Thoughts on Season Two.

Picard gives a speech about second chances.

THOUGHTS ON SEASON TWO:

Fair warning: This is a look at the season as a whole. If you haven't seen Season Two yet, know that there are spoilers throughout!

I mostly liked Season One of Picard, which felt like a legitimate attempt to do what good science fiction has always done: Used the idea of the future to reflect on the present. The show opened with Picard disillusioned and resigned to a world moving in the wrong direction, with the story gradually bringing him back to his old self over the course of the season.

There were certainly flaws. Not all the characters were well used, and the general idea of a Starfleet suffering from moral decay seemed to vanish midway through. Even if I didn't like every creative choice (such as Picard's synthetic body), I still enjoyed the story and at the very least respected the ambition.

I found Season Two to be more of a mixed bag. It fixes many of the first season's problems, but it replaces them with all new missteps. I found most of it to be entertaining, and even the worst episode remains watchable... but I didn't find the story to be as interesting. In the end, I was left feeling underwhelmed.

But before I explore the reasons for my disappointment, let me start with what the season did well...

Seven and Raffi struggle to reconnect amidst an ocean of personal issues.

FORWARD PROGRESS - CHARACTERS:

The cast is much better used in Season Two than in Season One. Every member of the ensemble gets at least a few moments in the spotlight, and the scripts allow them some enjoyable and well-written interactions.

Now, this is likely helped by the early episodes culling a couple of "extra" characters. Soji, the central character of Season One's story, is seen in the first episode just long enough to establish that she's on a diplomatic mission and won't be joining the rest of the characters. Elnor is present for the first stage of the mission, but he gets killed in Episode Three.

I think this was a good choice. Had both characters been retained, they would have just been additional crew members in need of things to do. Removing them makes it more viable to give quality material to the other regulars. Elnor's death also fuels Raffi's character arc, while Isa Briones gets a decent supporting role through the magic of time travel doppelgangers.

I complained about the Season One finale just establishing Raffi and Seven as a couple without having ever shown any interaction between them. Season Two takes this clumsily created relationship and makes it work. Having missed the chance to show their initial connection, the writers do the next best thing. They start the season with them estranged, broken up by the multitude of personal issues each of them has. Then the rest of the season sells them as a couple by showing them overcoming those barriers. It even ties in with the season's theme of revisiting the past. As Picard observes in a graduation speech early on, second chances are rare. Seven and Raffi get one, because although their relationship already failed, their feelings for each other remain.

Finally, there's Agnes Jurati. Despite second name billing and a role in the story that should have made her central, Season One often shunted Alison Pill's neurotic scientist to the periphery. She gets a much stronger role in Season Two. Like Seven and Raffi, her relationship with Rios has failed between seasons, but she is not looking to reconnect. She's alone - and despite an apparent yearning for connection, she seems determined to stay that way.

This not only makes her vulnerable to the Borg Queen's manipulations, it also allows the scripts to thematically parallel her with the Borg. Many of the season's best moments come from this: the connection with the Borg Queen in Assimilation, Jurati's attempts to co-exist with the Queen in Two of One, and her appeal to the Queen in Hide and Seek. Alison Pill is excellent throughout, and she plays particularly well opposite Annie Wersching's Borg Queen.

There's really only one character whose arc didn't work for me in Season Two. Unfortunately, it's kind of a big one...

Picard struggles to learn lessons he already learned before.

PICARD'S JOURNEY:

I see what the writers were attempting with Picard. Q takes him and his crew into the past to save the future, while at the same time Picard is forced to confront his own past to overcome emotional issues interfering with his happiness in the present. On paper, it sounds fine, even clever.

Other opinions are certainly available, but I didn't think the execution of it worked at all.

One problem for me is that much of the material regarding Picard's past has no real connection, either in terms of plot or theme, to the external threat he's dealing with. Only Hide and Seek manages to overcome this problem, thanks to Picard using the tunnels from his childhood against the villains. Monsters, on the other hand, resorts to dream sequences/flashbacks that feel thinly motivated at best.

The other problem is that those are the only two episodes that significantly address his past and his need to confront it. This is the basis of his arc, and yet aside from these two episodes it is only occasionally even mentioned. It's hardly surprising that, in a ten-episode season, an arc that's ignored for full episodes at a time doesn't get a chance to properly build.

My final complaint might also be my biggest issue: TNG already trod a lot of this ground, and frankly in better episodes. Picard's strained relationship with his family was at the core of Season Four's Family. There, he (somewhat) mended his relationship with his brother. Here, he comes to realize that his late father wasn't the stern monster of his memory but was actually dealing with considerable emotional pain himself. It's a worthy enough lesson... but I can't escape feeling like we've done this already!

The other lesson Picard must learn is that, however badly he may wish to, he cannot change the most painful moments of his past. Even if he could change them, the results would probably not be to his liking. Again, he's already had this realization - thanks to Q, no less! - in Tapestry. Now, it's fair enough to echo past episodes. Given how much Star Trek was cranked out in the 1990s, some echoes are inevitable. But if you're going to retread old ground, maybe don't make it some of the old series' very best episodes?

For the record, none of this keeps Picard from working as a character the bulk of the time. When the scripts aren't laboring to make him (re-)learn a Very Important Lesson, both Picard and actor Patrick Stewart are a joy to watch. I loved his protectiveness of Jurati, or his wonderfully scripted pep talk to  Renée at the gala. The character was at his best in these scenes, or when ultimately choosing to deal honestly and compassionately with the FBI agent holding him and Guinan prisoner. At the end of Hide and Seek, I almost got chills from his vow not to accept a bad outcome before it happens.

So yes, the character still works splendidly when Picard is simply being Picard: literate, obstinate in ways sometimes good and sometimes not, compassionate, and with the ability to turn hopeless situations to his advantage. Problems only sneak in when the writers try to force him into an arc that fails to convince.

Rios gets arrested by ICE. I'm glad the show has time for this,
and that the actual plot won't get badly rushed later on...

A PROBLEM OF PACING:

Season Two opens extremely well. The first three episodes are quite good, and they set up almost everything that the rest of the season will follow.

The opening episode efficiently shows how the characters have progressed since Season One. The bulk of the episode establishes character arcs and relationships. Then, at the end, Picard encounters a crisis involving the Borg, culminating in the sudden intervention of Q. Episode Two expands on Q's role, as he angrily declares that this not a test or lesson, but rather a "penance" for Picard. The rest of the episode follows the character in a dystopian alternate reality. By the end of the episode, we know that this reality is the result of a single change Q made to the timeline in the year 2024. Episode Three brings the characters to their past/our present and starts the main plot moving, while at the same time establishing Rios's relationship with Teresa and drawing parallels between Jurati and the Borg Queen.

The alternate future is a bit of a generic "evil future"; that aside, this opening Act is pretty close to impeccable.

Too bad that the midseason is the opposite of that.

The middle four episodes do an awful lot of water treading. Watcher, my pick for the season's weakest episode, devotes half its running time to pointless side trips. Rios has an extended misadventure with ICE while Seven and Raffi steal a police car and essentially play real life Grand Theft Auto to try to rescue him. None of this even particularly goes anywhere; once Episode Five rolls around, Seven and Raffi rescue Rios with all the effort of pressing a button, and the whole incident receives only a single mention later. A mention that makes Rios look like an imbecile, at that... though the overall treatment of Rios this year makes me wonder if he hit his head really, really hard between seasons.

