- 4 weeks ago
California dreamin'.
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00:00Happy St. Patrick's Day to yous!
00:02I hope you're still having a good one, whether you are sitting in a pub right now with a pint of Guinness in front of you,
00:07whether you're down at Michael O'Sullivan's bar in Fairhaven, and believe me, if you're Irish, I promise you, you're not.
00:14And whatever you're up to, I hope you're having a wonderful day.
00:18I myself, I'm recording this nice and early in the morning, so God only knows what state I'll be in as you're watching this.
00:24Hope you're having a good one anyway. Today marks two years to the day that lockdown began in Ireland.
00:30Things have lifted, things are starting to look better, but come on now, keep looking after yourselves, look after your people around you as well,
00:37and, you know, try not to sneeze in somebody's face. Let's have a little bit of common sense.
00:40We're here to look at the ups and downs for Star Trek Picard Season 2 Episode 3 Assimilation.
00:45Before I get into that, thank you so much to all of yous who are liking, sharing and subscribing every week.
00:51The last graphic that the wonderful Chris made had us at 189,000 subscribers, so odds are that's probably already out of date.
01:00Thank you so much. Please hit that subscribe button if you haven't already.
01:04We're getting closer and closer to that target of 200,000.
01:07You're wonderful, you're brilliant, yous are all a bunch of leading legends.
01:12Now I guess we better have a look at the episode itself.
01:21This week's episode starts out strong, so I'm starting with an up.
01:28It gets right into it.
01:30I did say last week that I did not like the cliffhanger ending, and I stand by it,
01:35because it's resolved in about 30 seconds in this week's episode, as we knew it was going to be,
01:41because it sort of has to be, because we know they're going to go back to L.A.
01:44Now John-John Briones, who I celebrated last week, but of course neglected to mention the fact that Soji's dad,
01:51unfortunately doesn't get very much to do in this episode.
01:53However, I do like that there is a moment Seven walks up and tries to sort of play,
01:58oh this is a classified mission, he goes, oh yeah, what's my name?
02:02And it was, yeah, it was just kind of like, oh no, fair play.
02:05Fair play, I like that.
02:07They don't mess around in this opening shot.
02:08It's all resolved very, very quickly, which I am quite happy about, because unfortunately it's just in the way.
02:14We just kind of need to get through this.
02:17Now La Sirena is then attacked by two Nova-class ships and a Steamrunner-class ship,
02:22which I freaked out about in the trailer, I'm freaking out a little bit about now.
02:26Lovely, lovely, lovely, love seeing them back.
02:28But the barrage of phaser and torpedo fire leaves them kind of shook,
02:33leaves the Borg Queen's stasis tube gets knocked over.
02:37She then goes, allow me, when it comes to engaging the Confederation,
02:43the tendrils come out of her, she connects into the ship,
02:47and we hear Jerry Goldsmith's score from Star Trek First Contact,
02:53that iconic Borg theme plays over here.
02:56So my second up of the episode goes to just Borg Queen in general.
03:01Like Annie Wershing is brilliant in this episode,
03:03but the way the Queen is used is really, really good.
03:07She's properly frightening and intimidating.
03:10They are carrying the greatest enemy the Confederation has ever faced on board this ship.
03:16That's also the greatest enemy the Federation has faced.
03:19I would not like to be standing beside the Borg Queen for any period of time.
03:24She's able to take over the systems.
03:25She's able to fire upgraded torpedoes at the Nova-class,
03:29the surviving Nova-class ship, and the Steam Runner-class,
03:32and they are able to jump to warp, get to the sun, and slingshot quickly back into the past.
03:39It's, it is breakneck pace.
03:42It is a very, very strong cold open.
03:45Yep, there's Q.
03:47We get a little cameo in this episode of Q.
03:50Not enough to warrant an up, but just, he's still here.
03:55So he's three for three in appearing for episodes in season two.
03:59We get back to 2024, and I'll run through some of this in the cetacean observations,
04:04but, you know, we get sort of tick list things as to how we get there.
