“Am I a person?”
— Soji Asha in “Broken Pieces”
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Here we are, eight episodes into the first season of “Star Trek: Picard,” and I have to ask myself this question: “Have we gotten anywhere yet?”
We’re several hours into this thing, and it’s definitely been a slow burn. We do learn new details along the way that move the overall narrative, but they typically come in dribs and drabs.
And, new information is often presented in the form of info dumps — using the principle of “tell” instead of “show.”
Some interesting background info is gleaned in Episode 8 (titled “Broken Pieces”). Most of it is presented in conversations on La Sirena.
We learn that Rios (Santiago Cabrera) and his fellow Starfleet crew members — when he served aboard the U.S.S. ibn Majid — came upon a starship of unknown design carrying two passengers on a diplomatic mission.
With Starfleet’s permission, the passengers were beamed aboard the ibn Majid. One was an ambassador named Beautiful Flower. The other was his young protege named Jana.
The captain that Rios served under — Alonzo Vandermeer — killed both of the visitors with “two quick pops of a phaser.” It was a black flag directive from Starfleet Security. Vandermeer told Rios that if he disobeyed, the ibn Majid would be destroyed, along with everyone on board.
Vandermeer committed suicide after performing the heinous act, and Rios covered the whole thing up.
Jana (the girl who was killed) looked just like android sisters Dahj and Soji Asha (Isa Briones) — a resemblance which proved distressing to Rios when Picard and Soji arrived on La Sirena.
Of all the things Picard & Co. discuss during “Broken Pieces,” this was the most significant.
Obviously, Rios has been distraught over the acts that took place during his Starfleet service, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic dysphoria as a result. The entire affair led him to where he is now.
While Rios’s past on the U.S.S. ibn Majid proved to be a fascinating revelation, it just feels a little “too coincidental and convenient” that the character suddenly has a connection to the events taking place this season.
I mean, what are the odds?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m interested in figuring out why the Romulan Zhat Vash (and their operatives in Starfleet) want synthetic life forms destroyed... and why they consider Soji to be the “Destroyer” called Sen Cheneb.
Apparently, the Destroyer first appeared thousands of years before the events chronicled in “Star Trek: Picard.”
That “mystery” is what keeps me going. That said, the fact remains that the story really hasn’t moved a whole lot since the sixth episode — and that’s a couple hours worth of narrative stuck in neutral.
Despite the fact that I loved the seventh episode of “Star Trek: Picard” featuring Riker and Troi (read my review), the writers really haven’t moved the needle. I’m just hoping the payoff at the end of the season proves to be worthwhile.
Stay tuned for my review of “Star Trek: Picard” Season 1, Episode 9.
Previous post: Movie Review: “Knives Out” is a Terrific Whodunnit
No comments:
Post a Comment