Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyStar Trek Picard
CBS All Access
Season One Episode Four
Absolute Candor
The crew’s journey to Freecloud takes a detour when Picard orders a stop at the planet Vashti, where Picard and Raffi relocated Romulan refugees 14 years earlier. Upon arrival, Picard reunites with Elnor (Evan Evagora), a young Romulan he befriended during the relocation. Meanwhile, Narek continues his attempts to learn more about Soji while Narissa’s impatience with his lack of progress grows.
Starting with a flashback, this episode begins with Picard spending time with a group of Romulan refugees as they make a new life for themselves in the nearby Beta Quadrant. The scene serves as both a means of showcasing Picard’s efforts to help the Romulans but also serves as foreshadowing when comparing the past and present for Picard.
On board Rios’ ship, the crew does not get along and the lack of Starfleet discipline adds some great character moments especially when Picard and Rios run over each other giving orders. You can see that the Captain is not so far removed from his Starfleet discipline than he would have people believe. His reactions and interactions continue to be interesting and his story is intriguing in how much about him we don’t know. When Picard returns to Vashti, he sees how the small world changed in his absence and relives not the failures of his actions, but the failures of his pride.
In the wake of Picard’s clash with Starfleet, he neglected both the refugees he helped and the boy he promised to help. Elnor is an interesting character and his journey with Picard is shaping up to be interesting as well. Even the introduction of 7 of 9 is handled well in this episode and her addition promises something different for the series and could possibly bridge the gap between many of the storylines.
The Soji/Narek storyline continues to be the weakest aspect of the series. All of their interactions seem to dance around anything engaging of intriguing and I find myself waiting for their scenes to end so I can get back to Picard and the others. The only mildly interesting aspect of their interactions are what can be discovered in the background. Hopefully, the writers find a way to make her more compelling.
Star Trek Picard S01XE04
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