Star Trek: Picard (TV Program)

The “Picard” crew tries to find its way home.Season 2, Episode 10: ‘Farewell’So after all that, all the Jurati-Borg Queen combination had to do was show up earlier and none of the this season’s craziness would’ve happened?A very funny moment comes when an Excelsior crew member, during the “Picard” finale’s climax, wonders what happened to Rios, who was left behind in the 21st century. Picard snaps, “Stay on task, helm. That’s an order.” That’s essentially how the show’s writers have treated the audience for most of its two-season run. Don’t worry about the things that don’t make sense. Just focus on where the story is going.In this case, what the story reveals to us is that Q, in his dying moments, wanted to let Picard know that his mother’s death wasn’t his fault. (Why is Q dying? Of what? It’s never explained.) And that the first step to Picard finding love was for him to love himself. It’s a wonderful lesson, except, as Picard points out, there were innocent people who died along the way for a life lesson.Not that Q cares. And neither does Picard, it turns out, because Picard gives his soon-to-be-deceased tormentor a hug. It’s a touching moment. The thing is, everything we’ve seen in “Picard” has taught us that what is dead will never die. There is no reason to believe that Q is actually dying, in the traditional sense, because no major character dies in this show. This includes even the ones who do, because they’re just brought back later — sometimes with a literal snap of a finger, like our old friend Elnor. (If I was Picard, I might have asked Q for some other people to be brought back to life. “Hey, while you’re at it, instead of bringing back Elnor, whom I’m not that close to, would you mind bringing back Data? Or Tasha Yar?)John de Lancie did a wonderful job as Q, as he normally does. But the way the character was written this season felt off. If all this was to teach Picard forgiveness, why did Q seem so angry and vindictive earlier in the season? Recall his previous conversations with Soong, where he seemed to imply he wanted to get revenge on Picard.Odds and EndsSo after all the talk about shifting the timeline with the slightest use of futuristic technology, Rios ends up staying behind in the 21st century with Teresa with centuries worth of knowledge in his head. We find out from Guinan that he didn’t use much of that knowledge. Rios is a better man than me. If I went back in time 400 years and stayed there, I would be known as the inventor of cars, the iPhone, electricity and Twitter.That was a really lovely return from Wil Wheaton as the Traveler formerly known as Wesley Crusher. I have no idea if this is a one off, or if he’ll factor into next season, when the “Next Generation” cast returns. But Wesley was a character who generally got the short end of the stick in the original “Next Generation.” (The last we saw of him — when he was spotted at Riker and Troi’s wedding in “Nemesis” — he seemed to have returned to Starfleet.)Soong pulling out the folder labeled “Project Khan” gives us a hint of what next season will be about. We know Soong is an expert in genetics and that the greatest villain in all of “Trek,” Khan Noonien Singh, was a result of genetic experimentation. This looks like a precursor to the Eugenics Wars. Should be fun!Alison Pill has already said she’s not coming back for Season 3 of “Picard,” and with Rios now dead in the past, I’m wondering how much of the “Picard” crew comes back, if at all. Maybe next season will really be a “Next Generation” season.What’s up with the transwarp conduit that Jurati-Borg Queen want to find out about? That could also be a hint for Season 3. There are just so many questions about what the Borg have been up to in the past 400 years. Were they hiding from the Evil Borg? Did the previous assimilation attempts not happen? Stay on task, helm! That’s an order!A farewell to the Watcher, Tallinn, who stays away and watches until she doesn’t. Who had special powers, except for when she didn’t.Finally, what happened to the F.B.I. agent, Martin Wells? Imagine working your whole life to find out if aliens exist, having your theory confirmed and then … what? More

In the penultimate episode of this season, anything the crew needs from the plot to move forward, it gets.Season 2, Episode 9: ‘Hide and Seek’The most interesting revelation in this week’s “Picard” comes in a throwaway line from Seven, in which she tells Raffi that she tried to join Starfleet after Voyager returned from the Delta Quadrant. That Captain Janeway — or possibly Admiral, depending on the timing of her promotion that we saw in “Star Trek: Nemesis” — went to bat for her. Starfleet said no, because of her Borg background.This is the first concrete hint about Seven’s immediate post-Voyager ambitions. It was a remarkable decision by Starfleet, given that Seven accomplished more on Voyager than many Starfleet officers ever did. She saved lives — Starfleet lives, but it wasn’t good enough to be seen as anything more than a former Borg drone. It shows that bigotry is still alive and well within the Federation. It also established why Seven became a Fenris Ranger. (Compare this to Picard and the crew’s handling of Hugh, the former Borg drone, whom we are