deerstalker

They all have a million secrets. What’s so bad about this one? The St. Catherine’s drama club is struggling to put up its first school play – Sophocles’ “Antigone.” As if staging this tragedy in an all-girls Catholic school isn’t challenging enough, the cast’s beloved director ends up betraying them in an unforgivable way — […]

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine - Photo Cr: Matt Kennedy/CBS

It’s amazing how a single cameo can make Star Trek: Picard feel like The Next Generation never ended. After Riker’s fantastic appearance last week, all I want is to watch more Star Trek. This episode is a stark contrast to last week’s idyllic setting though. As great as Riker’s retirement looks, things aren’t so peaceful elsewhere on the show. Cornered in the Queen cell, Elnor put out a distress call to Seven of Nine. She arrives just in time too. As a squad of Romulan soldiers momentarily blind him before attacking, it looks like a fight he might lose. Just before the soldiers kill Elnor, Seven of Nine makes her grand entrance, taking them all down. How did this character get so much cooler between Voyager and now? Not that I’m complaining.

Turns out that’s nothing compared to what comes later. As they head into the Queen cell, Seven of Nine steals the Borg cube. Which, as a former Borg, she’s able to do. As soon as she does that, the cube starts repairing itself, much to the dismay of Narissa. What Seven has to do next is a little dicier. She finds that the cube is full of Borg who haven’t been revived yet. They’ve been cut off from the collective, but haven’t regained their consciousness. She could use them to create her own localized collective, but she’s afraid she wouldn’t want to let them go afterwards. That she would become the new Borg Queen. Narissa forces her hand though, when she starts slaughtering XBs. Seven plugs into the Borg cube and awakens all the remaining Borg. I have to say, watching her eyes go black and green and hearing “We are the Borg” was actually scary.

Evan Evagora as Elnor; Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine – Photo Cr: Matt Kennedy/CBS

Narissa ejects most of the newly awakened Borg into space, but it looks like she didn’t account for all of them. As the Romulans prepare to leave the cube and head to Soji’s home planet, the remaining Borg systematically take out her guards. Narissa manages to phaser a few of them, but they overwelm her and tear her apart. It looks like something out of a zombie movie. I guess that’s what happens when Seven’s angry. There’s a brief moment where we’re not sure if Seven will actually give up the power. Elnor even thinks she’ll assimilate him. The Borg says that Annika still has work to do and releases her. I like that bit of tension, and I wish it lasted longer. Star Trek is at its most interesting when it’s about someone struggling with great power. There’s a little bit of that here, but it’s solved too quickly. Oh well, I guess the episode had enough going on as it is.

Meanwhile, back on the ship, Raffi’s figured out most of what was going on with Jurati. That she killed Bruce Maddox and put herself in a coma to destroy the tracker inside her. Unfortunately, Raffi thinks that means Jurati’s a Romulan spy. I mean, that’s what she’s being used as, but she doesn’t know that. It’s all too much for Rios, who freaks out seeing Soji aboard his ship. Picard asks for a secure channel to Starfleet and a course to Deep Space 12. He needs a squadron with him if he’s going up against the Tal Shiar. Rios says he’ll take them to DS12, but that’s as far as he goes. He’s quitting.

Santiago Cabrera as Cristobal Rios; Isa Briones as Soji; Michelle Hurd as Raffi – Photo Cr: Matt Kennedy/CBS

This sends Raffi on a ship-wide search to find out what exactly is going on with Rios. He locked himself in his quarters and left his ship’s AIs in charge of everything. They’re all modeled after Rios, but each with their own ridiculous accent and personality. They also have random bits of memory deleted. Like Rios was trying to forget something. He did a sloppy job though, as each one remembers a little piece of something. Still not enough to tell Raffi everything, but enough that she can start to put it together. It’s a fun, comedic bit in the middle of the episode, and as soon as it’s over we see why it was there. The show was preparing us for the infodump to follow.

Yes, we’re about to go to Soji’s homeworld next week, so Picard realized it needed to get us all up to speed now. It turns out the incident that ended in Rios’ discharge from Starfleet involved two synthetics. One of whom looked exactly like Soji. They were from the planet Maddox escaped to after the ban. Rios’ captain welcomed them in, but after a call from Commodore Oh, killed them both and then himself. That’s what drove Rios into depression.