The final three episodes pick up the pace again. Episodes 8 and 9 see a welcome return to the high quality of the early episodes, and Episode 10 ends by bringing the story full circle with some excellent character epilogues.

Unfortunately, those character epilogues come after some final plot mechanics that are badly rushed. Episode 10, Farewell, opens with Picard and Tallinn trying to stop the villainous Dr. Soong from interfering in the launch of a very important space mission. This should be tense and exciting, with Picard and Tallinn relying on their wits to evade security to beat Soong to the goal while the not-so-good doctor just as desperately tries to bluff his way through using his credentials and attitude. Because it's all crammed into about twenty minutes, though, neither heroes nor villains experience any obstacles. This should be a highly secure area in the midst of enormous activity, and yet we barely even see any evidence of basic staff. Meaning, yes, the pre-launch party was locked down like Fort Knox while the launch itself has less security than a 7/11!

Ideally, this should have been the focus of one full episode, with the character epilogues and resolution of the initial Borg contact left to be an episode in itself. But I guess we really needed that big car chase and that episode about bad dreams, even if it left the actual season climax feeling like a tacked-on afterthought.

Elnor dies. But don't worry - He gets better.

CONSEQUENCES ARE FOR REDSHIRTS:

Something unexpected happens in Episode Three: Elnor dies. This sends Raffi into a season-long spiral of guilt and anger, with her clinging to the gossamer-thin hope that if they fix the timeline he'll somehow be brought back to life.

I really hoped that the death would stick. Not because I don't like Elnor; I've actually liked the character since his introduction. However, I am a believer that, with only the rarest exceptions, dead characters should stay dead. In my review, I observed that Elnor's death was a vastly more effective unheroic "pointless death" than Tasha Yar's in TNG, and I appreciated the way it was used to kick off Raffi's character arc. I even liked the ways Elnor was used in the later season, with a flashback in Episode Eight and a hologram in Episode Nine developing Raffi's guilt and, finally, resolving it as much as such issues can be.

Then Q brings him back to life in the finale, because why should there be any lasting consequences? I'm reminded of Q Who?, another story in which Q whisked Picard's crew away from familiar surroundings and put them in danger, as the Enterprise experienced its first contact with the Borg. Eighteen crew members died. When an outraged Picard confronted him about that, Q responded perfectly:

"It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross - but it's not for the timid."

But it turns out that Mr. Magic will resurrect the dead - provided they are people close to Picard and provided Q is in a sufficiently sentimental mood. So Elnor gets to live! But it sucks to be one of those eighteen redshirts.

The hilarious thing? I'm pretty sure Elnor isn't in Season Three, so there wasn't even a contractual reason to do this. With regard to the larger series, the resurrection appears certain to end up being less than pointless. And had the group been remembering Elnor in that final scene with Guinan, I think it would have been considerably more effective.

Starfleet faces a threat that isn't exactly as it seems...

SEASON THREE WISHLIST:

As was true when I made up my "Season Two Wishlist," I'm not going to pretend not to know what was in every single promo for Season Three. I already know that Season Three is, to all intents and purposes, TNG Season Eight.

This is not my preference. One aspect of Picard I've consistently appreciated is that it's balanced nostalgia against being its own series with its own set of regulars. I would have preferred that the series continued doing that. Yes, I enjoy guest appearances by members of the old cast where appropriate - but I would have liked them to remain guest appearances.

Still, the producers made their choice, and overall reception to Season Three indicates that it was the correct one for a lot of fans. Knowing that, my main hope is that the characters are properly utilized. Let's not repeat the mistake of Enterprise's These Are the Voyages, please, in which years had passed but all the characters were still exactly the same. It's been a long time. I hope the show acknowledges that by showing that the characters have moved on in various ways in the interim.

I also hope that the background set up by Picard's first two seasons is not forgotten. Synthetics are now a part of the Federation, though that has come after more than a decade of their mere existence being outlawed. This is an issue that deserves some follow-up. Picard has a synthetic body, which received only a couple of references during Season Two. I don't expect any meaningful follow-up, but I consider the lack of follow-up to have been a missed opportunity. There have been references to a mysterious threat in both seasons, and that absolutely should be addressed.

But my biggest hope is just that Season Three is good. Season One had plenty of flaws, but I liked it overall. I found Season Two to be a bit disappointing, but I still enjoyed more of the episodes than not. In all likelihood, Season Three will be the last time we ever see all of these characters together again, much as was true of Star Trek VI and the TOS cast. As such, I hope it follows in Star Trek VI's footsteps by delivering a final adventure that's worthy of them.

If nothing else, it's almost certainly going to be better than Nemesis. And I say that as someone who mostly liked Nemesis on its own terms.

Q and Picard say farewell.

IN CONCLUSION:

"Potential" was my keyword for Season One of Star Trek: Picard. The season was swimming in interesting ideas, intriguing elements, and enjoyable characters. It didn't always use them as well as I'd have liked, but it was clear that there was the foundation for a legitimately interesting series that went beyond just "TNG nostalgia."

Unfortunately, my keyword for Season Two is "disappointment." I don't think Season Two is bad in the way its worst detractors insist. There are several good episodes and a few very good ones, and even the weakest entries remain watchable (something that wasn't always true of TNG). But the whole ended up feeling like less than the sum of its parts, and I came away feeling... honestly a little discouraged by it.

I'm hopeful that Season Three will stick the landing, and will manage to do so in a way that fits Star Trek: Picard and not just Star Trek: The Next Generation - Reunion. But I have to admit that, even though I enjoyed it well enough on an episode-by-episode basis, Season Two has left me feeling just a bit hollow.


Previous Season: Season One
Next Season: Season Three

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2-09. Hide and Seek.

The Borg-possessed Jurati and her drones come for La Sirena!

Original Air Date: Apr. 28, 2022. Written by: Matt Okumura, Chris Derrick. Directed by: Michael Weaver.


THE PLOT:

Time has run out. The Borg Queen-possessed Jurati has taken control of La Sirena's transporters and has beamed herself and her Borg-possessed soldiers to the ship. Her intent is to take the ship, destroy the Europa from orbit to prevent the Federation from forming, and then get a 400-year head start on forming a Borg Empire capable of either wiping out or assimilating the fascist Confederation and anyone else who tries to get in her way.

Rios, Teresa, and Teresa's young son barely manage to escape the ship, even as Picard and the rest of his crew beam to the abandoned Chateau Picard. The primitive Borg drones, under the command of Adam Soong, have no intention of allowing Picard anywhere near the ship.

Rios is injured, so he is beamed to Tallinn's apartment with Teresa and her son. Seven and Raffi attempt to approach La Sirena from the side, hoping to avoid the bulk of the drones. It falls to Picard and Tallinn to draw Soong and his forces into the Chateau, where Picard uses the tunnels underneath to play a particularly deadly game of hide and seek...


CHARACTERS:

Picard: "I refuse to accept an outcome that has not yet occurred." Picard draws on his childhood memories of the tunnels under the Chateau to evade Soong's forces. He tries to persuade Soong that the future the Borg Queen has promised him is a horrible one, but he isn't at all surprised when the other man is unmoved.

