What I’m Watching: Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard: Season 1, Episode 6 “The Impossible Box” (B)

I’m not sure how long it’s going to remain endearing that this show continues to deliver a payoff only in the final minutes of each episode. It’s been frustrating to see Soji so taken advantage of by Narek, who played his hand by getting her to recall memories so that Narissa could identify her home planet and then leaving her to die just seconds later. Luckily for her and for the man who has been trying so desperately to find her, she got activated at that very moment and punched through the floor in order to escape. I’m glad that all the good guys will finally be together and able to determine their best course of action, with both former friends – mainly those that Picard and company have alienated by asking for favors – and enemies in hot pursuit of them as they try to escape. We haven’t learned any more about Maggie and her murderous actions of the last episode, though she’s diving into another relationship full-force in her romantic tryst with Rios, which is sure to keep him distracted from whatever true intentions she has. Picard is clearly haunted by his Borg past, which was a big part of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and the presence of Jonathan Del Arco’s Hugh, formerly known as Third of Five, helped show a human side of the former Borg that wasn’t quite as steely and resentful as Seven of Nine’s previous appearance. I don’t know if we’ll see him again, but our friends are going to need whatever allies they can get.