@@Artisan1979 At least a mil, I'd think. He was in most of the episodes of the season, and huge studios absolutely aren't using deepfake freeware to achieve their effects (even if they sometimes look worse).
@@gedias1 I'd retort that we have filters that accomplish a convincing deep fake with a few hours on a desktop computer, but what was pulled off for Q looks _perfect._ Nothing floated or synced weird with his expression, and his face wasn't the only thing that changed--his whole BMI was adjusted.
Q is by far my favorite frenemy of all of Star Trek. When I heard that Q was making a return, I had a feeling he was going to "age" himself to mock Picard.
Q's flash used to be accompanied by a whooshing noise. Now it was quite the boom... that instantly clued me in to the fact that something was up with Q even mere seconds after he became visible. Also, I think John De Lancie aged rather gracefully and that dark coat looks great on him (kudos to the costume designer).
@@Sarkkoth I think it was quite intentional. Given what happened later on the season, my guess is that it's meant to convey that Q is struggling to do stuff that normally was effortless for him.
If Picard was smart, he would have said "Q! How ya doing, ole buddy? So good to see you! Man, it is so great that you are here. I've missed hanging out with you." Q probably would have been like "What? You're no fun anymore. I'm going home."
Why the sinister music and surly reaction? I would have expected Picard to be absolutely delighted to hear his Q's voice again. Especially with all that's happened. A familiar face from his heyday. Far more a friend than an enemy. Heck, I would have expected Picard to try to give Q a warm hug. **Edit** - Imagine you're an elderly Duke of Wellington in 1852. Waterloo was 37 years ago. You've lived a prestigious career. Risen to heights that few could achieve. And then inexplicably an elderly Napoleon, an adversary from another life, walks into the room and warmly greets you. Yeah, your feelings would be complicated. But who in their right mind would be petulant? You'd smile and offer him some brandy.
Q forced an interaction between the Enterprise and the Borg, kicking off the Borg's interest in the alpha quadrant, the federation, and Earth. All of Picard's run-ins with the Borg, and the deaths of those he knew and those he even caused as Locutus, can be traced to Q throwing the Enterprise across the galaxy to meet the Borg.
"Whoops, too far. Let me try again." Or if you REALLY want to go dark... Skeleton. "Oh wait, that's your original body." SNAP! Now looks like Data and Q had a baby. "Mmmm, not quite, one more." SNAP! Now looks as he does.
I remember watching The View when Patrick officially asked Whoopi Goldberg to be in S2 of Picard, and my mum and dad nearly cried. So when I found out John was coming back too I kept it to myself. And until the day i perish I will never forget the looks on their faces when they first heard that iconic voice, and Picard muttering ‘No, no no no no no no.’
John De Lancie was great in ST:TNG series - he was my favorite guest star in the original. It was nice they brought him back this year even if it was for the last time. This series is almost done - one season left and last season they will bring back most of the original Next Generation cast for a true send off. Considering Patrick Stewart in his 80s, it is amazing the quality of his acting even at his advanced age (so good, that Disney used him briefly as a X-Man one more time as Dr. Xavier in Dr. Strange and the Mulitverse).
What I like about this…there was no need to explain, no need to go into 15 minutes of dialog…it happened and I didn’t even question it because it is Q. He can do what he wants and appear as he wants
Agreed and de lancey seems to have been able to maintain the nature of the character in a AE Ed he’s determined to ruin legacy characters/relationships.
@@mein_tipples I dunno, most of Q’s scenes were ok. And Q’s ‘death’ scene (is he really dead? He is a trickster after all) was quite good. This one was the best though
We all know they were going to make him look older, but I do appreciate how they went about doing it. Q changing form just to mock Picard is kinda perfect. The rest of the season wasn’t too great but episode 1 was awesome
If Q showed up the TNG captain's uniform it would have been an awesome touch. ( No shut up about the 25% different thing - that's a load of nonsense ).
That's one way on saving on CGI. Just have him show his original (rendered) face for only a few expensive seconds. Then it's just conventional makeup from there on. In reality (their reality) I don't think he would have held on to the aged face look through the entire season though.
@@icecreamdf5259 True enough. But we know from 'Voyager' that the Borg already knew about the Federation. What Q did was let the Federation know about the Borg. Seven and her family were assimilated in 2350; but Picard (and thus the Federation) did not become aware of them until 2365. That means the Borg had already had 15 years to plan for assimilating the Federation and doubtless would have had many years more, culminating in their appearance when they were ready (but the Federation was not) had Q not intervened. Every time it looks like Q is doing something to screw over Picard (and thus the Federation), it turns out he wasn't. But pain in the ass? Absolutely. Brilliant character, brilliantly written and brilliantly acted.
@@Armataan Agreed; but nevertheless, he consistently reacts to Q's appearances with annoyance and dread, despite the fact that Q's interactions with the Federation (and specifically Picard) are almost universally to their benefit.
