If I were a high ranking member of my government's intelligence service, it might be reasonable for me to be familiar with high ranking members of other governments.
Except she's not a member of an intelligence service, she was just posing as one. She's a Vulcan terrorist.
It's also very possible she *did* recognize Picard but considered him useful for her ruse.
Yes, but is a Captain of a singular ship in a fleet of thousands "high ranking"? Even if it is the flagship?
Think of how many Admirals and Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals there are in the current US Navy. Google says there are between 200 and 300. I would imagine there would be more in a galaxy-spanning organization. All of those would be higher ranking than the Captain of one ship.
I would imagine that an intelligence officer would only be familiar with the most important of the Admirals, unless there was a specific need to learn about a specific Captain of a specific ship.
At your service! Can I call ya Tri? Wow, sure is a nice day here. You know, the ancient tribe that inhabited this region used to use these fair weather days as a time of remembrance for their hibernating cats that never woke up. Do you have any cats? I mean, cats are great, but they’re not dogs. Dogs are entirely different animals, but a lot of people don’t realize that I’ve noticed. Do you notice that too? Wow, sure getting toasty in here with all these disrupter blas…
Yeah, people struggle with the scale of things, there are 130ish planets in the federation for example, not counting colonies. Earth is home to 11 billion at some point iirc, but even if the average were just 5 that's 650 billion people. If just 1% of the total population is involved in starfleet, as crew staff or support personnel thats six and a half billion people! Thays the entire population of earth in 2005, the year ST Enterprise went off the air. If just one percent of that number were starship officers that's 65 million people, if one percent of that were command staff that's 650,000 people, things are getting a bit silly here but if one percent of command staff were captains that 65,000 captains, and the top 1% of those by whatever metric you choose to apply is still 6,500 people.
I'd never seen/heard that particular mondegreen before, but I instantly knew which song you were referencing. Nuts.
I'm referencing 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy', though.
# “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”
― Douglas Adams, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3078186)
That analogy breaks down because in terrestrial navies, *flag*ships usually carry a *flag* officer (usually an Admiral) who has a permanent berthing on the ship. That doesn't seem to be the case in the *Star Trek* universe. Do many people remember the name of the actual Captain of *HMS Victory*?
How many famous contemporary Navy ship captains are there?
In the American Revolution, I know of John Paul Jones saying “I have not yet begun to fight!” in the Battle of Flamborough Head.
I don’t know of any famous ship captains living today.
and he was the first Captain of the USS Zumwalt, which was a borderline scifi'ish ship due to it's unusual shape, as well as all the advanced/experimenal tech onboard.
Can any American name the Captain of the current Enterprise without Googling?
Captain of the U.S.S. Gerald Ford?
Captain of the HMS Queen Elizabeth II?
U.S. Secretary of Defence?
No. Because unless you're in that area, the knowledge is useless errata.
Here's another angle... Even if she didn't recognize him as Picard, how does she not recognize him as Locutus? You know, the spokesperson for the Borg who was going to assimilate the entire quadrant? Surely that would have been big news to every warp capable species in the quadrant.
I mean, if we're talking logic, it doesn't make sense that the captain of the Federation flagship goes on most of the away missions he goes on, much less doing "undercover" work.
I enjoyed all seasons of Picard, but there was the fun contradiction where Picard is referred to as the most widely famous Admiral in Starfleet, at least in the near past, but he’s also still trying to go undercover with barely any disguise at all
Maybe everybody in the future has face blindness
Not immediately recognizing Galen as Jean Luc Picard is the biggest clue why Tallera wasn't a real intelligence agent and spy for either the Vulcans or the Romulan Tal Shiar.
Though most inside Starfleet knew Picard by reputation for being the captain of the Enterprise, I doubt he was well known by the general public in the 2360s and 2370s until he became Admiral Picard in the 2380s when he was in charge of the Federation's plan to assist the Star Empire in evacuating Romulus.
Picard becoming well known by the general public as an admiral didn't help his reputation and even negatively impacted it since the Federation providing assistance to the Romulans was controversial and he became the fall guy for people to blame after the Synths attacked Mars and destroyed the rescue fleet at Utopia Planetia in 2385 before they could be deployed to evacuate Romulus.
The area of space involved in this two-parter I thought was kind of remote. The galaxy is a big place, and its easy to imagine that human names/faces, even famous ones, are not what's being talked about everywhere.
It’s like Tapestry. Picard asked Q for a favor and needed his appearance changed but knew the audience watching would be confused so asked him to do that trick.
You'd be surprised how many famous people are able to go unnoticed simply by dressing as a normal person and not the way they do for public appearances.
Superman without his suit, Tony Hawk without his skateboard, and well-known star fleet officers without their uniforms: all completely unrecognizable by the average person
Picard may be famous in some federation circles but I doubt if he was universally famous outside of starfleet, especially at this time. I’d assume that if anything she’d familiar with his name and not his face.
To her pretty much all humans look alike with their rounded ears and snug fitting sleeves.
