Star Trek: Picard returned for its second season last week, and it’s thankfully still available globally on Prime Video. Picking up in real time from the season finale nearly two years ago, “The Star Gazer” sees Jean-Luc Picard — once again a Starfleet admiral — reunite with some very old friends… and enemies.
1. Regrets, He Must Have A Few
“The Star Gazer” plays like an extended epilogue for the first season: Picard is back at his chateau and now Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, while Rios, Jurati and Raffi have also been welcomed back into the fold. (Rios himself has become captain of the new Stargazer, Picard’s first command.) Elnor has also enlisted, while Soji is on a goodwill tour, improving the image of synthetics in the galaxy, and Seven of Nine is still a ranger, now in possession of La Sirena and Rios’s hologram alter-egos. Jean-Luc’s Romulan housekeeper, Laris, has become a widow in the intervening years offscreen.
Understandably, given how season one’s gang have gone or are going their separate ways, Picard is feeling a little wistful, experiencing vivid and ever so slightly alarming childhood flashbacks, and giving a speech at the academy about how he believes time, not space, is the real final frontier. While giving Elnor his advice before his departure, Jean-Luc brings up something Spock said in his memoir, which feels a little like him (and OK, the writers) taking the opportunity to indulge in memories of the late Vulcan. He’s also afraid of moving on: he and Laris clearly have feelings for each other, but he’s reluctant to acknowledge it, possibly because it would undermine the stoic destiny he’s accepted for himself as the last of his family. At the same time, Picard — a man who’s already died, so we’re clear — must wonder if this is truly all there is after so many years protecting the Federation.
2. Guinan
This episode was shot well before the controversy over Whoopi Goldberg’s comments in the wake of “Maus’s” banning in McMinn County Schools, so I can understand why some might’ve felt unenthusiastic about seeing her this season, but solely from a character point-of-view, it was lovely to see Picard reunite with Guinan. She seems to be doing well for herself, now tending bar in Los Angeles, and her taste in hats is as extraordinary as ever; she also continues to be a great counselor for Jean-Luc, listening to him talk about his regret over never settling down. He’s unable to fully go into why he’s always felt reluctant to commit to a relationship, and quite rightly, she doesn’t press the issue. I have a feeling Picard’s fear may be rooted in the trauma involving his mother (an issue that is very, very important to Patrick Stewart, so we’re clear), and that’s definitely something he will need time to open up about.
3. New and Improved Borg
Speaking of trauma, the Borg — the cybernetic fiends who violated the autonomy of Picard, Seven of Nine and so many more — return through an anomaly, but they’re not interested in a fight: they only want to negotiate peace with Picard, and Picard alone. From the little we see here, the 25th century Borg are definitely more visually impressive than their predecessors, with a huge, monolithic ship that seems capable of unfolding into a larger staging post, and the Queen who transports to the Stargazer’s bridge wears a very gothic helmet, which coupled with her tentacles, makes the Borg the closest they’ve ever felt to being a H.R. Giger creation. As impressive as they were, previous Borg make-up and costuming could never shake the subconscious feeling of a group of homeless people; here, there’s no mistaking them for an alien culture.
4. Guess Q!
Negotiations go unsurprisingly south, between Seven of Nine’s emotionally compromised nature, and the sheer hubris of the Borg, causing the whole “welcoming” fleet to be destroyed after Picard activates the Stargazer’s self-destruct. Was it all really a trap? That’s likely one of the questions Jean-Luc will have to ponder after being transported to a simulation of his chateau, where he’s greeted by his old, omnipotent frenemy, Q, who even kindly ages his appearance after noticing Picard’s become more frail.
Continued belowFull disclosure: John de Lancie’s Q is a major reason I got into Star Trek as a kid — he was the first character to show me the series could be funny — and it always feels momentous having him reunite with Picard, since they were both there at the start of The Next Generation. It’s appropriately ironic given the theme of Picard’s loneliness in this episode, and I can’t wait to see how they spar next time, as well as whether it was all an illusion; and hopefully Q will get to bicker with his older nemesis, Guinan, sometime this season too.
5. Picard’s Transhumanism
One major query I had after season one was how Picard’s status as the first human to have his mind transferred to a synthetic body would be explored: it wasn’t touched on at all here, which is odd (you’d think Laris would bring it up at least, seeing as her husband passed away and all.) Guinan sort of references it, but she’s really talking about the artificial heart Picard received after being stabbed as a cadet (as shown in the Next Generation episode “Tapestry.”) There are nine more episodes this season, so we mustn’t fret, but if it remains a “get out of jail free card,” it will be a missed opportunity to not explore the material and philosphical questions it poses.
Other Observations:
– Picard being Starfleet Academy’s chancellor feels like a nod to Patrick Stewart’s time as chancellor at the University of Huddersfield (a role he served from 2004 to 2015.)
– Assuming the Borg are just rude and not liars, who might they be fleeing from? (Perhaps they accidentally spilled V’ger’s coffee?)
Well, Picard is back, and still being tested by Q: let’s hope he lives up to this trial (and our expectations as viewers) once more — unto the breach, dear friends.
