1. World Building
Building a backstory seems par for the course now, and we travel to planet Vashti, 14 years prior to current events, and see Picard beaming in wearing his dapper linen explorer suit and Indiana Jones-esque hat, to interact with and help Romulans relocate after losing their home. Everyone is excited to see him. A noteworthy attribute regarding Picard in this series is that he’s softer than the man we knew in TNG; he appears to like children, no less. He’s placed a Romulan boy, an orphan, among a group of nuns until he can locate a more suitable home for the child. We see Picard read to the boy, teach him some sword fighting skills, and just generally enjoy spending time with him. Simply acting as a role model and mentor to the child, but their time is interrupted when Picard receives news of the Synth attack on Mars. All sources of conflict circle back to that attack. I like that this series is taking the time to build upon what we already know about the Romulans and expanding upon their culture, which takes us to…
2. Romulan Warrior Nuns? Yes, please
The Klingons are one of my favorite species in the Trek universe, and it is because the mythology surrounding them is vast. Picard is working on building a mythology around the Romulans through its first few episodes continues again here by introducing the Qowat Milat, or Romulan Warrior Nuns, an all female group and the most feared enemy of the Tal Shiar. It appears their way is the way of absolute candor, hey, the title of the episode, the way of absolute truth. Jean-Luc has some fun with Zani, one of the nuns, when she tells her ward “a promise is a prison,” and she expresses a smile, which makes it seem these warriors are not without joy. Fourteen years later, when Jean-Luc wants to return to Vashti, Raffi explains it away as a literal guilt trip, but JL describes the Qowat Milat as the “most skilled single-combat fighters that I have ever seen,” and he believes they will join his cause, and his crew.
3. Bad Romance
Soji continues her research into Ramdha and is listening to a past lecture where she speaks of Ganmadan, the Day of Annihilation, when all demons answer the call of the Destroyer. That’s exactly what Ramdha called Soji, the Destroyer. Shortly thereafter, we see Narek convince Soji to sneak off to see a secret Borg ritual, which is simply an excuse to get her alone under the guise of a good time, but to actually plant a seed of doubt in her mind. This is a romance that’s difficult to get into. It feels forced and I’m not sure, as an audience, we really see why Soji is into him. Narek’s master, slow burning plan does not please his handler sister, who, by the way is terrifying; she chokes her brother until he gives up the information she wants on their target and we have no idea why these two are so volatile? But, this brother, sister duo do reveal some important information and let us know they want to find out where “the rest of them are,” leading us to believe there are more like Dahj and Soji. I guess time will tell.
4. You can’t go home
Picard returns to Vashti, and he’s not quite the statue-worthy icon he was when last he arrived in town. Now, there are ‘Romulans Only’ signs posted in businesses and the glares Picard receives are not quite welcoming. When he returns to see Zani and the other Qowat Milat, she reveals that none of her warriors can take up his cause, except for one, the young boy, Elnor, who Jean-Luc left behind 14 years earlier. He is trained in the ways of the Qowat Milat, but can never be one himself. As it turns out Elnor, just like Raffi, is angry with the former Admiral for abandoning him after Starfleet cut ties with the Romulans. Again, I don’t understand why Picard couldn’t return to see Elnor on his own, as he could have visited Raffi. As Picard returns to the town center, he’s confronted by a former Romulan senator, who in some sense accuses Jean-Luc of the same thing as Raffi and Elnor, but on a much larger scale; abandoning the Romulans, giving up on them in fact, just as Starfleet did. What can one man do when the power of an entire organization removes their support and resources? Picard apologizes, and we get the feeling he’s not simply apologizing to the group present, but to all that have been harmed. He says, “I have failed you all. The result is pain and loss for you all. And I am sorry.” But this brings up an important point, what could he have done without Starfleet? Could he have done more over the past 14 years? Could he have done what he is attempting to do now? Can one person enact change on a large scale without the resources of an entity such as Starfleet? He could have helped Raffi and Elnor. Picard is challenged to a duel, well, maybe more of a sword fight, and Elnor shows up to help Picard defeat his enemy…by slicing off his head…quite cleanly. Picard is appalled at this senseless death, but Elnor has accepted Picard’s cause, because it is a lost one.
5. Give the fans what they want
And we want what we’ve loved in the past. Picard has left his ship and crew above Vashti, and as it turns out, they’ve come under attack by a repurposed Klingon Bird of Prey. Things don’t look good for the crew, until a strange ship comes to their aid. A strange ship piloted by a captain that impresses even Rios’ high standards. When this mystery captain disables the Bird of Prey and is in distress himself, the crew keeps calling the captain a him, big red flag, HE asks to be beamed aboard. It’s at this point Picard has an extremely challenging time not being in charge on the bridge and keeps overstepping his bounds. They beam the captain on board and it is…giving the fans what they want…Seven of Nine! But how does she even know Picard? As far as we know the two have never crossed paths, but Picard knows her name. Perhaps just by reputation. Seven isn’t wearing a Starfleet uniform. The mystery intensifies. We know the Romulans are excavating Borg technology, could that be why she’s interested in Picard’s mission? Only time will tell.
