Disengage

 DVD, Picard S3 (Disengage)

We're drifting a little, falling into that trap of the first two seasons where everything takes three times as long as it needs to. At least there's more of a rationale for it, even if it's one of those bad guy tropes to give the goodies one hour in which to decide to capitulate, or come up with an alternative course of action. I mean seriously, what was this Captain Vadic of the Shrike doing giving them so long: she wants Jack Crusher and they should've had an ultimatum staring them in the face, give him up or be destroyed. Except that she clearly needs him so she's not going to risk destroying him. It does fit with her unstable, malicious character that she should enjoy toying with the hated Starfleet (if she'd had a moustache she'd have been twirling it), ringing up every so often to tell them about her ship, allowing them to scan it to see how packed full of weaponry it truly is. I will say Vadic is at least not full-on screeching harpy at this stage of the story, but I wasn't impressed by her singsong up and down manner of speaking, like she's mad and just barely able to hold a conversation without leaping out of her chair and doing somersaults round the Bridge in an ecstasy of insane giddiness. It's the theatrics I don't like about Trek made in this era, far from being grounded, plus I prefer a sympathetic villain. We don't know anything about her at this point, neither do the characters, assuming she's some kind of bounty hunter. And we haven't even put the two stories, the Titan and Raffi's Starfleet Intelligence investigation, together - they mention there's some kind of unidentified weapon in the Shrike's hold, which we'll soon have a demonstration of, but otherwise the A and B plots remain separate.

In Part One, I kept finding things to appreciate about all the unlikeable characters I encountered, but sadly, while there are less of them this time, I saw the direction of travel was the other way. Chief culprit being Raffi, who refuses to obey her Starfleet handler and... 'disengage' (hence the title!), and instead gets into an emotional tizzy, allowing her shock and horror at the terrorist attack and destruction of a large Starfleet facility (and her inability to prevent it in time), to affect her professionalism - basically reviving all that's wrong with 'DSC' in 'Picard'! She goes back to her loose cannon persona after showing she'd changed, and then it's back to 'Star Wars' bars or markets, though what planet we're supposed to be on I couldn't say, maybe it was mentioned in dialogue and I missed it, but when they started with so many onscreen names in the first episode you'd think they'd keep a better sense of place going. There also isn't much of a sense of connection with the attack - all we see is the effects work of a building imploding, but it remains distant and impersonal, merely rubble falling apart with no human interaction. Perhaps Raffi's emotional reaction was meant to stand in for such connection, but if so it's an entirely unsuccessful gamble. Once again scale and monumental special effects work is far less important than one single person being affected. Raffi's shock isn't enough, positioned as she is alone on a ship high above.

They don't even give her any of the Rios holograms to discuss it with, though that's probably for two reasons: one, that they were always used for comedy purposes previously, and the other is that they were trying to save money by dealing out Rios at the end of Season 2, but it's obviously incredibly easy in-universe to have Santiago Cabrera reprise the holographic roles if they'd had the wherewithal to keep him around! I must admit I'd much rather have had even the comedy holo-Rios' than fraught, headstrong Raffi, it's one of those bad decisions that affects an otherwise promising season, but at least she does eventually take more of a backseat as the episodes progress. Her real purpose is to give a true legend the stage upon which to reenter, another Trek great that hadn't been seen for over twenty years since 'Nemesis,' though not for lack of trying on his part: the incredible Michael Dorn returns as Worf! The man with the highest episode count of anyone in Trek comes back to add a few more notches to his score! That in itself would almost be enough to make the poorest episode worth watching, and this isn't a poor episode, it's just rather plodding. Much like Ambassador Spock's exciting return in 'TNG,' which began with only the briefest appearance at the end of 'Unification I,' he really only pops up at the end for one line, but unlike Spock, Worf will become much more integral for the rest of the season. It's a pretty strong way to reintroduce him, he's very much like his 'DS9' self where he was presented much better than on 'TNG' - there he was generally the whipping boy, it took the writing quality of 'DS9' to unlock his full potential.

The impact of his new look isn't quite that astounding since that was used up when the cast images were released, but how thrilling it was then: Worf with the same pulled back hair and ponytail, the drooping moustache and neat little beard, except now they're all white! Once again it's easy to forget how badly the Klingons had been presented in the modern era, 'DSC' getting into all kinds of hot water by redesigning them as bulbous cone-heads complete with Orc-like hands (not to mention in an era when the population were supposed to be largely flatheads). In 'Picard' Season 1 we were afforded a brief image taken from 'TNG' that showed Worf, so we knew it was unlikely they'd remake the best known Klingon to suit the 'DSC' aberrations, and 'Lower Decks' also returned to a traditional build, but even so, it's great to have a proper live-action Klingon in Trek again! There is the little matter of style over canon-substance, since in Klingon years Worf isn't that old, barely in middle age, since the race appear to be as long-lived as Vulcans, lasting a good couple of centuries (if they survive all their battles, that is), so Worf sporting old-age makeup doesn't make a lot of sense. Except it does look so good, is such a striking image, and in the opposite of the similar warrior of 'Stargate,' Teal'c, who ended up far older than his contemporaries, having Worf look a lot younger than his 'TNG' crew-mates would be a little strange, at least to the casual audience, I'm sure. And of course Dorn isn't really a Klingon so he has aged alongside them, even if that's easier to cover up thanks to the prosthetics.

I'm glad Worf was brought in this early as he is one of the greatest Trek characters ever created and you want to be in his presence as much as possible. It's a shame he had to be paired away with annoying Raffi so much, but you have to take the rough with the smooth (or the bumpy-head with the smooth-head!), and really it's just fantastic to have him back in Trek again. I'd have liked to have been able to see the fighting style better, as they prefer to show the grand entrance from Raffi's perspective having just been dared into spraying some kind of drug in her eyes by the sneering Sneed, so it's all a bit blurry and indistinct by design. But you know who it is as soon as a warrior starts slashing around with a long knife or a short sword - he hasn't lost the moves! Perhaps, no for certain, they go a bit far by having him behead the Ferengi, Sneed, but they almost went even further which I would have made me distraught had it happened: it was revealed it'd been suggested Quark be the one Worf beheads which would have been absolutely horrendous, on the same level as the universally hated torturous eye-gouging murder of Icheb in Season 1, still the single most hateful scene in modern Trek for its malicious destruction of a well established character. Killing Quark in such a manner would have been far worse for me since he's my favourite in all Trek, and I'm very glad Armin Shimerman refused. Even as it was, slicing off a head is going too far for Trek, despite the apparent ghoulish pleasure they seem to have for it on this series - a Romulan also had his head removed, another for the vicious Season 1.

The addition of a Ferengi back in live-action Trek again was momentous, but it was also something I spoiled for myself by accidentally beginning the third episode which recapped this one and showed the Ferengi. I quickly averted my eyes, but with the brief glimpse I did have I thought it could be Shimerman as a new Ferengi (which I wouldn't have minded), and I was closer to being right than I realised at the time! As it was, I wasn't overly keen on the portrayal, it very much felt like it was pulled back from the traditional depiction of the race, but on this viewing I noticed more of the ticks and attitude in the performance, it's just not quite as pronounced as we were used to, another reason why it's reminiscent of Quark, since Shimerman was careful to try and rehabilitate the race after he was instrumental in shaping them in the very first episode, 'The Last Outpost,' as these animalistic, gesticulating monkeys with an extreme behavioural disorder! And he did a wonderful job in that goal, so having another Ferengi be much less expressive could be seen as a tribute to him (and we've seen them return in 'LD' as well as a non-speaking, almost bat-eared version in 'DSC' so they've slowly regained some footing in modern Trek). I enjoyed Sneed wearing the furs that point right back to 'The Last Outpost,' it's like they've come full circle. My only complaint would be that his ears were a little too small and feminine - no self-respecting male Ferengi would be happy with ears of that size, but again, I think it was part of an effort not to make them look as 'cartoonish,' even though that's the way they look, you can't escape it!

With Worf's brief reappearance half the original gang's back now, and no matter the drawn out nature of this particular episode, it's still exciting to see the strings slowly drawing closer - they're not all together yet, only three are in a room, but we're getting closer to full-on reunion... One thing I didn't mind about the episode was the absence of Beverly until near the end - not because I don't like the Dancing Doctor, I do, very much so, but it left things in a vacuum for various people: Picard hasn't got all the pieces, though he and Riker talk around the fact this Jack could be his son, so he's unsure what course to take, and in that respect the enforced waiting for so many characters takes on an almost physical form, so much so that the atmosphere swells to a specific point: when Riker helps the injured Beverly dodder onto the Titan's Bridge and she locks eyes with Picard after twenty years of absence, they play it for all they're worth - it's electric and energises him, flicking a switch inside so that he knows what to do when things had been so uncertain before. To think that he'd been willing to let Jack beam himself over to the Shrike is quite shocking in itself, but Captain Shaw must take a lot of the flack himself for his reaction to the situation.

If Shaw came across as a bad man in Part One, full of sarcasm and disrespect for the inherent authority of his visitors, there was at least some justification in that his First Officer betrayed his trust in her, but in Part Two he just shows himself not to be much of a Captain. Not a weak one in the Harriman mould, which is the only other instance I can think of where the Captain of a ship has another, much more experienced and legendary Captain on his Bridge (Kirk in 'Generations'), and has to decide whether to turn over control to him in an emergency or continue stumbling on. The situation isn't exactly the same: Shaw is a well-established leader, while Picard is a shadow of his former self, and while Riker still carries that ringing authority in his voice (and continues to be the best thing in it, completely selling that swaggering, but generally good-humoured mode of carrying himself that sadly puts Stewart in the shade), they both know he's in the wrong for the deception, so there's no question of Shaw being uncertain in his own command. The thing is, either he twists Starfleet regulations to suit his wish to avoid conflict, or Starfleet have become extremely reticent in going into conflict, perhaps as a consequence of the Dominion War and its repercussions. The whole idea that they can't do anything because they're no longer in Federation space is ludicrous! Most of Trek occurs outside the boundaries of 'our' space, but that doesn't stop Starfleet from defending the rights of the few (or the one), even if that does fly in the face of the famous Vulcan proverb about the needs of the many - it just shows such things can be used to shore up a kind of cowardice if it needs to.

I'm not saying Shaw is a coward, but I don't believe what he said about a Captain's prime responsibility being towards safety for ship and crew above all else, nor that the Titan is 'only' an exploratory vessel and thus can't fight. It all sounds very weak and full of excuses rather than taking it on the chin and accepting that space is dangerous, the Starfleet life can end at any moment, and while they don't throw themselves into suicide, nor do they back down from danger. We are given the hint that Shaw has some psychological damage when the apparently all-knowing Vadic mentions something about his psychological evaluation, proving in one foul sweep she's got detailed knowledge of who she's dealing with, and has the malicious pleasure to use whatever she has to hurt her prey when and how she chooses. Either way, it should make no difference if they were in the heart of Federation space, or off in some distant star system that's never been charted, and I think as well as Shaw's mental problems that there's a slight confusion in the part of the writing, because there are moments like this where Starfleet is powerless, but that's in specific Neutral Zones, like the Klingon or Romulan ones, but that's a very different setting.

