What I’m Watching: Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard: Season 1, Episode 5 “Stardust City Rag” (B)

This episode played out a whole lot like a caper, though there were some serious subplots that were just as memorable. Picard getting to put on an eyepatch and Elnor having to be coached on playing himself were entertaining, and it was going fine until Seven was recognized as Annika by Bjayzl. It’s definitely good to have Jeri Ryan on board as Seven, who’s now working to rescue more people like her who suffered at the hands of others and may or may not be returning to this show in the future. I recognized John Ales from “Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll” and “Sneaky Pete” as Dr. Maddox, who we saw in flashbacks with Agnes and then encountered in dispirited and weakened form when they managed to rescue him. Seven exacting deadly revenge on Bjayzl was violent but not entirely surprising, whereas Maddox meeting his fate on board the ship was considerably more shocking. Agnes’ nervousness about being in charge of the transporter while everyone else had to go undercover and pretend to be someone else was the ultimate red herring for her euthanizing of Maddox. Whether that will have problematic implications for the crew as they continue is unknown since this may just be an isolated incident tied in to grief and guilt, and his death could be explained away as a complication of his injuries. Raffi’s own reunion with her loved ones didn’t go terribly well either, and it’s clear that the aftermath of everything that went down with Picard really impacted her life.