Jurati: Even if she did a horrible job of guarding the Borg Queen, she at least had the presence of mind to take precautions against the Queen's desire to take the ship. She locked out systems with a security code that she took care not to memorize, transforming La Sirena into "the world's biggest paperweight." She challenges the Borg Queen about her own loneliness and points out that in every timeline, the Borg end up failing.

Seven: A few snatches of her post-Voyager life get filled in. She attempted to enter Starfleet after the ship returned to Earth, only to be rejected for being Borg. Janeway threatened to resign in protest, but Seven chose to withdraw her application and join the Rangers instead. It's unspoken, but she wasn't willing to see Janeway throw away her career on her account. She refuses to allow any illusions about their situation. The enemy soldiers are no longer human; they are Borg. When Raffi starts talking about what they will do after this crisis, she flatly states, "We're not getting out of this."

Capt. Rios: He's been sidelined for pretty much the whole season... and it happens again after he gets injured during the initial attack. Picard beams him to Tallinn's apartment, then locks him out of the transporter so that he can't come back. Rios spends the bulk of the episode trying to break into the system to get back to help. Both Picard and Teresa are right, of course; if he beamed back right at that moment, he would only succeed in getting himself killed. But his stubbornness does pay off at the end.

Elnor: One of Jurati's safeguards was to program an emergency security hologram with the likeness of Elnor. The hologram also seems to have both his personality and memories. He grins when picking up Elnor's old sword to fight the Borg drones, then does his best to console Raffi about Elnor's feelings for her.

Tallinn: Remember the tough, wary Watcher who trained a gun on Picard and told him that she didn't like time travelers? Or the uneasy ally who needled him about Laris? Well, now she's his unapologetic sidekick, tagging along after him like a lost puppy. Or possibly his roaming therapist, given how much time she devotes to trying to get him to reconcile with his childhood... while men with guns are chasing them. Even Troi would have more common sense. (Or, recalling some of Troi's TNG lowlights, possibly not). All told, it's a rather sad decline for an initially fun and interesting character.

Teresa: Is awed at Rios having what amounts to a full emergency room inside his pocket, and confronts him with the effect this has on her: "You have no idea what this is like for me, do you? ...Surrounded by miracles, knowing win or lose, I'll have to let them go?" This does not stop her from bluntly pointing out that the injured Rios is currently not in shape to help anyone. The Rios/Teresa scenes work much better in this episode than last time. I think the writers should have saved their first kiss for here, where the situation makes it feel more natural and less shoehorned-in.

Adam Soong: He was introduced proclaiming, "Imagine, if you will, I am a god." Here, he declares himself to be a captain of industry. He's neither. He's gone from being Q's lackey to being the Borg Queen's; from having the love of a daughter to being alone; and he's so self-absorbed that he's incapable of seeing that his obsession with legacy has all but guaranteed that he won't have one. Brent Spiner is very good, as he has been all season. It's notable that the same actor who made Data so beloved can create a villain so despicable and ultimately pathetic.


THE PICARD SLEDGEHAMMERS:

It might be more accurate to label this one the Jurati and Tallinn sledgehammers. Picard gets a speech, of course, talking about moments in time we wish we could return to - but it's actually fairly effective on its own. Too bad it's flanked by two that are much worse.

Jurati lectures the Borg Queen about embracing uniqueness and even apparent weakness; Tallinn earnestly talks to Picard about how love can be a source of grief, but it's always "a gift." Both of these feel ridiculously heavy handed, and coming so rapidly one after another, the speechifying destroys the momentum in the final Act.

I think this was entirely fixable. Tallinn's should have been dropped entirely, as Patrick Stewart and Orla Brady are more than capable of conveying Picard's acceptance of his past nonverbally. I also think Jurati's attempts to alternately needle and persuade the Borg Queen would have played more convincingly in small interactions spread across the full episode, rather than being compressed into a single monologue.

As it stands, though, the succession of speeches kills the momentum of the final Act - which is a shame, as the episode is generally gripping up to that point.


OF MONSTERS, MEN, AND FLASHBACKS:

Most of the flashbacks of this episode simply re-tell the "young Picard" story that had been told in Monsters, only minus the fairy tale nonsense. Hide and Seek tells it better, not least because this time the flashbacks are actually motivated by the present-day story, as Picard goes through the same tunnels he once went through with his mother.

Nearly all the information given in Monsters is repeated here, only with additional context and an ending. If you missed Monsters entirely, nothing in the flashback plot here would seem at all confusing. This episode, in itself, gives you all the information you need to follow along.

Meaning that, yes, one of the season's weakest episodes was also pure water treading.


OTHER MUSINGS:

For the most part, I quite enjoyed Hide and Seek. Director Michael Weaver does a fine job at keeping the pace moving and the action easily understandable. The script finds time for good character moments for multiple members of the cast - not only Picard, but also Seven, Raffi, and even Rios. The Elnor hologram even allows him to receive some decent material, six full episodes after his death.

As was true of Mercy, this episode builds some honest-to-goodness momentum, and it manages to maintain it even during the flashbacks. Yes, when Tallinn and Picard pause in the tunnels to have a chat, I can't help but snap: "Is this really the best time?" - but it doesn't lose the tension, particularly with Soong finding the secret passage soon after.

The episode ends with a strong final note. It's not quite a cliffhanger. "The Siege of Chateau Picard" is fully resolved here, and the characters aren't in any immediate jeopardy at the end. Instead, we end on the heroes fully resolved in their next course of action, which I think is a lot more effective than, say, having someone pop up and train a gun on them.


OVERALL:

Hide and Seek has its faults. Tallinn has been completely flattened as a character by this point, and scenes with her and Picard talking about his childhood while actively being pursued just... annoy. Worse, a series of speeches badly disrupts the final stretch.

I'd still rate it as a good episode, however. For the bulk of its run, it builds tension and momentum. It offers strong moments to several characters. And it does an excellent job of giving every character something to do, even the ones who have often been sidelined this season.

Had the speeches been reduced or at least better spread out, this might have been one of the season's best. Even as it stands, I'd rate it as solidly above average.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Mercy
Next Episode: Farewell

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2-08. Mercy.

Jurati, possessed by the Borg Queen, attacks Raffi.

Original Air Date: Apr. 21, 2022. Written by: Cindy Appel, Kirsten Beyer. Directed by: Joe Menendez.


THE PLOT:

Picard and Guinan are in the custody of FBI Agent Martin Wells (Jay Karnes). It's not an official arrest. Wells has taken them to a basement in an FBI field office. He has nursed a lifelong obsession with the existence of extraterrestrials, and now he has evidence: surveillance video of Picard beaming onto the street outside Guinan's bar, photos of Picard and his crew infiltrating the gala, Picard's communications badge, and the scornfully true statement that Rios provided to ICE. It's enough, as Wells said, to bring agents who will make Picard and Guinan disappear forever!

Meanwhile, Seven and Raffi continue to track Jurati, who has been taken over by the Borg Queen. The Queen has a plan. She will build off Q's disruption of the Europa mission, enlisting the help - willing or not - of Dr. Adam Soong. Only her end game is not to create a future of mere human fascism. She will use the disrupted timeline to create the foundations for a galactic Borg Empire!


CHARACTERS:

Picard: There's a moment in this episode that showcases exactly what Patrick Stewart brings to this franchise. Picard has to persuade a man who has devoted his entire life to proving that aliens exist. All he has at his disposal are words. Give this same scene, with no changes, to a lesser actor, and it would fall ridiculously flat. Stewart, however, brings the right amounts of authority, empathy, and conviction to the moment that I actually believe it when it happens. 