I hadn't thought Shaw was a bad Captain, just an unpleasant one, so when he dismisses Seven from the Bridge for ordering the crew to help the borrowed shuttle that took Picard and Riker to the Eleos, I thought it was simply a face-saving exercise, and once Seven had exited the Bridge he was going to do what she had suggested anyway. But in fact he sits on his hands, fails to act, and it takes her coming back to him later to point out he'll be remembered as the Captain that lost two legends, which takes away from his moral character! Seven herself doesn't come out of it well, either, as if she'd simply used tact she might have manoeuvred Shaw into helping the shuttle, instead she just assumes he's okay with her ordering the crew into position even though he's just made it clear her career in Starfleet is over - it seems she's unlearned so much of what she got from Voyager when she had such great lessons in dealing with people and what to do in so many situations, but then these aren't the same writers so they don't know the lessons that were learned by others. I will give Jeri Ryan credit that this episode is the most Seven of Nine she's been since she returned in Season 1 - the line about being more than certain Picard and Riker were able to find the Shuttle Bay without assistance was exactly the kind of thing Seven would have said, and the way she'd have said it, so I give great respect to the episode for these moments, however brief. They just need to write her more like that!

Though there are these moments of goodness, the episode is also dragged down by an overriding soapiness that extends to both plots: on one hand we have Raffi going to another 'Star Wars' location (or the same one, who knows?), to meet her ex-husband, Jae, where we're dragged back through the mire of her drug addiction history, learning that hubby was into that, too, but managed to summon the will to escape because of needing to take care of their son, Gabe, whom we met in Season 1 and we know distrusts his Mother for all her conspiracy theory attitude and failure to support him. It was always rather hard to believe in this positive Federation future where all one's needs are taken care of, leaving everyone free to pursue whatever calling they have an aptitude for - look at how drugs are seen in Season 1 of 'TNG,' they're alien and it's almost impossible to understand why someone would do that to themselves, and a good thing about this season is that we'd be largely getting away from that dystopian view of the future that had seeped, nay gushed, into the Trek universe, largely thanks to 'DSC,' but also 'Picard' (which is why 'LD' went down relatively well as it returned to the optimism and goodness of that time, which we're supposed to see), so it's a bit miserable to be reminded of this miserable character's miserable past. And then this guy isn't exactly on the level anyway, which is why Raffi goes to him to arrange a meeting with Sneed and he offers her the horribly unfair choice of either putting in a word to Sneed, or to their son, and is then disgusted she chose the Ferengi!

If Raffi has reverted to the bad memories I had of the character, then there's another character just as bad, if not worse: the big question mark, Jack. He's quite irritating, coming across as a bit of a dodgy geezer, getting around planets, supposedly to bring medical supplies, but he's also transporting weapons. The old-time music of the first episode was out of place enough, but this time it opens post-recap with rock and roll as if to say Jack's 'cool' and so different in taste to Pops. His English accent and resignation to defeat reminded me of Malcolm Reed of 'Enterprise,' except I liked Reed! We see a flashback of him dealing with some Fenris Rangers, which I still don't understand the significance or position in the Trek galaxy: are they somehow connected to Starfleet and the Federation, because the scarred South African-sounding guy demand a Federation access code for the Eleos to be allowed to enter a planet Jack wants to help, then accepts bribes of weapons and stuff, I didn't understand that at all! Who gives these Rangers their authority, or were they not actually even Rangers and were just posing as such? It was all very confusing and unsatisfactory as they seemed more like pirates than anything else, very little official about them. And where was Beverly? He's another character who shows scant respect for his elders (though he did at least have a point when they're eventually rescued by the Titan whipping between the Shrike's Tractor Beam and the Eleos to cut it off, like the Enterprise-E protecting the Defiant in 'First Contact,' and he notes how his Mother told Picard to trust no one and he's brought 'everyone'!), such as saying history remembers Picard with one less pip - in other words his time as Admiral didn't make an impact, unlike his Captaincy, which is another reminder of the miserable state Picard was in at the start of the series. Bleugh!

There's a continuation of Picard looking foolish when he suggests they try to negotiate with the massive Shrike hanging in front of them like a many-bladed weapon, while it's clear there's no chance of that and the Picard of old, while always preferring diplomacy first, would have instantly recognised and understood the situation, but now his powers are dim. So we're seeing the dystopian views of characters, the misery, the slow pace to get to anything, and it's starting to feel a bit too much like the previous seasons, with only the fact we have Riker, Beverly and Worf to make it watchable. At least Picard does take one wise action, setting up Transporter inhibitors to prevent anyone being beamed off the Eleos. They weren't the big tripod things seen so much from 'TNG' to 'Voyager,' sadly, but it was a sensible precaution, even if I did think at the time that surely being even further in the future, all Federation ships would have inhibitors as part of their design, anyway! And what happened to shields? You can't beam through shields, and instead they 'bring down the blast shields' which is just so 'Star Wars' it hurts! Starships never used to need blast shields and they didn't have a load of windows on the Bridge, either! This sort of stuff just makes me groan. Much like the repeated use of the foghorn to remind us how huge and deadly the Shrike is - enough with the foghorn! Stop trying to be like every other sci-fi out there, be yourself, 'Star Trek,' just be yourself!

I did like that the inhibitors then prevented the Titan from beaming out the occupants to safety and Picard gets to show all those times on the Phaser range in the Holodeck weren't for naught as he pinpoint knocks out each one in succession, but then I can also complain about his lack of care when it comes to killing: Riker chucks some kind of pulse grenade at the forces that beam aboard Eleos, and Picard says hopefully they'll realise they're sending their forces to their deaths! Whatever happened to stun your enemies, and he doesn't bat an eyelid! And while I'm complaining, why would Picard and Riker believe the Titan had gone? Did they really think they'd just leave behind a valuable shuttle? Then there's the issue with the Medpod Beverly's inside - apparently it's running out of power, but other than plot reasons I don't see why that would be! Forgetting that this is a MEDICAL ship, and just like last episode I was concerned that there's apparently no medkit aboard with which to be able to treat Dr. Crusher, the essential stasis pod is also running down? Either it's not proper Starfleet tech or it's seen vast overuse. It's not a big problem, I know it's just there to increase jeopardy, and I suppose this isn't supposed to be a Starfleet ship, despite its configuration, but I do feel they needed to make it clearer if this is some rundown old vessel on its last legs because it never looked that way: you can't have your shiny ship and eat it, too!

Going back to Jack, he's presented as this 'intergalactic fugitive' and with his Lunnon accent he's sold as a ducker and diver, apparently all taught by his Mother. None of this endeared him to me, regardless of whether he might be Picard's son - at this stage I was wondering if he was some kind of clone or experiment, you're really not sure, but something's up with him. The eventual reveal was pretty daft and makes you wonder if that was the best they could come up with, but at least if he'd been more of a likeable person, rather than the typical teen with attitude and issues (even though he's in his Twenties!), who wears a leather jacket it wouldn't have seemed so bad. As you can tell, as much as I consider the season an improvement on the dire Season 2 and ugly Season 1, it's not without its deep-seated problems. And so far we haven't got enough of the 'TNG' reunion side of the story to distract from the issues at hand. It was interesting to see the Brig, even if it was farfetched that Jack could escape it so easily with just some little gadget, but the set reminded me of Odo's cells on DS9, or the Brig from Voyager. Sadly, we didn't get a very good establishing view of the Transporter Room, though you can see the dumpy-faced suspicious guy who'd prove to be a baddie later on, as the Transporter Chief. So how does that work - surely if he's a Changeling he'd have enabled the Transporter so Jack could beam over to the Shrike (if that's where he was really going - he could just as easily have been beaming into a shuttle to force his way off the Titan, and away), or even agreed to go with him, but he doesn't have any input at all, you just notice it's that guy.

Credit to the sense of a real starship Bridge on the Titan, and T'Veen came across very Vulcan with that clipped, precise manner of speaking, despite her hair also being clipped entirely to nothing! Sidney La Forge takes on a little more of the Ortegas spirit, unfortunately, in her comfort with speaking out, but even she had a nice moment where she gets to technobabble us out of a problem: Vadic catapults the Eleos against the Titan, Shaw orders shields up (you'd think they'd have been up as soon as Picard and gang were aboard - he really isn't much of a Captain, is he...?), then it's the skintight version of shields they so love in much of modern Trek, rather than a more believable visual of an oval bubble projecting out equally from a central point (though we'd get that also this season, eventually...), so the hull gets mashed up, then Sidney covers it over deftly tripping the description off her tongue of it being due to a 'reverse Tractor Beam with anti-gravitational polarity phasing!' Loved it, that's proper Trek-speak right there! Then before you know it, Picard's getting them to go full tilt, firing all the way and dive into the nebula which once again gives it that 'Insurrection' feel, especially when the Son'a– sorry, Shrike ship follows in after, and since Vadic cackles her way out of the episode it seems she expected this and is further enjoying playing cat to the Titan's mouse because she's entirely confident there's nothing they can do to escape, so it ended well again, and there's still the anticipation of Picard and Dr. Crusher meeting properly for a discussion. But there's still a lot of anticipation so far, more than good episodes in themselves.

There is a theme you can stretch to fit all the pieces, but probably because it's a very broad idea: the title itself, disengage, can be seen at the most basic level of Raffi being told to step away (they cunningly misdirected Worf being her handler by having him communicate only in text, with the female computer voice of La Sirena reading it out (as opposed to the one on the Eleos or Titan), although there were clues, such as using the word 'warrior,' but I don't think I ever expected him to be in Starfleet Intelligence). You can also say it's about Picard since his catchphrase used to be "Engage," (and is again at the end when he chooses not to disengage), and now he's very much a bumbling old man who isn't very engaging, though he does try to engage with Jack. Then there's Shaw who seeks nothing more than to disengage from this potential conflict staring him in the face, and keeps disengaging Seven. Raffi's shown to be disengaged from her family, Sneed's disengaged from his head, I'm sure you could just keep rattling off instances of the theme, so you could say it was thematically strong, at least, even if it was mostly reliant on tension rather than much development.

