Star Trek Picard Episode 4 review Absolute Candor
Star Trek Picard Episode 4 review Absolute Candor
Star Trek Picard Episode 4 review
Spoilers ahead, so beware.
The opening shot is a flashback 14 years ago to the Romulan resettlement effort and the planet Vashti in the beta quadrant, swarming with starfleet shuttles going to and from the surface and with Picard beaming down looking like he’s about to go for a walk along the French riviera.
The Romulan relocation hub looks like a tropical village paradise with some tower blocks, surrounded by foliage and resting at the foot a mountain range, in turn surrounded by desert and lit by twin suns. There's even signs of more construction as a crane can be seen in the distance. We see the Romulans settlers playing cards and other games to pass the time while a young Elnor steals some fruit from an angry vendor who yells in Romulan at the thief “run sisterboy” to which Elnor retorts in Romulan “bite me”. Not something I think he would have picked up from Picard.
It’s important to note that this is one of the few times we have seen Romulan civilians going about their lives, and everyone looks happy and pretty well to do given their situations as refugees. There’s no sign of illness or poverty and the streets are filled with brightly coloured trees and bushes and the humdrum of everyday life. Things will be very different when Picard returns 14 years later and sees the same Romulans we see here in these shots looking very, very different.
Picard visits the sisters of the Qowat Milat, Romulan warriors nuns who have some sort of vow of telling total truth or absolute candor in all dealings, and are amongst the most feared warriors the Romulans have ever produced. These nuns have provided as much help as they can to Picard in the relocation effort and have taken in Elnor as between themselves and Picard no one has managed to find a suitable home for the boy.
Picard thanks them for their help and gives out some gifts, a copy of the Three Musketeers to Elnor which he reads to him later and even reenacts some scenes while giving him some fencing lessons, and some hanifak for Zani the head of the order. While reading and fencing with Elnor it’s quite clear that Picards attitude towards children, once one of total annoyance, has mellowed, and there is something of the start of a father and son bond going on between them.
Sadly it's while fencing that Picard learns of the Synth attack on Mars.
Back in the present and the La Sirena has changed course, Rios is reading his book on the bridge with soft music playing in the background when Agnes walks in and tries to strike up a conversation as she’s caught up on everything she can do as far as reading and listening to music is concerned, and even laments the vast quantities of space and the boredom of traveling across it. Or mostly she just talks without barely taking a break for breath. Rios just reads his book as best he can while she does so, only to have the day saved by the lack of interesting conversation with the arrival of an enraged Raffi whose just learned about the change in course, and doesn’t calm down any once she learns the destination is Vashti.
On the holodeck (or holomatrix) La Sierena has on board, Picard is looking over the holographic recreation of his study back home while the Hospitality Hologram who is giving him a tour, tends to get a bit too close to personal space for comfort. Everything seems correct and even features a view of the vineyards, complete with workers and flying birds and classical music playing.
Raffi storms in with Rios not too far behind and the hologram bows out on his own violtion while Rios mentions how much he fucking hates that hologram. A debate breaks out on the point of going though and it becomes quite obvious Picard is very much out of touch with the current situation around Vashti. With Agnes timidly joining them and queries if she's allowed in. Rios fills Picard in on some of the power struggles that has been going on since the last time Picard was there, and Picard looks like he can’t believe it. At least one warlord has gotten ahold of an old Romulan Bird of Prey.
Raffi quierries if Rios told him about it all when he was ordered to change course and Rios simply replies that he thought Picard knew. The Fenris Rangers are brought up, this is their territory after all but as it turns out they don’t have the resources to cope, and there is now a Romulan Rebirth movement. Regardless of the issues that have happened Picard is still determined to visit as he wants to recruit one of the Romulan warrior nuns, the Qowat Milat to his mission. Agnes is somewhat surprised to learn of their existence. Picard extolls their virtues and the help they gave him and Raffi in the relocation effort.