Jurati: The Borg Queen is in full control... almost. When Raffi and Seven find her, she bats Seven away like a fly and is ready to kill Raffi - only to abruptly let her go before fleeing. As Seven observes: "Mercy is not a Borg quality." Jurati is still fighting the Queen on some level, and she manages in that moment to stop Raffi from being killed. I have no doubt her influence will come into play later.

Raffi: A flashback reveals the reason for her guilt over Elnor's death. He was considering delaying Starfleet Academy for a year to return home. Raffi was already losing Seven and couldn't stand the thought of being completely alone, so she passive/aggressively persuaded him to stay. In its way, her guilt is a kind of arrogance, an assumption that she had more control over Elnor's actions than he did. After all, within the same flashback, he observes how transparent her manipulations really are. Still, this makes sense for who Raffi is.

Seven: She's finally getting a taste of feeling truly human for the first time in her adult life. Her first scene sees her continuing to enjoy the sensation of people just naturally trusting her. Then circumstances force her to think like a Borh again. When Raffi is impressed at her ability to analyze the Queen's actions, Seven responds with bitterness: "You could be just a little less happy that I'm defective." These scenes allow Jeri Ryan, who has been pushed far too much to the background during the midseason, to remind us that she can actually act.

Capt. Rios: His relationship with Teresa doesn't so much move as get shoved forward in a forced scene midway through. Meanwhile, in Picard's strand, we learn that Rios is apparently much stupider than he's generally seemed. He didn't merely troll the ICE agent by telling him he was from the future - he gave details about the Borg Queen. This is like Jurati leaving the Queen unguarded - a generally competent regular suddenly losing their brain in order to advance the plot.

Adam Soong: Remember what I said about him being more sympathetic than other Dr. Soongs? Yeah, forget about that. In the space of this one episode, he makes himself the worst Soong - and given that his competition includes a guy who collaborated in an Augment revolution and another who was happy enough to see all organic life in the galaxy wiped out, that's saying something. The Borg Queen doesn't have to do much to get Soong to agree to help her. She teases him with a future that's better for him but dreadful for the rest of humanity, and he jumps at it. What matters to him is that he's remembered as a hero, with the actual welfare of humanity an absolute irrelevance.

Guinan: Ito Aghayere keeps getting better with each appearance. She quickly takes in the basement that's being used for her and Picard's interrogation and the unplugged camera and realizes that this is not a legitimate arrest. Her reaction to Wells's accusation of being an extra-terrestrial? "This guy is buckets of crazy." As much fun as she is with Picard and Wells, her best scene (and the episode's) comes when she meets Q. She matches John de Lancie's energy beat for beat, making for a memorable encounter.

Q: "We're all trapped in the past." In his scene with Guinan, Q finally reveals at least some of what's driving him. There is some terrific acting from de Lancie as Q moves between his accustomed scorn and sarcasm, a hint of anger, and even reflection and regret. The humor is also still there, such as when he snaps his fingers ineffectually while telling Guinan that he is sincerely trying to vaporize her right now - a bit that's all the funnier because I don't doubt for a second that he's telling the truth.


THOUGHTS:

"I know a haunted man when I see one. The things we hold onto, the pieces of emotional shrapnel that drive us all our lives."
-Picard gets into the head of his captor, FBI Agent Wells.

After a lackluster midseason, Picard finally delivers a good episode again! Mercy offers strong roles for all the regulars. It balances emotional material with plot movement, and it even finds time for a moment of danger when the Borg-possessed Jurati has Raffi literally by the throat.

In my last review, I complained that too many of the season's episodes seemed to be just setting characters up to do things later. Well, they finally start doing things here. Mercy fairly zips along. We get payoffs to Kore Soong (Isa Briones)'s discoveries about her father and Raffi's guilt about Elnor, we learn much more about the Borg Queen's plans and Q's changed situation, and we even get to see how Adam Soong fits in. There's very little dead space, with only the Rios/Teresa scene slowing things down.

I'll admit that I was not happy when Monsters ended with Picard being arrested, which just felt like a rerun of the Episode Three cliffhanger. This pays off much better, though, because it forces Picard to remain still. That leaves him in the right state of mind to process Guinan's revelation about Q, which equally applies to Wells: that people tend to get stuck in the past, wherever they were broken, until their minds find a way to resolve the problem. Picard the character is consistently at his best when he uses his intellect and empathy to solve problems, as is particularly shown by the scene in which he resolves the conflict with Wells simply by being open and honest.

This also creates some thematic unity in what might have been a fractured episode. "We're all trapped in the past." In addition to Wells and to Q, this applies across the various strands: Raffi, guilty over Elnor; Seven, haunted by her past Borg assimilation; Adam Soong, unable to move on from his research; his daughter, whose discoveries are forcing her to reevaluate her entire life; and Jurati, the most isolated of the crew, striving for connection only to have found the worst one possible. In a handful of lines, the script takes all these threads and makes them feel all of a piece.

It all ends with one of the season's most effective cliffhangers, leaving me very ready to see what happens next.


OVERALL:

Mercy is a legitimately good episode, arguably the first such one since Assimilation. It moves quickly, everyone gets something to do, and it all feels of a piece. Even better, there's a sense of the various threads coming together.

I wouldn't say it makes up for the weaknesses of the midseason. Still, this installment finally puts Picard's second season in place to be back on track. The season opened well, after all; and if the remaining two episodes follow through on the successes of this one, then there's a solid chance that the season can close as well as it started.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Monsters
Next Episode: Hide and Seek

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2-06. Two of One.

Jurati gets a little too comfortable with the Borg Queen...

Original Air Date: Apr. 7, 2022. Written by: Cindy Appel, Jane Maggs. Directed by: Jonathan Frakes.


THE PLOT:

Tallinn assists Picard and his crew with the infiltration of an exclusive gala that will be the last public appearance of Renée Picard before her mission. If they can keep her from dropping out until the end of the event, then it will be much less likely that Q can get to her.

The first part of the plan calls for Jurati to get caught on purpose. When she's brought to Security, she'll be able to open the way for the others. However, no one expects her to be handcuffed. She has to allow the Borg Queen, now implanted in her subconscious, to take control in order to break free.

Tallinn monitors Renée's text messages, discovering that Q is still trying to convince the young woman to quit the mission. Picard decides to talk to her, to persuade her otherwise - which is when Dr. Adam Soong steps in, working on orders from Q to stop him!


CHARACTERS:

Picard: The episode's best scene is his conversation with Renée, in which he guides her toward her courage. Patrick Stewart is terrific in moments such as this, showing wisdom and kindness as he tells her that fear isn't an indication that she's not ready. "Fear is fear... Fear means you're smart, you understand the risks." When Renée tries to turn his words against him, demanding to know what he's afraid of, he simply chuckles and tells her that his own fears are too numerous to even list.

Dr. Jurati: Like the last episode, much of the script involves Jurati giving openings to the Borg Queen. Unlike the last episode, she doesn't come across as an idiot while doing so. The first time she cedes control, in the security office, there's no real option. Picard's plan is failing thanks to the handcuffs; if she doesn't allow the Queen in, then the mission is over. After that, circumstances keep making it convenient to give up control just one more time, as she grows a little too comfortable with her invisible companion and trusts a little too much in the assurance that she's the one in charge.