There are still some Trekferences, though less common (especially if you've become used to the over-saturation in 'LD'!), quite apart from the species we see, such as Ferengi or the Romulan blamed for the terrorist attack (Lurak T'Luco, which sounds like something right out of 'DS9'), though I'm sure in this case two heads (beheadings), are not better than one. But there was the tantalising potential for Klingons, even before Worf showed his knotty face: Jack mentions he had difficulties with various factions, first the Fenris Rangers, last some guys in Starfleet uniform, but also some Klingons! How I wish we could've seen that part in the flashback as one thing missing from this season would be having Klingons, and I'm still very disappointed we never got Martok in live-action, since Worf was part of his House and so close to him, and it's not like J.G. Hertzler had given up acting as he's appeared in 'LD' a few times! Raffi mentions Starfleet (or was it the Federation), doesn't value money, which needs to be said, as so often you're not sure about that these days in Trek. Sneed says she 'smells' of Section 31, though I'm so glad there has been a distinction between this practically rogue element within the Federation, and Starfleet Intelligence which is the legitimate investigative branch. We even get a snatch of the Klingon theme dating back to 'TMP' when Worf rescues Raffi, which is an absolute joy to hear.

The most obscure Trekference must be the Captain's Chair Vadic sits in, high-backed and swivelling: it's very similar to General Chang's in 'Star Trek VI,' who was played by Christopher Plummer, who was Father of Amanda Plummer, who plays Vadic. Applause for that - even more obscure, they have Vadic smoking while in it, which could be an allusion to Director of that film, Nick Meyer, smoking a cigar in the chair as a promo for the film! Now that's obscure. Interestingly, Vadic prods Picard by making reference to it being him, 'in the synthetic flesh,' a minor concession to one of the terrible subplots of past 'Picard' seasons. We also learn the Titan is crewed by five hundred, and there's the suggestion this is the third Titan (so surely it should be the 'B'?), since in the Ready Room or conference area, whichever it was, there are three little ships on the wall (apparently there's a whole background that Saavik was Captain of the first Titan toward the end of the 23rd Century, the shuttle Vadic destroys was named for her, but none of this is explained at all, more's the pity) - still, always good to find out more about a ship, and though it does have those shiny floors and the big glass window on the Bridge, there's something about it I like more than most of the modern starship iterations. You get the impression there's detail in there that makes sense, and this is the 25th Century, too, so it fits in that regard. It doesn't prevent me being bothered about how the lineage of everything post 'Star Trek XI' has used that as a jumping off point, I hasten to add! It's the last we'd hear of Amy Earhart as the Eleos Computer, but she's also the Titan's Computer, so it's good to have consistency across the fleet as they used to do when it was mainly Majel Barrett, but in the current era it's been so many different voices. Dr. Ohk makes her debut, and I don't know what it was about her, but I liked her immediately. It's hopeful the Titan's crew are more real and dimensional than the snubbed examples of 'DSC,' you need the colour of the background parts to make it a real place (even if it annoys me the Bajoran guy doesn't have the proper earring, grumble, grumble...).

**

The Next Generation

 DVD, Picard S3 (The Next Generation)

Considering Season 1 of 'Picard' was the final straw that broke this review camel's back and put me off writing about modern Trek, seemingly for good, it's a testament that I'm back to do it again for Season 3. In the meantime there have been worse entries in the franchise ('Strange New Worlds'), and better ('Lower Decks'), with the latter encouraging me that there were still Trek productions about which I was interested enough to record my thoughts. Thanks to 'LD' I actively anticipate at least some Trek again, as I did with this reunion season, which the series really should have been right from the start - can you imagine what it would've been like to begin 'Picard' with this rather than what we got? And as for Season 2, the cheapest, most dull and depressing in all Trek, we're going from the worst season in the entirety of Trek, to one of the best (at least as modern Trek goes), a massive step up, even while the budget took a hefty cut, or so I hear. But Trek wasn't designed for vast budgets and it never sat well with me how they were trumpeting things like travelling halfway round the world to source a particular material for the uniforms, when such minor details are of the least importance to a successful Trek story. Being forced to survive on your wits is akin to what our Starfleet heroes often had to do, even if they had the advantage of future technology to augment their chances, so plunging the writers and designers into that same form of survival has to create a more suitable atmosphere for birthing good stories.

I can't say I particularly noticed the budget-saving when I first watched the season, though you do see how certain locations are used repeatedly, but knowing what I know now, there is a certain grounded feel to things, like the gas tube that Picard and Riker spot when boarding the Eleos, Dr. Crusher's medical ship. You notice also that there are a lot of scenes of people talking in rooms rather than being full of action and special effects, to the extent that it can feel a little drawn out when compared with the economical use of time Trek used to operate within. But these things don't matter (even if they should - many of Trek's best moments are people talking in rooms!), because the tone is right: suddenly we're seeing Starfleet starships again in live action. And I know we got a smattering of them in both preceding seasons, but it wasn't the same. Despite suggesting their mission is going to be to avoid Starfleet, they do the opposite and make a plan, sorry, a 'ruse,' which takes them right onto a starship, and while Beverly warned to 'trust no one,' they do confide in Seven of Nine (or Commander Annika Hansen as her Captain rightfully demands on calling her), so we get two starships, the Eleos and the Titan-A, plus wonderful shots of the mushroom-shaped Spacedock, that classic imagery from... erm, actually it was 'TOS' films, not 'TNG.'

There is that about the episode, and season, which suggests a mashup of wildly differing eras, and which I did find off-putting. This strange desire to make all the Trek eras into some conglomeration, or a 'celebration' of Trek's past always does its future history a disservice and is something I've noticed ever since 'DSC' came along with its Kelvin Timeline-inspired set design, all shiny floors and massive windscreen on the Bridge, as if we were actually seeing something from the 25th Century or later, a slimline, sleek new vision, except the point of setting a series in a specific era should mean you recreate that era, not overwrite it! This continued with odd things like a 'TOS' Romulan Bird-of-Prey showing up in 'Picard' Season 1, 'DSC' featuring Replicators and Holodecks as standard, or 'LD' insisting on having bright, colourful uniforms and Enterprise-D aesthetics as if 'DS9' and the 'TNG' films had never happened. I understand it, it's all marketing, trying to give people what they know and expect rather than keeping strictly to what was established, and in most cases it can be explained away (there could be a 23rd Century BOP still in existence; we do see the grey-shouldered uniforms in 'LD' on other ships), but it's just one of the many irritations about modern Trek that it doesn't stay true to its source material. This season is just the same, except in this case I get the impression, because it was guided by one man's vision, Terry Matalas (and having one head at the top makes a world of difference!), that he threw in all the things he liked about Trek, no matter the era, because he had the power to do so, and maybe thought that if he likes this, then others will too.

In many cases I think he'd be right about that, but still, there are things that don't seem right: take the USS Titan-A as a prime example - its primary hull, at least from the front, is in the same style as the refit Enterprise/A from those 'TOS' films, and I don't think the aesthetic quite goes with the sleek lines of the Enterprise-E era that we're still basically in, even though the E would've been decades old at this point. Because we're actually in the 25th Century, as the opening title shows: 'In the 25th Century...' in case of any confusion. This in itself is very much a homage to 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,' something that has been paid so much homage over the years it's probably become sentient and grown its own ego! While a great film I don't feel it should have been the template for so many productions that came after it, but that's a whole other discussion. They're very definitely setting out their stall and saying they're going to be playing by the Trek rulebook. It may be a mishmash of 23rd and 24th Century rules, and in some ways it's enough that they're clearly planning to do proper Trek. But it's even in the same font, I believe, or one very close! As are the main titles, which in this case come at the end of the episode (I can't remember if they always left them for the end). And then don't forget we have the classic Spacedock, even though I don't think it was ever shown in the 'TNG' era. I could be wrong, maybe they did have the D exit it once to reuse old footage, but it's not 24th Century design aesthetic.

Not that I'm complaining, the dock is beautiful and something you notice about this first episode is that, while it never feels bogged down and slow like so many previous 'Picard' episodes, they allow time for us to see the ships and dock in space. The ships are characters in themselves so you need to give them time onscreen, and this as much as anything suggests the old masculine spirit of Trek that made it appeal to people so much, as opposed to the heavily feminine direction they took with 'DSC' and others ever since, where such details aren't important (only FEELINGS!). It's a very particular tone and style that's been largely missing in modern Trek. Men, talking generally, like machines, they like the ships, and the technical details, and that's very much in evidence here - again, we have a single mind at the top who knows what he wants to do, and does it. It also helps that we're getting a reprise of what many consider the best episode of the series to this point, 'Nepenthe' - it wasn't my favourite, but I do like a lot about it, namely, Riker and Picard together again. It's funny, they even disregard certain things, like the fact Will is actually 'Riker-Troi' since his marriage, which we discovered in that episode, but he's always introduced as Riker to the various people he meets here. I know we learn he and Deanna and their daughter Kestra aren't getting along at the moment (family troubles), but it's telling that we're back to the old Will Riker days, and he even has that same mischievous twinkle in his eyes that says he's ready for adventure. The way he punches out Jack at the end is classic Riker, or snaps at the barmaid about the D being Galaxy-class (the lore!), or grousing with old Picard... They become so engrossed in the dynamics he even calls Picard Captain when they're exploring the Eleos, slotting back into 'TNG' mode is a beautiful thing because that, more than anything, says they're bringing back the feel of the series.

There is still the problem of Patrick Stewart's advanced age, and how he has so little of the charisma and power he used to demonstrate, one of the major issues I have with the series in general, slurring his words and sometimes looking like it's a struggle, but Jonathan Frakes carries the weight of their interactions and brings Stewart up, to some degree, and you sense a new interest from him. It's sad to see flaws when you think what a great actor Stewart was, and Frakes isn't known for being a particularly amazing talent, but he so embodies his character and I like to see him standing up for his friend and former commander: when they meet Seven and she speaks harshly to Picard, he jumps on her, asking if that's how you speak to an Admiral! That recognition of protocol and hierarchy, not allowing rampant insubordination where everyone feels equal to have their say, is something else that sits well with me. The lack of those things in other modern Treks have been another great source of irks, but here we see multiple examples of procedure and protocol. Yes, the electronic bosun's whistle to welcome the VIPs aboard is another very 'TOS' film series callback, but it's also naval tradition, and one thing you can thank 'Star Trek II' for was its addition, or reminder of, that aspect of Trek, so I quite like the formality of it, the pomp and ceremony - a number of crewmembers line the corridor for inspection, and you get a variety of species among them (more on that later).

It's shown not to be easy to just hijack a starship and head off to some location in space: first you have to have a reasonable explanation for your presence, then a rationale for why you want the ship to go so far away, but in this case the protocol, the procedure actually stymies their plans as Captain Liam Shaw has a good point that he's not just going to take his ship off outside Federation space without orders, snap inspection or no snap inspection! This was actually very good captaining, he's in the right, despite his obnoxious attitude, it's just that we're seeing it from the other side, this desperate need to get to the coordinate Beverly sent Jean-Luc. Now I hated Shaw when I first met him, and I don't think I ever warmed to him as a character, despite getting to know his issues, but Picard, though an Admiral is retired, and Riker is a Captain without a ship - he's not an anomaly we've never seen before, he's actually coming from the same harsh feelings Commander Sisko had when he met Picard at the start of 'DS9.' Understanding that has made me feel more comfortable with a character that represents so much that's wrong in modern Trek: the dystopian view of Starfleet, that so many characters aren't good and kind, professional and keep their feelings in check. Not to say we hadn't had those people in all other Trek before, because we did (I always think of Commander Hobson and his prejudice against Data, for example), but the difference is there was usually a good reason we knew about in the moment, and his appearance was one of the first wrong notes coming across as unlikeable as he did.

