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Star Trek: Picard

Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

• Kirsten Beyer
• Michael Chabon
• Akiva Goldsman
• Patrick Stewart
• Michelle Hurd
• 2.8K User reviews
• 78 Critic reviews
• 14 wins & 54 nominations total

Episodes 30

• Jean-Luc Picard

• Raffi Musiker

• Seven of Nine

• Dr. Agnes Jurati

• Cristóbal Rios …

• Adam Soong …

• La Sirena Computer

• Jack Crusher

• Doctor Beverly Crusher

• Captain Liam Shaw

• Ensign Sidney La Forge

• Ensign Esmar

• Titan Computer …
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia The Chateau Picard vineyard first appeared in Family (1990) . It was run by Jean-Luc Picard's brother Robert and his wife Marie, and their son René. Jean-Luc would learn in Star Trek: Generations (1994) that Robert and René had both burned to death in a fire, leaving Jean-Luc as the last in the Picard line.
• Goofs Commodore Oh often wears sunglasses. Star Trek lore establishes that Vulcans have an inner eyelid to protect against harsh sunlight on their desert planet. Oh's shades are a fashion statement, not a protective measure.
• The first season features a Borg cube and the planet Romulus.
• The second season features a Borg ship, a wormhole and hourglass, and the Borg Queen's silhouette.
• The third season does not have an opening titles sequence.
• Connections Featured in Half in the Bag: Comic Con 2019, The Picard Trailer, Streaming Services, and Midsommar (2019)

User reviews 2.8K

• Apr 13, 2023

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• January 23, 2020 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Star Trek: Captain Picard
• The Sunstone Villa and Vineyard, Santa Ynes, California, USA (Château Picard)
• CBS Television Studios
• Roddenberry Entertainment
• Secret Hideout
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 46 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Jean-Luc seeks the wisdom of friends in 'Star Trek: Picard' episode 7

See what's happened in the last 20 years to some other Enterprise 1701-D crewmembers.

Here's your chance to beam out to avoid spoilers for episode 7 of "Star Trek: Picard."

Last week's episode of "Star Trek: Picard" — " The Impossible Box " — was always going to be a tough act to follow, but we're optimistic and while this week's installment, entitled "Nepenthe," isn't  quite as good as last week's, but is still extremely enjoyable. 

We start, as we seem to with every episode, with a flashback. (Although unlike previous episodes, this flashback is only a matter of a few weeks ago.) We're at the Daystrom Institute in Okinawa, Japan and Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) appears to be having her lunch when she's approached by Starfleet's director of security Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita) who wants to know all about Jurati's recent meeting with Jean-Luc Picard.

Join our Picard Panel! Tune in each week as we talk 'Star Trek: Picard!' Related: What 'Star Trek' to watch before 'Star Trek: Picard': A complete guide'

Sound familiar? It should be, we saw a little bit of this in episode 3 , but now we're going to get the whole conversation. There's been a host of wild theories about this exchange buzzing about on social media, but now we will get to see what actually transpired. 

Oh seems to know everything about Jurati's recent activities and movements, including her second meeting at the Picard château in La Barre, France. Jurati attempts to introduce a little humor into the conversation, but Oh is having none of it. She says that she wants the doctor to accompany Picard on his quest to find Dr. Maddox and removing her sunglasses to show just how serious the situation is, she says, "Let me show you what will happen if synthetic life is allowed to exist…" And she performs a Vulcan mind meld. 

Jurati is bombarded with images that start with some people dressed in black in a circle, surrounded by rocks with something very bright at the center, then what looks like a thermonuclear detonation on the surface of a planet, some Vulcans or Romulans (they both have green blood) literally tearing at their skin, a city being consumed by a nuclear explosion, Vulcans/Romulans taking their own lives and finally a whole planet exploding. 

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As you might expect, this is enough to make Jurati vomit her lunch back up as Oh looks on, with a cold, calculating expression on her face. "What do you want me to do?" Jurati asks, regaining at least a little of her composure. Oh hands her a tracking device that must be chewed and swallowed.

Related: 'Star Trek: 'Section 31' starts filming when 'Discovery' season 3 wraps

"What I'm going to ask you to do will require a terrible sacrifice…" Oh says.

The images of the flashbacks give little away. How did Oh get these memories, are they second hand, or is she from the future? She's obviously Vulcan (Romulans can't mind meld), so are the beings in the flashbacks Vulcan or Romulan (both have green blood)? Is that the Earth being destroyed?

We cut to the present day, so to speak, and La Sirena and Rios (Santiago Cabrera), Raffi (Michelle Hurd) and Jurati are struggling to free themselves from the Romulan tractor beam holding them in place following Picard's (Patrick Stewart) and Soji's (Isa Briones) escape through the spacial trajector to a planet called Nepenthe.

Meanwhile, following that escape, Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) has been taken captive by Narissa (Peyton List) and naturally she's pretty miffed that Soji managed to escape. Lined up next to Hugh is a group of his recovering former Borg drones and in a truly gut-wrenching moment of absolute evil, Narissa has her guard blast one. You instantly feel Hugh's pain. So much invested time and painstaking effort that has gone into the recovery of each and every XB (the adopted abbreviation for ex-Borg). She probes him for Picard and Soji's location, but Hugh doesn't give anything away, so Narissa has her guards kill all the innocent XB.

"[They died] because you helped Picard and a synthetic escape, because you ruined years of patient work by dozens of operatives across hundreds of star systems, because you may have doomed a trillion souls across half the galaxy," she sneers as Hugh sobs over the bodies of his dead companions. 

We disliked the character of Narissa anyway (we're meant to) mostly because of the weird and incestuous behavior towards her brother, but now we have another reason to wish a particularly outlandish and unpleasant trademark "Star Trek" demise on her.

Related: 'Star Trek: Picard' beams up its best yet in episode 6

Meanwhile, her brother Narek (Harry Treadaway) powers up a snazzy looking Romulan shuttlecraft, called a Snakehead, and begins tracking La Sirena just as Narissa orders that it be released from the tractor beam. Rios contacts Elnor (Evan Evagora) who has found Hugh, alone and slumped in a corridor, and he tells them to continue without him. "I am needed here," he says. 

"Adios kid," Rios says, simultaneously lighting a cigar and acknowledging Elnor's bravery and La Sirena engages its warp drive engines and streaks off. Only to be followed by Narek. Cue opening credits. 

We cut to the lush, verdant world that is Nepenthe and Soji and Picard materialize from their journey via the spacial trajector. (Lucky thing Picard had coordinates near where he wanted to go.) They are greeted by a very sweet girl named Kestra (LuLu Wilson) named after Deanna Troi's older sister, seen in "The Next Generation" episode "Dark Page" (S07, E07). We already knew Picard was here to see Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and this confirms it. There's also a nice throwback to Picard's artificial heart that we learned about in "The Next Generation" episode "Tapestry" (S06, E15).

Kestra is naturally inquisitive about Soji's origins as the three make their way through the woods and what could've have been a lazy exposition dump is handled refreshingly well: the dialogue is well written and believable. Picard explains that Soji's father is Commander Data and since Soji herself is still struggling with the fact that she's an android and that her sister, Dahj, was murdered. We get to watch her come to terms with this over the course of the episode and it's another example that illustrates how much this show has improved from the beginning.

They approach a clearing and in front of them is a beautiful log cabin-style home…and then comes the moment that almost every "Star Trek" fan has been waiting for since this show started; the reunion between Picard and his former USS Enterprise 1701-D shipmates Deanna Troi and William Riker – who are happily married, just as we always hoped they would be.

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There's no denying, it's wonderful to see them; Troi is outside with her gardening gloves on and Riker is inside, listening to jazz and prepping the ingredients for home-made pizza. What's beautifully well written is that both of them, Troi and Riker, both independently deduce within just a few seconds that their long-time friend is in trouble. And then Riker says, "Shields up" in only the way that Riker can – a house with shields! How much fun would that be in keeping unwanted kids off your front lawn?!

Following Picard's first return to a Borg cube last week since "The Next Generation" two-part cliffhanger "The Best of Both Worlds" (S03, E26 and S04, E01) this episode has clearly been influenced by the one that followed that, "Family," with Troi and Riker replacing Robert and Marie Picard, since they're all the family that Jean-Luc really has left. The scene that introduces us to Kestra is even reminiscent of young René Picard’s cheeky “highway robbery” of uncle Jean-Luc as he walked from town to the château.

It's quite dialogue intensive, so it's crucial that it was well-written, which it is thankfully, although Marina Sirtis lets her North London accent creep in a little more than before, which, to be perfectly honest, is much nicer. As for Frakes, it's nice to see him on this side of the camera for a change. Despite his active involvement in the director's chair on this show, "Discovery" and even " The Orville " he's seldom actually seen on screen these days. 

Picard explains that he had a plan, but everything seems to have gone awry. Soji meanwhile has made a new friend in Kestra, who is in awe that Soji's an android and simultaneously proving invaluable in Soji's recovery and acceptance of who she is. 

"Do you play the violin?" Kestra asks, intrigued. "Do you like Sherlock Holmes? Can you run super fast, jump really high and bend steel with your hands?"

"Turns out, yes I can," Soji replies, smiling and showing the first indications of acceptance. 

Related: The 10 best 'Star Trek' episodes ever

Kestra quickly adopts the role of little sister and it's very effective. Through her, Soji learns a lot about Data and in particular about how he always wanted to be more human. 

We learn that Troi and Riker also had a son, Thaddeus Troi-Riker (presumably named after Riker's great, great grandfather, known as Old Iron Boots ) but he died. Not much attention is given to it at this stage, but we find out a little more later on. 

Back on La Sirena meanwhile, every time Rios drops out of warp, Narek is not far behind in his Romulan Snakehead scoutship, leading Rios to conclude that they're being tracked. On the bridge, Jurati is becoming increasing uncomfortable and Raffi, who's now sober and focused, starts picking her apart. 

"I remember you the night we left Earth," Raffi says. "Standing there in your cute little blue coat, so excited about going out into space and meeting a real, live sentient synth, like you've always dreamed of, but it feels like the closer we get to finding her, the less you want to be there…"

"I just want to go home!" Jurati blurts out. "OK, I want you to turn this ship around, point it at the Earth and push 'play' – Picard can look after himself and somebody else can find that f***ing synth! Why does it have to be me?!" she shrieks as both Raffi and Rios look at her, a little shocked to say the least.

It's also a perfectly placed expletive, unlike the others we've seen so far in "Picard."

Rios gives a sly nod to Raffi, who winks back, gets up, puts her arm around Jurati, calms her and says reassuringly, "Now you're come along with Auntie Raffi, she's gonna get you whatever you need."

"Is it cake?" Jurati says, her face hopeful. And it's fun little throwaway one-liners like this that nicely reinforce her character. 

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Back on Nepenthe, Riker is making pizza in an outdoor, wood-burning oven. Apparently, the soil on the planet has regenerative qualities, which is why they chose it to make their home there. Riker asks about what exactly is going on, but Picard doesn't want to say. However, Riker's as sharp as a tack and deduces that it involves Romulans, specifically the Tal Shiar and that it's not Jean-Luc who's on the run, it's Soji. He also correctly surmises that she's an android and that she has Data's DNA in her. 

He places the pizza into the oven and continues his pep-talk, offering the Admiral some advice through experience on how to handle a teenager like Soji. It's a wonderful scene between two of the greatest men ever to serve in Starfleet and two such dear friends. 

Troi shares some time with Soji and introduces her to fresh tomatoes. Mmm. Troi speaks of her son, Thad, and how he was born and raised on starships and thus he felt like he had no homeworld of his own, but when he became sick, Troi and Riker came to Nepenthe and it became his homeworld. According to Troi, Thad had mendaxic neurosclerosis, a very rare silicon-based virus and in theory, completely curable – you just have to culture the infected cells in an active positronic matrix, but by the time Thad came down with MN, there were no active positronic matrices and no one was allowed to develop new ones, because of the synth ban. Incidentally, a silicon virus was encountered in the "Enterprise" episode "Observer Effect" (S04 E11).

This way the synth ban has also affected their lives. Then it's Troi's turn to give Picard a pep-talk about Soji's perception of reality and acting responsibly, which when combined with the "just be Picard" speech later on is a little conflicting.

Back on the Borg cube, Elnor is with Hugh and they trying to make their way to the Queen's chamber once again, only they get intercepted by Narissa. The Qowat Milat stands his ground, taking out all of Narissa's guards as she tries to blast them both. 

"This is not how Zhat Vash fights the Qowat Milat," she purrs, holstering her weapon. Elnor sheaths his sword and the two fight hand-to-hand. It quickly becomes evident that Elnor has superior fighting skills so she pulls out a short blade dagger and holds it toward him, while casually pulling a second one out with her other hand and flinging it at Hugh, who has emerged from a corner. It plunges into his deck and Elnor rushes to his side, but it's too late.

Join our Picard Panel! Tune in each week as we talk 'Star Trek: Picard!'

Hugh's death has shock value, yes, but tragically, the shock is less that a popular secondary character has been killed off and more that it's such a lame death. It's extremely sad to see Hugh go, he was developing into an interesting character that we really cared about and while it's important to keep the audience on the edge of their seat, he definitely deserved a more imaginative departure. That said, hopefully he won't be brought back to life in some absurd manner like we saw in "Discovery."   

Raffi and Jurati are bonding over chocolate cake on La Sirena meanwhile, when the doctor breaks down into tears and then throws up. Again. Plus Rios is getting concerned because he can't seem to shake the Romulan (Narek) shadowing them.

Back on the beautiful Nepenthe, dinner is being served. Picard tries again to reach Rios without success and now he's getting concerned. While their pizza gets cold, Picard tries to convince Soji that she can trust him and she begins to believe he's telling the truth. As Troi and Riker look on, smiling, he talks about Data and about wasting his own life, but now he's alive again once more and nothing will stop him from completing this mission. As a result, she shares with everyone what happened during the Zhal Makh traditional Romulan meditation and of the "two red moons, dark as blood, and lightning."

And because Kestra is super cool, she fiddles around with a personal comms device under the table and within 60 seconds she's found it. According to Captain Crandall, it's in the Vayt sector, in the Ghulion system, on a planet with no name, just a number. On La Sirena Rios is having a tête-à-tête with Jurati. He tells her that he thinks he knows why they're being followed: what if Raffi is being tracked? Jurati looks at him in horror, but of course her horror is from the fact that she knows that she is the one being tracked. Whether this is devilishly clever subterfuge on the part of Rios or what he genuinely thinks instead is not yet clear, but Jurati whispers, "It's not Raffi…" just as an alarm sounds and Raffi shouts from the bridge, "S**t! He's back!"

Rios runs off and leaves Jurati, who is unraveling at this point. Shaking, she stands and shuffles over to a replicator where she creates a uranium hydride hyposhot and sticks herself in the neck with it. Almost immediately she collapses and starts foaming at the mouth. The Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) is instantly activated and Jurati passes out. Inside Narek's Snakehead scoutship the tracking signal disappears from his display and he thumps the cockpit in frustration. Evidently, Rios does believe it could be Raffi and starts to approach the subject with her when the EMH informs him that Jurati is in a coma.

Back on the Borg cube, Elnor ponders his next move as he hunkers down and tries to hide from everyone who is now looking for him. He spies some a set of Fenris dogtags that are hanging under the control desk. They're just like the ones that Seven gave to Picard before she returned to Stardust City on Freecloud to kill Bajayzl, but did Picard leave them here and how did he know which control desk on the whole of the Borg cube to leave them hanging under? Did she have more than one set of tags? Is this what Hugh passed to Elnor before he died, if so, why were they hanging under the desk? Is this another scene that we haven't…er, seen? It's all a little unclear. Regardless, Elnor activates the emergency SOS and prays for rescue. 

Riker and Picard share a few last minutes together and stroll to a breathtakingly stunning wooden pier that extends into lake, surround by lush green vegetation. Where is this planet Nepenthe? That's where I want to be. Picard asks if Riker ever thinks about shipping out again, to which Riker replies, "Well, I am still on active reserve, but it would have to be a very good reason," thus laying the groundwork for a potential return to the show.

Kestra and Soji share a last intimate moment, everyone hugs and it's all a bit emotionally overwhelming to be honest. Credit where credit's due, at least the writers didn't have Riker and Troi angry at Picard for abandoning them. Soji and Picard beam up to La Sirena and we fade to black.

If you watch the teaser for next week's episode at the end of this one, you'll see more of the images that Oh showed Jurati in their mind meld…and we're now convinced that this synthetic lifeform plot ties in with Control somehow. Moreover, two of the images of planetary destruction seen during the mind-meld are reused VFX from the "Discovery" episode “ If Memory Serves " (S02, E08) of Control’s attacks on Earth from Spock’s vision of the Red Angel. Whether this does indeed imply a connection, or it's a budget-saving exercise to reuse the visual effect is not yet known.

"Nepenthe" isn't as sharp or as finely tuned as last week's episode , but it's reassuring that the return of Troi and Riker wasn't just a for-the-sake-of-it cameo, plus Kestra basically stole every scene she was in. Credit to writers Samantha Humphrey and Michael Chabon and director Doug Aarniokoski. That said, one or two smaller details could've been handled better. 

Decompress the shuttle bay ✓

• Shields for a house! That's so cool.
• Nice throwback to Picard's artificial heart, care of one unruly Nausicaan.
• Raffi struggles not to puke herself when Jurati vomits up her Red Velvet. Ha!
• Kestra is brilliant, both written and acted and she steals every scene she's in.
• Gotta love the EMH: "What is the nature of the me- bloodyhell…" 
• Lots of "Trek" Easter eggs, including Kzinti , Tyken’s Rift and gormagander .

Use the tractor beam ✗

• Nooooooooooooooo! Hugh's gone..?!! What a senseless waste. 
• Jurati is convinced to murder her beloved Dr. Maddox way too easily by Oh.
• The message Picard gets from Troi is a little conflicting.
• Riker can't make pizza; no sauce, no mozzarella, plus it only needs 2 minutes.
• We're sailing a little bit too close to too much lens flare in this episode.
• Just how did those Fenris tags get under the table for Elnor to find?

Rating: 7/10

Last week we reported that "Discovery" had wrapped on principal photography for the third season, well we can report that it's been renewed for Season 5 no less. The fourth season will probably start production in July and apparently CBS is planning on shooting Seasons 4 and 5 back-to-back at Pinewood Studios in Toronto.

Related: 'Star Trek' Picard Series: Here Are Some Bold Ideas We'd Love to See

The 10-episode "Star Trek: Picard" series will air on the paid subscription streaming service CBS All Access in the U.S., and in Canada on Bell Media's Space and OTT service Crave. New episodes will air each week, with episode 8, entitled "Broken Pieces" debuting on 12 March 2020. CBS and Amazon Studios have announced that the new show will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries worldwide within 24 hours of its premiere on CBS All Access and Space in the US and Canada, respectively. CBS All Access subscription is the home of "Star Trek: Picard," "Star Trek: Discovery" and a host of other original and archival CBS television shows. Subscriptions start at $5.99 a month. You can try CBS All Access for a week free here . 

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Star Trek: Picard episode 7 recap: Picard asks some old Enterprise crewmates for help

Our spoiler-filled Star Trek: Picard episode 7 review

- Episode 7 (of 10), ' Nepenthe' - Written by Samantha Humphrey & Michael Chabon - Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski ★★★★

Spoilers follow . 

At the Daystrom Institute, Commodore Oh – Starfleet's Director of Security, but really a Zhat Vash agent – approaches Dr. Jurati on her lunch break. She tells Jurati about Picard's mission to rescue Soji, and asks her to accompany him as a spy. Jurati protests, but Oh uses a Vulcan Mind Meld to show her what will happen if Soji and other synthetic life are allowed to exist. She sees apocalyptic visions of Earth being destroyed. This is apparently what she meant when she told Bruce Maddox that she wished "he knew what she knew" before she cut off his life support in episode 5.

Back in the present, the La Sirena escapes the Borg Cube, tailed by Narek. On the Cube, Rizzo kills reformed Borg one by one in an attempt to get Hugh to reveal where Soji and Picard escaped to. He refuses, but she can't kill him because he's protected by the Federation. On the idyllic planet Nepenthe, Picard introduces Soji to some old friends from the Enterprise: Deanna Troi and William Riker, who are now married and living there with their daughter, Kestra. Picard tells Riker that he may be in danger, and Riker orders his house's computer to bring shields online and enable perimeter scans. He seems prepared for this kind of thing.

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Despite his best efforts, Rios can't shake off Narek, who is still closely tailing the La Sirena. On Nepenthe, Riker makes pizza for everyone, and Kestra forges a close bond with Soji. She tells her about her father, Data, and what a great man he was. But just as Soji is getting comfortable on Nepenthe, she remembers that her entire life is a lie, and wonders if this is all just another attempt to manipulate her. Picard tries to make light of her concerns, as if the very idea is ridiculous, but Troi scolds him for it. Soji has been tortured, she says, and Picard needs to be more like he was on the Enterprise: compassionate, patient, curious. "And useful." he adds.

Back on the Borg Cube, Hugh tells Elnor about his plan to take it back from the Romulans – which Rizzo unfortunately overhears, and claims strips away his Federation protection. Elnor steps in to protect him and he and Rizzo engage in a spot of hand-to-hand combat. During the scuffle, Hugh gets a throwing knife in the neck and dies, and Rizzo beams away. Aboard the La Sirena, Jurati begins to crack under the stress of the last few weeks. Raffi comforts her by replicating a few too many slices of red velvet cake, and chocolate milk to wash it down, which she pukes up.

At the Riker household, a more trusting Soji tells Picard about the planet she saw in her dream – the one with two red moons and lightning storms. Kestra locates the planet – which only has a number, not a name – with help from a friend, Captain Crandall, who may also be able to get Picard and Soji off Nepenthe. Riker suggests this planet is where Maddox made Soji. On the La Sirena, Rios suspects Narek is tracking the ship – and tells Jurati he thinks it's Raffi. Knowing it's actually her, thanks to a tracker given to her by Commodore Oh, the guilt seems to get to her, and she injects herself with a chemical that doesn't kill her, but puts her in a coma.

Verdict: This episode is a frustrating mix. Picard's reunion with Riker and Troi is easily the highlight, with some of the best writing and acting we've seen in the show so far. But killing off Hugh felt contrived and unnecessary. We already know Rizzo is evil, yet the show insists on proving it repeatedly. And Elnor continues to be wasted, hanging out on the Borg Cube for no real reason. But the Riker/Troi scenes ultimately win out, and I almost wish the whole series was as slow and character-focused as this.

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• Kestra, who seems to idolise Data, asks Soji if she loves Sherlock Holmes as much as he did. In the TNG episode 'Elementary, Dear Data' (S2E3), Data plays the role of the famous detective in a holodeck simulation that goes awry when villain Professor Moriarty becomes self-aware.

• Picard mentions his artificial heart, the story of which is told in the TNG episode 'Tapestry' (S6E15). As a young, reckless cadet, Picard started a bar brawl and ended up with a knife through the heart. This ultimately led to him maturing and becoming the man he is today.

• Riker and Troi's late son was named Thaddeus. In the Voyager episode 'Death Wish' (S2E18), in which Jonathan Frakes makes a cameo appearance, we learn that one of Riker's ancestors, Thaddeus Riker, was a colonel in the American Civil War, and fought for the Union Army.

Star Trek : Picard is available to watch on CBS All Access every Thursday in the US, and every Friday on Amazon Prime Video internationally.

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Star Trek: Picard recap: William Riker and Deanna Troi help out their old friend

Star Trek: Picard delivers its longest episode to date with “Nepenthe,” all so it can spend as much time as possible on Picard’s long-awaited reunion with two of his closest Enterprise comrades.

Yet before that happy get-together can take place, this eighth installment flashes back to Jurati and Commander Oh’s chat at Okinawa’s Daystrom Institute. Oh knows Jurati has met with Picard, that Picard has revealed his belief that Maddox created a synthetic, and that Jurati gave him 300 GBs of material relevant to Maddox. Oh tells Jurati she wants her to accompany Picard on his off-world mission to find Maddox and the synthetic. Oh subsequently uses a Vulcan mind-meld to show Jurati the death and destruction — on a planetary scale — that will take place if synthetic life is allowed to exist. Shaken, Jurati agrees to Oh’s demands (which will require “a terrible sacrifice”) and ingests a tracking device.

On the Artifact, Rizzo demands that Hugh give up Picard and Soji’s destination (i.e. Nepenthe). She executes Hugh’s fellow XBs, but can’t kill Hugh himself because he’s protected by an “asinine” Starfleet treaty. At this point, La Sirena is released from the Artifact’s tractor beam. Although Rios knows they’re being followed by a Romulan ship (piloted by Narek), they nonetheless take off for Nepenthe — albeit not before first contacting Elnor, who’s staying behind on the Artifact because “my help is needed here.”

On Nepenthe, Picard and Soji are greeted by a young girl wearing an animal ear-decorated cloak and wielding a bow and arrow. Her name is Kestra (Lulu Wilson), and she knows Picard. On their way to the girl’s house, Kestra talks to Soji, who’s still plagued by confusion and distrust. Kestra shows her a compass but concedes it’s broken and admits that her arrows are real but that she’s a pacifist, and thus wouldn’t use them.

Kestra asks about Soji’s father, and upon hearing it’s Data, exclaims, “You’re an android?” This freaks out Soji. Trying to soothe her, Picard says that, though her memories and identity might not be real, her sister Dahj was. Then, he informs her that Dahj was murdered by the very people now hunting her. Having been repeatedly deceived, Soji is unwilling to believe anything.

At the house, Picard receives a giant hug from Kestra’s mom, Commander Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), who instinctively senses that he’s in trouble. Picard goes inside and receives a similar embrace from William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), who immediately recognizes that Picard needs a place to hideout. When Picard suggests not only raising the residence’s shields and activating its perimeter scans but also running anti-cloaking scans, Riker realizes that Picard’s problems involve Romulans. Picard states that his plan has fallen apart, he’s (temporarily) lost his crew, and Soji is still in danger, to which Riker says, “Sounds like you need a new plan.”

As Picard takes a nap and Riker continues making homemade tomato-and-basil pizzas, Kestra tells Soji about Data. She surmises that the reason Soji has mucus, blood, and saliva is that Data always wanted to be human (i.e. have dreams, tell jokes, learn how to ballroom dance).

Troi shows Picard the bedroom of her and Riker’s late son Thad, whose 18th birthday would have been a week ago. Troi tells Picard to stay as long as he likes, but she acknowledges, “I’m not as brave as I used to be, Jean-Luc.” Picard responds, “You’re getting wiser.”

Onboard La Sirena, Rios strives to lose the pursuing Narek. Jurati asks if Rios and Raffi really want to go to Nepenthe. Since Jurati was originally eager to embark on this intergalactic search-and-rescue mission, Raffi is surprised by the question. That prompts Jurati to yell, “I just want to go home! Picard can look after himself and somebody else can find that f---ing synth — why does it have to be me?” Raffi calms her down by giving her red velvet cake, which she promptly throws up.

In the medical bay, Rios says he suspects the reason he can’t shake Narek is that Raffi is being (unwittingly) tracked. Before Jurati can fully confess that she’s the one with the tracker, Rios heads back to the bridge. Upset and alone, Jurati creates a handheld device and injects herself in the neck, instigating a mouth-foaming seizure that puts her in a coma.

Picard tells Riker that his visit is “a desperate impulse. I regret it already.” Riker presses the former admiral for details, stating that ignorance of danger doesn’t keep it at bay. Not that Riker needs Picard to spell things out for him — he’s already intuited that Picard is being hunted by the Tal Shiar and that Soji is the android offspring of Data (her head-tilt gave away her lineage). “Not bad for a pizza chef,” Picard smiles.

