3-05. Imposters.

Picard is interrogated by Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes).

Original Air Date: Mar. 16, 2023. Written by: Cindy Appel, Chris Derrick. Directed by: Dan Liu.


THE PLOT:

The Titan is safely back in Federation space, away from Capt. Vadic and the Shrike. But Picard and Riker now face an inquiry by Starfleet security. The USS Intrepid meets the Titan and orders all but a skeleton crew be transported over for reassignment during the investigation. The officer in charge is none other than Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes), the Bajoran officer who betrayed Picard to the Maquis decades earlier - and Ro seems to be harboring a personal grudge.

Meanwhile, Worf and Raffi are denied access to Daystrom Station, leaving them to find another way to look into the theft of Starfleet weaponry and its connection to the changelings. Since Worf was forced to kill Sneed, the Ferengi gangster, in order to save Raffi's life, they seem to be at a dead end. But Worf knows of another potential information source: Krinn (Kirk Acevedo), a Vulcan crime lord who was an associate of Sneed's. Krinn is far more clever and dangerous than Sneed, however, and getting to him may require a sacrifice Raffi isn't willing to make...


CHARACTERS:

Picard: He's incensed that Ro has the temerity - let alone the position - to question him. Even thirty years later, he feels personally betrayed that she chose the Maquis over Starfleet, and he wastes no time in turning her interrogation of him around on her. He also wonders if she might be a changeling, particularly given that "Commander Ro" isn't wearing her Bajoran earring.

Riker: He was never close to Ro, so her past decision did not hit him personally. As a result, he's more laid back about her position in Starfleet. He even attempts to mediate between Picard and Ro, an effort that is stymied by Ro insisting on questioning Picard alone.

Seven: When the security team takes a shuttle to the Titan rather than simply beaming over, Picard is spooked into asking for one more favor. She agrees to hide Jack from the investigation. She does this by giving him a Starfleet uniform to wear. "If security officers come looking, it's best to hide you in plain sight."

Dr. Crusher: She's a picture of crisp professionalism as she performs her autopsy on the changeling corpse, calmly observing the differences between this changeling and the ones Starfleet warred with decades earlier. She can see that Jack is troubled, and she urges him to talk to her about whatever is wrong.

Jack Crusher: The disguise of a Starfleet uniform works surprisingly well, though his aversion to Starfleet makes him reluctant to wear it. That's a secondary character beat, however. Most of his role centers around visions he's having of himself committing violent acts. The writers seem to badly want us to suspect that he's a changeling without knowing it - which is exactly why I'm sure that he isn't.

Capt. Shaw: Is positively giddy at the thought of Starfleet punishing Picard and Riker. When the two older officers point out that they've saved the galaxy multiple times, Shaw reminds them of some of the less spectacular aspects of their record, grinning as he recalls "that time that someone threw the Prime Directive out the window so they could snog a villager on Ba'ku." However, the events of the previous episodes are enough that he's willing to listen as the security investigation grows increasingly strange.

Commander Ro: Michelle Forbes returns to the franchise for the first time since TNG's Preemptive Strike, and she's still convincing as Ro. Her best moments, unsurprisingly, come opposite Picard. Her emotions toward him are every bit as raw as his toward her, with her feeling that his mentorship was always conditional on her upholding his values over her own. "I joined the Maquis because belonging there meant standing up to injustice, even if it meant betraying your beloved Starfleet!"


THOUGHTS:

If the first four episodes formed an action/suspense story, then this episode conveys more of a "conspiracy thriller" vibe, with the characters uncertain who to trust. They can't even be certain which officers actually are themselves, with Picard and Ro each showing suspicion that the other might be a changeling. It's an effective change-up, though I hope the show doesn't try to hold this particular tone and style for too long.

Imposters is not as good as No-Win Scenario was, but that would be an unfair expectation. It's still a good episode that continues to reflect one of the major strengths of this season: good use of the characters. The heart of the episode is the confrontation between Picard and Ro. Plot-wise, each suspects the other might be an imposter... but the real emotional core comes from each airing the pain inflicted by the other. Picard's anger rings true, but so does Ro's, and Patrick Stewart and Michelle Forbes play as well off each other now as they did back in the day.

The Worf/Raffi subplot is less interesting than the rest, and I rolled my eyes at a particularly clichéd plot development once they finally came face-to-face with Krinn. Still, Michael Dorn and Michelle Hurd work well together, and this episode finally connects their strand to the main plot. While Krinn's method of dealing with them is ludicrous and - for a Vulcan - rather illogical, the scene is at least watchable, even if it's the episode's weakest.

More importantly, in a season that's managed consistently strong episode endings, this one might have the most startling ending yet...


OVERALL:

Imposters is another good episode in what's shaping up to be a good season. The story moves to its next phase, with a shift in tone that should keep the arc from becoming stale. The episode gets an extra boost from the dynamic between Picard and Ro, with the characters' emotions feeling authentic and true to who the two of them are.