With Shaw, he just came across as a smug, self-satisfied, disrespectful, rude fool that had no business captaining a ship, at least in that first scene with no other context. Even with the context of his personal hatred for the Borg and what Picard did as Locutus, which I felt understandable, as it was with Sisko (and what a great model to see someone following, even if it was the negative side!), the difference being that when we saw Sisko's cold wrath it was very soon after the events, only a few years later, whereas Shaw's been holding onto this thing for decades now, and that does look very bad. If he'd had a big revelation in the way Sisko did in the course of 'Emissary' it could have been amazing, and while I seem to remember he softened towards Picard and Seven, it was never this incredible and cathartic change of heart. But at least now I see where he's coming from and don't judge him so harshly despite the cavalier, sarcastic treatment of his guests on the Titan. The other part of it is it really feels like Seven's in an environment where she's not wanted, she's forced to bite her tongue, treat her commanding officer with the respect his rank affords, and while he hasn't exactly done anything to show hatred, he's very icy with her. The fact she's gone along with his demand she be known by her human name, also takes away her power - one thing I couldn't stand about the new version of the character was that she was a no-holds-barred rule-breaker, casual, off-the-cuff type, nothing like the precise, logical learner of human nature that Seven was on Voyager.

They totally ruined her when they brought her back for 'Picard' Season 1, which, if nothing else could, demonstrated very strongly what a mess these writers made: to take such classic Trek characters as Picard, Data, and Seven, then utterly pull them apart (in different ways), was a travesty of the like I almost wished the series had never existed! But right from her first appearance in this episode changes have been afoot that return her somewhat to the great character she was in 'Voyager.' She's in Starfleet uniform, and as much fun as it would have been to see her even once in the catsuit, she always did look good, look right, in the uniform. It probably helps that the current Starfleet era unis are very reminiscent of those in 'Voyager' (though don't forget they were actually a 'DS9' creation, before being promoted to the films with 'Generations'), but it also means her over the top 'individuality' is immediately reined in. She stands straighter, she looks more professional, and all round there's a better sense of the Borg drone turned Janeway protégé she used to be, which is a step up from how she'd been portrayed in 'Picard' before. My biggest beef with her this time is about her name, which seems a clear attempt to get into identity politics: I never understood why she would've rejected her human name because the point of the character was, like Data, the Doctor, or others before her, an arc about becoming more human and rejecting her Borgness. The major mistake of 'Picard' bringing her back was to go with the huge implant over her eyebrow instead of the much smaller one she ended 'Voyager' with, as if to show she'd regressed, even though she was actually extremely different, and it was a confusing dichotomy that seemed rooted in making casual viewers comfortable in case they missed the last few episodes of her prior series, giving us a generic 'modern' version of Seven.

But back to the name issue: I can understand why it would be upsetting to have your name forced on you by a commanding officer, but to me it seems like it's purely there to create disunity between them. I think it would've been a whole lot more interesting if she'd got on very well with Shaw and found it hard to disobey his order by taking Picard and Riker to the Ryton System, that she'd had to let down someone whose opinion she cared about to do it. But it's easier to have conflict from opposing views, it just demonstrates that for all the qualities this season brought, it was never quite going to get back that level of writing that made Trek great in the past. Still, rejecting her human name seems to be a rejection of her journey to humanity and a reminder of her brokenness, even if it's good to see she's got somewhere, joined Starfleet and is toughing it out under this leader she doesn't like. In his turn, I feel Shaw doesn't actually bear Seven animosity, just the Borg in general: he could have been really nasty and shown happiness or glee that she'd destroyed her career by going against his orders, because it meant he finally had reason to be rid of her, but I didn't get that sense at all, just disappointment in her, which is what any Captain would feel. What I'm trying to say is that originally I very much disliked both these characters, but that I've come to understand the situation better and it's given me a new appreciation for them, which is something that you can only get when you've seen the season through once and know what's going to happen.

The reevaluations don't stop here, however: amazingly I didn't hate Raffi! We go to M'Talas Prime (another shameless proof of Terry's power!), to one of those 'Star Wars' planets. And here we come to another bugbear of mine about modern Trek: the Starwarsification of it! I love 'Star Wars' (or at least a chunk of it...), but that doesn't mean I want it in my Trek. However, they do love their unsavoury bars or clubs, and this one is double the 'Star Wars' as it's an open air market type with little vehicles whizzing about in the neon-lit sky above. All very un-Trek-like. And of course this is where we're reintroduced to the only surviving 'Picard' original cast member, and she's apparently back to her drug junkie ways, begging and crawling to a snooty Orion dealer. But I was relieved it was all a show, and I actually felt proud of her that she was able to let the drugs fall from her hand, even though there's obviously a struggle there and she admits to her unseen handler in Starfleet Intelligence that it's difficult for her to be in this environment. But we're seeing the kind of professionalism that Raffi rarely displayed so once again they're doing restoration work on someone I could very easily have done without. If we had to have one character from previous seasons to return I would not have picked her (maybe Soji, if forced, as it would have given Data an extra little arc), but at least they immediately made an improvement on what we'd seen before. Not to say the whole scene doesn't strike the first bad note of the episode, suddenly it's all seedy and there's a load of foul language dropped in, so it's far from ideal, but at least she wasn't terrible like before!

What isn't so good, and maybe is what drags the episode down a bit to stop it from being wholeheartedly entertaining, is the usual reliance on mysteries to keep us 'interested.' What kept me interested were the interactions between characters, namely Picard and Riker, but apparently we still have to persevere with this dedication to serialised storytelling, which also apparently means we have to have mysteries and clues to uncover! I will at least give it the credit that most of what is set up in this episode is answered to some degree, and of course with foreknowledge of the season it's a lot easier to follow and see all the pieces being laid, which also leads to greater appreciation of the process. But still, Picard has to work out a puzzle of the code word that's been sent to him by Beverly. And Raffi has to work out who or what The Red Lady is. And Shaw has to work out just what exactly these interlopers are doing on his ship! Okay, maybe not the last one. Who is the mysterious young man on her ship to which Beverly seems to have a strange connection? When they're under attack she locks him away, so is he mad, simple, or in need of protection? I will say the fact Beverly doesn't meet her former friends and we're left to wonder what will happen next is a pretty good ending. We also get told by Jack (though not learning his name yet), that he's Beverly's son (a relief for me as I'd been spoiled 'Jack Crusher' was in the season and I imagined some kind of time travel would bring back a young Jack, Beverly's dead husband, even though he wouldn't be played by Doug Wert, but they'd already crossed that bridge with Icheb and Maddox, and I didn't like the idea, but no, her son's named after Jack).

The code was unlocked (obviously, or they wouldn't have made it to the Eleos), and Raffi witnesses The Red Lady being taken out. It did sound very much like The Red Angel or the DMA, or any number of other terrible season-long mysteries we've had in modern Trek (mainly 'DSC' or 'Picard,' admittedly), but it was actually much simpler than that: a statue of former Enterprise-C Captain Rachel Garrett is to have a dedication ceremony and that's where the nasty portal weapon is tested. Okay, not sure why her statue is red other than it sounds more dramatic to call it The Red Lady, and not sure why that building was the target. Not even sure where it was supposed to be, and I remember finding the whole thing rather confusing on first watch (since they don't put the planet's name up as they did for other places), other than some important experimental weapon had been stolen. But it just looked so bizarre that this building collapses, then a portal opens in the sky nearby and all this rubble falls out. All very impersonal and hard to fathom, which is the worst kind of mystery-style events. Now I know it's that weapon that opens a portal, even if it was a bit of an odd one. Why did Daystrom Station develop it in the first place? Or was it simply stored there as we'd see other technological odds and ends kept there. I did think it was strange Raffi waited till she'd actually arrived (still using the ugly La Sirena, another money-saver!), at the location of the coming attack before sending a message, but maybe comms were disrupted and she'd tried to get in contact as soon as she worked out where an attack was imminent, in which case it would have been wise to show her doing that. Even so, if an important Federation world suddenly had its comms scrambled that would be a good reason to investigate, especially as Starfleet knows this weapon is out there, presumably.

As you can see, the massive portal wasn't the only hole in the episode! There are lots of things thrown in that appear to be mere mentions, but that would go on to play a part in the story: the biggest are references to the coming Frontier Day, a celebration of the 250th Anniversary of... what, Starfleet? Apparently it's supposed to be the launch of the Enterprise NX-01, but in that case they could have been clearer! Also, Daystrom Station, which they'd be visiting, and the stolen Quantum Tunnelling weapon, but as early as the first post-title scene we have Picard talking with Laris about sending Geordi La Forge the famous painting of the Enterprise-D that I believe used to hang in his Ready Room, or one very much like it. He says Geordi's running the Fleet Museum these days, which is somewhere else we'd visit, though who'd have thought we'd be meeting one of Geordi's daughters before the episode was over! Actually, I wondered if she was a veiled joke about Deanna crashing two Enterprises as it's said her nickname was 'Crash' La Forge at the Academy, for crashing a shuttle twice, and now she's driving the Titan... Either way I found her immediately likeable, I don't know what it was about her, she just had a friendly, open attitude, was respectful to her Father's old friends, and is nothing like Ortegas, the mouthy Helmswoman on 'SNW'! There's also something of the 'it wouldn't be an Enterprise without a Sulu at the Helm' as Kirk said aboard the B in 'Generations'! I should back up a bit and talk about the episode title: for the first time (not counting 'Short Treks'), we have live action Trek with an episode title onscreen! You don't know how happy that makes me, and it's yet one more little thing that shows those behind this season had decided to do things right, regardless of what the series had been before, very heartening.

Not everything sidesteps the established 'rules' of previous 'Picard' and its roots in 'DSC,' whose roots in turn were in the Kelvin films: we still have to endure machine gun blat-blat-blats instead of Phaser beams, which is at least something 'LD' and 'Prodigy' changed, and a shot to kill still explodes targets into a puny shower of fiery sparks which has never looked good. Thinking of future events, like when they'd capture the villain, Picard stating Beverly would only kill defensively took on new meaning as maybe Picard doesn't know her any more! But I wasn't sold on the whole opening sequence - of course I'm immediately starstruck seeing Dr. Crusher again, twenty-odd years after we last had her in Trek (though technically, she did appear, and voice, a hologram of herself in 'Prodigy' Season 1 which would have been out before this, though this may have been filmed before the animation was recorded), which is momentous and wonderful and a sign of what this season is all about (and again I say, it should have been this from the start of the series!). And she looks striking, has aged very well, and is easily recognisable as the good doctor. There is that confusion over why she locks Jack in a room, we don't know the dynamic or setup on this little ship, and suddenly she's plunging for a Phaser Rifle and going all 'Insurrection' Beverly! Which I didn't mind, but knowing those masked goons were supposed to be Changelings, at least I think they were, it's a major disappointment they weren't using updated Jem'Hadar, which is what I was really hoping for (if not the occasional Vorta, too...), and they were deliberately dehumanised by those masks and grunting noises, into faceless animals for no good reason, which was all very stereotypically modern for me. I won't go into that now, there'll be plenty of time to discuss the Changeling side of the story, but even leaving that aside, what's going on with Starfleet sensors these days?

