second season. Think it was more that it was made in response to the first season but they still had contracts to fulfil so they made the second season all about writing out the parts of the first season they couldn't just ignore. Hence why Rios stays behind to die in the past, Jurati becomes a stationary Borg Queen at a gate, Elnor goes off on a different ship (and presumably got Borg'd this season without ANYONE even voicing concern) and Soji... well, they just kind of left her on a planet somewhere at the start of the second season. Anyway, as we've ranted about extensively in your comments already, this is by far the Star Trek thing that have upset us the most since the modern day revival. We'll continue remaining eternally pissed that we won't be allowed a healthy ongoing sapphic relationship in any Star Trek outside of non-canon works. Reno is a widow, Georgiou only spent a night at a Klingon brothel with girls, Mariner and Jennifer broke up, Raffi and Seven broke up twice... It's all so tiresome. Haven't decided yet if we'll take a break from the franchise after this or stick around for Strange New Worlds in June, but guess time will tell.
I kinda got the feeling that the original plan for season two was to have a subplot about discrimination. They started out showing seven being discriminated against in the 25th century, then when they come back to the twenty first without her implants she was socializing and moving freely. They even call out during the party scene how much she was randomly socializing. I have a feeling that they were planning to then have Raffi be discriminated against in the 21st century, and have seven explain what’s happening. If they’d gone that way they’d have a blonde, blue eyed white woman explaining discrimination to a woman of color. Maybe it’s a reach, if that was the plan and they realized the optics and bailed, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I had convinced myself that Moriarty would be the main big bad before watching episode 1 of season 3. Then I thought that he must be the boss of the changing or at least manipulated her into doing his bidding. I was disappointed that it turned out to be the Borg.
I have been following you for quite some time because of your excellent Star Trek reviews! I was pleasantly surprised to see you on Leftist Mafia discussing the current issues of the day! I hope they will invite you back- you were an excellent guest!
I needed this video. You covered a good chunk of my issues with this season and the discourse around it. Personally I straight up hated this season. I tried SO HARD to enjoy it but every fun/touching moment (of which there were many) got drowed out by this plot. I'm definitely letting myself get hung up on it, but I'm just sick to death of these overdone, poorly paced, ill conceived, save-the-world mystery box arcs. Season 2 also left me SUPER jaded (which, apparently, wasn't softened by watching SNW/LD/PRO in the interim), so I spent the previous 10 weeks utterly baffled as to what the hell y'all had been gushing about. I felt nothing when the Enterprise D was brought out (beyond "wow, they took zero artistic licensing with this") and that poker table shot at the end felt completely unearned. I enjoy these characters and the cast was giving it their all, but I couldn't care less about bringing old favourites back if THIS is the story they cram them into. I'm now terrified of this Legacy spin-off, should it happen; between the contrived Enterprise-G crap, and that damned post credits scene with Q (yay, more recycled ideas). The name alone does not inspire confidence they're going to actually do anything novel.
I agree with the end, my biggest issue is less with the season itself and how it will inform later shows like a potential legacy show. I do actually think that if the cartoons got cancelled and all the upcoming shows were like Picard season 3 I would actually stop watching new Star Trek
I think Star Trek's flaws in representation within itself could actually make a good storyline and explain why Earth eventually left the Federation. Why are there so many human admirals in Starfleet? What happens if Andoria or Teller Prime starts pushing for more representation in leadership? Take it and make a story out of it.
amazing video! you managed to articulate many of the issues i had with this season that ended up frustrating me, even though i pretty much enjoyed most of it (for instance i think that episode 4 of this season is amongst the best trek episodes), and i havent seen many other trekkies talking about these issues. also i find it really funny that those people who say discovery isnt "real trek" are praising this season of picard as "real trek" while the resolution of discovery's fourth season plot line is much more aligned to the ethos of trek than the pew pew resolution of this picard season
It's all about peripheral blind-spots. And everyone is going to have those. It doesn't matter who you are. That's why it's important to listen to as many trusted voices as you can to avoid unintentionally contributing to an attack on people you do not want to attack. I think this is a very charitable (and rightfully charitable) take on a lot of the problems that Star Trek has as a whole. From everything I've heard, Terry Matales doesn't hate Queer or POC folk. He seems like a chill dude. But it's clear to me that he didn't have as many diverse voices in the writer's room as, perhaps, he should have.
My dad was a TNG fan, he grew up with that series and prefers over any other Trek. He thought Picard Season 3 was worse than Season 2, which genuinely shocked me. Everything I hear about that season gives me Rise of Skywalker vibes, the old generation forcibly taking back control over anything new, and I kind of despise it. I'll probably skip it.
Jessie, great work! Thank you for asking what happened to the borg from season 2. I kept thinking about this as the borg were revealed as the antagonist. I thought I missed something.
I really, really enjoyed this video. I stayed up way too late because I didn't look at the length until you made the joke about not checking the timecode, but by then I was hooked and I wanted to watch it all. You definitely put into better words some of the issued I definitely had with Picard S3, and there's been so much embrace of it by both toxic right-wingers and fans that see how the UFP is communist and don't shy away from the show anyway that I kinda felt like I was the only one who actually saw some of these problems. Those include some of the storytelling, pacing, and canon issues that the toxic types apply only to Trek that includes depictions of non cis-het folk. I know I take issue with some of those kinds of things more than some fans, but I do like internal consistency in anything that wants to be a shared universe, at least where reasonably possible. In the end, a lot of my issues with S3 Picard were issues I had with Nemesis, but cranked up to 11. I will say it may just be me, but I definitely didn't see Worf as flirting with or hitting on Troi, but just Riker being possessive. I can see reading it the other way, but I didn't get that vibe, I thought he really was talking to both a friend and former therapist about how he'd grown and expecting it among friends to be a safe place. Plus, I didn't think about this part until afterwards, but if he had ulterior reasons for his approach, she would have known about them. You also made some great points about the need for diversity in the writers room, something that cannot be repeated enough, at least not until it becomes the norm. Some of the things you pointed out, though not all, were things I missed due to my perspective, and I try to listen to other voices because I am a cis white dude (I'm technically not het, but according to even a lot of people in the LGBTQ+ community we ace folk don't exist, so in most places I definitely "pass," except in places I was accused of being a closeted homosexual in my teenage years because I didn't constantly objectify women, mostly it's the internal struggle of basically all society saying love is sex and only that kind of love is real, and much more but I digress). I do my best to seek out viewpoints, including this one, and I'm glad your channel is here. I actually found your channel through your political and trans activism content, and then got excited to find a bunch of bonus Star Trek stuff when I got here! I just ranted a lot, but on the off chance this is read, this was a great video covering a lot of issues with the show and a few of the community at large, and why it is so very, very important to be careful in how one frames allegory. I'm glad to have watched it. Edit: I wanted to add, this is the first time in I don't know how long I sat through the sponsored content segment of a video, and as an ace man, it's for products with absolutely zero appeal to me, but the segment was still so funny and entertaining I didn't skip over it.
I haven't seen anyone else mention it but your closing monologue and montage/tribute from 3:04:10 onwards legitimately made me emotional in a way I can't put into words very well. This season was very mixed to me but seeing the crew get such a conclusive happy ending for all of them and hearing Picard and Riker's final monologue from Generations with the music you put over it is... Genuinely very beautiful to me and feels like the most loving next gen era goodbye I've seen. Thank you for making it and this entire video
hey, jessie, i’m hoping you’re going to read this comment and talk about this issue that i’ve found in a couple of new trek shows that has really worried me as an autistic person. this may not have much to do with picard, the show, but it does have to do with the clumsy mixing of metaphors that comes from writing outside of the perspective that you’re trying to represent, and that would be that way strange new worlds and prodigy both want to talk about the way genetically modified people are persecuted. so far they haven’t gone too into depth as to what they’d see the future more open to genetic modification would be like aside from not banning the presence of individuals that may have been genetically modified, but it worries me that because of a lack of (as far as we know) disabled writers in the writers’ room of both of these shows, that they are leading on the audience to accept genetic alteration as an acceptable practice that should not be banned. which is extremely worrisome considering that genetic alteration is most often, and especially in the star trek universe, explicitly used for eugenics. it was literally used on julian bashir for eugenics. the people that created khan, arik soong, they were eugenicists, but most often than not they’ve used the word and never really considered what it really means. it doesn’t just mean that a eugenicist movement would prime people that would see “normal people” as inferior because of their genetic material, but that it would be a movement with the intent of wiping out disability and differences in body types and mentalities. so the fact that we’re just supposed to go “oh poor dal/una, they wouldn’t be allowed to be in starfleet” as the main emotional response is extremely troubling and says to me that the writers haven’t considered what actually addressing systemic inequality that would exclude victims of eugenicist experimentation would actually mean for disabled people and what giving the green light to such experiments would be implying about what the world should do. thanks.
I think this is a bit similar to what Jessie says about AI in this video, it's presented as evil, but what would be the possibilities to show it in a positive way and if the AI becomes a sentient being, how should we interact with it. In our world right now AI isn't being used very well, right now people are rightfully concerned about loosing their jobs. But that doesn't mean nothing of value will develop in the future. I think the more important change is creating a society that values everybody enough so that nobody gets left behing, valuing differences and being flexible enough to deal with new developments! Of course genetic modifications used for Eugenics are a horrible thing! As somebody working in the medical field there are already many considerations today! F.ex. genetic testing and subsequent abortions, esp. in the case of Down's. So should genetic testing be forbidden? It IS forbidden in some countries to use it early to determine sex f.ex. On the other hand it also tests for much more serious illnesses that Down's, where the baby usually doesn't survive more than hours or months, should those not be tested for? And there are so many genetic diseases that make people misable, or kill them, a treatment would be wonderful here! Of course Eugenics are horrible and I understand your concern (I wouldn't be here either the way I am), but right now the issue is also that killing the children once they are there is not considered ok, but abortions or fixing them is! But if the world goes downhill enough (again), no genetic modifications are needed for Eugenics, you can just kill all of them.... And progress can't really be undone, so creating an inclusive society with strong Ethics seems more of a solution to me than condemming a technology on principle. Esp. as in the Star Trek world so far this has justified treating individuals badly. Of course what his parents did to Julian Bashir wasn't righ, but should he be unable to live his life because of it? From what strange new worlds has done so far, it's come up with the interesting aspect of using genetic modification to adapt people to an environment. I think that's actual an interesting question: is it better to terraform a world or to make yourself able to breathe the atmosphere it has, or is neither way better, just different. This doesn't change that Eugenics is wrong, but is it right to exclude somebody from Star Fleet because what they were born as (or in Julian's case made into before they could do anything about it, and in Julian's case, if there were a way to change him back, it'd be a little bit like Tuvix, you'd kill the person he has since become). So tl;dr: I absolutely get the fear of being the target of Eugenics. I just think the optimal solution would be a change in attitudes, in seeing the value in differences, because so many things can be used to get rid off or exclude people. Not that you have to agree with me! And not that I thing Star Trek will necessarily do the storyline justice!