Raffi asks Picard if the loss of Dahjs has him remembering Elnor, and what they used to say back then. “One impossible thing at a time” and says they need to concentrate on Freecould. Picard counters that he might never pass this way again, hinting at his age, and possibly his health. As he leaves, Agnes ponders the question about the risk of absolute Candor being potentially annoying.
Back on the Borg cube, we get an external shot that shows just how much of the Cube is missing. Soji is going over an old talk show interview that Ramdha took part in before her assimilation where she is asked about Ganmadan, the Day of Annihilation, which is about all life, everywhere. Soji is trying to recreate the layout of the playing cards Ramada had been assembling during their meeting. The term ”the destroyer” is brought up again inthe recording.
On the La Sirena, Picard is surprised to find so much security around the planet in the form of a planetary shield and defence systems. He’s even more surprised to find that the mention of his name won’t allow his entry to the Hub on Vashti. Rios suggests money and Picard beams down to find the planet very much changed from how he left it. It’s not utter squalor the people are in, but gone are the smiles and warmth, the plants are dying, the streets quiet, and the social clubs segregated. Picard notices there are armed guards patrolling with swords.
No one will greet him but it’s clear people recognise him, and we see many of the same Romulans from earlier looking no older than they did before, but now with very different looks on their faces. Gone are the smiles, the joy, the hope, stony faced silence is all we get. One Romulan taps his comm badge once Picard has passed by.
Thankfully the nuns are happy to see him, Picard is greeted by Zani who points out he has aged while he observes she has not, but admits that he has no right to ask for her help. Before things can progress we are quickly reintroduced to the now fully grown Elnor, complete with flowing long hair and music belonging to a hair care commercial.
Sojis is attending some treatment Ramdha is undergoing when Narek shows up and reveals that he knew Ramdha before she was assimilated, much to Sojis surprise. Sojis admits she felts drawn to her and blames herself for Ramdhas sucide attempt. Narek manges to calm Soji down a bit and the two go drinking where Soji tries to get some more information out of him regarding both himself and his level of access to the Borg cube files, as well as Ramdha and her mission prior to assimilation. Narek states he doesn’t have access to the information and won’t admit to being Tal Shiar either, but suggests he might know someone who can find out.
Narek does however want to show her something, as they walk alone into an empty part of the cube, he tells her he wants to show her an old Borg ritual. Soji does a neck twist reminiscent of Data when he was intrigued by something… unexpected.
While on the way Narek manages to find out how Soji speaks such good Romulan, a friend of her fathers taught her at the university.
The Borg Ritual turns out to require you to take off your shoes and run down a corridor with a slippery floor, essentially skidding or skating over the distance. Sojis sees the fun in it and joins in and the two have quite the time “dancing on ice” before kissing passionately against a wall.
Narek at this point “plants the first seed of doubt” telling Soji she wasn’t on the passenger list of the transport she states she came in on, annoying her when she reaffirms she was by not answering when she asks if he doubts her.
Narek reals her back in by dangling the issue of Ramdhas mission like a carrot on a stick.
Meanwhile Picard is now the most trending issue on the Romulan answer to social networks and Raffi wants him beamed out now. Picard insists he’s perfectly safe where he is and tells them to do what they need to. Rios checks the sensors and finds the old bird of prey is on route to the planet.
Picard talks to Zani again about the planets status and how the sisters are basically acting as police in some cases. Zani points out one of Picard's errors in judgement, as he could not save everyone, he chose to save no one. Picards admits to his mistake.
Their talk soon turns to Elnor, after Picards upsets him by politely declining the food he is offered, before storming out. He’s the best fighter Zani has ever seen, young and strong and capable, and has passed all his tests, but as a man can never truly be one of them. Zani also feels he has not gotten to live his own life, one of many reasons she's happy for him to aid Picard.
Picard and Elnor talk, and Picard gets him up to speed about Data and his daughters. Elnor can recall the tales Picard told him about the Android and his cat. Elmor admits he’s still not seen such a creature. Picard admits he’s working on guess work in trying to trace down Maddox but that he also needs Elnor and his strength to help in what seems like a lost cause.