reintroduced to in last season of “Picard.”)It also ran counter to previous Starfleet policy: Remember that Picard himself was once a Borg drone. The Enterprise crew rescued him and Picard got his command back, like, the next day. (And why was Icheb — who was also part of the Voyager crew — allowed to join Starfleet then?)Aside from that, this episode was — to put it charitably — disjointed.If there’s been a consistent trend in how the “Trek” universe has handled the Borg, it’s that their pursuit of perfection is consistently undermined by their rank incompetence — something Jurati brings up in the episode’s bizarre climax. The episode starts with an army of Borg drones, led by the Borg Queen, trying to take over La Sirena. Should be easy: After all, the Borg Queen alone can take over an entire computer system.But it’s not easy, because it appears that the Queen assimilated stormtroopers who can’t shoot straight rather than professional mercenaries. And The Watcher procures very futuristic weapons to aid the crew in their fight.With every deus ex machina, an angel grows its wings — and there are many wings coming out of “Picard.” How did The Watcher get those weapons? From where? Why have they never come up before? Also, wasn’t her whole thing to stay out of events? Suddenly, the Watcher can beam Rios away after being shot? And then later, Rios is able to beam back because he has a screwdriver? And then when Soong tries to use Rios’s gun, it has a DNA lock on it? And it explodes if it’s being held too long?Probably best not to ponder any of the above too deeply and just keep moving.So when the Borg Queen is finally close to taking over the ship’s computer — something that shouldn’t have been difficult for her to do — Jurati tries to moralize her.“Why haven’t you killed me?” Jurati asks the Queen, asking a question that every audience member has asked by now. In the meantime, Jurati puts something called a “fractal lock” on the computer. How? When? Without the Queen noticing? Ah, nevermind. And wait, Jurati didn’t remember the key? And she left it with a holographic Elnor?Like the Queen, we’re all confused by what is going on. (I did enjoy several of the Queen’s drones trying to shoot a gun at a hologram, because IT’S A HOLOGRAM.) Later, when Raffi reunites with Hologram Elnor, he says that he shared Real Elnor’s last thoughts.“I share the recollection of Elnor’s final breath — enough to know that his last thoughts of you were not of blame but of love,” the hologram says. Why would Hologram Elnor know that? He was presumably created before Real Elnor died.Seven’s comes up with the brilliant plan of beaming the drones off board and into a wall in Chateau Picard. Given The Watcher’s beaming capability, how was this not the first thing they thought of? I feel like I’m asking a lot of questions.The peak of the episode comes when the Queen stabs Seven, and then her life is saved because Jurati trash-talks the Queen by saying the Borg consistently stink at achieving their aims across several timelines. Good point. In one of the most baffling plot points in “Trek” history — and I’m pretty sure I’ve written this about previous “Picard” plot lines — Jurati says the better way for them to do things is by asking species’ permissions to be assimilated.“What if we take this ship and build a better Borg? A real collective based not on assimilation but on salvation?” Jurati says to the Queen.Is salvation different than assimilation? And there is no reason for the Queen to accept this proposal. She has all the leverage! The Borg’s brand is that resistance is futile. and they can’t be negotiated with. Now they change everything they are because of one conversation with Jurati?Odds and EndsRios decides to show Teresa and Ricardo a glimpse of the future — when he didn’t have to — and then leaves them behind in the 21st century. Surely it will have some future effect on the timeline for the two of them to have this much knowledge about futuristic technology.The action sequences were a lot of fun in this episode. They were made less effective by the distracting plotting.The revelation about Picard’s mother was notable, but felt cheapened because it was used mostly as a device to help Picard and The Watcher escape a homicidal Soong. More

Vulcan mind melds have traditionally been depicted as an intimate telepathic linking of minds — but they can erase memories, too.Season 2, Episode 8: ‘Mercy’Martin Wells, an F.B.I. agent from 2024, is one of the consequential humans in the history of the galaxy, we find out in this episode of “Picard.” It turns out that he is the one who made first contact with an extraterrestrial being, not Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), as we are led to believe in “Star Trek: First Contact.”And the Vulcans Martin met? They tried to erase his mind. My initial reaction to this revelation was: “Wait a minute. Vulcans can use mind melds to do that?”Actually, it turns out they can! Spock did so with Kirk in the original series episode “Requiem for Methuselah.” Mind melds have traditionally been depicted as an intimate telepathic linking of minds — but they can erase memories, too, like those widgets in “Men In Black.” What if Vulcans were the biggest criminals in the Alpha Quadrant but no