Hey Jessie and friends, I am glad to come here from Trekspertise Picard Season 3 discussion panel. I'm already loving your posts and taking notes. Im especially interested in trek gender videos review... There is so much to think. Thank you.
You did a great job summing up my feelings on why the Borg being the final villains was such a big let down. Thank you for your nuanced analysis of the role Section 31 played, and what a big problem it is that the show was so uninterested in addressing any part of it.
Since the Borg are "space communists", and represent a neo-liberal panicked view of what communist countries like the USSR were like and the supposed threat they presented, I was kind of hoping that their characterization would evolve as the cold war thawed. They're a cold war fear. I hope people realize now that socialism doesn't mean or require forced conformity.
@@naomistarlight6178 - sadly, given all the barely-coded Cold War anti-Communist BS the likes of Hillary Rodham Clinton and her NeoLib lot throw around? If anything, we're backsliding into foam-at-the-mouth Reagan Era neo-McCarthyism.
I really like the season and now thanks to you I understand why I didn't LOVE the season - any chance you can move out to LA so you can help them write their scripts? They really could use your help getting from B scripts to A+ scripts!
I'm a fan of RLM generally, but I feel like there's a hypocrisy when it comes to Mike's dislike of SNW because of the writing when Picard has the same issues. That said, they also readily admit that they bought into the nostalgia so at least they recognize that they were compromised in that respect. I do think they don't recognize the privilege that they have though, and I totally agree - and I'm glad - that you separated them from the other jerks online who think this is the best season of Trek.
1. I am someone who loved Season One. It resonated with me. The opening episode, Remembrance, is one of the finest episodes of Star Trek. (And I've been watching Star Trek since I was very young, and TOS originally aired) But I had a hard time articulating why it felt so impactful until I read Michael Chabon essay, "The Final Frontier" in the Village Voice. It is superficially about writing the Short Trek Q&A while at his dying father bedside. As someone who has sat, remembering, with a silent dying parent-- when I read "I tried to find ways to mourn my father... But mostly I wrote episodes of “Star Trek: Picard,” through and over which mortality and loss played like musical themes." I knew why I felt it. And I will always love Season One. 2. Queerbaiting. I feel Queerbaited. Like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, yeah queerbaited. Flat on my back staring at the sky, wondering why I fell for it yet again. Being directly told that the handhold at the end of season one meant something to season 3's never mind. Things started so well. Sitting back on the couch watching "Stardust City Rag".(I get why Icheb fans hate it. But I love farce sandwiched between pathos.) Seven was my favorite character on Voyager. A character, I was told when she was introduced, who would be exploring her sexuality. Yes I fell for it. Yet not a hint of a "special" episode. (DS9 at least gave us "Rejoined") So when Seven had her confrontation with Bjayzl, I sat up transfixed. This grey haired cis lesbian was astonished they actually went there. So with the end of season one, I had high hopes for season two. (especially after "No mans land") I thought the season a fun romp. The problems with that season, I attribute to hasty rewrites due to covid. But I was like Raffi(who I adore), What does that that mean? Going into season 3, when I saw Matalas courting all those Make Star Trek Great Again types, I started feeling dread. Especially when those misogynistic, homophobic angry old white men loved it and proclaimed Matalas as the second coming of Berman. What can I say, Season 8 of TNG has never been better. But I suspect once the afterglow of nostalgia wears off, it will be remembered as mediocre. Like much of Berman trek. As for Seven and Raffi, invisible. Someone says,"oh you don't like it because the writers tell a story you don't like". That's Not It. It's that the story matters so little, that it isn't even told! I realize it's a subplot, but with over 10 hours of show, it doesn't rate a measly few lines. And now it's Star Trek Legacy.(a show that might not be made) That football is yet again promised before me. A promise that's been offered for decades, yet yanked away. And as always, landing flat on my back, why?
Don't know why I wrote Village Voice. The essay "The Final Frontier" was in The New Yorker. Nov 11 2019. I've seen Michael Chabon called a shit writer who hates Trek. Clearly they have not read the essay.
I enjoyed the hell out of Picard Season 3, and it's in every way a terrific send-off for the TNG cast. But thinking of your comment re: Worf not to mention Jadzia, I do have to say Matalas dropped some significant hints that he does not care much about DS9, but felt free to rifle through their drawers for plot elements. Also: For the record, Chateau Picard is a pretty damn good Bordeaux blend. It starts a bit peppery but gets fruitier once you open it.
@@forrestpenrod2294 still a cop out. One powerful moment _where he doesn't say anything_ but is clearly and suddenly reminded of Jadzia could have been enormously powerful.
I love your point here Jessie. Around the 1:00:00 mark. My father was next-to-useless and my mother was a gem. I'd much rather be flying around in a starship with my mother than my father. It was one of the few tropes that bothered me this season. I'm going to guess the writers had better fathers than I did. At least though, that trope is offset by Geordie (LeVar's stellar acting) and Shaw (Capt. Stashwick) for this nerdy boy.
@@withershin what I'm saying is we don't have very many good examples of healthy father son bonding on TV in 2023, the deadbeat dad is the common trope of the day. It's important for children to be able to have good relationships with both parents if possible.
Hey Jessie, thank you for your viewpoint into the rest. You have taught me a lot. Can I just say, on just your intelligent takes, you are my favorite Trek talk channel right now.
Thank you for the video, Jessie, I looooooooove the overlong analysis vids you do so much. Especially because here you have the room to dive deep and explain the criticism in detail. I think here you nail the big problem of the mixed metaphors. Fully getting into how the Borg are different things at once and how that drags the story down. Because yes, I can see Jack's speech as this coming out moment (like Bobby in X2). But it falls flat, because the Borg are the very bad guys and Picard is right for his suggestion to stay and take steps sorta against that and it's all very weird. Just the way how Borgness as Queerness is all over the place and suddenly all the good intentions end up as "the Borg are a virus now and corrupt your youths". hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm To be honest, I wasn't that squicked out by it myself. I watched your previous tangent on it and understand the viewpoint. And I think here you hit it home of why writers need time and a bunch of sensitivity readers. btw also thank you for sharing your personal moment there. A random chosen name with zero ill intention can lead to terrible implications - happy you caught that. And even more thanks for hammering it home that there is a difference between ignorance, mistakes (for different reasons) and actual malice. And criticising something doesn't mean we hate the thing or the writers. Just observations. And wanting to do better. How could they if nobody points out flaws? In a good faith discussion! My fav (comfort) Trek is Voyager. It's why if I were to point of criticism of each show the one for VOY would be longest. Especially because I love it so much, I see a lot of flaws and wish it to be better. And this is the vibe I get from you, when you do a video like this. Plus you made your love for the season pretty clear before and you point out the things you love first. Important. Personally I have a lot of issues with PIC and DSC. In the beginning I didn't dare to talk about why I didn't enjoy DSC as much, because I did not want to be mixed in with the bad faith (not to outright say racist) review bombers. But like pretty much all Trek shows DSC got better and better with each season. Still a lot of the things I don't like PIC did as well and I'm here with you calling out the pacing and this darn season-long mystery box. Ugh. It's why neither show appeals to me to watch a random ep (which I have done for every other Trek show, except PRO; I adore SNW and LD, high rewatch value, super fun, modern Trek is good actually). The biggest thing to me is how ep 1-8 tell one story and then 9+10 are almost their own thing. And it's a bummer. Yet oh the nostalgia bomb hit me hard. 3e10 The Last Generation is the send-off movie. That I have watched multiple times now. But yeah, I can applaud the way the nostalgia was used and all the things that brought me in week after week (in a way neither S1 or 2 managed), while also saying this had a lot of problems. My one wish for a possible Star Trek: Legacy would be that Seven has a few more lights installed. So I can see (hold the lensflares though please)! And it's natural to take that a step further and point out how the lighting has effed over black people since forever. The moment people attack such a valid, practical, easily provable criticism...... sometimes I do wonder how some people end up Star Trek fans in the first place. Sorry, I'm typing stuff up just to leave a comment for the algorithm that dislikes long video essays, clearly missing how those are the best, because you point out nuance. Also, if I'm allowed, please know as a cis lesbian I was looking respectfully at that ENT uniform. Wonderful costume changes that showcase your love for the whole franchise. If fan credentials were an actual thing (and not gatekeeping nonsense), yours could never be in question.
I was not aware of most of your critical points. I was just sad, that starfleet kill the changelings instead of stun them or Capture them. Even seven killed one who was direct in front of her. That was shocking for me. Also, I did not like how Picard as a whole brought back the characters we loved and killed them off. I hope Q gets them somehow out of their time and their destiny. That would be a cool series. XD
Great video. I hate the whole 'this should have been season 1' argument I've been seeing so often online, because that would throw away Seven's three season development arc and leave her side-lined this season when it comes to confronting the borg queen who she could have at least had a telepathic argument with if Seven wasn't going to go to the cube. But if this was season one would Seven or Raffi even be there? This could have been season 2, but I appreciate what season 1 achieved in bringing back Seven of Nine; but after Michael was able to break the mold by being able to (despite white cishet male fans complaining that black women are 'too emotional' to be in scifi shows) have her lover on-ship, it seems that Seven is back to Janeway's constraints of having to prove herself to men and not compromise her position with romance on-ship. If Star Trek Legacy happens, it needs to be better than this. We are not throwing out everything that modern Trek has acheived in terms of representation and storytelling to return to the social mores of the 1980's where queer relationships are relegated to off-screen, closeted metaphors.
