#picard s1e3

[biblioflyer]

Classism? In MY Star Trek? The Raffi Controversy, Picard Rewatch s1e3

Raffi's digs at Chateau Picard strike the ear as rather meta and ill fitted to the setting, but is there validity there? If so, how? If not, then what are we to make of these digs?

This is part of a series of essays reevaluating Star Trek Picard and interrogating the widely held fandom criticism that Picard made the Federation into a Dystopia.

Raffi will make snide remarks about Chateau Picard twice in this episode, once in the flashback and again in the present, fourteen years later comparing it to her “hovel.” Many a fan has bristled at these remarks. 

Isn’t the Federation, or least Earth, post scarcity? Isn’t acquisition and greed supposed to be beyond the average human? Shouldn’t Raffi be satisfied with her actually quite pleasant home in a remote area? I myself am rather envious, the view is magnificent and having that much space for just yourself seems incredible.

If you’re a longtime fan like I am, these comments don’t have the best brain feel. At face value they imply that materialism still exists in Federation society. They hint at the ongoing existence of social status drawn from possessions rather than affinity or merit. There are other references that also imply money may be a thing: Riker’s comment about Guinan “hawking” Enterprise models, Shaw’s reference to pay grades.

If you’re inclined to dislike the series for other reasons, the obvious explanation is that the writers are lazy and have accidentally or on purpose retconned a market economy back into the Federation because they can’t imagine an alternative that would be legible to the audience. It is looked upon as an unwelcome and immersion breaking intrusion of modern class politics into a setting that is supposed to be depicting a classless society.

I will accept that I may be wrong and am engaging in head canon, but I choose to interpret these references as largely symbolic or turns of phrase that are still in use out of linguistic habit rather than their literal meanings. Such as how “take a crap” is derived from the John Crapper toilet. Star Trek’s “warp speed” gave its name to a fast paced effort to develop a vaccine. Weird experiences are still compared to the Twilight Zone. 

I take Raffi’s comments as reflecting a much deeper wound relating to her sense of self worth and Chateau Picard is just a convenient symbol she can gesture at. It’s a convenient handle she can attach to the hyperobject that is her pain. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but people when they are angry often don’t lash out at the exact thing they’re angry about, they lash out at a symbol of it or something that was their breaking point.

Raffi may also just genuinely think it's unfair that an entire vineyard can be a family heirloom. She wouldn’t be the first person to scoff at this. Many a fan has asked uncomfortable questions about how this is fair in a supposedly classless society and through what social and legal structures is the Picard family afforded the privilege to pass the Chateau down generation to generation? 

Raffi is definitely a believer in the Federation’s values, in season two she will be harshly critical of 21st century LA and its inequality.

Perhaps she’s actually a bit of a radical even by Federation standards and does have a simmering issue with what she sees as a contradiction in the Federation that comes raging to the surface when she gets mad. Whereas I think there are arguments you can make that would answer some of the challenges presented by Chateau Picard in a decent enough way without having to reinvent class.

Finally, it bears repeating: hurt people hurt people. The way they lash out doesn’t always make sense because the point isn’t to make a coherent argument about the secret classes hiding within a supposedly classless society, it's to ensure everyone else knows that they’ve hurt you.

[evviejo]

STAR TREK: PICARD // S1E3 The End Is the Beginning Which sister are you? The one who dies or the one who lives? I know who you are. You are Seb-Cheneb. You are the Destroyer.

[starfleetisapromise]

Cris: Picard s1e3: The best intro for a (ex) Starfleet Captain ever; tell me I'm wrong. Not only were there two of him in this scene, but one of them was shirtless, thereby providing the finest fan service Star Trek has ever given us, at least for those of us inclined that way (dark, furry men are definitely my thing).

[thegreaterlink]

Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S1E3 "Code of Honor"

(This screenshot is not reflective of the episode it's from, but it's too perfect not to use. It’s the most entertainment I got out of this episode anyway.)

Well, that's 45 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Going in, I knew this episode had a reputation as the worst episode of TNG, if not the worst episode in all of Star Trek. And it's not hard for me to see why.

Let's just get this over with.

THE PREMISE

The Enterprise crew are in contact with the Betazoids of the planet Ligon II to acquire a life-saving vaccine for Anchilles fever. When some of the Betazoids beam up to the Enterprise to provide a sample, they kidnap Lieutenant Yar and book it.