The Picard/Ro material earns an already good episode an extra point, leaving me awarding a strong...


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: No-Win Scenario
Next Episode: The Bounty

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3-03. Seventeen Seconds.

Riker (Jonathan Frakes) clashes with Picard.

Original Air Date: Mar. 2, 2023. Written by: Jane Maggs, Cindy Appel. Directed by: Jonathan Frakes.


THE PLOT:

The Titan flees into the nebula, with Vadic's massive Shrike on its tail. Capt. Shaw's plan is to hide inside the nebula until Engineering is able to repair the warp engines. Before that can happen, Vadic finds them. Shaw is injured in the ensuing attack, and he places Riker in command before being taken to sickbay.

Jack and Seven are able to discover how the Shrike keeps finding them, which leads to a disagreement between Picard and Riker. Riker wants to create a false trail to buy time for them to run for safety. Picard thinks they should lay the same trail - but use it to lure Vadic's ship into an ambush, something Riker believes would amount to suicide!

Meanwhile, Raffi meets her secretive handler: Worf (Michael Dorn). He tells her that he isn't with Starfleet but is instead "freelance." He believes that the terrorist attack on Starfleet was a prelude for something even more devastating. Fortunately, he has a lead - and following it leads him and Raffi to a startling discovery!


CHARACTERS:

Picard: Though he tells Riker to start calling him "Number One," he refuses to accept that he's not in command. The problem is not that he argues with Riker about the correct approach. As Decker pointed out to Kirk in The Motion Picture, presenting alternatives is part of a First Officer's role, and there is strategic merit in his suggested course. But he openly bickers with Riker in front of the crew even after Riker has made his decision, and he doesn't seem to recognize how wildly inappropriate that is.

Riker: So far this season I've been more impressed with Jonathan Frakes's Riker than I have been with Picard himself, and this episode is his best showcase so far. Frakes dominates every scene he's in, balancing the character's humor and caution to good effect. He also plays a new note here: anger. After half an episode of being browbeaten by Picard, he flares up and reminds his old friend that he is the one in charge. This is effective - and his cold anger a little later is even more so.

Worf: "I am Worf: son of Mogh, House of Martok; son of Sergey, House of Rozhenko; bane to the Duras family; slayer of Gowron. I have made some chamomile tea. Do you take sugar?" The end of Disengage revealed Raffi's handler to be none other than Worf. This signals an important shift for the season - mainly, that I will no longer mind so much when the action cuts away to the Raffi subplot. Michael Dorn slips seemingly effortlessly back into the role, and his dry line deliveries are enormously entertaining. Critically, Worf has changed in the intervening years (which actually checks off one of my wishlist items). He's still ready for action, but he now prefers to think before acting. "A fight is rarely worth dying for," he proclaims - which marks a pretty big shift from, "Today is a good day to die!"

Raffi: She is experiencing withdrawal after taking a narcotic in front of the Ferengi gangster. This puts her even more on edge than usual, and I'll give actress Michelle Hurd credit in that there is actually a difference between "withdrawal Raffi" and normal Raffi. It's amusing to see her bicker with Worf, with him now having to be the voice of restraint for a hothead. Worf compliments her by telling her that she has the heart of a warrior - though I half expected him to add something about also having the brain of a Pakled.

Dr. Crusher: She doesn't flinch when the ship's doctor is dismissive toward her, ignoring the disrespect - right up until the doctor's lack of experience almost costs Shaw his life. When that happens, she all but elbows the younger woman out of the way to take over the captain's care. She meant to tell Picard about Jack, but multiple attempts on Picard's life convinced her not to. As she says, being Picard's son would have put a target on Jack. "As a mother, your whole being is about protecting your child. I thought I could protect mine. I didn't know if I could protect yours."

Capt. Shaw: I really wish his belligerence hadn't been so overdone in the first episode, because he's been nothing but well-written ever since. Once they have a temporary respite from the Shrike's assault, he tells the officers who have spent too many hours on duty to rest while they can, indicating that his concern for his crew's welfare is no act. After he's injured, he doesn't hesitate to put Riker in command. Even in sickbay, he still is thinking about his ship and the situation, asking Jack exactly how Vadic keeps finding them inside this nebula.

Jack Crusher: Shaw's question sets him to thinking. He looks at the bloody footprints on the floor of sickbay, and he reaches a realization: Vadic is finding them because they are leaving traces behind them. When he's denied access to the bridge, he goes to Seven with his suspicions, which leads directly to the episode's major revelation.