Very nice recap and review. I also think they did Vadic dirty, they even pulled the "how dare you speak against your captain" trope where they kill a crewman on the bridge of the Shrike.
I dont know how to explain this exactly...After watching all three hours of this, completely glued to the screen, I'm absolutely wrecked with tears. The segment about perspective hit me like a ton of bricks. I am a straight, white male, and while I'd like to think of myself as pretty progressive, I guess I never realized how I constantly fail to take others' perspectives into consideration. I don't know what else to say or how to elaborate on what I'm feeling right now. Guilt? Conviction? What have I missed? What have I said or done that had good intentions but ended up doing more harm than good? I don't know. It does feel like my entire world view has been flipped on its head. Thank you so, so much for this video. I have so much to think about.
Remember that guilt can be distracting and draw your perspective inwards, focus instead on the practical skill of examining your world view and consciously taking the time to try to integrate more diverse perspectives into your life. Nobody who's perspective you have failed to take into consideration at the end of the day really cares whether you feel guilt or not, they care about whether you actually do the work of broadening your perspective. At the same time, give yourself the space to feel angry and betrayed that you were raised in a society that embedded into you a minefield of hateful stereotypes and beliefs, this is an experience all of us including even the victims of this hate can understand and when channeled in the right direction these negative emotions can bring us closer to the people we were "supposed" to hate or ignore. *edit* im not accusing you of having really problematic views or anything, I meant to address this towards the process of realizing, like you said, that being a straight white man (as I am also, with similar flaws to you) and deciding to adopt progressive ideas does not make us progressive automatically. To be genuinely progressive requires constant, hard work especially because the systematic violence around us is structured to be as invisible as possible to us (because people like us built it that way).
I, for one, had a good laugh at the TRANSporter reveal. I was like, "Oh no the borg is transing the youth! THE YOUTH GOT TRANSED, AND THE OLD PEOPLE ARE SAVING THE DAY!" I imagine it was powerful catharsis for someone, some old people. somewhere, very anxious.
I honestly read the motherhood storylines differently; for me they were about women who were essentially caught in unwinnable situations, making really hard decisions to protect their families. Troi stops Riker's grief because she knows Kestra needs him to be there. Raffi sacrifices her relationship with her son and granddaughter because until she knows that until she figures out what's going on and puts a stop to it, they're potentially in danger. Beverly chooses to take Jack and disappear despite knowing that it means leaving behind everything she cares about and her entire support network because she knows that Jack wouldn't be safe as Jean-Luc Picard's son. They all know that what they did hurt people and how much it hurt themselves, but they did what they needed to for their family.
If they mentioned ds9 too much they were required to mention that Garak and Bashir were now husbands and I guess they didn’t want to do that
Bashiar ended up with Ezri and garak moved back to cardassia prime
@JohnDoe-sl6di nah, Bashir and Ezri broke up and Bashir married Garak. Sorry I don't make the rules.
If they mention Garak and Sisco ,they would change the channel.
They are husbands. And Bashir runs Section 31 while Garak runs the Obsidian Order 😂.
I always figured Worf's line about pacifism was just one of his jokes, especially considering the number of people he killed and beheaded in the episodes before that.
Or he's a pacifist - for a Klingon.
Seems legit. He isn’t quick to anger or as up his arse the way he use to be about being a Klingon warrior. I just think he may not exactly define ‘pacifism’ the way a human might.
He was practicing deceit
Seemed like a very Klingon form of Pacifism. Don't start fights, but be willing to finish them if someone else does. More in line with a philosophy a lot of serious martial artists ascribe to. Fit well with the sort of Warrior-Monk vibe he had going
You need to keep making three hour Star Trek videos, to make room for as many costume changes as possible!
In fact where do you get your costumes love them!
Ok, ok but hear me out. Jessie does a long video and every 10 minutes she changes outfits without mentioning it. No calling attention just continues what she's talking about.
This
When Odo went back to the Changlings at the end of DS9, the first thing he told them about was the goo pot -
The Goo Pot: Travel in style every time (20% off first purchase, Disclaimer: No Silicone based lifeforms were harmed in the making of this product)
Quark: "I'm so proud."
I'm convinced that type of goo pot is just in fashion among the Great Link right now.
Goo pot spoke to me
Now I'm a polyglot
One of the things I loved most about this season has a connection back to 'All Good Things...' in that our beloved characters aren't just all hanging out with each other still. They drifted apart, just like they had in the finale, but with a key difference -- Picard hadn't kept a professional distance when they were together. He made a connection with them all. So instead of this pitying "let's give Picard one final adventure" the crew came back together to support each other, because they love each other no matter where life took them. This season was not perfect, but there were several, deeply meaningful, nuggets of perfection that made me happy to see such a good send-off to such a beloved show.
the opposite of the original movies to Kirk.
I still can't believe there is somone out there willing to put themselves through the paces of ALL the considersations of Star Trek Canon.
And then...and THEN...make amazingly academic videos about it.
Please never stop :)
Me: I don’t think I have the attention span to watch a movie right now
Also me: I’m going to watch a 3 or 5 hours Jessie gender video instead 😂😂
Love your long videos, keep ‘em coming
Same!
Yeah, I had to make sure I had enough time to set aside to at least get a good start on this video.
I know, right?
So glad the algorithm threw something substantial, I can enjoy, my way
Yup! The algorithm has learned to slip one of them in late at night, when I should be going to bed but I'm not ready yet. Then, before I have a chance to realize that this is going to be one of the long ones, I'm hooked, and bed just has to wait!
Lmao, yeah. I procrastine even on watching TV shows where each episode is twenty minutes but a three hour video essay has sucked me right in
Thanks for revitalize my interest in discovery as well, i really like episode 7 season 4.
Thank you for pointing out how much of a Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, I guess) Jack Crusher is- I felt like I was the only person who noticed how egregious it was that Jack was the most specialest little nepo baby in all the galaxy.
the man who can make Beckett Mariner feel like a normie.
Same! There are quite a few critiques in this video where I found myself thinking, "Wow! I'm not the only one!" There was so much universal love of everything in it and honestly to my own surprise I've found myself liking other shows way more, which I expected this to be my favorite from when it was announced.
YEEEES.
I agree, but I still like him. 🙂
And the foregoing his Starfleet Academy stuff so they can put him on a ship. O'brien didn't go through the Academy as he was enlisted for his skills. They could have mentioned that. The ending was rushed.
My biggest disappointment is they brought up Lal as being part of Data, but we never saw a drop of her in his personality. Would have loved to see it, or at least see it mentioned more than just that.
ok finally finished watching and I have to say you nailed it on the head all the reasons this season made me uncomfortable. I don't hate it, but I also didn't love it. Especially the treatment of Troi, Seven, and Rafi.
Omg, I thought the same thing.
I am pretty sure they added that in post-production
But Lal has always been a part of Data. I assumed that's what Dr. Soong meant. Lal's matrix is part of the new android because Lal's matrix is part of Data's matrix.
The inclusion of the Borg Queen had an eerie resemblance to the resurrection of Palpatine in Rise of Skywalker. The atmosphere, the crane like apparatus. Not a criticism just an observation.
The phrase “somehow the borg returned” flashed through my mind when that was revealed.
Between you and Steve Shives I'm glad there are people who are actually able to articulate what was wrong with season 3 of Picard. I was starting to feel like I was crazy for having problems with the last few episodes in particular, and everyone who's normally very critical of New Trek gushing about it as if it were the best thing ever.
That's because all of the New Trek is so terrible, this was a less toxic breath of air. Some folks are willing to call it fresh, because it's been so long since there has been any to breathe.
The real hope is that the massive success of this season destroys the piss poor trash writing hegemony of all the other installments.
The praise is HOPE.
Hope that the high school drama garbage and low brow writing of modern Trek gets wrecked by a new series run by Matalas. People just want this era of dumbed down crap writing to end. The endless infantilism and terrible science fiction placed upon what was once actually well thought out and well written. (mostly, but at least the people used to give a sh*t and actually try to make it good)
Clearly, modern Trek was intended to appeal to dumber people. It was written dumber for them.
Intellectuals everywhere should be pissed off.
I will not abandon my fantasy cultures just because capitalist (nepotism) human garbage have poisoned it with watered down stupid quippy trash.
I didn't read hundreds of classic sci-fi books to have this garbage shoved down my throat, and be told that this is what smart people today consider intelligent. That's just as bad as "Big Bang Theory" writing about smart people for stupid people, and pretending that it's an intellectual show.
Matalas is not the best man for the job, he's the only option we have. He's the only one with access.
"Small moves Ellie..."
This season had me torn. As a Next Generation fan I was very pleased and thoroughly enjoyed the send off. As fan of Picard's show specifically though I was really annoyed it dropped all the things I loved about the first two seasons. The fan service was great, and as an ending to The Next Generation this is way better than Nemesis, but I actually wasn't one of those who panned the first two seasons. I loved 'em, and I'm sad most of what was established in those Seasons barely carried over here.
I'll admit, as a white cis person I was oblivious to many of the things you pointed out when I first watched Picard S3. I can see now why certain elements of the show might be problematic. Decided to sub based on the passionate and thoughtful critique :)
I haven't seen the show except for what is shown in this video and I was going to say this exact same thing.
I was bugged by Troi being a bad therapist the one time she got to shine, and how Geordi was kind of sidelined, again (at least they remembered his relationship with Data was closer than Picard's though)- and I also found it super weird that Jurati Borg and Data's daughter were never even brought up. Breaking up Seven of Nine and Rafi was total BS too like, not even one time has this show ever cared about nepotism regulations, to a point where I always assumed Starfleet didn't have conflict of interest rules and trusted their officers to make good decisions even if they were serving with friends and family. I've seriously, not in one other moment of any of the other shows, seen a moment where anyone gave a crap about partners or family serving on the same ship.
Not to mention that having exes serving together would be arguably just as bad or worse than having lovers serving together.
Yeah. The only time we see that familial conflict of interest manifest as a problem is Lower Decks with Mariner and her mom, and even then it's something they're shown to be able to work through and be better for it.
I always like to imagine the Borg queen was just a weird avatar the Collective invented to talk to non-borg rather than their actual leader
While I also prefer this idea, it doesn't really gel with the fact that destroying her also kills a bunch of drones too. If she was just an avatar, killing her would have no more effect on the rest of the collective than killing any other drone.