04:09There's a lot of Star Trek IV, the one with the whales, going on here.
04:12So that's fine, but I'm going to address a lot of that in the cetacean observations.
04:16The ship is caught in the gravity well of Earth.
04:18It gets pulled in.
04:19They crash land in La Barre in France.
04:22Odds are we're going to spend a little bit more time in this in a future episode.
04:25So right now it is just the location, as opposed to playing much of a role in this episode.
04:31The Borg Queen is offline, which has led to one of the saddest moments of all of Star Trek Picard so far.
04:41Elnor dies.
04:42I accept that this is part of the storyline.
04:46It's part of the impetus.
04:48It's going to be part of Raffi's entire narrative arc going forward.
04:53But simply, Star Trek Picard, because you have forced me to say the word,
04:58Elnor dies, down.
05:02Evan Evagora better be back in this show.
05:04There better be a hard reset button coming later on in the season.
05:07Again, I accept that it's part of the plot.
05:12No, that is a down.
05:14Elnor does not die in my fantasy.
05:16Now, one of the reasons he dies is that the Queen, while still connected to Rastalena,
05:20she is trying to suck every ounce of power out of the ship,
05:23which takes power from the bio bed, which was the only thing keeping Elnor alive.
05:27So this begins the Borg Queen part of the storyline with Jurati and with Picard.
05:34There is an interesting piece of information dropped in this scene that we actually hadn't heard before.
05:41And I'm going to give it an up.
05:44Assimilation is euphoric.
05:46Okay, I never really thought of that, because we only hear of the horror of assimilation.
05:52We hear of the mindless drones.
05:55But Picard describes that as Locutus, it is euphoric being part of this hive mind.
06:02And of course, I mean, if the drones were aware of what was happening,
06:05there would be a mass revolt.
06:07So keeping them in this drugged state is key to the success of assimilation.
06:12And in a way, it feels like a very late in the day update of what assimilation is.
06:19But I think it makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
06:22That it would be this wonderful feeling.
06:25I'm reminded of the amount of times you see in movies when vampires are made.
06:30And, you know, someone goes, oh, I'm so sorry this happened to you.
06:32And the vampire replies with, I'm not sorry.
06:35It's a bit evocative of that.
06:37I did like it as an addition.
06:40It's a swing.
06:41I mean, it really could have been, oh, seriously?
06:45The whole point was that it was horrific.
06:47I liked it.
06:49Kudos Star Trek Picard for actually taking a chance on including that there.
06:53Now, after everyone is suitably locked and loaded,
06:56and there's that reminder from Jurati, like, hey, time travel, put the phasers away, please.
07:02There's a wonderful reference to butterflies, of course, being the butterfly effect.
07:07A butterfly's wings can flap at one part of the world and cause hurricanes in another part of the world.
07:12I really, really like that.
07:14They beam into the past, and we get, and this is a definite up from me,
07:20the inclusion of the song California Dreamin'.
07:23Now, this version is performed by Freischwimmer.
07:25I really hope I pronounced that correctly.
07:28And it's a lovely version of the song.
07:30Really, really like it.
07:32I've always loved that song anyway.
07:34But, of course, well, yeah, where is LA?
07:37It's in California.
07:38Yeah, I'm dreaming of California.
07:39All right, listen, it might not be the deepest up I've ever given,
07:42but I just like it.
07:43Let me have this, all right?
07:43It's St. Patrick's Day.
07:44An entire up, all on her own, goes to seven of nine in 2024.
07:51Because I love Jerry Ryan in this episode.
07:55At one point, Raffi turns around and says,
07:57well, why don't you in 2024 go and get a room?
08:00Because she is so confident and comfortable in herself.
08:03When she beams in, oh, no, she beams in beside a little girl.
08:06This is timeline-breaking stuff.
08:08The little girl goes, are you a superhero?
08:11To which Seven replies, can you keep my secret?
08:14And winks at her.
08:17She's perfect.
08:19I mean, yes, all right.
08:20People will say, she beams in beside a girl.
08:22This is potentially dreadful news.
