[Turtleboy]

Pretty predictable finale. Lots of people called it. The golem was for Picard - or at least they ended up using it for him. Even though it was predictable, I'm glad there wasn't any out of left field WTF moments.

Questions:

1. The synths can always rebuild the beacon, right? They can do it next week.

2. The Romulans also realize this and can come back and destroy them all next week. It just seemed a little unfulfilling. Why wouldn't the Romulans come back and kill them all.

3. Was the hand holding between Raffi and Seven at the end supposed to be indicative of something more to their relationship? It seemed a little too close for "just friends".

I guess next season is going to be Picard and this crew going on missions, seeking out new life and civilizations, etc. We know that (casting/character spoiler)

Spoiler

that Guinan/Whoopi Goldberg is going to be in the next season at some point

.

 

[martinp13]

As Marvin would say, "Where's the earth-shattering kaboom???" No dire straits cliffhanger? They had the perfect opportunity when Picard died. If I remember the timeline right, Picard was ok'ed for a second season before the first one had started to air. Season 1 may have already been in the can. So it's possible they thought "We may just get one season out of this, so let's end it on a good note. We will have set up for the future, if we get renewed."

I complete agree with 1 and 2 above, especially 2. Seriously, the Zhat Vash is going to leave that planet alone??? They've spent lifetimes trying to find that planet to "sterilize" it.

When Oh was on the warbird, she said something and the CC gave her another name, sounded Romulan. Forgot to go back and check. :/

 

[crazywater]

Complete and utter trash! I can't believe I was able to get through this garbage. But I had to see what they were going to do to completely destroy Star Trek.

 

[lalouque]

All this just to finally kill off Data? And Spot only got to guest star in 1 episode??

 

[Craigbob]

I'm going to have to think about this some more, but to me this had a sense of Star Trek: Generations for me. The synth's using the tower trying to open the portal was similar to Soren trying to destroy the sun so the Nexus Ribbon would intersect where he was standing on the platform. Only in this case Kirk I mean Picard lives. To me is was too familiar.

So is the rest of Starfleet in the know that Admiral Oh was working with the Romulans all along? I bet they feel stupid.

So Riker never retired as a Captain. I'd have thought he'd make Commodore at least.

I understand why they didn't have the Enterprise, but It would've been a nice touch.

Data is gone, but Brett Spiner can still appear as Soong. Win-Win I guess. Plus there's still Lore ut there somewhere. I'm glad that I was wrong and that Soong did not turn out to be Lore in some form.

Ought to be interesting what Next Season brings.

 

[kdmorse]

Pretty predictable finale. Lots of people called it. The golem was for Picard - or at least they ended up using it for him. Even though it was predictable, I'm glad there wasn't any out of left field WTF moments.

Yah, we were clearly overthinking things in the last thread. There didn't appear to be any deeper mysteries, it all played out extremely predictably. I think 'unfulfilling' describes it best. Not bad, just far less than was hoped for.

Also, someone needs to go back to orbital Genocide 101. The Romulan+Cardassian fleet did it right in DS9 - exit warp, scan the planet, and open fire. No faffing about. If they had just opened fire any of the many times they took time out preparing to open fire, they would have completed their mission. Or, immediately opening fire on Picard would have worked as well. But no, apparently they decided to repeatedly set their targeting systems to 'dramatic pause' instead.

Other lingering questions, what's to stop them from firing Data's simulation back up any time they need to? And what exactly was the otherworldly synth menace, it sure looked alot like the menace from ST: Discovery.

 

[Rob Helmerichs]

I will say again, this whole season felt like a pilot episode...

 

[Turtleboy]

So because Agnes was helpful at the end, it's ok that she murdered Maddox?

 

[Family]

I said I was out halfway through, but kept pushing on. There I admitted it!

It was too network. The ending had the feel of a Disney series. I hung in because of what it once was, but there was nothing special.

Can someone please explain why the doctor was welcomed back to the group so easily after killing her mentor? Lost attention there.

I was a huge Star Trek fan from the original series. I'll watch season 2, but because of old connections, not because of the quality of the series.

 

[kdmorse]

So because Agnes was helpful at the end, it's ok that she murdered Maddox?

I think all is forgiven. I think all was forgiven two episodes ago.

