#dehj

Obviously this contains spoilers, but all spoilers will be after the cut, I promise!

BUT FIRST let me just say I really enjoyed it. Much like Discovery, it’s a modern TV show created for a modern audience, so no, it’s not exactly like the original TV series, but that’s okay! For me, I feel like it’s not the type of show I will go back and rewatch random episodes of when I feel like it, but that’s okay too!

First off, I really enjoyed the music. I think it was subtle in the right ways as to not take away from the scene, but when it swelled it was perfectly done. I know the theme wasn’t as iconic as the TV series, but I’m okay with it only because the rest of the music used was so gorgeous.

Second, the visuals are STUNNING. You can tell how much care and detail went into what they are showing, and I just know there will be all sorts of Easter eggs as we keep going.

Third, I love old-man Picard.

NOW WE GET TO SOME SPOILERS AND PREDICTIONS.

Dahj and Soji Asher? I AM INTRIGUED. So we know that something about these girls is enhanced? Synthetic? Picard says he believes Dahj to be Data’s “daughter”, created from his neural net, but I’m not sure I believe that. Either way, her parents (mom at least) are in on the plan, which goes against my initial thought that she was sent to kill Picard. I’m very interested in why they had to “activate” Dahj, I’m thinking that if she was an Android, like Picard says, then she would know who/what she is, unless it was intentionally “edited” out of her mind.

So a thought occurred to me: what if Dahj and her sister are androids who were created prior to the Mars attack, then had their memories cleared so that they would never be prosecuted for being Synthetics? While I think this is possible, it seems odd that her attackers would use the term “activated” for her remembering this.

At some point another thought appeared in my head: what if Maddox, in his attempt to create a Data-like android after the ban, has been trying to use Borg technology in order rebuild a stable neural net that can support advanced AI? This would tie into why Hugh and Seven get involved, as they are presumably experts in Borg neurobiology, psychology, and engineering.

Mini-theory about Seven, in the trailer she says “what are you doing out here”, which to me implies that they are not on Earth, or anywhere in the Sol system. I have a hunch that Seven, being liberated Borg and therefore still partially synthetic, might have experienced a good amount of prejudice from people in the Federation after the Mars Attack, so she’s isolated herself in some distant corner of the galaxy. This also makes me interested to know what’s happened to The Doctor in all this.

ANYWAY, we finally got (a bit of) an answer as to what’s happening on the Borg cube. It’s a “Romulan Reclamation Site”. Reclamation is an interesting word choice, as it typically implies garbage disposal, but I don’t think that’s the case here. What if it’s more of a “re-claim-ation” site? My current running theory is that some Romulans blame the Synthetics and their attack on Mars for preventing Starfleet from helping more Romulans escape before Romulus was destroyed. So now (fitting it into my Maddox theory) they are also using Borg technology in the attempt to overpower and destroy the remaining Synthetics and, especially, Maddox. So perhaps Soji is there simply because she is sympathetic to the plight of the Romulans, or else she knows that she in at least part synthetic herself and also has a vendetta against Maddox. But it also seems implied that Soji is some sort of psychologist? So I’m not sure here.

Smaller thoughts: Agnes Jurati. I don’t trust her. I don’t think she’s intentionally being evil or malicious when she talks to Picard, but I think that, given the chance, she would jump at the opportunity to rejoin Maddox and help him. I shall be keeping my eye on her lol.

Interestingly the wikipedia page for the show specifically says that Narek (the dude from the end of the episode talking to Soji) is “investigating what his people are doing to former Borg drones”, but the article cited for it doesn’t say anything about it, so I don’t know exactly where this came from….but I like it.

Finally, I cannot wait for the moment when Picard shows up at Starfleet, asking to be reinstated (as seen in the trailers), and the dude is like “seriously???? you just shit on us publically????” Hence why Picard assembly his crazy crew instead.