CONTAINS SPOILERS
I am constantly amazed at how quickly Star Trek Picard is moving through its plot. Apart from the second and third episodes, which were slower and more expositional, the series has told a story - multiple stories, in fact - at a remarkable rate. This is no exception, and is possibly the best episode so far (even better than last week's).
Picard has learnt from Maddox (who was brutally killed in cold blood by the no-longer-innocent Dr Jurati - maybe I'm overstating that) that Soji, the secret synth, is on The Artifact. The Artifact is a reclaimed (i.e. stolen) Borg cube that the Romulans have established as a base of operations, where they reclaim Borg components from former drones. The cube has lost contact with the rest of the Borg Collective, and is therefore shut down and entirely vulnerable (for now, at least). So that's it - we're off to the Borg Cube, without any further delay.
Dr Jurati is plagued with guilt about her murder of Dr Bruce Maddox, and turns to drink, and then to Rios to either avoid, ignore or otherwise dodge her guilt. Having a superpower that tells her when she's making a mistake is hardly a superpower - and it certainly wasn't working last week. No, I don't have much sympathy for her at the moment, and the writers are going to have to make some revelations about what the Romulan Commodore Oh said to her to make her take Maddox's life.
The episode begins, though, with a return to Soji, who we see as a little girl. Are these memories? Is this a flashback? No, we eventually see that this is a dream, answering the long-time philosophical question, "Do androids dream?" Narek - conniving and deceitful Romulan - asks Soji if her dreams are creations of her imagination, or based on memories. In Soji's case, it's almost entirely imagination, and we discover that Narek believes (correctly) that Soji is constantly having to try to resolve evidence about her true identity with her belief that she's a normal human being. The scenes between Soji and Narek are much better in this episode, as we see Narek start to deliberately and directly exploit the self-doubt that Soji feels.
Even the scenes between Narek and his sister Narissa are better than usual, featuring less of a weird sibling vibe than usual, and getting on with the task of how to safely make Soji activate. There's a spectacularly clumsy metaphor about a wooden toy box puzzle - Narek says it helps him think, Narissa says she just likes to break them open - well, we saw how that worked out. The show doesn't dwell on it for too long, so I won't either.
Picard needs to gain access to a Borg Cube 'owned' by the Romulans and run by the Tal Shiar - the Romulan state police (think of the KGB, with pointy ears). There's a nice contrast between last week's con trick and this week's total candour - the team decide to declare the truth from the beginning; that Picard has come to meet with the Borg Reclamation Project's Director. Last week's con was a disaster that came to an abrupt halt, and the team reverted to absolute candour very quickly - so it's good to see them learning from their mistakes! Raffi, who was reverted to smoking and drinking after the failed reunion with her son last week, is able to manipulate a Starfleet captain into giving Picard special diplomatic permission to board the Borg cube. Otherwise, Raffi would rather smoke, drink, sleep and forget. The women on the La Sirena are not in good places, and it will be fascinating to see how this develops - or unravels.
Picard is faced with his first return visit to a Borg Cube since he was kidnapped and assimilated by the Borg in the double-length Next Generation episode "The Best of Both Worlds" (one of the very best episodes of TNG). I was delighted to see that the episode faced this head-on and handled it extremely well. I hadn't considered that Picard hadn't been on a Borg cube since his first and only visit (especially since Voyager made frequent visits to the Borg) and the episode makes the most of this opportunity. Maybe Picard visiting the cube will cause the Borg their to reactivate. There's a timebomb ticking on that cube, and perhaps Picard will set it off.
In fact, Picard does cause two Borg drones to wake up, but only to prevent him from falling off a high-level walkway as he experiences disturbing flashbacks. These are reclaimed Borg drones who have their individuality restored, and they welcome him on board. There's a heart-warming reunion between Picard and Hugh, and we know that Picard is in safe hands, even in the most dangerous of places. Picard was responsible for helping Hugh when he was an isolated Borg drone, and Picard helped Hugh restore his individuality in the Next Generation episode "I, Borg" (recommended viewing). Hugh shows Picard around the cube (the Romulan-free parts of it, at least) and demonstrates the large scale of the Borg reclamation project. At this rate, the Borg will outnumber the Romulans on the cube... there's a thought.
Soji faces her doubts about her identity, and discovers that everything about her - photos, childhood drawings, cuddly toys - everything - is only about three years old. There's nothing that she owns that is older than 37 months, according to the quantum dating device she's using (Captain Archer used something similar in the Enterprise series). Narek meets her, and offers to help her understand her dreams using some new (but apparently old) Romulan technique.