We are the Borg...but we've never heard of Jurati.
We are the changlings...but we're not from The Great Link.
I am Professor Moriarty.... not THAT Professor Moriarty.
OMG, you precious person! You are so well-spoken. I appreciate you reading my über long posts and putting some of the things that worried me into words. At 2:30 you start talking about writer's choice and color blind casting. When you get the part about Terry having spoken to not only you, but also LeVar, but failed to understand the assignment, this is what I have been saying all along. The reason I was upset that Terry blocked me on Twitter wasn't because I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, I was upset with him because it cut off any conversation that he may have with posters on Twitter to not repeat those old tropes of the 80s. Had Terry actually allowed you or me to read his script, we would have pulled him up on many of the things you spoke about. Just like your friend did when you named a character Cohen.
Now, we don't agree about everything. For example, I see as a person who has her doctoral degree in Child, Youth and Family studies how Troi acted toward Jack completely different than you do. I acknowledge your points of views and respect them. What is better we can talk to each other without being disrespecting and respecting each others point.
When Terry blocked so many minorities and members of the LGBTQA community, it hurt me deeply and gave me the impression he was not taking what LeVar, Michael Dorn or even you said to him seriously. It may not have been intentional on his part, but for many of us it was very hurtful and insulting that some of our beloved characters were treated with little or no agency in Picard. What made it worse was that it wasn't the first time. To put salt on our wounds many fans dismissed these observations and made them trivial, telling us to be quiet and be satisfied with getting a spoonful of pie when they got an entire piece or more.
The fact remains LeVar, Michael and Marina will most likely never be given another opportunity to present their characters so that they get a complete arc and character development. How is it a happy ending when Troi goes on holiday with her husband and doesn't get a promotion, Worf is left by himself and we don't even get to see Geordie's wife? Then to placate us, Terry simply says that there wasn't any time and he couldn't please everyone. I UNSERSTAND the time issue, but Terry mistreated a fan base once again and expected us to be understanding while he did it.
If we are lucky, Terry will give Troi a promotion, find something for Worf to do and show Geordie's wife in a Legacy episode. Yet he knows dang well he messed up and that fans of the supporting cast deserve two episodes for each characters of a ten episode season. It's not going to happen because Terry will then have other issues such as making Legacy succeed then worry about our hurt feelings.
Which brings me to the point of Picard. NEVER USE SOMEONE ELSE'S SERIES TO LAUNCH A NEW SERIES. Most people with sense saw this by episode three. It was a grave injustice because all the actors risked their lives to work during lockdown while Covid was going on. LeVar, Marina, Michael, Brent and Jonathan made a very good impression, but I was really concerned for Gates who looked like she had some mobility issues and was heavily leaning on furniture and Patrick whose hands shook a bit. I'm not mad at these actors for getting older, but I am upset they had to come to work for the foolishness on the paper.
In closing, do I respect Terry. Yes, I do because he had an impossible task. That said, he mistreated Marina, Michelle Hurd, Michael and LeVar. I wanted my " Saffie" just like I wanted my "Imzadi". And give a Klingon a break while seeing Geordie's happy family. Love, love, love your show!
Nothings better than American Truck Simulator and a Jessie Gender video analysis. Gonna be hauling logs to Boise Idaho while listening to this.
I was sad about Elnor not coming back but then I realised they turned Worf into a comically straightforward master swordsman of peace. He's Elnorf! (I'm still sad about it though)
They actually killed Elnor
@@tannisroot No they have confirmed he wasn't on that ship I believe
The 9th episode didn't land with me, because "the Borg? Again?”
But the finalé, much like Rich Evans said, I turned my brain off and just enjoyed it. I'm a believer that feelings come first and the "why* comes later. Which is pretty consistent with your assertion that people like Rich and I probably have blind spots.
This should definitely be the retirement of the TNG cast. If Legacy gets green-lit, I want to see a style different from SNW, or from Discovery. ...And maybe with more than four lights. I'm rewatching the Orville and THERE ARE LIGHTS. OMG.
I felt that way when I saw the Borg Cube behind the soor, but TBH, I was suspecting Jack had a Borg connection for a while.... there were a LOT of clues. But it makes sense, IMO, and my only regret is that we didn;t get more of Amanda PLummer, who was just awesome.
So I know I am in the minority here but Picard S3 has the same issue to me that Picard S2 had, they could have had a really good story if they didn’t make the Borg the big baddie.
Example, Q could have been the one to bring them back in time so Picard could deal with his past. Picard could be upset to find that Q caused a different time line and we keep everything the same except no borg. Have Picard trying to deal with Q and find out that Q made a mistake by messing with the timeline just for Picard to deal with his trauma. It wouldn’t be right but it was his dying wish.
Season 3, still have Jack part Borg but remove the Queen out of it. Have it that the federation was testing on the borg too and that’s how the Changlings found out about Jack. They want that piece of him. Have it be the federation’s fault. Showing how the previous generation didn’t fully clean up their own mess and now the young generation has to clean it up. You still get those morals in there but it doesn’t forget the previous seasons. And it makes 7 of 9’s story work better because it could show how she is allowed in but the Federation isn’t as accepting as she would have hoped . Have the Federation actually have to deal with their problems!!! Picard kept hinting at this from season 1 and never did anything with it.
I suppose one problem is, TNG portrayed humanity and the Federation as borderline perfect. DS9 added more nuance, but Picard s1 went too far, into near dystopia (with a bit of eye gouging). The backlash against season 1 seems to have led to something more like early TNG.
Also, a mistake the writers have been making since 2009 is to think that Star Trek is about iconic characters and villains, not new ideas.
"Yes, I threw Nemesis twice!" Jessie you can't possible throw that damn thing as often as it deserves!
It really annoyed me about Jack and Soji, that they were coded as not conformative or a threatened group and both of them tried to kill all of humanity.
This is a new sort of "sacred trek." I watched this season and was mixed between sad, for retreat from inovation and patronizing writing, and happy they gave characters and actors some powerful moments. You turned it on an aspect that opens eyes, at least my eyes to a a very human experience. You turned a gross error towards growth. Thank you.
I recently heard in a podcast that getting Star Trek fans to accept new things is like swimming in syrup ...
Boldly going where we already went 40 years ago.
@@jaimebabb9968 Right. 😒
As a cishet white dude, I actually interpreted the Changelings/Borg alliance, and the ships being connected, as a metaphor for hate, misinformation and radicalization being spread to our youth over the internet. Everything the alt-right and corrupted governments have been doing basically.
But like you said, my perspective is limited to my own experiences, and while I still think there is truth to my reading, yours is fascinating and juste as valid!
I love Star Trek. It always strived to be woke. But it never was perfect and always had blind spots.
I set down my phone, door open, and walked into another room while listening. Got to the "the cake is a lie" reference and came back here to serve your ARREST WARRANT
20:10 I was disappointed by this too, I was actually really excited to see what had become of the self-aware TNG Moriarty. I was always deeply creeped out by the ending of "Ship in a Bottle" and wanted to see the implications of it revisited one day.
The problem is that they put Moriarty in the advance trailer. So fans spent ages ruminating over what his return could mean. But like a lot of Picard season three it didn't amount to anything.
I feel like there are a lot of those points all the way through the series, lots of sweet little throwbacks and Easter eggs full of those tasty tasty memberberries that could have been entire episodes within themselves but that they ultimately didn't do very much with. Like the board cube in season 1 and Hugh they could have done so much more with those elements and I would have loved to have seen that but ultimately it reads like lower decks, here's a nod, something cool, worth a laugh or a hell yeah, and then moving on. ..
Same. Moriarty was one of the more fascinating side characters from TNG to me. Definitely one of my favorites as far as 'villains' go, if you can really call him that in TNG. I don't think the ending of Ship in a Bottle was creepy so much as it was...cruel. I mean, they had to suspect Moriarty would figure out he was stuck in a program yet again eventually, right? Assuming that's the case, the crew just knowingly imprisoned someone they themselves aknowledged was a sentient being and not just a hologram, all the while seemingly brushing it off and forgetting about it until the events of ST Picard. If I had been Moriarty, I might just have been very angry and unforgiving at that point. He could have been such a good adversary in ST Picard because of that, forcing the crew to reckon with what they actually did to him and his wife. I mean, talk about ghosts coming back to haunt you. Either way, the way they handled his character in Picard felt like such a huge disappointingly missed opportunity.
Edit: like the above said, pretty much all the easter eggs and throwbacks felt like such a missed opportunity. ): Probably one of the biggest reasons I couldn't really enjoy most of ST Picard.
@@jackdubz4247 you mean like Picard the show in general? Lmao.
I was glad they didn't go there, personally. Enough of the "Holodeck gone mad" stuff. That was played out more than 20 years ago. It's a mystery to me why Starfleet allowed continued use of those obvioyus safety and security hazards.
Honestly, I loved this season. It was nostalgia based, but trek is growing so much right now and there was totally room for this nostalgia amongst all the new stuff.
I really appreciate your viewpoints on how limited the perspective of season 3 of picard is, it is something that is easy for me to miss and I am trying to work on that.
Picard season 3 is how you do nostalgia right. All the characters who came back returned with purpose. They had interesting things to do, new arcs to go one... They weren't there just to advertise a season of tv.
...Like Captain Picard himself was, arguably, in seasons 1 and 2.
I guess the exception to that would be Q, but other than being a sting for future trek shows, he was mostly just there to send a big 'fuck you' to the writers of Picard season 2.
@@halowaffle25it’s just sad that the nostalgia had to come at the expense of some of Star Trek Picard’s own main characters who’ve basically been pushed out of their show so the TNG crew could get their one last ride.
First of all thank you for the indepth analyse! I'm glad you had stuff that you enjoyed! Voyager was my main poison, even though I grew up with my mom watching TOS and TNG (and everything else Star* related ;)). Despite S1 of Picard having it's issues, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with these incredible new characters. I fell in love with the idea of looking at things not through the Starfleet lense. And I was excited to see more of that (after spamming my tumblr with Seven/Raffi gifs before they even shared screentime, of course I almost fainted when the two were holding hands at the end of the season and I wanted to see more of that too! :D). But we only have Raffi and Seven left at the end of S3 (or so it seems since Elnor and Soji aren't even mentioned). And it feels like the S1 crew got pushed out by the TNG cast (might not be true, but it still feels like it) and it makes me incredible bitter about the whole thing, especially since Patrick Stewart said during S1 that he had no interest whatsover in continuing TNG...