Santiago Cabrera as Crist–bal Rios; Michelle Hurd as Raffi; Sir Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard; Alison Pill as Agnes Jurati; Isa Briones as Soji – Photo Cr: Trae Patton/CBS

From there, the rest of the crew pieces together the whole story behind the Synth ban. The Tal Shiar found a warning that Synth life would eventually create a destroyer. An android that surpassed human ability. That android would bring about the destruction of their world. The Tal Shair took that warning seriously, forming the Zhat Vash to hunt down synthetic life. To do that, a half-Vulcan, half-Romulan named Oh infiltrated Starfleet. Then, they carried out the attack on Mars to force Starfleet to outlaw all synthetic life. The attack was a Romulan opperation. I loved this scene. Yes, it was all people sitting around vomiting exposition, but it was done well. People sitting around monologuing at one another is compelling TV when the actors are all this good. Picard even gets in some words of wisdom as he always does. One single person can’t possibly be the destroyer. The true destroyer is fear. Yeah, that’s the kind of philosophizing I expect from the Captain of the Enterprise-D.

This episode wasn’t the action-packed thriller I was expecting after last week’s trip to Riker’s place. It didn’t need to be, though. Picard finally answered questions we’ve had since episode one. And it found a fun, engrossing way to do it. The show has a fantastic cast, and they all got to flex their muscles here. I didn’t realize it, but this is what I was hoping for from Star Trek: Picard from the beginning: A bunch of great actors doing their job very well. Next week, we head to Soji’s home planet. After their conversation, Soji decides she needs to warn the people there, and they don’t have time to wait around DS12 for a squadron to escort them. That’s going to make the mission much more dangerous, but where would the fun be if it wasn’t?

Star Trek: Picard streams Thursdays on CBS All Access.

Previously on Star Trek: Picard:

• Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Episode 7 recap
• Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Episode 6 recap
• Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Episode 5 recap

Today in Congress, California’s Rep. Katie Porter did something incredible. She was questioning Robert Redfield, the director of the Center for Disease Control and after breaking down the average cost for an uninsured person in America to go through the process of COVID-19 testing, she brought up a statute that allows Redfield himself to authorize payment to make testing for the virus free for everyone, regardless of their insurance coverage or lack thereof.

Porter was pushing the director to commit to doing that, to making diagnostic testing free for every American.

Redfield tried to demure a few times, saying they’d do everything they can, they’re working their hardest, blah blah blah. If you’re familiar with Porter (and you should be!) you know that these kinds of answers don’t satisfy her.

In just five minutes, she gets the CDC director to commit to free testings. It’s truly incredible to see.

I did the math: a full battery of coronavirus testing costs at minimum $1,331.

I also did the legal research: the Administration has the authority to make testing free for every American TODAY.

I secured a commitment from a high-level Trump official that they’d actually do it. pic.twitter.com/RmolCtmNbG

— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) March 12, 2020

“Everybody in America, hear that,” Porter said at the end of her time, after Redfield gave her an unequivocal “yes.”

“You are eligible to go get tested for coronavirus and have that covered, regardless of insurance,” she said. “Do not let a lack of insurance worsen this crisis.”

Katie Porter is a national treasure and what she just did will save lives. https://t.co/bznHGHG8Qn

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) March 12, 2020

How many lives did Katie Porter save today using a whiteboard, a bullshit detector, and an ability to retain focus? https://t.co/kRAw56xF5m

— Hart Hanson (@HartHanson) March 12, 2020

Katie Porter is doing what the President is too incompetent to do https://t.co/ID8XEB1BIu

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 12, 2020

Holy shit. Katie Porter holds the CDC Director’s feet to the fire and gets him to commit to FREE TESTING for coronavirus for ALL AMERICANS.

Watch every second of this.pic.twitter.com/dQMbhR5Oaa

— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) March 12, 2020

Katie Porter actually does what grandstanding useless Congressmen think they’re tricking people into believing they’re doing https://t.co/7nIEVXqO0Z

— Erin 🧼 Ryan (@morninggloria) March 12, 2020

Le’s see what else is out there today.

• A certain someone just lifted Thor’s hammer and we’re wondering how that’s even possible. (via CBR)
• There’s a Scream reboot coming our way from the Ready or Not filmmakers. (via The Hollywood Reporter)
• A helpful bit of science:
  

  Lots of science-y folks are posting this graph. But if there is one thing I have learned from being on the internet, it is this:

  Data/graphs: Not compelling to many.

  Kitties: Compelling to many.

