"Memories" is the first episode of the new series, “Picard”, branded CBS and Amazon Prime, set in the Star Trek Universe.
A few days ago we published a article in which we had collected a couple of information to enjoy the episode to the fullest and today we talk about "Memories".
A week after the episode aired, I think I can say that more or less everyone interested has seen it. So know that this article will be full of spoiler e explanations citations scattered throughout the entire episode.
As usual, I suggest you prepare a good cup of warm Earl Gray and let's go straight to the explanation!
Blue Skyies, a hand full of women and Mars on fire.
A music greets us as we kick off the episode of the series Picard, this is the song of Irving Berlin, played several times by great singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day e Data. Do you remember that I advised you to watch some movies in the last article? Data, in the film “The Nemesis“, Performs his own version of Blue Skies during the wedding between William T. Reiker e Deanna Troy.
This was easy wasn't it?
Let's move on to the card game between Captain Picard and Data. The series where we got to know the crew of theEnterprise-D, "Star Trek: The Next Generation“, It ended with a game of poker.
Jean-Luc Picard said:
Simple Teresina, no wild cards and the sky as a limit.
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 7 Episode 25 part 2
This new episode opens with a game of poker to show that time hasn't passed in a way! The conversation between the two is also a clear reference to the various episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation”During which poker is one of the moments of aggregation between the senior officers.
During the scene, the Picard dusts off one of his distinctive features, the love of Earl Gray tea. The years pass and the tea, which was drunk, black and bitter, we see the addition of milk and sugar. Finally Data's hand is revealed and let's see five Women of Hearts. And what is the symbol of the Woman on French playing cards? A Q. Does it tell you anything? That the Q-elliptical will make an appearance in the season? I have another hypothesis, but it is very risky. Mezoti, a Norcadina assimilated as a drone as a child, holds a queen of hearts in her hand during an episode of "Star Trek: Voyager".
After such a "revelation", we see Mars under attack. I want to remind you that on Mars there were Federation shipyards in the region of Planetary Utopia. Only during the episode will we understand that we are faced with a memory linked to the explosion of the Romulan supernova. After this twist we find the elderly Jean-Luc who wakes up from the dream with a very prompt Number one, Jean-Luc's dog, to cuddle him.
Here we are in the presence of two distinct references. The first is the fact that sleep for Picard, since he was absorbed in the Borg collectivity between the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth season, it has always been a complicated moment. Memories mix within sleep and how we also got to see it in "First contact" they are very important for the protagonist.
We come to the dog. The dog is of the pit bull breed which, if I'm not mistaken, is very protective and at the same time very affectionate. Is that why Jean-Luc called him by the nickname he used for his first officer William T. Reiker?
When Picard gets up and opens the window, we see his family's vineyard near him Château Picard in La Barre, France. His brother Robert lived there and looked after it but, during the events of "Star Trek Generations“, Picard receives a message informing him that Robert and his son Rene died in a fire in the vineyard. It therefore appears that the vineyard has been restored since then.
Greater Boston and Dahj
We open the second part of the pre-opening in the city called Greater Boston. An enclave is perfectly visible in this futuristic city Ferengi (complete with Acquisition Rules on the illuminated sign).
The action moves to Dahj's apartment where she and her partner are celebrating her hiring at theDaystrom Institute. This institute is the most important study center on artificial intelligence, computers and synthetic organisms. We got to know Richard Daystrom, the creator of the duotronic computer, in the Original Star Trek series.
After this happy parenthesis some group of operatives in black attacks the girl and kills her partner. When the interrogation begins, the girl claims to be from Seattle and honestly I had a little laugh here. It seems that when someone in the Star Trek universe has to be grafted with fictitious memories of their origins, they are always traced back to Seattle just as they did with Ash Tyler in the series "Star Trek: Discovery".