Doesn't mean it should be, or that it makes sense - but I think everyone's been fine with her for a while now.

 

[Tony_T]

Well, at least the bomb that Soji threw into the air didn’t have a countdown clock

 

[kdmorse]

Well, at least the bomb that Soji threw into the air didn't have a countdown clock

And she has one *hell* of a throwing arm... that looked like a pretty big boom.

 

[mattyro7878]

With a story that was humming along so strong I doubt any ending would have been truly satisfying. Best part is we have another ten episodes to look forward to.

 

[mattyro7878]

And yeah, Agnes should at least got hit with "Romulan Induced Manslaughter ".

 

[jeremy3721]

Some great stuff but some really bad stuff too. At least they made sure we know they are woke with one of the most contrived suggestions of a lesbian relationship I’ve ever seen. Pandering level 11 right there.

 

[JYoung]

So because Agnes was helpful at the end, it's ok that she murdered Maddox?

I suspect the argument will be that Oh did more than meld with her but bent Jurati to her will.

Still probably not a great idea to be like "It's all ok" around her now.
I mean it's not like we have Worf to keep an eye on her.

Now, I'm finding this better than the other Kurtzman efforts plus it's Patrick Stewart.
But maybe it's just me, but I found the finale to be on the underwhelming side.

Honestly, I think I would have respected them more if they had the fortitude to actually kill off Picard but they didn't. (Because what to we do for Season 2 then?)
Bringing him back this way felt somewhat on the cheap side.

Still I liked this a lot better than Discovery.
(Ok, not a particularly high bar to clear.)

 

[TheSlyBear]

A bit of a Ghost in the Shell vibe going on: does copying a consciousness really mean it's the same person?

 

[smbaker]

I thought the season finale sucked. There was no dramatic tension with the death of Picard as it was clear he would be reanimated before the end of the episode (Chekhov's Golem). Terminating Data seemed pretty silly, though I'm assuming Brent Spiner wanted it that way.

The Romulan / Federation standoff looked like bad CGI from an amateur film.

I did enjoy Riker's in the nick of time moment, he had a great presence in that scene. It's too bad they didn't throw a surprise in, like a Worf appearance.

Mechanical doomsday transdimensional-aliens weren't all that disturbing, also had that bad CGI feel to them, and for some super-baddie who set up this whole season by engineering the admonition, they seemed trivially shooed away.

As pointed out upthread, both threats (the synths and the Romulans) still exist, and the ships can return as fast as they bugged out. These were the Romulan super duper secret people, couldn't they have done something a little more subtle than fly 200 ships in to destroy the place by overwhelming brute force? Maybe they'll show up with a suitcase nuke next week.

I enjoyed the rest of the season though.

 

[Worf]

I'm guessing the part after everyone is mourning was filmed after season 2 was announced. The writers typically write to ensure they can continue to season 2 if renewed, but if not, they have an ending. In this case, Picard dies, while keeping the golem as a nefarious plot device that so happened to be useful as a season 2 continuation device if necessary.

Looking at the broadcast time, it seems about right - the whole Data scene starts at the 1 hour mark (I catch it on broadcast TV, where it runs for 1h20m). Implying if the show was not renewed, they'd chop it at everyone mourning and that's that. But since it's renewed, the extra 20 minutes was used to bridge to season 2.

Such is TV life these days - you don't want to end on a cliffhanger unless you know you're renewed - leaves too many sticky ends in case someone else wants to pick it up later on in the future, nevermind angering all the fans left with a hanging thread.

As for the Romulans and Synths, well, the planet is in Federation space, so attacking it would be an act of war. And honestly, there are plenty of other border worlds in the same predicament. Plus, it's not like the secret Romulan group is a secret anymore - they are known to both sides and are no longer just thought to be a tale. The synths could always use the beacon, but I suspect Soji was the only one who had knowledge of how to do so and she's wanting to explore since the other synth was deactivated.

I mean, if you're going to go through those, you might as well ask why the Borg aren't attacking all the time.

And yes, this is classic Trek - always very divisive among fans, so at least CBS did something right.

 

[Rob Helmerichs]

I doubt very, very much that they brought everybody back (or even would have been able to) and rebuilt the sets for such extensive reshoots several months after filming ended! I'm the ending was as originally planned, with the option, as you suggest, for removing it if necessary.