Elnor feels Picard only has need of him now and that he was abandoned as a child, so he decides to do the same to Picard and storms off again.
Picard returns to his beam in location near the front of the Romulan social club, takes a look around at the scene before him, and how different it is now to his last visit, and takes down the “Romulan only sign” and decides to take a seat in the club. One Romulan walks away in disgust when Picard sits at his table, while the waiter ignores Picard altogether.
The Romulan who made a comm call earlier approaches Picard, introduces himself in a friendly enough manner that just about barely hides the disgust he feels for the man, and slowly starts putting a lot of the blame on Picard for the Romulan people's situation. Eventually Picard is forced out into the street to duel with swords with the larger, younger Romulan.
Picard refuses to fight, trading a few blows of defence away, and throws down the sword. He is a man alone, in a very hostile area, with not a single onlooker showing any support for him.
At this point Elnor reveals he's been around all the time and steps in, advising the Romulans trying to kill Picard to back down. They refuse and the blink of an eye Elnor takes out at least two Romulans, including the one facing Picard via decaptition.
Picard and Elnor are quickly beamed up before the remaining friends of the headless Romulan can draw disruptors, and once on the ship Picard angrily dresses down Elnor as he states the man he killed did not deserve to die. Elnor points out that the man knew the risks in ignoring him, but agrees to follow Picards orders in future, even swearing on it when told to do so.
Raffi isn’t impressed by the boy with a stick and Agnes is rather shocked to find that Elnor has agreed to take on a lost cause.
Narek is later visited by his sister again, this time in his bedroom and the two trade details. Tensions are clearly fraught between the two, with her clearly unhappy about his slow progress with his one seed of doubt. She chokes him as she makes her lack of satisfaction in his progress very clear, while also making it very clear what course she would prefer and that their aim is to kill the androids. All the while taunting him for his interest in Soji and even taking sadistic pleasure in choking him to force him to call Soji the destroyer.
On the La Sirena there are much bigger fish to worry about in the form of the now attacking Bird of Prey, which despite its age is still more than capable of giving them a serious room for their money, especially with the help of the planetary shield defences which are of course on the Bird of Preys side.
Rios breaks out another hologram, Emmet, the emergency tactical hologram, a spanish speaking, tattooed version of himself, not that he seems to be very good at his job. He’s so laid back he doesn’t seem to bother returning fire most of the time, and just criticises Rios fyling instead.
The day is saved by a very Delta Flyer looking ship which manages to damage the Bird of Prey but takes heavy damage itself before crashing into the planets shield, and the pilot is quickly beamed aboard before his ship explodes.
Or rather, Her ship explodes, as we see the familiar face of Seven of Nine, who retorts to Picard that he owes her a ship, before passing out from her wounds.
Speculations and observations
We don’t see any starships in orbit of the planet Vashti, only shuttles.
Picard looks more like the image of an English man dressed for a walk on the Riviera in the early scenes at the Hub.
Picards shift in attitude towards children could be down to not having any of his own (that we or even he, knows of) and the death of his brother and his nephew in Generations. Some did speculate from the trailers that Dahj could be Picards secret daughter with the Borg Queen and would adopt the surname and be the central character for season 2 in a passing of the torch kind of way. While that’s clearly not the case, maybe Elnor could be Picards surrogate son?
Absolute candor can mean the nuns and Elnor can be quite... abrupt... As Agnes Jurroti points out, this could be quite annoying, and given some viewers have found her annoying (not me), this makes for quite a good joke, intentional or otherwise.
Rios is apparently a fan of Klingon opera and real books, though his reading material shows a very depressing outlook on life, and death. It does open up a few looks into his character as Klingons tend to have quite an interest in death and dying well.
Agnes has apparently kept herself very busy at her job despite not being able to create new synths, so busy she wasn’t able to keep up to date on the latest papers.
Despite synths being illegal, holograms apparently aren’t. Although we don’t really know if any of them are sentient like Voyager's EMH was (or indeed what has happened to him since the synth ban) Picard stil treats them in a similar manner to how he did with Data. Unlike Janeway who never really saw her EMH as alive.