Riker slams Picard for his classic “arrogance,” once again deciding everything for everyone, and cautions that dealing with a teenager isn’t the same as commanding a starship. Picard admits he may not be up to this challenge, which is the first “baby step” toward attaining the humility he needs.

Soji and Kestra have become fast friends, speaking to each other in a language called Viveen that Thad created. In a lush garden, Troi has Soji try a real tomato — the first food she’s ever eaten that didn’t come from a replicator. She hears about Thad’s desire for a home, which is what Nepenthe eventually became for him. Apparently, Thad died of a rare disease that could have been cured if not for the synthetic ban (which denied the family access to an active positronic matrix) — proving, according to Troi, that “real isn’t always better.” Soji is still intensely skeptical of everything, suspecting that this paradise and its kind inhabitants are part of an elaborate trap.

Picard tells Soji he understands her doubts, but she violently shoves him aside and storms off. Troi chastises Picard for not fully comprehending how shaken Soji has been by Narek’s subterfuge and attempt on her life.

While Picard struggles to forge a connection with Soji, Hugh tells Elnor he’s now going to lead an open revolt against the Romulans and seize control of the Artifact. Rizzo takes this as a violation of the treaty governing his service — thereby granting her permission to kill them both. Elnor dispatches Rizzo’s guards and directly engages her in combat. Using a dagger, Rizzo murders Hugh. She then beams away before Elnor can finish her off. With his final breath, Hugh tells Elnor that he needs an XB to activate the Queen Cell, and thanks the warrior for giving him hope. Shortly thereafter, Elnor finds a dog tag-like device that allows him to activate a Fenris Rangers SOS signal.

Over pizza dinner, Soji recounts Narek’s meditation-ritual ruse, and Kestra — with the aid of Captain Rupert Crandall, who also lives on Nepenthe — discovers the location of Soji’s homeworld, which doesn’t have a name but does have a number. Picard works hard to convince Soji that she can trust him, admitting he wants to help her because she’s the daughter of his dear friend Data. Moreover, before this undertaking, Picard was just wasting his life, whereas now, “I’m alive. And I have a mission, which means there’s not a hell of a chance that you or anyone else can stop me.”

The next morning, Picard and Riker take a walk to a forest-nestled lake. Picard has heard from Rios, and he talks to Riker about his “decidedly motley” new crew, who “seem to be carrying more baggage than all of you ever did.” Sitting on a pier bench, Riker lets Picard know that no one would think less of him if he gave up this quest. That said, Riker also says he never thought Picard had any business retiring, to which Picard replies, “And you were right.”

Picard thanks Riker for “so many things. But today, for not trying to talk me out of all this.” Riker says he knows better than to attempt that, since “that, my friend, was always a losing proposition.”

Kestra conveys to Soji that she understands what it’s like to experience something really awful (i.e. her brother’s death) and that what helped her get through it were her parents. She says Picard could be Soji’s new father figure and, in turn, Soji could be there for Picard. “I’ll think about it,” Soji responds.

After receiving Kestra’s compass as a gift, Soji and Picard say their farewells and beam back up to La Sirena.

Captain’s Log:

• Kestra is named after Deanna Troi’s late older sister, who died when Troi was an infant – events that were first recounted in Star Trek: The Next Generation ’s season seven episode, “The Dark Page.”
• Elnor’s SOS call to the Fenris Rangers strongly suggests that we haven’t seen the last of Seven of Nine.
• Presumably, Narek will also get more to do in the coming weeks, since this episode relegated him to fiddling with a toy while flying his ship (minus any dialogue).

Related content:

• Watch Whoopi Goldberg lose it as Patrick Stewart asks her to join Star Trek: Picard season 2
• Patrick Stewart on how Star Trek: Picard strives to avoid fan service
• Star Trek: Picard second trailer shows Will Riker’s return

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• Star Trek: Picard Reviews
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Star trek: picard season 3 episode 10 review: the last generation.

If we've learned anything from the Star Trek: Picard series, in general, and Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 10 , specifically, it's that endings are never final.

And these last few episodes of Star Trek: Picard have taught us that showrunner Terry Matalas does not hesitate to provide us with many, many endings in a one-hour narrative.

There's a sense of checking off an itemized list of the different Trek fan clusters, all of whom have a LOT to say throughout this farewell season about plot, character, nostalgia, and canon.

The first grand conclusion settles the central conflict of this specific adventure and happens at about the forty-minute mark of the sixty-two-minute runtime, which says something about how much business Matalas needed to settle before the credits rolled.

Jean-Luc Picard's road to fatherhood spans a lifetime, including a bitter relationship with his father and traumatic events that ended with his mother's death, as explored throughout Star Trek: Picard Season 2 .

His journey through time and memory primed him to be open to emotional attachments and opened his eyes to how he'd sought connection throughout his career, his retirement, and now his reunion.

His attractiveness to the Borg Queen and his attraction to the Collective are side effects of his need to belong, hindered by his fear of being rejected. But everything he undergoes in his "retirement" adventures clarifies how his vulnerabilities are, in fact, his strengths.

Jack: You said you’d never give up on me. Picard: Starfleet protocols dictate that we act in the interests… Jack: …of what? Picard: Of everyone else. Jack: And what about the protocols of a father? Or were you never issued those? Permalink: And what about the protocols of a father? Or were you never issued those?

True, learning of his son's existence sets him back on his heels a bit. He retreats into a shell of duty and Starfleet integrity for much of his initial encounters with Jack.

Even learning how he's genetically linked Jack to the Borg doesn't jumpstart the paternal instincts.

Beverly: You’re going down there. Picard: I need you to lead me to him. You brought him this far. Let me bring him home. Permalink: I need you to lead me to him. You brought him this far. Let me bring him home.

But there's a saying about old dogs and new tricks. Also, one about leading horses to water. Picard overcomes both adages and solves his dilemma with courage and flexibility.

Returning to the Enterprise-D with his son intact and his crew alive is a triumph by any measure.

Successfully defeating the Borg Queen's ultimate gambit through a willingness to sacrifice and choices driven by purely human emotion establishes who stands victorious at the end of this decades-long struggle.

What began over thirty-five years ago ends tonight. Picard Permalink: What began over thirty-five years ago ends tonight.

The Borg-Changeling plot arc ends with some happy-ending housekeeping that conveniently glosses over the lifelong trauma counseling the assimilated young crew members are going to need.

And, once again, the Federation's war crimes against the changelings go unanswered and unacknowledged. But we won't dwell on that because that's not what we're here for.

Our second ending scene is Riker, Geordi, and Picard bidding farewell to the Enterprise-D.

Fittingly, Geordi gets the final word here, reminding everyone how the ship always took care of them.

Knowing the Enterprise-D is safely stowed but still ready to fly is quite the wink at the fandom. It never did sit right with many of us that her pieces were scattered and forgotten after the events of Star Trek Generations .

Picard: Will, thank you. It means so much to me. Riker: You know that I know. Always. Permalink: You know that I know. Always.

The next ending is for the fans who've stuck with the innovation, canon-tweaking, and side-eye plot twists that have been the trademark of Star Trek: Picard.

With rumors of a Seven-Raffi-led spin-off swirling and sparking -- seeded by the incredible chemistry of Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd established on Star Trek: Picard Season 1 -- Matalas does nothing to slow them down with Jack joining the newly-christened Enterprise-G.

Raffi: I still can’t believe Starfleet saw fit to give a thief, a pirate, and a spy their own ship. Jack: Bunch of ne’er-do-wells and rulebreakers, really. Seven: What could possibly go wrong? Permalink: Ne'er-do-wells and rulebreakers

Jack even uses the word "Legacy" as he and Raffi goad Seven with the gravitas of the moment, waiting for her to choose her captain's catchphrase. Leaving us hanging is a pregnant promise with the potential explosiveness of a billion tribbles in a cargo hold.

(ICYMI, Ryan and Hurd teamed up between Picard Seasons 1 and 2 for an epic audiobook adventure, "No Man's Land," available from Simon and Schuster Audio. TV Fanatic even spoke with the writers Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson about it when it launched.)

After leaving us panting after the Enterprise-G with its sexy, funny, adorable crew, Matalas hits fans with his nostalgia bazooka.

It's not like he didn't delight us with cameos and Easter Eggs throughout.

This is President Anton Chekov of the United Federation of Planets, broadcasting on all emergency channels. Do not approach Earth. A signal of unknown origin has turned our young against us. They have been assimilated by the Borg. Our fleet has been compromised and as we speak, our planetary defenses are falling. Sol Station is defending Earth as best it can, but we’re almost out of time. We have not been able to find a way to stop this Borg signal and unassimilate our young. But I know if my father were here, he’d remind us all that hope is never lost. There are always possibilities. Until then, I implore you. Save yourselves. Farewell. Chekov Permalink: This is President Anton Chekov of the United Federation of Planets, broadcasting on all...

The Federation President opens this final installment with his emergency transmission. President ANTON Chekov, no less, voiced by Walter Koenig, TOS's Pavel Chekov himself, named in memory of Anton Yelchin, the Kelvin Timeline's Pavel Chekov. It was a touching detail, both thoughtful and perfectly pitched.

After the changeling Tuvok's appearance on Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 7 , Tim Russ let it be known he would appear again.

The level of Star Trek: Voyager cred chalked up by watching him promote Seven to permanent captain cannot be measured.

But the real kicker is Shaw's recorded officer review.

Hansen is reckless. She’s unrelenting. Doesn’t give a damn about protocol or procedure. However, she’s brave. And loyal and the book that she writes is going to be great and the rules that she breaks, maybe they were broken to begin with. Shaw Permalink: Hansen is reckless. She’s unrelenting. Doesn’t give a damn about protocol or procedure....

Captain Liam Shaw joins the ranks of Rachel Garrett and [Prime Universe] Phillippa Georgiou as Starfleet captains made memorable by their integrity, personality, and sacrifice.

Every season of Star Trek: Picard has given us new characters to love, wonder about, and mourn. Shaw is, without exaggeration, the most curmudgeonly one yet and a real highlight on this outing. I can only imagine (and chortle about) how he and Rios would've gotten on.

And there's some tragedy in that he was never dealt in at the poker table.

Of course, the poker game is emblematic of the Next Generation crew. They sat down for a game around fifteen times in the original Enterprise-D series. The final scene of Star Trek: The Next Generation is a poker game in Riker's quarters, with Picard declaring, "The sky's the limit."

Seeing the old crew close out Ten-Forward with raucous toasts and plans for the future -- complete with an incomplete dirty limerick from Data and Shakespeare from Picard -- is the final flourish on this love letter of a series.

There are questions left unasked and unanswered, certainly. For instance, what happens to Laris? Is she still holding that seat at the bar on Chaltok IV? Does Chateau Picard have room enough for two admirals and an ex-member of the Tal Shiar?

How about Kestra? Does she want to leave Nepenthe? Does she get a say as to whether they go to Orlando or not? Or did Captain Crandall formally adopt her?

What it boils down to is our Enterprise-D gang only has eyes for each other, and, for the most part, that's true of the fanbase as well.

I’ve never felt anything like this before. It’s like… quiet suffering. Troi Permalink: I’ve never felt anything like this before. It’s like… quiet suffering.

Will anyone ever wonder what would've happened if Troi had delayed helping Jack open his Red Door until after Frontier Day?

Probably not.

Will Data ever visit Coppelius? Presumably, Soji's still doing the synth-ambassador thing. Will she make time for some father-daughter bonding?

I'd watch that.

Good shows leave us with on-ramps for potential narrative and character development.

Great shows make us want to take them at breakneck speed and see where they lead.

As much as this finale spends a lot -- A LOT -- of time and energy looking back, it lays intricate groundwork for the future.

Yes, today's Trek confronts the shadowy truths of conspiracy and black ops and dishonorable bad acts, but there's still humor and hope and tenderness.

Riker: You’re not going alone. Worf: And I will make it a threesome. Riker: Do you even hear yourself? Permalink: Do you even hear yourself?

Worf and Raffi are a duo so perfect it hurts my heart to think we won't see more of them together.

I have been told tears are the body’s weapon against pain. Worf Permalink: I have been told tears are the body’s weapon against pain.

I want to know what sort of welcome awaited Geordi and his daughters after Frontier Day. Was Mama Leah just relieved they survived, or did she tear the strip off them the width of the Milky Way?

(Before y'all flame me, I'm just going with the assumption. No one's confirmed or denied it yet, so I choose to live in that possibility.)

Four concluding scenes before the credits roll, and still, Matalas isn't done with us.

He throws a stinger on for the first time and sets the gameboard up for a whole new match between House Picard-Crusher and the Q Continuum.

By my estimation and interpretation, the Trek Book of Terry reads thusly:

I. Death will not be an end.

II. Time is only perception.

III. The only constant is change.

IV. Lead with your heart, and those who love as you do will join.

So much more could be said about this finale, this season, this series. It has pushed the limits of intellectual inclusion. It has stretched our imagination. It has tested our capacity for emotional connection. It has gone boldly, unapologetically, and with joy.

What were your highlights and challenges as the curtain fell on our heroes? Who are you riding shotgun on in the epilogue? Would you suit up again if the call of adventure came again?

Engage your thoughts, Fanatics, beam them down to our comments, and make it so!

The Last Generation Review

Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X .

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 10 Quotes

It is confirmed. Your son is the command signal. Worf Permalink: It is confirmed. Your son is the command signal. Added: April 19, 2023

This is President Anton Chekov of the United Federation of Planets, broadcasting on all emergency channels. Do not approach Earth. A signal of unknown origin has turned our young against us. They have been assimilated by the Borg. Our fleet has been compromised and as we speak, our planetary defenses are falling. Sol Station is defending Earth as best it can, but we’re almost out of time. We have not been able to find a way to stop this Borg signal and unassimilate our young. But I know if my father were here, he’d remind us all that hope is never lost. There are always possibilities. Until then, I implore you. Save yourselves. Farewell. Chekov Permalink: This is President Anton Chekov of the United Federation of Planets, broadcasting on all... Added: April 19, 2023

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 10 Photos

4/20/23 Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 10 The Last Generation

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Review: ‘Star Trek: Picard’ – Friends Old And New Provide Solace In “Nepenthe”

| March 7, 2020 | By: Laurie Ulster 235 comments so far

Star Trek: Picard Season 1, Episode 7 – Debuted Thursday, March 5, 2020 Written by Samantha Humphrey and Michael Chabon Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski

Spoiler-Free Review

Picard and Soji escape to Nepenthe and the comforts of the Riker-Troi family, while the crew of La Sirena struggles to elude a ship in pursuit and Elnor stands his ground with Hugh on the Artifact.

Reunited, and it feels so good.

[WARNING: Spoilers from here on]

Episode discussion.

This episode is sure to be a favorite with fans and was one of the best to date, thanks to the arrival of Picard and Soji on Nepenthe, where they spend some quality time with Will Riker, Deanna Troi, and their daughter Kestra (named after Deanna’s sister who died as a child, as revealed in “Dark Page”).  Having heard Jonathan Frakes say that he and Marina Sirtis weren’t initially in the show and were added in later, I can’t help but wonder how they would have accomplished so much without them. It’s as important a visit for Soji as it is for Picard.

It was also (unsurprisingly) a tearjerker, from Troi being worried about Picard’s condition to their conversation about Thad, the son who died. (Loved the photo of Picard, in uniform, holding the baby with an expression of pure joy.) Troi and Riker have also also evolved, as Jean-Luc has, changed by events and time but still essentially themselves. Their beautiful home on an idyllic planet has all kinds of tech built in to keep them safe, and can even detect cloaked ships; we’d expect nothing less. And their personal story ties in perfectly with the larger one: the synth attack resulted in Troi and Riker being unable to save their son.

Star Trek doesn’t always get kids right, but the writers of Picard nailed it with Kestra. She’s exactly like a combination of her two parents, both adventurous and emotional. We get a little reminder of René, Picard’s nephew, in the way that Jean-Luc joins her “game” immediately, suggesting she aim at his head instead of his heart—also reminding us of his heart replacement in “Tapestry.” But it’s her connection with Soji that has the strongest impact. Her resourcefulness at tracking down Soji’s home planet was on point,  and I hope we get to meet this Captain Rupert Crandall; he sounds awfully interesting. As for Soji herself, the realization of who she really is has been a long time coming, and she finally gets a chance to have the depth she’s been missing. Isa Briones is doing a great job, playing her as guarded and yet completely vulnerable at the same time; she’s gone from an empty slate to someone rushed into an overwhelming level of self-discovery.

Soji and Kestra listen intently with childlike wonder.

Kudos to the writers and director for making this reunion as effective as it was. It hit all the right emotional beats, didn’t oversell, and was a perfect way to get Soji to reveal what she knew, to get her to trust Picard, to catch up on where Riker and Troi are in their lives, and to let everyone take a breather, among fresh tomatoes and bunny rabbits. I admit it; I wept a whole lot during these scenes, and may have burst into applause at our first glimpse of Deanna, even though I knew it was coming.

Back on La Sirena , Rios is worried that Raffi is being tracked (which would explain the presence of the cloaked ship)… or is he? Hard to tell if he really thinks so or if he’s trying to get Jurati to fess up, but by that point it’s finally been revealed what happened between Jurati and Commodore Oh (and her oversized ears) back at the Daystrom Institute. After a quick mind meld (remember how the first one Spock did on Dr. Van Gelder took half an hour?), Jurati is forced to see ALL the destruction caused by synths. Whether it’s real or imagined, we don’t know, but it’s enough to convince her to leave Earth for the first time, go on a dangerous mission with people she’s been told not to trust, and swallow (after chewing) a tracking device handed to her by someone she just met a few minutes ago.

Having Raffi treat her with such compassion and care was a perfect way to set up poor Agnes. When she vomits up that cake (ewww! and thank you for avoiding a close-up), she’s vomiting up everything: her betrayal and secrecy, her realization that she’s made the wrong choice and endangered others, and most of all, her murder of Bruce Maddox. Her foamy act of sacrifice shows that she’s realized all of this and wants to do the right thing.

Jurati gets manipulated via mind-meld.

Meanwhile on the Borg cube…

While it wasn’t entirely clear why Elnor didn’t just go with Picard and Soji, his instant bonding with Hugh gave me hope that Hugh was going to survive his confrontation with Narissa. When Narissa started shooting XBs, one at a time, the sheer brutality of it was horrifying. Hugh’s grief was beautifully played by Jonathan Del Arco.

I felt a little tricked by what happened here, though. Another TNG character bites the dust, and this one really stung. I suppose this is all to make Seven of Nine’s return more vengeful, which is by far NOT the most interesting aspect of her character. It’s Picard’s fault Hugh is dead, and it’s not sitting well with me. Honestly, I wish they hadn’t done it.

As for Elnor (aka “the kid”), it looks like he will be rescued by Seven in the next action-packed episode. Poor guy’s had a lot to deal with, all of the sudden; I hope we get to dig a little deeper into his story, because he hasn’t had a chance to do much beyond beheading people.

Overall, the pacing of this episode was perfect. Scenes were allowed to breathe, characters had moments, conversations that needed to happen weren’t rushed but didn’t linger too long, either. Well done.

Random Observations

• The gormagander from Star Trek: Discovery got a shout-out.
• Kestra mentioned Data wanting to tell jokes, dream, and dance, all referencing specific TNG episodes.
• Some of the imagery used in Jurati’s mind-meld was first seen in Star Trek: Discovery when we saw what Spock learned about the destruction caused by the Control AI from his own mind-meld with the Red Angel. Let’s hope it was simply a re-use for budgetary reasons and not some bizarre link between the two stories.

New episodes of  Star Trek: Picard  are released on CBS All Access in the USA Thursdays at 12:01 AM PT/3:01 AM ET. In Canada it airs Thursdays on CTV Sci-Fi Channel at 6PM PT /9PM ET and streams on Crave. For the rest of the world it streams Fridays on Amazon Prime Video. Episodes are released weekly.

Keep up with all the  Star Trek: Picard   news at TrekMovie.

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Loved it. Hope we see the Troi-Rikers again.

It was a lovely visit, and I loved their cameraderie I even loved Kestra, though it took me a little while. When she sketches Soji, that’s when I began to love her.

For some reason I liked Kestra right away (and I can’t stand children [hahaha]). She is DEF a daddy’s girl. I remember Frakes saying in an interview once that one of the reasons Roddenberry hired him was because Frakes had a twinkle in his eye. I feel like the young actress has this, too, and was clearly the offspring of Will.

I’d watch a 6 episode arc with just them in the frame going about their lives. Maybe I’m just getting old but it would be nice to have something pleasant and simple to enjoy

SERIES GREENLIT! ( If I were in charge of course!)

I am a huge Trek fan and will generally watch any series that was a Trek series… But that would be one that would require some heavy consideration before viewing.

I probably would too lol.

Nice to see someone on here who doesn’t hate everything. Loved it too. Loving all of it in fact.

This is the scorecard as I have it now:

Ghosts of Star Trek Past:

– Data – and he’s some phantasm in Picard’s head

– Maddox – Icheb – Hugh (That was a dick move, Michael Chabon. If you wanted to kill someone off, you could have had a Tal Shiar fire a disruptor at someone off-screen as they said, “Shut up, Wesley.”)

Walking Dead:

– Picard

Shout Outs:

– Worf – LaForge – Mr. Mot – Quark – Spock (?)

Stunt Casting:

– Seven – Data (minus Spot, so far) – Both Rikers – Maddox* – Icheb* – Hugh

(*character only)

Invited To Training Camp, Season 2:

– Guinan

Am I missing anyone?

Where’s Spock?

From the main original cast, we’re missing only Dr. Crusher.

Rios’s hero worship of Picard. He said, “He even worked with the great Spock”.

I think they’ve been very POINTEDLY not not mentioning Bev. Like, why did Picard call Dr. Benayoun? So SOMETHING’s up with Beverly, and we’re supposed to know that.

He was really upset at the interview talking about it being hard for those who died and harder for those left behind. I think she was one of those. Just my two slips.

I just chalked that up to Picard being closer to his Stargazer doctor than he ever was with Crusher. Made perfect sense to me. Especially since we got very little of anything between the two.

Or maybe he lived on Earth and Beverly doesn’t. The Rikers don’t live there so its not a shock others wouldn’t either. I don’t buy he’s closer to this doctor since he never even brought his name up in all the time we known Picard.

Crusher not being nearby is certainly possible. But just because a person was not mentioned to his crew doesn’t mean there was no close relationship. There is one guy I used to work with at another job years ago who is a pretty good friend today but I haven’t brought him up to any of my current colleagues. It’s completely purchasable Picard could have that situation as well.

Haha well done! Yes, I really hope we see Dr Crusher at some point …. it’s been nice seeing everyone else, and when do LaForge and Worf come into the picture? Or will they.

I don’t want to be “that guy” asking for everyone ever on TNG though

Robert Picardo has been in talks for season 2 as well

Now that would be interesting, considering what happened in “Author, Author”.

I sense a bit TNG and VOY stress here, as always. There’ve been a few DS9 references, but more would be nice.

Kirsten Beyer is a Voyager lit verse writer, so its not surprising that she’s contributed a lot of Voyager references

More DS9 references (and appearances) will most likely come Nachum, its just going to take longer to happen because it is only 10 episodes and they are already introducing so many new characters while in bringing other known ones. But I don’t think its an ‘if’ only a when at this point. This show is not really a TNG sequel (obviously) but a continuation of this era of Star Trek and Patrick Stewart made that clear months ago, so the door is basically open to anyone.

Before we saw the first trailer there were people convinced that we may not even see or hear about anyone from TNG itself, much less the other shows and now look where we are? They know hardcore fans want to see every show represented, or at least acknowledged, in some way but how they are doing it now is very smart IMO. I don’t know but I smiled so big when Quark’s name was actually said lol, but it tells the fans no one is forgotten at least. MAYBE someone from DS9 will pop in this season (don’t hold your breath thought) but I have a feeling it will come next season.

Robert Picardo was said to be asked back as well.

I didn’t realize that Robert Picardo was in their plans. His holographic doctor brought a dry and sardonic sense of wise-assery to Voyager. Might be fun to watch him and Seven shooting spitballs at each other again now that she’s more Annika than Borg drone. Even better, it would be fun to watch the doctor get knocked off his algorithmic kilter. LOL

Number of times Picard has been yelled at by an angry woman…

He was also told off by an angry man (Riker).

And finally, Troi and Riker are his old bridge officers and friends who he will actually listen to are take on board their feedback.

Absolutely spectacular! Frakes and Sirtis have never given a finer performance. There were nuances in their performances that I rewinded and watched five or six times.

I loved the “ready room” (dinner table) scene, and found it to be the finest singe moment in Trek since Wrath of Khan.

Yeah it was definitely some of their best work as Riker as Troi. Wonderful to see the three of them together again.

I wonder why Trekmovie didn’t have an article up on Thursday just for us to discuss the episode as in the previous ones.

Anyway, I agree that it’s almost impossible to not cry for any TNG fan whenever Troi, Riker, and Picard were in a scene together. Even on my second viewing I had tears almost the whole way through. While Stewart is always fantastic, I was just blown away by both Sirtis and Frakes. They really brought their A-game. This may sound lame, but there was Riker and Troi again. Wow.

I am upset about Hughs death. I asked Chabon on his Instagram story about any chance Hugh could be saved with Borg tech, and he just gave the crying emoji face. So I guess not. Bummer.

Some other things I loved: -Frakes doing that hand movement when he’s explaining something is classic Riker. I was hoping to see the Riker-move in swinging his leg over a chair to sit down, but perhaps that would have been silly in this episode. At least he said “shields up!” —When Picard instantly says “thoughts” to everyone at the table when presented with new information. That felt like they were back in the Ready Room or bridge on the Enterprise and Picard wanted to hear from his crew before making a decision. -Troi was a huge standout. She was the MVP this episode. She helped Picard and Soji more than anyone else. -That Kestra kid was awesome, but the offspring from Troi and Riker would have to be. —I felt a LOT of Lord of the Rings here. From the made up worlds and languages that Thad and Kestra used, to how Nepenthe was like Lothlorien in LOTR: a beautiful place for refuge after coming out of a dark and dangerous place (the cube and Moria). —it’s cool that the Romulan ship that Narek was in had some old-school panels for controls, along with the holographic ones. Just saying that actual panels are better than the see-through holographic screens.

The parts I liked the least were the La Sirena bits. It was ok, but meh. On future viewings I’m just going to fast forward those parts.

Sorry — we’ve all had a busy week with non-Trek things (what?). We’ll be back on track next week!

No worries, just curious. I appreciate all you guys do!

Laurie Ulster, I don’t know if this has already been done, if so I’ve never seen it and I’ve been coming to this site for like 12 years, but what do you think about making a series of posts introducing us to the Trekmovie staff? I was annoyed that there was no post about this episode sooner and then read this comment, and it occurred to me I was being an a$$hole. I was thinking of Trekmovie as a big media company that owes it’s customers a consistent schedule. I didn’t really think of it as a fan site run by fans who are dedicating a lot of time to Trek just for the love of it (ridiculous that i didn’t understand this — I know.) It made me realize that I really had no idea who was behind this site, and would be very interested in getting introduced to you all, so we can all thank you for your contributions in the comment threads. Just a thought.

I passed the suggestion along to the team. Thanks, guys. it’s nice to be appreciated and yes, we are all volunteers who do this because we love Star Trek, and we love to talk and write about it.

Thank you so much for having this site up and running!

You’re most welcome. We’re very happy people like it.

Only fault in the episode was Sirtis did not get “Special Guest Star” credit at the beginning. That was inexcusable.

Hear hear. Troi stole the show in my opinion. Sirtis’ performance was wonderful. Sirtis and Frakes should have both been ‘guest starring’ on the opening credits.

I was wondering the same thing. She was really given dialogue that showed what a skilled actress she is. It felt sooo good to see that.