I speak, of course, about the fact the Eleos doesn't alert its Captain until the enemy is right on top of them, warning of an unauthorised docking. I'm well aware this is a small, basic kind of ship, it may not have extremes of long-range sensors, but this is the 25th Century so surely every ship would have highly sensitive scanning power. It's one of those things designed to suit the story rather than building the story around established reality. (Not to mention Beverly seems to have been sleeping to the sound of Jean-Luc's Logs - does his voice send her to sleep? At least the confusing use of a very old song was eventually cleared up at the end when Picard said he gave her a compilation of classics to listen to many years ago - one less mystery to deal with). The same could be said for the Titan as the fancy modern shuttle borrowed by Picard and Riker is away before the ship even alerts the Captain. And then at the end, in another stereotypical trope we get the foghorn announcement of the Big Bad Ship, like some tanker warning of its presence. I like to think the 'music' of that moment was actually coming directly from the Shrike (as we'll later learn it's called), a kind of triumphant, boastful 'look at me, losers' attempt at intimidation. But that foghorn is the only announcement, the Titan's sensors never pick up a ship appearing, nor does the Eleos until it's on top of them. I suppose the benefit of the doubt can be given that the nebula, or whatever those roiling clouds were (which unfortunately alerted Shaw to the hijack of his ship through sleeping next to portholes!), masked the enemy's approach, but it would be good to hear that, and maybe we will next episode, I don't recall.

I did like the look of the shuttle, all sleek and much like Voyager's Type-9, though I wasn't exactly clear on how it connected with the Eleos as it appeared to land on the back of the primary hull, yet had enough clearance for the door to come down when Picard and Riker go aboard. Maybe it was bigger than I understood it to be? I had some disappointment that the Shrike and its minion ships all had the look of the Son'a about them, the villains from 'Insurrection,' perhaps another reason I was associating with that film on top of Beverly wielding a Phaser Rifle - they had the same sandy or brown colouring with orange neons, and the crescent shape, that it was striking how similar they seemed, so it was a letdown it turned out not to be a factor in the design at all (there could have been a backstory where these Changelings made a deal with the Son'a at the time as they were active in the latter part of the Dominion War, so it could have made sense). I did wonder why the attached ship early in the episode came off the Eleos when you'd think it being within the warp bubble would mean it would go to warp along with it. The canon connections weren't going to be quite as clear as I assumed, even though the writing of this season was a lot more Trek-aware than before. I will say the ships in general this episode looked fantastic, even with my discomfort over the melding of disparate eras in the Neo-Constitution-class Titan-A. The Eleos was a cool little ship (or was it 'Ilios' as Beverly said, or 'Aylios' as Jack pronounced it!), and the Titan was fine, but I was a little sore we didn't get to finally see the original Titan in live action after it's beautiful appearances in animated 'LD,' but it was for the purposes of repurposing that would be happening at the end of the season, unfortunately (we'll get there...).

What we do get is a little bit of history of the ship and our characters, which I like to hear: it boasts Metaphasic Shields and can travel at Warp 9.99, while Shaw has captained it for five years, taking over from Captain Riker, presumably his final regular command as I get the impression we're a few years into the 25th Century (supposedly 2401, according to Matalas), and when Riker showed up with the infamous cut-and-paste fleet at the end of Season 1, that could have been shortly after he'd given up the active Captain's Chair, although this is all speculation at this point (I want more info!). Although we don't hear anything about DS9, we do get the news that DS4 has been decommissioned and Seven jumps in to say Picard meant DS11. While not a strong feature of the episode, especially compared to all the grief Picard was constantly getting in the previous seasons, he does make gaffes that belie his age: not knowing DS4 was shut down, or that procedures had changed about going to maximum warp, not reading Shaw correctly (though Riker's just as guilty, laughing along at his faux good humour before he slams the door shut in their face). I always hated that, it turned Picard into a weak character, and as I say, it's not nearly as bad here and Riker's presence bolsters him up and improves his presence, but there are still the remnants of Picard-hate in the writing, it seems.

Seven herself is a little bitter with him that he and Janeway talked her into joining Starfleet (the first of several references to her, which lead to expectations she'd show up by the end of the season, and reading comments in the lead-up to this being released, there was a definite groundswell to get Kate Mulgrew in live action, which to this day hasn't come to fruition and has sadly gone silent now). Seven's finding it tough not having the freedom she had as a Ranger when she felt things were simple, and now she can't just follow her gut, and has to take whatever Shaw gives her and follow orders, but her experiences on Voyager should have precisely prepared her for exactly this since that's what she went through, with great growing pains at first, but becoming a wonderful addition to the crew, so it's sad she's not using that experience and those memories here. She's really so far from the character I loved, but it was pleasing to see her risk her career for Picard. Maybe it wasn't such a big risk if she was questioning her place in Starfleet, but it was still a decision she chose to make and that was endearing. As I mentioned before, she's far from the only character being rehabilitated: I've already written of Shaw, and how I see he was actually in the right, and Raffi being an improvement on what we saw before, but there's one more character I couldn't stand who's given a little help, too.

Laris, the Irish Romulan was yet another character I found so irritating: I hated that they changed the convention of aliens, particularly Romulans, of being clipped and specific in their speech, maybe only having a British accent, since that has long been the convention in American films as shortcut for villainy due to our histories. But having Romulans that spoke in an Australian or Irish accent was simply terrible and made no sense at all (at least the Orion drug dealer came across reasonably well, though a shame he didn't have the cybernetic accoutrements male Orions sported in 'Enterprise'), and I didn't like that this housekeeper was telling Picard what to do, or scolding, etc. Then she turned out to be some former super-agent who could fight like a ninja, or whatever, and it was just all so ridiculous, followed by the egregious decision to have her husband killed off by Season 2 so she and Picard can one day live happily ever after, and it was just awful. I won't even go into the lookalike time agent the actress played in Season 2, which was another daft and unnecessary addition. I don't know if it's because this was her sendoff and we don't even hear if Picard kept his promise to meet up with her on Chaltok IV (which I heard as Chalnok and assumed was a reference to Chalnoth from 'Allegiance,' though he came from Chalna, and Chaltok IV was actually a Romulan research colony mentioned in 'Voyager'!), but I didn't mind her in the brief moments we have her for, coming across less pushy than before. She even endeared herself by the fact she generously encouraged Picard to go and help Beverly, even though they were rivals for his affection at different times, and she could be sending him into the arms of that rival. I could be misreading it, and when she's telling him to go she could have been hoping he'd reject her advice and stay, but she came across as genuine, and would she respect this man if he refused to help an old friend?

It was important setup as we also learn Beverly cut herself off from all her friends, including Picard, over twenty years before. I didn't like this turn of events at all, as it serves only to give an excuse for why she was never heard of before on the series, but that's what they chose to do, just like Beverly chose, and while I don't believe she'd ever have done so and her reasoning would make no sense (we'll get there...), it does at least cover the fact that there wasn't even the slip of a wisp of a breath of a mention when Picard needed a doctor he could trust in Season 1 (which was stupid in itself, doubly so that he never even spoke of Beverly). But while we do at last get Dr. Crusher back, I do have to ask - was there no medkit for her or Jack to treat her injuries, forcing her into a stasis tube? No medkit on a MEDICAL SHIP [foghorn blares]!? Physician heal thyself has greater meaning than ever in this case, though it appears to be yet another narrative device to keep the first meeting between her and Picard (and Riker), for dramatic purposes in the next episode. The stuff with the code she sent was fine, and retconning it into the events of 'The Best of Both Worlds' was a nice little inclusion, even though this 'Hellbird' virus was never mentioned in those episodes, entirely made up for this. I wasn't so sure on talk of the code they used on Rigel VII, though again, 'Myriad' doesn't have the sound of something said in 'TNG' and I'm just thinking of Rigel VII because that is something that's had multiple references in Trek over the years (famously recreated in Pike's mind in 'The Cage' and recently revisited, to average effect, in 'SNW').

I never feel quite comfortable with another ship appropriating the beloved Enterprise theme from 'The Motion Picture' and 'TNG,' it should be solely for the Enterprise, but Discovery stole it, and now Titan does, too, though at least in her case it's foreshadowing the end of the season, so that's some kind of justification. But the music in general is noticeably strong, a large part of that comes from the fact Steven Barton was aping the bold, brassy themes of both 'TOS' and 'TNG' film series' to good effect (Jerry Goldsmith is credited for his superb 'First Contact' music), and this more than anything else sells the idea of this being a Big Film, rather than a cut-price, last-dregs, one-shot chance to make something out of the mess that was 'Picard.' They wanted it to be considered a ten-part film and they tried their best to make it seem like that, and it does come across very filmic, in both the good and bad senses of that word. For example, when Picard talks about memories and old friends with Laris, the 'First Contact' theme plays gently underneath, and the music overall makes a huge difference in lifting it beyond the visuals we're seeing, even if, as I noted, you still get those modern tropes of foghorn noise to show danger, and there's a lot of tripping on tropes in this series. It was a wise and nostalgic decision to jettison the pootling 'Picard' theme of previous seasons for the far superior and touching 'First Contact' one, the 'Wrath of Khan' touchstone for 'TNG.' The graphics, hinting at all that would come, and in that clean, neat and attractive LCARS design were also a big leap up from the messy, ugly opening sequence we'd had.

I don't remember if the 'opening' credits always played at the end, perhaps to hold off on any surprise guests being credited, or to assuage the short attention spans of some viewers, but it was worth waiting for. And there is a little poignancy that's been missing from modern Trek so much, whether it be Jean-Luc looking through his things (the Ressikan flute! The Kurlan Naiskos!), and talking out it with Laris, or Riker commenting on the beauty of the Ryton System, saying it's the kind of thing they saw for half their lives, then spent the other half missing, or words to that effect. There's a sense that they're both ready for another adventure, Picard even says as much to Laris, though I'm he didn't envisage what was about to happen. Avoiding Starfleet weirdly resulted in him contacting Riker, which ended in them getting on a Federation starship, so there's still rather a lot of clunkiness to the plotting, but not as bad as it had been. Perhaps the crew on the Titan could be described as a little clunky, but we don't know them at this point: I've already given the thumbs-up to Sidney, and we see a few familiar races (the dumpy, suspicious-looking guy they oddly cut to as one of the crew in the corridor made me think I'd seen him before, but it was actually just more foreshadowing), the Bajoran, the Vulcan (unaccountably bald - that doesn't seem like the look a Vulcan would go for, not very logical), and they certainly had more character than the forgettable (though slowly becoming remembered), Bridge crew of 'DSC,' not that that's hard!