With that said, biological androids like the sisters might be considered less like Androids and more along the lines of Augments and genetic engineering, which is still banned within the Federation.
The two new holograms we see in this episode have vastly different personalities. Emmet is very laid back, and seems to give not one single care in the world about anything, while the hospitality hologram is very much a hands on kinda person. Given the EMH Rios has seems to act much like the EMH mark 1, you do have to wonder what the original skins for these holograms were and why Rios has apparently opted to use his own face on all of them. I can kind of picture the EMH being a reskinned mark 1 and if reset to factory settings might look like Robert Picardo, but I can’t picture any established Trek characters that could be the default for the others. With all of that said thought, the hospitality hologram does point out that Rios seems to like his own company.
If Soji is the destroyer of Romulan legend (and possibly by extension, Vulcan legends too) how did Maddox manage to create such a being? It’s very unlikely he researched Romulan culture simply because he wasn’t a historian so his work would never have accidentally wandered down that path. Perhaps a better question is of course, how could the Romulans have ever known of such a being like Soji?.
Narak knowing Ramdha may suggest his lost brother might have been assimilated as well. We don’t yet know when this Borg cube was found or when Ramdha and the other Romulans had been assimilated, or even why this one Cube was separated from the collective, or just how that big hole was put in to it.
It would be very interesting to see how the XB’s react to Picard and Seven.
Soji is dismissively referred to as being anatomically correct by Nareks sister. Data was known to be anatomically correct. But the only people who could verify this are all dead. So, foreboding her death?
I’m pretty much convinced by this point that Narek is truly in love with Soji, whether he stays true to this love for her or stays loyal to his abusive sister and their commanders, is a different issue. But the man is clearly torn, and his sister is taking a perverse interest in that.
As per the trailers Elnor does have very much a Lord of the Rings movies vibe about him, his hair and dress sense is very much inspired by the Elves and his choice of thin bladed sword. Perhaps less of this would be noticed if Romulans and Elves didn’t share pointy ears, but givenRomulans like their Vulcan cousins are three times stronger than humans, I think we might be seeing some very exciting stunt work from him in future fights. I also wonder if any of the fencing Picard taught him will come into play or if that would all be superseded by the training provided him by the sisters.
I’m not entirely clear why Picard decided to make a stand with his last few minutes on Vashti to go and cause trouble in the Romulan Only Social Club. Some have suggested he did so to try to get Elnor on his side. But I feel he did so in a misguided effort to mend some broken bridges and try to bring people back together. One thing that is clear to me is that as of the relocation onwards, Picards better judgment has been flagging. He is not the man he once was, and it’s possible it was just luck that Elnor was still following him when he went into that bar.
The ancient Bird of Prey is clearly being used as a symbol for better times for the Romulans.
What is the point of sending the twins out on their missions? The Romulans are very much convinced she must have some sort of plan for being on the cube. And by extension,while they don’t know who their creator is, Maddox likewise must have some sort of plan, or is otherwise being coerced into these actions, if he is indeed still alive.
And of course, just as no one knows why Maddox sent his girls out like he did, we still don’t know what the Romulans really want from the Borg Cube. Ramdha would seem to be a key to it, but we’ve no evidence as yet to confirm that.
Do Picard and Seven actually know each other personally? Or just by reputation?
There’s still nothing stated as to just what Freecloud is. The dice in the advert Raffi saw implies some sort of space Las Vegas but the name keeps reminding me of the days of free internet trial CDs from the likes of AOL and Compunet and similar, long forgotten companies.
Again from the Trailers, when are we going to see Riker and Troi? We saw Seven in the trailers sitting in Picards house, and since we know she shows up for the first time in this episode that they aren’t likely to meet up on Earth, and Picard does have a hologram of his home to relax in, they’ll likely meet there. Does this mean he’ll meet Troi and Riker in the holodeck as well? Or is he likely to pay them a visit once he returns to Earth to seek their advice before he does something else? Like go off on yet another adventure?