After the aforementioned scene, the girl approaches the now defenseless body of her partner and, from the color of the blood, between red and orange, we are able to definitively remove the doubt about her race. Is one Xahean that we had already got to know during "Star Trek: Discovery".
We leave the girl in tears and enjoy the series theme song.
Theme of the series or theme of the episode "Memories"?
The theme song is a real return to the origins but, unlike the other themes of the Star Trek series, it is full of meanings. We are faced with a fragment that detaches itself from a cracked glass surface, and it is no coincidence that the first notes we hear are those played on a Mexican flute by Picard in the episode "A life to remember"(Star Trek: The Next Generation S5E25).
Here, personally, I have seen the Picard man leaving Starfleet because he is no longer what he was meant to be, and this shard of glass wanders, first on Earth from the Picard vineyards, and then wanders around the Galaxy. We see a Borg cube, a neuron breaking into two strands of DNA, what looks like an eye, clear reference to "First Contact" and finally this eye transforms into the Romulan supernova. We see the planet of Romulus destroyed and these pieces travel to "rebuild" Picard.
That the whole season is included in the acronym? It would certainly be a masterful work, but on the feelings that this series gives me, I will wait for the last episode to make a complete examination of what I have seen.
Tenuta Picard and Interview
Here quotationism is wasted!
Let's start with an analysis of the two servants Laris e Zhaban; these two characters are two Romulans with whom Picard had the opportunity to confront the comic Star Trek: Picard - Countdown. The two are two former members of the Tal Shiar the secret service of the fu Romulan Star Empire, and they met Picard on a mission. The friendship that was born between the three led them to find refuge in Chateaux Picard following the Romulan supernova.
As Picard sets out to give an important interview, while in front of the mirror, we see a fedora-type hat that refers to Dixon Hill, a character that Jean-Luc always played on the hologram deck.
Let's move on to the interview now. From what was supposed to be an interview on the Romulan supernova, this instead turns on the drama that led Picard to move away from Starfleet, namely the destruction of Utopia Planitia by the synthetic.
For those who were dry on news about Utopia Planitia, this was universally recognized as the best shipyard in the whole Quadrant. From its dry docks ships such as the USS Enterprise-D, USS Defiant and USS Voyager and for years Commander Benjamin Sisko worked on construction sites before becoming Commander of the space station Deep Space Nine.
The destruction of the construction sites of Utopia Planitia, and the consequent death of many thousands of people, has led to yet another change of course in the thinking of the human race. After the ban on genetic enhancements, some types of weapons, now the United Federation of Planets banned synthetic life forms.
Remember inside dreams. Remember inside a museum.
Before his meeting with Dahj, Jean-Luc lets himself go by citing one of his favorite authors Shakespeare. It was customary for the crew that worked at "Star Trek: The Next Generation“, To open a new page of the volume containing all the poet's works with each new episode in which the Captain's cabin was seen.
During his meeting with the girl we find two other interesting memories of Jean-Luc. When the girl asks him if he ever didn't recognize himself anymore, it is a clear reference to having been something more than a Borg Drone, but also when, in episode 25 of the fifth season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation“, He lives the last experiences of a world now destroyed, also this by a supernova.
After these events, we again witness a vivid dream in which Picard sees Commander Data paint a picture. Data used to deal with many genres of art, and painting played a fundamental role when in one episode he became aware of the sub-routine, apt to dream, that its creator had planned to create.
The dive into memories, however, is not over. While Dahj disappears as strangely as she arrived, Jean-Luc, caught by a doubt, heads towards the Fleet Archives where as soon as we enter we immediately see three model ships, including the USS Enterprise-E. The other two are the USS Stargazer, Jean-Luc Picard's first actual command, and the captain's spear seen for the first time in the film "Insurrection". We could say that it is an enhanced Runabout.
