Star Trek: Picard season 1 episode 3 review: The series finally jumps to warp speed
With all the pieces are on the board and the stage set, Star Trek: Picard‘s third episode finally begins moving at warp speed.
After a solid start and a lackluster second entry, we weren’t quite sure what to expect from the third episode of Star Trek: Picard. Where episode two struggled to get the plot moving, “The End is the Beginning” finally kicks things into high gear as Picard assembles his crew and begins his mission of finding Bruce Maddox and saving Soji before the Zhat Vash can get to her.
A huge part of what makes this episode feel much more meaningful than last week’s entry is the sheer number of characters that are introduced. We get to formally meet Michelle Hurd’s Raffi, Santiago Cabrera’s Rios, and we’re re-introduced to Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh, the former Borg drone last seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
As far as the new characters go, Raffi is the star of the show — Michelle Hurd gives a strong performance that makes Raffi an instantly endearing character — she’s passionate, quick-witted, capable, and more than willing to give Picard a piece of her mind. It’ll be interesting to see how her story plays out over the course of the season, given that she has just as much reason to be invested in the Romulan plot as Picard does, if not more. While Raffi may not care that much about Data or finding Bruce Maddox, we find out via flashback that she was effectively fired from Starfleet for standing by Picard after the Mars incident, which resulted in her being an outcast living in a shack on the outskirts of the planet.
However much grief she may have against Picard, however, she still cares enough about him to help procure a pilot: a friend of hers named Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera) who pilots a ship called La Sirena. Rio’s introduction is one of the episode’s strongest moments. His cynicism coupled with the endearing lectures of his ship’s EMH & ENH (both also played by Cabrera) provide for some clever exchanges and sharp dialogue.
While Raffi may get the most screen time and have the most stake in the narrative, Rios (and his EMH/ENH crewmembers) are our favorite new entries to the franchise- they bring an element of humor and cynicism that pair well against Picard’s constant moral high ground. Going forward, we’re hoping to get a look into Raffi and Rios’ history, and to see more of the EMH, ENH, and whatever Rios-shaped holograms are lurking around La Sirena.
Allison Pill’s Dr. Jurati also gives an impassioned speech that allows her to join the ship’s crew, although we’re still not totally sold on her character or presence in the story quite yet. With the crew assembled, we turn our attention back to the Romulan reclamation facility, where we get our first glimpse of a TNG character in present-day: Hugh, formerly known Third of Five.
Hugh, who is working on the plant as one of the higher-ups, takes Soji to visit a special ward of formerly assimilated Romulans — a small group who, to his knowledge, are the only of their species to ever have become Borg. Although they’ve since been separated from the collective, they all suffer severe brain damage, and Soji has trouble getting information out of one of them.
We keep the description here vague because, in all honesty, the plot is a little hard to follow and confusing when it comes to the details, especially given that we don’t yet know why Soji is so interested in Romulan/Borg history and folklore. As with the two previous episodes, there a distinct difference between the Picard-centric plot and the Soji-centric plot, and going forward we can’t help but feel like the imbalance between them will only grow.
Although Soji’s story does hold much of the intrigue, it’s Picard’s narrative that the audience is invested in, and until their paths cross, we tend to watch Soji’s plotline wondering when Picard will be back on screen. Hugh’s presence made her story more enjoyable, as did the scenes with Narek and Narissa, who is revealed to be his sister.
Episode three marks a distinct turning point in Picard season one. No longer is the story earthbound, from now on fans will get to return to the familiar vastness of space to watch the story unfold. Equipped with a new ship, a new crew, and the promise of returning characters, “The End is the Beginning” gives the show everything it needs to truly take flight.
Star Trek: Picard’s second episode goes nowhere, does nothing. dark. Next