Jean-Luc Picard is back for a new adventure in Star Trek: Picard, once again boldly going
where no one has gone before.
The CBS All Access show is filled with callbacks to Star Trek past, including some that might
elude even the most dedicated of fans.
After opening with a flashback to Picard's resignation from Starfleet 14 years earlier,
the third episode of Picard, titled "The End is the Beginning," finds the erstwhile Admiral
paying a visit to his former first officer, Raffi, who was fired from Starfleet after
Picard resigned.
Raffi is now living in a self-described "hovel" in the Vasquez Rocks, where it seems she passes
her time getting high and trying to forget the years she spent working alongside Picard.
However, for long-time Star Trek fans, the Vasquez Rocks are more than just a cool location
for Raffi to park her 24th century trailer.
The Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, located in the Sierra Pelona Mountains in northern
California, has been a frequent shooting location for past Star Trek productions, including
episodes of the original series, The Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise, along
with scenes in the films Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek,
and its 2013 sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness.
As a matter of fact, the Vasquez Rocks have been featured so prominently within Star Trek
lore that the location has even been nicknamed "Kirk's Rock."
When Picard meets his new pilot-for-hire, Cristóbal "Chris" Rios, it's under less than
ideal circumstances, as Rios is in the process of having a piece of titanium shrapnel removed
from his shoulder.
In order for the Emergency Medical Hologram to access the injury, Rios is shirtless, giving
us a clear view at the prominent mermaid tattoo on his upper left arm.
Rios' ship is named the La Sirena, which translates from Spanish as "The Mermaid."
It makes sense that Rios would have such a strong personal connection to his ship that
he'd want to permanently mark it on his body, but his choice to name his ship "The Mermaid"
could also be a hint that Rios and Picard may have more in common than it might appear.
"Do I detect a certain bitterness toward Starfleet?"
Mermaids and mermaid tattoos have long been associated with a romanticized image of sailors
heading out on perilous voyages, which is how Picard often seemed to view his role as
the commander of a Federation starship.
This was made plain by the opening of Star Trek: Generations, in which Picard and the
crew of the Enterprise stepped into their equivalent roles as officers on a 19th century
naval ship.
"Just imagine what it was like.
No engines, no computers — just the wind and the sea and the stars to guide you."
Rios' embracing of such a classic maritime symbol may indicate that despite their apparent
differences, Rios and Picard may in fact be kindred spirits.
After they meet, Picard notices that Rios is in the middle of reading a hardcover version
of The Tragic Sense of Life by Miguel de Unamuno.
Written in 1912, it's a philosophical essay following the author's struggle to reconcile
man's pursuit of wisdom, knowledge, and reason with his belief that those pursuits and consciousness
in general actually work in opposition to leading a happy life.
The particular passage that Rios is reading later on in the episode, on page 140 of the
book, deals with the link between consciousness and suffering, in which Unamuno muses,
"How do we know that we exist if we do not suffer, little or much?
How can we turn upon ourselves, acquire reflective consciousness, save by suffering?"
While Picard hasn't been explicitly shown to be a fan of this author, it's well established
that he's a learned, philosophical man.
Rios' interest in philosophy is yet another clue that the pilot may have more in common
with the Admiral than meets the eye.
But the passage Rios was reading also seems to point somewhat ominously to the themes
of sentience and personhood that so strongly define Picard.
Unamuno argues that suffering is essential to consciousness, and that without it, we
have no way of knowing that we are truly alive a philosophy that we may see revisited as
we learn more about Dahj and Soji's origins, and the circumstances leading up to the synthetic
uprising.
Despite Raffi's insistence that she wants no part of Picard's new mission, he sends
her all of the information he has on Bruce Maddox's research anyway, and she can't help
digging into it.
As Raffi sifts through the files from the Daystrom Institute, there's a brief shot of
her screen, on which the words "Crypto Algorithm Identification: Gorn Egg" can be read.
The Gorn are a reptilian alien species first introduced on the classic Trek episode, "Arena,"
in which Captain Kirk is transported to the surface of a rocky planet filmed at the Vasquez
Rocks by aliens called the Metrons, and told he must battle the captain of an opposing
Gorn ship to the death.
Only the winner's ship and crew will survive.
Kirk and the Gorn captain both manage to injure one another, but Kirk ultimately decides to
show mercy and spare the Gorn's life, which in turn leads to both crews being spared by
the Metrons.
"No I won't kill him.
Do you hear?
You'll have to get your entertainment someplace else."
At the end of "Arena," the Metrons tell Kirk that while humans are a savage race, there
is hope for them due to their capacity to show mercy to their enemies.
Conversely, the beginning of Picard's third episode finds Picard and Raffi lamenting that
the Federation is refusing to show mercy to the Romulans, capitulating instead to "intolerance
and fear."
Had Kirk given into those same tendencies in "Arena," it would've led to a far different
and more disastrous outcome.
Despite Rios' many personal similarities to Picard, the pilot is initially reluctant to
agree to help the former Starfleet Admiral when they first meet.
Later, when Rios is alone in his quarters, the Emergency Medical Hologram appears and
attempts to talk Rios into helping Picard, despite his reservations.
"So, are we excited?
Intimidated?
Maybe a teensy bit starstruck?"
As the EMH runs down his laundry list of Picard's accomplishments, he mentions that Picard was
"chief contact with the Q continuum," which is a reference to both the pilot episode and
series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as a number of notable episodes during
the series run.
Picard's encounters with Q also led to the first introduction of, and subsequent attacks
by the Borg.
He also mentions that Picard was "Arbiter of Succession for the Klingon Empire," which
was already nodded to in Picard's premiere episode, and that he was "captain of the Enterprises
D and E," a reference that needs no explanation.
The EMH wraps up his exultations of Picard by name-dropping that he "worked alongside
the great Spock," calling back to the Next Generation episode "Unification," and could
also be a nod to Spock's role in attempting to prevent the Romulan supernova, as explained
in 2009's Star Trek.
While most of Picard's storyline takes place on Earth, all of Dahj's twin sister Soji's
scenes have been set aboard a Romulan reclamation station on a repurposed Borg cube, on which
she encounters an ex-Borg drone named Hugh.
Hugh first appeared in the Next Generation episode "I Borg", which saw the Enterprise
crew encounter a young Borg drone who had been abandoned by the Collective.
Although Picard initially sees the Borg as nothing more than a way to help him bring
down the Collective, he ultimately is forced to recognize his sentience and personhood
when the drone begins exhibiting signs of individuality and gives himself the name "Hugh."
"I will not assist you."
"'I?'"
Hugh pops up again in the two-part TNG episode "Descent," where it is revealed that after
rejoining the Collective, his sense of individuality spread to his entire cube, and they were cut
off from the Collective.
In "Descent," Hugh proved himself a loyal ally of Picard and the Enterprise, rescuing
several members of the crew and resisting Data's megalomaniacal brother, Lore.
"You're kind of a know-it-all, aren't you."
It's hard to predict what's in store for Hugh on Picard, but if Hugh's past history with
the Admiral are any indication, he may prove to be an important albeit unexpected ally
for Picard and his rogue crew.
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