#Star Trek Picard Season 3

[foodcu-be]

mother is MOTHERING

[stellarred]

"Five times. Five times Jean-Luc and the shrieking, petulant Dr. Beverly Crusher tried to make it work between them. FIVE TIMES! And each attempt another pathetic failure...Why does Jean-Luc do this to himself? To US?"

"Why her and not me? I know everything, and yet, even I can't understand it."

"Know thyself, Jean-Luc.

Know me."

[stra-tek]

Picard season 3 size comparison chart, from Dave Blass on Twitter

[departmentq]

The season three reunion we deserved...

[rosalie-starfall]

Picard/Crusher

Star Trek: Picard - Season 3

[curator-on-ao3]

✨manifesting no secret love child in Picard season 3✨

[larkistin]

It took me forever and two days to finish, but I think it‘s my new favourite painting. A toast to Captain Liam Shaw 🍷🖖🏻

[procrastinatorproject]

Fuck it, I'm gonna start posting my own shouty thoughts on season 3 of Picard rather than just commenting on other people's stuff.

I'll keep taggin everything "#picard spoilers" (assume I'm talking about everything up to the most recent ep, I'll warn seperately for leaked/promo stuff about ep 10) and "#picard saltiness" so you know what to blacklist (or look for, I'm not telling you how to internet 😋).

I'm sorry/get ready.

Here's the thing. I would like to watch season 3 of Picard and think "Oh well, this wasn't made for me, the same way season 1 wasn't made for the type of TNG fan who is in heaven right now. And I'm sad my favourite characters and main reasons I liked the show in the first place got written off, but I'm glad these other fans are having the time of their lives. Good on them, I'll just mentally file this away as a season/new show that I don't connect with as much as I'd hoped." I really, really want to be able to think that and approach season 3 this way.

But the writers won't let me.

At every turn, and I mean every turn, the writers have gone out of their way to not just pretend the previous two seasons didn't happen, but to remind us they happened and they were stupid and you're stupid to ever have enjoyed them.

It's not just that Picard, in the middle of his disillusioned identity crisis, when he has been holed up on his vinyard for over a decade, talking to nobody, and feeling deeply disappointed by Starfleet, gives an impassioned speech to a bunch of young people about how Starfleet is the only family you'll ever need.

That's a type of discontinuity/soft retcon I don't particularly enjoy, but if it were just that, I wouldn't be writing this way too long screed.

It's not even just the implicit "we will do it right this time" on display e.g. when Picard "flies" the Titan out of the labouring nebula. In that scene, Picard walks up to the captain's chair to take the conn, the TNG theme swells, he sits down, the music becomes bombastic, and he gets to be the Heroic Captain We All Remember. That scene is, in my opinion, something of a parallel to the season 1 scene where Picard tries to hijack La Sirena to take Soji to her people. In the season 1 scene, he sits in the captain's chair, the TNG-inspired music swells, he is about to be the Heroic Captain We All Remember -- except then the music fizzles out and the moment deflates because Picard has been retired for a decade and a half and has no idea what he's doing (and is certainly not the most qualified to do it on an unfamiliar ship).

That parallel in season 3 rubbed me the wrong way, because it felt too close to a refutation of season 1. Too close to "See? This is how that scene should have played out!" But that is a me problem. If the writers were remotely aware of the parallel (and I honestly doubt it, because I'm not sure they know season 1 well enough), it's just as likely they wrote it as a tongue-in-cheek reference, more than a rebuttal. Assuming the worst would have been on me and my unwillingness to give this season a fair shake. And if that sort of scene were the worst of it, I wouldn't be happy about it, but I wouldn't make it everybody else's problem.

Except the writers didn't stop there.

I would (eventually) be okay with it if the writers had just quietly abandoned, ignored, or even outright retconned some characters, history, themes, and plots from season 1 and 2 they disliked. But instead, they repeatedly acknowledge the existence of these elements only to then dismiss them in frankly viscious ways.

It's not enough to ignore the Jurati-Borg in all their Eggness glory and how they would be incredibly relevant to this story season 3 is trying to tell. It's not enough to pretend that storyline never happened and move on. Instead, the writers acknowledge the existence of the new collective, but the only sentence where it's mentioned is a character talking about "That weird shit on the Stargazer."

Yes, Shaw is a dick, yes it fits his character, yes Watsonian reasons. But it was still an active choice by the writers to only bring up one of the major plot developments of season 2 in the most derisive way possible.

Another example: The writers apparently felt that the Troi-Rikers didn't belong on Nepenthe. But it's not enough to have them move somewhere else between seasons, or even to let them have a discussion about how Nepenthe is steeped in loss and grief and they want to move somewhere else and start over.

Instead, the writers have to take time out of their already shoddily paced season to have these two characters extensively shit-talk one of the brightest momenst of season 1 (figuratively and literally). It's not just "they don't like it on Nepenthe anymore", it's "they never liked it, everything about it is terrible, everything season 1 showed you about their life there is a lie, and it has always been shitty and cringey and stupid, and you were stupid to like it!"

It's not just "we dumped our diverse characters, challenging themes, and relatively fresh view on the Trek universe from outside Starfleet for starship porn, great (white) men, and more Starfleet nostalgia than you can even comprehend". It's not just "we're going to ignore the existence of season 1 (and to a degree season 2), because it's not doing the things we want to do." It's not just "we're making this show, knowing (and not caring) that it will alienate a large chunk of the people who enjoyed season 1".