one knew about it because they keep erasing everyone’s minds? But we digress.More specifically, how long were Vulcans chilling on Earth?Guinan is the one who correctly deduces that there is more to Martin than being an overzealous F.B.I. agent — that there was something personal to the exchange. Picard notes that the F.B.I. might disrupt the launch of the Europa mission, and this will cause the future timeline to break. (These concerns remain amusing: In the previous episode, Guinan nearly blew up her bar to summon Q. Hardly a subtle gesture to hide an alien presence! Rios beamed 2024 humans to the ship where they’re learning all about the future! And he makes out with one of them! The timeline is shattered, admiral!)Our favorite bartender’s work isn’t done. She finally meets Q, whom, in this timeline, she has never met. And this is where the story becomes even more muddled. Guinan tells Q that when the summoning stopped, she felt “emptiness and fear.” That’s quite perceptive, and in line with Guinan’s character. (Unlike when she first meets Picard and can’t sense anything.) Q is dying and wants to give his life meaning. He seems to fear death.And Q gives Guinan a couple of key pieces of information.“The trap is immaterial,” Q says. “It’s the escape that counts,” Q says.We seem to have gotten away from the story line of the first half of the season, which was that something happens in 2024 that causes a future in which the Federation becomes the bloodthirsty Confederation. It is implied early in the season that Q is the one who caused this in order to teach Picard something about humanity.But how does this link with the Borg Queen’s plan? She wants to assimilate Earth and then the whole galaxy, beginning in 2024, which is essentially the same plot as “First Contact.” It continues to baffle me that Picard doesn’t bring up his previous experience with the same exact thing. The Queen essentially wants to partner with Jurati to accomplish this, which is what she wanted to do previously with Data.This feels like relevant information to bring up to the rest of the crew. It happened! It was a huge deal! It would be like Paul McCartney writing a memoir about his life and not mentioning the Beatles.Either way, lets say Picard stops the Borg Queen from doing her thing, and no one is assimilated — although, as we see at the end of the episode, the assimilations have already begun. How does this connect to a future in which humans become the angry, spiteful versions that Q presents?What remains unclear to me is why the Queen needs Jurati to accomplish her goals, or Adam Soong for that matter. (The Queen is able to mimic voices, overtake computer systems and assimilate at will. She shouldn’t need Soong’s help with anything. Unless her previous fascination with Data comes into play here.) The goal now is to sabotage Renee Picard’s Europa mission, which seems to align with Q’s mission. And now Soong also wants to sabotage the mission so that the world will turn to him for his genius — or at least that’s what the Queen sells him on.(Why does the Queen needs Soong’s assistance to take over La Sirena when she has shown herself perfectly capable of possessing the ship without anyone’s help?)If you’re losing track of what is happening here — who needs what and why — you aren’t alone.There’s a moment when Soong tells his quasi-daughter, “You exist because I willed it,” which lines up neatly with this season’s emphasis on patriarchal views. But more broadly, it speaks to why Soong might be tempted by what the Borg Queen offers: a path to conquest.Even so, Jurati — possessed by the Queen — has become a terrifying figure who nearly chokes Raffi to death, right after Raffi and Seven have a dispute over whether Raffi is too manipulative — incidentally, while they are trying to stop the Borg Queen from accomplishing her mission to manipulate everything.Manipulation is at the core of this season. Jean-Luc wants to manipulate Renee into taking a spaceflight she isn’t ready for. He also manipulates Martin into freeing him and Guinan. (Martin has made finding extraterrestrial beings his life’s work. He finally finds them and almost immediately frees them. It was a bit incongruous.) Q manipulates entire timelines and so forth and so on. Soong manipulates his daughter into believing that she is human.Guinan ends the episode being more optimistic about humans than ever — that they “do the work and want to evolve,” despite not being given any real reason to. No one is to be trusted in this “Picard” universe. And perhaps that’s the key for how the future goes awry. More