It's just that once again there's that blurring of the era lines when you see Orions, Andorians, Tellarites (regrettably the especially ugly, big-tusk warthog variety 'pioneered' in 'DSC' and used in 'Picard' before, rather than the traditional pig-snouted variety of 'LD,' 'Prodigy' and 'SNW'), all races associated much more with 'Enterprise' and 'TOS' as if they latterly took a bit of a back seat by the 24th Century - I understand that there were behind-the-scenes reasons for this lack of original races popping up, and I don't mind them being there, but I think 24th (now 25th), Century races should be more common: maybe a Cardassian or two, some Ferengi, a Klingon, a Benzite, those sorts of faces. They do show other, new races, but they tend to be very underwhelming designs, like Esmar, the round-faced, shorthaired mottled green forehead woman, who was quite nondescript. Or there was another background Bridge crewmember who looked surprisingly similar to the Changelings of old, which was a bit of a misstep as you don't want to evoke Changelings if you're bringing them back. Still, it was early days and not everyone would survive, nor does it seem likely the much-demanded 'Legacy' spinoff is going to come, so it's nothing to get upset about, just observations. It was nice that a couple of actors had been in Trek before, most obviously Captain Shaw's Todd Stashwick who'd played the Vulcan-pretending Romulan, Talok in 'Enterprise' twenty years before ('Kir'Shara'), but we also have Roc Sarabia credited as 'Human Patron' and he was 'Alien #2' in that same series ('Vanishing Point'). I do like some Trek connections, however small!

I observe that they didn't go all that much into specific lore or Trekferences as I call them, but there was some, as you'd expect. The opening pan across Beverly's things shows all kinds of items with meaning, such as her former husband's case from the Stargazer, flowers which she liked to cultivate (see 'Cause and Effect'), theatre masks to remind of her love of staging plays, and the audio Log of Picard. But while it's in your face in the sense that the camera's panning across it, it's not shouting out that you need to remember this or that, it's very much not the 'LD' school of often relying on Trekferences for enjoyment of the episode. But there are other things, like Shaw's mention of Picard and Riker's irresponsible way of commanding, referring to crash-landing (the Enterprise in 'Generations'), and that sort of thing. Maybe the biggest is when Picard and Riker meet at Guinan's bar (shame they couldn't stretch to Whoopi Goldberg for that scene, though it sets up this younger generation in the barmaid who doesn't really know much about Starfleet history or the importance of her two patrons), and we see some Eaglemoss ship models, which was rather noticeable. Either it was to get people on board because 'hey, I've got those models on my shelf!' or it was another money-saving exercise, but not the first time the makers used Trek toys or models - as far back as 'TOS' they did that, and in the battle scenes of 'DS9,' though never as in-universe models. Hard to believe Guinan would be 'selling' anything, least of all model ships as souvenirs, though the joke about no one wanting the 'fat' Enterprise-D was mildly amusing. I imagine Eaglemoss was still in business when the episode was made...

There certainly seemed to be an overflow of love for the Enterprise-D this season: Picard tells Laris the D wasn't his first starship, but was his favourite, which is one in the eye for the E. And there are other reasons we'll get to why the D gets more attention, when chronologically speaking the E would be foremost in mind at this time. Another Trekference could be the 'Conspiracy'-like way Beverly tells him in her message to trust no one, which very much brings to mind that atmosphere of paranoia created by the creatures (still unnamed to this day, which maybe adds even more creepiness to them), that could take over human (or alien), hosts and get them to do their bidding in a takeover of Starfleet. I didn't feel that same atmosphere with this season, not even one that came close to the 'DS9' two-parter set on Earth ('Homefront' and 'Paradise Lost'), because these weren't the same kind of Changelings, even though they were 'the' Changelings. We hadn't got to them yet, or any mention of the Dominion War (another 'we'll get there...' item on the agenda to come), but there are other Trekferences when Raffi searches for upcoming events. Only three come up, which suggests this is a very quiet time in the Federation calendar, but the Gratitude Festival appears, which is presumably the Bajoran event, and 'Empire Union Day,' which could refer either to the Klingons or the Cardassians I'd have thought. And not really a Trekference as such, but the episode ends with a card reading 'For Annie,' which was a tribute to former Borg Queen Annie Wersching from Season 2, who'd died recently, which was a nice touch from the production.

It was strange to see Picard wearing glasses to write, is he another Captain Kirk, and allergic to Retinax? You'd think such things would have been preventable with all the marvels of technology they had at their disposal, not to mention that it's easy to forget this Jean-Luc is actually an android copy with the memories implanted, though they wisely ignore this bizarre fact for the most part! (Another very stupid addition from serial Trek-wrecker Akiva Goldsman, the man who poisons the cradle, rules the Trek world... At least he wasn't involved in this season, or so I believe!). Picard's hearing certainly isn't at fault as he can hear the chirp of his old 'TNG' combadge stashed away somewhere (though I'm sure he said it was from twenty years ago when it would be more like thirty). It was almost a signatory moment, mirroring the start of Season 1 when he got out his film-era combadge, only this time they're saying the series is what we want to pay tribute to, less so the films, even though they were making it as filmic as possible with the meaty music and all the rest of it. I did enjoy his conversation with the house computer, making a rhetorical question to which the computer replies "Unknown," which was all very Trekky, even though it's no longer futuristic to have a computer in your house you can talk to. Which is weird to think. And lastly, the series joins the bandwagon of the signature 'Star Trek' franchise flash at the beginning with the ship of the series doing a quick flyby, only I wasn't sure at first if it was the Enterprise-E or the Titan-A until I paused and rewound - it's because there are similarities there, but it makes much more sense to be the Titan.

That was the first episode, the first part of ten, and while I wasn't enthused when I first saw it, and can't exactly say I was this time round, either, I felt it was more promising on second viewing. It helps to know what happens to various characters and I was pleased to discover things about the ones I disliked that made me appreciate them more, and ever since first watching the season I've been looking forward to dissecting it and pinning it up on a wall for all to see. Because unlike most 'DSC' or 'SNW' episodes, while it may not be thrilling stuff, while it may be shot very gloomily and darkly, it has plenty, more than sufficient, for me to take note of and examine or speculate about, and that makes for something that's worth reviewing rather than being entirely bored and annoyed about as with the others. I only hope the succeeding episodes improve on second viewing, too, and while I can't say this was exactly a good episode, I didn't mind it, especially now we know this season is likely to be the last ever to be remotely evocative of the Trek that came out of the Golden Age, thanks to Paramount reducing its output, and so I will try to accept it in that spirit.

**

Eledees

 Wii, Eledees (2007) game

This was my first disappointment of the year for a few reasons, partly I had expectations of it, but also it had technical issues as is often the way with Wii games: specifically the controls. Control is the most important aspect of a game as without it nothing else matters, and too often the Wii Remote is just too insensitive or oversensitive to work for precision tasks, and 'Eledees' is almost entirely about precision! It may not have helped that I played it over the summer (light streaming in from the window just behind my screen affects the sensors), but even playing on a dull day or after dark it still had problems so I can't put it down to that exclusively. This was one of the games I was looking forward to as I loved the idea of having a house in which you can move and manoeuvre every item, going from teacups up to wardrobes as you tear the place apart looking for the brilliantly named Eledees (or Ella-dees as the irritating child in the Story Mode insists on calling them!), an improvement on the original game title ('Elebits'), since: LEDs, get it? They skitter and scamper around and generally cause grief as you try to shoot them within the time limit (a light gun game with a twist - literally twisting and turning household items and appliances about!), which builds up the power of your 'Capture Gun,' in turn enabling you to lift and access heavier items, which then brings out more critters to zap, and so it goes on.

In terms of structure it's a well put together experience: you begin in just one room, then migrate to the landing, and gradually as the levels progress you have access to more and more of the house and grounds, graduating to surrounding streets and eventually the fun-size theme park or fairground. And there are a lot of levels! Twenty-nine in total, including the (unnecessary), occasional boss battle. Quadruple all the other levels to take into account four game modes in each, plus the effort to achieve a perfect 'S' Rating on each one, and you have a huge game. That's one of my problems with it: I usually love a deep, long gaming experience, but this is one that outstayed its welcome. Although it has a story (of sorts!), it's really just a puzzle game, and puzzling has never been one of my favourite genres. Also, being a bit of a completist, I aimed to get everything in the game and clocked up almost one hundred hours recorded time, and that's without counting the hours I spent repeating short challenges over and over, which the game tends not to record. There was simply too much content and eventually I had to call it a day: my obsession, once I'd cleared all the levels with the top rating, was to find all three secret Pink Eledees in each level, one of which is fairly easy to find, one is more tricky to locate, and a third only appears when a specific target or action is achieved within a level. But you're not told what...

I struggled over and over with some levels as I at least wanted to walk away from the game having succeeded at every Challenge Mode - these were the toughest parts of the game. Though deceptively simple (such as getting Eledees out of three vases in a minimal amount of time without breaking the vases - it took me a while to work out that you didn't have to turn them over to drop the creatures out, you could simply flick them up and they'd come flying out the top, which was the only possible way to succeed in the time), they were cunning and a real struggle to complete, often seeming impossible when you first tried them, but after many, many attempts you'd come across a technique that enabled success, to feelings of great satisfaction. The fact they were so short and sharp meant there was an addictive quality that kept me coming back to try again. So it was very disappointing when I couldn't unlock every Challenge (I managed eighteen), for the simple fact I couldn't find all the Pink Eledees. The game could have gone one of two ways from the start: either it would have rewarded gradually increasing skill and control to make it a great experience, or it could go the other way and become a drag, and unfortunately I felt it was the latter.

Perhaps the unexciting and unchallenging nature of the other two bonus modes, Score Attack and Eternal Missions, dragged the game down a bit - the first was simply playing the level with only five minutes time limit to see how high a score you could achieve, and the other was marginally more interesting in that you had unlimited time to play the level however you saw fit and get a huge score, hopefully locating 100% of the Eledee 'nests.' I didn't manage to do that in every level, either, and I didn't see any way to check what was my best percentage for each level, which was an annoyance as that might have made it more appealing to return to. As it was it seemed designed more for multiple players to compare top scores and I've never been into score-based gaming and didn't have anyone to compare to anyway. Eternal was interesting only because you could try out all the ideas you might have had to activate or interact with various items or machinery. It might have worked better if Eternal had been the first unlockable mode and if you'd been able to search for Pink Eledees there rather than only in the main game mode, allowing methodical, careful searching. Instead you were left to find the Pink ones within a time limit without knowing what you had to do to get them all and it turned into a frustrating experience.