Spoilers ahead, so beware.
The opening shot is a flashback 14 years ago to the Romulan resettlement effort and the planet Vashti in the beta quadrant, swarming with starfleet shuttles going to and from the surface and with Picard beaming down looking like he’s about to go for a walk along the French riviera.
The Romulan relocation hub looks like a tropical village paradise with some tower blocks, surrounded by foliage and resting at the foot a mountain range, in turn surrounded by desert and lit by twin suns. There's even signs of more construction as a crane can be seen in the distance. We see the Romulans settlers playing cards and other games to pass the time while a young Elnor steals some fruit from an angry vendor who yells in Romulan at the thief “run sisterboy” to which Elnor retorts in Romulan “bite me”. Not something I think he would have picked up from Picard.
It’s important to note that this is one of the few times we have seen Romulan civilians going about their lives, and everyone looks happy and pretty well to do given their situations as refugees. There’s no sign of illness or poverty and the streets are filled with brightly coloured trees and bushes and the humdrum of everyday life. Things will be very different when Picard returns 14 years later and sees the same Romulans we see here in these shots looking very, very different.
Picard visits the sisters of the Qowat Milat, Romulan warriors nuns who have some sort of vow of telling total truth or absolute candor in all dealings, and are amongst the most feared warriors the Romulans have ever produced. These nuns have provided as much help as they can to Picard in the relocation effort and have taken in Elnor as between themselves and Picard no one has managed to find a suitable home for the boy.
Picard thanks them for their help and gives out some gifts, a copy of the Three Musketeers to Elnor which he reads to him later and even reenacts some scenes while giving him some fencing lessons, and some hanifak for Zani the head of the order. While reading and fencing with Elnor it’s quite clear that Picards attitude towards children, once one of total annoyance, has mellowed, and there is something of the start of a father and son bond going on between them.
Sadly it's while fencing that Picard learns of the Synth attack on Mars.
Back in the present and the La Sirena has changed course, Rios is reading his book on the bridge with soft music playing in the background when Agnes walks in and tries to strike up a conversation as she’s caught up on everything she can do as far as reading and listening to music is concerned, and even laments the vast quantities of space and the boredom of traveling across it. Or mostly she just talks without barely taking a break for breath. Rios just reads his book as best he can while she does so, only to have the day saved by the lack of interesting conversation with the arrival of an enraged Raffi whose just learned about the change in course, and doesn’t calm down any once she learns the destination is Vashti.
On the holodeck (or holomatrix) La Sierena has on board, Picard is looking over the holographic recreation of his study back home while the Hospitality Hologram who is giving him a tour, tends to get a bit too close to personal space for comfort. Everything seems correct and even features a view of the vineyards, complete with workers and flying birds and classical music playing.
Raffi storms in with Rios not too far behind and the hologram bows out on his own violtion while Rios mentions how much he fucking hates that hologram. A debate breaks out on the point of going though and it becomes quite obvious Picard is very much out of touch with the current situation around Vashti. With Agnes timidly joining them and queries if she's allowed in. Rios fills Picard in on some of the power struggles that has been going on since the last time Picard was there, and Picard looks like he can’t believe it. At least one warlord has gotten ahold of an old Romulan Bird of Prey.
Raffi quierries if Rios told him about it all when he was ordered to change course and Rios simply replies that he thought Picard knew. The Fenris Rangers are brought up, this is their territory after all but as it turns out they don’t have the resources to cope, and there is now a Romulan Rebirth movement. Regardless of the issues that have happened Picard is still determined to visit as he wants to recruit one of the Romulan warrior nuns, the Qowat Milat to his mission. Agnes is somewhat surprised to learn of their existence. Picard extolls their virtues and the help they gave him and Raffi in the relocation effort.
Raffi asks Picard if the loss of Dahjs has him remembering Elnor, and what they used to say back then. “One impossible thing at a time” and says they need to concentrate on Freecould. Picard counters that he might never pass this way again, hinting at his age, and possibly his health. As he leaves, Agnes ponders the question about the risk of absolute Candor being potentially annoying.