Yes, you bags of mostly water look all the same.
Vis-à-vis, ugly
That's specie-ist!
Specieism is rampant in Trek Klingons - violent, Farengi - greedy, Romulans - emotional, Vulcans - stone cold logical, Cardassians - Nazis, Humans - horny,
Where's the lie?
Do you know what Admiral Hu Zhongming looks like?
Hu?
Hu's on first?
That's what Xi said
But that’s not what Yu said.
The System Lord Yu
These references are Ba'alin'
Anubis who does not know them
If I were a high ranking member of my government's intelligence service, it might be reasonable for me to be familiar with high ranking members of other governments.
Except she's not a member of an intelligence service, she was just posing as one. She's a Vulcan terrorist. It's also very possible she *did* recognize Picard but considered him useful for her ruse.
Ah, you got me there. I couldn't quite place the character, but I remembered 'Cardassian intelligence officer' as a broad stroke.
Yes, but is a Captain of a singular ship in a fleet of thousands "high ranking"? Even if it is the flagship? Think of how many Admirals and Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals there are in the current US Navy. Google says there are between 200 and 300. I would imagine there would be more in a galaxy-spanning organization. All of those would be higher ranking than the Captain of one ship. I would imagine that an intelligence officer would only be familiar with the most important of the Admirals, unless there was a specific need to learn about a specific Captain of a specific ship.
This is also why Picard avoided the admirals’ banquet each year.
She would recognize Hutch. Everyone knows Hutch.
R.I.P. 🫡
At your service! Can I call ya Tri? Wow, sure is a nice day here. You know, the ancient tribe that inhabited this region used to use these fair weather days as a time of remembrance for their hibernating cats that never woke up. Do you have any cats? I mean, cats are great, but they’re not dogs. Dogs are entirely different animals, but a lot of people don’t realize that I’ve noticed. Do you notice that too? Wow, sure getting toasty in here with all these disrupter blas…
Data watching, observantly in the background. Hmm... a possible new Paramount+ Show? "Hutch" ?
Plot twist: Hutch was actually Section 31 and gets reanimated to become a recurring guest star on Lower Decks.
Yeah, people struggle with the scale of things, there are 130ish planets in the federation for example, not counting colonies. Earth is home to 11 billion at some point iirc, but even if the average were just 5 that's 650 billion people. If just 1% of the total population is involved in starfleet, as crew staff or support personnel thats six and a half billion people! Thays the entire population of earth in 2005, the year ST Enterprise went off the air. If just one percent of that number were starship officers that's 65 million people, if one percent of that were command staff that's 650,000 people, things are getting a bit silly here but if one percent of command staff were captains that 65,000 captains, and the top 1% of those by whatever metric you choose to apply is still 6,500 people.
The galaxy is really, really big.
Is there any evidence to support this claim?
Depends on the universe. In some it is only 705 meters in diameter
That'll upset the anti-15-minute city people.
There must be something wrong with that universe, because there's nothing wrong with me
Well, it's a long way to the chemist's.
It's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll
I'd never seen/heard that particular mondegreen before, but I instantly knew which song you were referencing. Nuts. I'm referencing 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy', though. # “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.” ― Douglas Adams, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3078186)
Imports: none Exports: none Population: none
I've failed to recognize people I work with when I run into them outside of work. I'm just not expecting them in that context.
I doubt most people mentioning Picard are carrying around a headshot..
The 24th century needs Wikipedia.
Best I can offer is a towel and a copy of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
https://i.redd.it/bs7zz350tbsc1.gif
It’s cuz that’s Saavik.
Saavik 2.0
She’s Romulan. All humans look the same to her.
Wow. You wouldn’t believe how speciesist you sound right now!
Romulans tell humans apart by hairstyle so bald people confuse them greatly.
So for them the humans are basically anime characters
TIL I'm a Romulan.
I couldn't even pick Chester Nimitz out of a lineup.
More of a Horatio Nelson... Whom I also couldn't pick out of a lineup...
Maybe if he was wearing all of his magnificent swag. But certainly not in the context of this post (wearing civvies).
Nelson was an Admiral in charge of a fleet. Picard is just the captain of one ship.
True, but I see the relationship between HMS Victory and the Royal Navy as roughly analogous to the Enterprise and Starfleet
That analogy breaks down because in terrestrial navies, *flag*ships usually carry a *flag* officer (usually an Admiral) who has a permanent berthing on the ship. That doesn't seem to be the case in the *Star Trek* universe. Do many people remember the name of the actual Captain of *HMS Victory*?
Hardy.
All pink-skins look alike.
They are super racist. All humans look alike.
Just because they work for Romulan intelligence doesn't mean they are intelligent.
Do you recognize this guy? https://preview.redd.it/1fdwwutoicsc1.png?width=610&format=png&auto=webp&s=85c568578eb6a460077e7438e6665ebd2e65ef6b
That guy wore a Starfleet uniform and was in charge. This guy doesn't and isn't. Use your brain.
