Garibaldi

Must’ve been very frustrating for him, as they never really grew his character or took it anywhere new. All the Native American stuff always felt ham-fisted and one dimensional. He seemed to have a particular dislike for Robert Picardo, who apparently used to read the script and say things like ‘that’s a funny line. Why isn’t it mine?’ Still, as you say, he lasted out the entire series. Like a jaded cop trying to get his pension.

I think the biggest problem so far is that there’s no sense of threat. It’s ok for the antagonists’ motives to not be entirely clear at the moment, but for them to be boring as well is a fatal combination. Between the charismatically void baddies, with their incompetent hit squads and tedious ‘one more week! This time I really mean it, grrrr!’ posturing, I can barely keep my eyes open when they’re on screen.

I can't wait for next week's episode where they infiltrate a fancy-dress party.

You are technically correct (the best kind of correct.) The new specialisations were largely awful, though, so having a leg-up on people who didn’t want to grind for them was rendered moot. Plus, I think some were expecting content like the ‘classified’ missions to be a little more substantial, whereas they were bite-sized. Tbh, I never considered it an appealing package, but I can understand why folk could feel let down.

Their season passes often fall into the pattern of one good, but short DLC, other lacklustre DLCs, and assorted fluff. You can put Watch Dogs; Assassins Creed: Syndicate; Far Cry 4 and Far Cry 5 into that bracket. Can’t speak to ones I haven’t played, but I’m sure there are others. If we’re talking free content, some of that is admittedly very good. Far Cry: Arcade was excellent.

Lot of understandably pissed off ultimate edition owners on reddit who starved on a thin gruel of exclusive content in year one and are now seeing the meaty expansions planned for year two. Hopefully this’ll put them off buying a season pass in advance, as nine times out of ten it’s a stupid idea, and Ubisoft don’t have a great track record for providing value for money when they already have your money.

Confusing trailer. I thought...

Which would certainly be convenient when the writers can’t figure out how to show rock bottom in a post-capitalist society. Not all of Trek lore is sacrosanct, obviously, but Earth’s post wealth status is a bit too fundamental to the Trek universe to be hand-waved.

Sure, the pilot would charge as he operates inside and outside Federation space. So money has uses for him. Inherited property I can go along with. What I mean is that Raffi still could’ve had a fairly swish apartment in one of the major cities, and free councilling for her bad years, so the whole ‘I’ve been discarded to live like trailer trash’ plotline doesn’t make sense. Unless she wanted the isolation, but it very much sounds like she didn’t.

No, her living in a trailer doesn’t make any sense unless that’s the way she wanted it. There’s a reason Sisko called Earth ‘Eden.’ Everyone can have a proper home, everyone is provided for. So that makes Raffi a..uh...hipster outcast?

Yeah, that....wasn’t great. Clumsy attempt to blend old and new Trek.

Picard’s fighting ability was very elastic in TNG, so I was interested to see how they handled it here. He could hold his own against Klingons and Nausicans, but Malcom McDowell’s Soren punched him in the face and he flailed. They should probably have it more like in Starship Mine, where he’s a quick witted improviser that uses the environment against his enemies. Of course, on leaving earth he should always carry one of those old style, key fob sized phasers as well. Or tilt into full ‘nudge nudge, remember this?’ territory and bring back the daft Ferengi energy whips from TNG series one.

Not bad, but a beat which didn’t feel true to Picard’s character.

Even with a lot of incurable conditions, the patient’s remaining lifespan and quality of life can still be improved with treatment. The Doctor in the episode said ‘some of them are treatable.’ Thought it might’ve been prudent for Picard to find out which ones!

I’m surprised he didn’t tell his Doctor exactly what the brain condition was. Might have helped with some pre-emptive treatment!