Back on the Borg cube, we get an external shot that shows just how much of the Cube is missing. Soji is going over an old talk show interview that Ramdha took part in before her assimilation where she is asked about Ganmadan, the Day of Annihilation, which is about all life, everywhere. Soji is trying to recreate the layout of the playing cards Ramada had been assembling during their meeting. The term ”the destroyer” is brought up again inthe recording.
On the La Sirena, Picard is surprised to find so much security around the planet in the form of a planetary shield and defence systems. He’s even more surprised to find that the mention of his name won’t allow his entry to the Hub on Vashti. Rios suggests money and Picard beams down to find the planet very much changed from how he left it. It’s not utter squalor the people are in, but gone are the smiles and warmth, the plants are dying, the streets quiet, and the social clubs segregated. Picard notices there are armed guards patrolling with swords.
No one will greet him but it’s clear people recognise him, and we see many of the same Romulans from earlier looking no older than they did before, but now with very different looks on their faces. Gone are the smiles, the joy, the hope, stony faced silence is all we get. One Romulan taps his comm badge once Picard has passed by.
Thankfully the nuns are happy to see him, Picard is greeted by Zani who points out he has aged while he observes she has not, but admits that he has no right to ask for her help. Before things can progress we are quickly reintroduced to the now fully grown Elnor, complete with flowing long hair and music belonging to a hair care commercial.
Sojis is attending some treatment Ramdha is undergoing when Narek shows up and reveals that he knew Ramdha before she was assimilated, much to Sojis surprise. Sojis admits she felts drawn to her and blames herself for Ramdhas sucide attempt. Narek manges to calm Soji down a bit and the two go drinking where Soji tries to get some more information out of him regarding both himself and his level of access to the Borg cube files, as well as Ramdha and her mission prior to assimilation. Narek states he doesn’t have access to the information and won’t admit to being Tal Shiar either, but suggests he might know someone who can find out.
Narek does however want to show her something, as they walk alone into an empty part of the cube, he tells her he wants to show her an old Borg ritual. Soji does a neck twist reminiscent of Data when he was intrigued by something… unexpected.
While on the way Narek manages to find out how Soji speaks such good Romulan, a friend of her fathers taught her at the university.
The Borg Ritual turns out to require you to take off your shoes and run down a corridor with a slippery floor, essentially skidding or skating over the distance. Sojis sees the fun in it and joins in and the two have quite the time “dancing on ice” before kissing passionately against a wall.
Narek at this point “plants the first seed of doubt” telling Soji she wasn’t on the passenger list of the transport she states she came in on, annoying her when she reaffirms she was by not answering when she asks if he doubts her.
Narek reals her back in by dangling the issue of Ramdhas mission like a carrot on a stick.
Meanwhile Picard is now the most trending issue on the Romulan answer to social networks and Raffi wants him beamed out now. Picard insists he’s perfectly safe where he is and tells them to do what they need to. Rios checks the sensors and finds the old bird of prey is on route to the planet.
Picard talks to Zani again about the planets status and how the sisters are basically acting as police in some cases. Zani points out one of Picard's errors in judgement, as he could not save everyone, he chose to save no one. Picards admits to his mistake.
Their talk soon turns to Elnor, after Picards upsets him by politely declining the food he is offered, before storming out. He’s the best fighter Zani has ever seen, young and strong and capable, and has passed all his tests, but as a man can never truly be one of them. Zani also feels he has not gotten to live his own life, one of many reasons she's happy for him to aid Picard.
Picard and Elnor talk, and Picard gets him up to speed about Data and his daughters. Elnor can recall the tales Picard told him about the Android and his cat. Elmor admits he’s still not seen such a creature. Picard admits he’s working on guess work in trying to trace down Maddox but that he also needs Elnor and his strength to help in what seems like a lost cause.
Elnor feels Picard only has need of him now and that he was abandoned as a child, so he decides to do the same to Picard and storms off again.
