[Petrarch]

Episode Discussion

"The Star Gazer"

US Airdate: 03/03/2022 (Paramount+)
International: 04/03/2022 (Amazon Prime)

This thread is for the pre and post discussion of the first episode "The Star Gazer" - this will be a spoiler filled discussion so if you've found your way past the warnings in the activity stream and the spoiler tag on the thread, this is your last chance to turn back, or at least it will be at the end of this first post. You have been warned!

Starfleet must once again call on the legendary Jean-Luc Picard after members of his former crew – Cristóbal Rios, Seven of Nine, Raffi Musiker, and Dr. Agnes Jurati – discover an anomaly in space that threatens the galaxy.

You can find a preview of the episode details here.

The Star Gazer is episode 1 of 10 and the Season 2 opener.

Written by: Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas
Directed by: Doug Aarniokoski

[JByb04]

I don't know how to articulate my thoughts about this episode.

I did a lot of smiling and was very happy to see more of Starfleet. This is something the showrunners said would happen this season and I hope that they continue that trend.

It was good to see Picard and Guinan reunited. Of course, the reunion we've waited for since 1994, albeit brief in this episode definitely made me smile. Q even aged himself to be closer to Picard and the special effects in that scene were nothing short of extraordinary.

Finally, seeing ships from STO on the big screen. I can't help but feel a sense of pride, STO is now canon in a sense, and I am excited to see where this takes the game. But that is for another thread.

[Petrarch]

Here's a shot I found on Reddit of the fleet from the fist episode. As we can see here, we've got ourselves a Sovereign, Ross, Reliant, Gagarin, Sutherland, Luna, Inquiry, the La Sirena and capping that all off with a better look at the USS Stargazer.

I'm not sure what the modified Excelsior is, but it's not the Obena class that was seen in Lower Decks.

[Palechimera]

My personal thoughts about the first episode are this it's cool they have now incorporated some STO ships into the main series possibly leading to parts of STO as a whole being canonized.

Oh my god how I have missed Q and it was nice to see Picard and Guinan it's been a long time coming to see the both of them back on screen.

That fleet was so much better then the cut and paste fleet at the end of session one more of that please more star fleety.

In this session opening Picard felt much more like the Picard from TNG older and wiser but still having abit of that old backbone he had in the TNG era sprinkled in.

Overall I enjoyed the first episode it felt like the show runners and producers have learned from the mistakes of session one I hope session two continues to be as good.

[Shadowmeph]

I watched this when I got home from work 1 am and almost fell a sleep was fighting to stay awake then close to the end of the ep I woke up it was interesting ,There are few characters I like from stng one of course is Q

[Heyallo]

I want those uniforms.

[Jestersmith]

I found it was not a bad episode I liked it I felt the showing us where everyone was after last season was more filler than was needed but on the whole, it was a good season opener

[Chris Wilkinson]

So I went into this episode with a lot of trepidation as I really didn't enjoy the first season of Picard. It really didn't do the character or franchise any favours (imho).

This episode has really brought back some of what I was looking for in that first season, and as someone here has already mentioned, seeing Picard as you would've expected him rather than just being that frail old man.

I had an almost internal fanboy squee when I saw that Sovereign class up close as the fleet was defeated as I missed seeing such an iconic ship last season, plus it's one of my personal favourites.

So far, I'm psyched for the next episode to come out and I'm hoping this will continue. Also, I love how they potrayed Q getting "older"

[trekchu]

The above post so much in so many ways. The introduction of the Stargazer was the best Star Trek moment we've had since.... since the Big E appeared in DSC Season 1.

And I agree with just about everything Guinan said.

EDIT: They ignored one golden rule: If you encounter ambient green light, you go to Red Alert.

[Ricwin]

Episode 1 of the last Peaky Blinders was a bit disappointing and felt lackluster after finishing season 5, but this first episode of Picard season 2 was superb; this is how you open a new season.
Introduce the old gang and what they're now doing, albeit with more filler than was necessary, introduce the new character traits for the season such as Rios trying to walk the line between privateer and starfleet captain, and Picards self doubt about missed chances, throw in a new intrigue, some action and a new threat for this arc. It was great to see the Borg again even if they're radically different now, and John De Lancie reprising his role as Q was the icing on the cake.

Seeing the Fleet assembled before the anomaly gave me some Dominion War vibes too. It was very gratifying to see ships from STO included and now made canon. Call me skeptical though, but I wouldn't be surprised if the showrunners approached the STO devs to ask for their ships as a cheaper and easier way to add some variety after all the Copy & Paste complaints over the ending of Season 1.

[Saelanna]

When he first saw the green anomaly my husband (who didn't even know there was a second season on its way and therefore avoided the hype train) said:

"It's the Borg! Only the Borg make green ♥♥♥♥!"

Although I am a first-class passenger on the aforementioned hype train and I already had my own theories on the Borg's return I reply:

"Not entirely sure that's true dear, that only the Borg make green ♥♥♥♥."

Hate it when the part-time trekker I married gets to look smugly at me from his armchair when I've convinced him to watch an episode of Star Trek.

Loved the episode, it was a much better start to this season than it was to the first.

[Sul-Matuul]

I really enjoyed that.

A better start to a season than last time, continuing the tradition of first seasons of Trek shows being rather questionable! Lol.

Nice to see them showing us what people are up to. And adding in some familiar things from the past was done well and not too in your face to seem gimmicky. I spotted the Shenzhou and Excelsior amongst the hall of fame ship display. The auto destruct code was the same one Kirk used in ST:III; a fun little touch I thought.
And we’re those Deltan’s that Soji was wining and dining with? A possible link with the story we have in STO now…🤔

[Miles]

Just three words:

I loved it!

[Arno12]

Dave Blass just posted pics of the new Stargazer:
https://mobile.twitter.com/DaveBlass...69629736910851

[trekchu]

My Season 2 theory.

In before the new Borg Queen is Seven after some giant-ass causality loop. Mostly because of the song.