Join the new world

(Since I'm on day 2 of my eRepublik comeback, I've decided that rather than posting guides or walkthroughs I don't understand myself I'll post something more casual for my readers to enjoy. Enjoy this review of Star Trek Picard's season 2 premier!)

Finally, in last night's season 2 premier of the show Star Trek: Picard, fans finally got a show that lived up to the hype. Having a spinoff show based on a character as well-loved and praised as Jean-Luc Picard was always a gamble, and last season myself and thousands of others were convinced it was a gamble that did not pay off. Last season felt rushed, confusing, and felt less like a loving tribute to Picard and The Next Generation and more like a sloppily thrown together cash grab. Old characters were meaninglessly thrown in or were simply namedropped for excitement. Story plots made no sense and were wrapped up far too neatly and quickly.

But finally last night we got a show that was everything we wanted. Picard being awesome at Starfleet? Check. The return of an old and fan-favorite enemy? Check. Characters returning meaningfully rather than simply being there for fan service? Check.

That was the non-spoiler review of the show. Be warned, the next content will have HEAVY spoilers so: WARNING. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Last episode changed the game in many more ways than I had expected. Since last season it appears that Picard has returned from his political exile in Starfleet following his successful mission to stop the "extradimensional synth invaders" (or whatever happened last season). And with Picard's star rising, he has raised everyone else in his crew with him. Rafaella is back at Starfleet along with Rios, who is now in command of the Federation flagship "Stargazer", ostensibly named for Picard's first command. Elnor has been admitted as the first full-blooded Romulan Starfleet cadet, while Dr. Agnes and Dahj have become emissaries of sorts for the Federation. Seven of Nine continues to fight as part of the Fenris Raiders, delivering supplies to and protecting far-flung settlements too out of the way to receive official protection.

However while the group’s positions have much improved, their internal discord is struggling, as Rios and Agnes have broken up (despite still working together, much to Agnes regret) and Seven of Nine and Rafaella have put their relationship on hold following professional disputes (Seven’s job forces her to be gone for weeks at a time, to Rafaella’s dismay). Picard, now Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, spends much of the episode lamenting his failure to make meaningful connections throughout his life, namely his decision to not have a wife and children.

All of this takes a backseat though once a literal tear in space is detected. The Stargazer and Seven of Nine in Rios’ old ship La Sirena, respond to the tear, where a series of strange messages have erupted pleading for help from the Federation, specifically admittance to the Federation, and directly addressing Picard.

Picard is sent to investigate the situation, and his arrival reveals the true nature of the tear in space. A Borg ship emerges, demanding that their emissary be received to discuss admittance to the Federation. The Federation, sensibly, responds with a large fleet sent to stop the Borg incursion. The Borg emissary turns out to be none other than the Queen herself, and she wastes no time in seizing control of the ship and through the ship the rest of the fleet. However, despite the lethal reaction by Starfleet, the Queen oddly does not react with lethality. Seven notes that the crew members she fires upon are merely stunned, not killed. Picard finally activates the self-destruct to end the threat, and in the last moments before the explosion the Queen stuns Picard by uttering his mother’s phrase to encourage him to explore the Stars: “Look up.”

In the aftermath of the explosion, Picard wakes up in his villa confused. The world is different, as he is greeted by an orange sky protected by some energy shield while a synthetic being serves him as his robot. At this point the big reveal is dropped and Q enters the room. In a moment of fun, Q, played by a de-aged John DeLancey, points out how old Picard has become, and similarly “ages” himself to meet Picard, looking like the current John DeLancey. This was a fun way to address how Q, an immortal character, would look old, being played by a mortal human.

Picard, outraged, demands to know what Q has done, and Q cryptically replies that this is simply part of his never-ending trial of humanity, and Picard has woken up at “the end of the road not taken”. The show then ends.

Wow. What a show. The return of the Borg? The return of Q? The return of Guinan? The show is finally what old fans of TNG wanted, and the fun part is this does not feel like the tired themes of Borg bad and Federation good. The Borg in this world have actually requested admittance to the Federation, and as Seven points out, the Borg Queen did not kill any crewmembers, merely stunning them. The age old question of how far Federation tolerance will extend was again raised in this episode. The Federation has built itself on the premise that anyone, no matter how hated or antagonistic, can become a friend to the Federation through tolerance and patience. The Federation has at this point turned its two major opponents, the Klingon Empire and Romulan Star Empire, into friendly allies.

Yet the Borg, as has been noted many times by Starfleet, are evil incarnate, destroying cultures, absorbing them into their own homogenized system, and slaughtering all who oppose them. Can the Federation’s doctrine of goodwill really extend to a species that has committed such evil? Yet these Borg did not resort to slaughtering outright, something that Picard noticed, and the Queen's utterance of Picard's mother's phrase, "look up", implies a deeper connection with Picard than we know right now. And what about Q? Why is he here, and why has he chosen to save Picard again? This show is going places, and this season I am excited to be along with the ride.