The crew beams down to the planet to ask for her back, and Lutan, the Betazoid leader, tells them that they'll get her back after a banquet in the crew's honour.

Problem solved, right? I fucking wish.

Because at the banquet, Lutan announces that he's changed his mind and wants Yar to be his wife. This naturally angers Lutan's current wife, who challenges Yar to a fight to the death. The Enterprise crew daren't interfere with the Betazoids' honour code for fear of losing the vaccine, so they can only do what they can to help Yar.

MY REVIEW

The plot is stupid. It's a miracle this was approved past the concept stage. Maybe they were just desperate for ideas early on - it would explain why the last episode was a TOS rehash.

Wesley Crusher strikes again, this time getting a seat on the bridge. And Picard says he'll get another chance in the future. Joy of joys.

The Betazoids (such a stupid name for a species) are the laziest alien design yet - just humans with black contact lenses - second only to the Ba'ku from Insurrection. My research tells me that they were originally supposed to be lizard people, but this was changed for some reason. Maybe they didn't have it in the makeup budget.

This change has the unfortunate effect of making this episode unintentionally somewhat offensive - a group of black people living by primitive ideals and basing their society upon an honour code? Come on.

(Edit: I know now that not all Betazoids are black and that Deanna Troi is actually half-Betazoid, but that isn’t revealed until a later episode.)

What do I like about this episode? There's a nice scene between Geordi and Data where the latter makes an endearing attempt at humour. And there’s a funny moment where Data insults the French and Picard gets offended. And the fight between Yar and Lutan’s wife (I could check her name but that would mean watching this episode again) is somewhat entertaining to watch, even if it takes place on a weird-looking climbing frame. That’s it.

2/10 - Just skip this one entirely. With episodes like these, it's no wonder Denise Crosby decided to quit.

Previous Episode | TNG Masterpost | Next Episode

[the-plural-of-cris-is-crises]

A Very Trekful 10 Days

February 21st:

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E1 "Remembrance"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: The Next Generation S1E1a&1b "Encounter at Farpoint Parts 1 & 2"

PicardPositivity Day 21 - Dahj & Holo Tech

February 22nd

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E2 "Maps and Legends"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: The Next Generation S1E10 "Hide and Q"

Borg Queen Rewatch - Star Trek: First Contact

New Release - Star Trek: Picard "No Man's Land" Audio Story

PicardPositivity Day 22 - Laris & No Man's Land

February 23rd

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E3 "The End is the Beginning"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E16 "Q Who" / Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E13 "Deja Q"

PicardPositivity Day 23 - Sutra & Chateau Picard

February 24th

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E4 "Absolute Candor"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E20 "Qpid"

Borg Queen Rewatch - Star Trek: Voyager, S5E15&16 "Dark Frontier Parts 1 & 2"

New Episode - Star Trek: Discovery, S4E10

PicardPositivity Day 24 - Riker & Zhat Vash

February 25th

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E5 "Stardust City Rag"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E6 "True Q" / Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, S1E7 "Q-Less"

2024 - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, S3E11&12 "Past Tense Parts 1 & 2"

PicardPositivity Day 25 - Enoch & Behind the Scenes

February 26th

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E6 "The Impossible Box"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E15 "Tapestry"

Borg Queen Rewatch - Star Trek: Voyager, S6E26 & S7E1 "Unimatrix Zero Parts 1 & 2"

PicardPositivity Day 26 - Agnes & Crew

February 27th

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E7 "Nepenthe"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: The Next Generation S7E25&26 "All Good Things Parts 1 & 2" / Star Trek: Voyager, S2E18 "Death Wish"

PicardPositivity Day 27 - Bruce Maddox & The Artifact

February 28th

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E8 "Broken Pieces"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: Voyager, S3E11 "The Q and the Grey"

Borg Queen Rewatch - Star Trek: Voyager, S7E25&26 "Endgame Parts 1 & 2"

PicardPositivity Day 28 - Data & Starships

March 1st

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E9 "Et in Arcadia Ego Part 1"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: Voyager, S7E19 "Q2"

PicardPositivity Day 29 - Ian & Stardust City

March 2nd

Picard S1 Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard, S1E10 "Et in Arcadia Ego Part 2"

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: Lower Decks, S1E8 "Veritas"

Borg Queen Rewatch - Star Trek: Lower Decks, S2E8 "I, Excretus"

PicardPositivity Day 30 - Picard & Season 2

March 3rd

New Episode - Star Trek: Discovery, S4E11

Premiere - Star Trek: Picard, S2E1

[dailydoseofrios]

Dare anyone to find a better introduction of a character to a series/franchise ever....