I'm rambling, sorry.
Again, as a nonbinary queer person, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your video! LLAP
I did not realize it until you mentioned it but Soji and Elnor would have been great additions to the New ENTERPRISE Legacy crew. Elnor was practically Sevens' adopted son and Soji was Datas' other daughter..
Thank you for summarizing nicely why the season by the end was such a let down even as I desperately wanted to just enjoy seeing the cast together. It started as a negging feeling of "ehhhh okay" until I walked away and realized how much it bothered me, and it's comforting at least to know others saw it as well. And it sucks to see those people who see these criticisms and think that we just hate it without any love or affection or inspiration for the series or franchise as a whole.
Re: Geordi and his daughter's mother, they could've drawn from the books and had it be Leah Brahams, BUT only so long as they kept that her first husband had died (though they don't need make how canon, The Genesis Wave story was a mixed bag as is). Hell, it could've been used to provide additional motivation for Geordi to not want to go with Picard on the Titan at first. "Leah's already been a widow once, Jean Luc, I don't want her to have to go through that again." I'm only an occasional writer, but TBH I feel like that line I just wrote could've conveyed so much with so little.
You pointed a lot of things out i hadn't even yet considered.
My criticism of the season is harsher, i hate the trend for nostalgiabait a lot of popular media is pushing out. I'd rather have something trying something new and flail around with it.
I think the only thing i can really add is that renaming the Titan to Enterprise felt like Rey in Rise of the Skywalker going "I am Rey Skywalker".
You have no idea how happy I was to see a 3 hours Star Trek video from you this morning 🥰
@1:21:25 in episode 6 (The Bounty) Geordi says to his daughter "Alandra, get to a long range comms terminal, tell Mom we're not gonna be home for dinner". It's a small moment, but it acknowledges that he has a family.
How, by Riker's beard, are you able to release this much long form content this quickly? You space witch!
Beautiful, kind, and well-thought out critique of this season of Picard. Loved it
Amanda Plummer MADE this season. She was Shakespearean! At the end of her big monologue, I yelled out, “Upon St. Crispin’s Day!” BUT - my *favorite* thing this season was Data calling her a “monologuing protoplasm”.🤣
I find the whole surprise kid storyline to be extraordinarily problematic too. It continues the stereotype that anyone that doesn't have kids is somehow incomplete.
That not wanting kids must stem from some kind of trauma involving your own parents. Or that you're too focused on work, or travelling or any other part of life to settle down like you should.
This show implies that not having kids means missing out on the best, most fulfilling experience of your life.
This show changes Picard's reasons for not wanting kids from just being "I don't like them and I don't want them" to he's spent his whole life too embedded in starfleet to think about children and too fearful to want to think about having them.
I honestly just find it gross that they've devalued Picard's entire life because they think the only way for a man to have a complete life is to be a father, and Picard's whole career was just him distracting himself from that knowledge.
Oh yes! An especially having a SON…
Don't you know everyone needs a long lost son?! That's TV writing 101!
"Otherness" is ALWAYS a problem in fiction. Especially in in Something like Star Trek.
I also struggle with it in TTRPGs.
Once you see how "Otherness" gets weaponized, its hard to make monsters and villains for "the good guys (tm)" to confront and not feel like it just a continuation of the same old thing
Your Trek videos are my favorites of all the things you upload!
There's just something about listening to someone enthuse about their special interest that makes me happy
Vadic: "Me and a dozen of my fellow Changelings were brutally tortured by your scientists"
Picard & Crusher: "Man, that's rough. Anyway, would you like to be vaporised or ejected into space?"
Three hours of Jessie talkin' Trek to keep me company while I grade lab practicals? Ummm yes please
Edit: Spelling that changed meaning
The Bow-wow-chikka-chikka-bow-wow soundtrack over the scenes of the new old (old new?) Enterprise made me scream with laughter so much that I frightened my cats.
Yeah, I think that the Borg reveal would have worked better with one change: have the crew figure it out the enemy plan beforehand. As soon as the Titan crew gets Ro's data, they realize that something's off with the transporters. They analyze it and find the DNA changes, but it doesn't make any sense. They start to figure out the link between Picard's brain anomaly and these changes, they're clearly linked, but they don't know why. Then of course, when Deanna looks into Jack's mind and finds the Borg, everything clicks into place. It all makes sense. Then, they can start taking action against it, warning Starfleet, clearing the transporters, and deassimilating crewmembers, but the signal gets activated before they're finished. I think that would have made it feel a lot better, as not only do we have more pieces of the puzzle, but our heroes have figured out the Borg/Changeling plan and have taken steps to solve it instead of it all just happening at once.
Jessie just wanna say I love you and I wish more people had the balance to be as thoughtful about media as you are and could balance loving something with being critical of it at the same time.
I think one massive problem the series had was focusing on Picard. The others become extensions of his story not being characters in their own right. Thats why I think a series like Picard should never have had the old crew in it more than a few guest shots. They wanted a love letter to TNG they needed to give all characters their time. Focusing on just one leaves the others in the background.
I think that they "jumped the shark" a bit with that in that if they'd just had a few more episodes, they could've resolved that.
Arguably that was.a problem with Discovery too, although they seemed to be trying to do better with season 4. I think the shows which have been more ensemble (TNG, DS9) have made an advantage of that.
Over three hours!!!!!!!
Hurray! I am boldly begining my Jessie journey right away!
Hi Jessie,
I know this might get buried since it's a bit late, but... THANK YOU. Videos like this and your perspective is why you're one of my favourite SF reviewers. The final thoughts section actually made me emotional.
I was initially a bit hesitant to watch this, not just because I'm busy but also because I was worried my very good perception of both this season, and Matalas, would somehow be tainted. But I'm very glad I did!
I've been following the Twitter feeds of a lot of BTS people (Matalas, Dave Blass, Stephen Barton, Mike Okuda, the cast,, etc.) since the season started, and it's obvious that they have the best intentions. They made this season as a love letter to all the great memories that 90s Trek gave us, and really didn't intend for the prejudices and issues of that era to come through as well. They possibly just went back to the tropes of TNG without giving it too much thought. (Matalas has said on the AMA that the writers room is an extremely high pressure environment)
This just makes it so much sadder that the season was ultimately imperfect, and its value in later years might mostly be seen in terms of nostalgia.
I really hope Matalas finds time to watch this video, and makes Legacy as wonderful and diverse as Discovery is (if only to piss off right-wing reviewers)
Now if you'll excuse me I have to pour my rambling thoughts about Trek into an essay for my unsuspecting university SF society to read....
I have absolutely no problem listening to/watching you talk about Star Trek for three hours. Please continue to make awesome videos such as this one.
My issue with Terry Matalas's trip to the past was that he was wallowing, not simply visiting. Deep Space Nine's Ira Steven Behr was on the money when he said that you should give the fans what they need, rather than what they want. I'm sure everyone involved had a blast making it and I know that a great many fans loved every second of Picard season three, but the whole thing left me cold.
Entertainment media is heavily subjective but I think it's generally safe to say that what fans want is usually what they need. I don't really agree with the presumption that most fans want their "expectations subverted". Especially when you're talking about legacy characters.
@@reyalexandro I hate that term, "legacy characters". Whomever coined it needs to be strung up. Characters are characters. There's no such thing as "legacy". And, if the past ten years or so have taught me anything it's that fans (of anything) don't know what they want.
@Jack Dubz seeing people look at Picard season 1, with the serialized storytelling, bad guy Federation, killing off legacy characters, nobody has phasers set to stun, messy story and galaxy ending plot, and hate it, and then seeing them look at Picard season 3, with the serialized storytelling, bad guy Federation, killing off legacy characters, nobody has phasers set to stun, messy story, galaxy ending plot, and TNG cast, and love it, I do have to wonder what people hated about season 1 and what exactly does the trek fanbase want out of a new show.
There was some good character interactions but there was a lot of other things fans have stated for years they didn't like in Picard that were still there this time that there is virtually no discussion about. I don't necessarily agree with all of these being inherent problems in a show but they are noticeable as things I'd expect to see more discussion about
@@SmartSmears "and TNG cast" I think you've pretty much answered your own question as to why fans look upon season 3 far more favourably than they do season 1. And that is also why "Nepenthe" is regarded as the best episode of Picard season 1. I think Matalas made all the same errors as Chabon but Matalas was far more adept at using "fan-pleasing" elements to hide those storytelling flaws.
@@reyalexandro the thing is finding the balance. “Keep them wanting more” etc. Giving nothing but fanservice can lead to satiation and losing interest. Or just inspire lazy writing. But introducing enough without spending too much time on it can work well
I watched this over on Nebula, but I got it playing here too and commenting and hitting like to support Jessie makes solid content and anything I can do to help boost it matters
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ thank you
@@JessieGender1 hey Jess, you hearted my comment, but you didn't reply, where do you get those awesome uniforms? They appear to be very high quality.
@@CrackedCandy oh all over! eBay mostly
Another epic opus. Cogent, comprehensive, and absolutely necessary. We all needed this.
When it comes to Tuvix, it's always to soon 😀
The sad thing is that Janeway could've used her knowledge and created transporter duplicates so Tuvix, Neelix, and Tuvok could exist
And risk that one of them was an evil copy? Not worth it. Good thing everyone immediately forgot about it and it was never mentioned again.
I think trying to make a transporter do anything beyond it’s intended function is a folly or someone would have started just general cloning via transporter a long time ago.
@@TheDawnofVanlife Section 31 probably always uses it.
I would guess the agent that met Bashir does transporter clones all the time
Halfway through this I had an epiphany that Star Trek is a soap opera, and I've just been watching it for Thirty Something years because of the starship porn.
The second half got deep. Great video, hope Paramount doesn't screw with you too much! 💜
As someone who recently got into Star Trek, and came out as Non-Binary around the same time, this channel has been such a wonderful find and I just wanted to say thank you so much for what you do!
15:20 Lower Decks has actually ruined me for glamour shots of ships now.
17:58 I snorted. And since I was eating pizza at the time, that hurt.
