Star Trek Picard Episode 4 Review: Promises are Prisons

Star Trek: Picard Episode 4 “Absolute Candor”

I watched the fourth episode of Star Trek: Picard (STP) with growing delight. And, as I did, I realised that concerns about how long STP is taking with the “set up” before getting into the action are misguided: STP is all about the set up; it’s the story of a journey, a quest, all of which will lead to a final confrontation.

In other words, if you don’t like “set up”, you are going to hate STP.

Episode 4, “Absolute Candor”, is a well-paced, beautifully presented continuation of the build up towards that final confrontation. It begins with a charming flashback to the Romulan Relocation Hub on the planet Vashti just before the synths’ attack on Mars. Through a series of surprisingly touching scenes, this flashback establishes a number of important elements that form the basis for what comes later:

·      The depth of Picard’s commitment to the rescue of the Romulan race, presented as a series of promises Picard makes to various Romulans throughout the episode;

·      The admiration with which he is regarded by the Romulans on Vashti;

·      The warmth of Picard’s relationship with Zani, the leader of the Qowat Milat, a set of “warrior nuns” who are committed to candor and the mastery of physical combat and who are the mortal enemies of the Tal Shiar;

·      The roots of Picard’s mentorship/friendship with Elnor, the orphan boy placed with the Qowat Milat, which plays against the long-established fact that Picard is not comfortable with children, a fact that Zani confirms in the opening scenes;

·      The serene perfection of the Romulan community that Picard has helped to establish on Vashti; and

·      The argument that “Promises are prisons”, which sets up the prison from which Picard will spend the entirety of the series trying to escape.

“Absolute Candor” takes the time to introduce us to the ship Picard has hired, La Sirena, the crew he is beginning to assemble, and the way their relationships will develop.

The first to appear is Captain Rios, who sits in his command chair reading The Tragic Sense of Life, a book about “existential pain of living with the consciousness of death”, as La Sirena warps through space. Dr. Jurati wanders in (and I mean “wanders”) and states, with absolute candor, that space is “super boring” and that she has run out of things to amuse herself.

This is apparently her first visit to space and she is surprised to find herself disappointed. Alison Pill is remarkable in the role, striking a nice balance between youthful innocence and overwhelming intellect. And then it dawns on you that Girati is that most important of Star Trek archetypes – the bewildered “other” who serves as the viewers’ interpreter of this foreign, mysterious world that is Star Fleet and its universe. She is STP’s Spock, Data, Odo, Seven of Nine, T’Pol, Saru. Clearly out of place, Girati wanders into scenes and asks the questions the viewers want to ask, starting with the immortal line: “Well, okay, now somebody has to tell me what we are talking about.”

Raffi and Rios are already referring to Picard as “He” and “Him” when he is not around and Raffi appears to be positioned to play the conscience/challenger of the mighty Admiral, a sort of Spock/McCoy mix.

“Absolute Candor” is structured in the classic cross-cutting style, with scenes involving Picard and his crew alternating with scenes from the Borg Cube involving Soji, Narek and folks like Ramdha, Hugh and Narissa.

Cross-cutting is a classic film construction – we move back and forth from rescuer racing to the rescue to the rescue-ee facing increasing peril – and one that I think we can expect to become the standard for STP from now on. In this case, as Picard’s team overcomes challenges in its race to rescue her, Soji’s peril continues to increase as Narek and his team close in.

And that makes me very happy. Even as additional layers of intrigue are piled on the main story, we will always have this one, bifurcated story line – the race of the rescuers to reach Soji before the net closes in on her completely.

By the end of the episode, it has been established clearly that Picard’s reputation among the Romulans has been soured by Star Fleet’s decision to abandon the rescue and Picard’s absolute failure to live up to the promises he made to them. While a select few still venerate him, the majority of the remaining Romulans on Vashti and in the Beta Quadrant view him with anger and contempt, with many wishing to exact vengeance on him. The former Romulan Senator makes the case clearly before losing his head: “You took advantage of us at the very moment where we doubted ourselves, enticed us with your empty promises, and did everything in your power to scatter, confuse and divide us.”

That follows an effective scene where Picard asks for help from the Qowot Milat. Elnor challenges Picard’s need and his commitment. He asks for an explanation and, once Picard provides it, Elnor says, “All that is why you need someone but why do you me?”