And not only that. I also think the writing for the character of Troi might’ve been the best it ever got!

For me, this was amazing, but I’ve always felt the writers on TNG generally did not give Troi as challenging material as the character deserved.

The standout Troi episode, that made me feel Troi was a superstar, will always be ‘Face of the Enemy’ in TNG.

In his first writing credit, Naren Shankar showed how powerful Troi could be, not to mention that he was a champion for strong female characters.

He really seemed to be the first of their writers to ‘get’ Troi, and to give Sirtis the opportunity to really show her range.

As well, FotE also was the deepest dive into Romulan military culture in TNG in my view.

I really enjoyed Troi tracking the Shinzon Ship in Nemesis. That was very cool.

Unfortunately she also underwent a “mind rape” by the Reman, which seemed like a repeat of the mind rape that happened to her in TNG. But I guess it’s a danger for telepaths and empaths :^(

Jay, that seems to be the one and only time Troi actually did something useful.

TF47… But the tradeoff for Troi to say something semi-useful was only because Picard suddenly de-volved into an idiot. Had Picard still maintained his wisdom in this episode there would be no need for Troi to be useful to him. Is the price for making a weak female character stronger to make the main male character a stumbling clueless sitcom dad?

Sorry. Troi was weak when she was dreamed up by GR and remains the weakest link on TNG. The worst thing to ever happen to Troi was Wesley leaving. She went from the 2nd worst character to THE worst character.

ML31, Picard has been repeatedly showing low emotional intelligence throughout the series:

Episode 4 – his pitch to Elnor relies solely on his usefulness (and Elnor calls him on it -his behaviour at the ‘Romulans Only’ cafe

Episode 6 -clapping when Raffi gets him credentials

The point is that Troi is the person he is willing to accept advice from on his emotional competence.

Well, there were plenty in times in TNG when Picard made the wrong decision in the teaser that led to the jeopardy experienced in the next 44 minutes. If that can be perceived as a lack of wisdom then I guess he never really had it. If one buys into the idea that those decisions were appropriate for their mission, then I think what the examples you just brought up would fit right in with that mold. Overall, I think most would think that Picard was a pretty sharp man. Sharper than anyone else he has ever met. But this last episode was the first time I really saw him behaving a bit dim. And that includes the examples you gave.

Totally agree!

Yeah! WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT???

The Kzinti get mentioned, their first since TAS.

Not their first, no.

What was the previous Kzinti mention, on-screen, after their TOS appearance?

I did get a charge out of that! Perhaps it was a bit cross polinization for Lower Decks?

The mind meld between Spock and McCoy in TWOK was super quick.

They’ve all been pretty quick compared to that first one!

nomad was long

And one of my favorites!

Nobody could do a mind-meld like Leonard Nimoy.

We only saw the beginning of that one. Just enough to show that it was happening.

I know many other posted their thoughts on other threads, but I waited to see the Trekmovie.com review. IMO for the second straight week, we got the best episode to date. Very nice to see because that opening to E5 was really somewhat troubling. For me it seemed perfectly natural for Picard to be completely out of touch with what Soji was going through from an emotional standpoint – perhaps he felt she would have no feelings so in the episode it was good to see Troi and Riker set him straight. Reunion scenes were great and the interaction between Soji and Kestra was well done. Kudos to the actors, I was particularly impressed with Sirtis. Her acting has come a long way since the Journey to Far Point. Sad to see the demise of Hugh, but brilliantly portrayed by Del Arco and since this is science fiction, maybe we will see him again. Also thank you producers for once again giving us bonus time instead of the usual 42 minutes. A few complaints like how did Picard get the coordinates for the projector to send them right to Riker and Troi’s house. I guess he gave Hugh the address/coordinates. Also the Romulan tracker could not have been more obvious, but I will give them a pass. Overall a great episode and a proper reunion that was essential for the story. Too bad there are only three hours left to go in S1.

Agreed with everything you said DeanH, this was such a great episode on so many levels. I thought Frakes and Sirtis just both did a great job, especially given how long its been they played these characters. I mean its been 17 years since Nemesis and WE NEVER SAW THEM AGAIN UNTIL THIS EPISODE. I WILL REPEAT WE NEVER SAW THEM AGAIN ON ANY OTHER SHOW! ;)

In all seriousness I loved the entire backstory about why they were on the planet and what they been dealing with. They are obviously older but they are both the same characters so many fell in love with, especially Riker (and why I love Frakes so much!!). And you have to give the writers credit, they could’ve threw in all kinds of fan service to get people salivating. They could’ve had Riker on the Titan but didn’t. They didn’t even talk about Riker or Troi’s time in starfleet since we last saw them, it was all about dealing with Thad and where their life is now. They didn’t even throw in an Easter egg of a ship model in the background somewhere as a reminder to their former lives. In other words they were treated like real people and not just a set up to relive nostalgia. I thought that was all nicely played. We don’t need that kind of stuff all the time, just seeing those characters again are enough on their own and it paid off.

I also agree about Hugh. As much as it was a high it was to see Number One and Imzadi again, killing off Hugh was a big punch in the gut. I’m not mad about it but am disappointed. We were JUST getting reintroduced to the character again and then done. But Chabon HAS hinted that Hugh’s story may not be completely over yet so we’ll see. And I liked all the stuff on Rios ship and where Agnes is at in the story. You do feel sorry for her because clearly everything she is doing is severely weighing on her but she only did it because she thought it was necessary. And I just realized Agnes hasn’t been off that ship in a single episode since she boarded it in episode 3 lol. Everyone else has had some time somewhere else at least once.

So overall a really good episode. Again, I can understand how it may feel like ‘filler’ to some people but clearly things happened in it. We finally got a small glimpse why Romulans fear the synths through the mindmeld and the stuff on the Borg cube is about to get real now that Mama Seven is coming back with a vengeance. And like others I do have a feeling they may be setting up Riker to return to Starfleet, at least temporarily by the end of the season but we’ll see.

And yes it was great it was basically an hour episode. That’s another good point and what I tried to argue with a troll a month ago who was convinced all episodes would just be 40 minutes to sell the show to syndication once Amazon dumped it any day for being the total failure it was, blah, blah, blah. Hopefully the others from this point on will stay on the higher side at least.

Yes, Tiger, I really hope they’ll keep up the 50-+ minute model, because that’s more storytelling time!

My theory on Hugh: Seven still has all her Borg implants. She may be able to salvage some Borg tech and “re-activate” him, wouldn’t that be a hellofa story about uses and violations and volition and non-.

WE NEVER SAW THEM AGAIN UNTIL THIS EPISODE. I WILL REPEAT WE NEVER SAW THEM AGAIN ON ANY OTHER SHOW! ;)

But…but… …ohhh! I see what you did there!

haha yes, totally agree. I still laugh when some fans think Berman was infallible. That finale was a complete embarrassment and I am glad he has essentially apologized for its existence. Ok let’s speak of it no more haha. Btw I watched E7 again this evening before the hockey game and once again I have to complement Sirtis on her acting. When Troi enters her son’s room to speak to Picard, you can momentarily still see the pain that she will carry for the rest of her life. Also her dressing down AND build up of Picard after his attempt at sarcasm with Soji, was both well written and acted. Oh btw MINOR SPOILER – E8 will also be around 55 minutes. There are legit credible details of E8 out on the interweb, but I managed to avoid reading them haha. Bring it on.

Yes, but again, and I think this needs to be made perfectly clear, had Picard kept the wisdom he has had throughout this series up to this point, he would not have needed any dressing down from Troi. The only reason that happened was because suddenly Picard became an imbecile. It felt like they dumbed down Picard just to give Troi something to do. Troi’s usefulness was manufactured. It was weak. Inorganic. And was a contributor to that side of the episode being the less interesting side. I perked up every time the show shifted to Rios and Co. They were the interesting people.

Yes we did! We saw them on Ent…NEVERMIND! 😱

Their acting there was like they were at gunpoint or something.. do this or else.. :D

Agreed with all points above, Tiger. I watched this episode three times, a personal record for Kurtzman-Trek! I do find Commodore Oh a pretty corny ‘villain,’ however.

Thanks Danpaine! And yes I’ve watched it three times too. This and the first episode are the ones I seen three times each, which is NOT common for me. For Discovery I’ve only watched one episode more than twice so far which was the Sanest man, although I’ve seen most of the episodes in season 2 twice at least.

For the record, I haven’t watched any of the Secret Hideout Trek episodes more than once. Even the good one I only saw once.

Regarding Hugh… It wasn’t the gut punch that losing Icheb was. The reason Icheb hit much harder was because of how it affected 7. By themselves both deaths really aren’t that big a deal as they are ancillary characters. Their job is to provide story movement for the main characters. If that means a death then fine. When Hugh got aced my thought was, “Aww… Anyway on with the story.” My feeling regarding the Rikers and the rest of the episode can be found elsewhere in the thread. Needless to day my reaction was different from most TNG fans.

”Star Trek doesn’t always get kids right, but Picard nailed it with Kestra.“

Tsk, blackmocco, get your mind out of that bad place!

Oh I didn’t mean it in that fashion, Maria!!! Lol. I was just laughing that people thought the kid was great.

Well Wasn’t She?

Yes, she was great. Reminds me of my own daughters

If you think she was, then you’re right. If I think she continues the long-standing Trek tradition of annoying kids who can miraculously save the day (via a 24th century phone) when the rest of the cast can’t, then I’m right too. We’re all right.

I loved the character… but… you’re not wrong. And it took your statement for me to realize that. Well played.

Totally, understand blackmocco.

Gifted kids can be annoying and irreverent, not to mention impatient with authority.

Why would we expect the kids of the best of the best of Starfleet to be otherwise?

The schoolrooms of the Enterprise and the Titan would have been full of young Sheldon types. Riker and Troi are fortunate to have a indulgent neighbour that their bright (now) only child can safely reach out to on speed dial.

And that’s a fine explanation, TG, although if she’d actually figured out the location of the planet herself, that would back up your point (and ensure I never, ever watched this show again! Lol) but she literally just called up someone on her phone and asked them! Stupid adults! It’s like they’ve never solved problems like this once a week for seven years before!

Also, this really is some riveting character study of Picard – he’s done nothing on this show so far! Everyone else has figured everything out for him! It’s like the opposite of Discovery where Burnham simply HAS to be the one with the answers, Picard’s completely useless! What’s season 2 going to be about? Picard needs help to find the La Sirena’s space toilet?

LOLOL!!!! I found that to be VERY funny!!!

Great episode and, yes, here’s hoping re-used footage and not a direct link to Discovery.

When I saw the ships in the attack on Mars I thought they looked familiar …. :^(

If they make anything more out of ‘control’ and this ‘evil A.I.’, I think it would be a mistake. Leave Discovery season 2 as a distant memory and never look back.

Amen to that.

Make that season 2 AND season 1 and I am on board.

The show itself practically did that since everyone pretended the ship was destroyed and any mention of the Discovery crew from this point on means treason. ;D

I’m thinking direct link. Which saddens me. There was also a fairly clear shot of an extremely Airiam-looking “something”. Not sure how she’d factor in.

Although, they are still using the same shuttles from Disco which is the epitome of lazy… could be rehashed footage for an entirely different thing… I just doubt it.

Why exactly did Frakes get a special guest star credit whereas Marina did not? That struck me as very odd and incorrect.

I knew the producers of this show wouldn’t be able to pass up on the opportunity to kill of Hugh and they delivered right on cue. It took away most of the positive feelings this show generated by bringing back Riker and Troi. And I hope they are not bringing them back any time soon because you know they will otherwise just suffer a similar fate. At this rate, I expect Seven the bite the dust as well before the season is over.

Another thing that struck me while watching this episode is that this show spends a large amount of screen time on making us watch characters figuring out things we as an audience already know. There were all these scenes on the cube leading up to Soji discovering who she really was. And now in this latest episode Riker and Troi were going to help Picard come up with a new plan but all they accomplished was managing Soji to tell her story. And so now Picard knows what we already all knew from the last episode. This show is just spinning its wheels. They took a story that TNG would have covered in a 2-parter and are now stretching it over 10 episodes.

“Why exactly did Frakes get a special guest star credit whereas Marina did not?” Simple, better agent. That’s not a joke and only one option. Here’s an excerpt from an post on Mark Evanier’s blog…

Once in a while, that kind of billing is dictated by the producers when they land a biggie and want to call a little extra attention to it. There was a point in the seventies when it was known throughout the business that Sammy Davis Jr. was willing to appear on anything (A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G) for any non-insulting money as long as you treated him like he was a big deal. I would guess he always got Special Guest Star billing. But probably 80% of the time, it’s a case of they offer the actor X dollars, he and/or his reps want Y and they compromise on X dollars plus “Special Guest Star” status. Most famously, the late and lovely Jonathan Harris received “Special Guest Star” billing on every friggin’ episode of Lost in Space in lieu of higher pay.

And it isn’t always that the agent’s aggressive. Sometimes, it’s a matter of the producer doing the agent a favor. What happens is that they offer X and that’s final. The agent knows that his or her client will accept that rather than lose the job…but the agent also knows that the client will bitch and/or moan that the agent should have gotten more money and maybe hint at finding another agent who can. So the agent says to the producer, “Okay, but can you give me something?”

The producer — and I’m saying “producer” here but it may be a lawyer in Business Affairs or someone else negotiating — knows there’s a value in maintaining a friendly relationship with this agent and maybe being owed a favor. So they say, “Okay, tell your client you got them a star dressing room.” Or “Tell your client you got them their favorite hairdresser.” Or a frequent one is “Tell your client you got them Special Guest Star billing.”

Thanks for the background Douglass Abramson.

The actor credits on Discovery have been bugging me for some time. I thought it was mainly a guild hierarchy thing, so it’s helpful to know that there is some negotiation.

You’re welcome.

“Another thing that struck me while watching this episode is that this show spends a large amount of screen time on making us watch characters figuring out things we as an audience already know.”

I would add the following thing to your examples: We know what’s up with Agnes, yet on the episode we have to watch Rios to suspect Raffi. I’m aware that others assumed it’s just a ploy from Rios and Raffi who both suspect that something is wrong with Agnes. But there’s a scene with Rios and Raffi about throwing her (Raffi) out of an airlock which does not really fit because Agnes is not present at the time, so no reason to keep up the charade.

But to be fair we don’t know what’s going on yet – one of Chabon’s comments about the EHM implies that there is something more to it related to Rios what we don’t know yet. I just hope they have some good answers. Discovery did not for all the questions it raised, so I can’t say I’m really too confident. In any case, the gang over there didn’t do himselves any favor of releasing only one episode per week.

When Rios brought it up to Agnes I thought it a ploy to get her to confess. But when he spoke to Rafi about it I thought that it wasn’t and he truly did suspect her.

“Why exactly did Frakes get a special guest star credit whereas Marina did not? That struck me as very odd and incorrect.”

After the way Sirtis attacked and insulted CbsAA I’m not surprised at all. I think it is a very understandable and smart move from their side.

I’d love to hear more dirt on that…

The reports of 7’s impending death are greatly exaggerated. It’s highly unlikely they will knock off any of the new legacy characters this season.

I found myself liking Picard (the character) a little less in this episode. He swore he wouldn’t bring his friends into this quest to find Data’s essence and then he went to the planet where Riker and Troi went to try and help their dying son, but failed. Their son died because of the synth attack on Mars – that has something to do with the fact that mars was building ships to help relocate the Romulans. Because the Romulan star exploded.

Picard put Riker and Troi’s surviving child at risk rather than using the spatial trajector to go back to Rios’s ship.

Troi was used better than she ever was in TNG here too – she is right to tell Picard to stop being so sarcastic to Soji. He doesn’t know her at all. Why is he being like that to her?

Picard shushes Riker in his own house. I know he used to be his captain, but that was just rude.

Picard says he needs to feel useful again – he said that back in episode 2 I think. Hasn’t he come to terms with that yet? Or should Riker and Troi have appeared earlier? It feels like the latter should have happened before Picard left earth.

I enjoyed the stuff on Rios’s ship – except the dropping out of warp to elude Narek – why didn’t Narek’s ship’s sensors detect that they were dropping out of warp (as would be suggested by many precedents in Star Trek)? Narek wasn’t piloting by sight out of the shuttle window. He was flying at warp, so would have been working on sensors. I didn’t quite buy that Rios would be able to lose Narek by stopping for a bit. I also didn’t like the 3D printer replicator. What if they’d done that with a dot matrix printer in 1987? “Tea, Earl Grey, on fanfold paper…”

I hope when Seven of Nine inevitably returns she does more than terminate things. She was basically Voyager’s answer to Data – I’d prefer her to do some kind of awesome Star Trek thing using her massive intellect and skill rather than just go pew pew pew.

Unless… this is all something to do with Q, Picard’s irumodic syndrome, or it’ll be fixed with wibbly wobbly timey wimey things.

Soji may be older than 37 months. It may only be her memories and things that are 37 months.

I think she destroyed the Hobus star and the Zhat Vash know about it. That’s why they killed all the Martians.

Picard will have to stop Soji in the past and then the timeline will be fixed and everyone’s lives will be less bleak.

Frakes and Sirtis were *brilliant* in this episode, despite its issues.

Personally, I’m really happy for Sirtis – she really was underused in TNG. I recently started reading some old TNG comics and I was really impressed how good they are at using ALL the main characters on a regular basis, they have always something to do and step in the spotlight in a way it sadly never really was archieved on the show where it was usually the case of having the “Data-centric-episode”, next Picard, Riker and so on.

Anyway in one of these comic book compilations they did publish an interview with Sirtis made somewhere at the time the motion pictures were made and the TV show was already over. She said something along the lines of feeling very sorry and sad the show was over and she would love coming back to the movies of course, but the thing is on TNG she had the occasional Troi-episode while the movies would obviously always be about Picard and Data. But hey, since then she got some really great appearances in Voyager and now this. As I said I’m really happy for her and I’m glad they still find some good use for her character.

Can’t really say I liked the episode as a whole (or the series so far) but they nailed Riker and Troi really well in this one and it felt just good to see them again, hanging around with them a bit, even if it did nothing at all for the plot. I’m wishing they would get rid of this “modern” approach that everything leads to the next and all is connected and whatnot – no problem at all with an overarching plot like they did on DS9 but they did manange to write episodes with beginnings and endings very well back in the day, and what I’m trying to say is that I would like this episode more if this would have been some stand-alone plot with just Picard visiting his friends for some reason. In the context of the overall plot it just felt silly to have this side-step, especially since they know the romulans are one step ahead.

Regarding season long story arcs… It’s hard to have self contained episodes that serve the season story in 10-13 episode seasons. You can do that in 20+ episode seasons. But in miniseaons you really don’t have time for such detours.

You seem to be liking Picard a little less because he turned into a moron in this episode as opposed to other episodes. And that happened it seems to me only because they needed to give Troi something useful to do.

The positronic “disease” resulted in a facepalm for me. It was so amazingly contrived and made zero sense. Obviously it was designed to get more audience on the side of anti-AI ban for those who may not be there yet.

I admit 7 was similar to data in that both were trying to discover humanity. However 7 was far more interesting in that she was trying to rediscover what she lost. Data was trying to achieve something he really never could.

@ML31 For me I think it’s that Picard literally went back on everything he said earlier in the season. Ok, he didn’t want to get his old crew involved, so why not just beam back to Rios’s ship using the trajector? The Romulans were after him whether he was on some distant planet or the La Sirena, so what difference did it make other than going to Nepenthe put Riker, Troi, and their surviving child in danger. Picard used to be a tactical genius, but now…

As for Seven, I was talking more about her intellectual abilities (although I agree with the quest for humanity comparison), since she had the knowledge of the whole Borg collective in her mind.

How has she used that on PIC? I guess I’m disappointed that she hasn’t. She’s basically a Nausicaan now.

And I think that’s a shame since Seven has the potential to be so much more than just a terminator.

This show has definitely been a mixed bag. I like it way more than I will ever like DSC, but it’s still lacking in a number of areas – notably the “science” part of its apparent nature as “science fiction”

Yes… At first I figured they would just walk back to Rios’ ship. But instead he decided to invade Riker’s retirement. You can see how the original mapping did not include him. Maybe that would have been the better way to go?

Yes, the show is a mixed bag. It certainly is better than Discovery has been (or likely ever will be possibly). But that is not a very high bar.

Even after my second rewatch I still can’t get over the fact how absolutely astonishing Alison Pill’s acting was in this episode! Her scenes with Michelle Hurd and Santiago Cabrera just blew me away completely.

I was getting fearful that Jurati might turn into the show’s token “quirky” character… turns out I was woefully mistaken.

Yes, thank Kahless they didn’t turn her into another Tilly which I was fearing at the beginning. She has a lot more layers to her.

I’d agree when it comes to her acting she did a hell of job – this episode especially. However, I hated the scene in the beginning where Oh says “Take it” and she IMMIDIATELY put this tracker in her mouth. I was like “What????” Then I though “Ok I guess she knows what this is so she does not have to think about it” but then Oh says “You have to chew it” which Jurati appearantly did not know – I mean the tracker looked quite big to just swallow it, right? Besides I’d imaginge that things like that would be much smaller in the future anyway. And more importantly: Jurati doesn’t know Oh at all, she just met her; an angry Vulcan with sunglasses for (as far as we know) no reason and yet she doesn’t hesistate to swallow the tracking device, she did not want any credentials, nothing. Blah. And I haven’t even mentioned that Oh forces her mindmeld on her, by the time she finished saying “Let me show you” she already had her hands on Jurati’s face. When Shinzon did something similar with Troi in “Nemesis” she considered it raping. In any way, this did not feel like “the Starfleet way” at all. Or is she Section 31? Tal Shiar? Zhat Wash? Or is she everything? Commodore Double-Oh Oh?

I dunno, it’s writing like this which makes this show hard to believe for me, and I have a hard time feeling for characters who appearantly act totally stupid.

I actually thought she was going to pretend to take it and dispose of it later.

In the last seconds of the preview of the upcomming episode it looks like Seven will become something like borg queen of that derelict cube. There are visible moving cables behind her. Similar to that things from First Contact.

It also looks like her eyes are taking on a metallic sheen

Yes. Totally! That is exactly what I thought. Not only that, Hugh saying they know how to take back the Cube means he and all the xBs have an Emergency Plan.

Jurati’s mind-meld was first seen in Star Trek: Discovery when we see what Spock learned about the destruction caused by the Control AI from his own mind-meld with the Red Angel. Let’s hope it was simply a re-use for budgetary reasons and not some bizarre link between the two stories.

I got a baaaad feeling about this

I’m sorry Picard is so … Tone deaf? Insensitive? Manipulative? First noted when he applauded Raffi, after she as good as lost another friend getting Picard something he needed for his mission [the applause was a brilliant bit suggested by Sir Pat himself], noted at Hugh’s sacrifice, and so on. I guess JLP will slowly come to a painful realization. I just hope it doesn’t take all his friends dying to get him there.

Picard really needed to see Troi and Riker to be called on his insensitivity and arrogance towards those he has asked to be under his command.

He wanted a crew that he has little emotional attachment to because he’s haunted by Data’s death.

However, his attempts to keep emotional distance is making him a poorer leader than he ever was on the Enterprise.

It will be interesting to see whether Picard, after his visit to Nepenthe, will baby step by baby step, recover some of the Captain Picard he used to be.

TG47, I sure hope so!

Couldn’t disagree more. All through TNG Picard kept an emotional distance from everyone under his command. Including is 2nd officer for Pete’s sake!

He’s like the head coach who is there to coach not be a friend. If they want a friend, talk to Number 1.

And he has been that way as long as we’ve known him. Including this show. The difference is somewhere in between the last episode and this one he was injected with some sort of intelligence inhibitor. Something tells me it only lasts for one episode. Next time he will be back to normal.

I’ve been reflecting further on how Picard is lacking attunement to those around him.

I believe, Marja, that Picard’s response to Troi, when she lists the competencies he needs to be the Captain Picard he used to be, is the key to understanding Picard’s insensitive mission focused behaviour.

He adds “And useful.”

For Picard, useful and capable are what he wants to be, what he wants to get back.

Part of it’s age and having felt powerless and incapable after the Mars attack. More than that however is that he’s given his life to Starfleet, on the command track, that defined success not in material wealth or social status, but in competence and effecting solutions to challenging situations.

So, Picard has been motivating people (Raffi, Elnor) by praising their competence and expertise, when they are looking for caring for their emotional needs, and evidence of attachment and attunement.

But, Picard told Zhaban in the second episode that he doesn’t feel he can cope with being attached to a crew he puts in harm’s way after Data’s death. Until Picard accepts that he has to risk those he cares for, he won’t be able to be the Captain he was.

TG47, I agree with this, especially needing to feel capable and useful. I’m assuming that in So, Picard has been motivating people (Raffi, Elnor) by praising their competence and expertise, [but not] when they are looking for caring for their emotional needs, and evidence of attachment and attunement. you meant to say what I inserted in [bold type] …?

Sort of Marja.

It might have better been said “when instead they are looking for Picard to show…” .

Essentially, the same meaning. Thanks for the catch.

Picard knows how to handle people. And has been capable of adjusting on the fly. For example, when Data whined about not being able to handle emotions Picard first treated him with kid gloves. Which seems to be his go to when he is unsure of what method will work. When that didn’t he turn to his cold and detached Captain mode. That did the trick and Data become more focused. But usually he reads people right the first time. For some reason in this episode Picard lost that. When it was obvious his light and sarcastic method was not working he would have immediately changed tactics. He didn’t need Troi to tell him anything. Except in this episode, since he took a dumb pill, he did.

So, for what it’s worth, here’s where I think we might end up…

Data’s memories are stored in B4, we know that much. Picard will now find a newly-created, and appropriately aged, Data’ body on Sodji’s home world.

Put the two together, and Brent Spiner can play Data once again! Ta da

Or it’s going to go all dark and weird, and have something to do with Control from Discovery. And then I’ll give up and try to forget it ever happened.

There is still all that “SHE IS THE DESTROYER!” stuff to be explained. How that would tie in with CONTROL, I can’t imagine.

I’m still trying to figure out how Commodore Oh seems to know the future and that Synths will destroy the galaxy (or whatever). I mean, she showed Jurati some imagery of planets going kablooey… where did THAT come from? Or did some planet get blown to hell by Synths who were stopped before they could move on by Rios’ USS Ibn Mājid, which was then swept under the rug? If Picard ends with Starfleet sweeping another conspiracy under the rug like Discovery Season 2, I’ll be disappointed. I really hope Chabon is smarter than that.

The trailer for episode 8 isn’t giving me a lot of comfort Thorny.

It’s hard to know what it will mean, as we’ve been misdirected by earlier trailers, but it’s clear, at minimum, that Picard will get the brief from Jurati on what she was shown by Oh.

I enjoyed the episode, but I can’t help but wonder if any of the TNG crew got a happy ending or if each of them has experienced a personal tragedy. So far no one has escaped unscathed.

Can’t wait to see if Geordi’s eyes exploded or Beverly lost an arm juggling chainsaws.

If so, we would definitely get to see it in a gory flashback!

Everybody who lives long enough experiences deaths of loved ones and other personal pain.

Thanks for that Salt (and good to see you back the last few weeks).

Picard is about an older person, and seems intentionally targeted at an older Trek audience. (Or, at least it seeks to include fans beyond their teens and twenties.)

Few of us get into our thirties without realizing that bad things happen to good people. How good people and those around them accept and overcome these events is the key thing, and optimistic Trek can address that.

As well, one of the challenges of late age, as Picard experiences, is that life can become too retrospective. For a person of power and action like Picard, that can feel like a death in itself. Unlike Riker and Troi, his retirement didn’t bring healing or contentment.

