So this was a pendulum of an episode from Star Trek Picard. It swing from the goofiest
light-hearted moments we’ve seen in this series to the darkest I think has ever been
in Star Trek. Hello, Ric here and I’m going to be up front
with this one, I disliked it on my first viewing for the most part. Even though there were
several moments I really enjoyed and a scene near the end that was a standout for me. So
let’s get started with a review of Episode 5 of Picard, “Stardust City Rag” full
spoilers ahead and let’s get started. First off. Icheb. I may still be grieving
here but what the hell? I understand they needed a motivation for Seven strike out the
way she has and this does that job. But the trouble with killing off Icheb in this scene
at the beginning, which wasn’t the same actor by the way, is that the villain responsible
is also introduced and dealt with within one episode so I have no time to grow to resent
that character. On my first viewing, the entire episode was overshadowed by his butchering
and it wasn’t until a review that I enjoyed the frivolity later on.
When they were cutting up Icheb like tonight’s chicken, they asked where his cortical node
was and then Seven enters the room. Ah, there is his cortical node, as he donated it to
Seven in the Voyager episode, “Imperfection” as his physiology was young enough to survive
without the critical component and Seven of Nin’s was failing. This dialogue was not
accidental timing but a reinforcement that the people behind this show have a decent
understanding of Trek but it makes choices like this even more unsettling because I feel
that Icheb being written out in the way he was, was another victim of too much story,
not enough time to tell it. I would have liked to seen at least a scene of Icheb talking
to Seven in his shuttle then coms go silent and he get captured. Then, during the retelling
of events to Picard, we could have learned of his fate, this would have created a growing
sense of background dread underpinning the episode as we wonder what happened 14 years
ago and where is Icheb now? Unlike Maddox, who was introduced in this
series as plot device, I think Icheb’s character deserved more than being reduced to someone
else’s narrative motivation. As for Seven’s appearance, it seems she
is fairly different from her pat self, but although far more colloquially spoken, she
still has mannerisms and leftovers from her time aboard Voyager. She’s always been the
character in the show that struggled with the way things were done, often she’d see
an optimal solution and just tackle it immediately so it’s no surprise that she continues this
trend to this day by being out there in the collapsed Neutral Zone helping everyone she
can. Notably, she at one point seems to have been referring to herself as Annika, her birth
name as Bjayzl refers to her this way, but has since regressed under the reputation-connected
name of Seven of Nine. This also leads me to a scene that gave me
tingles and an appreciation for both her and Picard’s character development, and that
is just before she beams out and she asks Picard if he truly feels he regained his humanity
after his assimilation. He answers immediately with a Yes, but then she asks “All of it?”
After a hesitation, he gives the honest answer of “No”, and that rings so true. How could
you return intact from that? Picard was used to destroy 39 Federation ship and crews and
remembers all of it. It was a dark point for him and to see it honoured with such a concise
conversation between two people who have gone through the same thing speaks of a mutual
understanding, even as Seven continues to struggle to this day.
In Freecloud, When we first see Mr Vup, I thought for a moment that we were meeting
a species from the Books but no, he’s a new addition, a Beta Annari reptiliod species
with an acute sense of smell. I thought the name was familiar and there is a species in
the Delta Quadrant called the Annari too so if I had to speculate, the Beta denotes the
Quadrant origin of the species but beyond that, I doubt the two are related.
Maddox was reintroduced and I’m surprised by the relationship with Agnes, I thought
she was a bit star struck by him, but I didn’t realise they were… sharing cookie dough
with each other. Her killing him off at the end was foreshadowed by her troubled looks
and deteriorating mental state as noted by the EMH. Agnes has clearly seen this big secret
that the Zhat Vash guard judging from what she’s saying and now we have a literal example
of this “revelation” being so ground-breaking it fundamentally changes a person’s perspective.
Just saying, you build up a secret like this, it better be worth the reveal, but personally,
not wearing my critical hat, the only suitable grand ideas I can theorise on, I don’t like.
The Romulans are all evolved from synths, somehow they made the Borg or timetravel.