Capt. Rios: Seems to be enjoying himself a little too much, remarking to Raffi about how good the food and drink is while showing off a "real" cigar and a box of actual matches - things available only in blander, replicated format in their sanitized future. Raffi sees right through this, zeroing in on the source of his giddiness: his encounter with Teresa. He doesn't particularly deny this. It takes only the mention of the pretty young clinic doctor for him to start enthusing about her.

Raffi: Gets a couple of nice character beats in the scene at the bar. The script remembers her addiction issues, as she has to force herself to order a club soda when she really wants to order whiskey. She watches Seven, who is mingling effortlessly with the crowd, and admits to Rios that it's nice to see her relaxed in the absence of the Borg implants. She also has another split-second hallucination of Elnor.

Tallinn: She observes how Picard's voice changes when he talks about Laris. When he denies that Laris is of any importance, she thanks him with full sincerity: "Now I know what it looks like when you lie." She briefly echoes my own speculation from last episode, that maybe Q is right and Renée really isn't ready. Picard senses Tallinn's own maternal anxiety, urging her to believe in the job she's already done protecting Renée and to let the young woman go.

Adam Soong: I'm genuinely impressed with Brent Spiner's acting this season. When he confronts Picard, there are multiple levels to his urgings for Picard to stay out of the way. There's the surface level arrogance, the assumption of power by a man of influence. But we can also sense the desperation just below the surface. Then there is the scene in which Kore, his daughter, goes through his video logs. Each log is short as we track the arc of his life's work, and each of these excerpts sees him in a different emotional state. Spiner nails every shift in Adam throughout these logs, lending weight to what might have been a scene of pure exposition.

Teresa: When the episode opened with a flash-forward of Picard in need of medical treatment, I knew right away that she was going to be brought back into the story. Yes, the off-the-books clinic for patients who gasp, "No hospital," is where they take an injured Picard. Teresa helps him, but she knows that Rios and the others are concealing the truth from her. Rios tries to assure her that they are "the good guys" - something that life has taught her that actual good guys never say.

Borg Queen: Her manipulations of Jurati continue - and now that she's inside Jurati's head, there's no way for the other woman to just walk away. It goes without saying that the Queen is working toward her own agenda even as she helps with Picard's plan. Even her most impulsive action, as she pulls Rios in for a kiss, is given a new context at the episode's end, when we learn exactly what she needs to seize full control.


THOUGHTS:

Two of One is a short episode, clocking in at less than 40 minutes including credits. This is one benefit of streaming, that episodes neither have to be cut or padded to fit a timeslot. That said, I think this episode is a little too short, with elements that seem underdeveloped and some rather abrupt transitions.

One problem is that roughly half the crew is given nothing to do in the actual mission. Jurati gets them in; Tallinn tracks Renée's communications; Picard talks to Renée. Meanwhile, Raffi, Rios, and Seven are... present. The episode seems to be trying to echo Mission: Impossible and/or Ocean's Eleven - but those series always made sure that every member of the team had at least one important thing to do. A couple of good character bits aside, half of Picard's team amount to spare parts.

While I wish the plotting was a little sharper, the character material is excellent. I expected a fun plot-based episode. I was surprised to find it to be one of the series' better character episodes. There are several strong moments for the cast: Picard's confrontation with Soong, his sternness here a contrast with his gentler interactions opposite Tallinn and Renée; the conversations between Rios and Jurati, and then Rios and Raffi; Raffi balancing her stress and guilt about Elnor against the enjoyment of watching Seven genuinely enjoying herself; the Borg Queen's manipulations of Jurati; and Teresa's refusal to simply accept Rios's assurances at face value.

The episode excels at making the show's characters feel properly alive. If only the script had been given another pass to make the plot mechanics as sharp as the character scenes!


SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT:

The episode's big set piece comes when Soong tries to have security eject Picard. Jurati and the Borg Queen create a distraction, shutting down the lights and then drawing all eyes to Jurati while she performs the early 1980s song, Shadows of the Night.

I know this scene drew mixed reaction from Trek fans. For the record, I like it. A degree of goofiness has always been part of Star Trek's appeal for me, and stopping a caper episode for a musical number definitely fits that description. The song is well chosen, with the lyrics fitting the Borg Queen/Jurati relationship quite well. "It's a cold world, when you keep it all to yourself... You can't hide on the inside, all the pain you've ever felt." That sounds an awful lot like a musical version of the Queen's repeated statements that, without the Borg, Jurati will always be alone; and the chorus of "surrender all your dreams to me tonight" could just about be the Borg assimilation theme song.

Like other moments in this episode, though, the scene feels both abrupt and underdeveloped. The orchestra seems too happy to just play along. This could have been easily written around: had the episode inserted a shot with the Borg Queen sending the music to the orchestra, it would explain why they go along with this unscheduled performance and at the same time would show the Queen's growing influence.

As it stands, we go into the performance too quickly and cut out of it too abruptly. I think it's a good bit; but it's not as well integrated into the story as it should have been.


OVERALL:

Director Jonathan Frakes delivers some strong individual scenes, and I found Two of One to be enjoyable overall. It's briskly paced, and with all threads focused on the gala, it's never at risk of feeling fragmented.

The episode suffers from a sense of being rushed and underdeveloped. The regulars all get good character moments, but half of them never get any plot material. If Seven, Raffi, and Rios weren't at this event, the mission wouldn't be affected at all. 

Still, the brisk pace and short running time leave no opportunity for boredom. I had fun watching this. I just can't help but feel that it could have been and should have been a lot better.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Fly Me to the Moon
Next Episode: Monsters

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2-03. Assimiliation.

Raffi tends to a dying Elnor.

Original Air Date: Mar. 17, 2022. Written by: Kiley Rossetter, Christopher Monfette. Directed by: Lea Thompson.


THE PLOT:

Picard, his crew, and the Borg Queen beam to the alternate universe's version of La Sirena. Elnor is shot during the escape. Raffi tries to treat his wounds with the meager supplies in sickbay as the others complete the slingshot maneuver to go back to 2024. They reach their destination - but the ship loses power and, without sickbay's biobed to sustain him, Elnor dies.

The Borg Queen is unconscious, and the only clue they have is the Queen's words about a "watcher" in Los Angeles. Raffi, Seven, and Rios beam off the ship to search for non-human and/or non-contemporary signals. Picard and Jurati stay on board to attempt to revive the Queen to get answers. Given her current condition, Jurati can see only one way to repair the damage: to connect with the Queen, risking assimilation!


CHARACTERS:

Picard: He allows Raffi to rail against him, right up to the point that she compares him to Q, an accusation that he firmly rejects. Elnor was practically a surrogate son to him, so I have no doubt that his own grief dwarfs Raffi's current bitterness. Even so, he won't allow himself to feel it right now, when a mission affecting the entire future is at stake. He allows Jurati to meld with the Borg Queen for the same reason. He doesn't want to take such a risk with her life and consciousness - but there's no viable alternative.

Dr. Jurati: Demonstrates surprising authority when laying out the time travel rules for the Away Team: "No hospitals, no authorities, no security checkpoints. Anything that can scan you, it can find the ID implants... from a future that doesn't exist yet." She also doesn't allow Rios to take his weapon, pointing out the damage to the timeline if he were to lose it.