That said, it would be good to see Worf, who resolved and experienced a lot of tragedy through TNG and DS9, be the one main character that has moved beyond his personal tragedies and is successfully commanding his own ship.

Two points I’m trying to get across here (Well, one, plus another that I’m still trying to puzzle out): One, this is supposed to be a Picard-centric show. I know many of these returning characters are here to help build a plot, but there’s a danger of going back to the well one time too many. They’ve already held the door open for Whoopi Goldberg to return; if there’s one character from the past I’d like to see become an integral part of Picard’s life, who would be Picard’s guide, muse, conscience, and devil on his shoulder, it would be Guinan. They have a long history together. But the the appearance of these other characters returning in the first two thirds of the season, regardless how well the charactor is integrated into the larger storyline, it almost feels…………pefunctory. Step in, read your lines, step out. Seeing if and how they get killed is like watching a game of Wheel of Fortune. “Pat, I’d like to solve the puzzle……” which brings us to…….Hugh. Hugh, as accepted in the scene with Elnor on the artifact, is dead. Except for one little issue that way be a technical error – a scripting faux pas, overlooked by the secessive hands that it passed through, or a clue: Elnor cradled his head as Hugh was dying, but up close and as the camera pulled back, the blood from Hugh’s carotid artery was still spurting. His heart was still pumping as the scene faded. Given that they were on a Borg cube, Hugh still had remnants of Borg implants, it was the cusp of the 25th century and medical technology practially roams beside you, isn’t it feasible that emergency medical treament or stasis couldn’t have appeared on-demand to provide life-saving assistance? We don’t know what what systems may have activated or installed in those invening years.

Hmmmmm……………

I liked the episode a lot. A question though: Soji doesn’t trust Picard because of many reasons, but if she was Dahj’s twin, why didn’t she have the same Picard face flash/urge that Dahj had when she herself was in danger and sought Picard saying “everything tells me I can trust you”. Wouldn’t that trust also be pre-programmed into Soji?

good question

The programming was reinforced by the Mom AI.

We also know that the Mom AI had some communication back with Maddox. He knew that Dahj had been activated via the Mom AI. So, it may be that either the program or Maddox himself was pushing Dahj to trust Picard.

Recall that Dahj’s Mom pressed Dahj to return to Picard in the alley scene.

In Soji’s case, since she wasn’t sent to a mission on Earth, the program may have identified a different safe person in emergencies. If it was Hugh, he’s now dead.

More than that, Soji knows the Mom AI is a program and that she has embedded memories. Her embedded impulses, as part of the mission, likely led her to be curious about Narek and involve herself with him. She isn’t likely to trust embedded impulses.

That is a good question. Also… If there are two why can’t there be three or 4 or more?

I don’t think there was time for that. Soji had just escape death by drilling through the floor when she found herself facing Picard. The “find Picard” subroutine may have simply decided it was “overcome by events” and didn’t run.

Loved everything except offing Hugh. Come on, guys… this would be the second XB character killed within a couple of episodes to further Seven’s story. I’m hoping I’m not giving the showrunners enough credit and there’s a save in mind for the next ep (perhaps having to do with whatever the XBs were swarming around in the teaser?), but I’m not holding my breath.

But scenes with Riker and Troi and Picard? Kestra sliding past Soji’s shields? Even the tension on La Sirena? Yeah, that was really good. Got me misty-eyed in more than one scene. I’m really looking forward to next week.

Hugh’s death did nothing for 7’s story. Except to lead Legolas to tap the communo crystal she left behind.

Loved the Riker-Trois. It was like visiting old friends again, a little more weathered and world-weary but the same at the root. What they did to Hugh though is unforgivable in my opinion. Not only did they manipulate his childlike innocence but then to also unceremoniously kill him off. Not good. Come on you guys are working in a huge Science-Fiction universe, there has got to be other ways besides killing off older characters. Star Wars also fell to this trap in the sequel trilogy, I was hoping Star Trek wasn’t going to.

I understand your feelings on this alphantrion.

For myself, I could accept any one of the 3 deaths of guest stars or recurring characters as logical within the story, but 3 seems too many. (I note that one professional reviewer came out and asked if the body count isn’t getting too high, despite giving an otherwise very positive review.)

Hugh’s death also seems to lock in a pattern of bringing back minor characters only to use their deaths as motivation for the main characters.

I disagreed with someone on this board last week who was worried that they were only bringing back Hugh in a positive way in order to to kill him off. I thought that the poster was giving into the negative, but they were right. It will be hard to get fans enthusiastic about the return of other minor characters now that this pattern has been set.

I won’t call this lazy or poor writing, as the senior writers are all vsolid. However, it’s clear that the writers got caught in some groupthink on this. The writers wrote what made sense to them plot point by plot point, but they seemed to have struggled to see the overall effect. They either think too much alike, or for some reason they aren’t able to work through diverse ideas.

On the early Deadline podcasts, they talked about the difficulty in writing a new series without any feedback from the audience, especially a longstanding property. Goldman said that you didn’t know if half the audience would love it or hate it. It sounds as though they just went what they felt would work, and some strong balancing voices weren’t there.

It’s disappointing that the writers weren’t challenged to find another way. While deaths of existing characters should be permitted, TPTB should insist that this be done judiciously. Each existing character is part of the IP of the entire franchise. Each one is part of the value.

(I recall that there were some problems with this in the early Relaunch novels. They actually had a case where a character was killed off that another author was using in the following novel in a series. David Mack and Dayton Ward have said that the writers and Simon & Schuster worked out how to avoid that for later novels.)

As another evidence of groupthink in the Picard writers room, Chabon and Goldman have spoken about how great the chemistry between Peyton List and Harry Treadway was at the first table read, and how they expanded Narissa’s part to are advantage of this. They both keep saying “wasn’t Peyton List great?” (…and the Deadline reviewers agrees.). Otherwise, from what I’ve read and heard on podcasts, at most one or two professional critics have praised the Narissa-Narek scenes on the Artifact, but most found them to be dragging the episodes.

Kurtzman has said that he was concerned about splitting between Picard’s point of view and the cube, and from what we’ve heard there was more that was cut out either before or after filming. However, it sounds as though he wasn’t willing to say a hard no and veto the 3 deaths or the remnants of the Narissa-Narek dynamic.

Thanks for the in-depth reply and thorough analysis of the situation and I agree with almost all of the things you mention. I am wondering if the writers are this trigger-happy because they have a way to bring all these dead people at the end of the season somehow (those rumored Q appearances) but this could just be my wishful thinking.

That bit about Narissa and Narek truly surprises me. I find those two as the representative villains to be the weakest part of the show – two sacks of mustache-twirling tropes without a single original element to recommend them. Serviceable, certainly, but in no way memorable except that they call to mind characters that carried the present elements better.

Narek has at least a little more depth. I do believe he was actually falling for Soji, note his reaction when he was outside the room and she was inside with the radiation.

Narissa [?] such an unmemorable cardboard character I can’t remember her name. From the icky incestuous hints she keeps throwing Narek’s way to her awful, trite dialogue she could simply vanish and no one would miss her.

Along with the two baddies you mentioned, I’m going to offer that Commodore Oh is up there with being as shallow, one-dimensional and plastic as Narissa. She’s actually laughable with those glasses on, and not menacing whatsoever. And that mind-meld scene was jarring. Agreed that Narek offers a bit more depth, and I very much like Harry Treadaway from Penny Dreadful, but overall I was hoping PIC would feature some proper villains, not cardboard ones.

Danpaine, Yep, I agree. And didn’t she look super kewl with those classic Ray-Bans. [sigh]

I agree, I sure hope the “villains” will have more depth. I think Treadaway is trying to bring that energy to Narek.

And for all that they aren’t even a tenth as bad as MU Georgeau.

9/10… wow… i hope you are all enjoying this… the show started good but it has gotten exponentially better since… i keep saying best episode so far after each one at least since the first 3 which felt more like a three parter… everything worked here… the story for troi and riker was so beautiful and sad and incredibly well done… it was great they got the whole episode and not just cameos… sirtis is fantastic here… the three of them together felt perfect like yes time has gone by and everyone’s in a different place but they all belong together… their daughter is amazing… elnor on the borg cube was great though i’m saddened about hugh… the cake scene fantastic (i love cake)… the show has been picking up speed since episode 5… my only problem i guess is i kind of wanted more with elnor on the cube… more hugh… more everything… the hour went by so fast… and i hate that there’s only 10 episodes…

I thought the soji’s data head tilt was first seen in this episode, but after watching episode 4 again, I just noticed she did it after Narek told her about the borg ritual

Actually I’m glad you did say this – I only noticed this in this episode and it really felt like the lazy-writing-approach so that Riker could get what’s going on. For example I hated it when in Voyager’s “Dark Frontier” Chakotay says to Janeway something like “You always play around with your communicator when you do…” well whatever it was. Fact is, we only ever saw Janeway doing this in that episode because it was written into that specific script. This wasn’t the “Janeway-manouver”, so Chakotay’s comment did not felt believable. At best, it implied that we (the audience) did miss a lot of what’s going on on that ship.

There had been a few folks on this board who pointed it out in episode 4.

I also noted that some of the stiffness in Soji’s very upright posture and walking style has echos of Data. Rewatching some of the earlier episodes it seems to have been there from the first scenes on the cube.

Anyone else think that Riker’s “active reserve duty” status foreshadows his appearance in another episode (a la Bones McCoy), possibly assisting Romulan refugees?

It felt to me they just kept their options open for possible future appearances of the character. If he lives retired on Nepenthe, it makes him hard to use in the future. So they would need a side-door. I did not get the impression it’s something they have made their mind on. After all, they said they did not have a “plan” for using Riker at all when writing startet, but along the way, they found a way, which I’m sure was this episode and that was it for the season. It was a great idea for doing a filler episode, as they probably realised it’s hard to expand a story into a “ten hour-movie” when the plot you have would have made a engaging three-parter at best.

I agree Star Trick, that the writers were being careful not to close the door on Riker and/or Troi returning to duty. I note that Picard introduces Troi to Soji by rank, another indication that they are not retired.

But I don’t see this episode as filler at all. TPTB promised that this show would be more grounded, have more room to breathe, be more of a character study. I see this episode as essential for that.

Picard himself has been to some extent untethered since his retirement. He has been trying to treat his new crew as crew, and maintain emotional distance, and he doesn’t. He’s not handling his team well on an emotional level, and trying to motivate them solely with respect for there competence. He’s been roundly criticized directly by many, but really able to process that and adapt.

Troi and Riker were able to call Picard on his inappropriate reactions and he was able to hear it from them and take it on board. Visiting them was a crucial course correction for his behaviour. I don’t think that the writers could have found a better way to help the character of Picard take a course correction, that would be accepted by either the character or long time TNG fans.

No, I think Trick is right. This episode really had “filler” written all over it. So far it feels like this story could have been told in 7 or 8 episodes.

Or fighting off a new Borg invasion…

FYI, I did a little linguistic sleuthing that may give us a glimpse of what’s going on. “Qowat Milat” means “strength of the nation” in Persian, and “Zhat Vash” means “stranger” in Kazakh. (I’m going purely by Google translate for the latter.)

Great research River Temarc.

Interesting. I thought they went a little Hebrew with that. Yad Vashem sounds very similar to me.

River, I wonder who is the “stranger” — the synths or the Romulans who fight them? I really hope we get to see the warrior nuns in action. I love Elnor.

I honestly don’t know if it is a good thing or bad thing that all the words they are coming up with are just from other Earth languages and not made up Sci-fi words.

Seeing Riker and Deanna and their daughter was great. But the episode didn’t seem to advance the plot very much. After 7 episodes, I keep wondering when it will get interesting.

I liked the episode and I loved the Troi-Rikers. I was very sad for their kid, I really wish they could do some time travel and save him, he seems awesome. And I loved that the planet were they live is so awesome and had such a LOTR feeling that fits with Thad’s stories. I actually want to read about Ardani. But what I hated was Hugh being killed. Icheb was not enough? Why ruining so much about the freed Borgs? I am not sure I will ever forgive them for all this. I am pretty sure there were no need for that, he could have been incapacitated (so the kid will still need 7of9)

did anybody understand what is this “condition of Picard” that Riker is talking about

They told us about it back in episode 2.

Basically, a variant of irumodic syndrome from “All good things.” A form of dementia, essentially, as I understand it. Picard’s in the early stages.

I’ve been thinking since the TNG finale that this parietal lobe problem, whatever it may be in whatever timeline, is a direct result of his assimilation and extraction from the Borg.

It would, in the context of the XBorgs as a suffering minority, be an interesting way for Picard to have a physical, if not outwardly visible, manifestation of his continued trauma.

If so, one hopes that it’s a syndrome that XBorg’s can eventually be treated for

TG47, I wonder if Picard’s Irumodic Syndrome can be cured somehow with all the research into reclaiming XBs …. and I agree, I think Picard’s trauma was so significant [him being a trusted captain with many colleagues and a lot of trust from others] after Wolf 359 that it will not easily go away.

I had a big grin on my face when Troi and Riker first appeared and I love Kestra, what a character. The group hug at the end had me tearing up. I agree, I didnt like seeing Hugh die and I hope there’s no tie in to STD. And I wonder if Elnor ends up joining Seven and her rangers.

What I liked about this episode

1. I think Frakes and Sirtis did a great job of introducing a believable conclusion to their stories in the Star Trek Universe. They have great chemistry and their daughter completes a well rounded trio of characters enjoying a well deserved break (shields and anti-cloaking scanners included) in a quiet and picturesque setting

2. Now Soji is away from Sir Creep-a-Lot her character seems more believable and she and the daughter cultivate a believable connection.

3. While the TNG music riffs were laid on a little thick, it was tastefully woven into the score I thought and the dialogue between Riker and Picard is good.

4. Only 7 or 8 people were murdered this episode so the body count is starting to plateau I think

What I didn’t like about this episode

The poor writing continues with plot contrivance after plot contrivance. (a) Hugh was spared for a shaky reason so he can spill the beans on his plan 10mins later and be murdered 5 mins after that (b) Rios accuses Raffi of being tracked for no good reason completely out of nowhere, just so we can have an emotional scene with the other girl (forgot her name) – again, not ‘earned’. (c) Oh by the way, the doctor is being tracked – ret-con. (d) Picard’s sarcastic outburst against Soji came out of nowhere and is completely out of character…just so we can have another episode of “Angry women yelling at Picard” (e) The Mind-Meld scene….copied from Discovery (because everything has to be “world-ending” nowadays and of course it’s enough for the doctor to go postal, murdering her lover and literally swallowing whatever she’s given…. By a stranger…. Wearing sunglasses… with no ID…

I doubt (c) is a retcon. It looked like that whole scene was filmed at the same time back for Episode 3.

Isn’t (d) hinting that Picard’s Irumodic Syndrome (sp?) is starting to manifest itself? Same with his applause for Raffi and losing his temper on the TV news interview. I think this is all leading toward that.

Agreed Thorny.

I’d add that for (e) the uniform with rank insignia is legally viewed as a kind of ID.

That said, Jurati as a civilian should have requested to see ID, but like many civilians may have not thought to do it. Or, if Jurati was eating lunch on the Daystrom Institute campus, she would have assumed that security would have verified Oh’s credentials on arrival.

I think she felt that the mind meld was verification enough.

Thank you for the measured responses. I’d like to reply to some of the comments.

(c) I think it would have shown more confidence in the viewers if the whole scene was played out at the beginning. Instead, the assumption is made that you didn’t watch previous episodes so you need to be really explicit in linking everything together, which is a sign of poor writing. Ichebs murder HAD to be within 30mins of Seven-of-Nines murdering… The reaval that Jurati is bugged HAD to be shown 30mins before we realize the ship is being tracked…. It reminds me of the Disco episode where they killed that Android women, and we had to show her being all close and loving with her ship mates 30mins before it happened.

(d) The Irumodic Syndrome could be an interesting place to go in the series, I just don’t think the writers are good enough to pull it off. Like how they are dealing with Raffi’s alcholism? They wheel it on and off whenever the plot suits. And do we really want to be spending 1..2…3 seasons watching the main character cowering and confused while people yell at him?

(e) If security was that tight, then surely the rooftop scene in the pilot wouldn’t have occured.

(e). the rooftop scene was at a different facility, but agree that the lack of Federation or Starfleet security response is a question.

Certainly, the Khat Vash have the ability to penetrate the transporter inhibitors that should be around both facilities. (So that, transportation is limited to established gates.)

However, as we know Oh is head of Starfleet security, and was aware and an ally of the Khat Vash operations, she could have created a window for them to beam in and inhibited any security response until after the events on the roof. In fact, Oh’s dressing down of Rizzo/Narissa was a criticism that imagery had been left of the attack in the form of a reflection of a disruptor flash.

Your analysis of (d) is deep… too deep for the writers, I’d say.

Yes, they should stick to telling us about “The Destroyer of Worlds!!!!!!” I’m sure they can pull it off ;)

Picards behaviour (obsession over engineered AI life, more caring for loss of Data versus Riker’s child on his watch, hypocrisy on eugenics ban) I think this syndrome is better explained with Picard as a Borg sleeper agent. Also explains why in First Contact he seemed to know exactly where to target the Cube post loss of starships, was he being used to bring Data to the Queen??? If Picard sees engineered AI as better than organic life, why not the Borg (who may blame their failures on organic components now)?

Haha good point…I think playing either card is more pallatable than just straight up admitting that, with just like Discovery, the writing staff has been chosen more for the sake of diversity than for quality. – That being said, the TNG first few seasons had a huge problem with writer turnover, so do I have it all wrong? How did TNG, with 24 episodes to finish, no budget and not more lore to draw upon provide episodes which, while varying in quality of story, seemed to be edited correctly and make logical sense?

And the contrivance of Thad dying from some weird disease whose cure could ONLY have come from AI research. (eyeroll)

One thing is very wrong – dead rabbit. Citizens of federation would never hunt animals for food. Another Star Trek that went off the original idea.

That never made sense. To me, it was like she had been raised to have survival skills. They seem to be living an idyllic life. They’re also using what they killed, it wasn’t for sport.

Kestra’s the child of two senior Starfleet officers and spent her early childhood in space on an exploratory ship.

She’s got an adventurous and imaginative temperament that she’s exercising on a planet instead of in a holodeck.

More, her parents seem to be aware that Kestra may wish to seek a life beyond her chosen homeworld. Riker has expressed that ignorance does not protect those we love from danger. Their retirement haven may be quite idyllic and secure, but neither he nor Troi are trying to shelter their daughter from the danger and violence of the worlds beyond. They are letting her learn about exploration from Crandall, a retired Starfleet captain of the old school.

So, letting her hunt unicorns, seems par for the course for the child of the officer who ate live g’rak during an exchange tour on a Klingon ship, and who bought fresh eggs during a planetary stop and attempted an omelet.

Last point: for canon on eating meat in the Federation, check out the TNG episodes with Keiko and O’Brien : she was shocked that O’Brien’s mother insisted on real, replicated meat when he was growing up.

..favorite scene..and you gotta think frakes was laughing, ok I’ll say it one more time for the fans..his inside joke bout his character..”shields up!” If he had followed with “red alert”, I woulda lost it! Classic Riker! I could comment on more but I’m still trying to digest the series as a whole. It just needs something and I can’t put my finger on it. Idk

I really liked this episode. Riker and Troi amazing, joy watching them together hugging each other! So nice to see them again! Finally seeing Picard with people who really love him. The interaction with Soji and Kresta is brilliant. For both old fans and newcomers.

Marina Sortis, I am so surprised she was not a special guest!? Why!?

For some reason, in this episode, I see a lot of the elements from “The Matrix”. Dr. Jurati taking a blue pill. Later going into comma. A bug tracking La Sirena. Soji and Dajh being “The Chosen One”, not knowing their super powers. I see “The Matrix”…

Absolutely loved this episode. Best episode of Picard to date.

Uhm, anyone else thinking that Captain Crandall may be a character created for Patrick Stewart’s good friend Ian MacKellen?

There seems to have been some profiling of their friendship by the Star Trek social media. As well, Crandall is a Scots name, so MacKellen could lean into it if he wished.

Crandall sounds like Gandalf!!

Hah! That’ll be too much!

That would be great. But I don’t hold my breath. Could result in a “Waiting for Godot” kind of situation.

Could be odradek.

I’d thought watching the episode that Crandall was an off-screen character that enriched the background of Kestra’s world. So, I’d no expectation of ever seeing him.

However, the detail that Crandall was an exploratory captain, even older than Picard must have been running in the back of my mind,

When I thought “Well, who would that be? : MacKellen seemed obvious. He doesn’t have a character in Trek, and if he were to have one, it would be in this show.

I agree that with the way they introduced him they will need someone with a lot of gravitas. MacKellen would be the perfect choice. I hope you’re right. You set the bar high for the producers. :D

I have noticed and been wondering why Mackellen has been so front and center with the team in pretty much all of the London event media

Because he wants to support his buddy Sir Patrick? I wouldn’t read too much in him being there.

They are very good friends! Will be hilarious if they choose McKellen to be Captain Crandall/Gandalf. The name is similar. We already have the elements from Lord of the Rings with Thad and Kresta, the languages, the maps. The necklace. Elnor. Having McKellen will bring big news and a new audience to Star Trek Picard!

For me, the funny thing is that actually McKellen adviced Sir Patrick NOT TO JOIN Star Trek!!! Live Long and Prosper!

Still believe they also have a lot of elements from The Matrix.

Wow that is a very good point! The name “Crandall” sounds like it was purposely supposed to sound like “Gandalf,” perhaps it originally had an “f” at the end. “Crandalf” was then TOO similar to “Gandalf” so the “f” was dropped.

AND Chabon is a big Tolkien fan, so why not? The entire Nepenthe sequence was also super-similar to Lothlorien in the LOTR story, so it has another LOTR connection.

If Ian MacKellen play Crandall, it would not only be perfect and sweet, but also make a nice connection.

BTW: IS Soji like Frodo? Her necklace has the two rings. RINGS! Lots of LOTR stuff here!

Yep. Also Elnor looks like he wandered off the Lord of the Rings set onto Picard.

Yes! His look totally throws any scene he’s in. I can’t stand it. I never thought of Romulans or Vulcans as elves, but I do with him…

The prosthetic makeup designer said in one of the videos that there was a fine line for each actor where if they pushed too far, the look could cross over to looking like elves.

He said that they relied on the prosthetic team to work it out individually for each actor.

Given Elnor is a major character and a co-star, one would think that they played around with different versions of his prosthetics.

Perhaps his features just push the look to the elvish? He was a model in his earlier days (although his degree is in dramatic arts).

I note that in the early days of TOS, there reportedly were concerns that Spock might look to much like a devil. So, the eyebrows and pointy ears definitely can evoke different archetypes depending on how they work with an actor’s facial structure.

Good points as always.

For me, it’s the combination of ears + long hair + robe + SWORD that all work together to make him elven. =P

Get it completely FASAfan. :)

On Jurati’s Mind Meld… Based on this episode and next weeks preview, STD ‘Control’ is likely invading or being activated via EXBs and/or hidden Synths. It is not what I hoped for storywise and fear they may reveal that ‘Control’ was the origin of the Borg and traveling through different timelines or alternate timelines. I hope there is a Q twist in episode 10!

After playing the recent Star Trek Online 2-parter, the joining of Control and The Borg would be pretty terrifying

People seem to keep forgetting that established canon everywhere has stated the Borg delta quadrant origin, nearly 1,000 years ago.

But CJA in Discovery season 2, Controls existed in the future in almost every one of the Many Worlds timelines, and was able to exploit future time travel technology to eliminate threats to its agenda. Which means, Control could have created some kind of time loop that created the Borg.

I may loathe the idea of tying in a Borg origin story to this Picard plotline, but with time travel and a multiverse, I can’t say that they couldn’t find a way to reconcile such a thing with canon.

By the way, even David Mack’s Destiny trilogy’s Borg origin story involved some inadvertent time travel, and I think it’s fantastic.

It’s more that I would be annoyed if the Picard writers feel that they should be using up the potential of many of major toys in the Trek franchise toybox in a single premiere season of a new show.

More Picard insanity… holds baby of friends that ends up dying; obsesses about Data and Engineering perfect AI.

This show totally needs to end with Picard walking away from a victory party to wash his hands alone, looks up at the mirror and seeing the Borg Queen. “Well done locutis, the collective no longer need be held back by organic limitations. You have set up…. utopia.”

Fade to black, end with the best of both worlds music (the only memorable tune in TNG not stolen from TMP).

Before tossing this aside remember that the most beloved of TNG episodes (best of both worlds) had Picard working for the Borg. This is also consistent with First Contact where Picard seemed to suddenly know exactly where to target the Cube post loss of starships, was he being used to bring Data to the Queen??? His medical scans might be detecting the influence of the Borg versus that syndrome. Picards behavior (obsession over engineered AI life, more caring for loss of Data versus Riker’s child on his watch, hypocrisy on eugenics ban) I think this syndrome is better explained with Picard as a Borg sleeper agent. If Picard has come to conclude that engineered AI life is the way to go versus organic life, why would the Borg not? Perhaps they now blame their organic components for their failures and wish to go full engineered AI.

Bremmon, your comments bring to mind a fitting quotation: “Huh?” -Chancellor Gowron

Reading a lot of Cmd. Bremmon ideas and theories about Star Trek in general, its safe to say he beats to his own drum here; this one a really strong example. ;)

I think he did a little too much LDS.

PaulB – FTW!

TIN MAN has awesome music, it was before the prods cut off the composer’s privates, metaphorically speaking.

I liked the Armas cue from Skin of Evil. That cue can easily be recalled even years after it.

That would be chilling

I was gutted that Hugh died, but it makes sense that it would happen and it’s nice to see there are no character shields beyond Picard and (probably) Soji.

It actually ups the stakes and makes the show a lot more exciting because now we can’t watch a scene without wondering if a character is safe or not – the problem with 98% of story arcs in the original shows.

It was great to see the band back together. The throwaway line by Riker about him being on active reserve for the right mission gives me high hopes for Season 2. This was my favorite episode yet.

LOVED this episode. To go off-topic for a moment—-is it just my eyes, or is that a weirdly Van Halen-esque(circa early 80s) finish on The La Sirena?. Beyond that, the episode was absolutely aces all around. Looking forward to next wqeek.

The Diver Down and Best of Both World albums! Nice call.

The images and in the anti-AI mind meld almost certainly are a conscious link between the two series. Something like the AI trying to destroy all life can be buried, but it won’t be forgotten by all. Not only do I predict that this will link up to Discovery Season 2’s story, I also predict that Discovery Season 3 will link up to Picard Season 1’s story.

I would also go out on a limb and suggest the possibility that Discovery Season 3 ends with them back in the year 2399 (or nearabout). From what we’ve seen of the Season 3 previews, things are not going well for the Federation in the 33rd century. Perhaps they come back in time to put right what once went wrong. We already see signs of the rot in the Federation in Picard, so this might be a good point in history to try and change things.

Moreover, coming back to 2399 gives them a chance to drop Empress Georgiou off at her new show – which may also pick up the threads from Picard and Discovery.

I really hope that Discovery season 3 can deliver a consistently good show. The last third of season 1 in the Mirror Universe was pretty good, and the first half of season 2 before it became an inane Terminator rip-off was good. Maybe this will be the season where they finally get their act together and get the creative turmoil behind the scenes straightened out.

Wow that’s exactly how I saw Discovery first and second seasons as well. First season the Klingon war was a total borefest for me and the only thing that saved that season from being worse was the MU story line, which still was far from perfect but it was at least fun and interesting.

LOVED nearly everything about the first half of season 2 minus the third episode (which felt like a holdover from season 1), up there with some of the best of Star Trek IMO (I’m not saying it IS the best people, but in that league) but once the whole reveal about who the Red Angel was and the motive behind it all was Control it took a big nosedive sadly. Still MUCH better than season 1 overall but a disappointment by the end. But it got us out of prequelville and into a future timeline, so that alone makes me happy. :)

Let’s hope it continues to get better in season 3 which I have faith it will.