20:10 If they hadn't put so much emphasis on Moriarty in the trailer, he wouldn't have been a disappointment. If he'd just popped up like Tuvok, with no warning, the cameo would have been perfect. But it's like the random Borg drone in the S1 trailer - because he was prioritised for so many of the 30 seconds available, the implication was that he was going to be really significant only for him to be just a glorified extra.
38:00 This. It was such an obvious trope that I was half convinced they would subvert it and force him to live and do better instead. Mind you, with all the ways he could be brought back into the franchise(I count at least a dozen, only one of which is him waking up on Daystrom Station and growling "Ah, for fuck's sake"), maybe he'll still have the chance if/when the totally organic and not at all astroturfed campaign for _Star Trek: Legacy_ is successful.
47:50 Oh, mate, you know what they could have done? Brought back the synthipedes from S1, made _them_ the big bad, explained as the Mirrorverse Borg!(not saying that would have been _good,_ just that they could have done it)
51:10 I swear, the Borg Queen is getting closer and closer to Anjelica Huston's Supreme Leader every time they show her. ua-cam.com/video/tKp2KgnlEf8/v-deo.html
1:19:55 I wonder if they wrote and filmed it being Leah Brahms, then listened to all the people saying "Please god _not_ Leah Brahms, that would be a terrible message to send, _anyone_ but Leah Brahms" and surreptitiously edited all mentions of her out again, leaving a blank space.
1:35:15 ...yup.
1:37:41 I'm just going to point out something I pointed out at the time of that scene - the two Starfleet officers that Vadic just killed thought she was their colleague. They watched what they thought was their colleague beating a detainee for information, and they did nothing. They apparently thought that was okay.
1:53:32 This is where the absence of the Borgati was most conspicuous to me. Jack wants something like the Borg, but not evil? Well how about introducing him to that collective of Borg who aren't evil? Takes a lot of gloss to ignore the most obvious solution, provided by the previous season.
I wish we'd got to see the Changelings and the Borg working together, rather than one handing off completely to the other. Maybe see a drone attempt to assimilate a Changeling, to show a difficult alliance. The way it was Changelings right up until it suddenly wasn't relegated them to the status of a warmup act. I was actually a bit surprised to see them acknowledged at the very end.
It all feels like it's drifting closer to the cishet white male status quo(especially with the loss of Discovery), possibly as a result of being written at the speed of television so falling back on shortcuts and not overthinking(or just thinking) them. Why, for example, couldn't Picard have a long lost daughter being headhunted to be raised up as a new Borg Queen? Maybe because long lost sons feel more intuitive. Why do they feel more intuitive? Because of centuries of lost prince/king over the water/prodigal son stories that rose from a patriarchal system that would never have recognised a female heir.
She could have been called Nat. Short for Natasha.
Was there a reason to split up Seven and Raffi? It felt like a cowardly way to appease homophobes by not giving the characters the opportunity to demonstrate their relationship, while all the Jean-Luc/Beverly(and briefly Jean-Luc/Laris), Deanna/Will, formerly Deanna/Worf, Sidney/Jack het romances were constantly acknowledged and affirmed. If Seven needed to feel isolated on the _Titan,_ her girlfriend having gone off-grid for work would have been as effective as them actually breaking up. And we don't even know if they _did_ break up! Only that they were awkward when they were finally back in the same room again!
Thank you for this wonderful analysis. You said everything that was on my mind about this season and also mentioned what happened to Section 31 and the Showrunners I was eager to see what they come up with, to be replaced by more status quo folks. Also, I am looking forward to getting round to watching that interview, as a creative myself, I am thrilled to see there were more diverse people behind the scenes than I first thought there would have been.
We really hated this season because it felt like a cynical "giving up" on Picard as a series. Star Trek has had a lot of lousy starts that they've been able to rise above by working with what they have to improve and find that unique footprint, but Picard instead had this awkward first season (that we still LOVED) that ends with a bunch of threads and potential for future stories only for them all to get forgotten for the sake of a blank slate second season that, to its credit, did try new things as well and at least left the story in a place where some of the first season could be picked back up on later... and then the third season is a reunion that retcons or ignores as much as possible of prior seasons just so it can do old things that we've seen so many times over and over.
It felt to us like they did an entire season out of the Enterprise finale, where they would rather just make a different show than the one they claimed to be capping off. It has very much hurt our expectations of Star Trek going forward since it's so beloved and will no doubt be pointed to as the standard for future series from here on. And it's not like we hate all kinds of fan service or revisiting of old stuff. We think Strange New Worlds have done great on this, for example. But this just felt like a rejection of the show that carries its name and that sucks. Because even if you dislike the first two seasons of the show, it deserved to end with its own identity, not that of a different series entirely.
If they wanted TNG Movie 5 then they should have made TNG Movie 5, not Picard Season 3. It'd be like if TNG Season 3 scrapped everything to just do a TOS reunion instead just because the first seasons stumbled, or if Discovery had just axed its entire crew to make Discovery the Captain Pike show instead of making that its own thing. It's disrespectful to the story, whether it's good or bad.
If the Captain Seven show happens we don't know if we'll watch it. We didn't want her in Starfleet, we wanted a Fenris Ranger show, and we really just don't want to see "TNG but with new characters" either. We also dislike them wanting to call it Star Trek Legacy because that was already the name of an important piece of work, namely the video game that served the first (and only?) time Shatner, Stewart, Brooks, Mulgrew and Bakula all appeared together as their respective captains. It sucks if they're gonna slap that name on this new thing just because they want a generic sounding one word title that basically just means "the next generation" again. Maybe if they bring back the Picard characters that got written out we'll be more open to it.
By the way, wasn't Matalis also co-showrunner on the second season of Picard? Not sure why everyone always acts like he came on board for the third season only. The two seasons were filmed back-to-back too so it's not like it was made in "response" to the second season. Think it was more that it was made in response to the first season but they still had contracts to fulfil so they made the second season all about writing out the parts of the first season they couldn't just ignore. Hence why Rios stays behind to die in the past, Jurati becomes a stationary Borg Queen at a gate, Elnor goes off on a different ship (and presumably got Borg'd this season without ANYONE even voicing concern) and Soji... well, they just kind of left her on a planet somewhere at the start of the second season.
Anyway, as we've ranted about extensively in your comments already, this is by far the Star Trek thing that have upset us the most since the modern day revival. We'll continue remaining eternally pissed that we won't be allowed a healthy ongoing sapphic relationship in any Star Trek outside of non-canon works. Reno is a widow, Georgiou only spent a night at a Klingon brothel with girls, Mariner and Jennifer broke up, Raffi and Seven broke up twice... It's all so tiresome. Haven't decided yet if we'll take a break from the franchise after this or stick around for Strange New Worlds in June, but guess time will tell.
Lovely deep dive into Star Trek storytelling as time goes by, how do you do it?? Thanks Jessie for giving us so much to think about ❣️✌🏼
I kinda got the feeling that the original plan for season two was to have a subplot about discrimination. They started out showing seven being discriminated against in the 25th century, then when they come back to the twenty first without her implants she was socializing and moving freely. They even call out during the party scene how much she was randomly socializing. I have a feeling that they were planning to then have Raffi be discriminated against in the 21st century, and have seven explain what’s happening. If they’d gone that way they’d have a blonde, blue eyed white woman explaining discrimination to a woman of color.
Maybe it’s a reach, if that was the plan and they realized the optics and bailed, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I thought the plot was gonna be about stopping trump getting elected. Ded srs
I had convinced myself that Moriarty would be the main big bad before watching episode 1 of season 3. Then I thought that he must be the boss of the changing or at least manipulated her into doing his bidding. I was disappointed that it turned out to be the Borg.
he was made specifically (in-show) to beat Data, seeing him work with the Borg seems like a natural progression.
I have been following you for quite some time because of your excellent Star Trek reviews! I was pleasantly surprised to see you on Leftist Mafia discussing the current issues of the day! I hope they will invite you back- you were an excellent guest!
I needed this video. You covered a good chunk of my issues with this season and the discourse around it.
Personally I straight up hated this season. I tried SO HARD to enjoy it but every fun/touching moment (of which there were many) got drowed out by this plot. I'm definitely letting myself get hung up on it, but I'm just sick to death of these overdone, poorly paced, ill conceived, save-the-world mystery box arcs. Season 2 also left me SUPER jaded (which, apparently, wasn't softened by watching SNW/LD/PRO in the interim), so I spent the previous 10 weeks utterly baffled as to what the hell y'all had been gushing about. I felt nothing when the Enterprise D was brought out (beyond "wow, they took zero artistic licensing with this") and that poker table shot at the end felt completely unearned.
I enjoy these characters and the cast was giving it their all, but I couldn't care less about bringing old favourites back if THIS is the story they cram them into. I'm now terrified of this Legacy spin-off, should it happen; between the contrived Enterprise-G crap, and that damned post credits scene with Q (yay, more recycled ideas). The name alone does not inspire confidence they're going to actually do anything novel.
I agree with the end, my biggest issue is less with the season itself and how it will inform later shows like a potential legacy show. I do actually think that if the cartoons got cancelled and all the upcoming shows were like Picard season 3 I would actually stop watching new Star Trek
I think Star Trek's flaws in representation within itself could actually make a good storyline and explain why Earth eventually left the Federation. Why are there so many human admirals in Starfleet? What happens if Andoria or Teller Prime starts pushing for more representation in leadership? Take it and make a story out of it.
amazing video!
you managed to articulate many of the issues i had with this season that ended up frustrating me, even though i pretty much enjoyed most of it (for instance i think that episode 4 of this season is amongst the best trek episodes), and i havent seen many other trekkies talking about these issues.
also i find it really funny that those people who say discovery isnt "real trek" are praising this season of picard as "real trek" while the resolution of discovery's fourth season plot line is much more aligned to the ethos of trek than the pew pew resolution of this picard season
It's all about peripheral blind-spots. And everyone is going to have those. It doesn't matter who you are. That's why it's important to listen to as many trusted voices as you can to avoid unintentionally contributing to an attack on people you do not want to attack.
I think this is a very charitable (and rightfully charitable) take on a lot of the problems that Star Trek has as a whole. From everything I've heard, Terry Matales doesn't hate Queer or POC folk. He seems like a chill dude. But it's clear to me that he didn't have as many diverse voices in the writer's room as, perhaps, he should have.