Picard S1E3 "The End is the Beginning"

[stoplookingup]

Picard S1E3: The End Is the Beginning.

[tuppencetrinkets-a]

#3124 screencaps from Star Trek: Picard S1E3.

These are unedited and unsorted. Free for anyone to use or edit how you like but if you’d like to toss a buck or two my way you can do so HERE.  Please like and or reblog this post if you found it useful in any way.  If you have any problems w/ the downloads or files please let me know in a politely worded message and I will see what I can do to correct the issue!

You can find other screencaps of ST: Picard  in THIS tag.

[ace-aro-fandroid]

Picard is such a grump in the first season. Season One Data doin’ his best.

Also a prime example of one of the many lines in Star Trek that became incorrect incredibly quickly. Data referring to Native Peoples as “American Indians” goes up there with McCoy referring to tribbles that can replicate themselves as “bisexual�� and everyone being really amazed at how Data can do “sixty trillion operations per second.”

Star Trek: The Next Generation S1E3 “Code of Honor” 15:55

[blackladisdestrcz]

Slegduji -watching

Sleduji - watching Star Trek Picard S1E3 (Playstation 4 Pro/Prime Amazon)

[biblioflyer]

Raffi & JL before the fall, The Raffi Controversy, Picard s1e3 Rewatch.

Who was Raffi before she became the messy person we meet fourteen years after Mars? One flashback isn’t much, but it may be richer in detail than one might expect at first glance. Of course this is also a story that is still being written and those caveats definitely apply.

This is part of a series of essays reevaluating Star Trek Picard and interrogating the widely held fandom criticism that Picard made the Federation into a Dystopia.

It is worth recalling that season three is apparently exploring Raffi’s backstory to some degree or another and a more fuller picture of the character and her place within the narrative and the setting is coming into view.

The Raffi we see immediately after Mars seems extremely impressive. She correctly anticipated every objection Starfleet Command would raise to a renewed effort to evacuate Romulan space. She seems like a very effective aide de camp to Picard. As nicknames go, I wasn’t super fond of J.L., but the familiarity hints at a strong working relationship and that Picard allows Raffi a degree of latitude that perhaps other subordinates haven’t had.

Why might that be? My theory is that Picard’s secret hobby is adopting strays. That is to say, he’s the sort of classical command officer who is defined by his ability to spot talent in rough crewmen who are struggling to apply their gifts in Starfleet and for Starfleet to recognize those gifts. 

This archetypal character loves to rehabilitate troubled officers less through force of unrelenting discipline, but by recognizing that some people need to not just be told what the rules are and be punished for breaking but instead need to understand them and believe in the rules (and themselves.) See also Commander William Adama and Kara Thrace, or Honor Harrington and….everyone she encounters (don’t @ me about David Weber, I’m well aware he and his body of work are.....a bit complicated, I just think the character of Honor embodies this archetype well.)

This is precisely the situation that defines Seven and Shaw’s relationship in Season 3. Seven knows the rules but doesn’t value them, Shaw understands the rules but is so submissive to authority that it makes him incredibly reluctant to act outside his mandate or follow his conscience.

While the timeline of Raffi’s life is vague, when she is questioning Picard about the outcome of the meeting with Starfleet Command and anticipating his success, she presents as oriented, intelligent, and driven. Season three provides a bit more context as well for the circumstances in which she found herself in Starfleet, but I am on the fence as to whether including it here represents “cheating” and if it makes judging season one on its own merits unfair.

To allude to season three without spoiling it, it's implied that Raffi has always possessed an inner darkness inclined towards quickly becoming irritated with small minds who can’t see what she sees and Starfleet seems to have been an opportunity to either start over or put her skills towards a higher purpose.

Her breaking point, at least in this scene, seems to be Picard’s resignation and the collapse of the Romulan relief effort. She quickly becomes angry and turns on Picard, infuriated by the hubris of him believing he was indispensable. She lashes out, citing a future for him comfortably retiring to Chateau Picard and writing his memoirs and compares it to her own future, which she immediately assumes to be bleak.