08:24But we live in an age where every piece of media
08:29is depicting superpowers and superheroes.
08:34Like, pass it off as a superhero.
08:36Why the heck not?
08:37And then as the episode goes on,
08:38she has this comfort, again, which Raffi comments on.
08:42And going forward, when they enter the skyscraper
08:45and she's able to talk the security card down.
08:48You know, again, this is a very new version of the character.
08:52One that I absolutely love.
08:56I was actually re-watching Endgame there yesterday.
08:58And we remember in Endgame that she goes through the surgery
09:02to have her cortical node shut down
09:05so that she'll be able to feel the full gamut of human emotions.
09:08We get to see the fallout of that,
09:10both in, of course, season one of Picard,
09:12but in moments like this.
09:15This, in a way, it's a spiritual sequel to that decision in Endgame.
09:20Nice deep cut, Star Trek.
09:22Also, I'm giving another up to Raffi in this episode
09:28because Michelle Hurd just continually smashes it.
09:32Her reaction to the death of Eleanor is heartbreaking.
09:36Her anger toward Picard is completely understandable.
09:40It might be misplaced anger, sure,
09:43but she can't direct it at Q.
09:48Completely not his fault in any way,
09:51but Picard is Q's representative, if you like, on La Sirena.
09:56Obviously, that's a bit of a stretch,
09:58but Raffi is filled with rage right now.
10:01She can't kill the Queen, much as she would like to,
10:04so it has to be directed somewhere.
10:06And that mugger pitched the wrong day to pull that shite with Raffi.
10:11And I just, I loved that scene.
10:15Absolutely loved it.
10:17Because, you know, I'm going to hurt you, lady.
10:19And really, we were all just kind of like,
10:21how dead is this guy about to be?
10:24She downs him like that.
10:25Oh, I loved it as well.
10:26Give me your wallet.
10:28What? Money?
10:29Oh, yeah, no.
10:30The mood that Raffi's in,
10:32that guy was lucky to survive.
10:34She downs him in a second,
10:35breaks the gun apart,
10:37tosses it in the dumpster.
10:38This is when she meets Seven.
10:39This barely controlled anger for the whole episode.
10:44Just, mmm.
10:45Michelle Heard absolutely smashing it this week.
10:49Sad, down reason as to why,
10:51but total up for her this week.
10:54Now, you will know,
10:56whenever I've discussed Jurati in the past,
10:59I have been...
11:01sometimes less than complimentary.
11:04I've struggled with the character a little bit.
11:08Wonderful moments last week.
11:09There was issues with,
11:11you know, come on now,
11:11how long is it going to take you to...
11:12Dr. Agnes Jurati this week.
11:15Alison Pill.
11:18I'm going for MVP of the episode here.
11:20She is so confident in her plan.
11:22She's able to talk Picard
11:24into letting her effectively get assimilated.
11:26You can imagine why he might generally
11:28have a problem with this.
11:29Then, during that scene
11:30where she's connected to the Queen
11:32and her subconscious starts speaking
11:34and she's starting to depict
11:35how the Queen is moving
11:36from place to place in her brain.
11:39There's the anger room
11:40in which she directs some of this rage
11:42at Picard,
11:43calling him a pretentious prick
11:44who would never know a feeling
11:45if it hit him in the face.
11:47You know, then she talks about her admiration,
11:49how she wants him to be her dad.
11:51She talks about the humour room,
11:52full of mirrors for deflection.
11:54And then, of course,
11:55this sadness where she describes
11:56sometimes just lying down
11:58and sleeping to death.
12:01This was a performance
12:03that I didn't doubt Alison Pill
12:06was capable of.
12:07I was just so glad to see
12:08this level of performance.
12:11Just wonderful.
12:12When we get the Queen back awake
12:14and trying to play Picard
12:16as much as possible,
12:17when Jurati wakes up
12:18and is just like,
12:19oh yeah, yeah,
12:20so you have the information.
12:21Yeah, yeah.
12:22Prove it.
