Star Trek: Picard Episode 2 Review

by Mike Lunsford, E-I-C of the Great Geek Refuge

I’ve proudly admitted on this website that I am a mark for two franchises: Star Wars and Star Trek. That being said, when looking back at both of them, they have both had their fair share of misfires. In fact, as mentioned by Russ Brown in his Star Trek: Picard premiere review, the last time we saw the Next Generation crew was quite the flop. Star Trek: Nemesis had a lot of issues, but there were two main components in the film’s storyline that are key to Star Trek: Picard, the Romulans and Soong-type androids.

While we’re talking about the things that Nemesis left us with, for better or worse, let’s talk about our good friend, Data. We were left with a glimmer of hope in the final scene of Nemesis. B-4, the prototype android that looked exactly like Data, was given all of Data’s memories in hopes that his early version of a neural net would evolve to the level of his “younger brother.” After Data’s sacrifice to save Captain Picard, Jean-Luc is telling B-4 of Data’s death. B-4 begins singing one of Data’s favorite songs, “Blue Skies” by Irving Berlin. Perhaps B-4 would become just like Data! Maybe our android friend we had come to love over 15 years of the TV series and movies would not be gone!

“Blue skies are smilin’ at me…”

Well, the premiere episode shot that theory to Hell but also left us with a surprising possibility. Data is definitely gone, B-4 was unable to evolve beyond his original programming and use all those memories effectively. And, because of the “synthetic” attack on the Utopia Planatia shipyards on Mars, the use of and research on all androids has been banned throughout the Federation. However, Jean-Luc Picard, the retired admiral who is still haunted by the loss of his friend Data, is now attempting to uncover a mystery involving the appearance of a young woman named Dahj who looks exactly like one of Data’s painting that he called “Daughter.” In fact, based on her abilities, Picard discovers that she is an advanced android that is somehow related to his fallen comrade. After Romulan assassins kill the poor android girl, Picard visits the Daystrom Institute and meets Dr. Agnes Jurati who confirms Picard’s theory that Dahj and Data are indeed related. Her boss, Bruce Maddox (great throwback to TNG btw) developed a theory called fractal neuronic cloning, a technique by which new "twin" androids could be created from a single positronic neuron of a "parent" android. That parent could only have been Data, and based on the striking likeness to his painting, Picard is convinced and is now desperately searching for Dahj’s twin sister Soji, who we know is currently on-board a derelict Borg cube doing research. WOW! Talk about a premiere! Let’s get into the recap/review of episode 2.

The second episode, titled “Maps & Legends,” picks up with a flashback of that fateful day, 14 years ago: the attack on the Utopia Planatia Shipyards. Before I go into the details surrounding this, I thought it was interesting to note that in both this episode and the premiere, the way language is used in this series stuck out. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, every character speaks with the same sort of style. It’s always refined, intelligent, and honestly, a bit stuffy. This is not a knock on TNG, I loved that series. In fact, TNG is like a security blanket for me: if I’ve had a particularly stressful day and need to unwind for bedtime, I’ll pop on TNG to fall asleep. It’s comforting and familiar. That being said, one of the complaints people had with Star Trek: Discovery was the crew didn’t sound like members of Starfleet. They cursed, they used slang, etc and somehow that was unacceptable. Picard has used language in an interesting and similar way. Jean-Luc himself is still the same, classy, elegant speaker that he has always been, but characters like Dahj, her boyfriend and the engineers on Mars working at the Utopia Planatia shipyards sound like they’re pulled from the 21st century. They use terms like “dude” but also curse. It doesn’t bother me, personally. In fact, makes the characters seem a bit more grounded and more relatable. Anyway, back to the recap/review.

We see one of the technicians who works at the shipyards open a closet of sorts to a room full of androids, each identical to the others. They look very similar to the Data/Lore/B-4 template Dr. Soong was fond of using.

Their handler greets them warmly. “Good morning, plastic people!” he says as they boot up and prepare for their day of work. The android we follow is named F8. He interacts with a crew of technicians who are complaining about having to work on First Contact Day (it’s pretty cool that this became a holiday in-universe). They’re kind of mean to F8, not in a malicious way but in a way that is noticeable.

Lunchtime comes around and the crew is sitting down to their synthesized food, with some idle chit-chat to go with their meal. F8 is standing there, staring into the distance, as an android with no current task would do. Then…something happens. Some sort of order is given to the F8 as his eyes flash with the incoming command.