As much as I've loved seeing Q back, and while he redeems it in the last episode. Q coming off as sinister and even vengeful towards Picard at the beginning seems out of character after all the mutual respect the characters had built for one another. The Q we see in the end is what I was expecting to see from the beginning. Someone who was a mischievous trickster in his youth who has now been humbled by eons of existence.
thats how you avoid being sued notice the show phasers dont sound the same ships dont look same sheilds sound effects everthing seems off borg queen looks weird like show is half assed its to avoid being sued
@@patrickschulz2193 mgm or who ever owns the rights to startrek logos sounds etc.. picard is the one thats making this show thats why its on disney plus or what ever its on they change things around to avoid being sued.. notice the other star trek discovery its all weird too its not the same star trek we know sure characters the way they act not so much it does not feel like a continuation it feels like a whole new show with werid effects acting is all off a captain who smokes cigs in the chair i mean geesh
@@jerrypatterson55 Star Trek is owned by CBS last I checked. Picard is releasing in the US on CBS All Access. Bad production doesn't mean they do this in a conscious effort to avoid being sued - it just means they're bad at producing quality Star Trek. :V
@@jerrypatterson55 None of this is true. CBS own the Star Trek property outright and nobody holds any separate rights over "logos" or "sounds" or anything else. There is no factual basis behind that idea at all. The reason that Discovery and Picard are stylistically different from TNG is that TV production has changed enormously over the last 30 years and a modern production team are going to make significantly different style and design choices to one from the 80s or 90s. As for this specific scene, I suspect they left out the sound effect because they thought it came across a little too goofy/hokey for the tone they're going for. I should add that I don't particularly like modern Star Trek, but this idea of some arcane licensing agreement blocking the producers from using an arbitrary selection of old sound effects/designs is complete bunk.
Q IS A THING I KNOW. I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE NEW PRODUCT WITH A CALLBACK TO THE THING I KNOW. I AM READY TO CONSOOM PRODUCT BECAUSE OF THE CALLBACK TO THE THING I KNOW
you know, out of context like this, if you didn't know Star Trek:Picard wasn't even about Picard and lived in this wonderful dream that Alex wanted to actually make a story about an aged Jean Luc struggling with his life but still needed to accomplish....a plot, a story, etc. This is a wonderful scene to have him suddenly pulled back to having to remember that despite whatever he can do, Q could come in and simply undo it all just for the sake of knowing Picard would react to it.
It's really ashame they put their effects budget into Discovery. It would've been nice to see Q de-aged. It would've helped me actually see him as a God rather than just a low budget TV series character
I love how for years I always assumed this is how to handle this but then you see on forums and whatnot how this explanation wouldn’t make any sense etc. goes to show some fans have no imagination.
Season 2 was a step up from last season, but you could tell they were stretching the plot. And I really didn't care for dealing with Picard's past and family trauma. Another bait and switch. First few episodes were solid and then it was generic sci fi.
So why does he appear aged to everyone else and not just for Picard? When he appears to Guinan after she summons him, or to Renee, or to Soong, etc. Why is he aged then?
I know that. I just thought that it was a bit unnecessary and should have had him appear aged to begin with and explain why later. I thought it was cool at first but given what we found out about him later in the season, it would have made sense to have him appear aged from the start.
He appears young to start with because that's how he's always looked. He goes old to bother Picard (plus budget and VFX). Going back to looking young would just cost more energy, even more if he wanted to bug Picard again and go back and forth. Why go through that trouble when you can just stick to one look? (Especially if he likes how he looks)
Q: "Oh, so you're saying I don't need to wear makeup..." *SNAP* Q: "That's better. You have no idea how long I have to stay in the dressing room to keep that appearance."
I think what Q did by aging himself was more insulting toward Captain Picard than it did to help. Cause I know it’s as soon as Q shaped changed himself to be older it insulted Captain Picard.
Doesn't make much sense that Picard is so angry with Q. Picard doesn't know what's going on, and the last time Picard sees Q is in All Good Things where Q helps Picard save the human race. At this point Picard understood Q to be something other than a prankster but *almost* as a friend and guide. Then again, this isn't really Picard from TNG, this is a poorly-written, different Picard character.
I think it's out of character for Q to "catch up". I understand they didn't wanna de-age him in every shot but I think Q would've more likely stayed the same age to gloat.
Totally wrong IMO. He always appeared in a Captains uniform, as an equal to Picard, in TNG. Why would he lord age over him now? In fact, in the next episode, he refers to age as being cruel.
"Q!?! Youre young?!?!" "Sorry Hard Luck, I just blew half the CGI budget to surprise you." **snaps fingers** "There, now this is how I really look." "its ok, the special effects are usually trash, who needs them to preach to the audience while I mumble about my trump derangement syndrome and brexit hatred." "You got me there mon kapitan"
This one action is the single most brilliant thing they have done in the Fake Treks, That simple change explained a lot, And it felt in character of Q. I was afraid Q was going to be a gimmick. But, Dang it if John didn't almost steal the show. I don't feel like this is my Picard, But He is definitely My Q.