SEVENTEEN SECONDS AND THE VISUAL ELEMENT:

Seventeen Seconds returns Jonathan Frakes to the director's chair. Can he direct the rest of the season? He doesn't change the lighting style, but he makes it work. In this episode, the frame isn't just dark - Attention is given to where the light in a given shot is coming from, and the light sources are used in such a way that the focus of each scene is clearly visible even when the bulk of the frame is in shadow. The tone created by the darkness is maintained, but in a way that grants importance to whatever on screen isn't in darkness.

Frakes also uses the space between characters to good effect. When Picard talks to Beverly about Jack, they are on opposite sides of the frame, with the bulk of the shot being the empty space between them. Picard and Riker are also distanced within shots during their disagreements, this time less by proximity than focus. The focus shifts from one to the other, not only according to who is speaking but also to showcase their (particularly Riker's) reactions. Eventually, Riker loses his temper (not without reason) - at which point he is left alone in the frame in lighting that's both cold and diminishing as the shot ends.

All of this is highly effective, the visuals maintaining the style and tone of the season while also connecting to the characters and their relationships. The result is that a visual palette that I've been fairly vocal in disliking is suddenly made to work - though there's no saving the heavy-handed Blade Runner planet of the Raffi subplot. At least this episode ends with an indication that she's finally going to leave for a hopefully less derivative setting.


OTHER MUSINGS:

Beyond the excellent directing, Seventeen Seconds finally delivers a Season Three episode that I thoroughly enjoyed! The episode benefits from a good script that delivers strong character moments even as it moves the plot forward. The Raffi/Worf thread gets connected to the main story, mainly in that Worf and Raffi reach the same realization that the Titan crew do about the nature of the threat. This revelation also raises the potential for new directions.

It's well structured. The first Act allows the characters room to breathe as the Titan hides from the Shrike. Then the enemy ship finds them, Shaw is injured, and Riker is put in charge. Further complications ensue: The nebula is more than it seems, making it "ill-advised" to just try flying through it. Vadic seems prepared for their every move, even though it should be impossible for her to track them. Picard and Riker are at odds over strategy; critically, both present valid arguments, making the viewer uncertain which of them is right (though there's little question that Picard's behavior is inappropriate).

These and additional complications build and combine to strong effect. The reason Vadic can find them is linked to episode's major revelation, which itself feeds the Picard/Riker conflict. This is intercut with Worf and Raffi reaching the same realization, connecting the two strands even though they have yet to fully converge. Most importantly, every new development puts the heroes in a weaker and more perilous position, which makes for a gripping hour of television.


OVERALL:

Seventeen Seconds is easily the best episode yet of Picard's third season. Up to this point, I haven't been particularly gripped by Season Three. This episode changes that, and it does so right out the gate. For the first time this season, I find myself fully looking forward to the next installment.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: Disengage
Next Episode: No-Win Scenario

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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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2-05. Fly Me to the Moon.

Picard and Tallinn discover Q trying to manipulate an astronaut into quitting an upcoming mission.

Original Air Date: Mar. 31, 2022. Written by: Cindy Appel. Directed by: Jonathan Frakes.


THE PLOT:

The Watcher, who looks exactly like Picard's housekeeper/would-be lover Laris, is actually Tallinn (Orla Brady). She is wary of Picard and doesn't like time travelers in general. When Picard introduces himself by name, however, her attitude changes. She has been sent to protect the timeline as it relates to one specific person: Picard's ancestor, Renée (Penelope Mitchell).

Renée is an astronaut assigned to the upcoming Europa mission. Picard isn't sure what role she ends up playing, as records for the century before First Contact are fragmented. All he knows for sure is that Q is trying to manipulate her into dropping out of the mission, and that he's close to succeeding!

Q has also made contact with Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner), a geneticist whose daughter (Isa Briones) suffers from a rare condition. Q offers a cure... at a price. Meanwhile, Jurati lets her guard down, giving the Borg Queen the very opening she's been waiting for...


CHARACTERS:

Picard: Despite the shock of Tallinn's resemblance to Laris, he quickly realizes that this is a different individual and focuses on winning her trust. He is outraged when he sees Q acting as Renée's therapist, and that spark of anger fans his determination to take action.

Dr. Jurati: I've been expecting her to make a mistake with the Borg Queen, but I anticipated a tiny lapse, a letting down of her guard at the worst possible moment. Instead, Jurati's brain falls out. She sleeps in Chateau Picard, leaving the ship unguarded and the Queen free to work her mischief. This is the exact type of bad writing that annoys the heck out of me, as Jurati is transformed into a complete imbecile so that Plot can happen.

Raffi: While rescuing Rios, Raffi briefly mistakes one of the detainees for Elnor. The young man does resemble Elnor, but she has a split-second full-on hallucination (which conveniently allows Evan Evagora to get paid this week). Guilt and stress has pushed Raffi to the edge of snapping, something that's not going unnoticed by Seven.

