Star Trek: Picard -- Season 1 Episode 3 (The End Is the Beginning)

It would appear that the third episode is a turning point in the series.  We’re still getting information about the past, such as Picard’s actual resignation from Starfleet.  At the same time, we’re seeing the pieces fall into place for Picard’s new crew.

Picard can’t get a ship and crew from Starfleet, so he’ll have to go through his old friend and colleague, Raffi.  She has an unregistered ship, which could prove useful.  Unfortunately, Picard seems to have burned a few bridges in the past 14 years.  Raffi isn’t willing to help at first.

However, she sets Picard up with Rios, a former XO on a ship that no longer officially exists.  Rios is a little hesitant, considering that Picard doesn’t actually have a game plan.  He’s looking for Soji and the only lead he has is Bruce Maddox.  Since Picard doesn’t know where either is, he’s all dressed up with nowhere to go.

The one person willing to help is Dr. Agnes Jurati of the Daystrom Institute.  She gathers that Picard might need help when she’s questioned by the head of Starfleet Security.  It’s not clear what she can do, but she might prove useful.  She is an expert in AI and she worked with Maddox.

The episode does answer a few questions, but does raise a few more.  Exactly why was Raffi fired from Starfleet after Picard quit?  Was Picard protecting her for some reason?  Was it retaliation?  It’s not clear what Raffi was to Picard at the time.

Also, Rios has at least two holograms.  It’s possible that holograms were spared the fate of androids.  However, it’s worth noting that Rios’s EMH isn’t that good and that both are modeled after Rios.  It’s possible that they’re bootleg holograms.  If Raffi has an unregistered ship, it would stand to reason that there are unregistered holograms.  We still don’t know what happened to Voyager’s EMH.

The stakes are pretty high, though.  Picard is attacked by a Romulan goon squad similar to the one in the first episode.  As they say, you’re not paranoid if they’re really out to get you.  The episode ends with Picard and crew on a ship leaving Earth.  I hope Picard knows where he’s going.

IMDb page