I could also suggest the levels became a little boring on repetition when you essentially had to play them in a certain order to get the fastest route to maximum power and score - first go here where there are some loose Eledees, then once you've built up enough points to unlock this door you can go and get some there, then back to this part to activate such and such, which boosts your stats so you can do this... Granted, when you uncover the optimum route through a level you've made progress, but then you have to keep doing the same actions over and over in order to get the coveted 'S' Rating, or when searching for the Pinks you probably need to get to max power before reaching the required points to 'clear' the level, at the same time as not making too loud a noise or too many breakages. There are so many levels that boredom on one just means you move onto another, and there are so many options and choices of what to play that it takes a long time for the game to reach that point I mentioned of outstaying its welcome, but inevitably it does come. I had a number of levels where I was trying all I could to achieve power, avoid penalties and clear the level within a certain time in order that Pinks would appear, and yet it still didn't happen and I became more bored and frustrated as time wore on and I wished I could give it all up and move on to a new game, having played it across four months almost exclusively! That's just ridiculous, and the later levels take fifteen or twenty minutes to get through, so all that work building up to something that never happens just grinds you down to the point you don't want to play any more.

Sensible people would probably suggest taking a break and coming back at a later time, but I like to keep going while my skills are at their peak and honed to the best they're likely to be and I stubbornly refused to give up. Until I finally gave in having exhausted all ideas and become fed up with those last remaining levels where I hadn't found everything - after all, I'd completed the game, though that's not overly difficult as you just have to finish all twenty-nine levels, including the final boss fight (which is actually quite easy, other than on the wrist as you have to keep twisting to rotate screws out of a robot), and I'd got all the 'S' Ratings, but it still irks that I couldn't at least unlock and complete all the Challenges, which were the toughest and best part of the game. I haven't even touched on my biggest disappointment, however - I mentioned technical issues, and one big one is the slowdown that occurs in the later levels when you're lifting entire houses and fairground rides, and particularly when you activate a cyclone attachment for your gun and everything flies up into the air to be whirled around. But actually, that could be useful sometimes as time ticks down slower and you have more time to manoeuvre about as if you had faster reactions so that wasn't really a big problem for me. No, my disappointment came from the Edit Mode, a brilliant idea in which you could build your own layout using all the items you'd unlocked in the game!

What an idea, what potential freedom to create your own levels. Except the killer is that you can only use existing levels! I was so excited about recreating houses or buildings I knew, populating them with all kinds of suitable set dressing, and then whizzing through and causing chaos, but not being able to build even one room to your specifications entirely took the wind out of my sails and undercut a lot of enjoyment. I realise these expectations may have been too big to be realised in a game from 2007, but I was sorely disappointed and would no doubt have spent many more hours experimenting and creating in that mode. Still, it's not something I'd call a bad game as a whole, the environments while not being realistic, have a reality about them, and a fine detail down to the littlest items that's pleasing to operate, especially when you realise you can put toast in a toaster, or turn on taps or whatever. Working out how to do things is part of the fun, though it isn't always obvious and because of the troublesome controls fun can be sapped away. That's really the key beyond all the other complaints, because actions need to be so fine-tuned, like playing a steady hand game, and if you're penalised by something suddenly springing out of your grip in midair and breaking, it's deeply frustrating. That also means you can't just let loose and cause carnage, and in some levels wanton destruction even unleashes enemy Eledees that can attack you, so there can be an irritation in the tension between having the capability to destroy or let loose with your Capture Gun, and being forced to pussyfoot around.

It really is more of a technical gimmick than a proper game, expanded to game length (and beyond!), thanks to all the extras, but the core gameplay never changes and becomes very repetitive. The beautiful painterly presentation of the Story Mode can't lift the silly narrative and annoying characters and really has very little to do with playing the game, but I will say, especially early on, the gameplay is so involving it really sucked me in - I would get so intensely concentrated that my eyes would water with the strain and my hands, wrists and arms were in great discomfort from the unnatural position you had to hold the Remote and Nunchuk - it's actually a bit painful after a while, but you want to keep going at that stage, and you learn to rest at appropriate times, but it's certainly the most physically debilitating title I've played on the console! I'm not sure it's a game I'd go back to in future to try and complete the bits I didn't originally as it became such a chore to keep trying, and after striving so hard, and winning the other games I've played this year it's hard to have to give up on something in this way, but it had to be done or I could be stuck there for the rest of the year and I have plenty of other things I'd like to play!

**

First First Contact

 DVD, Lower Decks S2 (First First Contact)

They put all their engines could muster into this episode. I don't remember when the series was recommissioned for a third season, but I know they were originally given two seasons and you can tell they threw everything onto the table to leave us wanting more with this one! Truly the best episode modern Trek has given us and continuing the tradition of this particular series for going against the grain of this era and successfully making the finale the best, rather than worst, episode of a season! While 'DSC' and 'Picard' set up all manner of potential in their season openers, trundle along, and eventually utterly fail in the payoff, this series hasn't relied on serialisation and the 'next mystery' to create its narrative power. Yet at the same time it has had it's running arcs and subplots while couched in the kind of episodic Trek of the 90s it seeks to model, and that combination has made it the most loyal continuation of the kind of Trek most people that grew up with the Golden Age of the franchise, and cemented its appeal, want to see, despite being plagued by the requirements of an 'adult' (read: juvenile), comedy, with all its inappropriate scenes, bad language and innuendo that run contrary to Trek's general (and relative), purity (though at least showing up the truth that Godless Trek is actually a showcase for humanity's failures rather than the fiction of Utopian ideals, or what this secular philosophy is really like). To think I almost passed up the opportunity of seeing this season thanks to the weaknesses of Season 1, my growing dislike of modern Trek, and knowledge of certain things the season would entail.

Yet this episode would have been worth staying with it if the other nine had been full of Badgey, Peanut Hamper and Billups' shenanigans - because you don't have to watch every episode again (unlike the 99% of old Trek, which you do want to!), modern Trek doesn't have a lot of rewatch possibility, but 'LD' can put out some good stuff and this was the pinnacle of their achievements. They manage to pack so much into this episode it was impressive just on that count: each of the four main characters has a subplot going on, as well as Captain Freeman, while they bring in a surprise character from the past in Selena Gomez, played by the original actress, Lycia Naff, famously the one to spill hot chocolate on Captain Picard (which is gently and indirectly referenced when she shows sympathy for an Ensign tripping up the step on what I thought was the Sovereign-class Archimedes' Bridge). Just the fact we get a Sovereign would have been enough (although later reading tells me it's actually Obena-class, but close enough! Maybe that's why it has the window on the Bridge ceiling?), but to have it Captained by someone we knew from decades before made it even sweeter. And they don't skimp on the 'money shots,' both Archimedes and Cerritos are presented in the most glorious imagery that makes you forget the disastrous approach to ships in 'DSC' in particular when it seemed as if they didn't care or understand that the ships are characters, too! Then there's an entirely new concept for Trek, a dramatic rescue in the tradition of the best stories of old, and everything trips together, the music, the visuals, the story, the characters, to be what Trek should be, while at the same time being able to throw in those laughter lines that make you smile rather than chuckle.

The series has really turned a corner by this point, no longer needing to rely on in your face Trekferences, even while it throws in a few for good measure. But it's the story that matters, that's the difference! I made the major mistake of watching this episode out of order and so had no idea this was the season finale and I remember thinking what a strong entry it was. Only when I realised I'd seen it in the wrong order did I understand why it felt so much bigger than all the others, not that it harmed the episode itself, but it has much more of a final, cliffhanger ending to it than just some story towards the end of a season would have. And of course it ends with that classic 'To Be Continued...' in the blue 'TNG' font that had to guarantee they'd be back for at least a Season 3 (and a 4 and 5, though sadly that will be the end). Out of everything what most impressed me was the tight, tense story itself, The Little Ship That Can coming to the rescue of one of the great Starfleet ships - maybe they chose Gomez as Captain so it doesn't seem quite as outlandish as if they'd had the Enterprise-E under Picard or Worf being saved by this second contact specialist, or backup vessel, while Gomez was quirky enough to be believable. But she also comes across as a good, caring Captain, undercutting (not something I usually appreciate, but in this case it is poking at Trek tropes and it is a comedy), the po-faced tension by saying that's enough of that and inspiring her crew to carry on.

And the Archimedes itself... I just can't get over how gorgeous it was, I'm so glad the Sovereign-class-like was the one they chose to go with as it's one that's almost fallen out of favour with modern Trek - as much as I love the Luna-class Titan on 'LD,' and most of the other ships they've brought in, and even in 'Picard' they began to be a bit more cognisant of needing to show Federation starships in all their glory after the debacle of the infamous 'cut and paste' fleet of its Season 1, I don't actually remember if there was a 'Sovereign' in Season 3, and it was disappointing to me that of all the Enterprises we did get, the E was not among them as it carried 'TNG' through its film series. But here? Glorious! That shot of the two ships leaving Spacedock with the swelling music, it was just beautiful and only emphasises the horror of the Archimedes losing all power and floating end over end in space. In reality you'd expect a top ship's crew to find their own solution rather than being saved by a 'second class' California-class, but then they're in 'Star Trek: Cerritos' aren't they, not 'Star Trek: Archimedes' (okay, it's called 'Lower Decks,' but you know what I mean!). What made it more special was that Season 1 had, realistically, been about the Titan swooping in and saving the Cerritos in grand style, but it's like this ship and crew's coming of age that they're able to do the saving of a more powerful and prestigious ship this time and I love how the whole crew is mobilised - teamwork has so often been an important theme in old Trek, one that is often overlooked in favour of super-heroics in the modern ones.

There were some good themes of the optimistic, overcoming feelings kind, which seemed especially to take digs at 'DSC' for its elevating emotion to be the most important factor at all times - how often we saw the characters of 'DSC' stop in the middle of a crisis to have some heart to heart or 'self-discovery' (now I realise where its title comes from - not discovering new worlds, but navel-gazing themselves!). Entirely inappropriate, unprofessional and ridiculous, designed to appeal to a younger audience who've grown up being taught whatever feelings you have are the highest priority in life. The same thing happens here: the Cerritos is in a crisis, Mariner is worried in case she doesn't get the chance to apologise for telling her Mother she never wants to work with her again in a fit of pique since Freeman has been offered a new command and hasn't told anyone. At least in this case you could make an argument that if they were about to die they would want to make up (or at least Mariner would - a Captain doesn't have the luxury of dealing with individual matters in an emergency, she has to consider the whole ship), but still, it smacks of modern priorities and attitudes. But then when Mariner does go to the Bridge, while she's afforded brief moments to say her piece and Freeman reciprocates, it's quickly brushed over as the Captain sends her to take up a post where the Viewscreen was to verbally assist in getting the ship through the debris field, side by side with her enemy, Jennifer the Andorian, because they need all the help they can get!