He then goes to the control panel and we see him lower the planetary shielding and warning alarms start going off as other androids seemingly do the same (the announcement makes it clear that the androids have been compromised). F8 snaps the neck of one of the technicians and kills the remaining workers with a welding torch of some sort. A series of invading ships fly in and begin decimating the facility as explosions are seen across the planet. And before they can check the androids for these commands, F8 blows his own positronic brain out. We now have seen first hand what happened on that fateful day that caused Starfleet to ban the use of “synthetics” and we see that there was something that caused the androids to revolt. It wasn’t them “revolting” against their masters; no, someone reprogrammed them. This was done with a purpose in mind…and the rest of the episode paints a picture of who could have done this and why.

The show returns to “present day” at Jean-Luc Picard’s Rancho Relaxo, aka Château Picard. Picard and his Romulan housekeepers Laris and Zhaban (Orla Brady, American Horror Story: 1984 and Jamie McShane, Sons of Anarchy respectively) are reviewing the security footage of the Romulan attack that killed Dahj. Both Laris and Zhaban were members of the Tal Shiar, the Romulan secret police, and both agree that the systematic removal of Dahj from the footage and the sheer audacity of incursion on Earth is too much for the Tal Shiar. It’s at this time that Laris reveals a much older, much more sinister secret organization that could have perpetrated such an act called the Zhat Vash.

Zhaban scoffs at the mention, saying that the Zhat Vash is like the Boogey Man. Laris is convinced it’s them though as she describes their methodology and ability to infiltrate all other major players in the galaxy like the Klingon Empire and the Federation itself. Where the Tal Shiar’s goal was to ensure the security of the Romulan Empire, the Zhat Vash was more secretive. They also have an unabiding hatred for all forms of artificial intelligence. Laris points out how Romulans never use androids, artificial lifeforms or even computer programs more advanced than simple calculations. This reinforces how ingrained this distaste for artificial life is in the Romulan culture, and to have a secret group that doesn’t just dislike AI, but actually hates and despises it adds another layer to this storyline. On top of that, perhaps it reveals the perpetrator of the Utopia Planatia attack that caused the Federation to ban synthetics.

Picard and Laris transport to Dahj’s apartment to look for clues. What they find is that the entire room has been scrubbed of any data or evidence, furthering Laris’ theory that it’s the work of Zhat Vash. They are able to find a computer that was wiped, but not thoroughly. Laris finds outgoing calls to Dahj’s sister, Soji and determine the calls were to a location off-world. Picard now has his mission: get to Soji before the Zhat Vash. On top of that, he’ll seek out Bruce Maddox for more answers and hopefully uncover the Zhat Vash’s plans before it’s too late.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled trip to a Borg cube…whaaaaat???? Narek, the shifty Romulan from the first episode has gotten his way into Soji’s pants. The two are talking about the difference between the once mighty Borg cube they inhabit and how it’s now called “the Artifact.” The Romulan Free State owns this derelict Borg Cube and are seemingly granting limited access to the cube to various outsiders. Soji also quips that the Romulans are "profiting" from selling off aspects of the Borg tech to interested parties. We see that Narek is definitely shifty, stating that Romulans are secretive by nature and he purposely won’t answer any of Soji’s questions.

Back to Earth: Picard gets a visit from his personal physician, an old buddy from his days on the USS Stargazer, Dr. Moritz Benyune (David Paymer, a million things but you probably recognize him from The West Wing). He tells Jean-Luc that he has something wrong in the "parietal lobe" of his brain, which could lead to a series of neurological disorders which all lead to death, one way or another. Jean-Luc’s intent was to get cleared for duty, hoping to reactivate his commission with Starfleet so he can search for Soji and Maddox. He is not swayed by the news, telling Moritz that he wants to return to space “more than ever.”

Picard beams to Starfleet, where he meets with Admiral Kirsten Clancy (Ann Magnuson, like Paymer, a million things but recently, The Man in the High Castle) and tells her everything that’s taken place involving Dahj, Data, Maddox and the Romulans. He asks to have his commission reactivated. In addition, he also asks for a ship and a crew for one last mission. Admiral Clancy does not mince words. Her response was something to the effect kick rocks.

She derides “the sheer fu**ing hubris” of Picard’s request, tearing Jean-Luc a new one for his TV interview’s criticism of the Federation and their handling of synthetics and the Romulans. When Picard defends himself by saying that the Federation doesn’t get to decide which species live or die, Clancy counters with stating that it kept the Federation intact, that there are other planets and cultures to consider, that many threatened to leave the Federation if they helped the Romulans. She ends the meeting with a simple statement: request denied. Picard counters with a warning of not to ignore what he’s saying. Admiral Clancy counters with “maybe you should do what you do best: go home.” DAMN.

