Star Trek: Picard bounces back from a tepid season two premiere to hit its stride mid-season. The premise has Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his new crew traveling back in time to 2024 Earth. They must prevent Q (John de Lancie) from changing a historic event that turns the Federation into ruthless oppressors at the dawn of the 25th century. They arrive in a Los Angeles burning from climate change, overrun by crime, poverty, and the ruthless treatment of illegal immigrants. The series plunges forthright into hot-button social and political issues. It also tackles mental health problems. A decidedly liberal take may offend some audiences. But Star Trek has always pushed boundaries by using science fiction to address division.
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Spoiler WarningThe season two premiere, The Star Gazer, has Picard investigating a space-time anomaly. He encounters a new version of the Borg. A different Borg Queen, who doesn’t try to kill or assimilate them, uses a phrase spoken by Picard’s mentally ill mother in his youth. Picard chooses to destroy the Federation fleet before the Borg takes control. He wakes up on Earth in his vineyard. Q saved him and his primary crew. He warns Picard that humanity’s trial has never ended. Picard is aghast to learn the human Confederation conquered the Alpha Quadrant. He thwarts the execution of the original Borg Queen (Annie Wersching). She identifies the date in the 24th century that the timeline was altered. Picard and his crew steal a ship. Then use the Borg Queen to time travel around the sun à la Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Episodes two through four has the team split up on 2024 Earth. They must find a “Watcher” who is instrumental in figuring out the time deviation. Rios (Santiago Cabrera) is injured during the transport to LA. He’s cared for by a kind doctor, Teresa (Sol Rodriguez), before being arrested as an illegal immigrant. Seven (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) track him down. While Picard is taken to the “Watcher” by a Young Guinan (Ito Aghayere). Meanwhile, Jurati (Allison Pill) begins to bond with the Borg Queen.
Episodes five, “Fly Me to the Moon”, and six, “Two of One”, brings the season into a clear focus. The “Watcher” is actually a “Supervisor”, an El-Aurian named Tallinn (Orla Brady), drum roll please, who looks exactly like Laris, Picard’s Romulan housekeeper and love interest. She’s been on Earth for twenty-four years watching over Picard’s ancestor, Renée Picard (Penelope Mitchell). She’s a French astronaut destined to discover a sentient microbe on a mission to Europa. Renée suffers from crippling depression and anxiety attacks. Q has been masquerading as her psychiatrist. Trying to dissuade her from going on the mission. This is the event that causes the time divergence.
In another twist, Q forces the help of Adam Soong (Brent Spiner). His sick daughter, Kore (Isa Briones), is actually a genetically engineered clone. Soong tries to run over Renée in his car after a gala for the mission. She’s thrown out of the way by Picard, who’s hit instead. The crew takes him to Teresa’s clinic. His mind is trapped in a coma where he remembers his mother’s breakdown. Episode six ends with Tallinn gearing up for a psychic rescue. While Jurati has been taken over by the Borg Queen’s consciousness and abandons the crew.
Questions Left Unanswered
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There are many questions left unanswered. The most important is Q’s agenda. He’s unhinged and seems to be losing his power. Why did he save Picard and his crew? This action allowed them to time travel and try to thwart his plans on 2024 Earth. Another puzzle is the future Borg Queen’s link to Picard’s mother. Why are they connected? The crew will need Jurati and her Borg Queen infested mind to return to the future. It looks like Rios may not be joining them. He’s falling for Teresa and might choose to stay behind with her. Star Trek has erased memories before. The series has to explain why Laris and Tallinn look alike. This cannot be a coincidence. It was also surprising to see Brent Spiner return as Adam Soong. Who is integral to the development of the dark Confederation in the new timeline. Isa Briones gets her screen time by playing the various incarnations of the Soongs’ creations.
I’ve read a few online threads with unhappy fans grumbling about the show’s socially aware narrative. This was Gene Roddenberry’s primary vision and reason for Star Trek. He saw a future where united humanity would venture into the stars and befriend alien life. Star Trek had the first interracial kiss on television. The show had Russian and Chinese characters working alongside Americans in the sixties. Later Star Trek series had a black captain, a female captain, and a fact never mentioned, one of the first lesbian relationships on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. You’re missing the point entirely if you criticize Star Trek: Picard for making social commentary.
My harshest critique of the premiere was rehashing old characters and storylines. We’ve seen time travel, the Borg, and a meddling Q exhaustively. Star Trek: Picard goes in a new direction with the mental health subplot. Chronic depression is an unfortunate fact of life for many people. Picard’s mother and Renée represent a rarely explored theme in the Star Trek universe. It will be interesting to see the resolve. And how everything relates back to humanity’s trial at the Encounter at Farpoint, the initial episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Star Trek: Picard premieres every Thursday exclusively on Paramount Plus. Four episodes remain in season two.
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Julian Roman
(1502 Articles Published)
Julian Roman has been with Movieweb for nearly twenty years. An avid film buff, he feels lucky to have interviewed and written extensively about Hollywood’s greatest talents. In his spare time he plays guitar, treasures good company, and always seeks new adventures.
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