The business with Jennifer was another arc for Mariner as the two who have been at odds from the earliest mention of the Andorian, combine in a time of crisis, put their differences aside and even end up friends at the end, an important lesson modern Trek rarely remembers, but which was common in the old money. Mariner and Ma Freeman definitely gets the meat of the episode, which is understandable since her Mother is such a big part of the story and really comes into her own as a Captain here, managing her crew well and realising her place is still with them, not swanning off to a bigger, but not necessarily better starship elsewhere. As a side note I do wonder if perhaps she's become a bit of a Riker in that she's getting on a bit judging by the grey in her hair and the wrinkles around her face, but she's been comfortable remaining where she is, in this case a 'second class' Captain (in the eyes of some). But then Picard remained Captain of the same crew and ship(s), for many years, it's not necessarily career moves that garner satisfaction, and that could well be another theme of the episode. If Mariner and Mother take the most screen time I'd say Boimler definitely has less than usual, his big subplot for most of the episode being that he's proud of creating a Captain Freeman Day poster (in the exact same style of the one by children on 'TNG,' recently revived among Jean-Luc's stored mementoes in 'Picard' and so perhaps more in people's minds), and desperate for the Captain to realise the childish scribblings are attributed to him!

Of course his real story is when he takes on the heroic personal mission to swim down a shaft that will lead to the one juncture in the ship from where the last remaining hull panel can be ejected (very believably having a whole technobabble explanation that shields must both be turned off and the automatic magnetic shielding of the outer hull stripped to enable them to survive through the debris which will otherwise be attracted to the ship). He is successful, as you'd expect, though is almost drowned, only saved by the ministrations of Cetacean Ops beluga whales Kimolu and Matt! Just showing Cetacean Ops was a major triumph of the series as it's long been a legendary part of the Enterprise-D, though was never shown (and in parity they set up a new never-seen mysterious ship area when Tendi suggests the 'Rubber-Ducky Room' as somewhere to go that's off limits!), but that they imbue the aquatic denizens with so much character made it even better, with the pair constantly displaying their own biases to water-based activity, or frustration that the control panel Boimler has to activate wasn't designed for flippers! It adds a whole new dimension while reinforcing the comedic nature of the series with good, clean humour, a vein that ran throughout this episode and another reason I liked it so much. Another example is the similarly animal-themed reactions to things when Dr. T'Ana displays her catlike tendencies such as sniffing the air as if she's catching a whiff of the absconding Tendi, or purring with pleasure when her subordinate hugs her. Lovely.

Tendi gets a sort of promotion as her subplot, at first concerned because she's overheard what she thought was the Doctor saying she's not good enough for Sickbay, in the same way Mariner eavesdropped on her Mother talking about being promoted to a new ship, and I like it when there are parallels in stories, it's another of those familiar elements Trek used to do so well. That leaves Rutherford, whose subplot is a growing difficulty with his implant when warning messages pop up to obscure his vision as his memory is almost full due to making three copies of every memory of Tendi in case he loses it again and doesn't want to forget. But this holding onto the past, as it were, to a fanatical extent, is also affecting his present, another strong theme that was thrown in as a quick exchange between Rutherford and Billups, where the latter poses the question, if you can't make new memories does holding onto the old ones matter? It's just the kind of philosophical, fascinating question that old Trek would have done an entire episode about, and while it's a shame they can't expand upon it, it's in keeping with the series' frenetic nature to chuck so much into the pot and certainly makes you think more than the live-action series' do nowadays! Part of Rutherford's story is when finally deleting the backups he accidentally unlocks a new memory of some shadowy figures affixing his implant in the first place, a cunning and tantalisingly brief hint for what would be explored in Season 3.

When Tendi and Rutherford decide to go somewhere off limits in order for her to make the most of whatever time she has left, still believing she's going to be transferred off the ship, they end up on the Captain's Yacht (interrupted by Freeman and Mariner arguing about what to do, prompting them to wonder if they always come to the Yacht to fight!), yet another wonderful addition, even if it's questionable whether this type of ship would stretch to something as indulgent as this particular vehicular extra - I love how they do that very Trekky thing of running through the various possibilities for the scenario they find themselves in (and it's somehow very funny when in the midst of the suggestions, the Kayshon's idea of warping past the debris is shot down by everyone in disgust!), discounting each obvious solution that a serious Trekker would automatically be thinking based on previous episodes - we can't use the Tractor Beam, we can't use the shuttles, we can't use the Deflector... Until they come to something that hasn't been thought of before, and that's not easy to do in Trek where basically every story's been done sometime or other, or so you'd think. Top marks for the solution, and not just for that, but for it being such a visual treat, exposing the bare bones of this ship we've come to love. There's a reason such an idea hadn't been done before, it would have been prohibitively expensive to show all the panels of a starship being removed (I imagine it was hard enough just to show Escape Pods launching from the hull back in the 90s!), and it would've had to have been a whole new model (be it physical or CGI), underneath as a result.

There's something daring about stripping off all the protections a starship has in order to be able to get through a dangerous region in the same way as the pit in 'The Dark Knight Rises' had its only solution to escape being to untether from the safety rope and make a leap of faith and hope. That kind of storytelling is among the most compelling and elevates the drama to a level of the serious live action scenarios we've seen so many times before. The fact it was created in animation only enhances the beauty of the event (and it's great fun having the First Officer, Ransom, steer the ship from a little joystick that pops up, just like Riker did in 'Insurrection,' as hokey as that idea was - I can't help but feel they missed playing up that connection as Ransom should have strode over to the Helm console for it to reveal itself, but just my preference), and you get something of the tension of a naval ship carefully manoeuvring through iceberg- or mine-infested waters, something that recalled that more manual control, reliant on the senses of the crew rather than keeping them sterile and secure away from the dangers of space (like that 'DS9' episode where they lose comms and have to rely on Nog relaying information between the Bridge and Engineering). You could say the removal of the Viewscreen was also a reference to all the other modern Treks where they have a big window instead, while Jennifer and Mariner work as spotters to alert command to potential collisions. All very impressive, and another Trek trope of the Starfleet officers showing their mettle when stripped of their technology to prove it's not the gadgetry that's the most important, they're skilled and experienced people regardless.

It was fascinating even to see the mass space walk as the crew in those great EVA suits gather to eject the hull panels (very 'First Contact,' in keeping with the title!). And while 'DSC' in particular seems to get most of the jabs, and rightly so (Freeman stating a Captain can't worry about emotions when it comes to an important decision such as leaving for a new ship, which again seemed directed at that series), it also lovingly enjoys its 'TNG' prodding, perhaps most notably when the Captain claimed she was planning to tell her senior staff about the promotion at the right time, to avoid conflict, something that was at the top of Gene Roddenberry's list when it came to that series: avoid conflict between the main characters, something that extended to both 'DS9' and 'Voyager' incorporating non-Starfleet or ex-Starfleet characters in order to comply with the spirit of that law while also having some conflict!  You can also say the ballroom dancing competition being postponed due to crisis was a laugh at 'TNG's expense since it is pretty silly, but the kind of high-class event that would be happening on the Enterprise! Perhaps the ridiculous shockwave from the exploding planetoid was a dig at 'Star Trek VI' in which a similar purple wave smashes through the Excelsior - and why wouldn't the Archimedes have time to react if the Cerritos itself was detecting the wave? If I'm nitpicking I could also point to Captain Gomez' optimistic idea of the crew moving to the rear of the ship, which is free-falling, so they might survive, which I don't buy (it's there to show the crew's solidarity by refusing to leave their Captain), but at least the visuals sold it as the trajectory (or is it attitude?), of the ship is stabilised by hitting the atmosphere, so it becomes slightly more plausible. Another thing I wondered is couldn't Rutherford 'shut' his eye to avoid the alert signs and see clearly with his good eye, except the memory issue suggests it's not just tied into the vision of one eye, but his entire brain.

What about the talk of hangovers at the start, and seeing Freeman tipsy at the end? Don't they use Synthehol any more, or was it a case of the aliens' drinks were part of the celebrations? When it came to throwbacks the episode was surprisingly careful with only a few direct Trekferences, more reliant on the tropes and style of old Trek this time. The early comment from Mariner on getting a new Captain where they could end up with a weirdo with a riding crop suggests Captain Styles of 'Star Trek III' may not have been the only eccentric as otherwise it seems unlikely Mariner would have known about some obscure Captain of the previous century, but I like they don't say his name so only someone that knew the film would get it - it makes you feel part of the club, another of those aspects that generated such appeal in old Trek as you learned more and more and were inducted into this special universe. But there are also the more mainstream Trekferences of Kirk and Spock - Mariner claims she's a Kirk-style free spirit, and while this is the film-era version that has gone down as the Kirk most people think of (as opposed to the thoughtful, careful, if bold original of 'TOS'), and Freeman didn't exactly counter that idea, she did call attention to the fact she's not like Kirk because he was confident, so at least there was some pushback. The best has to be when Tendi's been told she's to leave Sickbay to become a Science Officer and gleefully suggests 'like Jadzia Dax,' and delightfully, Dr. T'Ana doesn't have a clue who she's talking about and says she meant like Spock, so that was more in the usual 'LD' style!

One of the growing delights of the series has been coming to know the extended cast of characters and I'm at the stage of recognising not just Billups and Kayshon, the ones who get named more regularly, but also Steve Stevens and the lesser used characters that gives you a good sense of their being a wider crew, yet another aspect of 'DSC' and 'SNW' you don't really feel as it's so focused on the 'hero' characters. Maybe I can't name every one, but I do at least recognise them now and the thing about having all these familiar faces is that at any time they can be picked up and their speciality used for a story. And the fact that they're played by the 'standard' company of actors that voice most characters means there's no difficulty in getting anyone back, and since they're animated they can even appear as much as they're wanted without lines, so it's a win-win all round for the reality of the ship's environment. It was nice to have Freeman's Admiral husband in person with her as he's more often seen via Viewscreen, and we're just generally at that time where you know how the characters react to events and to each other and they can now play with what they've set up. In Season 3 they would, and it would be another strong season for me, but 2 is where the series began properly after the patchy and sometimes disturbing Season 1. They won't let go of their monstrous characters like Badgey and Peanut Hamper, and refuse to go 'clean' and ditch the dirt, but on the whole this series, and this episode in particular showed they were capable and even set up to recreate the kind of Trek that used to be the only kind of Trek. They care about the continuity and canon, they have fun, but they also play with what we know and if this series is the closest we ever come to that 90s heyday, I'll remember it fondly (even while furiously editing it!). (And I didn't mention the big addition to canon that the Pakled Homeworld blew up! Not that it's on the same level as Vulcan or Romulus...).

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