Picard returns to his beam in location near the front of the Romulan social club, takes a look around at the scene before him, and how different it is now to his last visit, and takes down the “Romulan only sign” and decides to take a seat in the club. One Romulan walks away in disgust when Picard sits at his table, while the waiter ignores Picard altogether.
The Romulan who made a comm call earlier approaches Picard, introduces himself in a friendly enough manner that just about barely hides the disgust he feels for the man, and slowly starts putting a lot of the blame on Picard for the Romulan people's situation. Eventually Picard is forced out into the street to duel with swords with the larger, younger Romulan.
Picard refuses to fight, trading a few blows of defence away, and throws down the sword. He is a man alone, in a very hostile area, with not a single onlooker showing any support for him.
At this point Elnor reveals he's been around all the time and steps in, advising the Romulans trying to kill Picard to back down. They refuse and the blink of an eye Elnor takes out at least two Romulans, including the one facing Picard via decaptition.
Picard and Elnor are quickly beamed up before the remaining friends of the headless Romulan can draw disruptors, and once on the ship Picard angrily dresses down Elnor as he states the man he killed did not deserve to die. Elnor points out that the man knew the risks in ignoring him, but agrees to follow Picards orders in future, even swearing on it when told to do so.
Raffi isn’t impressed by the boy with a stick and Agnes is rather shocked to find that Elnor has agreed to take on a lost cause.
Narek is later visited by his sister again, this time in his bedroom and the two trade details. Tensions are clearly fraught between the two, with her clearly unhappy about his slow progress with his one seed of doubt. She chokes him as she makes her lack of satisfaction in his progress very clear, while also making it very clear what course she would prefer and that their aim is to kill the androids. All the while taunting him for his interest in Soji and even taking sadistic pleasure in choking him to force him to call Soji the destroyer.
On the La Sirena there are much bigger fish to worry about in the form of the now attacking Bird of Prey, which despite its age is still more than capable of giving them a serious room for their money, especially with the help of the planetary shield defences which are of course on the Bird of Preys side.
Rios breaks out another hologram, Emmet, the emergency tactical hologram, a spanish speaking, tattooed version of himself, not that he seems to be very good at his job. He’s so laid back he doesn’t seem to bother returning fire most of the time, and just criticises Rios fyling instead.
The day is saved by a very Delta Flyer looking ship which manages to damage the Bird of Prey but takes heavy damage itself before crashing into the planets shield, and the pilot is quickly beamed aboard before his ship explodes.
Or rather, Her ship explodes, as we see the familiar face of Seven of Nine, who retorts to Picard that he owes her a ship, before passing out from her wounds.
Speculations and observations
We don’t see any starships in orbit of the planet Vashti, only shuttles.
Picard looks more like the image of an English man dressed for a walk on the Riviera in the early scenes at the Hub.
Picards shift in attitude towards children could be down to not having any of his own (that we or even he, knows of) and the death of his brother and his nephew in Generations. Some did speculate from the trailers that Dahj could be Picards secret daughter with the Borg Queen and would adopt the surname and be the central character for season 2 in a passing of the torch kind of way. While that’s clearly not the case, maybe Elnor could be Picards surrogate son?
Absolute candor can mean the nuns and Elnor can be quite... abrupt... As Agnes Jurroti points out, this could be quite annoying, and given some viewers have found her annoying (not me), this makes for quite a good joke, intentional or otherwise.
Rios is apparently a fan of Klingon opera and real books, though his reading material shows a very depressing outlook on life, and death. It does open up a few looks into his character as Klingons tend to have quite an interest in death and dying well.
Agnes has apparently kept herself very busy at her job despite not being able to create new synths, so busy she wasn’t able to keep up to date on the latest papers.
Despite synths being illegal, holograms apparently aren’t. Although we don’t really know if any of them are sentient like Voyager's EMH was (or indeed what has happened to him since the synth ban) Picard stil treats them in a similar manner to how he did with Data. Unlike Janeway who never really saw her EMH as alive.