  So I present: #Catteningthecurve.#scicomm #epitwitter pic.twitter.com/Cr1xQXMppr

  — Anne Marie Darling (@amdar1ing) March 11, 2020

• How coronavirus fears are affecting the sex industry. (via HuffPost)
• This is some good news nestled in among some bad news:
  

  All cast members (employees) will be paid during the month! They usually get paid week-by-week, so this is extremely good to hear!! https://t.co/82yGnOV7FE

  — Julia Alexander (@loudmouthjulia) March 12, 2020

• Here’s a sneak peak of a behind-the-scenes Schitt’s Creek documentary featuring the most devastating scene of the season so far.
  

  On April 7th, the #SchittsCreek series finale will be followed by an hour-long special – Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: A Schitt’s Creek Farewell

  Join us from the ~earlier time~ of 8pm (8:30NT) on @CBC.

  Here’s your first look at the special: pic.twitter.com/4j8nluYXcV

  — Schitt’s Creek (@SchittsCreek) March 12, 2020

What did you all see out there today? Anything slightly less devastating?

(image: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

The school festival squads final run through is lookin good. Bakugo is being the most extreme metalhead in UA history but this bound is about to put in some work! Ashido and Jiro have this dance and musical performance handled and I’m excited to see it all come together. While I will always take fists to faces and quirk flexxin, you enjoy these innocent moments and that isn’t some small feat.

Oh and if you really want to talk about finesse, who would’ve expected a wannabe Youtuber could ever keep the villain equilibrium at a respectable level after the fervor that Chisaki exuded?! Not me. Not never. And in struts Gentle Criminal sippin that marvelous tea, stuntin on fools in a Victorian era Dracula cloak, pimp cane, pinstripe pants, TWO belts and purple scarf! Maaaannn, I’m anxiously awaiting his party crashing scene.

Being the caring soul that he is, it’s like midnight and all Deku is concerned with is the wear and tear of the rope he’s been using to maneuver a twinkling Aoyama, the human disco ball, around. Of course he decides to get a new one in the morning to be safe during the showcase. After a nice 5:30am training session with All Might, where Hatsume delivered the specially requested gloves for young Midoriya, he heads out to the convenience store for this ridiculous rope purchase. Have I mentioned how unreal this whole setup is?

As expected, the store is next door to the cafe that Gentle Criminal stopped by for the Gold Tips flow. Deku recognizes his voice after nearly bumping into him and decides to be the best young hero in training he can be.

Deku presses the man with the tea dining ritual and the showdown begins. Words of courage and determination spill out of our boy’s mouth because doesn’t want Gentle to make a move on his school, for Eri and everyone’s sake…but mostly for Eri. A quick look around is all the One For All inheritor needs to get staticky. It’s Saturday morning so there aren’t many people out. Gentle asks Brava to start filming and he does his vlog intro before Deku gets the smoke.

After all this time, we get to see Gentle Criminal’s powers in action. Little did I know, we’d be dealing with Hisoka’s long lost nen brother but boy was it an interesting power. The master of elasticity puts the work in on Deku! After trampolining the kid about 200 feet into the air, the gentlemanly villain and his “honey” use his powers to spring through the sky and get ready to pounce on UA.

As Deku is flying through the sky he remembers how excited Eri had become, and how much he wants to spend time with her and Mirio, so he regains his composure, mid tumble, lines up the hand yopper and let’s off his patented new air cannon finger blast like BLOAW!

After the rush of the success and progress, Deku realizes it wasn’t enough. The young buck gets Gentle Criminal cornered inside an unfinished building and we get to see the impressive ways Gentle’s quirk can used. He bounces off elasticized steel beams and air pocket trampolines to avoid any more finger gun air blasts. It was cool and reminiscent of Gran Torino’s jet moves during Midoriya’s training. Just when Deku finally has him dead to rights, Gentle resorts to the cowardly villainous move of endangering a civilian down below.

Deku stops the steel beam from falling and has to let the criminal flee. As he struggles to keep the beam from slipping out of his grasp, my boy does a one armed beam press and fires off one last air cannon shot like a fuckin CoD sniper!! It barely misses Brava and Gentle, but his tenacity allows Brava to come to terms with the fact she’ll have to use her quirk to stop the young man with a heart of a lion. What her quirk is I can only imagine!

69 minutes until the School Festival and the concert crew is officially getting a little worried about their buddy’s classmate. Good job team. While this arc is nowhere near as exciting as the last, I’m pretty hype to see how it’ll all shake out next episode.

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The post My Hero Recap: Gentle Criminal vs. Deku appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.