Evan Evagora shows a nice combination of strength and vulnerability in the role as he lets the little boy emerge, refusing at first to help Picard because, when Elnor needed Picard, Picard failed him. Now, he fears, with the pain emerging, that Picard has time for him only “Now that you have use for me? Now that I have value to you?”

It is only when Picard finds himself in great peril by the Senator in the Vashti restaurant that Elnor “binds his sword” to Picard’s cause as “qalankhkai”. This leads to another effective moment, after the action is over and they are safe on La Sirena, where Picard asserts his authority and requires Elnor’s promise that he will attack and kill only when Picard permits it.

The introduction of the notorious pirate Kar Kantar is an interesting development, especially since he first appears flying a stolen, antique but apparently updated Romulan Bird of Prey (of the kind made famous by the classic TOS episode “Balance of Terror”) and it is clear, when his ship is finally defeated, that the possibility exists that Kar Kantar escaped and could appear again later to interfere with Picard’s plans.

But it is the introduction of Seven of Nine in the last moments of the episode that really stands out for a Star Trek fan. We know where she comes from, we know what she’s been through and we know what she is capable of. A repatriated Borg who dominated the later seasons of Voyager, Seven brings yet another formidable personage to Picard’s crew – the group dynamics just got a little more interesting. And the chances of their success just got a lot better. 

I loved “Absolute Candor” but that doesn’t mean I don’t have my concerns. In trying to show Picard as flawed, the episode may have gone a bit too far. He is not just flawed; his moral and ethical core comes into serious question. He promises easily yet delivers rarely. He is self-centred and self-righteous. He takes risks unnecessarily and shows poor judgment often, yet he seems to expect, even demand, loyalty and from his followers.

It has become clear that Picard’s obsession with saving Soji is driven by his regret over his many past failures: he permitted Data to die for him; he failed to live up to his promises to the Romulan race; and he let Romulan assassins murder Dahj in the very moment she came to him for help. It is also clear that Picard will not hesitate to put his new crew in significant peril in his pursuit of that obsession.

Star Trek: Picard, Episode 3: “The End is the Beginning”. It certainly is...

The prologue is over. Picard has his crew together and, as Episode 3 comes to an end, we hear that classic word – Engage – and the ship goes into warp.

Now we’re cookin’.

Episode 3 of Star Trek: Picard (STP) is entitled “The End is the Beginning” and it is an apt description. With this final bit of artistic scene setting, we launch.

What is really great about this is the fact that Episode 3, on its own, is an excellent piece of television. Beautifully structured, well acted, with an expressive and effective sound-track. Tense and well-paced, it consistently moves with the tempo each scene requires while building to that final moment.

That final moment that is heralded by a flourish from the original TOS theme and then launched by a robust chorus of the theme from TNG as Captain Rios’ unnamed ship goes to warp.

We begin with two extended conversations between Picard and Raffi, the first “14 years ago”, in the aftermath of the destruction of Mars, the second in “present day”. The scenes couldn’t be more different – the first, in a lovely garden outside Star Fleet Command; the second, in the middle of the desert, at Raffi’s “hovel”.

Each of these scenes is given the time to develop at its own pace, to permit us to get to know each of these characters and, more importantly, what has passed between them. Raffi’s absolutel faith in Picard in the earlier scene, her certainty that he will find a way to save the day, gets a jolt first when he admits his failure and then suffers a death blow when she realises that, while he has been permitted to resign with honour, she is being called into the office of the Commander in Chief to be fired, her honour and all privileges she has earned as a Star Fleet officer stripped from her.

I have to admit, I wasn’t sold on Michelle Hurd’s performance as Raffi when she first appeared on STP but she does a wonderful job in these two scenes, first evoking the admiring but capable junior officer, then communicating the older, more jaded character’s “long slide into humiliation… and rage”. Hurd is excellent, especially in the latter scene and we can look forward, in Hurd’s Raffi, to a deep, complex character who is every bit the equal of the great Picard.

