With the airing of Picard episode 3 and the release of the final Countdown Prequel comic
for the series, we’ve got some lore to dig through so in addition to doing a full spoiler
review of episode 3, I thought I’d explain the backgrounds of some of the characters
we’re seeing. Please Excuse any clattering in the background, its seems me neighbours
are rebuilding utopia planetia in their front yard. That would be renovations.
Latest dive into 2399 adds some more context to Picard’s decision to leave Starfleet,
advances the plot on the Borg front and gets our titular character back into space. We’re
introduced to three new players at this stage, Raffi, Rios two former Starfleet officers
and legacy character, Hugh. Michelle Hurd plays the damaged retiree but there is a missing
element here. She’s the first of Picard’s former crew that we’ve met and while we
do get a quick look at how they operated together, it’s at the end of his career so their relationship
and history is mostly unexplored adding a lot of weight to the role. Therefore, most
of the resentment she feels has to be directly explained to the audience through Picard.
Hugh’s return is rather downplayed as it’s revealed he is serving in a high up position
on the Borg reclamation project, which makes sense, he’s yet to encounter anyone who
would actually recognize him. So far his actions have served to bring Soji into contact with
a greater puzzle and that is that the last vessel assimilated by the Borg, a romulan
ship may have led to its severance from the Collective. What is more puzzling is that
Soji seems to be somewhat aware of the situation, even though she shouldn’t and the mentally
damaged ex-Borg Romulans react rather poorly to her pressuring. Also the soothsaying style
Romulan felt very out of place. Soji’s character seems to be motivated by compassion and a
desire to help, however there is a darker plan at play of which the Zhat Vash seem aware
of too, at this juncture however, I’m connecting to Soji as more of a mystery to be solved
than a character as my curiosity far outweighs my emotional investment in her.
The flashback sequences also try to make a point that Picard strongly disagrees with
the Federation’s stance in refusing to help the Romulan further but the added context
that these scenes bring show that it’s not as straight forwards as Picard would make
it seem. It’s funny, he accuses Starfleet in episode 3 of being reactionary, but he
too takes a drastic response and commits to it, ultimately to his (and Starfleet’s)
detriment. That being his retirement. As this series is following Picard, it makes sense
that we’re going to explore all this from his point of view, but I find myself completely
understanding and even somewhat agreeing in the Federation’s actions. I’ll cover this
a little more in the lore section, but in review, these scenes may have had me emotionally
empathise with Picard, but logically side with the Federation’s approach. This is
good, while we are following one man’s actions and views; I feel the show is leaving a little
room to interpret. You’ll have to let me know in the comments if you feel this episode,
added to the knowledge of the first two has altered your opinion of the Federation and
Picard’s almost stubborn actions in threatening to resign and actually upholding that. It
does come across as almost prideful and I’m appreciating the complexity of the situation
the closer it’s examined. This is all thought in hindsight and through a closer examination
of events as recounted however as the show moves on rather quickly so this could too
be seen as a weaknesss for not putting aside dedicated time to present a clearer case for
the opposing side. But the rationale is there. Rios plays a number of roles and it seems
that some big event flushed him out of Starfleet, killed his CO and struck the USS ibn Majid
from the records. Although it seems he is very much independent now, even requiring
payment to operate his unregistered ship, he still has the desire to explore and very
much tied to the Starfleet way of life as Picard observes, he may paint himself as a
the rogue, but it seems he’s more regimented than he appears. It’s very strange that
he’d make the crew of his ship all resemble him, with different personalities, leading
my to believe that the holograms are simply cosmetically altered to look like him. Maybe
this was on purpose? To remind him that he is alone aboard his little ship?
The actions sequence at Picard’s house reminds us just how dangerous Laris and Zhaban can
be as they defend Picard, although I do wish he’d stop being thrown around without consequence.
On one had it shows the brutality of the Zhat Vash, but on the other, it’s getting unbelievable
that he didn’t even suffer a broken bone. On top of that, although a cool fight scene
I’m sure that the super-secret Zhat Vash would have had far more practice in assassination
and not be overpowered by jus three people. Picard’s weak interrogation methods were
obviously not going to work and Im wondering why he didn’t just record the attempt anyway
to add credibility to his cause. One other small criticism, why would a Vulcan
need sunglasses? It’s bright out, but Vulcan is hotter, brighter and far harsher climate
than Earth. It just made me think of Perter Capaldi’s sonic shades from Doctor Who,
and those were played for laughs. So aside from these complaints which may be
considered nit-picking, this episode left me feeling more curious about the overall
storyline and characters motivations which I guess is a good reason to tune in next week.
So, moving into the lore segment now and I’ll be using this to provide some added background
to the story thus far, with the accelerating plot of the show, I feel now may be a good
time to include it. Although it isn’t necessary to understand the show, a lot of detailed
information is mentioned once then swept by as the story moves on so on one watch, some
details can be missed. Lieutenant Commander Raffi Musiker was the
first officer selected by Admiral Picard in 2384 to crew the USS Verity NCC-97000 on its
mission to establish evacuation plans between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire.
It’s revealed that Picard had to severely twist Starfleet’s arm in allowing them to
help the Romulans in their evacuation process as many simply believed that the Federation’s
duty to didn’t extend into Romulan affairs. The Empire didn’t help matters either as
they were stubbornly refusing the Federation’s help and even denying that the supernova would
ever be an issue. No doubt this made many in Starfleet throw up their hands in exasperation
and give up too. Eventually, Picard managed to break through on both the Romulan’s denial
(by confronting them with their own transmissions on the supernova) and simultaneously convincing
the Federation to begin development of a specialised fleet of evacuation Starships at Utopia Planetia.
