Star Trek: Picard Episode #7 // Review
It’s reunion time in Star Trek: Picard episode 7 (Nepenthe), and there is so much screen time devoted to old friends that no TNG fan could possibly find a way to dislike this entry (though, some probably will, anyway). Previously, a retired Picard (Patrick Stewart) found out that Data (Brent Spiner) had a couple of “daughters” (Dahj and Soji, both played by Isa Briones) out there in the galaxy that weren’t even aware they were androids. When the Romulans came hunting for and killed Dahj, Jean-Luc swore to find Soji, and save her. Even though he had burned his bridges with Starfleet, he was still able to call in some favors, and charter a ship to track down the android’s creator, Bruce Maddox (John Ales). Unfortunately, Maddox was murdered during a rescue attempt, but not before he was able to give Picard her location aboard a decommissioned Borg/science research station. Just as Soji was discovering her true origins, the Romulans descended upon her, and Jean-Luc and his motley crew showed up just in time to help her escape. But Soji has been left in a state of confusion and does not know who she can trust. Now, Jean-Luc has taken her to a secluded planet, where his old crewmates Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Troi (Marina Sirtis) have retired to raise their daughter Kestra (Lulu Wilson).
This episode slows things down a bit, and while glacial pacing has been a common complaint about this show in the past, it’s a major strength here. If that sounds like finicky fanboy logic to you...you’re not completely wrong. The reason this episode’s slower pace works, though, is because it is almost entirely dedicated to Jean-Luc reuniting with his old crewmates Will and Deanna, and it is pure, unadulterated fanboy joy to see them all on-screen together again. They could have dedicated two episodes to Picard sitting around, catching up with his TNG crew, and there would have been little-to-no complaints. Additionally, their interactions with each other are well-written, and they all seem so comfortable together, allowing for their chemistry to flow naturally. The characters know each other so well, and Riker and Troi can read Jean-Luc like a book, so it leads to some entertaining and satisfying moments between them all.
The other bulk of the episode is dedicated to the aftermath of Soji finding out she is an android, and that her entire life has been an illusion. Briones handles the emotions of it all very well and is expertly partnered with Wilson, playing the extremely charming and whip-smart daughter of the Rikers. This is honestly the most interesting the character has been, so far, and it’s great to finally see her interacting with Picard. She’s finally out from under the boring Narek pairing and can expand into the A story, as most people have been waiting for her to do. It seems it’s all uphill from here unless showrunner Michael Chabon can’t figure out a way to stick the landing.
There is a less-than-great part of this episode dealing with the leftover crew that feels like exactly that. The cliffhanger ending with Elnor (Evan Evagora) and Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) from the last episode is confusingly glossed over in favor of Hugh somehow being captured and separated from Elnor, which seems very out of character for the sword-wielding, uncompromising Romulan. If anything, he would have likely died protecting Hugh. On the flipside, Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill) deals with her guilt over killing Maddox, and a flashback is shown of Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita) showing her a disastrous future where synthetic life is allowed to exist. This is a nice explanation for her out of nowhere murder of Maddox. However, it still raises more questions than it answers. Such as “why does Oh know the future”, and “why didn’t Jurati asks more question about what she was seeing before deciding that killing a man she was intimately involved with was the only solution to avoiding that future”. It’s highly likely the answers to all of these questions is “poor writing”, but hopefully there will be at least a few answers coming before the end of the season.
Overall, this was one of the best episodes of the series yet, and the show only seems to be getting better the further it goes. A somewhat rocky start has given way to a show that is much more inline with what the fans wanted it to be. If you’ve been waiting for a little more of that TNG flavor, this is the episode for you.
