Picard is a prisoner, Agnes has switched sides, and Soji is wrestling with her humanity. This is where we left off leading into the season finale of this first season of Picard.
1. The enemy of my enemy is my friend
Who do we remain loyal to in times of war? For Agnes, it’s easy, her organic family, Picard, whom she rescues from the synths as they escape to Rios’ La Sirena. But no one else is on the ship as Narek decided to join forces with his enemy in order to defeat the uber-synths Soji and her sister, Sutra, plan on calling upon to destroy the organics, in order to survive. So Narek, Rios, Elnor, and Raffi devise a plan to destroy the transmitter, and in order to get inside the Citadel, they’ll return Narek to the synths. Surprisingly self-sacrificing for the Romulan. He must be desperate. Or maybe, he’s not all bad.
2. Mega easter egg
Luckily, Picard still has it in him, and he’s been paying attention to Rios’ flying, so he and Agnes take the La Sirena out to face the entire Romulan fleet. Picard is old and wise. In fact, it seems like he’s always been wise, but now he has the age to back it up. He tells Agnes the synths are young and they’ve only learned through fear, and according to Picard, “Fear is an incompetent teacher. To be alive is a responsibility.” He believes they’ll learn by example, like the children they are. Here, Agnes and JL formulate a plan and use, dare a say, a mega Picard maneuver, first used by Picard when he was in command of the Stargazer. The trick fools the Romulan fleet at first, but when La Sirena is hit by enemy fire, the jig is up. Back on the Borg cube, Seven encounters Narissa and takes her out just like Kirk takes out Commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Though, I have to say Jeri Ryan is a bit more athletic than William Shatner. (I love Shatner as Kirk, FYI.)
3. Typical Trek
Things look bleak. Despite the fact that Soong discovers Sutra’s plan to rally the synths, the plan that involved letting Narek kill a synth in order to escape, and deactivates her as a result, stating she’s no better than organics, Soji continues their work, constructing the beacon to summon her synth defenders. Commander Oh is on her game and tells her Romulan fleet to “target the abnomination’s nest.” The words we use are important, and if you want an entire race, or species, as your enemy, make sure you use words that frame it as such, and this is what Oh does perfectly right here at the brink of war. Soji activates the beacon. It’s what she believes is right against an enemy that hates her and seeks to destroy her. But wait. Picard was successful this time, history will not repeat itself, and Starfleet shows up because Coppelius is under their protection. Riker leading the charge is a cheerable moment as he lays down some badass lines that fit his character, but seem Kirk-esque as well. Oh wants to fight, and war between the Romulans and Starfleet seems imminent, but Picard, on the brink of death himself, asks Soji to power down the beacon to show the Romulans you aren’t the destroyer. He tells her he saved her so she could save them; that’s why we’re here, to save each other. It works. Typical Trek.
4. Data
We need some closure with our pal Data here, and we get it, boy do we get it, in this season finale. We’re under the impression Picard has died, but of course, there is going to be a season two, which strips his death of most of its emotional resonance. What is emotional is the interaction between the former captain and his officer and friend as they reside inside an electronic construct and they hash out their last moments together, and unresolved issues are resolved. Data reveals to Picard that mortality gives meaning to human life, which is why he asks his friend to delete his consciousness once he leaves. Something he knows Picard will not refuse and so Data is graced with a funeral overseen by his friend Picard. Patrick Stewart can quote all of Shakespeare’s lines at anyone’s funeral – it will never seem cheesy or overdone; it’s what the man was meant to do. Perhaps you’ve been watching him recite a sonnet a day on social media during this quarantine time we are in right now. It’s soothing and relaxing and beautiful and I highly recommend watching. But back to Data’s funeral where we see him grow old and transform into the stuff of the universe and disappear. It’s quite beautiful.
5. The end
How is Picard back? He’s a synthetic now, but he won’t be immortal. Eh. This didn’t feel real necessary to me in terms of storytelling, but nothing about Picard has changed, except his brain abnormality is gone, so there’s that. The rendition of Blue Skies at the end of the episode is wonderful and sung by Isa Briones as well. Things are looking up, the damaged, but relatable, crew heads off together, Agnes gives us an “engage,” to a TNG music tease, and we’re left to wonder what season two will bring. I didn’t need any cliffhangers at the end of this episode. Patrick Stewart is old, let’s be practical here, this is a feel good ending and fits what Trek is all about. Bring on season two.