An uneven episode leaves more questions than answers about the direction of the season.Season 2, Episode 6: ‘Two for One’Let’s begin with the most important “Picard” news of the week: The show is bringing on most of the original “Next Generation” cast next season. This is incredible, exciting news! It’s always fun to look forward to more content involving your favorite show.That is, until you consider that most of the post-“Next Generation” outings for the crew haven’t been well received by audiences. Of the four movies involving the cast, only “First Contact” was considered a hit. But it’s still exciting. We haven’t received a real update on what these characters have been up to since “Nemesis,” and I wonder if the reunion fun next season will include rekindling the romance between Picard and Dr. Crusher.Let’s table that and any further speculation for now, however, because we need to talk about something far less exciting: the current season, which seems to be going off the rails. This episode was the shortest of Season 2 so far, running slightly more than a half-hour. It’s also the rare “Trek” episode that takes place almost entirely in one room and in real time.I’ll give “Picard” this much: They’re willing to break conventions. But some of the choices seem shortsighted, and this week a choice the writers made last season came back to bite them.The biggest subplot of the episode involves the Borg Queen implanting her consciousness (or something) into Jurati. It is unclear why the Queen is so fascinated with Jurati. She seems bent on making Jurati into a confident person; to bring her out of her shell. It’s a noble aim, but the Borg Queen caring so much about an individual seems out of character for what we know about the Borg. Even the Queen’s fascination with Data in “First Contact” can be explained by Data locking out the main computer and the Borg needing access to those codes.Regardless, Jurati keeps putting herself in positions where she needs the Queen to do super-techie things in order to save the crew. This allows the Queen to push Jurati to live her best life, including making her passionately kiss Rios in public. (Side note: It feels like the show is headed toward Rios wanting to stay in the 21st century to be with the doctor who treated him when they arrived to this century.)There’s also the continuing presence of the Watcher, who tells Jean-Luc that she has never spoken to Renée or interacted with her thanks to some kind of Watchers “code.” This once again raises the question of what the Watcher actually does, or why the audience is supposed to care about her presence. (The Watcher says this is the best way to keep Renée safe. Don’t ask why. Just go with it.) If anything, the Watcher’s spying on Renée — reading her text messages, viewing her therapy sessions — makes her a highly unsympathetic character.Renée doesn’t seem ready for this mission, but Picard and his crew are intent on her going through with it, based on what they assume will save their original timeline. (The later conversation between Renée and Picard comes off as tone deaf and manipulative rather than as a pep talk to get Renée on the flight.)Adam Soong upbraids Picard and has him thrown out of the event. Soong is a wealthy benefactor for the Europa mission, and has enough juice that he can simply whisper to someone and have Picard removed. Later in the episode, Soong’s daughter discovers a bunch of headlines calling her father a “mad scientist” who is known for illegal genetic experimentation. So why does Soong have this much sway at an event like this? Why would money from such a toxic figure be accepted by the institution behind the launch? (It’s unclear whether this is a private expedition or something N.A.S.A. is funding.)Even so, Picard needs to be saved from Soong.This leads to one of the more baffling moments in the history of “Star Trek,” which is saying a lot. The Queen causes the lights to go out and Jurati begins to sing. No, really: sing. She belts out “Shadows of the Night” by Pat Benatar and the band joins in, as if this was all just part of the set list. (Alison Pill has an amazing voice!) The proper reaction from those around Jurati would be to have her escorted out for causing a disturbance. Instead, the band is like, “OK, I guess we have a singer now. Thank goodness we know the Pat Benatar song in this exact key just in case something like this happened!”Jurati takes a bow with the Borg Queen and is talking to herself the whole time. None of this seems strange to anyone in the audience!Not content with throwing him out of the event, Soong decides to run Picard over with his car. Here’s where some of the uneven writing undermines the plot: The show tries to build tension by implying that Picard’s life is in danger, but we know from last season that it is not. Picard is literally not human anymore. He died last season and was brought back to life as a synthetic being. Why is he even bleeding? When the doctor examines Picard later, she should be wondering why this human she is examining looks like a machine on the inside! (One other question: How did the crew get Picard to the doctor’s office?)The explanation seems to be that the Watcher will use something called a neuro-optic interceptor to go inside Picard’s mind and rescue him from the coma. (Here’s another idea: You could just repair Picard later. Because he’s a machine.)The episode ends with Jurati strolling away from the event, apparently now fully possessed by the Borg Queen. Maybe she was on her way to do karaoke. More