When she volunteers to be connected to the Borg Queen, she shows full faith in Picard to keep her safe. While her higher functions complete the repair, her subconcious talks to Picard and almost immediately reveals that she thinks of him as a father figure. She is afraid of the Queen... but she's also fascinated by her, to a degree that seems likely to be dangerous. Alison Pill is terrific, particularly in the melding scene as Jurati runs through a series of different emotions.

Elnor: Dies after being shot by one of the guards from the alternate timeline. Assuming that it sticks, I have to give points to the Picard creative team. Elnor dies an essentially pointless death, which was what the TNG staff were going for with Tasha Yar. This works much better than her death in Skin of Evil, thanks to the reactions of the others - particularly Raffi, who tries fruitlessly to save him and then spends the rest of the episode in a fury of activity (and fury in general) in response.

Raffi: She clings to the hope that fixing the timeline will result in Elnor's resurrection, filtering out Jurati's response that she doesn't know if that will happen. She is stricken after watching the death of this young man for whom she felt so protective. She lashes out Picard for taking time to save the Borg Queen while Elnor died, declaring her "sharp disappointment in (his) leadership."

Seven of Nine: Finally, for the first time in the series, gets some actual screen time with her love interest! It turns out that they do work together onscreen, though I will continue to insist that their relationship should have been allowed to develop rather than simply being plunked down as Established. Seven makes two attempts to comfort Raffi, first nonverbally and then by offering to talk. Both are rejected. She thinks fast when a 21st century security guard discovers her and Raffi where they aren't supposed to be, and she is astonished when this stranger actually seems to like her. Raffi is less than impressed.

Capt. Rios: Has the misfortune to beam into a, um, gravitationally untenable situation. He ends up with a concussion, and he is taken to a free clinic by well-meaning strangers. Santiago Cabrera gets some nice moments opposite Teresa Ramirez (Sol Rodriguez), a pretty young doctor with a precocious son. His scenes with these two allow him to show a softer side to Rios's character.

Hot Human Earth Doctor of the Week: Teresa seems a bit too idealized. She treats her patients for free, she's observant enough of her young son to keep tabs on his activities even in the midst of a very demanding job, and she's courageous in dealing with the authorities. Should we canonize her now or wait to see how the statue turns out? Fortunately, actress Sol Rodriguez injects an appealing amount of skepticism and humor into her scenes with Rios, which goes a long way toward making Teresa likeable. That said, I really hope the character gets a few flaws or at least blind spots before the season's end.

Borg Queen: During the escape, she assimilates with the ship. She so quickly disposes of their pursuers that I found myself wondering exactly how the alternate universe fascists managed to defeat her in the first place. When Jurati connects to heal her, the Queen probes around her subconscious, manipulating her emotions to try to gain control. Though she's still in a position of physical weakness, her final lines make clear that she is very much a threat.

Q: Is only seen for a few seconds, but those seconds are interesting, as he insists to Picard that "this is the only kind of life you understand" even as the enemy ships take damage. This not only echoes Q's statements from the last episode; it also recalls his very first appearance in Encounter at Farpoint, in which he put humanity on trial for being "a dangerous, savage child race." In Farpoint, as in most of TNG, he was just smug. Now that smugness seems like a thin veneer covering layers of disappointment. At this point, I have no idea what's motivating it - but I don't think he's just "playing games," and I certainly don't think he's insane.


THOUGHTS:

This episode was directed by Lea Thompson. Yes, the 1980s actress who is probably best known for Back to the Future. That seems appropriate, given this episode's focus on time travel. There's even a fair amount of humor, from Rios's catastrophic pratfall to a child mistaking Seven for a superhero. Not to mention Seven's and Raffi's banter in the scene with the security guard.

Given how grim the first half of the episode is, the humor in the back half is extremely welcome. It's also pitched at the right level, providing the viewer a bit of relief without distracting from the emotions Raffi is feeling or the ones that Picard isn't letting himself feel.

One area in which Season Two is excelling so far is in its use of the ensemble. Each of the regulars receives one or two good scenes. The emotional focus is on Raffi, while the story focus remains with Picard, Jurati, and the Borg Queen. But the script also shows Seven's strange sense of comfort with this new setting, and it gives Rios some choice scenes at the clinic. Even Elnor is well-used despite minimal screen time, with his death impacting the others and his last words to Raffi perfectly judged.

The standout moment of the episode is Jurati connecting with the Borg Queen. The lighting is dim and tinged with green, infusing a sense of the mechanical. As the Queen probes Jurati's emotions, she snarls in anger - but she only seems on the verge of truly losing herself when the Queen explores her sadness.

All three actors are superb here, and the scene is well staged and well shot. The camera slowly creeps in on Picard and Jurati at the start, sitting opposite each other with the Queen looming over them in the background. Close-ups of Jurati show her pale skin washed out by the Queen's mechanical green light. Then Jurati speaks through the Queen while the Queen speaks through Jurati, a suitably eerie moment. It ends with a great little button from Jurati - a moment of victory here... but judging from the Queen's reaction, one that will have consequences.


OVERALL:

Assimilation is my favorite episode of the season so far. It balances multiple elements and shifts in tone: action, strong emotion, comedy, and even a moment of horror. It skips between these tones seemingly without effort, and I never felt jarred by any of the transitions.

I'm still skeptical about centering an entire season around a time travel story. Still, with its several fine character moments and excellent use of the ensemble, this episode on its own terms was a joy to watch.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: Penance
Next Episode: Watcher

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2-01. The Star Gazer.

Picard delivers an impassioned speech to a class of Starfleet Academy graduates.

Original Air Date: Mar. 3, 2022. Written by: Akiva Goldsman, Terry Matalas. Directed by: Douglas Aarniokoski.


THE PLOT:

Picard is back in Starfleet. He is chancellor of the Academy, focusing his energies on the next generation of explorers. The ragtag La Sirena crew members have gone their own ways. Seven is still a Fenris Ranger. Soji is acting as an ambassador for the synthetics. Raffi has taken command of the USS Excelsior, and the recently-graduated Elnor is among her crew.

Capt. Rios is also in Starfleet again, in charge of the USS Star Gazer. Named after Picard's first command, this starship is the prototype for a new class that uses research from the Borg artifact. The Star Gazer is orbiting Delta, where Soji is impressing the local populace, when Rios receives new orders. A tear in space-time has been detected, and he's been ordered to investigate.

The anomaly is emitting a transmission, one which Dr. Jurati is able to decipher. It is a plea:

"Help us, Picard. Help us..."


CHARACTERS:

Picard: No longer the bitter old hermit of early Season One, Picard seems to be enjoying his return to Starfleet. He has purpose again. When he speaks at a graduating class, it is with passion and joy. Despite this, his personal life continues to be barren, something commented on at various points by Raffi, by Romulan ex-spy/housekeeper Laris, and by Guinan. Laris directly expresses interest in him, and he seems to reciprocate... but for whatever reason, he cannot quite make himself close that gap.

Capt. Rios: He's generally informal as he splays in the captain's chair, perpetually chomping on a cigar. This default demeanor makes it all the more effective when he is sharply in crisis mode near the end. When Picard arrives on the Star Gazer, he defers to him without a word of complaint. He remains alert, however, ready to step in to protect Picard or to take over for him.

