In both of the narratives Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 2 presents, a rich assortment of developments is spread throughout.
On M’Talas Prime, we learn Raffi’s husband runs a bar and works as an artist, and her handler is Worf, son of Mogh, of the Klingon House of Martok, of the Human family Rozhenko, bane of the House of Duras, and slayer of Gowron. Yeah, that Worf. So. Many. Questions.
Meanwhile, by the Ryton Nebula, we put a face to the enemy that has been hunting Beverly and her son and then discover that her son is also Picard’s. Everything pointed that way early on, but sometimes the best reveals are predictable ones.
Jack’s got a chip on his shoulder which seems a little angsty for a twenty-year-old, but, to be fair, he’s also terrified for his mother’s survival, so maybe we should cut him a bit of slack.
There’s a lot of swagger and defiance that underscores the life he and Beverly have lived on the edge of the Federation’s “civilized” societies.
In the flashback, we see how business is conducted aboard the Eleos.
One wonders what Jack’s backup plan is for when the Rangers refuse his bribe. If that ever happens.
Jack: Look, we all know the warlords down there engineered the fever in order to clear the free zone from refugees before the others could claim it. I give half to one warlord, half to another. Cut you in for, say, twenty-five?
Ranger: Thirty-five
Jack: Thirty percent of the take. Then pew pew pew … it’s bad guys shooting bad guys and we help refugees by curing a pandemic. Oh, mon ami, we’re basically saints.
A more subtle development is that the Ranger sends a message to alert “the marked woman” about Jack. We can assume that’s Vadic, but why would a Ranger be working for her network?
(Did anyone else catch the continuity glitch that the Fenris Ranger encounter happens two weeks ago, but Jack states they’ve been on the run for “months”?)
Now Vadic is a new breed of Trek villain. She is neither polished like Q nor militant like the various Guls we’ve come up against.
She is, however, intensely menacing. Even crazed.
Vadic: I am Captain Vadic, and you are Captain Liam Shaw.
Shaw: That’s me. Is it important for you to know that I was having a nice morning before all of this?
Vadic: Oooooo, that’s lovely to hear, Liam. Given your official psychological profile with Starfleet, I’m so glad that you’ve remained… functional.
Her first parlay is layered with implied intel and conveys the understanding that she not only has the arsenal to overpower and destroy them, she knows each and every crew member on board and will celebrate their demise.
So how does she know so much? Is this tied to Raffi’s webs of conspiracy?
Why are her goons all masked while she is not?
The most telling behavior isn’t her chiding them on time, or explaining her ship’s name, or promising to tear them apart bit by bit.
It’s been centuries since timepieces [relied] on the mechanics of gears, and yet that persistent sound you hear is the gentle tick-tock of passing seconds.
Vadic
It’s that laugh of pure delight when the Titan refuses to comply and flees into the nebula. In a masterful production choice, her laugh echoes beyond the end of the episode and into the black before the credits.
Such a chef’s kiss of an introduction. All hats off to director Aarniokoski and showrunner Matalas for that.
I thought you might care to know the name of my particular vessel. The Shrike. It’s an Earth creature, a small carrion bird, one that doesn’t attack in anger or malice, one that isn’t made frantic by hunger but rather kills surgically, carefully.
Vadic
It’s interesting to note that the shrike bird is not only known for its precision killing, but it also savors its kill by impaling its victims on thorns so it can return to eat what it cannot finish in its first feeding.
Also known as a butcherbird. Go figure.
Despite ignoble beginnings, Captain Shaw comes through when Seven cleverly reminds him of the power of legacy.
Also, having the Titan zip in to break the tractor beam’s hold on the Eleos is a maneuver reminiscent of skidding a BMX bike in to spray gravel in a bully’s face. Awesome stuff.
Mind you, Vadic throwing the Eleos at the Titan later is pretty badass too. John-McClane-throwing-a-car-at-a-helicopter level of badass.
Seven: It broke through our shields, captain. Hit with enough force that shrapnel tore the hull on Deck 11.
Shaw: How is that even possible?
La Forge: Reverse tractor beam with anti-gravitational polarity phasing. Basically blunt force trauma. If my father taught me anything, there’s no law of physics that can’t be either weaponized or broken by another law of physics.
On many levels, Picard Season 3 is shaping up to be a ten-hour-long cinematic adventure.
Nothing we’ve seen so far would’ve been possible on the small screen during the original run of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The closest would’ve been one of the motion pictures that followed the series finale.
But with the flagship series, Star Trek: Discovery, continuously breaking ground and upping the stakes since 2017, this is now the baseline level of spectacle for the franchise, which is, honestly, just bonkers good.
And if the first act of this epic is to get the band back together, we’ve now got Worf’s familiar and comforting bass presence on the scene. (Picard’s the whistle, Beverly’s got vocals, and Riker’s obviously the trombone. Duh.)
To pair him with the increasingly guilt-ridden Raffi is a wonderful balance of energy.
When your head goes to that place – the webs, the conspiracies – that’s when it all starts up. The drugs. The dark rabbit holes.
Jay
Especially after seeing her with her ex-husband.
Raffi’s true addiction isn’t the drugs or booze; it’s her need to see things through.
She’s fed everything into her missions and theories. Her life, her family, her sobriety.
It comes from a good place. She is compelled to defend the defenseless and right the wrongs. ALL the wrongs.
Somebody needs to speak for the dead. And since you’re not even going to talk to me, I guess I’m on my own.
Raffi
But she needs help regulating to be the most effective intelligence juggernaut she’s capable of being.
She should be running circles around the little gangsters instead of running full-tilt into their drug den.
I suspect she and Worf won’t align perfectly, but it’ll be the right partnership for this mission.
Which leads me to ask what happened between Raffi and Seven that they’re on entirely separate life paths now.
Was it Raffi’s undercover mission that pulled her away, or did Seven’s commission require she ship out?
Or did they part ways personally and just let their professional lives take over?
Ask yourself, is there anybody you know who’s still the person you knew? Or have you planted roots in your vineyard while everybody else moved on?
Jack
Jack gets some great digs in at his old man here.
Whether it’s poking fun at the superfluousness of the admiral’s pip or indicating that surrendering to the bounty hunter would be preferable to continuing their conversation, Jack’s getting J.L. caught up on the joys of parenthood.
Where do we go now? The first order of business has to be eluding Vadic.
But I’m looking forward to the first Crusher-Picard family meeting. How about y’all?
Hit our comments with which reveal was your favorite. Are you batty for batleths or jumping for Jack?
Who is Vadic, really? And how can her ship and tech be so foreign? What does it all mean?
Diana Keng is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.