I saw season 1 as near opposite as you. The first 2/3 of season one there was still potential. They had a fantastic character in Lorca driving everything. Then… The MU stuff and the entire show fell off the rails and plummeted to a fiery death. But season 2 started off promising. But after the first 2 episodes it did the same as season one. Only faster. And it had Pike all season long to be amazed with.

If this is true, then it may also be true that this was actually closer to the Bryan Fuller concept than we thought originally.

Can you elaborate? Or provide a link? I’m not familiar with the idea.

Supposedly Fuller wanted to do an anthology show that would take place in a different Trek time period each season. It wasn’t clear if it would have involved the same crew jumping into different time periods, but the current story model of Discovery suggests maybe it was, assuming that Fuller’s DNA is still in the show.

I would think that an anthology show would have featured a different cast each season.

By “anthology” he seemed to mean that each season would take place in a different era, but it was never really clear what that actually meant. Apparently CBS rejected the concept as Fuller presented it and he went forward to create what became Discovery. He confirmed in some of the early interviews that the “anthology” concept rumors had some truth, but never in any detail.

Based on the rumors though it was implied each season would be both a new cast and setting and why Discovery was first because that season was going to deal with the Klingon war pre-TOS, but then maybe the next season after that jump to a new crew in the TUC or TNG era and so on. I think that’s partly why it was rejected, everything would change wholesale every season. Jumping to different time periods doesn’t seem to be the issue.

In a way I guess Short Treks has become an anthology of sorts.

Liked the episode because of it’s slower pace but I’m not as convinced as others of the Riker/Troi cameo, it’s more Fan service than really necessary for the story, so in a way you can notice that the parts were added later after all. And maybe it has to do with the German syncronization but I’m also not convinced of Marina Sirtis acting, she has less facial expressions, seems a little bit cold to me.

As much fun as it was to see Troi and Riker again, once again the series came to a full stop. Almonst no story development – again. Why is Picard collecting a crew for 5 freaking episodes that he doesn´t need? Elnor is completely useless. We have only 3 more episodes and it feels like we are storywise in episode 2 or 3. I don´t have high hopes that this will be resolved with a decent story in the last 3 episodes. I originally liked the series, but grow disappointed with each episode.

I figured TNG fans would love the episode for the Riker Troi stuff. It didn’t do much for me as I never fell in love with any of the TNG characters. All of them were just sorta… There. And I figured TNG fans would hate that Hugh got aced. Didn’t bother me in the slightest. Although I wasn’t expecting it I was not surprised at all it happened.

But I will say this episode was well put together. Probably the best directed of all the episodes thus far. The pacing was spot on. The cut from both stories worked great. The main issues I had were all on the Picard-Rikers side. The kid was kinda irritating. I know she performed her function but her locating the planet from using her 24th century iPhone was just too much. In fact, I found the entire sequence too syrupy. I’d much rather spent more time with Rios as that was FAR more interesting than anything going on on Nepenthe. Which has been part of the issue with the show. Picard is not the interesting part of it. It’s Rios and Rafi who are really carrying this show at this point. When we are around them the show has life. When they are gone, the show grinds to a halt.

Oh, and Laurie Ulster: Lest we get too warm and fuzzy about soft, cuddly wabbits, let’s remember this one had venom sacs and ended up as a pizza topping.

Dang, I bet that went good with sliced heirloom tomatoes, fresh chopped basil, and mozzarella balls. If you’ve never eaten wood-fired, brick oven pizza, you haven’t lived. And yes, it does taste like chicken.

From what I gather show runners and producers are being fired at Star Trek and Disney (Star Wars, Marvel) to bring back what the fans want. Now maybe I’ll start watching these shows again.

Hahahahahahahahaha, no. Where did you “gather” that nonsense?

Nice Kzinti Reference. Which are they, and which would be better: SFB Kzinti or confined-to-crap-little-saucer-ships Animated Kzinti?

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Published Mar 5, 2020

Recap: Star Trek: Picard - Nepenthe

Two old friends make an appearance as Picard plans his next step

StarTrek.com

The seventh episode of Star Trek: Picard opens with a flashback, finally revealing what happened during that fateful meeting between Dr. Jurati and Commodore Oh at the Daystrom Institute on Earth; the one that led Agnes to discontinue Bruce Maddox’s treatment and effectively murder him in “Stardust City Rag.” Oh asked Dr. Jurati for her help and initiated a mind meld with her, showing Agnes what would happen “if synthetic life is allowed to exist.” We aren’t privy to more than flashes and images, but it’s enough to convince Agnes to turn against everything she’s worked toward her entire life.

There are a few important points here. First, what is it that Commodore Oh shows Dr. Jurati? Is it a theoretical future, the worst-case scenario of what could possibly happen if synthetic life were allowed to flourish? Is it some sort of information gleaned through someone from the future or time travel (a Star Trek: Enterprise sort of situation?) Or is it some other possibility — a secret that connects to what the Zhat Vash fight against — some sort of prophecy connected to Ramdha?

Also, the fact that Commodore Oh is able to mind meld is an intriguing bit of information in and of itself. Though Romulans and Vulcans share common biological origins, as far as I know, only Vulcans are able to initiate mind melds. This likely means that Oh is merely working with the Zhat Vash, and is not actually a Romulan herself. Then, the question here is what could have possibly convinced the head of Starfleet Security to work with the secret police within the Romulan’s secret police? It seems we’re getting closer to uncovering that answer.

Not only does Agnes agree to go on the mission with Admiral Picard, but she serves as a human tracking device so that Oh can keep tabs on where La Sirena is at any given time. And right now, the ship is stuck in a tractor beam from the Borg cube, dealing with the fallout from Jean-Luc and Soji’s escape. Once Narek is in position to follow them, the Romulans let them go.

They’re not the only ones affected by Picard and Soji. Hugh is being interrogated about the location to which they might have escaped. He’s a Federation citizen, and so while Narissa can’t touch him she can certainly use the ex-Borg to convince Hugh to cooperate. Despite the fact that she murders all of them, Hugh refuses to betray Picard.

Many people were afraid for Elnor’s fate after the last episode, but fear not: Elnor comes to Hugh’s rescue and vows to help him fight the Romulans. La Sirena heads out towards Nepenthe, where Jean-Luc and Soji have taken refuge, without him.

On the planet, they first come into contact with a young girl named Kestra, a name The Next Generation fans might immediately recognize (see the episode “Dark Page”). As she takes the duo to her parents, Kestra interrogates Soji as to her relationship with Jean-Luc. From her answers, it’s clear that Soji is still in shock — and it doesn’t help when Kestra reveals that, if Data is her father, Soji must be an android. At this point, Soji’s convinced that everything around her is just another mind game to convince her to give up information. (As an aside, Kestra is absolutely delightful and I’m sorry we likely won’t see her in future episodes).

The reunion with both Deanna and Will is absolutely wonderful, though it leads to natural questions about how the two of them ended up in such rustic conditions (though not too rustic, as their defensive measures make clear). The answer to that is a sad one: Their son, Thad (named after one of Will’s ancestors, as seen in the Voyager episode “Death Wish”) contracted a rare but curable virus — curable with the help of a positronic matrix, that is. The synth ban ensured that Thad would die, despite their relocation to Nepenthe to take advantage of the restorative properties of the soil, and Will and Deanna chose to remain there to raise Kestra.

The dynamic between Kestra and Soji is absolutely delightful; Kestra tells Soji about who Data was, and in return Soji has the chance to process what she’s been through in a way that seems less traumatic than going through it alone. As she starts to embrace who she truly is, there’s a scene between Soji, Picard, Will, and Kestra in which Soji looks so much like Data, it made my heart hurt a little.

Between Soji’s android-like mannerisms and the fact that she learned an entire language in a few minutes, Will figures out what the deal is and calls Jean-Luc on his arrogance. One incredible thing about the deep and real relationship that both Will and Deanna have with Jean-Luc is that they will tell him what they think, without any filters (“So, you want to be ass deep in Romulans for the rest of your life?”). It’s what Jean-Luc needs at this point, as he has a tendency to be a little bit self-important.

It’s also a chance for Jean-Luc to take stock of this mission: These are people who know him in and out, and who he can be candid with about his failures. But also, someone who will remind him of the price of his missions, the cost as measured in lives. Deanna does this in a beautiful way when she speaks about needing to protect Kestra, while also emphasizing how welcome Picard is to stay. She also manages to connect with Soji, helping draw out what she’s been through and the devastation she’s currently feeling — and chides Jean-Luc when he makes light of Soji’s mistrust. (Additionally, if you’re curious about Will’s use of the word “Imzadi” to refer to Deanna, check out Peter David’s now-classic Star Trek: The Next Generation novel of the same name.)

For an episode that seemed relatively quiet, “Nepenthe” is pretty jam-packed. We’re still not finished aboard the Borg cube: Hugh has a plan to take the ship away from the Romulans, and he’s enlisted Elnor to help. The problem is that Narissa overhears him talking about his plan, and she labels it a treaty violation, which means that Hugh’s status as a Federation citizen will no longer protect him. After a fight between Elnor and Narissa, Narissa escapes, but not before she deals Hugh a fatal blow.

It’s heartbreaking to say goodbye to Hugh so quickly after we met him again, older and wiser, but he is grateful that he got to hope again one last time — a callback to the Borg teenager he was when we first met him. He tells Elnor that to enact the plan, Elnor will need another ex-Borg — and Elnor activates the signal that Seven of Nine gave Picard. It looks like we’ll be seeing our favorite Fenris Ranger again soon.

Back on La Sirena , Ríos has his own problems: trying to shake off Narek’s tail while also dealing with Agnes’s increasing anxiety — and both he and Raffi are utterly bewildered as to why Jurati is so upset about the prospect of finally meeting Soji. We, as the viewers know why, and she realizes she must take action as Ríos confesses to her that he thinks that Raffi might be their leak (albeit unknowingly). Agnes puts herself in a coma to break the tracker, and they manage to head toward Nepenthe without anyone on their trail.

Jean-Luc and Soji’s time on Nepenthe was healing and necessary in more than one way, but it ended up with the formulation of a new plan: a journey to Soji’s homeworld. Thanks to Kestra (and the somewhat mysterious Captain Crandall) we now know where that is (I’ll admit, I suspected for a minute it might be Noonian Soong’s laboratory on Terlina III, as shown in The Next Generation episode “Brothers”). “Nepenthe '' ends with a beautiful moment between Will and Jean-Luc, before Kestra tells Soji that she and Picard could choose to belong to one another, an indication that they might eventually make the choice to become family.

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Swapna Krishna (she/her) writes about tech, science, and sci-fi. She’s a contributing editor at SYFY FANGRRLS and has been published at Engadget, Gizmodo, Mental Floss, the Los Angeles Times, and more. You can find her on Twitter @skrishna.

In addition to streaming on Paramount+ , Star Trek: Picard also streams on Prime Video outside of the U.S. and Canada, and in Canada can be seen on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. Star Trek: Picard is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E07Nepenthe

Recap / Star Trek: Picard S1E07 "Nepenthe"

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The opening Flashback leads us to... the show's third episode . Dr. Jurati is approached by Commodore Oh, who is wearing sunglasses in an unsuccessful attempt at subtlety. Oh asks about Dr. Jurati's recent interactions with one Jean-Luc Picard. But this time the scene keeps going . Dr. Jurati, who's bad at lying, tells Oh what they talked about. Oh charges her with a special mission on behalf of Starfleet Security, asking Jurati to help her prevent The End of the World as We Know It . To explain what she means, she applies a Mind Meld , showering Jurati in a chaotic whirl of death, destruction and murder. Jurati, overwhelmed, asks what she has to do. The first step is for her to chew and swallow a Tracking Device , so that Oh can follow her at all times...

In the present day, Narissa has Hugh at gunpoint, along with a bunch of other xBs. Alas, Hugh has diplomatic immunity because of the treaty that allows a Federation presence aboard the Artifact, and Narissa cannot kill him. But she can kill his friends. And does. She then comms Narek and asks if he's in position.

La Sirena is still caught in the Artifact's tractor beam. Rios, Raffi, and Jurati are brainstorming what can be done about the situation. Jurati suggests they just ask to leave: after all, the Romulans are after Soji, and Soji is demonstrably not on board. However, the tractor beam is released, and the ship loops away... followed by Narek in his "snakehead" fighter. Rios then tries to contact Elnor, but the Romulan has linked up with Hugh and refuses to leave, deciding that he has found a cause even more lost than Picard's.

Picard and Soji emerge from the Sikarian trajector on a habitable planet. Almost immediately, they are menaced by a youngish humanoid wielding a bow-and-arrow, but Picard asks if they are safe, and Kestra Troi-Riker replies that they are. She takes them to her parents' cabin. She asks if Soji is related to Picard, and Picard absently replies that Kestra must have heard of Cmdr. Data. Kestra realizes that Soji is an android. So does Soji , and she begins to question her Fake Memories .

Kestra's parents — Cmdr. Deanna Troi (Starfleet, inactive) and Capt. William Riker (Starfleet, inactive) — are delighted to see Picard, and offer him the sanctuary of their house for as long as he needs. (Will orders the house's Deflector Shields raised, and Picard recommends anti-cloaking scans as well.) Troi mentions that, although Soji appears to be a bog-standard human muggle , Troi (who is half-Betazoid, a species known for their telepathy) cannot pick up on any thoughts or feelings from the young woman.

Soji uses the outdoor shower while Kestra asks if she can play the violin, if she likes Sherlock Holmes, if she has Super-Speed or Super-Strength — all things that Kestra knew Data could do. She finds it "weird" that Soji has blood, saliva, and mucus , but admits that this makes sense. Data wanted nothing more than to be human: to have dreams, tell jokes, learn how to ballroom dance. Were he to create an offspring, a Ridiculously Human Robot is precisely what he'd have created. Kestra tells her that she thinks she's "amazing," partly because of how real she seems... and partly because, since Soji is only three years old, Kestra gets to be in charge.

Picard and Troi catch up on what they've missed of the past 13 years. Troi mentions that their son, Thaddeus, would have had his eighteenth birthday last week; Kestra is still getting over the loss. He was a linguistic genius and invented at least twelve languages— one of which, "Viveen," Kestra still speaks in his honor. She reiterates that they will do what they can for Picard, but her dead son has instilled worries in her. Picard replies warmly that she is simply gaining in wisdom.

Aboard La Sirena , Rios has detected Narek tailing them. Jurati unexpectedly throws a tantrum: she wants to go home and let someone else find the fucking synth. Rios is taken aback by the violence of her emotions, but "Auntie Raffi" sweeps into action, promising that she will provide everything that Agnes needs. ("Is it cake?" Agnes asks.)

Picard helps Riker tend a wood-burning pizza oven (fresh tomatoes, basil, and non-venomous bunnicorn sausage). Picard refuses to tell Riker exactly what's going on, concerned for the safety of his friends. Riker muses pointedly on the idea that ignorance of danger is the same as protection from danger. They are interrupted by Kestra and Soji, who are conversing fluently in Viveen; Soji absorbed Thaddeus' entire 300-page dictionary in several minutes. He then tells Picard what he's picked up just from the couple hours that they've been together: anti-cloaking scans means Romulans, and Picard's evident caution means the Tal Shiar, plus he recognized Soji's Quizzical Tilt as a Character Tic from Data. "How'm I doing?" Picard is helpless in the face of his former subordinate, and Riker criticizes him for doing the headstrong thing where Picard decides who's in the loop and who's out. Picard replies that he's been doing okay for himself so far, and Riker acknowledges this as such; but he also points out that Picard is now up against something that he's not exactly prepared for: teenagers.

Kestra takes Soji to the garden, where Troi offers Soji a tomato— a real one, grown in the fertile soil of Nepenthe. Soji can't recall ever tasting one before, nor tasting any tomato nearly as good; she admits that real is always better . Troi replies that this is not so: their son Thaddeus died of a rare disease that could easily have been cured with a positronic matrix to culture some cells in. Given the Ban on A.I. , none were available. Soji admits that, being only 37 months old and being implanted with Fake Memories , she has no idea what's going on; everyone's being nice to her, but this is only making her trust them less . How does she know that Picard isn't trying to trick her? Picard, walking in on this, replies sarcastically that he is trying to trick her... but Soji, not in the mood for jokes, shoves past him. Troi then criticizes him roundly , pointing out that Soji has every reason to be distrustful, as she can't even be sure at this moment that she herself exists.

Aboard the Artifact, Elnor and Hugh are heading back to the queencell so they can use it to seize control of the Artifact from the Romulan Free State. Alas, Narissa overhears Hugh's plan for an open insurrection, which is a treaty violation, and now she has the authorization to kill him. She does, despite Elnor's attempts to interfere. Hugh, with his dying breath, asks Elnor to bring an xB to the queencell and complete the takeover.

As Riker serves dinner, Picard remains unable to contact Rios, and wonders if he needs another ship. Riker and Troi suggest the spaceport at Infinity Lake, and Kestra suggests Captain Crandall and his ship, the Inside Straight , which she admits is somewhat broken— just like Crandall, Riker adds. Even if Picard were to get another ship, Riker wonders where he would go with it. Soji says that they would go "home," explaining how Narek uncovered her homeworld. Picard explains that when Dahj first came to him, she had just experienced her Traumatic Superpower Awakening . He asks her to judge his honesty via the timbre of his voice, the fluctuations of his heart rate, the dilation of his pupils. Soji admits that he believes that he's telling the truth, but that doesn't mean anything. Picard explains that she was created from the remnants of Data, who had given his life to save his, and that was part of the reason that he wanted to help her find her home. But mainly, Picard admits that when Dahj found him, he was simply wasting his days at home, not truly living his life; now he has a purpose in life. Soji finally reveals the two red moons and lightning that she saw during the Zhal Makh ritual. Riker speculates that this was where Maddox went to restart his research. Of course, the Romulans have a head start, and Troi believes that, given what the Romulans did to Dahj and attempted to do to Soji, the planet is in danger. Riker suggests that Picard reach out to Starfleet... but first Picard has to know where they're going. Kestra, fiddling with a comm device under the table, reveals that she asked Captain Crandall: They're looking for a planet in the Ghulion system in the Vayt sector, which doesn't have a name, only a number.

Raffi serves Dr. Jurati a freshly-replicated slice of cake, and the two talk. Raffi gets as far as discovering that Agnes is still upset over Dr. Maddox's death before Rios interrupts them with news that their Romulan stalker (i.e. Narek) is still tailing them. Dr. Jurati vomits on the floor, and Rios takes her to Sickbay, despite her protestations that she just had too much cake. However, Rios admits that he has another reason to discuss with her: he's figured out that there might be a Romulan agent aboard (it would explain why Narek keeps re-acquiring their trail)... And he thinks that it's Raffi . He points out that she left on Freecloud, claiming that she would never come back... and then immediately came back. Jurati points out that it might be her, but he retorts that she hasn't once been off-ship. However, the discussion is interrupted by the news that Narek has (surprise surprise) once again appeared on sensors. Left alone in sickbay, Jurati replicates a hyprospray of noranium hydride, which she then injects into herself. Narek, alarmed, watches as the tracking signal fades from his HUD— and back on La Sirena , Jurati collapses, foaming at the mouth.

EMH: What is the nature of your... oh, bloody hell !!

Aboard the Artifact, Elnor huddles in a corner of a room in a Troubled Fetal Position because he feels guilty for failing to protect Hugh . He then notices a Fenris Rangers distress beacon hanging below the desk of one of Hugh's workstations. Seven of Nine had given it to Hugh sometime in the past, and since Elnor could use a vigilante — and, more importantly, an xB — he activates it.

Picard and Soji are getting ready to go after a good night's sleep, and La Sirena has arrived overnight: they have indeed shaken their Romulan tail, although the EMH has some questions as to why Dr. Jurati is now in a coma. Within the house, Kestra and Soji admit that they will miss each other. Kestra at least has her parents, and the memory of her brother... but she points out that Soji could have Picard, if she wanted. Nursing this thought — and Kestra's compass, which she gives to her new friend — Soji beams up with her caretaker.

• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy : A variation and parodied. Upon (good-naturedly) asking why Soji called Picard 'the greatest Captain ever', Kestra retorts this 'nonsense' (as Riker put it) came from her father's own lips. Riker jokes he must have been drinking at the time.
• Alien Blood : After Elnor slashes the face of a Romulan soldier with his tan qalanq, the large wound is full of green blood.
• Alien Sky : Nepenthe has at least three moons, and strange rock arches visible in the background, but otherwise looks very Earth-like.
• Almost Dead Guy : After receiving a fatal wound, Hugh survives just long enough to provide Elnor with vital information about the queencell, convince the Qowat Milat disciple to Take Up My Sword because it's a lost cause, and utter a few touching final words. Hugh then conveniently expires right after he's finished.
• Anachronism Stew : The Troi-Rikers live in a house that wouldn't look out of place today , protected by Deflector Shields and cloaking-detection systems . After all the trouble that they've gotten into over the years, they're Properly Paranoid enough to get the most advanced defense systems for their otherwise simple house.
• The Atoner : Jurati deliberately puts herself in a coma to neutralize the tracker that she has in her system.
• Become a Real Boy : Kestra relates to Soji how important this trope was to Data.
• Commodore Oh knows exactly what Picard and Jurati talked about during their first conversation. Jurati figures that Oh has her under surveilance.
• Narissa knows that Hugh aided Soji and Picard because their movements were being tracked. Narissa has never met Hugh before because she was on Earth posing as a Starfleet officer, but she's aware that Soji is Hugh's protégé, so the Tal Shiar observes the social interactions of everyone on the Artifact.
• The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In : Narissa murders Hugh by throwing her knife at his neck, and its sharp tip lands exactly where his jugular vein is. Elnor would've struck her down with her own blade in retaliation, but she beams away before the pointy end of the knife hits her.
• A Bloody Mess : Jurati vomits after eating some red velvet cake, causing Rios to assume that it's blood before Raffi corrects him.
• Breather Episode : The scenes with Picard, Soji, Troi, Riker, and Kestra on Nepenthe are this in the context of the season, as a brief respite before the final three episodes of the season bring it to a close. It's downplayed, though, as the scenes on La Sirena and on the Artifact are anything but quiet.
• Broken Tears : Hugh undergoes a nervous breakdown after his fellow xBs are slain, and he sobs uncontrollably over their corpses like he has lost everything in the universe that mattered to him. He doesn't seem to care or notice that he's bleeding because Narissa's dagger has pierced the skin of his neck; he merely continues to cry in agony, wholly oblivious to what's going on around him.
• By the Hair : Narissa grabs Hugh's hair in order to pull his head back so that her dagger has better access to his neck.
• Character Death : Alas, poor Hugh...
• Combat Pragmatist : When it's clear to Narissa that Elnor is the superior fighter, she kills Hugh as a distraction and beams herself out.
• Comfort Food : Raffi delivers the cake that she promised , as well as a glass of chocolate milk. Jurati eats too much and throws up once the cause of her stress returns .
• Compartment Shot : The camera is located on the inside of the replicator as it generates a slice of cake while Raffi watches.
• Constantly Curious : Kestra continuously asks Soji questions about her android abilities, much to Soji's annoyance.
• Picard's artificial heart has been mentioned before .
• Riker has previously shown an interest in cooking .
• Riker mentions the Kzinti while activating his home's defenses.
• Riker apparently named his son after the Civil War soldier Thaddeus Riker .
• Kestra talks about how Data served with her parents and Captain Picard aboard a ship called the Enterprise , and how he always wanted to do stuff like have dreams , tell jokes , and learn how to ballroom dance.
• Riker calls Troi "Imzadi," a callback all the way to " Encounter at Farpoint ", the TNG pilot.
• Picard has apparently memorized the exact coordinates of the Troi/Riker house, to the point that the Sikarian Trajector — believed, again, to have a maximum range of 40,000 light years — can dump him and Soji within walking distance of their home and right where their daughter Kestra happens to be hunting.
• Elnor experiences a Heroic BSoD and nestles into a Troubled Fetal Position in the exact place where Hugh hid the Fenris Rangers SOS tag that Seven of Nine gave to him sometime in the past, inside a giant Borg Cube.
• Crazy-Prepared : The Troi-Rikers' home is equipped with shields, scanners, and even an anti-cloaking package.
• Critical Hesitation Blunder : Elnor is surprised when Narissa points a knife at him because their Qowat Milat-Zhat Vash Duel to the Death is supposed to be unarmed as custom dictates, and she takes advantage of his hesitation to throw a second knife at Hugh's neck, which kills him.
• Curb-Stomp Battle : From the moment that Elnor performs a flip through the air, he slices through four of Narissa's minions in about ten seconds.
• Cyanide Pill : Agnes replicates a hypospray of noranium hydride, which is a potent neurotoxin when used on humans. The intent is to neutralize the Tracking Device in her bloodstream, her survival being secondary to that goal.
• Dead Guy Junior : Riker and Troi name their son Thaddeus after Riker's Civil War ancestor Colonel Thaddius Riker (the same one whose life was saved by a Q), and their daughter Kestra after Troi's older sister, who drowned as a child.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight : Hugh passes away in Elnor's arms.
• Dies Wide Open : Elnor (and the audience) can see the precise moment when Hugh bites the dust by the latter's lifeless eyes, which remain open.
• Diplomatic Immunity : Narissa can't kill Hugh for helping Picard and Soji escape the Romulan Reclamation Site because he's a Federation citizen running a joint Federation-Romulan research project, and that would cause a major diplomatic incident. The other xBs, unfortunately, don't have that protection... Of course, once he tells Elnor his plan to take control of the Artifact from the queencell and kick the Romulans off it, she thanks him for giving her a justifiable reason to execute him.
• Distress Call : Stuck on the Artifact without help and in need of an xB to reach the queencell, Elnor triggers a Fenris Ranger SOS beacon.
• Diving Save : A split second after Narissa begins firing her disruptor, Elnor lunges at Hugh in order to shove the latter out of harm's way. Luckily for Hugh, he avoids getting shot because Elnor can Dodge the Bullet due to his Super-Reflexes .
• Dodge by Braking : Rios' plan to shake Narek is to make a brief warp jump, drop back to sublight, and plot a new course while Narek overshoots. It may have worked if not for the tracker.
• Dodge the Bullet : Elnor handily avoids multiple disruptor shots thanks to his Super-Reflexes ; Narissa and her minions might as well be shooting blanks. He even does so while pushing Hugh out of the line of fire .
• Do Wrong, Right : When Kestra holds Picard and Soji at bow-point, Picard advises her to aim at his head instead of his duranium-encased artificial heart.
• Do You Trust Me? : After being nearly murdered by her lover, Soji is not willing to trust Picard, and even accuses him of carrying out more mind games on her.
• Duel to the Death : Narissa challenges Elnor to a duel because it's a time-honored tradition for a Zhat Vash and a Qowat Milat (who are each other's Arch-Enemy ) to engage in unarmed combat.
• Dutch Angle : When La Sirena is caught in the Artifact's tractor beam, the camera is titled diagonally while Raffi explains to Rios that "The underlying code's all freaky Borg machine language" and after Jurati suggests, "Just tell them we want to go home."
• Empty Bedroom Grieving : The Troi-Rikers have kept Thaddeus's room exactly as it was when he was alive.
• Entertainingly Wrong : Downplayed when Rios assumes that the Romulans can follow La Sirena because they slipped a Tracking Device on Raffi. He's right about the tracker, but wrong about who's being tracked.
• Facial Dialogue : When Picard and Troi first embrace, her face makes it clear that she knows about his brain condition, or at least knows that he's aware that he's not long for this world. Neither of them voice this fact aloud, Picard merely assuring her that he's fine.
• Data, at least for Kestra. She goes on and on, telling Soji about how amazing Data was, which she probably learned from her parents, considering that he died years before she was born.
• Riker also lightly pokes fun at this when Kestra reminds her father that he once calld Picard 'the greatest Captain ever'. Riker jokes he must've been drinking at the time.
• Fantastic Fauna Counterpart : From the exterior, a Nepenthean bunnicorn appears identical to a Terran rabbit with the exception of a small horn on its forehead. However, the bunnicorn has venom sacs, which makes it a Killer Rabbit .
• Fantastic Racism : Narissa expresses her disgust at the Borg and the xBs when she's threatening Hugh, and she also calls them "things" for good measure. Narissa : I hate this vile Cube. It's obscene, as are you and your... xBs. That isn't why these things died.
• Fearless Fool : Elnor declines to return to La Sirena because he wants to assist Hugh and the other ex-Borg drones on the Artifact rise up against their Romulan oppressors. His crewmates believe that he's both nuts and courageous for doing so. Elnor : Go without me. [The massacre of xBs] will not happen again. My help is needed here. Rios : Everyone here thinks you're crazy . Jurati : And brave. Rios : And brave.
• Flashback : The episode opens on a flashback to Commodore Oh's conversation with Jurati three weeks prior. Oh mind-melds with her to show her visions of what would happen if the synths are allowed to exist. In the visions, Romulans can be seen mutilating and killing themselves, and Earth is destroyed.
• A Friend in Need : Troi and Riker immediately realize that Picard is in danger. Not only do they not hesitate to offer him sanctuary, but Riker berates Picard for trying to protect them by refusing to tell them what's going on.
• Funny Background Event : At the Troi-Rikers' dinner table, the adults are all stumped about the location of the planet with two red moons that Soji identifies from her dream as her homeworld. Kestra appears to be "playing" on her 24th century version of a smartphone, uninvolved in the conversation, hiding the phone below the table like a typical kid. Then she surprises everyone with the location of the planet, which she determined using social media contacts.
• The Ghost : Sadly, we don't get to meet the redoubtable Captain Crandall.
• Godzilla Threshold : Hugh spent his time on the Artifact ignoring the power of the queencell out of fear that he'd be tempted by it. Once his fellow xBs are killed, however, he decides to use it.
• Good Parents : Despite Troi's willingness to help Picard in any way she can, she admits that she fears for what could happen to her daughter Kestra, her last surviving child. Troi : I'm not as brave as I used to be, Jean-Luc. Picard : Then you're getting wiser.
• Go Out with a Smile : As Hugh's life is slipping away, he smiles at Elnor because he's grateful to the young man for giving him hope again. invoked Jonathan Del Arco also elaborates that Hugh is content to die in Elnor's arms because he's in love with him. Del Arco : [...] we shot the death scene last (same day) at that point it was about [Hugh's] love for Elnor and letting go.
• Gratuitous Spanish : Rios calls Elnor "Hermano" (Brother) note  it's incorrectly listed as "Hey, Mano" in the official English closed captioning , and later bids him "Adios" (Goodbye).
• A traumatized and heartbroken Hugh has a Thousand-Yard Stare while sitting next to the corpses of the xBs who were massacred by Narissa and her goons, an atrocity that he witnessed firsthand.
• When Elnor is evading Romulan guards who are pursuing him, he finds a quiet a corner and assumes a Troubled Fetal Position , mildly rocking back and forth. He feels guilty for failing to protect Hugh and is traumatized after watching him die. To make matters worse, Elnor also sustained an injury which is at least causing him discomfort because he's limping.
• History Repeats : A very tragic case, as Deanna Troi lost her firstborn child, Thaddeus, just like her mother.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics : Elnor takes out Narissa's guards by darting in and out of various crawlspaces and gaps to perform sneak attacks.
• Human Shield : More like Romulan Shield; Elnor places one of Narissa's underlings in front of him to discourage her from firing her disruptor pistol. The strategy works because she lowers her handgun and returns it to its holster.
• I Choose to Stay : Rather than returning to La Sirena for the trip to Nepenthe, Elnor stays on the Artifact with Hugh to protect the xBs.
• Impairment Shot : Jurati's vision becomes blurry and she sees doubles of Emil as the neurotoxin begins to take effect.
• Incredibly Obvious Tail : Downplayed. Rios notes that Narek is making an effort to be stealthy, trying to hide just outside of La Sirena 's sensor range, but the fact that he keeps showing up again every time they evade him makes it apparent that he's tracking them somehow, so they stall until they can manage to lose him.
• Three of Narissa's lackeys are instantly slain after Elnor strikes them down with his sword.
• It's averted with the fourth mook because he's still alive (although he's not able to move) after Elnor lacerates his face, and we hear the man groan as Elnor shoves him to the floor.
• It's also averted with Hugh, who becomes the Almost Dead Guy after Narissa's knife pierces his jugular vein.
• I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure : Narissa systematically executes the xBs in an attempt to make Hugh talk. When he still refuses, she orders her soldiers to kill everyone, only sparing Hugh because the treaty protects him.
• Killer Rabbit : A bunnicorn looks like a cute bunny rabbit with a small horn on its forehead like a unicorn, but it carries venom sacs. Anyone who ingests its toxin will vomit black bile and die.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen : Narissa persuades Elnor to sheathe his sword and to fight her unarmed when she instigates the customary Duel to the Death between a Zhat Vash and a Qowat Milat. After getting kicked in the face so hard that she falls down, she cheats by grabbing her knife and throwing it into Hugh's throat, distracting Elnor long enough to attempt to shoot him with her disruptor.
• Let's Get Dangerous! : After watching the xBs get murdered, Hugh decides that it's time for him and Elnor to start kicking ass. Hugh : (angrily) I'd forgotten the immense power hidden [in the queencell]. Maybe I was afraid I'd be tempted to use it. But now, I promise to defend and protect the xBs. I've failed them all. I've been a fool. We're going to take this Cube away from [the Romulans] forever . (Elnor nods in agreement)
• Let's Split Up, Gang! : The heroes have been split into three groups: Picard and Soji use the Sikarian spatial trajector to travel to Nepenthe; Elnor and Hugh stay behind on the Artifact to ensure that the Romulans can't follow Picard and Soji; and Rios, Raffi, and Jurati are on La Sirena with instructions to rendez-vous with Picard and Soji at Nepenthe, which is a few days away at maximum warp.
• Living Is More than Surviving : Picard discusses this with Soji, noting that since leaving Starfleet, he has merely been existing, marking the days until he dies. But since meeting her sister, he has a mission and a purpose. He's alive again.
• Living Lie Detector : Invoked by Picard when he coaches Soji through the various physical cues that her enhanced android senses can detect to prove to her that he's not lying. While she confirms that he believes what he's saying, she's still not quite willing to trust him, but Troi and Riker help her along.
• Lodged-Blade Recycling : When Elnor runs to Hugh's aid after Narissa throws a knife into his throat, she pulls a disruptor on him while his back is turned . He responds by pulling the knife out and throwing it at her, which she avoids thanks to a Teleportation Rescue .
• Narek plays with an unidentified Romulan toy in the cockpit of his scout ship when he's following La Sirena .
• Although Rios initially addresses Elnor as "hermano" ("brother"), he resumes his previous habit of calling him "kid" after he realizes that Elnor is a Fearless Fool . Rios : Adios, kid.
• Man Hug : Picard and Riker share one; the latter even exclaims, "Oh, man!" as he does it.
• Manly Tears : Hugh openly weeps over the bodies of the xBs that he personally cared for. They were gunned down by Narissa and her soldiers in front of his eyes.
• Mind Rape : Commodore Oh's mind meld with Doctor Jurati is clearly not consensual.
• Modesty Towel : Kestra hands one to Soji after she showers.
• Mundane Solution : When La Sirena is caught in a Romulan-controlled Borg Tractor Beam , Jurati suggests just asking to be let go, as the synthetic that they want is not on board. It appears to work, but only as a Trick-and-Follow Ploy .
• My Greatest Failure : Hugh is responsible for the well-being of the former Borg drones on the Artifact, so when about a dozen of them are gunned down by Narissa and her guards, he feels guilty that he was unable to shield them from the cruelty of the Romulan Free State. Hugh : I've failed them all.
• Nerds Speak Klingon : Kestra manages to pull this off in a show where Klingon actually exists as a real language, by speaking Viveen, a Conlang that Thad had created when she was younger. She uses it while cosplaying as a Wild Girl of the Woods.
• Never Bring a Gun to a Knife Fight : Narissa and her mooks try to shoot Elnor with their disruptors, but he's too fast for them, and he succeeds in butchering all of her guards with his sword. He would've killed Narissa — who was just about to fire her disruptor — with her own knife if it weren't for her timely Teleportation Rescue .
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished : Which Will claims is Newton's Fourth Law of Thermodynamics. Picard saved the Romulans, and now his life is in danger because of them.
• No-Sell : As an android, Deanna's telepathy simply doesn't work on Soji. As Deanna notes, in every way she shows emotion, but Deanna can't read her.
• Elnor and Hugh are touchy-feely with each other even though they have just met. Hugh responds positively to Elnor touching his shoulder, cradling the back of Hugh's neck, and covering Hugh's hand with his own. Hugh grabs Elnor's elbow and stands very close to him when he says, "We're going to take this Cube away from [the Romulans] forever ." Elnor doesn't mind, though, as he was the one who initiated the physical touch between them in their previous scene. As Hugh lays dying in Elnor's arms , he reaches out for the young man's face and holds it tenderly. Jonathan Del Arco confirmed that he intended to depict Hugh invoked as being in love with Elnor.
• Obligatory Earpiece Touch : Narissa presses a button to activate her earpiece just before she asks Narek if he's ready to depart from the Artifact.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging : During the pursuit, Rios tells Jurati that he thinks the Romulans put a Tracking Device on Raffi, not knowing that Jurati is allowing herself to be tracked. It gets worse when Jurati hints that she's the one with the tracker and Rios laughs it off.
• One-Word Title : The episode's title is "Nepenthe."
• Pardon My Klingon : When Narek loses the tracking signal on La Sirena , he shouts "Qazh!", which is apparently the Romulan equivalent of "Shit!"
• Portmanteau : Bunnicorn , the Killer Rabbit on Nepenthe with a small horn on its forehead, is a mix of the words " bunn y" and "un icorn ."
• Post-Stress Overeating : After experiencing a fit of anxiety, Jurati attempts to calm herself down by gorging on two large pieces of cake, and she manages to eat a mouthful of a third before she pukes it all out.
• Prayer Pose : After Elnor activates the Fenris Rangers SOS token, he closes his eyes and clasps his hands next to his mouth in what is presumably the Qowat Milat form of prayer.
• Jurati blurts out one when she's undergoing a fit of anxiety. Jurati: Picard can look after himself and somebody else can find that fucking synth !
• Rios's EMH gets one after Agnes injects herself with the neurotoxin. EMH: What is the nature of your... (sees Agnes writhing on the deck) oh, bloody hell!
• Pretty Butterflies : The late Thaddeus Troi-Riker adored butterflies because they inspired him to create a Conlang for them called Pahlplah which consists solely of wing beats.
• Promotion to Opening Titles : Inverted with Marina Sirtis . Even though she was always credited in the opening titles of The Next Generation , and her role in this episode is just as big as Jonathan Frakes ', only Frakes gets credited in the opening titles as "special guest star," while Sirtis is demoted to the closing credits.
• Psychotic Smirk : While walking away, Narissa smiles to herself in satisfaction after she reduces Hugh to a puddle of Broken Tears ; she derives pleasure from how she has torn his spirit to shreds by ordering the deaths of his fellow xBs.
• Quizzical Tilt : A minor plot point. This is part of how Riker deduces Soji's not just an android, but an android related to Data. While watching Riker cooking pizza, Soji unconciously does Data's iconic character tic. Riker, who served with Data for 15 years and saw him do this countless times, instantly recognizes it.
• Rack Focus : The camera remains still while the point of focus switches from Elnor's face to the Fenris Rangers SOS tag that's dangling beneath a desk. After a few seconds, the process is reversed, and the token becomes blurry once more while the details of Elnor's visage gradually become sharp again just as he grabs the device. The focus returns to the beacon when there's an Extreme Close-Up of Elnor's left eye and part of his nose while he's holding it. After he activates the distress signal, his features are then made clear at the expense of the object's.
• Rest-and-Resupply Stop : Picard gets some rest (albeit brief as he's still fretting about what happened to the others), a morale boost from his old friends, and a clearer idea of where he's heading next. Likewise, Soji attempts to come to terms with being an android during her interactions with Kestra.
• Revenge : After Narissa and her goons murder the other xBs, Hugh decides that he's done living under the thumb of the Romulans and intends to use the queencell to seize control of the cube from them. Unfortunately, Narissa was following him, waiting for Hugh to give her a valid excuse to kill him, but Elnor is still around to carry out his wishes posthumously.
• Sacrificial Lion : Hugh appeared in three episodes of The Next Generation and three episodes of Picard , but he meets his end to further emphasize the latter series' Darker and Edgier tone.
• Sarcasm Mode : Kestra is annoyed that her mother would question whether she had prepared the bunnicorn meat properly. Troi : Did you cut out the venom sacs? Kestra : Nope, I left them in so that we can spew black bile and die.
• The Okinawan sea shore is filmed from a different angle than in "The End Is the Beginning", and the wide shot of the blue-green waves crashing upon the rocky cliff is gorgeous.
• Nepenthe is a beautiful world with pristine forests, lakes, and mountains, and we're treated to more than one sweeping vista of it.
• Sherlock Scan : Picard refuses to tell Riker the full story behind Soji as he'd earlier noted his old crew would insist on helping. Riker quickly works it out anyway. Riker: So I'm just gonna speculate... and say out loud what I've been saying in my brain— you don't have to tell me anything, how's that sound? You're worried about cloaks; that says Romulans . And the level of anxiety and fear for our safety? Tells me Tal Shiar . Next, you're not the one that's on the run, it's her. But why? What has poor Soji done to incur their wrath? Could it have anything to do with the fact that she's clearly an android? And not just any android; I'd recognize that head tilt anywhere ... kid's got Data in her DNA. And that's why you're here. How am I doin'?
• Shout-Out : Jurati makes a feeble joke about hiding in a comet that turns out to be a gormagander . It's easy to be reminded of Han Solo hiding the Millennium Falcon in an asteroid that's housing an exogorth.
• Shower Scene : Soji uses the Troi-Rikers' outdoor shower, but it's downplayed with regards to fanservice.
• Sickly Green Glow : The Romulans use the Artifact's tractor beam, which glows green, to immobilize La Sirena .
• Stress Vomit : Jurati vomits twice in this episode— the first time after Oh shows her a horrible future via mind-meld, and the second time on La Sirena when they repeatedly fail to shake their pursuer because of the tracking device that she swallowed.
• Stunned Silence : As Hugh is dying in his arms, Elnor is speechless.
• Take Up My Sword : Elnor had agreed earlier on to help Hugh enact his Revenge on the Romulans who have callously executed the xBs, so after Hugh is fatally wounded, he urges Elnor with his dying breath to finish what he was unable to start, and he even frames his last wish as a lost cause because Hugh knows that that would be irresistible to a justice-seeking Qowat Milat.
• Soji still doesn't trust Picard or the Troi-Riker family, but pizza helps.
• Subverted when Raffi feeding Jurati cake only increases her sense of guilt and she vomits up the food.
• Teleportation Rescue : Narissa is beamed out moments before being hit by a knife thrown by Elnor.
• That Woman Is Dead : After finding out her past is Fake Memories , Soji insists on being "just Soji" rather than using the surname of a family that doesn't exist.
• Thousand-Yard Stare : Hugh's gaze is totally vacant when he's sitting near the bodies of the xBs who were slaughtered by Narissa and her mooks, a horror which he was forced to witness.
• Thrown Out the Airlock : Discussed when Rios suspects that Raffi is a Tal Shiar mole. Rios : Raffi, I have one more thought about finding this guy. But I don't think you're gonna like it very much. Raffi : Why? Does it involve shooting me out of an airlock? Rios : I really hope not.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth : Thaddeus Riker was a dreamer who grew up on starships, but he wanted a homeworld of his own, so he made one up. The kid's life work could give J. R. R. Tolkien a run for his money, with extensive maps, histories, and languages note  11 total, 12 if you count the language of butterflies of a fictional planet. He died of an illness that could have been cured had synthetic life (and thus positronic matrices) not been banned.
• Tracking Device : Oh gave Jurati a chewable tracking device so the Zhat Vash could keep tabs on Picard in his search for Soji. When she realizes that a hostile spacecraft is using it to track La Sirena , she injects herself with a neurotoxin to disable the tracker.
• Troubled Fetal Position : When hiding from Romulan guards, Elnor curls up in a corner and rocks back and forth slightly. He's distressed over Hugh's death, and he's also injured (he was limping beforehand).
• Trying Not to Cry : Deanna struggles to hold back tears while taking to Picard about her late son.
• Un-Confession : Jurati is on the verge of confessing that she's The Mole to both Raffi and Rios, but she keeps getting interrupted.
• Unnaturally Blue Lighting : The latter part of Narissa's interrogation of Hugh and the scene where Elnor and Hugh are forced to confront Narissa and her lackeys are saturated in blue light.
• What the Hell, Hero? : Deanna gives an openly admitted uncharacteristic and deserved chewing out to Picard after he was a bit too callous towards Soji about her recent sordid experiences on the Artifact, after Picard's severity prompted Soji to give Picard a hard shove and then leave in a huff. Riker remonstrates Picard rather more gently over him trying to act like he's still The Captain of the Enterprise and making all the decisions on their behalf, instead of just leveling with them over what's going on.
• Worst Aid : Elnor pulls the knife out of Hugh's jugular to use against Narissa, which likely made him bleed out quicker. In his defense, however, it's not like Elnor would be getting Hugh medical attention either way, and no one would benefit if both of them were killed.
• You're Insane! : Lampshaded by Rios, who believes that Elnor is out of his mind for staying on the Artifact, which is crawling with Tal Shiar (the Arch-Enemy of the Qowat Milat), instead of transporting back to La Sirena . Rios : Everyone here thinks you're crazy .
• Star Trek: Picard S1E06 "The Impossible Box"
• Recap/Star Trek: Picard
• Star Trek: Picard S1E08 "Broken Pieces"

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 1, Episode 7 Recap: Will Riker Makes Pizza

In this week’s episode, Picard reunites with his old Number One and his trusted counselor, Deanna Troi.

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By Sopan Deb

Season 1, Episode 6: ‘Nepenthe’

This week’s “Star Trek: Picard” is less about the central story arc and more about taking stock of who Picard is at this point in his life, as well as his android friend. The series creators have said that the show should be viewed more as a character study than anything else. And who better to assess the captain than his former “Number One,” William Riker? And his former ship’s counselor, Deanna Troi, the Betazoid who can sense emotions?

Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis are the last actors from past iterations of “Trek” expected to appear this season. And of course, it was wonderful to see them interact onscreen again. It was nice a touch to have Troi immediately realize — without words — that Picard is in trouble because of her empathic abilities and for Riker to quickly deduce, without Picard telling him much, exactly what his quandary is.

Riker and Troi are semiretired, seemingly away from the U.S.S. Titan, and now on a planet called Nepenthe, where soil has regenerative properties. They have a daughter, Kestra — who loves language and is a pacifist, and they had a son, Thad, who died of a mandaxic neurosclerosis. (Say that three times fast.) And our favorite Trek couple does not hesitate to help Picard hide for a bit. But that was just a plot device to get Riker and Troi into an episode.

“Nepenthe” captures the feel of “The Next Generation” more so than any other episode of “Picard.” Its best moments are conversation-heavy scenes dedicated to character building. Soji slowly but surely comes to terms with her discovery that she is an android. Kestra helps her get there.

Where I thought the episode fell short was in the conversations Riker and Troi each individually have with Picard. They gently chide him, in their own ways, for being who he is. Riker accuses his old boss of “classic Picard arrogance” for not being more revealing about his situation.

“You get to make the decisions about who gets to take the chances and who doesn’t,” Riker says. “And who is in the loop and who is out of the loop.”

Unless something has changed in the last 20 years, this assessment is inaccurate. There are dozens of examples in “The Next Generation” of Picard relying on the counsel of others. Heck, he made timeline altering decisions based solely on the intuition of Guinan, the ship’s bartender. This notion that Picard is arrogant and close-minded goes against much of what we know about him. It’s a description that more befits Picard’s predecessor: Captain Kirk.

Troi nods at this and tells Picard that he “had it coming,” when Soji shoves him aside. Troi thinks that Picard is being dismissive of Soji’s concerns, but there isn’t much evidence for that either. Picard’s former ship’s counselor tells him that he needs to be “compassionate" and “patient” like the Old Picard — which thus far, from my eyes, he has been? It felt like Riker and Troi were diagnosing problems that don’t exist.

The action in this episode, written by Samantha Humphrey and Michael Chabon, mostly involves the Borg cube and the La Sirena. I must admit that my eyebrows were raised for much of these scenes. I’ve been willing to give the “Picard” writers a lot of leeway for crafting an ambitious story but there are several incongruous plot points in “Nepenthe.” This is the first episode in which these seeming holes distracted me from the story.

For example, during an early scene of this chapter, we see Hugh captured along with several former Borg drones by Rizzo. At the end of the last episode , “The Impossible Box,” Hugh and Elnor are about to face off with the Romulans pursuing them. How did Hugh get captured? Elnor is an incredible fighter. And how does Elnor avoid capture? He pops out seconds later after Hugh watches all his former Borg compatriots die.

Elnor tells Rios, “Go without me. This will not happen again.” How did it happen the first time? It’s literally why he stayed behind! (I expect some reader emails to tell me something obvious I missed.)

When Rios is headed toward Nepenthe, he is being tailed by Narek’s ship. Rios, the amazing pilot, pulls off an expert maneuver — which is that he … stops so Narek’s ship can fly right over his? (I half expected Rios to eject banana peels into space to throw Narek as well.) At some point, Rios also realizes that the ship has a tracker on board. Instead of suspecting Jurati, whom he barely knows and is behaving erratically, he points the finger at Raffi — which seemed baffling to me, given that they’ve known each other for much longer and had multiple bonding scenes in “The Impossible Box.”

It’s possible, of course, that Rios actually suspects Jurati and was trying to gauge her reaction — but that doesn’t explain his comment on the bridge, where he tells Raffi that he hopes he doesn’t have to shoot her out of an airlock. (On second thought, I’m going with Rios and Raffi truly suspecting Jurati and trying to cover for it in a bit of a clumsy way.)

Odds and Ends

We get a bit more context on why Jurati murdered Maddox through a flashback. Commodore Oh mind melds with her to show what will happen if synthetic life is allowed to exist. Mind melds have typically shown the past, yet, Oh is able to implant the future into Jurati. Either we have historically misunderstood how mind melds work in “Trek” or … wait for it … Oh Oh, it’s magic, you know … I am so sorry.

A farewell to Hugh, our naïve, hopefully optimistic former Borg drone. I would have liked to see him factor into the main plot a bit more, but it seems that none of these former “Trek” mainstays are going to.

And a possible farewell to Jurati? She seems to be feeling guilty about her true motivations. The question is whether Picard and company will ever discover what really happened here.

Next week, I imagine we’ll find out about this Captain Crandall character, who immediately cracked the code of where Soji’s home planet is, which was very convenient for the plot.

There were some lovely “Trek” callbacks in this episode. A smattering:

When Picard first arrives to Nepenthe and Kestra is pointing a bow and arrow at him, Picard mentions his heart is made of duritanium . We found out in the sixth season of “The Next Generation” that Picard, as a result of a bar fight with Nausicaans, was stabbed in the chest and had an artificial heart.

Kestra recalls that Data wanted to learn how to ballroom dance, a reference to a fourth season episode called “Data’s Day,” where Data indeed learns how to dance — a bit clumsily for Dr. Crusher’s liking. Riker refers to Troi as “imzadi” — a Betazed term for “beloved.”

And credit to Reddit for this one : Kestra was the name of Troi’s older sister, who died in the “Next Generation” episode “Dark Page.”

Sopan Deb is a basketball writer and a contributor to the culture section for The New York Times. Before joining The Times, he covered Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign for CBS News. He is also a New York-city based comedian.  More about Sopan Deb

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'Star Trek Picard': The 'Next Generation' Cast Members Who Could Appear in Season 2

Star Trek: Picard featured many cast members whose returns to the franchise has given much joy to fans of The Next Generation. The appearances of Data (played by Brent Spiner), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), however, may not be the last TNG characters we get in the show. Picard Season 2 has already been ordered by CBS All Access and there are some clues and convincing fan theories out there about who will be joining Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in the second season.

Star Trek: The Next Generation actors who could appear on Picard

Guinan - Whoopi Goldberg

The most likely returning actor for Picard Season 2 is Whoopi Goldberg , who played bartender Guinan in The Next Generation . She was all but confirmed to be joining the cast when Patrick Stewart visited The View and asked for her to come on the show, which she agreed to.

On that program, she said, " Star Trek was one of the great experiences from the beginning to the end," to which Stewart replied, "it was wonderful having you, and we cannot wait to have you with us again one more time."

Geordi LaForge - LeVar Burton

Of the fan favorite characters from TNG, noticeably absent from the first season of Picard was Geordi, who did not appear despite the character being a big friend of a character who did appear, Hugh (Jonathan D'Arcy).

Asked if he would return by CNN, he said, "Each of us [ TNG cast members], I would say certainly, right? It is unreasonable to assume that he [Picard] doesn't know those people anymore, or that he stopped talking to them. And if he did there's good storytelling in why."

In this interview Burton also hinted that he would like to inject some sex into Picard. He said: "I'd settle with him having a date with somebody he didn't invent on the Holodeck. If he could just have sex with a real person, I'd be so happy!"

Worf - Michael Dorn

Another character who fans were surprised did not turn up in Picard was Worf. However, there is a big hint that Season 2 could be when we see The Next Generation and Deep Space 9 star again. In a Star Trek: Picard tie-in novel, it was revealed that Worf captained the Enterprise for a time after Picard — a fact that fans would love to see the pair discuss on the show.

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Show executive producer Alex Kurtzman told TVLine of Dorn returning, "It's totally possible... I think Worf is such an amazing character.

In another TVLine interview, fellow Picard EP Heather Kadin said that Geordi and Worf did not appear in Season 1 because "we made a point not to bring back any legacy characters that didn't organically tell this story, which is why, unfortunately, you don't have Michael Dorn as Worf, and you don't have Geordi. Otherwise, we keep joking it'd be The Next Next Generation ."

However, this could suggest that they have found a way to incorporate the pair into Season 2, especially as they pick these two characters out by name.

Q - John De Lancie

Though not mentioned by the crew yet, there was a fan theory that emerged after Episode 7 of Picard that the Captain Crandall that Will and Deanna's daughter talks about could in fact be an alter ego of Q (John De Lancie), suggesting the character could make a return to the world of Star Trek.

Star Trek Picard is streaming now on CBS All Access in the U.S. and Amazon Prime internationally.

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Rupert Crandall theories

Discussion in ' Star Trek: Picard ' started by Duke , Mar 11, 2020 .

Duke Ensign Newbie

If Captain Crandall does not turn out to be Q, could he be the love child of Pavel Chekov and Julia Crandall since he is older than Picard?  

Campe Vice Admiral Admiral

I think he's Ian McKellan.  

SpocksOddSocks Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

Campe said: ↑ I think he's Ian McKellan. Click to expand...

XCV330 ★ Premium Member

The Sisko is avoiding alimony payments to Kasidy. Hard to pay them in a moneyless economy, so.  

