A little something different in my space (haha) today, as I’m talking about the first episode of Season 3 of Picard, which premiered on Paramount+ on Thursday. I’ve been a fan of Star Trek for some time, right alongside Star Wars. My first memory of going to the movies was seeing Star Trek Generations, and Star Trek The Voyage Home influenced a sixth-grade science project I did on humpback whales. I’ve loved Star Trek: Picard seasons one and two and have been anxiously awaiting this season, knowing that much of the original TNG cast will be involved.
The Good Doctor, Revisited
The Next Generation, season 3’s opener, begins with quite the cold open. A ship I can’t place flies towards a (clearly) Federation ship, and we find the one and only Dr. Beverly Crusher. She’s going through a bit of a rough time. She’s on a ship that’s obviously seen better days, a playlist of ‘oldies’ in the background as well as Jean-Luc’s logs of meeting the Borg for the first time (!!).
She flashes into frame. “They’ve found us.”
Going into badass mode, she locks up someone, tries to get the ship out of the area, grabs a blaster rifle, and starts to defend herself. She’s not wearing Starfleet clothes anymore. The aliens manage to shoot her, but she takes them both out. This sequence is fabulous, and you can really see that the past twenty years have changed the good Doctor. She tells the computer to get a message ready to send, and where’s it going? Jean-Luc Picard, of course.
Beverly has been through some stuff, guys.Spring Cleaning?
It’s here we see Picard at the Chateau, and his relationship with Laris is still going strong after finally admitting his feelings in the season two finale. (A chunk of time has passed since then, I’ve gathered.) They’re looking at a painting of the Enterprise-D, talking about first loves. Laris wants to send the painting out for a cleaning, but Picard wants to ship it off to Geordi, who we learn is running the Fleet Museum. Picard and Laris are leaving, and he has big plans to sip expensive-sounding brandy and write what I hope is a scathing memoir while she sets up diplomatic security. He starts waxing poetic about not needing a legacy and how the past is the past. “I am not a man who needs a legacy,” he tells her, followed by, “I want a new adventure.” (Be careful what you wish for, dude.)
In his study that night, an old communicator starts chirping, and he recognizes it as one from the Enterprise-D days. He’s able to get to Crusher’s message, and it’s a bit startling to hear her address him as ‘Admiral Picard’ and not Jean-Luc. Beverly sent coordinates to Picard, the phrase “Hellbird,” and a warning not to trust Starfleet, or anyone for that matter.
He shares the message with Laris, and we learn that Beverly cut off the crew twenty years ago and left Starfleet. There’s a bit of exposition here for those who may not have watched TNG, as Laris mentions their complicated history. Laris tells him he must go, that “these are the lives we’ve chosen.” They plan to go to a bar on the planet they were going to go to, and she promises to save him a seat. And immediately, I’m fearful for their lives because when you make plans like that on a TV show, they never work out.
Will Riker, Interrupted
Poor Will. The man just looks like he’s having a life crisis, though he’s rocking that beard. And Picard is rocking his newsboy hat. They’re in an establishment of Guinan’s, but we don’t see her. (Sad face.) Will drops some sad news here; it seems like there’s some issues between him and Deanna and Kestra.
Riker is able to solve the mystery of the coordinates Beverly left, the key being Hellbird, and what the Borg did to the Enterprise’s computers while Picard was Locutus. Riker doesn’t know why Beverly cut everyone off, either, but the duo come up with a plan to get to a ship.
There’s also this dude who seems very interested in them, who dunks an Enterprise figurine in his glass. I see you, shifty guy. I SEE YOU.
I’ve got bad knees too, Will.Raffi?!? Raffi.
At the end of Picard season two, it seemed like things were on the up and up for Raffi, so immediately, I was fearful for her sobriety, seeing her nervously go through the streets of M’Talas Prime. LET RAFFI BE HAPPY, DANG IT.
Turns out, she’s undercover for Starfleet and on the quest for someone/something called the Red Lady and tracing some stolen experimental tech that could be used as a weapon. I don’t think she and Seven actually split, thank goodness.
Seems like Raffi at least has some perfunctory contact with her grandkid, though, as evidenced by a video she watches the next time we see her, right before she met with her handler. Did anyone else get Section 31 vibes from that meeting? When her record popped up on the screen, highlighting the low moments in her career, especially. And the music behind it just made me shiver. And her handler? By the end of the episode, I was thinking it was Worf.
Is I just hope that she doesn’t fall off the wagon for real after what she sees toward the end of the episode. (More on that in a bit.) Raffi’s character development through Picard has been a shining spot, and Michelle Hurd is fantastic in the role. I’d take a Raffi spin-off.