This week, “Picard” increases the stakes with unpredictable villains and ancestors with a lot to lose.Season 2, Episode 5: ‘Fly Me to the Moon’OK, kids: The word of the day in this week’s “Picard” is Ancestor.The newly discovered lineages of some very famous “Trek” figures are figuring into the plot more frequently as this season progresses, which is not too dissimilar from what happened last season. This has been a running theme of the show — an in-depth exploration of how our histories, both personal and political, shape the world we live in.The Watcher — who looks like Laris but isn’t? — reveals that Renée Picard, Jean-Luc’s ancestor, is about to take off for a seminal spaceflight — the Europa mission — which leads indirectly to the first encounter with an alien organism and the Federation as we’ve come to know it. (Is it just me or is this pretty much the plot of “Star Trek: First Contact?” If so, you’d think Picard would mention his previous experience going back in time to deal with a similar thing.) The Watcher is a Guardian of the Galaxy type, and simultaneously a Supervisor, a reference to the original series episode, “Assignment: Earth,” another classic time travel story.Something else goes unmentioned: Picard had a young nephew, René, who dies in “Star Trek: Generations.” Presumably, he was named after Renée.Picard is informed by The Watcher that she “watches” Renée but is never seen. (An alumnus of Milford Academy, it appears.) She’s also responsible for protecting the tapestry of the universe, but somehow doesn’t actually make contact with her or seemingly anyone else. (So what would you say you do here?) She creepily keeps track of Renée’s therapy sessions and it’s revealed that her therapist is Q — with a German accent! (Some Watcher we have here. So good at watching and doesn’t realize something is off with the doctor.)To be honest, it was a bit off-putting watching Picard and the crew plot out how to keep Renée’s anxiety in check so she can make the Europa flight. She really seems to be anxious to the point that it’s not safe for her to take off. So why is it assumed that Q is in the wrong to tell her she shouldn’t do it? How is Jean-Luc qualified to comment on Renée’s mental health one way or another?We meet another Soong played by Brent Spiner. Spiner is an actor with limitless range — that he plays another one of Data’s ancestors with a new twist is impressive. Here, Dr. Soong is a geneticist with a dying daughter. He’s running unmonitored, illegal genetic experiments on soldiers in an effort to save his daughter, who cannot encounter sunlight. The daughter appears to be whom Soji and Dahj were created after. This was a nice touch to bring Isa Briones back into the fold. It’s easy to imagine a world in which Data finds an ancient Soong to model his daughters after.(Side note: The Soong appears to be the father of Arik Soong, whom we meet in “Star Trek: Enterprise.” If this episode is any indication, this will begin generations of problematic genetic engineering done by Soongs.)But what’s Q’s aim? This has been a lingering question all season. Here, he seeks out this Soong to present him with a cure for his daughter. In return, he wants Soong to help him get rid of Picard. This seems like an odd approach. Even though Q’s powers appear limited, he’s still strong enough to change entire timelines. So logically, he shouldn’t need a human like Soong to achieve his aims, unless they are completely unexpected. The Watcher brings this up herself and Picard doesn’t have an answer.Here’s a thought: What if the 2024 event that changes the timeline isn’t Renée’s flight, but rather Q giving this Soong a genetic cure which didn’t previously exist?We also check in on Operation Rescue Rios, where Rios is on a detention bus primed to be rescued by Seven and Raffi. Seven remarks, “If we beam him out in front of a dozen eyewitnesses, who knows what effect teleportation might have on the 21st century?”Raffi’s aghast reaction was the same as mine: “Time travel rules?!”Time travel episodes in “Trek” always involve a character randomly moralizing about the effects on the timeline. But such concerns feel a bit out of character for the Seven we’ve come to know in “Picard.” She’s a rogue bounty hunter type. Raffi is the Starfleet officer — she’s the one who should care about the temporal prime directive, an actual Starfleet policy. (Honestly, just by transporting to the 21st century, they’ve changed the timeline. And Raffi already recklessly shot off a phaser in the last episode, so that horse has left the barn.)Ultimately, Seven presses a button on a tricorder which causes the bus holding Rios to come to a stop. Somehow, this doesn’t violate Seven’s standards for impacting the 21st century, but let’s move on. Rios is rescued, and our brief look at the inhumane immigration system has come to an end.It’s still unclear exactly what the Borg Queen’s plan is, though it seems to involve taking on Jurati as a partner, similar to what she tried to do with Data in “First Contact.” Like Q, the Queen is totally unpredictable, which means Picard is fighting a battle on multiple fronts. All we know is that she wants to resurrect the Borg as a force. The reveal at the end, that Jurati has been kind of, sort of assimilated was a solid punch to end the week.This season has spent way more time in 2024 than one might expect, which gives the show less of a science fiction feel. Even so, there is enough material and enough quality performances to keep the season compelling. More