Dukhat Admiral Admiral

Or, he was just a plot device for Kestra to use to get Picard the info he needed, and it’s nothing more than that. Of course, I’m sure we’re going to get the “How about a Captain Crandall show?” people rearing their ugly heads soon. And who the hell is Julia Crandall?  

Takeru Space Police Commodore

Dukhat said: ↑ Or, he was just a plot device for Kestra to use to get Picard the info he needed, and it’s nothing more than that. Click to expand...

Kahloke Lieutenant Red Shirt

Brian Brophy.  

Hythlodeus Commodore Commodore

Dukhat said: ↑ And who the hell is Julia Crandall? Click to expand...

Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

Hythlodeus said: ↑ According to Memory Beta: Click to expand...

Nerys Myk said: ↑ DRINK! Click to expand...

Bollie74 Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

And Riker and Troi have no issue with there daughter texting an old man neither seems to respect/like? And the information he gives her is immediately accepted by all as fact... Nothing odd there.  

Dukhat said: ↑ Or, he was just a plot device for Kestra to use to get Picard the info he needed, and it’s nothing more than that. Of course, I’m sure we’re going to get the “How about a Captain Crandall show?” people rearing their ugly heads soon. And who the hell is Julia Crandall? Click to expand...

Blurr13 Ensign Red Shirt

MrPointy Captain Captain

CorporalClegg Fleet Admiral Admiral

It can be no other. We need to get one of those so-shall-me-dee-ah thingamajigs going and make it so.  

Roboturner913 Commander Red Shirt

he's Riker's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate  

Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

Bollie74 said: ↑ And Riker and Troi have no issue with there daughter texting an old man neither seems to respect/like? And the information he gives her is immediately accepted by all as fact... Nothing odd there. Click to expand...

serdogthehound Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

The Captain of Discovery who was wait on Vulcan he got bored and had adventure before retering to a regenerative planet  

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Star Trek: Picard Episode 7 - 22 Trek History Easter Eggs And References

By Phil Hornshaw and Kevin Wong on March 11, 2020 at 10:59AM PDT

GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Star Trek: Picard gets a trip down memory lane in Episode 7, "Nepenthe." After fleeing the Artifact, Jean-Luc and Soji greet some old friends, which brings up all kinds of callbacks and Easter Eggs from Picard's time aboard the Enterprise. Pulling storylines from Picard's history has been a big part of the show all the way through Season 1, and in Episode 7, we see what's happened to a few characters from The Next Generation fans might have been missing.

Here are all the references, Easter Eggs, and tidbits of Star Trek history hidden in "Nepenthe."

1. Oh's Mindmeld

Vulcans in Star Trek have a long history of making use of mindmelds for a variety of purposes, to share thoughts and information and to even heal maladies. Episode 7 starts by explaining why Agnes Jurati turned on Bruce Maddox at the end of Episode 5: When Oh visited her at the Daystrom Institute, she used a mindmeld to show Agnes that synthetics would lead to some serious horrors for the galaxy. It's not super clear exactly what Agnes saw (or why Oh believes synthetics are such bad news), but it fits with the Romulans' insistence that Soji is "The Destroyer." We might have also gotten a better sense of why Oh has betrayed the Federation: she really believes synthetics are such a big threat that fighting them is worth the treason.

2. Caught In A Borg Tractor Beam

Borg Cube tractor beams are pretty formidable. The Borg use their beams to lock up ships they can then attack for assimilation, and we saw a Borg Cube trap the Enterprise-D on more than one occasion. So when La Sirena is caught in a Borg tractor beam, it's potentially a pretty big problem, and they'd be unlikely to escape it without help.

3. The Romulan Peace Treaty

It's not clear exactly what treaty Narissa is referencing when she notes that she can't kill Hugh, but we do know that, despite the destruction of Romulus, there's still some strain between the remaining Romulan government and the Federation. It's very possible that the Treaty of Algeron, which set up the Neutral Zone between Federation and Romulan territory, could still be in effect--even though there's not a Neutral Zone anymore, apparently.

4. Picard's Metal Heart

When Picard and Soji meet Kestra on Nepenthe, the former admiral advises the girl that she aim her arrow at his head, since his heart is metal. It's true: Picard's heart is artificial. He was stabbed by a Nausicaan during a bar brawl when he was a young Starfleet officer and nearly died from the wound. As a result, he received a mechanical replacement. Picard regretted his hot-headed youth, until Q spent the episode "The Tapestry" in Season 6 of The Next Generation demonstrating to Picard that the experience that led to him receiving a new heart was an important part of what made him the captain he became.

5. Deanna Troi and Will Riker

Finally, we've hit the promised episode in which Picard visits his former Enterprise crew, Deanna Troi and Will Riker. We saw the two married back in Star Trek: Nemesis, and it seems that after retiring from Starfleet, they headed to Nepenthe with their family. We find out they have a daughter, Kestra, and also had a son, Thad, who died some years earlier. Kestra also mentions that Riker calls Picard "the greatest captain ever"--something that tracks with Riker's character over the years. Picard's first officer turned down more than one command of his own to serve aboard the Enterprise instead.

6. "I Can't Read Her"

Troi intuits that Soji is an android almost immediately without much information. That's because Troi is an empath: she has an ability similar to telepathy that allows her to read the emotions of other people. Soji is clearly an emotional person, but since she's not organic, Troi finds Soji is impossible to read. She had the same experience with Data, who lacked the capacity for emotions for most of his time serving aboard the Enterprise--until he installed a special emotions chip in Star Trek: Generations.

7. Kestra's Namesake

Troi and Riker's daughter is named Kestra, which is a touching callback to the Season 7, Episode 7 TNG episode "Dark Page." In that episode, Troi discovers that she has an older deceased sister named Kestra, who drowned when Deanna was still a baby. Her mother, Lwaxana, blames herself for the death, and as a matter of preserving her sanity, she buries the memory of Kestra deep in her psyche, where Deanna eventually discovers it. That Deanna would name her daughter Kestra suggests that she wants to honor her sister in lasting way, to ensure that she is never forgotten again.

8. "Do You Play The Violin? Do You Like Sherlock Holmes?"

Soji learns a lot about her origins while hanging out at Riker and Troi's house, especially when talking to Kestra. Riker and Troi's daughter asks Soji a bunch of questions meant to gauge whether she's much like Data, going off the stories her parents told her about the android. Aboard the Enterprise, Data played the violin in recitals with other crewmembers, and took on the role of Sherlock Holmes on the Holodeck, often with Geordi La Forge taking on the role of John Watson. Data could also run really fast, jump really high, and bend steel, as Kestra mentions, which are , in fact, things Soji can do.

9. Data Would Want Mucus

When the girl asks Soji whether she has human qualities (like mucus), she explains that if Data had created Soji, he would have given her whatever human qualities he could. We know that Data's ultimate ambition was to be as human as possible, and Soji and Dahj are both huge steps in that direction.

10. A Comet That Turns Out To Be A Gormagander

While Picard is hanging out with his old pals, La Sirena's crew is trying to ditch Narek, who chases the ship after it escapes the Artifact in hopes of finding Soji. Rios thinks he's given Narek the slip, which is when Agnes brings up some uncomfortable questions about the team's plan. She jokes about accidentally winding up inside a Gormagander, which is essentially a giant space whale that we've seen in Star Trek: Discovery. In the episode "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad," Harry Mudd hid out inside a Gormagander so that he could secretly get aboard the Discovery and try to take over the ship.

11. The Data Head Twitch

We caught Soji's slight head twitch back in Episode 5, when she and Narek took part in the "ancient Borg ritual." When Soji makes the move again in Episode 7, it's Riker who notices and instantly recognizes it as one of Data's idiosyncracies. That helps him deduce what Picard is up to with Soji and why he's so determined to protect her.

12. Chef Riker

Riker spends most of his time with Soji and Picard working on making pizza for dinner in a woodfire oven. Though he was once one of Starfleet's greatest officers, Riker had a lot of passions outside of exploration and Starship operations, including cooking. He used to make eggs for the other senior staff members and said he preferred food that was actually cooked, rather than instantly prepared by the ship's replicators. When they finally sit down for dinner, Soji mentions that replicator food is the only kind she's ever had, which makes this homecooked meal with new friends a meaningful experience.

13. Counselor Troi

We see both Riker and Troi slip back into their old Enterprise roles easily in this episode. Troi served as the ship's counselor, dispensing advice and helping people work through problems, whether personal or diplomatic. Troi offers Picard some needed insights and she quickly takes up that mantle again in talking with Soji, attempting to help her work through the trauma of all the new information Soji has just learned about herself.

14. Thinking About Homeworlds

Troi also tells Soji a story about her son, Thad, who she says was fascinated by the idea of homeworlds, having grown up for much of his childhood aboard starships. Thad didn't have a homeworld, unlike his parents. Troi mentions that she's from Betazed, a place we heard a whole lot about during the course of The Next Generation, largely because Troi's mother Lwaxana was a Betazoid ambassador and a recurring character on the show.

15. Thad's Disease

We find out that the Federation's ban on synthetics had some unforeseen consequences for Riker and Troi's family. Troi explains that Thad contracted mendaxic neurosclerosis, a silicone-based disease whose cure was known--it could easily be created in an active positronic matrix. That's essentially an android brain like the one Data had, but since synthetic life was banned in the Federation, it was impossible to create the cure that would have saved Thad's life.

Troi and Riker have had a long relationship; they were romantically involved before the start of The Next Generation, then spent years only as colleagues before they eventually married. Throughout all that time, though, Riker and Troi would often refer to each other as "imzadi," a Betazoid term meaning "beloved"--although they established that the word worked for both platonic and romantic relationships. Still, the name imzadi was a big reminder of the close relationship the two shared, and we hear Riker refer to Troi as "imzadi" when she calls out Picard for being kind of a jerk.

17. Be More Picard

Most of Jean-Luc Picard's arc in the first season of Star Trek: Picard has been about him recapturing the man he used to be, before the hardships and failures he's suffered since the destruction of Romulus. Troi lays out the situation for him: if he wants to reach Soji, he needs to be compassionate, patient, and curious--all the things that defined him during his time as the captain of the Enterprise.

18. Dinner In The Ready Room

Troi suggests that, in order to work out what to do next, Picard treat the family's dinner table as the captain's Ready Room on the Enterprise--a place where he routinely met with Troi and Riker to get their advice. Returning to his friends, Picard gets the benefit of their perspectives to help him lead once again.

19. Red Alert!

In his role as first officer on the Enterprise, Riker routinely would set the ship to red alert, calling out the command that sent everyone to their battle stations. Though he doesn't have to deal with battle situations on Nepenthe, Riker shouts out a different red alert when a tomato goes down.

20. Hugh The Hopeful Fool

After Picard's departure and the retaliation from Narissa, Hugh realizes the only way to help the ex-Borg drones on the Artifact is to get them out from under Romulan control. Hugh has a long history of selfless acts, especially in an attempt to help other Borg. When he first encountered the Enterprise, he willingly returned to the Borg to protect Picard and his crew. Later, he took on a leadership role among the Borg who gained individuality to try to help them get along without the Collective. Hugh dedicated his life to helping other Borg, and it's tragically fitting that his life ended doing the same.

21. Everywhere From Qo'noS to Tyken's Rift

Captain Crandall gets around, apparently. Kestra says he's been all over the galaxy and mentions a few key places. Qo'noS is the Klingon homeworld, while Tyken's Rift is a rare spacial anomaly that absorbs energy. Kestra mentions the Rift like it's a specific place, so she's likely talking about the first one discovered and named for Tyken--but the Enterprise was caught in another of the anomalies in Season 4 of The Next Generation, when it discovered the U.S.S. Brattain in the episode "Night Terrors."

22. Calling The Fenris Rangers

Elnor escapes the Romulans at the end of Episode 7, but he's still trapped on the Artifact with the Romulans searching for him. In his final moments, he discovers an SOS beacon left by the Fenris Rangers. That's the group that Seven of Nine works with, and which Picard referred to as "vigilantes." It all suggests we'll be seeing more of Seven next week.

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As we are introduced to their new planet, we see that mastery also translates to their daughter, Kestra Troi-Riker (Lulu Wilson), named after Deanna’s older sister who died as a child. In a scene reminiscent of young René Picard’s “highway robbery” of uncle Jean-Luc back in TNG’s “Family,” the savvy youngster has approached Picard and Soji with a bow-and-arrow as the “wild girl of the woods” — a character who is part of an elaborate fantasy world created by her brother.

Picard recognizes her immediately, and the exchanges between all three characters are delightful, including a conversation about lies, and how we represent ourselves. Kestra’s inquisitiveness about Soji’s connection to the “great captain” ultimately reveals to her she is an android, related in some capacity to Data.

Soji (Isa Briones), though, is not processing any of this well and doesn’t trust anyone, despite Picard’s attempt to explain to her that some of it was “real,” including her sister Dahj. She dismisses all of it by saying, “None of this real. Just get on with the mind game.”

As they reach the Troi-Riker house, Picard and Deanna embrace in an emotional reunion, the second cathartic hug for Picard in two weeks. Troi is thrilled to see him, but when her empathic abilities kick in, her love immediately turns to concern regarding Jean-Luc’s health. He insists that he is fine, in an unspoken reference to the Irumodic Syndrome from which he suffers.

From inside the house, a relaxed Riker is cooking for his family and doesn’t understand all the commotion, until he turns around and sees Picard standing in his home. After a powerful show of emotion — “Oh, man!” — Riker snaps into Starfleet mode when he realizes Picard is potentially in danger and is there to hide out, telling his house, “Shields up! Perimeter scans to max.” The moment is fantastic fun and immediately sets up their new life on their new starship – their home.

Both Sirtis and Frakes are instantly comfortable back in the skin of their famous characters. Their performances are lively and wise, and their new lives feel completely lived in. Another success from showrunner Chabon and his team, including director Doug Aarniokoski, who seamless meshes the action on Nepenthe with accelerated stakes taking place on La Sirena and “the Artifact.”

Those stakes begin with another flashback, this time to that mysterious meeting of Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita) and Agnes Jurati (Agnes Pill) just before she joined Picard’s crew. As expected, Oh has forcibly performed a mind-meld with Jurati — settling that debate about whether she’s Vulcan or Romulan — to show her what life would be like if synthetics are allowed to exist. Jurati is shook and instantaneously agrees to assist Oh, even though it will require a terrible sacrifice on her part.

Now on board La Sirena , Jurati is uneasy in just about every decision taking place on board the ship. She wonders if any one really even wants to go to Nepenthe to meet up with Picard and Soji, and then later declares she just wants to go home and doesn’t care about “that fucking synth.” (Yep, it’s another use of profanity that helps emphasize Jurati’s mental collapse. It’s appropriate and necessary in today’s modern television landscape.)

After that outburst, “Auntie” Raffi (Michelle Hurd) takes Jurati for some one-on-one time on “Planet” Raffi to try and calm her down – with cake. It doesn’t work, as she just gets sick.

Through all of the above, Rios (Santiago Cabrera) has been trying to shake the Romulan ‘snakehead’ ship that he knows is somehow tracking them. On board that ship, of course, is Narek (Harry Treadaway), who is trying to locate exactly where Soji and Picard jumped to. Rios is trying all the tricks, but can’t seem to shake him, and suspects that perhaps Raffi might be the reason. He confides to Jurati that he thinks Raffi might have a tracking device on her.

Meanwhile, Elnor (Evan Evagora) is back on the cube where he told La Sirena he was needed to stay and fight. He’s working alongside Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco), who has sadly had to watch Narissa (Peyton List) massacre half-a-dozen xBs right in front of his eyes. He’s devastated, but even though he refuses to tell her where Picard is, Narissa can’t harm him as he is protected by the Romulan treaty with the Federation.

Finally, something Narissa respects! The rule of law!

Back on Nepenthe, Kestra is becoming more amazing every minute she is on the screen. Lulu Wilson is superb as she confidently grills — and educates — Soji on all things Data. Do you play the violin? Do you like Sherlock Holmes? Can you run really fast and bend steal with your hands?

Kestra’s deconstruction of Data – a being who could do all those amazing things, but only ever wanted to dream and tell jokes and learn how to ballroom dance – will being a tear to your eye. And it’s the perfect introduction for Soji, who is finally coming to grips with the fact she is an android – which brings a tear to her eye as she begins to cry.

The tears have long-since dried up for Troi and Riker, though, who it is slowly revealed throughout the episode, have lost a child in the years since we saw them last — their son, Thad, born during their time in Starfleet after leaving the Enterprise — and it’s the main reason they live on Nepenthe, where the soil is known for its regenerative abilities.

Now Picard is trying to protect their family by being vague on some of the details that has brought him to their doorstep, but Riker intelligently calls him on his bullshit: “How great it would be if the ignorance of danger was all it took to keep it away from the people we love.” Picard knows that Will is right.

As it relates to Soji, both Troi and Riker show they haven’t lost a step and quickly and independently piece together much of the puzzle that Picard has been hesitant to tell them. First Troi can’t read her, and then later Riker confidently breaks it down for Picard as he works over his outdoor oven, saying he figures the Tal Shiar are involved and she’s an android on the run with Data’s robo-DNA.

In the emotional fulcrum of the episode, Deanna and Soji get to the heart of what it means to be “real” by discussing the many made-up worlds of Thaddeus Troi-Riker, raised on starships, but who always wanted a homeworld of his own. A real boy relying on his imagination to create languages (12 of them!) and homeworlds (Ardani – which literally meant ‘home’ in one of those languages) until he got sick and moved to Nepenthe, which became his “real” homeworld.

In contrast, Soji is not a “real” girl and she was “made” — not born — on a homeworld that she doesn’t really remember, and she is doubting everything in front of her as subterfuge and simulation and mind games.

She’s being guided by the code in her positronic matrix that it turns out would have been the key to saving Thad when he was diagnosed with Mandaxic neurosclerosis, a silicon-based virus that is easily curable with an active positronic matrix. But the synth ban made that impossible, and the Troi-Riker’s paid the price.

It’s a beautiful juxtaposition between the real world of a made-up girl and the made-up world of a real boy. And there is no one better than Deanna Troi to break it all down, summarizing it succinctly to Soji that “real” is not always better — except probably when it comes to tomatoes. Throughout the episode, which is one of the best-ever for Troi, the counselor’s well-known empathy is written in a dynamic and intrinsic way. That wasn’t always the case during the Next Gen days, where it frequently was presented as a device to move stories forward. Her empathy is on full display here, one scene after another.

Through it all it is heartbreaking to see Soji not being able to trust anyone, and she even calls out Troi by saying her sensitive and caring actions make her trust her even less. As she storms off, she shoves Picard – hard – after he pushes her to the edge with a few frustratingly, sarcastic lines about his “elaborate plot.”

Deanna immediately tells Picard that he had it coming, and that he’s missing the big picture of what the Romulans have done to Soji. She says Soji has no idea what is real and that her very consciousness has been violated. Now in full counselor mode, she helps remind Picard to be himself with her: compassionate, patient and curious.

Back on board La Sirena , Jurati’s instability seems to be teetering toward her coming clean to Rios that it isn’t Raffi who is being tracked, it’s her — as Commodore Oh made her ingest a tracking device back on Earth. With guilt coming at her from all angles, she doesn’t tell Rios what is happening, but instead decides to inject herself with a hypospray that puts herself into a coma, thus knocking out the tracking device so Narek can no longer follow their ship.

It’s not quite clear if that was a straight act of contrition or a suicide attempt, or maybe a little of both, but Jurati’s mental and physical well-being is perilous, to say the least.

Also perilous is the challenge facing Hugh and Elnor on the Artifact, as they plot a counter move against Narissa. Of course, she’s monitoring them closely and hears Hugh talking about taking back the cube from Romulan control — which for her is citing open insurrection, a treaty violation that allows her to eliminate him after all. Elnor, though, is there to fight for him, taking his Qowat Milat training to the limit in a showdown with his ultimate Zhat Vash opponent.

The young warrior does well, but in a shocking moment that is going to devastate fans of Jonathan Del Arco and his healing return to the role of the beloved Hugh, Narissa gets the best of Elnor and kills Hugh before beaming to safety in advance of Elnor’s retaliatory strike.

The death is an emotional one and will be polarizing among viewers. It’s hard to take, but there is one last moment of glory for Hugh who instructs Elnor on exactly what it will take to continue the fight against Narissa – an xB. As he dies, he slips something into Elnor’s hand and sadly says, “All of this for a lost cause. I was that much of a hopeful fool again for a minute. Thanks for that.” It’s a poignant demise that will be remembered alongside the saddest deaths in Trek history.

Peyton List has been chewing the scenery all season long as Narissa, and with this episode she has now fully earned her ‘Big Bad’ status. She’s deliciously evil. No need to look at it any harder than that. She’s just a fun, oversized villain who sashays her way from one scene to the next with grandiose language and gothic leatherwear. And it’s a blast.

As for that item that Hugh slipped to Elnor, it appears to be one of Seven of Nine’s Fenris Ranger calling cards, which the young Romulan activates while hiding and thinking pensively about his next move. The signal on the chip lights up, and Elnor is left alone to await the arrival of everyone’s favorite Borg to potentially guide the other xBs… as their queen.

After imploring Picard to let them help him, the group on Nepenthe settle down for dinner in the Troi-Riker makeshift “ready room” to come up with a next step for Picard and Soji, who opens up about the “home” she revealed to Narek when he got inside her head.

She realizes trying to find it is probably the way to go, but she still doesn’t trust anyone or anything.

In classic Jean-Luc Picard style, he takes Deanna’s earlier advice and speaks to Soji with compassion, patience and curiosity. He explains that she was created from their friend, Data, who gave his life to save Picard’s, and that Dahj was instrumental in helping him regain purpose in his life. He tells her that no one is going to stop him from his mission to help her.

Kestra asks Soji if she believes him, and she says she only knows that he doesn’t believe he’s lying. It’s a start, and she proceeds to tell them what Narek had discovered about the two red moons and a sky full of lightning in her implanted memory of a real place. Hearing that, Riker and Troi immediately surmise it must be Maddox’s home base where he went into hiding to continue his work creating synthetic lifeforms.

It’s literally a ready room scene from Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Kestra then turns to Soji with a smile to make sure she knows she has that all important homeworld that everyone needs, and Soji simply says, “My Ardani,” a gesture that touches Riker and Troi immensely.

Kestra, of course, figures out the location of Soji’s homeworld and as Picard and Soji begin discussing what it would take for them to get there, both Troi and Riker remind them the Romulans are going to be a problem.

One problem that has finally solved itself, is that Picard has heard from Rios who is arriving at Nepenthe shortly with La Sirena . In a final, beautiful scene with Riker on a bench by the lake, Picard tells him about his new crew and their extra baggage, and thanks Riker for “so many things.”

Before they depart, Kestra wisely explains to Soji that her mom and dad had helped her through a bad time in her life, and since she doesn’t have a mom and dad, she could have Picard. And he could have her. And together they could have each other. It’s a beautiful summation to a beautiful episode of discovery for Soji and her new friend, Kestra Troi-Riker.

Below are a few more highlights that we uncovered inside the forest of Viveen, home of the wild girl of the woods!

• Commodore Oh details the size of Jurati’s data transfer to Picard as “300 gigabytes” of information on Bruce Maddox; typically in 24th century Star Trek , the measurement for data storage is in units of “quads,” a fictional descriptor not directly analogous to modern-day file sizes.
• Two of the images of planetary destruction seen during the Oh-Jurati mind-meld are reused visual effects from Discovery ‘s “If Memory Serves,” from Control’s destructive attacks on Earth and Tellar (as seen in Spock’s dark Red Angel vision). Whether this is meant to be an implied connection — or just a simple set of repurposed CGI images — is yet to be determined.
• As Raffi works to free  La Sirena  from the Borg tractor beam, she refers to the cube’s systems as “freaky Borg machine language ,” which resembles Soji’s drawings of interlocking rings — the symbol of her necklace, representing fractal neuronic cloning.
• One of the native species on Nepenthe is a venomous horned rabbit called a “bunnicorn,” which may be an homage to the Alfa 177 canine seen in “The Enemy Within.” (They apparently make an excellent sausage.)
• Picard refers to his “solid duratanium” heart, a replacement implant last addressed in TNG’s “Tapestry.”
• It wouldn’t be a visit with Will Riker if he didn’t get to call for “Shields up!” — and this time, he’s concerned about recent trouble with the Kzinti , the cat-like warrior race created by famed science-fiction author Larry Niven… which made two appearances back in  The Animated Series.
• Thaddeus Troi-Riker, Will and Deanna’s late son, is named for Colonel Thaddius “Old Iron Boots” Riker, the Civil War-era Riker ancestor mentioned during Will’s visit to the  USS Voyager in “Death Wish.”
• Deanna mentions that Thad’s 18th birthday just passed, placing his date of birth in 2381, just two years after the events of  Star Trek: Nemesis .
• Jurati makes reference to a gormagander, the type of alien “space whale” encountered by the  USS Discovery in “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.”
• Like the deadly affliction encountered by the crew of the Enterprise NX-01 in “Observer Effect,” Thad was infected by a silicon-based virus.
• Captain Rupert Crandall — the disreputable starship captain who lives across the lake from the Troi-Riker home — claims to have traveled to Tyken’s Rift, the anomaly encountered by the Enterprise in “Night Terrors.”
• Soji’s homeworld is in the Vayt sector, in the Ghulion system, information Kestra obtains from the galactic wanderings of Captain Crandall.
• The replicator found in  La Sirena’s sickbay looks to be a repurposed Monoprice MP Voxel 3D printer.

“Nepenthe” is a wonderful affirmation of homeworlds, and the confidence we put in our environments — and the people in our life. Ultimately, it’s not about what’s real. It’s all real. It’s about trust.

In the end, when paired with “The Impossible Box,” “Nepenthe” is the perfect back-to-back companion piece to “The Best of Both Worlds” and “Family” from The Next Generation . The episode allows a damaged Picard to take stock of his experiences of the past three weeks, while also resetting on his end game as he rejoins his new crew with Soji in tow.

For a series that is clearly not a sequel to Next Gen or Voyager , it connects to what has come before in smart, inspiring and rewarding ways.

Is Seven going to show up to rescue Elnor next week? What’s going to go down once everyone arrives at Soji’s homeworld? What does Narissa have up her leather-clad sleeve next? File your report in the comments below.

Star Trek: Picard returns next week with “Broken Pieces,” debuting March 12 on CBS All Access in the US and CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada, and following globally on Amazon Prime Video on March 13.

Jim Moorhouse is the creator of TrekRanks.com and the TrekRanks Podcast . He can be found living and breathing Trek every day on Twitter at @EnterpriseExtra .

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Which Star Trek Captain Has the Best Managerial Technique?

It’s impossible to be objective when selecting your favorite Star Trek captain. It requires making a call wrapped up in sentiment and timing. Which captain did you first encounter? Which one best reflected back to you the person you wanted to be? It’s easier to try to attempt a clear-eyed consideration of which one would be the best boss. Sure, there are captains sure to take you on wild adventures, but would you enjoy the ride if your life depended on their decision-making? On the flip side, there are captains that could get the job done without really inspiring that much enthusiasm, the Starfleet equivalent of a decent boss who clearly spends the back half of every shift with an eye on the clock.

It’s a worthwhile thought exercise, and one at the heart of Star Trek: Discovery , which focuses not on a captain but Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), a science officer struggling to work her way back from a snap judgment that ended with her in disgrace. Burnham has so far served under several captains, and the series has depicted the effect this has had on both her and the officers around her. (And, thus, has more entries below than any other version of Trek .) We considered the captains featured in various film and TV branches of the Star Trek universe, including Star Trek: Lower Decks ’ animated captain, and tried to rank them based on who would provide the best work experience — and who would be most likely to bring you back home in one piece.