12:22And she just casually reveals
12:24that she stole this information
12:26while in the Borg Queen's head.
12:30This version of Jurati.
12:32I like this version of Jurati a lot.
12:36And also,
12:37anyone else slightly terrified
12:39when the Queen says,
12:41you've done something very dangerous?
12:43You've impressed me.
12:45Woohoo!
12:45Back in LA,
12:47I just want to give a little special up
12:49to that security guard.
12:50I mean,
12:52he was cool.
12:53And no,
12:53Kevin is not funner than him.
12:55He's played by Max Kaminsky
12:57and he is in fact
12:58a Trek alum.
12:59He appeared in two episodes
13:00of Enterprise.
13:02One,
13:02he was credited as Cunningham.
13:04Another one,
13:04he was credited as
13:05Crewman number two.
13:06So I think we'll just go ahead
13:07and call him Cunningham.
13:08And it's just nice to see
13:09more returning
13:10Star Trek actors
13:12from the past
13:13appearing
13:14in this show.
13:16So,
13:17yeah,
13:17I just wanted to give
13:17a little shout out to him.
13:18The delivery of the line,
13:20Kevin is not funner than me.
13:21That gets a note
13:21all by itself.
13:22Rios' story.
13:24Now,
13:24I will be honest,
13:25his first scene in LA
13:27almost got it down for me
13:29because I thought
13:31they played it for laughs
13:33straight away
13:33even though he looks
13:34really badly hurt.
13:36And it almost,
13:37almost got it down for me.
13:39We had to take him
13:40out of the game somewhat
13:41so that we could put him
13:41into Dr. Teresa's clinic
13:44and
13:45Dr. Teresa
13:49is an up for me
13:50this week.
13:51Sol Rodriguez,
13:53if she's not in every episode
13:54going forward,
13:55I'm going to be very upset.
13:56She is brilliant.
13:57The interplay between her
13:58and Rios
13:59in this episode
14:00is just wonderful.
14:02Oh my God,
14:02I loved her
14:03for a character
14:03we've never seen before
14:04and odds are
14:06we'll see her next week
14:06because she's arrested
14:08with Rios
14:08at the end of the episode.
14:10Wonderful.
14:11Oh my God.
14:12And also,
14:12I'm giving another up
14:14to little Ricardo
14:15hustling Rios
14:16to get the,
14:17to get the cookies,
14:19to get the con badge back.
14:20That, that,
14:21I just,
14:22I just love this episode.
14:24I, you know,
14:25but I really enjoyed it.
14:26There were so many good parts
14:27that went together
14:28to make this episode
14:29and just before we go on
14:30to cetacean observations now,
14:32overall,
14:33this episode is shorter.
14:35The pace has come down
14:36just a tiny little bit
14:37which was needed
14:38after those big whopper
14:40first two episodes.
14:41So even though
14:42a lot still happens here,
14:43it's slightly slower
14:45as we have people
14:45figuring out
14:46the where and the when
14:47of everything.
14:48Overall,
14:49again,
14:49another really strong episode
14:51this week.
14:52Season two of Picard,
14:54you are smashing it.
14:56But yes,
14:57now,
14:57will you please join me
14:58for cetacean observations?
15:06Honestly,
15:06I'm running out of paper.
15:07Now,
15:08okay,
15:09so first of all,
15:10we have Elnor's green blood.
15:11I thought that was done
15:12really well.
15:13We have,
15:14of course,
15:14the Nova class ships,
15:15the steamrunner class ships.
15:16I've included Q here
15:17in cetacean observations
15:18because it was really
15:19just a cameo this week.
15:21He speaks about,
15:22you know,
15:23see what living in fear
15:25has caused.
15:26First contact theme
15:27that plays
15:27while the Borg Queen
15:28ascends into hell.
15:29The slingshot around the sun.
15:31So this is directly
15:31from the one with the whales.
15:33And of course,
15:35tomorrow is yesterday.
15:36All our yesterdays.
15:38Tomorrow is yesterday.
15:39Tomorrow is yesterday
15:39for the original series.