Picard has earned his retirement. Is there really no one else who can save the universe?Season 2, Episode 1: ‘The Star Gazer’Why can’t poor Jean-Luc Picard just be left alone in retirement?Really, there must be some other people to save the universe at this point. As Season 2 of “Picard” gets underway, the retired admiral looks so at peace at his vineyard. He’s picking grapes. Petting his dog. He’s smiling without a care in the world.Picard handles retirement much better than Captain Kirk ever did. Picard might even be falling in love with Laris, who is grieving after the death of Zhaban. (This feels like a violation of friend code for Picard to be flirting like this, but we’ll allow it.)The admiral has always been presented as a duty-first professional, viewing the Enterprise as the love of his life rather than pursuing something, you know, living. Even in retirement, he’s still chancellor of Starfleet Academy. His romantic interests have rarely been explored in the decades that he has appeared onscreen, except for some brief interactions with Beverly Crusher and Anij, the Ba’ku woman from “Star Trek: Insurrection.” It’s nice to see the “Picard” writers (Akiva Goldsman and Terry Matalas wrote this episode) explore that side of our favorite Earl Grey-loving Starfleet legend.If you’re a Trekkie, Picard ending up with Crusher has long felt inevitable: Two flirting friends who have a deep bond resulting from years serving together. But that’s not how life works. Often, you end up with the unexpected. Even so, Picard seems leery of making this official with Laris — he walks right up to the line and hesitates.The show generally has been excellent at fan service, and having Whoopi Goldberg reprise her role as Guinan to size up Picard like in the old days went down like a glass of kanar.“It’s not as if I haven’t loved before,” Picard tells Guinan. “I have. Sometimes quite deeply.”Maybe he, too, still thinks of his former chief medical officer. But Guinan can sense that there is a trauma that keeps Picard from becoming intimate with others, even though he wants to. Such observations are part of what makes “Picard” different from “Star Trek: The Next Generation”: It is as much a character study as it is about explosions and exploration.Picard’s friends seem to be doing well for the moment. Elnor is a cadet in Starfleet. Raffi, who was fired from Starfleet, is in good standing again and is sitting behind Picard as he gives a speech to Starfleet Academy.“May you all go boldly into a future free from the shackles of the past,” Picard says during his speech to Starfleet Academy, basically a ruh-roh moment of foreshadowing.Seven of Nine is in her element throwing punches at marauders on Rios’s old ship. Speaking of which, Rios is now a captain — apparently promotions aren’t hard to get in Starfleet nowadays, and one can just come and go as they please. Soji is giving toasts to synthetics, while Jurati got away with murder. Things are great!(A common theme of “Picard”: Many of the characters feel that they don’t deserve love, or have other hangups when it comes to relationships. Jurati says she’s not dating material. Picard won’t kiss Laris. Seven of Nine needs space from Raffa. In Season 1, Elnor felt abandoned by Picard.)But enough about love and happiness. There’s a spatial anomaly. There’s always a spatial anomaly.Whoopi Goldberg has returned to the “Star Trek” fold as Guinan.Nicole Wilder/Paramount+In previous iterations of “Trek,” Picard would have been forced to deal with this green blob in space because the Enterprise was the only ship in the vicinity. Now the writers simply have the life-forms emerge from the anomaly and demand to speak to Picard, and only Picard.In this case, a Borg ship emerges and the decimated but still terrifying sociopathic robots would like to be an ally to the Federation, something that troubles Picard’s confidantes. Even though the Borg have effectively been destroyed, they still possess technological superiority to the Federation, able to easily transport through the Stargazer’s shields and take over the entire fleet. (It’s a little difficult to reconcile the Borg being a non-factor in the universe but still able to assimilate an entire fleet of Federation ships within seconds, but we digress.)Some other nice bits of fan service: Rios is captaining the Stargazer, Picard’s ship before the Enterprise. And when cadets are given assignments, Hikaru Sulu, Kirk’s old crew mate, has a ship named after him. There’s also a reference to the Grissom, which was a Starfleet ship destroyed in “Star Trek III: The Search For Spock.”) Raffi is commanding the Excelsior, which was Sulu’s ship when he got promoted to captain in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.”And of course, there is the reappearance of John de Lancie’s Q at the end of the episode. The last time we saw Q, he essentially caused a similar spatial anomaly in the series finale of “The Next Generation,” trying to give Picard clues about how to save the universe in his own tortured way. That might be the case again here. Or maybe he just wants to play with Picard because he’s bored.It could be both. Whatever the case, in that brief scene Q clearly feels at home with his old “capitaine.” And even though Picard looks fearful in the new reality he’s been transported into, one has to wonder if he feels more comfortable taking on Q than he does falling in love. More