Seven of Nine: Has taken command of La Sirena, Rios's old ship. She has not hired a crew, preferring to rely on the Rios holograms. She tells Picard that others feel paranoid about the presence of an ex-Borg. Though she seems reluctant to interact with others, she still insists on helping others - though being Seven, her way of helping tends to involve violence.

Dr. Jurati: Broke up with Rios in the gap between seasons, yet she continues to work with him. They still "read" as a couple, with a distinct flirtatious undertone to their interactions. She continues to carry scars from the events of Season One. When she figures out that a Deltan is interested in her - "This is how really pretty people flirt, isn't it?" - she shoots him down by talking about how alien influence resulted in her murdering her previous ex.

Soji: Is only seen briefly, apparently to write her out. She is confident and charming in her diplomatic relations on Delta. She also retains her friendship with Jurati, which makes me disappointed that this one scene is probably the character's full role for the season. Their friendship is both entertaining and convincing, and I suspect I will miss it in future episodes.

Raffi: She's made sure that Elnor is assigned to her ship, feeling protective of the young man whose "absolute candor can get his ass kicked." Her relationship with Seven is in a holding pattern, and she wishes that there could be something more... which would be a lot easier to care about if their relationship had gotten any build-up at all. As of now, I still can't judge them as a couple, because they've barely exchanged two words in the entire series to date!

Laris: Her husband died between seasons of a terminal case of "Orla Brady has screen chemistry with Patrick Stewart." After Picard fails to act on her overtures, she rejects the suggestion that they continue as they have been. "It would all be too awkward, and I'm too old for awkward." Either they're a couple, or she'll move on.

Guinan: Whoopi Goldberg appears in one very good scene in her old TNG role. Guinan is still a bartender, and she is still ready to serve Picard a drink and listen. She tries to get him to open up about why he has never had a lasting relationship, waving away his attempts to talk about space exploration and Starfleet. But when it becomes clear that he isn't willing to talk more openly, she agrees to just share a quiet drink with him.


THOUGHTS:

"The only place you have ever been afraid to explore, be it flesh and blood or an artificial synthetic, is (the heart)... Your answers are not in the stars, and they never have been."
-Guinan, refusing to accept Picard's reasons for remaining alone.

As a season premiere, The Star Gazer has the confidence to take its time. The episode touches base with the characters and just lets them chat: Picard and Laris exchanging toasts in multiple languages; Jurati and Soji, more relaxed than we've ever seen them as they joke with each other at a diplomatic event; Jurati and Rios, interacting like an old married couple despite their breakup; Picard sharing a drink with Guinan even as he studiously avoids saying anything meaningful. The script centers itself on the characters, only pivoting to a plot focus in the last fifteen minutes.

The writers are clearly setting up a season theme for Picard involving his avoidance of relationships. Multiple characters comment on this. Raffi remarks that she wonders if Picard even gets lonely, and the way Patrick Stewart's posture changes for just a second is all the answer the viewers require. In this one way, he is still - to paraphrase his own words in Season One - not actually living.

I'm not sure as yet how this strand will connect to the external threat introduced at the end, though too much time is given to it for there not be some type of connection. Within this opening hour, I was mainly just pleased to see that the episode didn't try to rush. By putting the characters first, there is more investment when the action finally comes at the end.

I had only one major disappointment with an otherwise highly enjoyable opener. Season One ended with Picard's consciousness transferred into a synthetic body. Even with Dr. Soong's assurances that this body remained his - human and mortal, just minus his illness - I felt that Picard's acceptance of the situation was a cheat. A character-focused Season Two opener provided an opportunity for him to demonstrate discomfort, however private or buried. Instead, the only mention it receives is a quick throwaway line by Guinan. Yes, I thought it was a bad story move - but it happened, so the show really should engage with it.

The opening credits have been retooled, presumably to fit the story and themes of this season. The theme is still recognizable, but it has a darker tone. The visuals now include: the piece of painted glass that Picard looks at early in the episode; the enemy introduced at the end; and the image of an hourglass.

The production team appears to have learned its lesson about billing for surprise guest stars. Whoopi Goldberg receives a credit on the front, but another guest appearance is reserved for the end credits to preserve the surprise. Admittedly, that surprise was spoiled by basically every trailer and write-up for Season Two - but at least the show is no longer spoiling itself!


OVERALL:

The Star Gazer is a strong opening to Picard's second season. The character focus is welcome, and all of the actors continue to do good work. I'm not sure yet exactly where the season arc is going, or how the external threat will tie into the personal arc being set up for Picard. Based on this opening, though, I look forward to finding out.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2
Next Episode: Penance

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1-10. Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2.

Picard, in command of La Sirena, prepares to confront a Romulan fleet!

Original Air Date: Mar. 26, 2020. Written by: Michael Chabon. Directed by: Akiva Goldsman.


THE PLOT:

The end is nigh.

Sutra's deception has succeeded: Soji, Soong, and the androids are all in agreement about sending the signal encoded in The Admonition. This will result in the summoning of advanced synthetics who will save the androids... at the expense of all organic life!

Narek has a plan. He sneaks into the Artifact to recover enough explosives to destroy the transmitter. Knowing he can't succeed in this effort alone, he appeals to Rios, Raffi, and Elnor for help - though Elnor seems as inclined to kill him as listen to him.

Meanwhile, Jurati breaks Picard out of confinement. Just as Oh (Tamlyn Tomita)'s Romulan fleet arrives, Picard tries a gamble of his own - a final bid to stop the Romulans and to prevent the synthetics from transmitting their deadly message!


CHARACTERS:

Picard: "I am trying to pilot a starship for the first time in a very long time, without exploding or crashing!" One thing the finale gets right is Picard himself. While Rios and most of the crew try to stop the signal, Picard launches into orbit in La Sirena with only Dr. Jurati to assist. This brings Picard full circle: Gone is the bitter old man from the winery, and in his place is the confident Starfleet captain. "The Picard Maneuver" is even utilized to catch the Romulans' attention to delay their attack - well, a significantly enhanced version of it. Patrick Stewart is marvelous, as always, and it's appropriate that the finale centers in large part around him making a plea relying on reason and morality - always Picard's greatest tools - rather than relying on threats and brute force.

Riker: As with Seven of Nine's first appearance at the end of Absolute Candor, I feel Jonathan Frakes's billing should have been reserved for the end credits to preserve the surprise. But since they slap "Special Guest Star: Jonathan Frakes" right on there, I'll observe that Riker gets a decent supporting role, in a way that effectively follows up on his scenes with Picard in Nepenthe, with Riker's ongoing support for and belief in his old C. O. coming through strongly.

Data: The season opened with Picard dreaming of Data, and it closes with a fully conscious Picard speaking to Data thanks to a computer simulation. Brent Spiner's age is visible despite the best efforts of the makeup crew (and likely some CGI enhancement), but the scene is a nice touch, the two men speaking thoughtfully about the value of mortality. Though I wasn't particularly upset with Data's original sendoff, this quiet conversation, followed by a moment in which Data listens to Blue Skies (the song he sang at Riker's wedding) is a far more appropriate final bow for the character.

Dr. Soong: Data's curtain call does not spell the end of Spiner's Star Trek involvement, not so long as the Soong dynasty continues to have every male member look exactly like him. Alton Soong is appalled when he learns that Sutra helped Narek not only to escape, but to kill one of her own sisters to push the androids into sending the signal. "Turns out you're no better than we are," he says, the disappointment heavy in his voice. I hesitate to call this a redemption; Soong was entirely willing to commit genocide until he found out that his "children" are just as capable of selfishness and deception as all other sentient beings. He may end up being not quite a villain... but I find myself ultimately agreeing with Picard's assessment, when he states, "I don't much care for him."