One might be justified in assuming that Raffi has not had the best of luck with commanding officers, whereas Picard had the finesse to coax her talents out of her while tolerating or disarming her more difficult traits. Alternately, Raffi is a person adrift without a clear purpose to focus her energies upon.

As I've alluded to a few times, I've known and loved a few Raffis. Getting through the outer defenses is challenging. Riding the maelstrom even tougher. They are more deserving of patience and compassion than they know, but they'd be a whole lot easier to appreciate if they could know it.

[evviejo]

STAR TREK: PICARD - S1E3 The End Is the Beginning

[trekreviews]

S1E3: Code of Honor

Recommendation: Skip Rating: 5/10

A mission of mercy is jeopardized when a planetary ruler decides he wants an Enterprise officer as his wife.

Hoo boy, it’s the racist one. I’ll start with what I think makes this not quite as bad as is commonly held, though. The middle portion of the episode is fine, with the crew trying to puzzle out the Ligonians’ culture and actions. I’d legitimately argue that the Ligonian society is more fleshed out here than the Vulcans or Klingons are in certain episodes. While a Klingon story would invoke ‘honor’ as the single motivation behind everything a Klingon character does, with no further complexity than that, they have to work out in Code of Honor that Yar’s kidnapping was calculated based on her status as Chief of Security, that based on their customs simply asking for her back is the best course of action, and finally about Lutan’s political ambitions. It’s a little better than the truly one-dimensional plot it could’ve been. There’s a good buildup to the ritual combat, Picard gives an effective defence of the Prime Directive at one point, and seeing Lutan get his comeuppance at the end is satisfying.

However. The whole Alien Race of African Tribesmen thing is offensive for blindingly obvious reasons. The Ligonians are portrayed as ignorant, the crew ‘forced’ to meekly go along with their ‘backwards’ customs; the attitude is one of liberal, polite, tolerant colonialism. Honestly, what were they thinking? The fight is really badly shot and choreographed, and takes place on a climbing frame for some reason. Pass.

Note: it’s no defence, but this episode is still not as racist as some Original Series episodes like ‘Elaan of Troyius’

[the-plural-of-cris-is-crises]

A Very Trekful 10 Days: Day 3

Star Trek: Picard S2 Countdown: 8 days (7 now because it's past midnight)

Picard Rewatch - Star Trek: Picard S1E2 "Maps and Legends"

Rewatched again because my mom did not see it with me on Tuesday and wanted to see it.

Star Trek: Picard S1E3 "The End is the Beginning"

Main takeaways from my The End is the Beginning rewatch: Rios my beloved.

Q Rewatch - Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E16 "Q Who"

Main takeaways from my Q Who rewatch: The Borg are weird in this one. They hadn't gotten everything worked out yet, of course. I am super curious about if we'll find out more about Q and Guinean in Picard S2 since they're both in it.

Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E13 "Deja Q"

Main takeaways from my Deja Q rewatch: Q being made human. "In all the universe you are the closest thing I have to a friend, Jean-Luc" that's sad, dude.

PicardPositivity Day 23: Sutra & Chateau Picard

[stolendress]

Hosts with Their Own Picard Podcast Episode 6 – S1E3 – The End is the Beginning (aka Hugh's the Boss) This week, Dan and Jason discuss the third episode of Star Trek: Picard. Spoilers ahead.Follow us on Twitter @picardpodcastOn Facebook: http:/facebook.com/picardpodcast Theme Music:“Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)Licence: CC BY (http: View Original Post and Listen to Episode Here: http://stolendress.com/picard/2020/02/07/episode-6-s1e3-the-end-is-the-beginning-aka-hughs-the-boss/ (via Hosts with Their Own Picard Podcast)

View the Original Post Here

[trnsocial]

Five Things from Star Trek: Picard S1E3 "The End is the Beginning"

After a relatively suspenseful and revealing episode two, the Star Trek: Picard writers opted for more of a slow-burn episode three, titled “The End is the Beginning.”

The episode begins with a flashback to the synthetic* uprising and destruction of Mars’ atmosphere (something I suspect will be a common theme among the opening scenes this season) and Jean-Luc Picard’s resignation from Starfleet…