She rails at him for his cosy retirement to a chateau in France while she is abandoned to live out her life in a hovel. There is something about gender, and race, and privilege playing here but also something much more personal. “Might have been nice to hear from you from time to time in there JL,” Raffi says late in the second scene as the depth of Raffi’s devastation comes to light, “just to say “hi”, to see how I was doing. Because I was not doing good.”

The last powerful individual abandoned to the desert by a famous Star Ship Captain returned in the most wrathful way possible – it’s a miracle Raffi is still even willing to talk to her abuser.

These scenes provide a lot of important information, to be sure, but they also give us another glimpse of Picard’s naivete. Despite Raffi assuring him that she has concrete evidence that a high-ranking Star Fleet Officer conspired with Romulans to destroy Mars and its shipyard, Picard repeats his question: “Why would the Romulans attack a fleet built expressly to rescue them?”

The question undermines Picard’s intelligence; the supposition that the entire Romulan race is unified in thought and opinion, that it acts as one mind, that there could not possible exist divisions within Romulan society that might result in one group putting its interests ahead of the interests of the whole is racist at its core.

As it must, the second scene involving Picard and Raffi ends in hope, with Raffi promising Picard a pilot. Raffi then shows her true colours and returns to work, searching and researching.

Meanwhile, back at the Borg Reclamation Project, we meet (or get re-acquainted with) Hugh, a reclaimed Borg who first appeared in TNG episode “I, Borg”. Hugh is now the Executive Director of the reclamation project and appears to be something of a mentor to Soji. The presence of Hugh on the abandoned Borg cube means that we now have two former drones (Hugh and Picard) wandering around our story line. Hmmm…

Hugh permits Soji an interview with Romda, the foremost expert on Ancient Romulan Myth (or “news”). Romda is one of the Disordered, a small collection of Romulans from the last ship the Borg Cube assimilated. I take it that, because they were assimilated shortly before the cube was disconnected from the hive mind, their assimilation was less advanced and, therefore, more easily reversed. At least physically, since the Disordered are just that – disordered of mind to the point of being beyond reach.

This is a creepy, effective scene which builds beautifully, thanks to careful, rapid edits, sparse rhythmic music that slowly increases in pace and the claustrophobic mutterings of the Disordered, the volume of which slowly builds.

Then comes a very effective use of the cross-cutting editing technique, where the story cuts rapidly back and forth between Soji’s interview with Romda and Picard’s interrogation of the Zhat Vash assassin he and his Romulan house staff have captured. Romda says to Soji, “I remember you from tomorrow” and then demands to know: “Which sister are you? The one who dies or the one who lives?”

In a climax of both scenes, Romda and the assassin both call Soji “the Destroyer” and attack.

Brilliantly constructed, these scenes build the tension to an almost unbearable level before the revelation (the mysterious revelation) that Soji is the Destroyer. And I find it interesting that the supernatural nature of Romda’s declaration seems more credible than the grunting statement of the Zhat Vash soldier.

We don’t know what this means. We don’t know how or why Soji is the Destroyer nor how that will impact the storyline. But it does make Picard’s desperate effort to locate her even more pressing.

By the end of the episode, we gather aboard Rios’ ship. Raffi is a surprise passenger, who makes it clear that she does not intend to be a part of Picard’s crew but has her own personal reasons to go along to Free Cloud. Whatever her motives, she will definitely be an asset. Until her agenda clashes with Picard’s agenda, of course.

And then there’s Rios, the pilot Raffi has found for Picard. On the surface, he’s a clone of Han Solo, the irreverent, dashing, mercenary who seems bound to clash with Picard’s more reserved ways. I was ready to write him off until Picard pointed out that he is the former Executive Officer of a Star Fleet heavy cruiser who still brings that Star Fleet sense of order and discipline to his private star ship. And then Rios talks (to his emergency holographic program, no less) about the loss of his last captain and you find yourself sucked in… he is not who we thought he was, he is not who Picard thinks he is.

And finally, rounding out Picard’s crew we have Dr. Agnes P. Girati, the world’s foremost expert on cybernetics. Played by Canadian Alison Pill (who, by the way, played Zelda Fitzgerald in Midnight in Paris), Gerati is another wild card. Is she as naïve as the seems? Or is she a plant, working for Star Fleet? For Bruce Maddox perhaps?

The crew is assembled. Each with their own agenda. Ready for action. Engage.