Tallinn: The Watcher, who has been sent to Earth to protect an aspect of the timeline - in her case, just one specific individual of importance. Picard connects this to Kirk's encounter with Gary Seven in the TOS episode Assignment: Earth. Orla Brady remains terrific, and she makes Tallinn a different character than Laris. Tallinn is nothing but brusque and businesslike until she starts talking about Renée - and then, as she speaks of her accomplishments, her voice warms and a smile appears, conveying maternal pride.

Renée Picard: At the end of the last episode, we saw Q try and fail to affect the mind of a young woman. Renée is that person, and she's apparently the figure at the heart of the season arc. She's decidedly life-sized, anxious about the mission and fearful that she isn't ready for the responsibility, and it's those anxieties that Q seems intent on preying upon.

Adam Soong: Brent Spiner returns as yet another member of the Soong dynasty. Adam has that Soong arrogance. Speaking before a board that's in the process of judging him, he's imprudent enough to demand that they think of him as a god, which goes over about as well as you'd expect. Still, he's more relatable than the various other Dr. Soongs the franchise has introduced. He's amusingly cranky and impatient, and he's motivated by his daughter's genetic illness. When Q dangles a cure for her condition, he resigns himself to doing whatever is asked, stating: "I am a hostage to you, sir."

Kore Soong: Soong's daughter, played by Isa Briones. While this is a lot of doppelgangers for one episode, I can just about handwave it: Soji was designed to be Data's daughter, after all, and it's not beyond reason that Data's design was based on the actual daughter of one of his creator's ancestors. In this episode, Kore is more plot device than anything else, existing as a motivator for her father. Still, the episode shows that father and daughter have a close relationship, with her teasing him over the very elements of his speech that guaranteed him a frosty reception.

Borg Queen: She has nothing but patience as she meticulously probes the security on the ship until she finds a gap. Then she takes pleasure in calling Jurati to her. Her interactions with Jurati remain those of a toxic lover, as she insists that the other woman will always be alone without her and that she is her only hope. The result... likely isn't what she expected, but she improvises quickly.

Q: His powers may be diminished, but that doesn't mean that he isn't dangerous. He retains a universe's worth of knowledge and a knack for manipulation, and he uses these against both Renée and Adam. It's still not clear what end he's working toward, but he clearly feels as much urgency in achieving his goal as Picard does about stopping him.


THOUGHTS:

We're all hostages to what we love. The only way to truly be free is to love nothing. How meaningless would that be?"
-Q seems to be talking about more than just his coercion of Adam Soong.

Right now, my big question is what Q is actually doing. This episode strongly indicates that he altered history by stopping Renée from joining the mission. But what if that's exactly wrong? What if her doubts about being ready are correct, and Q's original interference was getting her to go on the mission when she should have stayed? Picard admits that the records about her career are incomplete. Sure, she went into space - but what if that was a later mission and not this one? It was just a thought that sprang to mind while I was watching this episode.

Fly Me to the Moon sees the season arc starting to come into focus. Renée is officially introduced, with her upcoming mission made the focus for both Q and Picard. Adam and Kore Soong are introduced; exactly how Q plans to use them is not yet clear, but at least the building blocks are placed. Tallinn is introduced as a new ally (at least for now), and by episode's end the plot seems ready to start properly moving.

The most intriguing thread of the past few episodes has been the interactions of Jurati and the Borg Queen. In this episode, their scenes end up being the weakest element. Director Jonathan Frakes has some fun evoking horror movie vibes with the Queen, but the script gets there by having Jurati behave with implausible stupidity. Couldn't the same end have been reached without the script undermining the very intelligence the Queen finds so fascinating?

My issues with that thread aside, Fly Me to the Moon is a much better episode than Watcher. Transitions are smoother and, save for the rescue of Rios that ties up the dangling threads from Watcher, the rest ends up linking to Renée and her upcoming flight. Where Watcher felt choppy, this episode's parts feel like they're working together.

It certainly doesn't hurt that this episode brings Orla Brady back to the show. Even in a new role, she and Patrick Stewart retain strong screen chemistry, and their scenes together are enjoyable. This episode also sees Q's most substantial role so far this season, and John de Lancie is excellent as usual. I particularly enjoyed his scenes opposite Brent Spiner, whose Adam Soong promises to be an interesting character in his own right.

The episode ends by setting up a Mission: Impossible style infiltration of a high-security event, which promises some fun for the next episode. But lest things go too smoothly for our heroes, there is a last little wrinkle that takes us to the end credits.


OVERALL:

Jurati leaving the Borg Queen unguarded is enough for me deduct one point from the episode's score. That aside, I enjoyed Fly Me to the Moon. It's still an episode mostly concerned with setting up plot pieces, but it feels very much as if the season arc is kicking into gear. Most importantly, I found this episode a lot more entertaining than the previous installment.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Watcher
Next Episode: Two of One

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