15:40Rios counting up
15:41the warp scale
15:42is very evocative
15:43of Sulu
15:43or the one with the whales.
15:44The wormhole effects,
15:46I felt,
15:46return from the motion picture.
15:48When they arrive
15:49and they're in orbit
15:49over Earth,
15:50they talk about
15:50the pollution
15:51and the slight degradation
15:52of the ozone layer,
15:53which for me
15:54was evocative of Spock
15:55when they arrive
15:56in the Bird of Prey
15:57going,
15:58judging by the pollution
15:58content of the atmosphere,
15:59I would say
16:00that we have arrived
16:01in the latter half
16:01of the 20th century.
16:02I liked that.
16:03That was good.
16:04This one is potentially
16:05a bit of a reach.
16:06So on Elnor's medal,
16:08there is Semniok Khan,
16:10which he says
16:11translates to
16:12now is the only moment.
16:14I felt that this was
16:15a nod toward
16:15the inner light
16:16and Caman's insistence
16:19to his daughter
16:20Meribor
16:20to live now,
16:22make now
16:23the most important time.
16:25It may be a reach,
16:26that's fair,
16:27but that's what
16:27I got from that.
16:28Then we have
16:28the new tricorders.
16:30Now,
16:31I say new tricorders.
16:32These are Samsung
16:33Galaxy Z flip phones.
16:35Thank you very much
16:36to Jono Hayward
16:37for spotting that for me.
16:38These are just
16:39in a new body kit.
16:40That was cool.
16:41Markridge Industrial Tower.
16:43So that is played
16:44by Wilshire Grand Central
16:47in this episode,
16:48which I believe
16:49holds the record
16:50for being currently
16:50the tallest building
16:51in LA.
16:53I think it has that record
16:54by about 82 feet.
16:55That is a bit of a story.
16:57It was originally built
16:57in 1952
16:58and the original building
17:00existed until 2013
17:02when demolition was completed.
17:04This version of the building
17:05was completed in 2017.
17:08So it is a very modern
17:09piece of architecture
17:10and it's only two years
17:12in the future.
17:13Between now and then,
17:14it seems to be
17:15either going to change ownership
17:17or change name.
17:18So I wonder if
17:19Markridge Industrial Tower,
17:20I wonder if that's going to
17:21come into this season
17:22in some way.
17:23Now we have the
17:24postery for the...
17:25The postery?
17:25The postery for the sanctuary.
17:27The poster for the sanctuary district,
17:29of course,
17:30which is where
17:31Rafi teaches the Mogher
17:32that today was not the day
17:33and tomorrow is not
17:34looking very good either.
17:35Behind them is this
17:36massive poster
17:36for the Europa
17:37interplanetary mission
17:39to boldly go
17:41being written
17:42on this poster.
17:43And of course,
17:44Star Trek Picard
17:45has confirmed
17:45that in 2024,
17:48Rick and Morty
17:48will of course
17:49still be on the air.
17:50Oh, and I suppose
17:51as well there is
17:52the easter egg
17:52to the fact that
17:53in any reality,
17:55ice is pretty much
17:57a bunch of dicks.
18:04That is everything
18:05for this episode
18:06and I am certain
18:07that I have missed
18:08probably a lot of easter eggs.
18:10So please,
18:10let me know in the comments below
18:11if there's anything
18:12that you reckon I missed.
18:14Please don't forget
18:15to like, share
18:15and subscribe.
18:17And,
18:17to all of you out there,
18:19La Féle Partag Shona Dit,
18:20I hope you have
18:21a wonderful St. Patrick's Day.
18:23You look after yourself,
18:23you look after your friends
18:24and family,
18:26wherever you are
18:26in the world,
18:27please stay safe,
18:28particularly if you are
18:29in Ukraine now.
18:30I truly,
18:32truly hope
18:32that you are safe
18:33and that you are well.
18:35Please know
18:35that we are all
18:36thinking of you.
18:37Look after yourselves.
18:39Everyone,
18:40live long and prosper.
18:41Thanks very much.
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