He placed Commander LaForge at its head to oversee the project, while Picard himself
took out the Verity and its crew to begin preparing the Romulan-selected worlds for
evacuation. Picard, ever the humanitarian and optimist
seized the opportunity to assists them, to build bridges with them as Ambassador Spock
had sought to do with his aid years earlier. However, the Admiral is not a fool and searches
Starfleet to find the right people to accompany him. This is where Raffi enters the picture.
She is an analyst and Starfleet’s leading expert in Romulan covert operations and during
the Verity’s missions, she nicknames Picard JL, much to his initial distain. From episode
3, we learn that this made her seem rather paranoid from the outside, but as it was her
duty to delve into their mysteries, plots and pick apart Tal Shiar schemes, Jean-Luc
saw her as an astute observer of Romulan secrets and someone who would be useful when heading,
blindfolded across the Neutral Zone. For years, the Neutral Zone boarder of space,
decided upon by the Treaty of Algeron 74 years earlier, had marked the no-fly zone between
the two powers and the space on the far side, was mostly a mystery to the Federation, thus
halting much of their exploration of the Beta Quadrant. Even when the USS Verity was allowed
across the border, they had to stick to Romulan picked flight plans and not actively scan
the planets they were tasked with evacuating including Yuyat Beta.
Now this evacuation doesn’t go as planned and results in the Governor attempting to
seize the USS Verity on behalf of the Tal Shiar, however who have somehow obtained command
codes for the new vessel from Starfleet. The crew of the Verity had been trained for such
a contingency and responded efficiently, rescuing Picard, Raffi and two Romulan Tal Shiar Defectors,
Laris and Zhaban. Once aboard the ship, Zhaban reveals that, true to Tal Shiar form, there
was a scheme within a scheme and he uses the full override codes for the USS Verity to
take the vessel hostage. You see their seeming “rescue” was also a part of the plan.
However, in speaking with Picard throughout this adventure, he had confessed that he and
Laris had fallen in love, a violation of Tal Shiar protocol, meaning that they’d be dismissed
from service. And no-one walks away from the Tal Shair, if you take my meaning. After making
a point to burn bridges with the organisation, Zhaban then turns control back over to Picard
as he and Laris prepare for a life on the run. Picard instead offers them a place of
safety on the Federation capital in his vineyard’s employ. The Tal Shiar meanwhile, in this rather
nifty looking Faehl Warbird were chased off by Commander Vinux , seemingly one of Picard’s
supporters from within the Empire. But then the synthetic attack on Mars occurred
and Starfleet withdrew the USS Verity as the rescue fleet burned alongside the shipyards
over mars. Admiral Picard took part in a meeting soon thereafter to try to continue the operations
to evacuate Romulan planets, however now with no fleet and little time left, Starfleet was
unwilling to spare any more ships or people on the effort instead making the choice to
ban artificial android life and tighten its defences. I don’t know if they were expecting
follow-up incidents or what, but in hindsight, their decisions may have been egged on by
Zhat Vash infiltrators into the organisation. Picard, in a last ditch effort to convince
Starfleet to rebuild and reinvest in its rescue efforts threatened to resign if they did not
comply. Unfortunately for him, they called him on it and he did indeed tender his resignation.
Alongside this, Lt Commander Raffi, searching for answers seems to have continued digging
into the Mars incident even suggesting that the Tal Shair were involved. This likely contributed
to her dismissal from Starfleet, as fresh on the tail of Picard’s resignation, she
was summoned to speak to the CnC and discharged. Probably also not a coincidence that the foremost
Romulan covert analyst was let got as soon as she was out from under Picard’s protection.
From here, her life seems to have taken a bit of a downward turn and as Picard withdrew
over the next 14 years, she grew to resent him for not reaching out to her, partially
blaming him for her current state. This leads her to the mood she’s in now, smoking, drinking
and hiding away while Picard tended his vineyard with the former Tal Shiar couple he was sheltering
from reprisal. There we have it, up to date with the story
of some of the cast introduced and Starfleet’s compromised state. You can gather the gist
of this from the first 3 episodes and the Prequel comics, while ultimately largely irrelevant
to be honest do prepare some of the groundwork for this narrative. I’m not saying that
this is a strength of the show, if anything, it’s the opposite, but I’m glad that Starfleet
aren’t the villains of this piece, just that they’ve been compromised although if
they aren’t returned to their former state as peacekeepers by the end of Picard, I’m
going to be annoyed. I’m hoping that Picard by the end of the series may have developed
a taste for the laxer state of adventure and after returning the Federation to full functionality
by exposing this conspiracy, chooses to stay with his new crew and jet off into the unknown
for his own benefit at last. Now we can move on as I feel that this show
is only going to be picking up speed from now on as this episode bevy much felt like
the boulder at the edge of the cliff and now we get the landslide. Question is, has the
show done enough to make it work and will it abandon the slower pace it had now it’s
got Picard back in the air. Thanks for watching my review and exposition
dump on Star Trek Picard episode 3 and let me know if you want me to continue with the
lore segments or just stick to reviews. Thanks again and I’ll see you next time, I’ve
been the emergency editing hologram of Ric and I’ll see you later. Deactivate EEH.