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Full spoilers follow for this episode. Episode 5 of Star Trek: Picard, “Stardust City Rag,” opens with the rather graphic mutilation of a semi-regular Star Trek: Voyager character of old -- the former Borg known as Icheb. While by no means a recognizable face to casual viewers, Icheb was popular enough in some quarters. There was even a minor fan campaign to bring Icheb actor Manu Intiraymi back for Picard; the role has been recast here, however, and somehow one doubts this is what those fans had in mind for the character anyway. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-trek-picard-photos&captions=true"] Still, it’s a striking and emotional scene, as Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine bursts in, phasers firing, only to find she’s too late to save her “child.” Back on Star Trek: Voyager, Seven formed a bond with the young man, as they had both escaped the Borg Collective, and it’s a nice play on continuity to bring him back into the fold here, even if it’s just to give Seven some revenge-based motivation on the new series. This episode was written by Picard co-creator/supervising producer Kirsten Beyer, who has also penned an array of Voyager novels, and directed by Jonathan Frakes himself, so it’s no surprise that it would be particularly steeped in the details of Trek history. For in addition to reintroducing us to Seven -- and introducing her to her fellow ex-Borg Picard for the first time -- this is also the episode where we’re finally reunited with the Next Generation minor player Bruce Maddox, after the show spent the past four weeks talking about him. Maddox has been recast as well (he’s now played by John Ales, who replaces Next Gen actor Brian Brophy), which seems sort of appropriate since much of this episode is about disguises. It starts with the Picard Squad donning disguises -- some more outlandish than others -- for a heist-style story, and also includes Seven disguising what she’s really up to on
two different occasions. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/why-seven-of-nine-blames-picard"] The big draw of this episode of course is seeing Jean-Luc and Seven finally interact, and these scenes pay off as the philosophies of the two iconic characters clash in the brave new world of Star Trek: Picard. It seems Seven’s Fenris Rangers have taken it upon themselves to hold the former Romulan Neutral Zone together as best they can in the chaotic aftermath of the supernova, whereas Picard, after resigning from Starfleet, essentially turned tail and went home. It’s not hard to see why Seven has a chip on her soldier when she meets Picard. Both actors, Stewart and Ryan, meld perfectly together; Ryan is completely believable as this latter-day version of Seven, more human and yet still always struggling with her Borg side. And while the pair’s ultimate connection -- that very Borg-ness -- isn’t directly dwelled upon initially, it does become a linchpin of their relationship by episode’s end in the hour’s finest scene. “After they brought you back from your time in the Collective, did you honestly feel that you regained your humanity?” she asks him. He responds yes, and she counters with “All of it?” To which Picard must admit, “No. But we’re both working on it, aren’t we?” “Every damned day of my life,” she answers. It’s a great moment, but then in the next scene we see what’s really going on with Seven. Despite convincing Picard that he had talked her out of her revenge plan against the woman who tortured (and caused the death of) Icheb, she returns to Freecloud and disintegrates her. Despite how awful the woman was, this would seem to be an irredeemable act on the part of Seven. Is she so far gone that revenge killing is O.K. now? It’s troubling for a Star Trek hero to do this, but then again, she said it herself -- she’s still working on regaining her humanity. After a lifetime as a Borg drone, Seven was an individual again for, what, less than 10 years? Who can say how far back she’s fallen after the trauma of the past 14 years? [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/01/12/star-trek-the-picard-shows-timeline-explained"] Elsewhere in the episode, the fun continues in Picard’s holo-office as the gang plays dress up for their mission, proving as in last week’s segment that this group of actors works really well when bouncing off of one another. Even Evan Evagora’s Elnor, who doesn’t get to do much this time around, is a laugh as his Romulan warrior plays catch up with everyone else. Michelle Hurd does get a subplot in "Stardust City Rag" as we see that she’s been tracking her estranged son to Freecloud this whole time, but his rejection of her seems likely to drive her back to her drinking and vaping ways. The scene benefits from Hurd’s plaintive and sad performance, though the treacly music playing throughout doesn’t help, and it all seems a bit abrupt. She came all that way and then that’s it? As for Maddox, it turns out he and Agnes Jurati used to be in a relationship, which isn’t surprising, and which also serves to set up the apparent heel turn at episode’s end that sees her killing her former lover. Before he went to the Great Robot Lounge in the Sky, Maddox did provide Picard with the next clue he needs to move this story along -- Soji is on the Artifact -- but you gotta figure there’s more going on here with Agnes. Just what did (presumably) Commodore Oh show her that so freaked her out? And speaking of the Artifact, we skipped going there this week. Thankfully! [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-trek-picard-the-essential-treks-to-take-before-the-show&captions=true"] Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:
- “Are we still pretending?”
- Voyager gets a name drop, though we have no idea what happened to the rest of her crew.
- It turns out that since Seven was assimilated at a young age, she is still full of Borg implants, unlike someone like Picard who could be de-Borgified much easier apparently.
- Some fans were complaining last week that Seven should be going by her human name of Annika now, but it seems clear that she gave up that name after Icheb’s death and other troubling experiences as part of the Fenris Rangers.
- Easter eggs abound on Freecloud, including signs for Mr. Mot and Quark’s!
- What’s the Conclave of Eight that Raffi is on about?
- Why was Agnes so nervous? She’s a cyberneticist but doesn’t know how to use a transporter? Or is it the return of Maddox that actually had her worried?
- This season has now given us Picard speaking French and Picard playing a French stereotype. Oui oui!
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