However what I did enjoy was Elnor being used as the fish-out-of-water comic relief and
the crew playing extravagant dress-up to fit in with the business style of Freecloud. We’ve
heard a lot about this locale away from Federation space and from the targeted advertisements
to the myriad of establishments, it’s a Ferengi’s paradise down there. No surprise
then that Quark seems to have potentially been able to franchise his bar and seems to
have earned a great deal of respect among the criminal elements as the crew spoof his
approval for Rios’ false identity. The way the crew was getting together and having fun
before the caper (even Seven), was beautifully enhanced by Elnor’s complete lack of practice
with lying, which as an adherent of the Way of Absolute Candour, he would be. His isolation
on Vashti was also likely the reason for his lack of tailored advertisements, no browser
cookies related to his profession or interests for the automated spam to latch on to.
Raffi get some more backstory and we learn that her preoccupation with digging into the
Mars Synth attack went a long way into driving her family apart, especially as she believed
in Romulan involvement and her son is marrying a Romulan. Rifts that were there would have
been widened although apart from a couple of new terms being dropped, there’s not
much more to the plot added here. There were several other background references
in Freecloud as well as some small issues that still stand out to me, like why did Bjayzl
hang around after the attack on her persons by an angry notorious ex-Borg drone from the
Delta Quadrant? But I did enjoy this insight into the underbelly of the Star Trek universe
that organisations like the Starfleet, and thereby the audience, seldom delves into.
Overall this was a light hearted romp played for comedy bracketed by two horrific death
scenes that overshadow the lighter moments. Although there were strong character interactions
from the new and old alike that better developed the ragtag crew and again, the Picard-Seven
conversation was excellently done. As is customary, I’m going to include a
lore section here and well, it seems relevant to focus just on why Borg components were
so prized that Bjayzl would risk killing a Starfleet Officer to acquire some. Basically,
it’s because Borg tech is so varied, adaptable and for the most part, more advanced than
most things everyone else has. Borg nanoprobes in particular can perform a myriad of functions
and can be reprogrammed to convert biology and technology into completely new forms,
act as a smart immune system and conduct extensive tissue repair. Borg have been known to reanimate
from around 90 years of being dead. On top pf this Borg have implanted shield
emitters that can be reactivated even in disconnected drones that are as adaptable as those on their
vessels, allowing them to scramble their own transport signatures, walk through forcefields
and most notably, absorb all energy weapons if the frequency and output is known.
Much of a drone’s skeletal structure is replaced too with reinforced augmentations
that have no ill effect if properly maintained. As we see from the scan of Seven’s body,
that level of cyborg augmentation is near-impossible without some dramatic life-changing effects,
yet she is able to remain… functional, for her entire life.
Their visual acuity is also greatly enhanced. Their eyesight could focus down to a molecular
level and view the entire EM spectrum on command, all that contained within some tech that just
fits around the eye. These physiological changes manifest in increased
strength, reflexes and precision, although arguably this is wasted on a connected Drone
as all they seem to do is walk menacingly towards you, however in battles of physical
might it takes individuals like Data to overpower a drone, or maybe Worf if he gets lucky.
Seeing all that a Drone is capable off, even just one poses a threat if it is still connected
to the hive mind, it’s easy to see why there would be a black market for anything genuinely
Borg. On top of this, meddling with Borg tech is dangerous, not only will the Borg deny
any attempted acquisition of their technology, but the tech itself is often wired with numerous
failsafes and protocols to attempt assimilation or call out the hive mind. Therefore, dissecting
a full and active Drone would come fraught with risk, but a former-drone who has no links
to the collective; much of his dangerous tech removed and still retains a myriad of inner
advanced parts? That would be a much more appealing target.
I’m also wondering, Maddox was in business in some form of another with Bjayzl and he
cites a loan that he needs to repay. But, taking into consideration his field of study
and her supply of illicitly and immorally acquired cyborg components… could their
deal have gone deeper than just a financial loan? Was Maddox in contact with her for her
black market trade of Borg parts for his own projects? Hrm…
So with that all tied up, that’s my review for Episode 5 of Star Trek Picard. As I said,
this episode was a pendulum for me and the first one where I feel the “gritty” tone
that modern Trek is going for, went too far. This is not a family show by any means, so
how are people who grew up on TNG supposed to indoctrinate their kids into being Trekkies
now? I don’t mind the story that they’re telling, but so far I’ve only seen dark
Trek from CBS and I need to see how they tackle a consistent lighter feel before my worries
are completely addressed. Never has this been more prevalent than in this episode for me.
What about you? Until next review, or any video before that,
I’ve been Ric and thank you for watching. I’ll see you next time, goodbye.