It's "we see what previous seasons were trying to do, and we need you to understand, really understand, how much contempt we have for these seasons and the people who enjoyed them."

I know some people felt this way about season 1 and the way it deconstructed Picard's image as the Great Heroic Captain and laid open his flaws and the flaws of the Federation. And I now empathize with them more than I ever thought I would. But I think there is a big qualitative difference in there.

In season 1, Picard gets put in his place. He has women people telling him when he's wrong, where he has failed, where he should have stepped up and needed to do better. But the show is still deeply sympathetic towards him. By the end of the season, Elnor has forgiven him, Raffi has forgiven him (without ever getting an apology), and he gets to save the day [whether the end to this particular arc is well done (it's not) is a rant for another day].

The failures Picard is being reproached for in season 1 pretty much exclusively happen between TNG and PIC. They tie in to patterns and tendencies the character has always had and attempt to deconstruct some of them. But there's no direct evisceration of specific things that happened on TNG.

At no point does Picard get out his Ressikan flute to make a glib comment about what a useless trinket it is, and how he should have thrown it out years ago. At no point does he turn to Riker and say: "Man, do you remember that Darmok and Jalad shit? What a waste of time! I wish we'd blown up that ship when we encountered it."

Season 1 is critical of Picard's character, yes, and it might feel crass or unfair at times (not least because we're still not used to seeing Great (White) Heroic Men Of Our Childhood get deconstructed that way). But any reproach the season 1 writers levelled at Picard pales in comparison to the petty contempt the season 3 writers regularly display towards the show they've ostensibly taken stewardship of.

Season 1 might have been a bit glib or inconsiderate of the legacy they inherited. Season 3 is viscious. And I am so, so tired of it.

[forgottenfuturist]

Review of the Star Trek: Picard Starfleet Field Jacket from New American Jackets

I wanted to give a review of the Starfleet field jacket that I got recently from New American Jackets. It's listed at $159; I used a coupon code to get $20 off, but I paid an extra $40 for the custom sizing option, so I ended up paying $179 altogether.

Overall the quality is very good. The shell is real leather and the shoulder panels are a darker burgundy, not the brighter red I've seen on some versions including the much more expensive one from Volante. It's not 100% screen-accurate (most notably, it's missing the little flap that covers the bottom zipper closure) but for the price I really have no complaints.

My one quibble is with the length; I would've preferred it to be an inch or so longer than my T-shirt, but that's just the way that this particular jacket is cut. However, the sleeve length and fit across the shoulders is perfect, and it's roomy enough to wear a full-zip hoodie underneath.

The rank pips are real metal and permanently attached. I would’ve preferred it with no pips, but that wasn't an option.

The lining is very thin, as you can see when you shine a bright light through the perforated sections. But that suits me fine, since I live in Florida and a heavier jacket would be unwearable on all but the very coldest one or two days of the year.

Overall this was a good buy. If you want a super high-quality, screen-accurate version you could pick up the Excellent Leather Shop version for $385

[spatulahat]

I love this running gag of no one liking Picard's wine.

[hauntedmoonchaos]

My most unpopular opinion s3 of Picard is that while I am not happy Saffi was broken up (only the writers know the long-term goal for their relationship) I did enjoy Raffi being more than just someone dragged into Picard's mess or just Seven's girlfriend. Like she didn't get as much screen time as I'd liked but the show is literally called Picard so I get it.

Her character got to shine outside scenes with them. And her scenes with Worf were iconic. Having a canon queer Black woman character is everything to me. Whether she's in a relationship or not. Because queerness isn't based on relationship status.

[foodcu-be]

Shaw moment

[stra-tek]

There's still a few episodes left of season 3😅

[departmentq]

Jean-Luc Picard does not deserve Laris...

[rosalie-starfall]

Picard/Crusher Family Unit

Star Trek: Picard - Season 3

Thanks to @evarelis I finally learned how to do this thing I've been trying to learn for AGES!!!! So excited! Now if my computer would get its shit together I could really make some magic!

[curator-on-ao3]

Me, if I were in the Picard writers’ room:

Definitely, the “Data fights Lore with memory trophies” concept could work, so I was thinking —

<interrupted, so I try again>

Okay, yes, Brent is amazing and using Spot sure is a smart idea. We’ll want to have she/him pronouns for Spot, of course. Also, cat-daddying is important. But in terms of teaching Data about love, when we consider Lal —

<interrupted so I try again>

Yeah, wow, I’m sure that poster you had of Brent on your childhood bedroom wall *was* great. In terms of Lal, though, we know Data has her memories, and some of her last lines in TNG are actually: “I love you, Father,” and, “I will feel it for both of us.” So, with progeny being sort of a theme this season, I was thinking —

<interrupted so I try again>

Yes, I’m sure Brent will autograph your poster once your mom finds it. So, in terms of Lal —

<interrupted>

A ballpoint pen should be fine, but if you want him to sign it with a Sharpie, you could always bring one. About Lal, though —

<interrupted>

Ha-ha! Yeah, poster framing sure can be expensive. So, about Lal, I —

<interrupted>

I —

<interrupted>

Right! So in terms of kids and their parents and not throwing away important things whether they’re posters or TNG spec scripts or memory trophies, I thought Lal could —

<interrupted>

<interrupted>

<interrupted>

<meeting adjourned>