Captain Picard helps coach his ancestor through anxiety, while yet another Soong family member
is up to no good.
Everything old is new again, literally, on this week's Easter-egg packed episode of "Star
Trek Picard."
We finally learn the true mission of Adam Soong in "Fly Me To The Moon."
Though he initially claims that he is out to cure his daughter's debilitating genetic
disorder, which makes sunlight and water poisonous to her, it seems that his actual goals are
a bit more sinister.
"I poured my heart into you.
I let myself believe you were the one."
After his daughter Kore gets curious, she discovers files on his computer that reveal
an alarming truth: she is not his first daughter.
He's had many more, all of whom were apparently grown in a lab and died before reaching maturity.
Some survived until childhood, but she seems to be the first to make it to adulthood.
This dark mission mirrors that of his descendant Arik Soong, who appeared in the "Star Trek:
Enterprise" three-part story that began with "Borderland" in the series' fourth and final
season.
In that episode, it is revealed that Arik Soong, also played by Brent Spiner, has taken
possession of genetically modified embryos left over from Earth's Eugenics Wars and raised
them into adulthood while screening out any defects.
It appears here that Adam Soong is doing the same or similar.
However, Adam isn't having nearly as much success, perhaps due to the more primitive
science of his time.
After all, Adam's experimentations occur more than a hundred years before Arik's.
There's still much to be learned about Adam Soong's dirty work, but it's clear that Arik
Soong was not alone in his family's desire to grow the perfect human.
At the gala, Renee Picard feels overwhelmed by the spotlight and retreats to a quieter
room to be alone.
While Q -- disguised as her therapist -- encourages her to back out of the mission, her descendant,
Jean-Luc Picard, is there to ensure she follows through.
He follows her and finds her in a hallway commemorating the history of Earth space flight,
from the early orbiters all the way up to contemporary spacecraft in the fictional 2024.
There we see many models, including the 1969 moon lander and the Shango X-1, which Renee
Picard will pilot on the upcoming Europa Mission.
When the two Picards meet and Renee is feeling too distraught to speak, Jean-Luc implores
her to look up and tell him about the ship hanging in the museum above them.
The ship we see is no stranger to "Star Trek," though it's never been seen in an actual episode.
The ship in question is an OV-165, which can be seen in the opening credits of "Star Trek:
Enterprise."
Originally designed to show mankind's slow evolution from Apollo 11 to the NX-01 Enterprise,
its appearance here is the first time we've seen a model of it.
"I call her 'Spike,' because she's got these kickass aero-spike engines that use less fuel."
It seems the writers of "Star Trek: Picard" are respecting the canon history of space
exploration in Earth's fictional present day, including the OV-165 shuttle.
In addition to the Shango X-1, the Apollo 11 capsule, and the OV-165 shuttle, viewers
glimpse another space vessel in the hallway museum when the two Picards converse.
This one is one that "Trek" fans should recognize if they are familiar with The Original Series
episode "The Changeling."
We already got one Easter egg referencing that episode when the name Jackson Roykirk
popped up at the tail end of Episode 4.
"'Jackson Roykirk,' 'Captain James Kirk.'"
"Yes.
Similar."
Here Roykirk's pioneering space probe, called Nomad, makes an appearance, with the model
of the ship sitting clearly over Picard's shoulder throughout their conversation.
Though we get only a fleeting glimpse of the model on-screen, promotional stills released
ahead of the episode's premiere showed more.
This includes the large signage accompanying the museum piece, which displays information
about the model, confirming the vessel as Nomad.
The spacecraft itself would be lost on its mission, only to turn up centuries later when
it's found by Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise after merging with another probe of alien
design.
When Raffi meets up with Rios during the Gala, she notes his upbeat attitude and connects
it to his meeting Teresa.
She can't help but warn him about the perils of falling in love in 2024.
"When you meet someone from a different century, the relationship is kind of built on lies."
While this is definitely good advice for Rios, it feels like a nod to previous "Star Trek"
time travel episodes in which one of the main cast falls in love with someone from the past.
In the original series episode "City on the Edge of Forever" Captain Kirk becomes romantically
involved with Edith Keeler, a woman in 1930 New York, and is forced to let her die to
preserve the timeline.
He again becomes linked to a woman in 1986 after traveling back in time in the film "The
Voyage Home," leading to a complicated conversation in a restaurant where he must dance around
his true origins.
"Don't tell me – you're from outer space."
"No, I'm from Iowa.
I only work in outer space."
In the "Star Trek: Voyager" two-parter "Future's End," it's Tom Paris who must cut short a
budding romance with Sarah Silverman's character Rain Robinson -- who clearly has the hots
for him -- because he has to return to the 24th century.
Even in "Deep Space Nine," Jadzia Dax's quasi-romance with 21st-century industrialist Chris Brynner
was doomed to fail – though in that episode, she was mostly just using him to basically
bust her friends out of jail.
Either way, Raffi is right – Rios ought to know better than to consider a time-crossed
romance, and there are plenty of examples from the past why that's the case.
While Kore searches the internet for information on her father, Adam Soong, she pulls up several
news sites with damning headlines.
One calls her father a "mad scientist," while others note his violation of the Shenzhen
Conventions.
However, an easy-to-miss headline on another news site hints at events we may have seen
before.
On a news sidebar, a headline for a separate unrelated story reads "Tensions Rise as Conflict
Reaches 30 Days," while another mentions unrest has caused peace talks involving the President
to stall.
With the episode set in 2024, this feels like another reference to the "Deep Space Nine"
episode "Past Tense," which foreshadowed a time of great social unrest.
"The century leading up to first contact was just rife with chaos."
"Past Tense" also features "Star Trek" crew members sent back to 2024, and it's prominently
noted that the year is full of strife, with riots and civil unrest occurring everywhere
from San Francisco to Europe.
In one key scene, guests at a dinner party remark about a conflict between the so-called
Neo-Trotskyists and violent student protesters.
One guest even mentions that she canceled her trip to the Swiss Alps amid the violence.
That violence being mentioned here may imply a similarly violent end for this season of
"Star Trek: Picard."
"Europe is falling apart."
"Well at least we don't have to worry about that kind of thing here."
"Don't count on it."
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