Soji: Her encounter with Narek in the previous episode really should have been better written, as its apparent that their conversation in conjunction with Sutra's deception has pushed her into activating the signal.  She's the target of Picard's plea, and she is also the ultimate target of Oh's planned attack, meaning that the entire resolution revolves around her choice. Since we're never in doubt as to what she'll do, the stakes revolve more around the character than the plot. Unfortunately, in this episode, Soji feels more like a plot device than a person, leaving all of our character investment purely with Picard, which blunts the effectiveness of an otherwise generally well-executed climax.

Dr. Jurati: It turns out that she was lying when she pretended to be on the side of Sutra and Soong. When Soong congratulates her on the "sacrifice" she is willing to make as the androids' "mother," Jurati smiles and nods... until he leaves, when she spits out, "I'm not their mother, asshole." The endearing geek-girl side of her, seen in her Episode Three grin when Picard said, "Make it so," pops up again as she breaks Picard out, all the while amazed that no one has detected "the worst secret agent ever." Alison Pill, who's been too often pushed to the sidelines, seems to revel in her meatier role this episode. Still, I can't help but wonder at how all of her actions from the mid-season seem to be completely forgiven (even forgotten) by the ending scenes.

Narek: Thankfully, the one-dimensional pod-Narek of the previous episode is gone. Once he sees the transmitter, Narek is smart enough to go to the La Sirena crew to urge a truce to try to stop what is coming. Just as refreshingly, both Rios and Raffi are entirely willing to listen to him. They're wary, but they listen, and manage to form a plan to get back into the compound.

Seven of Nine: Her role in the finale is... underwhelming. I expected that she would be working to get the Borg's defenses back online to help in stopping the Romulans. This does not happen. Instead, Seven participates in the climax by getting into a fight with Narissa (who returns, both inexplicably and unnecessarily, after having been seemingly dispatched at the end of Broken Pieces). This entire bit feels like something spun out of whole cloth just to give Seven something to do. Much better is her final conversation with Rios, which reminds us that Jeri Ryan is actually a very good actress, something I hope Season Two makes better use of.

Oh, and perhaps following in the tradition of Voyager (which apparently ended with her in an inexplicable relationship with Chakotay), a shot near the end implies a new romantic relationship... with a character opposite whom she has barely shared screentime! I'll reserve judgement on this until I see it play out - but I can't help but wonder why this development wasn't saved for Season Two, when there might have been time to lay groundwork for it.


THOUGHTS:

"Fear is a poor teacher."
-Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, retired.

The entire crisis of Et in Arcadia Ego, and of Picard's first season in general, is because of fear. The Zhat Vash's entire existence traces back to fear of synthetics. That led them to sabotage Picard's rescue mission - of Romulus, no less - which in turn led to Starfleet banning synthetics... an overreaction born out of fear. Actions taken by both Starfleet and the Romulans have led the synthetics to feel backed into a corner, ready to lash out from fear of their own annihilation, in an attitude of "it's us or them"... a reaction that, as Picard observes, will make them into the very destroyers the Romulans have prophesied.

Picard has no capacity to go toe-to-toe with the Romulans, let alone the unknown synthetics. He has one ship against hundreds. Oh's initial reaction to La Sirena is to ignore it. Picard instead uses his wits to draw the Romulans' attention, all to delay the bombardment long enough to get Soji to listen as he pleads with her to make a better choice.

Related to the theme of fear throughout the season, we have also witnessed characters justifying their actions by claiming they have "no choice." Dr. Jurati felt she had no choice but to murder Bruce Maddox. The Zhat Vash insist they have no choice but to do whatever is necessary to stop the synthetics. Rios's former commander was ordered to commit murder, given no choice if he didn't want his own ship to be destroyed.

When Soji claims that she has no choice but to send the signal, Picard rejects that excuse. He labels it "a failure of imagination," and tells her that the decision to become the destroyer or not is what it has always been: Soji's decision and responsibility, and no one else's... in the process implicating every cry of "no choice" that has been heard throughout the show.

All of this works thematically, the refrains of fear and people feeling they have no choice having built throughout the season. It also works in terms of the story. As an episode, Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 builds effectively. Act One establishes the transmitter and the stakes. We then follow two groups - Narek and the La Sirena crew, Picard and Jurati - as they undertake separate actions to try to stop it. The final Act pays off the conflicting issues of the season - not only with the Romulans arriving, but with Picard trying to stop them with an appeal to reason and morality based largely on his own hope and faith in others... showing his own restoration, as such hope and faith would have been far beyond the broken man we saw in Remembrance.

For 45 of its 57 minutes, Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 stands as a strong season finale. Not everything works (the Narissa/Seven catfight is as poor as it is superfluous) and there's a bit too striking a resemblance between the glimpse we get of the Doomsday Synthetics and Babylon 5's Shadows (not quite enough to be a copyright infringement, but enough to make me skeptical of coincidence). Still, it's engaging and effective, with the quiet conversations between Rios and Seven, Elnor and Raffi, and finally Picard and Data all serving as an effective button...

And then the ending happens.

If you haven't seen the episode, then stop here, because I don't know how to discuss the ending without spoiling it...

A final conversation between old friends.

A MISJUDGED EPILOGUE

"A butterfly that lives forever is really not a butterfly at all."
-Data inadvertently sums up some of the problems with the ending.

Another theme the episode develops is the value of mortality. In the wonderfully effective Data cameo, Data makes a plea to have the matrix sustaining his intelligence shut down, so that he can experience a life that ends.

This fits with Picard's own arc. He has spent the entire season knowing that his time is short, that this will be his final mission. When he launches into orbit to face the Romulan fleet, he knows it is a one-way trip. He states that he is doing this to offer his life to Soji and her people, in hopes that they will see that they have options other than destruction. When he starts to collapse, he has Jurati inject him with stimulants that aggravate his condition, all so that he can remain alert to make his last appeal. To make his death mean something.

...And then they undermine that entire message by turning Jean-Luc into a frickin' robot!

Yes, Picard's consciousness is transferred into the synthetic "golem" that has been set up for the past two episodes. Even this isn't used effectively. This should frankly horrify him: His worst nightmare is being made into something other than human, as happened with the Borg. Instead, he's assured that everything is fine - He's basically entirely as he would have been minus the terminal illness, nullifying any chance of wringing anything more out of this late development. To all purposes, Picard having his brain put into a new body is nothing more than the most convoluted cure for a disease in recorded history.

This feels like a cheat, because it is a cheat.

Far, far better had the episode ended with Picard's death, with his consciousness fading during that conversation with Data and a tag featuring the other characters' reactions. But then I guess we couldn't have a Season Two. And what's thematic unity compared to keeping the cash cow pumping?


OVERALL:

For all that the ending leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I still have to give Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 a good score. For the bulk of its running time - and the entirety of the actual plot - it's highly engaging. The character dynamics are good, and the season's themes are effectively dramatized.

It's a shame about that epilogue, and I'd almost advise hitting "STOP" at the end of the scene with Data. Much like the season itself, however, the flaws of the episode - while evident - aren't enough to keep me from considering it a worthwhile addition overall.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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