Captain Shaw is Sus, Right?
Picard and Riker’s big plan is to show up for an inspection of the Titan and work some magic on its new Captain. I say magic because, really, reputation only gets you so far, and when they board the ship and see Seven, it’s clear that’s what this is going to take.
Seven tells them that Captain Shaw prefers she go by Annika Hansen, her name before being assimilated by the Borg. Jeri Ryan does a great job showing Seven’s discomfort without outright saying it. She’s the XO of the Titan. Captain Shaw has invited them all for dinner that night, but Seven notes that it’s probably not going to be a good time.
The bridge of the Titan is impressive. A little on the dark side but very impressive. (A couple of lamps would be great.) Most impressive is the young Ensign at the helm – Sidney “Crash” LaForge. (I love her story. She crashed two shuttles while at the Academy, and still gets to pilot a shiny new starship? Nice.)
Interesting note: Warp 9.99 isn’t the big deal it used to be, apparently. “It’s all automated now,” Seven tells Picard. The short banter between Riker and Picard is top-notch.
Captain Shaw is…something. He’s starts supper before they even arrive, then insults Picard’s gift of wine from Chateau Picard. From there, he goes after Riker and his choice of jazz and calls out the climax of every Star Trek TNG movie, saying he won’t have any of those shenanigans.
Shaw is not too thrilled about changing course, and doesn’t take the bait Riker offers. Picard also makes an error in speaking, which seems uncommon. Seven comes to his rescue, but that’s not enough to move Shaw. Endearing him to no one, he calls out Picard for being retired and Riker for being a Captain with no ship. Finally, after Seven begins to propose a compromise, he tells her that her loyalties are with the Titan and not “old friends, former ex-Borg.” Pretty d-bag move there, considering she’s ex-Borg too.
Shaw seems like the kind of Captain who just wants the title on a resume, but has the last laugh as he leaves dinner. He sticks Picard and Riker in a set of quarters with bunk beds, but Seven knows there’s something up between Riker and Picard.
On the bunk beds, Picard laments how it may already be too late for Beverly before they’re called away.
Shaw is a character Todd Stashwick seems born to play (Not a bad thing!)Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger
Like Riker, Seven is also having a bit of an identity crisis. Picard tells her about the message and tells her he didn’t want to get her in any sort of situation that would kill her career.
It seems like she’s regretting letting Janeway and Picard talk her into Starfleet, and this is where I really wish Kate Mulgrew would show up in some fashion. (Especially when Seven spoke about wanting to be a role model and inspiration for someone.)
As someone who’s been having a small life crisis, I relate to this Seven.
So, what did Seven do? She pulled a Janeway and took the Titan to where Riker and Picard needed to go and basically set them up with a shuttle. Shaw wasn’t happy, but I feel it’s hard for that guy to be happy unless it’s eating a steak and white bread and the same drink every day.
District 7 and the Red Lady
Raffi is able to figure out the Red Lady; it’s a (red) statue of Rachel Garrett that’s being dedicated during Frontier Day celebrations. Garrett was Picard’s predecessor on the Enterprise and the subject of one of the best episodes of a television show of all time, “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”
She arrives at District 7 before disaster strikes. Still, she can’t get in contact with anyone before a circular beam surrounds the Starfleet Recruitment Center, and it collapses, only to fall out of a portal in the sky, killing even more. Raffi is only able to watch in horror as this happens. Visually, it’s a cool effect, but HOLY HECK, WHO IS THIS EVIL?
Michelle Hurd is an MVP of the series as RaffiBack to the Start
Picard and Riker track down Beverly’s ship and read two life signs aboard. One Beverly, the other, they’re not sure. Picard’s nervous, and Riker’s knees hurt, so you know this is going to go well. Music is still playing when they board the Eleos, and Picard realizes it’s a mixtape he made for her “in lieu of wine and roses.”
Beverly’s in some sort of medical pod, but the other person on the ship found Riker and brought him to the bridge with Picard and Beverly. Picard notes that the controls for the pod are on the outside, meaning that someone (the stranger) had to help her inside.
Even after 20 years, Picard knows that Beverly wouldn’t have gone to the lengths she went to for only herself, so he wants to know who the stranger is after Will knocks the blaster out of his hands.
“Her son.”
Me: WHAT?!
They (and I) get a moment to be stunned before the ship is rocked by weapons fire, and Beverly’s son accuses them of leading the enemy right to them, noting that each time they were found, whoever attacked them “had different faces.”
The episode ends with a large alien ship looming. It’s a hell of a setup for the season, that’s for sure.