Warning: This evaluation could include spoilers.
Whatever the weather are that go into making an awesome episode of tv Star Trek: Picard’s third episode “Seventeen Seconds” has it in spades. Intense battle past the house battles, advanced and layered plotting, masterful storytelling, extraordinarily sharp and biting dialogue, heart-pounding motion, and spectacular, movie-level particular results, they’re all there.
Performance smart there isn’t a single actor this episode who didn’t convey their “A” sport. But, the true star of this episode is producer Terry Matalas, who knew simply find out how to put all these components collectively to create the most effective episodes of the Star Trek franchise in many years. He properly employed one in all his stars with main directing chops, Jonathan Frakes, to direct this distinctive episode that recaptures the the magic that made Star Trek: Next Generation, one of the crucial revered collection of the franchise.
Matalas will get the significance of wealthy Star Trek historical past and has used it to full benefit all season. He continues to pay respect/homage to not solely Next Generation historical past but additionally to the opposite Star Trek reveals of that period. And his nods to that historical past could be at instances both delicate like Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) engaged on a mannequin of her former Star Trek: Voyager ship or revealing that the Titan’s science officer could certainly be a Vulcan, to a bit extra in your face like utilizing the Changelings as brokers of chaos on this drama and revealing this 12 months’s final villain’s plan of attempting to re-ignite the Dominion Wars of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine lore.
Story smart there are such a lot of layers in “Seventeen Seconds,” each balanced completely to offer them the time to develop as they need to. It is masterful how Picard (Patrick Stewart) is made to relive Riker (Jonathan Frakes)’s horror of a fearful seventeen-second trip to study if his injured newly arrived son might be dying. The second when Picard turns into a father mirrors Riker’s in a fantastically directed second completed with out dialogue. More perception is given into Riker’s psyche of how the alternatives he made again then in the end value him his son and maybe his household. It’s in a essential second when Picard hesitates that Riker urges him to not make the identical errors he did in selecting responsibility over household. Then there’s the not-so-happy household reunion between Beverly (Gates McFadden), Jean-Luc, and their son, Jack (Ed Speleers). That first non-public confrontation between Beverly and Picard the place she explains her causes for her silence will go down as one of many nice scenes in Star Trek historical past because of the insane chemistry between Stewart and McFadden and their appreciable performing abilities.
Regarding the villain of the season, having Vadic (Amanda Plummer) use the stolen portal weapons Raffi (Michelle Hurd) is trying to find as a method to have the Titan ship its personal loss of life blow is sheer genius. As formidable as Vadic is, she is simply the employed gun. Someone else is asking the pictures, and it will not be stunning to search out that, that somebody is a returning adversary Next Generation’s previous. And Raffi and her new associate, an older/wiser, kinder, “gentler?” Worf (Michael Dorn) suspect somebody is taking part in a a lot, a lot larger sport.
Much of this wouldn’t work with out understanding find out how to use the phrases to inform the story. By that I imply, understanding when to make use of phrases completely, like Worf’s droll, sarcastic supply, “Beheadings are on Wednesday” and understanding when to not use phrases and letting the actors inform the story with their faces, just like the McFadden and Stewart do as Beverly works to save lots of their dying son.
What have we discovered this episode? Something very huge is a foot and it’s going to take the entire staff to face it. There was one other transient arrival within the type of Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi Riker in a hologram and extra are certain to return. We discovered that good partnerships work even when there’s intense battle between the events, and this week confirmed that expertly with Picard and Beverly, Picard and Riker, Worf and Raffi, Riker and Shaw (Todd Stashwick who does some nice work turning over command of the Titan again to its former Captain after he’s significantly injured), and Seven and Jack who uncover that the Titan has a saboteur on board, as Ryan continues to shine exhibiting her character develop right into a Starfleet management function. Most importantly, we discovered that Terry Matala is aware of find out how to make an awesome episode of tv and that he ought to rent Jonathan Frakes to direct all of the episodes! Buckle up as a result of if “Seventeen Seconds” was this distinctive what comes subsequent is certain to be epic!
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