The second half of the episode becomes a race between Hugh and Picard on one side, and Narek on the other, to connect with Soji as she activates. Narek takes Soji into a special room with some kind of meditation pattern on the floor; as he directs her through her dreams, she walks around a path that resembles some kind of Celtic knot. It turns out that the room is not only special, but it's secure and sealed, and impervious to Borg sensors, so Narek can proceed uninterrupted. Soji realises that she's fabricated, not a real human, and Narek traps her in the meditation room, with a brightly coloured toxic radiation from his impossible box puzzle. Soji activates. She rips up the wooden floor of the room, and then starts on the metal bulkhead below the floor, forming a hole in it and then jumping through it. [Narek wants to go straight back into the room, but the doorkeeper says, "No, the radiation!" reminding me of Kirk, Spock and McCoy in Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan, which was reprised in the newer Star Trek film with characters reversed].
This enables her to be picked up on Hugh's sensors, and there's a literal race to find Soji. Picard and Hugh win the race, and Hugh directs them to the queen's cell, which contains a spatial trajector (the Borg obtained this technology by assimilating the Sikarians - one of the species that Voyager met while on their journey home, and which had this technology). The Romulans, however, don't want Soji to escape, and the heroes are pursued by a number of armed Romulans - who are swiftly despatched by Elnor, who has beamed in secretly to help Picard.
Picard: "Elnor, I told you to stay on the ship."
Elnor: "Yes. I didn't listen." (sounds a lot like something Kirk would say)
Soji and Picard use the spatial trajector to go to Nepenthe (new planet, never heard of it), where they will reunite with the crew of the La Sirena. Elnor and Hugh stay to cover their escape... and fade to black.
So, we've left Seven of Nine in a phaser fight on Freecloud; we've left Elnor and Hugh on the Borg cube in a sword fight. It seems to me that Picard is leaving a trail of dead bodies in his quest, although I hope I'm wrong (we've spent too long with Elnor for him to be a disposable character, and we've known Seven for so long that writing her in for a single episode just to kill her off seems wasteful).
Next week: Soji and Picard have transported to a distant planet, and the crew of the La Sirena will have to travel more slowly at warp speed to rendezvous with them. This will give Soji and Picard time to discuss Maddox, Data and Dahj and should slow things down somewhat. Meanwhile, will Rios and the crew safely escape from the Romulans? What will happen to Elnor and Hugh? Will Narek get punished for letting Dahj escape? Who, or what, is on Nepenthe, and why did Picard choose it? Stay tuned!
I am constantly amazed at how quickly Star Trek Picard is moving through its plot. Apart from the second and third episodes, which were slower and more expositional, the series has told a story - multiple stories, in fact - at a remarkable rate. This is no exception, and is possibly the best episode so far (even better than last week's).
Picard has learnt from Maddox (who was brutally killed in cold blood by the no-longer-innocent Dr Jurati - maybe I'm overstating that) that Soji, the secret synth, is on The Artifact. The Artifact is a reclaimed (i.e. stolen) Borg cube that the Romulans have established as a base of operations, where they reclaim Borg components from former drones. The cube has lost contact with the rest of the Borg Collective, and is therefore shut down and entirely vulnerable (for now, at least). So that's it - we're off to the Borg Cube, without any further delay.
Dr Jurati is plagued with guilt about her murder of Dr Bruce Maddox, and turns to drink, and then to Rios to either avoid, ignore or otherwise dodge her guilt. Having a superpower that tells her when she's making a mistake is hardly a superpower - and it certainly wasn't working last week. No, I don't have much sympathy for her at the moment, and the writers are going to have to make some revelations about what the Romulan Commodore Oh said to her to make her take Maddox's life.
The episode begins, though, with a return to Soji, who we see as a little girl. Are these memories? Is this a flashback? No, we eventually see that this is a dream, answering the long-time philosophical question, "Do androids dream?" Narek - conniving and deceitful Romulan - asks Soji if her dreams are creations of her imagination, or based on memories. In Soji's case, it's almost entirely imagination, and we discover that Narek believes (correctly) that Soji is constantly having to try to resolve evidence about her true identity with her belief that she's a normal human being. The scenes between Soji and Narek are much better in this episode, as we see Narek start to deliberately and directly exploit the self-doubt that Soji feels.
Even the scenes between Narek and his sister Narissa are better than usual, featuring less of a weird sibling vibe than usual, and getting on with the task of how to safely make Soji activate. There's a spectacularly clumsy metaphor about a wooden toy box puzzle - Narek says it helps him think, Narissa says she just likes to break them open - well, we saw how that worked out. The show doesn't dwell on it for too long, so I won't either.