Back on “the Artifact,” Soji meets new recruit Dr. Naashala. They discuss the possibility of the Borg reactivating the cube when slimy Narek slides in. He assures her that’s not going to happen, because as far as the Borg are concerned, this abandoned vessel is a graveyard, populated only by those who feed on the dead, ghosts, and those who are hoping for resurrection. Narek follows Soji to her work: recovering former Borg drones. We see her trying to soothe a man the Romulans refer to as “the nameless” after his Borg implants are removed (he could be a corpse, not 100% on this). Soji seems to be the only scientist that has any empathy for these former drones. So, even if there is profiteering going on, there are some who genuinely want to help.

The whole time they’re on the Borg cube, it’s mentioned how they’re in no real danger, that this particular cube is disconnected from the Collective and the Borg view it as a graveyard. However, any Star Trek fan knows that you never underestimate the Borg and when you do, it is to your own detriment. There was a funny bit that many may have missed in this episode.

well, that’s reassuring.

In his chateau study, Picard finds Dr. Jurati waiting for him. Over some Earl Grey tea, Jurati informs Picard that all of Dahj’s personal and school records are fabrications, and were probably created within the past three years, adding another layer of intrigue about where she came from and why.

Clancy reports her meeting with Picard to Starfleet Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita, DUDE! She was Kumiko in Karate Kid 2. Most non-nerds would know her from The Joy Luck Club). The Commodore is a Vulcan who says that if Romulans were running secret operations on Earth, it would amount to an act of war. Oh calls for Lieutenant Rizzo (Peyton List, Mad Men), and shows her video of the aforementioned Dahj ambush. It turns out that Oh was the mastermind behind the attack, and she’s furious that Rizzo’s team killed Dahj instead of capturing her for interrogation, as had been the original plan.

Now, does this mean that Oh is a Romulan or just an evil Vulcan? It’s left unclear. “We have one more opportunity — do not squander it,” Oh tells Rizzo, revealing that she knows about Dahj’s twin Soji. Oh promises to take care of Picard herself, while Rizzo assures the Commodore that she already has her best man on the job.

Picard dons his combadge to make a late night call to old comrade Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd, Law & Order: SVU, Blindspot), asking for help and a ship. Laris yells at Picard for his stupid plan, implying it is really motivated by his ego. Zhaban suggests Picard ask Riker, LaForge, and Worf for help… but Picard says he can’t, as he knows they would say yes out of loyalty to their former captain and would be willing to sacrifice themselves for him, just like Data had. He shuttles out to an isolated dessert location, where Raffi greets him with a pointed gun and request for him to leave. Always the master negotiator, Picard mentions Romulan assassins are operating on Earth and offers the vintage wine he’s brought. Raffi lowers her weapon and invites her former captain inside.

While Picard and Raffi are conversing, another meeting is occurring on board the Artifact. Narek is greeted by a holgram of Lieutenant Rizzo, who’s Narek’s sister, and the person behind his secretive surveillance of Soji on the Borg cube. After glancing at Narek’s messy bed, Rizzo says that she can see her brother is “on top of it.” Rizzo asks if the Artifact has given up the location of its “fellow abominations,” so apparently the Romulans are looking for the Borg. Rizzo warns Narek that if his undercover approach doesn’t get them their coveted intel by the time she arrives on the Artifact, they’ll try her method instead or they’ll both be looking at a disaster that could mean the end of them both.

While not as action-packed as the first episode, “Maps & Legends” did an excellent job of setting the table for what is to come in the first season of Star Trek: Picard. We know that the synthetic revolt was something external: someone or something forced the synthetics to aid in their attack on the Federation’s shipyards. We also know that the Romulan incursion on Earth that killed Dahj is much more nefarious, and may be more ingrained than a simple one-off attack. In fact, Starfleet command is compromised as well by this Romulan cabal. Picard is also not as healthy as he hoped, he has a degenerative neurological disorder that will eventually kill him, regardless of treatment. He still feels a duty to Data, which is why he is so insistent on doing anything he can to save Soji and unravel this mystery.

I’ll be back next week for you guys with the review of episode 3 of Star Trek: Picard. Enjoy your weekend, folks and LLAP.