My dad was a TNG fan, he grew up with that series and prefers over any other Trek. He thought Picard Season 3 was worse than Season 2, which genuinely shocked me. Everything I hear about that season gives me Rise of Skywalker vibes, the old generation forcibly taking back control over anything new, and I kind of despise it. I'll probably skip it.
I'm an obsessive fan of TNG and I entirely agree with this assessment.
Jessie, great work! Thank you for asking what happened to the borg from season 2. I kept thinking about this as the borg were revealed as the antagonist. I thought I missed something.
Me too! I was like okay when is Juridi gonna show up.
Yeah, I was sad to see that wasn't tied in.
I really, really enjoyed this video. I stayed up way too late because I didn't look at the length until you made the joke about not checking the timecode, but by then I was hooked and I wanted to watch it all. You definitely put into better words some of the issued I definitely had with Picard S3, and there's been so much embrace of it by both toxic right-wingers and fans that see how the UFP is communist and don't shy away from the show anyway that I kinda felt like I was the only one who actually saw some of these problems. Those include some of the storytelling, pacing, and canon issues that the toxic types apply only to Trek that includes depictions of non cis-het folk. I know I take issue with some of those kinds of things more than some fans, but I do like internal consistency in anything that wants to be a shared universe, at least where reasonably possible. In the end, a lot of my issues with S3 Picard were issues I had with Nemesis, but cranked up to 11.
I will say it may just be me, but I definitely didn't see Worf as flirting with or hitting on Troi, but just Riker being possessive. I can see reading it the other way, but I didn't get that vibe, I thought he really was talking to both a friend and former therapist about how he'd grown and expecting it among friends to be a safe place. Plus, I didn't think about this part until afterwards, but if he had ulterior reasons for his approach, she would have known about them.
You also made some great points about the need for diversity in the writers room, something that cannot be repeated enough, at least not until it becomes the norm. Some of the things you pointed out, though not all, were things I missed due to my perspective, and I try to listen to other voices because I am a cis white dude (I'm technically not het, but according to even a lot of people in the LGBTQ+ community we ace folk don't exist, so in most places I definitely "pass," except in places I was accused of being a closeted homosexual in my teenage years because I didn't constantly objectify women, mostly it's the internal struggle of basically all society saying love is sex and only that kind of love is real, and much more but I digress). I do my best to seek out viewpoints, including this one, and I'm glad your channel is here. I actually found your channel through your political and trans activism content, and then got excited to find a bunch of bonus Star Trek stuff when I got here!
I just ranted a lot, but on the off chance this is read, this was a great video covering a lot of issues with the show and a few of the community at large, and why it is so very, very important to be careful in how one frames allegory. I'm glad to have watched it.
Edit: I wanted to add, this is the first time in I don't know how long I sat through the sponsored content segment of a video, and as an ace man, it's for products with absolutely zero appeal to me, but the segment was still so funny and entertaining I didn't skip over it.
I haven't seen anyone else mention it but your closing monologue and montage/tribute from 3:04:10 onwards legitimately made me emotional in a way I can't put into words very well. This season was very mixed to me but seeing the crew get such a conclusive happy ending for all of them and hearing Picard and Riker's final monologue from Generations with the music you put over it is... Genuinely very beautiful to me and feels like the most loving next gen era goodbye I've seen. Thank you for making it and this entire video
hey, jessie, i’m hoping you’re going to read this comment and talk about this issue that i’ve found in a couple of new trek shows that has really worried me as an autistic person. this may not have much to do with picard, the show, but it does have to do with the clumsy mixing of metaphors that comes from writing outside of the perspective that you’re trying to represent, and that would be that way strange new worlds and prodigy both want to talk about the way genetically modified people are persecuted.
so far they haven’t gone too into depth as to what they’d see the future more open to genetic modification would be like aside from not banning the presence of individuals that may have been genetically modified, but it worries me that because of a lack of (as far as we know) disabled writers in the writers’ room of both of these shows, that they are leading on the audience to accept genetic alteration as an acceptable practice that should not be banned. which is extremely worrisome considering that genetic alteration is most often, and especially in the star trek universe, explicitly used for eugenics. it was literally used on julian bashir for eugenics. the people that created khan, arik soong, they were eugenicists, but most often than not they’ve used the word and never really considered what it really means. it doesn’t just mean that a eugenicist movement would prime people that would see “normal people” as inferior because of their genetic material, but that it would be a movement with the intent of wiping out disability and differences in body types and mentalities. so the fact that we’re just supposed to go “oh poor dal/una, they wouldn’t be allowed to be in starfleet” as the main emotional response is extremely troubling and says to me that the writers haven’t considered what actually addressing systemic inequality that would exclude victims of eugenicist experimentation would actually mean for disabled people and what giving the green light to such experiments would be implying about what the world should do.
thanks.
I think this is a bit similar to what Jessie says about AI in this video, it's presented as evil, but what would be the possibilities to show it in a positive way and if the AI becomes a sentient being, how should we interact with it. In our world right now AI isn't being used very well, right now people are rightfully concerned about loosing their jobs. But that doesn't mean nothing of value will develop in the future.
I think the more important change is creating a society that values everybody enough so that nobody gets left behing, valuing differences and being flexible enough to deal with new developments!
Of course genetic modifications used for Eugenics are a horrible thing! As somebody working in the medical field there are already many considerations today! F.ex. genetic testing and subsequent abortions, esp. in the case of Down's. So should genetic testing be forbidden? It IS forbidden in some countries to use it early to determine sex f.ex. On the other hand it also tests for much more serious illnesses that Down's, where the baby usually doesn't survive more than hours or months, should those not be tested for?
And there are so many genetic diseases that make people misable, or kill them, a treatment would be wonderful here! Of course Eugenics are horrible and I understand your concern (I wouldn't be here either the way I am), but right now the issue is also that killing the children once they are there is not considered ok, but abortions or fixing them is! But if the world goes downhill enough (again), no genetic modifications are needed for Eugenics, you can just kill all of them....
And progress can't really be undone, so creating an inclusive society with strong Ethics seems more of a solution to me than condemming a technology on principle. Esp. as in the Star Trek world so far this has justified treating individuals badly. Of course what his parents did to Julian Bashir wasn't righ, but should he be unable to live his life because of it? From what strange new worlds has done so far, it's come up with the interesting aspect of using genetic modification to adapt people to an environment. I think that's actual an interesting question: is it better to terraform a world or to make yourself able to breathe the atmosphere it has, or is neither way better, just different. This doesn't change that Eugenics is wrong, but is it right to exclude somebody from Star Fleet because what they were born as (or in Julian's case made into before they could do anything about it, and in Julian's case, if there were a way to change him back, it'd be a little bit like Tuvix, you'd kill the person he has since become).
So tl;dr: I absolutely get the fear of being the target of Eugenics. I just think the optimal solution would be a change in attitudes, in seeing the value in differences, because so many things can be used to get rid off or exclude people. Not that you have to agree with me! And not that I thing Star Trek will necessarily do the storyline justice!
Ugh…. Ima need to get that seven/raff audiobook. 😮🤠😜
Hey Jessie and friends, I am glad to come here from Trekspertise Picard Season 3 discussion panel. I'm already loving your posts and taking notes. Im especially interested in trek gender videos review... There is so much to think. Thank you.
You did a great job summing up my feelings on why the Borg being the final villains was such a big let down. Thank you for your nuanced analysis of the role Section 31 played, and what a big problem it is that the show was so uninterested in addressing any part of it.
Since the Borg are "space communists", and represent a neo-liberal panicked view of what communist countries like the USSR were like and the supposed threat they presented, I was kind of hoping that their characterization would evolve as the cold war thawed. They're a cold war fear. I hope people realize now that socialism doesn't mean or require forced conformity.
@@naomistarlight6178 - sadly, given all the barely-coded Cold War anti-Communist BS the likes of Hillary Rodham Clinton and her NeoLib lot throw around?
If anything, we're backsliding into foam-at-the-mouth Reagan Era neo-McCarthyism.
1:00:12 So wait-- does that mean that they managed to turn Deanna Troi _into Lwaxanna Troi...?_
That's actually sorta brilliant.
I really like the season and now thanks to you I understand why I didn't LOVE the season - any chance you can move out to LA so you can help them write their scripts? They really could use your help getting from B scripts to A+ scripts!
I'm a fan of RLM generally, but I feel like there's a hypocrisy when it comes to Mike's dislike of SNW because of the writing when Picard has the same issues. That said, they also readily admit that they bought into the nostalgia so at least they recognize that they were compromised in that respect.
I do think they don't recognize the privilege that they have though, and I totally agree - and I'm glad - that you separated them from the other jerks online who think this is the best season of Trek.
I always found Geordi´s and Data´s friendship super wholesome and Asimov-esque. So it was a real pleasure to see them bonding again
1. I am someone who loved Season One. It resonated with me. The opening episode, Remembrance, is one of the finest episodes of Star Trek. (And I've been watching Star Trek since I was very young, and TOS originally aired) But I had a hard time articulating why it felt so impactful until I read Michael Chabon essay, "The Final Frontier" in the Village Voice. It is superficially about writing the Short Trek Q&A while at his dying father bedside. As someone who has sat, remembering, with a silent dying parent-- when I read "I tried to find ways to mourn my father... But mostly I wrote episodes of “Star Trek: Picard,” through and over which mortality and loss played like musical themes." I knew why I felt it. And I will always love Season One.
2. Queerbaiting. I feel Queerbaited. Like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, yeah queerbaited. Flat on my back staring at the sky, wondering why I fell for it yet again. Being directly told that the handhold at the end of season one meant something to season 3's never mind.
Things started so well. Sitting back on the couch watching "Stardust City Rag".(I get why Icheb fans hate it. But I love farce sandwiched between pathos.) Seven was my favorite character on Voyager. A character, I was told when she was introduced, who would be exploring her sexuality. Yes I fell for it. Yet not a hint of a "special" episode. (DS9 at least gave us "Rejoined") So when Seven had her confrontation with Bjayzl, I sat up transfixed. This grey haired cis lesbian was astonished they actually went there.
So with the end of season one, I had high hopes for season two. (especially after "No mans land") I thought the season a fun romp. The problems with that season, I attribute to hasty rewrites due to covid. But I was like Raffi(who I adore), What does that that mean?