12. Captain Philippa Georgiou, Mirror Universe (Michelle Yeoh)

Seen in: star trek: discovery.

Managerial style: Imperious and unforgiving, though that description is complicated by the fact that being imperious and unforgiving is baked into her main mirror universe job as emperor of the Terran Empire. (Or, more accurately, her job as Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominos of Qo’noS, Regina Andor, Philippa Goergiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius.) There, she fought for and won the top spot in a kill-or-be-killed system in which might makes right, and deception and backstabbing are the norm; to that end, she expects those working under her to understand the rules of the game. In other words, she’s awful. But, on the other hand, she really seems to enjoy being awful, not to mention the fringe benefits of having clawed her way to the top (fine food, sex slaves, etc.). Those who can get on her murderous wavelength might also have a good time — for as long as it lasts.

Key career moment: When the always adaptive Emperor Georgiou made her way from the mirror universe to the prime Star Trek universe she used the opportunity to save the day after getting thrown into a battle between the Federation and the Klingons. But this wasn’t a simple heel-face turn; as always, it was more a matter of calculation than altruism. The move won her freedom from those who knew her true origins and earned her a spot in the Federation’s super-secretive deep-state operation Section 31. What could possibly go wrong?

Would she be a good boss? Put simply, working for this Philippa Georgiou, at least in the mirror universe that made her, would mean constantly fearing for your life as part of a pitiless, fascist organization hell-bent on conquering the universe with little regard for its employees’ quality of life. (Actually, when it’s all spelled out like that, it sounds like a pretty easy transition from corporate America.)

11. Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs)

Managerial style: In a word, cryptic. After she’s accepted aboard the Discovery following her mutinous turn against her mentor Captain Georgiou (the prime universe one, not the evil dictator; more below), Michael Burnham spends much of Discovery ’s first season trying to figure out what’s up with her new captain, a man fond of fortune cookies and averse to bright lights and chairs. Pro: Lorca took a chance on her when no one else would. Con: He also seems kind of evil. That likelihood aside — and it’s eventually revealed that, spoiler ahead, he made his way to the prime universe from the mirror universe after somehow taking the original Lorca’s place — he commanded the Discovery with curiosity, a sure hand, and an apparent sense of fairness. Shame about all the murder and scheming.

Key career moment: The season one episode “Into the Forest I Go” captures every side of Captain Lorca as he bravely goes into battle against Klingons, questionably decides to risk the health of a crew member (and with him, the whole crew) to win the battle, then takes everyone into the mirror universe to further his scheme of galactic conquest. It’s quite a journey, and one that reveals his true self at the end.

Would he be a good boss? No, but serving under Lorca would never be boring.

10. Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter)

Seen in: star trek: the original series.

Managerial style: Glum as hell. Some behind-the-scenes info: Jeffrey Hunter’s Captain Pike was supposed to be the protagonist of the original Star Trek series. NBC passed, but gave Gene Roddenberry the unusual opportunity to make a second pilot, this one featuring the now-familiar classic series cast (with only Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock sticking around). But Roddenberry wasn’t done with Pike or the original pilot. It became central to the two-part episode “The Menagerie,” which recounts Pike and the Enterprise ’s adventures on Talos IV, home to the Talosians and their reality-bending psychic powers. Hunter’s a fine actor, but it’s not hard to see why NBC was reluctant to green-light a series focusing on Pike, who’s introduced complaining about the burden of command. “You bet I’m tired,” he tells the ship’s doctor. “Tired of being responsible for 203 lives. Tired of deciding which mission is too risky and which isn’t and who’s going on the landing party and who doesn’t. And who lives … and who dies.” He sounds ready to boldly curl up in a fetal position.

Key career moment: The signature moment for this incarnation of Pike comes at the end of the episode when, having been burned and disfigured beyond recognition, he’s allowed to return to Talos IV and live out his days in the unreal paradise he rejected years before, even though he already seemed pretty much over reality as we know it from the start.

Would he be a good boss? Spock and the others seem to respect him, so perhaps his doubts don’t interfere with his ability to command, even if working under him seems like it would make for a pretty weary trudge through the cosmos.

9. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula)

Seen in: star trek: enterprise.

Managerial style: Archer’s chill, which is both his greatest strength as a leader and occasionally his greatest weakness. A former Boy Scout, lifelong water-polo enthusiast, and caring dog owner, Archer sometimes seems like he’s happy enough to be exploring the stars but might be even happier if he was just hanging out and shooting the breeze with some pals. This might be more impression than reality; Star Trek lore has him going on to become a decorated admiral and to be regarded as one of the greatest explorers in the early days of Starfleet and he certainly does a lot of exploring during the show’s four-season run. But Scott Bakula rarely plays him as a man who has greatness in his future. Archer usually seems a little annoyed that the Enterprise ’s adventures have cut into his downtime. He’s not as melancholy as Jeffrey Hunter’s Captain Pike, but he occasionally seems just as checked out. Nonetheless, he was always good in a crisis, and could be a surprisingly shrewd diplomatic. It just always seemed to take a major event to stir his interest.

Key career moment: In the second-season episode “A Night in Sickbay,” Archer hangs out with his ailing dog Porthos when he should be tending to his diplomatic duties. It borders on dereliction of duty, even if it is pretty endearing. It’s also a pretty good encapsulation of how Archer’s mind works.

Would he be a good boss? Sure. Probably. Why not? He’d be okay enough.

8. Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine)

Seen in: star trek , star trek into darkness , star trek beyond.

Managerial style: If you like predictability, order, rules, regulations, and military precision, the last place you’d want to be is the Kelvin Universe Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk. Chris Pine’s just-getting-started Kirk is young, impetuous, and brilliant — but mostly young and impetuous. It’s smart work, playing like the Kirk we know from the original Star Trek run before any of the rough edges had gotten sanded off. Pine’s Kirk is a lot of fun to watch, but it also seems like serving under him would be terrifying most of the time.

Key career moment: Forced to choose between rescuing an alien race and violating the Prime Directive in the opening scenes of Star Trek Into Darkness , Kirk barely seems to consider it a choice at all. It’s just the first of many times he breaks the rules over the course of the film (plus its predecessor and successor). Sure, it all works out (even if Kirk does briefly wind up dead later in the movie), but it could have gone horribly wrong. This Kirk commands from the gut, occasionally while listening to Beastie Boys. He’s cool and fun, but…

Would he be a good boss? … Do you really want to work for a Starfleet captain best described as “cool” and “fun” while exploring the furthest reaches of a dangerous universe?

7. Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis)

Seen in: star trek: lower decks.

Managerial style: Directness defines Captain Freeman’s command style. She knows exactly what she wants and she’s not afraid to ask for it, sometimes forcefully. She’s no-nonsense but not in a power trip–y way. She just wants things to run smoothly even if experience has taught her that it never does. (Or, at least it never does onboard the second-tier U.S.S. Cerritos , the California class starship she commands.)

Key career moment: Commanding a ship on which her gifted-but-rebellious daughter, Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), is serving as an ensign has been a continual challenge for Captain Freeman, forcing her to balance her duties as captain against her concerns as a mother. She’s mostly opted to model good behavior for her daughter by following the rules of Starfleet. In Lower Decks ’ third-season premiere, Mariner and her pals take desperate, and illegal, measures to clear Captain Freeman of a crime she’s been wrongly accused of. Ultimately, the system works, making Mariner’s misadventures unnecessary. Mother/Starfleet knows best.

Would she be a good boss? Probably. She’s terse but fair and clearly knows what she’s doing. But as the head of a ship prone to animated high jinks, it’s tough to judge Captain Freeman against other Star Trek captains. Her informed, steady-handed command doesn’t always work in her favor when dealing with some of the cartoonish absurdity the Cerritos keeps encountering. On the other hand, nothing truly terrible ever happens to those under her command, so serving on the Cerritos would likely be one of Starfleet’s safer assignments.

6. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner)

Seen in: star trek: the original series , star trek: the motion picture, star trek: generations.

Managerial style: You’re probably better off working for the slightly older Kirk played by William Shatner in Original Series and its accompanying film series. (Okay, he’s significantly older in the film series.) This Kirk hasn’t lost the spirit evident in the younger Kirk, only it’s now tempered — at least a bit — by experience. Working for this Kirk isn’t without dangers of its own, particularly if you’re wearing a red uniform. He’s perfectly willing to send an away team into danger. Just as often, however, he’s the one leading the team, and it’s hard to underestimate the esprit de corps created by a leader willing to put himself in harm’s way mission after mission. Prepare to work hard, and maybe die, but feel like you’re part of a mission that could change the universe for the better.

Key career moment: Prepare also to listen to speeches. Kirk is a man of action and a man of romance, but above all, he’s a man of ideals who’s willing to go to great lengths to protect those ideals. But first, he’ll try to persuade his opponents with words. In “The Omega Glory,” for instance, Shatner’s Kirk lectures the primitive residents of a planet whose development paralleled Earth until it took a wrong turn on the glories of the U.S. Constitution, and he does it one emphatic syllable at a time: “We. The People …” Etc.

Would he be a good boss? Chances are you’d love working for Kirk up to the moment he got you killed.

5. Captain Philippa Georgiou, Prime Universe (Michelle Yeoh)

Managerial style: Collegial but firm, the prime universe Georgiou might rank even higher on this list if we had a large sample of what she was like as a captain. In the early episodes of Discovery she appears to be competent, respected, quick on her feet and close to her crew, especially Michael Burnham.

Key career moment: But not apparently close enough to stop Burnham from committing a mutinous act that she deems necessary to prevent a war with the Klingons. Whether this is a failure on Georgiou’s part — a missed chance to take a key suggestion from a subordinate — or overzealousness on Burnham’s remains a question left open by Georgiou’s subsequent death.

Would she be a good boss? It seems like she would, especially since her death continues to haunt Burnham throughout the series. On the other hand, maybe listen to your trusted shipmate when she says she knows what she’s talking about?

4. Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks)

Seen in: star trek: deep space nine.

Managerial style: Firm, fair, and perpetually distracted. Burned out on Starfleet life after losing his wife in the Battle of Wolf 359, Sisko only reluctantly takes command of Deep Space Nine, a space station located close to a galactic hot spot near a wormhole and, until shortly before he assumed command, ruled by the Cardassians. But Sisko soon finds himself drawn into the leadership of the station and the politics of the region when the spiritual leader of nearby Bajor names him the Emissary of the Prophets. It’s all a lot to balance, even before new adversaries start to show up from the Gamma Quadrant — and on top of it all, Sisko has to serve as a single father to a teenage son. Maybe that’s why he sometimes seems so overworked. He’s a fine, inspiring leader, but he also has a lot on his plate, running a space station while also acting as the first line of defense against enemies known and unknown — and maybe serving as messiah to a whole race of people. Many Deep Space Nine stories require Sisko to be reactive rather than proactive, whether dealing with a tavern keeper running a black market under his nose or the outbreak of a full-scale war. Strong and competent, Sisko could handle anything, but the series made him handle an awful lot.

Key career moment: Deep Space Nine introduced shades of moral grayness to Star Trek only suggested by its predecessors, never more than in the course of the protracted Dominion War arc, a dangerous conflict in which Sisko sometimes had to cheat and bend the truth for the greater good. Brooks’s performance always suggested that Sisko did a lot of soul-searching before making any decision, but once made he never looked back, the mark of a strong leader if ever there was one.

Would he be a good boss? Chances are that, apart from the occasional curt acknowledgment, you might only talk to him once or twice as he moved from one crisis to another. Still, you’d end up respecting the hell out of Sisko.

3. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)

Seen in: star trek: the next generation, star trek: generations, star trek: nemesis, star trek: picard.

Managerial style: Picard manages like a benevolent but firm god. Speaking in an authoritative voice (the accent helps), his every directive sounds as if handed down from above. But there’s a difference between having the trappings of authority and having the record to back it up, and from his first outing on the Enterprise — in which the decision to separate the starship’s saucer section showed just how many lives were depending on him making the right choices — he makes it clear how seriously he took his job and how seriously he expects others to take theirs.

Key career moment: In some respects, the definitive Picard moment can be found in Star Trek: The Next Generation ’s final episode, “All Good Things …” in which Picard, for the first time, joined his senior staff for their regular poker game, with an expression of regret that he’d never gotten around to it before. Except in rare moments, Picard always holds himself at a distance as captain, even if Stewart’s performance always emphasizes the complex, passionate human beneath the commanding exterior. He stays remote by design and it worked, but that choice isn’t without consequences.

Would he be a good boss? Picard would be an awe-inspiring boss in every sense. You’d learn a lot working with him, even if you never felt like you truly knew him.

2. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount)

Seen in: star trek: discovery, star trek: strange new worlds.

Managerial style: In sharp contrast to Hunter’s Pike, Anson Mount plays Christopher Pike as a man who’s just happy to be out among the stars with shipmates he considers to be more like friends than co-workers. Where on Discovery, Pike was reminiscent of a cool camp counselor who just wants everyone to have a good time — as long as they follow the rules and listen to his orders — Strange New Worlds has layers of soulfulness and empathy only glimpsed before. (Maybe learning you’re headed to a horrific fate does that?) In moments of crisis, Pike comes off as unshaken but commanding, and willing to use force against his enemies when necessary. He’s easygoing until circumstances force him to be otherwise. Then he’s not. He carries himself around his crew with authority while still radiating concern. This is a self-assured, modern captain who cooks an amazing gumbo and doesn’t worry that his subordinates will lose respect if they see him wearing an apron.

Key career moment: In Strange New Worlds ’ first-season finale, Pike believes he’s found a workaround to avoid the accident in which he’ll sacrifice his well-being to save others. Then Pike is visited by an older version of himself who confirms that, yes, he can escape maiming before taking the captain on an It’s a Wonderful Life –like tour of the future created by his attempt to escape his fate. It’s not pretty and it means others will suffer in his place. So, of course, he resigns himself to his destiny without telling anyone. Always the greater good with this guy.

Would he be a good boss? Working for Pike seems like a dream, honestly. He seems like the kind of boss who’d teach you new skills and then suggest unwinding with a game of ping-pong that he wouldn’t try all that hard to win (though he totally could if he wanted to). Two seasons into Strange New Worlds, and the series keeps revealing new layers of competence and compassion. Call him No. 2 with a bullet (or a phaser blast, if that makes more sense).

1. Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew)

Seen in: star trek: voyager.

Managerial style: Democratic, at least up to a point. Forced to navigate an unexplored quadrant of the galaxy while commanding a crew made up of enemies forced to work together in an attempt to find their way home, Janeway has the highest level of difficulty of any of the captains on this list. She rises to the occasion by hearing out all points of view, reconciling opposing stances when possible, working toward compromise, then ultimately making an informed decision after listening to her crew. Stuck in an impossible situation, she stays coolheaded and thoughtful no matter how trying the circumstances become.

Key career moment: The biggest challenge faced by Janeway and the Voyager crew comes not in the form of hostile races or dwindling supplies — though those don’t help — but from the many moments that invite them to abandon their principles. In the second season’s “Alliances,” Janeway seeks a way to sidestep conflict with the Kazon (sort of the Gamma Quadrant’s dollar-store version of the Klingons). She considers first an alliance with a Kazon faction, then teaming up with the Trabe, a seemingly much more civilized race. Then, despite the wishes of a faction of her officers, she ultimately rejects both choices when she learns the Kazon can’t be trusted and that the Trabe are just as bad in their own way. It might mean taking longer to get back home, or maybe never getting home at all, but she remains determined that her crew hang on to their best selves no matter what.

Would she be a good boss? Yes. Janeway would be the sort of boss you might have to complain about behind her back, but she’s also the sort of boss you’d end up naming your first child after.

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• Starfleet personnel
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Mordecai Crandall

• View history

Biography [ ]

Ensign Crandall was aboard the Titan as early as July in the year 2381 as part of Commander Doctor Xin Ra-Havreii 's engineering team. With Ra-Havreii off the ship, Crandall found himself in command of engineering and was tasked with getting the deflector shields and the captain's skiff , La Rocca , on line. ( TTN novel : Over a Torrent Sea )

Later in 2381, Crandall performed an EVA survey of the damage inflicted upon the Titan' s starboard warp nacelle during an altercation with the Sentry SecondGen Cyan-Gray . ( TTN novel : Synthesis )

In late 2382 , Crandall became close friends with Torvig Bu-Kar-Nguv while he helped the Choblik try to revive his friend SecondGen White-Blue following his encounter with the Brahma-Shiva device. The two spent two months, from September to November , working together in their free time to restore the Sentry. Crandall sympathised with Torvig's social faux pas and guileless, blunt approach to life, and liked his efficient, problem solving skills. He also enjoyed sharing jokes with Torvig, and considered this time the best he'd had while aboard Titan . ( TTN novel : Fallen Gods )

In late September 2385 , Crandall was one of a few personnel not on shore leave while the Titan underwent upgrades at McKinley Station . He was on duty in engineering while some of the station engineers had arrived with, and to fit, new components. He was witness to chief engineer Ra-Havreii's tirade at the visiting engineers and, with nothing more than an eye roll, requested Tuvok 's help to diffuse the situation when the second officer arrived. He informed the visting Deltan engineering lieutenant commander that the chief engineer was "pretty anal" about his engines, earning Crandall an acidic glare from Ra-Havreii. ( The Fall novel : The Poisoned Chalice )

In early 2386 , Crandall was working on the dilithium monitoring stage in engineering when Chief Petty Officer Dennisar and his security team burst in following an intruder alert. After an attack by the Solanae , he worked on repairing the deflector shields with Ensign Meldok . He later worked with Torvig and commented on the apparent 'pep talk' given to his friend by Ra-Havreii. ( TTN novel : Sight Unseen )

Connections [ ]

• 1 The Chase
• 2 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 3 Preserver (race)

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Shell Game (Star Trek: The Original Series Book 63) Kindle Edition

• Print length 292 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Pocket Books/Star Trek
• Publication date September 22, 2000
• File size 445 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
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From the publisher.

Soon the U.S.S. Enterprise is also inexplicably without power. Captain Kirk and his crew must now solve the mystery of the strange apparitions before the Starship suffers the station's fate.

The situation becomes desperate when a Romulan warship arrives looking for the station, and the Romulan Commander accuses the Federation of treachery. Before Captain Kirk can save the Starship Enterprise from complete destruction, he must avoid becoming drawn into a deadly shell game, a game that will leave no winners and no survivors.

About the Author

Product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000FC0U8K
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pocket Books/Star Trek (September 22, 2000)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 22, 2000
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 445 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages
• #494 in Star Trek Series
• #5,959 in Space Opera Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
• #8,588 in Science Fiction Adventure

About the author

Melissa crandall.

Several years ago, I spent four hours with a remarkable Asian elephant named Belle and her equally interesting human partner, Roger Henneous. That experience transformed my life and led to the writing of ELEPHANT SPEAK: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd (Ooligan Press, March 2020).

My work has appeared in several magazines and anthologies including: Wild Musette; Today, Tomorrow, Always; Allegory; Amoskeag; The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society; The Journal of the Elephant Managers Association; ASPCA's Animal Watch; STRIDES (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association); Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Power of Forgiveness; and on the writing podcast The Drunken Odyssey.

I live in Ohio.

Please check out my website at www.melissacrandall.com.

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• Starfleet operations personnel
• USS Titan (NCC-80102-A) personnel
• View history

Captain Liam Shaw was a Human Starfleet officer who served during the late 24th and the early 25th centuries as the commanding officer of the USS Titan -A .

• 1 Early life
• 2.1 Early career
• 2.2.1 Visit to the Ryton system
• 2.2.2 Borg takeover
• 3 Personal interests
• 4.1 Seven of Nine
• 5 Awards and honors
• 6 Key dates
• 7 Memorable quotes
• 8.1 Appearances
• 8.2 Background information
• 8.3 External link

Early life [ ]

Liam Shaw was born sometime in the mid- 24th century in Chicago , Illinois on Earth . ( PIC : " No Win Scenario ")

Starfleet career [ ]

Early career [ ].

Early in his Starfleet career, Ensign Shaw served as an engineer – a " grease monkey " as he put it – aboard the USS Constance prior to, and during its involvement in the Battle of Wolf 359 . He was the tenth among the ten lucky survivors to be ordered onto the last remaining life pod . Like some other survivors , Shaw pinned the blame for the tremendous loss of life at Wolf 359 on Jean-Luc Picard , who had been assimilated by the Borg and transformed into Locutus , calling him "the only Borg so deadly, they gave him a goddamn name". That resentment would linger for more than thirty years. ( PIC : " No Win Scenario ")

In 2367 , Shaw was awarded the Federation Star for Distinguished Service . ( PIC : " The Last Generation ")

He eventually transferred to the command division and rose to the rank of captain . During this time, as a lieutenant , he was recognized with an award for exceptional performance of duty ; later, as a commander , he was awarded the Grankite Order of Tactics , Class of Excellence, for "recognition of outstanding maneuvers in battle". ( PIC : " The Last Generation ")

In 2396 , he was given command of the USS Titan -A and used the authorization code : "Shaw-12-11- bravo - delta ". ( PIC : " The Next Generation ", " Seventeen Seconds ")

Vadic , who had read Shaw's official Starfleet psychological profile, was glad that he remained "functional" considering his prior mental health challenges stemming from previous trauma. ( PIC : " Disengage ")

Shaw was well versed on the nature of Changelings . He also read about the USS Stargazer 's encounter with the Borg and considered it "weird shit." ( PIC : " No Win Scenario ", " The Star Gazer ", " Farewell ")

Commanding the Titan -A [ ]

Shaw commanded the Titan -A over the course of five years, during which he and the Titan -A completed thirty-six missions.

Shaw was going over logs when now- Admiral Picard and Captain William T. Riker came aboard for an "inspection". ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

Visit to the Ryton system [ ]

When Riker prepared Admiral Picard for his eventual meeting with Shaw, Picard admitted not knowing who Shaw was; Riker described him as "not a friendly face". Indeed, Shaw's opinion of Riker and Picard was low, considering them "boys", and referring to their careers as being filled with "wildly exciting and equally irresponsible adventures", after regarding their past instances of " blowing things up . Taking or engaging in fire. [And] crash landing , expectedly or unexpectedly . " During their stay aboard the Titan -A, Shaw assigned Riker and Picard to the indignity of sharing a bunk bed . ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

Liam Shaw was severely injured when the Shrike attacked the Titan -A

Following the unsanctioned trip to the Ryton system , Shaw was severely injured when the Shrike attacked the Titan -A in the Ryton Nebula . During the battle with the Shrike , Shaw transferred command of the Titan -A to Captain William Riker, pro tem , as Shaw was seriously injured. He was taken to sickbay where he learned he was suffering from internal bleeding. ( PIC : " Seventeen Seconds ")

He recovered significantly enough during the subsequent crisis that he was able to walk again but with the use of a cane and on an intoxicating dose of painkillers. Inside a holodeck recreation of 10 Forward Avenue , he came across Picard and Jack Crusher discussing the former's adventures with Jack R. Crusher , and was unable to resist recounting his own experience with Picard – or rather, his traumatic one with Locutus, including the survivor guilt resulting from him being picked to board the escape pod on the Constance at random. He only realized what he was doing when Picard left and the shocked crew stared at him. Later, he was brought back on duty to aid in the escape due to his engineering background. ( PIC : " No Win Scenario ")

Following the death of Vadic, Shaw retook control of his ship and allowed Seven of Nine to give the command to destroy the Shrike . ( PIC : " Surrender ")

Borg takeover [ ]

Picard informed Shaw that they needed to get to the Sol system to warn the fleet, to which he replied that the fleet would attack them like a knife on a dartboard . He, nevertheless, ordered the ship to the Earth, where it was first taken over by the fleet formation mode, then the younger crew members who were assimilated into the Collective.

" You have the conn, Seven of Nine. "

As he and the older officers escaped the bridge aboard a turbolift they viewed a transmission from the Excelsior and realized it was broadcasted via a maintenance channel and knew to divert to the maintenance section, to escape via maintenance shuttle. On the maintenance deck, they fought off more assimilated crewman, as Shaw offered to stay behind to allow the shuttle to escape, before he suffered a fatal wound. As he died, Shaw passed command to Hansen, referring to her by her preferred name Seven of Nine. ( PIC : " Võx ")

Personal interests [ ]

One of his first actions upon taking command of the Titan -A was to purge the system of Captain Riker's jazz library, which he described as " bebop ", as Shaw considered himself someone who liked "structure", " meter ", and "keeping tempo and time ."

With regards to his alcohol of choice, he described himself as "much more of a Malbec man", after being gifted a bottle of Chateau Picard . ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

Relationships [ ]

Seven of nine [ ].

Shaw and Seven of Nine on the bridge of the Titan -A

Shaw was openly disdainful of Seven of Nine , referring to her (as well as Picard) as an " ex-Borg " and refusing to allow her to use her Borg designation, preferring that she use her Human name, Annika Hansen, for which Captain Riker chastised him. ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

When Shaw found out that Hansen had diverted the Titan -A to the Ryton system and helped Picard and Riker steal the shuttle Saavik without him knowing about it, he told her that she had loyaltied her way to the end of a career. ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

The discord between Hansen and Shaw continued when the former tried to convince Shaw to help Picard and Riker, but he had her dismissed. ( PIC : " Disengage ") However, their relationship improved after the Titan -A was retaken from Vadic's forces, with Shaw allowing Seven to give the command to destroy the Shrike . ( PIC : " Surrender ")

Before dying, Shaw handed over command of the ship over to Seven, addressing her as Seven of Nine for the first time rather than as Commander Hansen. ( PIC : " Võx ")

Captain Tuvok revealed a recording Shaw made prior to his death, recommending Seven of Nine for promotion to Captain.

Following the destruction of the Borg , Tuvok revealed that Shaw had sent Seven's officer review to Command before setting course for the Ryton system . In the review, Shaw called Seven reckless, unrelenting and stated that she doesn't care about protocol or procedure. However, Shaw called Seven brave and loyal continuing that "the book that she writes is gonna be great. And the rules that she breaks... maybe they were broken to begin with." As Seven watched with tears in her organic eye, Shaw recommended that Seven be promoted to Captain upon their return to port. Following Shaw's recommendation, Tuvok promoted Seven to Captain of the rechristened Enterprise -G. ( PIC : " The Last Generation ")

Awards and honors [ ]

Key dates [ ].

• 2367 : Serves on the USS Constance during the Battle of Wolf 359
• Promoted to Lieutenant
• Promoted to Commander
• Promoted to Captain
• 2396: Appointed captain of the USS Titan -A
• Temporarily transfers command of the Titan -A to Captain William Riker
• Stardate 78186.03: Command of the Titan -A is transferred back from Riker to Shaw.
• Killed in action on Frontier Day .

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Next Generation "
• " Disengage "
• " Seventeen Seconds "
• " No Win Scenario "
• " Imposters "
• " The Bounty "
• " Dominion "
• " Surrender "
• " The Last Generation " (recording only)

Background information [ ]

Liam Shaw was portrayed by Todd Stashwick . His first name was first revealed in an okudagram in the series end credits, and first used onscreen by Vadic in " Disengage ". In the aftershow for " No Win Scenario ", Stashwick stated that he was named for English actor Robert Shaw , who had played Quint in the 1975 film Jaws , and that Liam Shaw's recollection of Wolf 359 was inspired by Quint's speech about the USS Indianapolis in that film.

According to the Star Trek: Picard Logs , Shaw took command of the Titan -A when the ship was launched in 2402 . [3] However according to Terry Matalas , this was an error and the vessel was actually launched in 2401. [4]

Shaw's five-year command of the Titan also covered the period where he oversaw the refit of the ship. [5]

According to the crew roster posted by Bill Krause , Shaw was assigned to alpha shift . [6]

External link [ ]

• Liam Shaw at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein