Star Trek: Picard -- Season 1 Episode 10 (Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2)

It occurred to me while watching Star Trek: Picard how easy it would have been for it not to have happened.  The details vary, but it would seem that Patrick Stewart didn’t want to return for a fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  If he had left the show, Picard would have remained assimilated or would have been killed.  If this happened, I might be reviewing an episode of Star Trek: Riker right now.  Of course, I’m not sure how accurate the details are.  I suppose it would make for a great alternative history cameo or something.

Anyway, this review is about the final episode of the first season of Star Trek: Picard.  The androids are facing the threat of being annihilated by Romulans.  Rather than listen to Picard’s grand speech or hope that Starfleet will arrive in time, the androids are building an antenna to call the super AI interdimensional beings for help.  What’s scary is that this help will come in the form of killing all organic life in the galaxy.

There’s a lot of deception and trickery on both sides, but Picard is eventually able to stop the annihilators from crossing over into our universe.  Of course, it is at the last second.  (You know, I’m not really even sure what it would look like not to have it at the last second.)  But the universe is saved and we’ll get a second season.

This isn’t to say that the episode doesn’t pull at the heart strings.  Picard gets to meet Data one last time and Data has a rather emotional request for Picard.  You might be wondering how this is possible.  To be accurate, it’s the copy of Data’s memories that were copied from B4.  Either way, it’s a more appropriate sendoff for the character.

One thing I find curious is that the Romulans really did have a huge fleet.  This raises several points.  First, why send so many ships to wipe out one planet?  I guess they may have been expecting the galaxy-destroying AI to already be there.  Of course, had the AI already been there, it probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

Also, where did all those ships come from?  If the Romulans had those ships before their sun went nova, couldn’t those ships have been used in the evacuation?  If not, it would mean that they were built after the evacuation.  It would be a testament to the Romulans that they could find the resources to make that many ships.  (For that matter, the Federation also has a lot of ships.)

This isn’t to say I dislike the episode.  There was some personal growth for many of the characters.  And there is going to be a second season.  I would hope the major characters will return.  My only question is if this will include Dr. Jurati.

She was supposed to turn herself in for the murder of Bruce Maddox.  That got sidetracked, but she still did it.  She still has to answer for that.  Maybe the second season will start with Jurati in an orange jump suit.  The entire season could be breaking her out of jail for a special mission.  I am looking forward to seeing what happens.

IMDb page

 

Star Trek: Picard -- Season 1 Episode 9 (Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1)

There were a lot of questions for the first season of Star Trek: Picard.  What is this impending AI apocalypse?  Will Soji be the one to end all organic life in the galaxy?  Where was this Zhat Vash when Control was taking over on Star Trek: Discovery?  At least some of these questions are answered in the two-part finale.

We don’t get a flashback here.  The story starts with Picard, Soji and the rest of the crew trying to land on Soji’s home planet.  Right behind them is Narek, the shady Romulan who was playing Soji for information.  Oh, and Seven of Nine actually brought the Borg Cube to help out, which is a nice touch.

Unfortunately, the androids have an impressive defensive system.  Giant flowers come up and disable the ships.  All three of them crash on the planet’s surface, including the Borg Cube.  It’s not a long walk, but they do have to walk and the Borg cube lands in the opposite direction from the android city.

First, Picard makes sure everyone is safe on the Cube.  I suppose it’s the decent thing to do and it gives him one more chance to be called Locutus.  Then, it’s off to Android City, where nearly everyone is dressed like something out of The Original Series.  The only notable exception is Dr. Altan Inigo Soong, son of Noonian Soong.  It was he who made the androids from Data.

The androids are advised of the impending attack by the Romulans.  Picard has already informed the Federation of this, as well, but there’s no promise that Starfleet will get there first.  There’s also not much that anyone can do.  Yes, the flowers took down a Cube, but there are two dozen of them.  The Romulan fleet is going to have 218 ships.  It’s not exactly a fair fight.

Also, one of the androids, Sutra, is able to do a mind meld with Dr. Jurati.  Jurati was shown the Admonition, which apparently didn’t drive her totally insane.  Sutra is able to view the Admonition and determine that it was meant for artificial life.  It’s not a warning to organic life, but rather a promise to artificial life.  The advanced AI race will protect artificial life by wiping out all organic life.

This sets the stage for Soji to build an antenna, as per the Admonition’s instructions, to call the advanced AI.  And we’re left with a more proper cliffhanger.  Picard is held prisoner in the house.  The Romulan fleet is coming.  Also, it’s not entirely clear if Starfleet got Picard’s message telling them where to go.

There were a few questions, like how Sutra was able to do a mind meld.   Before you get all giggly thinking of the Kama Sutra, it’s worth noting that Sutra is a Sanskrit word meaning discourse.  It would make sense that she’s the one to do the mind meld.  I suppose if we accept that Vulcans can do it, so could androids.  It’s also probably an issue of convenience.  The alternative would be having an android go get the Admonition directly.  It does make for a cleaner narrative.

One thing that always gets me is how fathers always look like their children.  It’s never the mothers.  At least here, I get that it’s a chance for Brent Spiner to have a decent role in the series.  He’s also stated reservations about playing Data, noting that years have passed since the movies.  Who am I to complain?  It is nice to see him again.

Something I noticed was that Irumodic Syndrome was never mentioned by name in the entire season.  Picard finally comes clean to the crew in this episode, but it’s always danced around.  Someone mentions something in his brain, but never what it is or could be.  I suppose there could be some copyright issue with whoever wrote the finale to The Next Generation.  I don’t know.  Anyway, Part II should be just interesting.

IMDb page

 

Star Trek: Picard -- Season 1 Episode 6 (The Impossible Box)

So, it’s time for Picard to finally meet Soji.  There’s just one problem standing in their way and it would seem to be a minor one.  Picard has to get permission to be on the Borg cube.  It technically belongs to the Romulans.  Fortunately, Raffi is still on the ship and she has a connection at Starfleet which gets them in.

The catch is that Picard has to go alone.  He’s not looking forward to it, as he was assimilated many years ago, but that’s the price of admission.  The Romulans are pretty strict about security, so they have him beam over to a remote location.  Maybe they’re paranoid about him being around sensitive information.  Maybe they just want to make him wait or feel isolated.  Either way, he has a panic attack before the director of the Reclamation Project shows up.

The director happens to be a former drone Picard helped many years ago: Hugh.  (Of course, we already knew this from previous episodes.)  Hugh is the first person in this new series who seems happy to see Picard.  He’s more than happy to help Picard find Soji.

Unfortunately, she’s not in her quarters nor is she showing up on scans.  Fortunately, she finds Picard.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to have the same instinct to trust Picard.  (Soji takes a little convincing.)  Fortunately, Hugh has a way for Picard and Soji to escape.

It’s not clear why they couldn’t transport off the cube directly.  I assume that was the plan, as Picard didn’t know about the Sikarian Trajector technology.  It does allow for a nice reference to Star Trek: Voyager.  (I am kind of wondering how Sikarians reacted do being assimilated.  It’s a good thing Voyager didn’t stick around.)

However, it took Picard only half the season to meet up with Soji, who is only starting to come to terms with what she is.  Narek was right to hold off, though.  Trying to kill Soji did activate her, which probably wouldn’t have ended well if he was still trying to get information out of her.

The series seems to be moving along pretty well.  I’ve come to use 24 as the show by which I judge other serialized shows.  24 could be a little jerky in that every episode ended with an overly dramatic cliffhanger.  Star Trek: Picard doesn’t do that.  There is a sense of a chapter being completed, but it seems more natural.  By this episode, we’re getting a much smoother experience.

There are a few questions, such as why Elnor didn’t go with Picard.  Elnor is sworn to protect Picard.  Separating serves no obvious purpose.  It’s also not clear in this episode exactly where Picard is going or why, but at least that will be revealed in the next episode.

IMDb page

 

Star Trek: Picard -- Season 1 Episode 4 (Absolute Candor)

So, we’ve got the main flow of the first season down.  Picard has to find Soji, who is Data’s daughter, so to speak.  To do this, he has to find Bruce Maddox, as Picard has no idea where she’d be.  Fortunately, Picard knows that Maddox is on Freecloud.  Before he can go there, he has to go to Vashti to hire a sword from a group of mercenary nuns.  No kidding.

The episode starts with a flashback.  Again.  This time, it’s to the aforementioned Vashti, where Picard is helping to relocate Romulans.  Before leaving, he stops in to visit Qowat Milat, a sisterhood who is taking care of a boy named Elnor.  As a sisterhood, they don’t admit males, but will take care of Elnor until better arrangements can be made.

Fast forward 14 years and the planet is run down, to say the least.  The sisterhood is still there, as is a grownup Elnor.  None of the sisters will help Picard, but they agree to let him talk to Elnor.  He can’t really stay there and he has nowhere else to go.  (The nuns trained Elnor, but couldn’t formally admit him to their order.)

Elnor initially rejects Picard, as he feels Picard abandoned him.  However, Elnor eventually has a change of heart when Picard puts himself in a dangerous situation.  So, Elnor is off with Picard and his crew to find Maddox.

As with other serialized shows, this comes off as one long episode.  It’s a little different because we’re going between two timeframes.  The events of 2385 are doled out in little pieces with the events of 2399 making up the bulk of each episode.

I suppose the series could have had a TV movie or something detailing the events on Mars.  That could have acted as a teaser pilot.  I probably would have liked that better.  I don’t know how it would have affected the season, though.

So, Picard’s ragtag crew now has two former Starfleet officers in Raffi and Rios as well as two civilians in Dr. Jurati and Elnor.  (This isn’t counting Rios’s holograms.)  We learn that Raffi was on Picard’s ship during the evacuations.  This might explain a little bit.  We also know that Raffi has used drugs before, so it’s possible that Picard was covering for her.

I’m assuming Raffi’s character and her relationship to Picard will be fleshed out in later episodes.  The series is shaping up to be more like Deep Space Nine rather than The Next Generation in that a lot of the main characters have had problems.  It’s not a perfect world anymore.  Even the ivory tower doesn’t look so nice anymore.  There’s plenty of disillusionment to go around.

IMDb page

 

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