Going into season 3, when I saw Matalas courting all those Make Star Trek Great Again types, I started feeling dread. Especially when those misogynistic, homophobic angry old white men loved it and proclaimed Matalas as the second coming of Berman.
What can I say, Season 8 of TNG has never been better. But I suspect once the afterglow of nostalgia wears off, it will be remembered as mediocre. Like much of Berman trek.
As for Seven and Raffi, invisible. Someone says,"oh you don't like it because the writers tell a story you don't like". That's Not It. It's that the story matters so little, that it isn't even told! I realize it's a subplot, but with over 10 hours of show, it doesn't rate a measly few lines.
And now it's Star Trek Legacy.(a show that might not be made) That football is yet again promised before me. A promise that's been offered for decades, yet yanked away. And as always, landing flat on my back, why?
Don't know why I wrote Village Voice. The essay "The Final Frontier" was in The New Yorker. Nov 11 2019. I've seen Michael Chabon called a shit writer who hates Trek. Clearly they have not read the essay.
I enjoyed the hell out of Picard Season 3, and it's in every way a terrific send-off for the TNG cast. But thinking of your comment re: Worf not to mention Jadzia, I do have to say Matalas dropped some significant hints that he does not care much about DS9, but felt free to rifle through their drawers for plot elements.
Also: For the record, Chateau Picard is a pretty damn good Bordeaux blend. It starts a bit peppery but gets fruitier once you open it.
Worf is fairly reserved. I think it tracks he didn't.
well, can write him off there then.
@@forrestpenrod2294 still a cop out. One powerful moment _where he doesn't say anything_ but is clearly and suddenly reminded of Jadzia could have been enormously powerful.
I'm still amazed about how you can make an essay on a show I've never saw and get me hooked for 3+ hours.
Sneed is probably my favorite character name of all time. I smiled every time I heard their name.
I really liked the vulcan criminal too, dont remember his name
I love your point here Jessie. Around the 1:00:00 mark. My father was next-to-useless and my mother was a gem. I'd much rather be flying around in a starship with my mother than my father. It was one of the few tropes that bothered me this season. I'm going to guess the writers had better fathers than I did. At least though, that trope is offset by Geordie (LeVar's stellar acting) and Shaw (Capt. Stashwick) for this nerdy boy.
A father son relationship in 2023 isn't a trope, it's the opposite.
@@withershin what I'm saying is we don't have very many good examples of healthy father son bonding on TV in 2023, the deadbeat dad is the common trope of the day. It's important for children to be able to have good relationships with both parents if possible.
@@Infern0121 oh yes, no debate there. In my own journey I got hoodwinked over decades
Hey Jessie, thank you for your viewpoint into the rest. You have taught me a lot. Can I just say, on just your intelligent takes, you are my favorite Trek talk channel right now.
Thank you for the video, Jessie, I looooooooove the overlong analysis vids you do so much. Especially because here you have the room to dive deep and explain the criticism in detail. I think here you nail the big problem of the mixed metaphors. Fully getting into how the Borg are different things at once and how that drags the story down. Because yes, I can see Jack's speech as this coming out moment (like Bobby in X2). But it falls flat, because the Borg are the very bad guys and Picard is right for his suggestion to stay and take steps sorta against that and it's all very weird. Just the way how Borgness as Queerness is all over the place and suddenly all the good intentions end up as "the Borg are a virus now and corrupt your youths". hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
To be honest, I wasn't that squicked out by it myself. I watched your previous tangent on it and understand the viewpoint. And I think here you hit it home of why writers need time and a bunch of sensitivity readers. btw also thank you for sharing your personal moment there. A random chosen name with zero ill intention can lead to terrible implications - happy you caught that. And even more thanks for hammering it home that there is a difference between ignorance, mistakes (for different reasons) and actual malice. And criticising something doesn't mean we hate the thing or the writers. Just observations. And wanting to do better. How could they if nobody points out flaws? In a good faith discussion!
My fav (comfort) Trek is Voyager. It's why if I were to point of criticism of each show the one for VOY would be longest. Especially because I love it so much, I see a lot of flaws and wish it to be better. And this is the vibe I get from you, when you do a video like this. Plus you made your love for the season pretty clear before and you point out the things you love first. Important.
Personally I have a lot of issues with PIC and DSC. In the beginning I didn't dare to talk about why I didn't enjoy DSC as much, because I did not want to be mixed in with the bad faith (not to outright say racist) review bombers. But like pretty much all Trek shows DSC got better and better with each season. Still a lot of the things I don't like PIC did as well and I'm here with you calling out the pacing and this darn season-long mystery box. Ugh. It's why neither show appeals to me to watch a random ep (which I have done for every other Trek show, except PRO; I adore SNW and LD, high rewatch value, super fun, modern Trek is good actually). The biggest thing to me is how ep 1-8 tell one story and then 9+10 are almost their own thing. And it's a bummer. Yet oh the nostalgia bomb hit me hard. 3e10 The Last Generation is the send-off movie. That I have watched multiple times now. But yeah, I can applaud the way the nostalgia was used and all the things that brought me in week after week (in a way neither S1 or 2 managed), while also saying this had a lot of problems.
My one wish for a possible Star Trek: Legacy would be that Seven has a few more lights installed. So I can see (hold the lensflares though please)! And it's natural to take that a step further and point out how the lighting has effed over black people since forever. The moment people attack such a valid, practical, easily provable criticism...... sometimes I do wonder how some people end up Star Trek fans in the first place.
Sorry, I'm typing stuff up just to leave a comment for the algorithm that dislikes long video essays, clearly missing how those are the best, because you point out nuance.
Also, if I'm allowed, please know as a cis lesbian I was looking respectfully at that ENT uniform. Wonderful costume changes that showcase your love for the whole franchise. If fan credentials were an actual thing (and not gatekeeping nonsense), yours could never be in question.
I was not aware of most of your critical points. I was just sad, that starfleet kill the changelings instead of stun them or Capture them. Even seven killed one who was direct in front of her. That was shocking for me. Also, I did not like how Picard as a whole brought back the characters we loved and killed them off. I hope Q gets them somehow out of their time and their destiny. That would be a cool series. XD
Matalas really just ditched and overwrote a lot of stuff in Picard Season 2. Which I see as a major weakness of Pic S3.
Oh I'm so ready for this!😁
Ok I'm about an hour in and that's so much, yet so little is covered. This is so detailed and thorough!
Ok finished it now and it's great! Definitely keeping this in a reference playlist!
Great video. I hate the whole 'this should have been season 1' argument I've been seeing so often online, because that would throw away Seven's three season development arc and leave her side-lined this season when it comes to confronting the borg queen who she could have at least had a telepathic argument with if Seven wasn't going to go to the cube. But if this was season one would Seven or Raffi even be there? This could have been season 2, but I appreciate what season 1 achieved in bringing back Seven of Nine; but after Michael was able to break the mold by being able to (despite white cishet male fans complaining that black women are 'too emotional' to be in scifi shows) have her lover on-ship, it seems that Seven is back to Janeway's constraints of having to prove herself to men and not compromise her position with romance on-ship. If Star Trek Legacy happens, it needs to be better than this. We are not throwing out everything that modern Trek has acheived in terms of representation and storytelling to return to the social mores of the 1980's where queer relationships are relegated to off-screen, closeted metaphors.
Great production, thanks for creating this!
Very nice recap and review. I also think they did Vadic dirty, they even pulled the "how dare you speak against your captain" trope where they kill a crewman on the bridge of the Shrike.
I dont know how to explain this exactly...After watching all three hours of this, completely glued to the screen, I'm absolutely wrecked with tears. The segment about perspective hit me like a ton of bricks. I am a straight, white male, and while I'd like to think of myself as pretty progressive, I guess I never realized how I constantly fail to take others' perspectives into consideration. I don't know what else to say or how to elaborate on what I'm feeling right now. Guilt? Conviction? What have I missed? What have I said or done that had good intentions but ended up doing more harm than good? I don't know. It does feel like my entire world view has been flipped on its head. Thank you so, so much for this video. I have so much to think about.
Remember that guilt can be distracting and draw your perspective inwards, focus instead on the practical skill of examining your world view and consciously taking the time to try to integrate more diverse perspectives into your life. Nobody who's perspective you have failed to take into consideration at the end of the day really cares whether you feel guilt or not, they care about whether you actually do the work of broadening your perspective. At the same time, give yourself the space to feel angry and betrayed that you were raised in a society that embedded into you a minefield of hateful stereotypes and beliefs, this is an experience all of us including even the victims of this hate can understand and when channeled in the right direction these negative emotions can bring us closer to the people we were "supposed" to hate or ignore.
*edit* im not accusing you of having really problematic views or anything, I meant to address this towards the process of realizing, like you said, that being a straight white man (as I am also, with similar flaws to you) and deciding to adopt progressive ideas does not make us progressive automatically. To be genuinely progressive requires constant, hard work especially because the systematic violence around us is structured to be as invisible as possible to us (because people like us built it that way).
I'm sorry, but at this moment and UA-cam commercial .... I lost it ...
I, for one, had a good laugh at the TRANSporter reveal. I was like, "Oh no the borg is transing the youth! THE YOUTH GOT TRANSED, AND THE OLD PEOPLE ARE SAVING THE DAY!" I imagine it was powerful catharsis for someone, some old people. somewhere, very anxious.
This is a FANTASTIC video! Definitely puts into words my complicated feelings about Picard. Thanks for all the work you put into this!
I have this worry that Legacy will be the Jack Crusher Show... and I'm distinctly not here for it.
I'd want a time-travelling Captain Pike to blast him out of the sky, maybe with help from Lower Decks.
I honestly read the motherhood storylines differently; for me they were about women who were essentially caught in unwinnable situations, making really hard decisions to protect their families. Troi stops Riker's grief because she knows Kestra needs him to be there. Raffi sacrifices her relationship with her son and granddaughter because until she knows that until she figures out what's going on and puts a stop to it, they're potentially in danger. Beverly chooses to take Jack and disappear despite knowing that it means leaving behind everything she cares about and her entire support network because she knows that Jack wouldn't be safe as Jean-Luc Picard's son. They all know that what they did hurt people and how much it hurt themselves, but they did what they needed to for their family.