Picard needs to gain access to a Borg Cube 'owned' by the Romulans and run by the Tal Shiar - the Romulan state police (think of the KGB, with pointy ears). There's a nice contrast between last week's con trick and this week's total candour - the team decide to declare the truth from the beginning; that Picard has come to meet with the Borg Reclamation Project's Director. Last week's con was a disaster that came to an abrupt halt, and the team reverted to absolute candour very quickly - so it's good to see them learning from their mistakes! Raffi, who was reverted to smoking and drinking after the failed reunion with her son last week, is able to manipulate a Starfleet captain into giving Picard special diplomatic permission to board the Borg cube. Otherwise, Raffi would rather smoke, drink, sleep and forget. The women on the La Sirena are not in good places, and it will be fascinating to see how this develops - or unravels.
Picard is faced with his first return visit to a Borg Cube since he was kidnapped and assimilated by the Borg in the double-length Next Generation episode "The Best of Both Worlds" (one of the very best episodes of TNG). I was delighted to see that the episode faced this head-on and handled it extremely well. I hadn't considered that Picard hadn't been on a Borg cube since his first and only visit (especially since Voyager made frequent visits to the Borg) and the episode makes the most of this opportunity. Maybe Picard visiting the cube will cause the Borg their to reactivate. There's a timebomb ticking on that cube, and perhaps Picard will set it off.
In fact, Picard does cause two Borg drones to wake up, but only to prevent him from falling off a high-level walkway as he experiences disturbing flashbacks. These are reclaimed Borg drones who have their individuality restored, and they welcome him on board. There's a heart-warming reunion between Picard and Hugh, and we know that Picard is in safe hands, even in the most dangerous of places. Picard was responsible for helping Hugh when he was an isolated Borg drone, and Picard helped Hugh restore his individuality in the Next Generation episode "I, Borg" (recommended viewing). Hugh shows Picard around the cube (the Romulan-free parts of it, at least) and demonstrates the large scale of the Borg reclamation project. At this rate, the Borg will outnumber the Romulans on the cube... there's a thought.
Soji faces her doubts about her identity, and discovers that everything about her - photos, childhood drawings, cuddly toys - everything - is only about three years old. There's nothing that she owns that is older than 37 months, according to the quantum dating device she's using (Captain Archer used something similar in the Enterprise series). Narek meets her, and offers to help her understand her dreams using some new (but apparently old) Romulan technique.
The second half of the episode becomes a race between Hugh and Picard on one side, and Narek on the other, to connect with Soji as she activates. Narek takes Soji into a special room with some kind of meditation pattern on the floor; as he directs her through her dreams, she walks around a path that resembles some kind of Celtic knot. It turns out that the room is not only special, but it's secure and sealed, and impervious to Borg sensors, so Narek can proceed uninterrupted. Soji realises that she's fabricated, not a real human, and Narek traps her in the meditation room, with a brightly coloured toxic radiation from his impossible box puzzle. Soji activates. She rips up the wooden floor of the room, and then starts on the metal bulkhead below the floor, forming a hole in it and then jumping through it. [Narek wants to go straight back into the room, but the doorkeeper says, "No, the radiation!" reminding me of Kirk, Spock and McCoy in Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan, which was reprised in the newer Star Trek film with characters reversed].
This enables her to be picked up on Hugh's sensors, and there's a literal race to find Soji. Picard and Hugh win the race, and Hugh directs them to the queen's cell, which contains a spatial trajector (the Borg obtained this technology by assimilating the Sikarians - one of the species that Voyager met while on their journey home, and which had this technology). The Romulans, however, don't want Soji to escape, and the heroes are pursued by a number of armed Romulans - who are swiftly despatched by Elnor, who has beamed in secretly to help Picard.
Picard: "Elnor, I told you to stay on the ship."
Elnor: "Yes. I didn't listen." (sounds a lot like something Kirk would say)
Soji and Picard use the spatial trajector to go to Nepenthe (new planet, never heard of it), where they will reunite with the crew of the La Sirena. Elnor and Hugh stay to cover their escape... and fade to black.
So, we've left Seven of Nine in a phaser fight on Freecloud; we've left Elnor and Hugh on the Borg cube in a sword fight. It seems to me that Picard is leaving a trail of dead bodies in his quest, although I hope I'm wrong (we've spent too long with Elnor for him to be a disposable character, and we've known Seven for so long that writing her in for a single episode just to kill her off seems wasteful).
Next week: Soji and Picard have transported to a distant planet, and the crew of the La Sirena will have to travel more slowly at warp speed to rendezvous with them. This will give Soji and Picard time to discuss Maddox, Data and Dahj and should slow things down somewhat. Meanwhile, will Rios and the crew safely escape from the Romulans? What will happen to Elnor and Hugh? Will Narek get punished for letting Dahj escape? Who, or what, is on Nepenthe, and why did Picard choose it? Stay tuned!
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