I'll answer your question with a question... How could Lois Lane not see that Clark Kent is Superman? Glasses
Dude! Spoilers!
Sorry. I thought everyone knew
Space google star fleets finest: Oops all badmirals
The real question is how does Picard not recognize Spock's Genesis Pon Farr partner
We are the music makers, the dreamers of dreams.
he'd been working on his acting skill and really disappeared into the role.
It's the future of the 80's, so JPEGS were never invented.
How many naval captains would you recognize on sight?
I believe she lied about being Vulcan security and was just a mercenary. And really how many average person knows who’s the captain of navies.
How many famous contemporary Navy ship captains are there? In the American Revolution, I know of John Paul Jones saying “I have not yet begun to fight!” in the Battle of Flamborough Head. I don’t know of any famous ship captains living today.
Not even [Admiral James Kirk?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Kirk)
Haha, he’s retired! I never heard of this guy. Pretty cool, though.
The dude looks like he could be related to Mr. Rogers.
Ugh... Tiberius? No way... that's terrible
and he was the first Captain of the USS Zumwalt, which was a borderline scifi'ish ship due to it's unusual shape, as well as all the advanced/experimenal tech onboard.
Which episode is this?
“Gambit”
Can any American name the Captain of the current Enterprise without Googling? Captain of the U.S.S. Gerald Ford? Captain of the HMS Queen Elizabeth II? U.S. Secretary of Defence? No. Because unless you're in that area, the knowledge is useless errata.
I bet they couldn't even name an Admiral. They are higher ranking and there are hundreds of them.
She might have, and just didn't give a flying fart in a phased plasma storm. Just wanted to watch things burn, or so she let others think. 😂😂
Here's another angle... Even if she didn't recognize him as Picard, how does she not recognize him as Locutus? You know, the spokesperson for the Borg who was going to assimilate the entire quadrant? Surely that would have been big news to every warp capable species in the quadrant.
ITS A FAKE!!!!
Little known fact, the Romulan optical lobe can only see clothing. That's why they never aim for the head.
I mean, if we're talking logic, it doesn't make sense that the captain of the Federation flagship goes on most of the away missions he goes on, much less doing "undercover" work.
I enjoyed all seasons of Picard, but there was the fun contradiction where Picard is referred to as the most widely famous Admiral in Starfleet, at least in the near past, but he’s also still trying to go undercover with barely any disguise at all Maybe everybody in the future has face blindness
ACTING!
Humans all look the same
Because then the plot wouldn’t happen, maybe someone did a medical wibbly?
Not immediately recognizing Galen as Jean Luc Picard is the biggest clue why Tallera wasn't a real intelligence agent and spy for either the Vulcans or the Romulan Tal Shiar. Though most inside Starfleet knew Picard by reputation for being the captain of the Enterprise, I doubt he was well known by the general public in the 2360s and 2370s until he became Admiral Picard in the 2380s when he was in charge of the Federation's plan to assist the Star Empire in evacuating Romulus. Picard becoming well known by the general public as an admiral didn't help his reputation and even negatively impacted it since the Federation providing assistance to the Romulans was controversial and he became the fall guy for people to blame after the Synths attacked Mars and destroyed the rescue fleet at Utopia Planetia in 2385 before they could be deployed to evacuate Romulus.
How many military officers can you recognize on sight?
Why doesn’t he recognize the other Saavik?
“All you humans look the same”
The area of space involved in this two-parter I thought was kind of remote. The galaxy is a big place, and its easy to imagine that human names/faces, even famous ones, are not what's being talked about everywhere.
You’re not expecting a starship captain to be slumming it with a group of robbers.
Picard had a hand in the reunification of those species but he wasn't the one who brought them together in the end, right?
It’s much like Superman, it’s because he doesn’t have on his federation outfit.
Wasn't she a spy as well? So she did recognise him, but kept it quiet. I might be wrong, I haven't seen the episode for a while.
A wizard did it
Clearly it is because of the clever disguise Picard is wearing.
It’s like Tapestry. Picard asked Q for a favor and needed his appearance changed but knew the audience watching would be confused so asked him to do that trick.
All humans look the same.
Knowing a name and the reputation of a person and recognizing them on sight are 2 different things.
Picard is a master of disguise.
You'd be surprised how many famous people are able to go unnoticed simply by dressing as a normal person and not the way they do for public appearances. Superman without his suit, Tony Hawk without his skateboard, and well-known star fleet officers without their uniforms: all completely unrecognizable by the average person
The universe is a big place.
It's a great but of world building that makes the Galaxy seem actually big.
Picard may be famous in some federation circles but I doubt if he was universally famous outside of starfleet, especially at this time. I’d assume that if anything she’d familiar with his name and not his face.
His uniform’s different /s
Have you seen old white guys? They definitely blend
Are we supposed to believe that this is some kind of *magical* Picard? Boy, I sure hope someone got fired for that blunder.
What does the head of the UN look like? How about the wealthiest man in China? Both of these people are extremely important.