In addition to the ships we can see: one Bat'leth and Klingon knife, perhaps a reminder of the episode "The Way of the Klingon", the Shakespeare manuscript we talked about earlier, and a banner that comes directly from the second season. The banner, drawn by children on the USS Enterprise-D, was born following a particular day: "Captain's Day". This anniversary was used to boost the morale of the civilians aboard the ship and, as much as Picard hated this celebration, that episode is fundamental to the growth of the character.
As a last memorabilia from the past, Jean-Luc opens a compartment containing a painting and on the painting we can see the face of Dahj. The title of the painting is "Daughter".
Here things get a little complicated. Data, as part of his programming, has always tried to "procreate" and in episode 16 of the third season Data creates an android, a daughter. His offspring, which he calls Lal, a Hindu word meaning "beloved", goes beyond the programming that Data thought he was giving her, so much so that she felt affection and emotions, feelings too strong for her positronic matrix. The episode's ending is sad and melancholy, with Data's daughter experiencing catastrophic failures in her brain structure culminating in her death. However, before losing her entirely, Data manages to transfer his memories and feelings into his positronic structure.
End of the episode, still a couple of goodies
As things get complicated, the narrative shifts back to Dahj who showcases all the abilities his "father" was also possessed. By now we know that, in one way or another, Data is a kind of parent to Dahj and therefore we see her doing research and calculations in the same manner typical of Data. Interesting, always during the "revelation" of its nature, is the memory linked to a flower: an orchid. Anyone who remembers the episode we talked about earlier will surely remember the scene in which Lal sniffs what appears to be, in effect, an alien orchid.
What happens after this scene is a clash similar to what Data has with the Borg during his final fight with Lore (Data's evil brother). Following the tragic end of the scene, which leads to Dahj's death by Romulan special forces, Picard realizes that he can no longer spend his life waiting for the end and reacts (it was also now!).
His first act is to go to the Daystrom Institute where, speaking there with the Doctor Jurati (Played by Allison Pill, remember Scott Pilgrim's Sex-Bo-Bomb?), comes a name we haven't heard since the second season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Bruce Maddox.
Bruce Maddox is a Starfleet scientist who had always studied Data and his positronic matrix. The episode in which they meet is "The measure of a man”(ST: TNG 2 × 09) which, according to the fans, is the best episode of all seasons of the series. The topics covered were exciting, a legal battle over the power of a machine that feels like a human. The episode is full of very strong scenes, such as the one in which William T. Reiker is forced to interrupt the functioning of the android by calling him Pinocchio, as he had already done in the pilot episode of the series. Scenes to put the chills.
Finally, we see a disassembled B-4, the first version of Data, and Dr. Jurati "confessing".
But Maddox, therefore, has succeeded in his intent and we find ourselves at the end. The music that accompanies us inside a decommissioned Borg Cube is the soundtrack of the episode "Balance of Terror", Translated into Italian as"The Invisible Navicella"(Star Trek: The Original Series S1E15). Here we find Dahj's twin sister and the pounding pace of music that does not bode well.
Conclusions on "Memories"
I found this first episode very solid. We often delude ourselves when we wait years for something to follow. Many have complained that Picard is not Picard, that the subject matter is not Star Trek and much more. But I see in this episode all that 20 years of troubles have caused the galaxy. The topics dealt with are strong: forced emigration, relocation, rebuilding something lost, facing senility and the loss of historical memory. All very current topics and as always Star Trek helps us understand them better.
By the way, did you drink the tea I recommended? Here's one very last thing, hopefully fun. The captain has stopped drinking Earl Gray black as you have seen, but do you know that for years he has been one of the fixed points of the character, even if in effect it is not his distinctive character trait? In total Jean-Luc Picard only orders seven times the tea during the episodes of the series "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Tea must be seen as a kind of Linus blanket. He uses it in moments of high tension to stay lucid.
Now the doctor will have imposed it on him decaffeinated, who knows he won't start drinking it stronger during the series!
I hope I haven't gotten lost in memories and I haven't left out any Easter eggs. In case warn me! I would be very grateful to you!