With that said, biological androids like the sisters might be considered less like Androids and more along the lines of Augments and genetic engineering, which is still banned within the Federation.
The two new holograms we see in this episode have vastly different personalities. Emmet is very laid back, and seems to give not one single care in the world about anything, while the hospitality hologram is very much a hands on kinda person. Given the EMH Rios has seems to act much like the EMH mark 1, you do have to wonder what the original skins for these holograms were and why Rios has apparently opted to use his own face on all of them. I can kind of picture the EMH being a reskinned mark 1 and if reset to factory settings might look like Robert Picardo, but I can’t picture any established Trek characters that could be the default for the others. With all of that said thought, the hospitality hologram does point out that Rios seems to like his own company.
If Soji is the destroyer of Romulan legend (and possibly by extension, Vulcan legends too) how did Maddox manage to create such a being? It’s very unlikely he researched Romulan culture simply because he wasn’t a historian so his work would never have accidentally wandered down that path. Perhaps a better question is of course, how could the Romulans have ever known of such a being like Soji?.
Narak knowing Ramdha may suggest his lost brother might have been assimilated as well. We don’t yet know when this Borg cube was found or when Ramdha and the other Romulans had been assimilated, or even why this one Cube was separated from the collective, or just how that big hole was put in to it.
It would be very interesting to see how the XB’s react to Picard and Seven.
Soji is dismissively referred to as being anatomically correct by Nareks sister. Data was known to be anatomically correct. But the only people who could verify this are all dead. So, foreboding her death?
I’m pretty much convinced by this point that Narek is truly in love with Soji, whether he stays true to this love for her or stays loyal to his abusive sister and their commanders, is a different issue. But the man is clearly torn, and his sister is taking a perverse interest in that.
As per the trailers Elnor does have very much a Lord of the Rings movies vibe about him, his hair and dress sense is very much inspired by the Elves and his choice of thin bladed sword. Perhaps less of this would be noticed if Romulans and Elves didn’t share pointy ears, but givenRomulans like their Vulcan cousins are three times stronger than humans, I think we might be seeing some very exciting stunt work from him in future fights. I also wonder if any of the fencing Picard taught him will come into play or if that would all be superseded by the training provided him by the sisters.
I’m not entirely clear why Picard decided to make a stand with his last few minutes on Vashti to go and cause trouble in the Romulan Only Social Club. Some have suggested he did so to try to get Elnor on his side. But I feel he did so in a misguided effort to mend some broken bridges and try to bring people back together. One thing that is clear to me is that as of the relocation onwards, Picards better judgment has been flagging. He is not the man he once was, and it’s possible it was just luck that Elnor was still following him when he went into that bar.
The ancient Bird of Prey is clearly being used as a symbol for better times for the Romulans.
What is the point of sending the twins out on their missions? The Romulans are very much convinced she must have some sort of plan for being on the cube. And by extension,while they don’t know who their creator is, Maddox likewise must have some sort of plan, or is otherwise being coerced into these actions, if he is indeed still alive.
And of course, just as no one knows why Maddox sent his girls out like he did, we still don’t know what the Romulans really want from the Borg Cube. Ramdha would seem to be a key to it, but we’ve no evidence as yet to confirm that.
Do Picard and Seven actually know each other personally? Or just by reputation?
There’s still nothing stated as to just what Freecloud is. The dice in the advert Raffi saw implies some sort of space Las Vegas but the name keeps reminding me of the days of free internet trial CDs from the likes of AOL and Compunet and similar, long forgotten companies.
Again from the Trailers, when are we going to see Riker and Troi? We saw Seven in the trailers sitting in Picards house, and since we know she shows up for the first time in this episode that they aren’t likely to meet up on Earth, and Picard does have a hologram of his home to relax in, they’ll likely meet there. Does this mean he’ll meet Troi and Riker in the holodeck as well? Or is he likely to pay them a visit once he returns to Earth to seek their advice before he does something else? Like go off on yet another adventure?
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