Welcome to a special series of Trekking Through Compliance, the podcast series inspired by my review of Star Trek, the Original Series. In this special series I am joined by another uber Star Trek maven, Megan Dougherty, co-founder of One Stone Creative. In this series we will review the new television show Picard which is currently streaming on CBS.
SPOILER ALERT-Although we will review each episode after it appears, we will discuss each episode in depth.
Episode 5, Stardust City Rag. In a flashback, Seven of Nine mercy-kills Icheb, a fellow former Borg drone saved by Voyager, after his Borg implants have been ripped out by the black-marketeer Bjayzl. In the present, La Sirena arrives at Freecloud, where Raffi discovers that Maddox is being held prisoner by Bjayzl, who intends to sell him to the Tal Shiar. Picard’s crew plan to recover Maddox by staging a prisoner exchange, with Seven (and her Borg implants) as the bait. When Bjayzl recognizes Seven, Seven drops the charade and reveals her true intention: to kill Bjayzl to avenge Icheb. Picard persuades Seven to relent, and Maddox is safely recovered and beamed to La Sirena. Afterward, Seven returns to Freecloud and kills Bjayzl without Picard’s knowledge. In sickbay, Maddox tells Picard what he knows about Soji and Dahj, explaining that he sent them to Earth and the Artifact in order to discover the true motivation behind the synthetics ban. After Picard leaves them alone, Jurati tearfully murders Maddox, saying “If you’d seen what I saw”. Meanwhile, Raffi tries to reconnect with her estranged son Gabriel, who is married to and expecting a child with a Romulan woman but is rebuffed and returns to La Sirena.
Highlights, speculations and questions include:
- The humanity of 7/9 (and Picard).
- Is Picard aging too quickly?
- What are some of the cookies in this show?
- Does revenge belong in the Star Trek universe?
- What is Jurati’s agenda? Is she a plant on the team?
